Odilie sobered and ran across to her friend to hug her close. ‘My dearest Grace, I’m so happy for you. It’s so romantic. You’re really in love. You’re lucky, so lucky. God bless you.’ Then the tearful look came into her eyes again but she brushed the drops away with determination.
Wearing the rosebud-dotted gown and carrying the pretty hat, Grace ran out of Havanah Court and went flying up the road. She glanced up at the town clock as she crossed the square and her heart began beating fast – there was less than half an hour left. I must hurry, hurry, hurry. I mustn’t be late for my own wedding, she told herself.
Chapter 11
I’ve been entranced – something strange has happened to me, thought Odilie Rutherford as she looked at her reflection in the long pier glass after an excited Grace left. She’d felt melancholy and light-headed all evening and even Grace’s magnificent news only lifted her spirits for a little while. Her malaise had begun when, like an obedient daughter, she’d returned to the fairground with her father in answer to the Duke’s summons but, to her great relief, they discovered that by the time they got there the ducal party had left and gone back to Sloebank. The big tent was deserted except for servants and so, with her arm through Canny’s, Odilie walked home again.
On the way she saw the young gypsy man again. They met face to face and he recognised her right enough, for her stared at her almost hungrily as if his eyes could not see enough and she knew he’d noticed how she was now wearing a fine gown and an expensive bonnet. Then he smiled in a sort of sad way and passed her by without speaking. In the solitude of her bedroom she went over the details of their fleeting second encounter in her mind – over and over and over…
Dressed in her geranium pink gown to go to Grace’s wedding, she turned slowly in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. Even to herself she looked like a stranger. Her dark face had lost its pertness and now looked vulnerable and yearning as it stared back at her from the shining surface of the glass. Her slim figure was silhouetted by the glittering light of dozens of candles in the brackets on the walls of her room and their flames flickered and danced like wraiths. It seemed to her that some dark and handsome stranger was about to walk out of the shadows and stand beside her. She closed her eyes and imagined him, dark-haired and daring. Then she opened them wide and said aloud, ‘Go away, go away. I don’t want to think about you, I don’t want to dream about you.’ The gypsy girl’s words about ‘casting the glamourie’ came into her mind – what did it mean? Had the glamourie been cast even before the words were spoken? Yes, that’s what’s wrong – I’ve been enchanted, Odilie told herself.
Wrapping a long shawl around her shoulders she left her bedroom but was only half-way down the stairs when Joe opened the front door to admit Grace’s father. Andrew Elliot strode in looking unusually dishevelled, for he was normally very fastidiously dressed, and as he glanced up the stairs towards her, Odilie could see unguarded dislike in his eyes. He hid this quickly however and smiled his cold professional grimace.
‘Good evening, Miss Rutherford. Are you going to the entertainment at the Castle?’ he asked.
‘No, not tonight. I cried off. I’m taking a walk over to the fairground again,’ she said lightly, because something warned her not to mention Grace’s hastily arranged marriage.
‘Alone? At this time? Your father’s a very liberal parent.’ Elliot bared his teeth but he was not really smiling.
‘I won’t be out for long and I won’t be alone, for I’m meeting Grace there. I’m only going out to take the air. Besides, my father trusts me,’ she said imperiously and swept on down the stairs, brushing quickly past him before he could question her any further.
He put out a hand to halt her. ‘Grace will not be there, I’m afraid,’ he told her in a less cordial tone of voice.
‘Why not?’ she asked, afraid that he would see how disturbed his statement had made her.
‘Because she’s been taken unwell. I’ve ordered her to stay at home.’ His voice was smooth as cream.
‘In that case I’ll go to Viewhill and see her there,’ cried Odilie angrily, and flew out through the door before he could detain her. Her heart was pounding as she hesitated in the garden, wondering if Elliot had been bluffing. From where she stood she could see the second wave of fairgoers queuing at the bridge as they headed back to the field for the rest of the evening’s entertainment and could hear the distant blare of musical instruments playing catchy tunes. Reflections of brightly coloured flares were already beginning to spangle the water of the river. It was a warm night, a perfect end for the Fair, and she did not really believe that on such a wonderful night for lovers the new Grace would knuckle down to her father again. Even if Elliot believed that his daughter was staying at home there was no certainty he was right. The best thing to do, Odilie decided, was to go across to the fairground and keep the rendezvous that Grace had made with her. She started to run. It was five minutes to nine.
She reached Patie Mudie’s marriage tent at five past nine and found a small crowd of people waiting there. ‘Have I missed it? Is the wedding over?’ she gasped, her eyes searching around for her friend.
Catherine Scott, who had a sleepy-eyed little Leeb hanging on to her hand, looked at the girl in the lovely coloured gown and asked, ‘Are you looking for Grace Elliott and my Adam?’
Odilie nodded. ‘Yes, I’m her friend. She said to be here at nine o’clock.’
‘I’m Adam’s mother and he told us the same thing,’ said Catherine, ‘but neither of them are here yet.’
By her side her husband was rocking gently to and fro on his feet with a beatific grin on his face. ‘My laddie’s getting merrit,’ he was murmuring to anyone who passed. Mary, who recognised Odilie from the fortune-teller’s queue and was embarrassed by the memory, stood in the background clinging to the arm of her faithful Jockie who was beaming with pride at having won her at last.
Aunt Lily had gone home reluctantly because Uncle Sandy had been carried back from the ale tent at half-past seven too drunk to stand up, far less understand that a marriage was being arranged. ‘Just wait till I get you home. I’ll box your ears for you,’ she scolded as she guided him out of the fairground towards the cart which conveyed them back to Morebattle.
After a pause during which time the waiting party all stared around, eyeing everybody that passed nearby, a disappointed Catherine spoke again. ‘What’s happened? Do you think they’ve changed their minds?’ she asked nobody in particular.
Odilie shook her head. ‘I’m sure they haven’t. Something’s gone wrong. I saw Grace’s father before I left home and he was acting very strange. If they don’t come soon I’ll go across to her home and find out why she’s not here.’
Catherine lowered her voice slightly. ‘Her father’s Elliot the lawyer, isn’t he? The one with the office in the square?’
Odilie nodded. ‘Yes, he is.’
Catherine said in a worried voice, ‘That’s what my sister-in-law said. He’s the one whose wife killed her bairn, isn’t he?’
Odilie’s heart seemed to freeze when she heard this. ‘Killed a baby? When?’
‘Oh, Lily said it’s a while ago now – about ten years, maybe more. I can mind something about it myself but not much. Apparently it caused a great stushie in the town. Lily thinks the woman that did the murder must have been the mother of this lassie Grace… I’m fair worried about it. I’m sure Adam doesn’t know.’
Odilie’s throat was dry and she murmured, ‘Grace doesn’t know anything about it, either. I’m sure there’s some mistake.’
‘Lily’s not often wrong,’ said Catherine doubtfully while her eyes ranged over the people in the fairground but there was still no sign of her son or of the girl he had so precipitately decided to marry.
They waited, with hope slowly dying, for another half an hour but by that time they all knew that neither Grace nor Adam was coming. Catherine and Tom Scott tried to hide their confusion but they were secretly sure that th
eir laddie had been led astray by a girl from a strange background who’d had second thoughts. ‘We’ll have to go home. Leeb’s fair wabbit and it’s a long way to go,’ Catherine told Mary. ‘If Adam does come, tell him we couldn’t wait any longer.’
Mary nodded and embraced her family one after the other and promised, ‘I’ll tell him. Jockie and I’ll wait here till he comes. I like the lassie Mam, I’m sure she’ll be a good wife for him. You go away home now and dinna worry about it.’
Odilie, listening to this exchange, nodded and said, ‘I’ll wait too. Don’t worry – we’ll find out what’s happened and as soon as I know the answer, I’ll send a messenger up to Fairhope to tell you.’
She watched with pity as the dejected Scotts reharnessed their pony in the darkness under the trees. Because Tom was unable to do much and stood swaying on his feet, she disregarded her beautiful gown and helped Jockie and Catherine to coax the fat animal between the shafts. Mary was carrying the sleeping Leeb and when her mother had climbed aboard, she passed up the child and asked anxiously, ‘Do you want me to come with you? Are you sure you’ll be all right, Mam?’
Catherine shook her head. ‘In the twenty-five years I’ve been married to your father, we’ve never missed a Fair and in all that time I’ve always been the one to drive home. I’ll be fine but I’m worried about Adam. That Elliot’s a hard man. Lily says he’s not got a good name in the town.’
‘We’ll go and find him now,’ said Jockie, who rarely uttered but when he did, it was with decision.
His calm confidence soothed the women and Catherine helped her husband into his seat saying, ‘Settle down there now, Tom, and go to sleep. We’ve a long drive ahead of us.’ They drove off with Leeb lying along the back bench beneath a blanket with her fair hair flowing out. She looked like a sleeping angel.
When they had disappeared, Jockie turned to the two girls and said grimly, ‘Right! Now we’ll go and find them. I’m good in a fight.’ He held up his right hand and the muscle in his upper arm bulged ominously. Mary coloured again, remembering the other fight he had been in that day on her behalf.
‘Thank you,’ said Odilie. ‘I hope it won’t come to that but I’d appreciate your help anyway. Let’s go to Grace’s home first…’
There were still crowds on the bridge and the riverside footpaths but they took little notice of the fashionably dressed girl with her two companions who hurried up the lane to Viewhill.
When they reached it the place looked bleak and the only sign that it was inhabited was a single candle burning in the window of the stairway. They stood at the garden gate and debated what to do and while they were talking, there was a rustle in the shrubbery out of which Adam suddenly appeared. There was a bruise on his cheek and his normally neat appearance was completely gone for the shoulder of his jacket was torn open revealing the white stiffening material on the inside and his hair was tousled. ‘Thank God you’ve come. I couldn’t leave here…’ he said.
Mary gasped and put her hands over her mouth while Odilie asked, ‘What on earth’s happened? Where’s Grace?’
He pointed bleakly at the house. ‘In there. She wanted to speak to her father alone first and so she went in but she never came out again. I waited for about twenty minutes like she told me and then I knocked on the door. A man came out – it was her father I suppose – and hit me with a stick. I kicked at the door and made a terrible fuss and he sent somebody for the law officers. They threatened to lock me up if I didn’t go away. They wouldn’t listen to anything I said.’
Odilie nodded. ‘He’s an important man in the town and they won’t go against him. But he won’t dare threaten me. I’ll knock on the door. When I saw him earlier tonight I said I was going to meet Grace – that must have been after he shut her up. One of you stay watching the front door and someone else go round to the back.’
When the others hid themselves, she boldly climbed the steps and rattled the knocker. After a little time a rustling noise could be heard behind the door and Hester’s voice asked sharply, ‘Who is it? What do you want at this time of night?’
‘I want to see Grace,’ called Odilie.
‘Who?’ The voice sounded incredulous as if no such person as Grace existed.
‘I want to see Miss Grace Elliot. It’s Odilie Rutherford, her friend.’
‘She’s not here. Go away.’
‘Where is she?’ Odilie rattled the knocker again.
‘She’s not here. Go away.’
‘She is here. Tell her Odilie’s come to see her.’
When it replied, the voice sounded louder as if the speaker’s face was pressed up against the keyhole. ‘You go away, Miss Rutherford. You shouldn’t be out knocking on folk’s doors at this time of the night. She doesn’t want to see you.’
Odilie banged the knocker, heavily this time and cried, ‘If she doesn’t want to see me let her tell me that herself,’ but there was no reply. Then in despair she jumped off the steps and stood back on the gravel that crunched beneath her feet as she called up at the unlit windows, ‘Grace, Grace, where are you, Grace?’
By this time lights were going on in the houses all around and faces could be seen at the neighbours’ windows, but still Odilie called, ‘Grace, shout if you can hear me!’
Then she paused and listened. Somewhere far away she heard a voice. It was calling, ‘Adam – Adam – Adam.’
Just at that moment the door opened and a red-haired woman with a furious face stood in the opening. ‘I don’t care if you are going to be the next Duchess. Get off our property or I’ll call the law out again. We’ve had enough trouble here for one night. Go away this minute.’ Then she slammed the door shut and they heard the sound of bolts being driven fiercely home.
There was nothing Odilie could do now but retreat, though, as she ran back to the gate, she felt exhilarated. ‘At least we know Grace is there and that she’s being held against her will,’ she told the others. ‘Now we’ve got to work out how to free her! You stay here watching the place and I’ll go and tell my father.’
Adam chimed in, ‘Mary and Jockie, you watch the house. I’m going back to the fairground to fetch that woman from the freak show. She told Grace she’d help if there was any trouble and I’ve a feeling she knows a lot more about this than she lets on. I’ll be back as quick as I can.’
Meanwhile Odilie was running at full tilt down Roxburgh Street with her skirts held high. She was burning with indignation on Grace’s behalf but was also surprised at how much she was enjoying herself.
Her father was sitting alone in his library and it was obvious he was infinitely relieved to see her as he stood up saying, ‘I’ve been worried about you, it’s getting so late. You look as if you’ve been in a scuffle, my dear. What’s happened? You haven’t been involved in this awful business with Grace, have you?’
She nodded, gasping, ‘Yes, yes I have. It’s terrible, Father. What are we going to do?’
Canny looked concerned but shook his head. ‘There’s nothing we can do, is there? Her father’s been here telling me about the business and now he’s gone off to find Wattie Thompson to sign the committal certificate.’
Odilie gasped, ‘What certificate? What are you talking about? Elliot’s locked Grace up because she wants to get married. She’s old enough to do that without any certificate, isn’t she?’
‘Oh my lass, you don’t know the half of it. Poor Grace.’ Canny walked towards his daughter with a very sad look on his face. ‘Elliot’s just been telling me about the girl. He’s gone over to the Cross Keys to ask Thompson to do something about her. I know you’re fond of Grace but don’t you worry, my dear, Thompson’ll give the very best advice.’
Odilie’s elation disappeared and she looked terrified. ‘Advice? What sort of advice? Grace wants to marry a man called Adam Scott. I’ve met him. He’s a very decent young man. Don’t listen to her father, Papa – what’s he been saying?’
‘I know this’ll be a shock to you my dear, but Grace is unstable
. I don’t usually talk like this about people but Elliot’s been telling me how Grace isn’t like other girls – she’s rather strange. It’s inherited, apparently.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘It’s been a lifelong sorrow for her family. That’s why she’s been so carefully guarded,’ he added.
‘Are you talking about her limp? What’s that got to do with this? It’s not even a very bad limp. She’s just been told it’s bad,’ said Odilie defiantly.
‘Oh, no, I’m not talking about her limp. I wish I were,’ her father assured her. ‘It’s her state of mind, her nerves – her imagination that’s the trouble. Elliot says her mother was the same, a very excitable person. That’s why she killed her baby. It was crying apparently and she went over to the cradle and strangled it, just like that. Hester was there and gave evidence at the trial. Elliot’s first wife didn’t know she’d done it, poor thing. Even when they showed her the body she denied she was responsible. Said it wasn’t her, carried on something terrible.’
Seeing his daughter’s horrified eyes, he shook his head sadly and added, ‘And Grace’s grandfather, old Davie Allen, was the same. They were an unstable family and when Grace had a brainstorm tonight, her father said he’s been expecting something of the sort for a long time. It’s heredity.’
Odilie was unconvinced. ‘My God, Father, he’s spun you a pack of lies. Grace is no more likely to have a brainstorm than you or me. She went home to tell him she was being married – and he’s kept her prisoner in the house. I know, I’ve just come from there and I heard her calling out. You must believe me, you simply must, and we’ve got to stop Elliot in whatever plan he’s hatching.’
Canny took a turn in the room and there was a worried look on his face. ‘Why should he want to certify his own daughter just because she wants to get married?’ he asked.
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