Page 79 of Exile's Return
Nothing for it, he considered as he returned to the kitchen. He would be spending the evening in the kitchen, cleaning boots with an ear on the downstairs gossip.
Chapter 33
Agnes passed a restless night, tormented by the thought of Henry and Lizzie being so close and not even knowing she was in the castle. What if Ashby sent her away without seeing them?
Sarah brought her breakfast, and when she enquired after Lucas, Sarah said only that he had been busy in the stable with one of the horses. The maid also brought the summons Agnes had been waiting for. Colonel Ashby requested her presence.
A fire had only just been lit in the parlour, and Agnes’s breath misted in the air as she stood with her eyes demurely downcast and her hands clasped in front of the serviceable green woollen gown she had retrieved from her chest. She closed her eyes, breathing in the familiar scent of beeswax that arose from the well-polished furniture, before dropping a deep and respectful curtsey in the presence of her nemesis.
This is for the children, she told herself, as she brought her gaze up to meet Tobias Ashby’s self-satisfied smirk.
Ashby, clad for once in a plain blue woollen suit of clothes, not his more familiar military uniform, stood with his back to the fireplace, his arms folded and his eyes narrowed as if he was inspecting her for signs of rebellion. Septimus Turner stood by the window, looking out across the damp gardens as rain speckled the diamond panes. Leah Turner was notable for her absence.
Tobias rubbed his hands together. ‘It’s going to be a cold winter,’ he said conversationally, with what looked like a smile lifting the corners of his straggly moustache. ‘I trust your journey here was not too fraught. Did you come far?’
Agnes ignored the question, clearly aimed at establishing where she had been for the last weeks since she had been abandoned in London.
Tobias picked up her note from the table. ‘You sent this. What is it you have to tell me?’
‘You will hear nothing until you let me see the children,’ she said.
Tobias narrowed his eyes. ‘If that is how it is to be.’ He nodded at Turner. ‘Go and fetch them.’
Alone with Tobias, Agnes squared her shoulders. ‘Did you know that I have been kept a virtual prisoner since my arrival?’
Tobias’s moustache twitched again. ‘My dear, Agnes, you may recall that you were forbidden this house. We could hardly have you wandering around without some form of protection.’
‘Mistress Fletcher to you,’ she responded. ‘I have been mistress in this house since the death of my sister. I’m not sure what I needed protection from.’
Tobias opened his mouth to respond, but a shrill cry from the doorway interrupted him.
‘Aunt Agnes!’
Agnes turned on her heel and held out her arms to the two small people who came hurtling toward her. She went downon her knees, burying her face in their warm, sweet embraces, breathing in the scent of her child.
Her child. As much as she loved Lizzie, Henry was her very blood and being.
Still on her knees, she drew back.
‘Let me look at you,’ she said. ‘Henry, I swear you have grown two inches at least and Lizzie, darling Lizzie, you must have grown at least four.’
Inwardly her stomach quirked at the sight of their pale, drawn faces. Dark circles shadowed their eyes and their movements seemed slower, more inhibited.
‘Children!’ The frosty command came from Leah Turner, and at the sound of her voice, both children stiffened in Agnes’s embrace. Agnes rose to her feet, drawing the children in against her skirts.
‘Thank you for the care of the children, Mistress Turner. It is pleasing to see them looking so well,’ Agnes said in a civil tone.
Much as she wanted to fly at Leah and demand to know how the children were being treated, she didn’t need or want to make an enemy of this woman.
Leah fixed her gaze on Agnes. ‘You spoiled these children for too long. They are wilful and disobedient and I have been forced to chastise them for their wayward behaviour. I am pleased to report they are beginning to see the Word of the Lord and to learn meekness and humility.’
Lizzie whimpered and pressed her face into Agnes’s skirt. A cold hand tightened around Agnes’s heart.Chastisein Leah Turner’s lexicon could have just one meaning.
‘I assure you, Mistress Turner,’ Agnes said, her voice tight with emotion. ‘I was diligent with their study of the Bible. Perhaps it is the manner in which you present it that is the difficulty. I have always found them biddable children.’
‘Enough!’ Ashby’s harsh tone cut across the tension. ‘Now, you have satisfied yourself that the children are in good health. Leah, return them to the nursery. Ag…Mistress Fletcher and I must talk.’
The children clung tighter to Agnes. Their very silence concerned her and she turned to Tobias. ‘You will get nothing from me unless you allow me free access to the children while I am here.’
