‘Wonder what it is, what she’s got on her mind,’ Tamsyn said, putting the large curly-haired doll Stephen had bought for her outside the blanket and refastening its cardigan buttons.
‘Something to do with Uncle Alex marrying Rebecca, I expect.’
‘Isn’t it romantic?’ Tamsyn said dreamily, copying Ira Jenkins who had been talking to Loveday about it the day before. ‘I’m going to be two bridesmaids.’
‘Tush! And you mean you’re going to be a bridesmaid twice.’
‘What’s it matter how I say it if it means the same thing?’ Tamsyn returned petulantly.
‘You’ll understand when you start the new school Mr Drayton is going to put you in. When you’re living in Truro I’ll be able to see you sometimes in the week. Your mother’s said that she will ask permission for me to have tea with you.’
‘Aren’t you afraid the other boys will laugh at you, having tea with a girl?’
‘I don’t give a damn about them! I’ll thrash anyone if they poke fun at me over you. Just think though, Tamsyn, with your mother getting married again, you might have some little brothers or sisters.’
‘How can that happen?’ Tamsyn scoffed. ‘My father’s dead and Mum will need him to make more babies. Jenny Jenkins told me that ages ago when I asked her why I had no brothers and sisters.’
Stephen made an impatient face. He wasn’t going to explain the facts of life to her. ‘Dress your doll in something different. The women in the creek have knitted you so many clothes, you don’t have to keep the same ones on.’
‘This outfit is my favourite,’ Tamsyn protested but peeled off the doll’s pink knitted clothes anyway.
Stephen got up and looked out of the window.
‘Are there any Revenue men out there, Captain Redbeard? Any dragons or creatures from the deep?’
‘There’s certainly an old dragon out there,’ Stephen replied, leaning over the windowsill. ‘It’s that ugly old Miss Bosanko. I wonder what she’s doing in the creek.’
‘She’s not coming here, is she?’ Tamsyn asked nervously, holding her doll tightly.
‘No, she’s going towards Allen Cottage.’ Stephen took up arms in the form of Tamsyn’s play sword and swept it about the room. ‘But I’m ready for the old witch if she threatens us!’
Chapter 37
‘We’ve had a week to think over Alex’s proposition, Joe. Have you made a decision yet?’
While her son was standing guard over Tamsyn, Abigail had gone quite openly to Joe’s cottage. If the Kennickers were gossiping about them, what did it matter if she was seen entering his cottage while he was there alone? She was dressed in a more low-key fashion than usual, wearing a longer skirt and the fluffy cardigan she’d lent Rebecca on the night of Alex’s worst nightmare.
‘I’ve thought of nothing else, Abigail,’ he said glumly from the other side of the kitchen. ‘I can’t get over the Major coming up with something like that and I didn’t like the way he spoke about you. I’ve hardly been able to look him in the face with any respect since then.’
Abigail looked philosophic. ‘There’s no need to be gallant, Joe. Alex was right. He’s been very patient with me and, although you haven’t mentioned it, you know that Stephen is not his brother’s son.’
Joe glanced down. ‘It’s none of my business.’
‘If it’s only a carnal relationship you want with me then it isn’t. But if you’ve been considering what Alex wants us to do, that’s different. You have the right to know all about me.’ She picked at the bottom buttonhole of her cardigan, feeling unaccustomedly shy. ‘You must have realised I’ve had several lovers. I wasn’t unfaithful to Ralph as such. He was incapable of making love and when he asked me to marry him he didn’t expect me to stay celibate. Ralph was delighted when I became pregnant. It made him feel more of a man. He had a son to present to the world and he asked Alex to accept Stephen as a true Fiennes. It hasn’t been easy for Alex. Stephen has always been a difficult child and after Ralph was killed we found out that he’d gambled all his money away. I had no family and it made me and Stephen totally dependent on Alex’s financial support.’
Joe felt protective towards Abigail and it wasn’t a new feeling. ‘You haven’t had things easy over the years.’
Abigail shrugged. She had taken a long hard look at herself and had come to many uncomfortable conclusions. ‘You could look at it that way but I’m grateful to Alex. He’s been very generous to us. Stephen has gone to the best schools and I’ve had everything I’ve needed. Alex was harsh with us, me in particular, but all that matters is the future. I want Trevallion for my son. I might not be the most attentive mother in the world but I do love Stephen and I want something solid for his future. If you and I don’t do as Alex wants then Stephen and I are going to be left in an impossible position.’
Joe was solemn. He would be left in an impossible position too. If he didn’t marry Abigail he couldn’t bring himself to stay on at Trevallion and work under a new general manager, any more than he could remain working there with Abigail in the house and the other Kennickers’ silent disapproval of his moral lapse. He was in a dilemma. He wanted to stay single but he wanted to keep on his association with Abigail; he liked the idea of being general manager of Trevallion and felt somehow that Captain Miles would have approved of it. But he also wanted Abigail to consider all her options.
‘Have you thought that you might meet someone else, someone rich and with a position who could offer you marriage?’
Abigail had thought of it and had immediately discounted it. ‘No one can guarantee that and it wouldn’t necessarily mean that Stephen would get an inheritance. You’ve seen Stephen, Joe,’ she went on earnestly. ‘You know how much he loves the creek. Alex said we have thirteen years to turn him into a worthy heir to Trevallion. I think if his future’s settled he will become just that.’
It was Joe’s turn to feel awkward and shy. ‘Do you want us to get married then?’
Abigail lit a cigarette and ran a fingernail round the arm of the chair she was sitting in. Not looking up, she blew out a long puff of smoke and asked softly, ‘Would that be so terrible?’
‘Not at all,’ Joe replied at once and he went to her. ‘But Abigail, just think what it would mean, my dear. I’m not worthy of you. You’d want to entertain at Trevallion. I’d make you a laughing stock with my lack of manners, dressed up in clothes which wouldn’t suit me. I wouldn’t want that kind of life either. I’d hate it and we’d probably end up hating each other. It could be hell, particularly for you.’
She took hold of his big rough hand. ‘Of course things wouldn’t be perfect, Joe, but we could make some compromises. And you’d be making the biggest one of all. I’ve told you I can’t have any more children. Apart from Stephen, it would be a childless marriage.’
‘I can’t say I’ve ever really wanted children of my own and Stephen will be enough for anyone to cope with.’ Joe gripped her hand and added in all seriousness, ‘Do you think we could make a go of it, Abigail?’
‘I’d like to prove to Alex that I can live a decent life. I’d try so hard, Joe, I promise. You could spend most of your time running the estate and if you like I could learn about it too and help you. That way we’ll know exactly what needs to be done when Stephen takes over. I could restrict my socialising for the most part to entertaining the Ladies’ Guild to afternoon tea. We could have dinner parties but with people you feel comfortable with, like Alex and Rebecca, Mrs Wright and Mr Drayton. You’d feel quite comfortable with other people from the creek, wouldn’t you?’
Joe caressed the top of her head and smiled warmly. ‘I’ve often wished I could give you Trevallion. By marrying you I can. You make it sound like it could be quite cosy. But the biggest obstacle could be Stephen himself. What will he think about us getting married? I can’t imagine him taking it meekly.’
‘I’ve thought a lot about Stephen. He’s nearly thirteen years old, he’s becoming a young man. I think the best approac
h would be to tell him the truth. That if we don’t marry his future will be uncertain. That a general manager brought in from outside might run things on the estate in a way none of us would like. That he and I would still have to go cap in hand to Alex for everything we need. I think Stephen would come round to our way of thinking. Please say yes, Joe.’ Tears formed along Abigail’s lower eyelids and she stubbed her cigarette out with shaking hands. ‘I don’t think I could bear spending the rest of my life as a lodger here.’
Joe took Abigail in his arms and kissed away her tears. ‘Don’t you go worrying, my dear. I care very deeply for you and I respect you. In a little while I’ll go find the Major and tell him that we’re getting married and then we’ll tell Stephen together. We’ll make a good team together, Abigail. We’ll show ’em.’
‘Joe,’ Abigail said after a few tender moments, ‘I’ve been thinking about Alex and Rebecca. I can understand why Alex wants to marry her and keep her close by him for ever. I’m sure he’s fallen in love with her but why do you think she’s agreed to marry him?’
‘Presumably because she’s fallen in love with him. Don’t you think she has?’
‘I don’t know, but up to the day Trease drowned, Rebecca was seeing Neville Faull. He was besotted with her and I’m sure she was fond of him. When Alex first announced their engagement I thought she’d agreed because she wanted to be mistress of Trevallion, but that’s not the case since they’re going to live at Perranporth.’
‘Rebecca’s not a social climber,’ Joe said. ‘Perhaps she’s marrying the Major because she feels sorry for him, but if that’s the truth of it, it won’t be much of a future for her.’
‘If she backs out it will break Alex’s heart,’ Abigail commented thoughtfully.
* * *
Rebecca was pulling her boat towards the bank of the creek when she felt someone was watching her. Thinking it was Motley, she called his name. When no big dog came bounding up to her, she stopped to listen. She let the rope go and stiffened to attention. Someone was approaching her and she turned round hurriedly.
‘Good afternoon, Rebecca. Are you going for a row in your boat?’
‘What are you doing here, Miss Bosanko? I thought Alex had made it quite clear that you’re not welcome here.’ Rebecca folded her arms but couldn’t help taking a couple of steps backwards.
‘I don’t consider that to be any of your business, miss!’ Susannah hissed. She was in an ugly mood. Her reptile eyes gleamed in her cadaverous skull. She held her head as high as possible off her chest, revealing folds of curded flesh. She was dressed in her usual colour, a shade of green which blended with the creek foliage. Rebecca had only seen her once before and had felt repulsed at the old woman’s gargoyle features but now she seemed to be rotting before her eyes.
‘Alex and I are getting married. That makes it my business,’ Rebecca snapped back. She was in no mood to be spoken to like an insignificant piece of rubbish.
The gruesome head was flung back and the yellowing neck folds quivered. ‘Yes, I heard about that. It’s utterly ridiculous! A gentleman shouldn’t even dream of marrying a servant girl.’
Rebecca was totally out of patience and raised her voice. ‘It’s got nothing to do with you. Get back to Falmouth and keep out of our lives.’
‘Think you’re in love with him, do you? Think he’s in love with you? Has he told you? Have you told him? The men in that big house up there have a fondness for working-class girls who live in this Godforsaken little creek. They use ladies like me then get an infatuation over some silly girl and plan to marry her. It’s pathetic.’
‘You have never meant anything to Alex in that way,’ Rebecca said scornfully. The old woman must have taken leave of her senses. ‘You’re old and hideous and mad to even think it. And just what do you mean by girls? Are you referring to Rowena Carlyon? Are you still jealous because Roland Trevallion wanted to marry her and not you? I’ve seen some of the letters you wrote to him. The last ones were vicious.’
Susannah’s decaying features twisted up in hatred. ‘I was going to be mistress of this estate! After Arabella died I expected Roland to make me his bride but he said he’d fallen in love and wanted to marry that young Carlyon bitch. He’d got her pregnant. He wanted another son. But things didn’t work out the way he wanted. I saw to that. I made them both pay!’ She moved closer to Rebecca. More than anything Rebecca wanted to get away from the foul woman, but she stood her ground. She belonged here. Susannah Bosanko did not and never had. But it was chilling to have the hag’s eyes boring into her, to hear the hatred and threats in what she said.
Susannah smirked arrogantly. ‘I killed them both.’ Rebecca shuddered then froze on the spot. She didn’t doubt that Susannah Bosanko had spoken the truth. She looked quite capable of something so horrendous.
‘I thought that would take the pep out of your stride, my girl. Got nothing to say to that? Well, let me tell you how I did it. I drowned the Carlyon girl in the creek. Come to think of it, roughly in the spot we are now. I asked the stupid girl to come for a walk with me. We sat on the bank. The tide was in and I pushed her head under the water and held it there until she stopped struggling. It was so easy. Over in a few minutes. The end of her useless life and her bastard child. Then I dragged her body further along the bank and threw it in.’ Susannah laughed triumphantly but there was a note of insanity in it. ‘Of course with her being pregnant there was never any doubt that she drowned herself over her shame.’
‘You’re evil,’ Rebecca breathed in disgust. She was frightened now and her eyes widened as she fought to keep her mind clear. It was vital to keep her wits about her to fend off this ageing madwoman. She edged away. She would quicken her pace and tear up to Trevallion and get Alex to inform the police, but Susannah opened her mouth to say more and Rebecca felt compelled to stay and listen to what else she had to reveal.
‘Do you want to know how Roland really died?’ she taunted. ‘It was so simple. After I’d killed the girl I gave him the chance of marrying me and making me mistress of all this. I was wealthy and I would have built up the Trevallion fortune to its past glory. But all he could do was lament over that wretched girl and her child. He said he wouldn’t marry me at any cost, not after the things I’d written to him. He should have been more forgiving, Rebecca. He should have seen my last letters as a jealous woman’s rage. But he didn’t! So I murdered him too.’
Susannah seemed to be far away, back in the past and glorying in its memories. ‘I pulled out my little hand gun. Such a ladylike thing with a jade-inlaid handle. I made Roland go down to the cellar. I made him put a rope over a beam and then round his neck. I made him stand on a wine barrel. He didn’t plead with me. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t care much for his life or thought I was bluffing. He did look a bit surprised though when I kicked the barrel out from under him. He didn’t struggle much as he dangled there. If he had he would have died all the quicker, tightening the rope round his neck, but to be sure of it I pulled his legs and stayed until he was quite purple, as dead as a doornail. You should have seen him, Rebecca. He didn’t look very pretty. It was a shame really because he had been such an attractive man with a wonderful proud turn of the head. And now it was lolling to the side and his tongue was sticking out and dribble was—’
‘Shut up!’ Rebecca screamed.
In one swift movement Susannah was standing right in front of her.
‘I don’t believe a word you’ve said,’ Rebecca said desperately. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me I have work to do.’ She walked briskly away, intending to run to Alex. She made only two steps.
‘Rebecca!’
She whirled round.
Susannah Bosanko was pointing a gun at her; it had a jade-inlaid handle. She trained it on the centre of Rebecca’s forehead. ‘I’m an excellent shot. I used to enter ladies’ firearms competitions in my younger days.’
Beads of fear sprang out on Rebecca’s face. Although Susannah Bosanko was very old, she had a steady hand.
‘Are… are you going to shoot me?’
‘I’ll leave you to guess about that,’ Susannah gloated maliciously. ‘But I’ll tell you one thing, you’ll never get Trevallion.’
‘I don’t want Trevallion, I just want Alex. Please—’
‘I don’t want to hear any more from you,’ Susannah broke in violently. ‘Turn round!’
On legs that would hardly move, Rebecca obeyed and held her breath. She could feel Susannah Bosanko’s vile breath on her hair. The gun was pushed into the back of her neck and she closed her eyes and bit her lip, waiting for the hot blast of pain that would take away her life.
Susannah lifted her head up and smiled to herself. Then she pulled back her hand and brought the gun down savagely on Rebecca’s head. As Rebecca staggered, Susannah hit her twice more and laid her out on the creek bank.
* * *
Alex was in his study. He was finishing off the plans for the house he was having built for himself and Rebecca. Satisfied with his progress, he put the drawings back in their folders. Tomorrow he had an appointment with an architect in Truro, and he would take Rebecca with him to buy an engagement ring. Everything was progressing well and his future was settled. The wedding arrangements were made and he had a secret honeymoon planned for Rebecca on the Continent.
It had been here in this study that he’d first realised he loved her. When she’d looked forlorn and trapped that day he’d officially moved into the house and he knew he couldn’t keep her against her will if it meant she’d be unhappy.
Alex pushed the folder aside and saw an unopened letter staring accusingly at him. It was from Susannah Bosanko and had been sitting there for two days. The writing was erratic and he knew it would contain hate-filled words and vile accusations. He sighed and made up his mind to read it. If it contained what he feared, he would have to call on her at her home and put a stop to it once and for all. Tearing the envelope open he had no time to read the first word. There was a knock on the study door and when he called ‘Come in’, Joe entered.
Trevallion Page 39