The only things that kept me going were my burninghatred of Mr Hart for putting me in this position (the smell of stale cream wafting up from my dress was a stark reminder!) and desperation to see my darling Max again.
I was relentlessly forcing myself upward when my head cracked against a wooden ceiling, and the pain jolted me out of my dry-mouthed stupor. There was nowhere else to go. This was the end of the passage. Feeling the smooth texture of the wood above, I assumed I must be now under the inn. But how would I get out? Maurice had been vague on the details.
‘Help!’ I croaked. ‘Let me out!’
Fearing that I was now going to be trapped under the floorboards, a new surge of energy rushed through me. I screamed at the top of my lungs and banged with my fists like a madwoman.
Suddenly, the ceiling split above my head and became a trapdoor. There were exclamations and hands grasping at me and voices saying urgently ‘Get her out!’ I looked up to see Jane and Lucinda peering down at me with expressions of amazement. As I was pulled up out of the hole into the light and warmth, and into their arms, I sobbed with relief.
‘You do not need to send the burly men to search for me, Jane. I am here! I am well! I am safe!’ I cried. Then I fainted clean away from sheer exhaustion and knew no more.
Chapter 22
After I woke up from my fainting episode in Jane’s room and had my face and hands carefully washed by Lucinda, I was extremely tired, so they said I should sleep. When I woke again in the early evening, Jane brought me a dish of hot stew. She said she had spoken to the innkeeper, and he had kindly arranged for a carriage to pick us up at noon the next day. We needed to return to Bath forthwith in case Mr Hart and Mr Smith-Withers came looking for us, and in any case, we were all eager to leave.
It was only when we were in the carriage and safely on the road that I told them exactly what had happened and how Maurice had helped me escape. And I explained more fully to Lucinda about Mr Hart’s diabolical plan to marry her for her money. The information did not at first seem to register. But then after several minutes of silence, she turned away from us and pressed her forehead to the window, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Jane bit her lip and whispered to me, ‘What should we do?’
‘We must comfort her as best we can,’ Iwhispered back. ‘She is in shock and rightly so.’
Thankfully, there were no hold-ups on the road (and we required no comfort stops). So a few hours later, we were on the outskirts of Bath.
Lucinda had not spoken for the majority of the journey but sat pale and withdrawn, her eyes closed and hands clasped tightly in her lap. What she was thinking, I could not begin to guess.She will recover in time, I thought.It could have been so much worse.
I was still reconciling with how close I came to being ruined by Mr Hart myself—it did not bear thinking about. But at least I had managed to extricate my niece (and myself!) from his clutches. Now all that remained was to count our blessings that he was out of our lives.
***
Elizabeth was overjoyed we had come back early as she had exhausted the social circuit and said she had ‘found no company worth having’ apart from her own and Edward’s.
Of course, she wished to hear all about our trip to Hartmoor—the events of which we had to downplay quite considerably, especially our abrupt leave-taking from the castle. Besides that, my fingers were injured and my nails ripped to shreds—I had to wear gloves indoors and say Ihad chilblains!
Lucinda was still reticent, so at least I did not have to worry about her saying anything. Elizabeth put her silence down to feeling Mr Hart’s absence acutely and kept reassuring her that he would write and call soonest to resume their acquaintance and perhaps even propose! This caused the blood to drain from Lucinda’s already-pale face and her hands to shake. It was hindering her recovery, so I had to put a stop to it. I took Elizabeth aside to have a private word in her bedroom.
‘I know you are only trying to reassure Lucy. But please, I beg of you, do not speak to her any more about Mr Hart proposing. There will be nothing of the sort taking place.’
Elizabeth’s forehead wrinkled in concern. ‘Oh no, what has happened? Has there been a falling-out between them?’
‘He made it clear that he has set his sights on another. Lucy has taken it rather badly ...’
Elizabeth murmured her condolences for Lucinda’s sake, then patted my hand excitedly. ‘Do not tell me, for I have already guessed, and my feelings are always right on these matters. It is Jane who Mr Hart has set his sights on. I could detect an affinity between them as they both enjoy writing ... and she so admired his art ...’
I shifted uncomfortably at this line of thinking.Blast, I had to put her straight before she started telling Jane’sfamily to expect an engagement!
‘It is not Jane he is interested in. It is me,’ I said bluntly.
Elizabeth’s mouth fell open. ‘Oh dear!’
‘Yes, and it has been most uncomfortable and the main reason we left the castle early,’ I said somewhat irritably. The wounds on my fingers were starting to scab over and itching unbearably in my gloves. I longed to scratch at them but could not as I wanted them to heal by the time I returned home. ‘So if you could please not mention his name again, I would be grateful as we all wish to forget about him,’ I continued.
‘Yes, of course,’ Elizabeth said hurriedly. ‘Oh, you poor thing! How awkward. And it goes without saying that your husband must never know of his sordid affection. You can trust me. I will be as silent as the grave and not tell a soul, not even Edward.’ She twisted her fingers by the side of her mouth to resemble a key turning in a lock.
‘Thank you,’ I said, hoping that I could trust her. Her nature did incline towards gossip after all.
But telling Elizabeth had the advantage of her understanding why we wished to lie low for the last week of our stay and not visit the pump room or partake in any other social events. Every time Edward queried if we wished to go out or suggested we go to the theatre, Elizabeth neatly circumvented it by saying it was much nicer to stay in andall be together.
She would also sit next to Lucinda and occupy her with some idle chat or encourage her to do some plain embroidery, which, to my relief, did seem to help distract her from her woes. Towards the end of the week, she even giggled at an amusing incident Elizabeth told us about one of her children. Upon hearing that, Jane and I exchanged rather tearful glances.Thank goodness, our girl was on the mend!
