and even black powder, Mary followed one of the boys into a side tunnel. It came to a dead end. A man lying on his back picked away at the roof. Rock fell around him and the boy shovelled it into his barrow.
They looked up at the appearance of Mary’s light. The man struggled to stand. ‘Please,’ she said. ‘Don’t let me interrupt, but the rest of the men are back there, meeting his lordship. The new earl.’
‘Aye. I ought to have come.’ He wiped his face on his sleeve. ‘Me and the boy had a bet on that we could finish out this stope by day’s end. I forgot about the visit.’ To her surprise, he sounded a little resentful.
‘Are we interrupting?’
‘The lad is paid by the barrowful. He’s the only one in his family working after his da’s accident.’
The boy ducked his head. He looked healthy enough, if a little pale. So why was he anxious?
She crouched down to meet his gaze full on and to ease the ache in her back from stooping over. ‘Do you find it hard, pushing that barrow?’
‘I’m stronger than I look,’ he said defensively. ‘I don’t need Peter to break the rocks, not really.’ He looked anxiously at his companion.
‘I do my share.’ The man’s face looked sullen.
‘I am sure you do. Both of you.’ She couldn’t quite grasp why she was ruffling their feathers. ‘Is it good working here at this wheal?’ She was proud that she had remembered the correct word. ‘Are you treated well?’
If anything the man looked even more sullen, perhaps even suspicious. Perhaps because she was a woman. Perhaps he was worried about bad luck.
‘We haven’t had our pay this month,’ the boy blurted out. ‘The men aren’t happy.’
The man hushed him with a look.
‘Why is that?’
‘We hear the old earl’s will is all tied up,’ the man said.
Oh, Lord, did that mean there was no money to pay these men until she was married? She couldn’t believe that was so. She would have to tackle Bane about it. No, not Bane, his lordship.
‘I am sure Lord Beresford will sort something out as quickly as possible,’ she said. Was this the reason for his emphatic proposal?
The man shrugged. ‘We best be going to pay our respects, lad, or be found lacking.’ He sounded a little bitter. ‘After you, miss.’
She could do no more than make her way back to the cavern, where she found Bane and Trelawny deep in conversation with a couple of men as they stared at yet another of those blue veins in the rock. There were pink veins, too, she noticed, and white ones. The veins did not run straight along the walls but at an angle. She followed one of the pink ones with her gaze, it glistened in the light of her candle as it disappeared into another, even smaller tunnel. She decided to see where it led.
A short way along was another of those horrid shafts, with a ladder disappearing into the darkness above her head. No candles glimmering up there from this one. An old disused entrance, perhaps.
With her fingertips running along the rough rock, she turned a sharp corner. Here the tunnel divided. Something about this configuration seemed familiar, as if she had been here before. Was that a light she saw in the distance? Another man working, unaware that the new earl had arrived and wishful to meet him?
Should she let him know? Would he be equally unfriendly? She decided to take the other fork.
This tunnel was much darker, the air stuffy, yet cold. The sound of running water drowned out any noises from the cavern behind her. The tunnel was getting lower and narrower and the terrain rougher under her feet. Time to go back. This must be a disused part of the mine.
As she halted, she saw the lip of yet another shaft. This one right in front of her feet, going down. Only a small ledge on one side allowed for passage. Ugh. She was not going to think about going around it.
The air stirred behind her. The hair on her nape rose. She started to swing around. ‘Who—?’
‘You little fool,’ a harsh voice whispered in her ear. A hand shoved her in the middle of her back and she was falling.
Chapter Ten
She grabbed for the edge of the hole and managed to catch it. Heart in her throat, blood rushing in her ears, she dug with her toes, seeking purchase.
‘Help me,’