Some of it will be used to train and berth young doctors. He says the scheme would be welcome, and successful."
"He never gives up. Like his father."
Herrick said, "I shall have to be moving along, too."
She took his hard hand in both of hers.
"You belong here with us, Thomas. Can't you feel that?"
He returned her grip, and could not meet her gaze, afraid that he would hurt her, lose her.
She is not mine to lose.
He said awkwardly, "He's offered me a position there.
If…"
She tightened her grip.
"I thought there was something. So you see?"
"I shall be getting my pay. Half-pay, from now on."
There were voices in the hall, a dog barking, some one laughing. He had left it too late.
"What do you want, Thomas?"
"I want you, Nancy. I have no right, but…"
The door swung open and somebody coughed, perhaps apologized, and withdrew. Herrick heard none of it. She was holding him.
Only her words: "You have every right, dear Thomas!"
George Tolan quickened his pace as the first heavy drops hissed into the long grass at the roadside. He had seen a disused barn close by on one of his previous walks; it would offer some cover until the storm had blown over.
Tolan enjoyed walking, despite, or perhaps because of, his time as a foot-soldier. Even aboard ship he had tried to maintain the exercise, pacing the deck or gangways to the amusement or irritation of the sailors.
There was an inn somewhere; Daniel Yovell had mentioned it while they had been chatting. Sounding me out. With Yovell, you could never be sure.
Tolan had already discovered it, a tiny place used mainly by farm workers straight from the fields, but sometimes by the squires themselves. He felt welcome there, unlike his first visit, when he had met complete silence, blank stares, impenetrable dialect, or at best a version of the carter's, "You'll be a stranger in these parts?"
Like working at the Bolitho house: it had taken time. But he had finally been accepted, and most of them called him by name now. The barriers had come down.
He even worked alongside Yovell in his little office, helping with the estate business and balancing the accounts, something he had learned all those years ago in the grocer's shop while his father had been recovering from a bout of heavy drinking with his mates at Kingston market. He could even think of that now without pain or anger.
But he was always on guard against the casual remark or question that came without warning. Where did you serve? What ship was that? Did you ever meet so-and-so? And worst of all, like that day at the Roxby house, when Grimes the builder had said outright, "Don't I know you?"
He saw the derelict barn and ran the last few yards, heard the hail clattering on the remaining slates. It would not last long.
He thought of the one called Flinders. A real bastard, full of his own authority and enjoyed making a show of it, even at the Bolitho house. Yovell kept his opinions to himself, but Tolan had inferred a good deal from what was left unspoken. Yovell had no time for him.
And the girl named Jenna smiled at Tolan now, whenever they chanced to meet.
He kicked at some loose stones. It was madness even to think about her.
There was another vivid streak of lightning, but the trees screened most of it.
How much could Grimes really remember?
The past was always there, lying in wait like a man-trap even as he attempted to build a new life. To escape.
There had been some dockyard workers on board that day, trying to continue their repairs even as the mutiny was exploding around them.
He ducked instinctively as a deafening crash of thunder brought more slates down from the roof, and simultaneously a flash so bright that he was blinded for a moment.
He seized something, part of the wall, mind reeling to other sounds, the wake of a broadside, the deck shuddering as spars plunged down through the smoke of battle.
It was over immediately, but he could still smell it, taste it, although the sun was already breaking through, and the rain had lessened. Utterly quiet, as if a great door had been slammed shut, or he was suddenly deaf.
He stepped out into the open and across deep pools of rainwater, one of which reflected the sky, steel blue, like a mirror.
He stared down the narrow road, the long grass glittering now in the sun. Storm or no storm, somebody was on the move. A horse, trotting slowly at first and then picking up speed.
But it was not a horse. It was a pony, riderless and moving fast.
Tolan quickened his pace, his mind very clear. He had seen the pony at the house once or twice, harnessed to a little trap.
A friend of Daniel Yovell's had used it before…
The scream pierced his deafness, and Tolan was running with all his strength even before the sound died. The lightning had struck a tree. The pony had been dragging the remains of a harness. Some one was hurt. Only a woman could scream like that.
He reached a bend in the road, where he recalled seeing a stream nearby. He jerked to a halt, feet sliding in mud; the only sound now was his own gasping. Taking it all in: the tree split in halves and scorched, still smoking, the remains of the little vehicle crushed beneath it, one wheel lying on the other side of the road.
There were two men by the tree, one on his knees by the wrecked trap, the other holding up something small and gold that winked in the sun. Both men were staring in his direction, motionless, like unskilled players waiting for a cue.
But Tolan saw only the woman lying beside the wreck. A girl, hair caught in one of the branches, the fabric of her gown torn, revealing the pale skin beneath.
He could remember seeing her for the first time, striding past the stables, head in the air. pity the poor devil who tries to make his way with she! Only a matter of seconds, but it seemed forever before any one moved.
They were roughly dressed, unshaven, vagrants or on the run. He had heard some talk about convicts being used to clear the way for a stretch of the new road.
One said, "Get on with itЦ I'll take care o "this "un! "He was crouching, a blade shining in his fist. The other had hidden the jewellery inside his coat. Tolan saw him bare his teeth as he tore at the girl's clothing, heard him swear as she pushed him away. Her scream was cut short when he struck her again.
Tolan shut it from his mind, the girl, too terrified now to move, the figure bending across her, tearing at her like a wild animal. He watched the other man, feeling his intent, his confidence, seeing the knife, in shadow now, held against his hip. No stranger to violence and the fear it created.
An unarmed man would turn and run.
He moved slightly, the weight on his right foot, saw the eyes move quickly, the blade catch the sun again. He twisted around and threw himself almost to his knees. A split second, and he would have failed. The blade would seal it.
He felt the other man blunder against and over his shoulder, the force of his lunge throwing him aside like a bundle of rags.
Tolan felt a blow in his side, the breath gasping into his face, his eyes shutting out all else.
He twisted his wrist, pulling him down; his own weight and the thrust of his arm would do the rest.
It was like some terrible madness. The sergeant's hard, cheerful voice at the barracks. Thumb on the blade, my son, and stab upwards! He felt him shudder, unable to scream or make any other sound. Choking on his own blood.
Tolan was on his feet, ready for the other one, but he had vanished. There were voices, horses… how could he not have heard the wheels? He staggered and almost lost his balance, but there was a hand on his arm, another taking the knife.
"You did us proud, matey! "He must have kicked the man on the ground. "We'll see how brave you can be at the end of a rope!"
The girl was here too, holding the fabric across her shoulder.
Some one called, "You all right, Miss Elizabeth?"