by Dilly Court
‘Leave the old girl be,’ someone in the crowd called out. ‘Let her tell what she knows.’
‘Tell, tell, tell.’ The crowd took up the chant.
Sir Joseph held up his hands, a sickly smile painted on his face. ‘Come now, good people. This has gone far beyond a joke. I don’t want to have to call a constable, but I will if you threaten to become disorderly.’
Someone threw a half-eaten bun at him and it struck him on the nose.
‘Be silent, Uncle,’ Josie said in a low voice. ‘You’re only making matters worse.’
‘Why are you protecting him, maid?’ Zolfina demanded, moving close to Josie. ‘You are not a bad girl at heart and yet you allow this man to take liberties with you.’
‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Josie muttered, blushing. ‘You’re making it all up.’
‘You may choose to deny it, but the truth is in your eyes.’ Zolfina pointed a finger at Sir Joseph. ‘I can see him touching you and caressing you, even though you tell him to stop. He cannot help himself where women are concerned and he does not know that you are his own flesh and blood.’
Josie raised her hand and slapped Zolfina across the cheek. The sound ricocheted off the surrounding gypsy caravans. There was a horrified intake of breath from the onlookers.
‘Well done, my dear.’ Sir Joseph puffed out his chest, smirking triumphantly. ‘That’ll teach the bitch to respect her betters. I’d have done it myself, except that I am too much of a gentleman.’
Zolfina glared at him, clutching her cheek. ‘You, a gentleman!’ She spat on the ground at his feet. ‘She is your daughter, Joseph Damerell. You have been abusing your own child.’
Kate stared at Josie in horror. ‘This can’t be true.’
Josie drew away from her. ‘Of course it isn’t. He’s my uncle. My father was Sir Hector Damerell, old woman. You are addled in the head.’
Hermione had fainted quietly away, but no one seemed to have noticed. Kate knelt down on the damp grass beside her. She cast a pleading look at Squire Westwood who had been standing close by. ‘Please put a stop to this, Edmund. This must not go on.’
He laid his hand on Sir Joseph’s shoulder. ‘Come away, Joseph. This spectacle is unworthy of your family name.’
‘You are a troublemaker, old woman,’ Josie cried, taking Zolfina by the shoulders and giving her a shake. ‘What you say is untrue. Admit that you lied. My father was Sir Hector Damerell.’
‘Stop this.’ A younger gypsy woman emerged from the shadows, pale-faced and trembling. She held her hands out to Zolfina. ‘Mother, please. Say no more.’
Zolfina was also shaking, but her face was contorted with rage. She seized her daughter by the shoulders and thrust her towards Sir Joseph. ‘This is my child, Dena, the Romany girl you took to your bed more than twenty years ago, Joseph Damerell. You fathered her bastard, and now you are trying to have your way with your own daughter. For shame on you.’
‘Shame, shame, shame.’ The cry was taken up by the delighted crowd.
Kate could bear it no longer. She leapt into the middle of the circle holding up her hands. ‘Please don’t do this. Some of you may know Josie, but there is not one amongst you who did not know Sir Hector. For his sake, please stop this now.’
‘Come away, Kate. Don’t get involved in this.’ Robert stepped out from the shadows. ‘You’re making a spectacle of yourself.’
‘Father, how can you say such a thing to me? I must stand up for what is fair and right.’
‘Let the little bitch make a fool of herself, Robert,’ Honoria cried. ‘Leave her. She is nothing but trouble to us.’
Squire Westwood helped Hermione to her feet, thrusting her into Sir Joseph’s unwilling arms. ‘Take your good lady home, sir.’
‘It is all a pack of lies,’ Sir Joseph spluttered. He gave Hermione a shake. ‘Pull yourself together, woman.’
Someone booed him and it was taken up in a low growling murmur.
‘Send for the constable,’ Joseph shouted. ‘Fetch the police.’
Dena moved to her mother’s side. ‘Say no more, I beg you, Mother.’
‘It isn’t true.’ Josie stared at Dena. ‘You can’t be my mother.’
‘Ask the woman in black,’ Zolfina sneered. ‘Ask the maidservant who placed you in the bed of the barren lady. Ask your widowed mother to tell you how she tricked Sir Hector into thinking that you were his child.’
‘Stop it,’ Kate cried. ‘These are wicked lies, old woman.’
Zolfina turned on her. ‘And you, my lady. You were born on the same day on that ancient mound, a monument to heathen gods. You are the child of a young gentlewoman whose man had died fighting for his country. The person you call father will tell you the truth.’ She pointed at Robert, as he comforted Honoria who had chosen this moment to have hysterics. ‘Ask him how he put you in place of his wife’s stillborn babe.’
‘Father, say it isn’t true.’ Kate held her hand out to him, but he shook his head.
‘Don’t listen to her, maidy.’
Honoria’s hysterics ceased immediately. She pulled away from Robert’s arms and advanced on Kate with narrowed eyes. ‘I knew it. You are a changeling, but it wasn’t the fairies who left you in the cradle. You are a little bastard, just like her.’ She pointed a shaking finger at Josie. ‘Two little bastards. You both deserve everything you get. As for you, gypsy woman …’ Honoria took a purse from her muff and tossed it on the ground at Zolfina’s feet, ‘you were worth every penny. Come, Robert. We’re going home.’
‘Father …’ Kate tried to follow them, but Honoria barred her way.
‘You have no home. You are not wanted on the farm, and you will move your things from the cottage. We have found a replacement for Loveday, and his sister. You can go together, and good riddance.’ She seized Robert by the arm and marched him off through the hissing, booing onlookers.
Kate raised her hand in a mute appeal as she watched them walk away. She was too stunned to comprehend the enormity of what had just occurred. This time it was Josie who put her arm around Kate. ‘Let them go. You can come home with me. That is, if I still have a home to go to.’ She glanced over her shoulder, but Sir Joseph had also left followed by a sobbing Hermione, and the crowd was melting away.
‘It can’t be true,’ Kate said, rubbing her hand across her eyes. ‘You don’t believe what they said about Sir Joseph, do you, Josie?’
‘Of course not,’ Josie cast a scornful look at Zolfina. ‘The old witch was just making trouble. Joseph isn’t my father. He couldn’t be.’
‘Are you satisfied, Mother?’ Dena demanded. ‘Why did you do it?’
Zolfina tipped the contents of Honoria’s purse into her palm. ‘Mean bitch. There’s barely three shillings here.’
Dena pushed past her with an exclamation of annoyance. ‘Miss Damerell … Josie. I don’t know what to say to you.’
Josie eyed her with a blank stare. ‘I don’t believe that you are my mother.’
Dena’s eyes brimmed with tears. ‘I was young, just like you. He was so handsome then, and charming. I was headstrong and I thought I was in love. I never wanted to give you away, child. But I had no say in the matter.’
Josie backed away from her. ‘If it’s money you want, then you are out of luck for I have none, and if this gets around you’ll ruin my chances of a good marriage.’
‘I want nothing from you.’
‘Then you won’t be disappointed,’ Josie snapped, tossing her head. ‘You’ve made a spectacle of my family, gypsy woman. I ought to have you arrested.’
‘Why should you believe me? Sometimes the truth is too painful to bear.’ Dena bowed her head. ‘I have lived with my shame for many years. I cannot blame you for not wanting to know your true identity.’
‘But I do,’ Kate said, clutching Zolfina’s arm. ‘Who am I? If half of what you say is true, then you must have known my real mother. Who was she?’
Zolfina tipped the money back into the purs
e and slipped it into her pocket. She eyed Kate with her head on one side. ‘You are the lady, child. Your poor mother was a gentlewoman and your father a serving army officer, killed in action in the Crimea.’
Josie uttered a derisive snort. ‘So, you are the lady and I am part gypsy. Isn’t that too funny for words? What do you think Harry would make of that, Kate?’
Ignoring this barb, Kate reached out to take Zolfina’s gnarled hand in hers. ‘My mother, do you know her name?’
‘Clara. That’s all I know. She did not live long enough to tell me more.’
‘Clara,’ Kate whispered. ‘I shall never know her by any other name than Clara.’
‘Come home with me, Kate,’ Josie said, linking her hand through her arm. ‘I don’t believe a word of all this. As far as I am concerned it’s all a pack of lies.’
‘I am sorry,’ Dena said, bowing her head. ‘I am sorry that you have had to suffer on my account. But just believe that I did love you, and parting with my baby was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.’
Josie eyed her coldly ‘I don’t doubt that you gave your baby away, but that child was not me. I am going home, and I don’t expect that I will ever see you again.’
Dena turned and ran, disappearing into the darkness. Zolfina hobbled after her, muttering beneath her breath.
‘Josie, that was unkind,’ Kate said angrily. ‘Whatever you think, she obviously believes that you are her lost child.’
‘She gave me up, if it’s true, which I sincerely doubt. None of this is my fault, any more than the way in which you were born, and we don’t know if that is just a tissue of lies.’ Josie shivered, wrapping her mantle more closely around her. ‘At least it entertained the masses, but now the show is over and I suppose my dear uncle Joseph has left me to find my own way home.’
Edmund cleared his throat. ‘Kate, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for bringing you here. If I had not persuaded you to come today, none of this would have happened.’
She had forgotten that he was standing quietly behind them, and she turned to him with a grateful smile. He could have walked away, but he had stayed. ‘It wasn’t your fault, Edmund.’
‘I still feel responsible, my dear. I’ll send a boy to fetch the dog cart and then I’ll take both you young ladies home.’ He disappeared into the dusk.
Josie angled her head, giving Kate a searching look. ‘What’s going on between you two?’
‘Nothing. He’s just being kind.’
‘If you believe that then you are a complete noodle, Kate. The man is obviously besotted with you. Has he asked you to marry him?’
‘As a matter of fact …’
‘I knew it. Well then, you are made for life. Accept him and become the lady of the manor.’
Kate lowered her gaze. ‘I can’t marry a man I don’t love.’
‘I hope you aren’t still pining for Harry.’
‘No, of course not. He loves you and soon you will be his wife.’
‘Yes, of course. I’ll make certain that I hold him to his promise, and when I’m mistress of Copperstone Castle no one will dare speak ill of me. All this nonsense will be forgotten by the end of the week anyway, Kate. Let the peasants gossip if they will; it can’t hurt either of us.’
Edmund came striding back to them. ‘Come. The dog cart is over there on the other side of the caravans. I’ll have you both safely home in no time at all. Josie first, I think.’
As they walked behind him, Josie nudged Kate in the ribs. ‘He is eager to get rid of me so that he can have you all to himself, Kate. I told you so.’
‘You’re just being silly,’ Kate said automatically, but she took a seat in the back of the vehicle, allowing Josie to sit up front with Edmund. In spite of everything, Josie managed to keep up a cheerful conversation, but during the drive to Damerell Manor Zolfina’s words kept going round and round inside Kate’s head. Until this morning, she had been Kate Coggins. Now she was not certain who she was. But if it was all a pack of lies, why had her father remained silent? Why had he said nothing when Honoria threatened to have her thrown out on the street? The questions buzzed around inside her head like wasps around an overripe apple. She jumped as Josie called her name.
‘Kate. Are you asleep? We’re here.’
The lights of the big house blazed from the windows. Edmund drew the cob to a halt on the carriage sweep. ‘Will you be all right now, Josie? Would you like me to come in with you?’
She tossed her head. ‘Thank you, but this is still my home, Squire. My uncle is the one who was embarrassed by the old gypsy woman, but I still think that she was lying. My mother will confirm it, I’m certain.’
Edmund handed Josie down from the cart and he walked with her to the foot of the perron. Kate looked up at the starry sky and watched her breath curling up into the atmosphere. She wondered where Harry was at this moment, but she knew for certain now that he was well and truly lost to her. A short time ago she had been a farmer’s daughter, respectable enough, although below him in social class; now she was the illegitimate child of a runaway lady and a soldier, both of them long dead. Although she did not want to believe it, deep down she knew that it was true. Her father’s silence had been more convincing than an admission of the truth.
She looked down and saw Edmund standing at the side of the dog cart, holding his hands out to her. ‘Won’t you come and sit beside me, Kate?’
It seemed churlish to refuse, and she allowed him to help her onto the driver’s seat. He climbed up beside her. ‘I’ll have you home in no time, my dear,’ he said, wrapping a fur rug around her knees. ‘You must be worn out.’
She leaned against him as he urged the cob into a trot. He was solid and dependable, and old enough to be her father. ‘Yes, Edmund. I am rather tired.’
‘You must not take to heart what the old gypsy woman said, Kate. They do that sort of thing to drum up a crowd.’
‘I don’t know what to believe. Honoria obviously thought it was true.’
‘My dear girl, I know Honoria all too well. She is a jealous woman and she wants Robert to herself. I am sure that he will see things differently in the cold light of day. After all, no man in his right mind would abandon his daughter.’
She yawned, resting her head against his shoulder, only to awaken what seemed like seconds later to find that they had stopped outside the cottage. ‘I’m sorry, Edmund. I must have fallen asleep.’
‘Kate, my dear. I’m not the sort of man who would take advantage of your present situation, but I want you to know that my offer of marriage still stands. I don’t expect an answer right away. You need time to think it over, but you would make me the happiest man in the world if you were to accept.’
‘I am truly honoured, but …’
‘I am old enough to be your father, but with age comes experience and tolerance. You would not find me as demanding or impatient as a young man. I would love and cherish you for the rest of my life, if you would let me.’
‘Please, don’t say any more.’
‘I won’t press you now, my dear. Take all the time you need to consider my offer. I’ll come back in the morning to make certain that your father has seen sense, and that he has not carried out Honoria’s wish to have you evicted from the cottage.’
‘I am grateful to you for everything,’ Kate said with feeling. ‘But I’ll have it out with my father first thing. I must know if what the gypsy woman said was true.’
‘And if it is?’
‘I don’t know, Edmund. I just don’t know.’
Chapter Twenty-one
JOSIE TOOK OFF her mantle and handed it to the waiting footman. She shivered. It might be early summer but the night air was cool. Log fires burned in the two great stone fireplaces on opposite walls of the imposing entrance hall, spitting out sparks as if in competition with each other. The firelight flickered off the gilded cornices, making patterns on the intricate moulded plasterwork of the high ceiling. Josie stood in the middle of the floor, looking ar
ound her with a lump in her throat. She had always assumed that this magnificent house would be hers some day, but it now belonged to her uncle. The old Romany woman’s words came flooding back to her and she began to tremble as their full import dawned on her. She could hardly bring herself to think about the consequences if what she had said were true.
The footman cleared his throat. ‘Will there be anything else, Miss Josie?’
She dragged herself back to the present with an effort, hoping that her voice was steadier than her nerves. ‘Where will I find Sir Joseph?’
‘He is in the drawing room, ma’am.’
‘Thank you, Mason. That will be all.’ Josie headed for the drawing room. She would face Joseph and demand to be told the truth. She entered without knocking. Sir Joseph was standing with his back to the fire, and Marguerite was seated on the sofa next to Hermione. The conversation halted and three pairs of eyes turned to stare at her: Josie’s nervousness gave way to anger. It was obvious that they had been discussing the events of that evening, and yet no one seemed to have noticed that she was missing. Ignoring Sir Joseph, she went straight to her mother. ‘Well, Mama? Is it true?’
Marguerite bowed her head. ‘Don’t shout at me, Josie. Can’t you see I’m upset?’
‘Your mama has had a shock. Joseph told her what that wicked woman said.’ Hermione’s plump white hands fluttered around Marguerite’s shoulders like a pair of agitated doves. ‘It is too ridiculous for words. I’ve never heard anything sillier.’
‘Is it?’ Josie turned to Sir Joseph, eyeing him coldly. ‘Well, sir? Since you have obviously been discussing the subject, am I or am I not your daughter?’
He puffed his cheeks out, shaking his head. ‘Of course it’s nonsense,’ he blustered. ‘Damn woman was off her head. As if I would have anything to do with a didicoi.’
‘Of course, he wouldn’t,’ Hermione said, placing her arms around Marguerite who had begun to sob. ‘Don’t take on so, my dear. We know that you would not have done anything so wicked as to pass off another woman’s baby as your own. Why, the whole idea is totally preposterous. And as to my Joseph consorting with a gypsy – I never heard the like in my whole life.’