House of Secrets Read online

  ‘What the hell are you implying, Liam?’ Her voice had risen and she immediately looked around again. ‘Are you threatening me?’

  She tried to move her hand, but his grip was firm.

  ‘I’m not implying anything, Maddie, darlin’. All I’m saying is that I think you should consider my offer. We’d be good together. With a bit of tender loving care we could turn this place into a palace. It could be made into something really special.’ His eyes travelled around the room.

  ‘Go to hell, Liam.’ She finally pulled her hand from his grasp. ‘Firstly, don’t you ever dare threaten me again and, secondly, this house is how my father refurbished it and it is really special, just the way it is.’

  His face turned to stone as once again he grabbed her wrist and tightened his hold.

  ‘You’ll be sorry, Maddie. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Bandit ran through the woods. He loved running in the early morning sun, while listening to the sound of the birds and the clatter of water falling over the rocks as it flooded down to the stream. His blood pumped through his veins. His heart felt as though it would burst through his chest, yet still he ran.

  He hadn’t slept. Everything about the hall had changed and all he could think of was the evening he’d spent with Madeleine. How he’d held her in his arms as they’d sat before the fire, how they’d sipped wine, took silent pleasure in each other’s company and how she’d looked up at him with those deep, beautiful eyes.

  They’d parted awkwardly and he was sure that Madeleine had felt the tension that had passed between them just as much as he had and now he thought about it, it had always been there. Since that very first night when he’d pinned her to the driveway, which was now a night that seemed so very long ago, when in reality it had been little more than twelve days.

  Stopping on the track, he picked up a fallen branch and tossed it away from the path. A startled blackbird shot out from behind a bush, tweeting angrily as he went. Bandit shouted an apology, and once again he began to run. Heading through the trees, over the stream and down past the ha-ha at the front of the house and then, when he felt as though he couldn’t run any more, he turned and headed to the back door.

  ‘Morning, Nomsa.’ He walked into the kitchen and leaned for a while on the door frame to catch his breath. He looked between Nomsa and Bernie, realising that the normal buzz of the kitchen was missing. They were both silent and Bandit raised an eyebrow at Nomsa who indicated that something was happening in the dining room. Holding her finger to her lips, it was obvious that they were trying to listen to whatever was going on.

  Peering through the small crack between the doors he could see Madeleine sat with her back to him, nose to nose in an intimate chat with her ex-boyfriend. They held hands under the table and they stared into each other’s eyes. Liam looked over in his direction, caught sight of him, winked, then smiled. Liam pursed his lips and pouted at Madeleine and for all Bandit knew, she could have been pouting right back.

  Walking back into the kitchen, he punched the utility wall. Immediately wishing he hadn’t, he turned on the tap and ran cold water over his knuckles and then walked to the far end of the kitchen, pacing up and down. He had no idea why he was so frustrated. Madeleine wasn’t his and it really wasn’t any of his business what she was doing with Liam, but he couldn’t help but feel a streak of jealousy as it raged through him.

  ‘Sit down, my boy. I’ll make you a nice breakfast,’ Nomsa whispered as she placed a steaming mug of coffee on the table before him. ‘How would you like some nice pork sausages?’

  Bandit stared at the steaming, golden fluid. It swirled around in the mug, like a whirlpool with milk.

  He was exhausted. He’d been on such a high after the night before, really happy, content. He thought they’d shared a moment together. Thought it had been the start of something new, an amazing new beginning, but should have known that life wasn’t that simple.

  Again he slammed his fist down on the table, making his coffee slop over the side of the mug and the cutlery jump up into the air.

  ‘I’ll not bother, Nomsa. I’m not hungry, but thank you,’ he said as his eyes stared at the back of the dining room door. ‘Bernie, do you need any duck or pheasant before tomorrow evening? If not, I might go into York, see my father.’

  Bernie shook his head and wiped his brow on his sleeve. ‘No, you’re fine. I’ve got plenty for tonight. You get off and see your dad. I’m sure he’ll be pleased to see you.’

  Standing up, Bandit walked out of the kitchen, through the back door and allowed it to slam shut behind him. Besides, it was about time he went to see his father, he hadn’t been since Morris had died. He hadn’t known whether he should tell him of his death or not, after all his father had been to the hall, had met Morris many times, but he wasn’t sure how much he remembered or understood and hadn’t wanted to upset him unnecessarily.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  May 21st, 1942

  I’ve arranged to meet Eddie after dark. I’ll hide on the secret staircase and then we’ll take the tunnel that leads to the woods. At least there we can be alone together and now that the summer is coming, it’s warm enough for us to stay out in the gardens, even after dark. It’s the most perfect route and, as far as I’m aware, the previous owners may have had it built during the First World War as a way to get away from the house should the Germans invade England and take over the hall.

  Eddie has made a wooden house in the trees. It’s a summer house; it has a kitchen, a bedroom and a living space. Eddie say’s it’s a special place for us to be alone and undisturbed and tonight he’s taking me to see it for the very first time. I’m so excited.

  Mother is pregnant and, again, there will be another addition to our family. I do hope it’s another brother; they’re so much fun when they are babies, much nicer than little girls. It is, however, such a shame that they grow up and end up like Jimmy. So maybe a brother wouldn’t be preferable after all, except of course that I wouldn’t ever be expected to share a room with a boy, even if we had a party and lots of people came to stay. Mother says the baby will come in the late summer. I just dread the new nanny that will reside in the house to look after it. But, then again, whoever my parents employ, she can’t possibly be as bad as the nanny that came to look after us as children. She was bad tempered, strict and expected us to bath every day.

  Madeleine flicked over the page, looking to see what Emily had written next. But the next page had more of her sketches on it.

  She thought back to the part of the diary that had spoken of Eddie going to ask Emily’s father for permission to marry. It was hard to believe that this had really happened in years gone by, but the diary hadn’t mentioned it since and Madeleine wondered what Emily’s father had said.

  Had her father given his permission or not?

  Madeleine laughed, remembering how she and Michael had run away to the register office. They’d both known that they’d been far too young and that their families would try to dissuade them. But they hadn’t cared; they were in love and hadn’t been able to wait a moment longer to get married, which made her feel all the sorrier, after all that had happened, that she hadn’t asked her father to walk her down the aisle.

  Life had been so different for Emily Ennis. She may have had a big house to live in, posh clothes, and servants, but her choices had been so very limited, her lifestyle restricted and her actions were very much accountable.

  Madeleine’s laugh turned to a sigh as she walked through her room and stared at Poppy’s bed. Jess had taken Poppy for the night, and although they’d only been gone a few short hours, the place seemed quiet and empty without her.

  ‘I really need to do some work,’ Madeleine said out loud as she walked through the room and sat down at her desk. Switching on her laptop, she checked through her emails. There was still no word from or about Bridget and, after two whole weeks, Madeleine wondered if she really might have gone on a
last minute holiday without telling anyone. But according to the policeman who’d phoned, they didn’t think so. She felt helpless, but being just one of Bridget’s many clients didn’t give her any right to ask the police for information.

  She stared at the screen, but all the words blended together. None of them made sense. Her writing didn’t seem to have the edge that it normally had and she realised that she hadn’t been motivated to write since she’d moved out of Liam’s house.

  She thought about how different episodes in her life had influenced her writing. After Michael’s death, she’d managed to throw her anger into her work. But her father’s death had affected her differently and she couldn’t concentrate for a minute. Perhaps her spark had gone because she no longer had to make a living from her writing, as she was now a wealthy woman with a hotel to run. But she couldn’t think about that now.

  She looked across to Emily’s diary. Reading it had become a part of Madeleine’s day, a time she looked forward to. It was an escape and gave her an insight into the history of this house, the people who lived here and how their lives had been. It was even more special that she had the story in Emily’s own words. Emily mentioned so many things about Wrea Head that she didn’t know, things that even her father hadn’t known, which made her wonder just how many secrets one house could really have.

  She picked the diary back up and flicked back to the page where Emily had mentioned the staircase, but on this occasion she’d also mentioned a tunnel; in fact what she’d said was that she’d taken the tunnel that led to the woods.

  ‘There must be more than one tunnel. If Emily was taking the one that led to the woods, where did the other one lead to?’ she whispered to herself. ‘If there are tunnels, where are the openings?’ She put the diary down. If there was a staircase or tunnels she had every intention of finding them. But not today, today she wanted to avoid Liam at all costs. He was only booked in for two nights, which meant that tonight would be his last and tomorrow, after breakfast, he’d be gone. She’d left strict instructions with reception never to allow him to book in again.

  Pushing the laptop back across her desk, she looked out over the gardens. She’d been scanning them for most of the morning and even though Bandit had told her that he’d be off all day, she’d still hoped to catch sight of him pottering around.

  A knock on her door made her jump. She went to answer it.

  ‘Hi, Jack. All okay?’

  ‘No, Mrs Frost, we seem to have a problem. It’s the electrics in the kitchen. They don’t seem to be working and Nomsa is right in the middle of tonight’s desserts.’

  Madeleine ran behind Jack and followed him down the stairs.

  ‘Have we called an electrician?’ she asked as she entered the corridor between the kitchen and the office.

  ‘No need, I’m sorting it,’ Liam’s voice echoed. He appeared to be half in and half out of the cupboard where the fuse box was. ‘There you go, all done. Nothing serious.’

  Madeleine stared at his smug face. ‘Really. It seems quite convenient that you repaired it so quickly, Liam O’Grady.’

  ‘Maddie, darlin’. Seriously? What are you suggesting?’

  ‘You really don’t want me to answer that, do you?’ She looked him up and down, at his perfectly pressed shirt, his shiny shoes and his slicked back hair. ‘What the hell did I ever see in you?’ she blurted out without thinking.

  ‘Would you excuse us, Jack, I’m sure you have work do,’ Liam ordered.

  Jack glanced at Madeleine but she nodded her head at him. She didn’t want Jack caught in the crossfire between her and Liam and Jack immediately retreated into the office, closing the door behind him.

  ‘Oh, so now you think you have a right to tell my staff what to do, do you?’

  ‘You should be grateful that I was here,’ Liam said as he continued to look at the fuse board. ‘I did tell you that you need a man around the place, Maddie. I did say that things go wrong with electrics and, what’s more, you know it makes sense for us to get back together. I’ve apologised for what happened. You’ve made me suffer enough by leaving me. But now it’s time to sort things out.’ He paused. ‘As for my telling the staff what to do, they need to get used to it and so do you.’

  Madeleine was stunned. He seriously believed that he could walk in here and take over. He was delusional and obviously totally unable to take no for an answer.

  ‘Liam, first and foremost, stop calling me “Maddie, darlin’”. I’ve told you before I don’t like it, and second, I want you to leave my house and I want you to leave it right now,’ she screamed so loudly that Nomsa ran into the corridor, broom in her hand.

  ‘What’s going on with you, mister, making Mrs Frost scream like that?’ she shouted, the broom held up in her hand as though ready to strike.

  ‘Hey, kitchen girl. Put down the broom and get back to work. Everything’s fine. Isn’t it, Maddie?’

  Nomsa looked between Madeleine and Liam, the tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

  ‘For your information, mister, I is not a kitchen girl. I may work in a kitchen, but first and foremost, sir, I is a lady and if I hear Mrs Frost yell again, I’m gonna show you how this lady’s gonna whoop your ass with her broom,’ she shouted as she shook the broom in the air. ‘Do you get that?’

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ‘Maddie, you need to come and get Poppy. I’ve been burgled. The whole flat is a mess: there’s glass everywhere,’ Jess shrieked down the phone. ‘Everything’s broken: the telly, the music centre and … oh my God, my jewellery. Maddie, my jewellery, it’s all gone.’

  ‘Calm down, Jess, I’m coming.’ Madeleine looked out the window and into the darkness that rolled in with the night.

  ‘Maddie, I … I … I think your locket has gone too.’

  Madeleine choked back her tears as she pulled on her jeans, bouncing around the room with the telephone held tightly in one hand. The bedpost was ideal to lean on and she managed to pull the jeans on quickly followed by a hoodie, which she zipped up over her naked breasts. There was no time to organise, no time to think of what was or was not appropriate.

  ‘Jess, you left hours ago. Have you only just got home?’ She needed to get to Jess and she needed to do it quickly. Her flat was over thirty miles away, but driving over the North Yorkshire moors at night could not be done at speed. Sheep wandered loose on the moors and often ended up on the roads, meaning a journey that would take forty minutes to drive in daylight could easily take anything up to an hour at night.

  ‘Poppy wanted to go to the creamery for lunch and ice cream. There was a fair and we ended up walking through the village to take a look before heading home. Poppy won a goldfish. What the hell do I do with a goldfish, Maddie? My flat is wrecked.’

  ‘It’s okay, Jess, don’t worry. Have you called the police? I’m on my way,’ she said as calmly as she could. ‘And just stick the fish in a bowl of tepid water, it’ll be fine.’

  ‘Yes, I’ve called them, but a neighbour says my window has been open for days. She thought nothing of it, thought I’d wanted the fresh air, so whoever’s been in is long gone.’

  ‘Okay, why don’t you put Buddy in his cage and take Poppy to the café over the road. You’ll all be safe there while you wait for the police. If you sit by the window, you’ll see them arrive. I’m on my way.’ She clicked off the phone, pulled on her trainers, ran out of her room and down the stairs.

  ‘Hannah, I’ve got to go out,’ she shouted to the receptionist as she ran past the front desk and out through the huge front doors.

  The rain had once again begun to fall. The raindrops bounced on the gravel, the trees swayed in the wind, their last remaining leaves fell onto the drive and large puddles were beginning to form. There was a chill to the air that only came with the onslaught of winter and Maddie pulled the zip of her hoodie up as high as it would go, already regretting her lack of clothes and underwear.

  She wondered how come her evenings of late seemed to chan
ge at a moment’s notice. Only ten minutes before, she’d been planning a hot steaming bath followed by reading Emily Ennis’s diary and now she was out in the cold, the wind and the rain.

  Turning the key in the ignition, she slammed the door and began to chug away from the house. The Mazda’s engine whirred, clunked, and then the car began to die. It rolled down the slope, picked up momentum and cruised down the lane, before it clunked and whirred again.

  ‘Come on, Maggie Mazda. Don’t do this to me. Not tonight,’ Madeleine said as she punched the steering wheel with force. She once again turned the ignition. Again and again she tried, whilst desperately trying to see the petrol gauge in the dark.

  Had she run out of fuel? Had the timing belt gone? Could it be the clutch? A tapping on the window startled her, making her jump. Looking up she saw Liam’s face. And before she could lock the door, it opened.

  ‘You got some trouble there, Maddie, darlin’?’ he asked, with slight Irish sarcasm.

  ‘Not at all, I normally sit on the drive, pedalling the clutch and hitting the steering wheel with so much force that the air bag could explode at any given moment,’ Madeleine growled as once again, she depressed the clutch and turned the key.

  Nothing happened, not even a clunk.

  ‘Here, move over. Why don’t you let me try?’ he said as he slid in beside her, almost sitting on her knee, leaving her no alternative but to move across and into the passenger seat.

  He turned the key once, fiddled with something under the dashboard, pumped the clutch and then turned the key again. To Madeleine’s relief and frustration, the engine miraculously started. Clear as a bell and purring as though nothing had happened.

  ‘Look, thank you,’ she said as appreciatively as she could. She looked towards his knee, trying to see what he’d fiddled with as it crossed her mind that his mending the car, just like the electrics in the house, had been just a little too easy. ‘What was wrong with it?’ she said, pointing to the place under the dashboard.