The Wicked Governess (Blackhaven Brides Book 6)(14)

Rounding the corner at full tilt, she ran up against something—someone—hurtling in the opposite direction. She gasped in shock as hands seized her by the shoulders and her candle wobbled precariously, it’s flame flickering wildly over the face of her assailant. Javan Benedict.

Fortunately, he looked as stunned as she. “Miss Grey!” he exclaimed. “What the devil are you doing?”

“I heard something, a howling,” she blurted. “I thought it came from this direction.”

“And I from the other,” he said ruefully. He didn’t seem to be aware he still held her by the shoulders, the candle squashed dangerously between them. “The layout of this house seems to bounce sound so that you cannot locate it. Where were you?”

“I was in the library and the door banged. I came out to investigate and I thought I saw something downstairs, and then I heard the howling.”

“The library door?” he repeated. “That’s interesting.” He released her without apology and took the candle from her before striding on down the passage back to the entrance hall.

Since she didn’t know what else to do, she trotted after him. At last, as they crossed the hall, she said, low, “Why is the library interesting?”

She froze as he whipped around and thrust one finger over her lips. Although quite clearly a demand for silence—and an irritable one at that—his touch seemed to fizz through her. It only lasted a moment, though, for a knocking sound above was swiftly followed by a most horrible screeching and clanking. Like the clanking chains she’d heard tell of Blackhaven. A shudder ran through her.

Forgetting about silence, Benedict broke into a run, taking the stairs three at a time, while Caroline hurried after him. She held onto the bannister as a guide, since she could barely make out any of the bouncing light carried by her employer.

He threw open the library door, allowing some of the light from there to spill out. Relieved, Caroline ran up the last couple of steps and followed him inside. Apart from Mr. Benedict, the room was empty. He stood in the middle, slowly turning to peer into every corner.

“The library is interesting,” he said without interrupting his deliberate search, “because he has never been there before. Or at least made no noise there. It has always been on the ground floor.”

“He?” she pounced. “Then someone was here?”

“Do you believe in ghosts, Miss Grey?” he asked, blowing out her candle and setting it down on the table.

“No.”

“Neither do I. Therefore, I believe it was quite distinctly a live someone.”

“Who?” she asked bewildered.

“Someone who wants to frighten us away, I suspect, as they frightened previous tenants.”

She searched his face and shivered. It was the intruder who should have been frightened. “You’re not afraid,” she observed.

“No, but I won’t have him frightening Rosa, so I will put a stop to it.”

“How often does this happen?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Several times within a couple of weeks when we first came. Lately, only once or twice a month. As if they lost heart because we didn’t immediately run but can’t quite give up what worked so well for them in the past.”

“Does Rosa hear the commotion?”

“Not so far. It always happens around this time, when she is already asleep and fortunately, she sleeps deeply. Otherwise, I doubt we would still be here. He doesn’t go near people, even the servants, just makes noises from a distance. His aim is to scare not to harm.”

“Do you know who it is?”

He shrugged. “One of the local well-to-do farmers who wants to buy up the hall and grounds cheaply. While the estate still makes money from the rent of the hall, the trustees are less likely to sell it. At least, that’s all I can think of. I’d suspect it was young boys out for a lark, except I’m fairly sure there’s only one of them.”

“But how does he get in?” Caroline wondered.

“Incisive as always,” Benedict said with unexpected approval. “I wondered if he might have an old key, but I had all the locks changed, and still he comes in. My money now is on some kind of secret passage. Do you know what I think?”

She frowned, her breath catching with the possibility. “That the passage opens here in the library! No one uses this room. He came in earlier and tried to leave by the same means, only I was here and he rushed out in shock, letting the door bang behind him!” She frowned. “But the howling came after the door banged.”

“Maybe this wasn’t a howling night,” he said flippantly. “Sometimes, he just moves things around. We find boots in the dining room, a fruit bowl on the hall stand, a painting on the wrong wall. I think he howled to get you out of the library so he could get in unobserved. He won’t have expected you to follow him, so I do hope you gave him a fright.”

“So do I! Have you reported these intrusions to the magistrate?”

“No, I couldn’t abide the fuss. I’ll deal with it myself.”

“If you know who it is, perhaps you should call on him and make it clear you know. Frighten him.”

“I tried that. I think it is Nairn’s son from White Farm. But old Nairn refused to take the hint. He denied it to my face, in fact, but he knew more than he pretended.”