He needed to find out if Cumberland had come to the natural conclusion that Lady Caroline and Annabelle had fled in fright to Great Wivenden. If so, his cut-throats might be in the vicinity already. It would be as well to know. The captain decided to investigate after supper. Meantime, he had taken over the task of splitting logs. The kitchen stove was huge and ravenous, and Lady Caroline insisted that a constant supply of hot water be available. He had asked Jonathan to turn his hand to the lighter chore of preparing supper, with Annabelle’s help. Annabelle, quite unused to kitchen work, or any kind of labour, had scarcely been able to believe he could command this of her. Moreover, there was the entirely repellent aspect of having to share this domestic ordeal with the utterly horrid Jonathan. For his part, Jonathan accepted the situation cheerfully. But it provoked a further altercation between Caroline and the captain, though not such a stormy one as the first. She elected to confront him in the little wooded area that bounded the back garden, where he was splitting the logs in a clearing.
