Harriet looked across at him. ‘I’m glad! Not sorry, glad!’ Then she burst into wild sobbing, so that Jethro had to take her in his arms and comfort her as best he could.
A few men had gathered in the corridor outside the old place, men from Calico, watchful, waiting to see what was going to happen. Ross walked across to them. ‘Well, have you lot fettled them buggers at the front?’
‘Aye. We’ve got ’em trussed up nicely. What do you want doing with them? If it were up to me, I’d roll ’em ovver t’nearest cliff.’
Jethro said sharply, ‘There’ll be no more violence. We’ll deliver them to the nearest magistrate and explain what happened here tonight.’
Then a woman pushed past the men and ran across the room. ‘Oh, Jethro, Harriet, you’re both safe! I was so afraid for you. Andrew was insane, I’m sure of it. His eyes were wild tonight.’ As she was speaking, Sophia hugged her husband, then her sister, then hugged her husband again for good measure. ‘Harriet, I’m so sorry I let you d—’ Her voice trailed away as she saw the still body on the floor. ‘That’s Andrew. Is he—?’
‘He’s dead,’ Jethro told her. ‘Killed himself.’
‘And I’m glad,’ Harriet said fiercely. ‘You didn’t let me down, Sophia. We both knew it’d be hard for me to escape from him.’ She looked across at the body of her husband and repeated, ‘I’m glad he’s dead and I won’t pretend otherwise.’ Suddenly she began to weep.
Sophia put her arms round her tearful sister. ‘Shh, love. You’ve escaped him forever now.’
Jethro looked at the group of men. ‘Will you get the prisoners ready and make sure they don’t escape?’
There were grins and rough assurances. One man said, ‘Jad Mortley’s hurt bad, though. Got kicked about a bit in the scuffles.’
Jethro didn’t comment on that. ‘Someone in the village must have a cart to put them in. I’ll ride down behind you in my carriage and make a deposition before the nearest magistrate about what happened. Harriet, can we get Sophia to your house? I want her to lie down and rest.’
‘I don’t need to rest,’ she said mutinously.
‘I want you and the baby safe, love,’ he said, smiling at her.
Harriet felt envy spear through her. They were so close, so loving. ‘Yes, of course we can go to my house. And, Jethro, I’d be grateful for your help with the mill tomorrow. I don’t know what to do there, but I do know I won’t have any more cruelty – to children or anyone else.’
‘There’s no need for it. If a mill is run efficiently it makes more than enough money for its owner.’
Ross grinned at Toby. ‘If he means that, there’ll be a lot of happy folk in Tappersley.’
But Jethro heard him and swung round. ‘I’m not in the habit of saying things I don’t mean.’
For a moment the resemblance between the brothers was stronger than ever before, then Toby’s face relaxed into a grin and Jethro’s expression grew tighter and they looked less alike.
Now that the tension had abated, Meg began to feel angry. She and Toby had been in the thick of it, had risked their lives tonight, and this rich man had just taken over and started telling everyone what to do, as the rich always did. Yet he was ignoring Toby, his eyes sliding sideways rather than rest on his brother’s face. Determination rose in her to do something about that because it wasn’t
fair
for anyone to look down on Toby, any more than it had been fair for him to be treated as a bastard all these years.
‘Let’s go and sit in the house place,’ she said. ‘It’ll be warmer and brighter there.’
As they walked through the inn two men passed them carrying a gate, going to collect the body.
‘Sit down a minute, Sophia,’ Jethro said, his eyes on his wife. ‘I’ll go and make sure the carriage is ready for you.’
With a wry grimace she did so while Harriet joined Phoebe who was warming her hands by the fire.
Meg glanced round. There were only the two ladies, herself and Toby, Phoebe, Ross and the girl present. Now was the time to say it. She stepped forward and called, ‘Just a minute, Mr Greenhalgh. There’s something else needs sorting out before you leave. About your brother—’
Phoebe gasped. ‘No, Meg, no! Don’t do it.’
‘Why not? He doesn’t deserve all that money and I can’t
bear
to see him looking down his nose at my Toby.’ She pushed the old woman gently away, looked at Jethro and then turned to the man she loved, saying very loudly, ‘You’re not bastard born, Toby Fletcher. You’re the oldest son of John Greenhalgh and Alice Dixon. He married your mother before he ever married
his
.’ She looked at Jethro scornfully. ‘Alice was dead by the time he married
your
mother, so you’re not bastard born either, but you’re
not
the oldest son and you shouldn’t have inherited all that money.’
The silence that followed this announcement was louder than any shouting.
Jethro scowled at her, saying nothing but looking angry.
It was left to Toby to step forward and take charge. ‘We can discuss that later, Meg lass.’ He looked at his brother. ‘You have things to see to tonight that can’t wait. Come back tomorrow and we’ll sort this out.’
‘It can’t be true!’ Sophia exclaimed.
‘It is!’ Meg said, not willing to give an inch. ‘And I’ll prove it tomorrow.’
Jethro looked across at Toby. ‘You knew,’ he said flatly.
‘Aye, I’ve known for a while.’
‘You didn’t say anything.’
He shrugged.
Meg wasn’t having them ignore it. ‘But Toby—’
‘Shhh, love.’ He pulled her closer and set his arm possessively round her shoulders. ‘It doesn’t matter to me, not any more, whether I’m bastard born or not.’
‘Well, it should.’
With a grin he kissed her and stopped further protests.
24
T
he following morning Toby took Meg and Phoebe up to the back place, leaving Pippa in charge in case any customers arrived.
‘Now, tell me everything before anyone else arrives,’ he ordered.
Phoebe sat staring down at the ground looking anxious. Meg opened the secret room and retrieved the hidden papers, passing them to him. ‘Read these.’
‘I’ve already seen some of them.’ But he read again the marriage lines of his mother and John Greenhalgh, then looked at Phoebe. ‘You’ve known about this for a long time, love, haven’t you?’
She nodded.
‘Why didn’t you tell me when I first arrived.’
‘I thought it’d put you in danger with
them
. I
care
about you, Toby. You’re like the son I never had. Please don’t be angry with me.’
‘I’m not, love. But there’s something I don’t understand. Meg said my mother was dead when John Greenhalgh married Jethro’s mother . . . but I lived with a woman I called mother until I was eighteen.’
‘Marjorie wasn’t your mother. She was your aunt and – she was my Hal’s sister as was your mother.’
He stared at her in shock.
‘She loved you like a mother, I know. You were all she had left of her twin sister Alice. Me and Hal didn’t dare go and see her or Greenhalgh said we’d regret it, but she sent word sometimes and we talked to folk from Backenshaw. Hal was frightened of upsetting
him
, so we never did get to see her again and I’m sorry for that. After Hal died, Jethro Greenhalgh told me to leave Calico and asked if Hal had said why he got the inn. I pretended I didn’t know anything, but he still said I had to leave.’
Toby was trying to understand how all this had come about. ‘Why did John Greenhalgh marry my mother in the first place when he was so ambitious? If she was anything like my m—, my aunt Marjorie,’ he corrected, ‘then she was just an ordinary lass.’
‘They made him, your mother’s brothers did, because she was expecting you. They said they’d kill him if he didn’t marry her and kept him locked up till he agreed.’
When neither of them drew the obvious conclusion, Meg said it for them. ‘It’s you who should own the mill, Toby. You’re the eldest son.’
He couldn’t help laughing at that. ‘Not me! I’ve no desire to be a millowner. All I want is here.’ He took her hand, and Phoebe’s too. ‘If you’ll marry me, lass, and you’ll stay on to help with our children, Aunt Phoebe, then I’ll be a happy man.’
But Meg jerked her hand away. ‘But you’re the eldest son! It’s yours by right.’
‘I definitely don’t want it. And do
you
really want to be a millowner’s wife, Meg love, and live in a fancy house tripping over servants every time you turn round?’
She was the one staring down now, avoiding his eyes. ‘You deserve someone better than me, Toby.’ She loved him so much, she wanted the very best for him.
He let go of Phoebe and lifted Meg’s chin with one finger. ‘You
are
the best, love. And I never thought you’d turn me down.’ He pretended to sob.
‘Stop making a joke of it. They’ve cheated you out of your inheritance.’
‘If you’ll wed me, I’ll be a happy man. What more can anyone want than that?’
She could only look at him, tears welling in her eyes. ‘I don’t deserve to.’
He reached out and brushed one teardrop away. ‘No crying, my lovely lass. We’re going to be happy from now on, you and me.’ He looked across at their companion. ‘Don’t go, Phoebe! There are other things I want to know about, and Meg should know too. The stuff in the secret room, the painting and the sketch . . .’
She sat back down on the bench. ‘The furniture was your mother’s. After they were wed John Greenhalgh gave it to her, because he wanted her to be comfortable. It was probably stolen. I reckon he loved her in his own way, even though he didn’t want to marry her. She died a few months after you were born, just faded away and died, so your aunt took you to raise and John let her have a cottage in Backenshaw and work in his new mill. Marjorie wouldn’t take anything else from him unless she really needed it, though.’
Toby went to get the sketch out of the secret room and brought it back, staring at his mother’s face. But somehow all he could see was the woman who’d brought him up. ‘Marjorie was my mother, really,’ he said softly.
‘Aye. And she did a good job with you.’
‘So did Meg. She’s changed me too.’
She gaped at him. ‘What did
I
do?’
‘Taught me to love. I never did want a woman to wife till I met you, lass.’
More tears brimmed in her eyes, this time tears of joy. ‘That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.’
‘So you’ll wed me and stay here?’
‘Of course I will.’
It was so beautiful to see their love that Phoebe burst into noisy sobs.
Toby threw back his head and roared with laughter. ‘She always cries like that when she’s happy.’
As both women hugged one another, alternately crying and laughing, he rolled his eyes. ‘I can see I’ve got a right pair here.’
Meg pretended to hit him but he caught her hand and raised it to his lips.
Which made Phoebe give another loud sob for joy at their love for one another.
That afternoon Jethro came riding up the hill, looking very stiff and solemn. When he entered the inn, Toby looked up and patted Meg’s shoulder. ‘I need to talk to Jethro on my own.’ He turned to his brother. ‘We’ll go to the back place, if that’s all right with you?’
‘Yes. Yes, of course.’
When they were seated on the bench, Jethro said, ‘What do you want to do about it? You
are
the eldest son, after all.’
‘I don’t want to do owt.’ Toby grinned. ‘Stop scowling at me, little brother. I really don’t want what you’ve got. I’m happy here.’
‘But your maid is quite right in what she says. You
are
entitled to more than this.’ He looked round him scornfully.
‘Eh, what would I know about running a mill? Or care either? I hate the damned places. And Meg isn’t my maid. She’ll be my wife as soon as we can arrange it.’
‘Oh, I see. Well, she’s very loyal to you.’
‘Aye, she is. A right fierce woman, my Meg. She’s saved my life twice, and had a hand in saving it a third time, too, last night.’
Jethro looked at him in bewilderment. ‘I doubt I’ll ever understand you.’
‘Well, I don’t really understand you, either, but that needn’t stop us both getting on with our lives. How’s your wife? She seems a nice lass. And Mrs Beardsworth? Is she feeling better now?’
‘They’re both well, thank you.’
‘Good, then you go back to them and sort out that mess in Tappersley.’
‘I will, but not until we’ve come to an agreement.’
There was an edge to Toby’s voice now. ‘I’ve said, I don’t want your bloody mill!’
‘And I believe you. But I shan’t feel right unless you have something.’ Jethro looked round. ‘I’m a rich man and I’ll not notice it if I give you the money to brighten up this place, make it an inn to be proud of.’
‘I’d rather do it under my own steam.’
A voice from the doorway interrupted them. ‘He’ll take it, Mr Greenhalgh. I’ll make sure he does.’
‘Do you hanker after money, love?’ Toby asked, disappointment ringing in his voice.
‘No.’ Meg went across and took his hand, looking at him very seriously. ‘But I do hanker after security. For me and – and for our children one day. If anything happens to you, I want to be sure there’s enough put by that they won’t be sent to the poorhouse.’ She shuddered. ‘That’s where they nearly put me and Nelly after Ben died.’
Toby sat down again and pulled her to sit beside him, smiling at Jethro. ‘Eh, she’ll nag the life out of me, this one will.’
Jethro laughed suddenly, surprising himself as much as them. ‘I think you’ll be very happy with her, as I am with my wife.’
Toby waved one hand. ‘Well, then, get your lawyer to sort something out, whatever you think right.’
‘You don’t even want to discuss details?’
‘Not me. If I’ve a bit of money to spare, I’ll be too busy reading the books I can buy with it.’ He stood up, pulled Meg to her feet and gave her a hug, then pushed her towards the door. ‘Leave us a minute now, lass, and no more eavesdropping.’