Shadow on the Highway (13 page)

15. Dark Passage

Mr Grice galloped ahead and all I could think of was my brother’s expression, as if he had been slapped. Lady Katherine’s cheeks had flared into two bright spots of crimson, but I could not get close enough to speak to her.

Grice dis
mounted at the front door and gestured for us to fall in behind him. As we entered the sun was cut by shadow. I went over to Lady Katherine but she could not stand still; she paced the floor folding and re-folding her gloves.

‘You have mud on your hem,’ Grice said. ‘You may change from your riding habit if you wish.’

Lady Katherine threw me a distressed look.

‘I will help the mistress change,’ I said.

Mr Grice gave me a thin smile. ‘I expect you both back downstairs forthwith.’

We made a grateful escape to my mistress’s chamber. It wasn’t until we were in the dressing room that she said, ‘It was Ralph, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you think he saw?’

I nodded. I was relieved that I didn’t have to pretend any more, except that I could see the misery on milady’s face as she unfastened her riding habit and let it drop. It made me tearful to see her. She hugged herself, and her knuckles showed white. When she turned so that I could unlace the bodice, there were still raised scabs where she had been beaten. It softened my heart.

She stepped out of her petticoats and held them out to me. ‘I just wanted someone to like me for who I was. Not because I’m Lady Fanshawe or because I have money or position. Ralph says the Diggers are like a family. I’ve never had a family. My mother died when I was eight years old.’

I rested my hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

‘Can you imagine
– nobody locks doors in the Digger community, he says, because they hold all goods in common. Such a relief, not to be judged by your fortune. Was it so foolish of me to dream of a different life?’

‘No milady. But my Mother always says, people must do their duty according to their station.’

‘But station is just a word. Like the way they call me a lady, yet I have no goods to speak of, no privileges, no position. I am just a bag of coins to be raked through by any man who can get close enough to threaten me. Like Grice.’ She took my hand in entreaty. ‘I didn’t mean what I said on the road. You won’t leave me, will you?’

I pulled my hand away. ‘Grice is dangerous. He scares me.’

‘My stepfather sent Grice some signed documents. To sign over the tenancies to him so Parliament can’t take them if the Royalists lose. The corn mill, the weaver’s cottages, parcels of land. He thinks my stepfather will need to hide abroad. It seems premature, when we don’t know yet what will happen, and it’s my inheritance. I don’t like it.’

I had seen no letters from Sir Simon, but I did not dare say so. I put her gloves in the drawer. ‘I expect Grice is only following orders. But to threaten you like that, it’s not right.’

‘None of them care for me. But Ralph – he’s different, he thought I was just a farm girl. He liked me because of who I am.’

‘But you are Lady Katherine.’

‘No, you don’t understand,’ she said, shaking her head, ‘I’m not. I’m Kate on the inside.’

We could not talk more because the door swung open.

‘Your brother’s here,’ Mrs Binch said, glaring. ‘Flaming cheek of it. Just to knock on the door and expect me to run round after you.’ Her forehead was perspiring from having to come up the stairs to fetch me.

I glanced at Lady Katherine before ducking away under Mrs Binch’s arm, through the open door. I sped downstairs. Ralph was at the back door; he must have come straight over, for his shirt was stuck to his back with sweat.

‘Tell me I’m wrong,’ he said.

I did not reply, but my eyes could not meet his.

‘It was Lady Katherine Fanshawe you were riding out with today, wasn’t it?’

I nodded miserably.

‘Not Kate?’

‘No.’ My face must have told him everything. He balled his fist and slammed it into the wall, I saw his lips spit out curses. ‘You stupid girl.’ His eyes when they turned to me were full of pain. ‘You’ve ruined everything. How could you? She’s our enemy. Her and all her land-grabbing family. You helped her, didn’t you, to disguise herself as one of us?’ He took hold of my arm, shook it, his thumbs digging into my flesh so I winced. ‘The Diggers trusted me – and now it’s my fault. It was her wasn’t it? She sent people to destroy the Diggers’ houses –’

‘It wasn’t her, it was Mistress Binch, she was spying on us. She was at the Common, I saw her talking to Mr Grice –’

‘You deceived me. How could you do that to me? To your own brother? Here was I thinking Kate was bonny and clear and good, and all the time she was calculating and spying on us.’ He turned as if he would walk away, strode back and forth to quiet his own restlessness. Finally he turned
to me with a wounded expression. ‘I thought she liked me, but I’ll bet she despised me. She’s probably been laughing at me the whole time.’

‘No, she wasn’t. She admired you. Her family treat her like a beast. She only wanted –’

‘Why? Why did you bring her?’

‘She said…I knew I’d lose my position if I didn’t.’

He shot me a look of ice. ‘She’s a viper. You’re leaving, come on, I’ll take you home.’ And he began to tug on my arm.

‘Hoy!’ Mr Grice and his servants rounded the corner. ‘What’s this? Who are you and what do you want?’

‘Ralph Chaplin. Abigail’s brother. She’s leaving.’

Mr Grice shot me a displeased look as though his mouth was full of vinegar. I expected him to dismiss me on the spot, but he surprised me. ‘No she is not,’ he said. ‘She has not given notice. She will get no pay and no reference.’

‘Please, Ralph,’ I begged, ‘don’t make a fuss. I need that reference. Please, just go. We’ll talk later.’ I was scared Grice would throw Mother off the Fanshawe estate. And I’d worked months, I couldn’t bear the thought that I’d get no pay and it would all be for nothing.

‘You are not working for the Fanshawes.’ Ralph was angry now, tell-tale signs of red flaring on his neck.

I was begging him, hopping from foot to foot. He didn’t understand anything. ‘Please Ralph, go home. I’ll come and explain later –’

Grice did not w
ait for me to get the words out. ‘Remove this trespasser from my land,’ he ordered. The servants moved in to take Ralph by the elbows. ‘Chaplin, inside. Now.’

I gave Ralph an anguished look, bobbed my head and hurried inside. Grice followed me, pulled the door shut after us, and limped his way purposefully upstairs. Mrs Binch simply stared, unable to believe Mr Grice had actually been in her kitchen. I ran to the kitchen window and was just in time to see the servants manhandle Ralph down the drive until he finally freed a fist and punched Pitman in the eye.

A few moments later he ran off into the copse, leaving Pitman still floundering on his back in the drive with Rigg trying to help him up. I pressed my hand to my forehead and sighed. Trouble – this could only mean more trouble.

*

Sure enough, that night when I was dressing his foot Mr Grice said, ‘Your brother hit my servant.’

‘Yes. I mean, no. I don’t know Sir.’

Mr Grice terrified me. I could not get the image out of my mind of him pressing the pistol to Lady Katherine’s neck. He examined me through shrewd eyes. ‘You will not see your brother again and you will be obedient to me. Do you understand? Then I might consider keeping you on and giving you a reference.’

I inclined my head, kept my eyes fixed on his lips where white spittle had dried to a crust.

‘The constable will deal with your brother.’

I opened my mouth to protest, but realised it would do me no good and closed it again.

‘Unruly tenants will not be tolerated.’

‘No Sir,’ I said.

*

I could not speak to Lady Katherine until it was time for her to retire that night. Mistress Binch kept me busy and Mr Grice would not let my mistress out of his sight. I was miserable, worrying about what would happen to Ralph. When I went up that night with Lady Katherine’s evening drink of hot mulled ale she was waiting for me, just inside her door, as I knew she would be.

‘What did he say?’ she asked. I knew she meant Ralph.

‘He hit one of the servants. And now Grice will send the constable to arrest him, all because of you and your tomfool disguises.’ I crashed the tray down on the table. ‘What am I going to do? Ralph blames me for lying to him.’

‘I’ll speak to Mr Grice,’ she said.

But we both knew that was hopeless.

I had a sudden urge to hurt her. ‘Ralph never wants to see you again,’ I said.

I saw the words sink in and her eyes turn shiny. ‘Fetch me paper, I’ll write to him.’

‘He won’t read it. And anyway, I won’t deliver it. Have you no idea what you’ve done? Ralph says you’ve betrayed the Diggers and all he’s worked for, that it was you who roused up the villagers against him.’

‘It’s not true! You’ve got to tell him!’

‘He won’t listen.’ A wave of emotion engulfed me. I wanted to strike her. I choked out, ‘It’s my fault he says, for lending you my clothes. You’ve come between me and my brother, and I’ll never forgive you.’

I blundered from the room. I could not trust myself not to cry. A sixth sense told me my mistress was calling after me but I did not turn.

*

In the kitchen I helped Mrs Binch wipe down the table as she always did last thing at night. My heart was heavy and my head buzzing as if it was a nest to a thousand bees. Ralph had always been my main ally against my sister Elizabeth and the world in general. He’d always had confidence in me; that I could do things other girls could. Now he was blaming me for this whole mess
, and it hurt.

I dragged the churns out ready for the morning milk and as I did so a little kitten nosed around the corner of the door then came and twined around my feet.

I squatted and spoke to him softly and rubbed his gingery head. He pressed his nose into my hand. Such long whiskers for such a small creature. I found a few drops of milk in the churns and tipped them out for him. Before long he let me pick him up. He felt so lovely and trusting it brought tears to my eyes.

A tap on the should
er. ‘Lady Katherine wants you.’ It was Pitman.

I dodged away from him. I could not refuse to go, so I tucked the squirming kitten under my arm and climbed reluctantly up the stairs to Lady Katherine’s room.

She was sitting by the window in her nightdress, but stood when I came in. She had been crying, her eyes were puffy and her nose red.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I did not mean to be the cause of trouble between you and Ralph.’ She saw the kitten struggling in my arms. ‘What’s that?’

‘Mistress Binch said we used to have a cat to keep down the mice.’ It wasn’t strictly true, but I wanted to keep him.

‘Let me see.’

I placed the kitten on the ground and he padded towards her. She knelt and called to him, ‘Puss, puss!’ He went to her hands and she looked up delighted despite herself. ‘What’s his name?’

‘He hasn’t got one yet. He’s only one of the farm cats. A she-cat’s just had a litter.’

‘I know, I’ll call him after the Digger leader, what’s his name?’

‘You mean Winstanley? It’s a daft name. You can’t call him that.’ I was still angry, unable to drop my irritation at her. Yet the kitten would melt anyone’s heart. ‘Anyway, just look at him, he’s so little, and Winstanley was a General for Parliament. Anyway Mr Grice would never stand for it.’

‘All the more reason.’ She tried to scoop the kitten up but he skittered under the drapes of the bed. ‘Here, Winstanley,’ she said.

It seemed such a big name for such a little cat that I began to giggle. Soon we were both laughing until our sides ached. After we had recovered she brought out a ribbon and I dangled it before him and we watched Winstanley try to pat it with his paws and chase after it when I pulled it out of sight beneath my skirts.

When Winstanley settled to sleep on Lady Katherine’s bed, she went and sat on her chair by the window ready for me to unbraid her hair.

I took out the brush and began to tease her ringlets into order. She sat very still, unlike the Lady Katherine I knew. In the looking glass on the stand I saw that her face was tired, empty.

‘I doesn’t make sense,’ she said. ‘I thought Mr Grice was for Sir Simon, for the King, but now I don’t know any more. I don’t trust him. He’s turned bitter. And do you know, I care not a groat for any of them – King, Parliament, all this fighting. It’s all just words. The only person I really cared for was Ralph, and now everything is ruined,’ she said.

A tear rolled down her cheek. She had not cried when she was bullied by her step-father, or by Grice, but here she was crying over my brother.

She turned and took hold of my hand. ‘Please – humour Grice and do as he says.’ She wiped her face with her sleeve. ‘Don’t give him the slightest reason to make you leave. If you go I will have no friend left in the world.’