white fluff! Oh, I shall be so happy to have both a husband and a little doggy of my own,” said Cecily clasping her hands together and gazing at her reflection in the mirror raptly.
“I see,” said Mina, though in truth she found it extremely hard to imagine Cecily as the wife of dry Sir Matthew. She wondered for instance, what on earth they could have in common to talk about of an evening. For Sir Matthew was cool and sardonic where Cecily rattled on like a pea goose. While it was true that Cecily still seemed to feel some vestiges of her former awe around her guardian at present, Mina did not doubt this would soon dissipate and then she would regale Sir Matthew with her every empty-headed thought. Still, she reflected, it was highly likely that people thought she and Nye made a strange couple. Perhaps Sir Matthew would simply sit Cecily on his lap as Nye did with her. “I am happy things are going on well for you, my dear,” she said aloud.
“Oh yes,” Cecily agreed dreamily, as she threaded a riband through the front of her locks. A discreet knock on the door heralded the arrival of a tea tray which was set down on a gilded occasional table.
“Would you be so kind as to pour, Miss Walters?” Cecily asked, her eyes not leaving the mirror.
“Of course.” Mina nodded and thanked the parlor maid. “I do wish you would call me Mina, now Cecily. For our own ages are not so very disparate and we have been acquaintances now of many years. And with you so very soon to be entering matrimony, it seems foolish that you should address me so formally.”
Cecily wheeled around at this; her expression rapt. “I would be delighted, my dear Mina!” she exclaimed. Mina wondered at it, but it seemed Cecily was in deadly earnest. The only reason Mina could think of, was that Cecily could write to her former schoolfellows, now proclaiming them to be bosom friends. For her to think of this as a social triumph was so patently absurd that Mina could not help hiding a smile, despite her own mood at present.
Cecily applied perfume and then rang the bell for her maid to help her into a dress of lavender with a profusion of ruffles and lace. Mina had poured their tea and eaten half of the toast before Cecily dismissed her maid and sank into a chair beside her.
“Now tell me everything!” she urged. “Dearest Mina, spare no detail, for I want to hear it as though it were one of those wonderful stories you used to tell us at school.”
Mina regaled her with an extremely expunged version of all that had befallen her since their perfidious stable hand abducted her and secluded her in an underground passage. Of Gus Hopkirk’s involvement she mentioned precious little, save that he had implored the villainous Reuben not to let her freeze to death, or offer her unnecessary violence.
“What a terrible man that ostler was - so cruel and brutish!” Cecily shuddered. “For you to be at the mercy of such a ruffian turns one blood quite cold!”
Mina agreed. When she came to the part of the story where Reuben had gagged and bound her for her journey to the cliff edge, Cecily shrieked and clapped her hands to her cheeks. She did not utter a word until she reached the Riding Officers taking Nye into custody along with Gus Hopkirk.
“No!” cried Cecily, sitting up indignantly. “But why should they do such a stupid thing?”
Mina spread her hands wide. “I think because Nye owns Vance House and was Reuben’s employer they think- “
“But how foolish! As if that were his fault!” she expostulated. “I vow and declare I never heard of such stupidity! After they abducted his own wife!” She stood up and then sat down again in great agitation. “But where is your husband now?” she asked.
“He sits in the holding cells at St Ives, awaiting transfer to Bodmin jail.”
Cecily gasped. “But we must tell Sir Matthew at once!”
Mina looked down demurely at her gloved hands. “I must own that was my mission in coming here this morning. To throw myself on Sir Matthew’s mercy…”
“Of course!” breathed Cecily approvingly. “It is the only thing to be done!”
“Alas, he was from home when I arrived—”
“Oh, but I am sure I heard his carriage come up the drive some twenty minutes ago,” said Cecily blithely.
“Really?” Mina said, turning toward