Cherrybrook Rose (32 page)

‘I'll be fine!' she assured him. ‘I've lived here all my life almost and there's never been any problems with the prisoners. 'Tis more important you sort out your business affairs so as you can be here when the baby's born.'

‘Good Lord, I won't be that long! About ten days should do it.'

‘And when will you go?' She was trying to sound casual, but her stomach was churning nervously, so much so that for a horrible instant she was worried about the baby, and relieved when it suddenly kicked hard under her ribs.

‘The day after tomorrow, I should think.'

‘Oh, so soon?' Heavens above, it was becoming so easy to play-act, to lie and deceive, but what choice did she have? Besides, she was finding Charles more irritating by the day, just inconsequential, trivial matters, but ones that were growing into an increasingly tall pile. While out in the stable, the convict, the
dangerous
criminal she scarcely knew, was drawing her curiosity and, dare she say it, gaining her trust more surely with every day that passed.

She saw Charles off first thing in the morning, waving from the front door, as Ned drove them away in the wagonette. The second they were out of sight, Rose hurried up the stairs as quickly as her bulging abdomen permitted. The train left Tavistock shortly before nine o'clock, and the round trip to the station and back would take Ned the best part of three hours. Three precious hours which she intended to spend with Seth Collingwood. She had prepared a list of extra jobs to keep Cook and Patsy busy, and if she wanted to sit out in Gospel's loose box watching the newborn puppies of her beloved dog, no one was going to question it.

She had breakfasted early with Charles, so having washed and dressed, it seemed quite acceptable to ask for a cup of chocolate to take out to the stables with her. Some extra scraps for the lactating bitch, well, it was the best she could do without arousing suspicion, and she had rescued a jug of tepid water, for she must take the opportunity to bathe the wounds on Seth's shoulder.

She could see he was stiff with cold as he dragged himself from his hiding place and he fell on the steaming drink like a drowning man grasping at a rope. He was shivering, and Rose tried to tuck the two blankets around him, but they, too, were damp to the touch.

‘Thank you,' he murmured as he glanced sideways at her, and she was alarmed when he clearly held back a rasping cough.

‘You look dreadful,' she told him, biting on her bottom lip.

‘I don't exactly feel on top of the world. But you get used to that,' he added with a rueful grimace.

Rose's mouth fined to a sympathetic line. ‘How's the ankle?'

‘A little more comfortable, I'm pleased to say.'

‘And your shoulder?'

He dipped his head slightly. ‘Worse. I can hardly move my arm it hurts so much.'

Rose felt her heart constrict. ‘I'll take a look and bathe it with the phenol. And I've brought some fresh bandages.'

He nodded as he began to struggle out of her father's clothes and she unwound the makeshift dressings from his shoulder. He winced agonizingly as the stained material pulled away from the angry, suppurating wounds, two of which had swollen dramatically and were leaking with thick, foul-smelling pus.

‘Oh, God, I don't like the look of this, Seth.'

He instantly jerked up his head. ‘But I'm not giving myself up. To be frank, I'd rather die than go back. If I was guilty and deserved it, I'd serve my sentence like a man. But I'm not, and I might as well be dead as spend ten more years there.'

Rose said nothing, but met his gaze in silence. What he said appalled her, though she could understand how he must feel. Life in the prison must be unimaginably harsh, and must seem so unjust for someone who was innocent. ‘Let me see to your shoulder,' she said instead, ‘and then you can tell me your story.'

She tried to be gentle as she tended his injuries, but it wasn't easy, Seth holding himself tense but not uttering a sound until she had finished, even though she knew it must be torture for him. She had done her level best, but heaven alone knew if the cleansed wounds would now improve.

‘I think getting some air to them might help to dry them up. If I arrange the blankets around you . . .'

It took some minutes for him to shift into a suitable position, encumbered as he was by the plaster cast, and then Rose had to get herself comfortable, which was becoming increasingly difficult. She sat on a bale near Amber, stroking the animal's silky, domed head and looking down on the five puppies that were nestled against their mother's flank in a peaceful confusion of sparsely haired bodies and little round tummies that were becoming fatter by the day.

‘Lovely, aren't they?' Seth whispered, following her gaze, and when she turned to look at him, he was smiling through his strained expression. The breath quickened in her throat. The even set of his strong teeth was a long white slash in the stubble of his unshaven jaw, his eyes shining softly with a deep tenderness. Beneath them were the dark smudges of a man who hardly slept, who passed every minute in fear, and Rose had deliberately to shy away from the emotion that stirred mysteriously in her breast.

‘Yes,' she gulped, and had to clear her throat. ‘Now, whilst we have the chance, you'd better tell me what happened.'

The enchanting smile at once faded from Seth's face and his eyebrows arched. ‘It was the twenty-second of October 1874,' he began slowly, bowing his head to concentrate his thoughts. ‘I think that date will be printed on my mind for ever. I'd been out of the army for about six months, just travelling around the country wherever I fancied. I worked as and when, casual labour, whatever was available. I didn't really mind. When you're used to army conditions, it doesn't really matter. During that summer I slept in an inn, a barn, under a hedge. Just the freedom of the open road, not having to obey orders, to
give
orders to my men I didn't want to give. Everything I owned was slung over my back in a kitbag. I only had myself to please—'

‘Do you not have any family?'

He jerked up his head and his eyes flashed. ‘No!' he barked, his face taut. ‘Not that I wanted anything to do with.' But then his expression softened. ‘I'm sorry. That must sound dreadful, but I'm afraid it's true.'

‘And I'm sorry you feel that way. My father meant the world to me. Since he died, my life's not been the same . . .'

Her voice trailed off in passionate sadness, but the silence that followed didn't seem awkward.

‘You have a husband. And a child to look forward to,' Seth finally said.

‘Ah.' Rose breathed an enigmatic sigh and a wistful smile lifted the corners of her mouth. ‘But we're supposed to be talking about you.'

‘Yes. As you wish.' And she was relieved when he didn't press her. He clasped his hands, staring down at his intertwined fingers. ‘I'd spent a few weeks working as an assistant drayman for a brewery in Exeter. I'd always jump at the chance to work with horses, you see. The chap had hurt his back, so I was just helping out, really. When he was better, I made my way to Plymouth. I still had some army pay left as well, so I was in no hurry to find work straight away. I'd had the idea that I might try and get on a ship. Work my passage to America, perhaps, and start a new life there. I'd been in Plymouth about a week, trying to decide what to do and making a few enquiries, but I was so near to Dartmoor and wanted to see it properly. Everyone said Tavistock was a good place to see it from, so I decided to walk there. I took two days over it, and arrived on the second evening. I thought I'd call in at a public house and ask about lodgings for a few nights. But I tell you, I wish to God I'd never set foot in the place! If I'd chosen a different establishment, I wouldn't be in this mess now!'

His voice had risen to an anguished crescendo, and Rose put out a hand to calm him. ‘Sssh,' she warned. ‘Ned won't be back for some time, but all the same.'

‘Yes, of course. It was the Exeter Inn,' he went on, resuming his story. ‘I couldn't have told you the name then, but I certainly know it
now
. It's a coaching inn, so I didn't want to waste money staying there, and I asked the landlord if he could recommend somewhere cheaper and he told me of a lodging house in a back street around the corner. I bought a mug of ale and sat down on my own in a corner to drink it. Naturally, there were other customers, including one obnoxious fellow, drunk as a lord and annoying everyone else. He was obviously known to the landlord, and he warned him about his behaviour. He was boasting about how much money he had in his pocket. Even took it out and counted it for everyone to see. Said he'd won it gambling. Anyway, at one point he came over to me. Singled me out as a stranger drinking on my own, tried to taunt me, that sort of thing. It was all rather ugly, and I just let him get on with it. I've dealt with drunken privates often enough before, and they usually just run out of steam. I stood up to go and buy another drink, and he came up to me again. I was getting fed up with him by then, and suggested to him that he'd had enough to drink, and with that, he decided to give me a bloody nose for absolutely no damned reason. There were plenty of witnesses to the fact that I didn't retaliate. The landlord refused to serve him then and had him thrown out, but he was still shouting at me and saying it was my fault he couldn't have another drink. The landlord apologized profusely to me and gave me a glass of brandy on the house. I thought no more about it. I didn't stay long. I was a stranger and it was dark, and the sooner I found somewhere to stay, the better. I'd been directed into what I believe is the very old part of the town. I expect you know it. Dark, narrow streets. I hadn't gone very far, less than a hundred yards probably, when it happened.'

He paused, and when Rose glanced at him, she saw him swallow hard, as if summoning the courage to relive whatever it was had caused him to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure. ‘Go on,' she urged, aware that the time was ticking away.

He took a deep breath. ‘I saw two figures struggling in the shadows. And then I heard a cry. One of the figures collapsed on the ground and the other pounced on him. It was dark, but there was enough light coming from the windows of the houses for me to see that he was rifling through the other man's pockets. There was a couple walking down the street, elderly I think, but they just stood back and watched. Didn't want to get involved. God knows, I wish I'd done the same.'

‘So what did you do?'

‘Well, I shouted out and started running towards the attacker. It frightened him off and he disappeared into the darkness. It would have been pointless to give chase, and I was more concerned about the chap lying in the street. He'd been stabbed in the side, blood everywhere, and I was trying to stop it. I gained some knowledge of how to deal with wounds in the army, you see. I called out for help. For someone to fetch a doctor. But the couple hurried off round the next corner. I vaguely remember seeing someone else come along and then he, too, disappeared. I'd stopped calling out by then. I was just concentrating on saving the fellow's life, he was bleeding so much. I was loosening his clothing, trying to make sure he was still breathing. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged away by two constables and was locked up in the police cells.'

Rose could feel her heart pumping nervously in her chest. ‘You mean they thought 'twas you who'd attacked him?'

‘Exactly,' he grated with such vehemence he had at once to subdue another cough. ‘The other passer-by had evidently seen me loosening his clothes and assumed I was robbing him, and went off to the police station, which I'm sure you know is just round the corner. The knife was still in him, and as you might imagine, I was covered in his blood, and they put two and two together.'

‘But . . . but surely . . .' Rose stammered, her eyes wide with horror, ‘surely they couldn't convict you on that?'

‘Oh, it wasn't the only so-called evidence,' Seth scoffed. ‘It turned out the victim was the drunkard from the inn. And . . .' He paused, and drew in a long, slow breath. ‘The bastard swore it was me.'

Rose stiffened, and her hand went over her open mouth as she found herself trembling. ‘Oh, Seth, no. But surely 'twas his word against yours? I mean—'

But Seth shook his head. ‘There were so many other factors as well. At the inn, there were plenty of witnesses to his punching me in the face, and it was reckoned I'd followed him out to have my revenge. If only I'd flattened him there and then in the inn, which I could have done easily, none of this would have happened. The money he'd been boasting about was gone, of course, and I had a virtually identical amount in my pocket, when minutes before I'd been asking for a room somewhere cheap. I can't blame the landlord for testifying to that when he was questioned, as it was true. They concluded,
naturally
,' he spat with cutting sarcasm, ‘that the money had gone from the drunkard's pocket into mine.'

‘But couldn't you have explained how you got that money?'

‘God knows, I tried! The trouble was, I'd often stopped at farms and other places, done a day or two's work, and then moved on. Most of the time, I didn't take any notice of the names of the places. The brewery was the only establishment I could definitely name, and I hadn't earned anything there as they'd given me board instead. The police sergeant did contact a colleague in Exeter and confirmed it, but it didn't help at all. I really needed a lawyer, but they confiscated all my money as evidence, so I had nothing to pay one with.'

‘But I thought you said you still had some army pay? Couldn't you have got them to verify that?'

‘I could have done, but there were reasons why I didn't want them digging up my past. Personal reasons. Nothing sinister, and anyway, as far as they were concerned, I was a stranger, a man travelling the road. Of no fixed abode. I fitted the bill, so I was convicted.'