Shadow on the Highway (12 page)

I had brought out Lady Katherine’s letter to Ralph so often I knew it by heart – the elegant single word of my brother’s name, the raised blob of red sealing wax with just a thumb print and no proper seal. Of course she couldn’t use her fleur-de-lis seal or he’d know Kate was Lady Katherine straight away.

But it was dangerous to keep the letter. I knew the Fanshawes would have my brother hanged if they knew he had dared to be so familiar with the Lady Katherine.

When I went up to the common and put the letter into Ralph’s hands, he looked at it in amazement. ‘From Kate?’ he said. ‘She can write?’ But his face shone from the inside.

I vaguely hoped she had put something in the letter to give herself away, so I could rid myself of this ridiculous pretence. She could not blame me, then, could she? I watched as Ralph unfolded the square and screwed up his eyes to read.

‘Tell her, “yes”,’ he said.

‘Yes to what?’

‘I’ll meet her under the broad oak as she asks.’

‘But she –’ I stopped. I could not tell him that Grice had now put her practically under lock and key. ‘She won’t come,’ I said.

‘Of course she will, or why would she ask? I wish you wouldn’t be like this about her.’

‘Ralph, she’s just leading you a dance, playing with you, she’s not…’ He folded his arms, his face closed against me. It was hopeless.

‘I’ll tell her,’ I said, ‘but I’m right. You’ll see.’ And I galloped away before they could miss me at the house.

*

That night I told my mistress I’d delivered her letter.

‘What did he say?’ Lady Katherine’s eyes were eager.

‘He said yes. But you can’t go,’ I said, ‘Mr Grice’s men will be outside.’

‘I know,’ she said, ‘but never fear, they can’t hold me here.’

‘Please don’t,’ I said. ‘Think of the risk. Your step-father would kill Ralph if he knew.’

‘He’s away. He’ll never know, not unless you tell him.’

‘And there’s your husband –’

‘Yes, I’ve written to Thomas, to tell him about Grice selling off my mother’s furniture. Maybe he can dissuade Sir Simon. But I’m not sure if my letter will get there in time for him to do anything about it. The mail seems so uncertain – I’ve had no letters for weeks.’

I reddened and turned away. When I turned back she was twisting her nightgown in her hands.

‘And anyway, I’m not sure any more that I want Thomas to come home.’

I poured water into the ewer with a hollow pain in my chest. I knew precisely where the letter to her husband was, and that it would never get there because I’d given it to Grice myself. To cover my awkwardness I asked, ‘What will happen when your husband gets back?’

She ignored my question. ‘Since you came, everything has changed. You brought some magic with you. It gives me a strange feeling, as if the ground is shaking under my feet. I don’t know who I am any more. All I know for certain is that I like the way Ralph looks at me, as if I’m a person worth seeing. I see something in his eyes, something I can’t escape. And he’s handsome isn’t he?’

I made a face. To me he was just my brother with his too-big boots and foolish crazes. ‘When are you meeting?’ I said.

She hesitated,
and looked at me as if weighing me up. ‘Tuesday,’ she said.

A few days away yet.

‘I think I’ll undress now,’ she said. She went to the window and stood a moment, before drawing the drapes against the waning light. It was unlike Lady Katherine to be weary, she was always full of barely-compressed energy.

I lay down on the floor by her bed, but could not sleep. Too many things raced around my mind. But the housework had taken its toll and after much tossing and turning, I fell into a deep slumber.

*

When I woke it was dark, but the white linen of Lady Katherine’s bed shone out. She was not in her bed. I sat up and peered round the room. When I pulled open the drapes the moon gleamed in at the window and it was almost bright as day. Yet there was still no sign of Lady Katherine. I went to the door and opened it a crack but the servant was still there, his bulk sprawled on a chair across the doorway. So she hadn’t gone that way.

The door to the adjoining room was locked, and the key was gone. I searched her dressing chamber before spotting the obvious. Lady Katherine’s silks and satins were still on the trunk by the bed, and her nightdress was on the coverlet.

How had she sneaked past Mr Grice’s man without her clothes? I rushed to the window and looked out. There was no way down, there was only a drop to the ground that made me dizzy. I squinted into the darkness.

It was a full moon. A dark shadow against the trees was given away by the blaze of the horse. The way the man rode was familiar – the set of his shoulders, his upright posture. I remembered the dropped glove, the brooch, her husband’s wet cloak.

It wasn’t a man at all. It was my mistress.

Where was she going? How had she got out? If she didn’t come back before morning, I’d be left trying to explain to Mr Grice what had become of her. I wrapped myself in the coverlet and sat up on her bed, something I would never have dared to do when I first came to the Manor. I faced the door, watching for her return.

*

I did not intend to sleep, but I must have dozed a little. When the door swung open the light from the hall jerked me awake. It was Mistress Binch, with a tray of warmed ale for my mistress. She took one look and shouted at me to get off the bed and get down to the kitchen. I grasped from her gesticulations that she assumed Lady Katherine was in the dressing room, and I’d better tell her to hurry and get dressed. Mr Grice awaited her at breakfast.

When Mis
tress Binch had gone I raced across the hall and up the servants’ stairs, my arms tight across my chest, terrified I’d be caught in just my chemise. In my room I threw on my skirt and bodice and ran to the kitchen. It would be my fault when my mistress’s absence was discovered, and I feared what Mr Grice would do. By the time I arrived breathlessly in the kitchen the porridge had already been served and Mistress Binch was scrambling eggs.

‘Sorry,’ I said, still tucking my hair into my new coif.

She thrust the covered dish into my hands, eying me with disapproval. ‘Quick, before it goes cold.’

I grabbed the handles and went up.

Lady Katherine was sitting at the table, her face pink and flushed, but dressed like a lady should be, not even out of breath. I stopped dead, unable to believe it. I put down the dish and saw her unfold a napkin on her knee.

M
r Grice helped himself, noticing nothing amiss. ‘The salt, Chaplin.’ He mimed shaking the salt cellar over his food.

I did not register what he meant because I was too busy watching my mistress.

‘I said, the salt.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘God preserve us from idiot servants.’

Lady Katherine stifled a smile.

13. A Hiding Place

Later, after I’d aired Lady Katherine’s bed, I made another search of the room. I prowled round the edges of the chamber but could see no other way out. She could not have walked through the wall like a ghost, could she? I paced back and forth in annoyance, until I realised one floorboard was shorter and more springy than the rest. I pressed on it with my boot again and it shifted. Squatting, I prised it up with my fingers and felt underneath. I touched something rough. A hessian bag.

I pulled it out and loosened the drawstring. My breath almost stopped. Inside the light caught the glint of gold coins and the sparkle of jewellery. The weight of it alone told me there was probably enough here to buy six strips of land.

My heart made a double beat. I’d have to tell someone. I glanced over my shoulder before I emptied out the contents into my apron. There was the thistle brooch belonging to Lady Ann, from the night Sir Simon got out the birch. I’d recognise that anywhere. And another necklace with stones that could be diamonds. Only I’d never seen a diamond, so I couldn’t be sure they weren’t just glass. They were stolen, I knew. But if I told someone, would they believe me? They might think I’d stolen them myself. I knew enough of the world to know it was always the servant’s fault.

I wondered if I could tell Jacob; after all his father was the constable. But if they believed me, what then? What would happen to Lady Katherine? I could not bear the thought of her being locked up. Her life was hard enough.

I could keep it. If these were real diamonds there would be enough for me to leave here, more than enough to buy a plot of land for Mother. But I dare not. It was too large a risk. Lady Katherine would know it was me and I’d be punished. Stealing from your employer was a hanging offence. And if you did something bad, I knew well enough the punishment would come quick and sure, like it had five years before. The Devil would blow on it with his bellows and the evil would come back tenfold.

I bundled it all back and trod hard onto the board to make it lie flat. My hands shook when I stood up and my heart was pattering very fast. I hastened from the room to put more space between me and the stolen hoard.

As I laid the table my thoughts rambled round in circles trying to make sense of it all. If my mistress was what I thought she was, she was an outlaw and a felon. She would bring us all down with her if she was caught. But one thing I did know: I had to stop her meeting Ralph on Tuesday.

*

But on Tuesday night Grice kept me a long time in his room. His leg was worse and every time I rose to go, he asked me to fetch more water or more linen. I gritted my teeth and did the dressing as fast as I could.

‘Fat-witted girl!’ he grumbled. ‘It’s all wrinkled. I can’t walk with it like that. Fetch more linen and do it again. That spoiled dressing can come out of your wages.’

I hared to the linen press and came back panting with a pillowslip which I tore into strips. ‘For heaven’s sake!’ he said. ‘You make an infernal noise everywhere you go. It gives everyone a headache. There’s no hurry.’ I nearly wept with frustration.

Finally he let me go, and I bolted up to my mistress’s room. Pitman was already stationed at the door and he tried to bar my way, intent on pinching my bottom as I passed him, but I was too quick, and slammed the door behind me.

The room was empty. I let out a roar of disappointment. She had out-foxed me. It was too late. I could find no other way out, but somewhere out there my brother was meeting my mistress and I was trapped indoors unable to do anything about it.

And Mr Grice had said I was always noisy. I couldn’t hear how much din I made so he was probably right. I wondered how my voice sounded. Did I speak too loud? I sagged. Ralph’s face had glowed with the idea of meeting Kate. But she was not simple Kate at all. She was a royalist lady and a highway robber and Lord knows what else.

The image of Ralph’s smiling face would not go away, though I pummelled on the bed in frustration. Jealousy squeezed its claws into me. I wished Jacob would look at me the way Ralph looked at Kate, but I always did something bird-brained whenever Jacob was near me. It was as if he brought out the boggarts and the clumsy spirits from their hiding places and they were all teasing me. I was stupid. I always had been. Only someone like me could leave a candle alight next to a curtain and forget it was there.

That was the end of my family’s comfortable life. Nobody ever said it was my fault. But I knew. And even though I’d been punished, I still fe
lt responsible. If only I could turn back time I’d snuff the candle so hard the wax would splash right up to my elbow. Then we’d still be in our panelled chamber with its polished tables and turkey rugs. And I would still be able to play the virginals instead of scrubbing floors.

*

Next morning, Lady Katherine had not reappeared by the time I had to begin my kitchen duties, but she was coming down the stairs as I was going up. Of course I stood to one side.

‘Did you meet Ralph?’ I said, even though it was not my place to ask.

‘Yes,’ she whispered, her eyes sparkling. ‘He was asking if I have any kin to stop me joining them in their community. I told him there was no-one.’

‘But it’s not true.’ I could hardly get out the words, my tongue seemed to stick in my mouth.

‘I want to be with him. If I could, I’d be his wife.’

Had I heard her right? ‘His wife?’ I asked.

She took hold of my hands and squeezed them tight, nodded her head.

‘You can’t.’ My heart seemed to freeze in my chest. ‘You are already married.’

‘Ralph asked me. Or rather he hinted as much. And he’s going to meet me again tonight.’ And she whisked past me down the stairs and into the chamber where Mr Grice was waiting.

I could not move. I never believed she wou
ld go this far. I would have to do something. But what? That was the question.

14.
Truth Will Out

I was determined to run to Ralph to tell him who Kate was, but I couldn’t get away. It was laundry day and Mistress Binch kept me so busy I couldn’t get a minute of free time. I ground my teeth in frustration. And the next day, just as I was about to slip away I was called by Mr Grice.

‘We are riding to the notary in St Albans,’ he said. ‘You will accompany us.’

I looked to Lady Katherine. She was grim-faced and white. There was an atmosphere as though an argument had just taken place, a slight bristling of the air.

Grice hoisted me by the arm and took me to the window. He pointed to my pony which was just being saddled. ‘Riding. Out. You will come,’ he said. He obviously still thought I was dim in the wits and Lady Katherine did not speak up for me.

Needless to say, Mistress Binch was not pleased she was to do all the chores herself today and it earned me yet another black look.

Pitman had to give Mr Grice a leg up onto his horse which turned to nip at his foot. I hoped the bad-tempered animal would manage to bite him and get a mouthful of wood. The sun beat down on my back as we rode. Rigg brought up the rear, then me on little Pepper, behind a silent Lady Katherine. Mr Grice and Pitman rode ahead of us to lead the way.

The St Albans road was notorious for thieves and I was glad Rigg had a flintlock pistol in his belt, and both servants had swords though they looked as though they were guarding Lady Katherine, rather than protecting us from brigands – just something about the way they watched her. Lady Katherine looked elegant as she rode – her swinging curls, the flowing skirts. There was no trace whatsoever of Kate, the girl who had shovelled earth with her bare hands. Nor could I imagine her holding up a coach in the dead of night. I was surely mistaken. This young woman in the green riding habit looked every inch a lady.

*

On the way I asked the servant Rigg why we were going into town and he told me my mistress was needed to sign some documents.

The fields shimmered in the heat haze and sweat trickled down my forehead. Flies buzzed around the horses’ ears. In the town we tethered our horses outside the notary’s shop, which was half-timbered and gloomy, its small leaded windows like half-closed eyes.

I waited outside with Pitman who smiled at me in a leering way that made me uncomfortable. It had happened before and it made me want to fold my arms across my chest to stop him from looking.

Mr Grice and my mistress had only been gone a few moments when Lady Katherine shot out of the door all in a flurry, and put her foot in the stirrup to mount her horse.

Mr Grice was right behind. He grasped her by the waist to pull her down.

‘Leave go!’ Lady Katherine’s face was white and angry. I leapt forward to help her but Rigg shoved me away with his rough red hands. My mistress struggled, but Rigg and Pitman held her fast.

‘You will sign,’ Mr Grice said.

‘No!’ She kicked out at him, and he staggered backwards, losing b
alance. There was a puff of dust as he landed heavily on his back. He immediately tried to get to his feet again, but his wooden foot could get no purchase.

‘I won’t sign.’ Lady Katherine stood over him in defiance. ‘The King will win and my husband will return.’

‘Help me, you fools.’ Pitman and Rigg levered Grice to his feet. A vein stood out on Grice’s forehead. ‘The King cannot win,’ Mr Grice said, his lips small with suppressed rage. ‘The Scots failed him. Sir Simon fears his lands will be forfeit. He wants me to take possession of them in case he is captured. He will need to flee to avoid execution. That’s why he sent me these signed agreements.’

‘No. I won’t sign away a single acre, not even a blade of grass! Not until I’ve spoken to my husband.’

‘It is a simple signature. Your stepfather has signed them already. You must witness the papers, that is all.’

‘You cannot force me.’

Grice lost patience. ‘You think I can’t? How about a little hunting accident when nobody is looking?’ I was not sure I had heard him right until he drew out his pistol and fingered it thoughtfully. He pressed it gently to the side of Lady Katherine’s neck. She flinched away from it, but he pushed it harder. I did not know if it was loaded. He gestured for the men to take her back inside.

‘You would not…’ She laughed, thinking it a joke. But then she looked up into his face and her words died away.

They manoeuvred her through the door, the pistol still at her neck.

I wa
lked away from the door shakily and brushed dust from my skirts although they did not really need it. But my hands needed to do something because I could not believe what I had just seen.

I could run away. But I didn’t want to leave Lady Katherine alone.

Pitman came back out and grinned at me in a conspiratorial way, but I ignored him. I could not sit, I was too shaken. He made a lewd gesture poking a finger at me and I went away to the churchyard to wait on a bench out of the sun.

The wait seemed interminable but finally the sundial on the church tower read two o’clock and Mr Grice emerged, holding Lady Katherine by the arm. She was dry-eyed and blank-faced. We mounted in an atmosphere sharp as a pike and set off back to the house. This time the bridle of Lady Katherine’s horse was tethered and held by the servants, as if she might gallop away.

After we had gone past the turnpike toll and paid our pennies she said to me, ‘You may leave me if you wish, find another place. I will give you a reference.’

I could not answer, because the road improved and Grice’s horse broke into a canter and we had to keep up. As we approached the village we had to pass Norland Common where the Diggers had built their settlement.

Grice slowed his horse to a trot. A fallen branch from a large oak tree was almost blocking the way. Two young men were there on the road, bare-chested, swinging their axes to cut it. As we got closer they stepped to one side to let us pass.

I stiffened in the saddle
with a surge of recognition. It was Ralph and Jacob.

I kicked Pepper on, urging him forward until I was alongside Lady Katherine, ‘Mistress!’ I shouted, frantic, but she did not hear me and there was no time to give another warning. I feared they would call to her and then Grice would arrest them both.

We had to slow to go round the tree and it was as if the world slid to a standstill. My brother doffed his hat as was the custom to passing noblemen, and then he saw me. His face broke into a smile and he lifted his hand to wave. His eyes glanced to Lady Katherine and stopped, fixed there.

We were passing them now. Lady
Katherine’s head whipped round. I saw her lower her eyes, bring one hand up to cover her face. But it was too late. Ralph was behind us, standing in the middle of the road, one hand outstretched as if to call back the Kate he knew.