'How is he?' he asked.
'Talking strangely,' Bella whispered. 'He says he is dying.'
Daniel nodded and went to look down at Edward. Edward's eyes opened and Daniel knelt beside him, offering him a drink of the tisane he often used to dull the pain.
Edward began to speak again, slowly, his speech slurred.
'He forged the papers. He wanted Clifford Manor and the rest of Toby's inheritance. His mother was never married to your father. She could not have been, she was already wed. She died some years ago, but he still lives.'
Bella stared at him in amazement. 'You knew this all the time?' she asked in horror. 'It can't be true!'
'It is, that is why he wanted you out of England. His mother left her husband and came back to her village. That was when she met your father and Henry was born. Afterwards, because your father lost interest in her, she went to London and found another protector. Henry told me she died ten years ago. But her husband lives. He will tell you the truth. He lives in Greenwich. His name is Flowers, Peter Flowers. Don't let Henry steal it. He cheated me, because I dared not wait, and he took advantage. Go to England with Toby. I was going to. Henry must not win.'
'I have no money to get to England!' Bella exclaimed, accepting the amazing truth of what Edward said, and realizing it explained many things.
'My gold, I buried it. Before the Indians came. Under the landing stage. I was returning to the house, but I was too late. They saw me and gave chase. They caught me before I reached the canoe, and attacked me. Then they threw me in it. Henry was there. He killed Toby. With an arrow. He told them to kill me. He came after me with a hatchet. He's afraid of me. I won't tell them. It's mine.'
'He's rambling again,' Daniel said quietly, and persuaded Edward to drink some more, which quieted him so that soon he slept.
Daniel looked up at Bella who was staring past him dazedly.
'Do you think he knew what he said earlier?' he asked. 'About your brother and the gold?'
'Why should he lie? He thinks he is dying. And he wanted revenge on Henry. I want justice! Daniel, will you help me? I must go to England to claim what is Toby's by right, and with that gold I can pay for our passages. When does the ship leave?'
'The day after tomorrow, if all is loaded. Are you sure you want to go, Mistress Bella?'
Bella closed her eyes for an anguished moment. 'I must, Daniel, for Toby's sake. He is our father's heir, and has been cheated by Henry. This man Flowers must be old, he might die. Daniel, I must not lose time. I cannot afford to waste time! Will you stay here with Edward while I go and beg the loan of one of Adam's canoes?'
'Mistress Bella!' Daniel exclaimed in sudden alarm, but she shook her head at him and whisked out to run the few yards towards the house where Adam now lived.
Daniel cast a harassed look at Edward and decided he was in no danger. He hurried after Bella and was in time to see her knock on Adam's door. Without waiting for him to answer she opened it and walked in.
*
The room was softly lit with candles and the glow from the fire. A small table was drawn up near the fire, for the April nights were still cool. Adam was standing beside it, leaning forward as he poured wine into a goblet, and the red-head, the bodice of her gown unlaced and pulled off her shoulders, held Adam's free hand as it rested on her breast. She had her head tilted backward and was laughing up into his face. In the split second before he turned to see what the interruption was, Bella saw him smiling down at her.
For a moment the room swayed before Bella and she grasped at the doorpost, then with a moan of anguish she turned and fled, evading Daniel's outstretched hands as she ran back to her own house, slammed the door and bolted it. Then she cast herself down before the fire and wept uncontrollably.
Gradually her senses returned. What right had she to expect Adam would not pay attentions to other women, she demanded fiercely of herself. Why should she care that he made love to other women? At least it was not Mary Bolton.
Eventually she returned to the problem of what Edward had disclosed. It was out of the question to ask Adam to help her now, and as soon as it was light she went to find John Porlock. He willingly agreed to take her upriver to Edward's plantation, and they had no difficulty in finding the small chest from which, once before, Bella had taken some gold.
Back in Jamestown John sought out the captain of the ship and booked a cabin for Bella. She returned home to find Alice had been packing feverishly all day, delighted at the unexpected events, but apprehensive at the thought of another long and uncomfortable voyage. Recalling their difficulties on the first one, she had also been making arrangements for food and wine and a crate of hens to be taken aboard. Daniel had promised to care for Edward, although he predicted that he was too weak to live more than a few days.
As Bella hastily packed the last of her clothes, for they were to go on board that evening, ready to sail on the tide, the door opened. It was Adam.
'Bella, I must speak with you.'
She stared at him, her heart suddenly racing. She had both longed for and dreaded the possibility of seeing him again, and was weakly refusing to prepare what she would say. Now she shook her head slightly.
Adam looked round. The boxes stood ready. Edward, sleeping but tossing restlessly, lay in one corner, and Alice was trying to persuade an excited Toby to eat some supper.
'Come outside for a moment,' he said, and Bella moved towards him as if in a dream. He took her arm and guided her outside.
'Must you go?' Adam asked quietly. 'Daniel told me what Edward said. Do you believe him?'
Bella nodded. 'It must be true.'
'Daniel says he is dying. Would you not wish to wait?'
'I must lose no further time. This man might be dead, then there would be no proof.'
He nodded, understanding. After what she had seen the previous night he did not expect he could persuade her to stay with him in Virginia, even with the prospect of marriage to him once Edward was dead. Even had it been possible to propose to her in the circumstances he knew she would consider it her duty to fight for Toby's inheritance.
'Shall I come with you?'
Bella looked at him in surprise. 'There is no cause for you to feel in any way responsible for me,' she managed to reply with tolerable composure. 'I have learned a great deal this past year. Alice has made suitable preparations this time, and we can provide for ourselves on this voyage far better than on the previous occasion.'
'That was not what I meant,' he began, but Bella, afraid that if he asked her again she would succumb to the intense desire to feel his arms about her once more, broke in hastily.
'I would prefer to say farewell now. I have no claim on you, and you are needed here to work for the reconstruction of the colony. John was explaining to me how much there is to do, how few settlers there are who have been here for very long, and know the Indians.'
'Have you a place to stay?' he asked, certain now she had never felt more for him than gratitude, and thinking her present coolness was a desire not to be more beholden to him.
'John has given me a letter to his sister and assures me I will be welcome there. Now, I still have much to do, and I beg you will excuse me. I will leave money with Daniel to pay for anything Edward might need. Thank you for all you have done for us.'
She turned and left him. Her eyes were red with weeping and so full of tears when they sailed from Jamestown early on the following day she did not see Adam standing at the gate of the town to take his last longing farewell of her.
Chapter 12
The voyage took three months. It was far less eventful than the previous one, and even Alice, soon becoming used to the motion of the ship, felt little discomfort. There were only a dozen or so passengers, those who had decided to abandon Virginia after the Indian massacre, and this time Bella had few problems with amorous advances.
This might have been due to the fact she rarely emerged from her cabin, coming on deck only when she could no longer endure Al
ice bullying her to take the air. She spent many hours making new clothes for Toby, who was growing apace and had needed few in the free and easy life of the plantation. Much of the time when she was supposed to be engaged in stitching, however, her needle was still while her thoughts were busy.
The past year, from her father's death and her hated forced marriage, then her submission to Adam, eventual acceptance of her love for him, and final disillusionment, seemed a dream. Yet in other ways it was still vivid. Bella could still feel the tingling of her flesh where his hands had caressed her, and recall the heady delights of his kisses. Every night she longed for his hard, supple body against hers, and was desolate in the knowledge she would never again experience the ecstasy of lying in his arms.
Somehow the voyage was endured, and when they disembarked they went straight to Lady Rowe, John's sister, who welcomed Bella eagerly as soon as she heard Bella had news of her brother. Elizabeth Rowe was some years older than John, already had several children, and absorbed Bella and Toby into her own family with calm friendliness and efficiency. Alice was more than content to be back in a comfortable, well-run English mansion, and spent her time happily in the nursery where Toby was already fast friends with the two youngest Rowe boys. Sir Francis Rowe had many friends at Court, and when he heard Bella's story immediately set about presenting her petition to Chancery.
Their family and acquaintances regarded Bella with a great deal of awe when they discovered she had actually been across the ocean to Virginia and been captured by the savages there. A few had friends or relatives who had emigrated, and she was able to give news of them. Too many, she thought, had known Adam, and she was for ever being asked about him. She was certain no one knew of her relationship with him, for the enquiries were all innocent of any innuendo, but the constant reminders kept raw the pain of her loss.
She frowned therefore when two of Adam's former friends were announced one afternoon, and would have left the room if there had been time. They came in, however, and greeted lady Rowe solemnly.
'I've sad news,' the husband reported, 'just brought from Bristol. Cawston is dead of an ague. He sickened only three days before, poor man.'
Elizabeth regarded him closely. 'Poor man,' she echoed. 'He was to have been married in October, I think?'
'Yes, indeed. Poor young lady.'
'I wonder how this will affect Adam?' Elizabeth mused, turning to Bella, who was staring at their informant incredulously.
'He'll come home. Already they're saying the King will forgive him that stupid quarrel if he weds my Lady Jane,' the wife said.
'She is a ward of the King's, is she not?'
'Yes, and very wealthy. He wants the title for her, and since Roderick is dead, poor fellow, he must look to Adam. There was no entanglement in Virginia, was there, Mistress Sutton?' he added suddenly, turning enquiringly to Bella.
'He was – was not promised to anyone that I knew of,' she stammered.
Elizabeth laughed. 'Not Adam! I'll warrant there were plenty of women who would have taken him, marriage or no, but he's plenty of wild oats to sow yet. I vow he'll be none too pleased at having Lady Jane thrust upon him.'
'Not pleased at a fortune? My dear Lady Rowe! Even Adam could not refuse, rich though his brother was, and now Adam himself of course. Particularly when it would mean freedom to return to a civilized life here. And the chit is lovely, they say. Black hair and creamy skin and a tall shapely figure all the men admire. Even Philip here licks his lips when he sees her.'
Her husband protested, but she laughed at him and shook her head.
'Adam will be back in England and the King's favour as soon as letters can be sent. He'll not cavil at marrying a lovely fortune to attain it. Besides, he must provide an heir now, and it's about time he set about it.'
Desperately though she longed to see Adam again, Bella prayed that she would have been able to settle Toby's affairs and be back at their home in Kent before Adam reappeared in London. She missed him as deeply as ever. Time had not soothed the agony of their parting, and no good could come of another meeting.
*
It was a month since she had arrived in England, and Bella had been with Sir Francis to see some of the lawyers handling the case one afternoon. The business took longer than they had expected and when they returned home it was to discover the house in an uproar.
Alice came running down the stairs as Bella came through the door, and flung herself at Bella's feet.
'Miss Bella, forgive me! I left him for just a moment, I swear that was all. I thought he was safe. I never dreamed aught could harm him, for he was with the other children.'
Bella paled. 'Toby?' she gasped. 'What has happened to him? You mean Toby, do you not?'
Alice nodded, suddenly overcome, and Sir Francis moved quickly forward as if he feared Bella was about to swoon. His wife, who had been following Alice down the stairs, came forward and took Bella's cold hands in hers.
'Mistress Sutton, it may be some mistake. He was taken from the garden this afternoon while he was playing with the other children. Pray come and sit down, and we will tell you all we know.'
She led Bella to a chair and gently forced her to be seated.
'I must search for him,' Bella protested, but Elizabeth was firm.
'Do you imagine we have not had all the servants and neighbours searching since it was discovered? You can do nothing. Let me tell you what happened.'
Bella nodded, and with Alice and one of her own maids standing by occasionally confirming what she said, Elizabeth told Bella all they knew.
'Toby was with three of my children, and James from the next house. They were all in the garden, where as you know there are high walls and the gate is always fastened. They could not open it and get out themselves. James fell and cut his leg, and so Alice brought him into the house to attend to it.'
'But I did not stay, Miss Bella. Joan here took James from me and I went straight back.'
'Aye!' Joan corroborated. 'It were a nasty cut, but not deep, and he'll come to no harm.'
'When Alice returned to the garden,' Elizabeth continued, cutting in firmly, 'Toby was not visible. She thought he had hidden and called to him, but then the other children told her a man had climbed over the wall from the lane at the back and taken Toby out through the gate, which he had unfastened. They wanted to follow, for Toby was crying and struggling, but the man shook his fist at them and told them a lion had escaped from the Tower and would gobble them up if they put their noses outside.'
'What was he like? Who was he? What did he want?' Bella demanded urgently.
'We cannot be certain. At first the children said he was tall and dark, but now they are so frightened they say all manner of things, agreeing with whatever we ask them. Did anyone know you were here? Anyone who wished harm to your brother?'
Bella shook her head. 'The only person he is a menace to is Henry Martin, but I do not see how he could have discovered we were here.'
'He is aware the claim is being examined, for he has been questioned,' Sir Francis said quietly. 'He might have seen Mistress Sutton in the City and followed her here.'
'That is possible, I suppose,' his wife agreed, 'although Bella has been out very little. There is another possibility, though, which is that Toby was taken in mistake for one of our children, by someone who hoped to hold him for ransom. When they discover their mistake they will probably return him.'
It was said to comfort, but Bella knew any desperate man who had taken the wrong child by mistake would be more likely to abandon him, if not kill him, to rid himself of evidence. It must have been Henry. Would he harm Toby? Throughout a sleepless night Bella thought of all the terrible possibilities. Henry might kill Toby, but that would not gain him the inheritance even if he escaped from a charge of murder. Yet he would kill Toby rather than abandon him, or place him in a foundlings' home, for by now Toby knew his name, talked a great deal, and could reveal something of the people he had been with. Perhaps Henry wanted to barga
in with her, Bella suddenly thought, and finally dropped into an exhausted doze on this faint hope.
*
It seemed more than a hope the following morning, however. As Bella listlessly tried to eat a portion of mutton pie, an excited maid ran into the room with a crumpled sheet of paper clasped in her hand. She thrust it towards her master.
'It were found in the garden, sir, old Reuben found it beneath the apple tree, wrapped round a stick. He says it must have been thrown over the wall for it's near the gate!'
Sir Francis was anxiously reading what was written on the paper. He looked up and smiled at Bella.
'From this I think Toby is unharmed, but we must proceed carefully. Whoever it is wishes you to negotiate for the safe release of the child. A further message will come, it says.'
He showed the paper to Bella and it was exactly as he had said. She could tell nothing from the writing, and there was no hint of who had sent the letter, but it gave hope and she smiled tremulously at the maid.
That day and another night passed with no further news. Sir Francis had arranged for a watch to be kept on the lane behind his house, and Bella wondered if Henry, for she was certain it was Henry, had been frightened away be seeing the watcher.
'Will he be angry, and harm Toby for revenge?' she asked fearfully.
'I doubt it, my dear. My man watched from the coach house opposite, from a small window there, and could not have been seen. No, it is more likely that your half-brother, if he is intelligent, would expect us to keep some sort of watch, and he will devise another way of getting in touch with us. And he will not harm Toby, for to do so would destroy any hope he has of making a deal with you.'
Bella permitted herself to be comforted, and even agreed to accompany Sir Francis on another visit to the lawyers to discuss the latest developments with them. As they left the Temple chambers an elderly clerk hurried after them.
'Sir Francis, pray wait. My master saw you leaving, and he wished to consult you about the sale of your house in Norwich. He knows of someone who might purchase it.'
Virginian Lover Page 19