The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight

by Christina Courtenay

  Matthew shrugged. ‘You tell his lordship. He won’t listen to the likes of me.’

  But Rhys didn’t think the old man would listen to him either, so there was no point even asking to speak to him. ‘The General sent him a summons this morning, I heard tell.’

  ‘Oh, aye? What did it say? Apart from the obvious.’

  ‘The usual, give up the castle to him or else …’ It was the ‘or else’ that worried Rhys the most. Not for himself, but for Arabella and the other women and children. He’d seen first-hand what a victorious army could do to innocent people caught up in this war and it wasn’t pretty.

  ‘I’m guessing his lordship sent the messenger back with a flea in his ear?’ Matthew’s grin was a bit forced, but Rhys admired the man for being able to smile at all.

  ‘I think he’s a bit cannier than that. I believe he asked for reassurances.’ The question was, would Fairfax give them?

  As it turned out, the general did offer a fair deal. The marquis gathered the officers together to tell them about it, Rhys among them.

  ‘General Fairfax has written to me to offer fair terms for you all, on condition that I give myself into the hands of Parliament.’

  There were murmurs of protest and the marquis held up his hand for silence. ‘Surely it’s better to sacrifice one man for the sake of everyone else? I see that as reasonable.’

  But the men wouldn’t have it. ‘No, my lord,’ someone called out. ‘The terms should be the same for all of us or we’ll die with you.’

  ‘Hear, hear …’ A chorus of agreement echoed round the Great Hall and Rhys thought he saw the old man blink as if to dispel a sudden tear from his eyes. He was clearly touched by such loyalty.

  ‘Very well, so be it. I will write back accordingly.’

  Rhys managed to steal a moment with Arabella in the Minstrel’s Gallery that night. They’d continued to meet there whenever they could and so far no one had found them out. In the aftermath of their lovemaking, he told her about the meeting.

  ‘Yes, I heard,’ she replied. ‘Lady Margaret mentioned it, but … I don’t like it, Rhys.’

  ‘Neither do I, cariad, but it’s true we are all in this together and it was the path we chose. Now we have to see it through.’

  ‘Do you think there is any chance we can emerge unscathed?’

  He heard the fear in her voice, although she was clearly trying to be brave. ‘Yes, I’ve heard that Fairfax is a man who lives up to his name – fair. I’m hoping he will at least protect the womenfolk and the little ones.’

  ‘If, by any chance, we both get out alive, will we go to France?’

  ‘That seems the best option, yes.’ Rhys didn’t want to admit it was the only option for him. There was no way he’d be going back to his brother’s house to beg for shelter, despite the fact he had a wife to think of now. He’d find some other way of surviving and providing for Arabella and any children they might have. But if he didn’t make it out alive … ‘Just in case something goes wrong, though, I want you to go to my family up in the Black Mountains. Show them our marriage lines and ask them to take care of you. My brother, Gwilum, and I have never seen eye to eye, but you’re family and he won’t refuse you. Promise me?’

  She did and he told her how to find her way there.

  Arabella had another thought. ‘What about if something happens to me? I should make a will so that you can petition Parliament for my estate.’

  Rhys frowned. ‘That shouldn’t be necessary. We’re married so all that belonged to you is now mine.’

  ‘Yes, but I have the marriage certificate and there is but the one copy. If I make a will, you can keep that and we’ll be doubly sure.’

  ‘I suppose that makes sense.’

  ‘I’ll ask the chaplain to help me. He and Lady Margaret can witness it and then I’ll sew it into your jacket.’

  ‘Very well.’ Although it was a dispiriting conversation, it did take a weight off his mind.

  All they could do now was to wait and hope for the best.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Merrick Court, 7th August 2016

  ‘Tell me about your tattoo – does it mean something special?’

  A part of Tess had been afraid to ask in case it had something to do with a former girlfriend, but they’d been sleeping together for a couple of weeks now and she was curious. And as far as she could make out there was no name on it or anything. Now she was half lying on top of Josh’s chest and the swirly design was right in front of her eyes.

  ‘What, this? It was a gift from a friend.’

  ‘A gift? You mean someone paid for you to have it done?’

  Josh chuckled. ‘No. I had a Maori friend at school and I helped him out with a couple of things so he designed this for me as a thank you. You can’t buy something like this, it has to be given to you. They have all these rules about stuff like that. It’s hard to explain.’

  ‘I see.’ Tess was just relieved the friend had been male. ‘Well, I like it. It looks great on you.’ She couldn’t resist running her fingers over it and the taut muscle underneath the ink, then snuggled up closer to him and breathed in his unique scent. She didn’t think she’d ever get enough of being with him like this. It was bliss.

  ‘Did I tell you Shayla has decided she wants to stay here in Wales with me? And apparently it’s all your fault.’ Josh kissed Tess’s ear, then moved on to her neck, which was very distracting.

  ‘Why?’ Tess pulled away slightly so she could concentrate on what he was saying. ‘What have I done?’

  ‘Helping you with the furniture stuff has encouraged her to believe she can have a career doing art. She said you think she’s good. And you’d been telling her about your studies so she and Louis googled art colleges around here and found one in Hereford. She’s even rung them to ask how to apply and it seems it might be possible. All we need is her mother’s approval and some paperwork from New Zealand, although she might have to go to a sixth form college first for a while.’

  Tess snorted. ‘Well, there goes that plan then. Isla isn’t likely to agree to that, is she?’ Josh’s ex-wife was still blaming him for their daughter’s trip to the UK and seemed to be as furious with him as Rosie continued to be with Tess. They were both cast as villains of the piece, despite being mostly innocent of any wrongdoing. ‘Wasn’t she demanding Shayla’s return only a couple of days ago?’

  ‘Yes, but Shayla can be very persuasive when she sets her mind to it.’ Josh rolled his eyes. ‘As I’ve found to my cost. Also incredibly stubborn. She might wear Isla down in the end. She got her own way over staying a bit longer anyway.’

  ‘Hmm, and what are your thoughts about it? Have you definitely decided to stay in Wales then?’ Tess almost held her breath, waiting for his reply. Their relationship was still very new and she wasn’t sure how serious he was about it. The chemistry between them hadn’t abated and each night was as exciting as the first. Tess was afraid to jinx it so hadn’t dared to raise the subject of the future.

  ‘Yeah, I’m staying. At least for a while. You were right in saying I shouldn’t be too quick to make a decision about this place so I’ll take my time.’

  ‘Right.’ Tess’s spirits plummeted. ‘A while’ didn’t sound as though he was thinking ‘forever’ like she’d been hoping. But it was better than nothing and it would be up to her to persuade him to stay. She’d do her best.

  He kissed her and passion flared up between them again and it was a while before they were able to hold a conversation, but as Josh gathered her close to his chest for a spooning session, he brought up the subject of his daughter again. ‘So yeah, about Shayla – I have to admit I’m kind of pleased that she wants to stay with me. Not in a gloating way, although a small part of me can’t resist thinking it’s payback for Isla not allowing me access. I guess I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t think that. Still, I love my daughter and I’m getting the feeling she might love me too, which is fantastic. I never thought I’d have that kind of bond
with her, you know?’

  ‘I’m pleased for you. And, yes, you’re entitled to a bit of gloating, I’d say.’ Tess hugged his arm, which was wrapped around her. ‘If I’d had kids, I would have hated not to be part of their lives.’

  ‘Would you like children?’

  Josh’s question was a natural continuation of their conversation and Tess was pretty sure he didn’t know about her issues with Giles and his wish for an heir. It made her think, though, and she came to the rapid conclusion that she did want kids. Very much so. She wanted them with Josh. It would feel right, the way it never had with her late husband.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘I would.’

  ‘Oh, good.’ He pulled her to him even tighter. ‘’Cause I’d love a whole brood. Can we have six?’

  ‘Six! That’s a bit excessive. I’d compromise on four.’

  ‘Okay then. We’ll need time for ourselves too, after all. We can get big sister Shayla to babysit while we have some private time …’

  Tess wasn’t sure how serious he was being, but it was fun to daydream. And a future with Josh sounded like the best thing in the world.

  He went quiet and she assumed he’d fallen asleep, one arm wrapped around her. Tess smiled into the semi-darkness of the room, cherishing the moment. She was just about to drop off when she saw something moving over by the door. A shadowy figure with funnel-top boots and a plumed hat.

  Rhys.

  Her eyes opened wide and she stared at him intently, wondering again why he was here. She sensed no menace, rather the opposite. A warm feeling invaded her senses, contentment, security, happiness. She thought she saw him smile at her, then he doffed his hat to perform a sweeping bow, and disappeared. It was as though he’d given his seal of approval and left. Tess thought she understood.

  She had Josh to protect her and didn’t need the Cavalier any longer. His task was done.

  ‘Does he always do that to you too?’

  Josh’s sleepy voice startled her and she turned to blink at him. ‘What? You saw him?’

  ‘Mm-hmm. I didn’t think you would though. I’m usually the only one but I noticed you reacting to his presence.’

  ‘What do you mean? You see ghosts?’ Tess was fully awake now and leaned on one elbow to stare at Josh.

  ‘Yeah, I guess that’s what they are. Shadows, people’s souls, whatever it is that’s left behind if they don’t pass on.’ He closed his eyes for a moment, then regarded her almost warily. ‘I’ve seen them all my life. My grandmother did too – I told you she was psychic, right? – and she said it was a gift. I’m not so sure. I never talk about it because the few times I’ve mentioned it to someone they’ve told me I’m weird.’

  ‘Of course you’re not! Or if you are, then I am too, what with all those visions or whatever they are. This ghost is the only one I’ve ever seen though and at first it spooked me a bit. Literally. I thought I was going crazy.’

  ‘Ha ha, very funny. But no, you’re not crazy.’ He pulled her tight again. ‘Or maybe we can be crazy together.’

  She snuggled back down under the duvet. ‘Sounds great to me. I think his name is Rhys.’

  It was Josh’s turn to sit up. ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘Because I’m pretty sure he’s the man I see in my visions and he’s the spitting image of the man in that portrait Louis and I found.’

  ‘Shit!’ Josh raked a hand through his hair and shook his head.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Tess’s heart skipped a beat as he sounded very serious.

  ‘That ghost has sort of been communicating with me, or trying to. Showing me things, kind of like your visions, I suppose. I wondered if the two were connected. He did say his name was Rhys … or rather, other people called him that.’

  ‘What have you seen?’

  ‘A siege at a castle – Raglan, I think – Rhys fighting, falling in love, protecting a woman called Arabella.’

  ‘No!’ Tess stared at him. ‘I … that’s my name in those visions. What does she look like?’

  ‘A bit like you – honey-gold hair and blue eyes, pretty in an old-fashioned sort of way.’

  Tess got out of bed. ‘Come with me, please, I want to show you something.’

  ‘Now?’ But Josh did as she asked and threw on a pair of boxers while she put on her dressing gown.

  He followed her upstairs to the gallery where she and Louis had left the old portraits and when he’d helped her to turn them round, he whistled. ‘Yep, that’s her.’

  ‘Arabella Dauncey,’ Tess whispered, then her eyes flew to his. ‘Do you think we are them reincarnated? Is that why …?’

  He put his arms around her and pulled her close. ‘No, I don’t. They’ve been telling us something, but it’s got nothing to do with what’s going on between you and me except maybe in the sense that they were trying to get us together.’ He turned to stare at the portraits again. ‘I wonder what happened to them?’

  Tess felt tears well up in her eyes. ‘I’m not sure I want to know.’

  Raglan Castle, 13th–17th August 1646

  ‘That’s it. I think the marquis has finally realised it’s hopeless to resist. I mean, look out there. It’s only a matter of days, if that.’

  Rhys pointed. He and Matthew were once again on guard duty, this time above the South Gate. Hooper’s trenches now came even closer to the castle, perhaps only some ten yards or so at some points, and soon he’d be in a position to blow up the walls from underneath.

  ‘Yes. There isn’t much left of some of the walls anyway,’ Matthew agreed, his expression as gloomy as Rhys’s must be. ‘Some of the cannonballs they’ve been sending our way are as big as fifteen or twenty pounds, I’ll swear. Even walls this thick don’t stand a chance against that.’

  It wasn’t just the walls that were crumbling. Some of the tops of the towers and turrets had been destroyed too, even if the Great Tower itself still stood strong. And there was absolutely no hope of relief. It seemed they really were the last Royalists in the whole of England and Wales. Even if they weren’t, and Pendennis and Harlech castles were holding out as well, what good would it do them? They were hundreds of miles apart.

  Rhys proved to be right. The marquis sent out a message to Fairfax that afternoon, asking to have ‘commissioners’ negotiate on his behalf, and a meeting was agreed for the fifteenth of the month. The general insisted no more than six men and their servants should come, then he would promise they’d be returned safely to the castle afterwards. And there would be a ceasefire from nine in the morning until two in the afternoon.

  The marquis had no choice but to agree.

  Rhys, who’d been one of the men chosen to go, finally found a moment to tell Arabella about it two nights later. ‘Well, I believe it’s done at last. We met at the house of a Mr Oates, about a mile and a half from here at Cefntilla, and the articles of the treaty are now agreed.’ He refused to call it the ‘Articles of Capitulation’, the way the Parliamentarians did, as that sounded much too depressing and demeaning.

  ‘You don’t sound happy about it. Are the terms that awful?’ Arabella had obviously picked up on his bad mood and stroked his cheek.

  He captured her hand and leaned into it, feeling unutterably weary and yes, angry. ‘No, but everything we’ve fought for these past ten weeks has to be given up without exception. We’re to hand it all over intact, including every last thing inside the castle. The ordnance, what’s left of the provisions, all the marquis’s possessions … We have to march out on Wednesday with only our horses and personal items, although they will allow us to be armed and fly our colours as we leave.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound so bad,’ Arabella soothed. He could still hear the fear in her voice and she was probably wondering, as he was, whether Fairfax would keep to those terms.

  ‘No, but we don’t get to keep the weapons. We have to go to some appointed place and hand them over, while swearing we won’t bear arms against the Parliamentarians ever again. Then we go home, if we have a home.
’

  ‘So, France for us then?’

  Rhys nodded. ‘The general has promised passes for those who wish to go overseas, as long as we do it within three months.’

  ‘Well, I shouldn’t think it will take us that long. I, for one, can’t wait to leave.’

  Rhys couldn’t either, but he still had a bad feeling about this. He didn’t tell Arabella, but he made love to her that night as if it was the last time.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Merrick Court, 16th August 2016

  ‘Hey, where’re you off to this morning? You don’t look like you’re dressed for painting.’ Josh was in the stable yard when Shayla came round the corner of the house. He pulled her in for a hug, glad that she was still here despite everything. He’d never thought he’d be lucky enough to spend this much time with her, at least not until she’d become an adult and left home.

  ‘Louis and I are taking the bus to Abergavenny. There’s a new film he wants to see and I said I’d go with him.’ She seemed torn between wanting to pull away and hug him back. In the end she opted for the latter and clung on fiercely.

  ‘Then I guess you’ll need some money for popcorn.’ Josh fished out a couple of notes from his wallet. ‘Here, treat Louis too.’

  She smiled. ‘Thanks, Dad. You’re not as bad as Mum made out, you know.’

  ‘High praise indeed,’ Josh joked, but inside he was warm and fuzzy. And somehow he’d make Isla see that they could both have their daughter’s love. He was sure she had enough for two.

  He needed to tell Shayla about him and Tess though. They were still sneaking around, which felt totally wrong, but it was all very new for both of them. He’d sit Shayla down soon and just come right out with it, that would be best. He really hoped she wouldn’t mind as it would be much worse losing her now that he’d finally managed to establish a rapport with her. And as he’d told her, he was sure they could still have quality time together.