“You’d think less of me if I hadn’t.” Robin smiled. “I also checked out the history of Black Oaks with its werewolves and the spooky curse.”
Nelly’s countenance darkened. “Please don’t make fun of the curse when you’re with Dad. He believes it, and I can’t blame him. Nothing good has happened since my parents moved into this monstrosity. First, Dad quit his law practice for no apparent reason. Then there was the accident…”
“Do you have any idea why your father retired so abruptly?”
Nelly shook her head. “He refuses to talk about it.”
“If your father thinks Black Oaks is cursed, why does he stay here?”
“I’ve begged him to leave, but my mother loved the place. Dad says he can sense her presence in every room, and he’d feel like he was deserting her if he left.”
Robin understood exactly how Frank Melville felt. She’d sensed Jeff’s presence in every room of the apartment she and Jeff shared, but she’d decided that the pain of staying with those constant reminders was too great. She’d also believed that Jeff would live in her heart no matter where she stayed.
“So, did you enjoy Oxford?” Robin asked, hoping that a change of subject would lighten the mood. It didn’t.
“I wasn’t there long enough to know,” Nelly said. “Dad had his accident my third week at the university, and I flew home.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I love my father and I’ve never regretted being here for him.”
“Have you learned why he wants to see me?”
“He won’t discuss that either. But you’ll know soon enough. He’s waiting to meet you.”
The top of the stone staircase divided the third floor into two wings. Guests were housed in several rooms adjacent to the one Robin occupied in the west wing, and the Melville family occupied the rooms in the east wing. Robin followed Nelly Melville to the end of the third-floor corridor. Nelly knocked on the last door, and a deep voice told her to enter.
Frank Melville’s suite took up the entire end of the manor. The room Robin walked into was dominated by an ornately carveddesk with a kneehole wide enough to accommodate Melville’s wheelchair.
Melville’s deep voice had tricked Robin into expecting her host to be robust, but Frank Melville was a man weighed down by sorrow. His thin skin was pale, and his hair was gray with a sprinkling of strands that were the same cinnamon color as his daughter’s tresses. His green eyes looked tired.
Melville was wearing a tweed jacket, white shirt, and navy blue tie. Across from him was a tall woman with shoulder-length, honey-blond hair and sky-blue eyes, who looked closer to Nelly’s age than her father’s.
“Thank you for coming all this way, Miss Lockwood,” Melville said. “I hope the trip wasn’t too arduous.”
“I survived it in one piece,” Robin answered with a smile.
“Well, you’re here now, and I appreciate it.”
Melville gestured toward the woman seated across from him.
“This is Sheila Monroe, my assistant, without whom I could never have done my work to free the innocent from prison.”
Robin could feel the warmth that flowed toward the woman. But she also noticed that Nelly had tensed up.
“Sheila and Nelly, I’d like you to leave. I know you’re curious about why I asked Miss Lockwood to come to Black Oaks, but it’s a legal matter, and I’m sure you appreciate that many of the things I am going to relate will constitute a confidential communication.”
“Of course, Frank,” Sheila said as she stood to leave.
“I’ll see you at dinner,” Nelly said as she left the room.
Melville told Robin to take the seat that Sheila Monroe had vacated. As soon as they were alone, his shoulders sagged, and he looked desperate.
“Miss Lockwood, I need your help to right a terrible wrong.”Melville took a deep breath and gathered himself. “It’s going to take some time for me to explain what happened.”
“Take all the time you need, and give me as much information as you can, so I can figure out how to help.”
Melville looked down at the desktop. Robin could see that he was in distress.