“I will do nothing to jeopardise Edwin, or you,” Alex said tightly, “but I will know what became of her, and that now.” It was a command, and for the first time since he had leapt the counter in her shop Sarah was afraid of him, of what he might do.
“Beth was transported in April, to Antigua, as an indentured servant. For life,” Caroline said.
Sarah gasped, but Alex, strangely, showed no reaction at all.
“You are sure of this?” he asked quietly.
“Yes,” she replied. “Edwin found out two weeks ago. I couldn’t write to you Sarah, I’m sorry, because he asked me not to tell anyone at all. She must be there by now. We’re trying to find out who bought the indenture, to see if we can buy it back and pay for her to go to France or Italy, where she’d be safe.”
“Thank you,” Alex said quietly. He took his gaze away from Caroline and looked down at his hands, still fisted in his lap. Slowly he uncurled them.
“Yes,” he said quietly, as if to himself, “I can do that.”
“Do what?” Caroline asked.
He stood, suddenly.
“Thank you for telling me, for trusting me. I won’t betray your trust, I promise you that. Sarah, I think you should stay here tonight, but I’ll leave now. I’ll put you in no more danger than I already have. There is no way I can repay what you’ve both done for me.”
He reached for his coat and Caroline smashed her hand down onto it, flattening his hat in the process. Both women stood up.
“Wait a minute,” Caroline said. “I want to know what you intend to do. You owe me that at the very least.”
“Maybe it’s better you don’t know,” he began. “Then, if anyone asks—”
“To hell with that,” Caroline interrupted, her colour rising. “I love Beth and, God help me, I love you too, Anthony. You are not just walking out of here without telling me what you’re going to do, and letting me help if I can.”
“Caroline—”
“She’s right,” Sarah said. “I feel the same way. Beth is our friend, and so are you. We have a right to know what you’re going to do.”
He looked from one to the other, then came to a decision.
“The last time I saw Beth,” he said, “I promised her that when it was over, I’d come for her. Now I know she’s alive, I’m going to keep my promise.”
“You’re going to Antigua?” Caroline asked.
Alex nodded.
“I need to plan, but yes. I’ll go to Antigua, find who has her, and then I’ll do whatever I have to do to bring her back. She has suffered so much because of me. I never wanted that for her. I told her to denounce me if it came to it. She should have done,” he said, looking at the two women. His eyes filled with tears. “I can never make this right,” he whispered, “but I have to try.”
“Oh, Anthony,” Caroline said. She walked across to him, and took him in her arms. “She loves you. She told me that, and that you made her happy. She never regretted marrying you, not for a moment.”
He wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight.
“Thank you for telling me that,” he said into her hair.
The door opened, and Edwin walked in.
He stopped on the threshold, taking in the scene; his wife embracing another man, a tall and very handsome stranger, and Sarah, whose face drained of all colour as she saw him. And then Caroline looked over the man’s shoulder and saw him, and also paled. She wrenched herself from Alex’s embrace and looked at her husband, read the expression on his face.
“Don’t be silly, Edwin, it’s not what you’re thinking,” she said, and sighed. “It’s far worse than that. Come in and shut the door.”
Ignoring her, Edwin stayed in the doorway staring at Alex, who had now turned to face him.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked.
Caroline walked to the doorway, pulled Edwin inside and shut the door firmly.
“Edwin, this is Anthony,” she said bluntly.
Edwin froze for a moment, in much the same way that Caroline had when she had discovered the identity of the visitor. But once the news sunk in, his reaction was very different.
“Anthony?!” he said, his colour rising. “You are Anthony?!”
Alex held his hands up palms outward, in the universal gesture of submission.
“Edwin,” he began, “I—”
“Get out,” Edwin said, his voice low, shaking with suppressed anger.
“Edwin,” Caroline said, “he thought—”
“I don’t care what he thought,” Edwin interrupted. He rounded on Alex. “You absolute bastard,” he said. “After all you’ve done, you have the bloody nerve to come here now, and put us at risk again? Have you any idea what we went through after you skipped the country?” he continued, his voice rising. “Have you any idea what Beth went through, is still going through, because of you? Get out of my house, or by God I’ll call the authorities right now, and see you hang with pleasure!”
To everyone’s surprise, without a word, without even picking up his coat and hat, Alex nodded once, then turned and calmly walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. The three remaining occupants of the room stood looking at the door for a moment. Edwin was breathing heavily, his face still flushed with emotion.
“It’s my fault,” Sarah inserted into the tense silence. “I let him come with me. He wanted to apologise to you both. I shouldn’t have let him come.”
“Please leave, now,” Edwin said, his voice still taut.
She picked up Alex’s coat and hat, and went to the door.
“I’m sorry,” she said tearfully. She opened the door and went out, looked round the entrance hall. There was no one in sight. She would have to try to find the nursery and Màiri herself. She brushed a tear away with the back of her hand and started to climb the stairs. When she was halfway up she heard the library door open and turned back. Caroline came out and beckoned to her.
“Sarah, would Anthony leave without you?” she asked.
“I don’t think so,” Sarah said. “He wouldn’t let me and Màiri walk back to the village alone. He’s probably waiting outside somewhere, at the gate maybe.”
“Good,” Caroline said. “Go to the kitchen and get cook to prepare some food for the journey home, and then get Màiri. Third door on the right,” she elaborated. “Don’t leave yet, though. Let me calm Edwin down. He’s very upset.”
“I’m so sorry, Caroline,” Sarah said. She had never heard Edwin swear before. That he had, and in front of women, showed how enraged he was. Her lip trembled, and tears sparkled on her eyelashes.
“No need to apologise,” Caroline said. “Just give me a few minutes with him.” She went back into the library.
Edwin was pacing up and down, but the moment he heard her come back in he rounded on her.
“What the hell were you doing, embracing the man?” he shouted.
“Surely you don’t think—”
“Of course I don’t!” he roared. “I know you wouldn’t…you know…but Caro, he’s a traitor, for God’s sake!”
“Will you keep your voice down?” Caroline hissed. “He’s Sarah’s cousin Adam, from Newcastle.”
Edwin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“He’s a traitor,” he continued after a moment, in a quieter voice. “He pretended to be our friend for over three years and all the time he was using us, laughing at us behind our backs! How could you even allow him in the house, let alone embrace him?”
“He wasn’t—”
“He married Beth, made her fall in love with him,” he continued fiercely, “and then he left her to face Cumberland and Newcastle, knowing that they’d do anything to break her, and knowing that, poor girl, she loved him enough to defy them, whatever the cost.”
“Edwin—”
“He doesn’t care about anything or anyone except saving his own skin. He—”
“Edwin, will you shut up!” Caroline shouted, loud enough that Toby, passin
g through the hall, heard her. She moved across to her husband, took his hands in hers.
“Calm down, and listen to me for a minute,” she said. “Hear me out, and then if you still feel the same I’ll go out and tell him never to contact us again.”
“He’s still here?” Edwin said incredulously.
“He won’t let Sarah walk back alone.”
“I don’t see why not. She got him in to see you, what further use does he have for her?”
“Edwin,” Caroline said warningly.
“Very well,” he said. “I’ll hear you out.” He sat down heavily on the sofa and leaned back. She sat opposite and told him everything that had passed between them since Anthony and Sarah had arrived at the house. After she’d finished he sat quietly for a moment, taking in what she’d said.
“You told him that she was in Antigua,” he said.
“Yes, I did. I know you said I must keep it a secret, but I had to tell him, I think. I know he fooled us all with his impersonation of Sir Anthony, and I know he must be a very good liar, but I believed him when he said he never passed anything you told him back to the Stuarts. I also believe he’ll do whatever he needs to do to find Beth. He’s hardly going to tell anyone how he found out where she is, is he? He’ll reinvent himself, go to Antigua, and bring her back. If anyone can do it, he can.”
“Do you really believe he’ll do that, go all the way to the West Indies?” Edwin asked. Now the rage had dissipated, he looked tired, careworn.
“Yes,” Caroline replied with conviction. “He loves her, as much as she loves him. I’m sure of it.”
“How can you be sure of that? Really sure?” Edwin asked.
“Because when I told him that Beth had defied Newcastle and that he’d had her transported, he was angrier than I’ve ever seen anyone be. He couldn’t feign that. In fact he tried to hide it, to stay calm. And because if I had been him, and you had been transported by a vicious pig like Newcastle just for standing up to him, I’d feel the same way.
“I’d feel the same way because I love you as much as Anthony loves Beth, as much as she loves him. I would kill for you, and I’d die for you, without hesitation. We know Beth would die for him, and now I’m certain he would do the same for her. He deserves the chance to find her, to try to take her somewhere safe. They both deserve that. And I want to help them, if I can. But I’ll leave that decision to you, as I promised.”
She finished speaking, sat back, and waited while he considered. She was not a person to defer to anyone, particularly if she was convinced she was in the right. Edwin knew that, and had always loved her for it. The fact that she was willing to now told him that she trusted him to make the right decision. He thought for a few minutes, running back through his friendship with Anthony, through everything Beth had said about this man she called her husband, about all the times Caroline had been correct in her judgements of people in the past. Then he scrubbed his hands across his face, and sighed.
“I hope you’re right,” he said softly. “I hope we’re both right. Because he now has the means to destroy us, if he chooses to. You said he’s still here?”
“Sarah said he won’t leave without her. He’s probably at the gate.”
He nodded.
“Go and tell him to come back in. Tell him I’m calmer now, and I need to talk to him.”
She smiled, and standing, went to the door.
“Thank you,” she said. Then she opened it and went out, leaving him sitting on the sofa, wondering if he was insane for what he was about to do, and knowing that he would do it anyway. For Caroline, who he loved. For Beth, who he loved. And for Anthony, who had once been his closest friend, and who in spite of everything he also still loved.
He reached across the table, picked up a cake and ate it, washing it down with the remains of the now-cold tea. Then he sat back and waited for the others to return.
“I was very angry,” Edwin said the moment they came back into the room, “but I’ve calmed down now. Were you at the gate?”
“Yes,” Alex said. “I wouldn’t leave without being sure Sarah and Mary were safe. Edwin, there’s nothing I can say that will make things right between us, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“My wife believes you, and trusts you,” Edwin said. “And because she does, I will, too. If you betray our faith in you, I will do everything in my power to have you arrested. That’s all I want to say on the matter.”
“I understand,” Alex said. “I’ll be on my way, then. Thank you.”
“You cannot go to Antigua, Anthony,” Edwin said. “Beth isn’t there.”
Alex, in the act of turning to leave, stopped.
“But Caroline told me she had been transported to Antigua,” he said.
“She was. But last night I had news of her. Sit down, for God’s sake, Anthony. And Sarah. I’m sorry for using bad language in front of you, both of you.” He glanced at his wife. “That was unforgiveable of me.”
“I’ve heard much worse than that in my time,” Sarah said, vastly relieved that Edwin seemed to be himself again. She sat down, and after a moment’s hesitation Alex sat down next to her.
“What is this news?” he asked. “Can you tell me, without risk?”
“Yes,” Edwin said. “It is no secret that the Veteran sailed for Antigua with a hundred and fifty Jacobite prisoners on board. What Newcastle doesn’t want people to know is that Beth was among the prisoners. He wants to forget her, and, more importantly, he wants Prince Frederick and Prince William to forget her too. It seems Cumberland is still somewhat enamoured of her, or at least might be if she is brought to his attention again.”
Engrossed with the news he had to impart, Edwin failed to see the look of rage that crossed Alex’s face at the mention of Cumberland’s name, before he composed his expression and waited with apparent calmness for Edwin to tell him where Beth was. Sarah and Caroline did see it, and Sarah reached across the space between them to give his arm a reassuring squeeze, and felt the rock-hard muscle of his forearm, tensed in anticipation of bad news.
“Where is she?” she asked bluntly, wanting Edwin to get to the point for Anthony’s sake.
“I’m sorry,” Edwin said, noticing for the first time the unbearable tension pervading the room. “The captain of the Veteran arrived back in England two days ago. His ship was captured by pirates when he was one day away from Antigua, and was taken to Martinique.”
“Where’s Martinique?” Caroline asked.
“Martinique is another island in the West Indies,” Alex said. “Were they French pirates?”
“So it seems,” Edwin replied. “We have no further news yet, but Captain Ricky said that the prisoners were brought on deck and he and his men were put in the cargo hold where the prisoners had been kept.”
“This could be very good news,” Alex said. “France is an ally of the Stuarts. I would expect them to treat any Jacobites kindly; I would hope so, in any case. And it may be easier to get her back if she has not been sold into servitude.” He looked at Caroline and Edwin and smiled, a real smile that lit up his eyes. “Thank you for telling me this.”
“Do you intend to go to Martinique?” Edwin asked.
“Yes, of course,” Alex said. “If Beth is there, then I must go to her.”
“If you intend to go to Martinique, you will first of all have to sail to France. And then it could be weeks, maybe months before you find a ship that will take you there.”
“That’s not a problem,” Alex said. “No matter how long it takes, or how far I have to travel, now I know she’s alive I will find her.”
Edwin sighed.
“Anthony, the Duke of Newcastle is writing to the governor of Martinique this very night, to demand the return of the prisoners.”
“Yes, I would expect that,” Alex said. “It’s a formality that has to be gone through. And I am almost certain that the governor of Martinique will respectfully refuse Newcastle’s request. It would be the same if the situatio
n were reversed.”
“What is not common knowledge,” Edwin continued, “is that Newcastle is going to offer inducements for the return of certain prisoners, of which it’s certain Beth will be one. You must keep this to yourself, Anthony. If they agree, she will be returned to England.”
Alex just managed to stop himself from swearing in two languages. He tore his fingers through his hair, freeing it from its ribbon.
“Can you find out if she is?” Caroline asked her husband. Edwin glanced at Alex, then away. “You’ve trusted him this far, Edwin,” she added gently. “It’s all or nothing, I think.”
“Have you told him why I didn’t come for Beth earlier?” Alex asked. Caroline nodded. “Edwin,” Alex continued, “I didn’t need to come here today. Sarah very kindly offered to try to find out if you had any news of Beth’s whereabouts. I insisted on accompanying her because I wanted to apologise to both of you for what I did to you, for betraying your trust in me. I know that in your eyes I’m a traitor, and I accept that. But you were my friends, and although I’ve done many terrible things in my life I have never betrayed a friend.
“Caroline believes me, which is more than I hoped for. I don’t expect you to, but I have to say to you, as I said to her, that I am sorry, for I never meant to hurt you, and although I lied to you because I had to I never passed any information you gave me on to my Jacobite connections. I’m honoured that you’ve helped me this much, and if you don’t want to tell me any more about Beth, I’ll understand. I know you hate me and don’t blame you for it.”
“You’re a fool, Anthony or whoever you are,” Edwin replied. “I didn’t hate you because you lied to me, but because I thought you’d abandoned Beth. Regardless of her mistaken allegiance to the Stuarts, Beth is a very special woman, and she does not deserve what happened to her for refusing to betray you. I thought you weren’t worth her loyalty, but Caroline believes you thought she was dead. And now I’ve calmed down, I think that’s true. If you truly are willing to go all the way to Martinique for her, then you must love her.”
“I do, more than life itself,” Alex said.
Edwin nodded.
“Then don’t go yet. I will do what I can to find out what the governor does with the prisoners. How can I make contact with you when I do?”
Tides of Fortune Page 20
