The Fourth Mistress

Chapter 72  Burying them

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Louise stared at Graham's ghost. An ache formed in her chest. Having no prior experience of romantic relationships, she didn't have anything to compare their relationship to. Graham had indeed taken care of her, and she appreciated him being one of those men who didn't raise questions of the work she did or of how much she snooped around the Reed's manor. Even though his memory had not returned before, he had still believed in her when she had relayed her worries to him. Being her husband, he had tried to protect her by fighting with Emily's ghost that had resulted in his death. She continued, "I will always remember him, and keep him close to me in my heart and mind. The memories we have shared together, I will always keep them with me. Thank you all for coming here today."

Louise noticed how Graham's ghost slightly furrowed his eyebrows on her words. It was strange to speak about a person who was dead and at the same time still around. She stepped away from where she stood until now, and her uncle came forward. "Are you okay, Louise?" Uncle Hugo asked her. "Yes," Louise offered a small smile. After the viewing was complete, the caskets were carried to the burial place where the other deceased members of the Reed's had been buried. The guests followed the remaining members of the Reed's family and watched the caskets being placed in the hollow pit dug in the ground for each deceased member. Gilbert and Henry had taken care of burying the deceased servants, taking them to the local cemetery on Louise's words. Louise watched Robert and Viola's caskets, and her eyes then shifted to look at Graham's casket. "Don't lose hope, Lady Louise," one of the women tried to console her. "Like you said, they will always live with us."

"Hm," Louise gave a short nod. Because the ironic thing here was that Graham's ghost was indeed living amongst them. A lot of the guests pitied the young widow, while there were a few who couldn't help themselves in pointing quietly that there was something amiss with Louise' reaction when it came to the deaths that had taken place. But Louise didn't pay any attention to them. This wasn't the first time for her to grieve someone's death, and since last month, she had seen people die or heard about deaths. Father Andrew performed the burial ceremony, offering the deceased peace. After everyone offered their prayers, the men started to push the mud into the hollow pit of the graves one after another until the ground was levelled. Headstones were placed on each of the respective graves. Alison quietly stood and sobbed while Henry held her in his arms and tried to console her. Their daughter, Molly, hugged Louise's aunt, Aunt Merlin, where they stood far away from the spot where the cemetery was present to protect the young one from any ill omen. Most of the guests finally left.

Mr. Winkle, who had come to pay his respects for the dead, caught sight of the officer, who now stood in front of the half-burnt house. Mr. Winkle walked up to Mr. Shaw and said, "I heard you are the one who was handling the case of the Reed's, Mr. Shaw?" "The second half, yes. It was Mr. Burton who was in charge of the case in the beginning before my assistance was asked," replied Mr. Shaw, watching the retired lawyer, who looked at the house with a scrunched face. "Where is he? Moping in the corner because he couldn't solve the case?" Mr. Winkle's words were nothing less than a taunt, but then that is how he spoke to everyone without filtering his words. Mr. Shaw replied calmly, "He is working on another case." "Didn't solve this, and now he's hoping that he cracks the next one?" huffed Mr. Winkle as he took a good look at the manor. He asked, "What do you think happened here, Mr. Shaw? For a fire to break out of nowhere and for people to die due to the fire? But then that doesn't explain anything about the dead bodies of the servants."

"The case was marked as unsolved and closed. It just appears to be a mystery case," explained Mr. Shaw. "Mm, I hope you and your department aren't holding Louise as the culprit for the incident that happened. Because if that is the case, you tell it to me right now and I will fight her case," demanded the old man, his eyes shifting from the house to look at the officer. "Lady Louise Evardon has been cleared of any involvement in the murder of the Reed's as well as the servants. You do not have to worry about it, Mr. Winkle. Her name is clear from any criminal charges," replied Mr. Shaw, and he then offered a bow to the man. "It was nice talking to you, I will be taking my leave now." Mr. Winkle watched the officer walk farther and farther away from where he stood. "Thank you for coming, Mr. Winkle," came Louise' voice from behind, and the old man turned to look at her. He pursed his lips in deep thought. "I heard from your uncle that you are planning to rebuild this manor," said the man, and Louise wondered if like the others, he was going to tell her that it was a bad idea. But Mr. Winkle surprised her by saying, "It is good that you have decided to do it. It would be saddening to erase everything that holds memories. I am sure you would like to keep the memories intact, isn't it?" On hearing Mr. Winkle's words, Louise remembered the memories she had held since she had come to live in this manor. The time when she had woken up in the middle of the night and walked in the corridor. The time when she unveiled Emily's ghost in the portrait of painting and many others that weren't exactly all fond memories. Mr. Winkle then said, "You have caused quite some chatter in the town. Everywhere I went yesterday, I heard murmurs and whispers. Not to mention, someone even found out that you didn't change your last name to Reed, and it had created more talks. Not that you should care."

Louise knew people would speak about it after hearing about the many deaths on the Reed's property. She would stay there for the next few weeks or months, depending on how long it would take for the reconstruction of the manor to complete. "People need something to talk about. It isn't like they have never spoken about me before," replied Louise. People would talk now, and they would slowly forget when they would find something new to talk about. "I don't think I will be coming to the office, Mr. Winkle." "Of course, take as much time as you need," Mr. Winkle wanted to help Louise. If she needed to take her mind off the things that had happened, his office would always be open for her. At the same time, he didn't want to be insensitive to her loss. Louise shook her head and then said, "I was thinking of changing my line of work that I am pursuing until now." Mr. Winkle looked a little taken aback, and he asked, "Have you thought of what you want to do?" She nodded, "One of the officers from the investigation department had asked me to come and see him. Maybe not now, but after a few weeks."

"I see. Take how much ever time that you need, the world is not going nowhere. Let me know if you need any help from me and I would be more than happy to offer it. I am always here for you," Mr. Winkle offered her his support. "Thank you, Mr. Winkle. It is very much appreciated," thanked Louise, and she saw the old man leaving the Reed's property in his carriage. The remaining guests followed the trail, leaving Alison, Henry, Molly, Louise, her aunt and uncle, along with the servants who had survived from the ghost. Alison tightly hugged Louise, taking a few seconds before pulling away from her embrace. There were tears in her eyes, and she said to Louise, "You know you don't have to rebuild the house. You can sell it." "This is the only home I have known with Graham and all of you, I don't think I am ready to part away from it yet," replied Louise, her words soft, and Alison nodded. "I can understand. I understand what you mean," replied Alison. Even though she had an equal share in her family's property, both she and her husband had decided that they didn't want any part of it. "We'll be living in Henry's house, and see what to do next. We still have our family business, and maybe it is time for me to take part in it to reduce his workload," she tried to put up a smile on her face, but it failed. Louise offered her words of encouragement, "You will learn it in no time. You are a mother, you will be able to manage everything else just fine." "I am only a letter away, if you ever need anything," Alison turned slightly anxious as she said this, "Anything at all, don't hesitate. Henry and I will try our best to support and be for you." "Alison is right," agreed Henry, and he said, "You are more than welcome to come and stay in our house. After all, we are a family." Louise was thankful for the invitation, but right now she had some things to deal with here. And she didn't want to stay too far from her uncle and aunt. She nodded. She walked near her aunt and then bent down to level herself to Molly's gaze, and the little girl said, "You won't be coming with us, Aunt Louise?" "Not right now, but I will come and visit you soon," replied Louise, placing her hand on the little girl's head. "I will miss you."

"Me too. I will wait for you, or I will come visit you with mama and papa," said Molly, which made Louise smile. "I will hold you to it," and she leaned forward, kissing the little one's forehead. She was glad that this little family had escaped the fate of death, sparing their lives. When it was time, Alison left from the Reed's property with her husband and daughter. Her uncle and her aunt were the next one to be dropped by Henry, who was accompanied by Camille, leaving Louise and the butler all by themselves. Louise hadn't seen Graham's ghost since the time the caskets were buried in the ground, and she wondered if he finally left and found peace like others. She came to stand in front of the burned manor. Gilbert, who followed her closely, asked her, "What do you plan to do next, Lady Louise?" "There used to be a blueprint of the manor in the cellar before. Let us find it." "Yes, milady," Gilbert obliged to her words. Nôv(el)B\\jnn