Read Online The Secret of Willow Castle - A Historical Gothic Romance Novel by Nathaniel Burns - Free Book Online

breaths as I prepared to knock.
    “Enter.”
    Composing myself, I made my way in. I had never set foot in the stud before. It was a small, dark room, piled to the ceiling with papers and unshelved books. A large bureau and captain’s chair took pride of place, and the air was dank, musty and laden with cigar smoke. Going against all the rules of etiquette I had ever learned, Sir Montague did not rise as I entered.
    “Is there something you require, wife?”
    I faltered as I met his cold blue gaze.
    “I hope,” Sir Montague said, “that you are not planning to make a habit of disturbing me in my study. I have important work to do. If you have nothing to say, perhaps you would be so good as to leave me in peace.”
    “ I do have something to say,” I blurted out, recovering myself. “I am sorry to have disturbed you, but there is something I wished to discuss.”
    He said nothing, neither giving me permission to stay nor bidding me leave, so I blundered on.
    “It is about your cousin,” I said. “He is leaving.”
    “ At the end of the week, yes. Have you come here to tell me things I already know?”
    “ No, no, it’s just – I thought we might… see him off, perhaps? That we could set him as far as Buxton.”
    He said nothing.
    “It seemed such a lovely place when Mama and I passed through it on our way here, and I should like to see it again.”
    He said nothing.
    “Perhaps if you are too busy, Mama and I might be permitted to go? Mr Chastain has been so very welcoming, and I have no family of my own so I should like to…” I trailed off as he continued to stare inscrutably at me.
    “ So my cousin has worked his magic on you, has he?” Sir Montague murmured. “I did wonder.”
    My blood froze in my veins. My husband suspected me of impropriety, he would tell Mama, we would be sent away –
    “Well, no matter,” he continued. “He will be gone soon enough, taking his charms with him. If you want to go to Buxton, now is as good a time as any. We’ll have to make the occasional public appearance in local society, I suppose, however tedious it may be. Very well.” He drew his chair back in towards the bureau and took up his pen. “We shall go to the Old Hall for a couple of days.”
    I breathed my thanks and waited for him to speak again, either to plan further or simply to acknowledge my gratitude. He said nothing. Eventually I decided that I had had all the speech I was going to get out of him, so I excused myself and slipped out of the room, my heart a little lighter.
    *
    Although I still dreaded Mervyn’s departure, I was excited to escape the castle for a little while and return to Buxton. It was my first journey in Sir Montague’s carriage, a sombre-looking vehicle but considerably more comfortable than the one Mama and I had hired for our arrival. We made a strange little party as we trundled across the Hope Valley, Mervyn’s box securely strapped to the roof and the three of us inside. Mervyn chatted inconsequentially and I tried hard to strike a balance between my desire to make the most of my time with him, my wish to be polite and the necessity of behaving properly in front of my husband.
    I need not have bothered with the latter consideration, for Sir Montague refused all attempts to engage him in the conversation and behaved as if he were travelling alone. He spent the entire journey staring fixedly out of the window, his eyes glazed in spite of the beauty of the dramatic landscape newly touched by spring. He was so completely wrapped up in his own thoughts that I doubt he would have noticed had I climbed into Mervyn’s lap and kissed him. I did not, of course. In fact I flushed with shame at the very thought, then flushed even deeper as I noticed a quizzical expression on Mervyn’s face and knew he had noticed.
    We had only one evening to spend with Mervyn before his departure for Liverpool in the morning, and I had expected that we would spent it together, all three of us dining