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chuckling as she
walked back across the bedroom to pull the window closed now the air was clear.
    *
    Ralph was sitting at the scrubbed kitchen table
a steaming mug of coffee clasped between his hands. He glanced up perplexed to
observe Robin was covered in ash and rather pink about the cheeks.
    ‘Good God! Can’t you manage a simple task like
clearing a grate without disaster, Robin?’
    ‘I beg your pardon, your grace, Miss Frobisher
startled me and I dropped the bucket. Her companion and the room are in a worse
state than I.’
    Ralph was on his feet immediately. ‘She’s
awake? Is she well enough for me to speak to me? I have yet to make my grovelling apologies and explain how I came to treat her so
roughly.’
    ‘No, your grace. I believe she heard Miss Bird
and I talking about your aunt and the news of her having left the premises
without her normal baggage that caused Miss Frobisher to call out.’
    ‘Dammit! The poor girl has had enough to cope
with this past twenty-four hours, I don’t
      want her worrying unnecessarily about that.’
He settled back in his chair and resumed
    his
morose staring. The more he discovered the less he understood. He wasn’t
comfortable faced with an unanswerable dilemma.
    His first concern must be the well-being of the
two ladies unexpectedly in his charge. He had sent Clark into town to find some
temporary staff to run the place. With the poor state of employment in rural
areas such as these there might be several families with members eager to come,
even if their employment was not to be permanent.
    ‘Robin, has Clark returned? I’m hoping he’ll
have arranged for the servants we require.’
    There was no need for Robin to answer as he
heard Tom came in the rear porch banging his boots noisily and pausing long
enough to hang up his riding coat before entering.
    ‘Good news, your grace. I went to the inn and
asked if word be sent out to anyone seeking employment in the area. I managed
to engage a dozen women within twenty minutes and half-a- dozen men to work
outside; they are on their way as I speak.’
    ‘I hope there’ll be someone who can cook
amongst them. Robin has exhausted his repertoire of recipes and hungry as I was
this morning, even I could not manage to swallow his attempt at bread.’
    ‘Yes, there’s an older lady and her daughter
who come highly recommended.’ Tom walked over to the range and poured himself a
mug of coffee before joining him at the table.
    ‘That was the good news, sir. However there’s
been a tragedy. A local lady died yesterday.’ Ralph raised a quizzical eyebrow.
‘I know it seems hardly our business but from what I hear the lady was
returning home in a state of fear because of what she had heard about
Neddingfield. The talk is of spirits and ghosts; that the disappearance and the
accidents have been caused by supernatural means. The poor lady frightened
herself to death; her heart gave up under the strain.’
      ‘Sad,
but hardly my concern. Gossips always exaggerate, you know that. Before long we
will have mass hysteria all round and some interfering busybody will call out
the militia.’ He swallowed the last mouthful of coffee and straightened. ‘I’ve
sent young James out to reconnoitre the area and see
if he can find sign of men being in the vicinity over the past few days. I’m
going to have a closer look round the barns and outbuildings. Robin, you and
Clark come with me.’
    He shrugged on his coat not waiting to see if
they were following, he knew they were. The outbuildings contained the usual
paraphernalia one would expect in such an establishment. The carriage house was
full; neither the chaise nor the antiquated coach missing. Good God! His wits
were wandering.
    ‘Robin, where are the carriage horses? In fact,
where any of the horses? The chickens, ducks, and farmyard cats are here, but
no dogs or horses. What does that suggest to you?’ Impatiently he stared at his
ex-sergeant-major hoping he would also