‘You heard what he told us. We’re not to be seen.’
‘I’ve been locked away in this room for too long, Rhoda.’
‘So have I,’ said the maid, mournfully, ‘but there’s no help for it — we’re like birds in a cage.’
‘No, we’re not,’ retorted Imogen. ‘I won’t have you saying things like that. We’ve escaped from a cage and we’re free at last. I resent your tone, Rhoda. It’s uncalled for. I don’t want to hear any more complaints.’
Rhoda bobbed apologetically. ‘I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn.’
‘Nobody forced you to come with me.’
‘I was happy to do so.’
‘Try to remember that. You’ll thank me one day. In fact-’
She broke off as she heard heavy footsteps approaching in the corridor. When there was a knock on the door, she unlocked it and opened it wide. He gave her a warm smile that instantly wiped away all of her lingering anxieties. Rhoda slipped away to the adjoining room to leave them alone. The man stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Removing his hat, he tossed it onto a chair.
‘Well?’ she asked, breathlessly. ‘When do we leave?’
‘It won’t be long now, my darling,’ he promised. ‘We set sail in a day or two.’
‘Is everything in hand?’
‘It soon will be.’
‘What’s holding us up?’
‘There are a few minor details to sort out,’ he said, kissing her on the forehead and stroking her hair with a covetous hand. ‘You’re so beautiful, Imogen. I can’t wait to make you my wife.’ He held her by the shoulders and stood back a little. ‘It’s not too late to change your mind. You’re under no compulsion. If you want to go back to your dreary family, you can walk out of that door right now.’ He looked deep into her eyes. ‘Remember how badly they treated you and compare it to the way you’ve been cared for by me. Weigh us both in the balance. Which do you choose — your old life with them or an exciting new one abroad with your husband?’
Imogen laughed and hurled herself unconditionally into his arms.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
When they finally got back to Burnhope Manor, the detectives first went round to the stables. An ostler came to meet them and took the reins of the horse from Colbeck. The bay mare whinnied in farewell as she was led away. Leeming was relieved to part from the animal. Before they could leave the stable yard, the landau returned with Vernon Tolley on the box seat. It described a semicircle then came to a halt beside the well. The coachman jumped down and hurried across to them.
‘Might I have a word, good sirs?’ he asked.
‘Of course you may,’ said Colbeck.
‘I’m fair frightened to death by what’s been going on.’
‘So am I,’ murmured Leeming, glancing after the bay mare.
‘I fear for the lives of the two ladies.’
‘That’s only to be expected, Mr Tolley,’ said Colbeck, ‘but I believe that they are still alive. As long as they are unharmed, they can be traded by the kidnapper. He will doubtless try to strike a bargain once more.’
‘I couldn’t help listening to what was being said when I drove Sir Marcus and the others into Worcester. They seemed to think they’d been hoodwinked.’
‘We were,’ admitted Colbeck.
‘What if the kidnapper tries to hoodwink you again?’
‘That’s unlikely. We’ve learnt our lesson — and so has he.’
‘The inspector might even have caught him if it hadn’t been for Mr Tunnadine thinking that he could do our job for us,’ said Leeming, resentfully. ‘He deserves to cool his heels behind bars for a long time.’
Tolley’s laugh was hollow. ‘There’s no chance of that, Sergeant.’
‘Why not?’
‘The magistrate released him on bail.’
Leeming gasped. ‘But the man committed a murder.’
‘That’s not how the magistrate saw it,’ said the coachman. ‘They were in his house for little more than five minutes. When they came out, Mr Tunnadine had a grin on his face. He was taunting your superintendent.’
‘Then he’s a braver man than I am,’ muttered Leeming.
‘Where is Mr Tunnadine now?’ asked Colbeck.
‘He’s catching the next train to London, sir. After I dropped the others off here, I took him to the railway station. He was still smiling to himself.’
‘I don’t know that I’d be smiling if the woman I was intending to marry was being held by a ruthless criminal. Mr Tunnadine seems to be more interested in escaping incarceration than in the fate of his beloved.’
As he thought of Rhoda Wills, the coachman nodded soulfully.
‘What will you do now, Inspector?’ he asked.
‘We’ll wait until we are contacted for the second time.’
‘I pray that it may be very soon.’
‘I fancy that it will be, Mr Tolley. Let me give you a word of warning, however,’ Colbeck went on. ‘What I’ve told you is in confidence. I don’t want it spread among the servants. Enough rumours are circulating here as it is. Don’t add to them. I’ve only spoken freely to you because I’m aware that you have a special interest in the case.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ said the other, shaking his hand. ‘My lips are sealed.’
‘Good man.’
‘You’ll find Rhoda for me, won’t you?’
‘I’ll do my utmost.’
‘I’m sure you will, sir.’
‘You’ll have to excuse us,’ said Colbeck. ‘We must send someone into Worcester to instruct an undertaker to go out to the cottage where the body was taken. The sooner it’s removed, the better for the wife and daughter.’
He exchanged a nod with the coachman then took his colleague away. Tolley watched them go with fresh hope stirring. As soon as the two men went around the angle of the building, Win Eagleton scuttled out from a door to the kitchen. She tripped across the yard and arrived panting.
‘I saw you through the window, Vernon. You talked to those detectives.’
‘What of it?’
‘Tell me what they said.
‘Nothing,’ he replied, stonily. ‘They said nothing at all.’
None of them could remember the last time they were alone together. Emma Vaughan was the only one who’d been a constant resident at the college. Her younger brother had fled to London in search of fame as an artist and her elder brother had more or less disappeared into the Gloucestershire countryside. It was thrilling to see them both again but distressing to think that it took a crisis in their cousin’s life to bring them under the same roof once more. They were in the drawing room. George Vaughan was stretched out languidly on the chaise longue while his brother perched on the edge of an armchair. Emma was on the sofa between them.
‘What can we do?’ she asked in despair.
‘We must pray for their deliverance,’ said her elder brother.
‘I’ve already been doing that, Percy.’
‘Never underestimate the power of supplication. Later on, we’ll all pray together in the college chapel.’
‘Don’t include me in the service,’ said his brother, tossing his hair back. ‘I’ve seen the light and turned my back on religion.’
‘That’s an appalling thing to say!’ chided Emma.
‘It’s the truth.’
‘It’s your version of the truth, George,’ said Percy Vaughan, ‘and it’s based on a misapprehension. What you claim to reject is Christianity but all that you’ve done is to replace it with an alternative religion, one that is founded on vice and cupidity.’
‘That’s quite right, Percy,’ agreed his brother, cheerfully. ‘I follow a different god now and he’s far less austere than yours. We are opposites, dear brother. You are the Reverend Vaughan and I am the Irreverent Vaughan.’
‘Beware what you say in front of Emma,’ warned the curate.
‘Oh, I don’t believe all this nonsense about his life of wild abandon,’ she said with a giggle. ‘George is simply trying to shock us.’
‘He’s certainly shocked our father. His letters to me are full of tales about my dissolute brother. The stories cannot all be invention.’
‘What stories?’ asked Emma. ‘I’ve heard none.’