Page 56 of By the Sword
She turned her thoughts to the journey she and Tom would make. Strangely, now the decision was made, she had no regrets. It was as if she had cast herself off from her old, familiar, safe life and was sailing like a Drake or a Raleigh into strange waters. She felt no fear, only a sense of exhilaration and freedom that had nothing to do with the Ashleys or the Thorntons but came entirely from within herself.
Chapter 16
Seven Ways, Worcestershire June, 1651
Nell all but flew out of the front door and hardly waited for Kate to dismount before she threw her arms around her neck, half-sobbing.
‘Kate, Kate, I am so glad you’ve come.’
Kate gently disengaged her friend and took a step backwards. Nell seemed a shadow of the bright, lively young woman of a year ago. Her black dress and plain white collar accentuated her pallor and her fair hair, drawn back severely from her pale face, had lost all its lustre.
Nell put her hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. ‘I’ve had no one to turn to. All my life there has been someone to turn to but since grandfather’s last illness, I’ve been so alone.’
‘I’m so sorry, Nell,’ Kate said, ‘I had no idea how hard it’s been for you.’
Kate slipped her arm into Nell’s and walked her into the house and to the upstairs parlour, where Nell subsided onto a chair.
‘It’s all such a mess,’ Nell said, the tears bright in her eyes. ‘I just didn’t know what to do.’
‘I’m sure things can be put to rights,’ Kate said in a tone she normally reserved for one of her wayward nieces or nephews,
Nell looked up at her. ‘No, it is worse than you can imagine,’ she said. ‘You don’t know everything about us…me. I can only compromise you.’
‘What do you mean?’
Tears started trickling down Nell’s face. ‘You have to know. I profess the Catholic faith.’
‘I know that,’ Kate said.
Nell sniffed. ‘You do?’
‘Jonathan told me. It makes no difference to me, Nell. You’re still welcome here. This is your home. Now, tell me everything that has happened.’
Drawing in a great, shuddering breath, Nell began, ‘Sir Francis was barely cold when Price came with three others of the County Committee. They had a paper with them, an order to sequester the house. I refused to admit them. I told them that they were mistaken and that according to my father’s will the estate was now the property of one Master Thomas Ashley of Barton in Yorkshire.’
Nell allowed herself a small smile. ‘I told them to verify my story with the family lawyer in Worcester and ascertain the truth of the situation before making such wild assumptions.’
‘And did they?’
‘Oh yes, but Price returned a couple of days later.’ Her face darkened. ‘He threatened to burn the house down over our heads and that this Thomas Ashley would regret the day he inherited Seven Ways.’
‘Did you write to your uncle as I asked?’
Nell nodded. ‘And he wrote such a kind letter in reply. He cannot get away from London but he has written a letter, verifying Thomas’ claim on the estate and threatening Price with action should he pursue any claim for sequestration. He’sa powerful man in London these days, Kate. I don’t know why I never thought of turning to him before.’
‘You had no reason to.’
Nell shrugged. ‘I suppose so, but the real reason is that Uncle Nathaniel, like David Ashley, sided with Parliament. None of us would have had contact with him these ten years past.’ She buried her head in her hands. ‘Kate, I’m so very tired of this war and these estrangements.’
Kate held her close. ‘The gaps are closing, Nell. Now, I plan to settle matters here and take you and Ann back to Barton with me.’
Nell’s eyes widened. ‘You’d do that?’
‘You’ve nowhere else to go and I’m not leaving you alone in this big house to be prey to Price and his ilk.’
‘You wouldn’t stay?’
‘Barton is my home, Nell.’
