Devil May Care by Elizabeth Peters Page A

And turn on the air conditioning!" Ellie did as he suggested, not because of his discomfort, but because of her own. As the car rolled smoothly down the driveway she inquired, "What do you want to go to town for?" "You don't talk right," Donald said, sitting gingerly on the seat. "You should say, ' do you--' "
    "What do you want to go to town--"
    "Just to keep you company." Donald beamed at her. "I'll finish the lawn later."
    "What about the animals? Should we leave them alone?"
    "There are assorted Beaseleys all over the place.
    Anyhow, animals are a lot more competent than people."
    Ellie steered deliberately for the first pothole she saw and observed, with pleasure, that Donald's head contacted the roof of the car quite smartly.
    "No disturbances last night?" he asked, rubbing his head ostentatiously.
    "I said I'd call if anything happened."
    DEVIL-MAY-CARE 83
    "I don't believe you. You might be more inclined to call Ted."
    "I'm sorry I called him in the first place," Ellie admitted. "I adore him, but he is an awful gossip. I don't want that story spread all over town."
    "He's probably spread it already."
    "He didn't talk to the Beaseleys."
    "Nobody talks to the Beaseleys. Hey--you mean the exquisite Marian communicated with you? How did you ascertain that she was unaware without giving the show away?"
    "I didn't." Donald looked at her in surprise, and Ellie added defensively, "I had to tell her something.
    I didn't want her to think I was locking the place up because I didn't trust her."
    "I forgot about the Beaseleys when we locked up," Donald admitted. "You must have had to get up at dawn to let her in. No wonder you look so holloweyed and sickly."
    Ellie ignored this gratuitous insult. Donald's comment reminded her only too clearly of the unanswered question.
    "I didn't get up at dawn. But she was already inside."
    "What? How?"
    "She didn't say. You know how she is, I couldn't ... We must have forgotten to bolt one of the doors or windows."
    Donald shook his head.
    "No chance."
    "Then how--"
    "Either she is a witch, which wouldn't surprise me. Or there is some way of getting into the house we don't know about."
    "I don't know which idea is worse."
    "Forget about the Beaseleys. You don't really believe they're responsible for your ghosts, do you?"
    "No."
    84 Elizabeth Peters
    "Neither do I. What's bugging you? Something Marian said?"
    His insight verged on mind reading. Ellie had never thought of herself as having one of those candid, transparent faces that revealed every passing thought. Certainly Henry had never been able to tell what she was thinking. Which was just as well, for Henry ... "Maybe Marian is a witch," she said, morosely.
    "When I described what I had seen, she identified the people. ' squire Mcgrath and his wife and her lover.' She said the bodies were found in Kate's woods."
    "Go on," Donald said, after a moment. "That's not all."
    "The man in the hall. She said he must be young Francis Morrison. You're the spitting image of young Francis, in case you didn't know. How Marian knows I can't imagine; according to her, Francis was killed at Saratoga." Donald said nothing. The big car was cool now; he had settled comfortably onto the seat and was staring out the windshield, as if there were nothing on his mind beyond the passing scenery.
    "Well?" Ellie demanded.
    "What is this, a court of inquiry? I have never heard that I had an ancestor who was my twin, if that's what you want me to say. The name is vaguely familiar, but ... "
    "Then how would Marian know?"
    "Maybe she just made it up. I don't know why I should feel so guilty," Donald said irritably. "If one of my ancestors should take a notion to haunt you, it's not my fault. Furthermore, I don't believe a word of it."
    Ellie was silent. Donald wriggled uncomfortably, as if the seat had become hot again.
    "Oh, all right," he said, as if in answer to a comdevil-MAY-CARE 85
    ment Ellie had never made. "We'll look him up. The town library has a good