Shattered Dreams by Rebecca King Page B

house.
    The
letter from Sir Hugo had effectively assured Harry that he was on
his way. Meantime, however, Harry had full authority to act on his
behalf in every regard.
    It was
all Harry needed to ensure that he could now gain access to the
poor house, with the help of the local magistrate, and anyone else
in authority he needed. He could then force the staff out of the
way so that he could search for Tilly.
    “ Have you got any further with the case of the forged letter?
Who stole the parchment?”
    “ The Dandridges’,” Harry growled. “It is irrelevant whether it
was him or her, really. Either one of them did it. What we cannot
figure out is why they would bring her here, and then leave her in
the poor house.”
    “ Is she still there?” Joshua demanded with a scowl.
    Harry
sighed and wished that he knew for definite. Both he and Barnaby
had taken to making two visits each per day in an attempt to get
Tilly back, but to no avail. The last time they had been, only
earlier that afternoon as a matter of fact, they had threatened the
wardens with legal ramifications if they didn’t get to see the
governor first thing in the morning. However they had still come
away empty handed.
    “ For a busy poor house, the governor is never there. Whenever
we call; morning, noon, or night, he is always out. Nobody seems to
know when he is going to be back,” Barnaby sighed.
    “ Has anyone checked his house?”
    “ We can’t find out where he lives,” Barnaby replied. “I have
asked around town, but everyone is afraid of the place. Nobody
seems to have any idea what goes on in there, and nobody wants to
even talk about it. Whenever you mention it, people just close up
and change the subject. It’s impossible to know what’s going on
without getting inside.”
    Marcus
frowned and glanced out of the window at the huge building on the
horizon. “Have you asked the magistrate if he knows?”
    “ He is just as wary of the place, and has no idea who runs
it,” Harry sighed.
    “ The wardens cannot be running the place, surely to God? What
about the Trustees?” Joseph challenged.
    “ We cannot get inside to know how that place is being run, or
by who,” Harry snorted in disgust. “Nobody on the outside knows.
One thing is certain; the wardens are definitely letting people in,
and not bothering to put their details in the register.”
    “ Jesus. So, the residents effectively vanish as soon as they
walk through the door,” Joseph grunted.
    Barnaby
sighed and rested his elbows on his knees. “What worries me about
that place is that nobody in the area seems to know all that much
about it. People go in, but don’t come back out again. None of the
staff appear to live in Tooting Mallow. It’s damned odd, if you ask
me.”
    “ I am glad we arrived when we have,” Marcus
growled.
    “ What do you want to do when we get the girl here?” Joseph
asked. “I mean, if you are at risk from whatever the Dandridges’
are up to, do you really want an innocent party being brought into
the middle of all of this?”
    “ She is already involved,” Harry replied firmly. “When she was
sent the letter, she was dragged into this.”
    He
briefly explained Tilly’s story in a voice that was as low as he
could manage, and gave the men the Bolsworthy woman’s
description.
    “ Are you sure Tilly is still there, and hasn’t been moved?”
Joseph whispered with a frown. “How do you know she didn’t leave
straight away?”
    “ Because I was in town,” Harry sighed. “Nobody left that
building.”
    If he
was honest, he couldn’t be sure that Tilly hadn’t left as soon as
she had arrived, and that was why she hadn’t been listed in the
register. However, his gut instincts warned him that she had done
no such thing, and was stuck inside that hellish
mausoleum.
    “ How do you want to go about getting her out?” Marcus asked as
he leaned back in his seat and studied Harry over the top of his
brandy.
    He read
the worry and fear in