Alex recognised the voice as Graves but he sounded so upset, that Alex couldn’t rule out the possibility of him being coerced into waking them.
“What’s wrong?” he called as he pulled his nightshirt back on.
“There’s a fire! Please, you must come quickly!”
Now that Graves had said it, Alex could detect a faint odour of smoke, so he risked unlocking the door and opening it a fraction of an inch. The smell was stronger with the door open but the fire evidently wasn’t close.
“The west wing,” Graves explained.
“The library?” Alex couldn’t countenance losing his library.
“We think the lightning must have struck it and started the fire. All the servants have been awoken and are trying to put the flames out but we need every pair of hands.”
Alex turned to Helen, who had already put on her own nightgown.
“Stay here and lock the door behind me,” he ordered, then left, rushing after Graves.
When he got to the library he could see that the staff had formed two lines, one to the well pump by the main kitchen and one to the manmade waterfall in the grounds, and bucket after bucket was being passed down the line, through the window into the library and then back again.
Easily half the room was alight and the buckets of water didn’t seem to be doing any good. Alex could see that it was already too late for this room.
“You men!” he shouted, in order to be heard above the flames.
His voice was hoarse from earlier and the smoke wasn’t helping, but at least the open windows and the skylight, which had shattered, were letting in some fresh air. The men throwing water stopped.
“It’s too far gone,” Alex yelled. “You aren’t making any impact on the flames but we might be able to stop it spreading. Douse this end of the room instead, everything, books, the floorboards, rugs, chairs, everything. Get the water up as high as you can.”
They nodded their agreement and in short order, the lines of servants moved to the far windows, handing the buckets in through them. It still appeared to be raining outside but all that water wasn’t doing them a scrap of good.
One of the men inside was coughing badly now so Alex took over his position as the last in the line.
“Get outside before you breathe too much smoke! Tell the others to start dousing the outside of the structure as well; one pail inside, the next outside, got it?” The man nodded. “And get the water as high as you can!”
The man nodded and left, the sound of his coughs soon drowned out by the sound from the fire.
Then he began to throw buckets over the wood panel walls, his beloved books and their cases. Within minutes he too was coughing but he couldn’t stop, not now. Not yet.
***
As soon as the door closed, Helen rushed to her dressing room, pulling on the first morning dress that she came across.
If Alex thought that she was staying put, he was in for a rude awakening; Graves had said that every hand was needed, and she had two very able hands.
She was trying to do some buttons up at the back of her dress but wasn’t making a very good job of it. Then she jumped as she noticed movement in her periphery vision, but she didn’t overreact like last time.
“It’s all right, Joe, I'm not angry. In fact I could use your help with these damn buttons.”
She felt the edges of her dress being pulled together but it wasn’t until he said, “My pleasure,” that she realised something was very wrong.
Chapter Twenty Four
“What are you doing in here?” she demanded, spinning around before he could close another button. “Get out!”
“I think not.” His voice was as smooth as ever but now there was a menacing undertone to it.
“They need your help,” she urged. “Our help!”
“They don’t need my help, Helen, I'm the one who set the fire.”
Even as her worst suspicions were being confirmed, she couldn’t help but be shocked that he was behind this.
“Clarence, why are you doing this?”
“That’s easy, the same reason I did it before, so that Alex will hang for your murder.”
Now everything began to make a little sense. Emma hadn’t been having an affair, those letters had been left as a motive for Alex to kill her and when he was hanged, Clarence would be in charge of the estate and the boy’s Trust.
“Why not just kill Alex?”
“Because then suspicion would fall on me, and I really don’t like that idea.”
“But your uncle altered the Will-”
“He thought that we could take advantage of a legal loophole and at least delay the inevitable, giving us time to come up with another plan.”
“And I'm your new plan.”
“Yes. The moment you said, ‘I do’, you signed your own death warrant. The authorities might have overlooked one suspicious death, but not two. I intend to make sure that there is more than enough evidence against him to see him hang.”
“Then why did he bring that doctor here? If you were going to kill me, then it wouldn’t matter if our marriage was consummated or not?”
“Charles did that all on his own, I'm afraid. Ridiculous idea and I told him as much, but he believed that the altered Will could stand up in court and that your being unsullied would add weight to the proceedings. I told him that his argument was weak and he would eventually lose a lawsuit, but he was adamant.”
“What is it that you want? Money, power?”
“Both, I want all of it.”
“Why? What did Alex ever do to you?”
“Nothing, but I need the money from his Trust to fund my lifestyle.”
“Why not start your own business, like Alex did?”
“Because killing is easier,” he said with a shrug. “And marrying a fortune is so much more time consuming and tedious than killing for one.”
He withdrew a ten-inch hunting knife from its sheath, which rested over his hip.
“Killing me won’t change anything!” Helen blurted. “Alex removed your name as a Trustee, so you still won’t have access to that money.”
“Unless I kill you before Alex turns thirty, in which case, he never inherits and the rules of his father’s Will shall be followed and the eldest boy, Joseph will inherit. So you see, my father would remain Trustee.”
“Your father?”
“Yes,” he smirked. “It seems that Mother dearest had something of a weakness for Cavendish men and had a torrid affair with Charles.”
“Pearl?”
“Yes, it rather goes against her critical nature, don’t you think? But then, she always was a hypocrite.”
“Did your father know?”
“I have no idea but I doubt it, he treated us both with equal disdain. And besides, I didn’t know until after he had died.”
Helen was rapidly running out of questions and she was finding it hard to think straight. She couldn’t help wondering why she hadn’t locked the door after Alex left, and berated herself for not being more careful. Her dagger was strapped to her left forearm but she couldn’t reach for it without Clarence seeing. She had to keep him talking and wait for an opportunity.
“I… I suppose Charles told you this?”
“He did as a matter of fact, but I have no reason to disbelieve him.”
“What if he’s lying? What if he just said that because he wants your help? He’s been stealing from Alex’s trust fund for years, you know, Alex has suspected for almost ten years. He has to cover his tracks somehow and he’s using you to do it.”
“Oh no, you’ve got it all wrong. Killing Emma was my idea. Charles isn’t exactly a strong man, he would probably have just sloped off to Europe or someplace when Alex turned 30. I decided that we needed Alexander out of the picture and I acted to make it happen.”
“And after Alex hangs, the boys will soon die an untimely death, won’t they? Leaving you to inherit Howard Hall and the Dukedom?” She couldn’t stop her tears from spill
ing over as she considered that possibility.
“Why yes. Young boys are so prone to accidents, aren’t they?” he gave her a chilling smile.
“I won’t let you hurt them!”
Clarence laughed. “Oh, my dear woman, you can’t stop me.”
“I thought you liked me.” She was quickly running out of ways to stall him.
“Of course I like you, you seem a very nice woman and you can be cordial company, although you are awfully straight-laced and dull, at times. Still, you have been very entertaining since your family arrived. You are most welcome, by the way.”
“You sent that marriage announcement to them? Why?”
“Because you were poking your nose into things that were none of your concern. A wrote a few letters to friends and soon heard how your brother had fallen on hard times. I knew they would come running when they heard, and thought that they would help distract you from this detective business that you and Jane were engaged in.”
Helen’s mind was reeling, hardly able to keep up with his revelations. “You don’t have to do this, Clarence. I know you don’t really want to hurt me.”
“This has nothing to do with you, Helen, this is about me and what I want. In an ideal world I would only have to kill people that I dislike to get my inheritance, but I shan’t lose any sleep over your death.”
“How can you be sure that Alex will hang? They protected him last time, they could protect him again.”
“They could,” he shrugged. “But I was trying to be subtle last time; starting rumours of a lover before her death, leaving those love letters in her room as proof, then killing her in such a way that it should be obvious to any doctor, that she had been placed there after she died. When that didn’t seem to work, I spread those awful rumours around town about her being pregnant.”
“It still didn’t work, because no one believed that Alex could be a killer.”
“Trust me, this will work. I intend to rape you in Alex’s bed, and hide a bloody shirt of his somewhere it is sure to be found, I don’t expect they will be too keen to protect him this time, when I leave no room for doubt.”
Some things didn’t make sense though.
“How does sabotaging my horse’s bridle put the blame on Alex?”
“Because hidden in his room, they will find tools that could be used to remove the prong from the buckle, and another pair of reins, almost cut through near the bit.”
“And the family crest?”
“Ah yes, rather ill thought out, that one. It took longer than I had anticipated to loosen the crest enough to make it fall, allowing you time to get out of the way, but I left one of Alexander’s monogrammed handkerchief’s behind, to be discovered at a later date.”
“And what if you’re wrong this time? What if they still believe that Alex isn’t capable of murder?”
“With the evidence that he was involved not only in two attempts on your life, but a bloody shirt from your murder (which will be discovered with the sabotaged reins) I don’t believe that any man could think him innocent.”
“And if they don’t?”
“If they don’t, I suppose I shall just have to arrange an accident for him. Or possibly a suicide. Perhaps, wracked with guilt over killing you, he takes his own life? An opium overdose should do it.”
“Please, Clarence, don’t do this.”
“Are we at the begging stage so soon? I had expected you to try and draw things out for longer. We have plenty of time, you know, it will take them hours to contain that fire, let alone put it out, and Alex will not leave his precious library, not while there’s even a slim chance that something can be salvaged.”
“Please, Clarence, I’ll do anything you want, as long as you don’t hurt the boys. Please!”
“Well this is just tedious.” He grabbed her left wrist and began to drag her back into her bedroom, heading for the door that led to Alex’s room.
Helen struggled valiantly but his grip was too strong. He was holding the cuff of her dress, so she couldn’t even get the dagger out. She tried to pull his hand off, one finger at a time but he turned and delivered a vicious back hand that sent her crashing to the ground. She tasted blood but stayed where she was, trying to think of a better plan.
Her head was to the bed, while Clarence stood between her and Alex’s door and she noticed something under her bed. She was appalled to see Joe hiding there, looking as white as a sheet. Her fear increased tenfold, which she would not have thought possible.
She mouthed ‘Stay there!’ at him, hoping that he could read her lips.
She heard Clarence unlock the adjoining door and got to her feet, before he had to bend down to get her and risk seeing Joe. She ran for the main door and opened it, but Clarence caught her before she got through.
She had managed to get her dagger out however, and she plunged it behind her, hitting him in the thigh. He cried out and his grip loosened, enabling her to get free and run.
She hoped that she might make it to the library before he caught her but even if she didn’t, at least she had got him away from Joe.
She ran down the main staircase, taking the steps three at a time in her haste and she fell at the bottom. She scrambled to her feet as quickly as possible but a quick look behind her showed that Clarence wasn’t following.
She hesitated, wondering if she should go back to her room in case he discovered Joe. She took two steps back up, still debating if returning was a wise move, when she saw Joe appear at the top of the staircase, thankfully alone.
She held her hand towards him, palm forward meaning ‘stop’, which he did.
“Where is he?” she whispered as loudly as she dared.
Joe shrugged. “He ran.”
He must have guessed where she was heading and be taking another route, perhaps hoping to cut her off before she reached Alex. Well now she knew that, she wouldn’t take the direct route that she had planned and instead, would go outside and around to the library wing. She gestured for Joe to descend the stairs and accompany her, since he would be safer with her than all alone. She wasn’t much protection but at least she still had her dagger.
Joe ran down to her and she took his hand as they both ran to the front door.
The night was freezing and they were drenched within five paces but it didn’t slow either of them down.
They kept their distance from the house, just in case Clarence tried to jump out at them from one of the garden doors, and made it safely to the west wing. They both paused as they beheld the scene before them.
The library was well ablaze, with the roof at the end alight. Pails of water were being passed alternately inside, and to two men were standing on their tallest carriage, throwing the water onto the structure, as high as they could.
All thoughts of finding Alex were pushed from her mind for the moment, as fighting this fire took precedence. She had time to tell Alex everything later but for now, she walked towards the line of people who were passing buckets, pails, bowls and jugs of water, to and from the house. She saw Miss Bayer among the line and turned to Joe.
“Is your nanny with Jules?” she asked, a sickening thought occurring to her.
Joe nodded. “She sleeps next door.”
“But is she with him now?”
Joe shrugged. “I crept out just after bedtime and hid under your bed.”
“Find your father,” she ordered. “Tell him that, ‘It’s Clarence’ and that I think he has Jules. And if you see Clarence, run!”
Joe just looked at her.
“Go, now!”
Joe ran off as fast as his legs would carry him, while Helen ran back to the house, heading for the nursery.
Chapter Twenty Five
Alex was outside now, the smoke having become too much for him. The men inside the library were regularly being replaced now, before the smoke and fumes could overpower them.
It took Joe a while to recognise his father, since his face was covered in soot and like most people there,
he was in his nightshirt, so not even his dress stood him apart.
“Joe!” Alex called, and finally he recognised his father beneath the grime and ran to him. “What are you doing out here?” Alex demanded.
“Helen sent me. She says to tell you, ‘It’s Clarence’ and that he has Jules!”
Alex looked nauseous. He hadn’t seen Clarence but then there were a lot of people here and Clarence could have been at the other end of the lines, near the stream or the well pump.
“Where are they?” he demanded. When Joe didn’t answer, Alex grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Where are they!”
“I don’t know!” Joe cried as he burst into tears. “I'm sorry I didn’t tell you but I couldn’t and now I don’t know where Helen is and he’s going to kill her too! I’m sorry, Papa, I'm so sorry!”
Alex registered the words his son spoke but he didn’t have time to dwell on their true meaning. He did the only thing that he had time to do, and pulled his son into a hug. Joe held him tightly.
“This isn’t your fault, Joe, none of it and I'm sorry I shouted at you. I’m not angry with you, just worried for Helen and Jules.”
He couldn’t stay here though and comforting his son any further would have to wait.
“Graves!” Alex called, which triggered a coughing fit. By the time he had stopped, Graves was with them.
“Sir?”
“Keep Joe with you, yes? And if I don’t come back, tell the authorities that Clarence killed Emma, and is trying to kill Helen.”
Graves eyes widened in shock but he did as he was bid and Alex ran, full pelt, towards the house.
***
Helen ran into the nursery but unsurprisingly, both beds were empty. The nanny was lying on the floor, bleeding from a head wound.
“Edith!” Helen knelt down beside her, gently shaking her shoulder. “Edith, wake up!”
The girl didn’t move and Helen wondered if she was dead. Either way, she didn’t have time to dither. Knowing Clarence’s plan had been to kill her in Alex’s bed, Helen headed back to their rooms, sheathing the knife in its scabbard on her arm again. Hopefully Clarence hadn’t seen where she took the knife from and she might get a chance to use it again.
Love, Lies and Murder Page 23
