went off to join her mother. David was distraught. The double blow shattered him completely.
Friendship with Grace Napier slowly helped to restore him. It was a gentle, unforced courtship that lasted many months. Drawn more and more together, they reached the point where they could think of nothing but sharing their whole lives together.
Tears sparkled in Grace's eyes as she recalled it.
'David proposed to me in the wood nearby. The sky was blue and the sun was slanting down through the branches of the trees. Birds were singing. Everything was so beautiful and tranquil.'
'The romance of it!' said Isobel, carried away.
'Naturally,' continued Grace with a soft smile, 'I accepted the proposal. It was arranged that I would go to Parkbrook next day and the engagement would be formally announced.'
'What happened?' said Nicholas.
'I never saw David again.'
'Why?'
'He was thrown from his horse and badly injured.'
'Did you not rush to It is bedside?' said Isobel.
'Immediately, but they would not admit me.'
'But you were his fiancee.'
'They would not accept that,' said Grace. 'Our courtship had been conducted in secret for obvious reasons. Father is wealthy but he is still only a tradesman. David conies from a family with noble blood. He wanted to announce our engagement when it was too late for anyone to stop the marriage from going ahead/ She winced as a memory haunted her. 'I was turned away from Parkbrook.'
'Did you not speak with Master Jordan's physician?' said Nicholas.
'That was forbidden as well.'
'By whom?'
'Master Francis Jordan. He was staying at Parkbrook when the accident occurred and he took charge. Nobody was allowed in. I called, I wrote, I even tried to bribe the servants for information but it was to no avail. David was kept from me.'
'You must have been in despair!' said Isobel.
'I was. In the end, I turned to Lord Westfield for help but he would not see me. I was told that his lordship could not spare the time. He was always too busy at court or spending time with his company. His nephew was in a parlous condition and Lord Westfield was watching plays! You can see I came to hate the company. Westfield's Men became a symbol of all the things I detested.'
'Lord Westfield has his faults,' conceded Nicholas, 'but I cannot believe there was anything calculated in his behaviour. He was not to know that you had been on the point of joining the family.'
'That was not the only reason I despised him, sir,' she said. 'It was he who allowed Parkbrook to be taken from David. It was Lord Westfield who helped his other nephew to become the new master.'
'How was that done?' wondered Nicholas.
'Yes,' said Isobel in bewilderment. 'I know little of such things but how could one man inherit when his elder brother was still alive and well?'
'David was alive-but far from well.'
'That does not alter the situation, Grace.'
'It does, Isobel. I puzzled over that very point because it had such significance for me. After all, I was to have been the new mistress of Parkbrook. I felt that both David and I had been robbed.'
'So what did you do?' said Nicholas.
'I consulted a lawyer in the Inns of Court. He explained that there was a way that David could lose his inheritance. If he failed to pass an inquiry De idiota inquirendo then he could be dispossessed. It is unusual but not unknown. The lawyer told me of a case in which lie was involved some years ago. It concerned a large house in Petersfield . I cannot remember all the details but it was to do with the conveyance of the fee simple and involved a breach of the entail. Anxious to get the house for himself, the offended party challenged the conveyance on the grounds of the vendor's incompetence by reason of idiocy to conduct affairs. The Queen's Escheator in Sussex was charged with an inquiry to establish the vendor's sanity, with a view to placing the estate under the Court of Wards and Liveries.'
'Stop, stop!' cried Isobel. 'This is far too complicated for me, Grace. What are you trying to tell us?'
'If it can be proved that someone is too insane to manage his own affairs, he can legally be relieved of ownership. David's brother would be well aware of this because he has been a student of the law.'
'Are you certain that this is what happened?' said Nicholas.
'There can be no other explanation, sir.' What do you mean?'
How else could they keep me away horn him? I was within six weeks of becoming his wife. No two people could have been closer. No matter how bad his injuries, David would have sent for me.' Then why did he not do so? said Isobel.
'It was not just his body that was damaged,' said Grace. 'It was his mind.'
The cottage was exactly the same and yet there were some radical changes. All sign of habitation had gone. The rough cosiness had been replaced by an atmosphere of neglect. His wife was no longer there to clean and tend and fill the place with her chatter. It was no longer a home.
Jack Harsnett threw down his axe and walked to the window. He looked in the direction of Parkbrook House. All his misfortunes could be placed at the door of the new master and he wanted recompense. After his talk with the one-eyed man, it was not only on his own behalf that he sought redress. Others had been wronged, too.
There was no hurry. He was safely hidden away in his woodland clearing and nobody would bother him there for a while. He would bide his time until his moment came.
Then he would pay a call on Master Francis Jordan.
*
The ride back gave Nicholas time to reflect on the extraordinary development in the situation. He had been so moved by Grace's story and by the poignancy with which she told it that he could almost forgive her what she had done in the name of revenge. Convinced that Lord Westfield was most to blame, she launched her attack at something that was very dear to him. She became involved with Edmund Hoode so that he could, unwittingly, feed her the information she required, even down to precise details of text, staging and costume.
Another point struck Nicholas. The theatre was the only place where Grace Napier could get anywhere near Lord Westfield. To cause him maximum embarrassment, she seized on the opportunity provided by The Merry Devils, a play discussed freely in advance by its co-author. Had the performance ended in the fiasco she hoped, it would have taken Westfield's Men a long time to regain their credibility.
Grace Napier had caused untold upset. Having learned how vital the book holder was to the staging of Vincentio's Revenge, she was even ready to contrive the arrest of Nicholas Bracewell to keep him our of the way. He still felt jangled by the experience but now took a more philosophical view about his night in the Counter. If nothing else, it had introduced him to Leonard who had pointed him in the direction of the fair. There was thus a gain as well as a loss involved.
It was dark when Nicholas reached Parkbrook. He stabled his horse and strolled towards the west wing, intending to go right around to the main entrance of the house. Something alerted him. There was a clump of rhododendron bushes ahead of him and he thought he caught a glimpse of movement behind them. Preparing himself for trouble, he continued his walk as if he had seen nothing. When he reached the bushes, he jumped into them to confront whoever lurked in wait.
The horse whinnied and tried to nuzzle his shoulder.
He could not understand why it was tethered in such a secluded place then he noticed the small door at the rear of the west wing. He tried it, found it open and went in. To his right was the corridor that ran towards the main building but directly ahead of him was something of much more interest. It was the steward's private staircase and he could hear muffled voices at the top of it.
Nicholas withdrew into the shadows as feet descended with an echoing clatter. Joseph Glanville led a middle-aged man in dark attire to the door and showed him respectfully out. The horse was heard trotting off with the visitor then the steward returned.
He was startled when Nicholas came over to him.
