‘Thanks for nothing,’ Sebastian mouthed as he passed underneath it.
Taking a right turn in the passageway beyond the gallery, he saw movement beyond the open door of the kitchen. A splash of white liquid across the umber flagstones, a teapot in pieces with its contents sprayed wide and evidence of broken crockery littering the floor reinforced his guess as to the source of the noise.
Jess was beyond the door on her hands and knees, stacking up bits of broken cup and saucer. Her dog was seated under the scrubbed oak table as it watched her, tongue lolling from its mouth until it caught sight of Sebastian, when it let rip with a volley of wheezy barks. Jess looked up, her cheeks colouring as she clambered to her feet.
‘What on earth happened here?’ he said, frown deepening as he saw just how much of the castle’s everyday crockery lay smashed on the flagstones.
‘I can’t believe what I’ve done,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘Are you hurt?’ he asked.
‘No. I’m fine. It was the dog,’ she said, shuffling pieces of saucer in her fingers. ‘I didn’t see him in front of me and I tripped.’
Sebastian noted the appealing grey of her wide eyes, the stress in her strikingly attractive features, and felt a tug of sympathy for her. It wasn’t her fault she’d landed up here, adding unwittingly to the combination of problems currently faced by the inhabitants of Kirkshield Castle. Nevertheless he maintained his frown. Now was hardly the time to show sympathy. He needed to concentrate on how this woman’s presence would be impacting his mother, and the way her wages would be adding themselves to the estate’s mounting debt. Not to mention the cost of replacing the smashed tea service.
He ran a hand across his forehead. ‘Can you be more careful in future? This might be the everyday crockery, but it’s not cheap to replace – it’s Royal Doulton.’
Jess dumped a pile of broken ceramics in the bin, then wiped her hands, a frown forming on her forehead as she stared at him.
‘Do you want me to pay for replacements?’ she said.
Sebastian paused. Perhaps he should insist she did. That alone might be enough to send her packing, but it did seem like a rather unreasonable response.
‘Itwasan accident,’ she said, almost as though she’d read his thoughts.
‘I don’t doubt it.’ He pulled in a deep breath, then added, ‘But there’s also a whole room of antique Wedgwood dinnerware off the dining room – all monogrammed with the Kirkshield crest and irreplaceable. Best leave that alone, don’t you think?’
Jess stared at him. Was it politic to call your new employer a prick within the first twenty-four hours, or should she wait a while longer?
Fair enough, he hadn’t bawled her out too badly over the broken crockery, or insisted she pay for replacements – which would probably take the lion’s share of her first month’s wages. She should probably be grateful for that. But why was he pulling bragging rights over her with an entire room full of bone-china tableware? Telling her not to touch it with her clumsy, commoner hands? Like anyone wouldn’t already know the bloke had enough of everything without him having to show off a million bowls and plates stamped with his family crest, for the love of God.
‘Mine’s all from Ikea,’ she said, eventually.
She’d already noticed how tight and difficult his smile seemed to be, as though he wasn’t comfortable showing emotion in this environment – or in front of a stranger. That was probably more accurate. She was a stranger, and a temporary employee to boot. Maybe he didn’t feel the need to waste energy smiling properly at her, so instead was giving her the economy version.
He arched his eyebrows. ‘So was mine, in the London flat I was renting, anyway. I particularly loved their glass mugs.’ Sebastian sighed.
It almost sounded as though he would miss the cheap mugs now he was here, taking over the earldom, or earlship or whatever his role was officially called. With everything he’d just inherited, Jess wasn’t sure he would need to spend all that long being heartbroken about leaving behind some glass mugs. Although he was right – those mugs were fantastic.
Digby crept out from his bolt-hole under the table and began to lick at what was left of the contents of the milk jug.
‘Being helpful?’ Sebastian said, his focus and words clearly for the dog.
‘That’ll be a first,’ Jess said, then she pulled in a breath. ‘If you could give me a few minutes, I’ll tidy up the mess and bring the tea through. I’m so sorry about the breakages … and for dragging you away from your family. You must want to be with them at a time like this.’
Sebastian’s elegant eyebrows arched, accompanied by a wry expression. He seemed to be about to say something, but instead bounced a hand on the back of one of the kitchen chairs and left the room.
The mission to serve tea was successful on the second attempt, and Jess left the family to it while she took the time to explore her surroundings.
When she’d arrived at Kirkshield Castle later than planned, she’d been glad of Mrs Keel’s welcome, along with her explanation as to where the family had gone. Hailing from the village, Mrs Keel was someone the family had relied on to sweep in and help out whenever necessary – at least, that had been the case until she’d announced her plans for retirement. With a conspiratorial elbow nudge, she’d suggested the family hadn’t taken much notice of her decision to retire and still called upon her for moments exactly like this – to welcome new staff to the castle.
To be honest, Jess had been very appreciative of the presence of Mrs Keel. She’d shown Jess much of the working area of the castle, including the room in which she’d be sleeping. It was placed conveniently close to the kitchen, in which Mrs Keel did her best to explain the vagaries of the Aga, and then moved on to give her a whistle-stop tour of some of the rest of the downstairs. But they’d walked at such a brisk pace, opening and closing so many doors on so many rooms, that Jess’s sense of direction had been blown out of the water.
Darkness had fallen outside, so now wasn’t the ideal time to begin any kind of reconnaissance, but Jess wasn’t about to sit in the kitchen and twiddle her thumbs. If this place was going to be somewhere she would be calling her home for the next six weeks, she needed to know her way around the place, at the very least.
Dark wood panelling and the low wattage of the hallway bulbs gave Jess a distinct Hogwarts vibe – all she needed was a wand and that map which showed where each person was – and the gloominess continued as she moved on through the dark-green dreariness of the dining room. Temptation proved too great, and Jess pulled open the door to the plate room to take a look, catching her breath as she eyed the rows upon rows of glistening white dinnerware, each piece punctuated by a coat of arms. She closed the door softly, worried any sudden movement might cause a plate tsunami, and the termination of her employment.
Next to the dining room was a library the likes of which she’d never seen before.
