Tessa’s head up with a start. When it continued to shrill she wondered why no one was picking it up, and then remembered she was alone in the house at the moment. Elvira had already left for Leeds; Margaret had gone to do the marketing in Ripon, and she had seen Evan Hughes drive off well over an hour ago. As for Emsie and Desmond, her O’Neill sister and brother were off riding on the moors.
Jumping up, Tessa hurried across to the Georgian desk next to the sofa, and grabbed the phone. ‘Pennistone Royal. Hello?’ There was a great deal of static, and faintly, far away in the distance she heard a man’s voice saying, ‘Tessa –. Is Tess –’ and then the voice faded out completely.
It’s Toby, she thought; my cousin’s calling me from LA. Holding the receiver tighter, she exclaimed, ‘This is Tessa Longden! Who is it?’ Much to her annoyance, the phone now went completely dead. She listened for a moment, said hello several times and then hung up in exasperation.
She had barely taken a few steps towards the makeshift desk when the phone began to ring once more. Snatching the receiver from the cradle, she said in a distinct tone, ‘This is Tessa Longden. Who’s calling?’ There was no response, no voice at all, only static and sounds like lapping waves. ‘Hello? Hello? I can’t hear you! Who’s calling?’
Her frustration echoed in her voice; she was positive it was her cousin, who had gone to Los Angeles to see his wife. He had promised to be in touch and no doubt this was Toby. On his mobile. The connection suddenly cut off, and with an impatient shrug she banged down the phone and headed back to her computer. No sooner had she turned away from the phone than its insistent shrilling brought her back to it, and she answered for a third time. ‘This is Tessa. Who is it?’
‘Tess –’ The voice broke up before the completion of her name, and then she was hearing only static and half a word here and there. She said ‘Hello’ several times, but whoever it was at the other end was not making himself understood.
She stood there with the phone glued to her ear for a few more minutes, and then with great irritation she hung up, mildly cursing Toby under her breath. Why use his mobile? Couldn’t he have picked up a land line?
It suddenly occurred to her that perhaps Toby had tried to reach her at the London store first, and so she dialled her new assistant’s private line. It was answered immediately.
‘It’s me, Patsy,’ she said at once. ‘I think Toby Harte might be trying to get hold of me. From the States. Using his mobile. But it’s not working, he keeps breaking up. Have you heard from him this morning? Has he been trying to get me?’
‘No, he hasn’t,’ Patsy answered. ‘In fact, you’ve had very few phone calls so far today. Only Jess Lister about a dress you ordered. It’s ready. She’s bringing it over. And Anita Moore. She called to say she wants to come in and see you, show you her new line of cosmetics and body products. I said you’d be in touch with her early next week.’
‘Good. Well, look, if Toby does ring me from the States please ask him to phone me on a land line. I’ll be here at Pennistone Royal all day, and this evening, too. I’m not going out. That’ll be much easier.’
‘I’ll tell him. Talk to you later, Tessa.’
Tessa walked back to the library table and automatically glanced out at the terrace before resuming her work. And she caught her breath in surprise. Adele was no longer sitting at the tea-table.
Oh God, where is she? Tessa rushed through the French windows and out onto the terrace, looking up and down. Her daughter was nowhere in sight. And yet she was not in the habit of wandering off. Adele was an obedient child.
Instantly her hackles rose and alarm shot through her. She swung around, glanced down at the tea-table as if seeking a clue, and immediately noticed that the rag doll was missing.
Where had Adele gone? Down to the old oak, perhaps? As this thought flew into her head Tessa ran over to the stone balustrade and looked out towards the dell at the bottom of the sloping lawns. Here an ancient oak spread its wide branches over a garden seat where Adele often went to play. But there was no sign of her there today.
How did she manage to get down the steps? Tessa now asked herself, and her alarm intensified as she raced along the terrace to the flight of steps. She dreaded what she might find; she fully expected to see her three-year-old child crumpled in a heap at the bottom of them. But Adele was not there either.
Panic spiralled into genuine fear as Tessa struck out towards the front façade of the house, looking around as she did, her face tense, her eyes filled with anxiety.
The driveway was deserted. There wasn’t a soul in sight, not even the gardeners or the stable boys. It was ominously quiet, as if everyone had disappeared and she was the only person left there.
When she reached the heavy front door Tessa stood for a moment, frowning. The door was ajar and this surprised her. It was always locked for security reasons. Puzzled, she pushed the door open and went inside; her only concern was to find her child.
‘Adele! Adele!’ she called out in her loudest voice, walking forward quickly. ‘Are you here, sweetheart?’
No one answered.
No child came running to her on plump little legs, calling her name.
There was only the sound of Tessa’s voice echoing back to her through the great Stone Hall. It struck her then that Adele might have gone to the kitchen looking for Margaret, wanting her favourite Cadbury’s chocolate fingers for the dolls’ tea party. Rushing down the corridor, she went into the kitchen. It, too, was deserted. Disappointment hit her in the face. Her heart sank and dismay lodged in the pit of her stomach. Unexpectedly, tears filled her eyes and she leaned against the door jamb for a split second, endeavouring to gather her swimming senses as she tried to imagine where the three-year-old could be. Where?
Taking a deep breath, Tessa swung out of the kitchen and made her way back to the front of the house, walked outside onto the gravel driveway, again looking around. And asking herself where she should begin to search for Adele. It now seemed obvious that her little girl had wandered off into the other garden, and Tessa suddenly understood that she would need Wiggs and his two assistants to start looking for her. And possibly the stable lads as well. The grounds at Pennistone Royal were vast and covered a wide area, and there were several dense woods beyond the fields and meadows.
‘Miss Tessa! Miss Tessa!’
At the sound of the head gardener’s voice, Tessa spun around. Wiggs was hurrying towards her and she saw that he had the rag doll in his hands.
She ran to meet him, exclaiming, ‘Where did you find the doll?’
The gardener came to a standstill and handed it to her. ‘Just around the bend in the drive.’ He glanced over his shoulder. ‘Yer knows that bend, Miss Tessa, it’s just afore the house comes in ter sight.’
Clutching the rag doll to her, Tessa said shakily, ‘I can’t find Adele, Wiggs. She’s suddenly gone missing, and I don’t understand what she was doing out here. We must start looking for her in the grounds.’
Wiggs gaped at her. ‘I thought she must’ve dropped the doll before she got in ter the car,’ he said, frowning, his face puzzled.
‘What car?’ Tessa cried, her eyes opening wider, flaring with apprehension. ‘There was a car here?’ Her voice was unusually shrill and she gripped
