Cherrybrook Rose (31 page)

‘Months?' Rose's eyes stretched with horror.

‘I really would strongly advise him to give himself up. At least he'll have the medical care he needs.'

‘And then he'll be flogged,' Rose muttered bitterly under her breath.

Dr Seaton looked at her, and his mouth twisted with compassion. ‘As he said, he's got himself into a mess. Though if he
is
innocent, he has my every sympathy. Anyway, I'll leave you this. It's phenol. A few drops in a bowl of water to bathe the shot wounds. A mild infection he can stand, but again if he becomes feverish, well, you know my opinion. Or if his speech becomes slurred, or his muscles start to stiffen. Though God knows there's little anyone can do if he develops lockjaw.'

Rose's heart had sunk like a lead weight. Dr Seaton's words had really brought it home to her that Seth's life could be in danger. Perhaps she should betray him for his own sake. But how could she? He had put his trust in her, as she had in him. In the short time she had known him – heavens above, was it less than twenty-four hours? – some invisible bond had developed between them. It would be cowardly, dishonourable even, to expose him while he slept off the effect of the morphine. No. She must wait. But if he became seriously ill, she would do her utmost to persuade him to give himself up.

But they both knew what would happen when he was recovered.

In the event, Rose missed the birth of the pups altogether.

She managed to slip out to the stables after she and Charles had shared a light midday meal, but Seth was still sleeping, and so she waited several hours as she didn't want to arouse any suspicion. It gave her the opportunity to put her feet up and relax. She was confident no one would enter Gospel's loose box, and whatever happened, Seth's injuries had at least been properly tended.

It was late afternoon when she sauntered casually over to the dogs carrying a glass of cool water, for she was so thirsty, she told Cook. It must be the baby, she had proclaimed, and the older woman had nodded in agreement! Seth would be parched, she was sure, but she knew from nursing her father that morphine induced nausea, so he must sip the water slowly no matter how dry he was. But just for a moment as she entered the stable, her concern for the fugitive was interrupted. Snuggled up against Amber's golden flank were four tiny bundles of wet fur, eyes closed, ears so small they were hardly visible, and bald pink button noses twitching as they instinctively searched for their mother's teats. The detritus of birth lay about them, and Amber ceased her tender licking of each of her pups to glance up proudly at her mistress, while Scraggles nudged his offspring with bemused curiosity.

Rose held her breath, spellbound, as she gazed down on the minuscule creatures, two of them the image of their beautiful mother, and the other pair black and white like their father, and all of them squeaking plaintively as they made their first attempts to gain sustenance for their empty bellies. Rose hardly dared move in case she disturbed the wondrous vision, or caused the new mother any distress, but simply stood in rapt amazement.

‘This one's not doing so well.'

Seth's low voice destroyed her reverie, and a shiver ran through her body as she remembered why she was there. She peered into the shadows around the corner, and though Seth was buried in straw from the waist downwards, he was sitting up, totally visible, as his attention was concentrated on some minute scrap that lay in the palm of his hand.

‘Seth, you'll be seen!' Rose hissed at him in alarm.

‘I couldn't let this one die,' he answered, and she saw that he was gently rubbing whatever it was with a hank of straw. ‘The runt of the litter.'

He changed what he was doing then, and she was able to make out that he was holding the little damp bundle upside down, shaking it firmly until a string of mucus dribbled from what she realized now was a diminutive snout. Whipping the debris away with his free hand, Seth proceeded to blow softly into the tiny mouth, which he held open between his thumb and little finger, and after two or three attempts he looked up at Rose with a grin so delighted and so stunning that the breath seemed to leave her body.

Her senses reeled away from her and she might have fled back across the yard, but she didn't. She was confounded. Baffled. And she sank awkwardly on to her knees in the straw beside this supposedly dangerous criminal, her pulse drumming steadily at her temples as, heads together, they contemplated the indescribable miracle of new life.

‘Oh, he's beautiful,' Rose breathed, for indeed the puppy was a striking mixture of caramel and copper with a little white face and one black sock.

‘He's a she, actually, and I suggest you put her with her mother. She'll take care of her now.'

Rose put down the glass and cupped her hands to receive the tiny creature. ‘Oh, thank you so much for saving her.'

‘Little ones are always wonderful.' And then somehow his face closed down as he muttered under his breath, ‘As you'll soon find out for yourself.'

Rose frowned as she carefully placed the little animal among its siblings. This enigmatic stranger had such a curious effect on her that she couldn't fathom it out. His past life was still a mystery to her, and she was anxious to be enlightened, not just for his sake, but for her own. But first things first.

‘How are you feeling now?' she whispered, for having handed her the puppy, he had instantly lain down again as if in exhaustion.

‘Still groggy, to tell the truth.'

‘What about your ankle?'

‘It still hurts, but it's definitely more comfortable than it was. I didn't really get to thank your doctor properly. It was good of him to take such a risk.'

Rose nodded. ‘He's a good man. You know, Charles – my husband – insisted on finding another doctor for me. My father and I always had Dr Power—'

‘What!' Seth lifted his head in horror. ‘You mean—?'

‘The prison doctor, yes. I was furious at the time. 'Twas as if he was good enough for my father, but not for Charles. But I'm glad now. Not that Dr Power isn't an excellent physician, but he'd have been obliged to turn you in. 'Tis ironic, really,' Rose snorted. ‘Charles would hand you over without a thought, and yet because of him, you were able to see a doctor in safety.'

Her voice was laced with bitterness, and Seth raised his eyebrows at her. ‘Forgive me for saying so,' he faltered, ‘but I have the impression you're not too happy in your marriage.'

Rose's head jerked backwards on her neck. Molly was the only person to whom she had ever confessed her misgivings over her marriage to Charles, but her dear friend was so enraptured by her love for her own husband that she did not seem to appreciate the strength of Rose's feelings. But apart from Molly, no one had ever gained the least impression that she regretted her marriage to Charles, and yet this man, this
convict
, whom she scarcely knew, had seen straight into her very soul. She wanted so much to unburden herself, but it hardly seemed right and she reared away from it.

‘Drink the water,' she commanded instead.

The flicker of a frown creased Seth's broad forehead, but he said nothing, propping himself on one elbow as he sipped from the glass. She noticed him wince slightly as he moved his shoulder, bringing her own thoughts back to reality, and she bent to feel the plaster cast through the pile of straw.

‘It feels a lot drier,' she said automatically.

‘It'll take twenty-four hours at least to dry properly. And I can move my toes, so it all seems good.'

‘I'll bring out a bowl of water later if I can to bathe your shoulder, and you can have a wash. I can say 'tis to clean up the puppies.'

‘That would be good. Thank you so much.'

‘Rose! Rose, my dearest, where are you?'

Rose was convinced her heart had stopped beating, and then it seemed to catapult forward with the force of a sledgehammer. Her knees felt weak and trembling as she turned to look, wide-eyed with terror, over her shoulder.

‘Quick!'

Seth's frantic whisper galvanized her brain into action and she was wildly heaping straw over him, tossing it over his head – she prayed to God that he could still breathe – and then patting it down so that she hoped it didn't appear as what it was, a disguise for the human form hiding beneath it. She swept up the almost empty glass, standing solidly between the dog basket and the hump of straw, spreading her voluminous skirt out sideways. When Charles ambled into the loose box, though her heart was thudding savagely, she met him with an enchanting, enraptured smile.

‘Look, Charles! Amber's had her pups!' she cried in jubilation. ‘Aren't they gorgeous?'

‘Indeed, they are, my dear.' Charles's words were stiff, and he barely glanced down. ‘How many are there? Oh, good. Only five, I see. And that little runt probably won't survive, so that'll only be four to dispose of.'

Rose felt the barb cut into her side. Seth had risked his own safety to revive the fragment of life that was the ailing newborn pup, while Charles dismissed it as some vile, unwanted thing that he would prefer to be dead, as he would clearly have liked the others to be as well! The gall burned into Rose's throat, but she stepped forward with a fixed smile, taking Charles's arm and turning him away from both the animals and the obscured man.

‘Come, Charles, I should like to take some tea now. To celebrate. This water has quenched my thirst, and now a cup of tea would go down very nicely.'

They were out in the spring sunshine again, and the warmth penetrated her shivering flesh. Charles patted her hand as it lay cradled in his elbow, and the rancour stung deeper into her soul.

‘You go and tell Cook or Patsy to make the tea,' she smiled sweetly up at him. ‘I just want a word with Ned about the puppies.'

‘All right. But don't be long.'

She waited to make sure he had gone back inside, and then she went in search of Ned, for an idea had just struck her that filled her with relief. She found him in the tack room, lounging in the chair with his feet stretched out before him, scarcely bothering to move when she put her head around the door.

‘Ah, Ned, there you are. Busy as ever, I see,' she observed scathingly. ‘Well, I've a job for you. When you've time, of course. Amber's had her puppies, and I'm worried that Gospel might step on them, so I want you to put him in the spare box when you bring him in. So will you get the box ready for him, please. And I don't want anyone going in to Amber and the puppies until I say so. I'll put down some newspaper for them and see to all that sort of thing. I'm still quite capable of that, so there's no need for you to do anything. I'll just put everything in a bucket by the door, and you can empty it into the incinerator with all the rubbish.'

‘Right-ho, Miss Rose,' Ned grinned indolently. And as she turned away, she heard him mumble to himself that he didn't want to have anything to do with the bloody things anyway. And that suited Rose down to the ground! It had crossed her mind that she would have to think of something for Seth's personal needs, too, and this would kill the two birds with the one stone.

And feeling quite pleased with herself, she went indoors.

‘R
ose, my dear, I need to go to London, and I really would rather you came with me. The change would be good for you, and they haven't caught this escaped convict yet.'

Rose's hand was poised in midair as she lifted a spoonful of Cook's sumptuous dessert towards her mouth. Her heart took an almighty bound and it was with the greatest effort that she made her hand continue its journey and she calmly swallowed the delicious morsel, allowing her frantic brain time to think. The last few days had not been at all easy, and if it hadn't been for the excuse of checking on Amber and the puppies she would hardly have been able to slip out to the stables at all. Seth's appetite was surprisingly poor, but Rose knew the importance of a sufficient supply of fluid. The wounds on his shoulder were sloughing and should have been bathed daily, but she had only managed one opportunity to do so as yet. And if she had to go to London, well, the game would be up. Without her help, Seth could not survive, and he would have no choice but to give himself up.

‘Oh, Charles, that would be nice,' she replied with a pretty smile, ‘but I really think I'd find a whole day on the train too much. I'm beginning to get backache and I feel so uncomfortable, I really should prefer to stay here.'

‘It would be your last chance for some time,' Charles argued. ‘And once the baby's born—'

‘Yes, I know.' She deliberately released a profound sigh and was quite pleased how natural it sounded. ‘But then I'd have the whole journey to do in reverse, and I don't think 'twould be a good idea.'

‘You could stay in London. Have the baby there.'

‘No!' She was genuinely horrified, her voice trembling at the very thought. ‘I want it born here! Dr Seaton has been so kind and I have the greatest confidence in him. No, Charles. I'm sorry, but I will stay here.'

She met his gaze defiantly across the table, her eyes glinting that deep heather he knew so well and her fine jaw raised stubbornly.

‘But you will take care of yourself while I'm gone?' he conceded with reluctance. ‘I really am concerned about this prisoner.'

‘Didn't you say someone answering his description was seen over Ivybridge way?' she prompted.

‘That's true. The Civil Guard are concentrating their search over there.'

‘Well, there you are, then! And if 'twasn't him, then I expect he'll have perished out on the moor by now. Hopelessly lost, sunk into a mire, anything can happen out there. The moor's a treacherous place if you don't know it, and 'tis still cold enough at night to kill.'

‘Yes, I suppose so.' Charles's lips contorted into a grimace. ‘All the same—'