Exile's Return (6 page)

She looked up at him and her eyes narrowed. He gained the impression that she may have been about to add something, but a rowdy group of ‘prentices fell through the door demanding ale. Nan gave Daniel a cursory nod and went to see to her customers.

They kept Agnes waiting for more than an hour in a cold anteroom in the bowels of the old palace of Whitehall. Dour-faced clerks and red-coated soldiers passed in and out of the great oak doors, behind which a committee sat deciding the fate of two small children. With every moment that passed, her hopes faded.

The door opened and a clerk indicated for her to enter. Her heart fell as she saw not only the Committee of three men, but Tobias Ashby. Ashby lounged against the fireplace, impeccably dressed in a scarlet coat trimmed with gold lace, which strained at the buttons across his stomach. The highly polished, metal gorget of an officer rested beneath his impeccable lace trimmed collar. His brown, thinning hair curled to his shoulder and his moustache and beard were neatly trimmed. It had been a few months since she had seen him and it occurred to her that the peacetime army suited him a little too well.

While James gave every show of his loyalty to the new regime, his cousin had visited Charvaley many times in the last few years. James's general ambivalence to all matters political has been so fervent that even Agnes had not suspected his more recent involvement in the royalist plans to restore the King.

Tobias looked her up and down and inclined his head. She looked away from the supercilious smile he gave her.

A small, balding man had centre position among the three commissioners. He neither looked up nor offered her a seat as she entered but continued to peruse the papers in front of him, which she hoped included her own petition. She tried to read upside down but failed.

A clerk seated at the far end of the table sharpened his quill before dipping it in the inkpot.

‘In the matter of the traitor the late Lord Elmhurst's children,' the chairman of the committee began, looking up at her at last. The clerk began to write. ‘Are you Mistress Agnes Fletcher?'

Agnes clasped her shaking hands in front of her in an effort to control her nerves.

‘I am,' she said, embarrassed by her high, tight voice.

‘I have before me a petition by you for custody of the children of the traitor, one Henry James Ashby aged four, Marquess of Chesterton, and the Lady Elizabeth Ann Ashby, aged seven years. I am given to understand that you are the children's aunt?'

‘I am sister to the Earl's late wife, Ann,' Agnes said.

‘Your brother, George Fletcher, took up arms against the Commonwealth and died in the Lowlands in June 1652?' another of Commissioners enquired. The man moved a few papers on the table, jabbing at one with his forefinger.

How do they know these things?

George had died in penury and drunken despair in Holland, leaving her quite alone in the world with his debts and no means to pay them.

‘He … ' she swallowed, biting back the words, ‘he fought for the King, but my brother's decisions in life were not mine, sir.'

I just paid the price for them.

‘As a consequence of his actions, and his failure to pay the fines levied against him, his property was sequestered?'

Agnes's hands tightened and she swallowed. ‘He was unable to meet the fines and the property was sold, yes. As he resided on the Continent and I was homeless, Lord Elmhurst and his wife took me in. After my sister's death, on the birth of Henry, the care of the children fell to me.'

‘And you feel this gives you the right to the legal custody of the children?'

She took a deep, steadying breath, the old, well-practiced lie sticking in her throat. A small boy's whole future depended on The Great Secret.

‘I am the children's aunt by blood and the closest to a mother that the children have ever known.'

‘But where would you live? How would you care for them?' one of the other commissioners asked.

Agnes frowned, not understanding the question. ‘Henry is the rightful heir to Lord Elmhurst's estate. We would return to Charvaley. Where else would we go?'

The three commissioners looked at each other and the president cleared his throat. ‘Mistress Fletcher, the late Earl died without a will … '

‘He had a will … I saw it … ' Agnes interrupted. ‘He kept it in a wooden box in his room.'

The Commissioner shook his head. ‘An extensive search of the property has been conducted and inquiries made, but no such will has been discovered.'

‘He would never have gone to his death without making proper provision for the children. He told me that I was named their guardian … ' She glared at Tobias. ‘You destroyed it!'

‘Mistress Fletcher, control yourself!' The commissioner rose to his feet and brought the flat of his hand down on the table with a resounding thump that made his fellow commissioners start and the clerk reach for the inkpot.

Agnes fought to control her breath, her fingers clenched together so hard the knuckles showed white.

‘In the absence of a will, it has been decided that your petition must be refused,' the president declared. ‘A woman cannot take on the legal responsibilities you seek.'

‘No!' Agnes took a step toward the table as the full enormity of their decision hit her. ‘Dear God, no! What is to become of the children?'

The president held up a hand. ‘Colonel Ashby,' he indicated Tobias with an ingratiating smile, ‘is the direct heir to the estate of the Earl, after the boy, and it has been decided that he shall be appointed guardian and protector not only of the children but of the entire estate.'

She swung around to face Tobias. ‘Not you. Anyone but you!'

Tobias's lip curled into an ingratiating smile. ‘Mistress Fletcher, I know this is a shock to you … '

She whirled back to face the commissioners. ‘But what about me? I can stay with the children? Surely … '

The president fixed her with an unblinking stare. ‘You come from a family of known traitors. It is quite unthinkable that you should have continued access to such young, innocent minds. After discussing the matter with Colonel Ashby, we agree that you should not be allowed any further contact with the children.'

They couldn't possibly be separating her from the children! She must have misheard … but she knew she hadn't.

‘No! No … the children are my life. They are all I have. Please don't take them away from me. Please … '

The breath left Agnes's body and her knees threatened to fail her. She caught the edge of the table to steady herself.

‘Mistress Fletcher, compose yourself,' the man's tone softened. ‘I know this comes as a shock to you but believe me, we have the welfare of the children to consider. What you choose to do is your own concern, and we believe it is in their best interest that you have no further contact with them.'

Agnes forced herself to straighten and she looked every man in the eye, including the hateful Tobias.

‘They are only young. They won't understand. If you have a shred of human decency, at least let me prepare them and say farewell to them,' she said.

Tobias shuffled his feet. ‘I would rather … ' he began, but the president interrupted him.

‘We are not entirely heartless, Mistress Fletcher. You may return to your lodgings with Colonel Ashby for the express purpose of packing the children's belongings and ensuring they are in a fit state to return to their home at Charvaley with the Colonel. That is all. You may leave now.'

In a trance, Agnes turned and walked toward the door. Dimly she was conscious of Tobias following her, but she took no notice until she felt his hand on her sleeve.

‘Mistress Fletcher … Agnes … A word in private.'

She shook off his hand and turned and looked up at him, the anger rising like gorge in her throat. ‘Why you?'

He directed her into a dark, wood-panelled room and shut the door behind them.

His moustache twitched as he smiled. ‘Why me? Why not?'

She studied him for a long moment. As James's closest male relative, Tobias would be the Earl of Elmhurst, had it not been for Henry's birth. Tobias, who had betrayed James without a flicker of conscience.

‘James told me of your part in his downfall. Your promise to turn coat and then, the soldiers … '

Tobias shook his head. ‘It is regrettable that he involved himself in such foolishness. However, that is all in the past. We must now look to the future and ensure the children are kept safe, and that no blemish of their father's treachery will attach to them. On which subject, I have a question to ask of you, Agnes.'

She glared at him.

‘You were close to my cousin; was he wont to confide in you?'

Agnes looked away. James did confide in her – when it suited him.

‘What do you mean?'

Tobias's gaze slid past her. ‘My cousin was directly responsible for the theft of some valuable property of the Commonwealth and the death of a good man. He went to his death without revealing the location of the property. Did he confide its location in you?'

Oh yes, she had held the shuttered lantern as James hurried the men and their heavy leather satchels into the house. But she had not asked, and he had not told her, what the satchels contained or indeed where he had secreted them.

‘No,' she answered, truthfully. ‘My concern was, and always will be, the children and the children alone. James's politics were of no interest to me.'

Tobias's eyes narrowed and she wondered if he disbelieved her. She had always been a bad liar.

‘You are a gem among women, Agnes Fletcher, if your sole concern was with hearth and home and not the business of men.'

The gall gathered in Agnes's stomach at the sarcasm that dripped from his words.

‘The business of men saw the death of the children's father. You alone … ' she jabbed a finger in his direction ‘… have James's blood on your hands. Those children are orphans because of you and now you would take them from me. If you hurt one hair on their heads, Tobias … '

‘My dear, Agnes, you quite terrify me.'

He looked down at her, his mouth curling in a sneer. Small and slight, she hardly presented a physical threat to a man who stood nearly a foot taller than her.

He held up a placating hand. ‘Enough of these games. Please believe me, Agnes. I will take care of the children as if they were my own. They are my closest blood kin.'

She searched his face, looking for evidence of his veracity. It remained implacable. She had no choice in the matter but to trust him. She had to believe that he would act in the best interests of the children.

She sighed. ‘I know what the commissioners said, but surely it's within your power to let me come with the children?'

Tobias's eyes hardened. ‘Even I cannot go against an order of the Committee, Agnes.' He raised a hand as if to lay it on her shoulder in reassurance but thought better of it, making a pretence of straightening his collar. ‘You have my word. The children will be safe in my care.'

A knock on the door made them both start. Ashby opened it to admit Septimus Turner. “Tobias's faithful hound”, James had called him. Turner was a slight man with ginger hair, moustache and beard, probably well into his forties. Not much above middle height, his figure was trim and he carried himself well. He had served at Tobias's side since the first engagement of the war.

He had with him a woman so pale as to be translucent – green-blue veins could be seen beneath the skin of her forehead and hands. Even her tightly compressed lips seemed bloodless.

‘Captain Turner,' Agnes said with barely concealed distaste. ‘I might have thought you would not be far away.'

Tobias gestured toward the woman. ‘I do not believe you have met Septimus's sister, Leah?'

Agnes turned to face Leah Turner. She was dressed austerely in a dark grey gown with plain collar and cuffs, with her hair tucked beneath a matronly white cap. Only the ginger colouring of her eyebrows indicated that it might be a similar hue to her brother's.

By rights, the woman should have curtsied to another of superior rank, but she remained as still as a sentinel, her grey eyes fixed on Agnes's face. Agnes shivered and looked away from the unnerving stare.

‘The coach awaits, sir,' Turner addressed his commander.

‘Very good.''

‘They are only young,' Agnes made one last attempt to secure her position. ‘Two men such as yourselves are not suitable to the care of such young children.'

Turner raised one ginger eyebrow and indicated his sister. ‘The children will be in the care of my sister, Mistress Fletcher. You may rest in the assurance that they will be in capable and godly hands.'

The flesh on the back of Agnes's neck crawled. She didn't know Turner's sister, but her acquaintance with the mealy mouthed Turner only increased her fear for the children.

She turned back to Tobias.

‘What about me? Charvaley was my home … Where am I to go?'

‘Charvaley was only your home by James's grace and favour. I am under no obligation to you.' Ashby's lip curled into a derisive smile. He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face up. ‘My dear Agnes, you've a pretty face. By all accounts you have already bedded an Earl. It shouldn't be too hard to find yourself another protector.'

Anger flared and she raised a hand to slap him, but he caught her hand before it connected with his face.

‘Now, now. That will never do. Of course, should you remember details of the matter we just discussed, I may reconsider your position. In the meantime, I gave you my word. You may say your farewells to the children.' Squaring his shoulders, he turned to the Turners. ‘I want to be away from London before dark. Let us go.'

***

Agnes hunched into the furthest corner of Tobias's coach like a sparrow caught in a trap, wilting under the unrelenting gaze of Leah Turner. The woman seemed to be enjoying her misery. Beside her Tobias had puffed up like a peacock, the buttons of his coat straining even more. He had gained control of the one thing he probably coveted more than anything, the earldom and estates. True, it was as a trustee only, but he had years before Henry reached twenty-one.