homelike," he said.
"Sit down," she said cheerfully. "The kettle will boil soon."
He drank the tea she set before him with an expression of bliss.
"Sweeter than the sweetest wine," he said. "I see you've been busy."
"You're going to be really comfortable tonight. You've done the right thing in moving into the dressing room. I can put a small fire in there, but the big room would have defeated me. Can you watch the pots on the range, while I go and make up your bed?"
She gathered up the sheets and departed, returning a few minutes later to find the meal almost ready.
"The Earl really ought to eat in the dining room," she suggested.
"No thank you," he replied without hesitation. "We'll eat out here. What's the wine cellar like?"
"I've never seen it."
He took the lamp and disappeared, returning a few minutes later covered with cobwebs but with a bottle under his arm and a triumphant smile on his face.
"Glasses!" he intoned. "We'll dine in style."
She fetched some glasses from the dining room, cleaned them, and laid them out ceremoniously beside their plates. The Earl uncorked the bottle with a flourish and filled the glasses with a delicious looking ruby red liquid, and they toasted each other.
"To us!" he declared. "To finding each other, and all the wonderful things that are going to happen now!"
"I wonder if they will!" she sighed.
"They will because we're going to make them. And this magnificent vintage wine is the first wonderful thing. Sip it slowly and with appreciation, for you may never taste the like again."
Together they sipped.
And together they choked.
"Thunderbolts and lightning!" he exploded. "What is this?"
"Vinegar," she whispered between gasps. Her eyes were streaming.
They patted each other frantically on the back.
"Miss Colwell, I really am very sorry," he said hoarsely. "I thought it would have - aaaarh! excuse me - matured over the years. But it's only soured."
"You said I'd never taste the like again," she reminded him. "I only hope you may be right. No, give that to me - " He was about to pour the wine down the sink but she stopped him. "If what it's doing to my insides is anything to go by, it'll probably clean the range very efficiently."
"You're a marvel," he said admiringly.
She poured tea and they both drank it thankfully. Then Rena served the meal and they ate it companionably at the kitchen table.
"The news is getting around the village that you're here," she told him. "They're afraid you'll be scared off by the ghost. I said that was nonsense because of course there was no ghost."
"Shame on you!" he said at once. "What is an ancestral home without a ghost. I think it very unkind of you, Miss Colwell, that you should attempt to deprive me of my birthright in this way."
His droll manner caught her off guard, and she had to peer at him to make sure how to take his words. The gleam of amusement in his eyes was shocking, she decided. But very delightful.
An answering mirth growing inside herself made her say, "Forgive me, sir. I had forgotten that among every nobleman's patents of nobility a ghost is essential. However I fear that you may find The Grange's extensive choice a little too much to cope with. There's the Floating Lady, the Wailing Lady Anne, the Headless Horseman - or is it the Headless Horse? Well, I expect it amounts to the same."
"You don't mean I might meet them all at once?" he asked in alarm. "I mean, one Headless Horseman plus one Floating Lady, a man can cope with, but the rest - have a heart ma'am." She fixed him with a baleful eye. "Would you be afraid?"
"Absolutely terrified."
They laughed together.
"As soon as I've washed the dishes I'll lay the fire in your room, and then I'll leave," she said.
"Leave? I thought you were here for good now?"
"I am, that is, I'll work for you, but perhaps I had better not stay here at night."
She blushed slightly as she said this, and could not meet his eyes. The village would be shocked if she, an unmarried
"Sit down," she said cheerfully. "The kettle will boil soon."
He drank the tea she set before him with an expression of bliss.
"Sweeter than the sweetest wine," he said. "I see you've been busy."
"You're going to be really comfortable tonight. You've done the right thing in moving into the dressing room. I can put a small fire in there, but the big room would have defeated me. Can you watch the pots on the range, while I go and make up your bed?"
She gathered up the sheets and departed, returning a few minutes later to find the meal almost ready.
"The Earl really ought to eat in the dining room," she suggested.
"No thank you," he replied without hesitation. "We'll eat out here. What's the wine cellar like?"
"I've never seen it."
He took the lamp and disappeared, returning a few minutes later covered with cobwebs but with a bottle under his arm and a triumphant smile on his face.
"Glasses!" he intoned. "We'll dine in style."
She fetched some glasses from the dining room, cleaned them, and laid them out ceremoniously beside their plates. The Earl uncorked the bottle with a flourish and filled the glasses with a delicious looking ruby red liquid, and they toasted each other.
"To us!" he declared. "To finding each other, and all the wonderful things that are going to happen now!"
"I wonder if they will!" she sighed.
"They will because we're going to make them. And this magnificent vintage wine is the first wonderful thing. Sip it slowly and with appreciation, for you may never taste the like again."
Together they sipped.
And together they choked.
"Thunderbolts and lightning!" he exploded. "What is this?"
"Vinegar," she whispered between gasps. Her eyes were streaming.
They patted each other frantically on the back.
"Miss Colwell, I really am very sorry," he said hoarsely. "I thought it would have - aaaarh! excuse me - matured over the years. But it's only soured."
"You said I'd never taste the like again," she reminded him. "I only hope you may be right. No, give that to me - " He was about to pour the wine down the sink but she stopped him. "If what it's doing to my insides is anything to go by, it'll probably clean the range very efficiently."
"You're a marvel," he said admiringly.
She poured tea and they both drank it thankfully. Then Rena served the meal and they ate it companionably at the kitchen table.
"The news is getting around the village that you're here," she told him. "They're afraid you'll be scared off by the ghost. I said that was nonsense because of course there was no ghost."
"Shame on you!" he said at once. "What is an ancestral home without a ghost. I think it very unkind of you, Miss Colwell, that you should attempt to deprive me of my birthright in this way."
His droll manner caught her off guard, and she had to peer at him to make sure how to take his words. The gleam of amusement in his eyes was shocking, she decided. But very delightful.
An answering mirth growing inside herself made her say, "Forgive me, sir. I had forgotten that among every nobleman's patents of nobility a ghost is essential. However I fear that you may find The Grange's extensive choice a little too much to cope with. There's the Floating Lady, the Wailing Lady Anne, the Headless Horseman - or is it the Headless Horse? Well, I expect it amounts to the same."
"You don't mean I might meet them all at once?" he asked in alarm. "I mean, one Headless Horseman plus one Floating Lady, a man can cope with, but the rest - have a heart ma'am." She fixed him with a baleful eye. "Would you be afraid?"
"Absolutely terrified."
They laughed together.
"As soon as I've washed the dishes I'll lay the fire in your room, and then I'll leave," she said.
"Leave? I thought you were here for good now?"
"I am, that is, I'll work for you, but perhaps I had better not stay here at night."
She blushed slightly as she said this, and could not meet his eyes. The village would be shocked if she, an unmarried
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