High Marks for Murder (A Bellehaven House Mystery Book 1) Read Free Page B

"Young ladies are supposed to act proper at all times. Painting words on walls is not proper."
    "If you ask me, there's a lot going on around here that's not proper."
    "Like what?"
    Olivia shrugged. "Not me place to spread gossip, is it."
    Sensing a scandal behind her friend's words, Grace gave her a hefty nudge in the ribs with her elbow. "Come on. You know you're dying to tell me."
    Olivia glanced down the long corridor. "All right. But don't tell no one. I don't want to get her in trouble."
    Grace caught her breath. "Get who in trouble?"
    "Well, that's just it. I don't know exactly who she was, but I do know it were one of them debs. I saw her sneaking through the door after lights out. I reckon she were meeting a man out there."
    "Oo, 'eck." A delicious shiver raced down Grace's back. "Did you see him?"
    "Course not, silly." Olivia started down the hallway. "If Mona caught me mucking about outside she'd box me ears."
    Grace pinched her lips together as she began pushing the sweeper back and forth. She didn't like Monica Fingle one little bit. It was no wonder everyone called her Mona behind her back. The wretched housekeeper moaned about everything.
    She shoved the sweeper ahead of her with vicious little jabs. If she was housekeeper in a big house she'd treat the maids a whole lot better than Mona treated her and Olivia. That she would.
    Grace glanced down to the end of the hallway. Olivia had just started sloshing a wet rag over the windows. One day, Grace vowed, she'd find someone to marry her, andthen she wouldn't have to be a housemaid no more. She'd be a lady, like them debs all lined up in the assembly hall. Then she'd tell Mona exactly what she thought of her. That she would.
    The spacious assembly hall had once served as a ballroom when the mansion was occupied by Lord Davenport and his wife. When Stuart Hamilton bought the sprawling building he had the room renovated, removing the plaster cherubs and grapevines that had adorned the walls before adding a stage and lectern.
    The glittering crystal chandeliers and the pale blue carpeting on the stairs leading to the balcony were all that remained of the room's once magnificent splendor. Now fifty young women sat and waited in restless anticipation for their headmistress's announcement.
    Voices buzzed in discreet conversation when Meredith entered the hall. Felicity and Essie sat on the platform, with Kathleen's empty chair between them, as if guarding the space that would never again be occupied.
    Essie's blotchy complexion must have served as a warning of a serious situation, since the ripple of murmurs died away the minute Meredith walked out to the middle of the stage.
    She paused, waiting for complete quiet to settle over the upturned faces. Deciding not to beat about the bush, she filled her lungs with air. "I regret to inform you all that Miss Duncan has passed away quite suddenly this morning."
    Again she paused as shocked cries and quiet weeping erupted from the audience in front of her. After a moment or two she raised her hand. When only a single sob or two interrupted the silence, she continued.
    "Let us all take a minute to bow our heads in respect for our dear departed." When a suitable interval had passed, she looked up. "Home management classes will be suspended until a suitable replacement is found. Meanwhile, I would like all of you to confine yourselves to your rooms until mealtime, in order to observe this grievous tragedy."
    A murmur ran through her audience. Again she waited for quiet. "Thank you. You are dismissed."
    Watching the girls solemnly file out, she heard Essie weeping behind her. The young teacher's chin drooped, and her frail body shook with sobs.
    With a rare show of sympathy, Felicity draped an arm around Essie's trembling shoulders. "Chin up, old fruit. Kathleen wouldn't want you to collapse on her behalf. She'd expect you to keep a stiff upper lip for the sake of the girls."
    Essie struggled to stifle her sobs with a lace-edged