The Seventh Miss Hatfield by Anna Caltabiano

Author:Anna Caltabiano [Caltabiano, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781473200425
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
Published: 2014-07-31T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

I wish I could say I came up with a plan to grab the painting and run that very night following our ride to the mill. Believe me, I wished many times after that day that I’d found the courage and ingenuity to pull it off. But there I still was, four days later, feeling in many ways more lost than ever and growing increasingly frustrated.

Despite Henley’s protestations that he wanted to entertain me a bit and escape from his studies at the same time, the routine had been the same for the past three days. Meals would pass with the servants silently filling our plates, then removing them as we finished eating. The food was always delicious, but after the second day I gave up commenting on it, since neither Mr Beauford nor Henley appeared to be much concerned with conversation at mealtimes. In fact, Henley was retreating further into himself every time I saw him. His days were consumed with hour upon hour of study with his tutor; and although Mr Beauford’s health seemed to be improving, he spent his days primarily in his study, so there was never much opportunity for me to look at the painting, much less abscond with it.

And what of my own days? Well, I walked the property and pondered many things, between breakfast and lunch, and again from lunch until dinnertime. No one appeared to notice – or care, for that matter. But as the days passed, the strange feeling I was experiencing only intensified. Being in this time for so long was beginning to make me feel uncomfortable, and with each passing day, the unease was evolving into a constant queasy nervousness in the pit of my stomach. It was as if my body was turned against me … as if nature itself was turning against me.

I made sure to visit the stables each day, and to give Bessie a carrot or a cube of sugar. I confided quite a lot to that dear old horse, knowing she’d never betray my most peculiar confidences about being a time traveller who often felt about as much at home as a fish would out of water.

‘You’d best be careful,’ I heard Henley’s voice behind me say one day. Startled, I turned around from Bessie’s stall door to see him standing there, holding a small bouquet of wild flowers. He extended them to me, and I took them with a smile. I’d missed him terribly, but didn’t dare let him know how much.

‘Thank you, Henley. I’d best be careful about what, exactly?’ I enquired.

He leaned over and examined Bessie’s ears. ‘Well, you certainly don’t talk to me so freely, but I see Bessie has won your confidence,’ he began, still carefully checking her ears. ‘I simply must make sure you haven’t succeeded in talking her ears off, the same way I was worried I might have done yours.’ He grinned, satisfied that the horse’s ears were still intact. ‘And don’t you know that horses gossip, too?’

‘Yes, well, that’s quite considerate of you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.