Eve Silver Read Online Free PDF

unseen, through this house. She carefully picked her way along the path she had trod the previous night. She heard no footfall in her wake, no hint of someone giving chase. Her pulse slowed to a more regular pace.
    She might have convinced herself she had imagined the whole of it, but for the deep certainty that for at least a short while she had not been alone. A sinister distress plagued her as she wondered who had been watching her, and why.
    As she neared the kitchen, Emma hesitated, unsure if she should voice her concerns to the others. She had no proof, only a story of losing her way, imagined sounds, and a dark feeling of unease. There really was nothing to tell.
    “Nicky! You are to breakfast with your father and new governess. Put that scone back this instant.” The housekeeper's voice was gentle, but firm.
    Emma felt a jolt of surprise as she stepped into the kitchen. Mrs. Bolifer was smiling, as was Cookie. They were both looking at a small boy who kicked at the floor with his toe before putting the scone he held back on the platter. The child looked as if he had dressed himself from the ragpicker's bag. His breeches sported a large hole at the knee. His stockings were mismatched. And his dark hair stood up in unkempt tufts from his head.
    “And perhaps we should do something with your hair. You are to meet your new governess at breakfast.”
    “I hope Papa makes her go away, just like the others.”
    Cookie exchanged a worried look with the housekeeper before crossing the room to kneel in front of the little boy.
    “Oh, no, Nicky,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug. “Miss Parrish is quite nice, lovey dove.”
    “I don't know,” the boy replied, his voice muffled by Cookie's shoulder. “I haven't met her yet. But if she is like Miss Strubb or Miss Rust or...” The child shivered and hesitated briefly before saying the woman's name in a hushed whisper. “...Mrs. Winter, then I think I should not like to meet her at all. And certainly if she is like Mrs. Winter, then she should go away and never come back. Papa could send her off in a pine box. Just like he sent Mrs. Winter.”
    A pine box? Emma stood frozen, digesting the implications of all she had overheard. Clearly the child was frightened, and had quite possibly been ill-treated by his previous governesses. That he had suffered was a sad thing, to be sure, but his trust could be gained with patience and love. So she worried not overmuch as to Nicky's opinion of her, but the mention of a pine box for the unknown Mrs. Winter gave her pause. There was only one type of pine box he could mean.
    A chill crept across Emma’s skin. It seemed that Mrs. Winter had left Manorbrier in a coffin, and by the child's account, it was Lord Anthony who had put her there.
    Even as she struggled with that thought, the boy looked up and caught her in her unintentional eavesdropping. His blue eyes widened and all color left his cheeks as he huddled deeper in Cookie's embrace.
    “Good morning,” Emma said brightly as she crossed to him and quickly knelt so that her face was on level with his. “I am ever so pleased to meet you, Master Nicholas.”
    If possible his eyes rounded even more.
    With a quick look at the housekeeper, Emma continued, “I heard Mrs. Bolifer address you as Nicky, and I trust you will allow me the same familiarity. And you shall call me Miss Emma. I rather think that 'Miss Parrish' is too stuffy sounding.”
    The child sucked in his cheeks. He was all pursed lips, hollow cheeks, and great round eyes as he studied her suspiciously. But he did take Emma's proffered hand and shake it in a gentlemanly fashion, thus confirming for Emma that he had a modicum of tutelage in fine manners.
    Emma rose and quickly brushed the front of her skirt before turning back to her young charge. “Well, Nicky,” she said with a smile, “I will have to ask you to escort me to the breakfast room. I have no idea where it is, and I am sure we do