Hide in Time (18 page)

“Miss Mulberry.” Millie was
still awaiting instructions.

“You choose for me, Millie, I
just want to make a note of something.” Alexandra opened her
journal, took up her pen, dipped it in the ink and prepared to write.
Too late – it had faded; slipped away again. Bally dreams.

~

“I love Advent, don’t you,
Alexandra?” Catherine looked with hopeful eyes towards her
silent friend as they settled into their pew at the front of the
church. It was a fine building, much admired and, surprisingly, not
set on the top of one of the many hills surrounding the town: it
nestled by the stream at the bottom of a steep incline.

“I’m not sure I can
remember…”

“Oh, Alexandra, how thoughtless
of me. Is that why you look so downcast?”

It was more trivial than that but
insidious. “No. It’s because I do not want to sit next to
Adam. Would you mind if we swapped places, Catherine?”

“Alexandra! Whatever has
happened?”

“I cannot say, Catherine,”
she whispered as she moved to change places. “It’s
nothing for you to worry about though.” Alexandra saw by the
slightest flicker of his eyelashes that Adam noticed when he took up
his place beside Catherine. But it wasn’t conducive to
contemplation of higher things to be sitting next to Jack or his
debauched brother. Shocked, she hated herself for thinking this. So
now she hated him and she hated herself. What had happened to her
sunny disposition?

The choir in the gallery began to sing
with a zealous disregard for musical harmony. Two scraping violins, a
couple of squeaking flutes and a small drum assisted them in their
artistic transgression. After they had finished and seated themselves
with looks of pious self-satisfaction, Parson Raffles, looking like
an upturned muslin-covered pudding basin with a plum on top, rattled
on about the delay in completion of the modifications to the church.
This, he said, necessitated the use of a temporary lectern erected on
a small, wheeled platform, not much bigger than his feet. Checking
the chocks were in place, he confidently mounted the rostrum.

Alexandra was lost in thought. She had
just begun to look forward to the church services; there was usually
something of intellectual interest and much needed comfort in verses
like ‘the truth shall set you free’. But how could Adam
stand in church when…

“Our Lord Jesus Christ,”
boomed Parson Raffles as he clutched the front edge of the lectern
with one hand and thrust the other in the direction of the heavens,
“left the sanctuary of his home above and became a helpless
infant; his very life at risk from those who jealously guarded their
own interests.” Parson Raffles paused, leaned forward, and
clutched the corners of the lectern tightly with both hands. “He
endured a simple life amongst people who regarded him as peculiar.”
He leaned forward and glowered into the eyes of the congregation,
“Those he trusted let him down.” There was another,
longer pause. The rapt silence was broken by an ominous creak as the
parson shifted his stance.

Alexandra resumed her deep thoughts as
she turned his words over in her mind. ‘Those he trusted let
him down.’ Hmm… she could identify with that. She looked
at the parson closely; he looked most uneasy. She didn’t feel
too well herself – she could swear the platform was almost
imperceptibly, but inevitably, like an afternoon shadow, creeping
across the floor.

He pressed on. “No one understood
his mission. Imagine, if you will, your very self growing up in a
small town. People speculating on your parentage.” Alexandra
glanced around. A while back she’d overheard unkind gossip
about herself. The parson stood still and quiet for a moment and
examined the faces of his congregation. He then brought his fist down
hard on the lectern, “That is what the King of Kings had to
endure from those to whom he had given the gift of life!”

The platform juddered, the chocks
shifted and, unmistakably, Parson Raffles’ temporary rostrum
rolled forwards toward the aisle. The shift of weight as he leaned
forward to clutch the lectern caused the platform to gather speed.
The parson’s eyes, out like organ stops, silently pleaded for
somebody to rescue him from this indignity. But the congregation sat
transfixed until he’d rolled past the Leigh-Fox pew, when Jack
called out, “Come back, we want to hear the end of the story.”

~

After the service, Parson Raffles
invited the Leigh-Fox family to the parsonage, though Jack declined
to come. “A drink, I need a drink,” said Parson Raffles
as he welcomed them into the drawing room, “though I confess I
thought I must have had too much already when I found myself
travelling along on a box on wheels.”

Catherine giggled, “Oh Mr
Raffles, I think we shall all remember that sermon to the end of our
days.”

“Perhaps that’s what God
intended,” responded the parson with a wink. “If Adam
hadn’t bounded down the aisle after me I cannot imagine my fate
when faced with the central pillar. Let’s raise a glass to the
hero amongst us.”

Each had been handed a glass of wine
and Adam raised his and said instantly, “To Raffles, who kept
going even when he’d gone.”

There was a fizz of smothered giggles
except from Parson Raffles who waved aside the toast and said, “To
Adam who caught the highwayman single handed.”

Silence fell.

“Did he not tell you? Oh Adam,
your modesty astounds me. Think of the tale you could have told.”
Parson Raffles looked around at the available seating, grinned widely
and said “Sit down and I will tell you a story and all of it
true.”

~

“I should never have doubted him,
Alexandra. I’m so ashamed,” Catherine confided on their
return to “Foxhills”.

“I admit it was a remarkable
story. Adam, fleet of feet…”

Catherine smothered a giggle.

Alexandra continued with a wry smile,
“required great courage to capture such a menacing villain.”

“Was it not extraordinary too
that Adam rescued Jack from the clutches of this scoundrel and was
able to save him from being robbed?”

“Indeed. I await the return of my
diamonds.”

“Oh Alexandra, Adam will return
them to you. He probably has them for safekeeping.” Catherine
paused, “What I don’t understand is why he let the
villain go with nothing more than a reprimand.”

“When I encountered the
highwayman, some time ago now, he seemed well practised in his art,
yet Adam seems convinced he will become a reformed character.”
Alexandra’s scepticism was not well disguised.

Adam sauntered in to the sitting room
where Catherine and Alexandra stood in front of the small fire.

“I believe the man, a poor farm
worker, was in the pay of someone else; someone who paid a pittance
for him to risk his life. And you know what Raffles always says in
these situations,” he lowered his voice in an approximation of
the gravitas Raffles reserved for his wisest words, “Repentance,
reformation, and restitution.”

Alexandra rolled the words around in
her mind. “Did he repent?”

“With a little help,” Adam
raised his eyebrows, “Though I thought it best not to ruffle
Raffles with the details.”

Alexandra allowed herself a flicker of
a smile before bluntly asking, “How did they know about my
diamonds?”

“They didn’t. It was
thought, and correctly, that Jack was carrying the annual rents for
the estate cottages and the tenant farmers.” Adam wandered over
to the fireplace and turned to face the girls.

“Goodness,” said Catherine,
“What was Jack doing with those?”

“Hoping to make more interest
than placing them in the bank.”

“Gambling!” gasped
Catherine. “Surely not with our rents?”

“It was fortunate, Alexandra,
that you discovered your diamonds were missing otherwise I should not
have known to pursue Jack and you might now have been discussing the
downfall of the Leigh-Fox family.”

Father Fox entered and sat in his
high-backed chair alongside the fire and clearly wished to contribute
to the discussion. “We could not have afforded another year’s
loss of rents. We shall have to raise them soon.”

“It is a particularly difficult
time for our tenants. Many of the men are away at war. Do not trouble
yourself about the finances of the estate, father. Matters are in
hand and only I have the key to the drawing room.” He turned to
Alexandra and said, “An unusually large safe, I admit, but it
also affords me a place to work undisturbed.” Adam walked
towards a cabinet and took out a bottle of Port. “Father?”
he enquired.

Father Fox nodded happily.

“Let us both raise our glasses to
the ladies. To Catherine for all that she has done in the past few
months to manage the household.”

Catherine turned a little pink and
began to protest.

“No, no, Catherine, do not demur.
You have increased the comfort and happiness of this house, and we
thank you.”

Good lord, thought Alexandra, this man
is gracious. It’s no wonder the girls of the village are his
for the taking.

“To Alexandra I say thank you.
Thank you for joining our disintegrating household and for saving us
from financial ruin.” He said it in a jocular fashion and with
an exaggerated bow but his eyes never left hers and the sincerity
they conveyed silenced her own intended rejection.

That night, sitting up in her bed,
Alexandra wrote, ‘The damned man has charisma in spades. The
way he carries himself draws the eye, then the flash of his rationed
smiles, those lovely even, white teeth, the cut of his jaw, all
framed by that glossy, dark chestnut hair – oh how I hate him.’
She knew that she didn’t and she couldn’t, but she would
work at it.

Hide in Time ~ Anna Faversham

Dreams. Do they have any significance?
Did this dream mean something? Alexandra knew it was the parson
Raffles incident playing on her mind but the wheels in her dream bore
no resemblance to the rolling rostrum. She must write it down before
Millie tripped in with breakfast.

~

Later that day, Alexandra wrapped up
warm and, hoping no one would see her, ran to the stables to find
Billy. As she tried to slip around to the back, Adam’s groom
greeted her with a smile and a brief nod of his head. Loyal to Adam,
he missed very little, thought Alexandra. He raised an eyebrow in
query. “Holly,” Alexandra enunciated. She returned his
smile and deliberately sauntered around to Holly’s stable.

“Morning Miss Mulberry. See, I
can call you that, if that’s what you wish.” Billy hadn’t
waited for Alexandra to speak first though. He’d been watching
her since she left the house; remaining silent proved impossible.

“Billy, I do wish for that and,
more importantly, Mister Adam insists on it.”

Not in the least abashed, Billy said,
“D’yer want me to saddle Holly? It’ll have to be
side-saddle in that dress.”

“Not for the moment, Billy.”
Holly snickered in her stall and Alexandra gave Billy a cheery smile
as she turned away. “I’d better go say ‘hello’
to our black beauty.” She walked around to Holly’s stall
and stroked her muzzle. ‘Black Beauty’, she mused; the
name sounded familiar. She shrugged, turned back to Billy who was
just a footstep away, and handed him a sheet of paper.

“What’s this, Miss?”

“Could you build that for me?”

He glanced at the paper. “Yeah, I
reckon I could if I can get me hands on some wheels.” He
considered for a moment. “What’s it for?”

“It’s to help people get
around faster and these are not so accident prone as skates. Look,”
she said pointing at the diagram she had drawn, “you put your
foot on this board and use the other foot as a paddle.”

“Brilliant!” His
congratulatory air didn’t last long though and he began to
shake his head. “You seen the roads round here? They’re
either all dirt and potholes or cobbled in town.”

“Oh,” Alexandra’s
shoulders slumped. “In my dream the roads were smooth.”

“Yeah, in mine too.” Billy
pondered and turned the diagram around several times. “Tell you
what – it’d work well for old soldiers who’ve lost
a leg. They’ll put up with a bumpy ride if it gives them a bit
of speed. Lot of them around down the tavern.” He stood
straight, as if in a passing out parade, looked proudly into
Alexandra’s eyes and said, “ I’ll see what I can
do, Miss Mulberry.” Alexandra’s smile was not just in
gratitude: the thought of a handful of peg-legged soldiers all
drinking together then affixing the wheeled board and paddling along
the roads shouting, ‘On to Glory’, brought her alarmingly
close to collapsing in undignified giggles. Billy clearly cherished
Alexandra’s broad grin and said, “I’d do anything
for you, Miss. You only have to ask.”

~

On her return to the house, Alexandra
found Adam and Catherine deep in conversation by the pianoforte.
“Here she is,” said Adam, “Not lost at all.”

“I’m so sorry, Catherine.
I’ve been to see Holly.” She smiled at Catherine and
looked at Adam’s feet. He was leaning against the piano, one
leg firmly planted on the ground and the other nonchalantly across
it. Damn, damn, damn! Why did he always churn her stomach and cause
her colour to rise. Studiously ignore him, that’s what she must
do, but be polite if he spoke to her. The memory of the money she had
been asked to give him seemed to find its way into her thoughts at
the most inopportune moments. It was always swiftly followed by the
memory of his refusal. If it wasn’t for that, she might manage
to ignore him without a trace of guilt, she told herself.

“You’re lost in thought, if
not in person, Alexandra,” Adam said.

“Is something troubling you?”
Catherine said as she left the piano stool and joined them.

How she longed to say ‘Yes. Adam
is not the goody-two-shoes he allows us to think.’ Just like
his stance, only one foot stands firm.