by Anna Jacobs
Will and his men withdrew to places of safety and held a conference that resulted in several of them, who knew the house and grounds, approaching it from the rear, while the others continued to create a diversion at the front. Stones were thrown at windows, smashing some of them with satisfying crashes and tinkles of falling glass, and threats were yelled at Sewell.
‘You’ll not escape this time.’
‘We know what you’ve been doing.’
‘You’ll not be alive tomorrow.’
The rest of the men from the village arrived in the middle of all this and joined in with a will, howling insults and shaking their pitchforks at the house.
Inside, Mistress Sewell and her two grown children cowered together underneath her bed. ‘You’ll not join in, Edward,’ she kept saying over and over. ‘Promise me you’ll not join in!’
‘I promise, mother, I promise.’
Other shots were fired sporadically from the house, but no one else was hit. None of the besiegers quite knew what to do next to break the impasse, so they settled down to wait.
Mr Rogers arrived but could make no impression upon the attackers. They would not leave till they’d dealt with Sewell, whatever he urged.
Will was as polite as ever to the parson, but implacable in his resolve to capture Sewell and hand him over to the law. And he wasn’t going to waste any more valuable time in arguing about it. The men at the rear hadn’t yet got into the house and were waiting for further distractions from the front to draw the defenders’ attention away from the rear. It was to Will that everyone turned for orders.
Setting the old cleric gently aside, he followed his men round the house.
Then the party from the Manor arrived.
Thad slipped over to the trap when it came to a halt at a safe distance from the fracas. He listened impassively to Sarah’s pleas to stop the attack and wait for Lord Tarnly and his men to arrive. When she found out that Will had gone round the back to confer with the men there, they had to restrain her from following him.
While she was speaking to Thad, the other men at the front kept up a desultory assault with stones, breaking several more windows, and causing Sewell to yell at them that he’d have the lot of them locked up for trespass, and the ringleaders hanged for the damage to his property they were causing.
‘Thad, can’t you do something to stop them?’ begged Sarah. ‘Sewell’s right. They could hang you all for this.’
‘Can’t stop now, mistress,’ said Thad. ‘We hev to put an end to this wickedness once and for all – or die trying.’
Will came back and ran to join them when he saw his wife. ‘What the devil are you doing here, Sarah? I told you to stay out of this.’
‘Prue came to find me. I couldn’t refuse to help her. I was too worried about you. We’re all worried about what you’re doing! Will, you’ve got to stop this now and wait for Lord Tarnly.’
‘We’ll stop it when we’ve captured Sewell and not before. Then we’ll hand him over to his lordship.’
Thad joined in. ‘If Sewell gets away from us now, Mistress, he’ll wriggle out of it, and then he’ll get up to more mischief. We must capture him.’ His great deep voice rang out above the yells and crashes of stones against window panes, making the three women shiver, for Mrs Jenks had come out of the shadows to join them.
A few men standing nearby nodded in agreement.
‘Since my sister was attacked, her little ’uns cry of a night,’ said Ralph. ‘An’ so does she. Must I wait till they come after my wife, too? Must I let them frighten my children senseless as well?’
‘I lost my cottage because of him.’ Robin Cox appeared out of the shadows, ‘An’ my old master was murdered. I never did believe he killed hisself. Two of my children died after that and my wife near broke her heart. I ent forgot that. I’ve waited a long time for this day.’
‘Robin, not you too! Have you all run mad tonight?’ exclaimed Sarah.
‘No,’ Robin answered quietly. ‘We hev all come to our senses, mistress.’
Mr Rogers stepped forward. ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord,’ he cried in his quavery old voice. ‘I charge you in the name of the Lord to stop this foolishness while there is yet time!’
There was a sudden silence, for they were used to heeding his words, but a yell of triumph from the back of the house, followed by a shot, then a sudden cessation of noise, broke the spell. Silently they all turned to watch.
A face appeared at a broken window. ‘We’ve got him!’ it yelled and disappeared again.
A rumble in the throats of the men who had remained outside showed how near to the surface their savage instincts had risen. They turned as one towards the house, cheering when the front door was flung open and a group of men appeared, dragging a struggling Sewell. Behind them, Joe Haplin shoved Edward Sewell along and two others dragged a cursing Hugh. Mrs Sewell and Dorothy hung around at the rear, for since everyone knew that the poor lady was helpless against her fierce husband, she and her daughter had been treated with respect.
Sewell’s face was bloody, but he was still spitting defiance at his captors.
‘Hang him!’ shouted a voice half-choked with fury, and the cry was taken up by a dozen hoarse throats.
‘Where are the others?’ demanded Thad? ‘He’s got other men as work here. Hev you let ’em get away?’
‘They be takin’ a little nap in the stables,’ someone replied. ‘We’ll fetch them out in a minute an’ tell ’em to leave their jobs or suffer the consequences.’
Sarah stood there, terrified by this tide of savagery. Anger swirled around them, as visible as the mist from their breaths. Faces had turned into animal masks and hands trembled on weapons. At any moment, it might erupt into a blood bath. And her Will was at the centre of it all, would be seen as the ringleader. She was terrified for his safety, felt helpless to know what to do.
Beside her, Mr Rogers was leaning against the back of the cart, weeping aloud for his congregation, with Mrs Jenks trying vainly to comfort him.
Some of the men began to drag their most important captive away from the house, looking for a strong tree and calling for a rope. Sarah stepped forward. ‘Will, no!’ she pleaded. ‘You said you’d take him to Lord Tarnly. You promised me you’d keep within the law!’
He nodded and put his arm briefly round her shoulders. ‘It won’t do any harm for them to frighten Sewell a little first, though. He well deserves it.’
After watching the confusion for a few minutes, he stepped forward. ‘That’s enough, lads! We’ll hand him over to the law now.’
Ted barred his path. ‘I don’t think you could stop us now if you tried, Squire, so why not leave us be and take Mistress Bedham home? That rascal lost you your son, didn’t he? Tried to kill you as well. It don’t pay to treat such as him soft. Once let him loose an’ he’ll be up to his villainies again. You leave it to us. We know what to do and we ent afraid to do it. You hev to kill a mad bull.’
Will hesitated. At heart, he agreed with this, but he had promised Sarah to stay within the law and anyway, he owed it to his new position as Squire.
Before he could move, they all heard the sound of hoof beats in the distance.
Mr Rogers raised his tear-wet face. ‘Oh, Lord, Thou hast answered my prayers,’ he whispered. ‘I pray You now to continue Your mercy and save these poor souls from hanging!’
The space in front of the house was suddenly surrounded by men on horseback. The militia were afire for some real action. Some had drawn their swords and were looking for permission to use them.
Lord Tarnly dismounted and strode towards the group of men still holding Sewell. ‘Let him go!’ Years of command rang in his voice.
Sullenly, they released their captive and moved back. Rumbles of discontent eddied to and fro, but they moved away. They had no quarrel with his lordship who was known to be a fair landlord and employer, as well as being more lenient than most in his judgements from the bench.
&nbs
p; Sewell stumbled towards Lord Tarnly, quick to take advantage of the situation. ‘These men have broken into my house, attacked my servants and threatened my life!’ he cried. ‘I demand that you arrest them! They must be made an example of, or a gentleman will not be safe in his own home! And Pursley here led them!’
A zealous captain of militia stepped forward and stationed himself next to Will, gesturing to one of his men to stand on the other side of him.
Sarah rushed forward and clutched His Lordship’s arm. ‘That’s not true! They were only protecting themselves!’ she cried. ‘And my husband was trying to stop them from hanging Sewell!’
‘My dear Sarah!’ Lord Tarnly bowed, gallant as ever. Nonetheless, he gave no orders for his men to release Will.
‘Someone shot at my husband again today when he was coming home from the market,’ she said urgently. ‘He followed the man here.’
A nod from his lordship and Will was brought to stand before him.
‘What happened, Bedham?’
‘We laid a trap for them, your lordship. We caught the men who attacked me and then we let Sewell and his men know about it. His men tried to rescue our captives, but we fought them off and followed them here.’
Mr Rogers stepped forward to range himself at their side. ‘We sent for you, sir, and are glad to see you here.’
‘Ah,’ said Ted, his anger cooling quickly in the face of authority. ‘We caught them rascals for you. We didn’t mean to break no laws, just protect ourselves. Ain’t that right, lads? But we got no militia here, your lordship, and when they shot at Squire again, we did fear to wait for you to arrive, else the rogues would hev escaped. But here they be, all took up like rabbits in a trap!’
Mr Sewell spluttered with rage. ‘Lies! All lies! They threatened to hang me!’ He pointed down at the rope with its rough noose at one end, still lying on the ground. ‘Don’t let them get away with it!’
‘That rope was just to frighten him a bit,’ someone shouted from the back of the crowd. ‘Like he frightened our wives and children.’
‘Haven’t you done enough harm?’ Sarah asked Sewell bitterly.
He turned a look on her that was frightening in its malevolence. ‘I haven’t yet begun,’ he said softly, keeping an eye on Lord Tarnly, who was giving orders to his men. ‘You lost your child last time.’ He actually smiled as he spoke those words. ‘Beware for your husband this time! I always get what I want.’
As she fell back, pale with horror, Will launched himself at Sewell. This threatening of his wife, this casual reference to the dead child, was the final straw. It took four men to drag him off Sewell and even then, they had difficulty holding him back.
‘What in God’s name made him attack Sewell like that?’ demanded Lord Tarnly.
‘He were saying how happy he were that Mistress Bedham lost her baby a while back,’ said Ted, ‘An’ that he’d see she lost her husband too this time. Proper villain, he be, your lordship. See as you keep a careful eye on him.’
Lord Tarnly drew himself up to his full height. He wasn’t used to the lower classes telling him how to do his job. ‘You can be sure the due processes of the law will be followed, my good fellow.’
‘And you can be sure, too, that the King’s laws will protect me,’ declared Sewell. ‘My lawyer will know how to act. I am a gentleman, sir, and demand to be treated as such!’
Will struggled again and Sewell laughed in his face. ‘I shall sue you for this attack upon my person and property, Pursley. And I shall win. I shall get the Manor and its land through that, make no doubt about that. I am very well acquainted with the law.’
Sarah took a step backwards, shivering with cold and feeling suddenly defeated. She almost wished that the villagers had managed to extract their vengeance. How could Sewell be so confident, even now? Why did his lordship not do anything? What hope was there for anyone if a villain like Sewell could get off scot-free and his victims suffer the harsh penalties of the law?
She turned away, sick at heart, then swung round again, as a low murmur and hiss of surprise warned her that something else was happening.
Sewell was clutching his throat and clawing at the air, his face suddenly congested and dark with blood. The parson uttered the word, ‘Seizure!’ and would have run to his side, but Ted caught hold of his coat and yanked him back. ‘Beggin’ your pardon, Parson, but we wouldn’t want you to get hurt when he falls.’
Watched in silence by the people he had wronged and by the newly-arrived militia, and helped by none of them, not even his own son, Sewell sank to his knees, still clawing at the air and uttering incomprehensible gurgling sounds.
He writhed on the ground, but still no one moved to help him. They didn’t even stir. It was as if they were all held in some invisible grip.
The expressions on the villagers’ faces made Sarah shudder, for they showed a savage, gloating satisfaction, eyes gleaming in the fitful light of the flares from the torches, earth-stained hands stilled on their makeshift weapons.
Even Lord Tarnly made no move to help the man, for the general paralysis seemed to have affected him and his militia as much as the villagers.
Finally, after struggling half to his feet again, Sewell toppled over, twitched once or twice and was still.
Only them did Ted allow Mr Rogers to move forward. No one else moved as the parson bent over the body and closed the staring, bulging eyes, then bowed his head in prayer. He had seen death too often not to recognise it now.
A long sigh of primeval satisfaction rippled through the crowd and Prue buried her face in Sam’s shoulder, sobbing aloud in utter relief.
Will took Sarah in his arms. His voice was hoarse with emotion. ‘I couldn’t bear it when he said that to you. I’d have killed him for it if I could!’
Lord Tarnly jerked back into control of himself, coughed to hide his emotion and moved over to join the parson. It seemed to his lordship that justice had been done tonight by a power greater than his own.
Behind him, Sarah put her arms round her husband. ‘Will, Will, I couldn’t live without you. I love you so!’
‘And I love you, my dearest lass!’
Mrs Jenks sighed quietly at the devotion on their faces.
Edward Sewell remained near the front door, shivering and shuddering. His mother stood beside him. Neither made any attempt to approach the body.
Lord Tarnly looked down at the corpse, bent his head for a moment, in respect for the parson’s prayers rather than for the dead man, then took charge. ‘Taking the law into your own hands is not to be encouraged,’ he said loudly, ‘but as you people were going to hand the villains over to me, I will not take you in charge this time.’
There was an audible sigh of relief from the villagers, some of whom had already slipped away to the shelter of the woods.
‘Now, get back to your homes and go about your business peacefully from now on! Some of you will be called upon to bear witness at the inquest.’
He went over to Edward Sewell. ‘I shall leave your father’s body with you, sir. And the inquiry will show whether you have anything to answer for. Do not attempt to leave the district.’
‘I had nothing to do with it,’ said Edward hastily. ‘Nothing! He was a wicked man. We were all terrified of him! Ask my mother! Ask my sister!’
‘Quite,’ said Lord Tarnly, failing to hide his disdain.
‘You don’t have to worry about that one, Your Lordship,’ called out a hoarse voice. ‘He’s a proper mammy’s boy, that one is! Only good for splashin’ folk with mud an’ swimmin’ in horse troughs, he is!’ Derisive laughter followed the words, dispersing the last of the anger.
Lord Tarnly coughed to hide a chuckle, then turned to his men. ‘Take the prisoners away. You two, stay here with me. The rest of you, return to Sawbury with your officers.’
‘You’ll want to take this one with you, though,’ Joe Haplin said, shoving Hugh forward. ‘We caught him trying to sneak off. He killed a man today at my shed. We all saw him
do it.’
Lord Tarnly gestured and two of the militia stepped forward smartly.
‘Pretty, ain’t they, in them fancy uniforms?’ said Ted Haplin. ‘Almost makes you want to join that there militia, your lordship.’
Lord Tarnly grinned at the expression of horror on his elegant Captain’s face.
Slowly the tension evaporated and the people dispersed, leaving Edward Sewell looking in vain for someone to help him carry his father’s body inside.
Only then did Mrs Sewell approach Lord Tarnly, plucking at his sleeve to gain his attention. ‘He made me do it,’ she sobbed. ‘Forced me.’
‘Do what, madam?’ he asked gently, beckoning to Mr Rogers to come and help him with the distraught woman.
Quickly she explained about the forgeries and Will, standing listening nearby, felt his heart twist within him as he learned that his father had indeed been murdered.
‘I’ll pay back all the money. I don’t care if you hang me,’ Mrs Sewell wept, clinging now to the parson. ‘As long as you’ll let me make my peace with God.’
Since Mr Rogers was now shivering with reaction to his exertions, Lord Tarnly detached her hand from the parson’s sleeve and jerked his head to beckon her daughter over. ‘Take your mother inside and put her to bed. Parson will come over tomorrow to offer her his counsel.’
They two women turned and made their way slowly towards the house, the mother still sobbing as she stumbled along.
‘I don’t intend to bring the law down upon her, unless you insist, Bedham,’ he murmured. ‘She was coerced into helping, I’m sure, and she’s no danger to anyone now. You will, of course, get the money they falsely claimed from your father back, if that’s at all possible.’
Will bowed his head for a moment. ‘Let her go. But I hope she leaves the district, for I doubt I could ever be civil to her.’ The sight of her would always remind him of his father’s murder.
From behind him someone cleared his throat and he turned to see Edward Sewell.
‘I’ll be selling the Hall as soon as I can.’
