The Lady of the Manor

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

A week after Oliver's disastrous proposal, I was in what was the butler's sitting room but was now my office. Or it would be when I could finally use it as one. It had been near the bottom of my never ending list, my priority being the rooms that guests would be using.

I was going over the bookcase in here, checking to see if there were any books I could take up to the main library. As I came to the end of one shelf, my finger caught a raised whorl of wood and as I pressed it, the bookcase swung open, nearly knocking me over. I peered into the passage way, seeing a tiny set of stairs.

I took a few steps down into the gloom, my phone barely lighting the way. I gulped. This room wasn't on the plans and I didn't know how far these steps went. I climbed back into my office and back out into the corridor.

"Ben!" I called, knowing he was in one of the rooms down here. He came running, drill still in hand at my frantic shout.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I've found something. And I need you to help me with it."

"If it's another spider, I am not going to be happy."

"Oh trust me, it's way better than a spider." I lead Ben into the office and showed him the still open door way. He put the drill down on my desk and went over to investigate it.

"How did it open?"

I closed the bookcase door and showed him the raised knot. He opened the door again and we peered inside.

"I want to see what's down there. It isn't on the plans."

"There's a couple of big torches in the boot room. I'll run and get them." Ben answered, leaving the room and coming back a few seconds later. He handed one to me and we stepped into the small staircase.

Ben picked up his drill, placing it on the floor. "So that if the door closes, we won't be stuck down here." He said to my confused face. "Do you want me to go first?"

I nodded, the idea of hiding behind Ben, very appealing. We slowly made our way down the staircase, torches in hand. After about ten steps, the cold stone carried on flat. We swung our torches round trying to see what was down here.

My torch light illuminated a stack of old paintings, their golden frames in need of a good polish and dust. I looked at the first one and a stunning woman looked out at me.

"That's Connie, before she married. Her father wanted the portrait done but she didn't. My grandfather told me how much she kicked up a fuss." Ben said from behind me, his voice sounding reassuringly warm in this cold room.

I left the paintings and my attention was soon grabbed by a massive wooden chest. I went over to it and noticed that it didn't have a lock or any other form of keeping the chest closed. I motioned Ben over and together we lifted the heavy lid, resting it against the wall.

Inside were papers and old ledgers, everything in neat stacks. I picked up the first ledger on the pile and opened it. Columns of numbers met my eyes with a list of dates and names along one side.

"Hey look 'Button'. This must be the accounts." I pointed out a name to Ben who looked over my shoulder.

"I think this was my great grandfather. I told you my family has been here for generations."

I flicked through the rest of the book, until about half way the writing stopped. The last entry was dated a little before the car crash that killed my mother. Grandma must of stopped recording in here when she took on me. I wiped a tear away, refusing to cry over this.