He swung a lady’s side-saddle on to the third horse. It was of padded velvet with a high back and had been used by Anne many times. Into it was to be placed an effigy of Mary and he turned to where it was propped against the stall, looking remarkably life-like. The mistress, her lady’s maid and Miss Julia had constructed it from a bolster, a ribbon tied near the top to give the effigy a head and neck, and then they had clothed it in garments from a chest of amateur theatrical and charade garments. A dark green cloak with a crowl-like hood concealed the lack of features while a yellow wig revealed sufficient hair to be noticeable, the gown in plain blue wool over petticoats. To give backbone to the figure and keep the head upright Michael had constructed a fixture of wire and wood.
‘Come on, Turnip-head,’ Joe growled savagely, lifting up the effigy and settling it in the lady’s saddle. It had to be strapped into position and the high back of the saddle gave excellent support. The arms, which were white stockings padded with soft linen, had sleeves to the wrist where gauntlet gloves hid a lack of fingers. These were tied to the reins. Apart from the final adjusting of a piece of black cord to the horse’s bridle, which he himself would hold at the other end, everything was ready, even his saddle-bags and his master’s packed and in place. It would not be long now. He sniffed a great deal as he completed all his tasks, telling himself he was getting a cold, but that did not explain the watering of his eyes. Rage and misery and fear of the sea that he would have to cross gripped his guts until he had to retreat again to the privy behind the stables.
As soon as the servants had settled to supper in the kitchen Julia, at Michael’s bidding, led the way with a candle as he carried Mary downstairs and through the Queen’s Door. At the foot of the steps leading to the subterranean passage was a chamber where she would stay for the time being. It had proved necessary to let Sarah in on the family secret, which had increased Katherine’s anger, but Anne knew that her lady’s maid would be invaluable help in the weeks to come. They had gone ahead together to clean the room, make up the bed and see that everything was made as comfortable as possible for its new inhabitant.
When Mary was set down on her feet she looked around as far as she could in a daze. The room was square and, according to what she had been told, had some kind of ventilation out into the shaft of a disused well. For that reason a charcoal burner could supply her with heat and it was already aglow in its deep alcove, which was, like the walls, built of stone. In addition to the bed, which was hung with freshly unpacked velvet bed-hangings still showing some creases, there were two chairs with cushions, a table on which Sarah was setting out some supper, and a cupboard into which Anne was folding away clothes that Mary knew to be hers. A smaller cupboard was open to show her that she had been supplied with bread, preserves and pickles beside some jars holding other foods. On the floor two rugs, obviously brought from the house, made muted patches of colour. Half a dozen pikes, a rack of muskets and some swords in their scabbards were by the door into the passage and another door leading off the chamber led to a closet where there was a jug and ewer on a stand and a necessary closed stool. When this refuge had been planned, thought had been given to the comfort as well as the defence of whoever might need to hide in it.
Mary forced herself to indicate it was all to her liking, knowing that the best was being done for her in the circumstances. When she had heard she must go into deeper hiding her immediate reaction had been an inner rejoicing, believing that Michael was to share it with her, but upon hearing he was about to depart across the sea she had become stunned by misery.
I’ll go with you! she had mouthed desperately, but he had shaken his head.
‘Joe and I will be riding to the coast for our lives, Mary. This time there can be no cart or any moderation of speed. In any case, you’ll be far safer here. Within a few weeks the plan we laid will be carried out and you’ll be a free girl again. By taking an effigy of you with us all will believe you and Joe and I left together. There’ll be nothing to connect you with the past ever again.’
When shall you be back?
He had become adept at understanding her, as had the others. ‘As soon as it is safe. With luck, exiles will be pardoned one day and then I’ll return, have no doubt about it.’
Anne’s gentle voice broke into her unhappy reverie. ‘I hope you won’t be too uncomfortable here, Mary. You can be sure that Julia, Sarah and I will keep you company as much as possible. In the daytime you can go out into the middle of the maze for fresh air, except when I let you know that the head gardener will be clipping the hedges there. Otherwise there is no risk of you being seen by anyone. I advise you most strongly not to venture into the paths or else you would lose yourself very quickly.’ Her expression was considerate and concerned. ‘You won’t mind sleeping here on your own, will you?’
No, Mary mouthed. What did it matter where she was or what happened to her when Michael was going away? She turned to him and he gave a nod.
‘Yes, it’s time to say farewell.’
Anne, seeing the tragic expression on the girl’s face, took Julia with her from the room and accompanied by Sarah they went back into the house. On his own with Mary, Michael said many things to cheer her and encourage her to look to the future. His own feelings at having to leave his home, his family and his country were too agonizing for him to think of much else. In no way did he blame her for being the cause of his having to take flight. As he had said to Katherine, he had no regrets about saving her and what had come afterwards was no fault of hers.
‘There’s something you can do for me,’ he said, fully aware of how much she had come to depend on him. ‘It’s not going to be easy for my mother and grandmother and even for Julia if my father should be captured or forced to go into exile too. Do whatever you can to cheer them in their darker moments. Try to keep their spirits up.’ He saw that she was grateful for this change, not realizing he thought it would help her as much as the others to have some small duty to perform on his behalf. ‘Now I must go. Wish me well, Mary Twyat.’
Her eyes, glittering like sea-pools, gave him his answer. He bent his head to kiss her cheek, but she drew back slightly to indicate he should kiss her lips, for she could not tilt them upwards as any other girl would have done due to her stiffened collar. Acceding to her request, he kissed her lips softly and would have drawn away again, but she flung her arms about him as if she would never let him go, kissing him back passionately. His lusty nature was stirred and he held her hard to him, moving his mouth against hers and discovering her in a new light. He had to force himself to break away and knew regret that this revelation had come too late.
‘Time is running out, Mary. I can delay no longer. I wish you a speedy recovery from your injury and all the happiness you deserve.’
God be with you! My only love!
Whether or not he noticed what she tried to convey to him it was impossible to tell, for he went swiftly from the room. She remained standing where he had left her long after his footsteps had ceased to be heard and all was quiet. Tears coursed down her face. She could not even bow her head to cry, trapped as she was in the hateful supportive collar she could not do without. No matter how long Michael should be away, she would go on loving him until the day came when they would meet again.
In the house Michael had parted from his family and hastened to the stables where Joe awaited him. Anne was addressing the servants, who had been summoned from the kitchen to the Great Hall as they always were for important announcements concerning the whole household.
‘After the Battle of Worcester,’ Anne said as evenly as she could manage in her agitated state, ‘my son and Joe Berry gave assistance to a Royalist young woman who had helped save the life of the King and thus flouted Parliamentary law. Her name is Marion Moore and she has been hiding with sympathizers. Now there’s been a new development and she and Mr Michael and Joe are in danger of their lives and must take flight for France. Without doubt, we can expect a visit at any time from Colonel Warre
nder and his troopers, but there’s no need for any of you to be afraid, or to hold back from saying anything as you did when the Roundheads came for the horses. Speak openly. The more you tell them of my son’s departure the less likely we are to be troubled by further futile searches. Is that understood?’ As she scanned the nodding faces, Anne knew that the strength sustaining her could only be heaven-sent, for how else could she have faced Michael’s departure with no knowledge of when he would be able to return, let alone make this speech? ‘Good. Now it has always been the custom at Sotherleigh for the household to see off any member of the family about to set out on a long journey and I see no reason why this time should be different from any other.’
She led the way and the servants followed, whispering among themselves at the thought of Joe being involved in such an adventure. Katherine, wrapped in a cloak, was already waiting by the door, her face deeply sad from this parting with her grandson. Outside, the usual formation fell into place with the family on the wide top step and the servants on either side of the flight. The shadows of all fell across the courtyard in the rectangle of light thrown by the candle glow within.
After a few moments there came the clatter of horses’ hooves from the direction of the stables and the three riders came into view just beyond the candle-range. The lantern on the wall gave enough light for them to be seen, Michael riding in front with Joe and the third party riding alongside. The servants strained their eyes at the female figure, but as they said to one another afterwards Miss Moore could not have been acquainted with the ladies of the household, for she neither turned her head nor waved as Mr Michael did. Joe, too cast down by his departure, could not bring himself to glance at those on the steps out of fear of blubbering like a baby. As the three riders turned into the drive the servants glimpsed the white frills of Marion Moore’s petticoats fluttering and that was the last to be seen as the darkness swallowed up the departing escapees.
Colonel Warrender did not come that night or the next day. Anne was certain that it had been his document of notification to arrest that the family friend had intercepted and sent to her. When another day passed she felt as if a cloud had been lifted, for it was almost certain that no news was good news and that Michael and Joe were surely safely on their way to France. Had they been arrested it would have become known by now.
That night Colonel Warrender and twenty armed soldiers descended on Sotherleigh. The women servants screamed, running about panic-stricken in their night clothes, for there had been no knocking on the door for admittance but a smashed entry through the library windows to take the house by surprise.
Only Katherine had not been in her bed. Since Michael’s departure she had been prepared for this intrusion and had dozed each night in her marriage chair by the fireside in her parlour, a warm violet robe over her nightgown, for she was intent on maintaining her dignity. She was aware of being an imposing figure as she stood grandly by her chair when Harry Warrender’s son burst into her apartment, his drawn sword in his hand.
‘Your father would not have approved of this rough invasion!’ she declared scornfully in her most cutting tones as if he were still the snivelling boy she had despised for his bullying ways.
‘This is Parliament business, madam!’ He was square-jawed and granite-featured with a crimson colour in his cheeks much heightened by the tension of this raid. ‘You’ll not hide your traitorous grandson from me!’
He went plunging about her rooms, snatching at hangings and throwing doors open. Julia appeared and came running to her in fear.
‘Do not be alarmed, child. These intruders will soon be gone.’ She sat down again, cuddling her granddaughter to her protectively. Later when the search had proved fruitless, interrogations took place and every servant gave a full account of having seen with his or her own eyes the departure of Michael and Joe with a young woman. Imagination took flight and details of her appearance were added that left Colonel Warrender in no doubt at all that the three quarries had slipped the net. He also questioned Katherine and Anne closely about Robert’s possible whereabouts. Both took hope from this unwitting confirmation that he was still alive and well, and undoubtedly with the King.
When morning came, Anne, still pale and shaken from all she had been through, went to see Mary to tell her of all that had happened in the night. The girl conveyed her thankfulness that Michael was safely away and Anne was momentarily overcome. At once Mary poured her some hot posset, which had been heating on the charcoal burner. Anne sipped it and grew calmer again. Mary liked having the facilities to prepare drinks and some meals for herself. Not only did it ease the family’s problem about keeping her fed, but it gave her something to do. She had also been practising the first letters of the alphabet which Julia had taught her and she showed them to Anne, who nodded with approval.
‘Well done. One day I hope you will be able to tell us, either in your own words or on paper, of your years of growing up and of your own family.’
I hope so, Mary’s lips replied silently.
After Anne had gone Mary put on a cloak and went at her slow pace along the passage to the steps that would lead her up into the heart of the maze. She could not walk with any speed for fear of jerking her neck and had all unconsciously adopted a gliding step, which, unknown to her, was very graceful. She did not mind her incarceration; there was nothing frightening about her underground quarters. In fact, she felt extraordinarily safe there, and had Michael been able to share her seclusion she would have thought it paradise.
She stepped into the open air and breathed in deeply its crisp, autumnal aromas. For exercise she strolled to and fro past the octagonal seat and then around it. In her thoughts she tried to follow Michael on his journey, wondering if he had landed yet in France and what that country would be like. She hoped that he would miss her and think of her often. He had said that with time he would try to send a letter home and that would be a milestone along the way to his return.
She had never received a letter in her life. Until she and her uncles had been instrumental in saving the King from capture she had never moved out of the little Worcestershire village where she was born. Orphaned at fourteen, she had moved into the nearby home of her mother’s brothers, both kindly widowers with a carpenters’ shop. She had kept house for them and taken in sewing, her mother having trained her to be a seamstress. It was her first experience of living in a Puritan household, her parents having been Anglicans, and the peaceful, orderly life suited her quiet nature. Her uncles had had many anxious days under the religious bigotry that had marked Charles I’s reign, but neither could they tolerate the extremist methods of the present Puritan government. They had pinned their hopes of full freedom of worship on the new young King and for him they had given their lives.
A long sad sigh escaped her. Now all who had been most dear to her had gone, but she would cling to the hope that with Michael it would not be for ever.
*
Daily routine settled once more on Sotherleigh. What had become apparent to everyone was that Katherine had deteriorated sharply since the night of her grandson’s departure. She had had to be helped up the stairs to her apartment that night, having always managed them unaided before; since then she had not come down again. Although still mentally alert, no less observant than before, her strength seemed to have ebbed from her body and she spent most of her time in her marriage chair by the fire, or tottering about her apartment in a determined attempt to keep mobile.
Anne, beside herself with worry about her son as well as her husband, found succour only in her embroidery, which she took up either to Katherine’s room or to Mary’s. The one bright spark in the overcast lives of the women of Sotherleigh was that with every passing day it became more certain that Michael and Joe had slipped safely away to France. They were sure that Colonel Warrender, being the man he was, would have taken satisfaction in letting them know if the Master of Sotherleigh’s son had been apprehended.
On the morning of the thirteenth
of October, when Anne was visiting Mary, there came a knock on Katherine’s door. Julia entered and presented herself with her customary bob of a curtsy. She had checked in her own room that her hair was tidy, her gown neat and her fingernails clean, for the old lady had keen eyes and she wanted nothing to distract from the purpose of her visit.
‘I have a request to make, Grandmother,’ she began, standing with her back straight and her chin uptilted.
Katherine, sitting in her marriage chair, a rug over her knees, regarded the child quizzically. ‘Oh? What might that be?’
‘Now that Michael has gone away for what everyone fears will be a long time, I feel I should be told the plan of the maze.’
‘Do you indeed?’
‘I’m ten years old tomorrow. That means that I’m almost grown up and I’m ready to shoulder a third responsibility. I’ve two already. You’ve made me custodian of Queen Elizabeth’s gown in time to come and the same with Sotherleigh, if the need should arise. If I knew the way in and out of the maze I could visit Mary without having to dodge servants to get through the Queen’s Door without being seen.’
‘But Mary should only be in hiding for a little while longer if everything can be worked out soon.’
Julia dropped her formal manner and flung out her hands in appeal. ‘Please, Grandmother! I don’t want to be kept in ignorance any longer.’
Katherine chuckled. ‘You’re an impatient young miss. As it happens I have a plan ready to give you on your birthday morning, but it must remain here in my apartment where you may study it to your heart’s content. At other times I shall keep it under lock and key.’
‘Oh, thank you, Grandmother!’ Julia kissed Katherine on the cheek and then went dancing from the room to tell her mother about it. She did not think it strange that she had not told Anne about the promises made about the gown and Sotherleigh, for somehow she had accepted without question that these matters were entirely between her grandmother and herself. It was wholly instinctive, no thought or discussion given to it, simply a natural development of the bond that dispensed with the age gap between them.
Circle of Pearls Page 16
