Nell (3 page)

He wafted the hand as he spoke to encompass the castle, shifting a little away from her. Nell detected a note of disparagement in his voice and wondered at it. Did he dislike living here? He was not, she judged, all that old himself. At first sight, there had been an impression of severity, which had made him appear older—the black clothes, perhaps, or the dark hair worn unfashionably long and tied in a queue at the back. Close up, Nell could see that he was relatively young. A wide brow above eyes set deep, a straight nose and a well-sculpted mouth. It was a lean-featured countenance, furrowed by suffering rather than years.

Nell caught at her own thought. What had made her suppose such a thing? Lord Jarrow was turning to her again, and she consciously searched his face, aware at the same time of what he said.

‘If at any time you feel yourself unable to stay, Miss Faraday, you must tell me at once. Do not be deterred by concerns of losing either money or reputation, for I shall make all right. I should be sorry indeed to think of so young a female remaining here against her will. Indeed, I am surprised that you are still here!’

A spurt of laughter was surprised out of Nell. ‘So am I, Lord Jarrow, if the truth be told. The journey to this place was decidedly eerie, and your castle more so. But you had given warning of it, and I should think myself a poor creature to be put off by what must be, after all, but the stirrings of imagination.’

‘Then you have a good deal more courage than your predecessors, ma’am.’

Jarrow had spoken automatically, but his own words
echoed in his mind. She clearly did have courage. What was more, she had an open manner and a forthright way with her that argued strength of personality, and maturity beyond her years. He perceived that she was eyeing him with curiosity.

‘There is something you wished to ask me?’

‘I was wondering whether the ladies you mention truly ran away at first sight of the place, as you wrote to Mrs Duxford.’

Jarrow sighed. ‘I cannot blame them. The first refused even to alight from the carriage, and Detling had to drive her straight back to Ilford.’

‘And the second?’

There was a light of amusement in her face, and Jarrow was obliged to smile. ‘I believe she got as far as the hall.’

She nodded in a decisive way. ‘Yes, I must say that the hall is not endearing. It would be the better for some furnishings.’

‘If we had any.’

The dryness of his tone drew Nell’s immediate interest. She was tempted to question it. Was he purse-pinched, then? She held her tongue. It was hardly her business to be enquiring into his circumstances. Yet she was intrigued by the hint of a troubled life in shadowed hollows under his eyes—eyes of light brown, she thought. The hollows were repeated in clefts below his cheekbones and beside his mouth. She wondered how long he had been a widower.

Lord Jarrow had picked up his candlestick. ‘I will show you to your chamber.’

He would show her? Why not ring for a servant? But it was not for her to argue. She went to the table with
the idea of taking up the candelabrum, and then hesitated.

‘Should I take this, Lord Jarrow? Or do you wish it to be left in this room?’

He glanced where she gestured. ‘Take it by all means. No one is going to be using the parlour now. I dare say you will feel more comfortable, for there is precious little light in the passages.’

Nell retrieved her gloves and lifted the candelabrum. ‘It is certainly dark in this uncertain weather.’

Her employer halted in the doorway, turning on her with a look abruptly fierce. ‘It has nothing to do with the weather. You may count yourself fortunate to see the light of day at all in this hellhole!’

The startled look in her eyes caught at Jarrow’s conscience. He thrust down on the rise of his own deep frustration. ‘I beg your pardon.’

His voice was stiff, but Nell’s interest had quickened at the further evidence of disquiet. Impelled by an absurd wish to ease him, she made light of it.

‘My dear sir, it would be wonderful indeed if your temper was not impaired through living in a place like this.’ She was rewarded by a lightening of his features, and pursued the theme. ‘Indeed, since you are so clearly aware of the disadvantages of your own home, I am obliged to acquit you of testing me.’

The intensity of Jarrow’s feelings had eased, but they gave way now to puzzlement. ‘Testing you, Miss Faraday? How, pray?’

Her gesture encompassed the parlour. ‘Why, by keeping me waiting so long in this room. It had occurred to me that perhaps you were wishing to discover if I would grow too frightened to remain.’

He laughed out at that. ‘Not at all. I apologise for
keeping you waiting. The case is that though the way to my study is short, there is a difficult winding stair to be negotiated and Keston is a good deal too elderly to be either careless or hurried.’

Nell smiled. ‘It was not my intention to complain, Lord Jarrow.’

‘I know it wasn’t,’ he agreed. ‘But it will be, Miss Faraday. Believe me, it will be.’

The way to Nell’s allotted chamber was simple enough. She had only to follow the passage that led, so Lord Jarrow informed her, all around the castle.

‘There are two floors, and you will do better to confine yourself to this one, and the schoolroom, which you will see tomorrow. I would not wish you to come to grief falling unwary down one of the mouldering stairways within the turrets. Some sections are safe enough, and we have attempted to lock the doors and block off those that are suspect.’

As she followed in his wake, Nell made a mental vow to avoid the turrets. They passed two bedchambers down one side, the second allotted to her charge, the honourable daughter of the house. Then, after negotiating the curved portion that must lead about one of the towers, Nell found herself standing in a niche that overlooked the road.

‘Ah, I see. We are at the front of the castle.’

Lord Jarrow opened a door behind them. ‘You are in here, Miss Faraday.’

Her chamber was the middle one of three, set directly over the castle entrance. It was larger than she had expected, testament to the great size of the edifice, and positively luxurious—for the quarters of a governess. Opposite the window that let onto the courtyard, its shutters open to let in what little light there was, stood a bed
of good proportions, hung with curtains of heavy brocade, considerably faded, in a pattern of red on a yellow ground. Her two portmanteaux had already been placed beside it, and she noted a carpet on the floor that echoed the oriental style of the one in the parlour. A heavy linen press was set in a corner, together with a simple dressing table, above which a wood-framed mirror had been attached to the panelled wall. On the floor below were tucked a basin and ewer, but Nell stopped short of searching in the bedside cabinet or under the bed for the necessary pot.

It was a great deal more comfortable than her shared accommodation at the Seminary, and far grander than she had thought for. She set the candelabrum down upon the cabinet by the bed and turned, astonished, to see Lord Jarrow cast a disparaging look about.

‘I suppose it will have to do,’ he muttered. ‘If you find anything wanting, I beg you will let me know.’

Nell could only gaze at him. Why in the world should he concern himself with the needs of a mere governess? A horrid thought threw her into speech.

‘I should not dream of troubling you, my lord. I dare say your housekeeper will supply me with anything I should need.’

He gave her the oddest look, and Nell’s suspicion deepened. A nervous flutter disturbed her stomach. Surely she must be mistaken? There was nothing for it. She must ask him outright.

‘You do have a housekeeper, sir?’

Lord Jarrow’s unnerving gaze did not shift from her face. Her breath shortened. Driven, Nell demanded, ‘My lord, is this an all-male household?’

He started—almost as if he had not heard her earlier
question. But his immediate answer belied this. ‘Of course it is not. Yes, I have a housekeeper.’

Nell’s breath escaped in a relieved whoosh. That had been more alarming than her apprehensions of the castle! To be alone in any sort of situation with only his lordship and a parcel of male servants must have been impossible to endure. The Duck would have advised her to remove herself, and that right speedily. If there was one thing more certain than another, had asserted that worldly wise lady, it was that one’s personal safety lay in the presence of other female staff. And senior female staff at that.

Nell knew her lot to be unenviable. Gently bred, but yet confined outside one’s proper station, a governess could expect to make few friendships. Only the housekeeper had a status remotely equal to one’s own. There was no guarantee that one could befriend the woman—which Nell suspected had been proved with Prue, whose letters had let fall a hint of trouble from that quarter—but one could always seek her company for protection, if subjected to importunities from the gentlemen of the house.

Jarrow noted the relief, and had no difficulty in interpreting it. She had no reason to fear him, attractive though she undoubtedly was. He dared say he could also vouch for Toly, little though he trusted him on other counts. But there was poor comfort in that. Her questions had made him realise that he had not thought beyond a certainty that she would not stay. How little she knew of the situation here. The ominous nature of Castle Jarrow was the least of it!

He moved out of the room and into the recess over the front entrance. It behoved him to tell her the exact state of affairs. Yet he hesitated. Was it reluctance to give her any other cause for distaste? Perhaps it was
better that she discovered it little by little. At least he must explain the oddities she had evidently perceived.

He found Miss Faraday at his side, and realised that she was not as tall as he had thought, for he topped her by several inches. Her gaze was trained upon what little of the view was visible. Was she looking at that part of the road illuminated only by spill from lamps within the castle, and regretting her decision? The thought pushed him into speech.

‘You little know what you have taken on by coming here.’

Nell jerked round. The black mass of the forest had made her feel once again distinctly menaced. The fretful note in Lord Jarrow’s voice grated on her nerves.

‘What is it you mean, sir?’

In the light of his candle, she saw his features had grown tight. ‘You are so young.’

Impatient, Nell nipped this in the bud. ‘We have been over all that, Lord Jarrow. If you have something to say, speak plainly, if you please.’

A sigh escaped him. ‘Perhaps I should have been plainer at the outset.’

‘That is past mending, sir. But the present will do very well.’

He was obliged to admit that she was right. He smiled faintly. ‘Since you will have it, Miss Faraday, you must understand that we are informal here. Circumstances—into which I shall not drag you—are such that there are but five servants.’

Nell could not help the shock. ‘Only five! In a place of this nature?’

She then wished she had held her peace, for her employer’s features closed in. She noted the tightening muscle at his jaw and resentment in the dark eyes. Had she
not guessed he was purse-pinched? She had not meant to embarrass him.

‘I beg your pardon, sir. I was surprised just for the moment.’ She saw a slight relaxation in his face and hurried on. ‘I have met the butler and Detling, and you mentioned your housekeeper. Who are the other two?’

Jarrow answered her smoothly enough. ‘Duggan, my daughter’s nurse. And then there is Grig, who is best described as a general help.’

Nell felt absurdly guilty for his discomfort. ‘I dare say your household is small enough for them to manage?’

‘There is only my daughter and my brother-in-law beside myself. But, no, they can’t manage. Which is why I would not trouble Mrs Whyte, who is busy cooking dinner, with the trivial task of showing the new governess to her chamber.’

Aware of sounding irritable, Jarrow made an effort to control his voice. Was it the girl’s fault that he had come to this? She was eyeing him with a look that he was at a loss to interpret, and he made a discovery. Her eyes were green. Not that blue-grey colour that was often taken for green. They were a clear and darkish green, like the forest just before dusk.

She did not speak, and he felt all the more conscious of his unnecessary harshness. It behoved him to soften what he had said.

‘The truth is, Miss Faraday, that neither Toly nor myself make many demands upon the servants. Keston valets us both—which is to say he looks after our clothes. Neither of us is so pampered that we cannot dress ourselves, I am happy to say. We keep to these upper rooms for the most part, and our visitors are few and infrequent. We do no entertaining. Indeed, we have been quiet here for some time, even before—’

He broke off. The governess was silent, and only a slight frown between fair brows showed that she had noticed his jarring halt. There was no reason not to say it. With difficulty, he resumed.

‘We could hardly have been anything but quiet here—since the death of my wife.’

The compassion in her face repulsed him even before she expressed it.

‘Naturally you could not, sir. I am so sorry.’

It was out before he could stop it. ‘Why the devil should you be? You know nothing of her!’ He caught himself up, clamping down on his hasty temper. ‘Don’t heed me, pray.’

Nell felt the more sorry for him. She could not doubt but that Lord Jarrow was still raw from his loss. She wished she knew how long it had been. Not that it mattered. It had taken years before she could think of Papa with any degree of calm, with the result that she had banished all thought of him for fear of breaking down.

There was nothing she could say to mitigate her employer’s pain, so she had as well hold her peace. His grief had best be left to himself.

But Jarrow, having recovered his temper, was disgusted with himself. ‘You must think me a boorish creature, Miss Faraday, but I promise you I am not always so well fitted to this hideous castle of mine.’

This was absurd, and Nell could not repress a reproving look. Lord Jarrow was moved to grin at her.