Alex passed the collected flowers to her, freeing his hands to pick more.
“Màiri is her name,” he said, “but in the Gaelic, if you address her by name, or say hello, then the first letter sound changes and it sounds like a v instead of an m. I dinna ken why, it’s just how it is.”
“It sounds lovely,” Sarah said.
“Aye, but ye must no’ use it yourself,” he warned her. “Anyone with the Gaelic would ken instantly, and you’d bring suspicion on yourself.”
There was so much to remember to forget.
“How did you do it?” she asked. “How did you become Sir Anthony and never make a mistake?”
“I made mistakes, plenty of them, but as long as you stay calm, you can cover them,” he said. “You treat it as a game, that helps. It’s a wee bit like being an actor on a stage – while you’re playing the part you have to believe it completely, become that person. Just as I’m about to become your cousin Adam again, for a short time, at least,” he said, switching smoothly from a soft Scottish accent to a broad Manchester one. “Is that Summer Hill?”
Sarah followed the direction of his gaze and gasped. In the distance, where last time she had seen a building site, was a large white three storey Palladian villa, set in acres of lush green countryside. To one side of it was a huge hole, with an equally huge pile of excavated earth near it. Tiny figures could be seen moving to and fro across the grass.
“It’s beautiful!” she said, awestricken.
“It is,” Alex agreed. “They’re moving up in the world. And very well deserved.”
“Maybe it would be better if you stayed here,” Sarah said doubtfully. “There are a lot of people around. I’ll go with Màiri and see what I can find out.”
By way of answer he linked his arm through hers.
“Are you ashamed of your country cousin Adam, then?” he asked. “Maybe I can ask if there’s a job for me here.”
She looked up at him, horror-struck, and then he winked and she realised he was joking. You treat it as a game. She sighed, and they continued their slow progress towards the distant house.
They had to ask three workers before they finally located Caroline in one corner of the garden, supervising the planting of some shrubs. When she saw the flower-bedecked threesome coming toward her she waved to them.
“Sarah? Good grief! What are you doing here? Is everything all right?” she asked. She smiled at Màiri, and then looked at the man accompanying them, who instantly removed his hat and executed a somewhat amateur bow.
“Yes!” Sarah replied energetically, noting that several people were in earshot. “This is my cousin, Adam, who was working in Newcastle but came to see me when he found out I’d adopted Mary. I thought it would be nice to take him and Mary out for a few days in the country, so we came to see you. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, of course I don’t!” Caroline said. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Adam.” She showed no reaction whatsoever to the left side of his face, which was still a mass of scabs.
Adam bowed again.
“Your obedient servant, my lady,” he said humbly.
“Mary picked these flowers for you,” Sarah continued, taking the large bunch of assorted wildflowers from Adam, combining them with her own and handing them across to Caroline, who accepted them as though they were the most expensive hothouse flowers in the world. She knelt down on the grass, heedless of her white cotton gown.
“Mary, are these for me?” she asked.
The little girl nodded, beaming.
“They are beautiful! Like you,” Caroline said, kissing the child. “Come, we must put these in water. They will look lovely in the library. And Freddie will be delighted to see you. He’s in the nursery right now.” She stood again. “The library, nursery and master bedroom are the only rooms completely finished at the moment,” she continued as they started to walk across the grass in the direction of the house. “The salon is nearly complete though, and I’ve ordered some Bohemian crystal chandeliers that Wilhelmina recommended. They’ll look wonderful when they’re installed. Are you ready for some refreshments?”
“That would be very kind, my lady. Thank you,” said Adam, gazing all around in obvious wonder. “You have a lovely house. Is all this land yours too?”
“My name is Caroline. There are no ‘my lady’s’ here, especially where Sarah’s family is concerned. Yes, all this is mine, up to the other side of that small hill. You must stay for the night, and then tomorrow I’ll show you the grounds. The guest rooms are not finished yet, but we can make you comfortable, at least.”
Sarah looked distinctly uncomfortable at being asked to stay the night, in view of the circumstances.
“I wouldn’t feel right sleeping in a big house,” Adam said. “Where I worked, I used to sleep in the stables of a night.”
“Nonsense! I wouldn’t hear of a guest sleeping in the stables. Sarah is a good friend to me, and if you’ve come all the way from Newcastle to see her I expect that you think highly of each other.”
“That we do, my la…Caroline,” he said. “She’s done a lot for me. Trust her with my life, I would.”
Sarah flushed.
“What do you do for your living, Adam?” Caroline asked.
“I don’t have no special trade, but I can turn my hand to lots of things,” he said. “I’m very adep…adapt…er…”
“Adaptable?” Caroline ventured.
“That’s it!” Adam smiled shyly. “That’s what Mr Allbrow – he was the man what I was working for in Newcastle – said to me.”
“And when do you have to return to Newcastle, Adam?”
“Oh no, er…Caroline, I’m not working for him no more. I haven’t got no work right now. I’m here to see Sarah, and hoping to find news of an old friend, too.”
“Caroline, can we have a talk in private?” Sarah asked somewhat desperately, unable to bear this pretence for much longer. It was one thing to lie to the Duke of Newcastle; quite another to do it to a friend, particularly when the lie was going to be exposed in a few minutes.
“Of course!” Caroline replied. “We can talk in the library. I’m expecting Edwin home at any time, so hopefully you’ll be able to meet him too, Adam. The session ended yesterday, and we’re both going to spend the summer here. Ah, Toby!” she continued, addressing an extremely elderly and frail-looking man in livery, who was standing at the entrance to the house, and who bowed deeply on seeing his mistress approaching.
“Miss Browne has brought her cousin Adam to visit!” Caroline bellowed, to the obvious alarm of that cousin. “Can you arrange for refreshments in the library? And take Mary up to the nursery?”
“Indeed, Lady Caroline,” Toby said. Very reverently he took the little girl’s hand, and together they began to make their way at a snail’s pace up the beautiful curved mahogany staircase. Caroline led her visitors through a door on the left of the marble-floored entrance hall, and into the library. Adam and Sarah looked around the room with obvious pleasure.
Two of the four walls were lined with bookshelves, on which at the moment stood only a handful of books. There was a white marble fireplace in the centre of one wall, with alcoves on either side also lined with currently empty bookshelves. The visible walls and the ceiling were painted a warm peach colour, with white cornice and mouldings. Under the large sash window stood a writing desk, and on either side of the fireplace was a sofa, striped in peach and white brocade, with a tea table in between. Caroline sat down on one sofa and beckoned her guests to sit on the other. Sarah sat down opposite her friend. On Caroline’s invitation Adam took off his coat, placing it across the arm of the sofa, his hat on top.
“Toby’s deaf as a post,” Caroline continued. “I’m sorry Adam, I should have warned you. But he’s an old retainer and I can’t bring myself to pension him off. I think he’d die if he didn’t feel useful any more. But that means we can talk in private without any danger of him hearing when he eventually arrives with the refreshmen
ts. What is it you want to talk about, Sarah?”
Sarah flushed scarlet.
“Er…” she began, then looked at Adam, who was still standing, ostensibly admiring the décor.
Caroline smiled.
“Adam,” she began, “if you are hoping to find work here, I always have need of good—”
“Caroline,” he interrupted in a completely different voice from that of cousin Adam, more cultured, but still English, “do you not know me?”
She looked up at him, clearly puzzled.
“How should I know you?” she said. “I have never met you before.”
He sighed, and then, still standing, shifted position slightly, and in that shifting he seemed to shrink a few inches, and his limbs lost their ungainly awkwardness, becoming loose, languid and effeminate. He bowed, this time expertly and elaborately.
“Oh, my dear Caroline!” he trilled. “I simply could not bear it if I were to discover you have forgotten me, even after such a prolonged absence!”
Caroline froze, her face a picture of shock. Sarah closed her eyes, dreading what was to come. Sir Anthony straightened and waited, with no sign of the tension he must be feeling. When the reaction came, after an endless moment, it was not what either Sarah or Alex had been expecting.
Caroline blinked once, and then standing, she crossed the few feet of room between them and took him in a fierce embrace.
“You’re alive!” she cried. “Oh thank God, thank God!”
Still holding him, she leaned back, looking up into his startled blue eyes. Tears brimmed in her own hazel eyes, and she gave him a watery smile. Then she released him and stepped back, as if ashamed of her sudden display of affection.
“You bastard, Anthony,” she said, anger in her voice now. “Where the hell have you been? We thought you were dead. Beth thought you were dead. Wait,” she said commandingly when he made to speak. She turned to Sarah. “Have you told him what she went through for him?”
“Yes. I—” Sarah began.
“Well then,” Caroline interrupted, turning back to him, “why didn’t you let her know you were alive? You could have found a way, surely? She wanted to die, to join you! I could kill you myself! What the hell—”
“I didn’t know!” he said loudly, cutting her off. “I thought she was dead. No, I knew she was dead. If I hadn’t been sure, I would have found a way to get to her. I didn’t know, Caroline, I swear to you!”
There came a light knock on the door, which then opened.
“Sit down,” Caroline commanded, and the young man, instantly Adam again in the presence of Toby, obeyed. The three of them sat in silence while the elderly man tottered across the room with the rattling tea tray, placing it on the table between them. There was tea and a plate of tiny currant cakes. The minute Toby had left the room, Caroline spoke.
“You’d better tell me what happened, now,” she said. “Because happy as I am that you’re not dead, Anthony, I can’t say I think well of you. Anthony isn’t even your name, is it?”
“No, but it’s as good as any, in private at least. I’m sorry, Caroline, truly I am,” Alex said. “I didn’t want to leave you in the way I did that night at the Winters’ without any explanation, but I—”
“I’m not angry about that, you fool,” she cut in. “I know why you left so quickly that night. I understand that. I even understand that you were upset about lying to us for over two years, although I can tell you now that Edwin doesn’t. He feels used by you and betrayed. What I want to know is why you let Beth rot in prison for over a year. How could you know she was dead, when she wasn’t?”
“There are things I can’t tell you, Caroline, can’t tell anyone,” he said. “But someone I trust completely saw the redcoat shoot her in the head, and told me she was dead. That person believed she was telling the truth and I had no reason to think otherwise, until two weeks ago.”
“Two weeks ago? What happened two weeks ago?”
“Are you going to give me up to the authorities, Caroline?” he asked bluntly.
“Of course I’m not, you bloody idiot!” she said. “Although I probably should. No, I’m going to listen to what you have to say, and then, depending on what it is, I’m going to see if I can help you. Without putting Edwin at any risk whatsoever,” she added.
“I don’t want any help,” Alex said. “I didn’t want Sarah to come here with me, but she’s as stubborn as Beth ever was. The last thing I want is to put those I love in any more danger than I already have.”
Caroline’s eyes softened.
“Go on then,” she said. “Tell me what happened two weeks ago, and why you’re here. And have a cake. It’s a miracle Toby got them here without dropping them. They won’t survive the return trip to the kitchen if you don’t eat them.”
Caroline poured the tea, and Alex ate a cake while he considered what to say.
“Two weeks ago,” he said finally, “I met Richard, by chance. We had a…chat.”
“A chat,” Caroline said drily. “And what was the result of this chat?”
“He told me that Beth was alive. He told me that she was with child, and what he did to her,” Alex said. He swallowed, hard, then continued. “He said that she was in Newgate Prison, or was a few months ago. So I came to London, to the only person I knew I could trust.” He glanced at Sarah, who blushed and smiled. “I intended just to find out if she knew where Beth was and then leave, but things didn’t quite go as planned.”
“Lydia Fortesque came in and caught us together.” Sarah spoke for the first time, relaxing a little now it was clear Caroline was more surprised than angry.
“Lydia?” Caroline said. “Oh God. It’ll be all over London by now.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Sarah said. “I told her he was my cousin, and then he showed her his face and she lost interest. But if she does talk, she’ll just say that my cousin Adam is horribly scarred. No one in her circle will care.”
“What have you done to your face?” Caroline asked. “Is that why you wore so much paint?”
“No,” Alex said. “This is a disguise. It’ll heal in a few days. I rubbed my face in a briar.”
Caroline whistled through her teeth in admiration.
“And what about Richard?” she asked. “Does he think you’re Sarah’s cousin Adam?”
“Richard doesn’t think anything,” Alex said coldly. “He’s dead.”
Caroline’s eyes widened.
“You killed him?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Well done,” Caroline said, smiling. “Someone should have done it long ago. Does Anne know?”
“Not yet, but she will, in the normal way a wife gets to hear of a soldier’s death,” Alex replied. “Caroline, I need to tell you something. You may not believe me, but I need to say it anyway.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“When I became Sir Anthony and friended you both, I did it hoping to find out information that might be useful for the Stuart cause. I hated the Elector so much that I didn’t think it possible to like anyone who supported him at all. I thought Hanoverians were all arrogant and pompous.”
“Like Edward and Bartholomew,” Caroline said, grinning.
“Yes. I was very naïve. I realise that now, because I came to like and admire quite a few of them. But I came to love you and Edwin. Until I met Beth, you were the only people in London I thought of as friends.” He leaned forward earnestly. “I swear to you I never passed anything Edwin told me in confidence on to the Stuarts, once we became friends. I continued to deceive you because I had to, but I tried not to do anything that would compromise you if I was discovered.”
“You compromised all of us, from the king down, and in doing so compromised none of us,” Caroline murmured. “Highbury told me that. He was right, wasn’t he?”
Alex smiled.
“Yes, he was right. As I said, when I visited Sarah I intended only to ask where Beth was and then leave. But then I had to become her cousin,
temporarily. Sarah wanted to come here alone today, to find out if you’d heard anything about Beth. She told me that you’re trying to discover where she is. But I insisted on coming with her because I wanted to tell you myself that I’m sorry. And thank you for everything you’ve done for Beth.”
“And now you have,” she said. “I believe you. And I forgive you.”
“Have you heard anything about Beth?” Sarah finally put the question they’d come here to ask. To their surprise, Caroline blushed scarlet. She looked down at her hands resting in her lap for a long moment, considering.
Sarah, sitting next to Alex, could sense the almost unbearable tension in him as he waited for Caroline to answer. But he made no move to force her to speak. The silence stretched out, palpable in the stillness of the room. Just as Sarah thought that she, for one, could wait no longer, Caroline looked up, straight into Alex’s eyes.
“This is very difficult,” she said. “The last time we saw Beth she told us she wanted to see Newcastle, to do the right thing. We took that to mean she was going to denounce you. After that we heard no more of her, and when Edwin tried to find out what had happened it soon became very clear that someone in authority wanted her whereabouts to remain a secret.”
“You mean Newcastle,” Alex said.
Caroline nodded. She took a deep breath, let it out on a sigh and then came to a decision.
“Beth didn’t denounce you,” she said. “She told Newcastle that Richard knew you were a spy, that you paid for his commission to buy his silence, and that when Daniel found out about you, Richard warned you so that you could escape arrest. Then she told Newcastle those were the last words she’d speak to him.”
Alex closed his eyes, his mouth a thin line. In his lap, his hands curled into fists.
“What did he do to her?” he asked. The desire to do violence radiated from him and both women felt it, and shivered.
“I will tell you. I have to, I think,” Caroline said. “But you must be careful how you act on it, Anthony. Edwin found out by unconventional means, and if that comes to light his career will be over.”
Tides of Fortune Page 19
