Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess

the study and help me remember their names so I can have my brother see they are all paid?”
    “ Aye, Sir.”
    “ I am greatly humiliated by what my wife has done. Have you any idea why she kept the servant’s pay?”
    “ Nay, Sir, none at all,” Egan answered.
    “ Alistair, did she gamble?” Hannish asked.
    “ A time or two.”
    “ That must be it then,” said Hannish. “She gambled and lost… and a lot more than she could have imagined she would.”
    That night, before she went to bed, Sarah quietly opened the door to Sassy’s room. One bed was empty and at first she panicked, until she opened it a little wider and noticed two heads in Sassy’s bed. Sassy had her arms around her little sister and still had a smile on her face. At the foot of the bed, the puppy watched Sarah with one eye open.
    Just as quietly, Sarah closed the door.

    The next day at Marblestone Mansion was anything but uneventful. Cathleen got lost. She leaned against a wall in the back staircase, it suddenly opened and she found herself trapped inside the hidden room. While a frantic Sassy wrung her hands in the parlor, everyone searched outside, and then inside every room, every closet and every cupboard, although no one believed she was intentionally hiding in a cupboard.
    An hour later, there was no place else to look, and when he put an ear to the secret door, he could hear the puppy barking inside. The existence of the secret room would not be a secret any longer, he supposed. He expected Cathleen to be terrified, but she was more angry than frightened when he opened the door.
    “ Cathleen,” he asked before he showed her how to get out, “have you ever given your pledge?”
    “ Aye, I gave it to James once.”
    “ Did you break that pledge?”
    “ Nay, Sir.”
    “ Then if I ask you to pledge not to tell anyone how to find this room, will you do it?”
    “ Not even Leesil?”
    “ Not even Leesil. ‘Twill be our secret alone, and I shall be ever so grateful if you keep it. I like to hide here occasionally.”
    That, Cathleen understood perfectly. “I give you my pledge, Mr. Hannish. I often wished for a place to hide in the orphanage. But…where shall I say I was?”
    “ Say the truth, just don’t tell them where it is.” He smiled when she nodded and then showed her how to get out.

    The dog with no name followed Cathleen everywhere and occasionally Hannish called him a traitor. Thus the name was firmly set and even the dog seemed to approve. ‘Traitor’ was neither American nor Scottish and it suited everyone very well. Still, when it came time to eat the table scraps, the dog was eager to respond to any name.

    It was a full two weeks after Alistair, Egan, Dugan and Cathleen arrived, giving them a chance to rest after their journey, before Hannish took everyone on their first big outing. The cooks prepared picnic baskets, the men piled hay in the back of a wagon and they all went on a hayride.
    Everyone was excited to be leaving the house and getting outside in the fresh air that smelled like pine trees, and sunshine that felt like a soft blanket of warmth. It was still a little chilly when they passed through the shaded areas, so blankets were handed out to see that the women were warm enough, especially the older women. To reward the hard work of all the women, Hannish gave each a long, new ribbon for their hair. Sassy and Cathleen were especially excited to have them and he was happy to make them happy. He even had a spare for Traitor, should anyone manage to get the dog to sit still long enough to tie it around his neck.
    Hannish and Prescot sat on the high seat facing front, while the rest sat in the soft hay in the back, chatting and explaining what everything was to Cathleen and Sassy. It seemed they would never run out of questions, but no one minded; most of the Scots didn’t know the answers either.
    They were nearing Colorado Springs when they finally ran out of questions and Cathleen asked, “What do we do now, Mr. Hannish?”
    “ Well, we could sing songs,” he suggested.
    “ Mr. Hannish, I know just the song,” said Shepard.
    “ American or Scottish?” Jessie wanted to know.
    “ American,” Shepard answered. “It is called, Wait for the Wagon .” Not one of them expected it when he began to sing in a rich, deep vibrato voice.
    Wait for the wagon,
    Wait for the wagon
    Wait for the Wagon
    And we'll all take a ride.
    Where the river runs like silver
    And the birds they sing so sweet
    I