The Silk Vendetta by Victoria Holt Read Free Book Online Page A

small I fancied the faces changed as I looked at them. I sometimes dreamed of the place … that I was locked in there and could not get out and that the coffins opened and the long-dead Sallongers came out to look at me.
    I said: “We will dig a grave here, Willie … by the walls of the vault and your little dog will lie close to the Sallongers. He will be happy there because his will be a real grave. We will put a cross on it and you will find it easily. Perhaps we will put some flowers on it and everyone will know that he is there and how much we cared about him.”
    Willie was nodding his head slowly.
    I had brought a little shovel with me. I gave it to him and said: “You dig, Willie. He would want you to bury him. You were the one he loved best.”
    So that was how we buried Willie’s dog.
    I knew that he went to the grave often. He would sit beside it and appear to be talking.
    The dogs in the stables often had puppies and I made Julia ask for one and I told her we were going to give it to Willie. This she was happy to do.
    I knew we should find him sitting by the grass.
    I said: “Hello, Willie. Here’s a little dog. He has come to be with you … if you would like him to.”
    Willie stared at the dog without much emotion.
    Cassie stroked him and said: “You’d like to be with Willie, would you?” She put her face close to the puppy and unexpect-edly sneezed. Then she did it again.
    “Once a wish, Twice a kiss,” sang Julia.
    “Then it’s a kiss for me,” said Cassie and sneezed again.
    You’re like pepper, puppy,” she said. “You’re making me sneeze. I’m going to call you Pepper.”
    “It seems a good name for a dog,” added Julia.
    I took the puppy and held it out to Willie. I said: “Look, Pepper, I think you and Willie are going to like each other.”
    Willie put out a hand and took the puppy. It gave a little bark and licked his hand. I saw a sudden joy come into Willie’s face and I knew we had done the right thing.
    “He’s yours, Willie,” I said. “He wants a home. Will you take Pepper and look after him?”
    I am sure he stopped grieving after that.
    Sir Francis came to The Silk House. There was always a good deal of ceremony when he arrived. The big carriage was housed with the gig and the dog cart which seemed to shrink into insignificance beside it. Cobb took up his quarters over the stables. I think he had the same effect on the grooms as Sir Francis did on the household. Cobb came from London and therefore considered himself greatly superior to poor country folk. Meals were more ceremonious. Lady Sallonger paid more attention to her toilette than ever, but she seemed to become more of an invalid and languished elegantly in her ribbons and laces on the sofa. Sir Francis sat beside her and called her “m’dear”; he patted her hand and listened patiently while she told him how she suffered. Clarkson became more dignified than ever and Mrs. Dillon was quite flustered in the kitchen, giving orders and cancelling them until Grace said she didn’t know whether she was standing on her head or her heels.
    He was closeted with Grand’mere for some time.
    He did not stay very long … only for a few days, which I daresay was considered long enough by all concerned. There was a feeling of relief when Cobb, resplendent in the driver’s seat, carried Sir Francis back to town.
    Grand’mere talked about him to me after he had gone.
    “He’s got something on his mind,” she said. “I have a fancy that all is not well.”
    “Was he angry about something?”
    “Oh no … but I think he looked worried. He said trade was in the doldrums and we needed something to pull it out. Those were his words. We wanted something new. You couldn’t stand still. We had to find something and it had to be good. The old lines were very fine but people craved for something new. ‘What we have to find, Madame Cleremont,’ he said to me, ‘is some new method of weaving silk … something which