Chapter 16 #2
Even Cam could tell that Bernard was agitated. His attire was faultless as usual, but the pin holding his cravat in gently cascading folds was a half inch off-center. The toes of Bernard’s boots were dusty, and the loop of his watch chain wasn’t threaded through a buttonhole.
“We are in rural Yorkshire,” Cam replied. “The hour is fashionable enough.” The scores of workers bringing in the harvest would be looking forward to their nooning, and the sun would soon be at its zenith.
“Shall I ring for a tray?” Alice asked.
“Not on my account,” Bernard replied. “The reason for my call is brief, and now that I’m here…”
“Bernard, have a seat,” Cam said. “Anything you have to convey to me can be shared with Alice.”
Bernard’s expression progressed from distracted, to puzzled, to—for him—pleased.
“I see. Quite so. Congratulations and best wishes, though in the circumstances, my mother will attempt to meddle. If she supports the union, she will meddle. If she is against it, she will meddle, and it’s about my mother that we must speak. ”
Alice took a wing chair by the empty hearth, and to Cam, she looked perfectly, wonderfully at home. Even the ruffle about her hem had earned a certain tolerance.
“Your mother has been meddling for ages,” Cam said. “She will not come between me and Alice.” No more than she’d already tried to.
“You say that, but she excels at thwarting other people’s reasonable desires. She comes between me and my parishioners, me and my bishop, and she has tried to come between me and you. You thwart her at peril to your peace.”
Cam waited for his guest to sink onto the sofa and then took the second wing chair. “She can’t fight the whole shire, and as far as I know, she has no true allies here.”
Lady Josephine had at least one enemy, though, in the person of her own nephew.
“Mama might not have allies, but she has minions. She has been reading my mail. Reading my outbound letters and their replies. I’ve taken the trouble to conduct certain correspondence from Farnes Crossing. As you both know, I’m seeking another post.”
Cam had another post in mind for Bernard. The notion had popped into his head between passing Alice her jumps and rolling up her stockings.
“We don’t blame you in the least for seeking a change,” Alice said. “Though please no far-flung missionary ventures.”
“I haven’t the vocation. I haven’t much vocation at all, truth be told, but I do a passable job, and to learn that Mama is reading my mail… How can she do that?”
“She bribes the postmaster,” Cam said, “or the postmistress, or the boy who catches the incoming mailbag and tosses up the outgoing sack.”
“Bribery is a crime, correct?”
Good heavens. The last two inches of a fuse two miles long were finally burning up. “Yes,” Cam said. “Bribery and tampering with the mail are crimes. Also some sort of sin, I’m sure.”
“Mama is a sin on two dainty feet, and I came to tell you that she’s up to something.”
“Bernard,” Alice said, “she’s always up to something. What has you so alarmed?”
“She took the hampers. When she went to Farnes Crossing this morning, she took the hampers. She mentioned something about knitting, would not let me run her errands for her, and she took the hampers. They were on the boot at the back of the coach. Both of them.”
“What have hampers to do with criminal activity?” Cam asked.
“She takes the hampers to the orphanage,” Alice said.
“Two large wicker hampers, and she could have put them inside the coach, but she wants them to be seen. We never bring enough to fill even one of them, but the contents are distributed between the two. Her ladyship says a balanced load is easier on the horses, but the point is the display.”
How petty, but also… calculating. An eye for the telling detail, for the convincing subtlety.
“So she’s ostentatious about her generosity,” Cam said. “We expect that from her, along with frequent allusions to her own humility and selflessness. She’s bold.”
“She’s bold,” Alice said, “and she has already made her royal progress to the orphanage this week. Why go twice, and why on market day, when the roads are busier and the journey will take more time? Why not drag me along?”
“She’s bent on some scheme,” Bernard said, rising.
“I know not what, but I’ve come to ask for immediate permission to take a leave of absence from my post. I must also suggest, given Mama’s penchant for breaking the law, that as a family we consider having her committed to an institution catering to parties suffering from nervous exhaustion. ”
“She is scheming,” Alice said quietly, “to kidnap my daughter.”
For once, Bernard’s visage was completely, genuinely blank. Not carefully composed, not arranged to convey detachment, blank.
While Cam’s heart welled with pride and relief.
Alice would acknowledge her daughter, no subterfuges needed and no air of secrecy to be further exploited by a conscienceless monster.
The truth kept Alice and Gabriella, and by extension Cam himself, safer than commending Lady Josephine to any walled estate ever could.
“A child,” Bernard said, “explains a lot. I take it this child resides at the orphanage?”
Alice nodded. “She does. Has for the past several years. Gabriella is eight, and I have reason to know that Lady Josephine is making arrangements for my daughter to be sent into service somewhere in Ireland. The offices of a Mrs. Kendra MacDougal, St. Wulfstan’s by the Forest, will facilitate the mischief, though I can’t imagine in the short time… ”
Cam stood and extended a hand to Alice. “Imagine it. Imagine your most dreaded nightmare. Then imagine something even worse for Lady Josephine when we catch up with her.”
Alice rose and kept hold of his hand. “I thought we had time. A few days, at least. I’m abruptly nigh incoherent with anxiety for my daughter.”
Alice was fearless about the words my daughter, and her worry was palpable.
“I came on foot,” Bernard said. “Mama has the coach, but I could hack over to Farnes Crossing…”
Cam shook his head. “I’ll take Galahad by the bridle paths and pastures.”
“Bernard and I can go by coach.” Alice squeezed Cam’s hand and let go. “Should we collect Mr. St. Didier?”
“Good thought. He knows the law like I know shipping routes. He has the most enviable cold temper, and we might need that if her ladyship thinks to steal Gabriella away today.”
“She could not possibly,” Bernard began, then started for the door.
“Well, yes, she could. She lies, she extorts, she mispresents, she causes suffering on the blameless… The seven deadly sins are mere shortcomings in comparison. My father used to say that Mama is a woman scorned, but in the name of all that is reasonable, what scorn could justify behavior such as this?”
He sailed out the door, leaving Cam alone with his intended.
“We will stop her,” he said, gathering Alice in his arms. “We will stop the harm she intends to Gabriella, and we will stop her entire campaign of intimidation and misery. Bernard’s idea has merit.”
“Committing her to a walled estate?”
“Containing her,” Cam said. “We can discuss details later. I’m off, and I will make straight for the orphanage. Don’t let Bernard do anything stupid, and if St. Didier gets officious, please humor him. He has a cool head, and he will do his utmost to keep all parties safe.”
Alice squeezed Cam about the middle and stepped back. “Who will keep you safe?”
“You have my back. I have your love. I will be careful. Don’t spare the horses.” He kissed her soundly and, as soon as they were in the corridor, bellowed for St. Didier.