“Why?”
“Because I caught him assaulting one of the gypsy girls. He would have raped her. He thought the gypsy girls were fair game. Leah is fourteen. I know her father. He adores his daughter. He is a good man. You may be surprised but morals are very strict among the gypsies. Leah is a beautiful girl. The squire’s nephew had marked her out no doubt and he just lay in wait to catch her alone. What he did not know was that I was not far off. I heard Leah scream. I hurried to her. He had torn her blouse off her shoulders and had flung her to the ground. I just went for him. I caught him and we rolled over and over on the grass. I was mad with rage against him and all of those people who call themselves nobility and think that gives them a right to take any girl they fancy providing she is not one of their own class. When I had finished with him nothing could have saved him. I took Leah back to the camp. Her father wanted us to move on and we all saw that that was the best thing possible. But we were too late. The law caught up with us. I was arrested on a charge of murder.”
“But it was not an ordinary murder. You did it to save Leah. They would have to take that into consideration.”
“Do you think they would? The squire is a man of great influence in the neighbourhood. It was his nephew who was killed.”
“But it is against the law to commit rape.”
“Does that apply to squires and gypsy girls?”
“To all, surely,” I said. “The real criminal is that squire’s nephew.”
“Do you think you could get a court to believe that?”
“There will be Leah to give evidence.”
“That would carry no weight. No. I could see it was the hangman’s noose for me.” He touched his neck wryly as though he could feel the rope about it. “I have a strong desire to go on living.”
“What happened?”
“Before they took me away, Penfold, Leah’s father, swore the gypsies would never allow me to be hanged. They knew where I was in jail and they had a horse waiting nearby in case I could make my escape. They were aware that if I came up for trial it would be over for me. My chance came … a drunken guard, a little bribery … and I was out and there was the horse waiting for me … and I was away. I want to get out of the country. I’ll never be safe here. I was making my way to the coast. I came this way because I thought Dolly would help me. But I found the house empty …”
I was silent, then I said: “You will be safe here for tonight. Tomorrow the servants will come. How will you get out of England? There is a boat in the old boathouse. I’ve seen it fairly recently, but you would never get across the Channel in it, and how could you go to France?”
“I would attempt it.”
“The French will be watching the coasts. You know we are at war with them.”
“I’d have to take the risk.”
“If you could get to Belgium … but that is a longer crossing.”
“First it would be for me to get the boat.”
“The boat is there. You’d have to row yourself…”
“The case is desperate. I’ll try anything rather than fall into the hands of those who will condemn me before the trial starts.” He took my hands and looked steadily at me. “You will not betray me, little Jessica?”
“I never would,” I cried with fervour. “I’d always help you.”
He kissed me tenderly.
“You are a wonderful girl,” he said. “I never knew a girl like you before.”
He had a certain effect on me. I forgot Dolly and how he had seduced her. I forgot that he had killed a man. Soldiers killed in battles. The enemy, they called them, although they had no personal quarrel. This man had killed another who would have harmed a young girl. He was protecting the innocent against the wicked. He had been right to use whatever methods were necessary to save the girl. I was on his side. I had a feeling that no matter what he had done I should have been.
“You should be out of this house before the morning,” I said.
He nodded. “After dark, I shall go down to the shore and find that boathouse. Perhaps I could take the boat along the coast and find a ship going somewhere …”
“You should go round to Ramsgate or Harwich. There you might get to Holland. Do you have any money?”
“Tenfold brought me money with the horse.”
“It would have been better if you had made for the east coast.”
“I could not choose my way. I was being hunted.”
“If you went abroad, it would mean you would never come back.”
“These things are forgotten with the years. Tell me, when will the baby come?”
“Very soon now.”
“And Dolly, how is she?”
“Very happy. She wants the baby desperately. I think if you came back, she would be perfectly happy.”
“What a neat little ending that would be to a midnight frolic round a bonfire.”
“Is that what it was to you?”
He was silent. Then he said: “Please don’t think too badly of me. You were there, weren’t you. Do you remember?”
“Yes, I do remember.”
“Sitting in the carriage with your parents. I went on thinking of you…”
Neither of us spoke for some time. I was thinking of him in a cart, being taken to some place, and the crowd looking on while they strung him up by his neck. I had never witnessed a public hanging, but one of the servants had. She had come from London and seen it at Tyburn. She had given a graphic description.
That must not be the fate of Romany Jake.
I turned to him impulsively. “You must get away from here as soon as it is dark. I’ll bring you some food. Go to the east coast…”
“There is food here in the pantries. I was sure Dolly would not grudge me that. Where is the old lady? Has she gone with Dolly?”
“She died. She was horrified because Dolly was going to have a baby. She went out into the snow and was out all night. It killed her.”
He put his hand to his head. “So that is something else I have to answer for.”
“We all have to answer for all sorts of things.”
“How wise you are and how lucky I am to have your friendship. It is an unusual story. The lady of the manor befriending a poor gypsy who is running from the law.”
“There have been stranger stories. There is that one you sing about the lady who left home to join the gypsies.”
“You have not gone so far as that!”
The hall was suddenly illuminated by lightning which was immediately followed by a clap of thunder.
“I thought that one was for us,” he said.
“As soon as the storm is over I must go back. They’ll be wondering where I am.”
“They wouldn’t expect you to be walking through the storm.”
“No.”
“So we are safe for a little while.”
“Tell me about the gypsies,” I said. “It seems such a strange life for a man like you.”
“I’ll tell you a secret. I’m not a gypsy, born and bred. I joined them two years ago because I wanted a life on the open road. I had never liked the restricted life. I wanted my freedom. I could have had an easy life… slept in my goose-feather bed … sat down at table and feasted like a lord. This is the story over again. This is not the lady who left her home to follow the gypsies; but the man who left the family home to join them.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I quarrelled with my brother. He is fifteen years older than I. As our parents were dead he was in a sense my guardian—and I was a rebel. I ran away from school; I consorted with the menials on the estate. I made their grievances my concern; and after a serious family quarrel I realized that I did not want to go on doing things just because that was the way they had been done for hundreds of years. I wanted to be free … my own man. I did not want to obey a lot of social laws which seemed absurd to me, so I joined the gypsies. They have accepted me and some of the best friends I ever had are among them. I cut myself off complet
ely from the old life. There were no regrets I believe on either side. My brother was relieved to be rid of one who brought nothing but trouble. It was just that I cannot endure being shut in whether it be by iron bars or conventions.”
“I understand.”
“Well, now this could be the ignoble end of a useless life.”
“Don’t say that,” I cried. “In any case it wasn’t useless for Leah. You saved her, remember. And this is not going to be the end. You can get out of the country. Get to Harwich. I am sure you will be able to get across to Holland. You have the horse.”
“I took the liberty of putting him in the stables. I fed and watered him there. He is resting … ready for the long ride to Heaven knows where.”
“You must get to Harwich. Take the byways. They would not think of looking for you along the east coast. You’d have a good chance there.”
“I’ll leave when it is dark. Can I trust you to tell no one I am here?”
“Of course.”
“I hope to lie in hiding for a while until the hue and cry has died down.”
“Leave tonight,” I said; and I added: “I shall be thinking of you.”
“That gives me comfort, a determination to succeed, and when you are older I shall have so much to tell you.”
“Tell me now. I hate waiting.”
“I hate waiting too … but this will have to wait.”
We sat in silence for a while. Then I noticed that there had been no thunder for some little time and that the heavy rain had ceased.
“I must go,” I said reluctantly. “They mustn’t know that I have been here. Goodbye. Good luck. You are safe here for the rest of the day.”
“I will be watchful… and leave as soon as darkness falls. Thank you, my dear little girl. I shall think of you constantly … my beautiful young benefactress.”
He took my face in his hands and tenderly kissed my forehead. I felt very emotional. I wanted to do so much for him; but there was nothing I could do but remain silent.
I went across the hall. I stood at the door for a moment looking back, smiling at him.
I felt frightened suddenly, wondering if that was the last I should see of Romany Jake.
When I arrived home there was great consternation. Where had I been? My mother had sent the carriage over to Enderby to bring me back.
“Dear Mother,” I said, “I am not made of sugar.”
“And then we learned that you had already left.”
“I sheltered.”
She felt the sleeve of my gown. “It’s damp,” she announced. “Get it off at once. Where is Miss Rennie? Oh, Miss Rennie, see that Jessica puts her feet in a hot mustard bath at once.”
“Certainly Mrs. Frenshaw.”
I protested. “Really, this is absurd. I’m just a little wet.” And I was thinking, They sent the carriage over. Suppose someone had seen me go into Grasslands? Suppose they had come and found him?
I felt sick at the thought.
I must protect him.
I sat in my dry gown holding it above my knees while my feet were immersed in the hot mustard bath. Miss Rennie filled it again with hot water, when she thought it was getting a little cold.
“You should have stayed at Enderby. You could have come home in the carriage.”
“Such a fuss …”
How was he faring? Nobody else would call at the house this day and by nightfall he would be off.
I could not get out of my mind the horrible thought of his hanging by a rope. It must never be.
My mother came into the bedroom to see if her instructions were being carried out. She herself dried my feet, and while she was doing so there was the sound of voices below. She looked out of the window.
“It’s a stranger,” she said. “Oh, there’s your father. They’re talking earnestly together. I daresay this will mean a guest for dinner. I’ll go down and see. Now put on your stockings quickly. You’ll be heated from the mustard. You don’t want to catch cold.”
“Really, Mother,” I protested. “All this because of a little rain.”
“I don’t want you in bed with a cold. I have enough to do without that.”
In a way it was pleasant to be looked after and made to feel precious.
Then my thoughts were back with Romany Jake.
I went downstairs to see who had arrived. The whole family were gathered there with my father and mother. Claudine, David and Amaryllis. They were talking excitedly.
My father said: “This is my daughter Jessica. Jessica, this is Mr. Frederick Forby.”
Mr. Forby bowed and my father went on: “Do you remember the gypsy they called Romany Jake?”
I felt dizzy. I hoped I did not show how shaken I was.
“Mr. Forby is looking for him. We have to be on the watch.”
“Romany Jake?” I repeated.
“I thought he might come this way,” said Mr. Forby to my father. “We’re going to all the old haunts and I believe they were here last year.”
“Yes,” said my mother. “It was October. I remember they were at the Trafalgar bonfire.”
“October,” repeated Mr. Forby. “And not since?”
“Oh no, not since,” said my mother. “We should have been aware of them if they had been here.”
“They set my woods on fire,” put in my father. “I turned them off the land after that.”
“They say he is wanted for murder,” said David.
“That’s so,” said Mr. Forby.
“He’s a real villain then.”
“These gypsies have to be watched, sir. It’s usually petty crimes. Murder! Well, I have to say that’s rare enough. But we’re determined to get him.”
“Who was the victim?” asked Claudine.
“He was the nephew of the local squire. They were encamped near Nottingham.”
“Oh dear, that’s bad,” said my mother. “I thought perhaps it might have been a quarrel in the camp.”
“Oh no, the gypsy attacked the young man and killed him.”
“I hope they catch him,” said my mother.
I heard myself say in a rather high-pitched voice: “Why did he kill this man … the nephew of the squire?”
“Some quarrel over a girl. They’re a hot-blooded lot, these gypsies.”
I had to control myself. I wanted to shout: A quarrel over a girl! The squire’s nephew tried to rape her. Romany Jake was quite right to do what he did. Any man of chivalry would have done the same.
I must be careful. I must not betray the fact that I had seen him. I should somehow have to warn him that this man Forby was in the neighbourhood. I must be wary. He never should have come here.
They were talking about him. “A colourful sort of fellow as I remember,” said my father.
“I gather he is not a real gypsy.”
“What’s he doing living with them then?”
“It’s all rather odd. In fact he’s an odd fellow. We’ve been making enquiries. It seems he comes from quite a good family … somewhere in Cornwall. He’s known as an eccentric.”
“Who goes round committing murders,” said my mother.
“We don’t know of any others,” I said. “And it wasn’t murder. It was this girl…”
“Murder is murder, my dear young lady,” said Mr. Forby. “It is my job to see that the guilty are brought to justice.”
“But you said it was a quarrel over a girl. Perhaps …”
My father was looking at me with raised eyebrows and Mr. Forby went on: “We expect a bit of trouble with the gypsies. He seems to be a sort of leader in spite of not being one of them. Cornish name of Jake Cadorson. Romany Jake is just a nickname.”
“I remember the fellow,” said my father. “I quite liked his manner. He was reasonable enough when I went to order them off my land.”
“Hot-blooded,” said Mr. Forby.
“Where are they searching for him?” I asked.
“All along the coasts. I’ve got my men out. We’re determined to
get him. He’ll try to leave the country. I think he’ll make for the east coast. Harwich most likely. But for the war I’d have expected it to be the south coast. But he couldn’t very well get to France at a time like this. No, I reckon he’ll make for Harwich.”
I felt myself tremble. I thought: He will go straight into the trap.
I had to see him.
“I’m going to all the houses round here,” went on Mr. Forby. “I’m warning them to keep a look out. If anyone should see this man we want to know right away.”
I made an excuse to get away. I went to my room, got into my riding habit and slipped out of the house. I saddled my horse and rode out.
The trees were still dripping with moisture and the ground was damp after the storm. The bushes looked as though they had had a battering. Why does one notice these things when one’s thoughts are deeply involved elsewhere?
I reached Grasslands. It was very silent. I dismounted and tied my horse to the mounting block. I went to the door and rang the bell. I called through the keyhole: “It’s all right. It’s Jessica…”
I heard his footsteps. The door was opened and he stood there.
Just at that moment there was a shout. My father and Mr. Forby were galloping towards the house.
“No, no!” I cried.
Romany Jake looked at me and the pain in his eyes hurt me more deeply than I had ever been hurt before.
They had leaped from their horses. Mr. Forby produced a gun.
“It’s all up,” he shouted.
I felt as if I were going to faint. My father put his arm round me. “It’s all right,” he said. “I’m here.”
Two men appeared as if from nowhere. I had never seen them before but I knew that they were Mr. Forby’s assistants.
I could not bear to see what was happening.
My father said: “I’ll take my daughter home.”
I turned to Romany Jake. I could not speak. I shook my head. I could scarcely see him. My eyes were full of tears … tears of horror, remorse, frustration … and deep sorrow. I wanted above all things to talk to him, to explain. I could not bear him to think that I had betrayed him.
Quietly I rode back with my father.
We went to the stables and my father lifted me out of the saddle. He held me against him. He was not naturally demonstrative. The grooms took our horses and we went into the house.
Voices in a Haunted Room Page 44