‘It’s all in the past. It happened a long time ago.’ I could hear that William was trying to use his brusque, gruff lord of the manor voice, but under that façade, I knew he was hurting. He had told me in confidence about his father; I knew that the knowledge it had happened while William was away, tortured him. I knew that was why, when he had found out about Simon Favisham’s true nature as an abusive and violent man, William had refused to accept his proposal of marriage to Edith.
‘That don’t mean it don’t feel like it was yesterday,’ Aunt Bill said, quietly. ‘I’m so sorry, William,’ she repeated.
‘I can’t let it happen. I can’t let that… child…’ His lip curled in fury. Aunt Bill patted his hand.
‘We won’t, my pet. Lady Hermione ’as her own family in the north of England,’ Aunt Bill said. ‘If I can get her and Violet out of the ’ouse and onto some transport, she says she’ll be safe there. Apparently, she ’as brothers and male relatives that’ll be protectin’ her honour. She’s tried to write to them, but Lord Albert has her letters intercepted.’ Aunt Bill’s expression darkened. ‘The last time she tried to contact them, he ripped up her letter in front of her and whipped her with his belt.’
‘Oh, no.’ I put a hand to my mouth.
‘The brute. I will kill him!’ William exclaimed. He balled hishands into fists. I knew he was capable of it; I’d seen him beat a man with his bare fists more than once. He was a large, musclebound man and he knew how to fight. ‘How dare he lay a finger on his wife, never mind his daughter! He is sullying the Trevarron name, and for that alone I am justified in ending his sorry little life.’
‘William, please.’ I laid a hand on his arm. ‘We have to be smart here. You can’t just beat up the Lord of Trevarron. You’ll be thrown into prison. Again.’ I looked up pleadingly into his eyes.
‘Then what? We cannot stand idly by and wait for this brute to hurt his womenfolk,’ William snarled. ‘What would you have me do?’
‘Okay. So, the problem is getting Hermione and Violet out of Trevarron House,’ I said, pacing around the room. ‘If we can get them into a carriage and up north, then they should be safe. As safe as they can be.’
‘That’s right.’ Aunt Bill nodded. ‘The problem is, getting them out of the ‘ouse. Lord Albert has them both closely guarded. The butlers and footmen act as his personal militia, almost.’ She shuddered. ‘I realised that quite soon when I got ’ere. I expect that things are very different than in your time, William.’
‘Indeed.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘However, I think I may have an idea. But you have to sneak us back into the house, Miss Bill. Can you do that?’
‘If you asks me nicely, my pet,’ Aunt Bill said with a curl to her lips. ‘What d’you ’ave in mind?’
NINETEEN
‘It’s somewhere here. A wooden lever.’ William pulled out a few of the leather-bound books at the end of one of the top shelves of the furthest bookshelf on the right and peered inside. He dropped the books carelessly on the floor; they made a loud thud.
‘William. Be quiet!’ I hissed.
‘Oh. Sorry.’ He shrugged. ‘I suppose I just… feel like I can do what I like, here. I can’t stop thinking I’m at home.’
‘You’re not,’ I whispered, looking around at the door. I thought the household would probably be in bed by now – it was past midnight by the time the three of us had made our way back to the house like thieves, and snuck into the library – but I couldn’t be sure. ‘Be careful.’
‘Stop worrying. Your aunt said Lord Albert isn’t home,’ he countered, slightly dismissively. I wondered privately if William wasn’t spoiling for a fight. Did hewantsomeone to come in and disturb us?
He’d been furious when he’d heard what Lord Albert had been doing to his wife and daughter – completely understandably – and I knew William enough by now to know that his go-to method for working out his frustrations was fighting. Hewould never, ever be anything other than gentle and protective with me, but I knew that there was a dark side to him, nonetheless.
I knew he fought with his own shadow: the guilt of not being there to protect Edith and Charles. The guilt that Elspeth had died, running to warn him that the police were coming, when he was out smuggling.
Perhaps he always would fight with those demons.
‘Lord Albert isn’t ‘ome, but his spies are,’ Aunt Bill said, in a low voice. ‘The butlers and footmen watch everythin’. I can’t guarantee they aren’t patrollin’ the ‘ouse and the grounds while Lord Albert’s away. I know they watch Lady Hermione and Miss Violet’s rooms at night. Fortunately, not mine. Not yet.’ She gave us both a stern look.
‘All right, all right.’ William lowered his voice. ‘Now… it should be… aha.’ He smiled, his face lighting up. He had rolled up his sleeve; he was still wearing his suit from the ball.
It wasn’t the moment to notice – we were intruders, inside Trevarron House, looking for something that William said would provide us with an escape route for Lady Hermione and Miss Violet – but still, my gaze was drawn to William’s exposed arm. I marvelled once again at his beautifully muscled forearms and the sheer width of his biceps.
‘What are you looking for, again? Some kind of map?’ Aunt Bill whispered. William had told us he had an idea of how we could get Lady Hermione and Violet out of Trevarron House without anyone suspecting anything; that there was a secret way out of the house, but he couldn’t remember where it was. There was, though, a map, if he could find it.
‘Yes. A map of the house and the grounds.’ He pointed to a recess in the bookshelf that had opened up. ‘This is a secret compartment my grandfather created. He put them all over the house,’ he added.
‘Why?’ I asked, peering into the space behind the bookshelf curiously.
‘I suppose he liked to keep things secret.’ William shrugged. ‘Itwas a different time. He was worried about thieves. He hid jewellery and money in them. By the time I was lord, I put all of that in the bank.’ He reached into the recess and felt around for a moment. ‘I used the cubby holes for other things.’
‘Like what?’ I asked. I thought of the secret cabinet I’d found in my bedroom in 1755, where I’d found Aunt Bill’s letter. That must have been one of the spaces that William was talking about.
‘Things that I didn’t want all and sundry finding,’ he muttered. ‘There should be some papers… hmmm. Here we are.’
