Page 107 of The Secret Castle in the Highlands

Chapter Forty-Six

Eliza Compton’s lips were puckered with disdain. ‘That’s the problem with your family, Mr Lapley. They never understood the meaning of community spirit.’

The colour drained further from Alex’s face as the elderly woman, wrapped in a black coat with huge gold buttons, moved forward through the bodies of the gathered crowd. Her jowly face was serious. ‘Young Ryan did an excellent job of delivering my notes. I hope they weren’t too cryptic.’

‘You?’ I gasped. ‘It was you who sent those notes to Mason and me?’

A deep murmur rippled through the crowd.

‘And Georgina Lapley’s diary?’ questioned Mason into the microphone. ‘That was you, too?’

‘Well, not me personally,’ repeated Eliza, pulling her coat tighter. ‘Ryan delivered them all on my behalf.’

Alarm registered in Alex Lapley’s face. ‘Notes? What notes? And what diary are you blathering on about?’

The crowd of onlookers swayed, exclaiming and speculating aloud.

Eliza smiled triumphantly at Alex Lapley’s evident discomfort. ‘I’ve been passing information to Poppy and that handsome young man over there.’

Eliza negotiated the cluster of people like a stately ship easing itself through arduous waters.

‘How the hell did you get your hands on that diary?’ thundered Alex, moving towards her. ‘That belongs to my family.’

‘Yes, you would’ve liked that,’ countered Eliza. ‘Then if you’d been in possession of it, all this would’ve been kept quiet.’

‘What are you on about, you stupid old cow?’

Eliza didn’t flinch at Alex’s spittle-fuelled outburst, even though many members of the audience reacted noisily to his lack of respect. She unhooked her handbag from her wrist and plucked out a yellowing letter, sealed in a small plastic wallet.

‘In the late seventeen hundreds, your family employed members of mine in service,’ explained Eliza. ‘Augustus Lapley was a spiteful, greedy man who exploited his staff to their detriment.’ She swallowed before she spoke again. ‘But his wife, Georgina, was a wonderful young woman, far too gentle and generous for the likes of him.’ Eliza composed herself again. ‘On her deathbed, Georgina insisted that my great-great-grandmother, Emily, take possession of her diary.’

Determinedly, Eliza continued. ‘Georgina had recorded the harsh treatment she and that poor boy of hers, Oscar, had endured over the years at the hands of Augustus. She made Emily promise to keep it safe and one day tell the truth about her and the Scarlet Highwayman.’

Excitement soared inside me. ‘But why has it taken until now?’

‘The diary was lost,’ admitted Eliza. ‘It only turned up unexpectedly last year, when my sister-in-law was going through old heirlooms we’d stuck in my late brother’s attic.’ She added defiantly, ‘She handed it to me, along with some other papers, and it was from there that the story started to unravel.’

Alex squinted at the letter held in Eliza’s black-gloved hand. ‘And what’s that thing?’

‘Further proof of what your cruel ancestor Augustus did to that poor wife of his.’ Eliza’s eyes pleaded with the assembled crowd. ‘Those love letters – the ones I showed Mr Cooper – I’d kept hidden up at McKerron Castle for ten years. I’m so sorry, but I was frightened.’ She sighed, flicking a nervous glance at Alex Lapley. ‘I know I should have spoken out about all this, but Alex and his father threatened me.’

There were gasps and grunts from the crowd as, emboldened, Eliza continued. ‘When I discovered those letters a decade ago, I said I was going to make them public, but Roger and Alex Lapley pounced on me.’ She swallowed and carried on. ‘They said I would lose my job at the castle if I did anything stupid, and considering my age and how much I love what I do … that castle is my life … I couldn’t afford to lose it. I just couldn’t.’

Eliza composed herself. ‘When Mr Cooper turned up at McKerron Castle and told me he knew about all those payments the Lapley family had made, I realised the truth would come out and so I told him about the letters. To be honest, it was a relief.’

Eliza gazed wearily around the crowd. ‘I’m truly sorry I didn’t speak up or do anything before now.’ She cleared her throat and pressed on. ‘The Lapley family had so much local influence, not to mention they were contributing to the upkeep of McKerron Castle … and now we know why.’

Her voice tailed off reluctantly for a moment. ‘I thought that when they moved away from Port Starr, which would be the end of it, but when he turned up again—’ Eliza raised a papery finger and jabbed it at a scowling Alex Lapley ‘—he tried to whitewash history!’

Fury enveloped Alex and he lunged towards Eliza with a terrifying grunt. However, a young, well-built lad and his friend standing close by stepped in front of her for protection. ‘Don’t think so,’ growled the taller of the two teenagers. His friend in a grey beanie loomed over Alex intimidatingly.

‘Georgina Lapley was nothing but a gold-digging bitch!’ yelled Alex in fury. ‘No wonder Augustus changed his will when he found out she’d been shagging some two-bit music teacher!’ His sharp features hardened further. ‘He had them followed, you know, Georgina and Gideon. Her colluding friend, too. It was all in his will.’

Thoughts pushed and pressed inside my mind. So that was how Alex Lapley knew of the importance of the cottages.

Eliza recovered herself and she managed a relieved smile at Mason and me. She ignored Alex and his outburst. She gestured at us. ‘These two young people gave me the courage I needed to do something about all the lies that have been told for so long.’ She shook her head in dismay. ‘That poor man – Gideon Kelly – the Scarlet Highwayman – has been accused of all sorts of awful crimes and it’s about time the truth came out.’

Alex’s jaw grew slack. He took a few steps forward but was prevented from moving by the teenage boys.