Page 16 of Exile's Return
Agnes forced herself to straighten and she looked every man in the eye, including the hateful Tobias.
‘They are only young. They won’t understand. If you have a shred of human decency, at least let me prepare them and say farewell to them,’ she said.
Tobias shuffled his feet. ‘I would rather…’ he began, but the president interrupted him.
‘We are not entirely heartless, Mistress Fletcher. You may return to your lodgings with Colonel Ashby for the express purpose of packing the children’s belongings and ensuring they are in a fit state to return to their home at Charvaley with the Colonel. That is all. You may leave now.’
In a trance, Agnes turned and walked toward the door. Dimly she was conscious of Tobias following her, but she took no notice until she felt his hand on her sleeve.
‘Mistress Fletcher … Agnes … A word in private.’
She shook off his hand and turned and looked up at him, the anger rising like a gorge in her throat. ‘Why you?’
He directed her into a dark, wood-panelled room and shut the door behind them.
His moustache twitched as he smiled. ‘Why me? Why not?’
She studied him for a long moment. As James’s closest male relative, Tobias would be the Earl of Elmhurst, had it not been for Henry’s birth. Tobias, who had betrayed James without a flicker of conscience.
‘James told me of your part in his downfall. Your promise to turn coat and then, the soldiers…’
Tobias shook his head. ‘It is regrettable that he involved himself in such foolishness. However, that is all in the past. We must now look to the future and ensure the children are kept safe, and that no blemish of their father’s treachery will attach to them. On which subject, I have a question to ask of you, Agnes.’
She glared at him.
‘You were close to my cousin; was he wont to confide in you?’
Agnes looked away. James did confide in her — when it suited him.
‘What do you mean?’
Tobias’s gaze slid past her. ‘My cousin was directly responsible for the theft of some valuable property of the Commonwealth and the death of a good man. He went to his death without revealing the location of the property. Did he confide its location in you?’
Oh yes, she had held the shuttered lantern as James hurried the men and their heavy leather satchels into the house. But she had not asked, and he had not told her, what the satchels contained or indeed where he had secreted them.
‘No,’ she answered, truthfully. ‘My concern was, and always will be, the children and the children alone. James’s politics were of no interest to me.’
Tobias’s eyes narrowed and she wondered if he disbelieved her. She had always been a bad liar.
‘You are a gem among women, Agnes Fletcher if your sole concern was with hearth and home and not the business of men.’
The gall gathered in Agnes’s stomach at the sarcasm that dripped from his words.
‘The business of men saw the death of the children’s father. You alone…’ she jabbed a finger in his direction ‘…have James’s blood on your hands. Those children are orphans because of you and now you would take them from me. If you hurt one hair on their heads, Tobias…’
‘My dear, Agnes, you quite terrify me.’
He looked down at her, his mouth curling in a sneer. Small and slight, she hardly presented a physical threat to a man who stood nearly a foot taller than her.
He held up a placating hand. ‘Enough of these games. Please believe me, Agnes. I will take care of the children as if they were my own. They are my closest blood kin.’
She searched his face, looking for evidence of his veracity. It remained implacable. She had no choice in the matter but to trust him. She had to believe that he would act in the best interests of the children.
She sighed. ‘I know what the commissioners said, but surely it’s within your power to let me come with the children?’
Tobias’s eyes hardened. ‘Even I cannot go against an order of the Committee, Agnes.’ He raised a hand as if to lay it on her shoulder in reassurance but thought better of it, making a pretence of straightening his collar. ‘You have my word. The children will be safe in my care.’
A knock on the door made them both start. Ashby opened it to admit Septimus Turner.Tobias’s faithful hound, James had called him. Turner was a slight man with ginger hair, moustache and beard, probably well into his forties. Not much above middle height, his figure was trim and he carried himself well. He had served at Tobias’s side since the first engagement of the war.
