The Captive

by Виктория Холт

  I looked at Felicity. The story was working out as we iad expected.

  The good man had had his lapse and fallen nto temptation, and as was the general way, repentance :ame afterwards.

  “I used to say to her time and time again, ” He’s no good :o you. He’ll take what he wants, and then it will be goodbye. That’s how his sort go on. He’s not for you. His lass don’t marry innkeepers’ daughters. “

  You could see iv hat he was. A real gentleman and we didn’t get many of us sort at the inn. He’d just come in by chance one night, iorse had gone lame or something. Otherwise he would lever have come to a place like ours. But then he kept coming . because of Alice.

  “She would say, ” He’s different. He’s going to marry -ne. “

  “Not him,” I said.

  “He’s got you on a bit of string. That’s where he’s got you.” She wouldn’t believe me . and it turned out she was right in a way. They were married. [ can testify to that. It was in the church . a simple affair, ho ugh He wouldn’t have it any other way. But married hey were. I was there . so I know. “

  “Married I said.

  “But…”

  “Yes, they were married. We’d been brought up strictly. Alice wouldn’t have gone with him in any other way. Nor would he with her. He was very religious. He made Alice turn to it. Oh, we had to go to church every Sunday. Father always insisted on that but it was more than that with this Edward.”

  “So they were really married!”

  “Really and truly married. He set her up in a nice little house and then he’d go away and come back. He paid regular visits. I said, ” Where does he go to, then? ” And Alice said, ” Oh, he’s explained all that. He’s got a big house in Cornwall. It’s been in the family for years. He said I wouldn’t like it. and he wouldn’t want me to be there. I’m better off here. ” Alice was a girl who didn’t ask questions. She liked everything to be peaceful. That’s all she asked.

  Any trouble and she didn’t want to know. So that’s how it was. He would come to see her and then they’d be like any other married couple. Then he’d go away for a spell. Then the boy came. “

  “I see,” I said.

  “And when he was five years old … Alice died.”

  She nodded.

  “There was the question of where Simon would go. I guessed I’d have to have him, she being my sister. I didn’t know what I’d do with the boy. Father had died a year or so before. He’d never liked that marriage though he’d been to the church and seen that it was all properly done and this Edward never stinted her with anything. She was better off than any of us and there was no doubt he thought the world of her. When Father died, I was left comfortably off. Everything was for me. Father had said that Alice was well taken care of. I got this cottage. Alice came here once, bringing the boy.”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “He mentioned the place to me. That is how I found you.”

  “Well, it came out that the one who was murdered was Sir Edward’s son.

  It was the first time I knew he was Sir

  Edward. At first I thought that he had deceived our Alice and that when he’d gone to the church with her he was married already. But then it came out when there was a lot about the family in the papers that he’d married a Miss Jessica Arkwright and when . and that was after he’d married our Alice. The one who was murdered, his eldest son, was a year or more younger than Simon. It was all a bit fishy, I thought but it was clear as daylight. Alice was his wife and this other woman had no right to the title. Our Alice was the real Lady Perrivale. So the two boys he’d had after were the illegitimate ones not Simon. It’s all a bit of a mystery . I was well out of it then, and I did not want to hear another word about it. You don’t believe me, do you? “

  “Oh yes, I do.”

  “Well, I can prove it. I’ve got the marriage lines. I said to Alice, ” That’s something you want to keep by you always. ” She was careless about that sort of thing. But I thought there was something odd even at the start. Husbands don’t usually go off like that and leave their wives … not unless they’re trying to get away from them. So I made her be sure to keep her marriage lines. Not that he wanted to get away from her. He was really sad when she died. Then I made sure that I kept the lines. I’ll show them to you.”

  “Will you?” I said.

  “Of course I will. She was married and no one’s going to say she wasn’t. I’ve got them upstairs. I’ll go now and get them.”

  When we were left alone. Felicity said to me: “We didn’t expect this.”

  “No.”

  “It seems incredible. That strong pillar of the church to commit bigamy.”

  “If this is a genuine certificate of marriage …”

  “It must be. And she was there at the ceremony. She’s not the sort to say so if she wasn’t.”

  “Might she have some idea about protecting her sister’s honour?”

  Miss Ferrers came back into the room, proudly waving the document.

  We looked at it. There could be little doubt of its authenticity.

  “I think,” I said, ‘it may be that someone knew about this, and that Simon was the true heir to his father’s estates and title. It makes a motive. “

  “But they didn’t kill him.”

  “No … but he was implicated.”

  “You mean someone arranged to be rid of both the elder brother and Simon at the same time.”

  “It could be. It would be useful if we could have this proof of the marriage.”

  I could see at once that Miss Ferrers in no circumstances would allow the certificate to pass out of her hands.

  “You can see it in the church records,” she said.

  “It’s St. Botolph’s in Headingly, near Bath.

  You really do believe in his innocence, don’t you? “

  “Yes,” I said firmly.

  “It would have broken Alice’s heart,” she said.

  “I was glad she died before she could know that. But then if she’d been alive he would never have gone to that place. Alice would never have let him go. She loved him so much.”

  “You have helped us a great deal,” I said.

  “I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”

  “If you can clear his name …”

  “I’m going to try. I’m going to do everything in my power …”

  She insisted on making us a cup of tea. She talked to us while we drank it, going over everything she had already told us; but we did get an impression of the affection she had had for Alice, which was none the less genuine because it was faintly contemptuous. Alice had been soft . too trusting . loving unwisely . believing all that was told

  her. But Alice had been her dear sister, closer to her than anyone had been before or after.

  I was glad we had convinced her of our sincerity. And so we left Rowan Cottage with the knowledge that Sir Edward Perrivale had married Alice Ferrers and the date on the certificate showed clearly that the marriage had taken place before the ceremony he had undergone with the present Dowager Lady Perrivale.

  Encounter in a Copse

  That night Felicity and I talked continuously of our discovery. It was beyond our wildest hopes.

  “I still can’t believe it!” I said.

  “How could Sir Edward, with his strong moral stance, enter into a bigamous marriage, have two sons whom he accepted as his own, while his legitimate son, though brought up in the house, was treated as an outsider?”

  “We have to remember that he wanted the boy to be given every chance.”

  “Poor Simon!”

  “Well, he had your Nanny Crockett.”

  “It would have been sad for him if he hadn’t.”

  “Oh, there are always compensations. But why did Sir Edward not only break the law but go against his strong religious principles?”

  “I think I can guess. You see, there is a great tradition in the Perrivale family. The old house is at the root of it. The place was f
alling down and Sir Edward was in financial difficulties. He had never brought Alice to Perrivale. Much as he loved her, he did not think she would be a suitable chat elaine You see how strong the family tradition was. I daresay he had been brought up to believe that the great family of Perrivale was all-important. It had been kept going all through the centuries by its members doing their duty. It was his, therefore, to save Perrivale. Along comes the ironmaster or coal owner, whatever he was, from Yorkshire. He will supply the money required to save the house. Sir Edward’s financial problems can be solved … but at a cost, of course. The price is marriage to the rich man’s daughter.”

  “But Sir Edward couldn’t accept those terms. He had already married little Alice.”

  “But who knew? Only those people in the country. Alice was quiet and docile. She would accept everything he told her. She would not make trouble, even if she knew what was happening … but she didn’t. He thought he could pull it off, and he did. I dare say it troubled him a great deal. There was no other way of saving Perrivale. He had always been brought up to believe that his first duty was to tradition … to the family name. You can see how he was torn. He had to save his house; the family must go on living in the style to which it was accustomed. Alice could not rise to what would be demanded of her. He had loved Alice … he had been led into the temptation of marrying her. But she was not suitable to be a Perrivale wife. I can see how it happened.”

  “You certainly make it sound plausible.”

  “I think Sir Edward could not die with this secret on his conscience.

  I think he may have confessed when he was near the end. And to whom would he confess but to the one whom it concerned most . the woman who thought she was his wife? Imagine it: “I cannot go like this. I must tell the truth now. My heir is Simon, the boy I brought into this house. I married his mother and that means I am not truly married to you.” That was how it must have happened. Maria said that she heard them quarrelling violently and that Lady Perrivale went very strange at the time of his death. It must have been because of this. “

  “Are you suggesting that she was involved in the murder? You can’t think she killed her own son just to get Simon accused.”

  “Of course not. What she did was tell her son. She would, wouldn’t she? Or perhaps Sir Edward told them. Yes, of

  course, it would concern them most . next to Lady Perrivale, of course. “

  “But it was Cosmo who was murdered.”

  “I always had a notion that Tristan was the murderer. I used to think he killed Cosmo because he wanted the title and estates … and Mirabel. Just imagine what he would feel to be in second place and miss all the prizes.”

  “Lucas is in a similar position.”

  “Well, before his accident he didn’t want to stay at home.”

  “And he had his army career for a while.”

  “Yes, and he gave that up and travelled a great deal and was rather restless. I begin to see it more clearly. I always thought Tristan was involved somehow. He had everything to gain. And there was Mirabel.

  She married him very soon after Cosmo was killed. “

  “And what of the child she seems to have got rid of?”

  “I don’t understand that. It’s too complicated, but at least if Tristan was aware that Simon was really his father’s heir … he would want to get him out of the way. So he kills Cosmo and arranges that Simon is blamed for it. So both encumbrances are removed. Sir Edward dies … there is nothing to say that Tristan is not the rightful heir.”

  “It’s taking shape,” said Felicity.

  “But how are you going to prove all this?”

  “I don’t know … yet. But we’ve taken a great step forward … thanks to you. Felicity. I think I shall know what to do when the time is right.”

  “And in the meantime … ?”

  “I shall tell Lucas, when I see him, what we have discovered. He is very astute. He will suggest what action we take next. Something has occurred to me. Lady Perrivale the Dowager Lady Perrivale is searching for something in Sir Edward’s room. She lights candles at night or she did before Maria hid them for fear she burned the house down-and went prowling round looking. What was she looking for, do you think?”

  “Simple logic would point to a will.”

  “Exactly. The last will of Sir Edward Perrivale in which he states that Simon is his legitimate son and heir. He cannot go to his grave with that secret on his conscience.”

  “So to purge his own soul he plunges those who for years have believed themselves to be his only family into turmoil.”

  I nodded.

  “He knows that if someone gets his or her hands on the will while he is too ill to know what is happening, it will be destroyed. So he hides it, meaning to produce it to the solicitor or someone whom he can trust when he gets the opportunity to do so. Now Lady Perrivale knows that this will exists. She must find it and destroy it for the sake of her sons, if for nothing else. She is not very clear in her mind … but she hangs on to the fact that it exists. That is why she wanders about at night looking for it.”

  “H’m. Sounds likely.”

  “I often visit Lady Perrivale. There might be an opportunity …”

  “You’d better be careful.”

  “That’s what Lucas says.”

  “If this is true and Tristan killed once, he might not hesitate to do so again, and people who know too much might be in danger.”

  “I’ll be watchful.”

  “I’m really serious, Rosetta. I’m worried about you.”

  “Don’t be. I’ll be careful. They don’t suspect anything. I’m just the governess.”

  “But no ordinary governess.”

  “Oh yes, I am really. It just happens that I have found a way of getting on with Kate better than most could.”

  “Well, don’t be rash.”

  “I promise.”

  “Now we’d better get some sleep, I suppose.”

  “Felicity, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your help.”

  “Oh really … it was fun. I like a mystery as well as anyone.”

  “One of the nicest things that ever happened to me was when you came to teach me.”

  “Well, on that happy note, we’ll say good night.”

  When I arrived in Cornwall, Kate greeted me sullenly.

  “You’ve been away a long time,” she said.

  “It wasn’t really so long. I met a friend who used to be my governess.”

  I told her about Felicity’s coming to the house and how I had been imagining she would be an ogre, how they had all liked her in the kitchen and she used to join us for meals.

  Her mood changed. She was really very pleased to see me back.

  “Did Mr. Dolland do The Bells?”

  “Yes.”

  “I wish you’d take me up there.”

  “I might… one day.”

  “One day, one day,” she mocked.

  “I don’t want one day. I want now. You ought to have taken me with you.”

  I was glad when I was able to retire to my room. I wanted to brood on all that had happened. I was sure we were right in our theories. I could picture it all so clearly. Sir Edward, on the point of death, had made his startling revelations. If Tristan could kill Cosmo and have Simon hanged for murder, no one need ever know of the previous marriage. It would be between Tristan and his mother. He would certainly trust her to keep quiet. She would not want it to be known that, though she had lived with Sir Edward and borne him two sons, she had not been his wife.

  How could the truth be brought out? How could Simon be exonerated?

  There was the marriage certificate in the hands of Miss Ada Ferrers.

  There would be the records in

  St. Botolph’s Church. But even though Simon was proved to be the true heir to the Perrivale estate, that would not clear him of the charge.

  Even if the will-if there was one-were found, that would not be enough.

  I felt we
had come to an impasse. We had uncovered dark secrets, reasons for murder . but we had not found the identity of the murderer.

  Still, if I could find that document. Sir Edward could move only with difficulty, I imagined. It would be in his room. Where would he be likely to hide a document?

  I was becoming more and more certain that it was a will for which Lady Perrivale was searching, and I was going to try to find it. That would be my next venture. There could be an opportunity of slipping into that room . perhaps if Lady Perrivale were asleep . and Maria did not happen to be there. If I could produce the will I could at least prove a motive.

  The next afternoon I went up to see Lady Perrivale. She was asleep but Maria was there.

  “It’s nice to see you back,” she said.

  “Her ladyship’s been sleeping most of the day. That’s how it is nowadays. The Major came in to see her pretty often while you were away. She cheers up for his visits.”

  She gave me a wink.

  “Well, she always had a soft spot for him.”

  “Even though he married her best friend.”

  “Ah yes. She might have had him herself but old Joe Arkwright was a hard man when it came to the brass. She was heartbroken when her father put an end to it. Then of course she married Sir Edward. It was what Joe Arkwright wanted. Stands to reason … Sir Edward and the title and Jessie brought the brass. What people will do for brass!”

  I went away with those words ringing in my ears.

  It was indeed revealing . what people would do for money!

  It was two days later when my opportunity came. I went up to see Lady Perrivale. Maria was not there and Lady Perrivale was in her chair snoring slightly.

  My heart was beating fast as I slipped out of the room and into that which I knew to have been Sir Edward’s.

  I saw the big four-poster bed with a table beside it on which lay a very large Bible with leather covers and brass clasps.

  I looked round the room. Where would he be likely to put something he wanted to hide? Why should it be necessary to hide it? Because he did not trust the woman who for years had thought she was his wife.