Finally, the man said, “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” He extended his hand. “Giles Stinchcomb.”
Slowly, Luke reseated his hat. He stepped up to shake the man’s hand and stood shoulder to shoulder with Miss Allard. “Luke Bannock,” he said.
“Luke Bannock,”Stinchcomb repeated. “Why do I know that name?”
Luke owed this man no explanations, and they both knew it. Stinchcomb glanced at Miss Allard, raising his eyebrows in a silent question.
“Good day to you, sir,” she said.
“Finished here, are we?” asked the man.
“We are, indeed,” Danielle Allard said.
“No manners,” Stinchcomb commented on a whistle. “No manners. No husband. No diversion suitable for a female—savemeddling. In the business of men. And you questionmyauthority, Miss Allard?” He winked at Luke as if she was their shared joke.
“Mind yourself, Stinchcomb.” Luke said this like a suggestion, matching the man’s casual tone. He’d not come to Ivy Hill to fight.
The man turned to Luke. “Forgive me, Mr. Bannock. What is your relation to Miss Allard?”
“My relation is, I’m the man telling you tomind yourselfwhen you address the lady.”
“Oh, I see. A matched pair. Well, don’t allow me to interrupt. Miss Allard, do remember what I said about our offer.” He tipped his hat and turned to walk away.
When he was gone, Miss Allard breathed out one word. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” Luke frowned after the man.
“I must brace for every encounter with Mr. Stinchcomb, but he excels at catching me unawares.”
“Brace?” He looked at her. Her face was as white as the inside of a shell.
“He is a petty tyrant. He aims to control through intimidation. He was on his best behavior today—likely because I was not alone—but his arrogance and entitlement know no bounds. He’ll not stop until he’s bled Ivy Hill of every family and turned our high street into a countinghouse.”
“Who in the village is responsible for accepting or rejecting his offer to purchase your parish hall? Surely there’s some official or governing body to manage him besides you, alone?”
“Oh, there is a town council,” she said, walking again. “Mr. Stinchcomb sets his sights on me because he knows I can sway public opinion about the parish hall. He wants to buy it and see it remade into a recruitment office. It would be a tiny corner of his empire, but it’s my corner, and I’m willing to put up a fight to keep it out of his reach.”
“How badly in need of repair is this hall? Did he misrepresent the condition?”
“Here, I’ll show you,” she said. She shot another glance at Stinchcomb and then pointed up the street. A block away, Luke could see an old church. Beside the church slumped a smaller structure, moss-patched and absent most of a chimney.
“Do you see it there? They want offices in the heart of Ivy Hill so they may poach workmen at the source.”
He reminded himself that he didn’t care about the workforce of Ivy Hill. Or the parish house. Or—
“Does this man Stinchcomb frighten you, Miss Allard?” he heard himself ask.
“Frighten? Not really; although I would hardly describe his presence as a comfort. But I do feel,” a sigh, “out of my depth when I’m forced to deal with him at meetings. His favorite tactic is to proclaim me unladylike and inappropriate. He’s not threatening per se, just unpleasant, and I can never fully grasp what he’s saying until he’s gone. When I see him coming, I feel a little ill. Is that fear? It’s more like being offered day-old fish. I’m compelled to be civil when I decline it, but it turns my stomach.”
The man was quietly terrorizing her, Luke thought. “But do your parents know you’re being bullied?”
“Oh no,” she said, turning back. “No, no, no. I’ve said nothing to Miriam and Whittle and would never say it. If they knew, they would insist I abandon the committee. My work, indeed any civic service I perform in the town, must seem easy and safe. If they knew I was challenging Giles Stinchcomb—or worse, enduring his subtle threats—they would lock me in my room until winter. Please, Captain, say nothing of it, will you? I’m sorry you’ve made the acquaintance of Mr. Stinchcomb, but he is hardly your concern. Let us leave it at that.”
Yes, leave it, Luke reminded himself.Leave all of it.Every complication that was not part of recovering Linus Welty should be ignored.
Linus Welty, he repeated in his head, touching the fossil in his pocket.
Linus Welty.
