A Vengeful Deception

‘If you remember, we were trying to decide on our evening’s fun. We’ve just dismissed television, so that rules out two possibilities…’

‘Two?’

He gave a sideways glance at the mistletoe, then watched with undisguised amusement while the colour rose in her cheeks.

Gritting her teeth, she asked as evenly as possible, ‘Are there any playing cards? Or a chess set, perhaps?’

‘There used to be, but I’ve no idea whether they still exist.’ His face suddenly wintry, he went on, ‘The only games my father enjoyed playing were with women… Or rather with a succession of girls, most of whom were young enough to be his daughter.’

Catching sight of her expression, he commented, ‘You look surprised.’

‘I am.’ Without thinking about it, she had always presumed that Sir Ian was the epitome of respectable upper-class morality.

The green eyes pinned her. ‘Then you had no idea?’

Shaking her head, she said, ‘No.’

‘Now it’s my turn to be surprised. Though he was always very careful to be discreet, more often than not that kind of thing gets about, and mud sticks, especially in a small town like Rymington.’

Again she shook her head. ‘I’ve never heard a word breathed against him.’

Gideon shrugged, and changed the subject to query casually, ‘How much of Hartington Manor have you seen?’

Wondering why he was asking when he knew quite well, she answered, ‘The hall, the kitchen, and the library.’

‘You haven’t seen the rest of this wing, or the older part?’

‘No. I didn’t know there was an older part.’

‘It’s quite spooky,’ he said with relish. ‘There are sliding panels and a secret passage. I’ll show you round if you like. It’s just the sort of thing to do on a dark and snowy Christmas Eve.’

Anna found herself wondering if he was trying to wind her up. Or had he perhaps, in his youth, read too many adventure yarns?

Perhaps her expressive face gave away what she was thinking, because he grinned at her and added, ‘Then we’ll come back and sit round the fire and tell each other true-life ghost stories.’

Carefully, she said, ‘I’m afraid I don’t know any true-life ghost stories.’

‘No personal experience? You’ve never actually met a ghost?’

‘Not to my knowledge. But then that’s hardly surprising, considering where I’ve lived. You can’t expect any self-respecting ghost to bother haunting a tiny three-bedroomed cottage or a bedsit.’

‘Yes, I can quite see it might cramp their style. Whereas a place of this size…’ He paused, waiting for her to ask.

Widening her eyes, she obliged. ‘You mean Hartington Manor has a real live ghost?’

He gave a pained frown. ‘I can see you don’t take the matter seriously.’

‘Should I?’

‘Oh, definitely. We can’t have Sir Roger upset.’

‘Sir Roger?’

‘Sir Roger Strange. But I’ll tell you all about him later… Now, are you game?’

‘I suppose so,’ she agreed a shade doubtfully. There was something about his manner, the glint in his eye, that she didn’t altogether trust.

‘Then let’s get started.’ He got to his feet and offered a hand to pull her up.

Pretending she hadn’t seen it, she rose obediently.

‘It’s bound to be cold,’ he remarked, ‘so we’d better have our coats.’

He lifted Anna’s down and held it one-handed while she slipped it on, before shrugging into his own jacket. ‘And we’ll need a candle and some matches to take with us.’

Wondering what he was up to, she asked, ‘But surely the lights will work?’

‘Oh, yes, if the generator holds out. But not all the house has been modernised, so we’ll need the candle for later.’

Trying to sound merely practical, she asked, ‘Wouldn’t it make more sense to go when it’s daylight?’

‘What, and spoil the fun?’

‘I think you’re trying to scare me.’

Instead of denying it, he asked, ‘Am I succeeding?’

‘No,’ she said firmly.

Collecting the matches, he dropped them into his jacket pocket. Then, while she watched with growing misgivings, he crossed to the huge dresser and picked up a beautifully ornate candlestick.

Made of black wrought iron, it was fashioned in the form of a dragon standing on clawed feet, while its tail curled to form a handgrip and its raised wings and open mouth held the candle.

‘Perhaps you wouldn’t mind carrying it for the moment?’ he asked politely.

She took it from him and found it was surprisingly heavy.

‘Now, shall we start in the basement?’ He turned to lead the way.

They went through a small door at the end of the hall and descended a flight of worn stone steps. There was a wide stone passage which branched off into a series of storerooms and sculleries.

Opening the door into a large, stone-flagged room, Gideon told her, ‘This used to be the kitchen, while the present kitchen was once the servants’ hall.’

Peering in, Anna saw deep stone sinks, a scrubbed oak table flanked by massive dressers and, in the huge fireplace, an old iron spit, big enough to roast a whole ox.

It was so cold their breath made a white vapour on the air, and she wasn’t sorry when he switched out the light and moved on.

At the end of the passage, another flight of steps led up to the main living quarters. A peep into the various rooms showed they were elegantly furnished, with beautiful wall-papers, ornately plastered ceilings, and everything necessary to gracious living.