Page 36 of The Magpie Lord
They left the unhappy little cottage, emerged into the bright, clean sunshine, and took two steps in the direction of the carriage before the cry cut through the air.
“Stephen!”
“OhGod,” said Stephen.
All four turned to see a short, fat woman marching up. Her bonnet was slightly askew, and her face was red with exertion and anger.
“Stephen Day! What’s this I hear?”
“I’m working, Aunt,” Stephen said quellingly, to no effect.
“Working for the Vaudreys?”
“No,working. At my profession.”
“There is no justice that you can bring to this,” said Mrs. Talbot through her teeth. “Have you gone mad? Your father—”
“My father has nothing to do with this,” Stephen snapped. “And nor do you, Aunt.”
She took a deep breath, swelling. “When I hear of my own nephew grovelling to the Vaudreys—”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” said Crane.
“You,” began Mrs. Talbot with loathing.
“Nan...” Miss Bell interrupted, and there was a clamour of voices.
“I will not—”
“Listen, please—”
“This ridiculous business—”
“Everybody be quiet,” said Stephen, in a normal speaking voice that managed to deaden the sound of all the rest. “Aunt, if you want to speak to me, we will do it in private. Lord Crane, wait for me please.”
He went back into the cottage without waiting for answers or permission. Annie Talbot gave Crane a long, nasty look before following her nephew in. The door slammed.
Crane let rip a sentence that would have cleared rooms in Shanghai, and stalked away towards the graveyard. Merrick didn’t follow. As Miss Bell, hesitating, started to turn away, he touched her arm. “Got a moment, ma’am?”
“What is it?”
“D’you know who I am?”
Miss Bell frowned. “You? You’re Lord Crane’s servant, ain’t you?”
“I’m Frank Merrick.” Miss Bell’s puzzled expression didn’t change, so he added, “Twenty years ago I was up here, courting Amy Pessell. If you’re from round this way, you might remember about that. She lived on a farm just a mile or so down the road.”
Her face changed, slowly, two decades of memory shifting.
“Youwere Amy Pessell’s beau?”
“That’s right.”
“The man who knocked Hector Vaudrey’s teeth out,” said Miss Bell. “That was you?”
“Onetooth,” Merrick said. “That’s all I got, then he gave me a hell of a drubbing. Then I got a flogging, after.ThenAmy stood up in front of the old lord in court and says it’s all lies and Hector never touched her—”
“She had a big family,” Miss Bell said. “No father. She couldn’t take the risk of crossing him.”
