Read Online Shadowed by Sin by Layna Pimentel - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Layna Pimentel
Ads: Link
footmen to escort us.”
The eager maid stuck her head out and whispered to the man guarding the door. He replied with a harshness to his voice, but Estelle could only make out his vow to source another footman to mind his post while he took them.
A knock on the door strayed her from her idle reflection. The bold footman popped his head into the room. “We best be going now, before someone gets suspicious.”
Estelle jumped out of bed, no longer feeling the effects of the drugged haze, and wrapped her shawl around her tightly. They made their way through the house. Murmurs of conversations floated from within the rooms off the passages. Tension coiled up in her muscles, and yet excitement threatened to burst from her veins over their exploration. They reached another door when the footman turned to face her.
“Miss Humphrey, from this point on, we’ll be using the service stairs to access the attic. Mind your Ps and Qs, and no one will think to question why you are travelling this way.”
Estelle followed the footman with the maid continuing on from behind her. The dimly-lit corridor, combined with the sounds of servants climbing into their creaking beds, besieged her with an unsettling feeling of the calm before the storm. Since their arrival to Hawthorne Hall, this had been the first time she noticed the floorboards squeaking. Their instability mixed with the noisy sound of their footsteps sent shivers up her spine. It was not as if she weighed terribly heavy either. In truth, she weighed maybe a slight over seven stones. This part of the house must have been a part of the old estate before it was rebuilt, she speculated.
Estelle tugged on her maid’s sleeve, leaned over and whispered, “Just how many service halls are there, Mary?”
“One for each wing, Miss. While we’re permitted to use the main hallways, our mistress would prefer that we use those passages when transporting laundry or cleaning.”
“One would think that’s an awful lot of unused space for mischief.”
“Indeed, Miss. Although most of the mischief lately has been committed in the openness of the manor.”
“You’ll have to show me which window Mr. Templeton fell from. I heard Ben telling one of his friends that he was not even in his room when the accident occurred.”
The maid gasped loud enough for the footman to hear and he whispered back tersely, “Quiet, you two. We have another hall to follow and one last flight of stairs.”
Their procession continued at the bottom of the next staircase. The footman reached for a candlestick and then began the ascent to a part of the house where, from the exterior, one would note a slight tower.
Two steps into her climb, Estelle heard a faint grunt and the sound of something being slid or scratched against a wall.
“Did you hear that, Mary?” she asked the maid.
Mary shrugged. “Hear what, Miss?”
“Someone is scratching the wall, but from the other side. How odd.”
“I told you earlier, Miss. The house is haunted.”
Estelle’s heart hammered in her chest and her shoulders tensed. Too preoccupied by the notion of the manor being haunted, she ran into the back of the footman, who turned around and glared at the maid. “For the hundredth time, Mary, quit this haunted nonsense, or I will be telling the housekeeper about this unscheduled trip. I might also feel inclined to include, Miss Humphrey, that proper decorum would dictate one should ask their host for a tour of the premises during the day.”
The footman scowled, and she knew it was her fault after all, but there was too much to be explained, and at the rate things were going, no one was going to keep her informed. Besides, staying in her room would have been dreadfully dull and after her swoon, she did not care be in there alone.
The footman reached into his coat and pulled out a key. He pushed the door open, and the musty smell was so strong, she was forced to turn away, and missed that first glance into the empty
The eager maid stuck her head out and whispered to the man guarding the door. He replied with a harshness to his voice, but Estelle could only make out his vow to source another footman to mind his post while he took them.
A knock on the door strayed her from her idle reflection. The bold footman popped his head into the room. “We best be going now, before someone gets suspicious.”
Estelle jumped out of bed, no longer feeling the effects of the drugged haze, and wrapped her shawl around her tightly. They made their way through the house. Murmurs of conversations floated from within the rooms off the passages. Tension coiled up in her muscles, and yet excitement threatened to burst from her veins over their exploration. They reached another door when the footman turned to face her.
“Miss Humphrey, from this point on, we’ll be using the service stairs to access the attic. Mind your Ps and Qs, and no one will think to question why you are travelling this way.”
Estelle followed the footman with the maid continuing on from behind her. The dimly-lit corridor, combined with the sounds of servants climbing into their creaking beds, besieged her with an unsettling feeling of the calm before the storm. Since their arrival to Hawthorne Hall, this had been the first time she noticed the floorboards squeaking. Their instability mixed with the noisy sound of their footsteps sent shivers up her spine. It was not as if she weighed terribly heavy either. In truth, she weighed maybe a slight over seven stones. This part of the house must have been a part of the old estate before it was rebuilt, she speculated.
Estelle tugged on her maid’s sleeve, leaned over and whispered, “Just how many service halls are there, Mary?”
“One for each wing, Miss. While we’re permitted to use the main hallways, our mistress would prefer that we use those passages when transporting laundry or cleaning.”
“One would think that’s an awful lot of unused space for mischief.”
“Indeed, Miss. Although most of the mischief lately has been committed in the openness of the manor.”
“You’ll have to show me which window Mr. Templeton fell from. I heard Ben telling one of his friends that he was not even in his room when the accident occurred.”
The maid gasped loud enough for the footman to hear and he whispered back tersely, “Quiet, you two. We have another hall to follow and one last flight of stairs.”
Their procession continued at the bottom of the next staircase. The footman reached for a candlestick and then began the ascent to a part of the house where, from the exterior, one would note a slight tower.
Two steps into her climb, Estelle heard a faint grunt and the sound of something being slid or scratched against a wall.
“Did you hear that, Mary?” she asked the maid.
Mary shrugged. “Hear what, Miss?”
“Someone is scratching the wall, but from the other side. How odd.”
“I told you earlier, Miss. The house is haunted.”
Estelle’s heart hammered in her chest and her shoulders tensed. Too preoccupied by the notion of the manor being haunted, she ran into the back of the footman, who turned around and glared at the maid. “For the hundredth time, Mary, quit this haunted nonsense, or I will be telling the housekeeper about this unscheduled trip. I might also feel inclined to include, Miss Humphrey, that proper decorum would dictate one should ask their host for a tour of the premises during the day.”
The footman scowled, and she knew it was her fault after all, but there was too much to be explained, and at the rate things were going, no one was going to keep her informed. Besides, staying in her room would have been dreadfully dull and after her swoon, she did not care be in there alone.
The footman reached into his coat and pulled out a key. He pushed the door open, and the musty smell was so strong, she was forced to turn away, and missed that first glance into the empty
Similar Books
