Page 106 of The Secrets of Ashmore Castle

The little cove was empty, though a towel, a robe and a pair of slippers lay neatly on the rocks.

Giles was scanning the water and calling when James emerged from the trees behind him, and registered the situation at once. The water was so clear, you could see there was no-one in it.

Giles turned, and stared at him as though he didn’t recognise him. ‘She never goes out far,’ he said. ‘She likes to lie in the water, but she doesn’t swim much. Never beyond the rocks.’ The rocks made a V-shaped inlet, with the cliffs rising up on either side. There was a small beach of pebbles, then the water dropped after a few feet into a deep pool. Perfect for bathing. Beyond the point, the sea was darker, and choppy from the breeze that had followed the storm clouds.

‘Maybe she went up again,’ James said.

‘Without dressing?’

‘She might have wanted to dry off in the sun,’ said James. ‘I’ll go back up, look to either side of the path.’

‘I’ll come too.’

They climbed, checking every place a person might leave the path, every place where the tree cover broke and provided a sunning spot. Giles called, with increasing anguish. At the top of the path he turned and started down again, like a trapped animal running between two points. What have I done? What have I done? His thoughts tormented him.

James fathomed them. ‘My lord, she won’t have— I mean, I’m sure it’s not what you think. She’s wandered off somewhere. We’ll find her, safe and sound, you’ll see.’

Giles turned to him, seeing him now. ‘We quarrelled,’ he said starkly.

James looked away. He did not want to witness such feelings in his master’s eyes. Knowing things like that made a relationship awkward later. But he felt a deep dread. There weren’t many places a semi-naked lady might be found. She had gone down to the sea, it seemed, and not come back up.

They searched again, down the path, to either side. Giles called, and this time James called as well. He remembered seeing, on his walk, a sort of open headland that he thought might be reached from the path. A nice place to catch the sun or look at the view. There had been no-one on it when he was walking back. But she might not have reached it by that time.

Or, said his deep mind, she might have gone there and – not be there any more. He had stood at the top of a cliff once, looking down, and had felt a strange desire to jump off. And he hadn’t even been unhappy at the time.

He left his lordship to carry on down and, in a moment, heard him calling from the beach, his voice echoing off the rocks. He found a side path he thought went in the right direction, but it petered out and he had to force his way through. After some time he finally came out on the headland, but he could tell no-one else had been that way, at least not today. He paused, looking around, hearing his lordship’s distant shouts, and then a faint reply. A woman’s voice.

He bellowed, ‘Hey!’

Faintly, it came back. ‘Help me!’

He thought it was from below. He stretched himself prone on the short turf, wriggled up to the cliff edge – it looked crumbly to him, and dangerous – and carefully inched forward until he could look down. ‘Is somebody there?’ he shouted.

‘Help! Help me!’ the cry came back.

Definitely down there. The cliff made an overhang: he could not see straight down. He eased forward a bit more. ‘Is that you, my lady?’

‘Yes, yes. Who’s that?’

‘It’s me, James.’

‘James. I’m so cold. I swam round, but I can’t get back.’

‘Are you all right?’

‘I’m on a rock, but the waves … I’m afraid I’ll slip off. Oh, help me!’

‘I will,’ he called, oddly moved. ‘I’ll get to you. Stay where you are! Don’t try and swim. I’ll come and find you.’

He wriggled backwards so hastily that he dislodged a lump of something and heard it tumble down. Hope to God it didn’t hit her, he thought, as he scrambled to his feet and hurried back the way he had come, struggling through the vegetation, getting scratched and snagged in his haste. When he reached the path, he found his lordship coming back up yet again.

‘She’s there! I heard her!’ James cried. ‘Down the bottom of the cliff. She swam round. She’s sitting on a rock, but she can’t get back.’

‘Oh, God!’ said Giles, and his face paled with shock and relief. ‘How can I get to her? We’ll need a boat.’

‘A boat’d take a long time,’ James said. ‘She must be getting cold. What if she slipped off? What if the wind gets up?’

‘You’re right,’ Giles said. For once, common sense seemed to have abandoned him. He didn’t know what to do.