‘She is a poorhouse girl with no parents but as she has experience of being in service David and I thought we would take her on trial as a housemaid. If she proves satisfactory – as I am convinced she will – she will remain at Trethevy with us.’
‘That would be a very acceptable arrangement for everyone. I hope the girl will be duly grateful to you….’
Before he could say any more there was the sound of hurried footsteps along the passageway from the front door and a moment later Percy burst into the room, his face above the greying beard ruddier than normal.
Before Alice could reprove him for not knocking at the door, the old man asked breathlessly, ‘Where’s the Reverend? I just went up to the church to fetch a rake I’d left there yesterday and there’s a whole lot of young bullocks been turned loose in the churchyard. They’re trampling over everything! It’s Eval Moyle’s work, no doubt about it.’
‘Reverend Kilpeck went to Tintagel earlier this morning. He walked there because it’s such a fine day.’
‘Are you talking of Moyle the Ranter preacher?’ The question came from Jory Kendall.
‘You know him?’ Alice queried.
‘We’ve met,’ Jory said, tight-lipped, ‘He had shares in a fishing-boat we caught smuggling. The boat was ordered to be broken up and Moyle kicked up a rumpus about it. He is inclined to believe the laws of the land don’t apply to him. But how do you know him, I wouldn’t have thought he had much time for anyone associated with the Church of England.’
‘Before David and I arrived at Trethevy Moyle had been using the churchyard, indeed, the church itself, as somewhere to keep his animals. He had not paid rent to the previous owner for years but was very annoyed to learn the property had been given back to the Church. I had better go there to make quite sure the cattle do not go inside the church itself now that it has been cleaned, but I can’t think of anything else that can be done until my brother returns from Tintagel.’
‘I can,’ declared the young naval lieutenant, firmly, ‘We’ll simply turn his cattle out of the churchyard.’
‘But then they might go anywhere!’
‘No doubt they will, but that will be Moyle’s problem, not yours. Come on, Percy, you can help me.’
‘You two go ahead,’ Alice said, ‘I will follow as soon as I have told Eliza where we are going. She might panic if she comes into the rectory and finds no one here.’
When Alice went to the back garden and found Eliza, the young girl asked immediately, ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’
Alice had become quite attached to the young prospective housemaid during the brief time she had spent recuperating at the rectory and she smiled at the question. ‘I suppose you could come up to the churchyard and frighten Eval Moyle away should he return. You are so pale he might imagine you are a ghost, coming to haunt him for his sins. No, Eliza, stay here and let the sun put some colour into your cheeks. I will put the kettle on the fire before I go. If we are not back soon perhaps you could pop into the rectory kitchen and move it to the hob. Lieutenant Kendall will be with us. He is here to have a brief chat with you about the shipwreck.’
Her words alarmed Eliza but, unaware of the true reason for the young girl’s fearful expression, Alice placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t think about it too much, Eliza, it’s purely routine. It seems he has received a letter from a relative of the captain of the Balladeer, asking if you could say whether any of the bodies we buried in the churchyard might have been him. I told Lieutenant Kendall you had not seen the bodies but I had and they were all far too young to be a ship’s master.’
‘I wouldn’t have known him anyway,’ Eliza said uneasily, ‘I don’t think I ever saw him during the short time I was on board. If I did, I certainly can’t remember what he looked like … but the weather was so bad I never left the cabin.’
She was genuinely fearful at the thought of being interrogated and caught out by the lieutenant’s questions, but Alice said, ‘There is no need to look so worried, I have already told Lieutenant Kendall you are unable to remember very much about the ordeal you have been through and he is a very understanding man. But now I must go to the churchyard and learn what is happening there. Only deal with the kettle if you feel up to it – and don’t worry about anything.’
When Alice had left the garden Eliza did worry. She realised the tragic consequences of the storm had given her an unexpected opportunity to build a new life in a manner she could never have believed possible – and such a chance was not likely to come her way again.
Despite her conviction in a London criminal court, Eliza was a basically honest girl and given such kindly employers as Alice Kilpeck and her brother she felt confident she would be able to put the unhappy past behind her and serve them both loyally and happily.
Eliza had no ambitions beyond her present station in life. Work as a servant in a stable household was all she wished for. All she had ever wanted. Fate would be cruel were this to be taken from her by the questions of Lieutenant Kendall, however kindly and well-meaning he might be.
In her mind Eliza went over the story she had told to Alice and her brother, determined not to give Lieutenant Kendall the slightest reason for doubting it was the truth.
Chapter Thirteen
HURRYING ALONG THE lane from the rectory, Alice had covered no more than half the distance to Trethevy church when she was suddenly confronted by a small but lively herd of young bovines and forced to dash back the way she had come, losing one of her shoes in the process.
She found safety before reaching the rectory by scrambling inelegantly over a five-barred gate into an adjacent field as the wild-eyed, jostling bullocks cavorted past, filling the narrow lane from hedgerow to hedgerow.
Following on behind was a concerned Jory Kendall, who had seen Alice’s wild dash for safety. Struggling to untie the rope securing the gate, his relief to see her standing in the field, apparently unharmed, was quite evident.
‘You had me very worried, Alice. I was in the churchyard when I saw you coming along the lane just as Percy was opening the gate to let the bullocks out. I shouted for him to close it again, but I was too late and when I ran out into the lane you had disappeared. I feared you might have been trampled!’
‘For a few moments I thought I was going to be, but by running faster than at any time since I was a young girl I succeeded in beating them to the gate.’
The length of rope securing the gate had been rendered stiff and hard to manipulate by long exposure to extremes of weather and, finally admitting defeat, Jory helped her to climb over it once more, lifting her to the ground in the lane with ease, surprised at how light she was.
Smiling up at him, Alice said, ‘That was far more ladylike than the manner in which I went over the gate when Moyle’s cattle were in close pursuit.’
‘I am sorry, Alice, I would never have allowed Percy to let them out of the churchyard had I realised you were in the lane.’
‘It was my fault, not yours. You and Percy did what you had gone there to do – and judging by the speed at which they were running, they will be miles away by the time Eval Moyle comes looking for them.’
‘Yes, but he certainly will come,’ Jory said, suddenly serious. ‘I believe he put the animals in the churchyard with the deliberate intention of provoking your brother. The decision to bury dead sailors there has gained much support from the parishioners, many of whom have family or friends earning a living from the sea. Having a parish priest who cares enough to ensure that unknown sea-going men are given a Christian burial, even though there is no profit to be made from it, has impressed them greatly. One of the reasons the established Church has lost so many followers to non-conformist groups is because of the perceived view that Church of England priests are appointed not so much for the salvation of ordinary people, but to take as much money from them as possible in order to benefit both Church and priest – and not necessarily in that order!’
‘That is a very cynical
observation,’ Alice protested indignantly, ‘it is certainly not the way David feels about his work here.’
‘I know,’ Jory agreed. ‘That is exactly why he will find himself a target for Eval Moyle. The last thing Moyle wants is to have a popular Church of England cleric in the area. A great deal of his support comes from God-fearing people who are desperate to have someone lead them in their worship, someone they feel able to turn to in troubled times, providing reassurance and the promise of a better life to come. Eval Moyle is certainly not the right man for the job, but he is better than nothing! Reverend Carter rarely visits the parish and people have been unable to marry, have their children baptised, or even call upon a qualified priest to bury their loved ones. Despite this, the Church is swift to act if the tithes it demands are not forthcoming. The resentment this has built up against the established Church plays right into the hands of men like Moyle. The last thing he wants is to have someone like your brother appointed to the parish. You can be quite certain he will do everything in his power to drive him out, and Moyle is a dangerous and primitive man, both in his thinking and his adopted form of worship.’
Aware that he had been somewhat carried away in his fierce condemnation of Eval Moyle, Jory said, less heatedly, ‘Anyway, I think I should stay around for a while, at least until your brother returns, just in case Moyle puts in an appearance. He is going to be very angry about having his cattle turned loose.’
‘Thank you. I doubt whether Eval Moyle would physically attack me but he is a very volatile man and most unpleasant. When I have found my missing shoe we will return to the rectory and I shall make some tea for us.’
Alice recovered her shoe and although it had been trampled upon by the lively bullocks it was wearable and when they reached the rectory she decided they should have their tea in the garden. Leading Jory to where Eliza was seated beside a table in the shade of a gnarled and ancient apple tree she suggested he should remain with Eliza and chat to her while tea was being made.
Much to their surprise, Eliza declared that she would make it for Alice and the coast guard officer.
Concerned, Alice asked, ‘Do you think you are well enough yet, Eliza? You have been very ill, you know?’
‘I am feeling much better, thanks to you ma’am and if I’m to be your housemaid it’s high time I showed what I can do about the house. I probably won’t be able to manage everything right away, but you’ve been both patient and very kind towards me. Now I’d like to make a start on doing things for you.’
‘Well, if that is how you feel, I am very happy, but do not do too much right away.’
Eliza made her way to the kitchen, aware she had made a favourable impression upon her employer, but the truth was that she was relieved to have found a way to avoid being questioned by Lieutenant Kendall about the events leading up to the shipwreck.
At the moment there was no reason why anyone should doubt her story about being a passenger on the Balladeer. The ship had been wrecked on the rocks just beyond the nearby cliffs and she had been washed ashore in the cove, together with the bodies of those who had died on that vessel, but if she said something that did not ring true and it was suspected that her story was false…!
She would need to remain on her guard for a long time and, if at all possible, avoid any lengthy conversations about the ship on which she had been sailing, especially when talking to the coast guard officer.
It might prove difficult unless she made it clear from the beginning that she was a servant, a housemaid, and as such was expected to keep out of the way of her employers and their friends as much as was possible in a house the size of the rectory.
Chapter Fourteen
WHEN ELIZA LEFT the garden, Jory said, ‘She is very eager to please you, Alice – and rightly so. You saved her life and have taken her into your household, but in truth you know very little about her background. Don’t you think you should carry out some enquiries?’
‘Why? I know she survived a shipwreck, is lucky to be alive and I will soon learn whether she is telling the truth about having been in service. What else do I need to learn?’
‘I don’t know, but she does seem very reluctant to talk about the shipwreck itself.’
‘Is that so surprising? She is a young girl who has been through a thoroughly terrifying experience. The mind tends to blot out memories of such things – and it is perhaps just as well. Besides, in the short time I have known her I have come to like her and believe I am going to be very happy to have her working for me.’
Jory realised that any further suggestion from him that Eliza might possibly be hiding something about her background would be resented by Alice, and it was something he was anxious to avoid. He wanted to come to know the Trethevy cleric’s sister better.
‘I am pleased … for both of you. I must confess I know very little about poorhouses, but I am aware they are very unhappy places. Besides, as her recent experiences fade with time I have no doubt you will learn a great deal more about her.’
‘If she carries out her work to my satisfaction she can tell me as much, or as little, as she pleases. For now I am happy just to have been able to save her from the sea.’
Eliza made the tea and carried it to the garden table and was assuring her solicitous employer that she had encountered no problems in performing her first duty as the rectory housemaid, when a furious Eval Moyle stormed into the garden.
Jory was absent at that moment, having gone to the stable to ask Percy to water his horse as he was remaining at the rectory longer than he had anticipated.
When Moyle looked around and located Alice, he advanced towards her menacingly, declaring angrily, ‘I want words with you!’
Trying very hard to appear calm and self-assured, Alice replied, ‘And good morning to you too, Mr Moyle. May I perhaps offer you a cup of tea?’
‘Don’t try making a fool of me, young woman, I’m not one of your soft-living English churchmen. Now you’re in Cornwall you’ll need to learn how a woman’s expected to behave, before someone takes a mind to put you firmly in your place.’
‘That someone is certainly not going to be you, Mr Moyle, so if this is not a social call, I suggest you go on your way and attend to your business.’
‘I’ll go when I’m good and ready and not before – but I haven’t come to bandy words with you, any business I have right now is with your brother. Where is he?’
‘Reverend Kilpeck went to Tintagel early this morning. You’ll either find him in the church, or with the churchwardens.’
Looking at Alice speculatively, Moyle said, ‘If your brother’s been in Tintagel since this morning then it wouldn’t be him who turned my cattle out on the road, they was where I put ’em only an hour ago. Was it you? If it was…!’ He took a step closer, clenching his fists.
‘No, it wasn’t Miss Kilpeck, Moyle, it was me.’
Jory had come from the stables, unseen behind Moyle and now the burly preacher swung around to face him.
‘You? What business is it of yours what I do with my animals? Ain’t it enough that you had my fishing-boat broken up with your interfering? Are you out to ruin me, and all the men like me, hereabouts?’
‘Lieutenant Kendall was helping me by removing cattle which had been deliberately turned out to graze on consecrated ground, Mr Moyle. Had he not done so I should have reported the matter and you would be facing a hefty fine.’
Returning his attention to Alice, Moyle said angrily, ‘I told you just now to remember your place, girl, you have far too much to say for yourself. That might be alright for them mamby-pamby preachers you’re used to, but I’m not one of ’em. If I have any more of your lip you’ll feel the back of my hand.’
‘That’s quite enough of such talk, Moyle. You’d do well to set off after your cattle or they will be halfway to Devon.’
‘If they are it’ll be your doing.’ Stepping towards Jory, Moyle said angrily, ‘You and me have a score to settle and you’re not on duty now. Even if you wer
e, turning my cattle loose into the countryside has nothing to do with coast guard business. I think it’s time to see what you’re made of without a dozen or more men backing you up.’
Jory realised how vulnerable he was in the confrontation with this man. He was not carrying a weapon and the man facing him was not only a brutal and experienced fighter but also far more heavily built than himself. However, he could not back down now. All he could do was issue a warning, fully aware it would be disregarded.
‘If you attack me you’ll not convince a court it wasn’t to take revenge for what’s happened between us in the past, Moyle. You’ll go to prison for it.’
Shaking his head, the preacher said, ‘I’ll not be convicted by any Cornish court. Not for breaking the bones of a coast guard in a fair fight, I won’t.’
‘But you will certainly go to prison for sacrilege – and I doubt whether even a Methodist ministry will want anything to do with a preacher convicted of such a crime.’ Aware of the very real danger Moyle posed to Jory, Alice made a last-ditch attempt to head off violence.
At that moment Eliza provided an unexpected diversion. She had disappeared soon after Moyle arrived and now, hurrying to where the two men stood facing each other, she addressed Moyle. ‘Excuse me, sir, do you have a pony, a small, brown, shaggy one?’
Taken by surprise, Moyle scowled, ‘What’s it to you, girl? But yes, it’s tied up outside the gate.’
‘Not any more. You couldn’t have tied it up properly. I’ve just seen it wandering off along the lane with its reins dragging on the ground.’
His anger flaring-up once more, Moyle glowered at Eliza, ‘There was nothing wrong with the way I tied the pony. Have you turned it loose? If you have …’
Beyond the Storm Page 7