Mally : Signet Regency Romance (9781101568057) (17 page)

“He may be alive, Jasper,” said Brew thoughtfully, “but there must be sommat diddicky wi' 'en—why else 'ave that leech been cuttin' a furrow 'twixt here and there, eh?”

Jasper turned savagely on his younger brother. “Call yourself a slingman, our Jacob? Damn fool I was to trust the likes of you.”

“It weren't my fault!”

“Never is. Any road, Brew, did you find what you'd gone up to the woods to find?”

“Happen. I'd like it better if there was another way, though.”

Jasper drained his mug. “Such as? Look, Brew, the wench is alive and up at the castle, but I reckons now as she can't have seen us, else we'd have been took long since. But York's up there, and he's alive.
He's
the one as we've got to fear, for we
knows
as he saw us. I 'ad a friend once, 'it his damn fool head and was laid out for a week. Then he got up, grand as you like, like nothing'd 'appened. That there York might do just the same.” He smiled. “But that fancy carriage 'ave got to get all the way to Hereford, all of a day's journey. Th'army won't be 'ere afore sometime tomorrow. My lads, we got all tonight to attend to York.”

Jacob swallowed. “But, Jasper, we know as the leech saw us at the grave last night! What if he got that there housekeeper of 'is to look an' all? He en't daft, 'e knows as 'is word won't be took by itself no more.”

Jasper grinned at Brew. “That Prissy Davies? Well, Brew, my handsome, that's
your
corner of the woods, en' it?”

“Aw, but, Jasper—”

“She've been sweet on you long enough, Brew. You make sure as she gets a little cuddling—she'll not admit to anything then, will she? Eh?”

Jacob sniggered, falling silent as Brew's cold eyes swung to him. Jasper brought more ale. “Tonight then. We'll 'ave to get on up to that there castle.”

“An' just walk in, I suppose?” said Jacob. “Over the drawbridges as large as life!”

“No, my fool of a brother. There's another way in, one as everyone's '
eard
of but never seen in many a year.”

Jacob's eyes widened with fear. “No, Jasper, not through there, I couldn't! No one'd dare go there!”

“You'd rather swing, would you? I'll tek on ghosties any day afore I'd tek a rope neckerchief. Brew've found it, Jacob, and we'm goin' to get rid of those as is dangerous to us once and for all. Work it out, the Jamaican and the wench can't know anything. 'Tis just York. Without 'im they got nothin' on us. Without 'im—” He paused, grinning. “Without 'im, we got all them sparklin' diamonds to usselves, and our passage to America. We'm goin' to be rich, my laddos—but not if we messes up tonight, for tonight be our only chance!”

Chapter 25

It was the middle of the afternoon when, quite suddenly, the wind abated. Perhaps it happened gradually, but to Mally it seemed that it was abrupt, as if someone had closed a door. She took a thick shawl and went up the damp, worn steps leading up to the walk around the curtain wall. From there she could look over the entire valley, and beyond.

Llanglyn crouched by the ford, and wisps of smoke rose steadily in the windless air. In the park close to the castle they were burning parts of the chestnut tree and the wood smoke smelled sweet as it drifted over her. The sky was still gray, but it was lighter as if just through a thin layer of moisture the sun might be shining. She had stood here with Daniel once, on the day they pretended to be the lord and lady of Castell Melyn—

Now you are my damsel, Mally. But first you've got to pay a forfeit
—

Oh, Daniel, I don't want to.

A forfeit, Mally.

She could see him now, his light brown hair and laughing eyes, holding the wooden sword he had made from two pieces of willow lashed together with reeds.

A forfeit, Mally. A proper forfeit.

She shivered, pushing her hair back as one stray breath of breeze wandered around the battlements. The flag stirred slightly and then fell back. The spire of St. Crispin's rose from the cluster of roofs in the valley and she could see the dark green patches of the yew trees in the churchyard. Daniel was down there now, not up here at the castle—

Maria came along the walk and leaned next to her. “Deep in thought, sister mine?”

“I was remembering, that's all.”

“Daniel?”

“Yes.”

“It's two years, Mally—”

“I know.”

“That's what it was with you and Chris, wasn't it?”

Mally smiled. “Well, he won't have the same problem with Annabel.”

“No, she'll not give him a run for his money, will she?” Maria looked at her.

“Chris doesn't like being given runs for his money—not unless his money rests on a Newmarket nag or a bruiser in a boxing booth. They'll do very well together, will Chris and Annabel.”

Maria pulled a face. “It sounds boring.”

“If it suits them then that's the way it should be, surely. We cannot
all
be swept from our feet by dashing young Americans with soulful eyes and winning ways. How is he?”

“Andrew? The same. Oh, Mally, he must recover, he
must!”

Mally put her arm around her. “He will, I'm sure of it.”

“Well, at least he will soon be able to come down from that tower room and lie in a more comfortable bed. We had to put him up there, you know, when that dreadful vicar, the Reverend Iorwerth Jones, came calling unexpectedly one day. Richard thought it best to put Andrew somewhere where no one could happen upon him unexpectedly. Still, once the Turneys and Brew Darril are taken by the army, it will all be over. Most of it, anyway. Oh, they
must
be found guilty, Mally!”

“I'm sure they will be, sweeting.”

“They should hang for what they did to Mrs. Harmon. And to Andrew.” Maria blinked as the tears filled her eyes, and she stared down at the town. “If they aren't arrested—”

“You'll what?” asked Mally, smiling fondly.

“I'll burn down the Three Feathers!”

“I believe you would, too. Anyway, you won't have to resort to such measures, for Chris will convince the army commander at Abergavenny that he must come and that will be the end of it.”

Maria shivered, for the autumn air was cold. “I should never have run away, you know. I could kick myself now. But, as usual, I just didn't think beyond the immediate problem. I didn't consider Mother, you,
or
of making Jasper suspicious. It would have worked but for my idiocy. Jasper would have been content that he was safe—and we could have tried to—to—” She broke off, biting her lip.

“And in the meantime Jasper might have felt so secure that he robbed and murdered someone else. It's better this way, Maria.”

“Perhaps. Anyway, at least by this time tomorrow I shall have been able to make my peace with Mother. Or tried to, for I think she'll disown me when she knows I'm carrying Andrew's child.”

“I won't disown you. You'll always have a home with me, you know that.”

Maria smiled. “You're the best sister in the world. And I'm surely the worst. A fine pair.”

“And both of us the bane of Llanglyn Court, that's a fact. There's Richard coming back.” Mally watched the figure on the dun horse riding up the drive.

“Where's he been?”

“To argue with the farrier about the quality of his work!”

“That'll please Harry Finsby.” Maria laughed.

“It's about time someone told that old crook a few home truths, and I rather think Richard was in the mood for a good argument today.”

The hooves clattered beneath the barbican and into the courtyard, echoing around the castle. Maria turned to look at him as he dismounted.

“He's very handsome, don't you think, Mally?”

“Yes.”

“He's very impressed with you, you know.” Maria glanced at her. “Most taken, I would say.”

Mally flushed. “He has a silver tongue.”

“He wasn't trying to impress
me,
or charm
me.
I'm just his friend. I like to think I'm his good friend, and I know that I owe him a great deal for all he's tried to do for me. That's why—”

“Yes?”

“That's why I'm telling you.”

“Are you matchmaking?” Mally was still looking at Richard. He was talking to the head groom and had taken off his top hat. It slapped against his thigh with each word, and then he bent to lift the horse's off foreleg, pointing out something.

“Matchmaking?” murmured Maria. “Yes, never more fervently in my life.” She smiled then. “It'll be dark soon.”

“Let's go in then.”

“I—I think I'll go back to Andrew.” Maria watched Richard cross the courtyard and go in through the buttery door. “I would say, Mally, that there will be a splendid warm fire in the solar, don't you think?”

She hurried back along the wall walk and down the steps into the shadows of the courtyard. Richard's horse was being led away. Some rooks wheeled overhead, calling to one another, and another small breath of wind moved the flag again.

As Mally left the walk, she heard the sound of the drawbridge being raised and she paused in surprise. Why bother with that?

Chapter 26

Richard sat on the sofa by the fire, his long legs stretched out before him and a glass of cognac in his hand. He swirled it slowly, staring thoughtfully at the rich amber liquid. As Mally came in he made to stand, but she stopped him.

“You look so deep in thought I hate to disturb you. Is there some of that Madeira left? Oh, yes—” She crossed to the small table, conscious that she was blushing and that she was talking unnecessarily.

She took a seat opposite him. “Why have you had the drawbridge raised?”

“A precaution.”

“Against what?”

“I'm not sure.” He smiled. “Is that double Dutch?”

“A little.”

“Well, Nathaniel told me something when I was in Llanglyn. His housekeeper came to him after luncheon, she was nervous and embarrassed. She said that if asked by anyone about the grave last night, she would deny that she had seen anything.”

Mally's eyes widened. “But why?”

“We don't know for sure. Nathaniel saw Brew Darril with her earlier, though.”

“Ah. Prissy Davies has carried a candle for Brew for as long as I can remember. He's steered well clear of her, though.”

“Until now.”

“Yes.” Mally took a long breath. “A strange coincidence.”

“Too strange.” Richard stood, leaning one hand against the chimney breast and staring at one of the firedogs. “And put together with something else— When I was in Harry Finsby's forge, I heard two women talking outside. One said something about
them going up there tonight.
They began to walk away from the forge and I couldn't hear any more, so I went to see who they were. One was Turney's wife. The other looked so much like Brew Darril that she
has
to be his sister.”

She nodded. “Ginny Darril.”

He pushed a log more firmly on the fire with his boot. “Well, altogether I feel happier with the drawbridge
up
tonight. I'd dearly like to be sure where
up there
meant, though.”

“You believe it's here, don't you?”

“Yes. I think somehow or other Jasper's got wind of why Chris and Annabel have left here today. Nathaniel coming up here first thing in the morning, perhaps— Or maybe he had someone follow the landau to see which road it took, and when it made for Abergavenny, he'd need no more prompting, would he?”

“Well, Jasper can't just walk into the castle, can he? Nor can he take it by storm.”

He smiled at her. “That's what worries me. If he's coming up here, it's to find Andrew. But he knows he'll first have to get across the park, assuming he climbs the wall. Then he has to get into the castle itself. Even he cannot be that desperate that he intends an out-and-out—” He didn't finish, but went to pour some more cognac. “Mally, something's bothering me, and I can't put a finger on it.”

“But what? If the drawbridge is up, then he cannot get in. Our forebears knew what they were about when it came to building impregnable fortresses, especially fortresses on the Welsh border. There isn't any other way into Castell Melyn.”

“How do we know that?”

She stared and then shrugged. “Well, surely, if there was, you'd have discovered it by now.”

“I haven't discovered everything about this place yet. To begin with, I don't know where it was that Daniel left you. Somewhere low, damp, and
long?
There just isn't anywhere like that here.” Slowly he put the stopper back in the decanter. “That's what's bothering me,” he said softly. “Your blasted hidey-hole sounds suspiciously like a tunnel.”

She got slowly to her feet. A tunnel.

“Think back, Mally. Was it a tunnel?”

“I don't know, I can't remember.”

“Try.”

She went to the windows and drew a curtain back with one hand. It was quite dark outside now and she could see her own face looking back from the latticed glass, a face fragmented by the different small panes. What had happened that day when she and Daniel had come up here to the castle?

Richard put his glass down and came over to stand by her. “You described it before, Mally. Low, damp, and long. Was there anything else?”

“It was so dark. I couldn't see anything.” She closed her eyes. “I just kept edging further and further up.”

“Up? Steps?”

“No. A slope. A long, long slope upwards.”

“More and more like a tunnel.” He smiled ruefully, putting a hand to the nape of her neck. “Try to think how you and Daniel got into it.” His fingers moved gently in her hair.

A forfeit, Mally. A proper forfeit.

But why are we leaving the castle? Where are you taking me?

She turned to look at Richard. “Outside the castle, we went out past the lodge, I remember.”

“I was afraid you might say that. So, Jasper knows your tunnel too.”

“But I don't know where it is. Daniel blindfolded me—”

You mustn't see, Mally, that's part of the forfeit.

Promise you won't leave me.

Promise me, promise me, riddle me riddle me ree
—

She shivered and dropped the curtain, shutting off the echoing voices.

Richard sighed. “Daniel was too damned efficient, wasn't he? He must have been a loathsome brat.”

She laughed slightly. “He was. I worshiped him, though.”

“Yes, well I suppose he went through some metamorphosis, for he was tolerable when I knew him.” He smiled at her, taking her hand and drawing her toward the fire. “Sit down again, and we'll think about where the tunnel
ends
then.”

“I don't know.” She said it quickly and she didn't know why.

He sat next to her on the sofa, looked curiously at her. “Don't snap my head off.”

“I didn't mean to.” She reached out to him. “I don't know why I said it like that.”

His fingers wrapped around hers. “You don't want to think about it, that's why.”

“But I do—”

“No, your memory doesn't. It's something Nathaniel said. And Stiller, for that matter. They are of the theory, the controversial theory, that, sometimes, the mind shuts away things it doesn't want to think about. Upsetting things. For you it is that day in the tunnel. For Andrew it is the night Mrs. Harmon was murdered.”

She was disbelieving. “If that's the case we should be able to conveniently forget anything we choose.”

“That's what I said. But, they believe it to be so. Stiller propounds most eloquently on the subject.”

She smiled. “Someone should tell the Prince of Wales, then perhaps Princess Caroline would vanish from the face of the earth for him.”

“He's doing all he can to that end already, without Dr. Stiller's fearsome theories. Anyway, the tunnel. What
do
you remember? Your father rescued you, didn't he? Isn't that what you said?”

“Yes. He wrapped a blanket around me in the courtyard. He came alone, he didn't want the whole neighborhood to know about what had happened.”

“But he knew where to come?”

“Daniel told him. He confessed he'd left me there. He was thrashed so much he could hardly walk, I remember that.”

“Mally. You're in the courtyard with your father. How did you get there?”

She looked at him. “I can't remember.” She bit her lip and lowered her eyes, shaking her head. “I just can't remember. I'm sorry, Richard—”

He pulled her closer, his arm around her. “Don't look so woebegone, it plays havoc with me. Well, at least we know there
is
a tunnel, that it begins
outside
the castle, and ends
inside
it. And you can bet your grandmother's mobcap that friend Jasper knows it too.”

“But why hasn't he used it before then?”

“I don't know.” He looked at the fire. “There'll be a reason, but I can't think what. Perhaps he didn't finally make up his mind until he looked in the grave. It doesn't matter what his reasons are, I'm pretty sure he's intending using it tonight. There's nothing for it but to search every cellar.”

She smiled. “Perhaps Gwynneth could ask Lady Jacquetta.”

“Gwynneth?”

“Oh yes, she sees our ghostly lady quite often, so she tells me.”

“A maid with second sight? I suppose that's all this night lacks. That and a few unearthly howls and the dry rattle of bones.”

Her smile faded. “Don't say that.”

He put his hand to her cheek. “I hadn't imagined I was creating quite such an effect, forgive me—”

“It was the bones,” she whispered.

“What bones?”

“In the tunnel.” She put her hand over his, gripping his fingers tightly as she remembered. “When father's lantern shone on me from above, I saw them. Bones. Human bones.”

The screams came winging back over the years, echoing around and around in her head, childish screams of terror. And the swinging, dancing light of the lantern as her father climbed down— She put her hands over her ears, but the memories seemed only to grow louder.

Richard caught her close, holding her gently.

“I kept screaming. I screamed and screamed. And I couldn't move, I was so terrified. Oh, God, I was terrified. I must have fainted, for that's all I remember.” She sat back weakly, her mouth dry. “It's so vivid it has the power to frighten me even now. But there's one thing we know now. If I did faint when Father found me, then that's why I don't know how he got me out or where it was.”

“We might find it tonight, I'll have every man search. The women can stay in the kitchens together. You go up into the tower with Maria, and lock yourself in that top room. All right?”

“Yes.” She stood.

He went to the corner table where Annabel had left her book the night before. “Here, take this. Annabel said that it had a lot more detail of Lady Jacquetta's story—perhaps there is something in there about a tunnel. Faint hope, but hope nonetheless.”

She nodded, taking the book. As she reached the door, he spoke again. “I love you, Mally.”

She looked back at him, and her hand dropped from the door handle. She went back to him. “And I love you, Richard,” she whispered.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. As she held him she knew that this time it was different. With Chris it had been a shadow. With Daniel something she would always cherish. But with Richard—

He smiled. “You're all mine, Mally.
I'll
not share you.”

“You won't have to.”