She nodded vigorously.
‘Good. We rarely dine formally here as I often return late. So you will most often dine with Jamie or in your parlour. Occasionally, though hopefully rarely, we may be required to dine with my aunt, Lady Morag. Luckily she is highly unsociable and mostly remains in the north tower with her choice of comforts. I suggest you not invade her privacy—she is a...cantankerous person. Other than that you are to remember that you are an Uxmore and my guest and I have made that clear to Mrs Merry and the servants. I won’t have you slinking around here like a governess or a drudge. Understood?’
Some of her relief was beginning to evaporate at his imperiousness, but she nodded again, a little less vigorously.
‘Good. Now go find Jamie and have him show you the castle and the grounds. I have work to do.’
He stood, casting a look of such blatant loathing at the ledgers she almost laughed.
‘If you hate it so, why not have your steward see to the numbers? Is he not trustworthy?’
‘Very, but he is getting on and though he doesn’t admit it his eyesight is failing. I must find someone to replace him eventually, poor fellow. Meanwhile I do my best to review his tallies. We are sadly behind because of my trip south.’
‘I can help with that, if you wish. I saw to the housekeeping accounts at Uxmore.’
‘What else did you do at Uxmore? Did you tend to their gardens as well? Air the sheets?’
Strangely she wasn’t offended. Perhaps because he sounded offended.
‘I did not mind it, truly. It was my quiet time. I had the library to myself then.’
He hesitated, clearly tempted, but she clasped her hands and carefully refrained from pressing. Finally he gave another of his peculiarly Latin shrugs.
‘Perhaps later. But only if you prove you can actually tally and were not secretly siphoning off the Uxmore funds to the local butcher and baker and candlestick maker.’
‘If I was, you will never know, I was very discreet.’
‘Mrs Langdale...’
She waited for another list of prohibitions, but after a moment of hesitation he continued.
‘I have not been very gracious. Thank you for staying. Jamie will be very happy. If there is anything you need to make your time here more...agreeable, please don’t hesitate to speak.’ He grimaced, as if aware of how stilted he sounded, and she did her best not to smile.
‘Thank you, Your Grace. That is very kind.’
‘Yes. Well. Where are you headed now?’
‘Jamie wants to take me treasure hunting in the bay. With luck I will meet his mermaids.’
He smiled just as the sun cleaved through the clouds outside the window and the combination made her look down.
‘You are being honoured indeed. I have yet to be introduced to them.’
‘Jamie did not sound very hopeful. He says I might be lucky because I know Minerva, but usually mermaids think adults are too boring.’
He laughed and came to open the door for her. ‘I tend to agree with them. I hope your connections with the magical Minerva serve you well. I will tell Angus to keep well back when he accompanies you so he doesn’t ruin your chances with the dwellers of the deep.’
‘Surely Angus need not be bothered to accompany us?’ she asked as she stepped into the corridor.
‘I do not want you going by the Sea Gate tunnel with only Jamie as guide on your first descent to the bay. The tunnel is... I do not want you wandering around and becoming lost.’
The shift from laughter to tension was so sudden it jarred her, but she did not wish to upset him again so she nodded.
‘If you do not think Angus will mind.’
‘I do not think he will mind in the least, Mrs Langdale.’ This time his smile was sardonic and before she could respond he disappeared back into the study.
First impressions were often deceptive, Jo thought as she paused halfway along the beach and glanced back at the castle. Yesterday they arrived in near darkness, though it was only late afternoon, with clouds hanging low and submerging everything in sheets of unrelenting rain. Faraway lightning had sketched out the contours of the castle, marking towers and the remnants of walls. Through the watery grey the castle had appeared a gloomy monstrosity clawing at the sky.
In sunlight the castle was another beast entirely. It sat atop a promontory whose cliffs fell into the water like an anthracite skirt. It was still imposing and not terribly inviting, but as the sun gleamed off the deep grey stone of the castle and the remains of the walls around it, at least it no longer looked like the lair of an ogre.
From the south she could not see the tower where the Duke said his aunt lived. She wondered if the woman was truly as unpleasant as he warned. She tried to remember what Bella had said about her, but the previous Duke had still been alive then and most of Bella’s commentary had been a barrage of complaints about her living conditions, her renovation of the castle, her plans to ensure they spent more time in London and her thinly veiled jealousy about how much time Benneit spent with the baby rather than her.
If Jo was doubtful about the castle, she had no qualms about the beach—it was beautiful. With the skies scrubbed clean of clouds and the scent of the sea and the soft sand beneath her boots, the world was a marvellous place. The bay was sheltered by a finger of the cliffs that extended into the water and further to the south by a tumble of rocks with a large boulder atop it that looked like a pillow just waiting for a large cat to curl on and lap up the sun’s warmth. Beyond the finger of rocks, the waves were lashing at the cliffs, heavy with foam, but inside the bay they merely surged and hissed in retreat, more teasing than threatening.
Jamie soon abandoned his shoes on a rock and began inculcating Jo into the secret of finding treasures as he rooted about a clump of slimy brownish growth. The best finds, he informed her, were often tangled in gatherings of kelp the sea tossed up, especially after a storm. They found a lovely shell with a pearly inside, and a curved stick that looked like a pig’s tail and which Jamie decided once belonged to a druid.
When Jamie grew hungry they gathered his treasures and turned towards the castle, Jamie running ahead in his stockings while Angus picked up his shoes and addressed Jo with a sigh and a smile.
‘You needn’t hurry after him, Mrs Langdale. He’ll be gone in a cloud of dust before you reach the steps. I’ll see Nurse Moody takes him in hand before nuncheon. Take your time and when you’re ready to come in, take the stairs at the end of the corridor and you will find yourself by the great staircase and from there up two flights to the nursery. You’ll be all right, lass?’
Jo nodded and smiled, happy to have a few moments to herself. She contemplated the tumble of rocks. Perhaps one day she would take a book up there. After all, she had a month. And then...
There was no point in thinking of that now.
She followed the edge of the sea where the waves licked the sand into firmness, stopping to pick up a shell sure to appeal to Jamie. Outside it was gnarled and a rather dull dun colour scored with what looked like the passage of worms in the sand, but inside it was perfection—a creamy pink sheen that would defy the finest artist. She brushed