Peter and Hetty were disposed to linger until Polly rea.s.sured them with a pale smile.
"Truly, I am not hurt, only a little shocked. Oh, thank you, ma"am--"
She accepted a gla.s.s of brandy from Lady Belling ham, then looked at it dubiously. " Must I indeed drink this? " For the shock, my dear,"
Lady Belling ham counselled.
"It will help you sleep."
The grandfather clock chimed two.
The drink was very pungent and burned its way down Polly"s throat.
"Poor Mr Dit ton!" She started to laugh.
"I imagine I gave him far more of a fright than he did me!"
"You were remarkably accurate with that chamber pot, my dear," Lady Belling ham observed.
"One scarce knows whether to be grateful or otherwise that it was empty!"
It was only later, when Lady Belling ham had left her and the house had settled down once more into quiet, that Polly curled up and wondered how Lord Henry had managed to appear in his night attire. Only minutes earlier she had seen him in the hall, fully dressed.
She was about to fall asleep for a third time that evening when she remembered the corner door. Some instinct prompted her to check that it was locked, although she had no reason to suppose otherwise. She dragged herself out of the bed again into the cold room. She shivered as she crossed the floor and turned the k.n.o.b. The door swung smoothly open without a sound and the dark stair gaped below.
Chapter Twelve.
QsrQ All sleepiness fled from Polly"s mind. The door, which had been locked when she went to bed, was now standing open. A faint draught, scented with sea salt, wafted into the room and the darkness yawned below. For a moment she stared, unbelieving, down the dark stair, then she slammed the door shut as though she almost expected an intruder to appear before her eyes. There was a heavy oak armchair in a corner of the room, and Polly made haste to drag it across in front of the turret door, barricading herself in as best she could. The silence of the House of Tides seemed to spread around her.
There was no step on the stair, no turning of the k.n.o.b, but it was a long time before Polly returned to bed and even longer before she slept.
"You look f.a.gged to death, poor child," Lady Bel- ling ham said next morning, "and no wonder! What a night of al arums and excursions! "
She had brought Polly"s breakfast tray herself and now moved forward to draw back the curtains, letting in the bright sunlight and swathe of blue, rain washed sky. Her dark, thoughtful gaze lingered on the heavy wooden chair which was still in place squarely against the door.
"Lady Belling ham," Polly said directly, "do you know where the key is for that door? " For a moment she thought that her ladyship looked distinctly furtive.
"The key? Is it not in the door, my love? I must confess I have hot seen it this age, for we seldom use this room."
"The door was locked when I went to bed," Polly said, feeling a little foolish at airing her suspicions in the bright light of day, "but it was open in the middle of the night! I cannot understand it! " Lady Belling ham"s eyes seemed to hold a secret amus.e.m.e.nt.
"Oh, no, my dear, I am sure you must be mistaken! The door is always kept locked!" And to ill.u.s.trate her point, she turned the k.n.o.b and gave the door a hearty push. It did not move.
"There now," Lady Belling ham said comfortably.
"I am persuaded that you must have dreamed it, my dear, and no wonder with all the shocks there were during the night! Mr Dit ton and his sister seem in an unaccountable hurry to leave this morning! But at least Miss Dit ton will be unable to gossip about last night"s rodomontade, since her own brother was the villain of the piece! Now, here is your dress, freshly laundered by Conchita, and you must join us downstairs only when you are ready!"
After she had gone, Polly slid from the bed and checked the door herself.
It did not move an inch. Polly ate her breakfast slowly, puzzling over the mystery, but she could come up with no explanation and eventually gave up, choosing instead to sit by the open window and look out at the fresh, blue day. The rain had left deep, water-filled ruts in the track, and Polly was surprised to see a carriage picking its way carefully through the quagmire.
It paused at the gate, where the Dit tons" coach rattled past it with rather more speed than was wise, then turned on to the forecourt of the House of Tides.
Polly hurried down the stairs. Lord Henry March- night was just coming into the hall, his hair tousled by the fresh breeze. Polly eyed him suspiciously.
He looked remarkably wide awake for someone who had spent the best part of the night prowling around and, she suspected, up to no good.
"Good morning. Lady Polly! I hope you are recovered from the trials and tribulations of last night! Sir G.o.dfrey Or bison has just arrived--no doubt to rescue the susceptible Sea graves from the clutches of the wicked Lady Belling ham!"
Sir G.o.dfrey"s stentorian tones could already be heard haranguing an impa.s.sive Gaston at the door.
"Come to find out what the deuce is going on! Only arrived at Dilling ham last night to find Cecil ia Sea- grave in receipt of a dashed odd message about the whereabouts of her family! Sea grave has been called away so I undertook to find out how everyone came to be marooned out here! Dashed lonely spot, what! Dashed odd place to live!"
"Sir G.o.dfrey!" Polly called, running across the hall and hugging her G.o.dfather.
"How are you, sir?"
"Sharp-set, miss, sharp-set!" Sir G.o.dfrey said, smiling despite himself.
"Sent out here on some outlandish wild goose chase before I even had my breakfast! What"s going on, eh?"
"We were caught in a storm yesterday and had to seek shelter here,"
Polly said, catching his arm and turning him towards the drawing-room.
"Come, I must introduce you to Lady Belling ham, who was kind enough to rescue us!"
"No need, my dear. Sir G.o.dfrey and I are old acquaintances!"
The drawing-room door had been thrown open with a nourish worthy of a great melodrama. Lady Bel- ling ham, resplendent in a sapphire gown and diaphanous scarves, wafted forward.
"G.o.dfrey!" she said in throbbing accents.
"To think that we should meet again after all this time! You went away, you wicked man!"
"Bessie!" Sir G.o.dfrey had dropped Polly"s arm as though thunderstruck and had hastened forward with the speed of a young man.
"My dear Bessie! You married Another!"
"Only because you had deserted me, you cruel deceiver!" Lady Belling ham said, tapping him on the arm with her peac.o.c.k fan.
"So much time lost!" Sir G.o.dfrey mourned, enthusiastically kissing her on both cheeks.
"So much to rediscover!"
Polly"s jaw had dropped as she watched this tableau unfold.
"I think we are witnessing a great romance," a voice said in her ear, "though Lady Belling ham seems uncertain whether this is to be a tragedy or a comic opera! " Polly turned to see Lord Henry grinning as he watched Lady Belling ham steer Sir G.o.dfrey towards the drawing-room, looking up at him flirtatiously as she went. The elderly baronet seemed totally enslaved.
Moreover he was willing, eager, to be swept away.
"Now that we have found each other again, G.o.d- frey," Lady Belling ham said in throbbing tones, "I insist that you sample my hospitality for a little!