The Drop of the Dice (Will You Love Me in September?) (15 page)

I did not know what I could do. To attempt to wrest myself from the arms of my captor would be folly while we were galloping at this speed. There was only one thing I could do and that was wait and see what they wanted of me.

After what seemed like hours we began to slow down and I gathered that we had arrived at our destination. We clattered into a courtyard.

‘Bravo!’ said a voice which I recognized as Frenshaw’s.

I was lifted from the horse and the hood was taken off. I could see nothing for a few moments, then I was aware of a house. Two flaming torches were on either side of the door and a man was standing there. It was Frenshaw.

‘Bring her in,’ he said. My arm was seized and I was propelled into the house after him. We were in a hall—not large by Enderby standards, but panelled with heavy beams across the roof, with a fire blazing in a large fireplace.

I was dizzy and my legs felt stiff. I swayed a little.

‘Give her a stool,’ said Frenshaw.

They did so and I sat down.

‘Now,’ he said. ‘I want you to tell us without delay what you have discovered at Hessenfield and to whom you have sent your discoveries.’

I was numb with the shock of having been kidnapped and brought here in this fashion. I had been afraid of this man from the moment I had seen him at the castle; but even before that he had filled me with some eerie premonition that I should come to no good in his hands.

I stammered: ‘You are mistaken. I know nothing. I have not sent anything to anyone. I am ignorant of these matters. They are nothing to do with me. I am not interested…’

‘Your uncle was misguided to send you away,’ said Frenshaw. ‘He will have to answer for that. I myself discovered you listening at the door. Quite clearly you were sent to spy on us. General Eversleigh primed you on what you must do. He thought it ingenious to send a young girl into the enemy’s camp. It was a godsent opportunity to him that Hessenfield happened to be related to you.’

‘You are quite wrong. There was no question of my finding out anything. This attempt to put another King on the throne only came about after I arrived at the castle.’

‘Don’t think to fool us with infantile babblings. You know and we know that we have been trying for years to bring the rightful King back to the throne.’

‘I didn’t think of it.’

‘Oh come, come… and you in a hotbed of Hanoverian supporters! We all know that General Eversleigh is one of George’s greatest commanders. Tell us what you have discovered. We know that you sent your findings to the General in York.’

‘I did nothing of the sort. I have had no communication with him since I left him in York.’

‘Do you think we are going to believe that?’

‘I have no idea.’

One of the guards slapped me hard on the side of my face. I cried out and Frenshaw said: ‘There is not need for that… yet.’

‘She was insolent to you, sir.’

‘She will tell us in time.’

‘How much time is there?’ asked one of the men whom I had just noticed. I was so tired, and it was only my terrible apprehension which was keeping me awake. I had had no sleep the previous night and all I had had since was the hour I had snatched in the woods just before my capture. I was hungry, but what I wanted most was sleep.

‘We will get what we want from her,’ said Frenshaw. ‘She seems dazed just now.’

‘She could have had no sleep last night, leaving the Rising Sun in the dead of night. Look, she’s exhausted.’

I realized that the best thing I could do was to pretend to fall asleep. That would give me a little time to think of what I could do and to discover if there was some means of escape.

As Frenshaw rose and came over to the stool on which I was sitting, I closed my eyes and let my head fall to one side. He leaned over me and shook me. I opened my eyes sleepily.

‘Where… am I?’ I said; and shut my eyes again.

‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘Shut her up for the night. We’ll deal with her in the morning. There’s time.’

I was shaken and made to stand up. I did so, yawning.

I was half dragged across the hall to a staircase. I tried, under the guise of sleepiness, to note where I was going. As we left the hall the two men who were escorting me took candles from a shelf by the staircase and lighted us up the stairs. We came to a landing on which there were several doors. I was prodded towards another staircase which we mounted and which led to a long gallery. We walked through this to a wooden door beyond which was a passage with more rooms. Then we ascended a pair of steps to a kind of attic. It was large and the roof, which had two windows in it, sloped steeply. I noticed a bed, a stool and a table. I was pushed inside and left alone. I heard the key turn in the lock.

I stood in the centre of the room, my heart beating wildly. I was wide awake in spite of my exhaustion. How was I going to get out of here? The windows were in the roof, I should have to stand on the stool to see out of them and then all I would see would be the sky. There was a curtain at one end of the room. I went to it, and drawing it back disclosed a hip bath and a small table. I turned away and going back to the bed, sat on it.

How could I possibly escape? If I told them all I knew they would not be satisfied because I knew nothing that was of importance. It was common knowledge that the Jacobites had always been a threat. They had been for years. What could I tell them more than that?

And they would not believe me.

I lay down on the bed and in spite of my bewilderment and fear, in spite of my growing apprehension, I fell fast asleep.

When I awoke the attic was filled with light which came through the windows in the roof. I was stiff with cold. At first I could not remember where I was and then the horrible realization dawned on me.

I got off the bed and went to the door. I shook it, which was a foolish thing to do for it was of heavy oak and I had heard the key turn in the lock. I wondered what my captors intended to do with me and horrible thoughts came into my mind. I thought of what I had heard of prisoners tortured in the Tower of London. I visualized the thumbscrews, the rack, the Scavenger’s Daughter, that fearful iron case shaped like a woman, with nails lining it, into which victims were forced and, as their tormentors cruelly joked, ‘embraced’ until the nails entered their flesh.

They would not have one of those, I reassured myself. But there were other cruelties they could inflict without such complicated instruments.

I was growing more and more frightened as the minutes passed. I had longed for adventure. Now I longed for nothing so much as to be back in my cosy cocoon.

I started, for I thought I heard footsteps.

I looked at my watch, which was still hanging on the chain round my neck. I was surprised to see that it was nine o’clock.

Yes, the footsteps were coming to my door; a key was turning in the lock, and the door wheezed open. I realized later that the attic was rarely used.

I expected to see the villainous Frenshaw, but instead a young boy stood there. I was astonished because he seemed to be about my own age and that comforted me. Moreover, having expected Frenshaw or one of his men, this boy looked beautiful by comparison. He was wigless and his waving hair was cut to a fringe so that it made a shiny bell about his face. His skin was clear and pale, his eyes deep blue. I thought I was dreaming or perhaps that they had killed me and I had gone to heaven. This boy’s face had that purity of expression that might have belonged to an angel.

He looked at me steadily and said: ‘Are you ready to tell us what you passed to the enemy?’

So he was one of them after all. It was strange that he should be so young and look so innocent of evil.

‘I told them I knew nothing,’ I said shortly. ‘I have nothing to tell. You had better let me go from here. When my family hears how I have been treated…’

He held up a hand. ‘I shall not let you go from here until you have told us all you know.’

I cried out in desperate exasperation. ‘How can I tell when there is nothing to tell! If you keep me here until I die of cold and starvation, I can tell you nothing… because I know nothing.’

‘Are you hungry?’ he asked.

‘I have not eaten for a long time.’

‘Wait,’ he said.

He went out, shutting and locking the door after him.

I felt a certain lifting of my spirits. He looked so young and as if he might listen and take heed of what I said; I might be able to convince him that I was speaking the truth. But what about the others?

It was a tense ten minutes before he returned. I heard his footsteps coming along the gallery and mounting the three or four steps to the attic. He opened the door and came in bearing a tray on which was a bowl of oatmeal.

‘There,’ he said. ‘Eat that.’

I took the tray. I was ravenously hungry and food had never tasted so good.

When I had eaten it all he said: ‘Do you feel better… more inclined to talk?’

‘I feel better,’ I replied, ‘and inclined to talk, but I cannot tell you what you want me to simply because I do not know it.’

‘You are a good spy,’ he said, almost admiringly. ‘But you will weaken in the end.’

‘How long will you keep me here?’

He lifted his shoulders. ‘It depends on so much.’

I was sitting on the bed; he took the chair and studied me intently. ‘When were you born?’ he asked.

‘February 1702.’

‘I was born in November 1701, so I am quite a bit older than you are.’

‘I make it three months.’

‘Three months can be a long time. I am your jailer now, until the men come back.’

‘Come back… from where?’

My heart had begun to beat faster. Everything seemed brighter since this handsome youth had come into the attic.

‘Did you hear the commotion in the night?’

‘No.’

‘No, I suppose you wouldn’t up here. They have all left in a hurry. It will soon be over now. The loyal Highlanders are marching into England. The call came for all here to join the triumphant army of Highlanders. They are marching towards Preston.’

‘Do you mean to say they have invaded England? Is there a war, then?’

‘It will all be over soon. The English are falling back before the brave Highlanders. James will soon be here to claim his throne.’

‘You are a staunch Jacobite?’

‘Of course. And you have been brought up in error. I know about you. They told me some of it and I gathered the rest. They didn’t know what to do with you. Some of them wanted to kill you.’

‘Kill
me
! They must be mad.’

‘They said my uncle was mad to let you live.’

‘Who is your uncle?’

‘Sir Thomas Frenshaw.’

‘Oh! So you are
his
nephew.’

He nodded. ‘I live with him here. He brought me up. Of course I see very little of him. He is a brave, good man.’

‘He has scarcely been good to me. As for his bravery—to bully an innocent girl does not show much evidence of that quality.’

‘You have a sharp tongue.’

‘Sharp tongues are often good weapons. Not quite as effective as swords, but they have their uses.’

‘You are a most unusual girl. You seem much older than you say you are.’

‘That may seem so to you because you are young for your age.’

‘I am not. I can outride many of the grooms, and my fencing master says I could fight a duel with success tomorrow.’

‘Great achievements,’ I mocked. ‘You can also act as jailer to a girl who is not even in a position to attack you… except with her sharp tongue.’

He laughed. ‘You are different from anyone I have ever known before,’ he said.

‘Of course I am, I’m a spy.’

‘You admit it then,’ he said quickly.

‘You are very young,’ I said loftily. ‘You don’t even know when that tongue of mine is mocking you.’

‘Remember you are my prisoner. Until the men come back I have sole charge of you.’

‘Then beware… I might escape.’

‘You can’t. There are servants here. They all know that you have to be kept prisoner. My uncle and his friends will soon be back.’

‘Then if they are victorious and poor George is sent packing to Hanover and James the Saint is crowned, then
my
little sins won’t amount to much.’

He considered this. ‘It’s true,’ he said. ‘That might be your salvation. So you hope for James to be triumphant?’

‘Nay!’ I cried. ‘George for ever!’

‘That’s treason.’

‘On the contrary, you are the one who is guilty of treason.’

‘You
are
a spy.’

I laughed at him derisively. Odd as it seemed, I was beginning to enjoy this. I was a captive, it was true, but my jailer was only a boy and I believed I could outwit him.

He was angry with me. He picked up the tray and went out, carefully locking the door behind him. I had been foolish. I should have played along with him. I should have found out more about the arrangements of the house. I might now be planning a way of escape.

I sat on the bed. In a few moments I heard the footsteps again. He had returned and he had a scared little maid with him.

‘This is Janet,’ he said. ‘She will take you where you can wash and see to your toilette. I shall be on the alert, so do not attempt to escape.’

I was grateful. I followed Janet out of the attic and down the stairs. There was a small place where I could wash and make myself generally comfortable. I saw cans of hot water standing there with a ewer and basin. She went out shutting the door behind her, after she had indicated that she would be waiting for me.

In due course I emerged and was conducted to where my young jailer was waiting for me. We went back to our attic and I sensed that he was still annoyed with me as he said nothing. However, I thanked him. ‘It was very thoughtful of you,’ I said. ‘Not the sort of treatment a spy would expect.’

‘We are not savages,’ he said, and went out locking the door after him.

I felt better now. In fact, I was aware of a certain elation creeping over me. I was a prisoner in this house; my captors had hurried away to join in the victory they were expecting and my jailer was a boy more or less my own age. It did not seem such a desperate situation as it had when they had first brought me here.