Page 84 of The Shadow Key

The girl’s words are echoed by nods and murmurs of agreement from the rest, and this time Linette does laugh.

‘For pity’s sake! Don’t let your prejudices stand against reason.’

Now Rhiannon shoots up from her chair; Erin clamps her arm, but the dark-haired girl pulls it away.

‘I think I’ve a right to my prejudices!’ she spits, and looks about the room, intent it seems on rallying support. ‘London scum. He’s brought the Devil with him, just like the rest!’

Linette’s ‘No!’ is lost within the cheer that comes from the other corner of the tavern, and Cai pushes himself between Gareth and Rhodri, standing tall and proud on his damaged leg.

‘You know yourself of the bad the English have done here. Lands taken, mines unsafe. Look what they did to Rhiannon’s grandmother, all the rest!’

Linette swallows, thinks of everything Henry has revealed. Hellfire. Cai’s lip curls.

‘Your doctor’s no better than any of ’em. Selfish, arrogant. He don’t care. You don’t care!’

There are shouts of agreement, vigorous nods, jeering applause. The ale has taken her now, and Linette feels tears brim hot and painful beneath her eyelids. She looks at them heart-raw. Have they turned on her now, too?

‘I don’t care? That’s an untruth, Cai Jones, and you know it!’ Her hands begin to shake. ‘You cannot, cannot know just how much I’ve fought for Penhelyg over the years.’ The tears fall, and angrily she brushes them away. ‘Am I not a good mistress to you? Do I not treat you fairly? I can do no more than I already have.’

‘You can send him away,’ shouts Rhiannon.

‘Get rid of him!’ shouts another.

‘Yes,’ cuts in Cai. ‘Were there no Welsh doctors to be found? What’s so damn special about this one that he had to come all the way from London?’

The question momentarily silences her. What is so special about Henry Talbot, that Julian would orchestrate his arrival here in Penhelyg and lie about how he brought it about? Whatever she thinks of Henry now, there can be no denying his shock when he realised Julian had lied. In that, at least, he was innocent, and it is this knowledge that spurs her on.

‘You have no notion how difficult it is to find a good physician in these parts!’ Linette shouts back and the passion, the pain in her voice, shocks them into silence. ‘And not just a good physician, either, but one who is kind.’

She thinks of him – not the Henry of today, the one who has made her doubt him, the one who has lied to her – but the one she has known this past week, the one she has grown to trust.

‘Think of Dr Beddoe, who barely lifted a finger for you after Dr Evans died. Would you rather have him?’

The other villagers who stand close by look guiltily awkward, but both Rhiannon and Cai appear unmoved. Gareth clears his throat.

‘Young Cai was wrong to say what he did,’ he says contritely. He pats the lad on the shoulder but Cai shrugs it off with a sneer. ‘There are many of us who’ve a lot of respect for you, milady, for all that you’ve done for us over the years. But bringing that doctor to Penhelyg … it was mighty wrong of you. Beddoe ain’t no good, we know that, but surely there was someone else? Someone of our own kin who understands our needs and speaks the language?’

Bronwen’s baby begins to cry, muffling the sounds of accord that spread through the tavern like pestilent fog. Linette lifts her chin.

‘You dislike him, I know. You’ve made that painfully clear. But Dr Talbot is here to stay whether you like it or not, and no amount of scaremongering will change that.’

Rhodri screws his eyes in confusion. ‘Scaremongering?’

The time for the truth is now; the ale has made her brave.

‘Which one of you demolished the gatehouse the day the doctor was due to arrive? Which of you tried to shoot him in the woods?’

Linette is met with blank stares.

‘Come now,’ she snaps. ‘Which of you were responsible?’

The villagers look at each other, faces full of bewilderment. Even Cai and Rhiannon look perplexed, and as the people of Penhelyg begin to murmur amongst themselves and shake their heads, it dawns on Linette they do not know.

They have absolutely no idea what she is talking about.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Linette returned to Plas Helyg heart-worn and dizzy. Not wanting to speak with either Henry or Julian she retreated to her bedroom and slept through dinner, waking the next morning with a dry throat and pounding headache.

---