The Roaring Boy by Edward Marston

Author:Edward Marston [Marston, Edward]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery & Detective, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780749015800
Google: gzmKAgAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0449224317
Publisher: Fawcett
Published: 1996-07-29T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Valentine heard the sound of horses in the stable-yard and rested his wheelbarrow on the lawn. He pricked his ears and caught the murmur of distant conversation. It was enough to tell him that the mistress of the house had returned. The voices died when a door opened and shut. Evidently, they had gone into the building. Valentine lifted the handles of his wheelbarrow and pushed it with unhurried gait towards the shrubs that grew outside the parlour. It was a warm evening and the windows were still open. Bending to scoop up some of the grass he had mown earlier, the gardener slowly inched himself towards the room until he was within earshot, his ugly face animated with curiosity as he listened to the hurt tones from within. His success was short-lived.

‘What are you doing there?’ said a sharp voice.

‘Picking up this grass,’ he said.

‘Move away from that window.’

‘I have my work to do.’

‘Do it somewhere else.’

Agnes stood there with her hands on her hips and a look of deep suspicion on her face. She hated Valentine enough to have asked for his dismissal more than once but he did his job conscientiously and Emilia Brinklow was reluctant to part with any of the staff who had been engaged by her brother. His furtive manner showed that she had caught him out. Removing his cap with a clumsy attempt at courtesy, he aimed his repulsive grin at the maidservant and shrugged his apologies.

‘I’ve no wish to upset a woman like you, Agnes.’

‘Then keep out of my sight.’

‘Be friends with me, I beg.’

‘You are paid to work here and that is all.’

‘Why, so are you. Can we not lighten the load by sharing it a little? A smile and a kind word is all that I seek.’

‘You will get neither from me. Away with you!’

Her homely face was a mask of cold anger. Valentine replaced his cap and wiped the back of his hand across his harelip. Wilting under the maidservant’s stern gaze, he took his wheelbarrow off down the garden and disappeared behind the fountain. He would have to content himself with the few words he had managed to pick up through the open window.

Unaware of the exchange outside the parlour, Emilia Brinklow and Simon Chaloner continued their urgent conversation within it. The riotous behaviour at the Queen’s Head that afternoon had shocked both of them into silence and the long ride back to Greenwich had been a mute ordeal. Back at the house, they were able to give vent to their wounded feelings. White-faced and despondent, Emilia sat on an upright chair while Simon Chaloner circled the room with restless strides.

‘I should not have taken you there,’ he said.

‘It was my own decision to go, Simon.’

‘The danger was too great. It was madness.’

‘You could not expect me to miss the performance.’

‘What performance?’ he said ruefully. ‘Act Two had scarcely begun when those villains wreaked their havoc. We were lucky to escape injury.’ His hand went to his sword.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.