Again, he shook his head. “Don’t forget, I went to Exeter at nineteen. I had no time for walks on the beach or making up to the local lasses.”
Mina narrowed her eyes. “Maybe not, but I expect there were lots of women in Exeter,” she said darkly.
“None that would have expected me to court them,” he answered, frankly. Mina pursed her lips, then decided it was better to focus on the future and not the past. “What of you?” he asked in a low voice. “Did your father never hire a young schoolmaster that caught your fancy?”
Mina turned her head sharply at the odd tone in his voice. Now it was his turn to color slightly and avoid her gaze. “Nay,” he said roughly. “Don’t tell me, for I’ve changed my mind. It would be better not to know.”
“There was no one,” she admitted. “Not a single suitor. My parents did not mingle in society and we saw no-one that was not connected with the school. I did not consider it before, but I fancy the fact my mother was divorced might have been a reason for that.”
He was silent a moment. “Were they happy?” he asked, sounding slightly rusty, as though unaccustomed to such conversation.
“My parents?” He nodded. “They were devoted to one another,” she said simply. “Weren’t yours?”
Nye frowned. “I think they were, in their own way. My father, old Jacob Nye was not much of a talker.”
“He did not wear his heart on his sleeve?” Mina ventured.
Nye hesitated. “Some would say he was a hard man to know, but he raised me as if I was his own. My mother was…” He paused as though searching for the right word. “Very uneven in her moods. She would be happy one minute, laughing and joking with the best of them. Then the next she would be cast down in the sullens, saying her life was ruined and all chance of happiness gone. You never knew which way she would go.”
Mina thought about this. “That must have been difficult for a child to understand.” She remembered the decoration on the screens and wondered if Ellen Nye blamed her son for the fact, she had ended up a publican’s wife and not taking up a life treading the boards. Or did she blame the fourth viscount for casting her off as a mistress with a handsome pay-off? Had her pregnancy been the reason their liaison had ended when it did?
He shrugged. “I soon learned not to seek her out, but to leave it to her whether she wanted me or no.”
The inn was in sight now and Mina made out two figures in the yard stood watching them approach. As they drew closer, she realized it was Gus and Reuben.
“Good evening!” Gus hailed them cheerily with a wave. His pipe smoke puffed over his head in a thick trail of clouds while Reuben looking surly as ever, turned abruptly away as they turned into the courtyard.
“What’s amiss with Reuben?” Nye asked as they drew level to Gus. He kept a firm hold of Mina’s hand in his and she thought Gus’s eyes dwelt there a moment before he answered.
“Amiss? Why nothing,” he said heartily. “What should there be amiss on a fine day such as this?” He nodded at Mina. “Mrs. Nye,” he added affably. She noticed he did not call her Minnie today.
“Mr. Hopkirk, good evening,” she responded as Nye towed her in the direction of the kitchen door.
It opened before reached it and Edna hurried out, drying her hands on a tea towel. “Oh Mrs. Nye,” she said. “Lord Faris is here with two others. I hardly knew where to direct them, though I showed them into your parlor in the end. I hope I did right.”
“I’m sure you did, Edna,” Mina told her soothingly, though she could not imagine why Edna had been reluctant to show them into her private room.
Nye released her and Mina hurried through the hallway, pausing only next to the mirror to tidy her windswept hair. She twisted the loose tresses back around what was left of her bun and reinserted two pins and hoped for the best. Nye had followed her out of the kitchen at a slower pace, but he caught up with her outside the door and entered the room directly after her.
“Ah, here you are!” Jeremy exclaimed, getting up from a chair with his ready smile.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” Mina responded as her eyes traveled over the two neat figures who had been sat on wooden chairs against the wall but now stood to attention. Her heart leapt. Could these be the two domestics he had mentioned? She turned her gaze back on Jeremy and he beamed.
“I see you have anticipated my mission.” He extended an arm in a sweeping gesture to incorporate the room’s other two inhabitants. “I have brought Miss Corin Goode and Mr. Edward Herney for your consideration, as promised.”
“I am very pleased to make your acquaintance,” Mina said as they bobbed bow and curtsey in her direction.
“May I present my sister, Mrs. Mina Nye and Nye the owner of this establishment.”
From the corner of her eye, Mina saw Nye was a good deal surprised to see Jeremy had proved good on his word. He nodded to Corin and turned a considering eye on Edward Herney who was tall and slim and aged no more than twenty-two or three years.
“Ever served as a tapster before?” he asked.
Mr. Herney stepped forward. “I confess sir, I have not, though I have received some training in the butler’s pantry. I know how to tap a keg and have taken instruction on the care and serving of wine and spirits.”
Nye nodded. “That should stand you in good stead,” he said and Herney’s expression brightened.
Mina turned back to Corin who had large anxious eyes, hair so blonde it was white and resembled nothing so much as a frightened rabbit. “How old are you, Corin? Have you much domestic experience?”
“I’m nineteen, ma’am,” Corin bobbed again. “Please Mrs. Nye, I have worked as both scullery and kitchen maid before now.”
“Well, that sound very satisfactory,” she said, smiling at the girl. “You will have your own attic bedchamber next door to our other maid Edna, who will help with your instruction.”
Corin’s eyes grew even wider. “Yes ma’am,” she whispered, then looked at her feet.
“Edna takes Monday as her day off. Should you have any objection to taking either Wednesday or Thursday for your own?”
“None, thank you kindly, ma’am,” Corin squeaked.
“You’ll have a bed above the stables,” Nye told Herney. “There’s several bunks in there and you can take your pick. Reuben the stable hand sleeps in there and no-one else at present.” Ed Herney nodded. “You can take a midweek day off for your own, I little care so long as you give me a few days’ notice. Weekends are our busiest time.”
“Understood, sir,” said Herney keenly.
Nye looked a little pained. “Call me Nye,” he said. “When can you start?”
Herney turned to Jeremy. “My Lord Faris has my trunk on his carriage. If you’re agreeable—?”
“I am,” Nye said curtly. “If you come now, I’ll give you a tour of the place.” He nodded at Jeremy and he and Herney both left the room.
“Did you bring Corin’s trunk also?” Mina asked, turning to her brother.
“I did. Prepared fellow, aren’t I?”
“Excellent. I’m sure Nye will get Reuben to carry it upstairs for us. Will you stay to take some refreshment, Jeremy?”