"The meeting is for tomorrow?" I said, desperately trying to get a hold of myself.
"Yes, you are expected to arrive at one in the afternoon. Miss Jane said that is normally the time they finish their lunch and the children take a nap, so it is the preferred time."
"One o'clock, tomorrow. I cannot thank Miss Jane or you enough. I promise that I will make it up to somehow and I will ensure that you and Miss Jane will be together," I said in response.
"Your friendship is all I require, Monsieur Levasseur. With or without your assistance, I will be with my beloved Miss Jane," Christopher Campbell announced.
When we finished our glasses of whiskey, we ordered two more from the hotel staff. The night porter had not long since arrived at the reception to fulfil his duties for the evening and when I ordered two more glasses of whiskey, he was quick to execute the order. After those two glasses were finished, then Mr. Christopher Campbell made his exit and said that he would see me tomorrow around the same time to talk about further developments between our respective businesses. He stumbled out the door which was not surprising to me as I had never seen him drink so much before. My heart experienced a little ache for his predicament, but I had only a little space set aside for his pain and the majority of my thoughts and feelings dwelled on my happiness at the arranged meeting between me and my sister. It would be a splendid reunion, even if she was not aware of it.
For the entirety of that night, I paced back and forth across my hotel room and thought about the words I was going to say to my sister. I couldn't reveal to her who I truly was on account of her being married to a person who tried to murder me and because I was hell-bent on seeking revenge against him. I desperately wanted to tell her who I was and how I missed her and how I loved her so. The idea of having to maintain my composure when I finally got to see her up close and personal, without anyone else present, seemed almost impossible to me. To help prepare myself for this difficult encounter I paced back and forth in my room and prepared the gentlemanly remarks that I would speak to Mrs. Cromwell.
The next day, at one o'clock, I eagerly knocked on the door of the Cromwell's house in Mayfair. It was a nice house with a nice style and although I had expected something much grander considering the amount of wealth James Cromwell possessed, I later learned that this house was just one of the many owned by Mr. and Mrs. Cromwell. They owned more than six different houses in prominent cities, as well as land in the country and estates in the rural areas of England where not many people venture. All of this property was a result of the share of the treasure that had been allocated to James Cromwell as well as the money he received from the publicity associated with the treasure find. In truth, his property was as rightfully mine as it was his.
The knock on the door was quickly responded to by the opening of it by a butler. He looked at me, took in my appearance, and then said that he had been expecting me. He asked me to follow him and he would lead me to Miss Jane. It was clear that Miss Jane had informed the butler and the other workers in the house about my arrival and she asked them to carry out her wishes. The butler led me to a small room that looked like a scullery near the back of the house. In the small room sat Miss Jane on a wooden chair.
"Good afternoon, Monsieur Levasseur. I'm glad Christopher successfully passed on the message to you," Miss Jane said to me. Her eyes were puffing and her cheeks were red. It appeared to me that she had been crying for the majority of the night.
"Good afternoon, Miss Jane. Thank you for seeing me and can I just quickly say that although I was unsuccessful last night when speaking to the Campbell's, I promise I will fulfil my objective."
Miss Jane smiled at my words and nodded in appreciation. She also changed the topic of conversation rather quickly in case some other person overheard the conversation and became eager to find out more. With the pleasantries out of the way and with me now physically inside the house of my enemy and my sister, Miss Jane led me to a different room in the house.
"The new sketch I have for you is in this room here, please come with me," Miss Jane said.
"Is it a duplicate of the first drawing you so generously gave to me?" I asked Miss Jane.
"No, it is a new image entirely from a different portrait of the deceased Mr. Underhill. I hope you will be as pleased with this one as you were with the last."
"I do not doubt that I will. You are a very talented artist. However, I was under the impression that there were no images of William Underhill here. Where did you get the portrait from?"
Our voices carried as we moved from the hallway of the house into the room that Miss Jane had indicated her new drawing lay waiting. After being ushered inside the room, I saw the artwork in the room and I also saw that the room was not vacant of people.
"I gave her the portrait of my brother to draw for you, Monsieur Levasseur," Alice Cromwell, my sister, said to me.
My sister was positioned sitting on a comfortable chair. Her eyes pierced mine and my body froze. All the rehearsed lines that I had spent hours during the night practicing were gone from my mind. I was momentarily mute and frozen upon seeing my sister again.
"Mrs. Cromwell, it is very nice to see you again," I stuttered out as I tried to regain my composure. I bowed slightly as a good guest does to a host.
"Yes, as it is to see you. I was sorry I did not get to spend some time with you at Mr. and Mrs. Alexander's ball. After you left, everyone spoke about what a terrific and worldly person you are which made me all the more curious to meet you. Christina Alexander, too, was sad to hear that you had left as she seemed to have very much enjoyed your company," Alice Cromwell responded.
Staring at my sister's face I saw some minor changes that had happened to it over the years of my absence. For one, her skin seemed to fit tighter around her face and around the corner of her eyes and forehead, there were newly formed lines that had not previously been there. Her skin tone had also lightened, though I was not certain if this superficial change was from make-up or if it was health-related.
In the room, there was me, Miss Jane and my sister. Miss Jane took up the pose of an obedient employee and put her hands behind her back and listened intently while the lady of the house spoke. As governess to Alice Cromwell's children, Miss Jane owed her employment, livelihood, and accommodation to Alice. While my sister spoke, I saw Miss Jane look on at the conversation between me and my sister as it unfolded. She had somehow manoeuvred herself out of position so that she was discreetly in a corner of the room and out of the way of Mrs. Cromwell and me. I had asked Miss Jane for such a meeting to be established and now that she delivered on her promise I was quite apprehensive about it.
"The people of London have been very kind to me," I said in response to my sister's previous comments. "As too were the people of Bath. I met your aunt, Ms. Emma Tilney, and she showed me great hospitality."
"Yes, you left quite an impression on my aunt. She even sent me a letter about you. She had hoped that a meeting between us would be established, as it now has been by the young Miss Jane. It seems that we both wanted an introduction to one another and now it has finally happened."
"I am glad it has, Mrs. Cromwell," I said gulping.
The words my sister spoke seemed strange and it made me feel uneasy. She admitted that she wanted a meeting arranged with me and even how she allowed Miss Jane to facilitate one. It was I who had instructed Miss Jane to set up a meeting with my sister, but I now felt that Miss Jane was working on the orders of both me and my sister.
"Please have a seat, Monsieur Levasseur. I hope that you are not in a rush and have some time available to talk with me," my sister said.
"Of course, I have much time for you, Mrs. Cromwell. Thank you for your hospitality."
"You are Parisian?" my sister then immediately continued once I sat down on an available seat.
"I am," I confirmed.
"I love Paris. May I be so bold to ask you where in Paris you live?"
"I live in the centre of Paris, by th
e Seine. I tend to tell people that I live so close to Notre Dame that my house is almost in its shadow."
"How wonderfully positioned you are. What a beautiful building the Notre Dame is, you are a fortunate man."
"I thank you, for your kind words," I bowed my head slightly.
"My aunt, Ms. Tilney, said you were in England on business. Is that correct?"
"It is."
"I will not be so nosy to ask you about what your business is, but I wonder how long you have been in England for?"
"In total, I landed on the shores of England maybe just over a month ago."
"And how long will it take you to conclude your business?"
"I currently do not know."
"But once the business is concluded, you will take your leave and go back to France?"
"That is correct."
"Well then, I hope for the sake of London your business is never concluded here because I know you will leave behind many friends and many people who think you the most reputable man."
"I must thank you once again for your kind words. I can tell that you and Ms. Tilney are related as you are both gracious hosts and remarkable people," I said.
The torrent of questions from my sister ceased, at least temporarily, and I was thankful for the respite. I had formed the character of Monsieur Levasseur and given him a back-story and created a personality for him, but I felt that if the questioning continued or got more difficult, then the charade would unravel and I would be exposed as a fraud. In the break of questioning, my sister turned her attention from me to Miss Jane. She asked her governess to present me with the portrait.
"It is a picture of William when he was seventeen years old," Alice Cromwell said to me as I studied the portrait that Miss Jane had just handed to me. Again, the portrait was sketched and Miss Jane had recaptured the image beautifully.
"Thank you for this. It means a lot to me," I said first to Miss Jane and then to my sister.
"Did you know William well?" Alice Cromwell asked me.
"It's difficult to quantify, but we were friends," I responded.
I expected my sister to continue her torrent of questioning but instead, she proposed that tea and biscuits be brought into the room to be enjoyed while we conversed. She commented on British tea being exquisite and although I was French I would still appreciate its rich taste. I smiled and nodded and said that her generosity as hostess knew no boundaries.
"Miss Jane, perhaps you could go and fetch the required items," my sister said to Miss Jane in a polite manner that sounded like a suggestion rather than an order. As one was the governess and one was the lady of the house, there were clear protocols and there was no doubt to any of us in the room that it was an order phrased graciously.
Agreeing to the task of fetching tea and an assortment of biscuits and buns, Miss Jane left the room leaving me and my sister alone. There was an eerie sort of awkward silence after Miss Jane left the room, she had closed the door behind her and not even her footsteps could be heard as she walked away. I glanced around the room, taking in the furniture, the grandeur of the place, and the large and wide-open windows that filled two walls of the room. Eventually, like magnetism, my eyes fell upon my sister whose piercing eyes seemingly never stopped staring at me with the removal of Miss Jane.
My sister stood up and slowly started walking towards me, she kept her eyes were fixed on mine. I felt my heartbeat thumping and my body grew warmer. She looked into my eyes, studied my face and squinted. I did not know what thoughts were running through her head, but I was certain they were not normal thoughts a hostess would have for a standard guest.
Stepping close to me, only inches away, she drew her hand and slapped my face. Reactively, I stood up. Then tears rolled down the sides of her face. She slapped me a second time and then a third time. Finally, she threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly.
"William, everyone thought you were dead," she said sobbing. "Where have you been and why have you taken so long to come back?"
Chapter 20 - The Pact
When Miss Jane returned with tea and an assortment of biscuits she was immediately excused from the room by my sister. Alice said to Jane that she needed a private moment of conversation with me and that she would ring the bell when Jane was allowed to re-enter the room. Without a question or further sound, Miss Jane heeded the words of the lady of the house and left the room. Alice and I were alone again and not likely to be disturbed.
"How is this possible that you are here now? Everyone was told you were dead?" Alice began questioning me.
I told her the story of how I became Monsieur Levasseur. She was the first person to hear the first and honest truth about me as I retold her all the details and events that had happened to me from the time I set sail on a ship in Dover with James, Edward, and Charles to the very moment where I now stood in her house. I left no details out, including how her husband had thrown me into the sea and left me for dead. She was horrified at my story and when it had concluded we hugged each other tightly.
"So you took on the persona of a French man? It all seems rather strange to me, William," she then said to me with a perplexed look on her face.
"What part of it seems strange to you?" I asked.
"All of it," she confessed. "Now that you have returned and you are alive, why not present yourself to the authorities and tell them how James, Edward, and Charles tried to kill you. By being alive you undermine the story they told about your death and then justice will be done and they will be thrown in prison."
I asked Alice about her husband, with whom she had children. I wanted to know how she felt about the man who had tried to kill her brother. It was important for me to know how she came to be his husband in the first place and what she would do now that she knew the truth. She was forthcoming with all her answers and said that she had only fallen in love with James and married him as a tribute to me, William. Alice believed that James and I had been best friends and that a marriage between her and James would keep the memory of me alive. She now stated that even though she was married and had children with James, she never wanted to see him again and that separation and time away from their father would be the best thing that could happen to her children. I was pleased by her response as it told me that my sister remained an Underhill rather than conforming to a Cromwell.
"The reason why I don't want to reveal myself is that I don't want justice to be carried out. What I want is revenge."
The eyes of my sister widened as she began to comprehend what I meant. Her face contorted and showed the internal agony she was facing before it twisted back to normal. She took a deep inhale and then pleaded with me not to kill her husband. She agreed that he needed to be punished and that he deserved to have revenge taken upon him, but she pleaded for his life to be spared. She hated him for what he had done, but he was also her husband and they had two children together.
"With him alive and the others dead you can get the remaining treasure from him, but if he is dead then I don't know where it will end up," she said as she tried to barter for her husband's life.
"So you still care for James Cromwell even though he tried to kill your brother?"
"I care about my children's father. They should be kept away from their father until they are older, but they should not be deprived of having one. Prison is retribution for his crimes, but death is absolute and would make me and my children suffer."
"I see," I said. I started walking up and down the room as I thought things through internally in my mind, which was now a habit of mine. Alice watched on as I carried out the activity.
"As I said, if you kill Edward and Charles, then you need James alive to retrieve their share of the treasure. So whatever you decide to do, you will need him left alive," Alice stated.
Confused by the words of my sister, I asked her to explain what she meant. It was at this juncture when she told me crucial news that I was not aware of. The three receivers of the treasure made a pact after they thought
I was dead. They agreed that they would divide the treasure evenly among themselves, but in the event of one of their deaths then the share of the money would be divided among the remaining two survivors as opposed to being given away to another party. Therefore if I eliminated all three co-conspirators then the treasure would be difficult to trace and be lost, but if I killed only one of them or two of them then the money would be diverted to the surviving members, making it easier for me to trace and obtain.
"If you are to take revenge then I ask that you leave James last and do not take any action against him without first consulting me. Although he has done a most treacherous thing, I believe upon hearing about your survival he will forfeit all the treasure to you."
I made a pact with my sister that I would not harm James, yet, and she promised that she would not reveal to anyone my true identity or say that her brother William Underhill was still alive. She was happy to play along with the charade of me being the Parisian, Monsieur Levasseur, for as long as I was to take on the persona.
Miss Jane was re-admitted into the room by the ringing of a small bell that Alice had settled on a table. My sister decided that if I and she were in a room together for too long by ourselves, without interruption, then the workers of the household may think it suspicious and word would eventually get back to James Cromwell. When the bell was rung, Miss Jane returned very promptly. The governess of the house asked if there were any choirs, such as fetching more tea and biscuits, that could be done but she was told that everything was satisfactory and that she should join the conversation between Alice and me. The first piece of information I gave when Miss Jane joined the conversation was to inform Alice that I had first met Miss Jane in Aunt Tilney's house in Bath.
"Is that so, Monsieur Levasseur?" Alice said, keeping up the charade.
"It is true. I first met the Campbell family and Miss Jane on a particularly wet day. Your aunt had invited us all to a breakfast party."
Revenge of an Englishman Page 18
