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Kenver nodded, smiling. “Shall we go on?”
“Yes, I love old houses.” Sarah’s enthusiasm was reviving as she relaxed. “My friend Ada and her husband are restoring a half-ruined castle in Shropshire.”
“Perhaps we could go and visit her,” Kenver said as he led her out of the gallery into another corridor.
Sarah’s spirits suddenly soared. “Could we?”
“Why not? If she will invite us, of course.”
“She would!” With a thrill, Sarah realized that such things might be possible now. She could go places and see things. Staying with friends was not expensive. Of course, she would first have to tell her friends about her marriage and how it came about. Those letters were proving a challenge.
Kenver set his hand on a doorknob. “These are the rooms we will eventually use,” he said. “We can both see how the work is going.” He opened the door, and Sarah stepped into a spacious sitting room with three long windows on the opposite side. Faded floral wallpaper in buff and peach gave it an airy feel. The furnishings she could see looked comfortable, though most had been pushed off into a corner, and some were covered by dust sheets. There were older sofas and armchairs in complementary colors, a delicate writing desk with its chair turned upside down on top, a half-empty bookshelf. Open doors at each end led into large bedchambers. She could see through to another door into a dressing room on the far side of the one on the left. Compared to the cramped room she’d been given, it looked marvelous, except for the sizable hole in the ceiling beside the windows.
A young workman who had been sitting beneath the cavity had sprung to his feet when they entered, setting aside a hunk of bread and cheese. “Milord,” he said to Kenver.
“Is this where you found the damp?” Kenver asked, walking over to gaze upward into the hole. “I didn’t notice anything when I was in here last week.”
“Damp.” The man nodded.
“What is being done to fix it? And is it only you?”
“No, milord. Mr. Hicks took Jem and went to fetch some cured oak.”
“Oh, is Hicks handling the repairs?” Kenver turned to Sarah. “He’s very good. He has done a great deal of work for my father. He knows his craft.”
Sarah nodded. She saw no sign of damp in the ceiling plaster. They would have ripped that part out, of course, if it existed. She gave herself an inner shake. The Pendrennons would not dismantle their house just to make her less comfortable.
“I suppose you are having to attend to the attics as well,” Kenver said to him. “There is a leak in the roof?”
“I, er, I’m not sure, milord. Mr. Hicks would know all about it.”
Kenver nodded. “When he returns, tell him I’d like to speak to him.”
“Yes, milord.”
They walked through the two bedchambers and glanced into the attached dressing rooms. Sarah found the suite appealing and, more importantly, quite private. “Couldn’t we move in here now?” she wondered. “There is just that hole in the ceiling.”
“It does seem minor. I’ll consult with Hicks. We could stay out of his way during the day.”
“Oh yes.” Sarah was ready to do whatever was necessary to secure these pleasant quarters. Established here, she would be able to find her feet and make a place for herself. “What are my duties at Poldene?” she asked as they moved on to the lower floor.
“Oh, ah, just to get settled for now.”
“So I am like a visitor here?”
“No, you are a member of the family,” said Kenver forcefully.
Sarah wondered if he was trying to convince himself. “My family works together to keep the estate running smoothly,” she said.
He nodded in appreciation of this. “Let us just leave it for a while, until everyone becomes accustomed to the new arrangement.”
“Do you think they will?”
“Of course.”
His tone had gone hearty, but Sarah was not convinced. And she noticed that in the rest of their tour, they avoided areas of the house that must be the haunt of his parents.
“Come outside,” he said. “Having seen your old home, I know you will like the gardens.”
