Chapter 21
Sophia, Eliza and Rosemary waited just out of sight of the entrance of Harrington Manor while Olivia and Victoria quietly entered. Nobody would question the twins calling on their brother, but they’d wonder why the other three were there. A moment later, Olivia stepped out and motioned the three forward and placed a finger to her lips.
They tiptoed into the foyer, then quickly crossed and climbed the stairs while Lord Norbright entertained two gentlemen in the sitting room. Victoria waited as lookout at the top of the stairs and when the girls gained the landing, she pointed right. In single file, they quietly edged along the wall.
“See that the bed is made up,” an older woman ordered as her shadow darkened the doorway.
“Right away, Ma’am.”
At the voices, the girls ducked into another chamber and out of sight and waited as Victoria peeked through a break in the door.
A moment later she motioned for them to follow again and they quickly crossed the corridor and ducked into the opposite room. On the floor, beside a bed stripped of its linens, lay the pine box with no lid. Trepidation skipped down Sophia’s spine and she pulled back from the others. Did she really wish to see a dead body? She understood Eliza’s morbid fascination, especially given her interest in horrid novels, but that didn’t mean that Sophia needed to participate.
Mind made up, she remained by the door as the others moved further into the room. When they glanced down, all four gasped.
“It’s a mummy,” Olivia whispered.
“Maybe it’s the Mayfair mummy,” suggested Veronica.
“Did Lord Kilsyth take it do you think?” Rosemary asked. “You said he was from Mayfair.”
While the girls speculated, Eliza was intent on her study.
Voices from down the corridor drew Sophia’s attention. “Someone is coming.”
“Into the dressing room.” Olivia pointed to the door on the opposite wall.
The five of them hurried to the door and closed it after they’d entered and Eliza sank down to her knees to peer through the eyehole.
“They’ve come to make up the bed,” she whispered.
“For a mummy?” Sophia asked.
“She’s gone,” Eliza said and began to rise, only to stop as she leaned to look once again. “Oh no.”
A moment later, high-pitched, blood-curdling screams reverberated through the chamber. They were startling enough to cause the five girls in the dressing room to jump, but they remained where they were hidden.
“Who is it?” Sophia asked.
Eliza moved aside so Sophia could look. On the opposite side of the room, clutching each other close in their fear were Mary, Abigail and Ruth. “They did follow us!”
“They are going to cause far more trouble than I ever did,” Eliza muttered with a chuckle.
* * *
At the screams, Norbright took off up the stairs, Henry following the best that he could.
“What are you doing in my home?” Northright demanded when he entered a chamber.
Beyond him were three girls standing beside the coffin that contained Ashford, who hadn’t been put to bed yet. Did the servants just plan to leave him there? The box was for transportation only. His friend needed a much more comfortable resting place if he was going to recover.
“Girls, why are you here?” a lady asked as she entered the room and walked past Henry. All he could assume was that this was Lady Norbright, whom he hadn’t yet met.
“Do you know them?” Norbright demanded. “More students from that school?”
Lady Norbright blew out a beleaguered sigh. “Yes, they are from the school, but they only arrived last week.” Then she turned to the girls. “Didn’t Mrs. Wiggons tell you that you are not to go on this property or any property belonging to any of the neighbors?”
All they did was stare at her. Their eyes wide and mouths open.
