Page 20 of The Affairs of Ashmore Castle

That made Sebastian smile. ‘I can just imagine—’ he began, but broke off as a maid appeared in the doorway, looking nervous. It was Ellen. She bobbed a curtsy to Sebastian and said, ‘Beg pardon, sir,’ then hissed at Dory, ‘Mrs Webster’s looking for you.’ A roll of her eyes suggested the unspoken words, and you’d better not let her find you here.

Dory stood, unflurried. ‘If you’ll excuse me, sir, I’d better go.’ She hoisted her sewing-basket under her arm, and bobbed to him for Ellen’s benefit. As she turned away, he plunged into a thunderous rendition of the funeral march, and she had to conceal a smile.

‘You can’t go out on your own, my lady,’ Josh said, with his most mulish look. ‘Her ladyship made it quite clear before she went away.’

Alice knew he meant her mother: Kitty didn’t really exist for him. ‘I’m only going to ride on our own land,’ she said impatiently.

‘You and Lady Rachel riding out alone together when you was little girls was one thing. But she’s not here. And you’re older now. It’s not fitting. Her ladyship said specifically, she said, “Lady Alice is not to go careering about on her own like a hoyden. She’s to be attended all the time.” That’s what she said. “I look to you, Brandom, to see to it,” she said.’

‘Her ladyship isn’t here,’ said Alice.

Josh scowled. ‘It’s taking advantage, my lady, that’s what it is. And I shall feel obliged to tell her ladyship when she comes back. It will be my duty to let her know what goes on when her back is turned.’

Alice drew an irritated breath. What a tattle-tale! she thought. But he would do it – she knew he would. He never forgot a grudge. And his loyalty to her mother was unshakeable. ‘All right,’ she said, ‘I’ll take one of the boys. I’ll take Timmy.’

‘Timmy’s not here today, my lady. His day off.’ He said it with a hint of triumph that riled her more.

‘The little one, then – the one with the ears. What’s his name?’

‘Oscar, my lady? He’s too young.’ Oscar was timid, and would do what Lady Alice told him, which Josh knew as well as she did. Oscar would be no replacement for a grim, watchful groom with a lifetime’s training in strict propriety. ‘He’s not been here long, so he doesn’t know the tracks.’

‘But I do.’ Alice smiled serenely. She knew she’d got him. ‘You want me to take someone, and I shall. I choose Oscar.’ She turned and beckoned to a passing groom. ‘Have Pharaoh saddled for me, and tell Oscar he’s to accompany me. I shall be ready in ten minutes.’

‘Yes, my lady.’

She turned and walked briskly away. Josh tried to follow her, but his crutch had sunk in and the jerk almost toppled him. By the time he had worked it free she was gone.

Oscar looked very young and rather small on board Dickie, one of the grooms’ horses, and it was obvious that Josh had managed to get at him before Alice came back because he was plainly nervous. Pharaoh had a long, free stride and was glad to be out, while Dickie was rather a plod, and the poor child had to keep chivvying him along to keep up. The clicks and giddups from behind her were an unrestful accompaniment to her ride.

When they reached the brow of the hill and were out of sight of the house, Alice checked and beckoned the boy alongside. ‘Now, Oscar,’ she said, ‘I’m going to gallop, and Dickie won’t be able to keep up. And I don’t need you with me anyway.’

‘Oh, my lady, Josh said—’

‘I know what he said. That he’d skin you alive if you let me out of your sight. Am I right?’

‘Yes, miss – my lady,’ he admitted, with a worried gulp. ‘Sort of.’

‘Well, Josh is not your boss, I am. And it’s not your fault if Dickie is too slow. Just stay on this track, and walk Dickie along till you get to the other end of the spinney. There’s a gate there and a stile, and you can tie him up and sit on the stile and wait for me. I’ll come back that way and collect you before we go home.’

‘Yes, my lady,’ Oscar said, close to tears.

‘You’re not to worry,’ Alice said impatiently. ‘Josh will never know. I shan’t tell him – and you won’t either, will you?’

‘What if he asks me?’ Oscar whispered. It was a sin to tell a lie, wasn’t it?

‘Here . . .’ She fished a sixpence out of her pocket and gave it to him. ‘Buy something for your mother next time you go home.’

‘Thank you, my lady.’ Contemplating the sixpenny bit, he looked a lot more confident. Rows and shouting were unpleasant, but they didn’t kill you, and coin of the realm was coin of the realm. A penny would have been acceptable, but a sixpence now! That bought a lot of loyalty. He raised his eyes hopefully to her ladyship. Perhaps she would protect him.

Alice read the look. ‘I promise I won’t let you get into trouble,’ she said, put her heel to Pharaoh, and was gone.

The woodsman’s cottage was in Motte Woods, at the edge of the land covered by Hillbrow Farm. It was solidly built, and had several large outbuildings – a tool shed, a log store, a vast work-shed with a saw pit big enough to cut tree trunks, a barn, and a stable with an open-sided cart-shed to one side and saddle-room to the other. Compared with the little cottage Axe had lived in before, it was palatial. He had had to rent the former himself, and it had been all he could afford, but this house came with the job.

Axe was in the yard when Alice rode in, and his face warmed with that long, slow smile of his that she forgot when she hadn’t seen him for a while. Pharaoh whinnied when he saw his old friend, and Axe came forward to catch the bridle and let the horse thump him in the chest with his muzzle in greeting. ‘He’s getting chatty these days, isn’t he?’ Axe said, squinting up at Alice against the light.

‘More chatty all the time. He embarrasses me sometimes,’ Alice said.

‘Passing through, my lady, or would you like to get down?’