Philippa Carr - The Adulteress

“Do you mean that Amos Carew is her lover? And who is he?”

Jethro nodded. “Who is he? He’s the estate manager. His lordship couldn’t do without him either. Amos brought Jessie down here as housekeeper and very soon after that she was in charge not only of the house but of his lordship. She’s that sort of woman. She got rid of most of the servants except me … and one or two of them in the cottages. She couldn’t very well turn us out of our homes. Then she brought in some of her own choosing. But I have to say this … both his lordship and Amos Carew seem very content. They think the world of her … both of ’em.”

“It’s horrible,” I said.

“Shocking for a lady like you. But he does want to see you, and he can see you while she’s with Amos Carew. Just go into his room. He might be dozing but he’ll be wide awake at the sight of you and then he’ll tell you what he wants of you, why he’s asked you here … but I don’t think it’s to get rid of Jessie … he just does not want to say what he’s got to in front of her.”

“I’ll go back to the house and to his room.”

“Bit too early yet, mistress. Wait till she’s in Carew’s house. You can see it from my top window. On a bit of hill, we are. And I can see Carew’s clear from my top window. When she goes in it’s two hours clear afore she’s out and she’s generally there before two. We should be on the watch. Will you step up?”

There was a short staircase in the room to Jethro’s bedroom, which extended across the whole area of the cottage. There was a small window at either end of the room … one looking out over Jethro’s vegetable patch, the other across fields to the house.

He had placed two chairs at this window. Now he said: “Look to the right of the house. See the manager’s house. Always been the manager’s house as long as I can remember, and my father and grandfather before me. Well, Amos Carew came here. He was a merry sort of fellow, people liked him. So did the girls. I reckon there’s one or two of them who would have liked to set up house with him but he’s not the marrying kind. And it wasn’t long after he came that he brought Jessie here. She wheedled her way into the house and was a great favorite of his lordship. It got so he couldn’t do without her. He gave her jewels and fine clothes and more or less the running of the house. Because he’s an old man … well, she always kept on with Amos. So that is how it is.”

“The more I hear the more sordid it becomes.”

“That’s because you’re a lady bred and born but this sort of thing springs up now and then. … It’s a pity, though, that it should be his lordship. There! Are you keeping your eyes open? It should be any minute now.”

“As soon as we see her I shall hurry back to the house and go straight up to Lord Eversleigh’s room.”

“That’s the idea, and when you find out what he wants if I can be of any help I’m here. She’s late today.”

“What is that house over there?”

“Why, that’s Enderby.”

“Oh yes … I remember Enderby.”

“A queer sort of place that’s always been.”

“Who is there now?”

“It changed hands some time ago. It seems to do that. I think there’s something strange about that house. Things have happened in it. People don’t seem to stay. Don’t mix much, these people. Have visitors from time to time. Foreigners, some of them.”

“It’s strange how a house gets a reputation.”

“Haunted, they say. There’s been tragedies there. Some say that part of the grounds are haunted too. There was rumor that someone was murdered and buried there.”

“It always seemed rather gloomy as I remember.”

“Ah yes, Enderby’s not a place you’d forget. Look. There she is. You can just make her out. See, she keeps to the trees. … She’ll have to come into the open before she can get to the house, though. ’Tis a mercy there is a good deal of her. She can’t easy be missed.” He chuckled. “I fancy she’ll have a lot to tell Amos today.”

I watched with a growing excitement. She walked into the house without knocking. She was evidently expected.

“I’ll go back right away,” I said. “And thank you, Jethro. I’ll see you again soon.”

“Right you are, mistress. Get in now. Go straight into his room. Never mind if he’s dozing. Wake him up. That’s what he wants.”

I went quietly into the house and up the stairs. When I opened the door of Uncle Carl’s room, he was propped up in bed, I think waiting for me.

Those wonderfully alive eyes lit up when they rested on me.

“You found Jethro,” he said.

“Yes. He told me this was the time to find you alone.”

“Jessie’s sleeping. She likes her nap at this time of day.”

There was a certain mischief in his eyes and it occurred to me then that he knew of her visits to the estate manager and the purpose of them. Perhaps I imagined that because I was becoming caught up in a situation which would have seemed impossible to me before I set foot in this house.

“My dear, it was good of you to come.”

“I’m glad I did.”

“And I’m rather glad that you came alone. Your husband might not have understood so readily.”

“Oh … I am sure he would … Tell me what it is I have to understand.”

“Come and sit near the bed, so that I can see you. Ah, you have a look of Clarissa. A dear good girl … always. I think the women are the backbone of the family. … The men … they have their weaknesses but the women have been strong. But let us get down to business, shall we? We must make the most of what time we have. My dear, I want you to help me make my will.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, you see there are formalities. Things have to be signed and the lawyers have to come. It’s rather difficult”—he smiled at me deprecatingly—“in the circumstances.”

I decided to speak out boldly. I said: “You mean because of Jessie.”

“Yes,” he said. “Because of Jessie.” He lifted a hand. “I know what you are going to say. Get rid of Jessie.”

I nodded.

“This is something you won’t understand. You have lived a conventional life, you had good parents, and now a good husband. We are not all so fortunate as you. Our lives don’t run along such pleasant tracks. We ourselves are not always very pleasant people.”

I said: “You are telling me that Jessie occupies a rather special position in this household and because of that it is not easy to get rid of her.”

“Well, she would have to go if I told her to. That could be arranged.”

“And you want me to get your lawyers to do that.”

“No. Oh dear me, no. I don’t want to be rid of Jessie. I don’t know what I’d do without her. … It is just for the will.”

“And yet …”

“I told you it would be difficult for you to understand, didn’t I? I am very fond of ladies. I always have been … from the age of about fourteen. I could not imagine my life without them. There were always ladies. I led a wild life. I had had a dozen mistresses by the time I was twenty. I am sorry. I am shocking you but you must understand. I don’t want to upset Jessie. She means a great deal to me. My … comforts depend on her. But I don’t want trouble and she can’t have Eversleigh, can she? Can you imagine all those irate ancestors of our rising up against me? I’d be struck down before I could put pen to paper. Well, there is family pride in me too. No … Eversleigh for the Eversleighs. The long line must not be broken.”

“I think I begin to understand, Uncle Carl.”

“That is good. You may have heard about Felicity, my wife. … I was forty when we met. I loved her dearly. She was twenty-two. Five years we were together. I was different then … the model husband … never wanted to stray from my own fireside. Then we were going to have a child. That seemed perfection. She died and the child with her. That was the lowest point of despair I have ever known.”