Netherby Halls

He groaned, but as he was determined in his resolve, he bade her wait while he donned his outer garments. Then he gave her his arm, and they made their way to the waiting curricle just as the marquis arrived.

“Good God, Percy—why are you still here? This will never do,” the marquis said with a shake of his head.

“Wish me happy, Justin. We are to be married,” Percy replied, feeling all was nearly right with his world.

The marquis slapped him on the back and wished him well before telling him to hurry along. “Don’t take no from Mrs. Delleson. In fact, I rather think Mr. Delleson might step in on this one. He likes you a great deal.”

“Yes, yes,” said Sophy. “We shall apply to Papa without Mama even being aware.”

The marquis watched them drive off and turned to see the butler in the hallway watching with avid interest. Servants talked to other servants; within a very short span of time, the world would be talking.

The marquis whispered an incantation and saw the butler’s face go blank. He walked inside and to be certain asked, “Tell me, where is Mr. Lutterel, my man?”

“I think in the study, my lord,” the butler answered vaguely.

“Thank you,” the marquis said with a short smile.

* * *

Hiding in her room, Sassy tried to sort out her thoughts and put them in logical order. The trouble with that was her heart. Her emotions were at a high. What had he said to her? Why did he speak in riddles? Did he care for her? It had felt as though he truly cared for her, but if he did, why not say so?

Also, when the rider with the tri-cornered hat had passed by, her inner magic shouted in her mind the word evil.

Decidedly, and without a doubt, call it instinct, call it sixth sense, call it what she knew it to be, magic! Whether she wanted it to be so or not, she was a white witch, and that white witch inside her told her the man in the seaman’s tri-cornered hat was evil to the core. Well, then, what was he doing with the headmistress?

She needed answers, and she started listing what she knew.

Firstly, Delia came to mind, and the missing girl Beth, somehow wrapped up with the missing Miss Saunders. Something was terribly wrong, and somehow it was connected to the headmistress and the bearded man. No doubt—she had absolutely no doubt.

She made up her mind, and with that, she made her way back downstairs and crossed over into the girls’ wing. Glancing down the hall, she could see that most of the doors were closed tight. Sassy had no notion which room was Delia’s.

She was making her way to one of the few open doors when the sound of girls’ titters halted her. Sassy’s instincts went into play, and she gave them full reign as she stood and waited.

“So blubber-headed he was. I don’t think he has ever had it before. Gawd, but he did make me laugh,” an unseen face and unfamiliar voice remarked.

“What did you do?” asked another girl. Sassy recognized the voice as Caroline Hughes’s.

“As he had his eyes closed, I was obliged to keep mine open while I took care of him.” The girl’s words were accompanied by hysterical laughter.

Sassy cleared her throat. Sassy had often giggled and gossiped with her own friends. She had also often heard the servants at the parsonage talking about their romantic exploits. This, however, had a different ring to it, and a sudden fear entered her mind. “Excuse me,” she said, one brow up, and then as they jumped round to see her in the doorway, “Oh, did I startle you? I am trying to locate Delia Standish.”

“Our room is at the end of the hall,” Caroline offered as she pointed.

“Thank you,” Sassy said, starting off.

“But she isn’t there now. She went out with the headmistress about an hour ago,” Caroline said in an odd voice.

Sassy thanked her and quietly withdrew. Something horrible was going on at Netherby. She had to find out exactly what. She went to her room, grabbed her cloak, and hurried back down the staircase and out for a walk.

She reached the rill that wound its way through the wooded walking path and listened to the water making its way over the rocks. What should she do? What proof did she have to go to anyone with her suspicions? None. She rubbed her hands together against the cold, as she had forgotten to wear her gloves.

Her ring—should she call on the power of her ring to show her where the headmistress had taken Delia?

“I knew I would find you here,” said James Bankes, at her back.

She spun around, not at all pleased to be interrupted, and said with as much of a smile as she could muster, “Hello, James.”

“What is it? Something is wrong, Sassy—it is all over your face,” he said at once with an accompanying frown.