"This Friday. I'll be eighteen. Old enough to be kissed, right?"

"Well, yes. If the gentleman had honorable intentions and asked your permission, I suppose it would be all right." I was shocked to learn that she was no older than Gemini.

"Blimey, all of that has to happen first? Have you ever been kissed, Cassie?"

Heat plastered my cheeks. "No." I'd been too busy writing my proper advice column to associate with gentlemen enough to reach the kissing point in a relationship. "Why?"

Bridget sighed. "Just wondering what it was like. Ye've a funny notion about yerself, what with always bathin' and no snorin' and no kissin' unless it's all proper. It all seems so complicated." She pointed down the street. "Remember to meet me at the church right there on time. Mrs. Frye will have our hides if we're late."

As I watched Bridget leave, I found myself wondering what a kiss would be like. Sean intruded into my thoughts and I imagined him kissing me. Shock rippled up my spine. Good lord. The man was a stranger and a dangerous one at that. What was wrong with me? I dashed to Seafarer's Inn as if the devil was on my heels.

The carriage with the Killdaren's double dragon crest on it pulled away from the entrance of the inn as I approached. As I watched it disappear in the direction of the village, an eerie warning crept over me. Who from the Killdaren household had come to the inn? And why?

I considered going to Constable Poole to see if he'd made any more inquiries into Mary's disappearance, but decided to keep my presence at Killdaren's Castle a secret for now and just have Aunt Lavinia call on him later in the week.

Easing around to the servants' entrance, I stole quietly through the downstairs of the inn. The guest parlors were empty and the dining area full. I didn't see anyone I recognized and gave up my search for who had come to the inn. Taking care not to be seen, I went to the apartments my family had rented. Just as I was about to knock on the door, I heard several maids coming down the corridor, and I quickly let myself inside.

Ensconced in the sitting room lounged my Aunt Lavinia and my sisters, all teary-eyed and clutching pastel handkerchiefs that wafted so heavily of perfume it made my nose itch. Tea sat untouched on the marble-topped rosewood table between them.

Andromeda stared at me as she dabbed at her tears. I came to a sudden stop. Their state didn't shock me. Mine did.

I'd had tea every day of my life since I could remember, yet in the time I'd been at Killdaren's Castle, which seemed tremendously longer than a week, I'd never even thought once of a scone or clotted cream or tea. My mouth watered and my stomach twisted.

"My word, but I am ravenous. You'd think I'd not eaten in a fortnight." Striding forward, I slipped some scones from the tray and popped one into my mouth, ashamedly not even bothering to use one of the dainty china plates delicately painted with miniature roses.

"What do you think you're doing?" Andromeda shouted and stood, an angry flush staining her cheeks.

I quickly swallowed the bite of scone. "Andrie? Whatever is the matter with you?"

"Cassie?" she gasped her mouth falling agape.

"Oh, oh, oh," Aunt Lavinia waved her kerchief as if she were about to faint.

"Good Lord, Cassie. But you're a sight! You've mud on your skirts." Andromeda shook her head. "And your face as well."

"What skirts?" Gemini dabbed her eyes dry and gave me a slight grin. "She's all but wearing sackcloth. She's a fallen woman!"

"You've a mob cap on, Cassie! I thought you were the cleaning maid!" Andromeda piped in an unusually high-pitched voice, her eyes wide with shock.

"Since that's what I am masquerading as, I'll take that as a compliment." Raising my hand to my cheek, I indeed found a bit of mud. A frantic feeling swept over me. "Good Lord, but I need a bath! You do have heated water, don't you?"

"You're masquerading. Just like a spy for the Crown! How intriguing," Gemini said. "Why we could all go there and-"

I choked on the last of the scone I'd stuffed into my mouth and coughed until tears fell. "Absolutely not," I said as soon as I could speak. "Not one of you will come near Killdaren's Castle, and there is nothing the least intriguing about scrubbing yourself blind from dawn to dusk, with no bath, and having rough wool itch you horribly everywhere."

Andromeda gasped again and grabbed my fingers, looking at the reddened skin and blisters. "You're hurt!"

Gemini jumped up and then both of them hugged me, muttering at how awful the situation was.

"I'm not hurt. I just want a bath. Please tell me you have hot water ready." Surely they would have thought to do so. Nobody seemed to hear me.

"Oh, Cassie, this is dreadful. I'll not have you harming yourself for this," Aunt Lavinia said. "You mustn't go back. We'll find out what happened to Mary another way. I've already written a letter to the magistrate in Dartmouth and I'm sure he'll be able to coerce Constable Poole to make a more in-depth inquiry into Mary's drowning."

Gemini pressed her handkerchief to her nose and backed away from me. "You smell very odd." She furrowed her brow.

"More than odd, rather ripe," Andromeda said.

"Worse," Gemini added. "Like a wet dog hiding in a rose garden on a hot day."

I stared at them, wanting to cry and laugh at the same time. An itch in the middle of my back seemed to spread. "A bath. All I want is a bath. I would give a fortune to have a hot bath. Servants don't have the same privileges as we often enjoy, it seems." I wanted to soak away the dirt and the aches more than I wanted to breathe.

"I'm sorry. The maids just emptied all the bath water and carried the tub away. We've water basins in our rooms-"

Tears stung and I shook my head. The town's clock rang the time and I realized it would take too long to order a bath and still have time to speak with my sisters as needed. At home, I never once considered where, when or how our servants tended to their own personal needs. My disappointment and frustration came with a humble and bitter draught.

Gemini must have sensed my upset and pressed a cup of tea into my hands, then shoved a chair behind me. "Rest a minute," she said.

"I'm all right." But I sat anyway and gulped the sweetened creamed tea, trying to bite back my emotions and gather myself. "There is much I need to tell you. First, Aunt Lavinia, I need to know if you've received any of Mary's belongings?"

"They informed me at the castle that they'd sent Mary's things to my address in Brighton before I arrived here."

"Mary always kept a diary when we were little, do you know if she still did?"

"I would think so, especially since she was so far from home." Tears filled Aunt Lavinia's reddened eyes.

"It would help to telegram your housekeeper to see if Mary's diary is amongst her things and have it sent to you here. Knowing Mary's thoughts about the people in Killdaren's castle would be invaluable." I then told them what I'd learned so far, omitting my encounter with Sean, the possibility that Mary might have been romantically involved with Stuart Frye, and the fact that Lady Helen's murder may have happened in the Killdaren's maze. Those were matters were too upsetting to disclose just yet. Not until I knew more. But I did tell them of Bridget's story about Mary possibly drowning while saving Rebecca.

"Oh dear," Aunt Lavinia wept, dabbing furiously at more tears. "Mary would have sacrificed her last breath to keep a child from harm. Why did they not inform me of this?"

"I suspect it is because they are very protective of Rebecca and feared you'd wish to speak with her. I've never even seen or heard the child yet. Bridget did say that the child screams for days if anyone mentions Mary's name."

Aunt Lavinia dabbed at her eyes. "My heart still cries that Mary would never have let the girl close enough to the sea to require saving in the first place, and even more so because of the child's blindness."

"I thought the same thing myself. Mary wouldn't have let Rebecca out of her sight for a minute."

Andromeda frowned. "What if something more sinister was afoot? The child couldn't see if anything untoward happened. What if someone else had been with them and harmed Mary? Are you sure the constable won't make a further inquiry into the matter?"

I shook my head. "Not until we have something more than suppositions. Still, Aunt Lavinia, you should visit the constable every few days, but please don't tell him I'm at the castle. While I am searching for the truth, I want him to be reminded frequently that we are not accepting his assessment of Mary's disappearance."

Andromeda jumped up. "Cassie, dear me, but I almost forgot to tell you. I overheard some maids talking yesterday. There are two gentlemen from London staying here at the Inn. They have spent every summer here with the Killdaren brothers since their youth, but haven't stayed with the family since the death of Lady Helen."

"Do you know the names of the men?" I asked, realizing they might have been the occupants of the carriage who had laughed at the mud splattered on me and Bridget. I didn't like the fact that men in close association with the Killdarens were under the same roof as my family.

Andromeda shook her head. "No, the maids didn't mention names. But I shall learn who they are." Determined purpose narrowed my sister's eyes, an emotion akin to the one that had me sneaking into Killdaren's Castle. I grew more alarmed.

"No. Don't make any inquiries, Andrie. Asking too many questions from intimates of the Killdarens might jeopardize my investigations. I'll learn who the men are from the servants at the castle. Besides, one of the men might interpret your curiosity as a familiarity and question your respectability. In fact, you, Gemini and Aunt Lavinia should go back to Oxford and wait for Mother and Father's return there."

"Good Lord, Cassie! Have you lost your wits completely? Not only should you have never taken on the post of maid, possibly endangering yourself, but how could you ever think we'd leave you here alone!" Andromeda's incensed words hit me in the face. She was right, and the burden weighing on my shoulders grew heavier. My decisions for us to come to Cornwall and to masquerade as a maid had set us all upon a path from which there was no turning back, unless I wanted to abandon my investigation into Mary's death.

I wasn't ready to do that.

I reached the church later than our arranged time, just as the town clock chimed the half-hour. At the last minute I had decided to gather a few things to give to Bridget for her birthday on Friday and that delayed me. I found her pacing in front of the stone and stain-glassed building.

"Sorry, I'm late," I called out, rushing to her with my package tucked under my arm.

"Wherever 'ave ya been? Gone through the 'ole village, I 'ave."

"I went to the dock near the inn. The fishing boats are so much fun to observe."

"Ya been watching boats?" she cried, her eyes rolling with disbelief. "Lord, but what am I going to do with you? We need to hurry fast. Iffen Mrs. Frye catches us coming in late, we'll be scrubbing every floor in the castle day and night till it's done, I tell ya."

I pulled a piece of straw from Bridget's hair and realized she wasn't upset with just me. "What happened?"

Panicked, Bridget patted her air. "Is there more?"

"I'll look as we hurry back. What happened?"

"When I was walking by the livery, Tom tried to force a birthday kiss on me."

I nearly tripped. "He did?"

"He tried. Made us both go tumbling into the hay. He wasn't too happy when I left 'im."

"Did he hurt you?" I asked.

"No, I hurt him, though." She grabbed my hand. "I may want to know what a kiss is like, but not from 'im."

"Who then?"

She didn't answer, but raced up the rise and I hurried after her. Running downhill to the village had been much more exhilarating than running uphill while juggling a package. Halfway, I had to slow to a gasping walk. The afternoon sun was hot on our backs and a lull in the tangy sea breeze made it even hotter. My muscles were heavy, as if they couldn't make another step, and my lungs ached as if I couldn't take another breath. I ached everywhere. Cleaning was not as easy a job as I supposed.

Whatever energy I had possessed this morning had abandoned me and left a pervasive lethargy behind. I itched from head to toe and I smelled awful. I wanted a bath, and I wanted to crawl into my bed at home and sleep without dreaming for a week. I wanted Mary back, too. For a brief moment, I stopped in my tracks, hesitant to return to Killdaren's Castle, for I saw nothing but trouble ahead.

Mary wasn't coming back though, and I couldn't turn away from finding out why. The mysteries cloaked within the heavy stone walls of Killdaren's castle drew me. Mysteries surrounding Mary and whether I wanted to admit it or not, the mysteries surrounded Sean, too.

I put myself in motion and kept climbing the hill to catch up with Bridget. She and I were a good distance from the village, walking the path near the forest, when a branch snapped loudly from the thick foliage. Someone was there, just beyond our sight.

Startled, we both jumped and increased our pace. But the person hiding behind the shadowed boughs of the maritime forest followed. We ran. Whoever it was cried out, angry, their heavy breathing crawled over me like spiders.

"Wait," Bridget gasped, pulling on my arm as she dug in her heels. "Jamie Frye," she yelled. "Come out of there, ya fool! What are ya don' a spyin' and a frightenin' us so?"

Her shout was met with another scalp-tingling cry and the crash of brush as Jamie Frye emerged from the forest. He had tears in his eyes and bloody scratches on his face, as if he'd run without blocking the scraping branches.

"M-m...ary." He looked at me. "Sh-h...e gone."

Though my pulse pounded as if I still ran for my life, I forced myself to draw a deep breath and steady my voice. I didn't know what to make of this giant of a man with the emotions of a child. "I'm sorry that she's gone."

He stood there, gasping, making me feel as if I should do something, to make the impossible happen and bring Mary back.

Bridget had no such notion. She planted her hands on her hips and fussed at him. "Jamie, ya get back and do your chores before your mama finds out ya left."

"Noo," Jamie yelled, his eyes narrowing to angry, stubborn slits as his fists smacked his thick thighs. I took a step back in case he decided to use one of the massive fists on us. Bridget did too.

Hoof beats, muted by sand, preceded the appearance of a rider approaching us on a stormy black horse. The bright sun behind him blinded me, casting him into dark shadows, and I thought for sure I was about to encounter Alexander Killdaren.

Horse and rider came to a thunderous halt so close that flying bits of sod would have splattered me and Bridget if we hadn't moved to the side. Stuart Frye swung down.

"Miss Bridget, Miss Cassie." He nodded our way. Then he glared at his brother. "Jamie, go back home."

"Mary." Jamie shook his head then pointed at me. "She'll die. Not an accident."

"Why?" I looked Jamie in the eye. "What wasn't an accident?"

He grabbed me, his ham-like hands digging into my shoulders. "Mary! I'll help you."

Stuart put his face in front of Jamie's. "I'm sorry, Miss Cassie," Stuart said loudly, very forcefully, and slowly, his gaze boring into his brother's. "Jamie is a little confused right now. He is going to go home and we are all going to forget what he just said, right? I'll escort the ladies back just to make sure that is exactly what happens. Do you understand, Jamie?"

Jamie and Stuart stared at each other. Finally, Jamie released me, and after sending an angry glare in Stuart's direction, he left. Stuart had a white-knuckled hold of the horse's reins and his riding crop. I rubbed my stinging shoulders and watched him take a number of deep breaths as he waited until his brother was well ahead on the path home. Then he turned our way and gestured for us to precede him.

"Ladies, I apologize for my brother's confusion. Sometimes it is difficult for him to understand things that happen and he is having a hard time right now. If you will permit me, I will escort you." He spoke as cultured as any gentleman, making me wonder just exactly who he was. Not that I doubted he was Stuart Frye, but that he'd had more education and training than an ordinary groomsman.

"He is confused about the...the teacher that died." I hoped to get more information with my question.

"Yes, but I think he's finally understanding that Mary won't be coming back. He wants to help her, and has connected you to her because of your hair, which is like sunshine and silk in the sun. Very beautiful, so I can't blame him for following you." Stuart peered closer at me, too close. I looked away, and let the subject of Mary drop before he became suspicious.

Bridget turned her nose up. "Don't be flirting with Cassie, Stuart Frye. I'll not let her be fooled by your wiles, that's for sure. And I'll not be speakin to ya myself, iffen' ya don't stop yer flirtin' ways."

Stuart wasn't the least bit bothered by Bridget's set down. He grinned at me. "Tell Lady Bridget she'd best remove the straw from her skirts before she condemns another."

Bridget gasped, ruffling her skirts and indeed sending several straws of hay flying. The sudden change from fear over having Jamie stalking us and predicting my death to this left me giddy. I tried to muffle my laugh, but didn't quite succeed. Bridget glared at me, then at Stuart. She opened her mouth as if to admonish him for another infraction and he shook his finger.

"I'd hold my tongue, Miss Bridget. My mother sent me out to discover why it was taking you two so long. As it is, I'll be able to ease her ire by mentioning Jamie's upset. At this point I see no need to let her know that my brother only delayed you for a few minutes, but I could change my mind."

"Hmmph." Bridget closed her mouth and hurried her step.

The huge black horse reared up, and Stuart settled the beast effortlessly, speaking low and soft in words I couldn't discern. It was as if he wove some sort of spell over the animal, for it followed us meekly, not even flicking its tail in dissent.

"What did you say to the beast?" I asked.

"Just a few ancient words from the Celts," he replied mysteriously.

Though I doubted simple words could have procured such immediate results.

"Weren't you on a white horse earlier?"

"Such is the lot of a groomsman. Can't be true to one because I have to see to the needs of so many."

Bridget huffed at his remark and picked up her irritated pace, staying ahead of us.