Page 15 of Murder at Donwell Abbey

He let go her hand and strode to the doors. Emma retrieved her lamp from the side table and followed him out.

“To the left,” she said.

George turned and then froze in his tracks.

“It’s Prudence,” Emma said in a quiet voice.

Her husband gazed down at the girl for several long moments. Emma closed the terrace doors and went to him.

“I know,” she said. “It’s appalling.”

George crouched beside the body. Emma saw in the fitful light of the lamp that it was clear Prudence must have perished instantaneously. The injury to her head was ghastly.

“How can this be?” Disbelief echoed in his voice. “I saw her earlier in the evening, and she seemed fine.”

“Actually, she became ill with the headache some time ago, so Mrs. Hodges sent her to her room. As to what happened after that, I cannot say.”

He straightened up, his face a grim mask in the flickering light. To George, this would be more than simply a tragic accident. Anyone who lived or worked at the abbey or on his farms was part of the Donwell family. He felt responsible for them, from the lowliest stable boy to a prosperous tenant farmer like Robert Martin.

“I’m so sorry, George. She was such a sweet girl.”

“Yes, it’s beyond dreadful.” He took the lamp and held it high over the body, inspecting it. “Who found her?”

“Miss Bates. They all heard the fall, though. Or, I should say, the … impact.” Emma felt her gorge start to rise, but she forced it back down. “Miss Bates came out to investigate.”

George grimaced. “She must have been greatly upset.”

“She was, although I must say she’s done an excellent job of keeping Father and Mrs. Bates relatively calm.”

“Then I’m grateful to her. And grateful that you were close by when the accident occurred.”

He stepped back as she had done and peered up at the open window above them.

“I’m assuming the height is great enough that she would have died immediately,” Emma said.

“I should think so, given the condition of her skull.”

She shivered and drew her shawl more tightly around her shoulders.

George took her arm and led her back to the terrace doors. “There is no need for you to stand around in this cold. I’m going to check a few more things, and then I’ll be right in.”

“What else can I do?”

“I told Harry to wait outside the library door. Have him fetch Mrs. Hodges, and also tell him to find Dr. Hughes. We cannot move the body until he sees it.”

Emma felt another nasty premonition well up. “George, you don’t think she was …”

The awful word hung between them.

He shook his head. “It certainly seems to have been an accident, but the coroner needs to make that determination.”

“All right. I’ll ask Harry to fetch Mrs. Hodges, and then go look for Dr. Hughes myself.”

“Quietly, though. We must go quietly.”

“I understand.”

She slipped back into the room.