Page 40 of A Single Thread of Moonlight

Mrs Chambers shook her head. “Her Ladyship let most of the staff go, not long after you … disappeared. A handful stayed on – like Kielty the gardener and some of the grooms – but they’ve all retired now.”

“Good,” I said. “I should go.”

They both nodded.

I got to my feet.

“Goodnight, Lady Iris.” Tookes had risen smoothly from his seat and bowed.

“Thank you, Tookes,” I replied calmly. “But it’s Miss Fox now.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The next morning, I sought out Cassie, ready for my first cycling lesson, and to begin to put my own plans into motion. Questioning Cassie about my father’s death – as delicately as possible, of course – seemed the easiest place to start.

It had been late when I returned to my bedroom after talking with Tookes and Mrs Chambers, and they had given me a lot to think about. Too much. In the end, I think I had snatched only a couple of hours’ sleep.

When I did sleep, I dreamed, as I had so many times before, of the day my father died.

He had been out all day. He often had business to attend to, tenants to see, land to look over. Before Mother died I used to go with him more often than not. He’d tell me that I was in training, that one day I would run the place myself and that it was good to learn these things as early as possible.

We’d ride all over and then I’d go home and tell Mother all about the people we met and the things I had seen. She never came with us, but she always seemed interested in any story I had to share, no matter how small.

But after Helena had arrived, Father no longer took me with him. He went out all day alone, and I stayed with Cassie and Agatha, learning the sort of lessons little girls learned, from a new governess with a short temper and a passion for the under-gardener that she didn’t think I knew about.

That day Father didn’t come home. That wasn’t unusual – sometimes he stayed out, went to the village with some of the locals to visit the tavern there. Those nights he’d come back late and sleep until the afternoon.

I assumed he had done that and went to bed. I think about that often, that last night when I was asleep, blissfully unaware that my whole life had been turned upside down again, that things were already changed for ever.

At the breakfast table, Helena’s face was pale and pinched. Tookes came in and reported that no one had seen my father since the previous afternoon. She had sighed.

“Have some of the men sent to look for him,” she had said. “He’s probably just out carousing.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Agatha was arguing with Cassie over a piece of toast, and I stared out of the window.

I remember it was sunny – a fact which seemed obscene later on – a peaceful, pastel-blue sky without even a whisper of a breeze, and a fat golden sun, like a child would draw in the corner of a picture.

As soon as I heard the shouting I knew that something was badly wrong. I ran out of the house and along the drive, but Mrs Chambers caught up with me, bundling me in her arms, dragging me towards the house.

She pulled me past Helena, who had come outside too, her hands limp at her sides as she stared up towards the men moving slowly, leading the covered wagon.

I saw it then – just for a moment, there and gone in a blink, but burned into my memory – the look that blazed to life in her green eyes: triumph.

I had woken up from the dream in a cold sweat. The rush of memories, the nearness of the past now that I was here where it had all happened, had made the dream so much more vivid than usual. The feeling of loss crashed over me like a wave and I burrowed deeper under the blankets, suddenly cold.

All of this made for an uneasy mood. It was a relief when Cassie came thundering down the stairs, and I was temporarily distracted from my own troubles by her bizarre costume.

“Oh!” I exclaimed, unable to resist circling her like some kind of hungry lion.

“Do you like it?” Cassie asked with a smile.

“I do!”

Cassie was wearing a pair of brown tweed knickerbockers and a matching jacket. Unlike her gowns, the costume fitted her beautifully and was made of very fine materials. Her jacket had a bottle-green velvet collar and shining brass buttons. A small dark hat with the same green trim was perched on her glossy hair. She looked wonderful, but then I have found that most people do when they’re wearing something that makes them feel fully themselves.

“What does your mother think about it?” I asked curiously.

Cassie grimaced. “She hates it, but I think she considers it a small price to pay for me to be off amusing myself. She’s never been particularly concerned about having my company – for that she’s quite satisfied with Agatha.” She spoke briskly, pulling on a pair of dark leather gloves. “Come.” She gestured outside. “I’ve asked the servants to bring both bicycles around to the front of the house.”

I followed Cassie outside, and there were indeed two bicycles leaning against the wall.