‘But he cannot have reached there, yet.’
‘I also have friends in London who would enjoy a letter.’
‘You needn’t bother,’ her grandfather said. ‘You will not be seeing them again. There is no point in maintaining the connections.’
She could feel her world getting smaller with each word. Her grandfather was gleeful as he watched her struggling to escape.
Tonight, when she went to the garden to wait for Thomas…
But she did not dare go. If the old man had not watched her last night, he’d made it clear that he would be watching from now on. Just thinking about what he might have already seen would make her blush with shame. Her cheeks already felt hot. Tears prickled at the backs of her eyes.
No.
Even though she did not say the word aloud, the thought of it was delightfully freeing. She was not going to let him frighten her. Nor was she going to be ashamed about what this horrible old despot might have seen, if he’d decided to spy on her.
She sat back down and refilled her cup. Then, she pulled the sugar bowl close again and added a spoonful to her tea. She stirred. She sipped. Then, she looked him directly in the eye and spoke. ‘Very well, then. I will not waste the paper on letters. Is there something you wish me to do, instead?’
Her question surprised him. If he’d been expecting her to bow her head and slink away like a whipped dog, this unsmiling, unflinching obedience must look more like contempt. He watched her suspiciously for a moment as if searching for a chink in her shiny new armour. ‘Why, yes. I would like you to fire the gardener. Tell him we will have no further need of him and send him off without a reference.’
‘Very well,’ she said coolly, and rose to go.
‘You have not finished your tea. That is a waste of sugar.’
‘I am aware of that,’ she said, dismissively, and kept walking.
Thomas was already sitting in the public room of The Spotted Hog, drinking ale and considering his options, when Percy came downstairs after breakfast. ‘I have been to your family home,’ he said, staring into his mug and wondering if it was too soon to ask for another.
‘An early visit,’ his friend remarked, giving him a thoughtful look. ‘You were also out late last night.’
‘I was talking with Louisa,’ he said. That was not precisely a lie. They had talked for part of the time they’d been together. He continued to stare at his drink, not quite ready to look his friend in the eye.
‘And what did you conclude?’
‘I was unable to convince her to come back to the inn with me,’ he admitted. ‘I went again this morning and the butler turned me away at the door.’
Percy signalled the barman for a drink. ‘With me gone from the house, I suspect Turner feels he has no choice but to obey the old man.’
‘I will go to the standing stones again tonight,’ Thomas said. ‘If she comes down from the garden, I will pick her up and carry her, if need be. She cannot stay where she is.’
‘That is rather drastic,’ Percy said. ‘Perhaps, if we let the matter settle for a few days, Grandfather’s temper will die down. He’ll let me back in, at least. But I doubt he’ll want to see you again.’
‘I should never have come here,’ Thomas said, staring into his empty tankard. ‘I have been no help at all.’
‘I would not say that,’ Percy replied. But there was something about his tone of voice that made Thomas suspect it was nothing more than a sop to his wounded pride. Whatever it was, it did not change the fact that the woman he had promised to save was all but a prisoner in her own home.
The door to the inn opened and Percy started in surprise and waved to the man who had entered. ‘Webb. What are you doing here in the middle of the day?’ He gestured the fellow over to the table and announced, ‘Webb is my grandfather’s gardener. Perhaps he has news from the house.’
The gardener removed his hat. ‘I do, Master Percy. It is not good. I’ve got the sack.’
‘Let go?’ Percy said, shocked. ‘Sit down, man. Tell us what happened.’
‘It was Miss Louisa what done it, at his Lordship’s instruction. She was told I must go immediately and without reference.’
‘The old bastard,’ Percy said, shaking his head and calling for another ale for their new companion.
‘Miss Louisa said she was sorry. That I should find you here, and tell the Duke of Bonham to give me a position.’
‘Of course,’ Thomas said, not bothering to explain why he was so sure of it. ‘But why would Louisa consent to such a thing?’
