Chapter 16
I came to a stop at the top and climbed off the bike. My heart was in my mouth. I pulled off my helmet and left it on the seat.
‘What happened?’ Dorothy asked me.
‘I don’t know, but he was having trouble with the quad bike. I don’t think he meant to drive off the edge. Did you get radio working?’
‘No.’
‘Did you try?’
Dorothy didn’t answer that and then the others appeared behind us, everyone leaping from their vehicles to see what was happening. I walked to the edge and looked over, terrified of what I might see. Leonard’s bike was upside down further down the hillside, but Leonard himself was lying in a heap a few feet away from me. The slope wasn’t too steep and he either fell or threw himself from the bike as it went over.
Rufus and Paul were quicker than me and were already scrambling down the grass to get to him.
‘Is he dead?’ Juliet called out.
‘No, I’m not bloody dead,’ was Leonard’s muffled response. I could see that Rufus and Paul were checking him over but hadn’t taken his helmet off yet.
‘He must have landed in the soft grass,’ Lavinia said as she came to stand next to me and I hoped I was the only one who heard Dorothy say, ‘Pity.’
‘This is becoming a bit of a habit, old chap,’ Paul said to his brother as he helped him to stand and Leonard pulled his helmet off.
‘I’m not imagining it, am I? After the saddle incident too, I’m sure someone has it in for me!’ He looked pointedly at Paul and then turned his attention to Rufus, who shrugged.
I watched Rufus for a second longer and thought there was the merest hint of a smirk on his face.
‘I think you’re probably just accident-prone, that’s all,’ Paul said.
Leonard narrowed his eyes and then looked up to the rest of the group standing at the top of the incline.
‘My brakes didn’t work. That does not make me accident-prone,’ Leonard said.
‘Why on earth would anyone have it in for you, Leonard?’ Dorothy asked. ‘You’ve been a perfect host and gentleman this week and we’re all having a wonderful time.’
I wanted to reach out my hand to stop the older woman talking, but she was too far away and it would have looked odd. I gave her a pointed look, but Dorothy’s eyes were fixed the other way.
‘Hear, hear,’ said Lavinia. ‘I think you’ve been incredibly unlucky, but you’re not badly hurt, are you?’
‘My head’s been rattled around in my helmet, my arm feels sore and I doubt it’s done much to improve my knee, but I’m not dead, no.’
‘Let me have a look,’ Caroline said, cautiously making her way down the grassy slope.
I watched as Caroline gave him a fair assessment and, deciding that he was no more than a bit bruised and shaken, she helped him to his feet. Rufus and Luke were righting the quad bike with some help from Toby, and Juliet wandered down to get in the way.
‘I think we’re going to have to get the bike company to come and retrieve this,’ Toby said. ‘It looks like there’s some damage to it. You can jump on the back of mine, Leonard.’
Luke got the number from Leonard and phoned the company, explained the situation, and they said they’d come with the van and trailer to fetch it. Then the men helped Leonard up the hill and onto the back of Toby’s quad. I helped Lavinia get Dorothy back on and we set off at a sedate pace. We took a more direct route back and missed seeing more of Leonard’s land. He didn’t bother with further commentary and we were a sombre party arriving back at the farm to drop off the remaining quad bikes an hour later.
We all filed into the house under a bit of a cloud after the turn in events of the afternoon. Leonard was still complaining about his head and how something untoward was definitely going on.
Harry appeared again, offering tablets and comfort to Leonard, seemingly always around when he was needed. It was Harry who helped Leonard upstairs to his bedroom so he could have a rest. I wondered what Leonard paid him to be at his beck and call.
‘Do you think there could be some truth in what Leonard said about sabotage?’ I said to Dorothy as we took ourselves off to the library and found a corner to tuck ourselves into.
‘I doubt it. I can’t imagine anyone here wants him dead more than I do,’ Dorothy said. ‘I can tell you I certainly didn’t sabotage his horse or his quad bike. Then again, with the ever-watchful Harry, I doubt anyone would be successful.’
An image of Harry watching me as I went to bed last night appeared in my head again, but just as I tried to concentrate on his expression, the image disappeared and I couldn’t quite grasp his intentions. I had a horrible feeling that Leonard had told him to keep an eye on me and that we should be watching his movements as much as Leonard’s while we searched.
I pushed myself up and out of the chair I’d only briefly sat in and stretched my arms. They felt stiff after an afternoon of clutching the handlebars of the quad bike. I walked over to the window and looked out. The peacock was strutting again around the lawn, his tail following him like the train on a wedding dress and the heron was back in the lake standing like a statue in the grasses that grew at the edge of the water. The surface shimmered in a white-gold glow from the sunlight and I could just make out the figures of Sandra and Rufus walking in the shadows under the trees. They seemed to be having a heated conversation, judging by Sandra’s gesticulating arms and Rufus’s grim expression. And then I wondered if I could really make that observation from such a distance. Being in this house with these people was beginning to make me feel suspicious of everyone and everything around me.
‘Who, though? Who do you think would want harm to come to him?’ I asked, not sure I truly believed that he was the target of someone’s hate, well, someone other than Dorothy Reed.
‘Anyone who’s spent more than a few minutes in his company would be my guess. Now, I’m going for a lie-down before we have to suffer another evening with him,’ Dorothy said.
This made me smile, because despite the circumstances Dorothy had clearly been enjoying herself the previous evening.
‘I’ll walk with you,’ I said.
‘There’s no need; I’m more than capable.’
‘I know you are, but I am supposed to be your companion. I think it’s best if we keep to that as much as possible. I can’t be seen to be wandering about this house all alone all the time.’
‘That’s a fair point, but you’ll have Juliet shadowing your every move from now on.’
‘What do you think Sophie would say if she knew what Juliet intended to do? Surely she wouldn’t be happy with us,’ I said.
‘She wouldn’t be thrilled, no, but she adored her father and if there is a chance to get Leonard for his part in the whole awful situation, then I have no doubt she’d understand.’
I wasn’t convinced, but there was little I could do now anyway. It felt as if it was all rather out of my hands. I took Dorothy’s arm and we were about to leave when I stopped, looking down to the other end of the room where I noticed a door that sat between two bookcases.
‘Where does that door go?’ I asked, but Dorothy just shrugged.
‘Let’s find out then,’ I said.
Once out of the library, we found ourselves in a room that I hadn’t seen before. It was oval in shape and was dominated by a huge painting that hung in the middle, directly opposite a large window. The light flooded in and because the painting had a thick layer of lacquer covering it, the image depicted on it wasn’t immediately clear because of the glare.
‘Well, that’s interesting,’ Dorothy said, and it made me stop in my tracks beside her.
‘A Vanitas painting,’ I breathed. ‘A vanity still life.’
‘What is it? What do you see?’ Dorothy asked me. ‘It’s an eclectic mix, that’s for sure.’
‘Yes, a medley of items layered up and overlapping. You have a clock,’ I said, pointing as I spoke, ‘a watch, a just-extinguished candle and an hourglass. These are artefacts representing worldly wealth, combined with reminders of time and death in a mid-seventeenth-century, Dutch still-life tradition.’
‘I prefer my art clean-cut and easily understandable. If a piece takes too long to interpret I tend to lose interest, although it hasn’t always been that way. I think my patience and attention span is waning a bit as I get older. It’s the same with books. I balk at anything over four hundred and fifty pages. I’d likely be dead before I’d got to the end.’
‘I think after what you’ve been through, you’re incredibly patient,’ I said, my eyes not leaving the painting.
‘So what’s caught you about this piece particularly?’ Dorothy asked.
‘The trinkets and musical instruments, vases and shells you’d expect. Likewise, the bowl of fruit overflowing on the table with the red velvet curtain swathed across one corner, but that’s Leonard’s Martinware vase, there…’ I pointed ‘…hiding behind that lute – and look, there’s a glimpse of his motorbike too. This is either a modern painting, very well executed, or an original that Leonard has commissioned someone to add his own items to. God! That doesn’t bear thinking about.’
As I stared and took stock, Juliet appeared from a staircase in the corner that I had also failed to see.
‘How’s Leonard’s head?’ I asked her. ‘Have you heard anything?’
‘He’s having a lie-down, but he’s still moaning so I think he’ll be okay,’ Juliet said.
‘Shame,’ Dorothy said and Juliet giggled.
I needed to have words with Dorothy. She kept reminding me to keep my head down and not give myself away, but she wasn’t exactly following her own advice.
‘That’s horrible,’ Juliet said, turning to the painting.
‘An acquired taste, perhaps,’ I said.
‘Not one I’ll be acquiring, that’s for sure. Actually, it reminds me of those hidden object games I used to play on my laptop.’
‘I’m not familiar,’ I said.
‘Games where you have, like, a list of things to find and they’re cleverly hidden in among a load of other crap.’
‘Juliet,’ Dorothy chided.
‘Stuff, then, hidden in among stuff,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘Either way, it’s horrible.’
‘Yes,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘That’s exactly what this is and I feel there’s some significance.’
‘Something you can share now or do you need to dwell?’ Dorothy asked me.
‘Oh, dwell for now,’ I said.
‘I’m going for that lie-down, then. Thanks for driving me around today, Gina,’ she said. ‘I haven’t enjoyed myself so much in ages.’
‘You’re welcome,’ I said as Juliet linked her arm through her grandmother’s and they began to walk away.
I glanced back just as the sunlight hit the painting again and the light bounced off an image of a mirror. I took a step closer and saw reflected in it a painting of a little coral-coloured, fan-shaped vase. Taking out my phone I snapped a quick picture and then hurried after the other two.
By the time I was on the main stairs up to my room with the fan vase back in my hand, I’d lost some of my previous excitement. Expecting a key or similar and finding nothing at all, I continued with Dorothy to her room and watched Juliet disappear to her own.
Now I really wanted to go hunting, but I had no idea how well or mobile Leonard was, or how long he’d be lying down for, so in a snap decision when Dorothy had closed her door, I decided to go and find out what everyone else was up to.
Harry was my first port of call in the kitchen where he was preparing the meal for that evening. Keep your enemies close and all that. Lavinia told me there was to be a rehearsal at the church this evening and then they had invited the vicar back for dinner.
Harry seemed to have a lot on the go and was chopping, stirring, sifting and shoving things into the ovens all at the same time. I thought the poor man could do with some help, but I wasn’t about to offer. Instead I asked him if he’d mind me making myself a coffee.
‘Not at all,’ he said, genially. ‘But won’t you let me do it for you?’
‘No, thank you anyway,’ I said. ‘I don’t like to be a bother and you have a lot going on. I’m very happy to do it myself.’
He placed a white porcelain mug down on the counter next to the coffee machine, told me what to press, then went back to marinating some chicken.
‘That smells lovely,’ I said, really feeling that having Harry on my side was the best idea, or at the very least to give him no cause to suspect me of what I was actually doing: going through his master’s personal possessions.
‘Moroccan chicken, which I’m going to put in a pie. How are you feeling now? I was a little worried about you the other night. I was told to top everyone up, but I may have been a bit too heavy-handed,’ he said, looking a little contrite. ‘I did make sure you got back to your room, though. You probably don’t remember…’ He trailed off.
‘I do, actually,’ I said. ‘Thank you.’
Was that all it had been? A heavy-handed waiter who didn’t intentionally slip me extra alcohol and saw me back to my room to make sure I got there safely? Maybe I was becoming paranoid, and maybe I should change my reading material to something a little more uplifting.
‘How is Leonard, by the way? He did take quite a tumble.’
‘I think he’s okay. Certainly nothing that will stop him in his current endeavours.’
There was a sour note to Harry’s tone that sounded remarkably close to disapproval.
‘Current endeavours?’ I pushed.
‘The wedding, just the wedding.’
‘Of course,’ I said, but there was a moment where we shared a knowing look. Before I could summon the courage to say something more, Sandra came bustling into the kitchen.
‘Oh, you have the same thought as me,’ she said, eyeing my coffee. ‘And I’ll take one up for poor Leonard.’
‘I’ll leave you to it then,’ I said and made my escape back upstairs, wondering why Sandra was taking a coffee to poor Leonard when she clearly didn’t like him.
Miles and Lavinia were discussing the seating arrangement for the wedding breakfast with Caroline when I poked my head around the door of the music room. Toby was back in front of the piano where the gentle strains of Mozart could be heard.
‘But Uncle Leonard wants to be on the top table,’ Caroline was telling them. ‘He insisted that he won’t be demoted to a guest in his own home.’
‘Hardly a place for the uncle of the bride,’ Miles said.
‘Quite,’ Lavinia agreed.
‘Does it really matter where everyone sits?’ Toby asked, over his music. ‘We’ll all be pissed and stuffed and waiting for the speeches anyway.’
‘I hope you won’t be drunk, darling,’ Lavinia said. ‘You have to make a speech before Rufus does.’
‘I’m still not quite sure why you chose Rufus to be your best man,’ Miles said.
‘I think it works well as he’s Caroline’s brother. A way for us to bond as a family,’ Toby said. ‘I do hope he cheers up a bit, though. He seems really down this week.’
‘I’d quite like to say a few words,’ Caroline said and Miles unsuccessfully stifled a groan.
‘It might be wise to limit it to the groom, father of the bride and the best man, sweetheart,’ Lavinia said.
‘But Uncle Leonard is making a speech.’
‘As well as your father?’ Miles asked. ‘God, anyone else?’
‘All right, Dad, no need to get your knickers in a twist. It’s supposed to be a happy event, so I expect a few people might like to say some nice words. Don’t worry, though, I don’t expect you to be among them.’
Just as I was beginning to feel uncomfortable listening in and about to make my presence known, Miles noticed me hovering in the doorway anyway.
‘Gina, are you okay there?’
He said this very much like someone talking to a member of staff, which was entirely reasonable. The trouble was, the relaxed manner that Dorothy and I had fallen into had made me forget.
‘Just wondered what time the church rehearsal is?’ I asked. ‘I’ll make sure Dorothy is ready.’
‘We have to be there for six and it should be about an hour, then Leonard has arranged for our meal to be at seven-thirty. He has something special organised,’ Lavinia said.
‘Every meal has been very special,’ I said. And it had been. The finest food had been consumed every day. Even the picnics and casual lunches had been beautifully cooked and presented. The barbecue was something else. ‘What does Harry have planned for the wedding meal itself? I can’t see how he can top what he’s already cooked this week.’
‘That is going to be a surprise,’ Caroline said. ‘But I think everyone will love it. He’s got a catering team coming in to help him, though. Even Harry would struggle to feed eighty people.’
It was the first time I had heard how many wedding guests there would be in total. I began to wonder if with the place heaving with people I could slip away unnoticed and really put together all that I had learned in the hunt for this painting. Surely there would be an opportunity when everyone was eating in the orangery. It had occurred to me that I really shouldn’t be needed at the wedding meal, maybe it would be enough to slip into the back of the church to watch the service. I was neither family nor a friend, after all.