*
“Stop fidgeting dear, they’ll get here when they get here.”
Jane looked up and smiled at Mrs. Hobart, then put down the wooden spoon she’d been drumming on the table. She was nervously awaiting the return of the two groundskeepers that had left for the Manor a few days ago. Mrs. Hobart believed she was anxious for Philip, one of the groundskeepers, to return because she was enamoured of him. Jane hoped Philip also thought this.
Within a couple days of arriving at the Crow’s Nest Jane had found that Philip lingered in rooms she also occupied. At first she had ignored him, not being attracted to the simple worker in any way. However this changed when she discovered from Mrs. Hobart that Philip and one of the others made regular visits to the Manor for provisions and general instructions. From that point on she had accepted his slow and simple advances, cultivating his trust. This had culminated a few days ago with her passing a sealed letter from him to deliver to Lord Cleaver and no one else. He had accepted the letter like an ancient knight on a quest.
Dogs barking in the courtyard signalled the return of the wagon and the men driving it. Jane forced a nonchalant attitude, which brought a knowing smile to Mrs. Hobart. Eventually Philip and the other groundskeeper made their way into the kitchen and were immediately rewarded with some hot tea.
“Safe trip?” Jane inquired of Philip as he tried to casually sidle up to her.
“No problems,” he replied. He then glanced around the kitchen, ensuring the others weren’t watching them. Satisfied, he took an envelope from his pocket and passed it to here under the counter. Jane smiled at his attempt at espionage.
“So Lord Cleaver…” began Philip hesitantly. “You’re not… I mean, you don’t… Umm, the both of you aren’t…?”
“Us? Oh no, nothing like that,” she replied laughing once she figured out what he was driving at. She hadn’t thought how sealed letters passed between them might appear to an outsider. The thought of being Dr. Cleaver’s lover made her want to laugh and shiver at the same time. Though he was handsome for an older man, Jane knew that he was both dangerous and unfeeling.
“Good,” Philip smiled in response. He finished of his tea quickly, burning his tongue slightly, before leaving the kitchen to unload the wagon.
Mrs. Hobart gave her a wink as Jane left the kitchen; having witnessed what she thought was a tender moment.
Gliding down the hallway towards her room, Jane had to fight to keep the letter hidden and not read it immediately. When she reached her room she opened the door and slid in, closing it immediately behind her. There were no locks on the servants’ doors, so she leaned her back against it to avoid a surprise interruption.
The letter was quickly opened, breaking the wax seal in the process. Jane scanned it swiftly to obtain its intention, then read it slower a second time, memorising it. She smiled at its contents and let out a sigh of relief.
There had been very little danger in sending the letter. The worst thing that could have happened was for it to be ignored, thus confirming her placement in this purgatory of a hunting lodge. However Lord Cleaver had not only responded, but responded positively. She had once again worked her skills and was feeling the stir of success.
Not lingering in the moment too long, she went to her bedside table and found a small box of matches. She lit one on the first strike and immediately set fire to the letter, before placing it in the fireplace. As she watched it burn, she once again felt invigorated at the opportunity before her. This could be a turning point in her life, one that she had felt only somewhat satisfied with so far. She had always been bright, but after a few lessons with Lord Lodge, she realized how little she knew. He had shown her that however great her skills for survival were, she was capable of much more if challenged. Jane knew that if she were to avoid being the puppet of men like Cleaver, she would have to learn to think critically and strategically.
A knock at the door broke her reverie, forcing Jane to refocus as Mrs. Hobart stuck her head in.
“It’s time for Lord Lodge’s afternoon tea,” the housekeeper reminded her. “We don’t want to keep him waiting.”
Jane nodded in response and followed her out into the hall and then back to the kitchen. A silver tray was waiting on the counter, fully stocked for the afternoon service. Without another word she lifted it up and made the now routine procession up to the suites on the second floor.
Lord Lodge was comfortably ensconced in his study with a book when she entered. She was able to open the door with one hand and expertly hold the tray with the other, thereby avoiding the clumsy and unprofessional use of her backside. She set the tray down on a side table and waited patiently for him to finish so she could serve him and deliver her news.
“Well you might as well tell me what he said,” offered Lodge from behind his book.
“It couldn’t have gone better,” replied Jane as she began pouring his tea. She had been spending enough time with Victor Lodge to no longer be surprised by his uncanny perception and speedy deduction. “To be honest I was expecting a response to follow much later, if at all.”
“Dr. Cleaver is highly clever and an expert plotter,” Lodge expounded while setting his book down and accepting the offered tea cup. “However he is also impulsive, most notably when close to the kill. I’m sure after receiving your letter, any notions of duplicity on your part where washed away by the thought of finally beating me.”
“Surely it can’t be that easy. He must have some doubts about me.”
“Probably. I’ve known Cleaver for a long time, longer than I’d like and longer than I thought at our first meeting,” he said as he motioned her to the seat near him. “I underestimated him and find myself in this current predicament. I do not intend to repeat that mistake.”
He said this with a cold voice, the most natural emotion Jane had seen him display since their arrival here. She no longer doubted his desire to defeat Lord Cleaver and realized she would never want to become his enemy. But the moment passed as quickly as it came and she found him watching her expectantly. Quickly she realized she had yet to relate the contents of the letter, so she proceeded to do so.
“What should we do next?” She inquired after finishing.
“What do you propose? It was your plan to ensnare a groundskeeper.”
“I’ve put some thought into it since I sent the letter,” she started slowly. “But I have to admit I haven’t come up with a suitably elaborate plan.”
“How so?”
“Every time I think I’ve developed a plan or even an outline of one, I eventually find holes in it,” she continued without confidence. “Dr. Cleaver will never be convinced.”
“Well then I suppose there’s only on thing we can do,” observed Lodge, with a hint of a smile emerging. “You will tell him the truth.”
“What?”
“Tell him exactly what we’re doing here, every step of a plan we implement.” Seeing the confusion on her face he continued. “That is the only way to ensure your safety and possibly mine. Take a moment and think it through, it’s the only way this will work.”
“If I provide false information, he’ll find out and either get rid of me or ignore me,” she said as she began to work through Lodge’s suggestion.
“Probably.”
“But he will believe me if I provide the information on the real plan.”
“Because it is both possible and believable.”
“And if anything goes wrong I can say that I was telling him the truth without having to stick to a story.”
“Precisely. Plus keep in mind he’s probably been spying on us since we arrived. And if he hasn’t he will start now.”
“There’s only one problem with this. At some point we have to escape,” she offered dubiously.
“That, my dear, is the most cunning part of the plan,” explained Lodge. His eyes were now shining and his mouth straining to contain a full smile. “Cleaver is so devious that he will undoubtedly believe what you s
end him. He will believe you are being truthful with him, since it will be confirmed by his other spies. However he will not believe that that is the true plan. He can’t. He will use your information to discount what he perceives is my true plan. A man such as Cleaver could never understand putting his faith in another person, let alone a servant. If you tell him that I plan to escape out the front door, he will immediately have people posted at every exit BUT the front door. Therefore we will be able to do exactly what we plan, with him in on it, so to speak.”
“But can that actually work?” she asked incredulously.
“We shall see. But he expects me to try and escape and he expects you to keep him informed as to the means. We might as well provide him with both.”
“Very well,” accepted Jane. She felt mildly confident, but also appreciated the risk Lord Lodge was taking for her. Although she was sure he could have come up with a superior method of both misleading Dr. Cleaver and escaping, this was the only one that provided her with some security if it failed. She suddenly felt very close to the older man and hoped that their escape would not be too soon as she was enjoying his company. “So what should I do now?”
“Exactly what we discussed,” ordered Lodge picking up his book and returning to his previous page. “Tell him the truth; that you told me the contents of his letter and that I want you to relay my exact plans to him so that he discounts them. As I said, you need to tell him everything.”
“But won’t that unravel everything if he knows that you know that I’m sending him information?” She asked, her faced squeezed in confusion. “This just turns into a bewildering cycle of logic. I thought the beauty of this was the simplicity?”
“It is,” answered Lodge offhandedly, now completely engrossed in his book. “Let him muse over the intricate and revolving possibilities of the truth and of our plans. Meanwhile we carry on with only one plan and one train of thought. Escape.”
Chapter 13
A Malevolent Manner (Patrick Pierce #1) Page 48
