The Reckoning (69 page)

‘
In
the Blue Saloon, my lady.'

‘
Very well. I'll go up,' Rosamund said, and ran quickly up
the stairs before anything more could be said, leaving the
wretched Cowley to Lady Barbara's mercies.

The Blue Saloon was the small, comfortable chamber the
ladies of Chelmsford House had always used as their private
sitting-room. There Rosamund found her cousin, looking pale
and distraught, facing Mrs Hill, who stood before her not in
the deferential attitude of a servant, but with a grim air of
defiance which Rosamund immediately felt boded no good.

They both turned as she entered, and she went straight
into the attack.

‘
Well, Hill,' she said briskly, 'what is it you want? You
shouldn't be bothering Miss Haworth — she's far from well. And if it's money you're after, I may as well warn you right
away —'

‘
It's not money I want, your ladyship, but justice,' Hill
said, facing her boldly.

Your Ladyship,
Rosamund noticed, not
my lady.
Hill had
already taken on herself a mantle of equality. This was no
servant come a-begging. 'Justice? What justice?' she said
indifferently.

‘
Justice for my poor mistress! Justice and retribution by the
law, which will surely be followed by justice in the next
world,' Hill pronounced splendidly.

‘
I shan't listen to speeches,' Rosamund said sharply. 'Tell
me what you want in simple language, or I shall have you
shewn out right away.'

‘
Very well, your ladyship,' Hill said grimly, 'if plain
speaking is what you want! My poor late mistress was hurried
out of this life untimely, and I want her murderer brought to
justice. So I came to you to ask for your help — you being her
own sister — and Miss's, since she knows all about it.’

Rosamund stared at the lady's maid with incredulity and growing anger. 'Murderer? What the deuce are you talking
about? My sister's death was accidental, as the whole world
knows. What on earth could make you think she was
murdered? You must have taken leave of your senses.'

‘
Not I,' said Hill firmly. 'I know the truth of it — aye, and
Miss knows too, for all that she stands there like a stone
image. You ask her, your ladyship — she'll tell you.’

Rosamund glanced briefly at Polly, who was gripping the
back of the chair by which she was standing as though it alone
were holding her upright. Why hadn't Polly summoned a
footman to have this madwoman thrown out in the street?

‘
I shall ask Miss Haworth nothing. My sister fell by acci
dent from the nursery window —'

‘
Accident?' Hill broke in, her face reddening. Was it an
accident that she was all alone there that day, with no-one to
care for her, not a single soul in the house but her? Was it an accident that the person who wished her out of the way made
sure to be the first to come upon her poor broken body? Was
it —'

‘
Wanted her out of the way?' Rosamund said. 'What are
you saying? Who wanted her out of the way?'

‘
That wicked husband of hers, that's who! I warned her! I
told her what he was, but she, poor precious innocent, with
her forgiving heart, she would never believe any evil of him. But even I never thought he'd go so far as to – oh the wicked
ness! Otherwise I would never have left her, not if he was to
have pulled me limb from limb!’

Rosamund saw that the woman was shaking all over,
though whether from sorrow or anger it was impossible to
say. She began to see, now, why Polly had let her remain here
to rave – better that she should unburden herself here, in private, than be driven out resentful, perhaps to tell it to
someone else who might believe it.

‘
You are quite mistaken,' Rosamund said, trying to speak
quietly. 'I believe it is your love for your mistress that is
speaking, but you must not repeat this wild accusation, or you
will find yourself in grave trouble. Lord Harvey loved his wife
dearly, and he –'

‘
He didn't love her,' Hill said, suddenly sounding quite
calm. 'He never wanted to marry her in the first place. I
heard him say so often enough. It was Miss he loved, and he
wanted my mistress out of the way so he could marry her.’

In the shocked silence that followed, Polly looked up for
the first time. She glanced at Rosamund, and Rosamund met
her eye with a faintly questioning look. Harvey Sale had been
Polly's beau before his arranged marriage with Minnie: Rosa
mund knew that, but it was not common knowledge. Was it
possible that Hill had discovered it somehow, and had fuelled
her fantasy with it? Or, on the other hand, was it possible
that –? Polly looked down again, one bright spot of colour in
each pale cheek.

Rosamund shut her mind to speculation, and concentrated
on dealing with the problem immediately facing her.

‘
You had better tell me what you think you know, Hill, so
that I can explain how you are mistaken. Speak quietly and
do not exaggerate. Polly, if you wish to leave us –’

Polly shook her head briefly, without looking up.

‘
No, she had better stay and hear,' Hill said in a hard voice.
‘She can tell you what I say is true. His lordship was mad for
her, and she for him. Always meeting, they were, in secret,
talking and kissing and pinching fingers – oh, a pretty sight!
But Miss wouldn't have him, him being a married man, so the
only way out for him was to get rid of my poor mistress. I told
her –'

‘You told her that?' Polly looked up at Hill with horror.

" 'I told her everything,' Hill said defiantly, 'trying to warn
her, but she wouldn't listen. Told me to hold my tongue. She
wouldn't hear a word against either of you, and now it's too
late. First he murdered the babies – poisoned them, poor little
mites. Then he made sure my lady would be alone in the
house, sent everybody to the Summer Fair, and went himself
so no-one would suspect. But he came back in secret, came
looking for her on purpose to do away with her – found her in
the nursery where she sat every day, thinking about those
poor blessed infants – and then –'

‘
Stop!' Rosamund's voice cracked. 'That's enough. You're
wrong, quite wrong, in every respect. You must be mad even to have thought of such a thing! No, don't say another word!
You will leave now, and I warn you very strongly against
repeating these wild stories to anyone else –’

At that point the door opened, and Lady Barbara
appeared, with Cowley behind her.

‘
My dear,' she addressed Rosamund, 'I'm sorry to say you really do not have the knack of dealing with servants. Here I
find you still arguing with this creature, which is quite
beneath you. You should have sent Cowley straight away to
throw her out in the street.'

‘
Please, ma'am,' Rosamund said firmly, 'I must ask you
not to intrude on this matter –’

But Lady Barbara had not heard a word. She stepped back
and thrust Cowley past her with a little shove in the back. 'Do your duty now, Cowley – take the hussy away. And let me tell
you, my woman,' she added sternly to Hill, 'that if you ever
come here begging again, I shall have you taken up by the
watch. Cowley, tell the other men that this baggage is not to
be allowed through the front door on any pretext, and that if
she is ever seen anywhere near the house, she's to be put in
charge.'

‘
Baggage, is it?' Hill hissed in fury. 'You'll be sorry you
insulted an honest woman –'

‘
Lady Barbara, I beg you not to interfere –' Rosamund cried.

‘
Don't stand there like a stock, Cowley,' Lady Barbara said impatiently. 'Do as I bid you and throw her out this instant.'

‘
Keep your hands off me,' Hill snapped as Cowley
approached her reluctantly. 'I'm going, don't worry. But you'll be sorry, all of you. I see what it is now – you're
protecting your own. Well, I'll take my story elsewhere.
There's plenty around Stainton who know enough of the
truth to help me find out the rest. You'll be hearing more of
this, I promise you!’

And with that she stalked out, followed by Cowley, looking
hang-dog. Lady Barbara remained champion of the field, and
turned on her daughter-in-law triumphantly.

‘
There, you see – that's the way to do it. It's a great
mistake, my dear Rosamund, to let servants argue with you. You
will never manage them unless you keep them in their place.’

There was a great deal that Rosamund wanted to say, but
for now she saw that Polly was close to fainting. 'Excuse me,
ma'am,' she said firmly, 'but I must help Polly to her room.
She's feeling unwell.'

‘
I'm not surprised,' Lady Barbara said, her voice following
them as Rosamund supported Polly from the room, ‘if she has
to witness scenes like that. It's quite shocking to allow
servants to take advantage in that way ...’

*

In the privacy of Polly's room, Rosamund installed her in a
chair, brought her some water, and offered her her smelling-bottle. In a few minutes she had recovered herself enough to
thank her cousin in a thread of a voice.

Rosamund hesitated. 'Polly, I know you're not fully
recovered yet, and this must have been a very shocking busi
ness, but if you feel you could talk about it, I think you ought
to. It would be better to have it out in the open, don't you
think?’

Polly looked at her with agonised eyes. 'You don't think –
you can't believe Harvey could ever have done such a thing –!’

Rosamund sat down opposite her and looked at her
steadily. 'Of course I don't. But it's plain to me that you've
had something on your mind for a long time, and that it's
making you sick. Now that Hill has opened up the subject of
poor Minnie's death between us, why not tell me what it is
that's worrying you so much?’

Polly shook her head, and looked away wretchedly. Rosamund watched her for a moment, and then said, 'Minnie was
my sister, you know – my own sister. Don't you think I have a
right to know, if there is something –'

‘
No!' Polly cried, startling Rosamund. 'There's nothing to know, nothing at all! Harvey was with me all day –’