Chapter 48
Chapter Forty-Eight
Eliza lived in one of the fishermen’s cottages, ten minutes’ walk from the centre of town. It was immaculate; another greystone affair with the windowsills painted sunlit yellow. The manicured garden led up to a door in the same glossy colour, which glinted with panels of stained glass.
Eliza ushered us down her narrow hallway and into her sitting room, which contained a cream-and-apricot floral sofa and two matching armchairs.
She sat herself down in one of the armchairs and laced her fingers together on her lap.
She was perched opposite Mason and me, like she was ready to spring into action at any moment.
‘I should have done something sooner,’ she admitted.
‘I should have said something.’ She pressed her lips together and gazed past us to her sitting-room window and the set of peach satin curtains that hung there.
‘I thought everything was in the past, but when that horrid Alex returned and started causing trouble, I knew I couldn’t sit by, knowing what I did. ’
‘You mustn’t feel guilty,’ I assured her, glancing sideways at Mason. ‘I thought you were very brave today.’
‘Me too,’ agreed Mason. ‘It can’t have been easy.’
‘It was a little easier than I thought it would be, thanks to both of you.’ She raised her gaze to the white-washed ceiling, from which hung a triangular lightshade.
‘I allowed that family to manipulate me for years. I kept quiet about those letters and didn’t say anything about what I knew, because they donated to the upkeep of McKerron Castle.
And they made it very clear my job would be in jeopardy if the truth came out. ’
She paused. ‘I mean, where would I find another job like that at my age?’ She smiled sadly.
‘I love going to that beautiful castle every day, and the prospect of losing all of that…’ She pressed her lips together again.
‘That Lapley family aren’t outwardly scary, I know, but they’ve always carried this air of untouchability. Not anymore.’
She paused, then confessed, ‘I’m not ashamed to admit I was frightened of what they were capable of.’
Mason and I nodded.
‘Well, there’s no need to feel frightened anymore, Eliza,’ Mason assured her. ‘Everything is out in the open now and the whole of Port Starr knows the truth. That’s the most important thing.’
I nodded again. ‘It’s ironic that the Lapley family were funding the castle, when it turns out that was where Gideon was hiding out and presumably stashing his spoils.’
Eliza tilted her sweep of white-grey hair. ‘It seems that love letters were being smuggled between Gideon in McKerron Castle and Georgina at The Hawthorns.’
‘And the rose carvings?’ I asked, glancing at Mason. ‘We noticed the same beautiful motif up at the castle, on the jewellery box Gideon gave Georgina and also on Gideon’s headstone.’
Eliza smiled. ‘Yes, you would have. Gideon trained as a stonemason under his father, before he discovered his love of music. Roses were Georgina’s favourite flower and Gideon was a musician in the prestigious Rose Mount Royal Orchestra in Glasgow.’
Eliza described how roses held a special place in Gideon’s heart and so he designed the entwined double-rose motif as a sign of the love he and Georgina had for one another.
She gave a little sigh. ‘Rumour has it that he snuck out late each night for several nights up at McKerron Castle, risking capture, just so he could carve the roses into that stone.’ She started to rise from her chair. ‘There’s something else I wanted to show you both.’
She disappeared from the sitting room. We could hear the odd thump and clatter from a cupboard somewhere further down the hallway, until Eliza returned moments later with a large cardboard box.
Mason jumped up straightaway and insisted on carrying it for her. ‘Please. Allow me.’
He set it down by her feet while she settled herself back in her armchair. Eliza’s crinkly gaze alighted on me again. ‘Poppy, you wanted to know what became of Gideon, Georgina, Oscar and Augustus. These will help.’
Mason and I peered over our knees and into the box, in which sat a mound of journals.
‘Are they more diaries?’ asked Mason. ‘Do all of these belong to Georgina?’
Eliza nodded. ‘All of them are hers. She was very prolific.’
My hand grabbed at Mason’s leg. ‘Oh, my goodness.’
Eliza examined both of us in turn. ‘I feel as though I know everything about them. So much so, I often feel like I’m intruding into their special moments whenever I read them.’
Mason gestured to the journals. ‘So, you’ve read all of them?’
‘I have indeed.’
‘Tell us,’ I pleaded. ‘Please, Eliza.’
Eliza paused and after the briefest of smiles reached one hand into the box and from near the bottom of the pile tugged out a faded beige diary with yellowing pages.
She ran one age-dotted hand across its surface, the creases and indentations in the leather rising and falling under her fingertips.
The late-afternoon sun slid through the front window and cast a shadow on her powdered oval face.
Then she leafed to some pages where a flowery bookmark protruded and started to read.
10 June 1796
‘Gideon! Is that you?’
Oscar’s expression lit up like a firework when he saw Gideon grinning at him from behind a tree.
I rushed towards him across the grass, too, my lace skirts swishing. ‘What are you doing here?’ I gasped, my heart thudding against my bodice. ‘It is too dangerous.’
Gideon raised one dark eyebrow. ‘Are you not pleased to see me, my love?’
I drank in the contours of his face, and those melting brown eyes that made my heart swoop. It was so strange yet delightful not to see them concealed behind his scarlet mask. ‘What a silly question. Of course, I am. But do you not realise what you are risking by being here?’
Ten-year-old Oscar was standing by my side now. ‘We shan’t tell anyone, shall we, Mother?’
Gideon took a playful step backwards to appraise my growing son. ‘And who is this strapping young man by your side?’
Oscar rolled his eyes. ‘Stop teasing me.’
Gideon ruffled Oscar’s wayward blond hair. ‘Why should I stop teasing you, when I gain so much pleasure from it?’
I glanced nervously over my shoulder towards The Hawthorns, its greystone grandeur, and its sash windows twinkling in the summer sunshine.
It should have been a spectacular sight, with the gardens frothing in rainbow colours and the trees stretching up to the cloudless blanket of blue sky, but it filled me with foreboding.
Gideon dropped his voice, despite there being only the three of us clustered around the trunk of a giant oak.
‘There is an elderly lady by the name of Agnes Clayborne and her husband, Ephraim. Agnes is employed in the kitchens up at the castle and Amelia knows her. Agnes and Ephraim therefore ensure that I am smuggled sufficient food.’
His dark eyes raked over my face. ‘She is so kind to me; she thinks nothing of supplying me with fresh fruit or some tender meats when she can. But I have warned her repeatedly that she must be careful.’
‘Amelia is my one true friend in Port Starr.’ I smiled. ‘She has gone above and beyond to help us all.’
He lifted both my hands in his. ‘McKerron Castle is no stranger to the cold; the sea wind often sweeps in across the clifftops, but at least the secret tunnels are dry and of a more welcoming nature than all of the taverns I was reduced to.’ Gideon waggled my hands in his.
‘Have you not noticed how much rougher my fingers feel?’
‘What have you been doing?’
He smiled softly, tracing my wrist with his thumb. ‘I have been carving my love into a rock for you. I hope one day that I can take you up to McKerron Castle, so that you may see it for yourself.’
His words made my heart sing.
Gideon inclined his head at me. ‘I no longer have the hands of a musician.’
I grazed his cheek with my hand. ‘But you will always have the soul of an artist.’
The heat from his skin seared into me.
‘Gideon!’ hissed Oscar, who had scampered off to find ladybirds but had now returned. ‘Can you come to the pond with me? There are sticklebacks and frogs.’
Gideon looked down at him, disappointment clouding his eyes. ‘I can think of nothing finer, young Oscar, but it is too dangerous. I really should not have come.’
‘Then why did you?’
Gideon’s touch sent shivers of desire through my body. ‘I felt compelled to see you and your mother.’ Then he looked a little awkward. ‘I realise I should not have come to The Hawthorns, but it has been such a long time since I last saw you both.’
I tried to stifle a smile. ‘That is not true, as well you know, Gideon Kelly. You and I met only two nights ago.’
Gideon shrugged easily, lifting shoulders that were concealed under a loose beige shirt. It billowed over his russet trousers. His hair hung about his shoulders in a sea of unruly brown curls.
I reached out a hand, pushing a stray curl away from his cheek. Apart from my golden-haired boy, Gideon was the most beautiful sight I could ever wish to see.
A scraping of hooves amongst the tangle of rowan trees up ahead caused me to look around sharply.
I stared over Gideon’s shoulder. ‘Have you brought Linus?’
Oscar’s eyes shone and he darted over from where he had been studying a beetle. ‘Have you?’ he asked Gideon. ‘Is he here?’
Gideon offered Oscar an indulgent smile. ‘Perhaps I have, young sir.’
‘Can I see him? Please?’
‘On one condition,’ answered Gideon while sending me a discreet wink. ‘You must promise that you will continue with your violin practice.’
‘Urgh!’ groaned my son, sulkily examining his boots. ‘My new tutor does not smile or tell me tales the way you did.’
Gideon folded his arms. ‘Surely he possesses some good qualities?’
Oscar screwed up his blue eyes so tightly, I had to bury a laugh. ‘Well, Mr Cantley does have a liking for checkers.’
‘Well, there you have it. I am sure that once this Mr Cantley establishes more of a rapport with you, you will enjoy a cordial friendship.’