Bought for Revenge(25)

       
           



       

'Do you want to marry him, Belle?'

She looked away. 'No. No, not this way.'

'Then you must not do so.'

'But, Papa, have you thought where we shall go, how we shall live?'

'Yes, as a matter of fact, I have,' he said, surprising her. 'Sir John  Rishworth has offered us a house in Stanton. Croft Cottage. It is a  small place, I believe, but big enough for us both and one servant,  which is all We will be able to afford. And it is on the High Street, so  we will be able to walk wherever we need to. We shall still be near our  friends. And the vicar has promised to put some work my way. There are  one or two boys locally who need help with their studies. What with that  and the small annuity you have from your mother, I think we shall go on  very well.'

'Oh, Papa.' She put her face in her hands. 'That we should come to this.'

'It is not so very bad, my love. If everything had been sold on the open  market then it would not have covered what I owe. It could have been  the debtors' prison for me. Mr Blackstone is being very generous-'

'Generous! How can you say that, when he is taking everything we have?'

'He has done nothing illegal, my dear,' he said gently. 'And he thinks he has cause … '

'If only we could prove to him that he is wrong.'

'Mayhap he will realise that in time.'

She said slowly, 'If I married him I would have funds, I could search for witnesses.'

'Do you think he would let you do that?'

'I-I don't know. He wants to marry me as part of his revenge against  you.' She moved from her chair and knelt at her father's side. 'Could  you live with him, Papa, knowing how he thought of you?'

'Could you?' he countered.

She nodded. 'If I had to, if it meant you could keep the comforts you have known.'

'You must not do that for me, Belle. You know I feel myself in part  responsible for Maria's death. If I had only been stronger-' He sighed,  his shoulders drooping. 'My conscience tells me this retribution is not  wholly undeserved-'

'Papa, no! My dear sir, we have discussed this.'

'I have lived with it on my conscience for five-and-twenty years, my love. Jonas was ranting that night. If I had stayed-'

'You did what you thought right at the time, Papa.'

'I did, God forgive me.'

'And if I accept Mr Blackstone's offer we can keep Oakenroyd-'

He raised his hand to stop her. 'That is not a good reason for marriage,  my love. Do you remember when you were a little girl, I bought a lark  from a pedlar in Stanton? It had a very elegant cage, finely wrought  from silver wire.'

'Yes, I remember.' She nodded. 'You put the cage in the garden and  opened the door. The lark flew away and we never saw it again, although  later I thought I heard it singing in the woods.'

'Which is as it should be. We have no right to imprison any creature, no  matter how beautiful the cage.' He put his hand on her head. 'That is  what you would be if you married Lucas Blackstone merely to save  Oakenroyd. A bird in a gilded cage. I would not wish that for you,  Belle.'

Lucas ran up the stairs to his room at the Red Lion, calling for his man.

'Are there any letters for me?' he asked, stripping off his gloves.

'No, sir. Was you expecting something?'

Lucas cursed silently. The week was up, he had expected to have a  response from Annabelle Havenham by now. Devil take it, what was wrong  with the chit? He was offering her a way out of all her difficulties.  And it was not as if she was repelled by him. She had been keen enough  for his embraces that night of the assembly!

'Miss Scanlon and Mr Keighley was married this morning,' said his valet,  waiting to carry away his coat for a brushing. 'The church bells was  ringing all morning. I'm surprised you didn't hear 'em at Morwood.'

Of course, Annabelle was a close friend of the Scanlons, she might still  be celebrating with the family. Lucas looked at the clock. There were  some hours yet. She was making him sweat, but he had no doubt she would  give in. After all, what choice did she have? He took a solitary dinner  in his rooms, then busied himself with paperwork, determinedly keeping  his mind off the ticking clock, but at midnight he was forced to face  the truth.

She had refused him.

On the twenty-eighth of September, Annabelle entered Stanton church on  her father's arm, her head held high. Tomorrow was Michaelmas, so this  was the last time they would occupy the closed box set aside for the  owner of Oakenroyd. Her father patted her hand and supported her,  dignified, as always. She kept her eyes fixed upon the parson throughout  the service, but she was aware of the stares, the whispers. It was of  course common knowledge now that her father was unable to pay his debts  and had been obliged to sell up. Samuel had refused to let it be known  that the crisis had been forced upon them by Lucas Blackstone. It would  only cause difficulties, he said, if their friends had to choose between  them and their new neighbour, and most could not afford to fall out  with Lucas, who was now a major landowner in the area.                       
       
           



       

They could not afford to take anyone with them to Croft Cottage except  Abel, her father's valet, who had begged to be allowed to accompany them  and had offered to act as their general manservant. It had fallen to  Annabelle to explain this to the staff at Oakenroyd and to tell them  that the new owner was willing to employ them all. She advised them all  to remain, since work was still scarce in the area. The hardest to  convince had been Clegg, her groom. He had been shocked when she had  told him they were giving up all the horses and it had taken some time  to persuade him that they would not be able to afford such a luxury. He  had been mutinous and at first determined to quit Oakenroyd, but  Annabelle persuaded him to stay.

'This has always been your home,' she told him. 'Mr Blackstone has  assured us that he means to be a fair employer and I would have you give  him as good service as you have always given us.' It had cost her no  small effort to say this, but it was her father's wish that they should  make an honourable and dignified exit. Clegg had shaken his head, and  she had seen the glint of tears in his eyes as he addressed her.

'I shall be that sorry to see you go, Miss Belle. I wish there was some way I could help you.'

It was then that she had given in to one small temptation.

'There is something you could do, Clegg. You could take Apollo to market  for me. Not here, out of the area.' She knew that everything should be  left for Lucas, that he had bought the whole, but she could not bear to  see her beloved horse in his hands. She would leave the money for him,  instead. 'Find a good home for him, Clegg, and if Mr Blackstone should  enquire you may tell him that you were following my orders.'

Clegg had told her yesterday that he had sold the grey to a gentleman  from Halifax who was looking for a hunter and with this she had to be  satisfied. It was a small comfort, but it was something.

It was not until the service was over that she realised Lucas Blackstone  was present. It was the first time she had seen him in church. He had  not been present at Lizzie's wedding to Mr Keighley, for which she had  been profoundly grateful. Had he come now to gloat over their  misfortune? She hoped not. She made her way out of the church, her hand  resting lightly upon her father's arm. The bright sunshine was  encouraging the parishioners to congregate in the churchyard. Her father  wanted to speak to Sir John Rishworth and they were on their way to  join them when Mrs Kensley detained her. Reluctantly Annabelle let her  father walk on ahead.

'So tomorrow you quit Oakenroyd, Miss Havenham. How sad you must be.'

'We must bear it as we can,' replied Annabelle.

The widow moved a little closer, saying confidentially, 'I had not thought Mr Havenham addicted to gambling, but-'

'There is no addiction, Mrs Kensley.'

'Oh? I understood it was debts he accrued at Harrogate last year … '

'I am afraid your sources have misled you,' replied Annabelle, keeping  her temper in check. 'It was the recent war and the bad harvests that  have proved so disastrous.'

'As they have for so many families,' said a deep voice.

Belle looked up to find Lucas at her side.

'Perhaps it would have been more appropriate if the sermon today had  been on the subject of prodigality,' tittered Mrs Kensley. 'It behoves  us all to live within our means, is that not so, Mr Blackstone?'

'Indeed,' he retorted. 'As it behoves us to be charitable to those who  fall upon hard times.' He gave a little bow. 'Good day to you, madam, we  will detain you no longer.'

The widow's eyes snapped angrily, but thus dismissed, she could only move away.

'If you had married me you would have been spared this humiliation,' he muttered when the widow was gone.

'You would have replaced it with a worse one.' She turned and walked on, but he stayed at her side.

'Would it be so bad, to be my wife?'

'Yes, while you believe my father to be a murderer.'

'I know him to be one.'