Yew Tree Gardens (20 page)

As sleep tugged at her eyelids, she let them close, just for a minute …

Gil packed his bag and went down for an early breakfast. He ate quickly and went to the desk, where a clerk was just starting the day. ‘As I said yesterday, I wish to leave early. Have you got my bill ready?’

The man fumbled through the contents of a drawer with narrow compartments but found nothing. ‘Did you arrange for an early departure, sir?’ 

‘Of course I did. Isn’t it ready?’

‘I’m sorry. Your bill must have gone astray. It won’t take me a minute to write out a new one, sir.’

When that was done, Gil asked them to call his chauffeur and send someone to bring down his luggage, before moving to wait outside the front door.

Horry brought the car round and Gil was escorted out to it by the doorman, who opened the front door of the car with a flourish, accepted his tip with a touch of his hat, and helped load the luggage. There was no sign of the manager.

Not until the car had pulled away did Gil glance into the back, expecting to see Renie looking at him.

‘She’s asleep, sir, still lying down under the blanket,’ Horry whispered. ‘She was exhausted, poor thing.’

‘I’m rather tired, myself. I didn’t get much sleep.’

‘If you can doze off sitting upright, you go ahead and do it. I know my way back.’

As he closed his eyes and wriggled in a vain attempt to get more comfortable, Gil wondered if Judson would guess he’d been involved in helping Renie escape. He hoped not. But too bad if he did. Gil intended to make sure no one hurt her again.

The bitch had gone to ground. Someone must be sheltering her, only if they were, it wasn’t immediately obvious which room she’d gone to.

Judson gave up the hunt because his face was hurting and blood was still trickling down his cheek. He pressed his handkerchief over the cut and groaned as he entered his suite.

He went into the bathroom and gasped as he saw what she’d done. Not only deep but long, the cut ran from his
forehead down his cheek. That eye was closed and puffy, and he could see nothing out of it.

Rage filled him, but he didn’t let it loose, because it was obvious he had to get help for his injuries.

How to explain this? He looked round the room, picked up his shaving mirror and smashed it on the ground. Then he took his handkerchief away from his face and smeared blood on the ground nearby. More blood dripped down as he worked.

He still couldn’t see anything out of that eye. It must be because it was so swollen.

He went to get a clean handkerchief then stumbled out to the lift and rode down to the foyer.

The watchman stood up as he stumbled forward, feeling dizzy now.

‘I’ve had an accident, cut my face. There’s a doctor in number fifteen. Wake him up and ask if he’ll see me. I’ll be in my office.’

The doctor arrived, wearing a dressing gown. He sucked in a breath of shock as he examined the eye. ‘You need specialist help for this. You may have injured your eyeball.’

‘I’m not going to hospital.’

‘But I’m not qualified to treat eyes!’

‘Damn you, clean up the cut and I’ll cover it with a patch. I’ll be all right.’

The doctor drew himself up. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t reconcile it with my conscience to do that. You need specialist help if you’re to save the sight in that eye.’

Judson stilled. ‘
Save the sight?
Is it that bad?’

‘I’m afraid so.’

‘If that bitch has blinded me, I’ll make sure she pays for it.’ 

The doctor stared at him in shock. ‘A woman did this to you? But you said you’d fallen.’ Then his eyes narrowed. ‘Why would anyone do that?’

‘Never you mind.’

The doctor stepped away from him. ‘I can’t help you. You really do need to go to a hospital.’

Judson watched him go, then yanked the bell pull. He’d better keep his mouth shut about her doing this.

‘Get me a cab. I need to go to hospital.’ The room seemed to be wavering round him. ‘Don’t … disturb guests.’

He didn’t regain consciousness fully till he was lying on a hospital bed.

They told him they’d have to operate, remove the injured eye, which was too badly slashed to save.

His last thought as the anaesthetic took effect was: once he recovered, he’d make sure she paid for it, by hell he would. 

Gil woke before Renie did, not sure where he was for a minute. Oh yes, in the car. Going home. Good.

‘She hasn’t stirred,’ Horry said quietly.

Not until they were almost at Oakdene did sounds from the back seat indicate that Renie was waking up.

‘Is it safe to sit up?’ she asked in a whisper. ‘Are we out of sight of the hotel?’

Gil laughed. ‘We’re nearly at Oakdene. You’ve been asleep for hours. It’s quite safe to sit up.’

He turned to see her staring round, hair tousled, face bruised. Something twisted in his heart at the sight of the bruise, the thought of Judson hurting her. And at that moment he admitted to himself that he loved her.

It surprised him – and yet, didn’t really surprise him. She was very easy to love.

She returned his smile shyly. ‘Sorry for falling asleep.’

‘Why be sorry? It was the best thing you could do.’

‘I haven’t been sleeping well lately.’

‘I’m not surprised. But you’ll be quite safe at Oakdene, I promise you.’

When they arrived, she kept the blanket round her shoulders as she got out of the car, to hide her torn blouse.

But it was her face he was looking at. He touched it gently with one fingertip. ‘Oh, my dear girl, that bruise and swelling must hurt.’

‘It’s not too bad, but it must look awful.’ She gave him a wobbly smile. ‘Judson didn’t get what he wanted. I fought him off and then you saved me. I wonder who packed my case?’

‘An older woman, thin, that’s all I could see.’

‘It must have been Miss Pilkins. But I don’t understand, because it was she who wrote the note that sent me down to the cellars.’

‘
She did what?
’

Renie explained.

‘I can’t believe any woman would do that to another.’

‘He must have threatened to dismiss her. She’s the sole support of her invalid mother.’

‘Even so. Anyway, let’s forget about her for the moment. Come inside and meet everyone.’

He led the way into the kitchen and introduced her to the servants, saying quite openly, ‘Miss Fuller was attacked last night in London, but she managed to fight off her attacker and escape. I’m sure you’ll all want to help her.’

There were gasps, then Lizzie came and put an arm round Renie, drawing her towards the warmth of the stove. ‘You poor thing! Would you like a bath first? If you’ve been sleeping in those clothes, you must feel all itsy-twitsy.’

Gil smiled. He loved Lizzie’s made-up words.

Renie held out one hand to the warmth. ‘I’d love a bath, if it’s not too much trouble.’ 

‘She can use the blue bedroom,’ Gil said, making it clear she was a guest, not another servant.

Lizzie nodded. ‘Do you have some clean clothes, Miss Fuller, or would you like to borrow some of mine? Though they’ll drown you, because I’m much taller.’

‘I have some clothes.’

Horry came in just then with her suitcase and Lizzie swept her upstairs.

It wasn’t proper for a man to intervene, so Gil could only watch them go.

Madge Hilton set the stove to burn more quickly and heat the water, then looked across at him. ‘You keep saving people, don’t you?’

He smiled back. ‘I’ve saved this one for myself, I hope.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘She must be special.’

‘Very special. I’ve met her a time or two in London.’ Thus, casually, he’d also ensured Renie a permanent place in the household, if she chose to accept it, and the respect of the other people who lived and worked there.

Now, all he had left to do was make sure Renie accepted his proposal. He thought she might, hoped she would. Not for the convenience of the arrangement, but because she liked him too. He was fairly sure of that.

He realised he was smiling foolishly and Madge was still watching him indulgently.

The words were out before he could stop them. ‘I love her.’

Madge came and plonked an unexpected kiss on his cheek. ‘About time you found someone.’

Renie let Lizzie and a younger maid bring up ewers of water, then they left her to take a bath in front of the fire like a lady, 
with a screen to hide her from view. She was still tired, but oh, it was wonderful to feel safe and lie in a tub of warm water.

She dipped the facecloth in the water and held it to her bruised face, murmuring at the comfort of that. The other women hadn’t commented on the bruises. She hoped Gil would tell them what had happened. She didn’t want to have to explain it to strangers, even kind ones.

Suddenly she realised she was ravenous, so didn’t linger any longer in the water. When she’d dried herself on the big, soft towel, she wrapped it round her and checked the contents of the case someone had packed for her, looking for the most important thing of all, her savings bank book. Her heart pounded with panic when she didn’t find it at first.

Calm down and check properly!
she told herself, and started again.

They must have packed it in a hurry because things had been crammed in anyhow, all her decent clothes and the contents of her bedside drawers, though none of the things from her trunk in the attic. She could manage quite well on these and could buy others if only she had her bank book.

And then there it was, tangled in her nightdress. ‘Oh, thank goodness!’

She finished getting dressed and lingered for a moment or two, staring at her bruised face in the mirror. She felt a bit shy of going downstairs. The house was so beautiful. How could a gentleman who was the owner of all this want to marry her? Only … the gentleman was Gil and he was like no one else she’d met before, not because of his arm but because of his kindness.

Perhaps he’d changed his mind about marrying her. He 
probably had, so she wouldn’t say anything more about it until he spoke again.

But she could hope, couldn’t she?

There was a knock on her door, and when she called to come in, Lizzie appeared again.

‘Is there anything else you need, Miss Fuller?’

‘No, thank you. My clothes are a bit crumpled but at least I feel clean and decent again.’

‘Whoever attacked you must have thumped you hard. I hope you hit him back.’

Renie hesitated then decided on the truth. ‘He was much bigger than me. All I had was a piece of broken glass, so I sliced his face for him.’ She shuddered at that memory.

‘Good for you, miss. Serves him right. Now, can I call Beth in? She’s Mr Rycroft’s niece and she’s six, nearly seven. She’s dying to meet you. We don’t get many visitors here.’

‘I’d love to meet her, too. Gil’s told me about her.’

Beth mustn’t have been far away because she was with them in a minute, standing shyly by Lizzie’s side, staring at the visitor. ‘Did you fall over?’

‘A nasty man hit her,’ Lizzie said before Renie could reply. ‘So don’t you ever talk to strangers, as I keep telling you, young lady.’ She smiled at Renie. ‘She’d talk to the moon if it said hello, this one would.’

‘I’m sorry you’re hurt, Miss Fuller,’ Beth said. ‘I hope your face gets better soon.’

Her concern warmed Renie. ‘I’m sure it will.’

‘Let’s go down now and have something to eat,’ Lizzie said briskly. ‘We have high tea here, miss, not dinner.’

Renie looked at the tub of dirty water. ‘I need to clear this up first.’ 

‘Bless you, we’ll do that. It’s our job, after all. You let Beth take you down to the dining room and I’ll make a start here. Oh! Shall I throw the blouse away? I don’t think it’s worth mending.’

‘I never want to see it again.’

Beth slipped her hand in Renie’s and tugged, so they went downstairs together.

The child said nothing, but she didn’t let go. It was comforting, that little warm hand was. Like Lizzie’s kindness.

In the sitting room, Gil was waiting for them, standing in front of a cheerful fire, even though the day wasn’t cold.

Horry was reading a newspaper, but he put this down when he saw Renie. A much older man, who was sitting in an armchair staring into the flames, turned to give her a smile and she remembered meeting him in London a while ago. There was also an older lady, who was the governess.

They all went into the breakfast room and a maid brought in the food. Gil took the trouble of introducing the cheerful young girl as Dolly. Most people wouldn’t have bothered to do that.

Everyone filled their plate and there was mainly silence as they ate.

‘That’s a wonderful apple pie,’ Renie said, when she’d finished the dessert.

‘The apples were grown in our own garden,’ Walter told her. ‘An old-fashioned type of tree, the fruit’s a bit tart, but perfect for cooking.’

Renie didn’t talk as much as the others, but she listened carefully to everything they said.

She especially enjoyed listening to the bright-eyed child, who was chatting to Gil about her day. No one told Beth 
to be quiet, as some families did when they brought their children to the hotel. How different that was from Renie’s father, who had been such a bully she and her sisters had hardly dared open their mouths at table.

Gil didn’t talk as much as the others, but every time Renie caught his eye, she saw his face soften into a smile. She couldn’t help smiling back, even though it hurt her face. After one horrified glance sideways, she avoided looking in the big mirror over the fireplace.

After the meal was finished, the governess took the child away, waiting for Beth to give everyone a kiss, Renie included.

They began to chat about what Gil had found out in London. She hadn’t thought a man with money would have problems that were hard to solve, but he did. Life was never perfect, was it?

It was only when someone touched her arm gently that Renie realised she’d nodded off.

‘I’m sorry. How rude of me!’

‘Nonsense,’ said Walter. ‘You’re exhausted, lass. Anyone would be after what you’ve gone through. And Gil’s been trying to hide his yawns as well. Why don’t we all have an early night?’

‘Good idea.’ Gil stood up. ‘I’ll walk you up to your bedroom, Renie.’

Renie ran her fingers lightly up the banister rail as they walked up the stairs. ‘I really like your house.’

‘So do I. It was left to me by a very kind lady and it brought me out of an unhappy time after my accident.’

‘I think your niece is lovely, too. She’s a proper little chatterbox, isn’t she?’

‘Nowadays she is. When she came here at first, after losing her family, she was very quiet.’

At her bedroom door, he stepped back. ‘Here we are. I hope you sleep well, Renie. There’s a key on your side of the door, in case you feel nervous in a strange house.’ He hesitated, then stepped forward to kiss her cheek. ‘I haven’t changed my mind about us getting married, in case you’re worrying.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Very. Especially now I’ve seen you with Beth and the others. You’ll fit in well here.’

‘That’s easy to do. They’re all so kind.’ She raised one hand to touch his cheek, then felt shy of even this tiny intimacy and let it fall again. ‘Good night.’

When she’d closed the door, she did lock it, but didn’t move away. Leaning against it, she stared round the beautiful room. She felt as if she’d come to live in paradise.

And he hadn’t changed his mind.

Could life really be so wonderful?

In London, the hotel staff were astonished to hear that Mr Judson had had a bad accident and had to be rushed to hospital. No one believed he’d fallen and cut himself on the shaving mirror because the maid who’d cleared it up said there were no long shards.

So how had he got hurt?

However it had happened, no one felt sorry for him. He was a nasty fellow, that one, not only the way he treated women members of staff, but the way he treated everyone. And no one had seen Irene this morning, had they?

It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.

Good for her if she’d hurt him. 

Miss Pilkins had been trying desperately to continue working as usual. She hadn’t told anyone that Renie had left permanently and wasn’t sure how to do that. But when the news about Judson broke, she could stand her own guilt no longer.

She knocked on Mrs Tolson’s office door, didn’t wait for an answer and nearly fell into the room. ‘It’s all my fault. I’ve done something dreadful.’ She burst into tears, unable to hold her feelings back any longer.

‘I was hoping you’d come and see me. Sit down and tell me about it.’

‘I betrayed Irene, let that brute trap her and—’ She couldn’t speak for sobbing, rocking to and fro, sure that any decent woman would hate her, sure that she’d lose her job.

It was a while before she could calm down enough to explain the events of the night and Judson’s threats not only to her job, but to her invalid mother’s safety. She sat mopping her eyes, waiting to be dismissed.

‘Irene must have stabbed him,’ Mrs Tolson said, thinking it through. ‘I thought he couldn’t have caused so much damage with a shaving mirror. I hope she wasn’t badly hurt.’

‘She was well enough to run away. How bad is his injury?’

‘The doctor staying at the hotel was worried he might lose the sight in one eye, insisted on him going to hospital.’

‘Judson deserved all he got. He’s a horrible man.’ Another sob escaped Miss Pilkins and she mopped her eyes again. ‘But he’ll sack me when he comes back, I know he will.’

‘Calm down, my dear. You’re not going to lose your job, though I hope you’ll learn from this and never, ever let anyone bully you into doing wrong again. Where do you suppose Irene went?’

‘To that nice Mr Rycroft in number eight. I crept along the corridor after Judson had gone to his room and that was the only room where people were talking. If I didn’t have such good hearing, I’d not have heard them myself. So I packed her things in a suitcase and took it to his room. I didn’t see her. I just gave it him and ran.’

‘So she’s got her things? Good. Now, let me think what to do next.’

After a few moments, during which Miss Pilkins alternately sniffled and looked at her hopefully, she said, ‘I think I’d better go down to Brighton and consult Mr and Mrs Carling about Judson. They’ll understand what to do in this situation better than their son will, because they went through some hard times before they made their fortune. They’ll want us to keep this whole affair quiet, for the sake of the hotel’s reputation, so I’m afraid he’ll get away with it.’