A Murderous Masquerade (14 page)

Alexander gave a grim laugh.

“Sorry to tell you this but Mrs. Mingle is already on her way here. She wouldn’t hear of you eating anything from the gaol kitchens and she wanted to inspect mine when I said that I would provide all your dinners. She’s coming to the castle to oversee everything cook dishes up for you...” he stopped as he smiled before adding. “I’m beginning to see some advantages of being incarcerated in here.”

Giles looked horror struck.

“Good Lord! With the two of them there, it’s just as well you can get lost in that vast place. I swear that you could disappear for weeks and no one would find you if you didn’t want them...” He stopped as another sudden thought came to him. Alexander evidently had the same thought at the same time.

“Good grief! I never even considered another secret passage. I’ve found two more since moving back into the old place, but only by chance. I found the one that you and Anne used because I saw a bird disappear through the slit of a window early last summer. I realized that there was no window like it on that side of the castle on the inside and I went in search of it. The secret room is actually right on the corner of the building in the section between the bedrooms that sit on the two connecting corridors.”

Giles pondered that information.

“So there could be others?  Suppose in a castle of the age of Ormond, there are bound to be.”

Alexander nodded thoughtfully.

“Geoff and I will mount a thorough search of Edward’s room. The mechanisms are pretty hard to find though, unless he came upon one by accident.”

Giles nodded after remembering the heart on the mantle in his own room.

“You would never be able to tell from the panelling either. There were undoubtedly some master craftsmen about when the castle was built.”

Alexander looked about Giles’ room once more.

“I’ll ask Geoff and the ladies to help me search. I’m also looking into places he could have hidden in nearby. There are a few and what with the beach being so near, he could have even escaped by boat, though he would have had to arrange that before hand and I just can’t see him doing that. He seems to be reactive rather than proactive.”

Giles agreed.

“Yes, and it was that very thought that made me wonder about the leg in the pig sty. There is no way that that measly, skinny limb belongs to Ellesworth, so where did it come from? There can’t be many places. The doctor or the graveyard was my only answers to that question.”

Alexander shuddered.

“I can’t see the doctor being very amenable to giving up someone’s limb, apart from the fact that I’ve not heard about any accident or illness that would warrant removing one. The graveyard is probably a no go too. Grave robbing isn’t big in these parts unless Ellesworth persuaded Rookwood and Latham to dig a body up. They would have had to have worked damned quickly though to locate a fresh one, dig it up, replace the grave soil so that no one would notice and get it all to the farm in time for the pigs to have a good gnaw at it before Jenkins arrived on the scene.” It did seem a bit far-fetched when Alexander put it like that.

Giles let out a long breath.

“I’ll give it some thought as I’ve nothing much else to do. The damn thing obviously came from somewhere, we just have to discover where.”

The sky was beginning to darken outside the window.

“I must get back to reassure the ladies. I’ll bring Anne and Charlotte over to see you tomorrow.” He stopped as Giles gasped in horror.

“For God’s sake Alex! Don’t you dare bring either of them here. I don’t want them to see me in this place. Keep them away at all costs.”

Alexander shook his head.

“That may be easier said than done. They were most insistent and only agreed to remain at Ormond for tonight, due to you being re-housed in here. I can prevent Lily coming here due to her condition, no offense to you, but the hygiene leaves something to be desired and she doesn’t wish to endanger herself or our child, however I have no jurisdiction over either Anne or Charlotte.”

Giles snorted.

“No, you don’t, but I do over Charlotte and I absolutely forbid her to come here under any circumstances. If she argues lock her up somewhere and don’t let her out until she absolutely promises that she won’t try to see me.” He responded to Alexander’s laugh with a fond smile before he carried on in a more serious tone. “Anne is her own woman still, but I would beg you to try and keep her away. I can’t bear the thought of her seeing me here like this. It is beyond humiliating.”

“Oh stuff, man. Anne is in love with you, has been since she first saw you. She knows that you are innocent of any crime and won’t care where you are so long as she can spend a little time with you. Can you even imagine that she would want to see you if she believed for one second that you could have killed her brother?” He waited until Giles shook his head. “So you will see her then?”

Giles blew out a deep breath before he turned away from his friend and stared hard out of the window. His voice was husky when he spoke.

“I don’t know if I can. I had hoped for so much, but the thought that I could hang for this deception makes me feel as though I should set her free.” He could feel Alexander at his back and he turned silently.

“Don’t give up hope yet. I’m trying to give Ellesworth the benefit of the doubt and thinking that he’s just run off so that he didn’t have to face being removed from Ormond. I feel sure that when he knows what has happened he will come back and clear everything up.”

Giles was silent for a few seconds and the air became thick.

“I don’t think he will. I don’t think that he even has a heart. You should hear the way he speaks to Anne. No brother should talk to his sister like that.” He tapped his fingertips impatiently on the table top. “I can’t bear not being able to sort this out for myself. It’s wrong that you should have to help me.”

Alexander placed his hand on Giles’ shoulder.

“It’s what friends are for. You stood by my side when I was about to despair over the blackmail attempts on my family. Do you think I wouldn’t stand by yours?”

Giles shook his head.

“Thank you. It’s good to know that someone believes me.” He hesitated before speaking again. “I...I’m also grateful for your influence. This does make a difference.” He swept his hand about the room.

Alexander let out a laugh.

“Don’t know about influence but I do know about money...It’s amazing what a few coins can do.”

Giles’ face flushed.

“You mean that you’ve had to pay to get me this treatment? Oh God! Now I feel...hang on.” He paused as his mind went over something Anne had said to him. “Lavenham is strapped for cash!  He was dangling Anne in front of Lord Foxcombe’s eyes only last week. Lavenham wanted her to marry the old goat because he’s absolutely loaded and Edward agreed with him.”

Alexander’s eyes went wide.

“You mean the old Lord Foxcombe? Heavens! He must be fifty if he’s a day! His wife only died last year. He already has a grown son so why would he want another bride?”

“Something about a wayward fourteen year old daughter I gathered, besides, apart from yourself and Geoffrey, who are far too honourable to even think about it, what man wouldn’t want to bed someone like Anne?” He shuddered at the mere thought of anyone but him touching her.

Alexander rubbed the stubble on his chin as he thought about that piece of news.

“How’s he bringing this prosecution against you then? I imagine that Gates doesn’t know. He won’t like it if the Earl dupes him.”

Giles snorted and then laughed.

“It would bloody well serve him right for not believing me.” He sat down on the bed and leaned his elbows on his thighs. He looked up at Alexander. “Go home. Lily needs you and so do both of my ladies. There’s nothing more you can do here.”

Alexander nodded, knowing that his friend was right.

“Craddock will bring you dinner later. We’ll look for a hidden passage from Edward’s room tonight and I’ll start making enquiries first thing in the morning. I’m going to call on Latham and Rookwood first. One of them will break if they have anything to hide.”

Giles nodded and then laughed grimly.

“If you want to make sure of getting a result, take Charlotte along with you. If you can’t get anything out of them, I’m damn sure that she will.”

Alexander knocked on the door. It opened instantly and clanged firmly shut behind him as he left the room. Giles listened as the door was locked before lying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. There were swooping cobwebs in all the corners but at least the room didn’t smell of body fluids and mildew.

He crossed one boot over the other and linked his hands behind his head as he stretched out. He closed his eyes and immediately his thoughts were flooded with pictures of Anne lying naked in the bath of bubbles the previous afternoon. He groaned and willed his body to ignore the images but it was a near impossible task. He opened his eyes again as he wondered how he would ever get through the next few days without her by his side. He could only hope that she would remain strong and ignore anything her father told her. He was absolutely sure that Lavenham would try to poison his name even further and he could only thank the Lord that he had led a fairly uneventful life.

He was pondering what else he could do to help his situation when the door opened again. Craddock entered bearing a tray that looked as though it was about to collapse under the strain. Giles sat up and stared at the feast.

“Good God! Are we feeding the whole prison? Or is the king in residence somewhere?”

Craddock raised an eyebrow.

“You have to keep your strength up while in here. Wouldn’t want your lovely lady to find that you had turned to skin and bones when you are released.”

Giles stared pointedly at the whole capon, the gammon ham, the dish of buttered potatoes, loaf of bread and the raspberry tart. There was also a bottle of brandy and a bottle of port wedged between the plates of meat.

“She’s more likely to think I’ve turned into her brother if I eat even half of this amount each day.” He lowered his voice and whispered to his valet. “Good grief, man! You do realize that if the worst comes to the worst I am going to have to make an escape through that window. If you keep feeding me like this I’ll never fit!” He tried to bring a little levity to the situation.

Craddock began serving the dishes onto a plate as he pointedly ignored his master’s attempts at frivolity.

“Don’t be ridiculous, My Lord. You’ll walk out of the door a free man by the end of the week.” He placed the plate on the table and lay out a knife, fork and linen napkin before bowing to Giles and backing out of the room.

Giles stared at the mountains of food and then sighed as he took up the bottle of brandy. At least he could drink himself into oblivion if he so desired. He poured a small glass and put the stopper back in. There was far too much at stake to even think about becoming drunk.

He took his time eating his meal. The capon was cooked to perfection, the ham deliciously tender. The potatoes melted in his mouth and the raspberry tart cleansed his palate.

He heard shuffling beyond the door of his prison. There were several coughs and at one point he even thought he heard a deep, wistful sigh. Looking down at his empty plate and the mountainous piles of food left over, he knew that in the heat of the night the rest of the feast would spoil. He gave a sigh of his own, hacked off several slices of the ham and wrapped them in the bread just in case he became peckish in the night before he knocked on the door of his room. It opened a crack almost instantly. The pockmarked guard stared at him.

Giles looked down at the man’s drawn features and tattered clothes. He wouldn’t be much opposition if Giles did attempt to make a break out. The man licked his lips as he glanced past Giles towards the left over tray of provisions and Giles raised an eyebrow in question. The man looked upwards and stared pleadingly into Giles’ eyes.

“I ‘ave three lit’luns to feed, Me Lud,” the man rasped as his eyes flicked back to the cooling food. “We don’ make more un a few shillings a week in ‘ere. My Betsy do what she can bu’...”

Giles stood back from the door.

“Take what you need and then share the rest with the other men here. It will all spoil before morning anyway.”

The guard didn’t hesitate.

“I’ll bring the tray an’ dishes back tomorra’, Me Lud, an’ if there’s anythin’ I can do for you, don’ ‘esitate to ask. So long as it’s in me power to do it, call it done.” He hurried back through the door to the excited chatter of the other guards who had eagerly gathered around the plates of food.

Giles sat back down on his bed and laughed quietly as the noises settled and the guardhouse became still again. He glanced over at the door, knowing that it remained unlocked and that he was temporarily forgotten before reaching into his pocket and removing the tightly folded note that Alexander had given him. Sure enough, Charlotte had made detailed plans for his escape, all of which relied on slitting some poor devil’s throat. He almost laughed again as he took a final glance towards the unlocked door of his prison. It was sorely tempting to just walk out and disappear into the night, but however slack they were, the guards’ livelihoods depended on their jobs and he found that he couldn’t do it to them. He perused the canopy of the bed and the thick swathes of cobwebs again.