Death of a Duchess by Nellie Steele (the beginning after the end novel read TXT) 📗

my grip. “Show yourself,” I ordered. Nothing appeared. Instead, the yanking grew stronger. I wrestled with it, clinging to the blanket as my book clattered to the floor. “Stop this nonsense at once! If you are not willing to show yourself, stop! You are acting like a child!”

The force on the blanket ceased and the lack of tugging in the opposite direction caused me to fly backward, striking my shoulders and head against the wall behind me. With a groan, I rubbed my head where it hit. The damage seemed minimal, though. I tucked the blanket around me again with a sigh and leaned over to retrieve my book from the floor.

Opening it to the marked page a second time, I attempted again to read the first sentence of the paragraph. Halfway through, an unseen force ripped the blanket from my lap, sending it flying through the air and discarding it on the opposite side of the room.

“Annie?” I questioned. “Is that you? Your trickery is not amusing!” I warned as I rose from the window seat and crossed the room. A red deer skin rug adorned the space in the middle of the room. As I trampled upon it to cross the space, the rug moved, pulled from underneath my feet. I landed hard on my backside as objects lifted from the various surfaces of the room and floated.

As I attempted to pull myself upright, a voice joined the fray. “Lenora! What’s happening?” Robert shouted, alarm sounding in his voice. The floating objects, a variety of books, a large, red vase and a few knickknacks halted their airy dance instantly, crashing to the floor. By sheer luck, the vase landed on the chaise, preventing it from shattering against the hard stone floor. The porcelain trinket box I’d borrowed from another room in the castle did not fare as well.

“Oh, no!” I cried, reaching for a splintered piece of the small box.

“Careful,” Robert warned, rushing to my side and removing the piece from my fingers. “Lenora, what happened? Were my eyes deceiving me?”

“No,” I responded with a shake of my head. “Just a bit of mischief.”

“Mischief? Lenora! Objects were floating about in the air. And how did you come to be on the floor?”

“My blanket,” I explained, “was pulled across the room.” I pointed toward it. “When I tried to retrieve it, the rug was pulled out from under me. Quite literally. I lost my balance and toppled over before the objects began their dance through the air.”

“Are you quite all right? Are you experiencing pain anywhere?”

“I am fine. Though I am brokenhearted over this little box,” I lamented as I stared at its broken pieces.

“I shall buy you another,” Robert assured me. “Can you stand?”

“Yes,” I nodded, accepting his hand to pull me to my feet.

I replaced the vase on the bookshelf and collapsed onto the chaise. “Was this…” Robert’s voice trailed off as it often did before mentioning Annie’s name.

I nodded again. “I expect so. A bit of mischief on her part.”

“Mischief? She has come close to harming you. I cannot understand this behavior!”

“Something has perturbed her. Perhaps our absence.”

Robert knit his brow. “Our absence?” He shook his head. “This is no way to welcome us home! She was not violent in life. I…”

“I am sure she was not,” I reassured him. “But something irritated her. When the dead are agitated, they often lash out in this way.”

“And you expect that our trip caused this?”

“I assume so. When we arrived home, Annie was waiting on the balcony.”

Robert’s eyebrows raised and his jaw opened as realization dawned on him. “Your gaze…”

I nodded. “Yes. But…” my voice trailed off as my forehead wrinkled in thought.

“What is it?”

“I am not certain,” I replied, still lost in my reflection. “She did not appear upset. I had hoped we would finally have the chance to communicate. I imagined our absence may have been a constructive action.”

“Yet, it appears not to have been,” Robert replied, studying the mess on our floor.

“No, it does not appear so, does it?” I agreed. “A pity. But I shall keep trying.”

Robert smiled at me. “I realize you will, though please be careful, Lenora. Her… hijinks… grow bolder. I loved Annie, but I do not want to see you harmed by her in her misguided distress.”

“I shall be,” I promised. Robert nodded to me. “Oh, were you searching for me? In all the commotion, I’d forgotten you arrived here. I assume you needed something?”

“I wanted to determine if the room had been prepared adequately for you. I worried Buchanan may not have built a fire and it may be too cold.”

“Buchanan did not forget,” I acknowledged, motioning toward the roaring fire. “Well, with that settled, I shall set to work tidying the room.”

“No, I shall have Buchanan handle it. Perhaps you should rest, given the travel and… the latest events.”

I gathered my book from the floor. “I shall read in my room.”

“I hope you are undisturbed.”

Chapter 9

Days passed before I encountered Annie again. Mr. Langford arrived with a ladies’ maid in tow, having sorted the matter out in the course of two days. Ella Sinclair arrived at Blackmoore Castle with little more than I did. The girl, older than I, which seemed strange to me, had come from a reputable estate with good references in hand. Her previous employer had passed on. She did not mind the change of scenery and gushed about the beauty of the highlands and the estate despite the dreariness of the winter landscape.

I had never seen the grounds in the spring and summer, so I could not offer much regarding any changes, but her appreciation of the landscape matched mine, allowing us to converse easily.

Her arrival prompted a visit from Annie. On her first night while she assisted me in dressing for dinner, the door to my room creaked open. “Oh!” Ella exclaimed as she fussed with my hair. “My apologies, Your Grace, I must not have latched it properly.”

Ella set the