The skiff was tied up waiting for its next adventure.
‘He’s put his fishing gear in it. Did that mean he was intending to join the party today and something changed his mind?’ she wondered aloud.
Jacob walked on along the shore, shading his eyes to see if he could spot the cottage’s occupant within sight. He called Barton’s name, but no one answered. Dora searched the other direction.
‘I don’t like this,’ said Dora when he joined her again by the boathouse. It might have been encouraged by the onset of night, but gloomy thoughts were gathering.
‘He may simply have been called away.’
‘But wouldn’t he have sent his excuses to his friends?’
‘Whatever has happened to him, we’d better get back before our people think we’ve gone missing.’ Jacob offered his arm to begin the long climb back up through the woods. ‘How desperate was he about the loss of the poem?’
‘He was upset but by no means despairing. He had hopes that I might find it. Yesterday, with the Coleridge boys, I’d say he was merry.’
‘Overly merry? Sometimes people have wild swings of emotion. You see them excited one day and despondent the next.’
‘I can hardly claim to know him, but his humour seemed entirely natural. I liked him, Jacob.’ She rubbed her arms, feeling chilly.
‘Then let us do what we can for him.’
‘He uses the laundresses at the hall. We should leave word with the servants there for someone to send us a message when he gets back.’
‘We’ll do that on the way home. He’s a poetical fellow. He could just be in the throes of composition– he could’ve followed his muse and set off on a long walk.’
‘Would he, knowing we’re investigating?’
‘Writers can be egotistical creatures. He might’ve decided he’d left the problem safely in your hands and he could return to his craft. I don’t think we can raise the alarm unless his absence stretches to a couple of days.’
‘A lot could happen in that time.’
* * *
The lantern was lit already over the front door as they walked into the little valley that Jacob called home. It blazed like a beacon in the twilight as they cut across the field by the tarn rather than follow the loop of the farm track. The carriage had gone– presumably to the inn in Ambleside– but horses had been left for Jacob’s brothers. She could see them grazing in the little paddock beside his stable.
Walking into the dining room, they found, as Dora had predicted, that the guests had gone ahead with the meal. A third of a meat pie sat in the middle, two plates ready. A tureen of what was likely to be tepid vegetables also waited. Ruby, the viscount and William were playing cards on a small table set by the window to make the most of the dying daylight. Her friend was charming both brothers with her smiles and amusing conversation as she dealt the next hand. Dora could see the viscount in particular had warmed to Ruby’s willingness to please.
‘The wanderers return,’ said the viscount, placing a card on the discard pile. ‘How long does it take to pay a call on a grieving family in these parts?’
‘I had other business to conduct,’ said Jacob. ‘Dora, I see we have been left some dinner. Shall we?’
‘I’ll just go upstairs and change,’ she said, conscious that she was in no fit state to be in polite company after a day of walking andotheractivities under the open skies. Ruby had already itemised every aspect of her appearance and was smiling saucily at her. Darting to the stairs, Dora hurried up and out of sight– but not out of earshot.
‘What kind of business?’ asked the viscount.
‘How kind of you to take an interest in our investigation, my lord,’ Jacob said sourly. ‘We made progress with the missing manuscript; though, when we called on our client to report, he appears also to be missing. There’s not much more we can do in the dark, but we will have to go looking for him tomorrow.’ There was a scraping as Jacob pulled out a chair. ‘As you can see, we are busy which means it really isn’t a convenient time for an extended visit.’
Smiling to herself, Dora continued up the steps. Maybe with hints like that they could get rid of their unwanted guests?
Her appearance repaired, Dora returned to the dining room. Her dinner was under a cover and Jacob was also waiting, letting his get colder as he swirled red wine in a glass.
‘You needn’t have waited,’ she said softly as she took her place. It felt so unnatural having others spectate on their domestic life. If she could wish them away like Aladdin’s genie, she would.
‘I had no desire to start without you,’ he replied.
‘Tell me,’ called the viscount from his seat by the window, ‘how did you come to lose your client so soon?’
Ruby was shuffling the cards with a professional’s skill, bright eyes darting from character to character as if waiting for her cue. Dora wondered what she was thinking.
