Виктория Холт - Kirkland Revels

^ “It’s a fine morning,” he went on.

“I wanted you to come for a little drive with me.”

” Thank you. I was just going out for a walk.”

” But you have just come in.”

” Nevertheless, I am just going out again.”

He lifted a finger and there was something so sinister in that playful gesture that I felt a shudder run down my spine.

” You are doing too much walking, and you know I don’t allow that.”

” I am perfectly healthy,” I answered. ” Jessie Dankwait is pleased with me.”

” The country midwife!” he said contemptuously. ” A drive will do you good.”

” Thank you, but I do not wish to go.”

He came towards me and took my wrist; he held it tenderly yet firmly.

“I am going to insist to-day, because you are looking a little pale.”

“’ No, Dr. Smith,” I said. ” I do not wish to go for a drive.”

” But my dear Catherine ” (his face was close to mine and his gentle, suave manner seemed more horrible than violence), ” you are coming with me.”

I tried to walk past him, but he caught and held me firmly. He took the robe from me and threw it on the floor.

“’ Give that to me and let me go at once,” I said.

” My dear, you must allow me to know what is good for you.”

I was filled with sudden panic. I called: “Ruthi Ruth! Help me.”

I saw her start up-the stairs, and I thanked God that she was at hand.

She opened the door of me minstrels’ gallery; he was still holding me in a grip so firm that I could not extricate myself.

” I am afraid.” he said to her, ” that she is going to give us a little trouble.”

” Catherine,” said Ruth, ” you must obey the doctor. He knows what’s best for you.”

” He knows what is besti Look at this robe. He is the one who has been playing those tricks on me.”

” I fear,” said the doctor, ” that it is more advanced than I believed.

I am afraid we are going to have trouble. It is a mistake to delay too long in these matters. It has happened before in my experience.”

“What diabolical plan have you in mind now?” I demanded.

” It is the persecution mania,” murmured the doctor to Ruth. “

Believing that they are alone against the whole world.” He turned to me. ” Catherine, my very dear Catherine, you must trust me. Have I not always been your friend?”

I burst out laughing and it was laughter which alarmed me. I was truly frightened now, because I began to see what he planned to do with me, and that Ruth either believed him or pretended to, and I was alone with them . and friendless. I knew the truth, but I had been a fool. I had told no one of my discovery. I could still do that. But whom could I tell . these two whose plan was to destroy me?

For Ruth, if not his accomplice, was no friend to me.

” Look,” I said, ” I know too much. It was you. Dr. Smith, who decided that my child should never be born. You killed Gabriel and you were determined to kill anyone who stood between Luke’s inheriting the Revels …”

” You see,” he said sadly, ” how far advanced it is.”

” I found the robe, and I know, too, that you believe you belong here.

I know it all. Do you think that you can deceive me any more. “

He had seized me firmly in his arms. I smelt a whiff of what might have been chloroform as something was pressed over my mouth. I felt as though everything was slipping away from me and I heard his voice, very faint, as though it were a long way off, ” I hoped to avoid this. It is the only way when they are obstreperous….”

Then I slipped away . into darkness.

I have heard it said that the mind is more powerful than the body. I believe that to be so. My mind commanded my body to reject the chloroform even as it was pressed over my mouth. This was not possible, of course; that would have been asking too much, but as it began to affect my body my brain continued to struggle against it. I must not sink into unconsciousness. I knew that if I did I should wake up a prisoner, and that all the evidence which I had acquired would be destroyed and my protests called the aberrations of the mentally sick.

So even as my body succumbed, my mind fought on.

So it was that I was half conscious of being in that jolting carriage with the evil doctor beside me. And I summoned all my will power to fight the terrible drowsiness which was lulling me into a sense of utter forgetfulness.

I realised he was taking me to Worstwhistle.

We were alone in his brougham and the driver could not hear what was said. The swaying of the vehicle was helpful; the clop-clop of the horse’s hoofs seemed to be saying:

” Doom is at hand. Fight it. Fight it with all your might. There is still time. But once you enter that grim grey building … it will not be so easy to come out.”

I would not enter. I would never let anyone be able to tell my child that once its mother had been an inmate of Worstwhistle.

“You should not struggle, Catherine,” said the doctor gently.

I tried to speak but the effect of the drug was claiming me.

” Close your eyes,” he murmured. ” Do you doubt that I will look after you? There is nothing for you to fear. I shall come and see you every day. I shall be there when your child is born….”

My mind said: ” You are a devil….” But the words did not come.

I was frightened because of this terrible drowsiness which was seeping over me, and which would not let me fight for my future and that of my child.

Subconsciously I knew that this had been his plan all along, to get me to Worstwhistle before my child was born, to attend to me there and make sure, if my child was a boy, that he did not live.

If I gave birth to a daughter or a stillborn child, then I should be of no more interest to him, because I should no longer menace Luke’s accession to the Revels and the marriage with Damaris.

But, fight as I would, I could only remain in this half- conscious state. And I reserved my strength for the moment when the carriage wheels should stop and he would call strong men to help him bring another reluctant victim to that grim prison.

The carriage had drawn up.

We had arrived. I felt sick and dizzy, and only half conscious.

” Why, my dear Catherine,” he said, and he put his arm about me; and once more I felt his gentle touch to be more hurtful than a blow, “you are unwell. Never mind. This is the end of the journey. Now you shall know peace. No more fancies … no more visions. Here you shall be cared for.”

” Listen …” I began, and I seemed to drawl the words.

” I … am not going in there.”

He was smiling. ” Leave this to me, my dear,” he whispered.

There was the sound of running footsteps and a man took his stand on one side of me; I felt him take my arm.

I heard their voices.

” She knows where she’s going, this one …”

Then the doctor’s voice: ” They have their lucid moments. Sometimes it’s a pity.”

I tried to scream but I could not; my legs were buckling under me. I was being dragged forward.

I saw the great iron door. swing open. I saw the porch with the name over it—the name which must have struck terror into a thousand hearts and minds.

” No …” I sobbed.

But they were so many; and I was so weak against them.

I heard the sudden clatter of a horse’s hoofs. Then the doctor said sharply: ” Quickly! Get the patient inside.”

And there was a note of fear in his voice to replace that gentle assurance which had been there before.

Then my whole being seemed to come alive again, and I realised that what seemed to make the blood run hot in my veins was hope.

A voice I knew well, a voice I loved, was shouting: ” What the devil’s all this I” And there he was—the man whom I had failed to dismiss from my thoughts although I had tried—striding towards me; and I knew that he came like a knight of old, and that he had come to save me from my enemies.

” Simon,” I sobbed; and as I fell forward I felt his arms about me.

I ceased to fight the lassitude then; I accepted the darkness.

I was no longer alone. Simon had come to stand beside me and fight my battle for me.

So I did not enter Worstwhistie on that terrible day. Simon was there to prevent that. Mary-Jane had left the house with all speed while I was struggling in the minstrels’ gallery, and had gone to Kelly Grange to tell what was happening, for she had overheard what the doctor had said about taking me away, and she knew enough to guess where.

So Simon had gone straight there and, although I was not able to see how he fought for my freedom, I knew it had happened.

He had faced Deverel Smith and had accused him on the spot of the murder of Gabriel. He had threatened the Superintendent with the loss of his post if he dared take me in merely on Dr. Smith’s word. I could imagine the power of him as he fought the battle for my freedom and the life of my child.

Of course he won. Simon must always win. He was invincible when he determined on what he would have. I have grown to learn that, and I would not have it otherwise.

I often wonder what Deverel Smith had thought as he stood there knowing that his elaborate scheme had been foiled at the very last moment.

Because, if once he had had me accepted in Worstwhistle as a patient whom he certified as of unsound mind, it would not have been easy to prove that I had not suffered from insanity, even if only temporarily.

But Simon had come.

He took me back to Kelly Grange, where Hagar was waiting for me, and I stayed there until my child was born.

That happened prematurely, which was not to be wondered at, but my Gabriel soon picked up and became a strong little boy. We doted on him—Hagar and I; and I think Simon did too, but he was determined to make a man of the boy and he rarely showed the softer side of his feelings. I did not mind, because I wanted Gabriel to be the kind of boy who would appreciate being treated as a man rather than a baby. I wanted my son to be strong.

But there were other happenings before the birth of Gabriel.

I often think of Deverel Smith, of his belief in himself, and I am sure he saw himself as godlike, powerful beyond other men, of stronger intellect, of greater cunning. He had not believed that he could be defeated. He bore a grudge against life which he had determined to satisfy. He believed that he was the son of Sir Matthew and that no one should stand between him and his inheritance. If Gabriel was the legitimate son, he would reason, he was himself the elder son; and so he eliminated Gabriel.

We never learned exactly how that happened; and whether Gabriel was lured on to the balcony or went there of his own accord and was surprised there, will remain a mystery, but he killed Gabriel to make the way open for Luke, and when Luke had married Damaris he would have come to live at the Revels. In his subtle, sinister way, he would have been master of the Revels because he would have made himself aware of some weakness in the people who lived about him and used a subtle blackmail in order to dominate them.

That was his delight—to dominate. Ruth told me, much later, that he had discovered an indiscretion of hers. She had indulged in a love affair after the death of her husband which could have created a distressing scandal if it had become common knowledge. It was not that he had said: ” If you do not support me I shall tell of this matter which you are so anxious to keep secret.” But he had intimated that he was aware of it and in exchange for his silence he expected her support and an outward show of friendship. Subtly he had forced her to his side, and she had always made a show of welcoming him to the Revels and extolling his virtues whenever she had an opportunity.

Perhaps Deverel Smith had also held some sway over Sir Matthew. In any case he had no doubts about the support of both Sir Matthew and Ruth for a marriage between Luke and Damaris.

I have often wondered what would have happened in that household but for Simon. I should have been out of the way—I do not care to think even now of what my future would have been. But there at the Revels, I imagined him the master . holding his gentle but evil sway over them all.

But it was not to be so; and how could he endure to see all that he had schemed for lost . because of one strong man?

How he must have hated Simon; but Simon could return hate with hate.