A Wicked Deception

by Tanner, Margaret

  Wandering away from the picnicking couples, she found a grassy spot under a tree. With her knees pulled up so she could rest her chin on them, she closed her eyes. How long would it take to reach Geelong? What if Sophia and Charles refused to give her sanctuary?

  Spending at least one night in the open was her only option, as her small supply of coins wouldn’t pay for more than a couple of meals at some cheap wayside inn. As a party of police troopers passed by she kept her head averted in case they recognized her under all the dust and grime.

  “I must keep going,” she muttered, dragging her aching body towards the road once more. Every step was agony. The soles of her feet burned, blisters had formed on the back of each heel, but she dared not take her shoes off in case they would not go back on again.

  The sun scorched through the thin cotton of her gown and had she not been wearing a bonnet, she would have succumbed to sunstroke. On and on she traipsed, forcing her wavering limbs to the limit of their endurance. At a mean little wayside inn, she ordered the cheapest meal possible, guzzling down the weak tea and gobbling up the greasy stew like a starving dog.

  ***

  Two days later, Melanie staggered into Charles and Sophia’s house. She’d walked most of the way, dozing at night huddled in the fork of a tree, too frightened to sleep on the ground for fear of being attacked. Fortunately, she had been able to cadge a lift in a wagon with a farming couple for some of the way.

  “Melanie! What’s happened?” She collapsed into Sophia’s arms.

  After a warm bath, followed by food, Sophie took her to the same room as she had slept in previously. The story poured out between hiccoughing sobs, she omitted nothing, except the fact that she had shared a bed with Michael. That was too shocking to mention. And she didn’t want to lose Sophia’s good opinion of her. Worse still, they might treat her like a fallen woman and banish her from their home.

  Melanie awoke fifteen hours later. She glanced around the room, flexed her legs and swiveled her feet. The sleep had refreshed her, she felt none the worse for her ordeal, except for a feeling of absolute desolation because Michael was gone.

  “Look, my dear,” Charles said, “it will be impossible for Michael to leave the ship once it sailed. Somehow you’ll have to disguise yourself so you can escape the authorities and go to him.”

  “How can I get to England?” she wailed. “I don’t have any money.”

  “Sorry, but we don’t have much we could loan you, either, but we’ll think of something, won’t we, Charles?” Sophia promised.

  After fate had treated her so cruelly of late, it took a sudden change for the better. Through a friend, Charles heard of a well-to-do young woman, recently widowed, who wanted a suitable companion to accompany her home to England.

  “I told her you were a friend of Michael’s and she is interested in meeting you. Actually, her family lives only a few miles away from him.”

  Melanie instantly liked Ann Locksley. Not yet thirty, rather on the plump side, with a kind face. Her hair was a deep, rich brown, worn in a neat chignon.

  “I live near Leeds, not too many miles from the Guilfords.” She gave a gentle smile. “My dear, we’re almost neighbors.”

  “It’s been terrible, Ann.” Melanie tried not to weep as she told her about the troubles at Eureka, Robbie’s death and Michael sailing for England without her.

  “My dear girl.” Ann nibbled her lip. “I don’t know. I mean, if the law is after you, I’d like to help, but I need to get to England in a hurry. I can’t risk being delayed.”

  “I understand. I don’t blame you. Why should you get involved? Major Douglas is so ruthless he’ll never give up searching for me.”

  “Who did you say was after you?” Ann grabbed Melanie’s hand and jiggled it.

  “Major Douglas. Do you know him?”

  “An arrogant man, with cruel, colorless eyes?”

  “Yes.”

  Ann’s lip trembled. “I’ll help you.”

  “But you said….”

  “Major Douglas killed my husband.”

  “What! You mean murdered him?”

  “They held an enquiry, but Douglas got off. Death by suicide they called it.”

  “Suicide?”

  Sobs distorted Ann’s voice. “My husband might have pulled the trigger on his gun, but that Douglas creature drove him to it. Geoffrey was always sensitive, not cut out for the army, but being the youngest of four sons, he had to do something. Douglas persecuted and humiliated him because he didn’t drink or gamble.”

  She dabbed her tears away with a lace handkerchief. “Douglas picked on him because he repulsed his indecent advances. Geoffrey tried to help some of the enlisted men too. The major is a sadist, flogged one young soldier almost to death for some minor misdemeanor.”

  “I thought I was the only one to have terrible things happen to me. At least Michael will be waiting for me in Yorkshire. He loves me.”

  The strangest look flitted across the other girl’s face. It appeared so briefly, Melanie thought she must have imagined it.

  “Have you ever met Michael or his family?” Melanie enquired, hoping for a little information.

  “No, the Guilfords move in much more exalted circles than my family, but I have heard of them. I shouldn’t say this, but Michael Guilford is a heavy gambler.”

  “No! I’m sure you’re mistaken.” Melanie reeled back in her chair. It wasn’t possible. Michael wasn’t like that.

  “Believe me, I’m not. I know all about gambling, only wish I didn’t.”

  Sophia, bringing in tea and cake interrupted them. After she left them alone Ann spoke with a determination Melanie hadn’t heard before. “You must come with me. That Douglas creature will hound you into the grave.” She gnawed her lip. “The problem is, how do we get you past the police?”

  “I couldn’t let you take such a risk,” Melanie protested. “You don’t even know me. It wouldn’t be fair.”

  “I do need a companion. The girl who promised to come with me got married, leaving me completely without help. Our passages are booked, I even wrote to my brother telling him to meet us. Ah, dress up as a man. You can be my younger brother.” She laughed, and the sadness momentarily cleared from her eyes.

  “I don’t have any money.”

  “I have enough for both of us. I’m not used to caring for myself, so I’ll pay your fare and give you a small wage. You can stay with me at my family home until you go to Michael. In return, you can help me out. I know you’re not a maid but....”

  “No, no, I don’t mind. If you pay my passage it will be more than enough. Michael will take care of me once I’m in England.”

  “We’re due to sail within a couple of days. I want to leave as soon as I can and naturally so do you.”

  “Thank you, Ann.” Melanie felt such gratitude she couldn’t think of anything else to say. In a few weeks she’d be reunited with Michael, they would be married and he’d take care of her. She thought wistfully of Robbie. All the wonderful plans they had made for their future cruelly blown away by a redcoat’s bullet.

  “I think we might end up having some fun.” Ann interrupted her somber thoughts. “At least this has taken my mind off other problems. I feel more cheerful than I have since Geoffrey died nearly twelve months ago.”

  “I didn’t realize it was so long. Why did you stay here?”

  “I wanted to prove something to myself and my family. They didn’t approve of Geoffrey, felt his prospects weren’t good enough. I’m all alone out here, my parents died recently so there are things I need to sort out. My brother Peter is hopeless on his own.”

  They chatted for a while on various topics, Ann, like herself, had only one brother, twenty-four-year old Peter. The thought of not seeing James for years was awful, but the pain of losing Robbie was almost unendurable. If she stayed here she risked going to prison, maybe taking James with her if he ever returned to Ballarat. No future awaited her in Australia, only heartache and grief. Wit
h Michael she had a chance to start afresh in a new country. No one would know about her involvement with the Eureka uprising in England. She had to take this chance and flee.

  Chapter Eight

  Melanie remembered little of the first weeks of their voyage. She lay in her cabin tossing with fever, tortured by nightmares. Sometimes there were periods of lucidity when Ann’s worried face hovered close by. Gentle hands bathed her aching head and sponged her fevered body.

  She had nightmares of seeing Robbie with blood pouring from his wounds. Another night James was being pursued, hunted down by Tom Ogilvy and Major Douglas. They rode large black horses, with vicious hounds snarling and snapping at their heels. Sometimes another man rode with them. A man whose face always seemed to be shrouded in mist. “This is the man who betrayed us,” Robbie said, pointing at the shadowy figure.

  She awoke one morning to a gentle rocking sensation. Where was she? Blinking hard, she glanced around. Of course, she was in a ship’s cabin containing two single bunk beds. Raising herself carefully on the pillows, she trembled, weak as a newborn lamb, but the timber paneled roof had stopped spinning and dipping and the blinding headaches were gone.

  She fingered the soft silky nightgown. Where had it come from? She had never owned anything as nice as this. The embroidered yoke had lace trimming and pretty pearl buttons down the front. Throwing off the blankets, she swung her feet on to the wooden floor, its bareness softened by a colorful mat, and slowly stood. Her legs shook and she almost buckled at the knees, but leaning on the wall with one hand and grasping the bunk with the other kept her upright. She tottered over to a chair and collapsed onto it.

  After a few minutes rest she stood and peered into a carved wall mirror. Was that wraithlike creature Melanie O’Dea? Her hair was dull and her eyes had sunk back into her pale face. She looked like a ghost. Whatever could have happened to her? The door clicked open and she turned her head toward the sound.

  “What are you doing out of bed?” Ann almost leapt across the cabin to get to her side.

  “I felt like getting up.” Melanie smiled. “Have I been very ill?”

  “Near death,” Ann said with a catch in her voice.

  “Dearest Ann, I’m better now, soon I’ll be strong again. What a frightful trip you’ve had with a sick, half-crazed stranger to care for.”

  “You nearly died on me.”

  Melanie grimaced. “You can’t easily kill off one of those wretched insurgents. That’s what Major Douglas called me.”

  Ann laughed. “You must have given him a hard time. I don’t think many prisoners, or soldiers either, would dare defy him like you did. The fact you were a woman must have made it even more galling for him.”

  “What happened to me?”

  “You weren’t well almost from the very start, but I put it down to grief and delayed shock. Don’t you remember being carried to our cabin after you fainted?”

  “No. All I can remember are stairs, lots and lots of them.” Leading to heaven knows where.

  “It was dreadful.” Ann threaded her fingers together and held them out in front of her. “Do you remember dressing up in those men’s clothes Charles provided?”

  “Barely.”

  “Lucky for us the coach got delayed so we were running late for the ship. Police guarded the gangway, but they weren’t looking for a young man. Thank goodness you were on board and out of sight before you fainted. The crewman got a shock when he picked you up and your hat fell off. I think he nearly dropped you when he discovered you were a girl. I told him you had escaped from a rejected suitor.” Ann gave a grimacing smile. “It was terrible. I’ve never been so frightened in my whole life.”

  What a wretched few weeks Ann must have spent nursing a virtual stranger. “Could I have something to eat please? I’m starving. I’ll pay you back one day for what you did for me, I promise.”

  “There’s no need. I always wanted a sister. If I had one I would have wanted her to be pretty, brave and resourceful like you. I’m not very strong.”

  “You are. You had to be otherwise you wouldn’t have risked helping me.”

  “What I mean is that I’ve never needed to cope on my own before. Even after Geoffrey died I had servants and plenty of money. I’ve drifted along all my life. You gave me courage, so neither of us owes the other anything.”

  They hugged each other. “Now my dear,” Ann murmured, “you must rest.”

  Melanie couldn’t continue the conversation. An all-consuming weariness overwhelmed her, making her light-headed and weak.

  ***

  Two days later the ship’s doctor let her go up on deck. The sky was a clear, bright blue, and the fresh salt air soon brought the warmth back to her cheeks as she sat out of the wind in a sheltered corner.

  They had departed Australia in the summertime, but would arrive in England at the beginning of spring. As they sailed closer, Melanie sensed the excitement building up in Ann and all the other English people. There had been no chance for Michael to mention his plans. Maybe he had not even known for sure what their future held.

  With a bitter pang she realized she would probably never be able to return home to Ballarat. Would have to live out the rest of her life exiled from her native shore.

  Ann, sitting down on the deck beside her chair, chased away the mournful thoughts. This new friend had made it possible for her to see Michael and start a fresh life.

  “Thinking of home, my dear?” Ann asked.

  “Yes, I’m wondering if I’ll ever be able to return to Ballarat.”

  “You can have a good life in England, but don’t put Michael up on a pedestal. Your gratitude and need of him have colored your thinking. He’s a man with a man’s faults. For your own sake, I implore you. Be realistic about your expectations.”

  “What are you trying to say?” Melanie’s voice rose in agitation.

  “It’s, well, oh nothing much.”

  “You know something about him. What is it?” She grabbed Ann’s hand.

  Ann grimaced slightly. “Michael might love you.”

  “He does! He wants to marry me.”

  Ann straightened out an imaginary crease in her gown. “It’s his parents. They’re an aristocratic family who would expect him to marry one of his own kind. I thought I heard somewhere he was betrothed to Lady Priscilla Harrington.”

  “Yes, but Lady Priscilla met up with some Duke and deserted Michael. She treated him shamefully.” Melanie’s blood boiled every time she thought of Priscilla’s spite and cruelty. The Duke was welcome to her.

  I can make Michael happy, even if I’ll never be able to love him like I did Robbie, she thought. I’ve always liked him and he saved me from a fate worse than death. Love came with children, she remembered reading that somewhere. A man in Michael’s position would want a son. And a baby would ease the ache in her heart and the burden of guilt weighing her down, dragging her into the black pit of depression. If she hadn’t dashed home seeking James’ help, he at least would still be alive.

  ***

  At last, after weeks at sea the coast of Wales came into view early one morning. Melanie craned her neck with the other passengers straining to get a better view. Hilly, wild and untamed it struck a chord with her. Excitement churned in her breast and lightened her heart. She had always wondered about Michael’s home and soon she would know and hopefully grow to love it as he did.

  “We’ll be docking in Liverpool in a few days.” Ann grabbed Melanie around the waist and did a little jig.

  Rain and a grey English sky greeted them on their arrival.

  “A mere spring shower,” Ann assured confidently as they waited on deck with most of the other passengers.

  To disembark, Melanie wore a green velvet gown. The bodice was in the form of a jacket, with wide sleeves showing puffed lacy under-sleeves, one of several outfits Ann had generously bestowed on her. She didn’t know how she would ever be able to repay her friend’s kindness.

  Peter, Ann’s brother,
who was waiting for them, obtained a first class railway carriage to take them to Leeds. Melanie had never ridden in a train before. Though exhausted from the hustle of disembarking, thankfulness surged through her.

  She glanced around the carriage with interest. The sides and roof appeared to be padded with quilted red silk, and she marveled at the softness as her fingers trailed across the leather seat.

  “The padding isn’t for comfort,” Peter explained with a grin. “It deadens the noise and vibrations of the train.”

  From the window, Melanie wasn’t disappointed. The English countryside looked exactly the way she always imagined it would, soft, green and pretty, fields dotted with colorful spring flowers and fruit trees covered in masses of pink and white blossom.

  Having now recovered from the worst of her illness, nevertheless, she still tired easily, so she slept for most of the time. Ann woke her up a few minutes before they reached Leeds to begin the last stage of their journey.

  Peter hired a post chaise for them. Similar to a stagecoach only lighter and much faster, it was drawn by two grey horses. Everything was organized efficiently and they were not kept waiting at the station.

  “You’ve gone white. Are you all right?” Ann, sitting next to her, drew her head against her shoulder, and Melanie closed her eyes to ease the throbbing ache in her head.

  “I’m still weak,” she murmured. “As soon as I’m stronger I’ll have to find Michael. You will help me, won’t you?”

  “Of course, give yourself a few days to regain your strength,” Ann suggested. “You want to be at your best when you meet him.”

  “How can I ever thank you both? Michael will think of something, though.”

  “I'm sure the Honorable Michael Guilford will find a way to repay us.” Peter’s mouth twisted.

  “Peter!” Ann spoke sharply to her brother, and Melanie recognized undertones of animosity between brother and sister.

  “Have you met Michael before, Peter?”

  “Yes.”

  “You don’t like him?”