‘Ah, you know. Fretful. She does so hate not being with you. Here, I’ll put you on.’
CHAPTER 9
ALEX
That probably couldn’t have gone much worse, Alex decided.
After she’d eaten a scone, slathered in rich creamy butter and the most delicious blackberry jam she had ever tasted, she poked half-heartedly around the pristine kitchen to learn where everything was. She wanted to rely on Nick Walker even less after that reaction. He’d just stormed off.
The door to the cellar was locked but, remembering the warning from last night, she left it alone. Unsafe, Nick had said. Right. Sooner or later she’d have to check that out. The company would want to get a surveyor in fairly soon. It hadn’t been possible so far. Nick’s doing, she supposed. He hadn’t exactly been cooperative. Well, that would have to change. Now she was here she would make arrangements as soon as possible.
There had been another room she wasn’t allowed into when she was young, of course. Her grandfather’s study.
In a fit of grumpy pique, she poured herself another coffee and headed off that way, half expecting it to be locked. She was going to have to askMister Estate Managerfor the master keys. She didn’t like the idea of being locked out of half her own house. And it washerhouse, no matter what he thought. Even if she didn’t want to be here, she could do with it what she wanted,including poking around, using whatever room she felt like, or selling it. He did not own the place, or have any right to it.
Except he kind of did. Because Theo had signed that agreement. And Theo dying didn’t apparently get them out of it. Not easily anyway.
Nick clearly knew that if she succeeded, he was not only out of a job, but out of a home as well. No wonder he was unhappy to have her here.
And no, she didn’t need the money. She just wanted rid of Wildewood Hall and everything to do with it, once and for all. Given everything that had happened to her family here, who wouldn’t?
The door to the study, across from the hideous ancient mirror which made her look like she was standing in a fun house, was open. So she wandered in, but immediately stopped in her tracks, staring.
An impressive bow window overlooked the driveway where her car was parked. That area was dominated by a huge Edwardian desk. But the rest of the room…
It wasn’t just a study. It was a library. All polished hardwood, reading chairs, and row upon row of books. Leather-bound volumes with gilt lettering graced the shelves, some of them hundreds of years old. They lined the three remaining walls almost entirely, only the area on either side of the desk uncovered. It took her breath away. She approached the nearest shelf. Her fingertips brushed against the books’ spines and she let out a little sigh of delight.
The History of the Line of de Wilde.
Legends and Folklore of Kilfayne.
The Master of the Revels.
The titles went on. Many of them were multi-volume works. She imagined Arnold’s face, the sheer delight he would wear if he caught a glimpse of this. His little research-obsessed heartwould overflow. She really ought to tell him about it. Invite him over and…
No. Whatever there was to uncover before the sale, she was here on her own. She couldn’t have them here. She knew that. This place…this place played with your imagination, toyed with you.
Here she was assigning purpose and intent to a house, a building. It might be old but it was not a sentient thing. As these books would illustrate, her ancestors on the de Wilde side had been selfish bastards through and through, greedy and exploitative. People had hated them, and rightly so in most cases. They got what they deserved. That was all.
Apart from Theo.
Still, if something of their evil had managed to permeate the stones here it was hardly a surprise. But there was nothing supernatural about it.
Alex fetched her laptop and set herself up, defiantly, in the study to work. The wi-fi details had been left on the desk – another touch of Nick’s efficiency. He must have intended for her to work here then, which half made her want to find somewhere else. She had never liked being told what to do. But the light was perfect, the chair comfortable and the atmosphere ideal.
And it felt satisfying to give a two-fingered salute to the old man who had tried to make her life a misery.
There was no sign of Nick for the rest of the day. She made her own lunch, trying to ignore the feeling that she was scavenging in her own home. It didn’t feel like a home anyway, especially when it was just her.
The house made strange noises around her, as old houses invariably did. Pipes murmured and floorboards creaked, sounds echoed strangely. In the end she just put on herheadphones and listened to music as she tried to work, until the light started to fade outside.
She took a break as dusk fell, stretching her back and standing up, turning to look out of the tall windows and down the drive.
A battered-looking truck lurched off the main road and eventually came to a halt beside her own car. She watched in silence as Nick got out and fished his phone from his coat pocket, while heading for the house. The big front doors opened with a long creak. She heard him in the hall, his voice gentler than before, a voice tempered by affection.
‘No, love. I’ll be back down tomorrow. I promise.’ He paused, listening, and Alex made her way to the study door, though whether to close it and shut him out or to let him know she was there, she wasn’t sure. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop. ‘I know. I know, but it’s not for long. Okay,mo stórín. Don’t fret. Be?—’
His eyes met Alex’s as she appeared in the open doorway, and a look she could only describe as guilty spread over his face. Whatever he’d been about to say, he paused and his voice grew a little firmer.
