She pulled out her notebook and wrote down the possibility of coming back with either a rope to examine the vine from above, or a ladder to do so from below. Seeing how it spread below the ground might give her clues as to how to tackle it above ground.
As they explored the underground home, Dawn took advantage of the quiet to ask a question that had nagged in her mind. “What did you mean last night when you said that about life having a balance? I find it difficult to believe that any good could arise from the tragic demise of my parents.”
Elijah frowned and stared at the hole in the ceiling. “Not a personal balance, but an overall one. A negative event in one person’s life is offset by a positive for another.”
She shook her head. The only thing she learned was that life wasn’t fair. If it were, her parents would still be alive and she would have lived a normal healthy life. Perhaps in another world, by now she would be married with a child playing at her feet.
Then the voice in her head pointed out that if life unfolded in the expected normal way, she would never have taken a position as a gardener on a remote estate and be poking around in a hermitage. “Is it selfish of me to want the pendulum to swing back within my life, not someone else’s?”
When Elijah next spoke, his voice was a quiet whisper. “It made it easier for me. To think that as much as I suffered from losing my father before I knew him, that as balance, someone out there experienced a great joy.”
Now Dawn felt guilty for her selfish thoughts. “That’s a very mature outlook.”
When he turned, a sad smile touched his lips. “Losing a parent in tragic circumstances gives you lots of time to think about these things.”
He seemed so much older than his sixteen or seventeen years. That was when it struck her. If his father died when he was a babe, and given that Lord Seton only looked to be in his late twenties, he must have been a lad himself when responsibility for the estate, village, and a baby settled upon him. No wonder he frowned so much. Life gave him little opportunity to be a carefree boy.
“Uncle Jasper never complains,” Elijah said, as though reading her mind. “But I do think he is lonely.”
“I’m sure there are many young ladies who would leap at the chance of being the lady of Ravenswing.” It was, after all, the sole aim of many well-bred ladies to find a suitor with a title, estate, and preferably the finances to support them.
He shrugged as he examined a chiselled-out rectangle that seemed to serve the purpose of a cupboard. Plates were stacked inside, and he pulled out a pottery mug. “It’s very isolated out here, and Uncle Jasper doesn’t travel to London at all. He needs a partner in life who would be content with just him and the garden for company.”
A partner in life. What an unusual turn of phrase. Most men would seek a wife, not a partner. Warmth spread through Dawn’s body as she pondered a life in the rural district with the darkly handsome earl. It sounded perfect to her, quiet companionship and an entire estate to nurture with no boring nobles demanding foolish entertainments. If only she had been born a lady. She glanced at her hands that spoke of her middle class, or now working class, station. Two nails were split and dirt was wedged under all of them from where she had scrambled over rocks and branches.
She exhaled and set free the fanciful idea. What high-born man would want a woman with a weak heart and dirty hands? “Shall we head back? I’d like to see where the path originally ran so I can decide if it is salvageable.”
She stepped back into the filtered sunlight and Elijah pulled the door shut behind him. Mouse still kept guard from outside, his top lip curled as he stared at the hill.
Dawn patted his head and the wolfhound swallowed his growl. “Silly boy. The ground didn’t collapse on purpose.”
They found a route over fallen trees and through ferns to rejoin the main path. Sure enough, it soon widened into something that would allow horses to pass. With each step, they drew closer to the lake and soon emerged on its serene banks.
Dawn closed her eyes and drew in the peace and quiet.
“Would you mind terribly if I left you here?” Elijah asked. “I still have some studies to complete, and I don’t want Uncle Jasper to discover I slipped out early.”
“Of course, I have some notes to write up.”
The lad scampered off through the trees. Mouse drank from the water and then retreated to a mossy patch under a tree. He turned three times before settling, his large head resting on his paws as he watched Dawn.
Dawn sat at the bank end of the small jetty. She longed to paddle her feet in the cool water but worried what monsters lurked below the mirror-like surface and might nibble her toes. She pulled out her notebook and wrote her comments on the wildflower meadow, the overgrown paths, and the hermitage that now had a gaping hole in its roof.
With her thoughts collected in an orderly fashion, woman and canine walked back to the cottage. She removed the handkerchief from her wrist to find the scratch an angry colour, but it had stopped bleeding. She would need to soak the hanky to remove the dirt and blood before she could return it.
Then she spent the remainder of the afternoon with books spread over the table in the cottage. Dawn made lists of tasks and then crossed out and reorganised items as she considered priorities. Mouse snored from the rug in front of the unlit fire.
With so many men at her disposal, Dawn could tackle far more than clearing the entrance to the maze. Her mind ran away with her thinking how to employ them. It would be marvellous to clear the herbaceous borders, although far too late to replant with summer around the corner. Or they could tackle the beautifully laid out rose garden with its rangy, neglected shrubs. Or perhaps she could set them to start work on her proposed ladies’ walk and secret nook.
But no, she would be practical. With a bit of hard work, the walled garden would feed the household. With spring drifting into summer, it was time to think of winter plantings.
As the light began to fade, she was content with the main list of what she considered most urgent. A second list detailed tasks that needed to be undertaken eventually, like clearing the rampant vine that covered so much of the estate, recovering the path to the hermitage, and discovering if the rest of the hillock was sound or in danger of collapse.
Then she curled up in the armchair in the parlour with The Flora of Alysblud and read of the local plants and trees, trying to find mention of either the invasive vine or Ravensblood tree. Odd that both the name of the tree and the village contained an ending that referenced blood. She wondered if it had a regional significance.
A quiet knock on the door preceded Hector with dinner.
“Lord Seton thought you might prefer dinner here, since you are busy working still.” He moved aside a pile of books and made a clear space for the tray. Mouse’s dinner was deposited on the floor by the door.
Did Lord Seton have Hector peering in the windows, or was it the raven who reported her affairs? “Yes, I want to ensure I am ready for when the lads arrive tomorrow. I have never instructed a work force before.”
Would they know she had no experience and had bluffed her way into the position? She didn’t even know what to say to them, but was preparing a few sentences in her notebook in case nerves froze both her mind and tongue.
“You’ll do fine. The village lads are keen to do whatever will help the estate, and it’s honest coin for them to take home.” Hector nodded his head and left her to her dinner and contemplations.