Page 14 of The Peculiar Incident at Thistlewick House

‘You did what?’ Edward gripped his cousin’s lapels and pulled Barnabas’s face close to his.

Two ladies scuttled past, arm in arm, looking most alarmed at what they could only assume was the start of a physical altercation, but Edward had never hit anyone in his life.

He simply did not have the stomach for violence.

Barnabas began to wring his hands together as soon as he was released, and the coachman jumped from the driver’s seat to hand them a pile of folded rugs.

‘I was never interested in the maltings, like you. I did not care for the quality of the grain or the modernisation of the equipment. I took a lucrative deal with a local brewery and was made promises that never materialised.’ He shrugged.

‘I put all my eggs in one basket, and when the brewery went bankrupt, I lost everything. In the end, I sold out to Greene King…’

‘And the house?’

Barnabas’s inability to reply told him all he needed to know.

Edward couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

The business had been in the Shaw family for three generations and Barnabas had destroyed it within a few years.

The gullibility that had enabled him to convince his cousin that he had a spiritual gift, had also led to the man being duped by a rival business.

He couldn’t stop a small laugh from erupting.

‘My father must be spinning in his grave. He was so determined that I wasn’t fit to take the helm and yet I’m certain I’d have done a far better job.

There was nothing to stop you giving me a position in the company, nor asking for help when you realised things were turning sour – but you did neither of those things.

You really are an unbelievably bull-headed man. ’

His cousin glanced at the remainder of their party in the distance, and began to rub at the back of his neck with his free hand.

‘But I’ve told you the truth and that’s what you asked of me. The good Lord, in his wisdom, has taught me humility by bringing me low, and it is only meeting Emma that has enabled me to turn my life around. Don’t take her from me, Edward. I beg you…’

Edward remained silent as they walked back to Miss Dunham and her parents.

Although unspeakably angry about what his cousin had done with the family legacy, he wondered if the fact Barnabas had lost everything was punishment enough.

He was half tempted to take Emma from him as further revenge, but he acknowledged that she would ultimately be the one to suffer, and he couldn’t bring himself to snatch away her chance of happiness just to spite another.

She deserved to marry a man who didn’t make his living preying on the bereaved, or have to conceal parts of himself from those who would judge him, and who could give her a houseful of healthy and perfect children.

She may profess to find his need of spectacles endearing but he was constantly frustrated by them. He was frustrated by a lot of things.

So, he decided that, much as he’d coped with the cruelty of his father by distancing himself mentally from the man, he would do the same with his cousin.

They’d had no contact for seven years and it was only by chance they’d reconnected, so cutting ties once more would be easy enough.

He was building a solid reputation here in London.

Emma had been a fun diversion but he had always known that ultimately he’d have to give her up.

The group spent a pleasant couple of hours watching families boat across the Serpentine and small children paddle at the edge. All the while, Edward was conscious that the Dunhams were leaving for home the following morning and he might never see Emma again.

‘Mr Blackmore, will you come with me to buy some ices from the booth?’ She pointed to the corner of the park where a small wooden hut advertised raspberry and lemon ices.

It was quite proper, as they’d be in full view of her parents and Barnabas.

He agreed and she cast nervous repeated glances up to him as they walked, finally finding her voice.

‘Should you ever visit Norfolk, it would please me greatly if you would call on my family in Thistlewick Tye,’ she said. ‘Perhaps you could even accompany your cousin when he comes up next month?’

‘I have many demands on my time in London, pursuing the profession you think is poppycock,’ he teased, trying to let her down gently. ‘I cannot foresee any circumstances that would take me to your part of the world.’

They joined the queue for the ices and he halted his steps, as his face took on a more serious expression.

‘Will you marry him if he asks you?’ He tried to appear uninterested in her answer as though it made no difference to him either way, when the truth was it mattered more than anything.

He brushed non-existent dust from his coat to avoid meeting her eyes and giving himself away.

‘A few days ago, it was all I wanted, all I dreamed about, but things have changed… I have met another. Someone who excites and unnerves me all at once. A man who keeps parts of himself closed off, but who makes me laugh and has a lively mind. Someone who occupies my every waking thought…’

She turned her head away and he noticed the flash of pink that swept across her cheeks, saw how her hands began a restless twitching, heard the tremble in her voice.

‘So, I don’t know the answer to your question, Edward. What do you think I should do?’

He loved her, he wanted her and he could hardly believe that she felt the same, and for one magical moment, he considered proposing to her, himself.

But there were so many reasons why this could not be – most of all because, whatever Barnabas had done to him, he could not bring himself to betray his cousin.

‘I think, if he asks you, you should accept.’

She nodded at his words and he saw her bite at her bottom lip as she slowly digested his answer.

‘Then that is what I shall do.’

Edward never saw her again after that afternoon, and by the autumn, Miss Dunham had become Mrs Shaw.

He saw Barnabas only once, when he delivered the wedding invitation by hand, and expressed his gratitude at Edward’s gracious actions, hoping they might repair the damage of the past, but Edward gave him short shrift and decline to attend.

His cousin, however, for all his faults, never revealed Edward’s secret to Emma, and so she never understood why the quiet young man with the long black hair, gentle nature and piercing blue eyes didn’t fight for her.