Page 80 of A Winter Scandal

Against one wall was a lumpy pile covered by a blanket, and another blanket lay in a heap at one end. A small, flat-topped rock stood beside the crude bed, and on top of the rock was a saucer with the stub of a candle. A jug sat a foot or two away from the bed, and a pail was in one corner of the room. A piece of crust lay on the floor before them. Clearly, someone had been living there.

“Could it have been your sister?” Thea asked.

“It would certainly explain why no one saw her. But I cannot imagine Jocelyn living here—even for a day or two.” Gabriel shook his head and backed out of the room. “We might as well check the rest of the place while we are about it.”

At the end of the hallway, where the ceiling and walls had collapsed into a jumble, with nothing above them but the sky, they found the remains of a small campfire. Gabriel poked thoughtfully at the ashes with the tip of his boot.

“How could Jocelyn have done all this? Made a fire? Lived so primitively? She never even dressed without the help of a maid.”

“It wasn’t necessarily your sister who was living here.”

“True. But I have little faith in coincidences.”

“Do you think she is still living here? Perhaps if we waited …”

Gabriel shook his head. “Whoever was here, they’ve not been around for at least two days. The snow around the cloisters was untouched, remember? No human tracks.”

“You are right.”

“I shall set a man to keep an eye on it. We could put up a little shelter at a distance and keep watch with a spyglass, just in case someone does return. But I think Jocelyn came to Chesley only to leave Matthew. Perhaps she stayed long enough to make sure he was placed in my hands. But it seems clear that, if my sister was ever here, she has long since departed.”

Sixteen

Thea spent the next few days refurbishing her wardrobe. She pulled the light blue dress that had once been her favorite out of the chest to which she had relegated it and set to altering the gown to better suit today’s styles. It took a bit of work to lower the waistline and narrow its lines, but with the extra material from those alterations she added a flirty little ruffle at the hem. She attached the new blue ribbon as a sash, which not only added a little brightness but also covered her less-than-expert re-sewing of the waistline. Hopefully no one would recognize the old dress after its modifications, and even if someone did, it didn’t matter. Gabriel had never seen it, and it was prettier than anything else she currently owned.

Once that was done, she did what she could for her other clothes, adding a bit of lace or ribbon to one gown or another. She even went up in the attic and searched through the trunks of old clothes, finding a clump of bright red wooden cherries on an old bonnet, which she added for a splash of color to her dark blue winter hat.

She could not help but wish for an elegant dress for Damaris’s upcoming Twelfth Night party. She had no desire to wear the same dull evening gown she had worn to the Cliffes’ Christmas ball. The haberdashery in Bynford might have a bolt of cloth that would do for an evening gown, and she would have enough time to sew one if she worked diligently. Thea did not consider herself a good seamstress, but she thought she could make up for her lack of skill with determination, which she possessed in abundance. Daniel had given her money as a Christmas present, which she had planned to save for books, but now she thought a ball gown would be infinitely preferable.

It would be a long and chilly journey over to the haberdashery in Bynford in her brother’s pony trap, and she was sure that Daniel would find the reason frivolous. But it occurred to her that Damaris might be interested in such a trip. With that in mind, she set out for her friend’s house the next morning.

She found Damaris’s household in a frenzy of activity. Rugs were being rolled up and carried outside to be beaten, silver was being polished and crystal washed, and every nook and cranny was being scrubbed.

Thea commented on the bustle as Damaris led her into the smaller upstairs sitting room. Damaris chuckled. “Yes. I think my butler and housekeeper are vying to outdo one another. Greeves hired two extra footmen, and Mrs. Clemmons countered that she must have as many new maids. Then, of course, they had to prove that they had ample use for all of them. So they are turning the house inside out cleaning and polishing. I have been driven up here if I hope to have any peace. And they have not yet begun to decorate.”

“I am sure that everything will look lovely for the party. Have you received the stationer’s cards for the characters?”

“Oh, yes, I must show them to you. I shall allow you to have first choice of who you wish to be.” She brought out the box, and the two of them bent their heads over the cards, chuckling over the names and discussing the merits of the characters.

“Dame Veracity would be far too dangerous for me,” Thea told her. “I hate to think what might leave my lips, given that temptation.”

“I had thought of adopting Lady Vanity,” Damaris responded. “I could go about the entire evening with a hand mirror, admiring myself. But I decided that was unfair; ’tis far too fun a character to take for myself. I thought Jack Mischief would suit Sir Myles.”

“Yes.” Thea laughed. “He would play it to the hilt, I am sure.”

“There is nothing called Lord Handsome, unfortunately; that would suit your Lord Morecombe perfectly.”

Thea glanced at her, startled, and hoped that her cheeks would not begin to color. “Not my Lord Morecombe, surely.”

“I hear of him calling at no one else’s house.”

“Well …” Thea was sure she was blushing now. “He comes to visit the baby.”

“Of course.” Her friend sent her a droll look, but dropped the subject, saying, “I have the perfect one for Prince Arrogant. Lord Rawdon, don’t you think?”

“You invited him to your party?” Thea asked in surprise.

“Daniel mentioned it at the Christmas dinner, and it seemed rude not to invite the man.” Damaris shrugged. “He did manage not to hit anyone that day—although I must say, it looked like a near thing between him and Morecombe.”