Val noticed because she quickly lowered her head. He put his hands on her upper arms, comfortingly.
“What is the matter?” he asked gently. “What did I say? Did I say the wrong thing again?”
She sniffled, shaking her head. “You said the right thing,” she assured him. “’Tis only that I did not realize how terribly lonely I was until now. I did not know what I had missed in my heart until I met you.”
His grip on her lessened and he began to caress her. “My sweet lass,” he murmured. “You will no longer be lonely, I swear it. You have me now; you shall always have me, evermore.”
Vesper smiled at him, still watery-eyed, and he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. It was a brazen move in public but far less brazen than kissing her lips again, which is what he wanted to do. In fact, he was already plotting how to get heralone before he had to return to Selborne when they both began to hear the distant roar of a crowd.
It was a faint buzz of many voices in the distance. The sound caught Val’s attention and he looked off to the northwest, towards the center of the town. He knew there was a well there. There was also a vast grassy area where farmers and others conducted daily business. But now, there seemed to be something else afoot. He could just tell by the buzz that it wasn’t something good.
People began running past him, towards the town center, while more people were running away from the center, screaming at others to come and see. Val strained to hear what they were saying.
“What is going on?” McCloud walked up behind the pair, leading the three horses. “Val, what is amiss?”
Val shook his head; he was trying to make out what people were shouting about. “I am not entirely sure,” he said. “But there seems to be a great deal of excitement.”
“Shall we go and see?” McCloud asked.
Val pondered that a moment. If it was something grim or serious, he didn’t want to drag Vesper into it. A delicate lady didn’t need to be exposed to the whims of a mob. He finally shook his head.
“Nay,” he said. “Durley is not far from here. Mayhap we should simply take Vesper home.”
McCloud didn’t like that response. He’d spent the past several minutes trying to think up an excuse as to why Val couldn’t come to Durley and he thought he had concocted a fairly believable one. There was only one way to find out.
“Nay, Val,” he said quietly. “I will take Vesper alone. My son, you see… he does not deal well with strangers and I am afraid the sight of you would greatly upset him. I never told you this, but Mat is… he is a simple man. He has the mind of a child anda great many things upset him, so until I can get him used to the idea of your presence, I would prefer you not come to Durley.”
Some of what McCloud said was true but not all of it. Mat was actually very friendly but therein lie the problem– Mat could very easily tell Val of his murderous activities without even realizing what he’d done, so that was another reason to keep Val away from Durley and away from Mat. McCloud held his breath, watching Val’s expression and praying the man would honor his request. Given that Val was a gracious man, he really wasn’t surprised by his answer.
“If you feel that is best, then I will do as you ask,” Val said. “But I will admit it will be difficult. May I send a messenger to Vesper at least?”
McCloud looked at his daughter, now bearing a spectacular gold necklace on her shoulders. Nay, he didn’t want Val or his messengers near Durley. It would be too risky. Therefore, he shook his head.
“Not now,” he said. “But I would like to see your mother very soon. You will recall that she invited us to return to Selborne and visit. May we return to Selborne in a week or two?”
Val’s gaze had inevitably moved to Vesper, lingering on her sweet face. “Make it next week,” he said. “In case you have not yet noticed, I am smitten with your daughter. Any time away from her will seem like an eternity.”
McCloud could see the expressions of warmth and joy passing between Vesper and Val.I could not have planned this better, he thought gleefully. “Then it shall be next week,” he said. “Tell your lovely mother that we shall come to visit and stay for a time. We shall look forward to it.”
Val sighed, realizing this would be his last glimpse of Vesper for at least a week. He didn’t like it in the least. “Very well,” he said. “Since you do not want anyone to approach your farm, my men and I shall come back to Bishop’s Waltham in eight days.We shall meet you in the square and escort you to Selborne. Will that be acceptable?”
McCloud was precluded from answering when the buzz of the crowd grew to epic proportions and people began screaming about the capture of someone, or something. It was difficult to know because there was such a frenzy going on. Val was coming to think he should probably go and see what the fuss was about as shouted words filled the air around them.
“The Angel has been caught!”
“Come and see! We have him!”
Val let go of Vesper and stepped into the street, grabbing the next frantic person who tried to run past him. It was a man, poorly dressed, flushed about the face. Val had him by his skinny arm.
“Hold, there,” he commanded. “What has happened?”
The man was panting, out of breath. “The Angel of Death has been caught! He was caught in the act and brought into town! They will hang him now!”
Val frowned. “Angel of Death?” he repeated. “Who is that?”
The man pointed to the center of town where everything was in an uproar. “The man who has been killing,” he insisted. “He killed two children near the river this morning and he was caught!”
Val still wasn’t clear. “Where is Benton, the town’s sheriff?”
