Page 111 of The House of Hopes and Dreams
‘I suppose you’re looking for the secret hiding place in here, though I’d have thought Carey would have shown it to you, if you asked himnicely,’ she said, with a wealth of unpleasant innuendo. ‘I know there is one – not a room, just a space. But I don’t knowwhereit is. They give the secret to the boys of the family, not the girls.’
I relaxed slightly: she meant the window seat opening with the chest inside, and I didn’t point out that since Carey’s uncle hadn’t considered her to be a member of the family at all, he wouldn’t have told her the secret anyway, female or not.
‘I wasn’t actually looking for anything, I’m just interested in the different kinds of panelling,’ I said lamely, and she gave me a contemptuous look.
‘But you must know they often hid the way of opening priest-holes in the panelling,’ she said, watching me closely from eyes as dark and flat as a snake’s.
‘Of course – and perhaps thereareothers still to be found, who knows?’ I said, as casually as I could.
‘If there were, I’d have come across them by now, including the one in here, if the room hadn’t been kept locked up all the time. And you needn’t carry on pretending that isn’t what you’re looking for, because Clem overheard you talking to Carey about it.’
Actually, the mechanism for opening the hidey-hole under thewindow seat was so ingenious she mightnothave found it, even if she’d had the run of this room. And if the same master craftsman had designed another chamber elsewhere, then she could well have missed that one, too, even if she had polished every inch of the panelling for the last fifteen years!
Of course, she hadn’t had the advantage of the clues from the window – if they were clues – and I hoped she hadn’t got them now. I couldn’t exactly remember what I’d said to Carey, but even if I’d mentioned them, since the window was currently in the workshop, they were out of her reach.
But now my overwhelming urge was to get rid of her unwelcome presence, so I said casually, ‘I expect you’re right and it would be pointless even looking.’ Then, since she still didn’t show any signs of moving, I added, ‘Whatareyou doing here at this time anyway, Ella?’
‘Why shouldn’t I be? It’s not late, just dark. When I saw the lights on, I came to see who it was.’
The only place she could have seen the lights was from the courtyard … unless she’d already been in here. I said firmly, ‘Well, I’m going to go through this way to the house to change and have dinner – but I’ll just see you out first.’
‘I can find my own way out,’ she snapped, but to my relief turned and strode away down the passage, clicking off the wall lights as she went, until the distant narrow view of the Great Hall also vanished into darkness. I heard the bang of the big oak front door and the heavy rattle of the lock and knew I really was alone at last.
I locked the muniment-room door after her and went through the tower into the house, which seemed a haven of light, warmth and normality after the old wing, even without the added advantage of not being infested by madwomen.
Of course, when I went downstairs I poured the whole tale into Carey’s ears and he had to admit that Ella and I seemed to be on the same treasure hunt, though that still didn’t mean the treasure actually existed.
He can be so stubborn sometimes!
‘But I’m getting really worried about Ella and this is the last straw,’he said. ‘I’ll give Clem an ultimatum tomorrow. She needs to see her doctor and get some professional help, because her behaviour just isn’t normal. And until she does, I’d like back her key to the old wing.’
I shivered, remembering her expression when I’d turned and seen her watching me.
‘I think you’re right,’ I said. ‘But will he make her do it?’
Until that moment, I don’t think I’d entirely believed in my own theories so I sat there quite stunned for a moment until the guttering and sudden extinguishing of the candle in the lantern recalled me to my senses.
It was almost time for luncheon and soon Honoria would be in search of me. I could do nothing without a fresh candle, so I managed to close up the panel after a small struggle, then went through the turret to the house, intending to return as soon as I could.
I could hardly contain myself during lunch, and when I was supposed to be lying down on my bed for an hour to rest (at Honoria’s insistence – she took great care of me and, I believe, looked forward to the arrival of the baby more than I did!), I instead sneaked off back into the old wing with a fresh candle in my lantern.
38
Black Holes
Carey went to find Clem right after breakfast next day, wanting to get the unpleasant interview over, but when he reported back later, it hadn’t gone down that well.
‘He’s still insisting there’s no problem and Ella just has a bit of a bee in her bonnet about the old wing. He said the thought of what damage the electrician was going to cause when he started work in there soon was preying on her mind, too.’
‘Did you tell him how she behaved towards me yesterday, suddenly sneaking up and then being so rude?’
‘Yes, but he thinks you misunderstood her.’
‘Yeah, right!’
‘I explained that we both thought she was becoming increasingly disturbed and her visits to the old wing at odd hours weren’t something I was prepared to allow any more – itispart of my home, after all – and I wanted her key back.’
‘What did he say to that?’
