‘How do you know he’s sneaking?’
‘Everything about him sayssneaking.’
‘He’s not wearing boots.’
‘Or a jacket.’
‘And he’s not supposed to be able to walk.’
The sudden sound of a door slamming made them all jump, and if they’d been in any doubt that Jago’s father had no wish to be seen, his sudden look of alarm and hurried move towards the staircase quieted it. Indeed, his limp barely slowed him downat all as he swiftly climbed the stairs and disappeared along the galleried landing.
‘Ah, there you are.’ Mrs Penna’s relieved tones came abruptly from behind them causing all three to spin round guiltily.
‘Some guard dog you are,’ the Reverend muttered to Freddy. Ignoring his master, the foxhound continued his campaign to win the housekeeper over, by wagging his tail and rolling over. Clearly, he knew who had control of the larder.
‘We were wondering where everyone was,’ Charity offered lamely.
Mrs Penna sighed. ‘There’s been an accident at the mine,’ she explained. ‘It’s all hands to the pump when that happens. I’ve only just this second returned.’
‘Is that where Ja… Mr Carlyon has gone?’ Charity asked. The housekeeper nodded with a sigh. ‘The lad’s been away too long.’ Absently, she bent down to give Freddy a fuss on the head.
‘Anyway, where are my manners,’ she scolded herself a second later. ‘Your rooms are ready, and your bags have been taken up, so if you’d like to follow me.’
‘Was anyone hurt?’ Charity asked as they followed the housekeeper up the stairs.
Mrs Penna shook her head. ‘By God’s mercy, no,’ she answered, holding her candle high as she turned left at the top of the stairs, the opposite direction they’d seen Jago’s father take.
‘Is the Master of the house very sick?’ Reverend Shackleford asked using his bestI’m a man of the cloth, you can tell me anythingtone. Charity threw him a warning glance as Mrs Penna frowned.
‘He’s hardly left his bed since Miss Genevieve died, poor man. The shock brought on an apoplexy. At first it effected the left side of his body from his face down to his feet. After a while, he regained the use of his hand and arm, and his face returned to normal, but his legs…’ she paused to push open a door at the end of the corridor. ‘It’s my fear he’s not long for this world. That’s why I’m so pleased Mr Jago’s finally home.’
She walked through the open doorway and stepped to the side. ‘Here is your room, Miss Shackleford. I do hope it’s satisfactory. Mr Jago said to tell you he’ll see you at dinner. We keep country hours here, so that will be seven o’clock sharp.’
After handing Freddy’s lead to her father, Charity stepped into the room. She barely saw any of the furnishing, her eyes drawn immediately towards the large four poster bed. At the sight of it, a rush of exhaustion hit her, so strong that she stumbled a little. With a quick nod of thanks to the housekeeper, and a wave to her father and Percy, she shut the door. Less than five minutes later, she was asleep.
The sun had almost gone down by the time Charity woke, the last of the sunlight shining directly into her face. Climbing out of bed, she went to the window in time to observe the most magnificent sunset she’d ever seen. So much forit always rains in Cornwall.Jago had not been exaggerating when he said the house was close to the sea. She could clearly see the distant waves shimmering like sheets of molten copper, the sky above afire with orange and pink. Spellbound, she watched all the colours gradually merge into a single point, as the sun finally began its fiery descent into the sea. Until all of a sudden, it was over.
Sighing, she turned back into the room, and looked about for a candle, eventually spying two on the mantelpiece. Quickly lighting both, this time using the tinderbox provided, she stared around the room with interest. A large fire burning in the hearth ensured the room was pleasantly warm, and the furnishings looked to be of the finest quality. Stepping over to the wardrobe, she threw open the doors and grimaced at the two dresses hanging there. She had only three dresses and two sets of undergarments with her. It could not be helped that Jago had already seen her in her one and only evening dress.
A more pressing problem was the clothes’ odour. She had no idea how long they were likely to be staying at Tredennick, and she’d worn her day dresses one after the other since leaving Blackmore along with the same undergarments. She’d have to see to getting them cleaned on the morrow or she would undoubtedly begin to smell more than a little ripe.
With a sigh, she pulled off her current dress and gave it an experimental sniff, grimacing at the ever-present stench of fish. This would have to be first then. Tossing the gown on the floor, she quickly stripped out of her undergarments and stared without enthusiasm at the small jug of washing water on the dresser.
She was just about to pour the cold water into the bowl provided, when there was a loud knock on the door. Swearing under her breath, she picked up her clothes and held them to her front, shouting, ‘Who is it?’
‘It’s the maid, Miss.’ A pause, ‘And the footmen. Mrs Penna ‘ad us bring you a bath.’
∞∞∞
An hour later, Charity pulled open the door to her room, feeling considerably better. The bath had been lukewarm but nice and deep, and the maid had left both soap and thick towels for her use. To Charity’s delight, she’d also picked up the discarded dress and underskirt with a disdainful sniff and taken it away to be cleaned.
In contrast to the empty hallway earlier, Bennett was waiting in the large hallway ready to direct her to the drawing room, though in truth sleeping would be more accurate. He’d clearly been parked at the foot of the stairs in the hope that anybody descending would wake him up when they got to the bottom.
After giving the elderly butler a quick shake, she waited as he got shakily to his feet, resisting the urge to give him a helping hand. Despite it being only a little way up the corridor, it was a full five minutes before he stopped at the entrance to what looked to be the drawing room.
As he bent over in an approximation of a bow, for a horrifying second, she feared he would keep going, but in the end, he managed to right himself before tottering off back to his position at the foot of the stairs.
Entering the room, she found Jago deep in conversation with a small grey-haired man. For a second, she was able to stare at him unobserved. Seeing him in formal evening dress for the first time, his dark, striking good looks almost stole her breath. And then his eyes were on hers, and the warmth in his gaze set her heart pumping madly.
