Sweet Sanctuary Read Online Free PDF Page A

night?"
    "Well…"
    Seeing her weaken, the old woman pressed home her advantage at once. "Oh, good. That's really very kind. If you would come along to the office just now I'll show you where to find things."
    The office was a small, cold room at the end of the stone passage which ran right through the house on the ground floor. Kate stood in the doorway, looking around at the scarred wooden desk, the metal filing cabinet and wall shelving. Then she laughed. A huge, rough-headed dog lay asleep in the corner beside a pair of muddy Wellington boots.
    "Punch, what are you doing here?" Mrs. Butler ruffled the dog's orange fur so that he looked like a lion, the hair standing out from his massive head as he studied Kate curiously in his turn, his yellowy-brown eyes bright and steady.
    "He's a darling. Is he yours?"
    "No, Nick's, although Nick pretends to find him irritating. He found Punch drowning in the marshes years back. Brought him home in his pocket, a puppy no bigger than a tea-cup. Can you believe it? Look at him now, the silly great pudding!"
    Punch looked up, head to one side, tongue lolling, much pleased by her remarks. Like all dogs he knew very well when he was the subject of discussion and enjoyed the limelight.
    "Does he always sleep in here?"
    "No!" Mrs. Butler picked up the muddy boots. "I see what happened—Nick took him for a walk before breakfast, and left his boots in here when he came back. Nick is often absent-minded. Punch stayed to guard the boots." She walked towards the door with them, and the dog followed.
    When she returned, Mrs. Butler showed Kate what she wanted her to do. Opening the top drawer of the filing cabinet, she looked in dismay and distaste at the great pile of papers which immediately began to billow upwards.
    "Could you sort these out? Put aside the important ones, throw away the rest? Any that should be kept can be filed in here."
    Kate nodded. "I'll see what I can do!"
    She worked in the office all day. There were piles of letters and documents everywhere, dusty and crumpled, some yellow with age, but gradually she began to whittle the piles down.
    They had a simple salad lunch, and Kate immediately got back to work. It was dusk when she finally came to an end. She had opened a window, and the moths began fluttering into the room, attracted by the electric light. They hovered around the lamp, singeing their bodies and powdery wings. The birds were giving a valedictory chorus. The goats bleated plaintively and the twilight air was chilly on her skin.
    "Good lord, you have been busy, haven't you?" She looked up with a start to find Nicholas in the doorway. He had changed into an old blue sweater which brightened his grey eyes to blue, and a pair of faded old jeans instead of his creased city trousers His face was flushed with night air, his eyes bright, his hair ruffled by the wind.
    She smiled at him, thinking how much these casual clothes suited him.
    "Come for a walk!" The words were an order rather than an invitation and he did not wait for a reply, taking her arm firmly and leading her out of the room. The house was redolent of herbs, spices and slowly cooking meat.
    "Casserole!" Nicholas nodded towards the kitchen range, as they went out. "Aunt Elaine's speciality-cooks itself." He whistled and dogs shot from all corners. "My aunt is bedding down a newcomer in the stable."
    "A horse?"
    He laughed and shook his head. "You'll see later," he said. "Come on, you need some fresh air before dinner. It's bad for your health to spend hours indoors without exercise. A walk will give you an appetite."
    "I've got one already," she said wryly, but he was already striding off into the dusk with the dogs rushing to and fro around him. One of them halted, came. back and solemnly surveyed her, his great head to one side. He offered her a consolatory paw and she was forced to smile.
    "Thank you, dog." He was very like Punch, she noticed. When she mentioned it to Nicholas later he smiled.
    "That's