Deception (Daughters of Mannerling 3) (22 page)

But of course they did, for they were very much in love.

The Beverleys were finally settled back at Brookfield House, along with Barry and Miss Trumble. Mannerling, they learned, stood empty, apart from a caretaker and his wife, awaiting its next owner.

For some reason she could not explain to herself, Miss Trumble drove herself over to Mannerling one day. As the little Beverley carriage rolled up the drive, the house lay before her, gracious and elegant in the sunlight.

‘Whoa!’ she said to the horse, stopping the carriage in front of the main door. The door was standing open and there were faint sounds from the kitchens, showing the whereabouts of the caretaker and his wife.

Miss Trumble walked into the great hall. Sunlight was filtering through the cupola above the staircase and sending rainbow prisms of light down from the great chandelier.

The governess looked about her. ‘Nothing to worry about,’ she said aloud. ‘Nothing more than a great pile of bricks and plaster.’

A sudden gust of wind blew the great main door shut behind her. Above her the chandelier began to revolve slowly, the crystals sending down an eerie tinkling sound.

Miss Trumble was suddenly aware of an almost tangible feeling of menace. She ran to the door and twisted the handle and tugged at it furiously, suddenly terrified that she had been locked in by supernatural forces. But the door suddenly swung open and she was free and out in the sunlight.

I am become fanciful in my old age, the governess chided herself as she drove off.

But she could not help noticing that the day was still and warm, with hardly a breath of air. Certainly no wind. No wind at all . . .