Numbly, they obeyed, and Maggie suggested to Mr Fern that it was all right for him to go. After all, she was watching the strangers like a hawk. There was no way that she would let anyone upset Laura; not in her presence anyway. She knew more than anyone else that she needed no more anguish in her life.
“Talk to me then . . . I am listening.”
“It’s all about the cross you’re wearing,” the girl finally said.
“What?” said Laura, instinctively touching the golden cross that hung from a short chain around her neck. It was only small; with beautiful markings and a single ruby at its centre. It was a gift from Charles. He had given it to her unexpectedly a couple of months ago; just another impromptu present. He did that a lot. But what connection could the girl possibly have with it?
“Yes, my lady . . . You see, this cross belonged to her mother,” interrupted the man.
“Her mother? Surely, you must be mistaken. This was a present from my husband.”
“Perhaps,” said the girl, “But it is still my mother’s heirloom. I handed it to the viscount myself.”
Laura gasped. “When?” she managed in a feeble voice.
“Two months ago. I remember the exact date. It was one day before my mother died . . .” The girl broke down crying again, so Laura turned to the man for explanations, as he tried to soothe her.
“This is insane! What is she saying?”
“It’s true, my lady. My girlfriend, she sold the cross to Lord Willard in exchange for some ham, a few pounds of flour and a dozen eggs.”
Laura gazed at him, aghast. The man’s words took a few seconds to settle in her mind. “My husband took your jewellery in exchange for food? Are you sure?” she asked the girl finally, her voice wavering.
“Yes,” said the girl, “My mother was terribly weak. She was ill, she needed to eat. What was I to do?”
“We’re very sorry, my lady,” said the man. “I did guess you wouldn’t know about that. This is why I tried to stop my girlfriend from talking to you. But perhaps, now you’ve heard what she had to say, you can understand why she’s so upset.”
Laura nodded and exchanged a glance with Maggie. Her friend looked just as dumbfounded. The moment they locked eyes, her mind magically cleared. With a swift move, she unclasped the chain and handed it to the girl along with the cross.
“Here. This belongs to you. I am so sorry you had to part with it for a while,” she said to her, patting her hand.
The girl’s face brightened up, and she gazed back at Laura, astounded. It was no surprise she never said a word. Instead, she took her hand and kissed it.
“Please, please don’t,” said Laura, feeling ashamed, although she knew she’d done nothing wrong.
“Thank you, thank you so much,” said the man, “What you have done means the world to her, you know.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” said Laura, “I’ve lost my mother too, so I know what you’re going through.” She tried to smile to comfort the girl, but instead, tears started to roll down her cheeks. However, instead of crumbling down, she grabbed the handle on the pram and beckoned to Maggie to follow. She strode out of the tearoom, pushing the pram with her sleeping child inside, eager to get home at once.
Chapter 48
Laura stormed through the front door as soon as Jen answered the doorbell.
“Where is his lordship?” With a half-smile, she tried to conceal the rage brewing inside her.
“He’s in his bedroom, my lady. I believe he’s resting.” Jen’s voice came out in no more than a whisper, as not to wake the sleeping child. “He’s been out all morning and came back about an hour ago. Shall I prepare your lunch? His lordship ate out, he said.”
“No, Jen, thank you. I’ve had something to eat in town, too.”
“All right, my lady,” she said, as she took Laura’s coat.
Laura took Freddie in her arms, holding his limp body against her with tenderness as he slept. His head rested on her shoulder, his soft breath tickling her neck with every exhalation. The feeling brought on a sense of warmth inside her heart, helping her to calm down somewhat. This time, she managed a more genuine smile to the maid.
“Take the pram, will you, Jen? I’ll take Freddie upstairs.”
“Has Maggie left already for the day, my lady?”
“Yes. I’ve given her the afternoon off.”
Jen curtsied and watched with an agreeable smile, as her mistress walked away. Even if she were curious why Maggie had left so soon, she was too tactful to even hint on it.
Laura was thankful for Jen’s discretion. She knew that no matter how many quarrels she had with Charles, Jen would never tell anyone. Of course, she knew James would never gossip either. As for Harold, she wouldn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. She despised him so much that she never allowed herself to think about him, or to imagine what he was capable of. If it were up to her, that man would be out of the door in an instant; but as he was her husband’s precious valet, she had no choice in the matter.
Laura climbed the stairs slowly, trying to shake thoughts of Harold from her mind, aiming to clear her head for what was to follow. Slowly, she opened the door to her child’s bedroom and laid Freddie on his bed. Taking his shoes off but leaving his clothes on as not to disturb him, she placed the thick, embroidered coverlet over him, up to his chin. She caressed his head with a tender hand and closed the door behind her.
Moments later, taking a deep breath to steady herself, she knocked on Charles’s closed door.
“Come in.”
Good. He’s awake and what’s more, he’s sober.
“I wish to talk,” it sufficed her to say. No greeting, no pleasantries.
His brow furrowed. “What is it?”
“Would you please follow me to my bedroom? There is something we need to discuss.” Laura disclosed nothing through her expression. Instead, she turned around and walked away from the threshold. She heard his footsteps behind her but didn’t look over her shoulder to acknowledge him. When he followed her inside her room, she closed the door firmly and drew a long breath before speaking.
“Jen said you were out all day in town. Did you have a pleasant day?”
“What is this, Laura? All of a sudden we are friends again? What do you want me to say?”
“I was just wondering, Charles, have you had any progress with finding employment for yourself?”
“Oh, is that it? No, I’m afraid not. But I do have a new plan and—”
“That’s not what I heard in town,” she cut him off, her patience waning to hear his blatant lie. He’d found a source of steady income; an illegal and unethically prosperous one at that. It had been going on for at least two months, and he hadn’t breathed a word about it.
Charles cocked an eye at her. “What on earth do you mean?” They stood together by the door now. He was towering over her at six foot two, but she didn’t flinch to see the glint in his eye. She knew it well. It meant he was losing his patience. If she pressed even a tad more, she knew he would erupt. Good, that’s exactly what I’m after.
Instead of giving him a reply, she turned about-face and went to sit at her dressing table. Slowly, she took off her golden earrings and pearl bracelet, then opened her jewellery case and threw them inside with a flick of her wrist, carelessly, as if she didn’t care if she ever saw them again. They fell on the rest of her admirable jewels with a sharp, rustling sound.
“Stop playing games with me, damn it! What is it exactly that you want?” he exploded, coming to stand behind her in two long strides.
Laura stood and turned around to mirror his thunderous expression with her own.
“Well, all I have to say to you is that you’re a liar! And you know what? I am tired of waiting for you to change!”
Charles threw his hands into the air and huffed. “What is this about now?”
“I’ll have you know I’ve just had a very interesting encounter in town today. Some young girl scolded me over the
cross I was wearing around my neck! Any ideas?”
He knitted his brows. “Cross? What cross?”
“The one you gave me as a surprise present two months ago. It had a ruby at its centre,” she put to him impatiently.
“Ah, that. And what of it?” he said, but before he turned away to feign interest in the view of the gentle waves lapping on the shore, she saw the familiar flicker in his eyes.
“Oh, I think you know! Have you no shame?” Laura walked up to him and pulled his sleeve fiercely, causing him to face her again, but this time he was smiling. With a shrug from his shoulders, he attempted to deliver matter-of-factly the first excuse that popped up in his head.
“What of it? The girl owed me money. I had to collect,” he said turning away.
Laura walked around to face him again. Now she had her back to the window, but he still pretended to prefer the view outside, looking over her head.
“Will you look at me when I’m talking to you? What kind of a man are you, anyway? At least, have the gall to admit what you’ve done! As if it weren’t enough you’re selling supplies on the black market, you’ve gone as low as taking advantage of the dying! That poor girl’s mother was on her last legs, Charles! And you took her family heirloom for a handful of eggs!”
Charles sneered and darted his eyes at her only for a moment, then looked away again, a deep frown on his face. As always, he despised himself but couldn’t bear to let her see that. “Oh, I sold her a bit more than that,” he muttered. The moment it was out of his lips, he knew there was no return. It was as if he had already accepted she was always going to hate him, and out of love, he had committed to validate her every notion about him.
Laura rushed back to her dressing table to pick up in a handful all the contents from her jewellery case. A few rings rolled out of her grasp and fell on the thick carpet with a dull thud. Fuming with rage, she threw everything else at Charles. Necklaces dotted with jewels and heavily studded bracelets hit his chin, neck and torso, landing on the carpet in a tangled mess.
“Here! I want nothing of this! Take back all your presents! And if you have any decency left, you’ll return them all to the people you’ve stolen them from!”
Charles looked at her aghast, as the heavy ticking of the wall clock filled the room. A large diamond had cut his chin and a tiny trickle of blood stained it now. He felt it, so he wiped it with his hand, then stared down at the red smears glistening on his fingertips. The sight rendered him motionless for a few more moments, during which he listened to Laura’s erratic breathing. Although the sound was faint, it echoed loud in his ears like a drum. She stood so close to him but seemed miles away. He couldn’t bear the distance any longer. He wanted her desperately in his arms again. He yearned for her to be forever his to cherish and to treasure. But how? Has all hope been lost? He shook his head. “Laura, please . . .”
“You have nothing else to say to me. This was the last straw! No more!” she yelled at him, too indifferent to even bother keeping her voice down. Not even when she spared a thought about Freddie sleeping in the next room. After all, what she intended to do was for his well-being too. If it meant his sleep would be disturbed, so be it.
“Laura, you’re overreacting. These were presents I bought for you. They belong only to you; no one else. Please put them back,” he pleaded, bending over to pick up the messy tangle of chains and pearl strings with both hands. He bowed before her as well, kneeling at her feet as he picked up the rings she’d dropped earlier.
Spent, Laura watched and said nothing while he collected every trace of her jewellery off the floor.
When he stood again before her, offering the precious items back to her with pleading eyes, his heart sank.
Instead of taking them from his hands, she lifted her chin and fixed him with a cold stare. “I want nothing else from you. Never again.”
“Laura, please be reasonable. Yes, you’re correct. I do admit it. But this incident was a one-off. I haven’t taken any jewellery or any other payment in kind from anyone else. My customers pay me with money, buying what little they can afford.”
“You sound so prim and proper! Do you realise that your business venture is illegal? Have you even considered the scandal for our family should the police find out?”
Charles bent his head. He was feeling shamed. But there was a spark of hope in his heart, too. Laura had calmed down somewhat. Maybe this awful quarrel was nearly over.
“Listen to me, Charles. I will say this only once and as calmly as I can, and you are to accept every word I say.”
He locked eyes with her, looking distraught, like a lost little boy. “What . . . What do you mean?”
“I am leaving you, Charles. I cannot bear this travesty any longer. This marriage has been a sham from the beginning.”
“You’re leaving me? Just like that?”
Laura sneered. “Why do you look so shocked? There was never any love between us, not really. I have always been just a prize for you. That was all! Had you ever respected or valued me, you’d have honoured me with your sincerity. Instead, you’ve been lying to me, hiding the odd thing from me.”
“Hiding? Hiding what?”
“What you do in those long nights out, to start with! How do I know what you get up to out there? You’re probably having an affair, which would make perfect sense, seeing that I can't even remember the last time we shared any kind of intimacy.”
Charles waved his arms about. “Don’t be ridiculous!”
“And what of this last venture of yours? When were you going to tell me? Have you any idea how awkward this little episode has been for Maggie and me today?”
“Oh, Laura, it’s not the end of the world! These are difficult times. I did what I had to do to earn a bit of income for my family. It’s my God-given right!”
“Leave God out of your dirty business, if you please!”
“Everyone’s doing it, Laura!” His patience had started to wane, and he raised his voice. Inside his heart, frustration and dread fuelled his anger to boiling point.
“I don’t care what everybody else does! I’m not married to everybody; I’m married to you! And I expected sincerity from you, but I never got any. This is why I am leaving! Today! Freddie and I are going, and you’ll never have to see us again.”
A dark shadow crossed Charles’s face. His eyes, glistening and sparkling, locked on hers with determination. “No! You know well, I’ll never allow this to happen.”
Laura chuckled. “You have no say in this. You can't make me live with you under these circumstances. It’s over!” She raised her voice and was about to say more, but he grabbed her arm and shook her fiercely.
“No! It will never be over between us! Do you understand? You’re mine! No one else can ever have you!”
“You sick bastard!” she snapped, breaking away from his grasp to rush to the door and swing it open. She stood at the threshold, about to walk away, but he got there in an instant. Just as she was about to push him away, he got hold of both her hands. “Don’t you walk away from me!”
“Let me go!” She tried to break free from his grasp but to no avail.
“You’re going nowhere! You’re mine, damn it!”
“Let me go, you filth! You don’t deserve to be called a gentleman! You belong in the gutter!”
Charles raised his arm and struck her face so hard that she tipped sideways and lost her footing, hitting the floor. Instead of showing lenience, Charles picked her up gruffly and smacked her again; this time, punching her right in the eye. Laura staggered and crashed against the banister. It was by sheer luck that she managed to hold on somehow and not fall over the side. Such a fall would have surely killed her.
Disoriented from the sharp pain that shot through her head, her vision reduced to a blur, she whimpered, as she tried to raise herself again, but Charles picked her up like a rag doll in an instant. She tried to focus her eyes, to look out for the next blow, as his fearsome grunts and threats reached her ears.
Yet, all she could make out was an obscure haze around Charles’s huge blue eyes that glinted, menacing, under the overhead light. The fearsome sight and her own sense of helplessness reminded her then of that horrid night at Lakeview where he had drugged her. He had climbed on top of her with the same, fearsome glint in his eyes, a ruthless predator who had amused himself by playing with his prey before devouring it.
Something inside her snapped then, enough to breathe life and courage back into her lungs. “Let me go! Let me go or you’ll never live another day as a free man again! I’ll tell the whole world what you really are! A rapist, a wife beater, a bloody criminal!”
“You bitch!” he screamed at her and surely, just as she dreaded, another blow came. This time, it was another strike across her face that cut her upper lip where his wedding ring caught it. Blood gushed from the wound, staining his hand, but he was in such a mad frenzy that it didn’t stop him. Instead, he raised his hand again.
Laura heard hurried footsteps. Someone’s coming! Oh, for the love of God, please hurry; whoever you are.
Harold reached up and caught his master’s hand in mid-air. “Enough, sir!” he commanded, first time ever, but he had to. The situation called for firmness; otherwise it was his master who would pay the price. He couldn’t let that happen. Even if it meant he’d lose his position for interfering, he’d never let the Willard name be marred publicly, if anything for the sake of Earl Fenshaw; the greatest benefactor he had ever known.
Laura looked up, her vision still blurred, and managed to make out a second rescuer; another man. James’s gentle voice, albeit rushed, rang in her ears like the call of God’s angels. “Let me help you up, my lady,” he said with urgency.
Laura found herself standing, not sure how. Her nostrils filled with James’s familiar cologne and in her pitiful state, she found that a great comfort. Lemongrass. The fragrance cheered her up in the Rolls whenever he drove her, along with his jokes. She had associated it with their pleasant chats, his open-hearted, jovial smile. Despite the pain that had spread up and down her face, neck and arms, she felt at peace, simply knowing she was in James’s safe hands now.
The Flow Page 32