AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ainsley propped her hands on her hips and eyed the cold, uninviting space. “Well, this is quite . . . something.”
“That’s one way to describe it,” Sabrina replied.
Hannah crowded close, as if expecting howling ghosts to jump out of the shadows.
“I hate Scotland, my lady,” she moaned. “It’s something awful.”
At the moment, Sabrina could not bring herself to disagree.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sabrina looked up from her lists, as she basked in the sunlight streaming through the east-facing windows of the family dining room. It was the first truly bright day since their arrival.
And the first moment she didn’t feel run off her feet.
Although truly a splendid house, Lochnagar had been woefully neglected. For three days, they’d all been working almost without pause to make the manor habitable. Sabrina had the distinct impression Mrs. Wilson was still surprised that they’d decided to remain. The woman obviously had great affection for Lochnagar and had done her best for the old place, but it was clear she had yet to trust Sabrina. As Lord Musgrave’s daughter, Sabrina was the source of many of the estate’s problems from the housekeeper’s point of view.
Father likely had no idea how bad the circumstances were, since he’d relied so heavily on his former business manager and various estate stewards to handle the work. Those gentlemen had much to answer for, including years of willful mismanagement.
Much to Sabrina’s extreme surprise, Lochnagar no longer even had an estate steward. According to Mrs. Wilson, the latest one had lasted for less than a year and had decamped six weeks ago, without explanation. There were mysterious circumstances that the rest of the staff refused to discuss.
It was much the same with the servants hired from the hamlet, a remarkably stubborn and reticent group of Scots. That they didn’t trust Sabrina wasn’t surprising, but they’d been equally close-mouthed when Graeme and Royal had tried to elicit information.
The answers to the problems of Lochnagar remained frustratingly elusive.
Graeme and Royal had been riding the estate and speaking with tenants, both to ascertain the damage done to the land and to sniff out potential nefarious deeds. So far, they’d come up empty when it came to such deeds.
Sabrina went to the mahogany sideboard and poured a cup of tea from the French silver tea service. The sideboard, a handsome piece of furniture from the Queen Anne period, had seen better days. The tea service, however, had been jealously guarded by Mrs. Wilson and was in good condition.
The small dining parlor was one of the nicest rooms in the house with an old-fashioned beauty enhanced by carved oak paneling. The woodwork throughout the manor was in generally excellent condition, as were the timbered ceilings and much of the plasterwork. The views were magnificent too, especially on the east side. Sabrina could gaze out over the glens to a small loch glittering in the distance.
The formal dining room, by contrast, was cavernous and grim, with its old-fashioned furniture and faded portraits of gloomy ancestors. The exception was a portrait of her mother, a sweet painting of a golden-haired, laughing girl in a riding habit. Sabrina had been forced to blink back tears when she first spotted it.
Graeme, who’d accompanied her on that first tour of the house, had handed her a handkerchief. “Silly to have such a bonny lass stuck in with these gloomy guts,” he’d said.
He’d then plucked the painting from the wall and carried it to Sabrina’s bedroom, hanging it over the small fireplace. His thoughtfulness had made her cry a bit, too, although she’d had the sense to do that after he’d left the room.
Returning to her seat, Sabrina once more tackled her seemingly endless lists of linens, and inventories of plate, crystal, and silver. It would take her weeks to sort it all out. But those lists were a small part of the myriad of problems confronting her—including what would happen with Graeme. He’d taken to avoiding her again, which was more than a little vexing.
When the door opened and Ainsley walked in, Sabrina smiled, grateful for the respite from her work.
“I suppose it’s too much to ask for coffee,” Ainsley said, going to the sideboard. “I would kill for a strong cup of coffee.”
“I put in a large order of supplies, but they have yet to arrive.”
Ainsley joined Sabrina at the table. “I thought Halifax was the back end of the world. It would seem I was wrong.”
Sabrina winced. “I’m sorry, dearest.”
“Nonsense, it’s been a grand adventure. Besides, all these early nights are giving me quite a bit of quality time with my husband. He certainly knows how to put it to good use.”
“Lucky you,” Sabrina muttered.
Ainsley patted her hand. “Don’t despair, pet. Graeme will come around. It must be hard to concentrate on romance when one is worried that the object of one’s affection might be the target of a plot.”
“That is a depressingly sensible viewpoint. Unfortunately, we seem no closer to solving the mystery than when we got here.”
“And that means Graeme is still too fashed for romance.”
