Page 58 of Winterset
I blinked.
I’d been convinced Miss Lockwood was alive, but now I had confirmation: She was alive, and not only alive but alsohere.
Relief rushed through me. “I want to see her.”
“W-what do you mean to do with her?” Mrs. Owensby said quietly, sounding scared.
“I only want to have a conversation,” I said.
“Would you allow me to speak with her first?”
“No.” If Mrs. Owensby spoke with Miss Lockwood, I was certain Miss Lockwood would disappear. And more than anything else, I wanted to meet Miss Lockwood, to unravel her many mysteries. To understand why she had hidden here and to help her. But I could not do any of that with Mrs. Owensby working against me.
“Do you enjoy your employment here, Mrs. Owensby?” I asked.
“I do, sir. Winterset is my life’s work,” she said.
“I will offer you a choice then: If you swear not to say a word to Miss Lockwood about my knowing about her and all this”—I indicated the priest hide—“then you may continue working here.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will go about your duties as though nothing has changed.”
Her eyes narrowed when she looked at me. “But why?”
“Miss Lockwood has played me for a fool long enough. It’s time the tables were turned.” I would find ways to draw her out without scaring her or making her feel endangered. I doubted it would take long for her to reveal herself once I turned some gentle pranks her way.
Mrs. Owensby studied me. “If I say nothing to Kate, then you will allow her to keep hiding here?”
“I have already discovered her, so she no longer needs to hide from me.”
“It isn’tyouthat she is hiding from, Mr. Jennings. Not really.”
My brow tightened. “Who, then?”
“Mr. Cavendish. The evil man who killed her father,” Mrs. Owensby answered, but I only had more questions.
“Miss Lockwood is in danger?” I asked.
“So long as she stays hidden here at Winterset, she is safe, sir. He does not know she is alive, but if he did know, I believe she would be in danger, yes. Which is why you must promisemetwo things.”
“Go on.”
“First, you will do nothing to harm Kate.”
“I can easily promise you that. And second?”
“You will not say a word about Kate’s existence to anyone.”
It was possible Mrs. Owensby was toying with me again, playing on my sense of honor and duty to keep her ward close to her. But fear shone so brightly in her eyes, a genuine expression that could not be playacted. While I was not entirely convinced Miss Lockwood was in anyrealdanger—Mrs. Owensby had not been the most reliable source of information—I was a gentleman, and it was my duty to protectanyyoung lady who might require it. “You have my word as a gentleman,” I said. “Now, will you tell me where she might be?”
Mrs. Owensby’s gaze drifted to the window. “I suspect she is in the walled garden. It is her favorite place, and it has been a week since she has been outside.”
A week.I winced. All this time, she’d been right here.
Mrs. Owensby turned to leave.
“One more thing,” I said, stopping her. “Contrary to personal experience, I have it on good authority that you are an exceptional cook, Mrs. Owensby. Salmon sounds delicious for dinner.”
