A Christmas Courtship (13 page)

Blanche stared at her. ‘What does he say? Who is he, Hannah?’

‘I don’t know who he is, Miss Blanche, but he says that he has something that could be very much to Master Jonathan’s
advantage
, something that could clear his name entirely.’

The stranger was seated by the kitchen fire, his rather dirty hands held out eagerly toward the flames. He was about
twenty-five
years old, thin, with a sly, rather foxy face and unkempt brown hair. His general appearance of foxiness was added to by the color of his eyes, which were so light a brown that they were almost amber. He wore a boxcoat of quite good quality, although it was by now at least third or fourth hand, and his heavy boots had been heeled and soled on occasions too numerous to mention. A wide-brimmed, flat-crowned hat lay on the settle beside him, together with his knitted fingerless mittens, and the firelight shone in his eyes as he gazed into the flames. In spite of his thin build, he was nevertheless quite well fed, and was far from being a vagrant, but at the same time he was also very far indeed from being a gentleman.

Jake had placed himself warily by the back door to prevent any thought the man may have had of cutting and running, but there seemed no likelihood of that, for the warmth of the fire was persuasion enough to stay. The stranger rose quickly to his feet as Hannah returned with Blanche and Mr Amberley. His tongue passed nervously over his lower lip, and his glance moved shiftily from one face to the next, coming to rest at last on Blanche’s father.

‘Mr Amberley?’ he asked.

‘I am, and who, precisely, are you, sir?’

‘The name’s Baxter, sir. Sam Baxter.’

‘And what is your purpose?’ Mr Amberley sat down by the kitchen table, holding the other’s gaze.

Sam swallowed, and his tongue passed over his lip again. ‘I-I
have something in my possession that I think you’d dearly like to have, Mr Amberley.’

‘Indeed?’

‘Yes, sir. I’m talking about a certain note from a certain young lady to a certain Lieutenant Amberley of the King’s West Gloucestershire Regiment.’

There was a stunned silence. Hannah’s eyes widened, and Blanche’s hand crept shakily to her throat. The note? Could it possibly be?

Mr Amberley recovered first. ‘May I see the note, Mr Baxter?’

‘Begging your pardon, sir, but I’m not fool enough to have brought it with me, it’s too valuable to me for that.’

Mr Amberley raised a cynical eyebrow. ‘From which remark I take it that your reason for coming here has nothing to do with benevolence and a desire to see justice done.’

‘I’m not a wealthy man, sir, as you can see, and I have to take what chances I can. Like I said, I have the note, but not with me. I know what it says, though. It says,
“J, I must see you without delay in the silver room, I need to see you, D.”’
He rattled off the
all-important
words without pause, running them together
expressionlessly
.

Mr Amberley looked quickly at Blanche. ‘Are those the words Jonathan related to you?’

‘Yes, Father.’

Mr Amberley was silent for a moment, and then returned his attention to Sam. ‘Mr Baxter, before we proceed any further, may I ask you how you came to possess this note?’

‘Does it matter?’ Sam’s foxy eyes slid furtively away.

‘I wish to know.’

‘I’m stepping out with Miss Jennings’s maid, Betsy Fry, and that’s why they thought of me when they needed someone to lift the note out of Lieutenant Amberley’s pocket when he crossed the parade ground to meet Miss Jennings in the silver room. I was supposed to destroy it straightaway, but I reckoned it would do me more good to hang on to it. Me and Betsy want to set up a new life together, across the sea in America, but a maid and a coachman don’t get much, so I thought I’d use the note to bring us the money we need.’

A coachman? Blanche’s eyes cleared, for suddenly she
recognized
him. She’d seen him earlier that day, driving Mr and Mrs Jennings away from Eastington House.

Mr Amberley drew a long breath. ‘Well, Mr er, Baxter, it is evident to me that you do indeed possess this note, and you are quite correct, we would dearly like to have it in order to prove my son’s innocence. Which brings us to the rather vulgar matter of the sum you require.’

Sam hesitated, an anticipatory gleam in his amber eyes.

‘Eight hundred and fifty guineas,’ he said flatly.

Mr Amberley’s jaw dropped. ‘I beg your pardon?’ he asked faintly.

‘Eight hundred and fifty guineas, which is a sum I happen to know you can lay your hands on, sir.’

It was the very amount Mr Gilbey, the jeweler, had offered for the Amberley pendant. Blanche moved around the table to face the coachman. ‘Why that figure in particular, Mr Baxter?’ she asked.

‘I know all about that pendant you’ve got here, Miss Amberley, for your brother told Miss Jennings about it, and Betsy overheard. We know that that jeweler in Gloucester is prepared to give that, and that’s why I want such an exact figure. I know you can get it, so in turn I know the most I’m likely to get.’

‘How very sharp you are, to be sure,’ she murmured, turning away to look at her father. The position was only too clear: Either they sent Sam Baxter packing and told him what he could do with his extortionate demand, or they sold the pendant and gave him what he asked. The rainy day had come at last where the Amberley pendant was concerned.

Mr Amberley gave a heavy sigh. ‘You leave me no choice, Mr Baxter. I agree to the sum, and will sell the pendant as soon as possible. I doubt if Mr Gilbey will be open for business before Monday morning, but I will dispatch Jake here to Gloucester tomorrow afternoon, in case it’s possible to complete the sale immediately. Will you return here tomorrow night with the note, on the chance that we manage to get the necessary money?’

Sam shook his head. ‘I’ll not come here, not unless it’s all
ready. You leave a stone on top of the wall by the church
lychgate
if you have the money, and I’ll come there after dark. If there’s no stone, I’ll come again the next night, and so on, but you’d better not take too long, for Betsy and me want the money as soon as possible.’

‘You surely do not imagine that we mean to delay, sir, for every day means more hardship for my son.’

Sam nodded. ‘Right then, it’s a deal. Shake on it?’ He extended a dirty hand.

Mr Amberley looked at it with distaste. ‘Don’t be
pre-sumptuous,
Mr Baxter, for this is no gentlemen’s agreement, it’s a submission to blackmail. You have my word that we agree to pay you eight hundred and fifty guineas for the note, and that is all that is necessary.’

Sam’s smile faded, and he withdrew his hand. ‘As you like it, Mr Amberley, it’s all the same to me, but don’t go thinking you can trick me, or set the law after me, not if you really want to see that note. Betsy and me’ve left our employment now, and no one’ll ever find us, so the only way you can contact me is by leaving that stone where I said. Just remember that.’ Snatching up his hat and mittens, he went to the door. Jake stood aside for him to pass, and he disappeared into the night.

Hannah turned to Mr Amberley. ‘Will the note really and truly clear Master Jonathan’s name, sir?’

‘It will go a long way toward it, Hannah, for it will at least prove that Miss Jennings has been lying, but there is still the matter of the silver cup found under his mattress, and the more serious business of his having deserted.’ Mr Amberley gave a weary sigh. ‘Still, I think we may hope that Christmas will not be quite as dire as it seemed an hour ago. I suppose I always knew that one day we’d have to sell the pendant, but I didn’t for a moment imagine it would be for a reason as terrible as this.’

Blanche went to him, hugging him tightly. ‘It will all be
worthwhile
, Father, I know that it will, and Christmas
will
be good after all!’

He patted her shoulder tenderly. ‘My sweet Blanche, what would I do without you? One bright light has appeared in the darkness now, I suppose, and that is that we can now be sure of
persuading your brother to come back here tonight. When you and Jake go to the cave in a little while, you must take more food for him, of course, but you must try to insist that he sleep in his bed here tonight and then go to Cheltenham to Colonel Cummings in the morning. He must do the right thing from now on, it’s his only wise course.’ With another weary sigh he turned to leave the room, and they heard his tired steps on the stairs as he went up to his room.

Jake went to the window to look out. ‘It’s beginning to snow again, Miss Blanche.’

‘Then our footsteps will soon be covered,’ she replied. ‘Maybe it would be better if I went alone to Master Jonathan.’

‘Alone?’

‘It isn’t a night for a lady to be out, Miss Blanche.’

‘I mean to accompany you, Jake Cutler, so spare yourself the fatigue of trying to persuade me out of it,’ she said firmly. ‘There is a great deal to tell my brother, and I am the one to do the telling, and to persuade him to come back with us if possible.’

‘Miss Blanche, with your horse gone lame, there’s only one mount….’

‘We’ll have to go on foot then. Surely there’s a quicker way to the cave than going all the way to the fishing house and then along the riverbank?’

‘Well, yes, Miss Blanche, there is. We can go to the southern boundary, past the main gates, and then climb over the wall into the park. It’s much nearer that way, but also much more hazardous because of the keepers.’

‘I doubt if anyone will expect poachers on a night like this, Jake.’

‘Poachers go out in all weather, Miss Blanche.’

‘I mean to go with you, Jake, so please don’t argue anymore. We’ll go over the southern boundary wall and through the park, and that is the end of it.’

‘Yes, Miss Blanche,’ he said resignedly, ‘but it’s against my better judgment.’

They left the cottage about half an hour later, and Jake had a package of bread, cheese and cold meat stuffed inside his coat. Blanche wore her warmest gown, with both a pelisse and a
fullined cloak over it. On her feet were her pointed-toed boots, and her gloved hands were plunged deep into a makeshift muff that Hannah had made from a piece of thick-fleeced sheepskin. But still the bitter cold cut through to her skin as she walked as quickly as she could with Jake, past the armorial gates of Amberley Court and then on along the lane, which only led now to a few isolated farms. Snow was falling heavily, the flakes touching their faces and clinging to their clothes, but it also swiftly obscured their telltale footprints as they left the lane to follow the estate’s boundary wall as it swung toward the west and the river.

Where the land began to rise toward the height of Red Cliff, there was an ancient oak tree with branches that hung over the wall into the park, and it was at this point that Jake prepared to enter Sir Edmund’s land.

He paused, listening carefully for any sound that might warn of keepers nearby, but all was silent, so silent that it was possible to hear the snowflakes whispering softly to their resting places. Then he looked up at the oak. ‘Can you climb up to that big branch, Miss Blanche?’

‘I think so.’

‘I’ll go up first and give you a hand, then we’ll have to edge along the branch to the wall. It hangs low on the other side, so it’s not a big drop.’

‘What about coming back?’

‘There’s a fallen tree on the other side, so it’s not difficult. Are you ready?’

‘Yes.’

She watched as he clambered up the gnarled trunk toward the overhanging branch. His efforts made the tree tremble, and snow fell from the branches, thudding to the ground. She glanced nervously behind. Their footprints led back toward the lane, but their outlines were already softened, and soon the imprints would be filled in.

Jake reached down to her. ‘Come on up then, Miss Blanche,’ he said.

She took his helping hand and climbed up. It was awkward because of her cumbersome skirts, and pointed-toed boots were
hardly the thing for tree-climbing, but she managed it, and was soon seated on the branch beside him.

Jake edged along it toward the wall, scattering more snow as he went, and then she followed, making her way very gingerly, for the branch was slippery. At the wall, Jake paused to listen again. The park stretched away toward the house, which was too far away to be visible. All was silent, without even the call of a barn owl to disturb the stillness. Jake’s keen eyes scanned the trees for movement, but there was nothing; Sir Edmund’s
gamekeepers
weren’t anywhere in evidence.

Dropping down from the branch into the park, Jake turned to look up at her. ‘Come on, Miss Blanche, it’s safe.’

Holding her breath, she wriggled along the branch and then jumped lightly down on the other side of the wall.

Jake pointed at the fallen tree he’d mentioned. ‘That’s how we’ll get back up, Miss Blanche. See? Up that branch there, then reach up to the branch we’ve just come down from, and then back the way we came.’

She nodded, still more concerned about whether or not Sir Edmund’s keepers were lurking secretly nearby. What if they were being watched at this very moment?

‘Come on, then,’ said Jake, tugging her arm. ‘It’s this way; you’d see the path if it wasn’t for the snow.’

She followed him between the holly and laurel bushes. Their steps seemed to crunch more loudly in the snow now, and to Blanche it seemed as if nature itself wished to advertise their presence.

Red Cliff was only a short distance ahead now, and suddenly they emerged from the trees. There wasn’t a moon, but the snow made everything light, so that she could see the yawning gap of the river and the low, marshy land a hundred yards away on the other side. Snowflakes twisted and danced in the air, but she could still see the lights of a village about a mile beyond the far bank.

Jake went to the edge of the cliff. ‘It’s very dangerous now, Miss Blanche. Can you see that ledge leading down to the left?’

She joined him at the edge and looked tentatively over, for she hated heights. The ledge was clear enough, and not as narrow as
she’d feared. ‘Yes, Jake, I can see it.’

‘It seems to come to an end by those boulders, the ones where the bushes are.’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, there’s a narrow cleft between the boulders – you can’t tell it’s there until you’re upon it. The cave entrance is right behind the cleft.’