Unahadsuccessfullydistractedherself all day from the problem of the missing key by rifling through family documents for a clue to the puzzle of Pip.
When the key turned up at teatime, relief had coursed through her veins.The man was not lurking somewhere with it, waiting to make another attempt.
But when nightfall came, and the chittering and rustling from the glasshouse died down, dread settled over her once more.
Una resented it.She had been raised in this rambling ruin of a home and knew every nook and crevice, every groaning hinge and patch of rising damp.She felt towards it like one might feel towards an elderly pet.
But now it had betrayed her by concealing an enemy.Now, all at once, every stairwell, every dark corner, was a potential threat.
She lay in bed and listened to the abbey’s arthritic moans, her hand on Oolong, the pulse of life in his body a welcome, calming counterpoint.
Una did not like windy nights.The glasshouse had been built so that the prevailing winds were blocked by the abbey itself, but it was easy to imagine some cruel turn in the weather shattering it, leaving a twisted wreck behind, with dragons spilling out into the rest of England where only heaven knew what fate might await them at the hands of a frightened populace.
A tap at her door made her sit bolt upright.
“Una?Are you awake?”
It was only Pip.Una pulled her shawl round her shoulders.
“Yes, wait a moment.”
She got up and unlocked the door, floorboards cold under her feet.
Pip checked the passage behind him in the light of his lamp, then shut the door behind him and turned the key in it.
“I heard something,” he whispered.
Una’s chest tightened.“What sort of something?”
“Crunching, or munching,” he said.
“Munching!”Una echoed.
“Yes.Moving down the passage and…munching.”
Una suppressed a laugh of relief.“Could it have been a dragon, scratching about?”
“No,” insisted Pip.“It sounded like a person.”
This sobered Una again.“You’re quite sure you didn’t dream it?”
“I hadn’t even gone to sleep yet.I couldn’t.It’s this wind.”He waved his hand in irritation.“I got used to other sounds in Bloomsbury.Hansoms and lorries and the bin-man’s cart.”
A wave of pity washed over her, because he looked so miserable.Was he regretting the fit of anger that had sent him back here?
Una went to the French doors, unlocked them, and listened.
“Nothingseemswrong,“ said Una slowly, looking back at Oolong.“Perhaps Annie was up late?”
“I happen to know Annie is down at the village this evening with her sick mother.Look here,” Pip complained, “I was supposed to stay here to make you feel safe, and you’re not even scared of the intruder I’ve just heard?”
“You said it was munching,” Una replied.“How can anyone be scared of an intruder who crunches and munches?”
Pip flushed at the implication.“Well, p’raps I’ll just go back to the village then!My bed there is a lot more comfortable, I can tell you.Your sister’s is about as old as Noah.”
“No, please don’t leave!”Una said quickly.The servants employed at the abbey slept quite far away from the old nursery, in another wing entirely.“You did check on the relic, didn’t you?”
“Yes, of course I did,” Pip snapped.
