Haunted by the Earl's Touch - By Ann Lethbridge Page 0,90

of his neck prickled at the thought of her being found alone. His chest tightened. He ought to find someone to look after her.

Another shriek issued from the tunnel. The prankster. Or it could be someone in trouble. He didn’t want Mary in harm’s way. If anything happened to her—

‘We are wasting time,’ she said, hefting the poker with a determined look on her face.

She wasn’t going to stay here no matter what he said. Something warm swelled up to fill the hollow space in his chest. He pushed it aside. Now was not the time to examine what it meant. ‘Come if you must, but stay close.’

She nodded her agreement. It would have to do. He picked up the candlestick on the night table and ducked through the wall.

‘That way leads to the chamber above,’ she whispered, pointing.

The sounds were not coming from that direction. He turned the other way. He could not help feeling amazed by the extent of the structure. Whoever had built this had done so quite deliberately. He frowned. Why had no one told him of their existence? They had clearly been well maintained. He would be having a word with Manners very soon. And his steward. It seemed their loyalties did not lie with their new earl.

He could feel Mary walking behind him, hear her light rapid breathing. She was afraid. Of course she was. What was he thinking letting her come with him? What if something happened and he wasn’t able to protect her? A chill crept up from his gut. It wouldn’t be the first time he hadn’t been able to protect the woman in his care. Bile rose in his throat.

He would not let that happen again. He wasn’t a boy and there wasn’t a man who could withstand him. Especially not the puny, effeminate Jeffrey. Mary was safer with him than alone. She had to be.

Ahead, the tunnel branched off in two directions.

He looked back and she hesitated for a moment. ‘That way goes down to the caves.’ She pointed left.

She didn’t sound sure.

He turned right. In seconds they came to a dead end. To his surprise, Mary slipped around him and grabbed the sconce on the blank wall facing them. As she turned it, the wall began to shift.

So that was how it was done.

He held the candle higher, revealing a small room. ‘A priest’s hole.’

‘I don’t think so,’ she whispered, stepping inside. ‘Look.’

He followed her and looked around. The little room was lined with shelves—well, pigeonholes—each one containing a scroll of some kind and there were other shelves holding boxes full of papers.

‘The muniment room,’ he said. ‘So this is where all the old papers are. I wondered why there was so little in my grandfather’s study. No charters. No letters.’ It had been puzzling him for days.

The sound of moaning and rattling chains came from behind them. Mary jumped. He put an arm around her shoulder and realised that for all her brave outward appearance, she was trembling.

‘You should go back,’ he said. ‘Leave Jeffrey to me.’

Her expression turned mulish. ‘I’m coming with you. I intend to give that young man a piece of my mind.’

Bane could not help the smile that formed on his lips at the image of her slicing at the little worm with the edge of her tongue. It would indeed serve him right. Once more they plunged into the tunnel and took the other fork.

At the next corner, the draught blew out his candle. He cursed softly as Mary clutched at his coat. Bane let his eyes adjust, but there really wasn’t any light at all. It was pitch black. Just like the mines he loved. The only way to move forwards was by feel. ‘Keep hold of me,’ he whispered.

The ground began to slope steeply downwards. They were going deeper and deeper into the earth, and the sound of the sea was getting louder. After a while, the floor flattened out. The tunnel must have widened out, too. On his right he could still touch the wall, but to his left, no matter far out he reached, he could feel nothing.

Aware that Mary had a good grasp of his coat-tails, he felt his way forwards, testing the way ahead with his foot before taking a step. He had no wish to tumble down a hole or into the sea.

A light glimmered off to the left. It went out instantly. Even so, it was there just long enough to show they were