He found himself back in the farmhouse. His anger was hot and he began to plan vengeance. It was not Betty he hated so much: she was a young girl, led astray, he convinced himself, by the Devil masquerading as a man of the Lord.
He was so distressed he did not know what to do, so he did nothing. He said nothing to anyone ... not even to Betty who, when she found him at home, showed no sign of guilt and was just as usual.
The next day Farmer Blake went in pursuit of Isaac Napp. He told Betty he would be late back that evening. That he had to go out to see a builder in Bridgwater who would not be at his place until six of the clock, so he would be leaving at thirty minutes past five and could not say at what hour he would return, but he thought it would be eight before he got back to the house.
Then he lay in wait. He knew the way Isaac Napp would come. Bordering on the edge of the farm was a copse through which he must pass. He would lead his horse through to the other side on foot, as most people did, taking the way to the farm from there.
Farmer Blake was waiting in the copse and, creeping up behind Napp, he gave him a blow on the head which felled him.
"Adulterer!" shouted Farmer Blake.
The way in which Napp looked at Farmer Blake told him that he knew he had discovered the truth about him. He opened his mouth to protest. Isaac Napp would always find the words to explain that it was all a mistake or something similar. But the farmer had seen with his own eyes and, as he said, the picture of them caught in sin was something he would see for the rest of his life.
He put his hands about Napp's neck and pressed and pressed.
Isaac Napp was a comparatively young man, which Farmer Blake was not. The farmer was not sure that he had killed his victim, and he knew that it was very important that he should, so he dragged him to the stream and laid him face down in the water. And while Betty waited in the barn for her lover, her husband was watching him die.
Farmer Blake convinced himself for a while that it was no sin to kill such an evil man. It was his just reward for what he had done. And so life went on more or less as usual until he heard that Titus Oates*s men had come to look for the killer.
Then his conscience began to worry him. Also, he gravely feared that he might have betrayed himself in some way, and he did not want to hang for murder. For this was no ordinary murder. One of Titus Oates's men had been done to death. What would happen to the man who had been responsible for that?
Farmer Blake was then very much afraid, but he reckoned that he had had the right to kill a man who had sinned against him as Isaac Napp had, that the Lord would understand more easily than Titus Gates, and he was less afraid of his Maker than of that other. So, after some deliberation, he decided to take his own life.
All this he told the rector the night before he committed suicide. The rector had told him it was a sin to kill himself; his life was God's and it was for Him to give it or take it; and had offered to pray with him for guidance.
Meanwhile the men from London were asking a great many questions and some of those questioned knew Farmer Blake well. The investigation was getting nearer and nearer. Poor Farmer Blake was becoming more and more distraught.
Apparently he could bear no more. He did not want to listen to what the rector had to say: he did not want to pray for forgiveness and to give himself up, which was surely what he would be told to do. Life had lost its savor. It was not what he had believed it to be. He could not forget the sight of Betty in the barn with Isaac Napp.
So he went into the barn that night and hanged himself.
The case was solved. It had to be accepted by all that the murderer of Isaac Napp was Farmer Blake, and his reason for his action was clear to all.
There was nothing for Oates's men to do but close the case and go back to London.
And within a reasonable space of time, so as not to arouse suspicion, Kirkwell returned to Featherston Manor.
Time was passing, it seemed, at great speed. I was growing up fast and would soon be fifteen—no longer a child.
Life was pleasant and interesting. I had Christobel, my brother Luke, Kirkwell and James Morton and Sebastian Adams. We were all good friends and, in spite of my youth, I was one of them. We enjoyed being together, and one of the main topics of conversation was politics. The King had an illness which had sent a shiver of apprehension through the country, and the subject of the succession was discussed everywhere with more intensity than usual. Fortunately he recovered: he was seen sauntering in the park, enjoying the company of several women and making witty remarks in his old manner, and the country breathed a sigh of relief. The King would live a few more years and perhaps by then some solution would have been found.
We all took different sides in our discussions. Luke was in favor of the succession of the Duke of Monmouth. He was the King's son, Luke insisted, a little defiantly. Poor Luke! Just like the Duke, he longed to be accepted as his father's son. Monmouth yearned for a kingdom, Luke for Rosslyn Manor and recognition as Lord Rosslyn's son. It was little wonder that he stood for Monmouth. He said it was because the country would only accept a Protestant King, but I suspected he wanted to say it was the right of bastards to inherit if there were no legitimate sons to come before them.
Sebastian Adams was for law and order, and the law said that the Duke of York was heir. James Morton was inclined to agree.
Kirkwell believed that if the Duke of York came to the throne, there would be trouble, as there would be if Monmouth succeeded. He said we should have to wait and see. He wanted what was best for the country, but also that the country should not be involved in civil war.
And so we talked: and we were all convinced that it was a question for the future, for the King had many years to live, and while he did we could go along in our pleasant, easy way.
Now and then Christobel and I went to London. We would stay with Maggie, who was delighted to see us. She told me that she was glad I had gone to the Dower House. She missed me, of course, but it was better for me to be there, and when the time came my father, she believed, would do what was right and proper.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Find a husband for me?"
"Whatever is right and proper," she insisted.
I was a little uneasy at the thought, but I put it from my mind. It was a long way off yet, I told myself.
She told me that Titus Gates was gradually losing his power.
There had been one or two cases from which he had emerged rather badly. Lord Chief Justice Scroggs had set the fashion. Others had discovered that they need not bow to Oates's wishes, for they could avoid doing so without fear of retaliation. He was still there, still struggling to continue in his evil ways, but the tide was turning against him and he was no longer the man of power he had been.
We always enjoyed those visits to London. It was well worth the uncomfortable journey to see Maggie and get all the news.
Francine
Christobel and I had always taken frequent rides. We both loved the countryside and one day, as we were riding through a narrow lane where it was necessary to fall into single file, we heard the sound of horses' hooves coming towards us in the opposite direction. Christobel was ahead and we both moved as close to the hedge as possible to allow whoever was coming to pass.