Beatrice (25 page)

The
sudden thud of the bolt being slid across the door sounded like
gunfire in the silence of the house. Caroline spun around to stare
in shock at Mark, and inadvertently gave Ben the perfect
opportunity he needed to yank Beatrice and Maud into the sitting
room where they were out of danger.

“Well,
well, I have just sent one of my men to look for you,” Mark drawled
and watched Ben close the sitting room door behind him and move to
stand in the hallway that led to the kitchen. “You have saved me
from having to get half of Great Tipton constabulary to tear the
county apart to look for you.”

The gun
was lowered a little as Caroline stared at him blankly for a
moment. It was evident that she was trying desperately to find a
way out of her current predicament from the frantic way her gaze
flickered around the hallway. To begin with, it appeared that she
was going to try to brave it out because she squared her shoulders
and glared defiantly back at Mark.

“I came
to speak to Beatrice.”

“With a
gun?” Ben snorted dismissively. “You will have to speak to her
through us.”

“Go on
then,” Mark urged when she remained silent and watchful. “Beatrice
is right there, in the sitting room. Say what you have to say
before I cart you off to the station.”

“I am
not going to the station,” Caroline declared flatly. “I have done
nothing wrong.”

“You are
waving a gun at a woman,” Ben snorted.

“She
accosted me on the driveway at gunpoint,” Maud piped up from the
safety of the sitting room.

“Shut
up, you stupid woman. I didn’t accost you. We were heading in the
same direction, that’s all.”

“Oh, and
you just happened to be pointing a gun at the same level as my ribs
along the way, did you?” Maud snapped defiantly, but made no
attempt to leave the sanctuary of the sitting room.

“You
have nearly run Beatrice over twice in the lane on Sunday, and
attempted to run Ben’s carriage off the road twice today. You have
had a busy week Caroline. I am going to arrest you for attempted
murder because, as far as I see it, you could not fail to notice
that someone was using the road on foot when you almost ran her
down the other Sunday. You could not have failed to spot Beatrice
and Ben on horseback about ten minutes later outside here either.
Even if your eyesight is that poor, your reckless carriage driving
today has resulted in extensive damage to Farmer Denton’s hedge and
field. You can hardly argue that it wasn’t you given that we still
have your horse and carriage stuck on Denton’s
property.”

“I sold
them,” Caroline countered with an arrogant toss of her
head.

“You did
not. They are yours, Caroline. You see, I live in Tipton Hollow
too. I know that your neighbour, Mrs Underwick, and you are
extremely close. She liked your aunt and considered herself to be
one of her best friends. It stands to reason that she took you
under her wing as soon as she realised who you are, and extended
the same hand of friendship toward you as she did your aunt. But
you couldn’t take that, could you Caroline? You couldn’t take that
hand of friendship because you are not your aunt. You had to use it
to try to get at Beatrice, and pour spite into the old woman’s
ears. I have heard your attempts to poison Mrs Underwick against
Beatrice with my own ears, in Harriett’s tea shop and several other
places around the village.”

Ben
sighed and shook his head. “So have I,” he added
quietly.

He
briefly recounted his altercation with Mrs Underwick in the
churchyard but, for Beatrice’s sake, didn’t recount all of the
sordid snippets of snide gossip. However, his dour look warned Mark
that he had heard enough to support Mark’s belief that the women
had been working to sully Beatrice’s name.

“I
wondered what grievance Mrs Underwick could have against Beatrice,”
Ben growled. “I am sure that if you ask Mrs Underwick a few
pertinent questions, she will oblige and inform you that she heard
some awful things from Miss Smethwick here. I have no doubt that
Miss Smethwick has been feeding the woman all sorts of stories
about her experiences with the new Circle.”

“I think
you are right, Ben. I need to get Mrs Underwick down to the station
to find out what poison has been fabricated.” He turned to
Caroline. “Denegration of a person is illegal, Miss
Smethwick.”

“Why,
Caroline?” Beatrice demanded as she stepped out of the sitting
room. In spite of the dangers, she couldn’t continue to cower and
hide. She wanted answers. “What have I ever done to
you?”

She
gasped when Caroline turned a look of such vile hatred upon her
that she physically recoiled, and all of her bravado suddenly
vanished. She had never, in all of her life, experienced such raw
contempt before, and was as confused as she was hurt by
it.

“I hate
you, you sanctimonious witch,” Caroline snarled. Her lip actually
curled as she spoke, and her eye spat shards of molten fire at the
woman she had made her enemy.

“I
thought we were friends. You came to the Circle, and sat with us
night after night while we made things. You have eaten in our
houses, drank our wines, laughed and joked with us as you worked on
your projects with us. We have been friends to you, yet you have
done this against me. Why?”

The more
Beatrice spoke, the more her shock and horror wore off and was
replaced with fury. She was so cross that she physically trembled
with the need to strike out and she had to clench her fists against
the urge to stalk up to the woman, yank open the door and
physically throw her out of the house.

“You had
to have it all, didn’t you?” Caroline snapped. Her narrowed gaze
slid insultingly over Beatrice, from the top of her head, to the
tips of her toes.

“All of
what?” Beatrice demanded.

“You had
to have it all. All of the friends; all of your uncle’s house and
money; all of the man I wanted.” Caroline turned her contemptuous
gaze toward Ben. Something in her face changed and, for one brief
moment, she looked sad, lonely and confused. Unfortunately, those
hidden emotions were swiftly replaced with arrogant hatred that
made Beatrice shiver.

“She is
a whore,” Caroline snarled as her eyes met Ben’s. “She pretends to
be so pious, so perfect in every way. She has the house. She has
money. She has friends. She has you. She has everything. She
doesn’t even have to do anything around this bloody house because
she has that old bat to do everything for her.”

“Excuse
me, I am not an old bat,” Maud retorted crisply from her position
still inside the sitting room.

“Maud!”
Beatrice snapped and shook her head at the housekeeper’s loud
huff.

“Jealousy is no reason to kill someone,” Ben replied
quietly.

“She
sits in church each Sunday, batting her eyelashes at you;
pretending to be innocent. We all see it. The whole congregation in
church see everything. You, Ben, sitting there, staring at her as
though she was Sunday roast; it’s disgusting. I don’t know how you
can have the audacity to sit in such a religious shrine as a church
without getting struck by lightning while you behave as you
do.”

“Since
when have you been God?” Beatrice snapped. “Who are you to pass
judgement on anyone? Who are you to put any kind of inference on
anything Ben or I do?”

“Oh, so
it is Ben, now is it?” Caroline retorted snidely. “Not Mr Addison,
like the rest of us.” She snorted and raked Beatrice with another
scornful look. “You, a single woman living all alone, is
sufficiently familiar with the village’s only eligible man that you
call him by his first name.”

“That’s
because we are engaged,” Ben lied carefully. “We began courting
ages ago, but have kept it quiet because her uncle was poorly. When
he passed away, we decided to postpone announcing the wedding out
of respect, but have been engaged for a while.”

“Hurrah!” Maud piped up.

In spite
of the dangerous situation, Beatrice had to smile at the
housekeeper’s sentiment.

“It’s a
lie,” Caroline cried. Her horrified gaze flew from Ben, to
Beatrice, then back to Ben. “You are marrying her?”

Ben
nodded and frowned, but couldn’t see why his declaration would
affect Caroline so badly. Was she jealous of him and Beatrice’s
relationship? He shied away from the thought that she was attracted
to him, and stared a little nonplussed at her for a
moment.

She
stared at the floor as though trying to decide what to do in light
of this new turn of events. It gave Ben the opportunity to share a
look with Mark, who nodded to the space on the opposite side of
Caroline. Ben pushed Beatrice toward the sitting room door before
he began to sidle toward the bottom of the stairs.

Sensing
something was about to happen, Beatrice did as she was told and
began to back-step toward the sitting room. Unfortunately, her
movement snapped Caroline out of her thoughts, and she pierced
Beatrice with a baleful stare that was nothing short of evil. Her
distraction gave Mark and Ben the opportunity to both lunge at
her.

Caroline
immediately began to swear and struggle. Her strength was
surprising and, for a moment, Ben could fully appreciate just how
she managed to handle the huge horse and carriage by herself.
However, in spite of the madness that seemed to add to her
strength, she was still no match for the considerably larger and
much stronger men, who overpowered her within minutes.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Caroline
cursed and swore fluidly while she was restrained, and had irons
placed securely around her wrists. Both men were breathing heavily
by the time they hauled her to her feet. However, before Mark could
march her out of the house, Ben stopped him.

“One
thing I want to know is; why? What is this all about, Miss
Smethwick?”

His eyes
met and held Caroline Smethwick’s for several long moments. What he
saw in the depths of her dark gaze unnerved him, and he began to
wonder if she was insane. It was then that he began to realise just
how lucky he and Beatrice were to survive.

“Why
her?” Caroline whispered tearfully. “Why her? Everyone sees you
every Sunday in church. You stare across the aisle at her as though
she is the only woman there. It’s a scandal the way that she struts
around the village, pretending to be friends with everyone. She is
no better than the rest of us.”

“Beatrice is just someone who is going about her life, that’s
all, Miss Smethwick,” Ben assured her somewhat officiously. “In the
grand scheme of things, it is not really down to you to judge
somebody and decide whether or not they should live or
die.”

“She has
to go, before she drags you into her world of moral
decline.”

“Caroline Smethwick, I am placing you under arrest for the
attempted murder of Miss Beatrice Northolt, and reckless driving
with intent to cause physical injury, if not death,” Mark intoned
sternly.

Ben
glanced at him. “Do you want me to get the carriage ready and take
you to Great Tipton?”

Mark
shook his head. He had recently invested in his own carriage now
that he had Harriett to consider, and it was waiting nearby, ready
for such an eventuality. He just needed somebody to accompany him
to Great Tipton, just in case Caroline Smethwick did something
stupid, like decide to run. It would have been incredibly helpful
if Ben could go with him to deliver her to the station, however he
didn’t want Beatrice to be left alone right now.

“Beatrice? What time is it?” Mark called.

Beatrice
tentatively stepped into the hallway, and watched Mark render the
gun safe and tuck it carefully into his pocket. “They should be
here within the hour,” she replied quietly.

Mark
nodded and turned to Ben. “We will wait until the ladies from the
Circle get here. Then, if Isaac isn’t back, I need you to come with
me to deliver Miss Smethwick to the station, Ben. We can then
escort the ladies from the Circle home safely when they are done.
That way, Beatrice and Maud don’t need to be left
alone.”

“That’s
fine with me,” Ben sighed with relief. He turned his attention back
to Miss Smethwick. Although he didn’t want to involve himself in
Mark’s investigation, he had to know some very important facts
before Miss Smethwick was taken away.

“Why
Beatrice? I mean, other women in the Circle are just as kind, just
as generous, just as wealthy, yet you haven’t been anywhere near
them. Why pick on Beatrice in particular?”

Caroline
glared defiantly at him. Strangely, there was no sign of her
earlier madness when she spoke.

“I came
to visit my aunt in Tipton Hollow months ago, and fully expected to
find her in fine fettle, if still her usual crabby self. What I
found instead, was someone who was a mere shadow of her former
self. My aunt was suddenly someone who was teetering on the brink
of financial devastation having been fleeced repeatedly by those
awful women the Psychic Circle had brought into the village. Rather
than offer my aunt the help she needed and deserved, all of the
Psychic Circle left her to struggle alone. Not one of them stepped
in to help her, and merely abandoned her to be fleeced mercilessly
while they enjoyed their quaint little ‘evenings’ together, mocking
things they didn’t understand. So, I decided to pretend to be my
aunt and find out as much information about them as I could. I had
heard gossip that Beatrice was close to my aunt, but you wouldn’t
know it from the way my aunt positively hated her toward the end of
her life. While she was in the institution, my aunt kept rambling
on and on about Beatrice not coming to call, but did Beatrice care?
No, she left her to rot,” Caroline spat. “When the Psychic Circle
ended, all the women could be concerned about was their stupid
weekly meetings so they could continue to trade their sordid
gossip. They claim to work to help people but, if they are as
charitable as they claim to be, why didn’t any of them extend that
hand of charity toward my aunt; one of the villagers? They are not
benevolent at all. They are a selfish and greedy group of women,
with Beatrice Northolt leading them all from one set of problems,
to another.”