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Authors: Fenella J Miller
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the men to look for it; don’t worry
about it now. If it’s lost, then I’ll see that everything is replaced for you.
It’s more important to get you out of the cold.’
He didn’t offer to take the girl up in front of
him, leaving it to Tom who seemed quite content to keep the plucky girl in his
care. He left the mundane tasks to others. Without waiting for Robin’s return
with the second man he mounted and set off. When Polly recovered would be soon enough
to ask her questions. He shivered. It was damn cold, cold enough for snow.
*
The man in the doorway clutching his cap was
shaking. Bertram had no time for such weakness. ‘So, not only did you fail to bring
that girl back as instructed, your partner has been mauled to death by a wolf?
I’m waiting for an answer, damn you. Am I surrounded by incompetents? I set you
both a simple task, to bring back a maidservant called Polly Makepeace and you
can’t even do that.’
He turned his back on his minion and heard the
man shuffle into the icy hall and return to the warmth of the kitchen. Bertram
unclenched his fists and breathed in deeply trying to control his rage. One of
his retainers told him he had overheard the under groom saying he had a
sweetheart living in Little Neddingfield and he’d been desperate to get hold of
the girl ever since.
He’d done his planning so meticulously; knew
Miss Culley went abroad frequently and took her staff with her. The only two
who remained behind were the elderly housekeeper and cook who were dispatched
to reside in a small house in Bath
that Miss Culley owned.
His lips curved in the pretence of a smile. The old ladies had been dispatched all right but not to the place
they expected. They were both so old; it had been more than time for them to
stop cluttering up the world with their presence.
But the girl had now slipped through his
fingers and he needed to be sure she wouldn’t blab to the major about Miss Culley’s connection to France. He wanted this man to
believe that the rumours were true and that the
supernatural had spirited away his relatives and all her retainers.
He stared out of the window watching the trees
moving restlessly in the icy wind. The idiot who is acting as cook had said it
was likely to snow; so much the better as the major would be trapped and unable
to send out for reinforcements. Bertram had spent his remaining funds on
renting this old house and employing a dozen and a half ex-soldiers, those not
too fussy how they earned their pay.
A slight prickle of unease flickered through
him; when he’d decided there would be ghosts at Neddingfield Hall and had
initiated the talk about strange sightings and disappearances he had known it
to be false. His men were able to vanish at will into the underground cellar
his father had described to him, leaving no evidence of their passage behind
them. But the man who had just returned after his failed attempt to capture the
one weak link in his scheme had been terrified, convinced that the very hound
of hell had emerged from nowhere to kill his partner in the most frightful way.
He shrugged; no matter, if his men were
frightened so much the better: scared men fought harder in his experience. It would add credence to his story that the
Hall was haunted and the locals villages wouldn’t dare venture in to the woods
to see what was happening. The Major was going to lose all his new staff very
soon as well.
Demonic laughter echoed around the shabby room
and the rough man outside the door flinched away and scurried back to his snug
billet in the bowels of the house; the message he carried was never delivered.
*
Hester insisted on getting dressed after
washing. The physician had advised she stay in bed for three days but hadn’t
said it essential. ‘The Hall sounds more like it should now there are people
moving around and the fires are lit and there are candles everywhere. ‘
‘Well, my dear, I didn’t come here expecting to
take on the role of
about it now. If it’s lost, then I’ll see that everything is replaced for you.
It’s more important to get you out of the cold.’
He didn’t offer to take the girl up in front of
him, leaving it to Tom who seemed quite content to keep the plucky girl in his
care. He left the mundane tasks to others. Without waiting for Robin’s return
with the second man he mounted and set off. When Polly recovered would be soon enough
to ask her questions. He shivered. It was damn cold, cold enough for snow.
*
The man in the doorway clutching his cap was
shaking. Bertram had no time for such weakness. ‘So, not only did you fail to bring
that girl back as instructed, your partner has been mauled to death by a wolf?
I’m waiting for an answer, damn you. Am I surrounded by incompetents? I set you
both a simple task, to bring back a maidservant called Polly Makepeace and you
can’t even do that.’
He turned his back on his minion and heard the
man shuffle into the icy hall and return to the warmth of the kitchen. Bertram
unclenched his fists and breathed in deeply trying to control his rage. One of
his retainers told him he had overheard the under groom saying he had a
sweetheart living in Little Neddingfield and he’d been desperate to get hold of
the girl ever since.
He’d done his planning so meticulously; knew
Miss Culley went abroad frequently and took her staff with her. The only two
who remained behind were the elderly housekeeper and cook who were dispatched
to reside in a small house in Bath
that Miss Culley owned.
His lips curved in the pretence of a smile. The old ladies had been dispatched all right but not to the place
they expected. They were both so old; it had been more than time for them to
stop cluttering up the world with their presence.
But the girl had now slipped through his
fingers and he needed to be sure she wouldn’t blab to the major about Miss Culley’s connection to France. He wanted this man to
believe that the rumours were true and that the
supernatural had spirited away his relatives and all her retainers.
He stared out of the window watching the trees
moving restlessly in the icy wind. The idiot who is acting as cook had said it
was likely to snow; so much the better as the major would be trapped and unable
to send out for reinforcements. Bertram had spent his remaining funds on
renting this old house and employing a dozen and a half ex-soldiers, those not
too fussy how they earned their pay.
A slight prickle of unease flickered through
him; when he’d decided there would be ghosts at Neddingfield Hall and had
initiated the talk about strange sightings and disappearances he had known it
to be false. His men were able to vanish at will into the underground cellar
his father had described to him, leaving no evidence of their passage behind
them. But the man who had just returned after his failed attempt to capture the
one weak link in his scheme had been terrified, convinced that the very hound
of hell had emerged from nowhere to kill his partner in the most frightful way.
He shrugged; no matter, if his men were
frightened so much the better: scared men fought harder in his experience. It would add credence to his story that the
Hall was haunted and the locals villages wouldn’t dare venture in to the woods
to see what was happening. The Major was going to lose all his new staff very
soon as well.
Demonic laughter echoed around the shabby room
and the rough man outside the door flinched away and scurried back to his snug
billet in the bowels of the house; the message he carried was never delivered.
*
Hester insisted on getting dressed after
washing. The physician had advised she stay in bed for three days but hadn’t
said it essential. ‘The Hall sounds more like it should now there are people
moving around and the fires are lit and there are candles everywhere. ‘
‘Well, my dear, I didn’t come here expecting to
take on the role of
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