A Captive Heart

by Patricia Scott

  ‘How is Reuben?’ she asked as soon as she was back in her bed chamber. ‘He has recovered?’

  ‘He will do. He’s strong. He’d best get back to work below stairs before they get suspicious and ask questions. So how’s Master Carey? Has he done his worst? Betrayed you to the Colonel?’

  ‘Captain Carey has behaved as if he scarce knows me,’ she said brushing the tears from her eyes quickly.

  ‘Good. At least he still has some makings of a gentleman to save him from God’s wrath.’ At that moment there came a quiet knock on the door. Martha put a finger to her mouth. ‘Best let me answer it. Master Carey! Haven’t you given us enough trouble? Miss Tamsin does not wish to speak to you.’

  Tamsin called out, ‘Who is it, Martha?’

  ‘Adam Carey the Ironside.’

  ‘Oh…’ She came to the door blushing prettily when she saw the immediate admiration in his green eyes that he could not hide from her.

  ‘How does Reuben, fare? Is he well? I saw him get shot.’

  ‘He is better - thank you.’

  ‘It was lucky for you both that the wheel came off and delayed us considerably.’

  She nodded. ‘So I heard. I shall save my father, Adam. I will not let them sentence him to death.’

  ‘Tamsin, be careful what you do.’

  ‘Captain Carey!’ A command came from below in the hall.

  ‘I must go. Ridgeway needs me.’

  ‘Go then. I would not keep you longer.’

  He took hold of her hand and held it fast in his. ‘Tell me, Tamsin, that you will not do anything foolish to endanger yourself like trying to break your father out of prison. I cannot help you if you attempt to do this. Promise me you will not risk your life in vain.’

  ‘Adam!’

  And then he was gone, leaving her feeling bewildered and distraught. He had guessed what she intended to do. What would he do about it? Give her away?

  ‘Martha what shall I do? Do you think he will tell them that I mean to obtain my father’s freedom?’

  ‘No,’ Martha shook her head. ‘He would have told them already, child. You must keep a guarded tongue at all times from now on. We could have enemies in this house that you do not know about.’

  Chapter Forty

  As soon as she could leave the house without causing any undue interest from the two officers in residence Tamsin rode over to the Thomsett’s house with a letter from her aunt as her excuse for calling on them. She wanted to remind the vicar of his promise to her and tell him what she intended to do next.

  She sat down in the small parlour while Mrs Thomsett brought in some of her home made elderberry wine and cakes.

  ‘The ship will be waiting for Father on the water. It is all arranged. We only have to get him safely on board. It could be dangerous for us all but I cannot do it without your help, Mr. Thomsett. You have God on your side. Surely He will understand that we’re doing the right thing for a good man.’

  He heard her and chuckled. ‘I will have the greatest pleasure in doing all you ask of me. It will delight me to fool those Roundheads. I hope, my dear, that you will not suffer for what you are about to do. Although I am sure that your father would be very proud of your actions to rescue him. He knows nothing of this?’

  ‘No, nothing at all. I shall not tell him till it is too late for him to stop me.’

  The vicar nodded. ‘It is a dangerous game you intend to play, Tamsin. Someone will have to be taken to account for this. I think you know what could happen to you afterwards.’

  She sighed. ‘I do, I shall be found accountable and punished. I cannot believe that Oliver Cromwell would do more than sentence me to confinement here. I will not have done anything worse than to help my father escape. No one will die because of it. They might have some very sore heads though in the morning though, Mrs Thomsett,’ she added with a smile.

  *

  On her return to Treganna, Tamsin sought out the Colonel.

  ‘It is my father’s birthday tomorrow, Colonel Ridgeway. And as you told me that he will not celebrate any more than this one, I would like to give him an hour at least of my company to say goodbye.’

  ‘His birthday, Miss Trevenian?’

  ‘Yes and I would like to take the Vicar Mr Thomsett with me. He said he will say prayers for him in his cell to help my father come to terms with his God. Father is a devout, religious man. I’m sure you can understand this.’

  She spoke out sincerely. For all she knew it could be the last time she would see him, the delay she had created for him had made only a short hiatus.

  Time now was of the essence. If Martha had done all she had been asked then Captain Jacque’s ship would be waiting for Richard Trevenian in the Helford Passage after she got him safely out of his cell in time to reach it to sail.

  Her plan for her father’s birthday treat stood a good chance of success if only everyone entered into the spirit of things and carried out her plans for that evening.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Tamsin planned to make the most of her father’s birthday. She chose her rose pink printed gown and new pink satin shoes to wear. Only the best would do for this very special occasion. Who could refuse his pretty daughter her wish to see him and to drink a glass of wine she brought along with her as part of his birthday celebrations? They would not know of course that Reuben had added some secret herbal ingredients to the wine.

  With a permission order signed and granted from Colonel Ridgeway the Vicar and Tamsin arrived at Helford Fort in the coach from Treganna at seven, bringing with them some fine roasted chicken legs and freshly baked crusty bread with three bottles of wine in her basket. The Reverend also brought along two bottles of his wife’s excellent elderberry wine.

  Tamsin knew that much depended on how the guards accepted Mr Thomsett’s generous offer of the bottles of wine that evening while most of the others were dining out with Ridgeway and Traynor at Treganna. Aunt Phoebe would have done her best to make the evening pleasurable for them with good food and wine.

  ‘What have you brought in with you, Miss Trevenian?’ Lieutenant Harker said smiling as she came in with a basket on her arm.

  ‘Some food and wine to celebrate my father’s birthday, Lieutenant Harker, that my aunt Lady Phoebe has provided for this evening.’

  ‘It is not usually allowed for a prisoner to have two visitors,’ he said looking curiously at the cloth covered basket.

  ‘We have Colonel’s Ridgeway’s permission, sir. It is my father’s birthday and I have brought him some food and my aunt’s most excellent home made Damson wine. My father is particularly fond of it. You would not begrudge him it.’

  ‘May I see all the contents please if you will? And Mr Thomsett what brings you here, sir?’

  ‘The Reverend Thomsett wishes to pray for my father and he has also brought some bottles of his wife’s elderberry wine with him.’ She lifted the linen cover to show him the contents of the basket. ‘Perhaps we can offer you a glass or two, sir. It is pleasant to drink on so warm an evening. And your men? You may give them some also. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.’

  ‘The elderberry wine is my wife’s speciality, Lieutenant,’ the Reverend said as he took a bottle from his own wicker basket. ‘Won’t you try some?’

  Tamsin smiled sweetly and it was hard to refuse such a welcome invitation on a quiet warm evening such as this. She didn’t wish to appear to be too eager to press it on them. But it seemed that the young officer needed very little persuasion to try it.

  With no other officer there to say nay to this invitation to good food and wine which sounded so delightful, the young Lieutenant Harker accepted a glass of the sparkling golden wine gladly, and also took another bottle of wine from the Reverend with much alacrity and gusto, allowing the guards crowding round to taste it.

  ‘One hour,’ the guard said as he let them into the cell.

  ‘Daughter!’ Her father rose in surprise from the chair where he sat at his small table. �
�Mr Thomsett! What brings you both here?’

  Tamsin flew into his arms and kissed him.

  ‘A happy birthday, Father! You are well, sir?’

  ‘Tamsin! I am and all the better for seeing you now, my child.’

  They put out the chicken, butter and fresh bread on a dish and poured out the wine into the glasses she had brought with them, exchanging his clothing under the cover of much laughter, while Tamsin told him their plan.

  He protested vehemently at first and questioned their common sense. He also questioned her much about Adam, but he had long since forgiven her.

  ‘You felt that you were doing right by him, my dear... And I do not blame you for being the daughter you are. Like your mother you cannot see wrong in anyone. But I say to you now, forget what you are attempting to do for me, Tamsin. It is far too dangerous. I cannot allow you to risk your own life for mine. Or Mr Thomsett’s.’

  ‘There is little time, Father. You must do as we say now. You have to leave with me shortly. Mr Thomsett knows what he has to do and all will be well. Everything has been arranged. Martha has seen to it.’

  Her father shook his head. ‘I will take a drink with you but I cannot allow you to risk your life in exchange for mine, Mr Thomsett.’

  The Vicar shook his head. ‘You must do as she says.’

  ‘I cannot, they will punish you both.’

  ‘You do it with my blessing and God’s. I have already had my living taken from me here. I cannot fight for the country or for the young prince. But I would like to help you keep your life, sir. That is my reward.’

  Tamsin insisted, ‘You must take this chance, Father. Before it is too late. The boat and Captain Jacque will be waiting for you in the Helford Passage. We must do it now. There’s no time to waste.’

  Minutes later they were ready and Tamsin and Mr Thomsett made their goodbyes loudly, cheerfully and noisily to the prisoner. They called out long and loudly over the noise made by the men on night duty for the smiling Ironside guard who came at last to their calls. A trifle unsteadily on his feet he came to the cell to release them and lock the prisoner in.

  They left Richard Trevenian lying at peace with the world on his bed. Or so it appeared at a first glance to the guard.

  Tamsin said tearfully, ‘I’m afraid, sir, it was all too much for my father - he drank rather more wine than usual, sir. It is a sad occasion for us all. But it is after all his birthday. I beg you please do not disturb him. Allow him to sleep his last night out in peace. Mr Thomsett has given him good counsel and we have said prayers for him.’

  The guard looked quickly at the prisoner lying on the bed, the empty bottles and glasses well in evidence on the table.

  Even the Parson seemed a little unsteady on his feet as a giggling Tamsin guided him carefully out of the cell. She was forced to steady the Reverend Thomsett as they walked out slowly past the lieutenant now sound asleep and snoring in the chair and the other guards dozing around him against the walls who had also celebrated the prisoner’s birthday rather too well.

  They were escorted clumsily out of the Fort by the guard who closed the doors sharply behind them, riding away quickly to the mouth of the Helford Passage on the horses that Reuben had brought to where the French ship waited for the early tide and for its Royalist passenger to board it. When they were safely out of sight Richard Trevenian dropped the cloak from where it had been disguising his features.

  ‘You must come away now,’ her father begged his daughter to come on board with him. ‘You cannot stay here. Come away with me now. You have put yourself into terrible danger by doing this for me. I cannot leave you behind.’

  ‘You can. I would do anything for you, Father.’ She threw her arms around him and kissed him on both cheeks. ‘But now I must go. I must get back into the house unobserved,’ she said as she kissed him on the cheek and released him reluctantly. ‘Reuben will see to our horses. Mr Thomsett knows just how shocked and discomforted he will be by the sad plight we left him in to face the officers when they question him in the morning. He has played his part well.

  ‘Aunt Phoebe has seen to it that all who were invited to dine were well entertained also and drank much of the good wine she put out and she left them to it.’ She chuckled. ‘Colonel Ridgeway and Captain Traynor, I hope will have much to suffer from their roistering in the morning.

  ‘Their excellent bottles of wine and brandy were drugged so there will be many bad heads at home and at the fort too. They will have slept well and long after we leave in the early morning.’

  Richard Trevenian held her close for a moment and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Till we meet again. May God go with you, daughter.’

  ‘And may God go with you, Father.’

  Chapter Forty-Two

  It was not till late in the morning at the Helford Fort when the still sleeping guards were woken with a noisy banging and thumping on the cell door and checked on the prisoner that the truth was finally revealed. The prisoner was gone. The cell was empty save for a bewildered, unhappy clergyman dressed only in his under garb who held his aching head and complained bitterly that he had been tricked and left there to suffer in Colonel Trevenian’s place, and an equally, bewildered young Lieutenant Harker, attempting to make some sense of it all, until he realised that he had been cruelly deceived by a pretty face, good food and several bottles of highly potent elderberry wine.

  The guards also holding their aching heads groaned and protested in vain to any that would listen that it had been a very warm evening and they had no idea that the wine would be so potent as to lead them into temptation. They had to awaken the younger officers from their beds who were also feeling the bad consequences after dining out rather too well at Treganna House.

  Colonel Ridgeway was alerted immediately, but it was far too late to be of any consequence for him. His most important prisoner had escaped and his escape had been arranged and carried out by his daughter Tamsin using the deposed Vicar as a pawn.

  Tamsin was woken up and ordered downstairs from her bedchamber at Treganna at once and questioned long and sharply in the library by Colonel Ridgeway. There was little doubt in anyone’s mind that she had clearly executed her father’s escape. But why was she still here? Why hadn’t she gone with him? There was much talk about this in the household.

  The colonel studied Tamsin’s face carefully. For one so young and pretty it was quiet and controlled. She showed no fear in her eyes or in her voice and behaviour. She had known what to expect if she stayed behind. But she wanted to make it quite clear that her fellow conspirators should not be punished.

  ‘Mr Thomsett knew nothing of this, Colonel Ridgeway. The parson has done no wrong. If you wish to blame anyone it must be me, sir.’ She smiled. ‘You see I drugged his wine. It was I who persuaded him to come to say prayers for my father. The poor man, he fared badly in all of this, his head must ache so this morning,’ Tamsin declared innocently. ‘Alas…he was not used to such potent wine as my Aunt Phoebe’s Damson. It has knocked out the best and wisest heads before now,’ she said barely keeping a straight face. ‘My father exchanged clothes with him, leaving the Parson unable to say nay to what we had done. I’m sorry for Lieutenant Harker too. He also obviously is not used to such a potent wine. Please if you will, do apologise to him for me,’ she said sweetly.

  Colonel Ridgeway listened and despite himself marvelled that she could be making such a bold stand in front of him. This would have to be reported and punishment had to be seen to be taken. It was a serious matter. Very serious indeed. She could be imprisoned for a long time. But this young woman was making the most of her opportunity to speak.

  ‘Please do not trouble my aunt, Colonel Ridgeway. Aunt Phoebe knows nothing at all of this matter as you will discover shortly when you question her.’

  He leant over the desk and said more sadly then in anger, ‘Why did you not leave with your father, Miss Trevenian? Why did you stay? Did he not try to persuade you to do so? Surely he must have attempted to make
you go with him?’

  All this could have been avoided and forgotten after time elapsed but her presence here would serve only to chafe and annoy him that a mere chit of a girl could deceive them all so easily.

  She smiled and nodded. ‘He did, Colonel Ridgeway. He begged me to leave with him. But I could not do this. My aunt needs me here at Treganna. I cannot leave her - she has now not only lost a son but her husband. And she has no one to take care of her.’

  He frowned. ‘You may wish this, Miss Trevenian. But I am afraid this cannot be. You cannot stay here. You have committed a heinous crime. You helped a prisoner escape and must therefore be seen to be punished.’

  She heard, and paled visibly, but lifted her chin up bravely. She had shown her hand. Now she had to face up to whatever punishment they had in store for her.

  ‘May I not stay on here in this house, Colonel?’ she said quietly.

  She wanted no fuss - scared to death she might be but she was not about to show it to this man, their enemy, who could no longer order her father’s execution but could ask for hers instead.

  He sighed, tapping the document lying on his desk with a long forefinger. He said, ‘Alas this is no longer possible, Miss Trevenian. You have shown that you cannot be trusted to obey our orders. You shall be taken to Helford Fort to stay there till your fate is decided. Your servants, the woman Martha and her son Reuben, will be taken there also. You could not have done this without their help.’

  As he said this he knew that her fate would be sealed. Oliver Cromwell had not been pleased about the earlier success her father had enjoyed in the Scillies. He had ordered Richard Trevenian’s execution to be carried out and now that he was denied this he would need to see that Richard’s young daughter was punished in his place.

  She could read his thoughts. Her father had hoped they would be lenient with her, but she had known her fate the moment she saw the colonel’s eyes shift from the sealed parchment on his desk to her. A Royalist woman had made fools of them all. A young one, scarcely more than a child. As long as Mr Thomsett did not suffer she no longer cared.