Polly knew what she meant. She’d heard it all before. “We won’t, Ma,” she promised automatically and followed Marlene upstairs to pick out her dress for the dance.
Alone in the library, Elizabeth surveyed the mound of garlands and silk flowers that had decorated the Manor House for longer than she remembered. There was far too much for her to carry on her motorcycle. She smiled when the solution occurred to her.
She had to visit the east wing in order to issue the invitation to the dance. She had already called the American base and the camp in Beerstowe to inform them of the event, but she wanted to invite the major and his officers personally. That way she could be fairly certain that they would feel under some obligation to attend. If the major happened to be in the east wing when she went up there, she could ask him to help her take the decorations over to the town hall.
And if not, she reminded herself as she hurried down the great hall, she could always ask that nice Sam Cutter, who had been kind enough to give Polly a ride home these past two nights. Having convinced herself that she was not simply making up excuses to see the major again, she felt quite pleased with the way things were working out.
She was halfway down the hall when she thought she saw something moving at the far end. The double summertime provided daylight hours until quite late, and the sun was just beginning to sink in the evening sky. The long shadows cast from the two suits of armor stretched from wall to wall, and it was in those shadows that Elizabeth thought she saw movement.
Even as she paused there, beneath the portrait of the first Lord Hartleigh and his wife, she felt a strong, cold draft of wind brush her face. Startled, she stepped back, her fingers jumping to her cheek. None of the windows opened along this stretch of the hall, and the doors at both ends were securely fastened. Yet there was an unmistakable draft blowing from somewhere.
The shadows moved again, and what appeared to be a faint mist seemed to blow across them. It hovered there for no more than a second or two, then vanished.
Elizabeth blinked. It had all happened so fast she was certain now that she must have imagined it. All this talk of ghosts had unsettled her nerves. There were no such things as ghosts. Or even if there were, surely they waited until nightfall to make an appearance. She really had to stop listening to Martin’s ramblings.
In spite of her convictions, she trod warily down the length of the hall until she reached the door that led to the east wing. As she stretched out her hand, a terrible gargling noise, followed by a shuddering and rattling, almost shot her out of her skin. Without another second’s delay she hauled open the door and fled through it.
Her common sense told her that it was just the water pipes complaining because someone had used the lavatory. Her shattered nerves, however, propelled her forward at full steam. Head down, she charged around the corner and ran smack into a sturdy body.
Temporarily winded, she heard a startled “Ouf!” as her unfortunate companion lost the air from his lungs. She didn’t have to look up to know she’d charged straight into Earl Monroe’s stomach.
“I say,” she muttered, “I’m terribly sorry. I’m afraid I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you all right?”
She was afraid to look at him. For one thing she was standing much too close to him. Close enough to smell a quite unusual fragrance. Very pleasant. Had to be American. British men didn’t smell nearly that good. Not the ones she’d been anywhere close to, that was.
Something else she noticed, which didn’t help to calm her nerves one bit, was that she was held in a quite firm grip. He’d grabbed her arms to steady her when she’d barreled into him. He hadn’t let go. She could feel his fingers right through the sleeves of her silk blouse. For several seconds she remained motionless, while her heart pounded.
“We could use you on our football team,” he said at last, mercifully removing his hands from her tingling arms. “You pack a real wallop, ma’am.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Something startled me.” She smoothed her fingers down her skirt, even though there were no wrinkles to be seen.
“Wouldn’t happen to be the belching in those water pipes, now would it?”
She risked a guilty glance at him. Although she was prepared for her reaction, her stomach still managed to complete a somersault. What on earth was it about the man that reduced her insides to limp spaghetti every time she looked at him? “I’m sorry. They do make a ghastly noise, I’m afraid.”
“So where’s the fire?”
Confused, she said uncertainly, “I beg your pardon?”
“Where were you going in such a hurry?”
“Oh!” She hesitated, reluctant to tell him she was actually looking for him. She didn’t want to give him the idea that she was in that great a hurry to find him. “Actually,” she said slowly, “I was coming to offer your officers an invitation.”
His quizzical look was almost comical. “You’re going to invite them all to dinner?”
“No, to dance,” she said hurriedly.
“You want to dance with my officers?”
No, just one of them. She’d almost said the words out loud. “Not to dance, Major. To a dance. Saturday at the town hall. Actually I want to invite everyone on the base. Those who have passes, of course.”
His eyebrows raised. “You want to take on the entire outfit?”
“Well, not me personally.” She had the feeling he was making fun of her. Raising her chin, she said firmly, “We’re inviting the soldiers from Beerstowe as well. And the land army. Of course, most of the villagers will probably be there.”
“Sort of ‘meet the forces’ day in Sitting Marsh.”
“If you like. We are concerned about the brawling that goes on between the British army and the Americans. I’m afraid the villagers haven’t helped with their somewhat biased attitudes. We thought it might be a good idea to get everyone together in a social atmosphere so they can get to know each other a little better.”
“Hmmm.” He rubbed his chin. “Well, I guess we could give it a try, though I have to tell you, Lady Elizabeth, unless you hide the beer and liquor you could end up with a heck of a battle on your hands. Those boys need to let off steam, and that’s one sure way of doing it.”
“Oh, dear.” Elizabeth’s hand rose to her throat. “Well, I suppose we’ll have to take that chance. Which is why I was hoping you’d be able to attend. Sort of keep an eye on things, as it were.”
Major Monroe’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Is that the only reason you’re inviting me, Lady Elizabeth?”
“Well… no, I mean… of course, I’d be delighted… er… I’d appreciate it very much if you could come.”
He nodded, his sharp gaze never leaving her face. “I’ll come on condition that you promise me a dance.”
If she’d been flustered before, it was nothing compared to her confusion now. Her hand gripped her throat until she was in dire danger of choking, while she struggled to regain her composure. When she deemed it safe to speak again, she said carefully, “I’d be delighted, Major.”
He inclined his head in a slight bow. “My pleasure. I’d be real happy, ma’am, if you’d allow me to escort you there in my Jeep.”
“Oh! Well, that would be very nice. Thank you.” She made a mental note to be sure and tie a scarf around her hair. “Shall we meet around eight in the library?”
“Eight it is.”
She couldn’t seem to stop smiling at him. Feeling quite foolish, she cleared her throat loudly. “Yes, well, that’s settled then. I’ll leave it up to you to invite the other officers. The more we have, the more likely we can keep everything under control.”
“The good Lord willing.”
He’d put so much fervor into that muttered phrase she had cause for alarm again. All she could hope was that they were not all making a terrible mistake. She was about to bid him good night when she remembered her other reason for seeking him out. “I do have one more small favor to ask,” she said, smiling up at him. “I have a rather large pile of decorations that I need to take down to the town hall. I was wondering if you might spare a few minutes and give me a lift down there in your Jeep. There are too many to pile into the sidecar on my motorcycle.”