A Stranger in Honeyfield

by Anna Jacobs

  Yes, life was good here and he wasn’t going to let anyone upset the apple cart. So Mr Scraggy Gentleman had better watch out.

  When Sal had settled her little daughter, she went to join the others in the kitchen. ‘A man was prowling round the gardens just now.’

  They fell instantly silent.

  ‘Cole went after him but I looked out of the window and Cole’s back now so the man must have gone away.’

  So Matron called Cole in and asked him what he’d found out about their latest intruder.

  ‘I followed him to the gate. He had a car down the road. I’m pretty sure he’s a gentleman. Don’t ask me how I know, there’s just something about the way some of them move around, as if they own the world.’

  ‘I wonder who he is and where he’s from?’

  ‘I don’t know, but as soon as he caught sight of you, Georgie love, he left. Made me wonder if you were the one he came for.’

  ‘Oh, no!’ She looked at him in dismay.

  They gave Cole a cup of cocoa and started to go through the incident all over again.

  ‘I think we should take some extra precautions, Matron,’ Cole finished up. ‘If this fellow brings others back with him, well, I’m a good fighter but I’m only one man.’

  ‘What exactly did the man look like?’ Georgie asked. ‘And what sort of car was he driving?’

  ‘There was enough moonlight to see that he was tall and very thin. Oh, and I noticed he had a sort of sway to his shoulders as he walked. Strange way of walking, I thought. I didn’t see the car, just heard it.’

  ‘Oh, heavens!’

  They all turned to look at her questioningly.

  ‘That sounds like Francis,’ she said with a shiver. ‘The man I used to be engaged to. If he’s found me, I’ve got to leave. He can be nasty when he wants something.’

  ‘Don’t go away,’ Sal said. ‘It’ll be easier for us to keep you safe here.’ She gave Georgie a sudden hug. ‘Aw, don’t look like that. Them ladies who run this place will pay for extra help. They know what it’s like. Saints, them Greyladies are, or just as good as. And so are the others who help them.’

  Georgie still didn’t look convinced, so Matron patted her hand. ‘We’ve had situations like this before. There are things we can do.’

  ‘What exactly?’

  ‘I’ll tell you tomorrow, when it’s all organised. There are one or two men from the village who help us from time to time. I’ll tell you who it is once I’ve seen who has the time to help. One thing is fairly sure: they’re not likely to come after you in daylight. Too many people knocking about in the village and the fields nearby.’

  Cole put his mug down. ‘Thanks for that, Sal. I’ll go and take a little walk round, make sure he hasn’t come back.’

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Sal said. ‘I’ll hear him before you do if he has.’

  ‘We’ll use your hearing tomorrow night too.’ He nodded to the group of women and left.

  Georgie went to bed soon afterwards, but she didn’t sleep well. There was something nasty about Francis and she was quite sure he’d stop at nothing to get her back. But there wasn’t anything he could say or do that would make her say the words that bound her to him for life in marriage.

  She’d been fooled by him once, thinking him a pleasant enough man, but she wouldn’t be fooled again. He was a friend of her brother Spencer. That said something about the type of man he was.

  In the morning Georgie got up early, helped clean the house, which the children always seemed able to turn topsy-turvy within minutes, and did the reading lessons with Sal and Jean.

  The two women were pathetically grateful, eager to learn to read properly and improving daily, it seemed, because they took the books away and practised together over and over. The sight of them sitting with their heads bent over a book brought tears to her eyes.

  When she went outside she was surprised to see a large, fierce-looking black and tan dog lying in the sunshine. She wasn’t sure who it belonged to or how friendly it was, so stayed by the door and waited to see what it would do.

  A man came out of the stables, a small lean fellow with a twisted face as if he’d been badly injured at some stage. But the eyes that looked out of that wreck of a face were kind and calm.

  ‘I’m Patrick Doohey, miss. Come and meet my friend Jago.’ He snapped his fingers and the dog ambled over to stand beside him, higher than his waist. ‘Shake hands with the lady, Jago.’

  It obligingly held out one huge paw, so Georgie shook it.

  ‘He’ll know you now,’ Patrick told her quietly in a lilting Irish accent. ‘If I ask him to shake hands, it means the person is a friend. He’s never made a mistake about that. Best dog I ever had, my Jago is.’

  ‘And what does he do if someone comes along who isn’t a friend?’

  ‘Depends what they’re doing. If he’s on guard, as he is now, and they try to pass him, he won’t let them. And if I give the word he’ll knock them down and stand over them.’ He patted her arm, as if gentling her. ‘Don’t you be afraid of him, now. He’s here to help with the guarding of you.’

  ‘That’s good to know.’

  Two of the children came rushing round the corner just then and stopped in terror at the sight of the dog.

  Georgie watched as Patrick introduced them and went through the same shaking hands ritual, which they clearly enjoyed.

  ‘Go and tell the others to come and meet Jago,’ he told them. ‘He can’t play with you, though, because he’s on guard duty here, keeping everyone safe.’

  Matron came out to join them and Georgie asked, ‘Is this one of the precautions you were telling me about?’

  ‘It is. We do our best to look after our visitors, whoever comes after them. And Patrick hires his dog out for guard duties. He’s well known in the area. We’re lucky he has a few days free and can help us.’

  Georgie felt better after that, but still there was a shadow of worry lingering. Her mother could be very cunning. And didn’t like to give up when she wanted something.

  Oh dear! Georgie did wish she could live a normal life and feel safe again. She let out a soft huff of laughter as she contemplated this. When had she ever lived a normal life? It seemed as if she’d been at her mother’s beck and call ever since she was old enough to run an errand.

  In another part of the village of Honeyfield, Tez stopped his car in Pear Tree Lane and saw Isabella watching for him from the window. The way she instantly looked more cheerful and waved to him vigorously made him decide to take a risk.

  He knew how lonely she felt at times and had wondered about asking if he could stay here permanently and maybe after a while he would be able to … No, he mustn’t do anything about that yet.

  She opened the door with a beaming smile and he stood by the car for a moment, enjoying the sight of her pretty face. There was something about being pregnant that seemed to give a woman an inner glow, if that wasn’t too fanciful a thing to say.

  As he was about to go inside the happy moment was shattered when another car pulled up in the street. To his horror he saw that Spencer Cotterell was driving it.

  Tez hurried down the path, not sure whether she’d noticed who the newcomer was, but of course she had. Her face had gone white and she looked horrified.

  It was no use pretending they hadn’t seen him, so Tez made sure he was slightly in front of her as they waited to see what he wanted.

  Spencer got out of the car, walking purposefully towards the house. He stopped a couple of paces away and stared from one to the other, letting the silence add to the tension.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked in the end.

  ‘I’ve come to see you and find out if what I was told was true. And I see it is.’ He stared down at her belly.

  ‘I have no desire to see you or speak to you, so you can just go away again,’ she said firmly.

  ‘Oh, I think you do need to speak to me. And you should invite me in to do it, Bella, because what I ha
ve to tell you will be better done in private.’

  She exchanged glances with Tez, who could only shrug and leave it up to her.

  ‘Come in, then.’

  Tez followed her in and made sure he still stayed between her and Cotterell.

  When she indicated an armchair, the visitor stood in front of it and waited for her to sit down on the sofa opposite him before sitting down. Tez took the place next to her on the sofa.

  ‘Very cosy here, aren’t you?’ Spencer sneered. ‘Didn’t take you long to find another protector, did it, Miss Bella Jones? I’ve been asking around in the village and it seems he comes here every weekend. And you’re calling yourself Mrs Tesworth. Tut! Tut!’

  Tez could see her blushing but there was nothing he could do or say to help the embarrassment of her position. Not yet, anyway.

  Cotterell continued speaking, his tone mocking. ‘The people in the shop think it’s sweet how much in love you two are and how you miss your husband when he’s gone. Wonder what they’ll say when I tell them you’re not married but living in sin?’

  He looked round the room. ‘You set her up nicely here, didn’t you, Tesworth? Or did she use the money she got out of my mother for the Malmesbury house?’

  Isabella found her voice. ‘If you’ve only come here to sneer at me, you can leave immediately.’

  ‘Oh, I’m going to do more than sneer, don’t worry. I’m going to talk about that.’ He jabbed one forefinger towards her stomach. ‘I’m assuming it’s Philip’s child.’

  ‘None of your business whose it is,’ she said.

  He turned to Tez. ‘I doubt it’s yours, because you and she didn’t get together till after Philip was killed. And reluctant as I am to admit it, I doubt she cheated on him.’

  Isabella laid one hand on Tez’s arm. ‘Don’t discuss anything with him.’

  He stared at her and gave a quick nod.

  She turned back to her visitor. ‘Please get on with what you’re here to say, Mr Cotterell. I’m sure you have a purpose in coming here but I find you a most unpleasant visitor and shall be glad to see you go.’

  He leant back and grinned at them, suddenly even more happy that he’d pushed his mother into agreeing to this. ‘Oh, you’re right. I’m not just here for a social visit; I’m here on some rather important official business.’ He pulled an envelope out. ‘This is from our lawyer, giving you notice that my mother and I intend to claim that child and bring it up properly, instead of leaving it here in a nest of sin.’

  ‘What on earth makes you think I’ll give up my child?’

  ‘You won’t have a choice. It’s his considered opinion that no court will support a whore like you bringing up a Cotterell when the child could be raised by a decent family of blood relations.’

  Tez thought longingly of punching him in the face. ‘Shall I throw him out for you?’

  She shook her head but didn’t speak.

  Spencer waited but she still said nothing and he seemed disappointed by that. ‘Aren’t you even going to comment?’

  ‘Not till I’ve seen my own lawyer.’

  ‘Won’t do any good. You don’t have the moral standing to fight back.’

  He tossed a large envelope on to the small table between them and stood up. ‘Look after yourself for the next few months. We want a healthy child out of this.’

  He sauntered out of the house and it was Tez who accompanied him and then came back and locked the front door.

  When he went back to Isabella, he was expecting to find her in tears. Instead she was looking both angry and fierce.

  ‘Aren’t you going to open the envelope?’ he asked gently.

  ‘You do it. I’m trying to keep calm, for the baby’s sake, but my heart is racing and I feel as if I’m going to explode with anger.’

  He opened the envelope and read the letter, but it merely said in long, legal phrases what Spencer had summed up for them.

  ‘I’ll have to run away,’ she said. ‘But I’ll need to do it carefully so that they can never, ever find me and my child.’

  ‘There is another alternative.’

  ‘Oh? What?’

  ‘You could marry me. I’m sure I’m respectable enough for any court and we can say the baby’s mine. We won’t be able to claim that we were already married, but we can get a special licence and do the job as quickly as is possible.’

  ‘Oh, Tez. How kind of you! But I won’t take advantage of you like that. It wouldn’t be fair to you.’

  ‘On the contrary, I fell in love with you almost from the minute I set eyes on you. I couldn’t do anything about it so soon after Philip’s death, but I dared to hope that you might turn to me. I was waiting for you to have the baby before I proposed. Well, you’ve needed time to get over your grief.’

  ‘Do you ever stop missing someone?’ she asked, almost as if she was speaking to herself.

  ‘I’ll never stop missing Philip. But now, well, I’m asking you please to marry me and let me help you keep and raise his child. You will both be loved, believe me.’

  She stared at him in shock as it sank in that he really did care deeply for her.

  ‘I know you don’t love me, Isabella, but we’re good friends and I’m sure we can live happily together. I’d be delighted to act as father to Philip’s child. I’ve already told you I want to be a godfather, after all.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘I hoped you’d grow to love me before I proposed, but thanks to the Cotterells there won’t be time for that. Isabella darling, please marry me.’

  Chapter Sixteen

  Spencer drove home feeling pleased about what he’d done. It had been sheer pleasure to confront her while holding the whip hand. He’d been dying to get back at that bitch.

  He went into the sitting room and found his mother staring into space.

  She jumped in shock as he spoke to her. ‘Sorry. What was that you said?’

  ‘I asked if you were all right, Mother. You appear to be a bit, um, distracted.’

  ‘It’s your father. He’s coming down tomorrow or the day after. He’s not sure which yet. He wants to speak to us both, says it’s important.’ She couldn’t hide a quick shiver.

  He sat down, feeling surprised, studying her carefully. She gave the impression today of being even more afraid of his father than he’d realised. Well, the old man could be severe, but he would never actually hurt a woman, surely? ‘Why are you so upset about that? You probably won’t be seeing him again for years afterwards.’

  ‘Because I don’t know what he really wants. He doesn’t come down here for years and then suddenly I get a phone call, not from him but from his secretary, saying he’ll be arriving on Friday or Saturday afternoon, he doesn’t yet know which. It’s bound to be something bad that brings him here. It always is.’

  Spencer waited but she didn’t reveal anything else, so he said lightly, ‘Well, he’ll no doubt tell us what the matter is on Friday.’

  ‘I’d rather be prepared before I face him.’

  ‘You’re not making sense. Prepared for what?’

  ‘Well, for one thing, what we’re going to do about that woman. How did it go today?’

  He leant back, smiling. ‘I shocked her rigid, and serve her damned well right. After all, the lawyer told us she won’t stand a chance against us in a court.’

  ‘I know. But I’ve been thinking about what you’re planning. I don’t want to be responsible for bringing up a child again. I’ve done that before and it’s an utter bore. And anyway, I’ll probably be dead before it grows up.’

  ‘A bit late for saying that, don’t you think? But if you won’t take on the job, I’ll do it.’ His father surely wouldn’t complain about them bringing up Philip’s child and making him the heir.

  ‘You’re not in good enough health.’

  ‘I’m not on my last legs yet and I can hire a nanny, can’t I?’

  She looked at him and he saw tears well in her eyes. ‘You’re getting weaker, Spencer. I can’t
help noticing.’

  ‘I’ll live long enough to bring up a child, believe me. I know I probably won’t live as long as you will, but I’m still able to enjoy life.’

  ‘But what if you don’t live long enough? I can’t see your father taking over the child-rearing. He was never interested in you.’

  ‘Or the twins.’

  ‘That was because I told him to stay away if he wanted me to mother them.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘You don’t need to understand the details and it’s better if you don’t.’ She breathed in deeply. ‘Anyway, we can discuss that after we find out what he wants. Go through what happened today in detail: what you told her, how she looked, I want to know every single word she spoke, every expression that crossed her face.’

  ‘She looked to be in blooming health, damn her!’ But he went through everything he could remember, hoping this information would calm his mother down.

  It didn’t. She went on and on about it, worrying that they’d jumped in too quickly with the Jones woman when there must be another three or four months to go before the birth. Then she asked him to repeat the details of their encounter all over again, for heaven’s sake.

  You’d think from his mother’s comments that he had done something wrong. And yet, it had been she who’d brought in the lawyer and then insisted on giving the woman warning straight away. She’d said it would reconcile the woman to losing her baby. She’d also hired a local man the lawyer knew of in Honeyfield to keep watch on things in the village from now on.

  He mentioned the man he knew of and she said no, she wanted this lawyer’s man to do it because he had family in Honeyfield and would fit in well.

  ‘Oh, very well!’ He’d give his man a few bob to pacify him, in case he needed to use him later.

  His mother hadn’t mentioned his sister Georgina for days, so he tried to turn the conversation to her, because she needed dealing with as well. But his mother refused point-blank to talk about her, which was strange. You’d think she’d want her daughter back, but she just waved one hand dismissively and said she had enough problems on her plate and would leave that ungrateful girl for Francis to deal with.