‘Oh, I think we’re only talking about two people,’ he said. ‘It will be the man and the woman who abducted the cleaner. They’ll know exactly what the gentleman looks like because they followed him at an earlier stage.’
‘What will happen afterwards, Peter?’
‘Afterwards?’
‘Yes, when it’s all over and Mrs Horner is released. Do you think she’ll go back to work at the Home Office? How will she react if she comes face to face with this gentleman who’s in a position to buy her freedom?’ she wondered. ‘She must be undergoing the most harrowing experience.’
Anne Horner clung to the belief that she would one day get out of her cell and put the pain and the accumulated humiliation behind her. When she could move around the cellar, she’d had a degree of freedom but now, chained like a dog, she was unable to stray beyond its length. She was close enough to the grating to feel the air coming in but too far away to see out of it properly. How someone in her position could be described as an asset was beyond her. The deprivation she’d suffered day after day had dulled her brain. Hope and prayer were her only allies and she was beginning to lose faith in both of them. When they went, the descent into black despair was inevitable.
There it was again – the unexplained thud. She leant in the direction of the grating to see if she could identify the sound at last. Thirty seconds later, she heard it again but she still couldn’t understand what the noise was. On the other hand, she could just pick out the sound of voices in the garden. A man and a woman were talking. The odd word and occasional phrase drifted into her ears but she had no idea what the conversation was about. What she heard clearly was their laughter.
It was followed by another thud.
‘You never miss,’ he said, clapping his hands.
‘Mr Ackford taught me well,’ she explained. ‘Practice makes perfect.’
‘I’m glad that he didn’t know why you wanted lessons.’
‘He still thinks that I wanted to turn my nephew into Robin Hood.’
‘I’m a little old to be your nephew, Jane,’ he said with a smile, ‘and since you’re younger than me, you are a very peculiar aunt.’
‘How many aunts can hit a target with a bow and arrow?’
‘None can do it as well as you.’
Slipping an arm around her waist, he kissed her and she responded with passion. He was a tall, slim, dark-haired man in his early thirties who radiated a quiet charm. Jane Holdstock was besotted with him. It was for his benefit that she’d taken archery lessons at the shooting gallery. They shared the same objectives and, for his sake, she was prepared to do anything that he wished. When he pulled away from her, he took the bow from her hands and laid it on the ground beside the quiver of arrows.
‘That’s enough practice, I think,’ he said. ‘You are a real Robin Hood.’
‘I’d rather be a Maid Marian.’
‘Then you shall have your wish.’
Taking her by the hand, he led her into the house and up the stairs. When they reached the landing, Jane remembered something.
‘What about Mrs Horner?’ she asked. ‘It’s time for her meal.’
‘Let her wait. We come first.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
As usual, Hannah Granville arrived early at the theatre. She always gave herself plenty of time to get into her costume, apply her make-up and prepare herself fully for the performance by thinking herself into the role. As she powdered the actress that evening, the dresser paid her a fulsome compliment.
‘The manager thought that you were superb last night, Miss Granville,’ she said, respectfully, ‘but, then, you always are.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Everyone is talking about you. They long to see you as Lady Macbeth.’
‘They will do so one day.’
‘It was the role in which Mrs Siddons excelled but I think you would shine even brighter. When do rehearsals begin?’
‘I have not yet signed the contract.’
‘But I thought that you were eager to take on the part.’
‘I need a long rest from the theatre,’ said Hannah, ‘so I’m not able to commit myself at this moment.’
She raised a hand to indicate that she’d been powdered enough then she scrutinised herself in the mirror. Satisfied with her appearance, she gave a nod and the dresser removed the cloth put around her to protect her costume from the cosmetics. Hannah rose to her feet, walked up and down to make sure that the costume hung properly when she moved then she began to mouth speeches from the play. The dresser melted into invisibility. Nothing was allowed to interfere with the actress’s routine before performance.