A Test of Wills - Charles Todd [96]
Behind him he heard limping footsteps—Redfern bringing up his lunch. He straightened and turned to meet him.
Redfern carried a tray covered with a starched white napkin, a pot of coffee steaming to one side, cream and sugar beside it, the sandwiches a large and uneven mound.
Rutledge gestured to the woman in the garden. “Do you know who that is, down in the private garden? The woman with her back to us.”
Redfern handed the tray to Rutledge and looked out. “That’s—aye, that must be Miss Sommers. The Netherbys brought her into town for the morning services. But she’s worried about her sister with a storm coming, doesn’t want to stay for lunch after all. Jim—that’s the stable boy—went to see if Mr. Royston or the Hendersons or even the Thorntons might take her home.”
He reached for the tray again, going on into Rutledge’s room to set up the table. Rutledge stayed where he was for a moment longer.
He’d have sworn it was Catherine Tarrant.
The small table by the window overlooking the street was ready for him when he followed Redfern to his room. “If you don’t mind, sir, you can just leave the tray in the hall when you go. I’ll be back to pick it up when the dining room is closed. We’re not all that busy today, but you never know; if it starts to rain, we could be full.”
He was already out the door when Rutledge stopped him. “Redfern. Did the Colonel come here often to dine? Or did Captain Wilton bring Miss Wood?”
Redfern nodded. “Sometimes. But I think they went into Warwick as often as not, if they wanted a dinner. Lunch, now, that was different. If the Colonel had business in the town, he’d often stop in. Always left a generous tip. Never fussy. Mrs. Haldane, Simon’s mother, was the fussiest woman alive! There was no pleasing her! The Captain’s not one to demand service, but he expects you to do a proper job, and he knows when you don’t. Miss Wood”—he smiled wryly—“Miss Wood is a lady, and you don’t forget that, but she’s a pleasure to serve, never makes you feel like a wooden post, with no feelings. Nicest smile I’ve ever seen. I enjoy having her come in.”
“How did she and Wilton get on?”
He thought about it for a moment. “Comfortably. You could see that they were happy. Never holding hands or anything like that, not in public, but the way he held her coat or took her arm, the way she’d tease him—the closeness was there. I was sometimes—envious, I suppose. My own girl married another chap while I was in hospital and they thought I’d soon be having my foot taken off. When you’re lonely, it can hurt, watching others in love.” There was a wistfulness in his voice as he finished.
Hamish, in the back of Rutledge’s mind, growled. “You’d know about that, then, wouldn’t you? How it hurts? And all you’ve got to ease your loneliness is me…. If there’s a more dismal hell, I haven’t found it.”
Rutledge almost missed Redfern’s next words.
“The last time I ever saw the Colonel, he’d come here for lunch.”
“What? When was that?”
“The Tuesday before he died. It was another day like this one. Overcast, you could feel the storm coming. Everyone was jittery, even the Colonel. Didn’t say two words to me all through his meal! Frowned something ferocious when Miss Wood came in looking for him. He left his pudding and took her into that garden where you saw Miss Sommers just now. I came up here to fetch some fresh linens for the maids, and they were still there. He had his hands on her shoulders, saying something to her, and she was shaking her head as if she didn’t want to hear. Then she broke away and ran off. As I came back down the stairs, the Colonel was just walking in from the garden, looking