by Tania Crosse
‘About a week ago, but I only wore it around the house. I don’t think I set foot outside the door that day. It was pouring with rain, as I remember.’
‘Then it must be here somewhere.’
‘Not found it yet?’ Wig’s expression was sombre as he met them in the hall. ‘Well, we’ve searched high and low. So, although it grieves me to say it, we need to consider that one of the staff might’ve stolen it.’
Clarrie clapped her hand over her mouth. ‘No, Wig. I don’t believe it. They’ve all been with us for years. So why suddenly—’
Wig raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘That doesn’t mean anything. I think we should have them all gather in the servants’ hall and take them individually to search their rooms. It isn’t something I do lightly, but that necklace is worth quite a bit. Even if it wasn’t, we can’t have staff stealing from us. We need to be able to trust them. And it’s not as if we treat them badly. I’d say just the opposite, in fact. So none of them should be bearing a grudge against us.’
‘Perhaps one of them just got greedy,’ Nana May put in doubtfully. ‘Only I’m with Clarrie. I wouldn’t believe it of any of them. And searching their rooms will only show our lack of trust in them.’
But Wig held up his hand. ‘I know. And I’m sorry about that. But I fear we have no choice. So, Nana May, if you wouldn’t mind fetching them all, please.’
‘On your head be it,’ Nana May mumbled, hurrying out as quickly as her old legs allowed.
‘I don’t like this, Wig,’ Clarrie protested.
‘Nor do I. And I hope I’m wrong. But if not, we’ll be a servant short by the end of the day.’
Clarrie puckered up her lips as they made their way to the servants’ hall, and then clasped her hands tightly as the staff trooped in. What if she’d simply misplaced the necklace herself? Or it’d fallen down somewhere they’d missed on their search?
She listened, her pulse faltering, as Wig explained that an item of jewellery had gone missing, and that, reluctantly, they’d come to the conclusion that it might have been stolen. Wig planned on taking each member of staff up to his or her room while it was being searched, and if anyone wanted to confess on the way up in order to save face, they’d be dealt with more leniently.
Meg sat with the others, indignation boiling inside her. Surely they didn’t think she would do such a thing? She felt like storming out, collecting Thimble and her possessions and leaving at once. What stopped her was that there was too much to tie her to Robin Hill House, not least the fact that Mr W was helping her to manage her nest egg.
And then it hit her like a punch in the belly that above all, she’d miss Ralph. Ralph, whom she’d despised at first. No, not despised. Resented more like. Unfairly, she recognised now. So how had she slowly come to see his worth? To like him? To look forward to seeing him every day?
She was so preoccupied with her tumbling emotions that she was unaware of Clarissa’s stricken face as Mr W went up with Ralph to search his room, and then did the same with Bob. Meanwhile, Nana May escorted first Louise and then Esme up to their rooms. When Esme returned, telling Meg and Jane that they were to go up together, Meg couldn’t help noticing the smug expression on her face. Was the housemaid convinced that as she was in the clear and they were the only two left, it must be one of them? Well, she was about to be proved wrong!
Meg was irritated beyond belief as they climbed the stairs together. Jane was incapable of even thinking about stealing anything, and as for herself, well! Why, after all the training she’d been given as a possible replacement lady’s maid when Nana May became too old, and eighteen months when she’d been trusted to move freely around the house, did they think she’d suddenly decide to steal something?
‘I’m so sorry about this, Meg,’ Nana May apologised, dropping her voice, Meg realised, so that Jane wouldn’t hear. ‘But we had to make a show of including you in this. I think you’re wise enough to understand why. And we know Jane’s as innocent as a baby, but in her innocence, she’s likely to report back to the others, so we need her to see it’s all been done fairly, too. So please bear with me.’
Meg gave a jerky nod. Yes, she supposed it made sense even if it had upset her. In a few minutes, she and Jane would both be cleared anyway. Whatever the item of jewellery was, it must’ve been lost somewhere. They would just all have to keep their eyes open.
And so Meg and Jane stood by the door of their room while Nana May first went through the wardrobe they shared, Jane’s chest of drawers, the tins the girl kept her little treasures in under her bed, and finally the bed itself, even instructing them to lift up the mattress. Then with an embarrassed glance, May ordered the same for Meg’s bed. There was nothing, of course. Just Meg’s chest of drawers and it’d all be over and she could get back to her work!
Nana May had made a show of riffling through Meg’s two top drawers, and now she turned her attention to the bottom one, bending her arthritic knees and leaning on the stick she used all the time now. Meg hadn’t opened the drawer containing her art equipment for months. She’d painted a watercolour of the moon shining over the lake at Christmas, but hadn’t had time to do anything since.
The cry that came from Nana May’s throat made both girls jump, and Meg at once leapt forward to help the old lady, thinking she must’ve hurt her knees or her back as she’d bent down. But as she did so, a horrified gasp lodged in Meg’s own throat. For there, hidden among the sketch pads and paint sets, was Mrs C’s necklace, the one set with amethysts and tiny diamonds.
‘Oh, Meg.’ Nana May’s words were low with shock. ‘I don’t believe it. Not you.’
Meg stared, her knees buckling with horror, as Nana May withdrew the necklace and laid it on top of the chest of drawers before almost collapsing back on Meg’s disrupted bed.
‘Jane, go and fetch Mr Wig and Clarrie, would you?’ Nana May said quietly. ‘As for you, Meg, I don’t know what to say.’
Meg stood, immobile, a surge of appalled disbelief cramping her stomach. How on earth had the necklace got there? And, oh, dear God, they were going to think she had stolen it, weren’t they?
They waited in silence, Nana May with her head bowed and Meg’s insides churning so horribly she thought she might faint at any moment. Every hurt she’d swallowed down, every effort she’d made to fit in, to learn, would be utterly wasted. Her life, such as she’d made of it, would be shredded into tatters.
When Wig and Clarissa came in through the door, Meg could see that Mrs C’s face was white. Despite everything, Meg felt sorry for her. She, above everyone else, had trusted her. And now…
‘I’m afraid we have our thief,’ Nana May muttered, nodding at Meg.
The despair on the old woman’s face pierced Meg’s heart. No! She couldn’t let dear Nana May think she’d stolen the necklace. She wasn’t going to give up so easily! And the old fighting spirit reared up inside her.
‘No! It wasn’t me! Why should I do such a thing? You know… Mr Chillcott…’ She dipped her head, not wanting to mention her money in front of Jane. ‘Why should I risk everything by stealing from you? You’ve given me a home, a purpose in life. I wouldn’t betray you after all that. It wouldn’t make sense.’
She stopped, breathing heavily, her eyes searching everyone in turn as her heart bucked in her chest. She could see that Mrs C was as close to tears as she was herself, while Mr W had drawn in his chin.
‘I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in you,’ he said grimly. ‘We took you into our home, and this is how you repay us. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave by the end of the week, sooner if possible.’
Meg stared at him, her heart dropping down inside her like a leaden weight. This couldn’t, couldn’t be happening.
‘But I didn’t do it!’ she virtually squealed. ‘I swear to you on my parents’ graves.’
‘Then how can you explain the fact that the necklace was in your drawer?’
Meg gulped hard, hot tears burning in her eyes. ‘I can’t.
Except that I know I didn’t put it there, so someone else must’ve done.’
‘Oh, it was Esme,’ Jane piped up innocently. No one had noticed her appear in the doorway, and now four pairs of eyes turned on her. She gave her usual, open little shrug. ‘At least I saw her in here and she was closing that drawer. And acting a bit funny, as if she was checking nobody’d seen her. I wondered what she was doing.’
Meg caught her breath. She knew someone else must have put the necklace there, but did Esme really hate her so much that she wanted to frame her for theft? But why? It didn’t make sense. But then she realised Mr W was speaking again.
‘And when was this?’ he asked Jane, his tone unusually severe. ‘Think, girl.’
‘Oh, about five or six days ago. It was the day the dogs suddenly went mad, barking like crazy ’cos Thimble was brought over.’
Clarissa’s huge intake of breath drew everyone’s attention. ‘Oh, my God, I remember now!’ Her eyes opened wide as she met her husband’s startled gaze. ‘I was in the bedroom, and I ran down after them to see what all the fuss was about, and I forgot that my jewellery box was unlocked. When I came back, Esme was in the room, changing the bed. She’d put the clean sheets on the dressing-table stool, so the open box was right under her nose. It was only unlocked for about five minutes, but she’d have had enough time to help herself to something.’
‘Then I think we’d better hear what Esme has to say for herself. And you are absolutely sure about what you saw, Jane?’
‘Oh, yes. I thought it was a bit odd, but then I forgot all about it. Esme didn’t see me, I don’t think. Or she’d have said something, wouldn’t she?’
Meg felt swamped with relief. She’d been proved innocent, but she still couldn’t believe that Esme could have done such a thing.
‘Well, thank you, Jane,’ Mr W was saying. ‘You’ve been a great help.’
‘Have I? Oh, good.’
‘Just a pity she didn’t say something earlier,’ Wig muttered under his breath. ‘And if this turns out to be true, then I can’t apologise enough to you, Meg. I shouldn’t have distrusted you.’
‘You see, I told you, Wig,’ Clarrie rejoined. ‘Meg’s a good, honest girl.’
‘Yes, I know.’ Wig looked suitably ashamed. ‘I must say I was shocked to think she’d do such a thing. How can you ever forgive me, Meg? Is there any way I can make it up to you?’
Mr W placed a hand on her shoulder to add strength to his apology, his brow knitted in earnest. Nevertheless, Meg felt a riptide of humiliation break over her again before it finally retreated. ‘I accept your apology. But dismissing Esme would be a good start,’ she said bitterly. ‘I don’t know if she was trying to frame me, or whether she’d just hidden it there until she could dispose of it. But whatever she was up to, she didn’t mind me getting the blame. I have no idea why, but for some reason, she’s never liked me.’
‘Well, you won’t have to worry about her anymore. She’ll be packing her bags at once. And I’ll make it clear she’s jolly lucky I won’t be calling in the police. I just can’t understand why she did it,’ Wig went on, shaking his head in bewilderment. ‘She was so lucky to come here straight from the orphanage. She could’ve ended up somewhere awful. So why jeopardise her situation like that? Anyway, is there anything else we can do for you, Meg, to make amends?’
‘Actually, yes, there is.’ The sudden thought made Meg feel a great deal happier. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask you. There’s an old bicycle in the barn. It was there when I came here and nobody’s ever used it. So, please could I have it?’
‘Is there? Well, I can’t think who it might’ve belonged to. So, yes, of course you can have it.’
‘Is it a lady’s bicycle, then?’ Mrs C asked with interest.
‘No, it’s a man’s, but I’ve tried it,’ Meg confessed. ‘With the saddle lowered, I think it’ll be all right. I’ve got long legs. The only problem would be learning to ride it.’
‘Well, my dear, you can use the drive to practise on as much as you like.’ Meg saw the smile on Mr W’s face alter into a grimace. ‘But now I have the unpleasant task of finding Esme and sending her on her way. And, really, I can only say again how sorry I am, Meg.’
He turned around and left the room, his jaw set like granite. Mrs C, though, smiled mischievously at Meg as if the whole ugly episode had never taken place. ‘You know, I’ve always wanted to learn to ride a bicycle. It must be such fun and quite liberating. Perhaps once you’ve mastered it, you’ll teach me.’
She laughed merrily, a happy, tinkling sound that set Meg’s heart at rest. It hurt her that Esme hated her so much, but at least the housemaid would be out of her hair forever now, with the added bonus that Meg could have the bicycle, too.
‘Well, I’m afraid we’ve left your room in a bit of a mess, girls,’ Nana May apologised, heaving herself wearily to her feet. ‘So I think we’d better leave you to put it back together. Come along, Clarissa. We’ve intruded long enough.’
‘Yes, you’re right. It’s actually quite nice for me to visit part of the house I rarely see. But I agree we should leave you in peace. And let me know how the bicycling goes, Meg.’
A moment later, Meg and Jane were left alone. Jane at once started tidying the few things that had been disrupted, almost as if nothing had happened. But Meg lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, trembling again as her mind went through the vile incident once more.
‘Thank you, Jane,’ she murmured. ‘You saved my bacon.’
‘I only said what I saw,’ the girl shrugged. ‘If I’d realised what Esme was doing, I’d’ve said something before. I thought she was just looking for something. But I’ll be glad to see the back of her. She’s always been so horrible to me.’
‘She’s never liked me much, either. And I suppose Mrs C will have to find a new housemaid. We won’t have one at all now.’
‘Maybe she’ll promote me instead,’ Jane said hopefully.
Meg gave a wry smile. She couldn’t imagine Jane being trusted to dust some of the fine ornaments and other precious items around the house. But before she could think of anything to say, they exchanged glances as angry footsteps thundered up the stairs. A second later, they could hear thumping and banging from the next room – Esme packing her bags.
Jane’s face exploded in a grin. ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish,’ she whispered gleefully.
Meg shrugged her eyebrows, and then got on with remaking her bed. Like Mr W, she couldn’t understand why Esme had done such a thing. You’d have thought that with no family of her own, she’d have wanted to make friends, not enemies, and certainly wouldn’t have wanted to risk such a good position.
Meg suddenly glanced up as a shadow fell across the open doorway. Esme was standing there with such a vicious expression on her face that Meg physically recoiled.
‘I’ll make you pay for this, Meg Chandler,’ she spat, her eyes black with hatred. ‘And that idiotic little fool you call a friend, too. Just you wait and see!’
Meg watched Jane’s face blanch and, despite her own unease, drew herself up to her full height.
‘I think you’d better leave as you’ve been asked,’ she said levelly. ‘And you’ve no one to blame but yourself, so don’t make idle threats.’
‘Oh, they’re not idle, I assure you,’ Esme sneered. ‘And this is what I think of your stupid picture,’ she declared, tearing into pieces the painting Meg had done for her that first Christmas. And then she stalked off down the passage, lugging a hastily packed carpet bag.
Meg listened to her go, and her heart beat nervously in her chest. Something told her they hadn’t seen the last of Esme Carter.
Thirty-Two
‘I really could kill her!’ Esme snarled, pacing furiously up and down the small, dingy room.
Nathaniel stretched languidly on the bed and leaned over to stub out his cigarette among the accumulated butt ends in the filthy saucer. ‘Oh, I don’t think we need go quite that far,’ he drawled.
&n
bsp; ‘Now, because of her, there’s two of us out of work!’ Esme ranted on.
‘Because your little ruse backfired, you mean.’ Nathaniel suddenly leapt to his feet and grabbed hold of her wrist, his eyes narrowed. ‘I obviously haven’t taught you to be careful enough. I managed to get in and feed the poisoned meat to her mutt without being seen. And I’ve been there since. Out in the woods. Watching her. And you couldn’t even… But leave it up to me, my little tigress.’ He released Esme’s arm, grinning savagely. ‘I’ll find a way to make her suffer, even if you can’t. In the meantime, you can doss down here. I’ve got a bit of money coming in from a little thing I’ve got going. Helping to find new homes for things their owners were careless enough to let fall off a lorry. But Nathaniel will look after you, don’t you worry.’ While you’re still useful to me, he added in his head.
‘Oh, Nat, I knew you would.’ Esme snuggled her head against his shoulder. ‘And to think that bitch nearly separated us forever. We’ve got to get back at her somehow. And at that idiot friend of hers. If it weren’t for her, Meg Chandler would’ve been begging for work now, and not me!’
‘Oh, we will, I promise. I’m not sure how yet, but I’ll think of something. I don’t see why she should be living in the lap of luxury when all we’ve got is this.’
Esme watched as he gestured about the squalid room. Nathaniel didn’t know the half of it. Was this the moment to tell him about Meg’s fortune?
‘We’ve got to get her out on her ear somehow,’ Nathaniel continued, extricating himself from Esme’s embrace. ‘Make her know what it’s like to have nothing. Just like we have because of her.’
‘That… might be difficult,’ Esme began cautiously. ‘She has money of her own.’
Nathaniel’s body stiffened, eyes bolting from their sockets. ‘What d’you mean? What sort of money?’
‘A lot. I think.’ Esme looked at him warily. ‘I overheard her and Wiggy discussing it. He’s helped her invest it apparently, so it must be quite a bit.’