The Silent Touch of Shadows (35 page)

‘Uh-hmm. You did mention that once or twice.’

‘Well, I hadn’t even met you and didn’t know how well we were suited. The year before we were to wed, there was a woman with whom I believed myself in love for a while. Her name was Emma.’ He paused, waiting for her reaction, but when his wife didn’t stir, he ploughed on doggedly. ‘I foolishly promised to marry her and would have done so if my father hadn’t reminded me of my prior obligation to you.’

‘Emma of Langford,’ Roger whispered, his eyes on Gilbert, who heard him and nodded.

‘Yes. This young man is her son and I
 
… well he may or may not be mine also.’ Having come to the end of his confession, Gilbert hung his head, as if waiting for the verdict.

Maude rose from her seat and walked over to put her arms round her husband’s neck. She leaned her forehead against the top of his head. ‘I would say that you had an obligation to find out, my love, one way or the other. There must be some way of verifying it.’

He looked up, the relief in his eyes clear as he took note of her calmness and the fact that she had still called him ‘my love’. He let out his breath in a ragged sigh and nodded.

Maude continued, ‘Especially since Roger’s future happiness depends on you.’

‘Future happiness? Oh, you mean money. To be sure, but he is a man grown and has done well for himself already.’ Roger nodded, still stiff beside Sibell, but holding her hand in a death grip.

‘No, you dolt.’ Exasperation tinged Maude’s voice and she gave Gilbert a little push before crossing her arms over her ample bosom. ‘Honestly, you men are so blind sometimes. Can’t you see what’s before your eyes?’ She indicated the lovers in the window seat. ‘Roger can’t declare himself to John of Ashleigh without your support. How could he possibly compete with Sir Fulke of Thornby in his present situation? But if you were to back his proposal, Sibell’s father will not be able to deny him. To a man such as John it’s the connection to a great family that counts, even if yours isn’t quite as illustrious as Sir Fulke’s.’

‘But you said
 
… I mean, we must first establish that Roger is really my son, surely?’

‘You don’t have much time and besides, there is no doubt in my mind, only yours.’

‘How can you be so certain?’ Gilbert looked thoroughly puzzled.

‘Have you never seen Roger and Katherine laughing together?’ Maude asked. When he shook his head, she continued, ‘Well, I have. And you know how everyone comments on her likeness to you. It is a likeness Roger shares. It’s there for anyone to see who cares to look. I couldn’t be mistaken.’ Gilbert stared at her in awe and took one of her small hands between his own. He kissed it gently.

‘You truly are a remarkable woman, Maude. You don’t wish to reproach me at all?’

‘Only for not coming to me sooner. There is nothing else to regret. Except perhaps for this young man, who has had to grow up without a father.’ Her gaze clouded over for an instant and Sibell knew she was thinking of Roland. Her own dear boy, so young and rash, who had never been given a chance to mature.

Sibell shivered as she remembered the dreadful secret Roger had shared with her regarding her former husband’s true fate, and prayed Maude would never find out what had really happened to her son.
Please God, she continues to believe he died on the battlefield.
It was for the best.

Maude shook her head and returned to the matter at hand. ‘Gilbert, you must do something. If you don’t act soon, John will try to wed Sibell to Sir Fulke and you know my thoughts on that matter.’ She shuddered in revulsion.

‘Indeed. Very well, there is only one thing for it – we will leave for Langford the day after tomorrow. You spoke of having been raised by an uncle?’ He looked at Roger who nodded. ‘I remember the man, we were friends once, and if he confirms your story, I will take his word for it.’

‘Gilbert, I take it Roger’s mother is dead?’ Maude suddenly sounded uncertain, which was very unlike her.

‘Yes.’ Gilbert looked deep into her eyes. ‘And has been so to me since our marriage, my love. You have my word.’ Maude smiled and Sibell let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Perhaps all would be well now.

As the BMW pulled out of the driveway, another car, small and rather battered, drove up to the gate and stopped. Melissa shaded her eyes with one hand to see who it could be. The rotund figure that emerged from the driver’s seat was very familiar and she smiled and called out, ‘Colin!’

He waved excitedly, and she set off at a half-run down the drive to meet him.

‘Hello, this is an unexpected surprise.’

‘I found something else interesting at the British Library when I was up there yesterday.’ He bent into the car and pulled out a large piece of paper. ‘Look, it’s a rough map of this area, dated 1523. And it shows Ashleigh and all the neighbouring properties, including Idenhurst. Now we can finally see where the Presseilles lived.’

She took the photocopy from him and studied it intently. ‘Brilliant, Colin. Of course the local library would be too small to house such valuable documents; I should have thought of going up to London. Mind you, a copy of this ought to be kept at the Kent History Centre – I’ll tell Jenny. This is great.’

Heads together, they peered at the map.

‘Here is Ashleigh,’ Colin pointed to the spot, ‘and part of the Idenhurst lands are right next to it. There. I think that winding line is meant to be the river Idun and it looks like it’s the dividing line between the properties. Let’s go for a walk and see what we can find.’

‘Okay. Let me just tell Dorothy. I’ll be right back.’

They set off at a brisk walk along the same footpaths she had last trodden with Jake. Russ bounded ahead of them, very pleased to have been offered an extra outing. Eagerly, Melissa took off with long strides, but it was a very hot day and the sun was uncomfortably warm. She soon had to adjust her steps to those of Colin, who was finding it hard going, and they continued at a slower pace. As they drew nearer to the river, Melissa remembered the irrational fear she had experienced at the bridge, and glanced uneasily at the map.

‘Is the old bridge the only way across the river?’ She tried to make it sound like a casual inquiry.

‘Uh-hmm, I think so, unless you want to make a long detour.’ Colin appeared lost in his own thoughts and thankfully didn’t notice the slight quiver in her voice. ‘There it is.’

They had come upon it unexpectedly, just like the last time, and Melissa had to force herself to go on.
Don’t be an idiot
, she admonished herself sternly.
There is nothing frightening here at all.
But her body wasn’t listening to reason and her ribcage suddenly felt very tight. She breathed in rapid, shallow breaths. Russ, too, had stopped and seemed reluctant to go forward, although he wasn’t growling this time.

‘Come on, we’ll have to climb the gate. It’s rusted shut,’ Colin said, and Melissa watched as he managed to scramble over the top. The rusty old hinges groaned in protest and she wondered if the tired metal would withstand another onslaught. There was no other way across, however, so she picked up the little dog and walked quickly forward. She handed Russ to Colin across the gate. Then she climbed over as quickly as possible and made it to the other side safely and without giving way to the threatening panic. Letting out her breath in a sigh of relief, she hurried after Colin and the dog along another path, slightly less worn, but distinguishable, nonetheless. The grass was higher on this side of the river and appeared to have been left to grow wild.

‘I wonder who owns this now?’ she said, but received no reply.

Wiping drops of perspiration from his brow with a large handkerchief, Colin stopped to have another look at the map and check their bearings. It was turning hotter by the minute. ‘Lord, I haven’t had this much exercise for years,’ he panted. His face was a mottled red and he was trying to catch his breath. ‘I wish I’d thought to bring a hat,’ he muttered to himself, ‘and had gone jogging every day for the last twenty years or so.’ He traced their path on the map with his finger. ‘Now then, we have to keep walking for quite a while, then I reckon the manor should be somewhere over there.’ He pointed to their left.

‘Okay, come on then.’

They finally stopped again what seemed like ages later, and Melissa looked around them. ‘There’s nothing here, Colin. Just grass.’ Disappointment tinged her voice. She knew it was unlikely the manor house would have survived intact, but she’d thought perhaps a part of it would still have been standing. Lots of old houses remained, added onto by generations of owners. Here there was nothing at all.

‘Well, we knew that, otherwise it would have been marked on later maps.’ They wandered around a bit, wading through the high weeds, and looked for any signs of habitation.

‘Ow!’ With a string of expletives, Colin began to hop around on one foot, doing a funny little dance and Melissa had to turn around to hide her laughter. He looked like a rounder version of Charlie Chaplin.

When she had her face under control once more she took his arm solicitously. ‘What happened?’

‘Damned stone tripped me up.’ He waved his hand in the direction of a huge, overgrown boulder and Melissa bent down to examine it. She pulled the vegetation to one side in order to inspect it more closely.

‘I’m glad it did.’

‘What?’

‘I think you’ve probably just found what we were looking for.’ She straightened up. ‘That’s not just any old boulder; it looks like a foundation stone.’

Colin stopped hopping about. ‘It does? Oh, well in that case I suppose I’ll have to forgive it.’

Further investigation of the area revealed the outline of a substantial building, but apart from a few low, crumbling walls, nothing else remained of Idenhurst.

‘I wonder what happened to it?’ They sat down to rest on a piece of the foundations and Melissa took some bottles of water out of a small rucksack she’d brought. She handed one to Colin and poured some from her bottle into a bowl for Russ, before quenching her own thirst. She closed her eyes against the glare of the sun, and tried to imagine what had occurred here.

‘It must have fallen into disuse.’ Colin stared out over the fields.

‘Hmm. My guess would be that it was razed to the ground during the Civil War, otherwise such a fine house would have survived, surely? Slightly altered or added to through the ages, but not completely gone like this. I’m sure we could find out.’

‘Civil War? But of course!’ Colin hit his forehead with the flat of his palm. ‘That’s where I’d read the name. What an idiot, I should have remembered.’

‘You saw it mentioned in a document about the war?’

‘Yes, an old tome by some eminent local Victorian fellow that I read ages ago. I knew it rang a bell, but I couldn’t for the life of me think where I’d seen it. I’ll look it up again as soon as I get back and photocopy the page for you.’

‘Thanks, Colin. What a shame though, not a single wall remaining. I would have liked to have seen it.’

For a long time they sat in the sunshine, lost in thoughts of the past, before heading back to Ashleigh.

‘Melissa, will you marry me?’ Comfortably ensconced in Jake’s large bed, and half-asleep after their recent love-making, the question caught Melissa completely by surprise.

‘What?’

‘You heard me,’ Jake growled. ‘Damn it, Melissa, I don’t want to sneak around like this. I want to show the world we’re together.’ She had begged him to keep their liaison a secret until she was sure of her feelings, and so far he had kept his word. ‘I want to tell the girls about us, although from the strange looks I’ve been receiving recently I think they already suspect something’s going on.’ He lifted himself up on one elbow to look down on her. ‘Melissa, I love you. Can’t we at least become engaged?’

As she gazed into his blue eyes, Melissa knew he wouldn’t lie to her. Not voluntarily. But how could she be sure he wasn’t being prompted by Roger? It was true the ghost hadn’t intruded on their love-making recently, but she could still sense his presence. Roger hadn’t gone away and he was still haunting her dreams. He wouldn’t leave until he had accomplished his goal. Whatever that was.

‘Do you really love me, Jake? How can you be sure Roger isn’t putting the words in your mouth?’ The misery in her voice made him slam his fist into the headboard, and she could see him clench his jaw to stop from shouting his frustration out loud.