The Lady and the Lake (28 page)

As
I
opened
the
door
of
my
bedroom
I
instinctively
knew
there
was
someone
in
the
room.
Cautiously
I
looked
around
the
door
and
could
see
it
was
Alice.
She
was
standing
by
the
wardrobe,
my
blue
dress
over
her
arm.

‘What
are
you
doing?’
I
asked
of
her
quite
perplexed.

‘I
wanted
to
see
how
you’d
stitched
the
flowers
on,’
she
said
quite
calmly,
‘and
as
you
weren’t
about
I
didn’t
think
you’d
mind
me
taking
a
peek
at
it.’

‘Well
I
do
mind,’
I
answered,
my
brain
working
as
I
spoke,
‘it
was
you
wasn’t
it?’
I
said,
realisation
suddenly
dawning
on
me.

‘What
do
you
mean?’
she
said,
laying
emphasis
on
the
word
do
.

‘
I
mean
Alice,
it
was
you
who
cut
the
flowers
from
my
dress
wasn’t
it?’
I
accused
her,
for
I
was
sure
I
was
correct
in
this
assumption.

‘Why
on
earth
would
I
do
such
a
thing?’
she
said
innocently.
This
young woman
was
a
very
good
liar.

‘I
have
no
idea
why,’
I
said
quietly,
‘unless
for
some
reason
you
are
jealous
of
me.’

‘And
why
would
I
be
jealous
of
you?’
she
said
with
some
sarcasm.
‘Who
would
look
twice
at
you
in
your
dour
grey
dress?’
At
these
words
indignation
rose
in
me.

‘That
is
very
unkind
Alice,
you
may
as
well
just
own
up
to
it
for
I
know
I
am
right.’

‘You
know
nothing.’
she
said
sharply,
her
temper
was
rising
and
I
knew
I
must
remain
calm.

‘What
don’t
I
know,
Alice?
Tell
me,
for
unless
I
know
I
cannot
help
you.’
My
voice
was
level
as
I
coaxed
her
for
to
shout
now
would
achieve
nothing.
There
was
obviously
some
underlying
problem
with
this
woman,
but
I
wasn’t
to
be
given
the
chance
to
find
out.

‘As
if
I’d
tell
you,’
she
retorted
placing
my
dress
back
in
the
wardrobe.
She
then
brushed
past
me
to
the
open
door
and
turned
back
to
say,
‘I
wish you’d
never
come
here.’

The
words
were
spoken
with
such
venom
and
ill
feeling
that
I
started
trembling,
unable
to
understand
Alice’s
dislike
of
me
for
she
had
seemed
so
friendly
when
I
first
arrived
at
Kerslake
Hall.

For
some
time
I
lay
on
my
bed,
the
curtains
drawn
as
I
had
a
headache.
Henrietta
Kershaw’s
change
of
heart
was
on
my
mind,
also
Alice’s
sudden
dislike
of
me.
Or
had
it
been
sudden
I
asked
myself,
maybe
on
my
arrival
she
had
befriended
me
to
gain
knowledge
of
my
intentions
and
I
recalled
her
saying
‘you’d
not
thought
of
marriage
then?’
At
this
thought
I
sat
up,
who
did
she
think
I
might
marry,
Thomas
or
Antony?

Which
brought
to
mind
her
admission,
‘There
is
someone
I
truly
love
with
all
my
heart.’
Could
it
be
Antony
Kershaw
or
Thomas
she
was
in
love
with?
This
caused
me
to
think
again
of
Thomas’
proposal,
he
and
his
cousin
had
each
accused
the
other
of
being
a
philanderer.

On
the
evening
in
the
drawing-room
I
had
been
prepared
to
believe
Antony
Kershaw,
now
it
seemed
I
believed
Thomas,
but
who
was
right?
I
mulled
it
over
for
some
time,
it
was
little
wonder
I
had
a
pounding
head.

The
fact
that
I’d
seen
Antony
with
Ann
Anderson
led
me
to
believe
he
wasn’t
entirely
honest,
for
had
he
not
spoken
sweet
words
to
me?
I’d
made
my
decision,
it
was
Thomas
I
believed,
but
I
did
not
get
chance
to
think
of
his
proposal
of
marriage
for
I
slipped
into
a
peaceful
slumber.

Sometime
later
I
was
awoken
by
someone
tapping
on
my
door.
I
sat
up
and
looked
around
me,
the
sun
had
moved
across
the
sky,
I
must
have
been
asleep
for
some
time.

‘Who
is
it?’
I
called
out,
getting
up
and
drawing
back
the
curtains.

‘It’s
me
Miss,’
said
Maggie
stepping
into
the
room
and
closing
the
door
behind
her,
‘I
was
right
worried
when
you
didn’t
appear
at
teatime,
Miss.’

‘Please
call
me
Abbey,’
I
said
to
her.