by Louise Allen
He greeted Will kindly, expressed dismay to hear that he had been injured in an assault and urged them to sit and take sherry. ‘You have not all come to report an attack, I believe,’ he said. ‘Mr Thwaite would be better in his bed and your lordships must have a pressing reason for escorting him.’
‘My lord, we have a disturbing story to report to you,’ Will said after a reviving swallow of sherry.
Half an hour later the Bishop sat silently as Will reached the end of the tale, leaving out only the discovery of the gold coin and their conclusion that the attack on him was linked to the tomb.
‘I hope I need not emphasise, my lord, that Mr Thwaite warned us most strongly about disturbing the tomb during our antiquarian researches and that its opening was mere chance,’ Perry added.
Will looked faintly pained at this bending of the truth but the Bishop nodded. ‘I can see that this must have come as a great shock to all of you. You have said nothing to the Rector or to Sir Walter’s family?’
‘We thought it best to consult you first, my lord. And the Reverend Finch’s wife is Sir Walter’s half-sister which makes it even more sensitive,’ Theo said.
‘And the crypt had been blocked off? I recall nothing of that.’ The Bishop reached out and rang the bell on his desk. When the secretary appeared he was sent off to check the ledgers for any faculty concerning the church of Hempbourne Marish.
‘Faculty?’ Theo whispered to Will.
‘Permission to change something in a church. More complicated than that but –’
He broke off as the secretary came back with an open ledger in his hands. ‘Nothing remotely relating to the crypt or the churchyard in over fifty years, my lord.’
‘I see. This is most worrying and it seems that you gentlemen have acted very correctly in coming to me first. It must have been a difficult decision for you, William, not to inform the Rector, but I will ensure that he understands that this course of action meets with my full approval. Something very wrong has occurred at Hempbourne Marish, albeit some twenty years in the past. One can only hope that time has softened the grief of the family for their missing uncle, although this discovery can only be exceedingly painful.’
‘My lord, how do you wish us to proceed?’ Theo asked.
The Bishop steepled his fingers and tapped them against his lips for a few seconds then spoke decisively. ‘I think you, my lords, should do nothing further at present. This is now a church matter although later, as a magistrate for the district, Lord Manners will doubtless have an involvement.
‘William, you will stay here overnight. You should rest and we will speak further, pray together for guidance in this matter. Tomorrow I will send the Archdeacon with you to view the church and this tomb. You will then both call upon the Rector, break the news to him and to Mrs Finch and then proceed, as a group, to call upon Sir Walter. Thank you, gentlemen.’
‘That was a fairly crisp dismissal,’ Theo said to Perry as they climbed back into the coach. ‘I worry about leaving Will there – did you see how he seemed to sag into his chair?’
‘That was relief at having handed a difficult moral decision over to a higher power,’ Perry said as he rapped on the roof and sat down. ‘Don’t look so anxious – we have hardly left him in the hands of the Spanish Inquisition. And Bishop Bathurst’s a wily old bird, in my opinion.’
‘So now we had best have luncheon and then go and look up a wily younger bird,’ Theo said. ‘I am keeping my fingers crossed that Gerard does not see fit to regale Laura with tales of our mutual misspent youth.’
‘Lord, yes.’ Perry’s face was a picture of dismay. ‘Crow – I mean Gerard – will have calmed down a lot though, surely? Like we have. I mean, a lawyer has to be a sober-sides, doesn’t he?’
‘I can only hope so,’ Theo said gloomily.
Laura took the seat opposite the wide desk and threw back her veil, blinking in relief at actually being able to see more than a grey blur. Then she blinked again at the sight of the man lowering himself into the seat opposite.
Goodness me. She hadn’t quite known what to expect from a lawyer who had been a friend of Perry and Theo and who must, therefore, be about their age. The only men of law she’d come across so far had been middle aged or elderly, portly or thin, and all of them dry as dust.
The Honourable Gerard Redfern was the second son of the Earl of Charnbrook, an eccentric and reclusive nobleman, according to Perry. He was tall and slim and dark and if he had come swinging down from the rigging of a ship with a cutlass between his teeth she would hardly have been surprised. He looked as out of place in a law office as a raven on a wedding cake.
It was not that he was good looking, exactly. With that assertive nose and those black eyes and that thick hair he was no pretty gentleman of fashion, although his clothes were, if anything, more expensive than either Perry’s or Theo’s, if she was any judge. She wondered if he ever prosecuted in court, because surely anyone giving evidence would instantly tell the truth, all the truth and nothing but the truth after just one glance from under those severe brows.
‘This is Miss Darke,’ Perry said. ‘Miss Darke, Mr Redfern. Her circumstances are those that I sketched out in my letter.’
‘Good afternoon, Miss Darke.’
‘Yes. I mean, good afternoon, Mr Redfern.’
‘I understand that you have a problem with an embezzling uncle and trustee who is also attempting to marry you off to his son by decidedly underhand methods. Is that correct?’
‘Yes.’ Stop shaking. You aren’t the one at fault…
‘Then it will be my pleasure to see that he gets everything that is due to him.’ Mr Redfern put his elbows on the desk, clasped his hands together and leaned towards her.
Laura felt herself swaying forwards as though drawn by a magnet. And then he smiled. Oh my word…
‘Crow,’ Theo said sharply from behind her. ‘Stop it.’
‘Stop what?’ Mr Redfern – Crow? – said, the smile quite gone. He raised one eyebrow and was back to being the Inquisitor General.
‘You know perfectly well what,’ Theo snapped. ‘Listen to Miss Darke’s story and tell her what’s to be done.’
The lawyer leaned back in his chair. ‘Please recount the history of your family and situation, the trust and your uncle’s behaviour. Omit nothing. I would rather have to winnow out the grain from a ton of chaff than to have some vital detail missed.’
It look almost two hours, with Mr Redfern interrupting for clarification after almost every statement. From the extensive notes he was making, the winnowing was already in progress.
‘And your birthday is just over two months away? I see.’ He absent-mindedly stuck a black quill pen in his hair, increasing the likeness to the crow Theo had named him. ‘We need to keep you out of Swinburn’s hands until then. He must have no hint that you are taking legal advice because we do not want to give him time to falsify the books any more than he probably already has. Fortunately he sounds like an all too familiar type who believe that females have nothing between their ears but fluff. I doubt that it would ever occur to him that you would to go to a lawyer.
‘On your birthday we serve papers demanding a full payment and accounting, in detail, of all his management of your affairs. We will either receive immediate compliance or we will drag him through the courts by his ears.’ The smile this time was not in the least magnetic.
Laura swallowed. ‘The problem is, Mr Redfern, until I receive my inheritance I have no money to pay you.’
‘And receiving it and seeing it all swallowed up in legal fees rather defeats the purpose,’ Theo said. ‘Miss Darke is entitled to the independence that money will give her.’
‘I would not dream of charging a penny piece in fees.’
‘I cannot take charity,’ Laura said hotly.
‘This is for old times’ sake,’ said Redfern, smiling wickedly at the men behind her. ‘And for my own enjoyment. There will be expenses – will those salve your tender pride, Miss
Darke?’
‘It is not pride, I simply have no wish to take advantage of you and your loyalty to your old friends, Mr Redfern.’
‘No-one takes advantage of me, Miss Darke. You may be sure of that. You will all dine with me tonight, I hope?’
‘We were returning to Fellingham this evening,’ Perry said. ‘We have not booked rooms at the Maid’s Head.’
‘What? Drag Miss Darke from the shops of Norwich or subject her to a tiring night-time drive back? The Maid’s Head will have rooms, I have no doubt. Besides, we have so much to catch up on.’
‘Exactly my point,’ Theo said. ‘Desperately boring for Miss Darke, us reminiscing about university days.’
‘I promise not to bore Miss Darke,’ Redfern said, in a voice like warm honey.
Laura could almost feel Theo’s hackles rising, which was interesting. ‘I would so much enjoy that, Mr Redfern. And you are quite correct, I would not relish the journey back in the dark, which means I would have to cut short my shopping.’
‘Very well,’ Perry said. I will go back to the inn and see what can be done about rooms and Theo can escort you, Laura. And if rooms are not available at the Maid’s Head we will have to return home, whatever the hour. I’m not easy about risking you being recognised in one of the smaller, more crowded inns.’
‘Yes, Perry,’ Laura said meekly. Having got her own way she was not going to provoke him.
‘Very masterful,’ Redfern murmured, not quite quietly enough. ‘Excellent. I will expect you at about seven then? Unless I hear to the contrary.’
As they rose to leave he added, ‘I assume you have a maid with you, Miss Darke?’
‘And a footman, yes.’
‘Who are, presumably, known to the Swinburns? I suggest you borrow one of my clerks as escort and find a veil for your maid, otherwise it might cause speculation about who the shy lady Northam is squiring about could be.’
‘Good idea,’ Theo acknowledged.
‘I do have them occasionally.’
‘He always has to have the last word,’ Perry grumbled as they set out again. Nell had a veil with her, thanks to Mrs Bishop’s foresight, and the clerk Redfern sent with them was a strapping youth clearly delighted to have the afternoon away from his desk.
‘I’ll follow you at a safe distance,’ Theo said. ‘Do you know where you want to go or are you browsing?’
‘Both. And I believe Mrs Bishop has given Nell a list. We will start at the market.’
They arrived back at the Maid’s Head three hours later, the smile wiped off the young clerk’s face by the load of parcels he was carrying, but with Laura and Nell buoyed up with the success of their expedition.
‘There’s just time to furbish up your dark blue gown with that new gold ribbon,’ Nell said as they dropped the smaller packages they had been carrying onto Laura’s bed. ‘And that shawl you bought with that lovely pale blue and gold pattern will set it off a treat.’
‘And the new evening slippers.’ Laura lifted them out of the box and caressed the soft kid. ‘It was fortunate they had just the right shade of blue already in stock.’
‘You’ll look so fine Mr Redfern won’t be able to take his eyes off you and that’ll make Lord Northam green as grass.’
‘Nell!’
‘Well? Do him good to feel a bit jealous and that lawyer’s a handsome piece of work, don’t you think? Scary though. You’ll do better with Lord Northam in the long run.’
‘Nell.’ Laura tried to find the right words of reproof and failed. ‘Nell, Lord Northam is a viscount and already betrothed. And even if he was not, I am not a good match for him – and before you say whatever is on the tip of your tongue, it is marriage or nothing so far as I am concerned! Even if I wanted him, that is.’
‘Yes, Miss Laura,’ Nell said brightly without the slightest hint that she felt herself reproved. ‘It’s a good thing Lord Manners thought it best if we all brought a bag each in case we had to spend the night.’ She already had already taken out the one dress Laura had run away with that might conceivably be considered an evening gown and was smoothing the skirts. ‘If we remove that old braid and I pleat the ribbon…’
Chapter Fourteen
Laura emerged, veil in place, at a few minutes to seven and the men hustled her down to the yard where the carriage waited. She was still brooding on Nell’s comments, too absorbed to complain that they were treating her like an urgent package for delivery.
‘There are too many people about this evening for my liking, and some of them I recognise,’ Perry said, as he virtually bundled her up the step into the vehicle. He gave the most cursory of nods in the direction of some gentlemen who had raised their hands in greeting
Laura sat down with a bump as he began pulling down the blinds. ‘Why are you two looking so gloomy this evening? Don’t you want to spend time with your old friend?’
‘And watch him flirt with you while he torments us with hilarious anecdotes of our misspent youth?’ Theo said.
‘Theo! Did you really have a misspent youth?’
‘All men have,’ Theo said. ‘We had the misfortune to spend our university days with Redfern at his wildest.’
‘I will wager you enjoyed it at the time,’ Laura said.
‘Parts of it,’ Perry said darkly.
The meal proved to be superb, not over-elaborate but well-cooked and interesting and accompanied by excellent wines. Taken with what she had seen of Mr Redfern’s wardrobe, Laura concluded that his legal practice must be a flourishing one. She felt slightly less guilty about accepting his decision not to charge her fees.
To her surprise he did not twit her companions about their university days until Perry said something about his sea-crossing to Ireland and how alarmed he had been to see the sailors taking in sail so high overhead.
‘And you such a good climber, Perry!’
‘Perry? What do you climb?’
‘We used to have a night-time climbing club at university,’ Theo said reluctantly. ‘We would take bets on which buildings we’d scale.’
‘You too? What was the worst thing?’
‘Oh, the Senate House pediment,’ Perry said. ‘I ended up dangling from that with the Watch just underneath. Of course, Theo had the most traumatic experience of all of us.’
‘Do not remind me.’ Theo shuddered.
‘The Master’s Lodge,’ Redfern said with a crack of laughter. ‘A dreadful old building, Miss Darke, all turrets and crennelations and crumbling balconies. We wagered that Theo could not climb up to the Master’s bedchamber window, steal one of his wigs and then put it on the statue of Academic Virtue in the quadrangle.’
‘And did you?’
‘I got up there after a pretty hair-raising climb,’ Theo said with a wry grin. ‘There was one of those false balconies outside the window – you know, about six inches wide, just there for show – and I had just landed on it when the foothold I had stepped from fell away. My only route to safety was through the window, but as I was reaching for it, it swung open.’
‘The Master was inside?’
‘With his mistress. And they proceeded to be exceedingly friendly for all of half an hour while I clung to the ledge unable to put my fingers in my ears. She shrieked with, I assume, joy throughout. He sounded like a wild boar in agony. These two,’ he waved one hand at his grinning friends, ‘and the rest of the group were doubled up with hysterics below. When the lovebirds finally left the room I was almost too shaken to climb in and sneak down to safety.’
‘Did you get the wig?’ Laura wanted to know.
‘Of course.’
‘So if Mr Redfern was Crow, what were you two called?’ she asked.
‘Perry was Pigeon. He would flap about, land on things with a thud, but was as fast as lightening when the authorities came into sight, like a pigeon with a sparrow hawk on its tail,’ said Theo with a grin for Perry’s red face.
‘And Theo was Cat. He could climb like one when he wanted to, was devilish stub
born about anything he didn’t want to do, could sit staring into space for minutes at a time but would then come up with just the way around something tricky,’ Redfern explained.
‘I like problems,’ Theo said mildly and promptly fell silent with an abstracted look on his face.
Now what is he brooding about, she wondered. The tomb, the gold coin? Me? Some problems you cannot solve by wishing.
They arrived back at the Grange on Tuesday in time for a late luncheon and then spent the day in suspense waiting, as Perry put it, for the explosion from either the Rectory or Swinburn Manor.
‘But where’s Will?’ Laura wondered when there was still no word by dinner time.
‘The Rector won’t have much choice but to put him and the Archdeacon up at the Rectory, I’d have thought,’ Perry said, passing her a slice of roast beef. ‘We will hear something in the morning, I’ve no doubt.’
‘He’s got the sense to lock his door at night, I imagine,’ Theo said. ‘You are rather fond of our tame curate aren’t you, Laura?’
There was an edge to the question that made her look sharply at him. Jealousy? Surely not. What had he, the betrothed man, to be jealous of? She caught a momentary glimpse of his expression, of his eyes unguarded, and caught her breath.
‘Yes, I am. I like him a lot, he is a good man and good company,’ she said lightly. But her breath felt tight in her chest. She had thought that what Theo felt for her was desire, liking… But that look? There had been need and pain in those blue eyes. She was beginning to fear that she was in love with Theo Quenten and now she was afraid that he felt the same way. And there was nothing but pain ahead if that was in case.
‘Pass the gravy,’ Perry said and the moment was gone.
The day passed with no news. Theo found excuses to work in the library and avoid Laura. Avoid any more revealing slips like that irrational outburst about Will. It had been pure jealousy and the realisation that if Will did want to court Laura he was free to do so, unlike a certain viscount who had blundered into a betrothal without the slightest thought that might fall in love one day. Because I have, he admitted finally as he thought once more about the look he had seen on her face the day before. She had not been happy.