Page 106 of Angel's Flight

“I think there has been a mistake, Sir,” Erik cut in, taking the opportunity to speak.“You seem to know my wife, but she has not told me anything of your prior correspondence.She insisted on surprising me when we arrived here.”

“Oh, what a devious woman!”Sir Edward declared, then yawned so wide, Erik could count all his remaining teeth.“Your lovely wife reached out to me a month ago!Or was it two?About...”The man froze for a moment, looking to the woman beside him for help.

“I swear, the thoughts go out of your head like rabbits running from a bush,” Siobahn sighed.She had russet hair and bright cheeks and looked entirely annoyed.“The lady wrote about the manor and her claim.”

“My manor?”The knight looked aghast.“Siobahn, why would I write to a lady about the manor?It’s falling apart and the only people who want it are dead!”

Siobahn groaned, her head falling into her hands as if the old man had said something disastrous.“Sir, don’t you remember?These are good, rich lands with enormous potential.”She was repeating something she had told him before, it was clear.What was not clear was who was swindling who – a dying Lord and his caretaker, or Pauline.

“There was that one woman,” Sir Edward said slowly.“A French girl said she was a distant relation and was willing to take it on.She was going to visit, but she’s not supposed to be here to look it over until—”

“Today!This is her!”Siobahn groaned.“And her husband.Who we must be kind to.”Siobhan looked Erik over and tried to smile.

“Her husband who is confused,” Erik muttered.

“You’ll need to forgive our Sir Edward,” Siobahn replied.“It’s me who’s been doing most of the writing and reading of your wife’s letters.Good thing too, as the first one nearly sent him to the grave with the shock.”Siobhan gave Christine a bright, grateful smile.

“I...”Christine began, and she looked entirely at sea, and Erik wished dearly he could translate it all for her, though she seemed to understand most of what was going on.

“Are you telling me my dear wife has been in correspondence with your lord here about taking on his manor?”Erik asked Siobahn directly.“And the lands?”

“She was the one who wrote!”Siobahn exclaimed.“With God as my witness, none of us went looking for a claimant.We were all resigned to the lands going back to the Queen to be doled back out to some dandy who’d let it keep rotting.”

“But my wife has swooped in to help her distant relation with no other heirs,” Erik stated carefully so that Christine would understand.Had he not harbored such a burning hatred for Pauline, he might have been impressed with how cruel and brilliant the scheme was.Now everything she had said about ghosts and trickery made sense – she was the ghost.A phantom of the past ready to take on a manor, and then discard it in the cruelest, most destructive way possible.

“I hope you are not so angry,” Christine said sweetly to Erik, playing her part.“Of course, we would like to visit the house first.”

“Must you?”Siobhan asked, looking suddenly ill.“The house isn’t prepared for guests at the moment.”

Erik had never been to the old manor house outside the village, even when he had visited years ago.As far as he had known then, the old knight lived there alone and did little to maintain the house or lands.It was Sir Edward’s neglect that had let Coolaney keep up some old ways when it came to tradition, but he hadn’t pushed the village to prosperity or progress either.That had been years ago, and Erik shuddered to think how dreadful things were now.

“Are you interested in my house?”Sir Edward asked, blinking like he had just seen Erik and Christine for the first time.“You must be quick with your offer.There’s a lady coming today to sign for it straight away!”

“Saints preserve me,” Siobahn sighed, looking to heaven.

“How bad is it?”Erik asked the poor woman.She didn’t seem to be a born liar; more likely, she was trying to save her job and community by taking advantage of an opportunity that had been presented.

“Well, you see,” Siobahn began.“It’s a very large house for one old man and his maid, and so, Sir Edward has been staying in town these last few weeks, to save on heating costs.It takes an awful lot of wood to keep the fires lit in a place like that.That’s all.”

“We’d like to see it,” Erik repeated, with what he hoped sounded like good humor.“We’ll stay the night if you don’t mind.Believe me, I’ve stayed in worse places.”

Siobhan looked between Erik and Christine as if the woman she thought was on her side might help her.

“We’ll pay for firewood?”Christine offered, and that brought a light to Siobahn’s face.

“If you insist,” Siobhan said, finally giving a nod.

“Siobhan, I want to get some rest before my guest arrives,” Sir Edward declared out of nowhere, sinking into his chair again and immediately nodding off.

“Either I’ll be up to let you in once I’ve attended to my master here, or I’ll send someone,” Siobahn sighed, looking down at the unconscious man she had somehow been saddled with keeping alive.“It’s good to meet you, Miss Pauline and Mister...”

“My name is Christine.”Both Siobahn and Erik turned to Christine in surprise and she slowly continued, looking to Erik for some help.“I did not want to use my—”

“Real name.For reasons of security,” Erik finished for her.He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to keep up the ruse of being Pauline; he wouldn’t want to be saddled with the name of an enemy either.“And I am Mister Gilbride.”

“You’re Irish?”Siobahn asked in shock, looking over Erik anew.Her eyes remained uncomfortably on his mask as he nodded.“There used to be a Gilbride family in this very village.”

“I’m your countryman only by descent.It’s a complicated story,” Erik muttered.He didn’t want to tell that story or find any sort of connection with this woman or this place.This was temporary and they needed to deal with things quickly before Pauline’s subterfuge was found out.“We will see you at the house.”

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