Page 26 of Christmas Spirits at Honeywell House (Ghosts of Rowan Vale #3)
‘I’m so sorry, Agnes. It must have been really hard for you to see all that,’ Callie said gently.
‘You can’t imagine.’ Agnes pulled herself together. ‘But it was nothing, compared to how Mr Wyndham suffered.’
She gazed sadly down at the carpet, unable to remove the image of that sad, lonely Christmas night from her mind.
Lawrie cleared his throat. ‘And then, unfortunately, just a few weeks later Aubrey died of a sudden heart attack. He was only fifty. And James, Elspeth and Janie clung on at Harling Hall, refusing to look for a new owner for the estate, despite not being able to see the ghosts. They had already announced to the villagers that they wouldn’t be leaving, and that the ghosts would just have to fend for themselves. ’
‘Are you joking?’ Callie gasped. ‘Seriously?’
Agnes recovered herself enough to explain.
‘The Wyndhams didn’t care about the future of the estate.
They cared only about their wealth and privilege.
They weren’t about to give that up so easily.
And there was talk that the Crofts were having second thoughts about their daughter’s marriage to someone who would soon be homeless. ’
‘So what happened?’ Callie asked. ‘The Davenports were next to own the estate, weren’t they?’ She nodded at Lawrie. ‘How did that happen?’
‘Sir Ambrose Davenport – plain Ambrose back then – lived in the village,’ Lawrie explained.
‘He was a smart man, who despite his poor upbringing, had great ambitions. Aubrey saw his potential and ensured he received an education. When Ambrose came of age, Aubrey gave him money – an investment in his talent, he’d called it – and Ambrose sailed to America where he made his fortune.
When he returned to England, he was most distressed to hear of Aubrey’s death and went straight to Harling Hall to pay his respects. ’
‘Where he found the Wyndhams not in the slightest bit saddened by their loss, but furiously refusing to move out,’ Agnes said angrily. ‘Luckily, Ambrose had a weapon that meant they had no choice.’
‘Which was?’
‘His son, Jeremy. He’d been a tiny child when the family left for America, but he was an adult upon their return, and as soon as he entered the village it was obvious that he possessed the gift.
He was the natural successor to the estate and Ambrose made it very clear that the residents of Rowan Vale wouldn’t tolerate the Wyndhams clinging on to power any longer.
They were very much disliked, and there would probably have been a riot if they hadn’t gone when they did. ’
‘So they finally agreed to give it up, just like that?’ Callie asked.
‘Oh no,’ Lawrie said. ‘To persuade them, Ambrose gave them a parting gift. Enough money to ensure that they could buy a home of their own and have enough to live on if they maintained a modest lifestyle. A good job, as it happened, because I did a little digging after I’d spoken to Clara, and I discovered that Frances Croft broke off her engagement to James not long after he left Rowan Vale, and married a distant cousin instead.
Without Ambrose’s generosity the family would have been in dire straits. ’
‘But that’s not all,’ Agnes said. She glanced at the door, as if checking no one else was listening. ‘After they left, it was discovered that they’d taken quite a few paintings and other objects with them. Objects that belonged, not to them, but to the Harling Estate.’
‘So they were thieves, too? Wow, they sound real charmers. How the heck is Aubrey related to those people?’ Callie asked. She frowned. ‘How the heck is Clara related to them, come to that?’
‘Bad blood will out,’ Agnes said. ‘Now do you understand my fears? I don’t want Mr Wyndham to be ill-treated again. He needs to be protected from that family. They hurt him enough, and I will not allow them to hurt him any more.’
‘But – but Clara’s not like that!’ Callie assured her. ‘Really, she’s not. She’s a good person, and you’d know that if you’d just give her a chance.’
‘The young woman who came to Rowan Vale to be with a man she wasn’t even betrothed to?’ Agnes asked. ‘Who moved into his house with him, unchaperoned?’ She sniffed disapprovingly.
‘Things are different these days,’ Callie said impatiently. ‘It’s not like when you were young, and there were all those ridiculous courting rituals.’
‘Hardly ridiculous,’ Agnes protested.
‘Oh, please! I’ve seen Bridgerton . I know how daft it all was.’
‘You can’t deny, Callie,’ said Lawrie, ‘that Clara didn’t tell Jack the truth about herself.
She met him – perhaps by chance, perhaps not – on a holiday in Scotland, and within a year she’d moved here.
And would she have conducted a long-distance relationship with him all that time if he’d lived anywhere but Rowan Vale?
You must surely agree that it’s suspicious. ’
‘You told me you liked Clara!’ Callie burst out, clearly furious at the way the conversation was heading. ‘That day you first took me to see the model village, you said she fitted right in here.’
‘And so she does,’ he said with a nod, raising an eyebrow. ‘Almost as if she was born to it.’
‘You honestly think she can’t be trusted?’ Callie gasped.
‘I like Clara,’ Lawrie said. ‘She’s always struck me as a very pleasant woman.
After our initial meeting we settled into an amiable enough relationship, and I appreciated that she never seemed to hold a grudge and that she kept her end of the bargain.
Nevertheless, I will admit I’m wary of her.
If she’s capable of such deceit, perhaps she has more of James Wyndham’s personality than Aubrey’s.
I wouldn’t want to put Aubrey through any more pain, which is why I agreed when Agnes asked me to find a way to keep her away from him. ’
Callie was quiet, thinking things through. Agnes twisted her hands in her lap, wondering what the outcome of this conversation would be. Lawrie gave her a reassuring smile, clearly certain that Callie would understand and that would be the end of the matter.
‘This doesn’t sit right with me,’ Callie said finally. ‘You talk about Clara’s deceit, but what about yours? And can you honestly tell me, Agnes, that this has nothing whatsoever to do with you being afraid that Aubrey would want to be with his living family, rather than with you and Florrie?’
‘Aubrey would never leave them!’ Lawrie said, shocked.
‘I know that, and you know that,’ Callie said. ‘But does she know that?’ She nodded at Agnes, who stared at her, hardly knowing how to respond.
‘Of course,’ she said at last.
‘Really? Because I remember all too well how terrified you were that Florrie would abandon you for Mia, and as much as you love that child – and I know you do – I think you’d be even more devastated if you lost Aubrey.
Isn’t that the real reason you want to keep him away from Clara, Agnes? Be honest.’
Agnes stared at her in dumb misery. She wanted so much to deny the accusation but found herself unable to. It would, after all, be untrue.
She was indeed wary of Clara, and afraid that she would somehow break Mr Wyndham’s heart all over again. But, in all honesty, she was even more afraid that Clara’s blood ties to Mr Wyndham would tear their family apart and leave Agnes alone.
What could she offer him that Clara couldn’t? Clara was, according to Lawrie, a lively and vivacious young woman. And she had three young boys whom, no doubt, Mr Wyndham would dote on.
Plus, she lived in the heart of the village and would encourage Mr Wyndham to get out and about and enjoy his afterlife to the full – unlike Agnes, who had stifled him and made him miserable for years.
She gazed down at her fingers twisting nervously in her lap, as Cyril Ashcroft’s voice flooded her mind.
‘Second best, that’s what you are! Just someone to warm my bed and run my house. I don’t love you and I never will, so get those ridiculous notions out of your head! You’ll never match up to her, and if I could walk away from you tomorrow I would.’
‘You see?’ Callie asked gently. ‘I’m right, aren’t I? And what kind of friend would I be to Aubrey if I didn’t tell him the truth?’
‘Please,’ Agnes whispered. ‘I can’t lose him.’
‘You won’t lose him!’
‘Callie’s right, Agnes,’ Lawrie said quietly. ‘If this really is about your fears and insecurities over Aubrey’s feelings, you have nothing to worry about. He adores you.’
‘You’re so lucky, Agnes!’ The memory of her younger sister’s voice drifted through her mind. ‘Cyril adores you!’
No one really knew what was in another person’s heart, did they? In her experience, one could take nothing for granted.
‘I’ll have to talk this over with Brodie,’ Callie said, getting to her feet. ‘I really need someone who isn’t biased to help me work out what I should do next. But look, I promise I won’t say anything to Aubrey without warning you first. That’s the best I can do, right now.’
Agnes nodded, aware that Callie was trying to be fair. She had a point, after all. What kind of friend would Callie be if she didn’t inform Mr Wyndham that he had living, breathing family in the village? He deserved so much more than that.
What a pity that she, the woman who professed to love him, was far too much of a coward to be as honest with him.