The Lady and the Lake (20 page)

‘You
may
as
well
drive
us
to
the
main
door,’
I
told
him,
‘for
we
are
both
in
trouble
anyway,
me
more
so
than
yourself,
your
dear
aunt
will
probably
dismiss
me
as
soon
as
she
lays
eyes
on
me,’
I
continued.

‘I
don’t
know
what
has
changed
you
today,
Abbey,
but
I
am
obviously
wasting
my
time,
at
least
if
you
are
dismissed
we
won’t
have
to
see
each
other
again.’

After
this
little
speech
he
smiled
at
me
and
jumped
down
to
open
the
gates.
The
cheek
of
the
man
I
thought, and
what
could
be
gained
by
berating
him;
and
I
wondered
for
the
second
time
that
day
how
I
could
have
been
so
foolish
as
to
fall
for
such
a
cad
as
him.

As
we
pulled
up
outside
the
main
door
I
knew
that
someone
was
sure
to
see
us
and
when
Mrs
Grafton
looked
out
of
the
downstairs
window
I
knew
my
fate
was
sealed.
I
got
down
without
assistance,
my
feet
crunching
on
the
gravel.
I
threw
a
look
of
disdain
back
at
my
companion
and
headed
for
the
servants’
entrance
with
Thomas’s
words
ringing
in
my
ears.

It
was
nearly
six
o’clock
so
I
made
my
way
to
the
kitchen,
thankfully
encountering
no-one
on
the
way.
As
I
seated
myself
by
Maggie
she
whispered,
‘There’s
been
a
right
carry
on
about
you
today,
Miss,’
she
said.

‘Has
there
indeed,’
I
answered
quietly,
‘in
what
way?’

‘Mrs
Grafton
has
been
asking
us
all
if
we
knew
where
you’d
gone,
but
I
didn’t
let
on
Miss,
honest.
And
apparently
the
Mistress
is
right
put
out.’
At
these words
her
voice
got
louder
and
all
at
the
table
looked
at
me.
What
they
were
thinking
I
could
not
imagine.

Supper
over,
I
made
my
way
to
my
room
hoping
I
would
bump
into
Antony
Kershaw
to
enable
me
to
speak
of
Clara,
but
I
encountered
no-one,
not
even
the
hateful
Mrs
Grafton.
I
was
quite
surprised
at
this
as
on
other
occasions
she
had
been
ready
to
pounce
on
me
at
the
time
of
my
wrong
doings
and
today’s
outing
had
surely
beaten
them
all.

Stepping
into
my
room
I
removed
my
bonnet
and
then
tipped
the
silk
flowers
out
of
my
reticule
on
to
the
bed.
I
went
across
to
the
wardrobe,
took
out
the
blue
cotton
dress
and
laid
it
on
the
bed
too.

I
glanced
out
of
the
window
towards
the
brooding
lake,
my
thoughts
with
Phoebe,
Annie
and
Gladys,
wondering
as
Alice
had
done
who
would
be
next.

The
lake
lay
calm
and
still
in
the
evening
sunlight
as
if
it
held
no
secrets,
almost
innocent
to
the
fact
as
to
what had
happened
in
its
depths.

So
engrossed
was
I
in
my
thoughts
that
the
sound
of
a
key
turning
in
the
lock
of
my
door
didn’t
at
first
register
itself
in
my
head.
As
I
laid
the
pink
flowers
on
my
blue
dress
thinking
how
becoming
they
were,
I
suddenly
realised
what
I
had
heard
but
hardly
given
it
any
thought.

I
went
across
to
the
door
and
turned
the
knob,
pulling
the
door
as
hard
as
I
could
but
it
wouldn’t
budge.
The
awful
truth
dawned
on
me
that
I
had
been
locked
in
and
was
a
prisoner
in
my
own
bedroom.

7

It
must
have
been
Mrs
Grafton
I
thought,
the
cunning
woman
that
she
was.
On
her
mistress’s
instructions
she
had
no
doubt
waited
for
me
to
return
to
my
room
after
supper
and
turned
the
key
in
the
lock,
probably
with
jubilation
that
I
had
got
my
come-uppance.

I
paced
up
and
down,
then
tried
to
open
the
door
again
in
the
event
that
I
had
made
a
mistake.
But
to
no
avail,
the
door
was
locked
fast.
My
only
hope
was
Alice,
I
pounded
my
hands
against
the
door
as
hard
as
I
could,
hurting
my
knuckles
in
the
process
but
there
was
no
response.

After
a
while
I
gave
up
and
looked
out
of
the
window,
watching
as
the
sun
fell
farther
in
the
sky,
casting
a
pink
glow
on
the
still
lake.

Even
as
I
looked
I
could
see
a
man
walking
on
the
path,
I
could
tell
by
his clothes
that
it
was
Thomas
which
brought
to
mind
the
day’s
events.
What
a
horrid
day
this
had
been
and
it
was
by
no
means
over
yet.

I
saw
Thomas
step
into
the
summer
pavilion
and
then
I
lost
sight
of
him.
Had
he
a
tryst
with
someone
I
wondered
and
certainly
wouldn’t
put
it
past
him.
The
sight
of
him
had
renewed
my
vigour
and
I
proceeded
to
pound
on
the
door
again,
but
no-one
heard
me.
Where
was
Alice?

My
knuckles
felt
bruised
now
and
I
had
to
give
up,
hopefully
someone
would
miss
me
in
the
morning.
At
the
thought
of
all
those
hours
spent
in
my
room
I
felt
utter
despair
and
with
my
back
against
the
door
I
slid
on
to
the
floorboards
leaning
wearily
against
the
wood.

It
seemed
an
eternity
before
I
heard
light
footsteps
in
the
corridor
coming
in
my
direction.
I
found
some
strength
and
got
to
my
feet
hammering
on
the
door
with
one
hand
and
at
the
same
time
shouting
for
help.

‘Is
that
you,
Miss
Sinclair?’
It
was
Maggie,
I’d
never
before
in
my
life
been
so
pleased
to
hear
another
being’s
voice.

‘Maggie,
please
help
me,
someone
has
locked
the
door
of
my
room.’
I
spoke
trying
to
keep
my
voice
as
calm
as
possible.

‘Someone
locked
you
in!’
she
exclaimed,
‘I
can
hardly
believe
anyone
could
be
so
wicked.’

‘Maggie,
I
want
you
to
fetch
Mr
Kershaw,
he’s
the
only
one
that
can
get
me
out
of
here,’
I
said,
knowing
that
Henrietta
and
her
minion
would
not
help
me
as
I
was
sure
they
were
the
perpetrators
of
this
injustice.

‘But
Mr
Kershaw
is
drinking
his
port,
Miss.
I
dare
not
disturb
him,’
she
said
with
some
reluctance.

‘Maggie,
you
have
to
fetch
him.’
I
said
firmly
or
I’ll
be
locked
in
here
all
night.

‘I
may
lose
my
job,
but
all
right,
Miss,
I’ll
go,’
she
agreed.

It
seemed
an
eternity
before
I
heard footsteps
again
along
the
corridor.
It
was
a
man’s
tread,
and
to
prove
it
Antony
Kershaw’s
voice
came
to
me
through
the
door.
‘Miss
Sinclair,
what
is
going
on?’

‘Someone
has
locked
me
in
Sir,
please
get
me
out
of
here,’
I
pleaded
with
anger.

‘Maggie,
fetch
Mrs
Grafton
please,
now.’
His
voice
was
more
authoritative
than
I
had
heard
it
before.

‘Thank
you,
Mr
Kershaw,’
I
said
with
relief.
It
wasn’t
very
long
before
I
heard
Mrs
Grafton’s
voice
and
then
Mr
Kershaw’s.

‘Open
this
door,
Mrs
Grafton.’

She
obviously
did
as
she
was
bid
for
I
heard
the
jangle
of
her
keys
and
the
key
turning
in
the
lock.
When
the
door
opened
the
three
of
them
stood
there
like
characters
in
a
painting,
Maggie
looking
at
me
with
dismay
written
all
over
her
lovely
face,
Mrs
Grafton
with
a
sheepish
look
on
hers
and
Antony
Kershaw
with
a
face
like
thunder,
his
blue
eyes
flashing
with
anger
as
he looked
at
Mrs
Grafton.

‘Did
you
do
this,
Mrs
Grafton?’
he
shouted
at
her,
Tor
you
are
the
only
one
with
the
means
to
do
such
a
thing.’