“I apologize for interrupting you, my lord, but there is a message which just arrived for Lady Harriet. There’s a young man waiting on a reply.”
The older man came forward and handed the missive to Harriet. She thanked the man and broke the seal. She immediately had recognized it as her mother’s handwriting and the family seal. Harriet read the letter twice to make sure she’d read it correctly. She shook her head.
“What is it? Nothing serious I hope,” Lucien said.
“She is telling me she’s invited your parents to dinner tomorrow evening and expects us to be there as well since we leave the following day.”
“Well, her lack of interfering didn’t last long,” Lucien said.
“I don’t believe she intended not to step in. Unbelievable!”
“What do you want to do? I think we should go since we are leaving and since her ball’s been postponed.”
Harriet arched a brow at what Lucien just told her. “Let me write something out quickly so she’ll get it this evening.”
As she folded the letter a footman came forward with paper and a portable writing table with a pen. Thanking the young man, she began to write.
“What are you going to tell her?” Lucien asked.
“That we’re traveling back tomorrow and will see everyone then.”
Lucien grinned. “It must have taken some effort on your part not to add more to your reply.”
“Not at all. I was blunt. I have nothing to say to her other than to answer her missive.” Harriet began to fold the paper andput it inside an envelope that was on the desk. She passed it to the butler. She sat back until the footman removed the desk. Then she reached and grabbed a hunk of cheddar cheese.
“What would you like to do now?” she asked in between bites.
“Would you like to see what I found?”
“You’re not going to give me more of a hint than that?” she asked.
“I found two tunnels under the house.”
“Where do they lead?” she asked.
“One comes out on the other side of the front meadow. The second one ends in that grove of fruit trees.”
“I didn’t realize they still did that,” Harriet responded.
“I think it’s optional with new homes. Ones like this one and older have at least one. There’s also supposed to be a hidden passageway here, but I’ve yet to find it.”
“None of the staff is aware of it?”
“No.”
Harriet grabbed another piece of cheese. This one Stilton. “When we return from the Continent, maybe we should see if we can find it.”
“I’d like that. I’ve got the estate manager looking around to see if the original blueprints can be found.”
“Do the family estates have tunnels?” Harriet asked.
“Yes, they do,” Lucien replied with a wink. “Some of them have been sealed up but there are a lot that are not.”
“That would be exciting to actually go through one,” Harriet said.
“There’s also a couple of hidden rooms and walkways that take you down to the tunnel entrance.”
“Not priest holes?” she asked.
