The laugh she had heard ripple through the house couldn’t have been Nick. It had been light, girlish.
It stirred a memory, of playing here with Theo when they were kids, of running through these corridors, and up and down the stairs, chasing…not each other. They were chasing someone else. Other kids. She could almost see them. Hear them…Lexi, this way. Come on, Lexi!
And the laughter, those bright giggles.
And as for the whisper…that wasn’t Nick either. The voice was sultry and knowing, dangerous. And she remembered it as well. It haunted her nightmares.
Alex knew she was exhausted. Maybe she had just nodded off for a moment, and then started awake, dropping the cup. That made a lot more sense.
Alex steeled herself and followed Nick.
Nick seemed to fall back on formality once they left the drawing room.
He pointed out the dining room, dominated by a huge mahogany table, laid out as if for a banquet, all gleaming silver, white crockery and crystal. In contrast the morning room was mostly covered in dustsheets like a museum of Hallowe’enghosts. As they reached the staircase he ignored the narrow hallway leading to the kitchen. He clearly didn’t expect her to go down there.
‘Is there anyone else here?’ she asked in what she hoped was a casual manner. Maybe there was a cook who didn’t want them in the kitchen.
Nick eyed her strangely, staring for a moment too long. ‘No. Not at the moment. A lot of the house isn’t in use. You’ll see a lot of dustcovers around here. Oh, and parts of it are unsafe so the doors there are locked. The cellar too.’ He hesitated, as if he was reluctant to say more about the cellar but felt he ought to. ‘Yeah, it’s… It’s not safe either. Best stay out of it.’
Well, that was ominous. She hadn’t thought about the place being unstable. Not until now. In her mind Wildewood Hall was eternal.
‘How likely is this place to fall down on us, Nick?’
He cast another look over his shoulder as he moved off again and then gave a brief snort of laughter. ‘Wildewood Hall? The chance would be a fine thing. I don’t think this house will ever fall down, butyoumight. Weak floorboards, some rot in places, damage over the years, that kind of thing. The ground floor’s fine, and the main bedrooms up here. I’ve done what I can to secure the rest but it would take a fortune to do the whole place up properly. I don’t suppose you have one of those.’
‘Not in the slightest,’ she replied lightly. This seemed like safer ground. ‘If only.’
‘Ah well then.’ There was gentle amusement in his voice. It was strangely comforting. Better than the animosity she’d been reading in him so far. ‘Worth checking.’
They reached the first floor and he led her along the landing to a grand corridor lined with even more portraits facing four doors well spread out. He opened the first one on the right. Itwas above the drawing room. Alex hesitated. She had to take a deep breath before entering.
It truly was a master suite. That was what he had promised her in his message after all. A four-poster bed dominated it, dark brown wood, carved with ornate leaves, berries and, when she peered closer, the occasional animal peeking out. Very like the grand staircase. It was hung with dark green drapery, and made up with about half a dozen pillows and matching bedclothes. Three grand sash windows looked out over the driveway, although all she could see right now was the lashing rain. As she stood there, staring, open-mouthed, Nick went over to close the curtains. They matched the bed as well, she thought absently. Whoever had decorated the room had excellent taste.
It looked like something out of a period drama. Just as well she hadn’t shown Daphne this. It would be white ladies, doomed lovers and phantom nuns all over the place.
‘Ensuite’s in there,’ he said with a nod to the left. ‘It was an old servants’ room. Theo had it done last year so there’s a state-of-the-art shower and plenty of hot water.’
‘Theo took this room?’ A lump formed in her throat. He wouldn’t have, would he?
‘No. He had this done as a guest room. That’s why it’s so—’ He waved a hand at the curtains and the beautifully restored antique furniture. ‘He thought he’d put it up online, for rentals. He didn’t want it for himself.’
No. No wonder.
‘It was our grandfather’s room,’ she whispered, the words little more than breath.
‘Oh.’ Nick frowned, chewing on his lower lip. He froze like that for a moment. Clearly, he knew some family history then. Theo had probably filled him in at the same time as he’d reversed his way rapidly out of this room and decided to charge total strangers a fortune for the privilege of setting foot in it.‘I didn’t think. I’m sorry. Do you…’ He glanced to the door, no doubt wondering how quickly he could make his escape. He rubbed one of his big hands against the beard. It made a rough scratchy noise. ‘I can try to make up Theo’s room for you, but it’s?—’
It was late. And she was being stupid. And he was talking about her dead twin’s bedroom. He didn’t need to say it out loud.
‘No, it’ll be fine.’ She tried to force a smile onto her face. ‘I’m not exactly roughing it here, am I? And you’ll want to get to bed too. I’m sorry. Don’t mind me.’
He nodded and finished fussing with the curtains, making sure they were closed. It was almost as if he wanted to say something else but didn’t know what that might be. Or how to say it, whatever it was.
‘Goodnight then,’ he said at last and then he was gone. Leaving her standing in the lap of luxury and feeling like more of a fraud than any of those she had exposed on television over the years.
Jesus Christ, what was she doing here?
Her grandfather, Professor Nathaniel de Wilde, had been a grim shadow across her whole childhood. From the first summer they had come here he had doted on Theo and more or less ignored Alex completely. Which had been fine with her because she had spent all her time with Gran, or playing her imaginary games. Theo was the heir to the family name, the boy, but she wasn’t even the spare. Just a girl. What use was she to the professor?
