Of course he hadn’t bothered to read the missive. It was so damned typical, and it raised her hackles. Sterling had fallen into the venatori order—those that hunted the creatures that stirred in the night and solved the unsolvable—like a cat landing on its feet. He hadn’t had to spend years proving himself, taking a job with the most reckless venatori on record, just because his cases drew attention. Working on his magic at all hours of the night just to master the basics.
No. Magic came easily to him. Recognition. Awe.
Sometimes she wanted to punch him.
Better that than the alternative….
“We have another Reawakened Dead Lady,” she said instead.
“Another one?” His tone implied this was par for the course.
“It’s quite a common tale in several countries.”
“Well, yes. They’ve been burying people alive for centuries.”
“You’ve heard the story of the Lady of Mount Edgcumbe’s ring?” she asked.
“Cornwall, end of last century. Correct?”
That damned memory of his.
“They say it was Lady Emma Edgcumbe, wife of the 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. On the eve of the wedding, the bride is walking back from the church when she trips and falls into a deep slumber from which she cannot be woken. Her maidservant runs to St. Julian’s well, gathers up some water, and revives the young lady with a sip of it. It happens again on the wedding night?—”
Sterling snickered. “Well, there’s one way to lie back and think of England.”
Edwina shot him a censorious look.
“What?” He spread his hands. “If he cannot keep her awake, then clearly the poor fellow isn’t up to snuff. It’s hardly something nefarious.”
“Anyway,” she continued, pointedly ignoring him. “They rouse her again with water from the well and when they go on their honeymoon, her new husband takes a flask of well water with him, just in case. She falls with child and as the months pass, all is well and the earl thinks the danger is over. Until she falls into a death-like sleep from which she cannot be woken.
“They hold a mirror to her lips and no breath fogs the glass. They prick her with a needle but she doesn’t start. And she’s cold as ice. Frozen right through. The desperate husband sends an old servant to fetch water from the saint’s well, but the servant is lazy and disgruntled and figures nobody is going to know if he uses water from the nearest pig trough.”
“Ugh. Disgusting. And of course, she doesn’t awake this time?” he asked.
“She doesn’t. Instead, she’s given a funeral and laid to rest in her finest gown and jewels in the family tomb. Furious with grief, the earl fires the lazy servant and descends into melancholy.
“But the servant is full of resentment and so he thinks to himself: The lady cost him his employment, so he’ll get some of his own back. She was buried with all her jewelry, so the servant breaks into the family tomb with the intent to steal it. He takes her necklace and other bits and pieces, and lastly his eyes catches upon the diamond ring on her hand?—”
“I can see where this is going.”
“But try as he might, he cannot remove it. So he takes his sharpest knife and tries to cut it off?—”
“But the lady lets out a scream and sits up, and the servant falls down dead,” Sterling said.
Edwina scowled at him. This was her story. “His hair turns white, he runs into the night and he’s never seen again. The lady is restored to her husband, bears him a son, and all live happily ever after.”
“Bravo.” He clapped. “However, Cornwall seems a fair way from Bletsoe.”
“Well, this sort of thing has happened at Bletsoe too. There was a wealthy and beautiful young lady who once lived there. After a long illness, she was pronounced dead and was buried in a vault beneath St. Mary’s church with her wedding ring on her finger. Of course, in this case, it’s the sexton who slips into the vault after the ring. As he tries to slice it off, the lady sits up with a shriek and the terrified sexton flees the vault and even the village. He’s never seen again.”
“How coincidental that these servants and sextons are never seen again. And the lady?”
“Died of old age eventually.”
“And this time she’s not going to wake up again?”
“Not unless you’ve secretly been studying the Grave Arts and intend to revive her.”
