Silent On The Moor Part 25

Hilda shook her head. "Years ago, before he left for Egypt. Probably when he unrolled the mummy. I imagine it was thrown back in the storeroom after that. I told you, I was not permitted to touch his things," she said coldly.

"I understand. Thank you," I said, giving her a cordial nod. I walked around her then to the moor gate.

"Why do you care?" she called after me. "Let the dead bury the dead, or haven't you heard that?"

I turned. "Yes, but I find they so often don't."

It was a cool, grey morning, the air freshening over the moor, the sort of weather that might burn away into glorious sunshine by noon, or might just as easily turn to lowering skies and thick, black clouds. Still, I hoped it would hold as I wished to speak with Valerius before I ventured out to Rosalie's cottage. I made my way to the poultry yard to speak with my brother.

"Valerius!" I cried over the din of his hammering. He waved and dropped his hammer, barely missing his foot. His face was grimy with dust from the chickens and he looked nearly as disreputable as G.o.dwin usually did.

"I was hoping to speak with you and Portia," he said. "I thought I could tell you both at the same time, but I suppose I will have to face you down separately."

He looked serious, sober even, and I put out a hand. "Val, what is it? Are you ill?"

He smiled and linked his arm with mine, a rare gesture of affection. "No, I wanted to talk to you about Miss Hilda."

I gave him a little pat. "Excellent. I came to discuss that very subject. I thought to give you a word of warning."

His expression sobered. "Julia, I must stop you there, for I will hear no word against her. I have quite made up my mind. I mean to ask Miss Hilda to marry me."

"Are you quite mad?" I asked, pulling my arm from his. "Val, you cannot. You hardly know the girl."

"I know her well enough," he countered roundly. "I know her character. She is honest, as honest as the earth. She has a good mind and-I know you will not believe it-but she can be quite funny at times."

"And this is your basis for marriage? The most important decision you will ever make," I argued.

His colour rose a little. "I can think of worse reasons to marry," he said. If his words p.r.i.c.ked like thorns, I believe it was unintentional.

I stared at the toes of my boots, torn. "I feel I ought to counsel you, to point out that marriage ought to be based on sounder reasons than those you offer."

"Why don't you then?" he asked.

"Because I am a fool. I know property and family and common interests are supposed to be the pillars of a good match, but I cannot preach to you what I do not believe myself. I married for security and look what became of me. I was the Mistletoe Bough bride."

Valerius' warm hand closed over mine. "I am glad you understand."

"I did not say that," I warned him. "In fact, I object, strenuously, for the opposite reason. Val, you cannot take a wife so dispa.s.sionately, as if you were ordering soup from a menu. Life is far too long to spend it shackled with someone who does not-"

I broke off and looked away, suddenly embarra.s.sed. He prodded me. "Someone who does not?"

"Someone who does not rouse your pa.s.sions," I said in a burst of bravado. "Tepid affection or an overdeveloped sense of chivalry are no proper reasons for marriage. Surely you must see that."

He turned to me, mouth agape. "Chivalry? You think I mean to rescue her?"

"Of course you do. What other reason could there possibly be? Valerius, I have seen the dancers you admire. I know your tastes well enough. If you have ever kissed a girl who was not tiny and brunette and buxom, I will eat my basket."

His cheeks wore a painful flush. "Bellmont was right about you. Your a.s.sociation with Brisbane has coa.r.s.ened you. I cannot believe you would notice such things, much less speak of them."

"Why?" I demanded. "Because I am a woman? What hypocrites you men are! You and Bellmont could happily spend an entire evening judging the opera chorus like a pair of horse dealers, and yet I am vulgar because I am willing to speak of what you ought to know well enough. For G.o.d's sake, Valerius, you have studied medicine! If you do not appreciate the fact that women have pa.s.sions as well as you, then you are not fit to treat them."

He swallowed hard, his jaw set. "This discussion has become both uncomfortable and unprofitable. I see no need to prolong it. I intend to offer my hand to Hilda Allenby."

He turned on his heel and left me then, scattering chickens as he went. I hurried out onto the moor in a bad temper, an incipient headache lurking as I walked, hoping my interview with Rosalie would be more productive than either of my previous conversations.

As I drew nearer, I could hear a thin thread of violin music reaching out over the waving gra.s.ses of the moorland. It was a Gypsy tune, quick and lively, beckoning me onward. When I reached the wicket gate, Rosalie threw open the door, rosy and smiling.

"Lady, come and meet my husband!" I handed her the basket with my compliments, and she thanked me. She stepped back and I entered the cottage. Standing in front of the window was a Gypsy man of middling height, wiry and dark, with dancing black eyes and handsome features. There was a sharp intelligence in his eyes, and even a touch of flirtation as he drew his bow across the violin on one last, dancing note.

He was dressed in traditional Roma garb, with breeches tucked into soft leather boots to the knee, his shirt gaily patterned with checks and a scarlet handkerchief tied neatly about his neck. He wore a waistcoat, b.u.t.toned to show off his trim waist, and he sported a pair of handsome, lush moustaches, liberally oiled.

When he saw me, he doffed his flat cap and swept a courtly bow. "Good day to you, my lady. I am John-the-Baptist Smith."

I smiled and extended my hand. "How do you do? I am Lady Julia Grey."

He smiled back at me, his teeth flashing beautifully white against his olive skin. "Oh, I know you, lady. My Rosalie tells me all."

"Indeed? Then I shall be glad I have confessed to no crimes," I said lightly.

Rosalie did not laugh, but her husband roared, slapping his knees. "Tea, Rosalie love," he called, and she moved to put the kettle on.

"You should take Rook for a walk on the moor," she told him when she had done. "He returned yesterday, and he is pining for some attention. The tea will be ready when you return."

It was subtly done, but both John-the-Baptist and I knew it was an order, not a request. It amused me to find that Rosalie wielded such power in their relationship, but as John-the-Baptist took down his coat and whistled for the dog, I realised it was probably only because he permitted it.

"A singular fellow," I commented when he had gone. "And a likeable one."

"Indeed" was her only reply.

"It is a rare man who would consent to have a wife he could see only once or twice a year," I said, keeping my tone casual.

She shrugged. "Some men would see it as a blessing. No one to nag constantly, no one to spend his money."

"Oh, I don't know. I rather think John-the-Baptist would prefer your presence, don't you?"

She sat then, heavily, and gave me a sigh. It sounded like a breath of surrender, and I knew it was time to ask the questions I wanted answered.

"Why didn't you tell me Sir Alfred Allenby was the man responsible for putting Mariah Young in gaol?"

Rosalie's face had settled into lines of fatigue, or was it despair? There was something old and tired about her, and for the first time I realised how much of her youthful vigour was an illusion. There were spots on the backs of her hands, just a few, and there seemed to be more silver threads among the black of her hair.

"Yes, the Allenbys and the Youngs have a long history," she said finally. "Our destinies were intertwined long ago, and even now we are not able to break free."

"Of course you could," I said sharply. "Brisbane has only to sell this place and you to go travelling with your husband. No one is keeping you here."

Rosalie laughed, a dry, brittle, mirthless sound. "She does. She keeps me here. I swore an oath to her, and I am bound by it, as firmly as by the strongest iron chains."

"Are you talking about Mariah? Rosalie, she has been dead for thirty years. You owe her nothing. If there ever was a debt or obligation, you have certainly paid it by now."

She shook her head, her expression mournful. "You do not understand. The blood oath is a thing which cannot be broken, must not be broken. I am bound to remain here until it is done."

"Until what is done?" I demanded, my frustration rising. I had had my fill of half truths and enigmatic tales.

But she merely shook her head again, turning her wedding ring round and round on her finger, the slender band of gold mellow in the firelight.

"It was my fault," she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What was your fault?"

"Laudanum." She spoke slowly then, each word delivered painfully, as if being wrenched from her. "She suffered so from the headaches. I wanted her to be free of it. I gave it to her the first time. But she took it so often, too often. And she needed more and more to keep the pain at bay. That last day, she needed it so desperately, and I would not get it for her. We quarrelled, and I told her if she needed it-" She broke off, closing her eyes, her hands fisted in her lap. "I told her if she needed it she would have to steal it herself."

"Oh," I breathed, finally understanding at long last the burden of guilt Rosalie Smith carried upon her shoulders.

She opened her eyes. They were tearless, but full of pain, and I hated myself a little for opening such wounds.

"She was seen, and when they made her turn out her pockets, there it was."

She spread her hands helplessly, and I took one in my own. "Rosalie, it was not your fault. Mariah made her choices, and they were not good ones." I thought for a fleeting moment of Brisbane and his devils, wondering if it was even possible for him to avoid his mother's fate. I tightened my grip on her hand. "Rosalie, what is in the red syrup you gave to Brisbane? Is it poppy?"

She shook her head. "No. I would not give him syrup of poppy. He wanted it, but I knew it would destroy him. It is dangerous, the poppy-the hedge witch's laudanum. I gave him a special mixture of lettuce and skullcap, with a little colouring of beetroot so he would think it made of poppy. It will soothe a headache and induce sleep, but it is not dangerous."

I sagged in my chair, boneless with relief. "Thank G.o.d for that," I murmured. "I threw his out. I thought it was poppy. If you have more, I ought to take it to him."

"He has already been," she told me. The kettle had begun to boil and she rose to prepare the tea, moving slowly, as a woman underwater. "He came this morning to fetch it." She flicked me a sidelong glance. "You are meddlesome, Lady Julia. But from the best motives, I think."

"Of course from the best motives," I snapped. "I do not want anything to happen to him."

She spooned leaves into the teapot and poured in the water. I noticed something else in there as well, a few starry borage flowers. I said nothing. I could use whatever courage I could find, I decided.

"Something has already happened to him," Rosalie said, bringing the pot to the table. "He had a vision this morning, a gruesome one."

I felt a cold p.r.i.c.kle down my neck. I hated to think that my actions had caused Brisbane to suffer, no matter how maddening he could be.

"What sort of vision?" I asked, my voice unnaturally high. But I had already guessed.

"He saw Death, lady. Dressed in black and gliding over the moor, waiting to collect a new soul as the moon waxes full."

Rosalie spoke then with all the theatricality of her people, imbuing each word with horror. She paused to allow the full dread to overcome me, then poured out a cup and pushed it toward me.

Defiantly, I drank it off, scalding and bitter. "Then his visions are singularly useless," I told her. "Death is everywhere."

"Indeed," she said, sipping at her tea, looking markedly more composed than she had a few moments before. "Death is everywhere. I only wonder if you will know him face-to-face," she finished darkly. And then she smiled her slanted, enigmatic Gypsy smile, and I wondered if I liked her quite as much as before.

THE TWENTY-SIXTH CHAPTER.

Fortune, good night;

Smile once more, turn thy wheel.

-William Shakespeare.

King Lear.

As soon as I left Rosalie's cottage, I spied John-the-Baptist returning, Rook hard upon his heels, frisking in the soft heather. John-the-Baptist called a greeting and I paused on the path, waiting for him to join me.

"Tha women's gossip is all finished?" he asked, smiling knowingly.

"Are women ever finished gossiping?" I asked by way of reply. Rook nuzzled my knee and I bent to pet his rough white head.

"The dog likes you. He doesn't usually take to gorgios," John-the-Baptist remarked.

"We are old friends now, Rook and I." I straightened, brushing the dog hairs from my skirts. "You must be very glad to see Rosalie again."

He nodded. "Aye. It's been too many years apart. But there's an end to that."

"You mean to take her with you this time?" I wondered if Rosalie knew that. She seemed perfectly content to remain where she was, mired in guilt and bound by a promise to her dead sister.

"I do," he told me, folding his arms over his chest in a confident gesture I had seen so often upon his nephew. "This business here is done, or it will be soon."

My hand stilled of its own accord. "You know this for a fact?" I wondered then if he had spoken to Brisbane, if perhaps he knew something more of Brisbane's plans than his own aunt did.

"My sister has the sight. She told me this will be the end of things," he said, his brows lowering ominously.

"Ah, yes. When the moon waxes full, I have heard," I returned waspishly.

A small smile played about his lips, nearly hidden by his moustaches. "You do not believe in the sight?"

"Oh, no, I believe. I have seen it often enough to know its power. It would just be helpful if the sight could be more specific," I complained.

John-the-Baptist gave a little snort of laughter, but said nothing.

"You knew Brisbane as a child," I said suddenly, remembering Rosalie's tale of how John-the-Baptist had intervened in a quarrel between Brisbane's parents.

He gave a nod, and the kerchief at his neck fell an inch or so, baring the flesh. I could see a thin white line, the legacy of his interference. It marked him still.

"I taught the boy to sit a horse like a centaur and to play the violin as if it were part of his own arm," he said proudly. "Rosalie and I had no children. The boy was like my own."