(eng) Patty Jansen - For Queen and Country 02 by Willow Witch

Author:Willow Witch [Witch, Willow]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 9

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THE SAME thin man who had opened the door for them now led the group back into the hall. In his prim-faced silence he preceded the group up the sweeping broad staircase into an upstairs corridor.

The walls were dark red here, and the doors a very dark brown. The ceilings had been painted white, but the paint had yellowed with age. The only light came from a tiny window at the very end of the passage and the light that fell in was dusky and didn’t do much to dispel the closed-up, stifling atmosphere.

“Phooey, this place could do with an airing,” Nellie said under her breath. Johanna agreed. Apart from the musty smell, the runner looked dusty, as if no one had walked through this corridor for ages.

How many people lived in this giant house?

They passed an open door to a room that was empty, except for a carpet and floor-length heavy drapes that half-covered the window. The small panes of glass were dirty on the outside and spiders had built webs in the corners of the window frame.

“Does only the duke’s family live in this house?” Johanna asked, but the stiff servant didn’t reply.

He opened a door to the left. Inside, dark curtains hung before the window, almost blocking daylight. There were three beds with dark frames and velvet bedspreads. A chair that had seen better times sat in front of an empty fireplace. A cupboard against the side wall held a variety of handmade dolls. It looked like this had been a children’s room.

“Two can sleep here,” the servant named Hans said in a clipped, heavily accented voice.

The next room was larger and had a double bed, a hearth and a couple of chairs. The walls were dark red.

“Sleep in this room or this room,” the servant said. “I bring water for washing.”

The man took them to third room where every bit of wall space that had no window or door was taken up by wardrobes, all of them filled with clothes. Men’s, women’s, in a variety of styles, but most a bit old-fashioned.

Hans said in his clipped voice, “Wash. Find clothes. Come to dinner. Downstairs.” He bowed, turned around and left the group to stand awkwardly in the hallway.

Well, what to do?

Loesie had turned around and was studying a portrait that hung on the wall, depicting a man in a ruffled shirt wearing a hunter’s hat. His face vaguely resembled the duke’s.

“You and Roald must sleep in this room,” Nellie said, indicating the room with the double bed. “We will sleep in the other room.” Coming from Nellie, who was petrified of Loesie, that meant a lot.

Johanna wasn’t sure if she wanted to sleep in any room. Much as she appreciated a real bed or being free of Ludo’s leery stares, she didn’t want to be fooled into thinking that they were visitors here.

“I’d rather have all of us in the same room.

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