Chapter 8 #2
'How will you know if they're loyal or agree with him? We only know his views because you overheard him speaking. I'm sure each one of them will swear allegiance to you, promise to do better as they won't want to be homeless and without work.'
Before she could stop him, he'd reached out, picked up a heavy silver candlestick from the side table and hurled it with great force at the wall. Unfortunately, his aim was poor, and it went straight through the window with a hideous clattering of broken glass.
*
James waited for Sofia to scream, to protest at his disgraceful behaviour. He swivelled to look at her. To his consternation her eyes rounded and her mouth fell open.
She put her hands to her forehead as if feeling dizzy. 'Oh my, I cannot believe you've broken the window. I fear I'm going to faint from shock.'
She then closed her eyes and rolled off the sofa to land in a cloud of blue silk at his feet. For a hideous moment he thought her collapse genuine. Then she opened her eyes and her smile made her appear even more beautiful.
'Now, my lord, you have to eat your best waistcoat.'
'How can you jest when I've just done that,' he pointed at the hole in the window.
'I know, but you did warn me you have the most frightful temper. Will you promise not to throw something else if I ask why you threw the candlestick in the first place?'
The situation was so absurd he laughed. She joined in and soon they couldn't stop. Tears ran down their cheeks. He delved into his pocket and handed her his pristine handkerchief.
'Here, dry your face, my dear, I suppose I'll have to ring for someone to take care of the damage. Thank God my dogs aren't allowed in here.'
'Dogs? Are they, like your staff, invisible? Why haven't I met them as I adore all animals but particularly dogs and horses. Although I own that I'm quite fond of cats too.'
She was still lying on the floor and showed no sign of getting up. He reached down and lifted her in order to place her on the sofa next to him.
'Why in God's name are we talking about pets? I've just thrown a very valuable silver heirloom through that window.'
'You also have yet to answer my question. What prompted that extraordinary reaction from you?'
'You pointed out the blindingly obvious and I should have seen that for myself. I'm beginning to think that I've been wandering about my home half-asleep for the past few years ignoring what was under my nose.'
He now had her full attention. 'Are you saying that your staff have been derelict in their duties before today?'
'Indeed, that's exactly what I'm saying. If I get rid of all the inside staff, which is what I should do, it might be weeks before the place is running smoothly again.'
It was her turn to exclaim, but she didn't use blasphemy or bad language.
'Goodness, I think your staff and your broken window must be forgotten for the moment.
We have yet to find my missing maid and it will soon be too dark to search successfully.
We cannot ask for help from your staff now, so what are we to do? '
He surged to his feet, snatched her hand and pulled her to her feet. 'I've absolutely no complaints about the outside staff. They are loyal to a fault. Therefore, I'll enlist their assistance immediately.'
'I'll leave that to you, James, I must return to Annabel as she'll be worried by my prolonged absence when I promised to return at once.
I've been gone far too long. My initial thought was that Mr Sinclair had something to do with Mary's disappearance, but now I fear it might be something to do with Bedford or Foster. '
'Yes, return to your apartment. Leave this to me. I'll send word or come myself when I have anything to report.'
As she was about to turn to go her expression changed. 'Your dogs, I take it they are hunting dogs, so why not get them to hunt for her? If you fetch them from their kennel, then I'll run upstairs and find an item of clothing that belonged to Mary.'
She was gone before he could gather his wits. He knew himself to be quick thinking, highly intelligent and calm in a crisis but had never expected to make the acquaintance of a young woman who could match him on every point.
Othello and Caliban lived in his study and being well-trained would only leave that room with him or if he whistled for them. That had never happened until now. Tonight, everything was different.
He went to the end of the passageway, put two fingers in his mouth and the ear-splitting noise reverberated along the corridor. The study door was always left ajar and seconds later his faithful hounds had burst out of the room and were tearing towards him.
True to her word Sofia was at that very moment flying down the stairs clutching a shawl. She waved it triumphantly. 'Here, this is hers. I'm sure it will still have her aroma lodged within it.'
His dogs were not partial to strangers but as soon as they saw her they bounded forward.
This didn't concern him as their tails were wagging.
She dropped to her knees and his two fierce hunting dogs, one might go as far as to call them guard dogs, rolled about on the floor in ecstasy whilst she tickled their bellies and their legs waved inelegantly in the air.
'Enough of that nonsense, boys, you've a job to do.' He snapped his fingers and instantly they were at his side waiting for instructions. Sofia handed him the length of cloth and he rubbed it over their faces.
'Seek, seek, Thello, Cali, go find her.'
*
Sofia watched the huge hounds sniff the air, then put their long muzzles to the boards. They whined as they circled searching for the scent. Annabel ran down the stairs to join them.
'They won't find anything to follow, Mary will have used the back stairs,' her friend called out.
'Dammit, of course. My wits are wandering today and it's taking two young ladies to set me straight,' James said as he smiled a greeting to Annabel.
He snapped his fingers a second time and pointed to a narrower corridor that Sofia hadn't noticed.
As she wasn't told to remain she ran along behind.
James kept telling the dogs to seek and they were constantly sniffing the air and the floor, whining because they couldn't find what they'd been told to look for.
Then, the darker dog, the one called Caliban made a strange yipping sound and was gone, closely followed by Othello and James thundered along behind.
'I don't think we should go with them, Annabel, we can't keep up and we'll just hinder the search. There are things I must tell you quickly as we go to the stables.'
When her friend had heard the whole sorry tale she was horrified.
'It doesn't seem possible that his servants can have been dictating what happens here for all these years.
I don't agree with you, Sofia, that we should leave, that our arrival was a disaster.
I think it a good thing that finally the true character of these people has been revealed. '
'I'm not sure James will see it like that; I believe him to be a gentleman who prefers things to remain the same.'
She'd now found the side door that led directly to the stables and they exited together, her intention being to involve the head groom and ask him to get everybody to join in the search.
'That's just not so, Sofia, otherwise why would he have taken us in so readily?'
There was no time for further chat as they had arrived at the archway that led into the yard. This time there were two stable boys sitting on upturned buckets diligently cleaning tack. They jumped to their feet still clutching the bridles they'd been working on.
'Is there a bell you can ring to summon help in an emergency?' Sofia asked knowing there must be something of the sort as if there was a fire it was imperative that everybody was roused to put it out.
'It's up there, miss, do I ring it for you?' The boy pointed to the top of a flight of wooden steps.
'Yes, his lordship wishes all the outside staff to help search for my missing maid, we've not seen her for several hours and fear she's met with an accident.'
The lad didn't need telling a second time.
He tossed the bridal he'd been cleaning at the other boy and clambered up the steps.
The next moment the clanging of the warning bell boomed out and within minutes the stable yard was full of men – not just those that worked in the stables in some capacity but also outside men, gardeners, cow men and so on.
A sprightly middle-aged man with startlingly red hair approached her. 'Why are we summoned like this, Miss Brotherton? I ain't seeing no fire.'
'Mary, my maid, is lost somewhere and it will be dark soon. The earl is hunting for her with his dogs and sent us here to involve as many of you as possible in the search.'
The man touched his forehead. 'Yes, miss, we're happy to help. You'll not get nothing from those working inside.'
Sofia thought it better not to comment, discussing such things was not appropriate and the man should not have mentioned it.
'To whom am I speaking?'
'Begging your pardon, miss, I'm Samuel Piper, head groom here. I'll organise a search of the grounds.'
She was about to agree when she thought that the house had to be investigated as thoroughly as the outside.
'I need half your men to come with us and we'll start searching the interior. The rest you can direct as you think best.'
Piper allocated ten of the younger men to her team and she led them to the side door. 'Have any of you been into the house?'
Two of the tallest men stepped forward. 'We have, miss, three years back his lordship had a party for her ladyship and we were needed as extra footmen.'
'Excellent, then you shall lead this party as neither Miss Sinclair, nor I are familiar with the interior or exterior of Avon Court.'
She was aware there was some unease in the group as they approached the side door which she'd left ajar.
She turned to smile at them in what she hoped was a reassuring way.
'You may make as much noise as necessary; there's no need to remove your footwear, just scrape any debris from the soles of your boots before entering.
Bedford is no longer part of this household. '
From the delighted expressions of the men surrounding her this was good news indeed. Annabel indicated she wished to speak to her and Sofia stepped to one side waving to her team that they go in ahead.
'What is it? Is there something else I should have told them?'
'I can no longer hear the dogs, Sofia. They must have been outside initially, or we wouldn't have heard them but now I believe that they've returned indoors.'
'Then we shall follow their lead and look in every anteroom, pantry, cupboard, disused chamber and empty attic until we find her.'
The only good thing about the search was that Sofia and Annabel were now more familiar with their new surroundings. The house was so vast if they hadn't had one of the erstwhile footmen as their guide they'd have been hopelessly lost on more than one occasion.
'Listen, them dogs are getting closer. I reckon we're on the right track,' the young man said.
'I don't understand why Mary would have come to the attics,' Annabel said as she brushed away another cobweb.
'I don't think she came here willingly, but I cannot think of a single reason why anyone would wish to harm her.'
The groom, who was called Sid, was carrying a candle, despite the late evening sunlight filtering in through the grimy windows in the attic it was still dangerously dark.
Sofia stopped. 'Mary, Mary can you hear us? We've come to find you,' she called and immediately received an answer. Not a verbal one but the sound of someone banging their feet on the boards.
There was no need to tell Sid as he raced ahead of them towards the noise. How he avoided knocking himself out on the low beams she'd no idea as twice she'd narrowly avoided an accident herself.
'The door's locked miss, shall I break it down?'
'Yes, please do so. I can hear the dogs approaching so I'm sure that his lordship will be joining us soon.'
Sid handed her the candlestick and then instead of barging with his shoulder as she'd expected, he stood back and smashed his booted foot against the lock. The wood splintered satisfactorily.
As he was kicking down the rest of the door the dogs arrived barking with excitement knowing they'd found their quarry. James, only slightly out of breath, arrived a few seconds behind them.
He took in what was happening at a glance and joined the groom in destroying the door. With two men applying their combined force it quickly disintegrated.
Sofia held the candlestick above her head so they could see inside. Her maid was trussed like a chicken, both hands and feet tied, and a cloth tied over her mouth to prevent her from calling out.
James reached the girl first. He dipped into a boot top and withdrew a stiletto so soon the girl was free and sobbing in his arms. He remained kneeling next to her for a few moments whilst she told him what had transpired.
He regained his feet easily and turned to face them. 'Sid, you take her from me. I've got business to attend to. Sofia, she must stay in the empty bedchamber, the one for your sisters, and you and Annabel must take care of her.'
The dogs were quiet now but they weren't content, they were growling quietly and she guessed what business he might be referring to.
'Annabel, dearest, will you look after Mary as you know her better than I? I wish to speak to James but will join you directly.'
He must have heard her quiet words as he waited until she joined him and the dogs. 'It was Foster and Bedford who incarcerated her. The poor girl overheard them talking and they couldn't risk her informing me that they were co-conspirators.'
'Did they intend to leave her up here to die? I can't believe that. They might be disloyal, but surely they can't be murderers?'
His expression was grim. 'I think it was a panic move, I doubt they thought it through. But having locked her up they've made themselves even more culpable. What else would they do with her?'
'They would have returned when it was dark, taken her away and then left her somewhere miles from here where she'd do them no harm.'
He almost snarled his reply. 'And how is that better? She'd have been the prey of any passing vagabond. This isn't your concern; I'll deal with it how I think fit.'
He stepped around her and with the dogs their hackles up, on full alert, he was gone.