Witchstone

Ashley made no reply, turning away to take a cloth and dust the glass shelves behind the bar. She was tempted to ask him why he hadn’t been into the hotel before this, but it was not up to her to question his movements.

‘Tell me,’ he said suddenly, ‘do you have to go to the Grammar every day? I thought Mark told me you’d already passed your exams.’

Ashley straightened, her green eyes mirroring her surprise. ‘I don’t have to go,’ she admitted. ‘But as I’ll be leaving soon …’ She shrugged awkwardly.

‘I see.’ Jake looked down to flick ash into the tray. ‘Do you feel like taking a day off?’

Ashley stifled a gasp. ‘A day off?’ she echoed. ‘W-why?’

Jake continued to take an immense amount of interest in the burning end of his cheroot. ‘I thought you might like to come to a sale with me on Thursday,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s at a country house in Swaledale. As I understand it, they have a particularly good library.’

Ashley put down the cloth she had been holding and stared disbelievingly at his bent head. ‘Why—why are you asking me?’ she got out.

He looked up then, and she saw his eyes were grey, not black as she had at first imagined. ‘Because I thought you’d be interested,’ he replied. ‘Are you?’

Ashley moved awkwardly. ‘I—well, yes—of course I’m interested. But——’

‘But what? I’ll ask your uncle if you want me to. It’s a perfectly harmless invitation. I don’t think he’ll object.’

Ashley glanced over her shoulder. ‘Perhaps not.’

‘Well? Do you want to come or don’t you?’

Ashley shook her head. ‘Who else will be going?’

‘Who else?’ Jake looked impatient. ‘No one else, why?’

Ashley sighed. ‘I don’t understand why you should want to take me.’ She moved her shoulders helplessly. ‘Particularly after—after——’

‘After what?’ Jake’s eyes were intent. ‘After the way you spoke to me the last time we—met?’

‘Well—yes.’

‘I don’t hold grudges.’ He drew deeply on his cheroot. ‘Do you?’

‘I don’t know.’ Ashley was uncomfortable. ‘What—what will people say?’

‘People?’ His lips were drawn in now.

‘Yes, people,’ she insisted, spreading her hands. ‘Look, I know I don’t know Bewford as well as you do, but I have noticed how people talk.’

‘And how will they find out?’

Ashley’s eyes widened. ‘My uncle and aunt will know.’

‘All right.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t tell them.’

Ashley felt the first twinges of alarm. ‘Are you serious?’

‘If you’ve got qualms, don’t tell them.’ Jake sounded bored.

‘But—but I couldn’t not tell them.’

‘That’s up to you, isn’t it?’

‘Don’t you care?’

‘Not particularly.’

Ashley turned away. She felt almost sick with reaction. She had no idea what his real thoughts on the matter were or whether he wanted her to tell anyone or not. And she simply wasn’t the type to lie to her aunt and uncle about something so important. How could she pretend to be going to school as usual when in fact she intended going away for the day with Jake Seton? She drew in a deep breath. He shouldn’t have asked her. He shouldn’t have placed her in such a position. She hadn’t the experience to deal with it.

Taking another breath, she turned back to him just as her uncle came into the bar carrying two crates of light ale.

‘Hello there, Jake,’ he exclaimed warmly, when he saw who was seated at the bar. ‘Long time, no see. Ashley been looking after you, has she?’

Jake nodded. ‘How are you, David?’

Ashley’s uncle pushed the crates of ale beneath the bar with his foot. ‘I’m all right, I suppose,’ he answered with a grin. ‘I’ll be better when this weather improves a bit. Still, at least the snow seems to have disappeared at last.’

Jake stubbed out his cheroot. ‘Yes. Things are getting back to normal.’

‘Have you been away?’ Clearly David Sutton had no qualms about querying Jake’s prolonged absence.

‘As a matter of fact, I have.’ Jake rested his elbows on the bar. ‘There were a couple of functions I had to attend in London, and Barbara had some shopping to do, so we were away three days.’

Barbara! Who was Barbara? Ashley stood slightly behind her uncle wondering whether she could be one of the sisters Karen had mentioned. Or was she his fiancée? After their conversation of a few moments ago, it was all rather unpalatable somehow. How could he sit there and blithely talk about the things he had been doing when only minutes before he had asked her to spend a day with him? Or was she of such little importance that he could dismiss her in much the same way as he would a child?

Her uncle seemed to remember she was still there and turned to her. ‘You can get along now, Ashley,’ he directed with a smile. ‘Thanks for keeping an eye on things while I was away.’

He turned back to add a couple of cubes of ice to a glass containing a generous proportion of whisky which he pushed across the bar to Jake as Ashley moved towards the door which led into the hall at the back of the hotel. Was that all? she thought dully, aware of an intense feeling of disappointment now that it seemed that all chance of spending the day with Jake was slipping out of her grasp. Wasn’t he even going to mention the invitation again?

She glanced back once and her eyes met his over the rim of the glass he had raised to his lips. There was an enigmatic gleam in the grey depths and she thought there was silent mockery there too. She quickened her step and had reached the doorway when he called: ‘Are you coming to Raybury with me on Thursday, Ashley?’

She halted, and swung round, her eyes going to her uncle, who had stopped what he was doing to raise his eyebrows, ‘What’s this?’ he asked, frowning.

Jake swallowed another mouthful of his whisky before saying: ‘I’ve invited Ashley to come to a sale with me on Thursday—in Swaledale. It’s the Fallow House at Raybury.’

Ashley supported herself against the door jamb. ‘I—I don’t know whether I should go, Uncle David,’ she murmured unevenly. ‘Wh-what do you think?’

David Sutton was clearly unprepared for such a question. ‘Well, I don’t know, lass,’ he admitted, his gaze flickering doubtfully towards Jake. ‘You do have your school work to think of …’

Jake finished his whisky and toyed with the glass. ‘One day more or less won’t make a lot of difference, will it?’ he commented. ‘Ashley says she’s leaving soon anyway.’

‘That’s true.’ David looked troubled. ‘All the same, perhaps you should ask your aunt, Ashley. She’s better equipped than me to decide these things.’

Ashley hesitated, aware of the deepening twist to Jake’s mouth. Obviously he considered the whole affair unnecessary and childish. What was he asking, after all? Just a few hours of her time—and for her benefit. She would love the opportunity to wander round the library of some old house.

‘I would like to go, Uncle David,’ she asserted, making a decision. ‘And taking a day from school presents no problems.’

David shook his head. ‘Well, I suppose it’s for you to say,’ he murmured. He looked at Jake. ‘Why do you think this sale will interest Ashley?’

Jake pushed his glass towards the other man, indicating that he would like another. ‘She likes books—libraries. As I understand it, there’s quite a comprehensive library for sale.’

David measured more whisky into Jake’s glass. ‘I see.’ He picked up the ice tongs. ‘And how far is this place—Raybury?’

‘Fifty—maybe sixty miles. It’s near Richmond. I should think Ashley would enjoy seeing something of the countryside around here.’

David handed him his glass again. ‘No doubt,’ he conceded dryly. ‘Well, lass, are you going?’

Ashley nodded. ‘If you don’t mind.’

Her uncle gave her an impatient look before turning back to Jake. ‘What time do you expect to leave?’

‘I thought about nine-thirty, if that’s all right with you.’ He looked towards Ashley, and she nodded, bending her head to avoid the piercing penetration of his eyes. ‘The sale’s not till noon, but we can look round beforehand.’

Ashley felt an unwilling sense of excitement. She couldn’t help it. It was all so totally unexpected, and after the way she had been worrying about Jake Seton this week it was doubly tantalising. But she forced herself to calm down, feeling angry that she should be getting so heated over something which he obviously regarded with little concern. It was just an auction sale, when all was said and done, with a lot of musty old books to browse through, and that was why he was taking her.

Leaving the bar, she made her way to the lounge where her aunt was sitting knitting. Both Mark and Karen were out for the evening and Mona looked up smilingly when Ashley entered the room.

‘Come in, love,’ she greeted her. ‘Has your uncle finished in the cellar?’

‘Yes.’ Ashley subsided into the armchair opposite. ‘It’s cosy in here, isn’t it?’

‘Hmm.’ Her aunt bent to take another ball of wool from her knitting bag. ‘You can put the television on if you’d like to.’

‘No, thanks.’ Ashley crossed her legs, swinging one foot restlessly.

Mona looked at her. ‘You seem distracted. Is something wrong?’

Ashley coloured. ‘No, nothing.’ She reached for a magazine and flicked through its pages without interest. Then, taking the bull by the horns, she said: ‘Would you mind if I took a day off school on Thursday?’

Mona’s busy fingers stilled. ‘Why? What do you want to do?’

‘I—I’ve been invited out for the day,’ said Ashley carefully.

Mona looked surprised. ‘Invited out? Who by?’

‘Actually—Jake Seton.’

There, it was out. Ashley closed the magazine and sat with her hands curled tightly on top of it.

‘With Jake?’ Mona was clearly perplexed. ‘When—that is—how have you spoken to him?’

She didn’t appear angry at the news and Ashley gathered confidence. ‘He was in the bar just now. There—there’s a sale of some old house at Raybury——’

‘Raybury?’

‘Yes. And as there’s a library, he thought I might be interested in going with him.’

Mona began to knit again. ‘Really? And what did you say?’

‘Well, at first I wasn’t sure—but then, after I’d spoken to Uncle David, I said yes.’ Ashley looked anxious. ‘Do you mind?’

Mona shook her head helplessly. ‘Why should I mind?’ She looked up again. ‘I suppose it was kind of him to ask you. Did you—that is—you didn’t insinuate——’

Ashley’s colour deepened again. ‘I knew nothing about it until he mentioned it,’ she denied fiercely. ‘Oh—oh, I wish I’d never said I’d go now!’

‘Why?’ Mona put her knitting aside. ‘Don’t be silly! I’m sure you’ll have a lovely day. Is Miss St. John Forrest going, too?’

‘Miss St. John Forrest?’ Ashley was at a loss. ‘Who’s that?’

‘Jake’s fiancée—Barbara. Barbara St. John Forrest. Haven’t you heard her name mentioned?’

‘I don’t think so.’ Ashley shook her head, but as she did so she remembered a few minutes ago, in the bar, when Jake had mentioned that name and she had wondered whether it might be his sister.

‘But you did know he was engaged?’ Mona was adding. ‘Didn’t you?’

‘Yes. Karen told me.’

Mona seemed satisfied with this news. ‘Good. Well, you’ll have to speak to Miss Kincaid tomorrow and tell her you won’t be in on Thursday, won’t you?’

‘I suppose so.’

Ashley sounded less than enthusiastic and her aunt gave her a little impatient pat on her hand. ‘Stop looking so depressed! Jake will look after you. And at least you can be sure of one thing—he wouldn’t have asked you to go with him without mentioning it to Barbara first. Just go and enjoy yourself.’

Ashley opened the magazine again and tried to concentrate on a feature about making the most of your hair, but her mind wasn’t on it. She was thinking of something her aunt had said—that Jake wouldn’t ask her to go out with him without first discussing it with his fiancée.

This information should have pleased her—it should have reassured her that his invitation was considered and deliberate, and not a spontaneous impulse which might be regretted later. But instead, she felt raw and indignant, reluctant to be the unwilling recipient of his patronising generosity.

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