Telling Rosa and Philip was every bit as hard as she had foreseen. Rosa kept saying that she didn’t believe it, that there must be a mistake, until Emily spoke more angrily than ever before to her gentle sister-in-law. ‘Why do you always want to believe the best of everyone? I tell you, he had asked Lady Deardon to find him a rich wife! Not just any wife, Rosa. A rich one, to help him with Charlwood.’
‘But, Emily, he hadn’t met you then. Perhaps he did ask Lady Deardon, but that’s the sort of thing one says without meaning very much by it. I’ve watched him with you. He likes you, really likes and admires you, I’ll swear he does.’
Rosa’s defence merely fuelled Emily’s anger. ‘Does he?’ she demanded. ‘Must I tell you what he said? Do I have to give you the words, Rosa? He thinks I am plain. Of course, we both know that I am plain, but I believed him when he said he thought I was beautif…beautiful. He called me strong-minded and I am strong-minded. But, fool that I was, I thought he l-liked me for it. And all the time…all the time…’ She stopped, unable to continue. After a moment she said bitterly, ‘I suppose it’s not so surprising what a lot of plain ness, what a lot of strong-mind ed ness, can be tolerated when gilded over with the prospect of a fortune.’
Philip said sharply, ‘Emily! My dearest Emily, don’t!’ He came over and held his sister in his arms, stroking her hair in an effort to comfort her.
Rosa was restless, torn between sympathy for Emily, and her anxiety for the children. As soon as Emily was calmer she could keep silent no longer. ‘I’m sorry, Emily, but I have to ask this. What is going to happen to the children?’ When Emily shook her head and turned away, she said, ‘You can’t abandon them! They are so attached to you. What can you possibly say to them?’
Emily had steeled herself in the night to face William Ashenden, but had given up when faced with the problem of telling James and Laura. She still had no idea how to deal with it, and was relieved not to have to answer Rosa when one of the servants came in. She was less happy when he told them that Sir William Ashenden had called and was asking to see them urgently. ‘Bring him in,’ said Philip, and, turning to Emily, he said, ‘He’s earlier than I expected. Does he know about this?’
She shook her head, now no longer so sure that she could face William calmly. The temptation to flee was strong, but before she took one step William was inside the room, James and Laura holding his hands. He began without ceremony.
‘Forgive me for bursting in on you like this, but I’d like to leave the children here earlier than we arranged. I couldn’t leave them at Thirle—the Deardons are already on their way to Yorkshire. I had a message this morning, and must ride over to Charlwood without delay. There’s been a fire in the night and the Dower House is badly damaged. Barnaby Drewitt, my man, is already on his way over, but I must follow him there as soon as I can. May I leave them with you?’
Rosa came forward. ‘What a shock! Of course you may!’ She turned to the children and said with her gentle calm, ‘It’s lovely to see you. Did you sleep well? Tell me, have you had break fast this morning?’ They shook their heads. ‘Then we shall see about it immediately before you starve. What about you, sir?’
Emily had remained frozen in the corner of the room and William was looking at her with a puzzled frown, but he turned at this and bowed. ‘Thank you, but I must hurry to Charlwood. I don’t yet know how bad it is.’ Turning back to Emily, he said, ‘You’re looking pale. Aren’t you well, Emily?’
‘She has a bad head,’ said Rosa. ‘She shouldn’t really be down stairs. But a…a day’s rest and she will be…will be herself again. Come, James, don’t look so unhappy. You’ll feel better after you’ve had something to eat. Emily, will you bring Laura? And we’ll find you a tisane for your poor head at the same time. Goodbye, Sir William. I do hope things at Charlwood aren’t as bad as you fear.’
Correctly interpreting a look from his wife, Philip said slowly, ‘I’ll come with you, Ashenden. You might be glad of company.’
‘It may not be as bad as it sounded, and Barnaby Drewitt will be there, but I’d be grateful if you would. Thanks.’
But when they got to Charlwood, the damage was if anything worse than William had feared. More than half of the Dower House was a smoking shell, and Sam Lilley had been injured. His second-in-command was surveying it in despair. ‘I don’t under stand it,’ he said. ‘I didn’t hear or see a thing, sir, neither did any of the rest of us. It’s a complete mystery.’
William walked round, inspecting the damage. His face was grim. ‘Where is Sam Lilley now?’ he asked.
‘In the lodge, sir! He’s not all that fit. He was asking for you.’
‘Why the devil didn’t you say so before, man?’ William left Philip and Barnaby Drewitt to see if anything could be done at the site, and strode off to the lodge. A red-eyed Mrs Lilley met him at the door, twisting her hands in her apron. She took him through to the kitchen, where Sam was sitting at the table with a bruise on his face and a bandage on his arm. He was very pale.
‘This is a bad business, Sam.’
Sam Lilley said nothing, but sat with his head bowed, avoiding William’s eye. Mrs Lilley hovered anxiously nearby. ‘Will you sit down, sir?’ she said.
William sat down opposite his foreman and gazed at him, wondering what was wrong with the man. Sam Lilley had once farmed a small plot of land up the valley. He had been in de pen dent, till a series of disasters had ruined him and he had been forced to sell up and look for employment. When William had been looking for a care taker and foreman for Charlwood, Sam had applied. His manner held a certain honest independence that pleased William, and he gave him the job. Mrs Lilley, too, had been respectful, but dignified. She had certainly never been servile. Today Sam looked like a dog who expected to be given a beating, and his wife was nervously anxious to please. Something more than Sam’s bruises and burns was wrong with the Lilleys.
‘Tell me what happened,’ William said. ‘You didn’t get that bang on your head trying to put a fire out!’
Sam looked up for the first time, but he still couldn’t quite meet William’s eyes. He turned his head away. ‘I tried to stop them,’ he said. ‘But they laughed at me.’ A quick glance at William. ‘I swear, I tried to stop them, sir.’
‘Who are “they”?’
Sam put his head in his hands. ‘I…I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I can’t tell you.’
‘He’s not well, sir,’ said Mrs Lilley, looking at her husband’s bowed head. ‘They left him lying there on the ground and he wasn’t found for hours. Perhaps he’ll remember in a little while.’
‘I hope so,’ said William sombrely. ‘I’ll be back later.’ He got up and left the Lilleys and went back to the ruins of the Dower House. He was met by Barnaby Drewitt.
‘Been talking to the men,’ said Barnaby. ‘Queer go. If they’re to be believed, they were all fast asleep when it happened. Don’t re member a thing. Want me to see if I can persuade them to remember?’
‘No, I don’t. We’re not in Brazil now. Find the man who has taken over from Lilley and let me talk to him. George Fowler, I think his name is.’
Fowler was ashamed and puzzled. He kept shaking his head as he said, ‘We was all down at the stables, master—that’s where we sleep when we’re supposed to be on watch, see. Except for Sam Lilley. He sleeps at the lodge. Well, the house was ready, and you was goin’ to move in the next night. Tonight, that is, now. And we had a bit of a celebration. The men who’d been keeping a watch on the house were all there, and we all had a drink, but we didn’t skimp on our watch. Not at first. We took turns to make a round or two each. Then Sam comes down to the stables wi’ a cask of ale. Drinks for everyone, ’e says. Courtesy of the master. Well, we were all pleased, o’course, and we all drank your very good health. And then after that I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes open. Not nohow. And the others felt the same. I can tell you, we had a terrible shock when we woke up this morning and saw what had happened. Ask anyone.’
�
�But that fire must have been burning for a good while to do so much damage. Surely someone among you must have seen it, smelt it, heard it, even?’
Fowler shook his head. ‘That ale you left us was surely powerful stuff.’
‘I didn’t leave any ale for you! Sam must have found it, and thought it was from me.’
Fowler looked uncomfortable. ‘I don’t know about that. He didn’t say.’
Looking grimmer than ever, William joined Philip and Barnaby, who had been examining the smoking embers. Philip said quietly, ‘What do you make of this, Ashenden?’ He turned something over with the toe of his boot.
William squatted down. ‘I’d say this was a remnant of an oil-soaked rag,’ he said slowly. ‘And there’s another.’ The two men stood up and looked down at the rags. Then William stood up and shouted, ‘I want to see all the men who were here last night. Now!’
In a few minutes, a line of unhappy men were doing their best to look William in the eye. He regarded them silently, but with such an air of menace that they shuffled their feet and shivered. ‘Someone, possibly one of you, destroyed my home last night,’ he said with steel in his voice. ‘I don’t believe you all slept through everything. Which of you saw it burning and did nothing? One of you must know more than he’s saying, and I intend to find out who—one way or another. You! Did you set fire to my house? Or you? Or you?’ He pointed at each of them in turn, but they all shook their heads and stammered out their innocence. William turned away in disgust. ‘Lock them all up. And send for the con stable.’
One man shouted, ‘That’s not right! It ain’t us, master! You ask Sam Lilley!’
‘What?’
‘That’s right! It wasn’t any of us who set fire to your house. But Sam Lilley could tell you who did!’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Strangers, that’s what! Sam’s been seen talking to strangers. Ask him!’
Mary Lilley met William at the door of the lodge again in real distress. ‘Don’t be too hard on him, sir! It’s hit him real bad.’ When he didn’t reply, she twisted her hands in her apron and moaned, ‘I knew it would come to no good. I told Sam he shouldn’t listen. The money won’t do us no good, I said. But he was that set on having a place of his own again…’
‘Don’t! Don’t say another word, Mrs Lilley. Not for the moment. You’re too distressed to think of what you’re saying. I should like to talk to Sam. Now.’
She nodded and he went through to the kitchen. Sam was sitting where he had left him. He seemed more willing to talk. ‘Don’t blame Mary, sir,’ he said. ‘She had nothing to do with this.’
‘Nothing to do with what, Sam?’
‘The fire. But I never thought they would set it on fire, you see? They told me they just wanted to look over the place. Not burn it down. I swear I wouldn’t have listened to them if I’d thought…’ He shut his eyes and turned his head away. ‘I wanted the money. All they wanted me to do was to make sure that nobody else saw them. And I didn’t think you’d be any the wiser, y’see. I didn’t mean to hurt you. And then he…he…’
‘Who, Sam?’
‘There were two of them. I recognised one of them, but I couldn’t put a name to him. The other one always stayed out of sight except the once. But I knew him. He was in the garden once when Miss Winbolt was here. He told her his name was Kavanagh, but that wasn’t his real name.’ He stopped for breath.
‘What was it?
Sam gave a shuddering sigh, and said, ‘I think it was Kidman. That was what the other one called him. Kidman.’
There was a silence. Lilley put his hand on William’s arm. ‘I know I’ve done wrong, Sir William, and I’ll be punished for it. But don’t make Mary suffer. She’s had enough to bear. Please, sir!’
‘You should have thought of that before.’ William got up. ‘I trusted you, Sam Lilley. There was a good job for you here, a very good one once Charlwood was working. Whether you meant to hurt me or not, you’ve certainly succeeded. I don’t yet know what will happen to you, but I will see that your wife doesn’t starve. You’d better stay here for the moment.’
Apart from setting the men to work on clearing up the mess, there was little more William or anyone could do at the Dower House. He had the information he needed from Sam Lilley, and could guess the rest. As they walked round for a final look at the devastated house, he told Philip the story and then gave vent to his frustration.
‘Damn it, what’s to happen now? We’re in a fine mess, Winbolt. It will be months before the house is fit to live in again, and what are we all to do mean while? If this had happened two days ago, the Deardons might have helped, but as it is… They are gone, and by now Thirle House will be thoroughly boarded up and the rest of the servants back home or on their way to London. It’s a damnable affair! Just when everything seemed to be working out so well. What will it do to Emily and the children?’
Chapter Nine
Philip hesitated, but decided not to say anything of Emily’s present state of mind. Ashenden had enough to contend with for the moment. Instead he said, ‘It’s Lilley I don’t under stand. What took possession of him? He had so much to lose!’
‘I don’t know. It shakes my confidence in my own judgement. I would have sworn he was honest. Those two arsonists certainly fooled him.’
‘What are you going to do about him?’ asked Philip.
‘He needs to recover. That was a hard knock on the head, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his cheek bone was cracked. I’ve left Barnaby to keep an eye on him. He won’t run away.’
‘Can you trust your man to hold him?’
‘Who? Barnaby Drewitt? I’d trust him with my life. In fact, it has more than once come to that. And don’t be deceived by his size. He’s small, but more than capable of keeping any number of wrong doers under control.’
The work on clearing up the Dower House had already begun. William gave one or two further instructions to George Fowler, then said, ‘We must get back. Emily will be wondering what has happened. But I’d like to have a quick look at the main house first.’ He and Philip walked on up the drive and turned off into the garden. Staring at the back of Charlwood, William asked, ‘Why?’
Philip did not need to ask what he meant. ‘I can’t imagine. Either you have an enemy looking for revenge, or…’
‘Or what?’
‘Someone wants you out of Charlwood.’
‘I don’t think I have an enemy who hates me enough to burn my house down. But why should someone want me out of Charlwood?’
‘That’s something I can’t tell you. But I’ve heard that you’ve had one or two costly delays…?’
‘Stupid, un ac countable mistakes. There’ve been one or two unexplained accidents, too.’
‘There you are then. Delays and accidents haven’t put you off. You were about to move in to the Dower House, and it looks as if whoever it is got des per ate. This will stop you taking possession for months. He might have hoped it would even put you off for good. I suppose you know that the house has a reputation for ruining its owners?’
William’s smile was cynical. ‘Does it, indeed? Well, I shan’t be put off, Winbolt.’ He regarded Philip for a moment. ‘Are you afraid Charlwood will ruin me? Do you still believe I have only my naval pension to support me?’
‘No, I assumed you must have a little more than that. You couldn’t even begin to take on an enterprise such as Charlwood with just a pension.’
William nodded and said, ‘Shall we collect the horses and go back? We can talk on the way.’
As they walked slowly down the drive William said, ‘In point of fact, I’ve been expecting you to quiz me on my prospects. Isn’t it usual for the bride’s family to make sure the bride groom can support her? To make enquiries?’
‘What makes you think I haven’t?’
William stopped and looked at Philip in some amusement. ‘And there I was, thinking you were being quite flatteringly trusting!’
‘Not where my si
ster’s well-being is concerned.’
‘Dare I ask what the outcome was?’
Philip smiled and contrived to look apologetic. ‘My friends in the city seemed to think you were sound enough.’
William nodded. ‘So they should.’ They walked on. ‘I take it, there fore, that you aren’t among those who think I aim to fund my ambition with Emily’s money?’
‘Should I be?’ asked Philip cautiously.
‘A number of your neighbours think so.’
‘Well, I don’t, though…’
‘Good! I’m relieved. Let me tell you something. I suppose as Emily’s brother you should have been told this before, but I have a curious reluctance to publish it abroad.’ He stopped again and turned to Philip. ‘So keep it to yourself, if you don’t mind. As it happens, Winbolt, I have no need of anyone’s fortune. I have more than enough of my own to rebuild the Dower House—three times over if necessary. There’s probably enough to buy and restore another Charlwood as well, and to leave something to live on. Comfortably.’
Philip gazed at him in astonishment. ‘Good God, Ashenden, what did you do? Rob the exchequer? You’ve kept it remarkably quiet!’
‘After I left the Navy, I spent a year or two in South America and was lucky with ventures into mining there. But don’t worry. The profits are all now safely and respectably invested. The children’s future is secure, and so is Emily’s.’
Miss Winbolt and the Fortune Hunter Page 13
