Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
‘If you hadn’t guessed, my maid, Lord Albert is not a good man.
’ My aunt sucked in her cheeks for a moment.
‘’Ee is violent. Terrible temper. To say nothin’ of the fact that ’ee is corrupt.
You may know that the trade o’ spices is a hot topic now.
Lord Albert is takin’ bribes to push certain bills through the ’Ouse of Lords.
There’s a group of them. Corrupt landowners wi’ political sway. ’ She pursed her lips disapprovingly.
‘How do you know that?’ William asked, frowning. ‘What happens in the Lords is not something for general knowledge.’
‘Well, I can read, milord, an’ nowadays there’s newspapers.’ Aunt Bill gave him a polite but terse smile. ‘An’ I’m not too proud to listen at doors. Remember that I’m a visitor ’ere.’
‘You said he was violent,’ I prompted her. ‘In what way?’
‘Not to put too fine a point on it, maid, Lord Trevarron – Albert Trevarron, that is—’ Aunt Bill nodded respectfully to William, who was listening intently. ‘Albert Trevarron is a disgustin’ beast. For starters, there’s Mary Elizabeth.’
‘Mary Elizabeth?’ I echoed; the name rang a bell.
‘She died two years ago. She’s buried in the rose garden.
’Twas a very bad business.’ Aunt Bill raised an eyebrow.
‘Mary Elizabeth was Violet’s older sister.
She was developmentally disabled – from what I could gather, either she ’ad a virus or somethin’ as a child and it affected ’er brain development, or she had an inherited condition.
As you’d think, though, attitudes to anyone with disabilities in this day and age are a bit different to ours.
She was kept in a bedroom. ’Er basic needs were taken care of, I expect, but I gather that she was treated as a vegetable.
She died before I got ’ere.’ Aunt Bill sighed. ‘Very sad.’
‘That is terrible,’ I breathed, and, then, another terrible thought struck me. ‘Do you think that’s why she’s buried alongside the pets? Because they didn’t consider her a human, almost?’
‘Hm. I had the same thought.’ Aunt Bill shook her head. ‘It’s tellin’.’
‘It’s awful,’ I agreed.
‘Well, that’s not the least of it. ’Ee is…’ She trailed off, and I could see that this was hard even for Aunt Bill to say – Aunt Bill, who was no-nonsense, funny, dismissive of things that irritated her. ‘Lord Albert is… interferin’… wi’ Miss Violet.’
‘What?’ William stood up, pushing the chair away from the table with a screech. ‘What did you say?’
‘Don’t make me repeat it, William,’ Aunt Bill said.
‘I cannot… That is an intolerable suggestion!’ William thumped his fist down on the table, making Aunt Bill and I jump.
‘I wouldn’t make it up, dear,’ Aunt Bill replied, carefully. ‘I’m sorry that it upsets you. But these things, very sadly, do ’appen.’
‘I know they happen,’ he replied, his face white.
Suddenly, I realised what he was thinking of.
His own father had sexually abused William’s sister, Edith, and he had lived with the guilt over that for all of his life.
There was a question mark over whether their father had also abused William’s younger brother, Charles.
William, being older, had been in the Navy at the time.
I knew that William was horrified at the seam of abuse that seemed to run in his family.
His sister, Edith – a bright, funny, witty young woman – had ended up marrying a brute who, I had no doubt, would also have abused her, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
I knew that knowledge was killing him, now that we were more than 100 years away.
He’d failed her, again. He’d left Edith in terrible danger. Exactly the same danger as Aunt Bill was now describing.
I wondered, not for the first time, at the irony that William – a bare-knuckle fighter – was such a good man. And yet, so many other men in the Trevarron line were terrifying monsters.
Aunt Bill shot William a quizzical look, but pursed her lips.
‘Hm. Well, Lady Hermione knows, gods love ’er.
She and I ’ave talked an’ she agrees, we ’ave to get them both out of Trevarron.
Problem is, ’ow? While I’m ’ere I can look after Miss Violet an’ try an’ make sure Lord Albert leaves ’er alone.
But time is of the essence, as they say,’ my aunt continued.
Her brow was furrowed; she wore a serious, grim expression.
‘It’s not that easy to disappear a member of the nobility and her daughter, surely.
’ I frowned. ‘I mean, of course I agree that we have to help Lady Hermione and Violet. But how? It’s the nineteenth century.
I doubt either of them have passports or their own money.
Where would they go? Surely Lord Albert would just track them down, wherever they went? It’s not like Hermione can get a job.’
William shot me a scandalised look. I held up my hand in reproof.
‘William, please accept that in my time, ladies have jobs. We own our own houses. We live independently. We have our own money,’ I said.
‘I realise that.’ He raised one eyebrow. ‘I’m sorry… I just cannot… The thought of that vile bastard… with his own daughter…’ Without warning, William kicked a nearby chair violently. Then, he picked up a nearby plate and threw it at the wall. It shattered.
I jumped out of my skin. ‘William!’
‘Sorry. I just… The thought of it.’ William punched the wall. Aunt Bill’s eyes widened.
‘Goodness, lad. Come now. Just calm down, you’ll make an ’ole.’ She approached William like she was walking up to a feral dog. ‘It’s a nasty thing, I know. Terrible business,’ she continued in a low voice, soothing.
‘I just… I can’t stand by and see that happen. Not again.’ He picked up the chair he’d kicked over and slumped down in it, hiding his face in his hands. Aunt Bill exchanged a look with me.
‘William’s father…’ I began, not knowing how to say it, or whether it was even my place to say it. ‘He… abused William’s sister. Possibly his brother, too. William was away in the Navy.’
‘Oh, my dear.’ Aunt Bill’s eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth.
‘I am so terribly sorry. I shouldn’t’ve said it…
without a warnin’, or something. I ’ad no idea, William.
’ She knelt in front of where William sat and took both of his hands in hers.
‘That is terrible. I’m so very sorry for you an’ your brother an’ sister. ’
‘It’s all in the past. It happened a long time ago.
’ I could hear that William was trying to use his brusque, gruff lord of the manor voice, but under that facade, I knew he was hurting.
He had told me in confidence about his father; I knew that the knowledge it had happened while William was away, tortured him.
I knew that was why, when he had found out about Simon Favisham’s true nature as an abusive and violent man, William had refused to accept his proposal of marriage to Edith.
‘That don’t mean it don’t feel like it was yesterday,’ Aunt Bill said, quietly. ‘I’m so sorry, William,’ she repeated.
‘I can’t let it happen. I can’t let that… child…’ His lip curled in fury. Aunt Bill patted his hand.
‘We won’t, my pet. Lady Hermione ’as her own family in the north of England,’ Aunt Bill said.
‘If I can get her and Violet out of the ’ouse and onto some transport, she says she’ll be safe there.
Apparently, she ’as brothers and male relatives that’ll be protectin’ her honour.
She’s tried to write to them, but Lord Albert has her letters intercepted.
’ Aunt Bill’s expression darkened. ‘The last time she tried to contact them, he ripped up her letter in front of her and whipped her with his belt.’
‘Oh, no.’ I put a hand to my mouth.
‘The brute. I will kill him!’ William exclaimed.
He balled his hands into fists. I knew he was capable of it; I’d seen him beat a man with his bare fists more than once.
He was a large, musclebound man and he knew how to fight.
‘How dare he lay a finger on his wife, never mind his daughter! He is sullying the Trevarron name, and for that alone I am justified in ending his sorry little life.’
‘William, please.’ I laid a hand on his arm. ‘We have to be smart here. You can’t just beat up the Lord of Trevarron. You’ll be thrown into prison. Again.’ I looked up pleadingly into his eyes.
‘Then what? We cannot stand idly by and wait for this brute to hurt his womenfolk,’ William snarled. ‘What would you have me do?’
‘Okay. So, the problem is getting Hermione and Violet out of Trevarron House,’ I said, pacing around the room. ‘If we can get them into a carriage and up north, then they should be safe. As safe as they can be.’
‘That’s right.’ Aunt Bill nodded. ‘The problem is, getting them out of the ‘ouse. Lord Albert has them both closely guarded. The butlers and footmen act as his personal militia, almost.’ She shuddered. ‘I realised that quite soon when I got ’ere. I expect that things are very different than in your time, William.’
‘Indeed.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘However, I think I may have an idea. But you have to sneak us back into the house, Miss Bill. Can you do that?’
‘If you asks me nicely, my pet,’ Aunt Bill said with a curl to her lips. ‘What d’you ’ave in mind?’