Read Online Miranda's Mount by Phillipa Ashley - Free Book Online

was also ringing alarm bells. So there had been something in Ronnie’s comments about Jago and Theo. They were a similar age, was there some history between them?
    ‘Why’s the git back here anyway? Run out of money, and wants a sub from Lady St Merryn?’ Theo gave a rueful smile. ‘It’s OK, I’ll shut up about Jago. I’m sure he’s not likely to run out of cash but I hope he’s not here to make trouble for you and the people at the Mount.’
    Trouble was exactly what Jago had caused and recent news was just the start of it. But she couldn’t possibly tell Theo that. ‘I don’t really know. I’ve kept out of his way as much as I can.’
    Hefrowned. ‘You look about as comfortable as a fish on a hook. I was joking but if Jago is here to make life difficult, it wouldn’t surprise me. The landlady of the Pilchard almost dropped a glass when he strolled in a few days ago.’
    ‘So he was in there before he came back to the Mount?’
    Theo nodded. ‘Apparently there were women swarming round him. Likes to make an impact, does his lordship.’
    The image of Jago surrounded by fawning girls fitted in so well with Miranda’s actual and imaginary idea of Jago that she longed to believe it. Too much, in fact. She decided to take Theo’s report of the prodigal’s return with a small but healthy pinch of salt and yet Jago had been in the pub, there was no denying that, and her own experience in the armoury had proved he liked to make an impact. She itched to ask Theo for the juicy details but didn’t want to betray more than casual curiosity.
    ‘Let’s forget him for now,’ said Theo, delivering a double whammy of relief and frustration. ‘I know you’re always busy but do you have time for a coffee? I wanted to talk to you about the Mount’s evacuation procedures. I doubt you’ll ever need them but there’s always the outside chance of a tidal wave or crazed gunman running amok through the castle.’
    ‘That’s not funny,’ said Miranda, a shiver running down her spine.
    Theoassumed a deadly serious expression. ‘I know, my jokes are terrible. Black humour goes with the job, I’m afraid. Now come on, I’ll pay for the coffee and I’ll try to make the experience as painless as possible.’
    Miranda smiled. ‘The coffee will be free.’
    He patted her on the shoulder and his touch felt comforting and tingly. Perhaps Theo
did
understand how she felt, more than she’d been willing to acknowledge.
    ‘And so is my advice,’ he said, as Miranda decided her day had just gone up several notches.
    An hour later, Miranda left the café with pages of notes which needed to be typed up into a risk assessment. Procedures in the event of waterspouts, fire, flood and mad axemen had all been covered, and only the possibility of aliens invading had been left out.
    As she watched Theo’s RIB power towards the mainland, the emptiness inside her returned at the thought that she might have to leave the Mount – and worse, leave Cornwall – and never see Theo and her friends again. Or was it disappointment that Theo had gone? Several times back in the café, as they’d chatted and laughed, he’d touched her hand briefly and she’d been almost sure that he was going to ask her out. He hadn’t but maybe Ronnie was right. Perhaps Theo did like her as more than a friend. She’d known him a few years, she’d begun to think of him as a friend but she’d never got any vibes that he thought of her as more. He was surely out of her league for a start … and why had he seemed to show more of an interest in her now after she’d found out the Mount was being sold and she might have to leave? Did he sense some kind of change in her, a willingness to move on or do something different with her life? Or was that her imagination?
    A fewdays after breaking the news about the sale to Miranda, Jago sat in his study in the tower of the Mount. Reading through the latest proposals from Southcastle was driving him mad. Wearily, he