Iris Collier - Day of Wrath

‘She’s in her room, Jane, my dear,’ said Lady Margot, who was in the kitchen supervising the stuffing of a brace of woodcock. ‘She’s very upset. Nothing we can do or say seems to have any effect on her. I’m glad you’ve come; you might be able to rouse her. She won’t eat anything. Hannah takes her up some water in the morning and she only takes a tiny sip. You might be able to persuade her to eat something. Matthew certainly wouldn’t want her to starve herself for his sake. She’ll listen to you, I know. You’ve always been such good friends; she’s waiting for you to come.’

Jane went upstairs to the small room tucked under the eaves which had been Bess’s room ever since she’d come to Mortimer Lodge with Lady Margot twelve years ago. She knocked and went in.

Bess was sitting in a chair by the casement window, which looked out over the commons to the manor of Dean Peverell. Jane was shocked at her appearance. Bess had always been slim but that morning she looked gaunt, and her sweet, oval face was haggard. Her dark eyes, her best feature, usually glowing with mischief, were dull and lifeless. She looked the picture of desolation, and Jane went over to her, wrapped her arms round her painfully thin shoulders and buried her head in her dark hair.

‘Bess, my dear Bess, I am so sorry. I know how much you loved him. But please don’t give up. He wouldn’t want to see you like this. Is there anything I can do to help? Forgive me, I know that sounds stupid but we’re all so worried about you.’ Bess shook her head, but Jane could feel her begin to relax. She pulled over a footstool, put it beside Bess’s chair, sat down and waited.

‘Yes, I loved him, Jane,’ Bess whispered. ‘We were planning to get married, you know. Lady Margot was happy about it. Next month, after the feast of Corpus Christi. Our baby would be four months by then. Yes, I am carrying his baby,’ she said as Jane looked up at her in surprise. ‘What’s wrong with that? We loved each other. Why should we have waited for a priest to make us man and wife? I was so glad when I knew, but now … I think I ought to leave this place, and go back to Guisborne. There’s nothing for me here. I’m sure Lady Margot wouldn’t want to be bothered with an unmarried mother with a fatherless child.’

‘I’m so pleased about the baby, Bess, and I’m sure Lady Margot will be very supportive. After all, she’s like a mother to you. Have you told her yet?’

‘She’s guessed. I’ve been very sick in the mornings and haven’t been much use in supervising the children’s breakfast.’

‘Then nothing’s changed. Lady Margot will love your child. So why go back to Guisborne? Those days are over. You’ve been here twelve years, ever since you were a child. You were just six years old.’

‘It’s where I was born. Someone will remember me and take me in.’

‘But you told me you never knew your father, and your mother’s been dead these five years. We all love you and if Lady Margot dismisses you, which I’m sure she won’t, then there will always be a place for you and your child with us.’

‘Jane, how wonderfully kind you are. But I’m sure your father…’

‘Oh, he’ll not mind. Besides, he always does as I say.’

A smile lit up Bess’s wan face for a brief moment. ‘Jane, you’re wicked. But I love you all the same. I don’t want to be a burden to anyone. Just look how weak I am.’

She stood up slowly, levering herself up out of the armchair like an old woman. Then she tottered over to the bed, and sat down on the edge of it, breathing heavily.

‘See how it is? I couldn’t possibly go downstairs. I can hardly walk. Jane, what’s the matter with me?’

‘You’re weak, and ill. I’ll tell Lady Margot you need a doctor, some fortifying soup and a long, sound sleep.’

Gently, Jane eased Bess back on her pillow, and pushed the strands of her dark hair back from her face.

‘Please don’t trouble Lady Margot any more. One of the monks has already been to see me. He brought me a fortifying potion yesterday and he said he’ll be back today. It hasn’t done me much good so far, but I’ll probably feel better later on today. But Jane, I feel so frightened, and I don’t know why. I don’t seem to understand anything. Why should anyone want to murder Matthew? They tell me thieves did it, but why are they so sure? Sir Roger refuses to discuss it with me; he just frowns and walks away, and Lady Margot changes the subject when I ask if the thieves have been caught. Something’s horribly wrong, Jane; and it’s all so confusing and my brain goes round and round in circles.’

‘Don’t worry about catching Matthew’s murderers, Bess. Lord Nicholas is leading the investigation and he’s doing all he can. The Sheriff will soon catch them. He knows all the rogues in the district. He’ll soon have them under lock and key. But it’s you I’m worried about; even more so now that I know you’re carrying Matthew’s child. You must get better so that you can give birth to a fine, healthy baby. Think how much Matthew would have wanted this child. I’ll see if Agnes Myles has a strengthening tonic for you.’

‘Oh you and your old witch! I don’t expect she can do anything for me.’

‘Hush, Bess, she’s not a witch. She’s a herbalist and knows more about how our bodies work than all the apothecaries in the south of England.’

‘Then I do hope she can do something for me. I really don’t feel well; and I have a feeling that the child’s not well either. Can a baby share his mother’s grief and die in the womb, Jane?’

‘I’m not a doctor, Bess, but as far as I know, babies survive most things. He’s quite safe in there,’ she said, patting Bess’s abdomen which was still flat as a board. ‘But now there’s even more reason why you must start eating again. Let me get you some bread and soup.’

Jane left Bess and went down to the kitchen where Mary, the Mortimers’ stout cook, was stirring the big iron pot which always hung over the fire. She asked if she could have a bowl of soup and some bread, and Mary, her large, plain face flushed and perspiring, scooped some soup out of the pot with a huge iron ladle and told her to help herself to bread.

She took the food up to Bess, who’d curled up on to her side, and seemed to be asleep. She put the bowl down and roused her. Then, after propping her up on a pillow, she gave Bess the spoon, but Bess was too weak to hold it so Jane fed her like a child. After only one mouthful, Bess pushed the spoon away.

‘It’s no use, Jane. I can’t eat it; I’ll only be sick, and that makes me even weaker. I really would like to go to sleep, so don’t stay with me much longer. You’ve got your father to look after and a house to run. By the way, when are they going to bury Matthew?’

‘Tomorrow; but unless you’re a lot stronger, you shouldn’t even think of coming. It would only upset you. I’ll tell you everything when it’s all over. But now, sleep well and I’ll come back later on this evening.’

‘Jane, you’re such a comfort to me. You’ll take me to the graveyard, won’t you, when it’s all over, and show me where they bury him?’

‘Of course I will. Sleep now. Don’t think about anything, except the child you’re carrying.’

‘I’ll try not to worry, but things go round and round in my head. That day when Matthew and I hid behind the sofa and we heard all those terrible things about the King, what did it all mean? And now Giles Yelman has been coming here and he talks with Sir Roger for a long time, locked away in the study. What are they talking about, Jane? And why does Lady Margot turn away when I ask her?’

‘Has Giles been here lately, Bess?’

‘I don’t know. But he was here on the day Matthew died, when Lord Nicholas was away.’