Briar Patch (27 page)

They retired to the small parlour for the reading. Julia sat by Roz's side and Keith stood by the window, his back turned as he listened to the lawyer's words.

‘Mr Harold Rushden was a man of substantial means,' he said. ‘He added a codicil to his will quite recently. Mrs Rushden is to receive the settlement as drawn up in her marriage contract, which is the sum of five thousand pounds plus three thousand a year for life. She is also to have the tenancy of any available house of her choosing on the estate. The residue of the estate is left to Mr Rushden's son, if he should have one. If he should fail in this respect, a daughter is to receive ten thousand pounds when she reaches the age of one and twenty. Mrs Rushden is to live in the house until such time as her child is born. If the child is a son she will be his guardian with the help and guidance of Mr Keith Rushden; if a daughter, the remainder of the estate then passes to Mr Keith Rushden.'

He paused for a moment to allow his words to sink in. Julia reached for Roz's hand and held it tightly.

‘The codicil added recently is in respect of a house in London that Mr Rushden has just purchased. This will pass to his wife with a capital sum of a further five thousand pounds for its upkeep. There are various small bequests to servants but that is the main body of the will.'

‘Well,' Lady Thornton said, her mouth twisted sourly. ‘The London house makes things a little fairer for my daughter, sir, but she ought to have had something more. Mr Rushden assured me that she would be wealthy if she married him and this is shabby. I dare say he had more than two hundred thousand pounds.'

‘Mama!' Roz said sharply. ‘I am quite satisfied with Harry's decision. I should not expect to inherit the estate – and it passes to my son if I have one.'

‘I'm sorry, Roz,' Keith said and looked at her apologetically. ‘I agree that Harry could have left you more.'

‘I may have a son,' Roz said and stood up. She offered her hand to the lawyer. ‘I am quite content with my portion, sir. I did not marry for wealth and I shall abide by the terms of Harry's will.'

‘My cousin asked me to look after you if something should happen to you. You will never want for anything – whether I inherit or not.' Keith moved towards her, offering his hand, which she took. ‘You must know I admire you, Roz. It will be my privilege to help you in any way I can.'

‘You are everything that is generous, just as Harry was,' Roz replied with dignity. ‘This has been a long day. If you will all excuse me, I shall go to my room. Mr Rushden, you are welcome to call another day. Julia, perhaps you will come with me? Mama, please see that Mr Rushden and the lawyer have all they need.'

Roz left the room before her mother could protest. Julia came after her and took her arm. Roz smiled as she saw the question in her eyes.

‘I expected something of the sort,' she said. ‘Harry was rich and we had not been married long.'

‘Perhaps you will have a son.'

‘Yes, perhaps.' Roz drew her inside the bedroom and they sat on the edge of the bed together. ‘I wanted to talk to you alone. You have heard nothing of Philip?'

‘Nothing. Should I report him as missing, Roz? Your mama is worried but we thought it best to wait until today was over.'

‘I wondered if he might be staying with Madeline and her husband.'

‘Surely if he knew that your husband had died he would have come home, Roz?'

‘Would he? We have not been on the best of terms recently.'

‘I am afraid that he has done something foolish.'

‘Yes, I am beginning to think he may have done.' Roz sighed. ‘I think you should write to Sir Raymond and ask if Philip is staying with him – or would you like me to do it for you?'

‘Would you? I hardly know them and I do not like either of them very much.'

‘Yes, of course I will. It would be much better if I wrote. You would not wish Philip to think you were spying on him.'

‘You understand me so well. What will you do now, Roz? I heard what the lawyer said – but it makes things awkward for you. Until the child is born you do not know whether this is to be your home.'

‘I shall remain here for a while. I need to think about the future, Julia. If the estate is my son's I may have to continue to live here at least part of the time for his sake. He should know his home and learn about the estate, but I might prefer to live elsewhere.'

‘In London?'

‘I think perhaps a house in the country or a small town might suit me better, but I can make no plans as yet.'

‘I should miss you if you went away.'

‘I should never desert you. We are friends, Julia – but you are right, it is an awkward situation. I do not think I truly wish to live in this house. However, we must see what the future brings.'

‘Yes, of course. Forgive me. It is too soon.'

‘Had Harry died of an illness it would have been easier but I feel . . . as if a shadow hangs over me. The constable says they have found no evidence other than that Harry's pockets had been emptied and his horse was missing.'

‘It is shocking to have such a burden,' Julia said. ‘I keep thinking . . . no, I cannot believe it. It's just that he has been away so long. Philip would never do such a wicked thing, would he? He had no reason – did he? Please tell me if there is something I should know.'

Roz hesitated, but what good could come from telling Julia the truth now?

‘Do not torture yourself, Julia. I am sure there will be an explanation for his absence in time.'

‘Yes, of course. I am going to leave you to rest now, Roz. Otherwise your mama will come looking for us and I do not think you need that at the moment.'

‘Thank you for protecting me,' Roz said. ‘She wishes to move in here but I do not think I could bear that, which is very unkind of me.'

‘Mama is difficult at times but I do not mind her fussing.' Julia laughed softly. ‘Lie down and rest. We do not want you to become ill and lose your child.'

‘Oh, Julia,' Roz said. ‘I wish I could turn back the clock.'

‘We can none of us do that,' Julia said and went out.

Roz lay back against the pillows. She felt exhausted and needed to rest. All the images of the past few days kept going through her mind. Not least the look in Keith Rushden's eyes as he'd promised to look after her. She did not know what was in his mind but she was not interested in his attentions.

Tom Blake had come to the funeral. There had been a wealth of meaning in his look. Roz felt a familiar sense of loss wash over her. Tom had a wife and responsibilities. He could never leave his family or his land and she could not step into his world even if he could.

‘What's the matter with you?' Ellen asked as Tom entered the kitchen. ‘And where have you been dressed up like that?'

‘I went to Harry Rushden's funeral.'

‘Why?' His mother's gaze narrowed. ‘He was killed the day you had that fight – you didn't have anything to do with his murder?'

‘That's a disgusting thing to say. Why would I want to murder Rushden?'

Ellen sighed. ‘Because you want his wife?'

‘Afraid I'll run off with the widow and leave you here to take care of Pa alone?'

‘I saw the way you looked at the Thornton girl when you brought her here the day she fell from her horse.'

‘You have a vivid imagination. Even if I wanted her I wouldn't murder her husband.'

‘I didn't say that – but you did have a fight that day, Tom. Don't lie to me because I know it.'

‘I thrashed Philip Thornton if you must know. I blame him for Carrie's child – and perhaps her death.'

Ellen sat down, her face draining of colour. ‘You know he's gone missing too? What have you done, Tom?'

‘I just told you. I gave him a thrashing but he was alive when I left him. I didn't murder either of them.' Hearing a shout from upstairs, Tom glared at his mother. ‘Pa needs attention. Where's Mary Jane?'

‘She went to visit her mother.'

‘You should tell her she's needed here. You can't take care of Carrie's baby, Pa, and do all the cooking and cleaning.'

‘She says she's sick of looking after a dirty old man and working all hours for nothing. She told me you don't love her and she thinks you married her just because she was strong and could help in the yard as well as the house.'

‘If Mary Jane has a grievance she should talk to me. I'll take these things off and then I'll see to Pa.'

‘You wouldn't lie to me, Tom? You're not in any trouble?'

‘I'm not daft enough to do what Dick did so stop worrying. I wouldn't have thrashed him if I hadn't found him near the hay barn. He was staring at the spot where I found Carrie.'

‘I'm glad you thrashed him but I don't want to lose you, Tom. I couldn't manage this place alone.'

‘Well, I'm not likely to go anywhere,' Tom said, then stopped and looked at her. ‘If Pa were dead I might sell up and move away. Go into some other trade.'

‘You wouldn't?'

‘I'd make sure you were all right, Ma. I shan't throw you out but sometimes I think there must be more to life than this.'

‘Oh, Tom,' his mother whispered as he left the room. ‘I should never have pushed you to get married. I thought it for the best but now . . .'

‘We ought to tell someone what we saw,' Mary Jane said, looking at the young man leaning against the bales of hay beside her. ‘It ain't right keeping quiet over something like that, Jack.'

Jack Dawson frowned. ‘What's Tom going ter think if he knows you were with me when you told them you'd gone to yer ma's? He'll think the worst and he'll be right.'

‘I don't care.' She pouted at him. ‘I would never have agreed to meet you if he'd paid me any attention. I wish I'd never married him.'

‘Well, you did and you're stuck with it. Anyway, it would cause a lot of trouble if we told anyone about the squire and Mr Rushden. We had no right to be in that cottage, Mary Jane. They might arrest us for breaking and entering.'

‘The door wasn't locked. I can't sleep for thinking of it, Jack.'

‘Well, I'm not going to the constable and that's flat. Go yourself if you want but don't involve me. If you say I was with you, I'll deny it.'

‘I thought you liked me.' Mary Jane looked sulky. She pressed herself against him. ‘You liked what we did that day – couldn't get enough of it. Why don't we run off together?'

‘Don't be daft. Where would we go? I've only got what I earn and you've got nothing.'

‘I could take the housekeeping Tom gives us.'

‘How long would that last?'

‘You don't love me at all.'

‘I do, though.' Jack swung her into his arms and kissed her. ‘If we had enough money to start a little shop or a pub I'd take you away, Mary, lass – but what chance have we got to make a living?'

‘Supposing we got some money – a lot of money?'

‘What are you planning to do?' Jack grinned. ‘Rob the bank in Wisbech?'

‘We'll make the squire give us five hundred pounds.'

‘You mean blackmail him?' Jack stared at her, half in awe, half in shock. ‘He would kill us as soon as look at us – the way he killed Harry Rushden.'

‘Not if I ask him and tell him that someone else knows. I reckon I could persuade him to give me some money. Is five hundred pounds enough, Jack?'

‘More than enough to set us up selling newspapers and sweets and suchlike. I've alus fancied a little shop of me own, Mary, lass. If you could get us the money I would run off with you then.' He frowned. ‘But he's missing, ain't he? He's probably run off because he thinks they'll arrest him for the murder of his brother-in-law.'

‘I know where he is,' Mary Jane said. ‘I went back to the cottage the other day because I dropped a hair ribbon when we ran away that night. I saw him going in after I'd left. He kept looking back over his shoulder but he didn't see me.'

‘We'll go there now. You go in on your own, Mary, and I'll be outside. If he attacks you, I'll come in and stop him.'

‘All right.' She threw him a bold look. ‘I'll make him give us the money, Jack. Then we'll be rich, won't we?'

‘It's not riches,' Jack said. ‘But it would be a new life for us.'

Roz was sitting at her writing table looking at the letters of condolence she had received since Harry was murdered. Everyone was kind and all the letters ought to be answered. She picked up her pen and dipped the nib into the ink, then heard a sound behind her and turned to look. Seeing that someone had entered through the French windows she rose to her feet, a startled cry on her lips.

‘Philip . . . what are you doing here?'

‘I came to see you, Roz. Don't tell me you're not pleased to see me – or did you think I was dead?'

‘Julia has been worried about you. You should be ashamed of yourself. Leaving her like that when you knew she had lost the child.'

‘Useless bitch. I was a fool to marry her for so little. I should have looked for an heiress with more money.'

‘That is evil, Philip. I don't know what has happened to you.'

‘You called me a murderer to my face.' He moved towards her, a look of menace in his eyes. ‘You told Rushden that you would be happy if I had an accident and broke my neck. Don't deny it, because he told me.'

‘Did you expect me to love you after what you've done? You caused Julia's fall and you killed Carrie Blake. You'll hang one of these days.'