Love & Murder: An Eliza Winter Mystery

Black

The small church the Vanderwahls choose for Penelope's funeral was not prepared for the number of people in attendance. Over a hundred people crammed into the four-hundred-year-old church and squeezed into every available space. The wooden pews were reserved for the immediate family and it seemed all of London surrounded the real mourners.

Eliza sat behind the Vanderwahls, who allowed Anya to sit next to Penelope's Aunt. Eliza immediately noticed that Adelaide, with her fake sniffles, was with her father seated behind Mary Winter. Bridgette was with her own mother standing near the last pew and Colin lingered near the doorway. She was also surprised to see the Tennysons were seated across from her and Andrew Tennyson, once again, looked like he wished to be anywhere else.

For a moment, Andrew's presence raised a red flag. Eliza had thought that maybe he was the mystery man. Same age, he's inheriting both a title and fortune and he's known for being one of the biggest rakes in London. But then Eliza couldn't imagine why he would keep their affair a secret. Penelope would have come with a fortune, one that would clean up any debts he owed, and she was much more beautiful than the women he usually had hanging off his arm. There would be no motive for him to hush anything up, at least not anything everyone didn't already know about.

Eliza caught Colin's eye twice as she looked around while everyone found their place. He seemed to have her in his eye line as soon as he walked into the processional that led up to the church. She nodded to the stone enclave that sat to the left of the pews and he gave her a nod. She wanted to talk to him about the diary, but she wasn't sure that this was the proper place for it.

The church fell silent as the vicar came down the aisle and Eliza was grateful it was a closed casket. The sleek wooden box was decorated ornately with an almost obscenely large floral display on top. The hearse pulling the casket for the processional down the street was so lavishly decorated that anyone that saw it pass, knew it held someone of the upper class inside.

Lady Vanderwahl sobbed under her thin black veil during the entire processional and all through the vicar quoting from the bible. Lord Vanderwahl didn't move a muscle. He stayed almost as still as the stone Saints that were carved into the enclaves around him. Penelope's brother sat next to her father, gazing into oblivion.

Eliza hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until Mary looked at her and told her to breathe. She clutched onto her mother's dainty hand and knew if she let go, she'd fall apart. She couldn't weep in front of an audience.

She was also struggling with wondering about what people were thinking of Penelope when they stood to go place a rose onto the wooden casket. False tears dripped down stranger's faces and whispers filled the church as everyone fell into a line. So far, Eliza hadn't heard anyone whispering about her being pregnant and Eliza was grateful. During the processional, everyone whispered about what the motive could have been to murder Penelope. No one had any real idea, the most popular was that she had slept with the wrong man and maybe a scorned woman threw her into the river. Eliza also heard that some other women were more worried that a man was targeting women of the upper-class and were there merely to make sure they didn't need to hide their own daughters away.

When it's finally Eliza's turn to place her blood-red rose onto the casket, she can't help but wonder how peaceful her friend looked inside. Were her hands folded gently over the place her baby was taken from her? Was she dressed in the finest black silks and stones? Was the man that placed her in that box somewhere near, acting as if Penelope's absence was causing him pain?

Eliza feels her chest start heaving and she drops the rose onto the mound of others. Her hand flies to her heart and she darts away from the coffin before anyone can see her tears. She knows she was supposed to meet Colin, but she suddenly feels claustrophobic inside the small church. She gently pushes her way past the other mourners waiting to place their roses and nearly sprints outside. She pushes the wooden door open that sits off to the side of the church and finds herself outside, in a small fenced-in graveyard. There's a stone bird feeder in the center of the garden and Eliza finally stops to catch her breath as she reaches it.