Briar Patch (21 page)

He couldn't change things now and there was no point in worrying himself sick over what he'd done. In truth it had been an accident because he hadn't meant to push her so hard that she fell against the chair with such force. The magistrates wouldn't believe him because he'd tried to cover up the death. Perhaps if he'd fetched someone and explained what had happened – but it would all have come out. Julia would turn from him in disgust if she guessed he was the father of Carrie's child. Their marriage contract was complicated and Philip wasn't sure how he would stand if she decided to leave him.

No one knew he'd had anything to do with Carrie. Roz knew that her child was his but Philip had warned her what he would do if she told her stories to anyone and she'd kept her mouth shut. She couldn't know that he'd seen Carrie since his marriage. Even Madeline hadn't guessed the body was under the table.

Philip breathed deeply. He was in the clear. No one was going to connect him to Carrie's death. Her brother had found her and taken her home. As far as anyone else knew, Tom Blake might have struck her because she was so much trouble to her family.

Philip saw Madeline and Sir Raymond enter the hotel and turned away. He didn't want to see her because it would bring back the memory that haunted him no matter how much he tried to put it out of his mind.

There was a pub in the next street. He would have a couple of drinks there before he went home.

Thirteen

‘The evidence was inconclusive,' Tom said as he entered the kitchen where his mother and Mary Jane were baking. They had Milly's cot in the room and she was sleeping peacefully next to the fire. He went to look at her and smiled sadly before turning back to the two women. ‘It has been recorded as an open verdict. We can bury Carrie as soon as we like. I asked the vicar and he said this Saturday. Is that all right, Ma?'

‘Yes, whatever you think best.' Ellen paused in the act of thumping her pastry. ‘I know someone killed her and so do you, Tom – but we can't grieve for ever over what can't be helped. At least they didn't blame you.'

‘I was reprimanded for not summoning the constable when I found her but since I was working with others all day and here with you all night, they decided I couldn't have killed her.'

‘No one in their right mind would think it was you, Tom,' Mary Jane said. ‘It might have been one of those gypsy lads. Pa says they were camped in the copse on his land when it happened. He told the constable when he went into market and they wrote it down. The gypsies cleared off a day or so later without him having to tell them so it might have been one of them.'

‘Yes, mebbe,' Tom said and held his hands to the fire. ‘Once the funeral is over we can think about Christmas. I thought you might both like to go shopping in Wisbech?'

‘I should like that,' Mary Jane said instantly. ‘I want to buy things for Milly. She's growing fast and she needs some more clothes.'

‘And something for yourself – Ma too.' Tom looked at his mother, who hadn't spoken. ‘If you're worrying about Pa, I'll ask Granny Hubbard to watch him for a few hours.'

‘He'll not stand for it. He threw something at her the last time she came.'

‘Well, leave him on his own then. He can get up and sit on the commode if he wants. The old devil has you two at the end of his string and he knows it. Leave him alone for once and he'll come round to being more amenable.'

‘I might. It's a long time since I went anywhere. I'm not sure I've got anything decent to wear, except my black dress that I keep for church – and I haven't been there since your pa was taken bad.'

‘We could refurbish one of your old dresses and then buy some material to make some new things,' Mary Jane said. ‘Tom is right, Ellen. We can leave him some food and drink on a tray and ask Granny Hubbard to pop in for a while. If he gets into trouble she'll see to him.'

‘I'll think about it,' Ellen said and put her jam tarts into the range oven. ‘Sit down and drink some tea, Tom.'

‘I need to fetch some hay for the stock but I'll have a drink before I go out again.' He went to the sink and washed his hands, then glanced back at his mother. ‘Don't think I've forgotten Carrie, Ma. If I find the man responsible, he'll pay for what he's done. I shan't kill him but I'll give him a good thrashing.'

‘Why do you not visit me more often?' Lady Thornton complained as Roz was about to leave. ‘It is an age since you were here, and I know you've seen Julia at least twice.'

‘I'm sorry. Harry doesn't like me to be out too long in this weather. Anyway, you visit us all the time. Julia doesn't like to travel because she's carrying the baby.'

‘I can understand you visiting her, but you might spare a few minutes for me.'

‘Dine with us tomorrow. We are having a few friends in the evening and you could stay the night. That will give us plenty of time to talk before you return home.'

‘My home was the hall. I have never thought of this house as home.'

‘Perhaps you would be more content if you did, Mama.'

‘Your father died before his time. Had that wicked man not murdered him I should have still been mistress at the hall.'

‘I am sorry Father was murdered, but it is a long time ago now, Mama. Visit Julia more often. She likes to see you.'

‘I heard that Blake girl was murdered. She was a bad lot and I blame her family. Had she not been allowed to roam all over the place none of this would have happened.'

‘I'm sorry you are so unhappy here. I must go now or Harry will worry.'

Leaving her mother to mourn the comedown in her circumstances, Roz went out to the courtyard and mounted her horse. Harry would not be worrying about her because he had gone to Cambridge on business on the train and would not return until the evening. She had wanted to escape because after weeks of bitter weather it was a little milder, the sun shining despite it being mid December.

Roz was not certain why she chose to ride past the hay barn. She was trespassing on Tom Blake's land for the first time since the day Carrie's body had been discovered there. Before that, she'd ridden this way once or twice, but she'd never been lucky enough to see Tom.

As she got nearer the barn, she saw a man loading hay with a pitchfork on to a cart. He turned as she approached and looked at her; sticking his fork into the stack, he came to her as she dismounted.

‘Tom,' she said. ‘I wrote to your mother when I heard the dreadful news, but I was afraid to come to the cottage in case I distressed her.'

‘Ma wouldn't blame you; why should she?'

Roz gave a little shiver as she glanced around her. ‘This was our place. I wonder what Carrie was doing here – who she was meeting?'

‘What makes you think she'd been meeting anyone?' Tom looked at her oddly, as if trying to read her mind.

‘Someone killed her, Tom. Unless it was a chance meeting, she must have come here to meet him. Besides, my father wasn't the father of her child; she told me it wasn't the old squire.'

‘The magistrate decided there was insufficient evidence to say whether it was murder or just a fall.' Tom's gaze narrowed. ‘Did she tell you who the father was?'

Roz hesitated, then shook her head and turned away. ‘I shouldn't be here. I ought to go.'

Tom took hold of her arm, swinging her back to face him. ‘You know something, Roz. Tell me the truth – did Carrie tell you who fathered her child?'

‘I can't,' Roz said, her throat tight with emotion. ‘There's been too much hurt and pain already. It won't bring her back, Tom.'

His fingers tightened on her upper arms and he gave her a little shake. ‘You must tell me what you know. She sometimes visited your brother's cottage – the one at the edge of your land. On the day she died she went there to meet someone. Mary Jane saw a horse with a white mark on its back hock tied up outside when Carrie went in. Was that Philip's horse, Roz? Did she tell you that he was the father of her child?'

‘Don't ask me to tell you, Tom. Julia is expecting her first child. Even if Carrie did lie about my father – if someone else gave her a child – it doesn't mean that he killed her. Besides, I think Philip has been seeing someone else; a woman he met at my house. Why would he be meeting Carrie if he was having an affair with another woman?'

‘You're protecting him, Roz. You know that your brother is Milly's father.'

‘Even if that were true it wouldn't make him a murderer.'

‘No, but it makes it more likely. If they used to meet at the cottage she might have gone there to make trouble. He might have killed her to stop her spoiling his love affair with this other woman.'

‘You're surmising, Tom. You have no proof.' He was gripping both her arms, forcing her to face him. ‘Please let me go. I shan't come here again. It's all spoiled . . .'

‘What's spoiled?' Tom stared into her face and saw the tears she was barely suppressing. ‘Roz, I'm sorry. This mess isn't your fault.'

‘I thought of this as our place – the place where I was happy for a few hours.'

‘Roz . . .' Tom groaned and drew her against him. He hesitated and then kissed her fiercely, hungrily, holding her pressed into his body. Roz clung to him. She loved him and all the rest was a sham. ‘Damn it! I'm such a fool. I can't get you out of my head. I wish I'd never seen you.' He flung away from her, an expression of anguish in his eyes. ‘If I'd been thinking of my sister I should've noticed what she was doing and made sure Ma kept her at home. It's my fault she's dead.'

‘Don't say such things. Carrie would have found a way to escape your mother whatever you did. I wish we'd gone away that night. Everything is a mess here. Let's go now. Let's run away together and forget all the horrible things.'

‘You're saying that to make me forget about Philip. It's no use, Roz. We might have had a chance once but it's too late. We're both married. Mary Jane has just lost my child and she's grieving. I couldn't desert her and Ma. Go back to your husband, Mrs Rushden. You were never for me and I've always known it.'

‘Please don't say that,' Roz begged, tears on her cheeks. ‘I love you, Tom. I've tried to make a life with Harry, but it's you I love.'

‘There's too much between us, Roz. Your father's murder, Dick's death – and Carrie. Don't worry, I'm not going to storm into your brother's house and accuse him in front of his wife. One day I'll find the proof that Philip killed Carrie in that cottage and dumped her body here and when I do . . .'

‘You must go to the law. Don't kill him, Tom. Please don't ruin your own life. You loved me once even if you've decided to shut me out now, but I still love you. Please don't break my heart. If you hang for Philip's murder I shan't be able to live with the pain.'

‘I'll thrash him but I shan't murder him,' Tom said, his lips white with temper. ‘Go home, Roz, before I do or say something I'll regret.'

He gave her his hand, throwing her up into the saddle, then stood for a moment looking up at her.

‘Goodbye, Tom.'

‘Forget me, Roz. Try to shut me out of your mind, as I intend to shut you out of mine.' He slapped her horse on its rump, making it start forward.

Fighting to control the startled beast, Roz knew she was crying as she rode away. Her thoughts were confused, some of them too awful to contemplate. If Philip had killed Carrie he ought to be punished, but he wouldn't be the only one to suffer.

Julia was living in a little cocoon of content. Even if she suspected her husband of having an affair with Madeline she had shut it out because she was having a child and that made her happy. Roz's mother, too, would suffer if there was more scandal. Some of their friends had cut them after Roz's father was murdered; any further scandal might lead to them being ostracized altogether.

Roz didn't even want to think about Harry's reaction. He was generous with his money and most of the time he was polite and courteous to her, but she knew that he'd never forgiven her for not telling him the truth before they were wed. Their marriage was at best uneasy. If Harry ever guessed that she'd been with Tom Blake – but that secret was safe. She would never tell him; there was no point in hurting him. Her wild plea to Tom to run away had tumbled out because of her raised emotions, but even before he'd denied her she'd known it wouldn't happen.

He was right; however much it hurt she must put that day in the hay barn out of her mind and forget him, as he intended to forget her.

Tom scowled as he drove the cart back to the farm. He wasn't sure what had made him so harsh with Roz. Perhaps it was her refusal to betray her brother when she knew the truth. He cursed himself for a fool. Carrie had aroused his suspicions once or twice and he'd sensed that she had lied to them. Someone had put her up to lying that day and Tom believed it was the man who had given her the child. Philip Thornton had seduced Carrie and then, when she told him she was with child, he'd told her to keep his secret and blame his father.

It was Dick's tragedy that had kept Tom from going after Philip and thrashing him. Mary Jane's evidence had convinced him that it was most likely to be Philip who had killed Carrie, but there had to be a reason for him to do it after all this time. What had his sister done or said that made Philip Thornton desperate enough to kill her?

Tom dismounted from his cart and started forking the hay into the manger for the cows. His thoughts were gradually locking into place. He hadn't been certain that Philip was the one until he saw the look in Roz's eyes and knew that she suspected her brother of being Carrie's murderer.