~~~~
‘It truly was good to be home,’ the
nobleman thought as he departed his room in the early morning. Last night’s
rest had invigorated him in a way he hadn’t felt before, as though a weight was
lifted from his shoulders. He felt chipper and upbeat, confident the day would
be a pleasant one. However, as he came down into the family room, the mood was
anything but happy.
“I’m sorry to be the one to inform
you, sir, but,” the butler informed him upon his entry, “Your grandfather has
passed away. He fell from his bedroom window.”
The nobleman was taken aback, his mood
dropped as reality set in. He and his grandfather had always had their
differences, but his death was so sudden it shook him to his core. He had only
just spoken to his grandfather the night before. It was a brief discussion, but
he never expected it would be the last time they spoke. He silently wished he
had stayed longer.
“I had always told him to have the
window latch fixed,” his grandmother stated at some point in the blur of a day.
Such a dark day, marked only by the mourning of his relatives. The butler did
his best to remain professional, but the nobleman could tell he struggled to
maintain a stoic expression. He twitched as though he was uncomfortable in his
own skin. This cycle of mourning and anxiety continued into the late evening.
“Sir, there is something I must
say,” the butler approached the nobleman as the family scattered to be alone.
“I have seen many things in this house that I have kept to myself. All of it
for the sake of the family. However, I must say it may be in your interest to
look into your grandfather’s room.”
“Is there something amiss?” The
nobleman found himself asking.
“Possibly so,” the butler replied.
The nobleman found the butler’s
statements to be strange, but he also knew the butler would not be so brazen
without reason. Thus he made a point to enter his grandfather’s room that
night.
The room was as he expected, more of
a study than a bedroom, filled with more books, letters, and notes than
anything else. The window remained open, likely in case the police wished to
investigate, but everything else was in its place and pristine. Except for one
place, a small table with an opened bottle of fine wine and two empty glasses.
As the nobleman observed the
alcohol, a foggy memory surfaced. A time he was drinking with his grandfather,
a rare moment of cordiality between them. A fond memory if there ever was.
‘Wait, when did we?’ The nobleman
tried to remember, yet the time of the memory remained foggy. ‘Strange, I know
it was recent,’ he pondered.
‘What did I talk to him about last
night?’ The nobleman mused. ‘No better yet, what didn’t we talk about.’ It was
strange, he only recalled the short conversation at the door, yet he felt as
though they had talked for hours. After that, he doesn’t even remember making
it to bed.
‘Such a strange night,’ he commented
as he left the room. ‘Could I have...? No, what nonsense,’ he dismissed the
thought. ‘It would be better to leave grandfather’s death as nothing more than
an accident.’
~~~~
They say character is what you are in the dark, this is doubly true if not even you know what you are doing.Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
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