Page 100 of The Death Wish

His pulses skipped faster. ‘Is that so?’ The woman’s lavender dress held a firm place in Silas’s mind; as if its bright colour secured the memory, whilst all else about that horrid evening was blurred and dark. But the design of the dress was not entirely foreign to the fashion of his current day; the memory was not terribly old. ‘How long ago was this terrible event?’

‘Early in the century, at least fifty years past, I’d say. A long time ago, but murder takes hold of people’s imaginations and sticks there. They make for fascinating gossip. The kitchen staff enjoy a tattle.’ Charlie shrugged. ‘And I enjoy listening to all their tales. Far better than being berated for refusing to wear a gown.’

Silas gave him a sympathetic smile, but his heart was still racing. ‘I dare say. Who was murdered?’

‘The gardener, I believe he was.’

Silas nodded, his gaze once more upon the grounds of the estate. ‘Yes,’ he whispered. ‘ I believe he was.’

One piece of the enormous puzzle of his life slipped quietly into place; he was certainly a man of the earth.

‘What was that?’ Charlie asked.

‘Nothing. Do you know what his name was, this unfortunate fellow?’

‘I don’t. Sorry.’

More of the puzzle seemed set to elude him. But it did not bother Silas too greatly. He preferred the name Pitch knew him by.

‘But,’ Charlie continued. ‘I know he likely died because of a scandalous affair he had with my grandfather’s older brother, Gilbert.’

‘Gilbert?’ Silas held the name, turned it over in his mind, searched for some hint of recognition; emotion that might bring forth deeper memory.

There was nothing.

‘That’s positively awful.’ Edward winced. ‘Did they catch the culprit?’

Charlie shook his head. ‘No, though can you believe there is some talk it was a member of his own family?’ Silas stayed silent, and waited for him to go on. ‘They lived in a cottage on the estate grounds. It’s been torn down now, but they were forced out after Gilbert died at sea.’

‘At sea?’

‘He ran off to war when he was forced to forgo his lover. He’d rather have faced Napoleon’s army than wed.’ Charlie’s face shone with marvel. ‘From the moment Kirsty, my lady’s maid, told me the story, I knew I would leave Rossdhu, whether or not I had permission. I intended to be just as brave as he, and run as far as I could from my father, and the shackles of that place.’ His defiant mood subdued. ‘Rather strange to have come full circle, and be just a loch away from the one place I was running from. But I suspect you are feeling the same, Silas?’

‘Quite.’ Silas ran his finger over the crystal handle on the sideboard drawer. ‘But you have been very brave indeed, Charlie. Being alone is not easy.’

Charlie kept watching him. ‘No. It’s not.’

‘I wonder if you know who found the body?’

‘I heard it was my grandaunt, and her son. Elizabeth tended to be remembered, as she had a passion for the colour lavender. Not a day went by when she did not wear it, much to her family’s annoyance.’ Charlie grinned.

‘Lavender?’ Another, smaller piece of Silas’s puzzle finally found its place. ‘I imagine she looked quite lovely.’

‘So do I. And all the more because it clearly made her happy to wear it.’

‘And her son was with her, you say?’ Silas prompted.

‘Yes. Phillip. He was just a young child, it must have been awful for him. I was always told how much I looked like him. Our eyes. The exact same blue apparently.’

Silas’s finger stilled against the crystal. ‘It is a striking colour.’

‘And rarely shows, apparently. Phillip had died a year before I was born, found dead in his bed at a ripe old age, after a life well lived, by all accounts. There was quite the fuss over me when it was clear my blue eyes would not change after my newborn days were done. Some even said I was Phillip come back to life. But I know I am my own person. Silas, what did you say you did at Rossdhu House, when you worked there?’

‘I didn’t.’

‘Let me guess? You were a gardener.’ Charlie made the leap with great confidence. ‘You were the gardener that they found. Weren’t you my friend? That is why you are so terrified of the water.’

‘Hang on there,’ Edward laughed, a nervous twinge to it. ‘Did you not just say the chap was murdered, and in the early years of this century?’