Read Murder Goes Mumming for Free Online Page A

she was already having trouble keeping her eyes open. She motioned Ludovic away when he brought the bottle back to her.
    Madoc was doing the same, she noticed. That was just as well. Dessert turned out to be a trifle so lavishly soaked in rum that the mere smell was enough to turn one’s head. It was a pity Squire didn’t carry his penchant for the good old ways far enough to keep a few wolfhounds under the table so there’d be a place to dispose of some excess food.
    Donald ate his trifle with no fuss about calories. He seemed pleased with himself tonight, and Janet couldn’t help wondering if his self-satisfaction had anything to do with his having been able to snare a distinguished guest for Squire. It was hard for her to think of Madoc as a celebrity, but she supposed he was, after a fashion.
    Squire at any rate was making the most of Madoc’s connections. “What a pity Lady Rhys had to dash off to London instead of coming up to join the party. David tells me she’s quite a personage in her own right.”
    “Oh, she is,” Janet replied, feeling a bit fuzzy on account of the trifle. “Did you know she once sang a concert for the Queen Mother?”
    “No! You must tell me all about it.”
    “Madoc can do that better than I.”
    “Then let’s move to where we can be cozy. May, if everyone’s finished, don’t you think it’s time we had our coffee?”
    “If they’re not finished, they darn well ought to be.” May swung her parrot around to reveal a watch set into its rump. “It’s half past ten, egad. Or do I mean forsooth? Get your nose out of the trough, Lawrence. There doesn’t seem to be anything left to eat anyway. I move we take the coffee into the library, Squire. The Great Hall must be colder than Greenland’s icy mountains by now. All those in favor say aye. The rest keep quiet because nobody’s listening.”
    That was true enough and had been for most of the evening. By and large, the Condryckes seemed more concerned to outshout each other than to engage in any real communication. May at her loudest couldn’t manage to collect everyone’s attention until Babs caught Janet’s eye and rose. Janet most gratefully followed her example, then Clara, Aunt Adelaide, and Val. Madoc shoved back his chair and managed to get next to Janet as they at last left the banqueting board.
    “I thought the gentlemen were supposed to stay and guzzle port after the ladies left,” she teased.
    “I’ve guzzled enough for one night, thanks. How are you bearing up?”
    “I’ll be all right so long as I don’t have to swallow one more mouthful of anything for the next week or so. Where on earth do you suppose they put it all?”
    He glanced at Lawrence’s magisterial paunch. “Isn’t that rather obvious?”
    She giggled and Roy, who was now well over the line, turned around to give Madoc a remarkably dirty look. Did he think they were laughing about him? No matter. Madoc had sense enough not to tackle a drunk on the strength of a sneer, especially when they were both guests in somebody else’s house. And likely to be stormed in by morning if the ghost ship was reliable in its predictions. The wind had picked up while they were at dinner, and the air had smelled like snow when they’d got out of the helicopter.
    Not that snow could be any novelty in these parts and not that it made any difference anyway. Squire obviously kept Graylings well stocked with provender, the woods were full of fuel, and the house must be remarkably well-built to have withstood so many winters already.
    This house party wasn’t turning out as anticipated, but nobody could call it dull. Madoc and his Jenny found a nice, squashy chesterfield far enough from the tall stove to keep from getting boiled alive and settled themselves in one corner.
    “All set for a quiet cuddle, eh?” boomed May.
    Madoc nudged himself even closer to Janet. “Sit with us and chaperon,” he invited.
    “Can’t. I have to pour the coffee. Here, Aunt