examination of the corridor around her yielded no curtained alcoves in which to hide, nor was it possible to get to the staircase in time. The handle was already turning.
Perhaps one of these other rooms would be unoccupied?
But before she could try one, the door was open and in the corridor in front of her, resplendent in paisley silk dressing gown, was …
But she could not let her jaw drop, could not make any kind of exclamation.
Now she had to use all of her own dramatic powers, or everything was lost.
She stiffened and widened her eyes, making them stare out of her face at the man who stood in front of her.
‘Good God,’ he said. ‘What’s this?’
She said nothing, maintaining her tense, glassy-eyed posture as she walked slowly towards him.
A streak of lightning almost made her jump, but she mustn’t. She must appear oblivious to all around her.
He took a step closer, his head on one side. Edie saw a gleam of recognition brighten his grey-blue eye.
‘It’s the new girl, isn’t it? The parlourmaid?’
Edie stood her ground and stared as if looking straight through him.
‘The old sleepwalking gambit, eh?’
He snapped his fingers in her face.
She did not flinch.
‘Looks like stronger measures are called for,’ he said, and he took hold of her arm and brought his face, dark with wicked intent, so close to hers that she could smell Lady Deverell’s perfume on him. He was going to kiss her! No, he could not …
She pretended to come to her senses, letting her limbs loosen and her breath rush from her in great gasps.
‘Oh,’ she exclaimed. ‘Whatever is this? Where have I come to?’
She tried to shake herself free of him but he was not having it, and he marched, dragging her along with him, to the nearest empty room, into which he unceremoniously pushed her.
‘Please,’ she remonstrated. ‘Please let me go back to bed. I didn’t mean to be here, I swear it.’
He took his hand from her and folded his arms, glowering darkly down at her.
‘I don’t know who you are or what you saw,’ he said in a low, menacing tone. ‘But, whatever it was, you’ll do well to forget it. Do you understand me? Not a word to anyone.’
‘I promise, sir, I won’t … I didn’t … anyway. I don’t know what you mean, I’m sure.’
‘Hmm, I’m sure,’ he said, looking at her assessingly, his eyes all over her, making her flush hot and drop her gaze to the ground.
‘I’d better get back,’ she said, half-turning.
He put his fingers under her chin, gently holding her in position, shaking his head and tutting his disagreement with this proposition.
‘You are the new parlourmaid, aren’t you?’
She nodded, constricted somewhat by his unyielding grip on her face.
‘What’s your name?’
‘Edie. Edie Cr–, uh, Prior.’
‘Edie Cruuur-Prior?’ he repeated, tauntingly. ‘Unusual name.’
‘Just the Prior. I changed my name when my mother remarried. I forget, sometimes.’
He regarded her for a silent stretch of time, during which Edie committed his face to memory – its angles and shadows, the prominent nose, the full, sensual lips, the gleaming eyes, the lustrous dark hair, the cruel, handsome whole of it.
He looked utterly heartless to her, and glitteringly magnetic at the same time.
She was more afraid than ever.
‘You know who I am, of course?’
‘You’re Sir Charles, I think, sir.’
‘That’s right. I’m Charles Deverell, Lord Exley, heir to the estate. How’s life in service so far, Edie?’
‘Tiring,’ she said, tripping over the words in her anxiety. ‘I’m tired. I should sleep.’
‘Yes, they treat you like working dogs down there, don’t they? My hounds have a better life. But I’ll give you a little tip, Edie. Be a good girl, and you might find that there are perks to your job.’
His fingers brushed up her cheek, so lightly that the caress in them could almost be attributed to the air.
‘Are you a good girl, Edie?’ he whispered.
Weakness rinsed through her limbs. She had no reply to offer.
‘Tired,’ she whispered, her lips quivering.
He seemed to take a step back, though in reality he did not move. The seductive intensity in his eyes broke and he smiled, half-laughing.
‘Yes, you’re right, it’s late and I don’t have much more in me, much as I’d like to test the proposition.’
‘You and Lady Deverell–’
He held up a finger.
‘I’ve told you. Seal your lips. Well, until I want to unseal them, that is.’
That dazzling grin again, unsettling as a punch to the solar plexus.
‘I suggest,’ he continued, ‘that you take the three wise monkeys as your template while you’re working here.’
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
‘I understand, sir.’ She looked towards the door and he relented.
‘Run along then, Edie Cruur-Prior. Perhaps I should speak to Mrs Munn tomorrow about having a lock put on your dormitory door. But only if I can have a key.’
She turned and fled, running through the corridors and up the staircases, losing her way half a dozen times, until the low-ceilinged corridor that housed the staff dormitories appeared at the head of the uncarpeted back stairs.
All three of her roommates were deep in sleep, making the most of time away from dishpans and dustpans. A flash of lightning lit the room and she noticed how red and coarse Peggy, the young scullery maid’s, hands already were, and her only fourteen years old.
Edie inspected her own hands, pale and unblemished. How long would they remain so?
Her stomach was in knots and her head whirling when she lay down and tried to sleep through the thunderous rain. This had been a terrible idea. She had knowledge she did not want now, about Lady Deverell, and she had played
