A TWIST OF FATE
Chapter Sixty
It seemed an age before Trudy returned. Rose
was white with fright.
"It’s OK, Miss Rose. It was only Cook.
And I am sorry about Edward. I tried to warn you, but I couldn’t see you."
"Don’t worry." Rose put her hand on
Trudy’s arm. "I have what I wanted. Now, we must deal with the bag."
Checking the corridor, Rose and Trudy made
their way down the corridor, to the stairs at the end. These led to the
servant’s quarters and Trudy’s room. Safely inside Trudy’s room, Trudy pulled
out a length of rope from under the bed.
"This was the longest piece I could find
in the garage."
"It may be too short, but it will have
to do," Rose replied. Trudy tied it to the handle of the bag and Rose
opened the window and looked below. Trudy’s room overlooked the side of the
house, and could not be seen from the road or the back of the house. They
placed the bag on the window ledge.
"Are you sure you can manage?"
asked Trudy.
"We will soon know."
Together, they eased the bag off the ledge,
and took the weight on the rope. They lowered it a little together.
"Let me try," asked Rose. Trudy
gently let go.
"I can just about manage. Now go and I
will see you below."
Trudy disappeared quickly, and ran down the
stairs until she was in the main part of the building. So as not to attract any
attention, she had to walk sedately down to the cloakroom, where she took her
coat. Stopping at the kitchen, she informed Cook that she was going out on an
errand. She left by the back door and passed by the kitchen window. With a
glance behind her to see no one was there, she ran round to the side of the
building, where the bag was dangling in mid air. She looked up at Rose. Rose
waved the end of the rope to her. It had run short.
Trudy gestured to Rose to let the bag drop.
Rose hesitated for a moment, then released the rope. Trudy knew if she were to
try and catch it, it would knock her over. So she stood aside and let it fall
to the ground, hoping that nothing broke and it did not make too much noise.
After it had fallen, she quickly untied the
rope, throwing it behind a bush. Then, picking the bag up, she carried on
walking as though nothing had happened, out of the gate and down the road, only
pausing to remove her maid's cap and replace it with a hat.
*****
Jack knew the churchyard. He had come there
in the past to draw, to reflect, to have some peace, and to watch the world go
by. The clock was striking 9:30 as he slipped through the gate.
He looked over to the shade of the big
chestnut tree. Just weeks ago, he had sat there, before he had met Rose. Now he
was here to rescue her from whatever fear Caledon Hockley had put into her. He
decided to look around the back of the church, to see if he could see where
Rose would leave from, and how they could get away without using the front
gate.
Jack was dismayed to see there were two
doors. It could be either of them, he thought. So he wandered through the
cemetery to see if there was a suitable exit at the back. There was a thick
hedge down one side, and a wall across the bottom. Jack was just wondering if
ladies in those flowing skirts could climb walls, when he noticed something
further down. It was a gate. He smiled for the first time. At least they had an
escape route.
*****
Trudy passed through the gate and walked
round to the back of the church. Where was Jack? Trudy was now feeling the
fluttering of nerves worse than ever.
She carried on walking. Oh, Jack, where are
you? she mumbled under her breath. Then she saw him, walking through the
churchyard, towards her.
"Jack, thank goodness! I thought you had
changed your mind."
"No, I was just looking for an exit. Is
Rose OK?"
"She was when I left, just nervous. Here
is her bag."
Jack took it from her.
"She is really coming, isn’t she? I
mean, she won’t change her mind?" Jack suddenly wondered if it could all
be true.
"Yes, she will be here after eleven. All
was well when I left. Oh, Jack, she has to get away from Cal. He will send her
away tomorrow, and Lord only knows what will happen. She has no choice, Jack;
you must see that she is safe. Promise me."
"I promise you, Trudy. I will take care
of her and get her away from here. And from him. I’ll take her where he can’t
find her."
"Thank you, Jack. I know she trusts you.
Thank you."
"Come on over here by the church. We
can’t be seen there." Jack and Trudy walked over to the shade of the
building.
"I have to go in a moment. I have to go
and fetch a hat and some ribbons. To account for where I have been. There will
be a fearful amount of trouble when they find out Miss Rose has gone. Fearful.
At least if it looks like I have been on an errand, they may leave me alone for
a while. It won’t take them long to work out I was involved, but it will give
me time."
"What will you do?"
"With no mistress, I’ll have to leave. I
may not get any references. But this may be my chance. To get married. I have a
young man, you see, but with Miss Rose to look after…well…we never got chance
to make any plans. But if I have no work, well…maybe things will work for me
another way." Trudy sighed.
"Anyway, Jack, I have to go now if I am
to get there and back before eleven. I will see you soon."
"Bye, Trudy. See you soon." Jack
watched as Rose’s trusted friend and maid disappeared from view.