Page 25 of The Betrothal

“Can I dry up?” I stood, moving towards the sink, where Ben froze. His hands stilling under the running tap, his body stiffened, so I withdrew.

“No, thank you.” He reached for the plate I carried, and I passed it to him, keeping distance. He washed it then dried around the bowl, folding the kitchen towel and laying it carefully over the Aga.

“I’ll show you to the spare room.” He wandered towards the stairs.

When I didn’t follow, he turned, watching the indecision flitting across my face.

“There’s no alternative,” he offered, tone placating, as if speaking to a somewhat feral animal. “You’re stuck here until it thaws.”

I felt myself beginning to nod.

I was stuck here until the snow thawed. Or thawed enough for me to leave. And the next collection wouldn’t be for weeks.

Snatching my belongings from the lounge, I held my boots, the silent question picked up immediately by Ben.

“Inside the boot room, by the back door.”

I followed his instructions, opening the door to the boot room. Warmth rushed out, a large boiler in the far end of the room kicking out significant heat. At least my boots would finally dry.

Returning to Ben, I stopped a clear distance from him and his mouth quirked up in a half smile.

The stairs opened onto a large hallway, long rows of windows opposite several doors we passed on our way towards the far end.

“The guest room has no en-suite I’m afraid. Only Alex has that.”

I murmured my understanding. No awkward midnight run-ins with Alex, thank goodness.

Ben motioned to a door. “Bathroom, plus there’s a WC downstairs, beyond the boot room.”

“Okay.”

He continued down the hall.

“I’m at the top of the stairs, Alex is at the end of the hallway, and you’re here.”

He entered a bedroom, walking across the expanse to a large bay window, a deep window seat below. The room was large, the bed unnecessarily so, wardrobes covered an entire wall and I scrunched my nose. Far more space than my three outfits would require.

After I placed my belongings gingerly on the bed, Ben carefully moved past me to the door, just before he left he hesitated and turned back.

“Make yourself comfortable. There are towels and toiletries in the bathroom, food downstairs, you know how to make a fire.”

Was that a joke?

I smiled and he nodded, thinking.

“Alex and I need to go to the manor so we will be out for a few hours.”

I nodded again and he went to leave but paused again.

“You’ll be safe here.”

Before I could think about it properly I had shuddered out an exhale, exhaustion, or relief, but Ben had already left me, clicking the door closed behind him.

I had dug the clothes back out of my duffel and laid them carefully over the window seat where they were slowly drying in the crisp sunlight.

Unable to trust myself, I wrote the date three weeks from now on the back of my tattered maps and pinned it to the bedside table using the lamp.

Outside the window the snow still fell. Nowhere near as heavily as the previous day but the damage was already done, the drifts now at least four feet deep. I could see where Ben and Alex had shovelled paths between the barns and outhouses, a gazebo near what looked like a pond, or maybe at that size it was a small lake, but the snow still fell and even those areas now had a healthy layer of snow.