Free The Blighted Cliffs by Edwin Thomas Page A

be serving
this after so many years of war.'
    She
shr ugged
carelessly. 'The butler buys it in Dover, I think. I usually keep to
my tincture.' She tapped a long nail against the side of her glass.
    'Concerning
the other night,' I pressed. 'Do you recall anything out of the
ordinary?'
    'Lieutenant,'
she said, sitting upright and quite oblivious to my question.
'You're watering my furniture.'
    I
looked down and saw a patch of damp spreading across my seat.
    'I
do apologize,' I said, jumping to my feet. 'My uniform, I fear, is
the worse for the weather.'
    'Poor
Lieutenant,' she cooed. 'How remiss of me. You must change at once,
or I fear you will catch your death. My husband has some clothes
which should do.'
    'There
is no need ...'
    But
she would have none of it. A sudden energy had possessed her, and she
was all bustle. As she stood, I noticed with a start that her dress
was not all of a piece, but opened down the middle, tied over her
petticoat with thin ribbons. None of it served her modesty
particularly well, and I felt my breeches tightening.
    'Will
your man want dry clothes?' she asked.
    Unfortunately,
I could not see Ducker's face, but I guessed he would be livid at
being called my man. I thought it hilarious.
    'I'll
do fine, thank you, ma'am,' he answered evenly. 'Sailors dry easy.
    'As
you please.' She turned back to me. 'Samuel will find some thing for
you.'
    Samuel
led me up the broad stairs and opened the door to a darkened room.
    "Ere,'
he said, putting a candle down on the dresser.
    I
looked around as he rummaged in the wardrobe, taking in the solid
wooden bed, the heavy curtains, and the thick carpet beneath my toes.
Two strongboxes were stacked against the wall, and a small ivory
mirror lay on the dresser next to the candle; otherwise there were
few clues to the owner's tastes. Even the paintings, I saw, were near
duplicates of the ones downstairs.
    Samuel
pulled out a shirt and a dark suit and laid them on the bed.
    'Might
do,' he muttered, leaving the room.
    It
took some effort to prise off my clothes, for they were stuck fast
against my skin, and no small amount of tugging would move them.
    I
felt uneasy, and not a little vulnerable, standing exposed in a
stranger's room, and I was in haste to dress when a creak at the door
rent the stifled silence.
    Already
unnerved by the mournful house, I spun around. The door was hanging
loosely ajar, and to my shock, as I looked through the crack, I saw
Lady Cunningham standing on the landing. The light from the
chandelier shone through her dress, silhouetting her figure with a
golden haze; she stood perfectly still, and showed no recognition or
embarrassment, yet seemed to be watching me.
    I
snatched the shirt and hauled it on, grateful that it hung low enough
to cover my dignity. Still the watching Argus did not avert her gaze,
nor yet show the least acknowledgement of an impropriety.
    'Lieutenant,
sir?' I felt a surge of relief to hear Ducker's voice from the foot
of the stairs. 'Rain's let up. Time we was going.'
    Turning
my back on Lady Cunningham, I pulled on her husband's suit and
bundled my own wet garments together. Fastening the buttons as
swiftly as I could, I stepped out of the room and made for the
stairs, passing Lady Cunningham rather self-consciously.
    'You
may leave those here,' she said, waving at the sodden clothes I
carried. 'The maid will wash them.'
    I
had no time to argue. Nodding my thanks, I dropped them where I
stood.
    'My
husband was away,' she added, talking as much to the empty air as to
me, and at first I thought she was just repeating an excuse. I sleep
badly, you see. I was trying to find my bottle when I saw it out of
the window.' I realized that my question on the night before last
might finally have registered in her mind. 'Burning, down in the
valley.'
    'You
saw a fire in the valley?' I asked, and she nodded earnestly. Though
it might easily have been a gamekeeper eating his dinner, it was the
first I had heard of anything unusual on