Page 90 of The Curse of Penryth Hall
SITTING ON Abench in the formal gardens outside the house after leaving Tamsyn, I rolled an unlit cigarette between myfingers. I was worn to the bone, if not to my very soul—if such a thing was possible. The image of Alice’s broken body was not one I would easily forget. Constable Enys had come and gone, and her lifeless form had been loaded up on a cart and taken back to the Martin farm for a quiet burial.
I could only imagine how hard the news would be for Benedict. Did he even know the depths of her crimes? Surely not. And yet, I didn’t know how he could have missed his wife’s descent into madness. Though I hadn’t seen it myself until it was nearly too late. But it all made perfect sense. Alice had always beenhere. Always around, waiting for her opportunity to strike. I swallowed hard.
The spot where she’d fallen, visible from where I sat, was now empty aside from the dark stain upon the cobbles. I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. Could a broken heart drive a person to such lengths?A separate sort of love,that’s what Tamsyn had said. Perhaps it was that after all.
The birds quieted, and I opened my eyes to discover the Pellar there in front of me. Ruan. I wasn’t certain which he was now. It had all blurred together in the last couple of days and I no longer knew what was real and what was false when it came to him. The only thing I did know, was he wore his troubles upon his face as I did. Alice’s death weighed upon him and I didn’t need to read his thoughts to see it.
The edge of his mouth turned up. He must have heard that. He remained motionless, silent and unmoving, like one of Tamsyn’s Cornish giants of yore.
I reached up, smoothing the divot between his brows with my thumb. “You know you do need to speak at some point. While you might be privy to my thoughts—I lack that same ability.”
“Don’t blame Alice for what she’s done.”
I glowered up from beneath my lashes. “Maybe don’t say that.”
He smiled at me then in earnest and shook his head. Creases had formed at the corners of his eyes. “I don’t have to listen to them to know. I know you, Ruby Vaughn. I think I’ve known you my whole life—whether you care to admit it or not.”
Oddly, I’d had the same sentiment as well. As if Ruan and I were opposite sides of a coin. Bound by something I didn’t care to ponder. “What do you suppose will become of Benedict? How will he take the news?”
Ruan flexed his broad hand before answering. “Not well, I’m afraid. Alice was his whole world. But he’ll survive. It’s part of life—the going on—oh, he knew she was unwell, but none of us knew how deep the sickness went. She was far more ill than any of us realized.”
“Do you think he knew she killed Edward?”
Ruan shrugged.
“But if he did… how could he?”
“He loved his wife. Men have done far worse things, for less foolish reasons. I worry for him, though; his life has revolved around Alice and that smallholding. They never had children of their own, and they raised George from a babe. I cannot imagine he’ll want to stay long with all those memories without her.”
I nodded grimly. “Why didn’t you stop her? I saw her. She wouldn’t have jumped if you’d told her no.”
He took a deep breath and let it out again. The air whipped up around us, snapping at my striped skirt, causing it to billow up beneath me.
“I let Alice choose her fate. She chose death.”
Freedom. Ruan too had given her freedom.
He wet his lips for a moment. “I’m their Pellar. Not an angel of mercy.”
Nor I.Ruan reached in his pocket and struck a match, offering it to me. I lit my cigarette, sucking in the smoke and exhaling. “So you let her choose her death.”
Another grim nod. “What’s done is done, Ruby. I can’t bring her back, she paid for her crimes.” He glanced down at my bruised knuckles and took them in his hand, running his fingers over the raw skin there. “And it seems you’re no angel of mercy either.”
I followed his gaze to my wounded hand. It seemed so long ago that I’d laid out the vicar with a decent left hook. Even now that the danger had passed, I still couldn’t bring myself to regret the decision. “He deserved it.”
Ruan let out a soft laugh, my hand still in his. “Would it please you to know that I was speaking of the man with Enys just a few moments ago?”
That piqued my interest. “Were you? Did you tell him about the blackmail?”
“I didn’t need to. Turns out that Sir Edward wasn’t the only one helping to line the vicar’s pockets. Enys has been quietly gathering information for months now. Had Sir Edward not been killed, likely charges would have been brought already.”
“That’s something at least,” I grumbled and pulled my hand back, running my own fingers over the roughed-up flesh.
“It doesn’t please you?” Ruan furrowed his brow in concern. “I thought you’d be glad that he was finally going to face some retribution for what he’s done. He might not be charged in connection with Sir Edward, but at least he’ll not be able to do it again.”
I sighed. I should be happy, and yet I wasn’t. Not at all. “It’s not that… I’m glad of it, I am, but I cannot stop thinking about the poison. In her madness how many people would Alice have killed? If you hadn’t found me… or if you hadn’tgone to Nellie that night, then we’d both be dead. Who knows how many others?”
He reached out, touching my cheek softly with the back of his hand. “But I did go to you.”
