Page 17 of By the Sword
‘And you bring the threat of war with you,’ she said.
‘This is our last chance to return the country to its lawful King.’ He sighed. ‘Providing, however, that the King agrees to the Scots’ terms and the English come to the King’s support.’
‘And will they?’
‘Honestly?’ He shook his head. ‘You are correct. England is tired of war, Kate. Even the King’s most ardent supporters are reluctant to commit themselves to what they rightly see as a doomed cause. Like this family.’ He waved a hand towards the house and could not hide the bitterness in his voice as he said, ‘The price for supporting the losing side has been enormous, and few are willing to risk what they have left.’
‘Is that what you’re doing in England?’
He nodded. ‘I’ve been sent to seek out support for the King among his old friends. He has friends aplenty but little of what he needs: arms, men and money.’
Despite the comparative warmth of the evening, beside him Kate shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.
‘So there will be war again. More deaths.’
He leaned his elbows on his knees and buried his head in his hands. She had been right in her supposition. It would all begin again. More wives would lose their husbands, mothers their sons. Would he even survive what was to come?
‘But Sir Francis has not long to live,’ Kate said. ‘You are his heir. Surely it is time to make your peace and come back to England. You don’t have to fight another war.’
She had come straight to the point of this long and difficult conversation.
He ran his fingers through his hair as he straightened. ‘I can’t return, Kate, even if I wished to. I have a price on my head too dear for this family to pay.’
‘Others have made their peace with Parliament. It may mean more fines but there’s always a way. I heard David Ashley and his friends talking of compounding and the like.’
Jonathan shook his head. ‘There is no compromise for me. If I return, not only do I risk death or at best imprisonment, but all my estate is forfeit.’
Kate stared at him and her eyes narrowed, as the import of his words sunk in.
‘Then who will inherit Seven Ways? Nell?’
He shook his head. ‘Not Nell,’ he said. ‘The Longleys are Catholic.’
Kate stared at him. ‘Nell is a Catholic?’
Something else she didn’t know? He cursed his close-mouthed family.
‘She took Giles’ religion when she married him. And even were she not a Catholic, she is not up to such a huge responsibility. Nell is happiest with a needle in her hand and a child at her knee.’
Kate rose to her feet and turned to face him, looking down at him. Had the colour leached from her face, or was it a trick of the dusk?
‘There’s no one else, is there, except my Thomas?’
His silence gave her the answer.
Kate turned away, her hand going to her throat.
‘That’s why he sent for us,’ she said, her voice cracking with anger. ‘Sir Francis will not see out the year. All his protestations about making peace with Ashleys had only one end and that was to find an heir for Seven Ways.’ She whirled around, looking at him with bright, hot eyes. ‘ I see it all now. You’re his lawful heir. This is your responsibility but instead, it is being passed to a child…to me!’
Jonathan stood up and walked away from her, running his fingers through his hair as he composed a response to her justifiable fury.
‘Kate,’ he said, turning back to her. ‘This is not my decision but it is my doing and there is nothing I can do to change it. If I inherit Seven Ways, it is lost. I still get the title, for what it’s worth, and there are some lands in Warwickshire, which are entailed. I will get those…briefly, but Seven Ways…’ He spread his arms, encompassing the garden and the house. ‘This part of the estate is not entailed and Grandfather is free to do with it as he likes. Thomas is Elizabeth Thornton’s grandson. You can’t deny your son his heritage, and neither can you deny Francis the right to leave the estate where he feels it will be best served.’
He turned away from her to look at the house, now a dark shadow in the evening gloom. Seven Ways…home. The thought tore at his heart.
‘Ten years ago there was something worth inheriting. I don’t blame you for not wanting anything to do with this ruin of a house…and family,’ he said
They stood an arm’s length apart, faces now shadowed and unreadable. He was glad he did not have to see the anger in her eyes again. Yet when she spoke her voice held no anger, only resignation.
