Lord of the Far Island, Victoria Holt [world of reading TXT] 📗

"It would be easier if I knew what to watch for."

He nodded. "If you be feared sometimes, Miss Ellen, you come here. I'll be watchful for 'ee."

"Come here? To this room?"

"Come to me first and then come to the room. Then I'd know you was here. That would be best."

I looked at him intently and again wondered if people were right when they said he was "lacking."

"Why, Slack?"

" 'Tis best," he said. " 'Twas what I told Miss Silva."

"So she came here and you came too."

He nodded. "Miss Silva, her trusted me, her did. You trust me too, Miss Ellen."

"I do, Slack."

He put his finger to his lips. "Here," he whispered. "In this room. That would be best."

"Why?" I asked.

"When the time do come."

Poor Slack, I thought, I really believe he is a little mad.

"Isn't it time to feed the pigeons?" I asked.

" 'Tis five minutes off feeding time."

"Then let's not keep them waiting." I stood up.

He smiled and repeated: "When the time do come."

The sea was being roughened up by a wind which was blowing straight in from the southwest and a boat was bobbing about on the waves which were threatening to envelop it. I left the cove and climbed the cliff, where I found a spot among the gorse and bracken. It was easier to think up here away from the castle.

I was wearing a cape of greenish hue which could be a good protection against the wind and if the sun came out I could throw it open; so it was a useful sort of garment. Sitting there, in this green cape, I merged into the landscape.

I watched the boat coming in and as a man stepped out into the shallow water the fancy came to me that there was something familiar about him. I was sure I had seen him somewhere before.

Then I heard Jago's voice and seconds later he rode into the cove and down to the shore.

He cried out: "How dare you come here like this? What do you want?"

I couldn't hear the man's answer. He evidently lacked Jago's resonant voice. I could see that Jago was very angry and the notion that I had seen the man before was stronger than ever.

The wind had dropped for a moment and I heard him say: "I have to talk to you."

"I don't want you here," said Jago. "You know very well you had no right to come."

The man was gesticulating and the wind had started to moan again so that I could not hear what he was saying.

Then I heard Jago's voice again: "I have business to attend to. I'm late now. What can you be thinking of. . .to come here?"

The man was speaking earnestly and I was frustrated because I could not hear his words.

"All right," said Jago. "I'll see you tonight. Keep yourself out of the way till then. I don't want you seen at the castle. Wait a minute though. . . . I'll see you in the dungeons. We'll be out of the way there. Make sure you're at the west door at nine o'clock. I'll join you there but you're wasting your time. You'll get nothing more. Where are you going now?" The man said something. "Go back to the inn then," said Jago. "Stay in your room there till tonight. You'll be sorry if you disobey, I tell you."

With that he turned his horse and rode out of the cove.

The man stood looking after him. Then he looked up at the cliff. I shrank into the bracken but I was certain he had not seen me; but as he had lifted his face I saw it clearly and with a sudden shock I realized who he was.

He was that Hawley who had been valet to the Carringtons, the man who had made me uneasy when he had watched Philip and me in the Park.

I sat still, staring at the sea. What could it mean? What connection was there between Jago and Hawley—for I was sure it was he—the man who had worked for the Carringtons? I wondered about Bessie, who had been in love with him, and what had been the outcome of that affair. But most of all I wondered how the man was concerned with Jago.

There was no simple explanation that I could think of, but a terrible uneasiness assailed me. I had not, as I had thought, turned my back on the old life when I had come to the Island—Philip's death, Hawley, Jago and everything that had happened since was connected with what had gone before.

Jago had certainly been angry to see Hawley. And Hawley? There had been something about his manner which had been a little cringing and yet truculent. That he was afraid of Jago was obvious, but on the other hand Jago was so angry at the sight of him that he might have something to be afraid of too. He must have known that he was coming because he had been at the cove to meet him; and the man was to come that night to the dungeons. Why to the dungeons? Because Jago was anxious that Hawley should not be seen. Not be seen by whom? By me perhaps. I was the one who had seen him before and knew that he had worked in the Carrington household. What would Jago say if he knew that I was already aware that Hawley had come to the Island?

Where is all this leading? I asked myself desperately. What had Jago to do with those horrifying events in London? What did he know of Philip's death?

Philip found shot. It was not by his own hand, I knew it. I was certain of it. Didn't I know Philip as well as it was possible to know anyone? Philip did not kill himself and if he did not then someone else killed him.

Why? Did Jago know the answer?

This was becoming a nightmare. I could not shut