The Silence of Ghosts Read online

  ‘I know,’ she said. ‘I’ve seen them here. They look quite young again.’

  ‘Really? That must be nice for them, after all these years.’

  She shook her head slowly, side to side. ‘I don’t think they like it here,’ she said, not like a child speaking at all. ‘They never liked this house. Too many bodies, too many voices.’

  ‘But you can hear now? And speak!’

  She nodded and her face lit up. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’m a ghost talker now, you see. I have my friends. I taught them English and they taught me Portuguese. Have you come to tear Hallinhag House down? If you do, we’ll all have to leave.’

  I shook my head. ‘No,’ I said, ‘I would never do that. I have too many plans. I will take some of the gardens away, that’s all. Perhaps you can point out which is which. I want to bring my own dead here, and you and your friends can ask them questions and tell me what they say. Will you be content with that?’

  ‘Why don’t you come inside and speak with the other children?’

  And she smiled and opened the door for me and led me inside.

  Her body is in the churchyard and the daffodils that were planted long ago on her grave are blooming. I am sure her soul is at rest. For the moment.

  The vicar at Martindale is the grandson of Dominic’s Oliver Braithwaite. Oliver found his wife in the end, without going out into the missionary field. I gave him the diaries to read, and when he finished them he agreed something had to be done. With the help of his two sextons, we transferred the bones, all the contents of the coffins, from the attic to a large plot at the back of the graveyard. The Reverend Braithwaite and I shook hands. And I got in touch with a local firm of builders. They finished work last week, and the house is inhabitable again.

  Charles Lancaster’s personal diary

  Sir William remains. He seems happy with what I have suggested. The four children will remain too, as ghost talkers. And Octavia. They will be jewels in our midst, the keys to ten thousand secrets.

  I wrote and posted a letter yesterday

  My Lord, the Earl Dunlop

  I believe your ancestor, Earl Howard, was well acquainted with my own ancestor, Sir William Lancaster. If you would care to meet me, I can relate what I know about the connection they forged. I have in my possession a number of letters sent to and from Earl Howard and my ancestor, and I suspect that, if you have an archive, you will find letters there also. I will bring with me a proposal that I believe will prove to be of mutual benefit.

  Let me know your feelings on this meeting and, if you will, an early date, either at my place in Bedford Square or at yours. You are not, of course, so very far away.

  Yours sincerely,

  Sir Charles Lancaster