Old Sins Long Shadows by B.D. Hawkey Page A

Words were cheap.
    She had offended him and she spoke no more . She was only trying to explain her reaction at the dance but somehow her meaning had got muddled and he took it as an insult. She wished she had not spoken. The gate house at the entrance of the road to the manor came into view but Daniel steered his horse off the road and into the woods.
    ‘ We’ll cut through here and enter the gardens at the back of the house. I can tie the horse up under the trees while we make our way across the grounds. It will be dark inside so listen to my instructions so you can find your way around the house in the dark.’
    Without waiting for a reply he explained how he made his way th rough the house at night as a seventeen year old boy. She listened quietly and finally they came to the edge of the wood. He helped her down from the horse. His manner was business like and although he was not rough, any gentleness he had shown earlier had gone. She felt that the sooner he got rid of her and he could be off to his bed the better. He firmly grabbed her hand and led her to the dairy window. She watched as he pushed each corner of the metal frame in turn until he heard the latch inside work loose. It dropped off its peg at the base and the window opened. For the first time Janey noticed that the window’s middle catch half way up the frame had long since been broken. Daniel waved her closer and once again he reached down under her skirts and lifted her up to enter the window. Here Daniel had made a mistake. He had assumed Janey would know how to climb through a window and expected her to have put one leg through when he lifted her. He had not realised just how naïve she was. Apparently there was not much call for a headmaster’s daughter to climb through windows. She lay stranded on the granite sill, her top half through the window, her lower half out, her bottom at the level of his face. As much as he appreciated the view they were at risk of being caught and he moved towards her. Just at that moment Janey had decide to try and kick herself free and her leg came up and caught him neatly under the chin knocking his head back.
    Janey tried to look around and saw Daniel holding his jaw. He looked as if he would happily kill her . He didn’t seem to appreciate her whispered sorry. He grabbed both her legs to stop them moving.
    ‘ I’m going to lift you through,’ he ground out and the next thing she knew her hips were lifted clear of the sill and thrust forward. She slid in slow motion over the work top and onto the cold slate floor like a seal pub sliding off a rock. Daniel looked in to see if she was okay and to his relief her head popped up. She was in.
    ‘ Remember to shut the window when I go,’ he whispered. He reached into the back of his trouser waist band and held out something to her. There, in his hand, were her patten shoes.
    ‘ You had them all the time?’ she whispered, confused.
    ‘ Would you have got on the horse if I had given them to you?’ he asked. They looked at each other with a measured stare. Feelings of distrust, hurt and pride emanating from both sides.
    She looked in her reticule, ‘I have something for you,’ she said changing the subject, and taking something out she reached towards him with a closed hand.
    ‘ I don’t want your money, Miss Carhart. You may not consider me gentlemanly enough for you but I’m not so low as to expect payment for helping a lady.’ Before she could respond he closed the window in her face and marched angrily away. Janey, frustrated and hurt that he did not give her an opportunity to explain, closed the latch. She lifted herself on tiptoe to watch him striding across the yard into the gardens beyond, his body eventually swallowed up by the shadows of the trees. She looked down and slowly opened her hand. There, sitting in her palm lay Daniel’s button.
    The atmosphere in the room was cold as the ill fitting windows allowed cool air to circulate which was