Chapter 68
Nicole
“So Alys survived?” I asked Kyle, my heart soaring with relief. Alys was long gone now, but it was important to know that she hadn’t died then and that she hadn’t been completely and utterly betrayed by the person she’d trusted most in the world.
“She did. Jeremy wasn’t about to let her die.”
“Where did she go?”
“Hal Robson, Jeremy’s steward and lifelong friend, took Alys and Jamie to Dublin and set them up there, where they would be out of reach of Lady Marjorie and far enough away from anyone who might recognize them.”
“Was Walter in on it?” I asked.
“Of course. He supported Alys and her children for the first few years, since any monies disbursed from the Ashcombe accounts could be traced by Marjorie.”
“Children?” I asked.
“Alys was already pregnant with Edward by then. And then there was Rose, born four years later, in 1644. My ancestor,” Kyle said, grinning at me.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Wait a minute. Jeremy died in 1642. How could he have had another child with Alys two years after his death?”
“Jeremy figured that if he could fake one death, he could fake two. He wasn’t overly interested in politics, nor was he an ardent supporter of the king, but he joined a regiment of Cavaliers when the first Civil War finally broke out with the express intention of making himself disappear. He took Peter Warren, the groom that had been supposedly married to Alys, with him to war. After the battle in which Jeremy was meant to have died, Peter identified one of the fallen men as his master, a man whose face was so bloodied, his own mother wouldn’t have known him.”
“So Jeremy simply walked away from his life and went to join Alys in Ireland?” I asked, the penny finally dropping.
“He did. He and Alys were married years later, after Marjorie passed away. Despite changing his name, he didn’t feel it would be right to marry when he was already legally married. Jeremy never returned to Derwent Valley, nor did he ever contact Charles. It pained him to lose his son, but he was afraid Charles would blow his cover. He knew he’d cheated Charles out of having a father, but he’d left him with a title and a sizeable estate. In those days, that was more desirable than having a living dad.”
“How could he know Alys wouldn’t die when she was hanged? That was quite a risk,” I said, still trying to wrap my mind around the details of Jeremy’s plot.
“He made sure the rope was sufficiently damp so that it would stretch rather than strangle Alys. Walter offered her some laudanum-laced brandy just before the hanging to make sure she didn’t struggle too much, and made sure to pull the rope slowly, so as not to break her neck. As soon as Alys passed out from the laudanum, they cut her down and laid her in the coffin, which was dispatched directly to the graveyard with a trusted man. By the time the coffin arrived, it was stuffed with a heavy sack, which was buried in Alys’s place. Alys’s brother and sister-in-law looked after Jamie, then handed him over to Alys as she set out for Ireland. Once Alys was gone, they raised the alarm, saying Jamie had been taken,” Kyle explained. “Everyone simply assumed Marjorie wanted no loose ends and got rid of the boy. It would have been easy enough to do in those days. She would have had him smothered and buried somewhere. No one looked for him too hard.”
“And the minister? Did he know?” I asked, curious as to the depth of the conspiracy.
“I’m really not sure, but he may have. Besides, I don’t think anyone ever really believed Alys Bailey was a witch, not even Marjorie Lockwood. She simply wanted to hurt her husband and punish his lover. The one person who did not know was Jeremy’s father. He would not have permitted Jeremy to turn his back on his duty to the family. And he would have hated to lose his son, more so because Jeremy’s brother John died only a few months after Jeremy made his escape.”
“That must have been difficult for him.”
“It was, but he took on an active role in his grandson’s life. He knew how rigid Marjorie could be and wanted to make sure the boy had some happiness in his life. He felt he owed it to Jeremy. Charles spent a lot of time at Bedford Abbey, Jeremy’s ancestral home.”
“And Marjorie?” I asked.
Kyle shrugged. “I think she might have been in love with Jeremy and actually mourned him.”
“You wouldn’t think it from those journal entries,” I said.
“No, but this was a woman so brainwashed by religion, she would have seen any carnal desire as sinful, any pleasure she took in her husband’s attentions as shameful. She lived in a prison of her own making. Even her own mother advised her to relent before it was too late.”
“The mother who signed a statement calling Alys a witch?” I reminded him sarcastically.
“I doubt she ever did that knowingly. Marjorie might have coerced her or tricked her into signing something she’d written herself. She was a cunning woman.”
“Diabolical, more like,” I agreed. “So, a handful of people knew Alys was alive and well,” I said, smiling happily.
“They did and kept the secret. Marjorie was not a popular figure in the community, whereas Jeremy was well-liked. They grieved for him when he supposedly died.”
“And Charles? What sort of man was he?” I asked.
“I don’t
