Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
THEO
Igripped the brim of my hat, hoping my anxiety didn’t show on my face.
I forced a smile at the butler who opened the front door and, without giving him time to say anything, spoke in my most authoritative voice.
‘Kindly tell your master Theo Le Cerf is here to speak with him on a matter of some urgency.’
My father used a similar tone, and I knew from watching him that if you spoke to people with sufficient authority they rarely questioned it. I hoped for the same reaction this time.
The butler stepped back and, inclining his head to the side, said, ‘If you would step inside, sir, I will speak to His Lordship.’
I did as he asked and watched the man walk down the hall and turn into a room on the left. So, Rue’s father is still using his title, I mused. Interesting, but hardly compatible with keeping a low profile.
A few seconds later, the butler returned and in the same imperious way addressed me as I stood at the door. ‘If you could come this way, sir, His Lordship will see you now.’
I braced myself. I had just one chance to persuade Rue’s father to help me rescue her. If I made any mistakes during this audience, I would be putting her life at risk. I forced the thought from my mind. I took a steadying breath and walked into the room.
Lord Thistlebury was standing in front of an ornate fireplace, where a small fire kept the slight evening chill from the air.
‘Thank you, Banners.’ Lord Thistlebury studied me. ‘Would you care for some refreshment?’
‘Thank you, no.’
Lord Thistlebury asked the butler to leave us and motioned for me to take a seat opposite him. ‘I don’t believe we’ve met before.’
‘We haven’t.’
‘I am at a loss as to the reason behind your visit, sir.’
This is my moment, I thought, deciding it would be best to introduce myself fully, so that Rue’s father understood the gravity of my reason for being here. ‘As your butler will have told you, I am Theo Le Cerf.’
I saw something dawning on Lord Thistlebury’s face before it grew pale. ‘You are Elias Le Cerf’s son?’
‘I am, Your Lordship.’
The older man narrowed his eyes, his jaw clenched as his obvious hatred of my father registered on his face. ‘You look nothing like him.’
‘I take after my mother. Her ancestry is Norwegian.’
There was silence for a few seconds. ‘You work with him?’ It sounded more like a realisation than a question but I answered anyway.
‘I am his assistant.’
Lord Thistlebury picked up a glass of what I guessed might be port, drank and set it down again. ‘You must have taken a lot of trouble to track me down.’
I nodded, though it wasn’t exactly true.
‘And I presume you have a good reason for doing so.’
He didn’t seem concerned at my presence, but then everyone reacted differently to situations. I kept my questions to myself and waited for him to speak again.
He scowled. ‘And the reason behind your visit?’ he said eventually. ‘I had hoped to have seen the back of that man after all this time.’
I took a breath to speak when Lord Thistlebury interrupted and stunned me to my core with what he said.
‘He lied about Martha, Lady Thistlebury. She was not a witch.’ He almost spat the words.
There was a shifty look in his eyes and I realised he was lying.
I didn’t blame him. After all, if the roles were reversed wouldn’t I lie to the Witchfinder’s assistant about the woman I loved, to save her or, as in this case, her reputation?
‘But Elias Le Cerf was never a man to accept defeat, especially in matters of the heart.’ He stood, walked the few steps to the fireplace and, resting an elbow on the mantelpiece, lowered his face into his hand.
‘Just because she was Sorrel’s identical twin and Sorrel chose her husband over your father. ’
‘I … I don’t understand.’ My mind raced. ‘Are you insinuating my father was in love with your wife?’
Lord Thistlebury spun around to face me.
‘Not my wife. Her twin sister, Sorrel. They were identical twins. Very different in personality, though. As far as I’m aware, when Sorrel spurned your father and turned down his proposal of marriage in order to marry someone else, Le Cerf vowed to make her pay, which he did in the worst possible way. ’
I struggled to believe even my father would stoop so low. I glared at him. ‘That’s nonsense.’
The older man shrugged. ‘Believe what you will. I’m telling you that’s how it was.’
‘But what about my mother?’ I asked, realising how foolish my question sounded. What this man was saying made no sense at all. ‘But my father was married to my mother eleven years before—’ I realised what I was about to say and stopped myself.
‘Before he murdered my wife, is that what you were about to say?’
I needed to know the truth, or at least this man’s version of it.
‘It is,’ I admitted. ‘I’ve heard whispers of my father and another woman, but never who she might be, let alone that it was Rue’s aunt, Sorrel Tredwell, or that they had known each other before Lady Thistlebury’s arrest.’ Surely he couldn’t be that vindictive. Could he?
Lord Thistlebury seemed weary suddenly. He stumbled slightly and I leapt up to help him into his chair.
‘Leave me be. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself,’ he snapped, seating himself and taking another drink.
I recalled my mother saying that my father had been disappointed in love. Is this what she meant? This terrible, unnecessary vengeance? ‘I’m sorry. I had no idea about any of this.’
He set his glass down on the table next to him, his expression softening slightly. ‘I’m sure you don’t. I also suspect from your reaction that you’re nothing like your father. At least I hope you’re not.’
I was used to people hating my father, fearing him even, but I had never come across anyone with such deep loathing for him.
Not that I blamed Lord Thistlebury for feeling this way.
I shifted in my seat, embarrassed to witness the consequences of my father seeking revenge on this innocent man and his family.
I needed to know more. ‘Might I ask what happened?’
He gave a shuddering sigh and stared at the flames dancing in the fireplace.
‘Martha and Sorrel were very beautiful. Sorrel probably still is. But they were both of a lower class than me. When I met them I was unaware that Sorrel had rejected a man shortly before.’ He looked at me.
‘I gather she was unsure of him, having met the man who was to be her husband, and confided her feelings to Martha. My dear wife admitted she had always felt uncomfortable in Elias’s company and persuaded Sorrel to reject his proposal.
When your father told Sorrel she was making a grave mistake, she said she wasn’t alone in sensing they weren’t right for each other. Martha agreed with her.’
I was barely breathing I was so shocked. ‘I know my father can be harsh, but this is beyond my comprehension.’
Lord Thistlebury nodded. ‘I’m told your father was not the cruel man we know today, but I believe he must have always had that in him.’
I had no wish to argue. ‘Please, carry on.’
‘Sorrel and Jarrod were very happy together,’ he added, his voice quieter as he reminisced. ‘I still recall the desolation Martha and I felt to hear he had died all those years ago.’
I recalled the joy I felt holding Rue in my arms as we danced that one time and felt deep sorrow for her father’s loss of the woman he clearly still loved.
‘Martha was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen,’ he said staring into the flames. ‘I was transfixed by her. Not only was she pretty, but clever and witty too. Perfect, utterly bewitching.’
I waited as the silence dragged out. Then he looked at me again.
‘Martha and I married, had a son. Unfortunately, he didn’t survive more than a few hours.
’ His voice trailed away. ‘But then we were blessed with our precious daughter.’ He fell silent again.
Then slowly looked in my direction. ‘If you are here to tell me, sir, that my daughter is the reason for your visit, I will kill you on the spot.’
I tensed. I hadn’t expected the conversation to turn so abruptly. I raised a hand hoping to calm him.
‘I am here because of your daughter,’ I admitted. ‘She needs your help. I mean her no harm.’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘The Witchfinder’s assistant has sought me out because of my daughter.’ His tone was cold and sneering. ‘The girl I love beyond anyone and anything else, the reason for me leaving my home and my dearest child.’
So he did love her after all.
‘Are you presuming to tell me that my distancing myself from Rue and my home these past ten years, living alone in this purgatory, has been for nought?’
I was still confused about his reasons for leaving Rue and needed to delve further into his past. ‘Do you expect me to believe that you abandoned Rue to save her?’
‘You don’t believe that to be the case?’ he snapped. ‘You think I could leave my child and break off contact with her for no reason?’
‘I, er, I don’t know.’ Could I have got this terribly wrong? ‘I would like to understand why, if you’re willing to tell me.’
He looked at his hands, his shoulders slumping and his eyes watery from unshed tears. Clearly I was opening painful wounds.
‘I left for several reasons. First, shame at not being able to defend my wife and protect her from that man’s wrath.’ He looked at me. ‘If I couldn’t protect her then how could I protect my own child?’
I clenched my fists, enraged at my father for causing this man to lose his wife and Rue to lose both parents.
As much as he was my parent and I wanted to do a good job, I could never believe that all witches should be destroyed, or that they were the scourge of the earth.
I had heard talk of wealthy men with far more dangerous beliefs than any of the witches I had come across.
Men who used women for their own despicable vices – far worse than these witches making up concoctions to help others in their community, or casting love spells.