Witchstone
‘I see.’ Jake looked down to flick ash into the tray. ‘Do you feel like taking a day off?’
Ashley stifled a gasp. ‘A day off?’ she echoed. ‘W-why?’
Jake continued to take an immense amount of interest in the burning end of his cheroot. ‘I thought you might like to come to a sale with me on Thursday,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s at a country house in Swaledale. As I understand it, they have a particularly good library.’
Ashley put down the cloth she had been holding and stared disbelievingly at his bent head. ‘Why—why are you asking me?’ she got out.
He looked up then, and she saw his eyes were grey, not black as she had at first imagined. ‘Because I thought you’d be interested,’ he replied. ‘Are you?’
Ashley moved awkwardly. ‘I—well, yes—of course I’m interested. But——’
‘But what? I’ll ask your uncle if you want me to. It’s a perfectly harmless invitation. I don’t think he’ll object.’
Ashley glanced over her shoulder. ‘Perhaps not.’
‘Well? Do you want to come or don’t you?’
Ashley shook her head. ‘Who else will be going?’
‘Who else?’ Jake looked impatient. ‘No one else, why?’
Ashley sighed. ‘I don’t understand why you should want to take me.’ She moved her shoulders helplessly. ‘Particularly after—after——’
‘After what?’ Jake’s eyes were intent. ‘After the way you spoke to me the last time we—met?’
‘Well—yes.’
‘I don’t hold grudges.’ He drew deeply on his cheroot. ‘Do you?’
‘I don’t know.’ Ashley was uncomfortable. ‘What—what will people say?’
‘People?’ His lips were drawn in now.
‘Yes, people,’ she insisted, spreading her hands. ‘Look, I know I don’t know Bewford as well as you do, but I have noticed how people talk.’
‘And how will they find out?’
Ashley’s eyes widened. ‘My uncle and aunt will know.’
‘All right.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t tell them.’
Ashley felt the first twinges of alarm. ‘Are you serious?’
‘If you’ve got qualms, don’t tell them.’ Jake sounded bored.
‘But—but I couldn’t not tell them.’
‘That’s up to you, isn’t it?’
‘Don’t you care?’
‘Not particularly.’
Ashley turned away. She felt almost sick with reaction. She had no idea what his real thoughts on the matter were or whether he wanted her to tell anyone or not. And she simply wasn’t the type to lie to her aunt and uncle about something so important. How could she pretend to be going to school as usual when in fact she intended going away for the day with Jake Seton? She drew in a deep breath. He shouldn’t have asked her. He shouldn’t have placed her in such a position. She hadn’t the experience to deal with it.
Taking another breath, she turned back to him just as her uncle came into the bar carrying two crates of light ale.
‘Hello there, Jake,’ he exclaimed warmly, when he saw who was seated at the bar. ‘Long time, no see. Ashley been looking after you, has she?’
Jake nodded. ‘How are you, David?’
Ashley’s uncle pushed the crates of ale beneath the bar with his foot. ‘I’m all right, I suppose,’ he answered with a grin. ‘I’ll be better when this weather improves a bit. Still, at least the snow seems to have disappeared at last.’
Jake stubbed out his cheroot. ‘Yes. Things are getting back to normal.’
‘Have you been away?’ Clearly David Sutton had no qualms about querying Jake’s prolonged absence.
‘As a matter of fact, I have.’ Jake rested his elbows on the bar. ‘There were a couple of functions I had to attend in London, and Barbara had some shopping to do, so we were away three days.’
Barbara! Who was Barbara? Ashley stood slightly behind her uncle wondering whether she could be one of the sisters Karen had mentioned. Or was she his fiancée? After their conversation of a few moments ago, it was all rather unpalatable somehow. How could he sit there and blithely talk about the things he had been doing when only minutes before he had asked her to spend a day with him? Or was she of such little importance that he could dismiss her in much the same way as he would a child?
Her uncle seemed to remember she was still there and turned to her. ‘You can get along now, Ashley,’ he directed with a smile. ‘Thanks for keeping an eye on things while I was away.’
He turned back to add a couple of cubes of ice to a glass containing a generous proportion of whisky which he pushed across the bar to Jake as Ashley moved towards the door which led into the hall at the back of the hotel. Was that all? she thought dully, aware of an intense feeling of disappointment now that it seemed that all chance of spending the day with Jake was slipping out of her grasp. Wasn’t he even going to mention the invitation again?
She glanced back once and her eyes met his over the rim of the glass he had raised to his lips. There was an enigmatic gleam in the grey depths and she thought there was silent mockery there too. She quickened her step and had reached the doorway when he called: ‘Are you coming to Raybury with me on Thursday, Ashley?’
She halted, and swung round, her eyes going to her uncle, who had stopped what he was doing to raise his eyebrows, ‘What’s this?’ he asked, frowning.
Jake swallowed another mouthful of his whisky before saying: ‘I’ve invited Ashley to come to a sale with me on Thursday—in Swaledale. It’s the Fallow House at Raybury.’
Ashley supported herself against the door jamb. ‘I—I don’t know whether I should go, Uncle David,’ she murmured unevenly. ‘Wh-what do you think?’
David Sutton was clearly unprepared for such a question. ‘Well, I don’t know, lass,’ he admitted, his gaze flickering doubtfully towards Jake. ‘You do have your school work to think of …’
Jake finished his whisky and toyed with the glass. ‘One day more or less won’t make a lot of difference, will it?’ he commented. ‘Ashley says she’s leaving soon anyway.’
‘That’s true.’ David looked troubled. ‘All the same, perhaps you should ask your aunt, Ashley. She’s better equipped than me to decide these things.’
Ashley hesitated, aware of the deepening twist to Jake’s mouth. Obviously he considered the whole affair unnecessary and childish. What was he asking, after all? Just a few hours of her time—and for her benefit. She would love the opportunity to wander round the library of some old house.
‘I would like to go, Uncle David,’ she asserted, making a decision. ‘And taking a day from school presents no problems.’
David shook his head. ‘Well, I suppose it’s for you to say,’ he murmured. He looked at Jake. ‘Why do you think this sale will interest Ashley?’
Jake pushed his glass towards the other man, indicating that he would like another. ‘She likes books—libraries. As I understand it, there’s quite a comprehensive library for sale.’
David measured more whisky into Jake’s glass. ‘I see.’ He picked up the ice tongs. ‘And how far is this place—Raybury?’
‘Fifty—maybe sixty miles. It’s near Richmond. I should think Ashley would enjoy seeing something of the countryside around here.’
David handed him his glass again. ‘No doubt,’ he conceded dryly. ‘Well, lass, are you going?’
Ashley nodded. ‘If you don’t mind.’
Her uncle gave her an impatient look before turning back to Jake. ‘What time do you expect to leave?’
‘I thought about nine-thirty, if that’s all right with you.’ He looked towards Ashley, and she nodded, bending her head to avoid the piercing penetration of his eyes. ‘The sale’s not till noon, but we can look round beforehand.’
Ashley felt an unwilling sense of excitement. She couldn’t help it. It was all so totally unexpected, and after the way she had been worrying about Jake Seton this week it was doubly tantalising. But she forced herself to calm down, feeling angry that she should be getting so heated over something which he obviously regarded with little concern. It was just an auction sale, when all was said and done, with a lot of musty old books to browse through, and that was why he was taking her.
Leaving the bar, she made her way to the lounge where her aunt was sitting knitting. Both Mark and Karen were out for the evening and Mona looked up smilingly when Ashley entered the room.
‘Come in, love,’ she greeted her. ‘Has your uncle finished in the cellar?’
‘Yes.’ Ashley subsided into the armchair opposite. ‘It’s cosy in here, isn’t it?’
‘Hmm.’ Her aunt bent to take another ball of wool from her knitting bag. ‘You can put the television on if you’d like to.’
‘No, thanks.’ Ashley crossed her legs, swinging one foot restlessly.
Mona looked at her. ‘You seem distracted. Is something wrong?’
Ashley coloured. ‘No, nothing.’ She reached for a magazine and flicked through its pages without interest. Then, taking the bull by the horns, she said: ‘Would you mind if I took a day off school on Thursday?’
Mona’s busy fingers stilled. ‘Why? What do you want to do?’
‘I—I’ve been invited out for the day,’ said Ashley carefully.
Mona looked surprised. ‘Invited out? Who by?’
‘Actually—Jake Seton.’
There, it was out. Ashley closed the magazine and sat with her hands curled tightly on top of it.
‘With Jake?’ Mona was clearly perplexed. ‘When—that is—how have you spoken to him?’
She didn’t appear angry at the news and Ashley gathered confidence. ‘He was in the bar just now. There—there’s a sale of some old house at Raybury——’
‘Raybury?’
‘Yes. And as there’s a library, he thought I might be interested in going with him.’
Mona began to knit again. ‘Really? And what did you say?’
‘Well, at first I wasn’t sure—but then, after I’d spoken to Uncle David, I said yes.’ Ashley looked anxious. ‘Do you mind?’
Mona shook her head helplessly. ‘Why should I mind?’ She looked up again. ‘I suppose it was kind of him to ask you. Did you—that is—you didn’t insinuate——’
Ashley’s colour deepened again. ‘I knew nothing about it until he mentioned it,’ she denied fiercely. ‘Oh—oh, I wish I’d never said I’d go now!’
‘Why?’ Mona put her knitting aside. ‘Don’t be silly! I’m sure you’ll have a lovely day. Is Miss St. John Forrest going, too?’
‘Miss St. John Forrest?’ Ashley was at a loss. ‘Who’s that?’
‘Jake’s fiancée—Barbara. Barbara St. John Forrest. Haven’t you heard her name mentioned?’
‘I don’t think so.’ Ashley shook her head, but as she did so she remembered a few minutes ago, in the bar, when Jake had mentioned that name and she had wondered whether it might be his sister.
‘But you did know he was engaged?’ Mona was adding. ‘Didn’t you?’
‘Yes. Karen told me.’
Mona seemed satisfied with this news. ‘Good. Well, you’ll have to speak to Miss Kincaid tomorrow and tell her you won’t be in on Thursday, won’t you?’
‘I suppose so.’
Ashley sounded less than enthusiastic and her aunt gave her a little impatient pat on her hand. ‘Stop looking so depressed! Jake will look after you. And at least you can be sure of one thing—he wouldn’t have asked you to go with him without mentioning it to Barbara first. Just go and enjoy yourself.’
Ashley opened the magazine again and tried to concentrate on a feature about making the most of your hair, but her mind wasn’t on it. She was thinking of something her aunt had said—that Jake wouldn’t ask her to go out with him without first discussing it with his fiancée.
This information should have pleased her—it should have reassured her that his invitation was considered and deliberate, and not a spontaneous impulse which might be regretted later. But instead, she felt raw and indignant, reluctant to be the unwilling recipient of his patronising generosity.
CHAPTER THREE
THEY had been climbing steadily for several miles, and when Jake suddenly pulled the car off the road into a parking area, Ashley saw that they were at the head of a steep bank which wound down into the valley. Spread out below them was a carpet of colours—trees and fields, scattered farms and close-knit villages, all dwarfed from this altitude. A faint mist still lingered to shroud the distant hills, but the sun was gaining strength by the minute and had already melted the rime frost from the hedgerows.
The engine of the car was suddenly silent and rather than look at her companion, Ashley looked about her. Even at this comparatively early hour there were motorists about, and several had parked here to buy hot drinks from a mobile caravan that stood a few yards away.
‘Well?’ said Jake unexpectedly. ‘Have you nothing to say for yourself? You haven’t opened your mouth since we left Bewford!’
Ashley was forced to glance round then, and she moved her shoulders indifferently, looking down at her hands clasped in her lap. ‘I’m sorry. I just had nothing to say.’
‘I see.’ Jake’s mouth had a sceptical curve. ‘Do you want some coffee?’
Ashley looked towards the mobile caravan. ‘If you’d like some, I’ll have some——’
‘Will you?’ Jake sounded annoyed, and thrusting open his door he climbed out, slamming the door behind him so heavily that Ashley’s head sang with the sound.
She watched him walk across to the caravan, tall and lean in close-fitting navy pants and a cream sweater. His hair looked particularly dark in the pale sunlight, and although it was bitterly cold still he seemed unaffected by it. He returned a few minutes later with two plastic cups and she leant across his seat to thrust open the door from the inside so that he could climb in again.
He handed her one of the steaming cups of coffee and she sipped the liquid gratefully. It was very comfortable in the warm car, looking out on the sunlit day, able to enjoy the scenery without suffering its less pleasant aspects.
Jake finished his coffee quite quickly, and putting the cup down lit a cheroot, exhaling the aromatic flavour of tobacco into the air. The silence between them seemed infinitely more pronounced now that the vehicle was stationary, and Ashley began to experience a feeling of nervous tension. She had never really been alone with a man before, and she couldn’t help feeling apprehensive.
At last he half turned in his seat to look at her, and said: ‘Why did you come with me? It’s pretty obvious you’re not enjoying yourself.’
Ashley looked down at her half empty cup of coffee. ‘Why do you say that?’ she parried.
Jake uttered an expletive. ‘You know damn well why. I might as well be alone!’
Ashley felt terrible. ‘I’m sorry.’
Jake shook his head impatiently. ‘Are you?’ He dropped ash from his cheroot into the tray provided. ‘What I can’t understand is—why did you agree to come? No one forced you. I just thought you might enjoy it. As it is, I doubt whether either of us is going to do so.’
Ashley shifted unhappily in her seat. ‘I—did want to come,’ she insisted.
‘Did being the operative word, I suppose.’
‘Yes—no—oh, no! That’s not what I meant to say.’ She looked at him helplessly, her green eyes slanted and appealing. ‘I just think that—perhaps you shouldn’t have asked me!’
Jake’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why not?’
‘Well, I suppose because—because you’re—well—who you are,’ she murmured lamely.
‘You mean because I’m so much older than you are—or because I’m engaged to be married—or because my father employs your cousin?’
Ashley coloured. ‘A combination of all three, I suppose.’
‘I see.’ Jake took a long draw on his cheroot and then pressed it out with savage movements.
‘You—understand, don’t you?’ Her voice was uneven.
‘What’s to understand? It all comes down to the same thing, doesn’t it? You wish you hadn’t come because you’re bored——’
‘That’s not true!’ Ashley’s eyes were stormy now.
Jake made an impatient gesture. ‘Then tell me what my age, my fiancée and my money has to do with us going to see a library fifty miles away?’
Ashley felt angry. He was deliberately misunderstanding her. He must know what she meant. ‘Because I don’t like being patronised,’ she got out at last, trembling at her own temerity.
‘Patronised?’ Jake glared at her. ‘Who’s patronising you?’
‘You are!’ Ashley’s nails bit into her palms. ‘Whose idea was it to take me to Raybury? Yours—or your fiancée’s?’
‘My God!’ Jake lay back in his seat in disbelief. ‘What the hell are you talking about? You know whose idea it was—mine! It was conceived in the bar of the Golden Lion.’
Ashley took a deep breath. ‘But why? Why me? Why not Karen, for instance?’
Jake hunched his shoulders. ‘I’ve told you. Because I thought you’d find it interesting. I didn’t realise there was going to be an inquest into my motives or I’d have had something prepared.’
Ashley stared unseeingly through the windscreen. ‘I see.’
‘Does that satisfy you?’
She shrugged. Did it? Was she satisfied now that she knew that Jake had not discussed his intentions with his fiancée before asking her out with him? She ought to be. And why did she need that reassurance anyway? She was trying to read more into his invitation than he had ever intended. And why? Because she was childish enough to want him to see her as an equal and not as a schoolgirl.
Jake swung round in his seat. ‘I think we’d better get on,’ he said shortly, ‘unless you’d rather go back!’
Ashley bit her lips. ‘Of course I don’t want to go back,’ she exclaimed, stretching out a hand impulsively towards him. His forearm was hard beneath her fingers, the muscles taut, the heat of his flesh tangible through the soft wool. ‘Look, I know you’ll probably think I’m stupid, but—well, Aunt Mona said that no doubt you had discussed the idea of inviting me with your—your fiancée, and I—I didn’t——’ She shook her head. ‘Well, I didn’t like the idea of being—discussed!’
‘You mean I have Mona to thank for this?’ he queried sarcastically, resting his elbows on the steering wheel.
Ashley’s fingers probed his arm almost involuntarily. ‘Are you—very angry?’
He looked down meaningfully at her hand and she hastily withdrew it, linking her fingers together in her lap again. ‘I’m not angry—just irritated.’ He sighed. ‘I should perhaps point out that I do not have to clear my movements with Barbara. If I choose to invite you to accompany me to a sale—anywhere—that’s my decision, and no one else’s.’
Ashley bent her head, her hair falling like a silken curtain about her cheeks. ‘If you say so.’
‘Damn you, I do say so!’ He turned the ignition with controlled violence. ‘Shall we go?’
Ashley nodded, and the sleek sports saloon swung round in a circle to merge into the stream of traffic.
They drove down Sutton Bank and followed the winding road to Thirsk, entering the small market town just after ten-thirty. Ashley looked about her with interest. In spite of the fact that she and Jake were still saying little to one another, the atmosphere between them had significantly changed, and she no longer felt like an unwelcome encumbrance.
A few miles beyond Thirsk they joined the main trunk road north and for a while Jake had to concentrate on his driving. He controlled the powerful car expertly and without seeming effort, and Ashley was content to relax inside her seat belt and enjoy the ride.
They left the motorway just before Scotch Corner, taking the Richmond road for a short distance before turning off for Raybury. Traffic was sparse on these country roads, although they did pass one or two vehicles which Ashley thought might conceivably be on their way to the sale.
It was nearing eleven-thirty when they ran through the village of Raybury, and Ashley was enchanted by the tall houses flanking the village green, and the ducks on the pond. Daffodils were blooming in clutches, and in spite of the cold the trees showed definite signs of new life.
‘What a pretty place!’ she exclaimed, and Jake glanced indulgently at her.
‘You think so?’
‘Hmm. Don’t you?’
‘Oh, yes, I like it,’ he nodded. ‘I used to come here a lot at one time. The father of one of my friends at university was the village doctor here. That was his house—there, can you see?’
He pointed to a tall white-painted building with the metal plate still on the tall gatepost, and Ashley leant forward to see, her arm brushing his.
‘Oh, yes,’ she smiled. ‘Isn’t he here any longer?’
Jake shook his head, as she sank back in her seat. ‘Ben’s father retired to Spain about five years ago, I believe, and Ben himself is married and lives in Scotland. He’s a doctor, too.’
‘And didn’t you want a career?’ asked Ashley impulsively, and then pressed a hand to her mouth as though to stifle the words.
Jake slowed to pass some children on bicycles. ‘It depends what you mean by a career,’ he replied, without rancour. ‘I did get my degree, if that’s any saving grace.’
Ashley looked apologetic. ‘I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.’
Jake’s lips twisted. ‘No, it’s not, is it?’
‘Do you mind?’ Her eyes were challenging.
For a moment his gaze held hers and then he was forced to look back at the road. ‘No,’ he said quietly, ‘I don’t mind.’
It wasn’t what he said, but the way he said it, that made something inside Ashley stretch and expand and send prickles of awareness out to the extremities of her body. He had such an attractive voice, she told herself, trying to analyse her enjoyment of his company. The simplest thing was made to sound as though it was for her ears alone, and to imagine him saying more intimate things caused a surge of heat to moisten her palms and dry her throat.
Oh, God, she thought suddenly, I’m enjoying this too much. It was only a casual outing, after all, with a definite purpose in mind, and she was imbuing it with attributes of a much more personal nature.
Fallow House stood behind a high brick wall at the end of the village. It was not a particularly attractive dwelling, made of grey stone, with several unsightly chimneys and a welter of outhouses tacked on to the main building with an absence of design or balance. There were several cars already parked when Jake brought the Ferrari to a smooth halt on the gravelled forecourt, and almost before he had opened his door a man came hurrying down the steps of the house towards him.
The newcomer was of medium height, which meant that Jake was much taller, and had a decided paunch beneath his well cut lounge suit. He looked about fifty, Ashley decided, and his wispy brown hair had been combed across the bald patch that was obviously the bane of his life. But he was certainly delighted to see Jake and shook hands with him warmly.
Pushing open her door, Ashley climbed out, shivering as a sudden gust of wind probed the buttoned fastening of the red blouse she was wearing. Flared cream slacks were warm against her legs, and she bent to pull her suede coat from the back of the car. The coat was dark green, edged with cream fur along the collar, cuffs and hem, and had a warm hood which she drew up over her ears.
Jake saw that she had got out, too, and excusing himself from the other man for a moment, pulled his own sheepskin jacket from the Ferrari. Then he locked the car and said: ‘Shall we go inside? We can talk just as easily there.’
The smaller man nodded, his gaze flickering speculatively over the slim girl at Jake’s side. Ashley wondered whether he knew Barbara and was perhaps conjecturing on her relationship with Jake.
There were quite a lot of people in the draughty hall of the house, standing about in groups talking, and Jake spoke to a number of them. Ashley got quite accustomed to being mentally appraised immediately after Jake had been greeted, but she couldn’t help feeling slightly embarrassed by the closeness of their scrutiny. However, Jake seemed totally indifferent to their interest in his companion, and apart from introducing her to Walter Beswick, the man who had joined them on their arrival, he made no concessions to their curiosity.
Wandering round the house at Jake’s side, listening to his conversation with the other man, Ashley gathered that there were several valuable pieces here among a rather motley assortment of old furniture. There was, for instance, a seventeenth-century walnut cabinet, with lots of small drawers decorated with floral marquetry; an Adam table carved with rams’ heads that Ashley found quite fascinating; and a magnificent four-poster bed in the master bedroom, which according to the catalogue dated back to the eighteenth century.
