Saraband for Two Sisters (19 page)

Carlotta suddenly announced that she could not find what she wanted in the Walk so we would go to the New Exchange in the Strand. So we got into the coach, and it was not easy to move along, for people crowded round it, laughing at our vehicle, touching it, peering in the window at us, offering us all sorts of merchandise—from silver chains to silk kerchiefs—many of which had been, I had no doubt, but a short time before snatched from some unwary passer-by.

So we came to the New Exchange and ascended to an upper gallery, which was lined with shops offering for sale ribbons, laces, cloth of all description, powder, rouge, patches, cuffs and collars, some very fine, embroidered in gold and silver.

Carlotta made a few purchases and we returned to the coach.

I was fascinated by the Strand and the grand houses there whose gardens ran down to the river; I loved the narrow streets at the end of which I could see the water lapping; in fact I was ready to admit that I had never dreamed there could be such a place, and the very fact that underlying its grandeur was something so certainly sinister but added to its attraction.

We had left the Strand well behind and were coming toward Whitehall when I saw the most fearful sight I had, to that time, ever seen.

I had seen men in the pillory before, for there was one in our village and offenders were often put in it and made to endure the ridicule of passers-by in order to impress on them the error of their ways; but I had never seen anything like this.

These two men were in the sombre garments which proclaimed them as Puritans. They did not look like men because I could not see their faces for blood; it had splashed on to their hands which protruded through the holes.

I stared in horror and Carlotta followed my gaze.

‘Puritans,’ she said. ‘They have been making trouble.’

‘What trouble?’

‘Perhaps talking against the Court. They are always trying to stop all sport and pleasure. They criticized the Queen, no doubt, and accused her of trying to foist Catholicism on the nation.’

‘And for that …?’

‘They have lost their ears,’ she said.

We had passed on. The coach carried us on through green fields and the pleasant villages of Kensington and Barnes until in due course we arrived at Pondersby Hall, and for me every impression of that colourful scene had been overlaid by the sight of those two Puritans in the pillory.

I began to understand what Gervaise meant when he talked about the uneasiness in the country.

Carlotta was pleased because there was to be a ball at one of the fine houses near Whitehall, and she and Sir Gervaise had received an invitation which included Senara and the visitor from the country—myself.

‘You have been noticed,’ said Carlotta. ‘This is at the house of Lord Mallard who is a confidant of the King, so it is almost certain that Their Majesties will be present.’

There was a great deal of excitement as to what must be worn and even Carlotta was less languid than usual. Ana was pressed into service, and as the time drew near it was discovered that we were short of the lace with which Carlotta’s gown was to be trimmed and that ribbons were needed for my dress.

We would therefore take the coach and there would be another trip into the city. My feelings were a little mixed. I was uneasy about the ball, for Carlotta had so impressed on me my lack of social grace, and although I felt a great excitement at the prospect of visiting the city again I had not forgotten the sight of the two men in the pillory.

We set out early in the Pondersby coach. It was misty down by the river, which gave an aura of enchantment to the scene. There was a blue haze on the trees which I found entrancing and I felt my spirits rising as high as they could, oppressed as they always were by anxieties about what was happening at home.

We came to St Paul’s Walk and I was again fascinated by the people there. I was listening to a moneylender with whom a languid gallant most extravagantly clad was trying to arrange a loan; then my attention was caught by a horse dealer who was explaining to a prospective buyer the points of the animal he was leading; there was a man writing a letter at the dictation of an anxious-eyed woman, and I found myself wondering what tragedy had brought her there. Carlotta was busy with the lace seller and had moved round to the side of the stall, and as I stood there a woman approached me, her eyes full of anguish.

‘Lady,’ she said in a hoarse whisper, ‘spare me something. My husband is dead … drowned in the river when his boat overturned. I have six starving children and not a bite has passed their lips these last two days. You have a kind face. You’ll give, I know.’

And I knew that if I turned away as Carlotta would have bidden me I should never be able to forget her face, so I took out my purse and opened it, but at that moment a boy who could not have been more than eleven years old darted up and snatched the purse from me.

I cried out but he was already disappearing and without thinking I ran after him. I could see him darting in and out of the crowd and I followed, calling: ‘Come back. Give me back my purse.’

The crowd impeded the thief’s progress as well as mine, and I kept him in sight until he broke free and ran down an alley.

Without thinking I followed. He ran round a corner and I went after him, but he had already turned another corner and when I followed I could no longer see him. I stopped short. Two men were coming towards me and I felt myself go cold with fear, for they had such evil looks. Their unkempt hair fell over their faces, their ragged garments hung loosely, and through the rents in them I caught glimpses of dirty skin. They were smiling in a way which was horrifying.

I turned to run but I was too late, and I realized in that moment that I did not know where I was.

There was one of them on either side of me, their leering faces close to mine. One pulled at the chain about my neck which my mother had given me, and I cried out in protest.

My arms were pinioned and I started to scream loudly.

‘You’re caught, my pretty,’ said one of the men, his face so near mine that I smelt his foul breath and saw his ugly broken teeth.

‘Let me go. Let me go …’ I shouted wildly.

‘Not yet …’ said the other, and they began to drag me towards the door of a dwelling which I had not noticed before.

I began to pray to myself because I had never been so frightened in my life, and I knew that these men meant to inflict on me the worst of all evils and possibly death; and it had all happened so suddenly, for one moment I had been thinking of laces and ribbons, letter writers and moneylenders, and now here I was captured, and even in such a moment I thought of my mother when she learned what had happened to me.

Then I heard a shout from behind: ‘Hold. Hold, you villains, hold!’

A man was running down the road. I had a fleeting glimpse of him and I cried out in thankfulness, for there was something about his appearance which told me that I could trust him to help.

He was elegantly clad but not foppishly so, and there was a sword in his hand which he was brandishing menacingly. The change in my captors was immediate. They did not wait to face him. They simply released me and ran.

I was trembling and could not keep my voice steady as I stammered: ‘Oh, thank you … thank you.’

‘I saw it all,’ he said. ‘The boy snatching your purse and your attempt to catch him.’

‘I am so grateful.’

‘You are new to London, I am sure. Let me escort you from this warren. It is not good for you to be here.’

He returned his sword to its scabbard and, taking my arm, led me through the alley the way I had come.

‘It was unwise,’ he said, ‘to follow the boy.’

‘But he had my purse.’

‘It was equally unwise to take out your purse as you did.’

‘The woman had six starving children.’

‘I doubt that. She’s a professional beggar. Tomorrow she will have a dying husband or a dying mother. They vary their stories, you know.’

‘I see that now, but I believed her.’

‘Next time you will be more sceptical. Tell me your name.’

I told him and that I was staying at Pondersby Hall.

‘I have made the acquaintance of Sir Gervaise,’ he told me. ‘I am Richard Tolworthy, a soldier of the King’s army.’

‘I can only say again thank you, sir. I have never been so terrified in my life.’

‘It is a lesson learned. Look on it that way.’

‘But if you had not seen … if you had not been there to save me …’

‘I was and it was my pleasure. Where do you wish to go?’

‘I left Lady Pondersby buying laces in Paul’s Walk. We came in from Pondersby Hall in the coach.’

‘Then I will take you back to Paul’s Walk and we will find Lady Pondersby.’

We were very quickly there. Carlotta had been so engrossed in the lace buying which she had just completed and she was looking round wondering what had become of me when she saw me with my rescuer.

She cried out: ‘Whatever has happened?’

‘Something terrible,’ I answered. ‘I’ve lost my purse. A boy snatched it. I ran after him and there were two men … This gentleman saved me.’

Carlotta was gravely surveying Richard Tolworthy, and I thought with a little stab of jealousy: I suppose he is thinking how beautiful she is.

He bowed and said: ‘Richard Tolworthy at your service, m’am.’

‘Why, sir,’ she laughed, ‘it seems you have indeed been at
our
service. Mistress Landor is newly arrived from the country.’

‘I gathered so,’ he said.

I felt deflated and sad suddenly, as Carlotta went on, ‘And as she does not seem inclined to present me, I will tell you that I am Lady Pondersby, wife of Sir Gervaise.’

‘Of whose acquaintance I have the pleasure,’ said Richard Tolworthy. ‘May I escort you to your coach?’

‘Thank you. I would be glad if you did. I see Mistress Landor has been considerably shocked by the adventure.’

‘I fear so,’ he said, glancing briefly at me. ‘But at least she will know how to avoid such an experience if—may God forbid—it should occur again.’

‘It would have been terrible if you had not been there. I should never have forgiven myself!’ said Carlotta. ‘Oh, here is the coach. Could I take you to your destination?’

‘Thank you. I have business in the Walk.’

He handed us both into the coach and stood back, bowing.

As we moved away, Carlotta said: ‘Well, you have had a little adventure, have you not?’

‘I was terrified … until he came.’

‘I should think so. Two men, you say … with evil intent. Robbery with rape, doubtless. You have learned something of the streets of London this morning. Let it stand you in good stead.’

It was characteristic of Carlotta that she should see the incident as an example of my folly rather than her neglect and should seek to make me feel the more foolishly inexperienced because of it.

But she did not dwell on that. She was clearly interested in my rescuer.

‘I have heard his name,’ she said. ‘I believe him to be one of the King’s generals.

‘He said he was a soldier.’

‘Yes, a high-ranking one. It was obvious in his bearing. It was civil of him and gallant of him, was it not?’

‘It was indeed.’

She leaned back against the upholstery of the coach.

‘What is it I have heard of him? Something I fancy. I believe there is some mystery about him. I must ask Gervaise.’

She half closed her eyes, smiling. I realized that she was indeed intrigued by Richard Tolworthy.

As for myself I could not shut out of my mind the terrible moment when those two men had loomed up beside me and somehow conveyed their purpose. I could not imagine what would have happened to me if Richard Tolworthy had not appeared. It was quite beyond my ability to do so. But I knew that I would rather they had killed me.

And then he had come. I remembered certain things about him. It was a stern face as became a high-ranking soldier. It was a strong face—cold, though. I suppose he had despised me for walking so foolishly into such a trap. I had lost my purse but fortunately I had had very little money in it, and I would make sure that such a thing never happened to me again, so perhaps the experience was well worth the price I had paid for it.

He was tall and his skin slightly bronzed, so I supposed he had fought the King’s battles in other countries. I wondered whether I would ever see him again and I felt a flutter of excitement because it did not seem unlikely. He would move in Court circles—those of which Sir Gervaise was a member. I wondered whether he would notice me if we met again. When Carlotta had appeared I had the impression that she had shown him that I was to be despised for my folly, although before he had been kind, understanding of my inexperience.

When we arrived at Pondersby Hall, all thought of the man and the adventure receded, for there was a letter from my mother. I seized it and ran to my room with it because I could not bear to read it under the scrutiny of Carlotta’s eyes.

My fingers were trembling as I opened it. My fears of what I would read made it impossible for a second or so to see the words which danced before my eyes.

‘My dearest Angelet,

I hasten to tell you the good news. Bersaba is going to recover. She is very very weak but …’

The letter slipped from my hands. I just buried my face in them and I started to weep as I had not since the terrible anxiety had begun—tears of relief, tears of joy. Life would go on again.

Senara came and sat with me. She too wept a little and we sat side by side holding hands. I loved her in that moment because of her true affection for my mother.

She kept saying, ‘Thank God. Thank God. It would have killed Tamsyn. This is due to her nursing, you can depend upon it. Her mother’s care has defied the laws of nature. Tamsyn is one of the truly good women in this world.’

She put her arms round me and held me fast.

‘Did I not tell you so?’ she demanded.

And I answered: ‘You did!’ And I thought: You are truly a witch.

Mab was happy.

‘I couldn’t believe Mistress Bersaba could die,’ she said. ‘She’s too sharp for it.’

I laughed at that observation. It was with the laughter that is born of relief and happiness because that great black cloud had been dispersed and the skies were blue again.