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She pushed out from under the car and crouched to her knees, her eyes scanning the brightness beyond the garage. It was a gloomy day but the sun was shining, and the glare was bouncing off the haze of clouds.
A little figure appeared in the door-frame and then she ran full pelt towards Finn. Her hair was tucked in two neat plaits and she was wearing a beautiful black dress with beading on the cuffs and collar. But all Finn saw was the grief in her little face. She put her arms wide on instinct and Madison sobbed as she fell into them.
“Oh, darling,” Finn ran her hand comfortingly over the little girl’s head. “Hush, hush.” She held her tight, feeling every sob and gasp of air. Maddie’s tears splashed onto Finn’s shoulders.
Finn held her until her body was still and her sobs were silenced, though the tears still fell. Over Maddie’s shoulder, she saw Dougal studying the two of them with curiosity. Finn could only presume that in all the time he’d worked for Gower, he’d never come to mean anything personal to the family.
Finn had well and truly blurred those lines; at least with the two children of Gower.
“Do you know what my dad always said?” Finn murmured quietly, once Maddie had calmed down a little.
“What?” A snorted, muffled word.
“That a cup of tea has magical qualities, especially at times like this.”
Maddie hiccoughed. “My mum says I’m Italian; we don’t drink tea.”
If Finn hadn’t been so concerned for the little girl she would have laughed at the preposterous denouncement of a drink as comforting as tea. “Well, I don’t know about that. How about I make us a pot of tea and you can tell me what you think?” She stood slowly, careful to keep a hand around Maddie’s slim shoulders.
As they walked out of the garage, she cast Dougal an apologetic glance. He waved his hands in the air in understanding.
The front of the house, where she’d pulled up that first night to let Caradoc out, was filled now with elegant and expensive cars. She couldn’t help looking at them with a tinge of curiosity; some were just off-concept cars. At another time, she would have loved to look beneath the bonnets and hear their engines.
But in that moment, all that mattered was the little girl beside her.
“Everyone’s in the banquet hall,” Maddie said grimly. “I don’t want to see them.”
Finn nodded, and changed their course slightly, heading around to the servant’s door she used to enter and exit the house. “Why not?” She queried quietly, hoping to encourage Maddie’s confidence by speaking gently.
“Because. It’s stupid. No one else really cares. They’re all just here because it’s the done thing.” Those words had been spoken many times to Madison in her short life. She dressed for dinner because it was the done thing. The family took ski seasons in Austria because it was the done thing. She didn’t read books at the table because it wasn’t the done thing. And they sat through a freezing cold ceremony in the family chapel because it was the done thing.
“Your father’s guests?”
Madison sobbed again. “They’re my mother’s guests. And his.”
“His?” Maddie prompted.
“Caradoc’s.” She rolled her young eyes and kicked some gravel beneath her feet. She was angry. “Most of them just want to talk to him. Shouldn’t it be about dad?”
“Of course. I’m sure it is. But sweetheart, people feel obliged to speak to the family who have suffered a loss.”
“Not me.”
“Well,” Finn nodded slowly. “You’re only nine. People often don’t know how to speak to children at times like this.”
“You do.” Maddie muttered.
Finn might have felt gratified if it weren’t for the fact the poor little girl was so miserable. “Yes, well. It’s not the first time I’ve met you. I know you.” She patted Maddie’s shoulder comfortingly. “And I know about loss. I do sort of understand a little of how you’re feeling.”
“Do you?” Hope flared in Maddie’s face and she forgot to be polite and circumspect. “Because your mother died when you were a baby?”
Finn pushed the door open and held it for Maddie to slip through. She shook out of her coat and handed it Finn, who hung it from a hook with a small smile. The little girl was very used to people doing things for her. That wasn’t her fault, nor was it a failing. It was just the way she’d been brought up. It was how things were done.
“This way,” Finn pointed down the hallway, towards the servants’ hall.
Maddie followed, taking a moment to gaze around the large kitchen with its antiquated decorating.
