Виктория Холт - The Captive

“I don’t think I’ve met Maria.”

“No, you wouldn’t. She’s mostly in my part of the house.”

“I think my room must be opposite yours.”

“You’re up in the nursery.

Yes, that would be about it . across the courtyard. Oh look, the men are coming back. They’ll split us up now. I have enjoyed getting to

know you. And thank you for what you’re doing with Kate. That child did know how to make a nuisance of herself. My daughter-in-law tells me she is greatly relieved. “

“I really don’t deserve all these compliments.”

Mirabel was coming towards us. She smiled at me.

“Miss Cranleigh must come and talk to her friend,” she said to the old lady.

Then she drew me to one side.

“I hope my mother-in-law didn’t confuse you. She rambles on a bit. Since the tragedy she’s been a little strange. It’s rarely that she comes to things like this. But she seemed a great deal better and wanted to meet you. She’s not always lucid … and talks wildly quite often.”

“No, no,” I said.

“She talked normally.”

“Oh, I’m glad. Oh, here’s Mr. Lorimer.”

Lucas was coming towards us. There was someone with him and the evening was almost over before I found myself alone with him.

“Oh, it’s such a shame. I did want to say so much to you.”

“You’re making me very curious.”

“But not here, Lucas.”

“Well then, we’d better meet. What about tomorrow at The Sailor King?”

“I’ll manage to get there.”

“Two-thirty as before?”

“That’s a good time.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” said Lucas.

The evening was over. Kate came to my room as I was getting undressed.

“What was it like?” she asked.

“Interesting. I had a long chat with the Dowager Lady Perrivale.”

“You mean Stepper’s mother. She’s an old witch.”

“Really, Kate!”

“Well, a bit mad anyway-She stays in those rooms where Sir Edward died. She and that old Maria are up there all the time. She’s with the ghost up there. I don’t like her much.”

“She seemed concerned about you.”

“Oh, she doesn’t like me. She likes my mother and Gramps, though. Did you talk to Gramps?”

“Not really … just greetings. It is amazing how little one can talk to people.”

“What about old Lucas?”

“Why is everyone old to you?”

“Because they are.”

“Well, they are certainly not ten years old. Go away now, will you? I want to go to bed.”

“I want to hear all about it in the morning.”

“There’s really nothing to tell.”

“I suppose you think you are going to parties here to find a rich husband.”

“Most of the men seem to have wives already,” I said with a smile.

“All you have to do is …”

“What?” I asked.

“Murder them,” she said.

“Good night. Cranny. See you in the morning.”

And she was gone.

I was disturbed. What was actually in the child’s mind? I wondered.

What did she know? And how much did she make up when she did not know?

I kept thinking about the sailor. I had almost made up my mind to tell Lucas.

When I met Lucas the following day, I was still wavering. But the first thing he said when we were seated was: “Now, out with it. What’s on your mind? Why don’t you tell me? You’ve wanted to for a long time and in any case that’s why you’ve brought me here today.”

“There is something,” I said.

“Lucas, if you promise … promise you won’t do anything thatiJ ask you not to …”

He looked at me in puzzlement.

“Is it something that happened on the island?”

“Well, yes … in a way.”

“John Player?”

“Yes. But he isn’t John Player, Lucas.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. I knew there was some mystery.”

“Promise me, Lucas. I must have your promise before I tell you.”

“How can I promise when I don’t know what I’m promising?”

“How can I tell you if I don’t know you will?”

He smiled wryly.

“All right, I promise.”

I said, “He’s Simon Perrivale.”

“What?”

“Yes, he left England on the ship … taking the place of one of the deck hands.”

Lucas was staring at me.

“Lucas,” I said earnestly.

“I want to prove his innocence … so that he can come back.”

“This explains … everything.”

“I thought it would. And I was afraid that you might think it your duty to tell the authorities … or someone.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve promised, haven’t I? Tell me more. I suppose he confessed this to you on the island when I was lying there, unable to move.”

“Yes, it was like that. There is something else you must know. He was in the seraglio … or rather just outside it, working in the gardens.

I told you how I became friendly with Nicole and she was the friend of the Chief Eunuch. Well, he Simon managed to ingratiate himself with the Eunuch and I think because of it and because of Nicole . he helped us both. Simon escaped with me. “

Lucas was speechless with incredulity.

“We were taken away together and left close to the British Embassy. I

went in … and in time came home. Simon dared not be sent home. He left me there. He was going to try to get to Australia.”

“And you have heard nothing of him since?”

I shook my head.

“I understand now,” he said, ‘why you have this crazy idea of proving his innocence. “

“It’s not crazy. I know he’s innocent.”

“Because he told you?”

“It’s more than that. I got to know Simon very well…”

He paused for a few seconds before he said: “Wouldn’t it be better for him to come home and face things? If he is innocent…”

“He is innocent. But how could he prove it? They have all decided that he is guilty.”

“And you think you are going to make them change their minds?”

“Lucas, I know there is some way of doing this. There must be. I’m certain of it. If only I could find the answer.”

“This is the most important thing in the world to you, is it?”

“I want it more than anything.”

“I see. Well, what good is it playing governess to that child?”

“I’m here. I’m close to the people who were involved in it. It’s a way”

“Listen, Rosetta. You’re not being logical. You’re letting your emotions get in the way of your common sense. You’ve had some fantastic adventures; you were plunged into a world so different from the one you knew that you are not thinking clearly. What happened to you was melodramatic … beyond what you could have imagined before.

Miraculously, you came through. It was a chance in a thousand . but because it happened you expect life to go on like that. You were in that seraglio . a prisoner. everything was so different there. Wild things could happen. You’re in another sort of seraglio now. one of your own making. You’re a prisoner of your imagination. You think you are going to solve this murder, when it is clear what has happened. The innocent rarely run away. You should’re member that. He couldn’t have said, “I’m guilty” more clearly. You’re not being logical, Rosetta. You’re living in a world of dreams. “

“Nanny Crockett believes in him.”

“Nanny Crockett! What has she to do with it?”

“She was his nurse. She knew him better than anyone. She says he is incapable of such a thing. She knows.”

“That explains this friendship. I suppose she put you up to this governessing.”

“We worked it out together. We didn’t think of my being a governess until the possibility arose. Then we saw that it was a way of getting me into the house.”