Abigail, Thomas and Caroline

Book 3 The Temple

Chapter 33: Abigail Explores

Abigail had wanted to sleep in one of the towers and was very disappointed to find that not only that they just contained spiral staircases but also the hatches to the roof were bolted shut and since there did not seem to be a dungeon it had not turned out to be fantasy castle she hoped for.

Instead she was allocated one of the 2 large rooms at the back of the castle next to the master bedroom with the river beneath. Between her and Caroline’s room were a corridor and a large stone supporting wall, so no sound could effectively pass between the two. This meant that Abigail could happily enjoy her own body at night with no fear of embarrassment and Caroline was equally glad for similar reasons.

As well as access to the roof being denied the inquisitive girl noticed after trying all the doors that Thomas’s study was also locked. She thought she could understand this as the master of Gillamoor Court was away in London on business but her sister told her that most of the time he would not even let her in. Abigail’s overactive imagination took this as an admission of some terrible secret which she became determined to uncover. Exactly opposite to her twin, she preferred indoor mysteries to outdoor adventures.

On the other side of the house but actually adjacent to the study was the library and Abigail loved reading. She had absorbed enough Gothic fiction to wonder whether there were any secret compartments triggered by a book or other object but initial searches yielded nothing. The books were largely old boring tomes of record especially relating to the local area so she appealed to Caroline to see about refreshing the stock. Her big sister only ever read newspapers and was especially interested in court news and gossip. Because of her father she also took an interest in any medical stories.

“So you want some novels” said Lady Squires. “Why don’t we spend the weekend in York? You can go to the bookshops and I can look at the fashion.”

“We can do that?”

“Of course, Abigail, provided Andrew has no orders from Thomas to the contrary.”

“When will Sir Thomas return?”

“No idea.” said the mistress of the house truthfully.

Caroline was increasingly worried about Hannah Selby. Her friends in Kirkbymoorside had told her about the previous year’s cause célèbre when Sir Richard Worsley sued his friend for damages after he ran off with his wife. At the trial it emerged that the husband had flaunted his naked wife in front of the defendant and had been complicit in her having up to 27 lovers. Ultimately the baronet was awarded one shilling by the jury, but Caroline thought Hannah was of the same ilk as Lady Worsley. However even that impressive and notorious lady was an amateur compared to Lady Selby!

Andrew Anson had been a bit disappointed not to accompany his boss down to London and was envious of the good time Bernard might be having. He was always jealous of Bernard’s adventures with the viscount, but someone had to transport these 2 women from that mad family around. He wondered how they were sisters looking as different as they did and where that horny maid, Bernard had the hots for, was. She looked like far more fun.

The next day the 3 of them set of for York in pursuit of clothes and books.