Chapter 9
The library was like the rest of the house. It was big and comfortable, done in dark blue and a soft dull rose. A woman's room, but not the kind that would stifle a man. The woodwork was white, the wall masses broken up with bookshelves and a few excellent pictures, the lamplight shaded and restful. And yet somehow it had an empty feel, as though it were not really lived in.
Jane Hammond looked up from the depths of an armchair as Clive came in. "How is Richard?"
"Sleeping it off." He gave her a reassuring smile.
Vivien Alcott bounced up off a couch, all flushed and excited. She had shed the red coat, and the brown dress she wore was pretty tight.
"You've been missing all the fun. I thought Jane was going to murder Benson before you got back. Did Richard tell you what you wa
