Lady Jane (20 page)

20

Speaking to Sarah,
however, proved, mysteriously, easier to decide upon than to accomplish.

As Lady Stanier had predicted, the morning light cast a clearer, less heated, view of the previous evening’s events. Leach, after all, could not hurt her now. She need never see him or speak to him again in her life. If he dared to speak of her to anyone, surely Lady Stanier’s credit with the world was great enough to disarm any stories he might put about. She could not dismiss her curiosity regarding the possible part played by Sarah, however. Nor could she dispel the slight oppression of spirits she still felt from the dreadful night she had just come through. She had slept little, and when she had finally managed to drift off, the old nightmare had pounced upon her: the huge, faceless form pressing down on her, her lungs bursting. She woke gasping and sobbing, leaping from the bed to stare wildly about in terror. The reality of her comfortable room, the fire still glowing behind its screen, finally chased away the stronger reality of the dream, but she could not bear to lie down again. She huddled the down quilt from her bed around her shoulders and spent the rest of the night in a chair before the fire. She only went back to her bed in the early morning when she heard Clinton running down the hall to her room for his morning romp.

This session with her ebullient little son did more to restore her spirits than anything else could have done. When he had been carried away by Nurse for his breakfast, Jane rose, dressed, and dashed off a note to Sarah, asking her, if it was convenient, to please call at the earliest opportunity. The footman was instructed to await her reply.

Mr. Quint called, as well as Lord Jaspar, but she sent down her apologies and word that she was slightly indisposed and not receiving this morning. Meantime, she paced about impatiently, waiting for Sarah’s answer.

When the footman returned, however, he brought no reply. “She wasn’t to home, m’lady. Leastways, that’s what her abigail says. So I left the note and come away.”

Jane dismissed him and resumed her pacing. How extraordinary, she thought, Sarah up and out of the house at this still very early hour of the morning! So unlike her. Where can she have gone? When no answer presented itself, Jane forced herself to go on with her day. She summoned Dorrie and gave her her daily lesson, afterward taking Clinton to Lady Stanier’s for a visit with Mrs. Hawks, who, as usual, did her very best to spoil him beyond recall in the space of an hour. Jane quelled her need to rush home and see if she had received any communication from Sarah, and sat down to a light nuncheon with Lady Stanier.

When she did reach home in the late afternoon, it was to find that a note had not arrived. She shrugged slightly, kissed Clinton, and sent him away with Nurse for a nap, and turned to the hall table where two posies were waiting. They proved to be from Mr. Quint and Lord Jaspar, each with a note expressing the hope that her indisposition was not of a serious or long-lasting nature, and they would both call to inquire on the following day. She smiled and told Crews to have the flowers taken to her room. She removed her bonnet and pelisse and was turning away to the back drawing room when the door knocker sounded faintly. Jane paused to look back just as Crews opened the door.

There stood Sarah, swaying slightly. “Jane!” she gasped when she saw Jane at the back of the hall. Jane rushed forward.

“Why, Sarah, you received my note at last! I wondered—Good God!” This last, shocked, exclamation escaped involuntarily as she came close enough to see Sarah’s face clearly. It was grotesquely disfigured, the right eye swollen almost closed amid a large, purplish bruise which extended over most of that side of her face. Her golden hair, originally piled high on her head, was straggling down, and she still wore the leaf-green velvet evening cloak of last night, sadly crumpled now.

With an inarticulate cry of pity Jane swept Sarah into her arms, where Sarah gave way completely and began to cry. She sobbed just as a hurt child does, mouth open in a grimace of tragedy and emitting loud, racking cries. Crews hastily closed the front door. Jane, holding Sarah close, led her to the back drawing room, calling out to Crews to bring warm water and brandy to her there.

She pressed Sarah down onto the sofa and loosened her pelisse, all the while murmuring soft words of comfort. Her eyes widened as she noted the rusty spots liberally spattered down the front of the silk and gauze gown. That surely is blood, she thought, horrified. She said nothing, however, only continuing to soothe the distraught girl as best she could until Betty Crews came hurrying in with a basin of water, cloths, and various ointments on a tray, as well as the brandy bottle.

Nothing could have been more salutary than the brisk, unastonished way Betty set about administering the brandy, and, when it had served its purpose and Sarah’s sobs had subsided, bathing her face gently and then expertly smoothing ointment onto the bruised eye.

“Though there’s little good it will do. That eye will take over a week to be right again, to my way of thinking, though ’twont be painful that long,” pronounced Betty, gathering up her things. I’ll just take these things away and have the maid air the bed in the Blue Room,” he added, raising an interrogative eyebrow at Jane, who took her meaning and nodded affirmatively. For of course there could be no question of allowing Sarah to return home to her mama in this condition.

The door closed behind Betty and silence filled the room, broken only by an occasional hiccupping sob or a shuddering sigh. Jane sat on a footstool beside the sofa and held Sarah’s hand warmly in both her own.

“Well, my dear,” Jane said softly after a time, “will you tell me about it now?”

“It is so—sordid—so ugly—you will hate me forever!”

“Of course I shall not hate you, foolish girl.”

“Yes, you will. But I had no one else to go to. You, at least, will not swoon away or become hysterical as my mama would, or any other of my acquaintances. I don’t call them friends, you notice, for I realized when I was trying to decide where it would be best to go, that I could not turn to any one of them.” She laughed shakily. “I suppose that may be counted as one lesson I have learned from all this. You are the only person I have any respect for besides Jaspar. Oh Jane, if only I had met you years ago!”

Jane’s lips twitched at the irony of this statement in spite of herself and the dreadfulness of the situation. “Never mind, dear, just try to tell me what has happened so that we can decide what it will be best to do about it.”

“Oh lord—where to begin? I suppose I must tell you that that man, that Leach, is holding my counters for—well—a great deal of money. He was—he was our butler, you see, and Mama always thought very highly of him. When he left us to set up his own business, we were all full of congratulations on his good fortune. When he sent around cards inviting us to patronize his gaming house, Mama said that I might go as it was sure to be respectable if Leach were in charge. Leach!” She spat out the name with loathing.

“He—he did this to you?” Sarah nodded, the tears starting in her eyes, but she blinked rapidly and took a deep breath, determined not to give way again. “But—no, I won’t ask questions. You must tell me just in your own way.”

“Well—I could not pay him. I had already spent
next
quarter’s allowance and Jaspar said he would give me no more, and Mama had none to give me—”

“But surely your brother would relent if—”

“No! I—I couldn’t! He would be very angry with me—I couldn’t ask him. Anyway—Leach said he would cancel my debt if I—if I—”

“If you would bring
me
there?”

“Yes—but I swear to you I meant
you
no harm. Though I still don’t understand what happened. Why did you look so strange and then walk out in that way?”

“He reminded me of something quite terrible in my own life—I had to go away,” Jane said slowly, aware that she was dissembling, but unwilling to reveal more to this volatile girl, who was not always discreet in her speech.

Sarah was too involved with her own problem to give much attention to this excuse at the moment. She accepted Jane’s explanation without question and plunged ahead.

“He was furious! I’ve never seen him in such a rage! He took it as a personal insult—hated having all those people see him being administered such a snub. He—he would not let me leave with you and made me come into his private apartment upstairs and—and—”

“Oh no, Sarah!” Jane gasped, “surely he didn’t force you to submit to him? I shall never forgive myself if I caused you to be subjected to—”

“No, no—not that. Even
he
would not dare go that far. Jaspar would kill him—he might anyway if he ever finds out about this. Oh Jane—Jaspar
must not
hear of it,” Sarah cried, clutching Jane’s hand frantically.

“No, darling, no. We will think of something, don’t worry. Now, he forced you upstairs and struck you?”

“Not right away. He raged and shouted a great deal first. Then he went away for a time and came back to begin all over again. All night long! I was so tired! And so frightened, because I couldn’t imagine what he was going to do.”

“Did he—speak of me?” Jane asked fearfully, even though it was clear to her that he could not have done so, or Sarah must surely have referred to it by now, or at the very least let it appear in her attitude.

“Oh—nothing I could make any sense of. Mostly of how high in the instep you’d become, but how he’d bring you to heel before he was done, and—oh, on and on about being insulted and everything. I stopped listening after a while. I was so tired and worried! I knew Mama would be frantic! Finally, I began demanding to leave and that’s when he struck me. He just drew back his arm and slapped me so hard I thought my neck was broken and then he turned and left the room and locked the door.”

“But the blood—that
is
blood on your gown?”

“That was from my nose. It began to bleed. God, it was so nightmarish. I kept thinking ‘this
cannot
be happening to me.’ And I cried and cried, and sometimes I’d fall asleep. Once he came in and made me write a note to my mama to say I was spending the night with you, then he just left me there alone for hours, not even bringing me anything to eat when morning came. In fact I’ve had nothing all day! Just a little while ago he came back finally. I think he was at a loss as to what to do about me. Then he said he would let me go, but that I was to tell no one anything or he would tell everyone I had spent the night alone with him, and he would go to Jaspar with my counters. Oh Lord, what
shall
I do? I daren’t go home and let Mama see me like this.”

“No—I have been thinking. I will take you down to Larkwoods with me. We’ll stay there till you’re quite recovered and we’ll see no one. Will you come?”

“Oh, Janel” and now the tears came and she could not blink them away. Jane silently held out her handkerchief.

“We’ll send someone round with another note to your mama and a request that Wright pack some things for you and send them here.”

“Oh Lord, she’ll be in fits!”

“Your mama?”

“No, Wright She’ll want to come along.”

“No,” Jane exclaimed forcefully. “We—we shan’t need her at Larkwoods since we shall be quite quiet and Dorrie can take care of both of us. I think the fewer people who know of this the better. Since my servants are already aware of something wrong it is better to keep it this way. And my people would never dream of gossiping about me or my guests.”

“You’re fortunate. Well, Lord knows I don’t want Wright along; I’ll just be quite firm that she is not to accompany me.”

“Then that’s settled. One thing is not, however. There is still your debt. I think you must apply to your brother. I really cannot understand your reluctance in the matter. I have found him to be of an amenable disposition, always kind to my son, and exceedingly good-natured. I’m sure he would expect you to come to him with such trouble. He
is
your guardian, though he is younger, and stands in place of a father to you.”

“He told me I must not gamble anymore and if I did he would not pay my debts.”

“But I cannot believe—”

“Oh, he was right. I’ve thought about it a great deal in the past hours. And he cannot really be blamed, I think. He’s paid so many times—and I always think I will never play deep again and then I do and he—well—he’s paid his share, heaven knows. Besides, I can’t apply to him now—after this. Nothing could stop him from going after Leach and—and—oh Lord, Jane, Leach is dangerous! He might kill Jaspar! He keeps a set of pistols in his office!”

“Yes. I see. Then I will send the money.”

“I cannot allow—” Sarah protested hotly.

“Be sensible. There’s no choice. You haven’t the money, your mother doesn’t, and you brother mustn’t be applied to. You cannot simply leave London forever to escape him. Even if you did he might go to Jaspar, which must not happen. Therefore, I will pay the debt—unless you can think of someone you’d rather be indebted to?”

“No. There is no one in the world I would rather be indebted to,” Sarah responded firmly.

“Thank you,” said Jane, accepting the statement as the compliment Sarah meant it to be. The offer had not been made easily, for she could still hear her own words to Lady Stanier that never would Leach have a penny of Payton money. But she knew Sebastian himself would want her to help Sarah, and it was not money spent on a few hours of pleasure for herself. “Now, I must know the amount”