Trevennor’s Will, page 30
Isabel was amazed at how calm she felt. She looked steadily ahead. ‘How did you find your way along here?’
‘I watched your friend’s house – a pretty woman, incidentally, who does service for some gentlemen I know. I saw you leave her house. I didn’t want you to see me so I waited a while and happily the dog followed you and I followed him. I was curious to see you, dear cousin, but I confess I am even more curious to learn why you thought it necessary to fake your own death and disappear these past few weeks. You even missed our dear late uncle’s funeral.’
Isabel lifted her head higher and said coolly, ‘Uncle Laurence believed I was in danger from you and Deborah. Was he justified in his suspicions, Edmund?’
Edmund smiled at her with boyish charm and then feigned a look of hurt. ‘What a thing to say, Isabel. I know you and Deborah did not like each other,’ he smiled again, adding a hint of malice, ‘but I thought you and I were not averse to each other’s company.’
He moved two steps closer. Isabel stood her ground. She felt uneasy but was not afraid. She knew the cliffs better than Edmund, knew the best way to move quickly over the wild terrain, and she had Talland with her. He was a big dog, could be fierce and protective. He had positioned himself between her and Edmund, his body alert and his ears pricked.
Isabel studied Edmund. He was dressed in soft muted colours with a lacy neckcloth, silk shirt, buttons all over his long-tailed coat, thick braid adorning its wide cuffs. Only his leather riding boots with strong soles were suitable for travel across the cliffs. He took off his feathered blue tricorn hat and held it lazily in one hand. He was a handsome man, she could not deny it, and his look of steady determination in place of suave sophistication enhanced his refined features today.
His dark eyes emerged from the secretive shadows of their lids and slowly looked her over from head to foot. Clearly, Edmund approved of what he saw.
‘You’ve changed, Isabel,’ he said in a voice that drifted towards her.
‘More than you can possibly imagine, Edmund,’ she replied. ‘You have too.’
‘It must be because I’m living off the old man’s money. Deborah and I were looking forward to making use of yours as well – until now.’
‘It has given you a certain air of confidence,’ she said, keeping her chin high.
‘I enjoy living at Trevennor House,’ Edmund drawled. ‘It’s not as grand as your mansion in Truro but we intend to move in there when all the legal matters have been finalized.’
He spoke as if Isabel were actually dead. Her uneasiness broke into a tiny burn of fear. She looked at Talland then back at Edmund with an unspoken warning in her eyes. He glanced at the dog who growled threateningly. Edmund smiled smugly, put his cane in front of his feet and rested both hands nonchalantly on it.
Everything was so still. Isabel could hear her own breathing and heart pounding and the small clicking noises Edmund was making with his tongue inside slightly parted bps.
‘Do you know, Isabel, my dear,’ he said, his voice sultry, ‘I have always believed you were a rather beautiful creature under your haughty exterior. Looking at you now, I can see I was correct. It seems that living a rough life among the common people and taking in all this fresh sea air has agreed with you.’
‘How kind of you to say so,’ she returned acidly.
‘Are you still untouched?’
Isabel did not dignity the question with an answer. A few days ago she might have blushed but after being disturbed with Nick by Kitty, she felt immune to maidenly embarrassment.
‘I was thinking of the time you must have spent getting to know Nick Nancarrow,’ Edmund went on lazily. ‘My sister was all over him from the day of the old man’s funeral. It seems women find him irresistible. Is that how you find him, Isabel?’
‘It is no concern of yours, Edmund, if I have lain with half the men of the village of Crantock.’
Edmund straightened his back and their eyes locked. He said spitefully, ‘He has had quite a passionate affair with Deborah.’
Isabel pursed her lips, put her head to one side and smiled wryly.
Edmund laughed. ‘So you don’t believe me. Well, I suppose she is too awful for that sort of sacrifice, even to save your precious life…’
The last three words hung in the air. Isabel did not move a muscle.
‘Are you paying him well to keep a watchful eye on us, Isabel?’
‘No, Nick is looking out for me because Uncle Laurence asked him to shortly before he died.’
‘How unfortunate that he found you alive at the coach accident and chose to keep you that way.’
‘I take it you paid that Pengelly brute to wreck the Antiss coach and bring about my murder?’ Isabel said harshly.
‘No, that wasn’t me, cousin, but Deborah. I would not have been so calculating, I would have been content simply to have tried to relieve you of part of your fortune in some other way.’
‘And what do you intend to do now, Edmund?’
He grinned, flashing his teeth. ‘Kill you, of course.’
Ice gripped Isabel’s heart, but she asked resolutely, ‘Why?’
‘Because I have to, simple as that. It is a pity to have to do it.’ Edmund shuddered violently. Isabel was surprised at its intensity. His voice changed to a pained, childish whimper. ‘Deborah’s idea failed and I came here to make certain Gyver Pengelly did not fail me, but for some reason he hasn’t appeared yet. Deborah doesn’t know I’m here, she’d only interfere. She’d be so jealous to know that Nick Nancarrow is involved with you. I have to be sure you really die this time, Isabel, sure for myself. But I hate death, hate the very thought of it. I could never crush a beetle or even swat a fly. I hate the sight of anything dead.’
‘Then why kill me?’ Isabel attacked his fears. ‘It will only haunt you.’
‘I couldn’t do it except for one reason.’
‘Whatever the reason is, Edmund, can’t we talk about it? There must be some sort of arrangement we can come to. You’ve said I’ve changed. Yes, I have, so much so that I can never go back to my old way of life. I don’t want to live in a mansion and wear the finest clothes and go to balls any more. I want only a simple life. I’ll agree to anything that you want—’
‘No!’ Edmund snarled, his face growing ugly. ‘I want you dead and out of the way for Morenwyn. I don’t trust you, any more than you could trust me or my revolting sister. I won’t risk going back to being poor again ever! I want my daughter to live the way you were brought up. She’s the only person I care about, the only one I love, and I’ll do anything for Morenwyn. Anything!’ He threw his cane down.
Talland moved towards him and growled. Edmund placed his hat carefully on the ground; he seemed oblivious of the dog and kept his eyes on Isabel. He stabbed a finger at her. ‘I’d even kill someone. You!’
Isabel jumped back and Talland snarled. ‘I’ll tell the dog to attack you if you don’t go away from me at once!’ she screamed.
She didn’t have to give Talland the order, he lurched forward at the sound of her distress. Edmund pulled a small pistol from inside his coat. Isabel screamed. Talland leapt and Edmund’s hand was thrust upwards; the pistol went off and was sent spinning away. It hit the ground and slid to the cliff edge where it fell onto a rocky ledge a few feet below. The shot had sounded in Talland’s ear and in agony he ran off yelping.
Isabel could see the pistol but she reckoned Edmund was probably too frightened to climb down after it. Her one chance lay in the fact that she was fitter than he was and could most likely outrun him.
She was unprepared for him snatching up his cane and lashing it cruelly across her legs. She lost her balance and fell, landing heavily on firm grassy ground dotted with small rocks. She was dazed but pulled herself upright and held her shoulder.
Edmund stood in front of her, gloating. ‘I still have the advantage, cousin. It’s over the cliff for you. I never intended to shoot you. The gun was to encourage you to move to a convenient spot on the cliff where I could push you off. I don’t want to have to look at you after you’ve met your end.’
Isabel shook her head to clear the dark floating spots before her eyes. Her voice came breathlessly. ‘You won’t be able to coax me to go anywhere. You are too used to soft living, Edmund. I am probably just as strong as you are.’
Edmund jabbed the end of his cane painfully into her chest. ‘But I do have the advantage of this, Isabel, my dear.’ He made another vicious attack on her legs and she screamed, drawing her knees up tightly. ‘Try running away from me now,’ he laughed. A salacious smile spread over his face and she instinctively wrapped her arms round her legs. ‘Nothing can save you now. Your death is certain this time but before I do anything about that I’m going to beat you almost senseless so you can’t struggle and then I’ll indulge myself. If Nancarrow hasn’t—’
‘Get away from me!’ Isabel shouted, snatching up a big stone and hurling it at him.
It hit him in the chest. Before he could use the cane again, Isabel grabbed another rock but Edmund was too alert and knocked it out of her hand. She cried out and he raised the cane to bring it down across her head.
Isabel made to defend herself and as she looked up at him her eyes widened. ‘Nick!’
Edmund chuckled, a horrible throaty noise. ‘Oh, you can’t fool me like that, my dear. I’m not going to turn round so you can kick out or bring a rock down on my head.’
His expression turned to one of horror when he was hauled violently off his feet by the back of his coat collar.
Chapter 24
Edmund was choking and turning purple before Nick hurled him down to land some distance from Isabel with a body-jarring thump. Nick picked up the cane, broke it in two over his knee with an angry grunt and threw the pieces down.
‘Laurence was right about you disgusting Kempthornes!’ Nick shook with rage. He lifted Isabel to her feet and held her protectively round the waist without taking his eyes off Edmund for an instant. ‘I’m going to get the law on you, Kempthorne. I’m going to make sure you hang.’
Edmund sat where he’d landed and rubbed at a bruised arm but he was smirking. ‘No one would believe you, Nancarrow, the word of a common drifter against a gentleman.’
‘They’d believe me,’ Isabel cried, clinging to Nick with one hand and pointing the other at Edmund. ‘I’ll tell them the whole story about how Uncle Laurence asked Nick to take care of me because he was afraid that you and Deborah would harm me. I’ll tell the authorities everything you’ve just told me.’
‘I won’t let you deny my daughter her rightful place in society,’ Edmund snarled, his face livid and ugly.
‘You’d have done that yourself soon enough anyway,’ Nick said in sharp, clipped tones. ‘You’d have gambled it all away and left Morenwyn with nothing.’
‘I would not!’ screeched Edmund. ‘How dare you talk about her, she means nothing to you! I want everything for Morenwyn and that means her money,’ he jabbed a taut finger at Isabel, ‘and I’ll make sure Morenwyn gets it.’
Edmund got slowly to his feet, his nostrils flaring, his breathing heavy. Then quick as a weasel he charged them with his head down, arms spread out, trying to ram their bodies towards the cliff edge.
Nick swept Isabel aside but he was caught by Edmund’s sweeping arm and sent to the ground. Edmund howled in rage at his failure and made for the cliff edge. Nick was puzzled until Isabel shouted, ‘There’s a gun on the ledge down there.’
Nick got quickly to his feet. He was faster and more steady moving than Edmund, he grabbed Edmund’s arm and struggled to hold him. They slipped precariously to the cliff edge, barely keeping their balance.
Her heart pounding, Isabel edged closer to the men, looking for an opportunity to help Nick.
Nick pulled Edmund to the ground, trying to pin down his arms but his own arm ended up under Edmund’s body, pressed agonizingly on a sharp-edged piece of rock. Nick cried out and lost his grip. Edmund scuttled away, intent only on getting his gun. Desperation lent him courage and he lowered himself down onto the ledge while Nick scrambled to his feet. As he advanced on his quarry, Edmund snatched up his gun and pointed it at Nick’s chest with a leer on his face.
‘You die, Nancarrow!’
With his eyes fixed on the gun, Nick shouted, ‘Get back, Isabel, run to safety.’
She did not move.
Nick launched himself at Edmund’s body and Edmund fired. The bullet seared Nick’s shoulder. He didn’t feel the pain or the bruises he received where he hit the narrow ledge of rock, ending up with Edmund’s legs pinned under his chest. The gun flew out of Edmund’s hand, down into the ocean.
The upper part of Edmund’s body was hanging out over the cliff. Below him the rushing waves thundered into the black rock a hundred feet below. Edmund struggled and squealed in abject terror. Nick grabbed his belt with his good arm but with Edmund flailing about he could not get a good grip.
‘Keep still, Kempthorne,’ he warned, but his breath had been knocked out of him and his voice was barely audible.
Edmund screamed and screamed. He could not hear Nick, or Isabel as she shouted to him to stop struggling. The beat of his heart pounded in his ears, his face filled with blood. Wave after wave of terror engulfed his brain. He couldn’t breathe. He gulped for air. His bulging eyes could see only the foaming ocean, his ears could hear only the roar of the sea. If the water did not get him, the rocks would. Deadly, enormous, they were inviting him to come down and die on them. He screamed for Deborah.
Isabel tore off her cloak, hitched up her skirts and climbed down to Nick. She got on her knees beside him. Edmund’s wild struggles were making him slip from Nick’s desperate hold; with each crazed movement he was working free. Isabel got a handful of Edmund’s coat and then cried out as it was torn from her and Edmund disappeared from sight.
Cautiously she looked over the ledge. Nick wriggled forward and followed her gaze. They stared in shock and disbelief at the bloody sight of Edmund’s body, half on a rock, half in the ocean.
Nick gathered himself up and taking Isabel’s hand led her up onto safer ground. He picked up Edmund’s abandoned hat and they retreated inland from the cliff edge for a few yards, then sank to the ground. Nick lay on his back with his eyes closed. Isabel rested her head on his chest and he put his battered arms about her.
‘Are you hurt badly, Nick?’ she asked after a moment.
He opened his eyes and traced a finger along her furrowed brow. She looked into the shade of blue that no depth of sea or sky could match. ‘Thank God you’re safe,’ he breathed. He gingerly touched the wound on his arm and winced, then grinned. Isabel’s heart went out to him. ‘’Tisn’t too bad,’ he said. ‘No bullet in it, just scored the skin.’ He gently ran his finger down Isabel’s cheek. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll live. What about you? Are you all right?’
‘Yes, I wasn’t hurt,’ she said with a soft smile.
‘You’re forgetting this.’ Nick tenderly touched the grazed and bruised swelling on her temple. ‘You’ve collected a lot of bumps and bruises over the last few weeks.’
‘It’s nothing. I am not as soft as I was in the old days.’
‘The old days… they were only a few weeks ago, seems like years now.’ He became very serious. ‘I was worried out of my mind about you, that I wouldn’t get here in time…’
‘How did you know Edmund had found out about me?’
Nick told her about Charlie’s fight and Gyver Pengelly’s demise. Isabel shuddered but wasn’t sorry about the brute’s fate.
‘Is it all over now, Nick?’
‘Nearly, Isabel, nothing can hurt you now. You can come back from the dead. There’s only that witch, Deborah Kempthorne, to face and that will be a pleasure.’ Nick picked up Edmund’s hat which he had thrown onto the ground beside him. ‘And it will be a pleasure giving her this,’ he added grimly, twirling it on his fingers before tossing it away from them.
Isabel laid her head back on his chest and he held her close. ‘It’s all over so suddenly.’
‘Aye,’ Nick said soberly, ‘all over…’
Isabel felt a lump in her throat and clung to him tighter.
A few minutes later they were walking back to Kitty’s. They did not touch. Neither spoke. Nick walked with his head down, his hands behind his back holding Edmund’s hat. Their steps were slow, as if they wanted the short journey to last for ever.
Kitty ran to meet them from her doorway, hopping about as she hugged them both. They told her what had happened and she ushered them inside like a broody hen and filled them with tea and brandy and bathed their wounds.
‘At last you’re Miss Isabel Hampton again,’ Kitty said as she gently wiped a clean cloth over Isabel’s grazed temple. ‘Be funny not calling you Jenna anymore.’
‘Well, make sure you call me Isabel. I’m not Miss Hampton to you, Kitty,’ Isabel said.
‘You must send word to Richard Grenville’s aunts, let them know you’re really alive and well.’
Yes, I suppose I must,’ she replied, but she could only meet Kitty’s elation with a sinking heart. Nick glanced at her then looked away.
‘So you’re off to Gwithian in a little while, the pair of you, to tell Deborah Kempthorne the game’s up?’ Kitty said to Nick.
‘Aye.’ He looked steadily at Isabel. While they were here, she was still under his care, dead in the sea as far as the Grenville family were concerned. We need a little time to recover first.’
Kitty hovered about, not leaving Isabel and Nick alone, but Isabel knew there was nothing they could say to each other that would change anything. She said forlornly, ‘Ben’s awake, I think I’ll go in and talk to him for a little while.’
* * *
Trevennor House had had an unexpected visitor earlier that morning. Mrs Christopher opened the door to a young man who stood somewhat nervously on the back kitchen doorstep. Mrs Christopher was in something of a flap and it didn’t help to have a stranger in rather foreign dress suddenly turning up. ‘Yes, what is it? Did the doctor send you here?’
