An Independent Woman

by Anna Jacobs

  By the time he reached the front door of the Hall, Jim was glowing with exertion. It seemed a long time before anyone answered.

  “Yes?”

  “Are you Marcus Graye, Serena’s husband?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m a close friend of Aubrey’s. I’m staying with him, only he’s in danger and needs help.”

  Marcus gestured him inside and took him through to a sitting room where a young woman was sitting talking to another man.

  The sight of her made Jim stop dead and clutch the door frame. Dear heaven, it could have been Grace when she was younger! Only it wasn’t, he could see that now. This woman had a more determined expression and her eyes were different, less gentle, more watchful.

  “This is a friend of your brother’s, Serena” Marcus turned to his companion and asked, “Are you all right?”

  “Just a bit out of breath. Sorry. My name’s Jim and I got to know Aubrey at the convalescent home. We became really good friends and I’m staying with him for a few days. But this morning two men attacked him when he was down the back and carried him off. I couldn’t help him.” He looked down at himself ruefully. “They were very large fellows and I’m still recovering from major wounds. So I followed them and they took him to the rear of a house on Cavendish Terrace.”

  He could see he had their full attention now. “Aubrey had told me about meeting his sister again, Mrs Graye, so I came to you for help. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I presume it’s his father who’s got hold of him.”

  “Damn Fleming!” Marcus said bitterly. “Can’t we even have Christmas in peace? How come they didn’t capture you too, Jim?”

  “I hid under the bed when one of them came into the house for some of Aubrey’s clothes. Not courageous of me, I know, but it seemed better to stay free so that I could fetch help.”

  “Very much better,” Marcus agreed.

  “Why on earth would the man kidnap his own son?” Den asked. “What good would that do if your brother doesn’t want to live with him, Serena?”

  “Fleming is fond of using force. I suppose he did it because Aubrey hadn’t gone back to see him and was living elsewhere. That would infuriate him. And I should think he intends to force Aubrey to go and live with him. He used to be able to coerce my brother into doing what he wanted, one way or another. I think he’ll find it more difficult now.”

  “He wanted to force you to go back to him, too,” Marcus commented. “Would have declared you mentally incompetent rather than let you go. And . . . ”

  They looked at one another in horror.

  “Do you think he’ll do that to Aubrey if my brother won’t do as he says?” she asked in a horrified whisper. “He was so used to me and my mother doing as he told us, to servants jumping at his command and tenants of his horrible houses living in fear of him that I think he’s grown to feel he can force anyone to do what he wants. Look at how he stole my money and had his office burned down to cover his tracks. He enjoys bullying people, has a warped view of the world.’

  She sighed at the memories. ‘I could tell you a lot about nasty tricks he’s played on people, things I’ve had to stand by and watch for years, not to mention the schemes I’ve heard him hatching with Sam Hudd and—” Serena’s voice broke and when Marcus put his arm round her shoulders, she leaned against him with a sob.

  “Maybe he’s the one who’s mentally unstable? He certainly sounds to be suffering from delusions,” Den suggested.

  She sighed. “I think he’s just plain wicked.”

  There was silence as each of them thought about the situation.

  It was Marcus who spoke first. “I should think he’ll definitely try again to get you back, Serena, because he wants your money. If he’s been unlucky in his gambling, he could be desperate.”

  “He probably wants me to run his house and act as his hostess, too, but I’m not going back, whatever he threatens.” She looked at Marcus. “The thing that really worries me is, he always gets his revenge for imagined insults, even if he has to wait for years. We’ll never be safe from him unless we go and live somewhere else, never.”

  For the first time her certainty that she wouldn’t return to Fleming’s house was shaken. What if Fleming threatened her husband’s life? In even this short time she’d grown to love Marcus and would do almost anything to keep him safe.

  He took her hand and patted it gently. “I don’t want to leave here, so we’ll have to expose him for what he is and make sure he’s locked away for a very long time.”

  “How can we do that? He’s been clever enough to stay on the right side of the law—just—for years.” She shook her head, feeling there was little hope of catching Fleming, then became aware that Marcus was biting his lip, looking at her differently. “What’s the matter? Have you thought of something?”

  He nodded.

  “Well? Tell me.”

  “I think we can only expose Fleming through you, my darling, much as I hate to say that. But only if you’re willing. You’d need to be very brave and let him take you back for a short time . . .

  I promise it wouldn’t be for long. Then we’ll bring in Den and show that you and your brother are perfectly normal. Could you bear to do that, go back to him for a few hours? If we crack him on one thing, I think we’ll find a way to crack him on others, at least that’s been my experience with men who were fiddling the system in the Army.” He looked at her. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to do it and we’ll try to find another way.”

  She shuddered. “If it’s the only way.”

  “It’d speed things up, I’m sure. I expect we’ll be hearing from him soon now that he has your brother.”

  Sam Hudd grinned as he leaned back in the car and let himself be driven to the Hall. He was looking forward to seeing Miss Serena’s face when she read the note from her father. Stupid bitch! Did she really think she could go against Mr Fleming? Hudd had seen a long time ago on which side his bread was buttered, and had worked hard to make himself indispensable to his employer. If she’d any sense, she’d have done the same with her father, because Fleming rewarded those who helped him.

  Hudd enjoyed his work, liked having power over people. He was sorry, really, that the war had ended because it had offered a lot of opportunities for a man like Mr Fleming to make money, and thus for Hudd to do the same.

  When the car stopped outside the Hall, he got out quickly and went to hammer on the front door.

  It was opened by Graye and for a moment the fool stood there staring, as if shocked to see who had arrived. “What do you want?”

  “To speak to Miss Fleming.”

  “There’s nobody of that name here.”

  Hudd sighed. The man was proving a nuisance, as he’d expected. “To speak to my employer’s daughter, then.”

  “What about?”

  Serena’s voice came from inside the hallway. “Let him in, Marcus. We may as well see what he wants.”

  Hudd sauntered in, letting them show him into the sitting room, where he took a seat without being asked.

  “Well?” she asked. “What does Fleming want?”

  “Your father wants you to go and see him.”

  “I won’t do it.”

  “Not even to help your poor little brother?” Hudd could have laughed out loud to see the dismay creep over her face.

  “My brother? What do you mean?”

  “Mr Frank is presently in your father’s house and he’s in a bad way, under Dr Tolson’s care.”

  “I don’t believe you. I saw Aubrey only a day or two ago and he was perfectly well.”

  “He may be well physically, but he’s not well mentally. We picked him up at the back of the bookshop this morning, acting irrationally. Rather than send him to the asylum, your father took him home where he can be cared for properly. And he wants you to come home and care for Mr Frank, because you’ll make all the difference to how well he recovers, he’s sure.”

  Hudd watched her put her hand
s to her face. He could see tears running down her cheeks. Aha!

  He had her now. Well, he knew how fond she was of her brother. People usually had a weakness you could exploit, Mr Fleming had taught him that. He waited another minute. “It’s that or send him to the asylum.” He didn’t make any other threats but leaned back and watched her.

  She turned to Marcus. “I can’t leave Aubrey in their hands, can’t risk them ill-treating him.

  He’s only just starting to get his memory back.”

  “I’m not having you go back there, Serena,” Marcus said. Scowling, he turned to Hudd. “Tell your master she’ll nurse her brother here if he needs looking after.”

  “Mr Fleming wants to keep an eye on Mr Frank himself—and he wants to heal the breach with his daughter,” Hudd said. He watched with delight as she turned towards her husband with a pleading expression on her face.

  “Marcus, perhaps I’d better . . . ”

  “No, Serena! I’m not having it.”

  She jerked to her feet and went to the window, standing looking out of it, her hands clasping the sides of her bent head as if she was in pain. Hudd grinned at Marcus. He reckoned Mr Fleming had been absolutely right. Her brother was her weak spot.

  She turned round and straightened her shoulders. “I’m going, Marcus. He’s my little brother and I can’t leave him alone in their hands.”

  “I’m sorry, but I forbid you to do it, Serena.”

  “How will you stop me?” she asked.

  “By force, if necessary.”

  Hudd stood up, pulled his revolver out of his pocket and smiled at Serena. “If you’ll get your coat, Miss, I’ll take you to your brother.”

  “I’m sorry, Marcus.” She ran out of the room.

  “I’m not sorry.” Hudd was enjoying himself. “You’re not good enough to marry a Fleming.”

  He backed carefully out of the room and found her waiting in the hallway. “Go and get in the car, miss.”

  In silence she went outside and Hudd followed her, keeping a careful watch on Graye. The fellow came to stand in the doorway of the sitting room, then followed Hudd to the front door, looking furious. But he did nothing. Well, what could he do against a gun? Guns had been really easy to buy during the war. They made difficult things simple sometimes. Hudd enjoyed using them.

  As the car drove off, he leaned his head back, smiling. “Your father will be very pleased to see you. He’s missed you. And your brother really does need you.”

  She said nothing, just stared down at her clasped hands.

  Hudd left her alone. Didn’t want her creating a fuss until he had her inside the house. Then she could fuss all she liked. She’d be where Mr Fleming wanted her and she’d not find it possible to get away again.

  The minute the car had driven away, Marcus fetched Jim and they hurried out to the stables with Den. Vic had the horse and cab ready, as they’d planned. It was galling to have to go into Tinsley by this slower means of transport, but it was all they had and there were few trains running today.

  Marcus kept worrying about Serena and whether their plan had exposed her to too much danger the whole of the way into town. He was relieved when Jim didn’t try to make conversation.

  A glance at his new acquaintance showed a man looking so sad that Marcus wondered what had caused such a depth of sadness. If he was a friend of Aubrey’s then Jim should be worried, but not sad like this, surely?

  Then his own anxiety about Serena took over and he forgot the other man. He hoped to heavens this ploy would work. He shouldn’t have put her at risk. Only—could he have stopped her once Hudd turned up and made his threats about her brother? As she’d said when they were discussing this and he’d worried about her safety, she’d make up her own mind and do as she saw fit. Marcus knew she’d grown fond of him, but now he had to wonder if her love for her brother wasn’t much stronger, and he couldn’t help feeling jealous of their closeness.

  Oh, hell, why was he worrying about such things now? Just let her stay safe, that was the main thing, whether they tricked Fleming into giving evidence of his criminal activities or not. Marcus couldn’t bear it if any harm came to her.

  “She’s an intelligent woman,” Den said quietly. “If anyone can pull this off, she can.”

  Marcus shrugged. “I wish we hadn’t put her in this position, but it’s done now, so we’d better make sure we get her out safely.”

  By the time they got into town, rain had set in, a heavy downpour that darkened the day and kept people off the streets. Vic left the horse and cab with a friend, who was surprised to be roused from his family celebrations on Christmas Day but who cheered up when offered double the usual payment.

  Marcus pulled his collar up towards his hat to protect his neck, but it was impossible to keep dry whatever you did, with the driving wind and rain slashing sideways. “We need to see Redway first. None of this will work unless we have unimpeachable witnesses and the law on our side.”

  He turned to Jim and found that the man had gone.

  “Jim said he wanted to fetch someone,” Den said, as Vic rejoined them.

  “Did he say who?”

  “No, not a word. Just slipped away.”

  “You don’t think—he was sent by Fleming to spy on us?”

  Vic shook his head. “No. I liked him, and anyway, he seemed genuine enough, knew too much about Aubrey’s convalescence to be a fake.”

  “Let’s go and find Redway, then.”

  They wasted time by going to the lawyer’s residence, where no one answered the door and there were no lights showing, as there were everywhere else on such a dark, stormy day. Marcus went to bang on a neighbour’s door and found that Redway was staying with his cousin Evadne, but the neighbour didn’t know exactly where she lived. Somewhere on East Street, or was it Upper East?

  Door knocking on East Street led them at last to Miss Price’s house where they were admitted by Evadne herself. By this time all three men were soaked and Marcus was in a fever of impatience to go and rescue his wife.

  Back at the Hall, Pamela managed to eavesdrop from the upper landing as Serena left with Hudd.

  Ada found her there after the men had left. She was leaning against the wall, looking dizzy.

  “You shouldn’t be out of bed, ma’am.”

  “I have to be. They’re going to confront Fleming. You know what happened when Lawrence did that. He had him beaten up and my poor boy lost heart, went downhill rapidly.”

  The maid looked at her mistress aghast. “You can’t do anything. You’re not well.”

  “And we both know I’ll get no better. So why not spend what little strength I have in defeating that horrible man? Ada, you will help me, surely? After all, look at the way he treated your family too till we found them somewhere else to live.”

  After a short pause, the maid nodded and helped her mistress into the bedroom, where she began to pull out warm clothes, her expression grim.

  “Before you help me dress, go and tell Hill to harness a horse to my old carriage. I don’t care how dusty it is. I just need to get into town.”

  The maid nodded. She knew Mr Lawrence hadn’t been as blameless as his mother liked to think, but he still hadn’t deserved to be milked of so much money in what, Ada and her mistress were both sure, were games of chance where some folk were cheating.

  When she got back from the stables she found her mistress half-dressed and helped her finish, then went for her own coat and hat. As the two of them walked slowly down the stairs, with Pamela leaning heavily on her maid, Pearl came out of the servants’ quarters.

  She looked from one to the other. “Where are you going? You’re not fit to go out, Mrs Lonnerden.”

  “I must. But first I need to find my son’s old revolver.” She held up one hand. “Don’t try to stop me, Pearl. Your own young man is at risk, too, as well as my nephew. You know what can happen when Fleming takes against someone.”

  For a moment Pearl hesitated, then she nodded. “I kno
w where the revolver is and I know how to load it too. There are some advantages to having worked in a munitions factory.”

  The two maids exchanged worried glances then sat the old lady down while they got everything ready.

  “Should we let her do this?” Pearl whispered.

  “If it’s what she wants, ill as she is, why not? You’ve surely guessed that she . . . ?” Ada hesitated.

  “That she’s dying? Yes. My grannie’s friend had that same look to her. There was nothing the doctors could do. And to tell you the truth, I am worried about my Vic, so if she knows a way to stop that man, I’ll help her in any way I can.”

  As the wind howled around the house and rain beat a tattoo against the panes of glass, Ada shivered. “It’s a terrible day. Look at that rain.”

  “We’ve been wet before and survived it.”

  “But will she?”

  Chapter 17

  Serena sat in the back of the big car, lost in thought. When Hudd said something she ignored him.

  When he touched her arm to get her attention, she jerked away from him. “Leave me alone! I don’t want to speak to you. It’s my brother I’m going for and only him.”

  He let her be. He’d heard enough by judicious eavesdropping to know that Fleming wasn’t her father, which was a real turn-up for the books because the mistress hadn’t seemed the sort to say boo to a goose. Well, Miss Serena would soon be brought into line by his employer. Mr Fleming had had her under his thumb before and he’d put her back and keep her there this time.

  As for that snotty-nosed fellow she’d married, he was in for a few shocks and Hudd would be happy to help administer them. He couldn’t remember know when he’d taken such a dislike to a man. The car stopped, jerking him out of his reverie. “Here we are, miss. Let me help you out.”