Netherby Halls

“Never you mind, Percy, it is no such thing.” Justin forced a chuckle.

“Ha! Mark my word, Justin, but you are out on this one. She won’t have you. Ain’t the sort. Can always tell, you know. She is fresh as a daisy, but that didn’t dull her tongue any when she thought your behavior too brazen!”

“Aye, but I have not come to Bristol for Miss Winthrop, and I am not interested in Netherby Halls because of Miss Winthrop. And at this moment, I have no intention of spending my leisure time seducing a sharp-tongued daisy!”

~ Six ~

BY THE TIME Sassy was in the righted coach and back on her way to Netherby, the sun had dwindled and what had been a refreshing breeze had turned very cold.

The coach slowed as they approached a crossroad with a fingerpost, and all at once, Sassy got a terrible ‘feeling’. A certain trepidation clutched at her insides and shouted in her head, Danger.

Her witch’s senses were on the alert, and she rubbed her ring without thought. This was of course, nonsense, she told herself. She was going to a school for young ladies. What was there to be afraid of?

They turned down a drive lined with pine trees, and when they rounded the curve of the long, sandy drive, Sassy pressed her face to the closed window and peered through the dusky light. It was already past five o’clock and getting darker by the moment.

When they passed a pretty, winding brook and a stretch of dark, thick woods, Sassy smiled to see a rabbit scurry across the road in search of its dinner.

As the sylvan darkness receded, she was met with the view of a vast field of neatly trimmed lawn. They continued a slow pace, and Sassy opened her window, shivered against the chill, and looked past trimmed yews and hedges to the Doric-styled building ahead. The huge limestone structure dated back centuries, but the severity of its design was softened with an array of flowerbeds, hardwood trees, and evergreens.

They passed another far narrower road that led to a building she supposed to be the stables. As they slowed to a stop in the circular courtyard, Sassy surveyed her surroundings with avid interest.

The building appeared to be three stories, probably with an overhead attic, though she couldn’t be sure. The front entrance boasted four thick columns that met the roof of the low portico. Wide fla

gstone steps led to the double oak doors. Those doors were heavily trimmed with black iron. Everything about the school building and grounds looked beautifully maintained, and she tried to dissipate the unease she felt.

Her driver came to and opened her door, lending her a hand to help her down, and said with an accompanying smile, “I’ll see to your luggage, Miss.” He eyed her a moment. “There, there, you’ll do, you will. Pluck to the backbone and well able to look after these girls and yerself.”

Sassy gave him a warm smile. “Thank you so much, Jessie.” However, as she gazed at the doors, she vacillated between nervousness and outright fear. Something told her to bolt! The problem—where would she go?

She couldn’t go back to Lady Margate with Sir John in the house. Until she could figure something out, Netherby was the only solution.

She placed a half crown in Jessie’s weathered, callused hand, knowing she could ill afford to do so until the next quarter, when she would receive interest from her trust fund.

“Aw now, Miss,” he said sincerely, “no need for you to do this.”

“No need, only heartfelt. Thank you, sir, for all you have done for me on this journey.” She smiled warmly and turned back towards those front doors that worried her so very much.

He tipped his woolen cap and as he carried her luggage to the door ahead of her said lightly, “Miss Winthrop, thankee. You are big hearted, ye are. Thankee and God bless.”

Sassy smiled absently at him as she stood before the enormous set of oak doors. Something was wrong. Her insides were churning. Was it simply ‘nerves’ because she was starting a new unfamiliar life? It had to be.

She reached for the knocker, but the door was pulled away from her and opened wide.

A young girl in a simple day-gown of dove gray with a long white full apron and a mop cap covering her mass of short brown hair bobbed a quick curtsey. The freckles all over her nose and her clear, inquisitive, and smiling brown eyes immediately put an answering smile on Sassy’s face.

“How do you do?” Sassy said quietly, “I am Miss Winthrop, and I believe your headmistress is expecting me.”

The girl’s brown eyes filled with surprise. “Gawks! You are too pretty to be a teacher. Gawd, when Mistress Sallstone claps eyes on you, she is likely to go into convulsions.”

The girl’s remark startled Sassy, and she bit her bottom lip. Would the headmistress turn her away because of her appearance? Oh no. She gathered herself up and bolstered her fears with the hope this would not happen. After all, what difference would what she looked like make here at an all-girls boarding school? No husband would be lurking around ready to be tempted, as Lady Margate had explained would be her obstacle and keep her from being hired as a nanny or a governess.

“Would you be so kind as to announce me to Mistress Sallstone?” Sassy said, stepping into the hallway and motioning for Jessie to set her things down there and wait.

He whispered, “I’ll not leave till I get ye settled, Miss … mark me on it.”

She returned the whisper. “Thank you.”

“I’m Molly, cook’s daughter, ye see. We weren’t expecting ye till morning,” the girl said over her shoulder as she turned and led them down the wide corridor of oak flooring to an open doorway that gave way to what appeared to be a small chamber. Looking over her, Sassy could see wooden chairs lining one wall. No other furniture graced the dimly lit room. No doubt this was where students waited to be called inside Miss Sallstone’s office for some offense or other.