Death at Scarlet Leaf.

Chapter 1

"Miss Winter, this is Cooper, the butler. Cooper, show Miss Winter to her room, if you please. Dinner is in half an hour, Miss Winter, if you are not too tired to join us, then you can allow me to introduce you to the rest of the household" Lady Morris gestured for me to follow the butler, so I did, down the hall and around the corner to the foot of the stairs.

"Oh, one more thing, Cooper, Miss Winter?" Lady Morris called. "Be quiet, if you please, Clive has already gone to bed. You'll meet him in the morning, Miss Winter."

I nodded again, and continued to follow Cooper up the stairs. On the first floor there were two huge windows, one at the front of the house, and one at the back, both of which would give for lovely views if at the time it hadn't been pouring with rain. I looked forward to looking out of them when the weather was better.

"This will be your room, madam" Cooper said, indicating a small door. I nodded my thanks, took my suitcase, and shut the door behind me. The room was small, with a little sink and mirror in the corner, a wardrobe, a bedside table and a single bed. There was a window over the head of the bed looking out over the drive. I smiled to myself, dropped my suitcase at the foot of the bed, and began to peel off my sodden dress. I opened my suitcase and took out my pale green muslin, not only because it went very well with my green eyes, but also because I wanted to make a good impression on the rest of the household but also look like a governess should, and this was the best dress I had for the job. It still fitted, thank goodness, and I began to coil my plain brown hair into little ringlets at the back of my head. That alone took me fifteen minutes, so when the gong sounded for dinner I was still rifling through my suitcase, looking for my silver shoes to go with my locket necklace. Finding them at last under my summer hat, I slipped them on quickly, and hurried with as much dignity as I could down the stairs. Cooper the butler was standing by the gong when I reached the bottom.

"Am I late?" I asked him worriedly. He shook his head, and pointed me through a door on the other side of the hall. I went through it into a small corridor, then turned right and went through another door, and found myself in the dining room. Lady Morris was sitting at one end of the table, and an older, greying man with piercing blue eyes sat at the other. He had a rather long, hooked nose on which perched some rather ancient golden spectacles, which looked very well used, and there was a small, fuzzy goatee on the end of his chin, making him seem very serious. He wasn't exactly in shape, either. He looked alright from sitting down, but as he and the rest of the room stood up to greet me, I saw that he sort of bulged rather unflatteringly at the stomach, letting what could as well have been half a roast pig hang out in front of him, straining at the buttons of his dinner jacket. Still, his eyes, although piercing, twinkled, and there was a sense of kindliness about him underneath the seriousness, so I decided thankfully that he would be a fair employer to work under. There was also another man in the room, he looked about ten years older than myself; with dark hair and brown eyes. His skin was very, very pale, and his hair was slicked back on his head, giving it an unnatural shine. In fact the whole of him looked shiny and new and slightly false, and I thought it made him look a bit sickly, actually. I tried not to look at him, as his eye was drawn to me the moment I entered the room.

"Ah, Miss Winter, a pleasure for you to join us" Lady Morris smiled, standing up and offering me a chair.

"I do hope I'm not late." I began. "You see, I couldn't find..."

"Don't worry, child, it's no bother." Lord Morris cut me off as I walked over and sat down. The other man still stared at me intently from across the table, and I began to feel distinctly uncomfortable. Why wouldn't he stop staring?

"Miss Winter?" Lady Morris asked from her place at the end of the table, and I realized I had been daydreaming.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just a little tired from the journey" I apologized.