the maltese angel (32 page)

Whether or not he was deterred by this, or by Lady Lydia preventing his further movement by putting her arms around him and pulling his

wavering body back into the pew, it did not prevent him from yelling at Ward, "You'll pay for this, my man! I'll see to that."

"No doubt. No doubt, Colonel. As I always have done, I'll pay for this but I'll do it gladly."

He now motioned towards Mike, indicating he should step back; then he went and stood before the verger;

and he looked into the man's fear-filled and cringing face for a number of seconds before he brought the whip viciously twice across the

bloated loins, and the fat repulsive-looking body jerked within its tight bounds, and the screen seemed to shudder.

Seemingly taking no heed of the cries of the women and screaming

children, he now stood in front of Pete Mason, and his gaze remained longer on the hate-filled eyes before he meted out the medicine again, with three lashes this time.

He did not hesitate when he came to the third man, for this one had offered no fight when he was trapped:

he was a cringing individual, trying to put the blame on the other two; and so he did what he had to do. Then he walked to the opening in the screen again, before turning and looking at the congregation, some crying, some shouting, others just standing utterly mute. He went now to where a man and woman were undoing the vicar's bonds. They had

taken the gag from his mouth, and he was gasping for breath as Ward addressed him, saying, "It's all in your hands now, Vicar. When the police come they know where to find me; so we'll take it from there, shall we?"

The vicar's response was to cry out: "You'll ... you'll pay for this day, Ward Gibson. God ... God's house will not be mocked."

Ward's reaction to this was to motion to the man standing at the back of the church, and to the one who was still holding the gun at the ready. Two other men then emerged from behind the screen and rolled up the sheet that had covered it. And then they all followed Ward into the vestry.

When the door had banged closed behind the men the hubbub in the

church died away for a moment, but there was no immediate rush to

release the men from the screen. But then, as if of one mind, a number of men rushed forward, some to stand in front of the trussed figures in order to hide their nakedness, while others went behind the screen and endeavoured to undo the knots of the ropes binding the men firmly to the framework.

When a lone voice cried, "They'd better have a doctor," another drowned it by screaming, "It's the polis we want, and now, for it's no use trying to explain what has happened; they'll want to see it for

themselves. I'll ride in this minute."

We. No:

It was the vicar now, clinging to the lectern for support, and he

repeated loudly now, "No! No! I say. Listen ... listen, all of you.

That is what he wants. Don't you see? He wants the polis brought

here.

He wants this to be taken to court and blazoned in every paper in the country, because he's out to defame this village. Don't you see? Don't you see? " His arms stretched wide, he was swinging his body from one side to the other in an endeavour to influence them all.

It had its effect, for, apart from the continued moaning of some women and the crying of children, the commotion died down, and the vicar again shouted his warning: "If this is blazoned in the papers, this village will never again be able to lift up its head; but what will happen? It will become notorious: people will even come from a

distance to see the screen that has been defiled by these men, who themselves have defiled nature. God forgive them, because I never

can.

My .. your church, God's house, will become a peep-show. I can see it all as clearly as if it is happening now. This place would attract young hooligans from the city because a maniac of a man has taken

justice into his own hands and tied three naked men on a holy screen before scourging them. Can't you see? Can't you see the headlines?

He paused again; then, dropping his arms and joining his hands

together, he pressed them outwards, beseeching his congregation now,

"Let us suffer this together. Let us not even discuss it among ourselves. The three men who have committed this outrage will suffer from it for the rest of their lives;

they will be ostracised by all good folk. " And now his voice rose as he ended, " As will the perpetrator who has dared to commit sacrilege in the house of God this day. That man has been a bane on this village for years, and has wrought havoc on a good-living family; he has been the means of incarcerating one of that household, and through sorrow causing the early death of the mother. Ward Gibson is an evil man and

.

Suddenly, not only the minister was now startled but also the occupants of the first rows of the select pews, as young Gerald Ramsmore almost sprang into the aisle and, facing the parson, cried, "He is not an evil man; he is a man who has been wronged. Your narrow-mindedness, sir, has helped to turn the villagers against him.

Yes, you're afraid of bringing in the police because it would show up your hypocrisy and that of many more who attend this church. And why do they attend? Let me tell you: not for the love of God, but for the fear of where you might place them in the so-called society of this community. "

A voice suddenly barked, "Be quiet! Hold your tongue, sir! I order you. Come here this minute!"

Gerald Ramsmore turned and looked at his father's florid face, and to him he said, "I am going to speak my mind. Remember, Father, I was the one who came across that child after she had been savaged by those three evil individuals." He pointed towards the men now being led into the vestry, and then flinging wide an arm, went on, "If anyone here had seen the state they left her in, they would never ... as I shall never forget the sight till the day I die."

He looked at his father again and cried, "I'll tell you this, sir: I only wish I had been asked to take a hand in . what has transpired this morning. Yes, right up to the use of the whip."

Gerald was drawn now to look at his mother, whose eyes and voice were beseeching him; her arms were about his father, steadying him, and for a moment he lowered his head. He knew he had gone too far: his father was an old man. But anyway, he had said what in justice had to be

said; and now, bringing up his head again, he marched past his people and up the aisle and out of the church, leaving behind him another kind of amazement.

Those of the congregation who were now moving out of the pews, many women being helped by their menfolk, turned once more as the vicar addressed them.

In a shaken voice, he said, "There is confirmation of my words for you: evil has the power to bring discord into the best of families.

And you know from where this particular evil springs. "

"How could you do such a thing, Gerald! And to your father. And in front of the whole village to defy him like that! Oh, I know, I know that poor man has had a lot to put up with; and now his poor little girl. And those men deserved to be punished. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. And I would have gone along with him, all the way, no matter what your father said; but I would have had the sense to keep it to myself. What came over you?"

Gerald looked at this woman whom he loved, she whom he could never understand having married his father. What on earth had she seen in this stiff-necked, narrow, ageing, opinionated man who thought that the Army was the beginning and the middle and the end of life.

Although they had been married for twenty years, he couldn't imagine he had ever been much different from what he was now.

He said gently, "I'm sorry if I upset him so much, but it had to be said. Mr. Gibson is a good man you yourself have always said so also that he had been misjudged from the time he married his pretty little wife."

"Oh yes, I know ... I know." She flapped her hands at him.

"Personally, I like the man, but you cannot get away from the fact that it was because he married that pretty little wife, and having rejected a young' woman with whom he had been friendly for years; and really, the truth is he must have deceived not only her but her parents into thinking his attentions were other than serious, and that was very wrong of him, and consequently he has wrought havoc in the Mason

household. And now, Gerald, whether you want to believe it or not, he is causing havoc in this house.

And your career is at stake now, for your father says he will no

longer support you at Oxford, and you must know, in any case, he has found this difficult, for our finances are stretched to the very limit.

He has already had to sell a cottage and another stretch of land in order to meet your expenses. Just think, too, how I have had to cut down on the household, and in the yard also. "

She turned from him now, saying tearfully, "It was inexcusable of you, Gerald, inexcusable." And with this, she turned from him and hurried out of the breakfast-room, along the corridor and into the small

drawing-room. And after closing the door, she stood just within the room and put her hands over her face.

Her whole body was shivering, not only from the coldness of the room, but also with anxiety and fear of what was now going to happen to her son, for she knew that unless he went into the Army his father would wash his hands of him. And she also knew in her heart that there was no threat strong enough to drive her son into the Army.

She now walked further into the room and sat on the edge of a chair, asking herself just what was the matter with her son? her beloved son, her only son, her only child. Why was he so different?

She would never forget the night, which was the forerunner of what had happened in the church today. She had left her husband in the

billiard-room. She liked a game of billiards; but having been brought up in the diplomatic world, she knew it was policy to give way to the other side more often than one would normally do, and she did this often when playing her husband at billiards, for now neither his hand nor his eye were as steady as they once were. She had found out very early in their married life that he had to win in most everything he undertook: if battles were lost it must never be his fault; and that evening she had left him happy again as he knocked the balls here and there on the table, and as she entered the hall she had said to

Roberts, "Has Mr. Gerald come in yet?" And he, looking up the broad staircase, had answered, "Yes, madam. Just a few minutes ago. And--'

he paused before adding, 'he seemed in some distress, madam."

At this she had hurried up the stairs and, after knocking on his door and receiving no reply, she had pushed it gently open, there to see her son sprawled across the bed, his shoulders heaving.

She had hurried to him, saying, "What is it, Gerald?"

When she placed her hands on him and he did not turn to her, she

couldn't believe, for she did not want to believe, that her son was crying, actually crying. And it shocked her, and in that moment she thanked God that his father was not present.

She had been brought up in a family of four brothers and three sisters.

Now and again the sisters would cry, as Ann had when she received news of her young husband having been killed in battle; but when her brother Harry had lost the girl he was going to marry just two days before the wedding when her horse had rolled on her, he had remained dry-eyed, even at her burial. Men didn't cry. No; men didn't cry. No, men ..

did . not . cry.

Her voice had been curt as she pulled him around, saying, "What on earth's the matter with you, Gerald? What has happened? Why are you in this state, crying like ..." She did not add, 'a girl? " nor 'a woman?"

because he had now swung himself around to the edge of the bed and, his head bowed, he had taken a handkerchief from his pocket and dried his eyes before looking up at her and saying, "I am crying. Mama and, as you were going to add, like a woman, because tonight I have witnessed something that will be imprinted on my mind for ever:

I have looked on the ravished limbs of Mr. Gibson's young daughter, the small one who was the image of her mother, after she had been

raped.

Mama. Raped, Mama, raped, and by three men! Yes, apparently, three men. I don't imagine just one could have wreaked the

havoc on her body as I saw it. She was unconscious when I found

her;

but at what stage her mind closed up will never be known. The elder sister, too, had the clothes torn from her breasts. When she came

running to me she was like a mad thing; she had just escaped from one of the fiends. I had seen both girls just a few minutes earlier. It was a moonlight night, so they wouldn't accept my company because Carl was to meet them. "

He had then leant forward and gripped her arm and, his voice choking, he had said, "You know how I hate shooting, shooting anything, but I have longed to go after those men, at least the two that Miss Jessie recognised, and blast them to hell."

When she had muttered, "Oh, Gerald, Gerald ... How awful!" she didn't know whether her horror was against the crime that had been committed on the girl, or the fact that her son had been so affected by it that he would actually have done what he said, or because he was crying his eyes out.

And then she had been further shocked a few minutes ago when he had said, "I have waited all the week wondering why her father was making no move; but the retribution he must have been planning was more

effective than anything I could have thought up. And I was elated. Do you hear. Mama? I was elated by the outcome of his plan and, as I

made clear, my only regret was that I couldn't join him in the

infliction of the punishment he was dealing out."

It was from that first painful scene that she knew she had, in some way, lost her son, for the man that had been born in him that night was of a stronger and more determined nature than any military training could have achieved.

Yet he had cried. She would never be able to forget that he had