Page 14 of The Masked Baron
Matilda shrugged. “Oh, lots of places. He has a dear friend a day’s ride from here. And then sometimes he visits... he visits the place where his parents are buried. He does a fair bit of traveling, but only to the places where he knows others will trust him. A masked man can create quite a stir, ye know.”
Finally, someone had not skirted Andalin’s questions about Ellis! She pressed her luck and asked another. “Have you worked here long?”
Matilda set aside the peeled apples to cut later and began mixing up a dough. “Thirty-four years. I came here shortly after my two children married. I was widowed at a young age and needed the money, but the busyness of the manor life kept me from my loneliness.”
Andalin wondered how this house would keep anyone from being lonely. “Then, you knew Lord Cadogen’s parents?”
“Yes,” Matilda said, “and I miss them dearly.”
Strange. Andalin never saw any pictures of the family anywhere in the house. Perhaps they were all locked up in Lord Cadogen’s private family rooms. “Thank you, Matilda, for telling me.” She left Matilda to bakeherpie and retreated to the library.
After selecting a travel book to read about the maritime provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, Andalin relaxed in a chair. She had read only a few pages when her mind went back to puzzling out the information she had gathered. Matilda, Mrs. Lewis, Mr. Lewis, Birks, and Hannah were all the same in a few ways. They were old. Well, old enough to have been employed when Ellis’s parents were alive. They showed no fear of Ellis, only loyalty and deep respect.
The house was large enough to require more servants to run adequately. Apparently, Ellis had never hired any new help. The alternative was that no one else would work for him. This was equally likely since he was extremely intimidating, even to Andalin.
Mr. Brennan’s visit had put her in a speculating mood. Whatwasbehind Ellis’s mask? If only it were an acceptable question to ask the servants. There was no animal in Ellis, or the servants would have left him long ago. It was almost laughable that people could think him a werewolf. Mr. Brennan had said something about Ellis leaving every full moon. She remembered hearing the same thing from the travelers coming through Papa’s shop. How very odd.
Chapter 6
With nothing better to do,Andalin started counting the doors on the third floor. She was craving good conversation. The staff hadn’t said more than two words to her in the last three days. Mrs. Lewis hadn’t even had time for the usual lady lessons. Andalin couldn’t understand how they could possibly be so busy when they had only her to care for.
She peeked in each door as she counted, but she never found anything incriminating Lord Cadogen as a highwayman or anything villainous. The number of bedrooms always astonished her compared to her two-bedroom home above the store. Several of the doors were locked, and the open ones were ghost rooms with the furniture and wall hangings shrouded in Holland covers to keep the dust away. When was the last time the rooms had been used? The large house practically begged for a house party. She imagined inviting Marybeth and Edith from Corbridge and realized they would feel even more out of place than Andalin did; though, she did recall Matilda saying Ellis had at least one friend.
Ironically, the abundance of space only made Andalin feel increasingly isolated and lonely. She’d been remiss in wanting more in life than she already had. She smiled sadly, thinking of how she’d volunteered to make the local deliveries so Papa could spend more time with his salt-glazing. She missed him—positively craved the sound of his voice. She shook her head. She had to stop thinking about him. It made her stomach hurt and her eyes water.
Andalin reached a turn in the corridor and stopped. This was Ellis’s wing. She had never been down this way. It had a separate staircase, so it seemed almost like a separate house altogether. She took a long glance down the passageway and saw more doors. She dared not take a step farther. She was curious to find pictures of Ellis’s family since there were none to be had elsewhere in the house, but that was as far as her interest went. She didn’t care to know any more of Ellis. He was the cause of her long days and the aching in her heart.
She had one more handkerchief left to embroider for Matilda, and now was as good a time as any to do it. After returning to her room and finishing the handkerchiefs, she folded them and put them back into their box. She had just replaced the lid when she heard something from downstairs.
She raced to the door and held her ear there. She heard muffled noises. Voices! She pushed an unruly curl out of her face so she could think. It would be unwise to rush downstairs if it was Ellis. But what if it was someone else? She would be glad to see anyone, even if it was the obnoxious Mr. Brennan.
The opportunity was too great to resist. She crept out of her room and down the corridor, where she could peek down the staircase. She did not recognize the man. He was wearing a traveling coat and was giving his hat to Mr. Lewis. While Mr. Lewis helped him remove his coat, Andalin observed his handsome face. He was tall and thin, and he flashed a charming smile to Mrs. Lewis as she came to greet him. Andalin smoothed her dress and was about to descend the stairs when Hannah’s firm voice startled her from behind.
“Dinner won’t be served for another hour.”
Andalin groaned. “Yes, Hannah, but I want to meet the guest.”
Hannah shook her head. “You will meet him at dinner, where you will have a proper introduction.”
Andalin glanced back down toward the foyer, which was now empty. She reluctantly answered, “Very well. I’ll meet him at dinner.”
“Come. Ye must change, and I need to fix yer hair again.”
“But why? This dress is beautiful, and my curls have stayed in their pins—well, mostly.” She batted back a few loose tendrils.
Hannah shook her head. “Haven’t ye learned the difference between an evenin’ and a day gown yet? Ye must always dress before dinner.”
“But we haven’t done so before,” Andalin complained.
Fatigue lined Hannah’s eyes. “I’m up to me ears in work. If ye have any complaints, ye can take it up with Mrs. Lewis.”
Finally, it was after eight and time to go down for dinner. Andalin glanced in the mirror before exiting. There was no mistaking Hannah had tamed her wild hair into a beautiful arrangement. Her butter-yellow dress was the finest she had worn yet, and the long white gloves were ever so elegant.
A knock on the door interrupted her musing. Andalin opened the door, and the sight of Ellis made her swallow her voice.
“Good evening,” Ellis said. His voice was soft as he studied her. She remembered clearly the night in the library when he’d told her that her appearance offended him. She found herself evaluating him as well. He was wearing his typical black, but this time it was in the form of a sleek evening jacket, gray waistcoat, white shirt, and cravat. His light hair was combed neatly, and he was almost smiling.
Andalin nodded when she couldn’t think of anything to say. Was this the Dark Rider so many feared? All the villains she imagined possessed dark hair. Ellis’s light coloring made him look friendly, even approachable. It was a trick of the light, to be sure. She blinked, and suddenly Ellis was all business.
