‘Jonathan?’
There wasn’t a sound.
‘Jonathan? Are you there?’
Still there wasn’t a sound, and she looked uncertainly at Jake, who’d picked up the food and blankets and was waiting to follow her up the steps.
‘Go on up, Miss Blanche, I’ll be right here behind you.’
Slowly she ascended, her gloved hand slipping on the damp wooden rail. She paused at the top, for the only way into the building was on the far side, where the verandah was suspended above the river.
‘Jonathan? It’s me, Blanche,’ she called again, glancing uneasily back toward the lane, for it seemed that her voice must carry as clearly as the church bells.
There was a slight sound from within, and her heart leapt. ‘Jonathan?’ she repeated. ‘Are you there?’
‘Blanche?’ The muffled response was barely audible, but it was sufficient to spur her into glad action.
Gathering the skirts of her riding habit, she made her way as quickly as she dared around the verandah, closing her eyes and keeping to the wall as she left the safety of the riverbank and walked above the water.
As she reached the door, a tall beloved figure in lieutenant’s uniform moved out of the shadows.
‘Jonathan!’ she cried, running the final few steps and flinging herself into his arms.
‘Oh, Blanche,’ he whispered, holding her close for a long moment. Then he saw Jake behind her. ‘Thank you for coming, Jake.’
‘Think nothing of it, Master Jonathan, for wild horses wouldn’t have kept me away,’ replied the countryman, stepping past them and putting the food and blankets down on the floor of the fishing house. Then he straightened. ‘I’ll wait outside while you talk,’ he said, standing aside as Jonathan drew Blanche inside, and then stepping out onto the verandah again, where his sharp poacher’s hearing would pick up any suspicious sound.
Jonathan hugged her again. ‘Oh, it’s so very good to see you, Sis.’
She searched his face in the darkness. He was so like her, with the same gray eyes and silver-blond hair, but his face was taut with strain, and everything about him was nervous and defensive.
‘What’s happened, Jonathan?’ she asked gently. ‘First there was your letter about the promotion, Miss Jennings, and coming home on leave, then Lieutenant Neville came to arrest you….’
He stiffened. ‘Neville?’
‘Yes.’
Jonathan moved bitterly away. ‘What a fool I was to ever believe he was my friend, and what an even bigger fool I was to give my heart to a treacherous shecat like Deborah Jennings!’
Blanche put a hand on his arm. ‘He said that you were to be charged with theft and desertion, Jonathan, and he also said that he is to marry Miss Jennings, not you ….’
‘You tell me nothing I do not know already,’ he said savagely, kicking at the blankets Jake had left on the floor.
‘Will you explain, Jonathan?’ she asked, pulling gently at his arm. ‘Please tell me all about it, for how can I help you if you do not?’
‘Help me? Sis, I don’t think anyone can help me, for I’ve been sewn up in the neatest sack imaginable, as helpless to defend myself as any damned kitten!’
‘Jonathan. …’
He nodded then. ‘All right, I’ll tell you everything, exactly as it happened.’ He took her hand, leading her to a wooden bench that stood against the wall next to the fireplace. When she was seated, he sat next to her, still holding her hand. ‘As I said in my letter, a week ago there wasn’t a happier man in England. I was sure of the love of the young lady I adored, I’d gained the most coveted of promotions to the staff of the commander I most admired in all the army, and I was on the point of coming home on Christmas furlough. What more could any man have desired?’
‘Your happiness was very clear in your letter,’ said Blanche, squeezing his fingers.
He gave a cynical laugh. ‘I was happy because I was a fool! How could I have been so taken in by Deborah’s lies? And how could I have trusted and admired a rat like Neville? I honestly believed he was taking his defeats like a thorough gentleman, but it’s now only too clear that the very opposite was the case, and he was plotting against me all the time.’ Jonathan drew a long breath. ‘I was in ignorance, right up to the last moment – the greatest gull that ever lived.’
‘Oh, Jonathan.…’
‘There I was, in blissful ignorance, with only two hours to go before I could leave on furlough. I was on duty, but everything was very quiet, without even so much as a drunken private to deal with, and I didn’t even have a fellow to converse with, for I’d seen fit to send the corporal home to his wife in Cheltenham. Suddenly Neville came in with an urgent note from Deborah, whom I knew to be in the town visiting her sick aunt. I can remember that note so clearly. “J. I must see you without delay in the silver room. I need to see you. D.” As you may imagine, all manner of alarming thoughts passed through my head. Had she changed her mind about me? Had her aunt’s condition worsened? Oh, it could have been anything, but I knew it was very important, because she would not have come to the barracks otherwise. I was still on duty, but Neville so kindly offered to stand in for me. Oh, so kindly … Obligingly, I gratefully accepted his offer and went straightaway to the silver room, which is often used by officers receiving visitors. When I got there, however, there was no sign of anyone, although it was only too plain that someone had been there a moment or so before! The silver display cabinets had been smashed, and some of the regimental plate removed, and the French doors into the garden stood open as if someone had only a second before made his escape. My first thought was that I’d disturbed the thief at his crime, and I turned to raise the alarm, but at that very moment who should come in but Neville and Colonel Cummings. I began to explain, but was met with what I can only describe as a wall of hostility. Neville denied any knowledge of the note, and certainly denied relieving me at my post.’
Blanche stared at him. ‘He denied it to your face?’
‘Oh, yes, and very eloquently. What’s more, he evinced a righteous fury that I should seek to involve his bride-to-be!’
‘Jonathan, if there was a note. …’
‘Ah, yes, the note. Well, when I left my post to go to the silver room, I had to cross the parade ground, and a fellow bumped into me. He was somewhat uncouth, but was all apologies, and I thought nothing more of it until I put my hand in my pocket to show Colonel Cummings the note I knew would exonerate me of at least lying about my purpose in being in the silver room when I should have been at my post. The note wasn’t there, and I realized too late that the incident on the parade ground hadn’t been innocent, and that the fellow had picked my pocket of the note! The colonel is a fair man, and wasn’t prepared to arrest me while there was any element of doubt, so he sent someone to Deborah’s aunt’s residence, to make inquiries. It isn’t very far, and I knew the man would return within ten minutes, and in the meantime I was at liberty to move about the barracks. I attempted to demand of Neville what he was up to, but he kept well out of my way, as you may imagine. I went to my quarters, and before I went in I heard the sounds of searching. The colonel had dispatched a sergeant and two men to look for a silver cup which was apparently missing from the silver room. To my utter horror, they found it concealed beneath the mattress of my bed. I beat a very hasty retreat, and was just in time to overhear the man who’d returned from speaking to dear Deborah. My angel had denied writing any note, even though I’d recognized her writing, and what was more, she was tearfully asking for her beloved fiance Roderick to go to her so that she could explain that she was innocent of all involvement in my lies and villainy!’ Jonathan bowed his head, a nerve flickering at his temple as he strove to overcome the emotion that coursed so very painfully through him at the memory of how he’d suffered at the hands of two people he’d put his faith in so mistakenly.
Blanche’s fingers tightened lovingly around his. ‘My poor Jonathan,’ she murmured.
He drew a long breath,
and raised his head again. ‘I’m afraid I panicked then. My furlough had officially begun, and I knew my horse would be ready and waiting for me to leave, and that’s exactly what I did. I showed a cowardly pair of heels because I knew that Neville and my deceitful lady love had laid their plans with the utmost care and precision, and I was about to be incarcerated in the glasshouse for something I hadn’t done. I know I shouldn’t have run, but it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and now it’s too late to undo it, and I’ve added desertion to the catalog of crimes.’
‘Father thinks you should come home, Jonathan, and then give yourself up to Colonel Cummings.’
‘Without a defense? Blanche, I have to try to prove my innocence first.’
Blanche left the matter of his return for the moment. ‘Why did they do it to you, Jonathan? What possible purpose…?’
‘Deborah is ambitious for a title, and one day Neville will be Lord Normanton. Oh, I think she was honest with me for a short while, until she had time to reflect upon a future living on my pay. Neville had wanted her all along, and now pressed her behind my back, and in return for a prospective title and the wealth that went with it, she was prepared to do his bidding.’
‘But why did he do it to you? Was it simply that he was jealous over the promotion and Deborah?’
‘There is a little more to it. You see, Neville’s father is rather strict, and has long been displeased with him for his dissolute, irresponsible ways. An incident with a serving girl had proved the last straw, and Lord Normanton had issued his errant son with an ultimatum: Reform, or be disinherited. There was a condition as well – Neville had to prove himself by gaining promotion on his own merits, and not by purchase. That was why he strove so hard for the promotion that eventually went to me.’
Blanche looked sadly at him. ‘It’s his after all now, he told me so.’
Jonathan smiled bitterly. ‘How very fortunate for him. How pleased with himself he must be, to have won Deborah, to have the promotion, and to be assured of his inheritance. My, my, how he’ll strut down Bond Street when next he’s in London. How gaudy and impressive he’ll be in his new uniform, all set for the next soiree when he should be boning up on the details of reconnaissance, at which he is less than efficient. How amusing and witty he’ll be among the Devonshire House set, when he should be turning his thoughts to the prospect of how to lead his men properly on the battlefield.’
‘We’re going to prove your innocence, Jonathan, and that promotion will be yours again,’ said Blanche sturdily.
‘Prove my innocence? How?’ He rose to his feet, glancing briefly toward the doorway, where Jake could be seen on the verandah, within hearing of every word that had been said. ‘What say you, Jake? Proving my innocence is a simple matter, is it not?’ he asked dryly.
Jake lowered his eyes. ‘But you are innocent, Master Jonathan.’
‘Oh, yes, I’m innocent all right, but I may as well be guilty for all the good my innocence is going to do me.’
‘What are you going to do, Jonathan?’ asked Blanche.
‘I don’t know. Stay here for the time being, I suppose.’
‘Come home.’
‘And be sitting there in readiness for Neville’s next visit? I’m not that much of a blockhead, Sis.’
‘Unless you intend to flee the country, Jonathan, you’re going to have to face the charges sooner or later.’
He was silent for a moment, and then nodded heavily. ‘I know, Blanche, and I will face them, but not just yet. I must at least try to build up a defense of sorts before I give myself up to the colonel.’
‘Father says that it’s in the colonel’s discretion to waive any charges if he thinks you’re innocent.’
‘At the moment the colonel thinks I’m guilty, Sis,’ pointed out Jonathan quietly.
She got up from the bench. ‘If only we still had that note….’
‘It’s gone well and truly to perdition, Blanche. Neville and his doxy will have seen to that. The fellow who picked my pocket must have been in their employ.’
‘Then Miss Jennings must be persuaded to tell the truth,’ declared Blanche with more optimism than she felt.
Jonathan gave a wry smile. ‘Persuade her to give up her cozy title and future of luxury? I hardly think it very likely, Sis.’ ‘Nevertheless, we must try.’
‘I can’t leave the safety of this place to go to Eastington House, Blanche. The moment I showed my face, word would be sent to the colonel, and I’d be arrested to face a court martial.’
‘Then I must go to speak to her.’
‘You?’
‘Why not?’
‘She won’t receive you.’
‘Jonathan, I have to try. It just may be that I can persuade her to tell the truth, for she may not be as far beyond redemption as it seems.’
‘I wish I had your faith in human nature, Sis.’
‘Don’t be bitter, Jonathan, for it isn’t like you.’ She spoke gently, for it saddened her to see her beloved brother reduced to such circumstances.
‘I have every reason to feel bitter, Blanche,’ he replied.
She went to him, hugging him tightly again. ‘I know, but it’s going to be all right, I just know that it is. Come home with us now, Jonathan, for this place is cold and damp, and your bed awaits you at the cottage.’
He held her close. ‘Not tonight, Sis, but maybe if you are successful with Deborah. …’ He didn’t finish the sentence, for he knew it was a forlorn hope.
‘Please come with Jake and me,’ she pressed.
‘No, Sis, don’t ask me anymore, for I am determined to stay here where I feel safe. The only thing I’ve done wrong is to run away from the barracks, but now that I’ve done it, I need time to gather my wits. You do understand, don’t you?’
She nodded reluctantly. ‘Yes, I understand.’
‘Thank you, Sis.’ He kissed her forehead. ‘When will you go to Eastington House?’
‘First thing tomorrow, and then I’ll come back here tomorrow evening to tell you all about it.’ She managed a smile. ‘Who knows, maybe it will all be over by then.’
‘Maybe,’ he replied, but hollowly.
Jake stepped into the doorway. ‘I think we’d best be getting home again, Miss Blanche.’
‘Yes, Jake.’ Blanche looked at the blankets and food. ‘Jonathan, are you sure you’ll be all right?’
‘One thing the army has taught me, Sis, and that is how to survive in difficult situations. I have food, water, blankets, and a roof over my head, so I’m bound to be all right.’ He hugged her again. ‘Until tomorrow night, then.’
‘Until then.’ She moved from his arms toward the doorway.
‘Sis…?’
She turned.
‘Thank you for believing in me.’
‘It wouldn’t occur to us not to believe in you, Jonathan, not to me, to Father, to Jake, or to Hannah. We all believe in you, and we’ll stand by you, no matter what.’
‘What a Christmas this is set to be, eh?’ he murmured.
‘It may yet turn out well,’ she replied.
‘Ever the eternal optimist, Sis?’ He smiled a little ruefully.
‘Here you are, doing your best to put heart in me, and I haven’t even had the grace to ask you how you are.’
‘I’m very well, as you see.’
‘No suitors?’
She met his gaze in the darkness, and smiled. ‘No, no suitors,’ she replied, for now was most definitely not the time to tell him about Antony. With everything else that had happened to Jonathan Amberley of late, news of a possible Mortimer brother-in-law would have been too much.
There were tears in her eyes a she left him and made her way carefully around the veranda to where Jake waited with the horses at the foot of the wooden steps. Jake didn’t say anything as he helped her into the saddle, and a moment later they were both riding back up the lane toward St Mary’s church.
CHAPTER 9
As they reached the postern gate halfway u
p the hillside, Blanche reined in sharply. ‘Jake, we forgot to warn Jonathan that Sir Edmund is in residence! The gamekeepers….’
‘Don’t fret so, Miss Blanche, for Master Jonathan will have seen the lights at the big house. You heard what he said, the army has taught him how to go on in difficult circumstances. He’ll be all right.’
‘I wish he’d agree to come home with us.’
‘He feels better where he is, Miss Blanche, and maybe he’s right. That plaguey lieutenant will be back, you mark my words.’
They rode in silence again, and as they reached the lychgate, Blanche reined in again. ‘I can’t go back just yet, Jake, I have so much to think about that I need to be on my own for a few minutes.’ She glanced toward the church porch. ‘Will you wait here for a while?’ she asked.
‘It would be better if we went straight home, Miss Blanche, but if you feel you need to think, then of course I’ll wait here. Don’t take too long, though.’
‘I won’t.’ She slipped down from the saddle before he had time to dismount, and then she handed him the reins. ‘Just a few minutes, so that I can sort everything out in my mind.’
The lantern swung rustily to and fro beneath the lychgate as she went through. Altar tombs and headstones loomed eerily in the darkness, and she could still hear the calling of the peacock from the grounds of Amberley Court. Her footsteps crunched on the gravel path, and the great iron ring in the studded door felt ice-cold through her gloves as she turned it and went inside.
Afaint glimmer of light shone from the altar, and she saw that someone had been remiss enough to leave a candle burning. It was a feeble light, and the church shadows crowded in on all sides as Blanche went slowly down the aisle. The candlelight glowed on the golden crucifix and silver-gilt plate on the altar and picked out the garlands of Christmas greenery twined around the columns nearby. There were posies of holly and ivy adorning the ends of the pews, and sprays of myrtle and laurel on the lectern from where the Reverend Green delivered his interminable sermons. The smell of candlewax and ancient stone pervaded the building, a timeless smell that hadn’t changed since medieval times, and that would probably be the same in hundreds of years to come.
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