June Francis - Rebel Lady, Convenient Wife

Anna’s face quivered. She had talked herself into a trap and knew she would have to tell them some of what Will had said. ‘He—he accused me of—of being an adulteress—just like my mother!’ She put a hand over her mouth. She had not meant to say the latter either. It showed the state of her mind. Kate and Owain exchanged startled glances. ‘Aye, you might well look like that,’ Anna muttered.

‘What nonsense!’ cried Kate, putting an arm about Anna’s shoulder and noticing the cut on her face. ‘Your cheek is all bloodied! Did that happen while you were trying to escape the fire?’

‘No. Will threw a stone at me,’ said Anna, taking a kerchief from a pocket and dabbing at the cut and then cleaning her face, realising she would have to tell them a little more. ‘I deem he wanted me to believe it was someone from the village, but I recognised his voice. I fear that he wishes to discredit me with the servants and villagers and seize Fenwick.’

‘He must be crazed,’ said Kate, aghast. ‘Owain, you must sort this matter out as soon as possible.’

‘I certainly will,’ said Owain firmly. ‘Although, with the house burnt down and his wife dead, I suspect it is the village where I’ll need to search for him. I’d best take some men with me.’

‘If he is not there, you could try my man-ofbusiness’s house in Chester,’ said Anna. ‘No doubt Will shall try and persuade him that I’m not a fit person to own Fenwick.’

‘You really believe so?’ said Owain, looking deeply concerned. He rose from a table littered with papers. ‘Sit down. You’re obviously distraught and exhausted and need to rest. Kate, fetch some wine.’

Anna sighed. ‘Howcan I relax? I have lost all that I held dear and now I am at a loss how to go on with my life.’

Kate looked disturbed. ‘Hush, love. All will be well.’

‘That is so easy to say,’ cried Anna, tears filling her eyes. ‘I know a house can be rebuilt—but what would be the point? It would not be a home. I might as well go live in a nunnery.’

‘Now that is nonsense,’ said Kate. ‘You’re too young and comely. All you need is to stay with us for a while. I thought when Joshua died that it was a mistake for you to shut yourself away at Fenwick.’

Anna turned on her. ‘You have not lost a son! How can you speak so when you have no experience of what I was suffering?’

‘Talking about it might have helped,’ said Kate quietly. ‘But you wouldn’t let us share your pain.’

‘Enough, love,’ saidOwain, giving her awarning look.

She sighed and nodded. ‘I’ll fetch the wine.’

‘Wait!’ said Anna, ashamed of herself for losing control. Staying Kate with an outstretched hand, she swallowed hard before continuing. ‘I beg your pardon for what I said, but now you’ve reminded me that I have forgotten to tell you that Jack Milburn is here. He says that he has come to see Davy. I mistook him for his twin. Why did you not let me know that Jack had been found?’

‘Jack is here!’ Kate’s blue eyes lit up. ‘It is true we knew he was alive and have been expecting him. But believe me, Anna, I did send word to you at Fenwick with the good news.’

Anna frowned. ‘Who did you send?’

‘Hal.’

‘Hal!’ Anna darted a look at Owain. Hal was the youngest of the Rowan brothers and still unwed despite being almost forty years old. ‘Perhaps he did not deliver the message…or, if he did, Will kept it from me. But why should he do so?’

‘I have no idea,’ said Owain. ‘We could ask Hal when he comes in.’

Anna shrugged. ‘What does it matter now Jack is here?’

Owain and Kate looked relieved.

‘I’ll leave you two then,’ said Kate, smiling. ‘I’ll have one of the maids make ready your old bedchamber, Anna, while I find my dear stepbrother. We will drink wine together and drink each other’s health. Are you hungry?’

Anna nodded. ‘I have not eaten since breakfast and no doubt Jack will be hungry, too.’

‘Then I will see that food is brought here.’ Kate left them alone at last.

‘Do you know what happened to Jack during his absence, Owain?’ asked Anna.

‘He was sold into slavery,’ he said, his expression grim.

Anna’s mouth fell open. For a moment she could only stare at him and then she collected her wits. ‘He sent word telling you of this?’

‘Nay. His twin did,’ replied Owain. ‘Matt never gave up hope, even when we did. He kept in touch with Jack’s agents in Europe and had them hire men to search for him. Eventually, when Matt began to doubt his instinct that Jack was in trouble but alive, a courier arrived with the news that he was in Venice.’

‘No wonder Jack has changed! How was he captured and how did he escape?’

‘I know only what Davy told me and that was little enough,’ said Owain, pulling up a chair and sitting opposite her.

‘Jack told me Davy was in Europe when he returned. I presume he was delivering horses.’

‘Aye. But he also had other business there and was in Bruges when Jack’s courier turned up at the agent’s house. Apparently Jack was suffering from a fever and that’s why he was unable to leave Venice. He feared he might die and wanted Matt to know of his abduction and his years of slavery.’

‘So Davy brought the message to Matt and then came here?’

Owain shook his head. ‘Davy arranged for a courier to deliver the news to Matt whilst he travelled to Venice. He found Jack recovered and journeyed with him to Bruges before going on further business for him to France. Davy returned home a week ago, just in time to see his daughter born.’

‘Joan has had a daughter!’ Despite her grief at the loss of her only son, Anna was delighted for the couple, who had five sons. ‘I must buy the child a birth gift when next I visit Chester,’ she added.

‘I’m sure Davy will tell you that you’re welcome to visit them,’ said Owain, smiling. ‘And I’ll have no talk of nunneries.’ He shook his head. ‘You know you’re welcome to stay here at Rowan as long as you wish. It’ll be good for you to be amongst your family again.’ Anna was silent. She had been away from Rowan too long to fit easily into her former position in the family. Yet where else could she go where she would be safe but here or behind the walls of a convent?

Restlessly, she rose and went over to the window aperture and gazed out over the darkened garden. The happenings of the day played over in her head and she felt sick with the remembrance of the disgust and terror she had felt when confronted by Will and that figure in the devilish mask. She felt her head was going to burst as images overrode each other. She turned round to face Owain and blurted out, ‘Tell me…did my mother have a lover? Did she cuckold our father?’

Owain’s expression was enough to make her wish that she had not spoken. Then a sound at the door shattered the strained atmosphere. ‘Did who cuckold our father?’ asked Davy, entering the parlour.

Anna felt the blood rush to her head and could only gaze at this giant of a man. He was the middle of the Rowan brothers and she knew him the least best of the three. He had married before she was born and lived on the Wirral with his wife and children, having his own stud farm. Suddenly she realised that Kate and Jack Milburn had followed him into the room. Anna wished she could disappear in a puff of smoke. Instead, she turned her back on them.

The moon had risen and she could make out the shapes of bushes and plants. Then, unexpectedly, she saw a devilish face loom out of the darkness. Her masked attacker! She could see the horns on its head and the same gaping, evil grin. She froze with fear. Was it a projection of her overwrought mind?

She managed to tear her gaze away and face the room. ‘There’s someone out there!’ she cried.