Midnight Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page A

in the air.
    “Besides your assigned duties, you’ll do as the upstairs maids and Nurse Tolley ask. They mainly take care of Miss Prudence and her daughter, Rebecca.” She took the staircase from the kitchens. “You’re to use the servants’ stairs at all times. The only time you are anywhere in the house other than in the kitchens and your room is if you’re cleaning. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, ma’am.” We rounded landing after landing until we reached the top floor. The Killdarens were Irish and I kept looking for some bit of Celtic antiquity to show. Though immaculately clean and made of rich, dark wood, the walls of the servants’ stairwell were completely bare, and no sounds beyond the brush of our skirts and our muffled steps could be heard. The household seemed unnaturally quiet, almost eerily so. It was like tiptoeing through a graveyard.
    “You’ll share a room with Bridget, the other downstairs maid. Breakfast for the servants is thirty minutes before sun up. You missed it this morning, so there’ll be no meal until later. I’ll give you five minutes to settle your things and then I expect you downstairs.”
    “I’ll hurry, ma’am.”
    “See that you do.” She turned to face me and her apparently perpetual scowl deepened. She didn’t like what she saw. “You’ll need to cover that yellow hair with a mob cap in order to be decent.”
    I slid my fingers over my chignon, wondering what about my hair was indecent.
    “I have fresh uniform dresses in the storage closet, though nothing as small as you. After the chores are done this evening, we’ll find two that you can take in. I expect you to be wearing one first thing in the morning. Above all other rules, there are two you must adhere implicitly to. You’re to make no noise, and once in your room at night, you’re to stay there until morning. I’ll not have any roaming about. The Killdaren sleeps during the daytime and is busy during the night. No one is to disturb him, ever. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, ma’am.” I nearly bit my tongue to keep from asking why. What manner of man slept when all others were awake?
    Mrs. Frye left after giving an additional warning not to waste another moment. I hurriedly unpacked my sack, taking time to hide the pistol and my crime publications under the thin, lumpy mattress. The room contained no frills, but was amply furnished with two small cot-like beds, a desk and chair, a washstand and mirror, and a small wardrobe. It reminded me of Mrs. Frye—serviceable, impeccably clean and no character beyond what was necessary to be functional.
    Keeping the housekeeper’s warning in mind, I hurried downstairs, saving any further reflections for later. Even though I had taken less time than allotted, Mrs. Frye still frowned when I appeared, then led me impatiently to the dining room. Once we exited the kitchens and entered the great room and the entry hall of the castle, I was thrust back in time by the Killdarens’ history and wealth swelling around me.
    Ornately papered and carved paneled walls climbed twenty feet to patterned and scrolled ceilings where elaborate chandeliers hung. The marbled floor of traditional black and white squares was bordered with intricate designs along its edges. Oil paintings and tapestries lined the walls, depicting scenes of life from ages past. Statues and vases and delicate artifacts filled every spare space. I was so overwhelmed, so fascinated, that I had to focus my gaze on Mrs. Frye’s unrelenting back or risk being lured to linger, a gaffe that would have had me dismissed, I’m sure.
    She passed through a set of paneled doors and I followed then abruptly halted in the doorway.
    Great heavens. This was the dining room? A banquet hall fit for a king was a more apt description. The long mahogany table, topped with silver candelabras, cut down the center of the room. It was surrounded by padded chairs covered in burgundy damask with chair backs crested by a pair of