AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Locked again in her room, Dara sank into a heap on the floor and cried. For three days she had lived on bread and water, and been given nothing to wear but the nightgown she had worn on her first night in the house.
No books. No embroidery. No companionship.
Even Estelle was forbidden to offer comfort. It was Paul, the young manservant, who brought her food. The look on his face when he saw her weeping was as pitiful as her own.
Chapter Thirteen
There was a commotion out in the yard. Horse hooves, a wild neigh, and a raised voice calling for a Master Denzel.
Matthew scraped back his chair and went outside. He was expecting Lemuel to return with a message. It had been two days, and still Matthew had received no reply to his letter.
The rider, a young man hatted and mud-splattered, was a stranger; however, his livery was familiar and worryingly so. The colours of the finely embroidered coat and the crest on the saddle were as good as Lord Coleman’s signature.
“Master Denzel?” The man raised his hat to reveal a pensive face.
“Aye,” replied Matthew warily.
The rider slid off the horse and staggered forward. The steam rising off the horse’s shanks told Matthew the stallion had been ridden in haste.
r /> “I’m from Willowby Hall. Might we speak in private?” He eyed Ezekiel and Kurt with suspicion.
“Come in. Take his horse, Kurt, and put it under some shade.”
“Aye, Master.”
The young man, a footman by his garb, followed Matthew into the cottage. Matthew took up position in front of the fireplace, his legs astride and hands clasped behind his back. The stance was something a ruse, because beneath his breastbone, his heart drummed and his palms were clammy. Had something terrible befallen his Dara?
“What’s your name?” he asked.
The servant was nervous, twirling his hat in circles, his eyes darting about the room in a restless way, not quite daring to look Matthew in the face.
“Paul.”
“How did you find me, Paul?” Matthew softened his voice. If the youth needed reassurances, he’d give them. “We don’t know each other.”
Paul shook his head. “No, sir, I’ve not had the pleasure of your acquaintance. I found you through a shop in town. The haberdashers on the high street.”
“Aye, I know it.” The shop Dara had visited a few weeks back.
“I went seeking... you see... I thought I’d seen her ladyship go in there, a while back, but I was told it ‘twasn’t possible, because she was away at her cousin’s.”
“You’re not making much sense to me, lad. What lady?”
“Lady Coleman. She returned a few days ago.”
“And you’ve sought me out for a reason?” Matthew’s mouth was as dry as sand. He tasted the bitter rancour of hatred brewing. Something had gone wrong.
Paul chewed on his lips.
“Go on, lad. I’ll not bite your head off. Is the lady in trouble?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“How?”
“He came back earlier than planned.”
“His lordship?”
