Turning over again, Mina acknowledged that fact still stung and forced herself once again, to contemplate Gus’s tale. Had he invented his on the spot to entertain her? It seemed unlikely he would go to so much trouble on her behalf. With a sigh, Mina clambered out of bed in search of her knitted bed-socks. Her feet were simply too cold tonight.
She rifled through her stockings in search of them and frowned when her questing fingers came up against something hard and round. Lifting out the object, Mina found it was her half-sovereign. She stared at it a moment in astonishment before thoughtfully replacing it. Then she found her rather lumpy blue bed socks and pulled them on over her bare feet. Straightening up, she found herself staring once more at the velvet curtains.
Snatching up her shawl, she threw it over her shoulders and inched towards the window. What o’clock was it? She thought she had heard the clock chime eleven. Opening the curtains by the tiniest amount, she gazed down at the yard below and was startled to see a tall shadowy figure below seemingly staring right back up at her window. With a gasp, Mina stepped back and then whirled around to jump straight into bed, her heart still thudding.
Her only comfort was that he had not been wearing a monk’s habit.
9
The next morning, she woke full of renewed vigor. The first thing she did, was check that she had not dreamed the coin in her stocking drawer. No, there it was, shiny as ever. He had not wrapped it back in her handkerchief but had simply tossed it back into her drawer. Her chest swelled indignantly. The man was a law unto himself! She would most certainly tackle him about it, she thought grimly as she made her way downstairs. When the moment was right.
She ate breakfast with Edna, with her hip propped against the kitchen table. She was not poised for flight she told herself. Indeed, she half wanted Nye to walk in on her this morning, but disappointingly, he did not appear even though she lingered long after her second cup of tea. Finally, she took herself off to the parlor room and settled to sew up the curtains for Edna’s room. She finished them at midday and took them up to place them folded on the bottom of Edna’s bed. While she was in there, she was gratified to see that another rail had been put up ready for them over the window.
She was halfway down the stairs again when she saw Nye passing through the hallway below. “Nye!” she called, and slowly he turned to look at her, a ferocious glare on his face.
“Well, what is it?” he growled before she had reached the bottom of the stairs.
“I’ve finished the curtains and now I intend to clean those parlor windows,” she said breathlessly. “They’re filthy. I’ll need newspaper for it. Do you have any that you’re not saving for clippings?” He shook his head and her face fell. “Oh.” Then inspiration struck. “Tell you what,” she said affably. “You can direct me as to what sections you want saving and I can cut them out for you and even paste them in a scrapbook, if it will help.” Nye scowled. “After all,” she pointed out reasonably. “Those papers must have been collecting dust for years. They’re taking up valuable cupboard space.”
“No,” he said tersely.
She crossed her arms. “No?” she repeated. “Pray then, what am I to use?” He muttered something under his breath. “I’m afraid I didn’t catch that.”
“I said, you’re not going to let this lie, are you?” She shook her head obstinately. He wheeled about and headed back for the scullery. After a moment’s hesitation, Mina followed him. He was retrieving the first bundle of newspapers, she noticed with interest. “Follow me,” he said grimly and made for the kitchen where he cut the string binding them.
Mina watched as he rifled through the first newspaper, extracting one page which he set aside. “You can have the rest of it,” he said. Then he opened the next paper and repeated the process. Again, he removed one page and set it with the other and then handed her the remains of the paper. “Is that enough?”
Mina shook her head. He repeated the process with another two newspapers and Mina surreptitiously strained her eyes to scan the pages he removed. She could just about make out a headline of the top page Nye wins by knockout in third round. Oh, they were press clippings from boxing matches. “If you separate the rest of the pile,” she said. “Then I could do all the windows in the inn. Edna doesn’t really have the time,” she added quickly, anticipating his refusal. “Not with the day-to-day duties she already covers.”
He shot her a level look. “Not in the public bar,” he said tersely. Mina shrugged, perfectly willing to concede that point. Not another word passed between them as he swiftly separated the rest of the pile and stuffed his pages into his waistcoat. “You can have those,” he said, nodding to the discarded pile.
“Thank you.” She spent the afternoon cleaning windows. Her arms ached after she had completed the parlor bar, the kitchen, and the scullery. She stopped at six o’clock to take her solitary meal that Edna brought her which was a rich beef stew. After that, she contemplated turning in for another early night, but the idea frankly did not appeal to her.
She needed a bath, for though the newspaper left the windows sparkling, her own palms were stained with black newsprint. Before this though, she wanted to tackle the windows in the three
