Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall (16 page)

“Very well. And Mrs. Leah?”

“She has known Mr. Mason for longer than
I have. She was a maid at Thornfield Hall when Mr. Rochester was still married
to Bertha Mason. I do not know of their dealings or relationship, but there may
be issues of which I am not aware. She naturally has, as do all the servants,
direct access to arsenic powder that we use for the rodents. It seems to me
that she has no motive or anything to gain.”

“Fred?”

“Fred is new at Eyre Hall. I believe he
hardly knows Mr. Mason. I cannot think of any way he could benefit from or wish
for his death.”

“The young girls?”

“They are lively, hard–working, and
church–going young girls. I cannot imagine why they would wish to see Mr. Mason
dead.”

“It would seem we have no suspects.” He
sighed. “We must be overlooking something, Mrs. Mason.”

 “Could it have been accident?”

“It could. There have been many
incidents of arsenic poisoning of whole families, who mistook arsenic for
flour, baking powder, or even sugar, due to its similar aspect. However, no one
else has been affected and I presume you all ate the same food?”

“Yes, we all had chicken broth and roast
ham. Cook had made plum pudding which he did not care to eat, saying he was
feeling unsettled.”

“So it was probably the soup. Did you
all eat the soup?”

“Yes, it was delicious.”

“Who served it?”

“Simon and Beth always serve dinner when
there are guests at Eyre Hall.”

“So, it comes back to Simon, again.”

“Richard asked Simon to take up his
brandy when he retired because he said he was unwell.”

“And he left straight after, in the
middle of a snow storm.” He shook his head. “I also find it hard to imagine
Simon carrying out such a crime, Mrs. Mason, but you must agree that his name
keeps cropping up suspiciously in our investigation.”

 I nodded.

“Where is Michael, may I ask? Is he
still at the inn? Was he not at Eyre Hall yesterday?”

“Michael is in London, on business.”

“In London?” he repeated, surprised.
“Another coincidence,” he said quietly, as if he were speaking to himself. He
scratched Michael’s name on the page with the other names and added the words,
‘In London’ and a question mark.

Could Michael have convinced Simon to be
his accomplice in the murder as Dr. Carter was suggesting? Michael had plenty
of reasons to hate Mason, and to wish him dead. He could have manipulated
Simon, but would he risk the noose? Would he have planned it without telling me
about it? I knew Michael had a darker side, which was capable of killing in
order to survive and protect his loved ones, but would he have planned
Richard’s death in cold blood and enlisted Simon’s help? I knew it was not
possible.

“I am convinced that Michael had nothing
to do with Richard’s death. I would stake my life on it, Dr. Carter.”

He looked at me for a long time without
replying. He was obviously not convinced, but he was wise enough not to
contradict me. Michael was understandably his main suspect, and in spite of my
words, I was terrified that Dr. Carter might be right.

“Well, Mrs. Mason, I will take the list
with me and ponder on our conversation. I will be back tomorrow evening. I should
like to speak to Simon as soon as he returns.”

As he stood to leave, I asked him one
last question. “Dr. Carter, once we have discovered the murderer, what will
happen?”

“That will depend. If we were to inform
the constable, there would be a great and unnecessary scandal. On the other
hand, we could think of a suitable punishment, which could involve voluntary
transportation to Australia, for example. Let us find the culprits first.” 

When he left I felt drained and
confused. I dreaded the thought of Michael in a jail waiting for a public
execution, or being deported to Australia, which would be even worse. He would
be alive but so far from me that I would never see him again. I looked out of
the window to the vastness of the immaculate snow and prayed that he had not
committed such a reckless act.  

***

I tried in vain to contain my anger as I
approached the servants’ quarters at Eyre Hall. Daisy was helping cook on the
stove while Beth and Simon prepared the trays of food to be carried upstairs to
the drawing room for the mourners. I bid them all good morning. They stopped
their work and welcomed me warmly, offering me food and drink, which I turned
down. They told me how upset they all were with Mr. Mason’s sudden death, and complained
about the endless stream of visitors to the house.

I approached Jenny who was sewing by the
kitchen window. “I would like a word with you, Jenny.”

“Well, good morning, Lieutenant. ‘Tis a
good day for you, ain’t it?”

“Now. In private.”

“My, is it my lucky day today, too?”

I grabbed her arm, squeezing tightly enough
to hurt her.

She smiled. “Want it rough do you?” I
pulled her out of the kitchen and down the stairs to the scullery, in the
basement, where I knew we would not be heard. She rushed to the corner behind a
table laden with scrubbing brushes, next to some shelves where the bottles of
soap were kept.

“What do you want? Keep away. You’re
frightening me!” I ducked as she threw some bottles across the room.

“I only want to talk to you.”

When she had run out of bottles to
throw, I continued. “I have been to London to visit a lady who calls herself
Mrs. Banks.”

She screamed, threw a brush at me, and
tried to rush to the door, but I caught her.

“Let go! You’ll break my arm! You brute!”

“I shall break more than your arm if I
have to.”

“I ain’t done nothing wrong. I did what
they told me.”

 “Sit and listen.” I pushed her onto a
discarded wicker rocking chair behind the door.

“Are you going to hurt me?”

“That will be up to you.”

“What do you want?”

 “Nell is not your daughter, and you know
it. You knew who her mother was, and you kept her.”

“I was hired as wet nurse and then told
to take her to London and leave her there. I didn’t ask no questions.”

“Your daughter died in London, not
Jane’s.”

“I looked after Nell! They didn’t want
her!”

“A fine way of looking after her! You
barely fed her, and had her working all day in the fields as a scarecrow!”

“It was their fault my baby died. If I
hadn’t of gone to London she wouldn’t of died. I’d already lost my little boy
when I went to Jamaica with Richard, after Annette was born. They took my two
babies away!”

“You went to Jamaica with Annette and
Mason?”

“When the madwoman had the baby, they
needed a wet nurse, so he took me with him to Jamaica. I had a little boy, but
I left him behind with my husband. When I came back, they had both died. I had
nothing. I lost everything I had because of them. They used me and threw me
out. I had to work at the hotel in Millcote. That’s when I started selling
myself. I met Mr. Rosset, and I had Thomas, but Rosset left me too. I went back
to the hotel, and I had Nell. Dr. Carter called me again, ’cos they wanted a
wet nurse for Jane’s baby. So I took them both to London and my poor Nell died.
They didn’t want Jane’s baby, so I kept her. They owed it to me!”

“Jane has been looking for her daughter
for ten years! She would have lived like a princess.”   

“I did my best. I asked Susan to teach
her to read, didn’t I?”

“She should have been at school all day,
not working in a field.”

“Well, she’s all right now, ain’t she?”

“You and Thomas have been abusing and
beating her.”

“She’s changed since we came here.
Thinks she’s better than us!”

“Make no mistake, she is better than
you. She’s Jane’s daughter. Her real name is Helen Eyre Rochester, and she is
entitled to her birthright. Don’t you dare put a single finger on her again or
I’ll make sure it’s the last thing you ever do.”

“So, she’s worth a lot of money now, is
she?”

I watched her face spin and felt her cheekbone
splinter as my fist hit her face.

“Pity you had to fall down the stairs. A
person could easily break a leg or even their back in such a fall.”

She brushed the blood away from her face
with her sleeves. “What do you want?”

“You will leave Eyre Hall.”

“I was planning to leave Eyre Hall
anyway. I was only here ’cos Richard wanted me here. She killed him, didn’t
she? Or perhaps you both did.”

I wondered how much she knew about
Mason’s death. Probably more than I did, and the way in which she could put
that knowledge to use worried me. The thought had crossed my mind that Jane
would have precipitated his death out of desperation or fear.

“What do you know about his death?”

“I know he was healthy enough to spend
the night with me and Beth and Christy the day before he died. Who else would
want to kill him? You and her. You wasn’t here, so that leaves her, don’t it?
Unless you planned it together of course.” 

“Don’t you dare accuse Mrs. Mason of a
criminal act!”

“No need to worry, Michael. She’s got it
all under control. Bought that new Dr. Carter who said it was a natural death.”
She laughed mockingly. I was relieved that Dr. Carter was on her side, but
concerned about the mysterious death. At least I knew that Jenny only had
unproven suspicions.

“What were you doing in his room the
evening he died?”

She smiled. “What I always do in his
room, please him.”

“He was dead when you went in.”

“How do you know that?” She looked
genuinely surprised, so perhaps she had not even noticed.

“What were you doing in his room?”

“He’d been sick and he stunk, so I
didn’t go anywhere near him. I thought he was sleeping, so I left.”

“What were you carrying under your arm?”

Shock crossed her face once more.

“Did you kill him? Perhaps to rob him?”

“No! I told you; I thought he was
sleeping. I took some money and some jewels. He had lots of stuff, good stuff.
He liked me to wear it and pretend I was a lady. Anyway, he don’t need it now,
does he?”

“That makes you look very guilty, Jenny.
Theft and murder. You could be hanged.”

“I ain’t never killed no one!”

“You will leave, and Thomas will leave
with you. You will both move far away from the Rochester Estate.”

“Ain’t got no objection, but I need to
find him a job first.”

I gave her the papers I had collected at
the Colonial Office in London.

“Mrs. Mason will give you and your son
the money to start a new life in the new colony, Australia.”

“What?”

“You will have your passage and a plot
of land. You will have to work to build your house. You are still young.
Perhaps you will be able to marry and settle down in your own home with your
son.”

“Australia. That’s at the end of the
world!”

“It’s far enough from Eyre Hall so that
you will never return. It is eight months of sea travel.”

“You’re mad if you think I’m going to
Australia. She can have the ungrateful bitch back if she wants her, but she’ll
have to pay for her, and I want a pretty sum, so I’ll start a new life right
here, in Millcote.”

I was having a hard time controlling the
beast in me who wanted to twist her neck until I heard it crack; instead, I
twisted her arm until just before I thought it would break. I waited for her to
stop screaming before speaking.

“You haven’t understood me at all. Mrs.
Mason will pay for your passage and expenses to Australia, and she will look
after your daughter because you are a most inadequate and violent mother. That
is all she knows.”

“And when are you going to tell Mrs.
Mason that her servant is her daughter? And when are you going to tell Nell
that her mother employs her as a servant?”

“For the moment it will be our secret.
I’ll decide when they should know the truth.”

“And you’ll have to tell poor little
Nell that they didn’t want her and gave her away when she was born, won’t you?”

“Mrs. Mason was tricked into believing Nell
was stillborn, and Mr. Rochester disposed of her, with the help of Dr. Carter.”

“Is that what she told you? How do you
know it’s true?”

“We both know it’s true, Jenny.”

 “And if I don’t want to go to Australia?”

“You may well end up in Australia
anyway, but as a penniless convict. Child theft and child abuse are serious
crimes, not to mention robbery and murder. I’ll make sure Mrs. Mason is angry
enough to have you convicted in a court of law.”

“I’ll have to think about it.”

“Or you may be found at the bottom of a
ditch on any moonless night.”

“What has she done to you, Michael?
You’ve become a ruthless murderer. You was an innocent when I met you.”

“I was not innocent, Jenny. I was
inexperienced. I am not ruthless. I do not steal, beat, abuse little girls, or
threaten virtuous people, but I will kill you if I have to, so sign these papers.
I’ll take care of the rest.”

She signed, of course. “Make no mistake,
Jenny, you have made the correct choice to guarantee your wellbeing, and your
son’s.”

“When am I leaving?”

“You shall sail from Liverpool docks on
the 15
^th
of January.”

“That’s too soon! It’s in a week’s time.
Can I write Nell a letter? You could give it to her, when you tell her. I don’t
want her to hate me or Thomas, and it was you who taught me how to read and
write, don’t you remember?”

“Write it if you like, but I promise
nothing.”

I returned to the kitchen. Cook was
still baking cakes and Daisy was washing the dishes. I walked up the stairs
with Beth and Simon who were taking the trays to the drawing room. I asked Simon
where Mrs. Mason was, and my spirits rose when he answered that she was in the
library with Nell. Before I could open the door, a young valet approached.

“Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?”

“Could you tell Mrs. Mason that Lieutenant
Kirkpatrick would like to see her?”

“I’m afraid she has asked not to be
disturbed unless it was very important.”

I realised that he was doing the job I
used to do, looking after Jane, making sure she was not unduly disturbed,
catering for her needs, and I felt jealous of this man who was now so close to
her.

“You are new here, are you not?”

“Yes, sir. I am Fred, sir, and I beg
your pardon sir, but Mrs. Mason cannot see you. Would you like to wait with the
other guests in the drawing room?”

“Fred, I assure you Mrs. Mason considers
my visit very important.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I haven’t been
informed.”

“You are being informed now. Will you
announce me?”

He was still hesitating, wondering
whether it would displease his new employer to allow my visit or to turn me
away. I saw Simon leaving the drawing room with an empty tray.

“Simon,” I called. “Would you tell Fred
that Mrs. Mason would not like me to be turned away?”

“She’ll have your guts for garters if
you turn Michael away, Fred! Mark my words.”   

“Well, Fred?”

As he opened the door, I said “Good
decision, Fred,” but I did not like the icy look he shot me.

***

Only a day after Richard’s death, Eyre
Hall was bursting with visitors offering their condolences, eating cold meat
and pate voraciously, and drinking punch as if it were a scorching summer’s
day. After acknowledging their presence and customary words of sympathy, I had
excused myself and retired to the library with Nell. We had just had a light
lunch, and Nell was reading the final chapter of
Persuasion
. I was not
very fond of Jane Austen; her heroines were too concerned with finding a
suitable husband, and not with finding their vocation and making the world a
better place. However, I was prepared to humour Nell with a lighter novel,
after the dramatic events in the previous novel we had read,
Silas Marner. 

I had instructed Fred, our new valet,
that we should not be disturbed on any account for the next few hours, so I was
pleasantly surprised when he interrupted our reading to announce Michael’s arrival.
Nell threw the book on the floor and flew to the door, stumbling into his arms.

“How’s your cough, Nell?” he asked as he
pressed a kiss on her cheek.

“Much better, Michael! Dr. Carter told
me to gargle hot lemon juice and he gave me a cough syrup and I got well ever
so quickly!” She spoke enthusiastically as Michael laughed.

“Nell, your manners. Refrain from
shouting. We are in mourning. Whatever will the guests think?” I smiled as I
chastised her.