Weeks later when the school term was already a month old, Harriet and Ash invited the headmaster and his wife to a small dinner party to celebrate the completion of the renovations. Mrs. Walters, Aunt Edna, and Colonel York had overseen the changes to the cottage during the couple’s wedding trip. As a wedding present, Aunt Edna allowed Harriet to poach Sara, the kitchen maid, to be her new cook, and Cook had been ferried over to the cottage to assist the nervous girl with the dinner party preparations. Susan, another recent hire, served at table.
“I think that Sara did very well tonight, don’t you, Joseph?” Harriet said, crawling into bed beside her husband when their guests had departed.
“Yes, everything was very good,” he replied, opening his arms to snuggle his new wife against his chest.
“Susan had one difficult moment when she spilled wine on the tablecloth next to Mrs. Harris’ plate, but managed to carry off the rest of the serving without any other mishaps.”
“I didn’t notice, my love,” Ash replied, his chin grazing the top of Harriet’s head as he yawned.
“I didn’t think so. You were busy talking with Mr. Harris at the time. Mrs. Harris simply blotted the spill with her napkin while continuing her conversation about the new boys. Mrs. Harris is just as kind as I imagined her to be, plus she shares the headmaster’s sense of humour.”
“Yes, they are very good people,” Ash murmured. Harriet glanced up at his face. Joseph’s eyes had already closed.
“Darling, there is something I’ve been longing to discuss with you all day, but we haven’t been alone together since breakfast.”
“Hmmm?” Ash said.
Harriet rolled onto her back and reached for her bed-side table. “Rogers sent a note after you left this morning, asking if I would mind dropping by Mrs. Evans’ house. He said that there was a packet he wished to give to me before the colonel takes possession of the house on Monday.” Harriet reached into the table drawer and pulled out a diamond necklace, its gems sparkling brilliantly in the candle light. She held the necklace at arm’s length, turning it this way and that to catch the fire in the central pendant.
“This is one of two necklaces that Mrs. Evans always kept in her drawing room safe, the other being the pearl necklace that I gave to Diane. Rogers said that this necklace was Mrs. Evans’ favourite present from her husband, and that although she enjoyed looking at it from time to time, she was never comfortable wearing it. Mr. Evans had exquisite taste, don’t you think?”
Harriet glanced over at her husband, who was fast asleep. She returned the necklace to the drawer and blew out the candle. Rolling over, she cradled against his side. Harriet’s hair spilling over his bare chest must have tickled Ash, for he reached up to scratch before draping an arm over her shoulders.
“Never mind, darling,” Harriet whispered. “I’ll keep it as a surprise for the morning.” She kissed his chest and burrowed down to sleep.
- The End -
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Always a voracious reader, I cut my teeth on Nancy Drew mysteries before moving onto Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Brontë. I met my husband, a singer/actor/university professor, while working as an administrative assistant at a university. He didn't actually say "Marry me and see Canada," but that's practically what happened. We have lived on the west coast in Vancouver, on the east coast in St. John's, Newfoundland, in the middle in Waterloo, Ontario, and we're currently living in Calgary, Alberta with our two daughters.
I've written a cozy mystery with an amateur sleuth set in the Rocky Mountain Foothills of Alberta. It's the first in the Anna Nolan series, entitled Road Kill. I'm currently working on the sequel, Town Haunts. I've also written two historical romances set in England after the Napoleonic wars entitled Good Intentions and The History of Harriet Walters, Spinster.
Connect with Cathy Spencer
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CMSpencerAuthor
Author's Blog: http://cmspencer.blogspot.com
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Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
ABOUT THE AUTHOR