Mrs. Darcy and the Tenant of Ivyglenn

An Elizabeth Darcy Adventure #5

By: Carrie Mollenkopf

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

When Elizabeth Darcy joins her sister-in-law on the important task of house hunting, they discover far more than they ever expected. The vacant former leasehold of Ivyglenn is everything Georgiana ever dreamed, that is, all but the body in the attics. Who left a lady carefully posed in a wedding dress staring lifeless out the attic windows? Read an excerpt below...

Elizabeth had wandered down an equally labyrinthine passage, leading towards one of the dormer windows. It’s light, surprisingly clear for a space so cluttered, shown down upon what appeared to be a dressmaker’s form clad in wedding attire. But when she ventured closer, it was apparent that this was no model, no display of a lady’s handiwork. For it had not be the rot of any rodent that now assaulted her senses, it was the fetid smell of human flesh, long dead, but not so long as to suspect and equally dead assailant. The thing before her, now in a late stage of decay, had not so long ago been a living, breathing person. And no accident could be blamed for how the lady was posed, holding an equally dead bouquet of faded roses and staring sightless out the window. As such, Mrs. Darcy had not heard the inquiry as to her opinion before Georgiana and Mr. Frampton began to seek her out. By then, she had recovered from her shock and could face them with composure.
“My apologies, what did you say?”
“The rafters…do they appear sound,” Georgiana repeated.
“Oh yes, all is as it should be… all but the tenant. I am afraid someone needs to inform her of our intentions.”
“What tenant? The house is vacant…has been for some time, surely Madam is…” Mr. Frampton countered, but as his eyes followed to where Elizabeth pointed, his words of denial froze unspoken.
“That one… And I believe we shall require Mr. Penwick’s opinion after all.”