Silent in the Sanctuary
Page 38
I took a bite of the slice of sponge. “What is it, dearest?”
Portia shook her head sadly. “It is Sir Cedric. He suffered a fatal attack on the voyage to India. He is dead.”
The cake tasted dusty suddenly, and I put down the plate.
“How awful,” Jane murmured. She refilled my cup, sweetening it heavily. “Drink this, Julia. You have gone quite pale.”
I obeyed and felt marginally better. “What sort of attack?”
Portia shook her head. “She does not say. One imagines it must have been his heart. He was a rather florid sort of man.”
“Perhaps an apoplexy,” Jane suggested. She shook her head. “Poor Lucy Phipps.”
I said nothing. I was thinking of Emma. Emma and her blind devotion to her sister, her jealous love. I thought of the slippery precipice of murder, and how much easier it must be to do the act again after you have raised your hand to it once.
“Not Lucy Phipps anymore,” Portia corrected. “Aunt Hermia says that Sir Cedric died after they were wed. She is Lady Eastley now. She has inherited his entire fortune.”
“How tragic,” Jane went on. “To be so newly married, and to lose one’s husband. I cannot imagine that the money is any great comfort to her. She must be utterly shattered.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said faintly. “I think the money may be a very great comfort. She was always quite poor, you know.”
“And now she and Emma will never want for a thing so long as she lives,” Portia finished.
As we sipped our tea in silence, I was conscious of a deep unease, a vague dissatisfaction that something had gone quite gravely wrong and could never be mended.
When Jane had retired and Portia had left to bathe the repulsive Puggy, I poured myself another cup of tea and went to the chair where Portia had been sitting. The letter was still there, a little the worse for having been sat on. Doubtless she expected to retrieve it later. I sipped at my tea, holding the letter and debating with myself. It was a very short argument.
I slipped the letter from its envelope and read it quickly. There was no salutation, no endearment, and I felt a great deal more at ease when I read the brisk tone of the letter itself. I had not forgotten Portia’s smug air when she informed me she had business with Brisbane.
By all means, come in April. The worst of the weather will be past, and I am told the spring is rather lovely here. I shall be vastly interested to see what you can do with the place. Do not think I am being modest when I say it is a ruin. It lacks every modern convenience, and I hope you are prepared for every possible discomfort. I can offer you only cold rooms, bad food, and lumpy beds.
As for your sister, I will not mention her again, except to say this: do not entertain the idea of bringing her. The estate is not fit for company. And since I flatter myself that I know you a little better than you might believe, I will repeat, DO NOT BRING YOUR SISTER TO YORKSHIRE.
The rest of the letter was a tangle of information about trains and schedules and domestic arrangements. I only skimmed it. I folded the letter and replaced it in the envelope and tucked the envelope behind the cushion. Portia would know soon enough I had read it, but there was no purpose to starting that quarrel just yet.
Instead, I busied myself making a list of everything I would need to pack for my trip to Yorkshire. I was keenly interested in seeing this ruin of an estate, and if Portia meant to put his household in order for him, she might well be glad of an extra pair of hands. Besides, April was three long, dreary, grey months away. After a winter in the city, I would be gasping for country air, and Yorkshire was reputed to be tremendously scenic. I had never been, but I had heard the moors were staggeringly lovely. Of course, I never expected Brisbane and I would find a body there. But that is a tale for another time.
DEANNA RAYBOURN
Silent in the Sanctuary
To enhance your enjoyment of this wonderful novel we have provided a series of Reader’s Guide questions which can be found overleaf. We hope these questions inspire spirited discussion.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Deanna Raybourn has an amazing gift when it comes to creating unusual and imaginative characters. Discuss your favourite character and explain what it is about them that captured your attention.
The relationship between Lady Julia Grey and Nicholas Brisbane is unconventional by Victorian standards. What are their long-term prospects for happiness? Will society allow them to succeed?
The relationship between sisters is an important one, and most sisters would agree that their feelings toward one another can go from loving kindness to plain old nastiness in a matter of moments. Does this accurately summarize the relationships between Julia and Portia, and Emma and Lucy? Discuss their sisterly behaviour and the reasons behind it.
Nature or nurture? Emma and Lucy were raised poor on the fringes of the wealthy, noble March family. How has this perspective shaped their characters? Would they have been different people had they enjoyed a more privileged life?
A reversal of fortune can have important repercussions on a person’s character. Discuss the ways in which Lucy, Ludlow, Sir Cederic, and Lucian Snow changed as a result of their revised circumstances. Were these changes positive?
Alessandro Fornacci offers Julia a different life than the one she is currently leading. What do you think attracted Alessandro to Julia in the first place? Would she have been happy accepting his proposal?
The relationship between Julia and Morag is colourful to say the very least. Which of the two women is the more conventional? Discuss why. Could or should Julia replace Morag with someone else?
The story of Mariah Young gives the reader greater insight into Nicholas Brisbane’s early life. How has this relationship shaped his life?
Julia’s gift of the pearls to Magda is an unexpected and generous gesture that some might describe as impulsive. Why did she do this? Was it the right thing to do?
Was there something about this story that took you by surprise? Discuss.
Charlotte King is a thief, but a clever and engaging one. She was also something of a chameleon. Do you think she would ever be able to renounce her “career” and settle into a more conventional lifestyle?
Titled, moneyed people of this time tended to remain inside their own social circle. It appears as if Lord March and Nicholas Brisbane ventured beyond the social bounds of the day. What do you suppose is the nature of the relationship between them?
Julia’s decision to let Charlotte King go meant Nicholas lost his chance at a title. Why might he have wanted one?
Even for an unconventional family like the Marches, the situations that played out in Silent in the Sanctuary are very unusual. Would you agree that Lord March may finally want to settle into a more placid and quiet life? Did the events of this story take a toll on him?
Julia and Aunt Dorcas decided not to tell Lord March about Emma’s involvement in the murder of Lucian Snow. Was this the right decision? How does this decision directly affect Emma, Lucy and Sir Cedric?
Villains come in all shapes and sizes, and from all walks of life. Who, among the various villains in Silent in the Sanctuary, has the most to atone for?
ISBN: 978-1-4603-0283-5
SILENT IN THE SANCTUARY
Copyright © 2009 by Deanna Raybourn.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, MIRA Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
MIRA and
the Star Colophon are trademarks used under license and registered in Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
www.MIRABooks.com