Angel with Two Faces

knew everything anyway and it was only a matter of time before he said something to someone else.’

‘I was talking about the fire.’

‘What? You mean he hadn’t talked to you about Loveday and me?’

‘No, of course not, and I would never have said anything to him about it – I was too ashamed.’ The horror of Harry’s misunderstanding hit Morwenna like a physical blow. She got to the stable door just in time and, as the sour smell of vomit rose from the hard earth, she retched again, as if she could somehow empty herself of her grief and her guilt. She felt Harry’s hand on her shoulder. ‘What have we done?’ she asked eventually, turning to look at him. ‘What have I done?’

Her devastation was reflected in Harry’s face. ‘I thought he’d lied to you to spite me,’ he said. ‘I was so sure.’

‘He’d never have done that – not to you, no matter what he felt. He would never have talked about you behind your back.’

‘But he came to you about the fire.’

‘That wasn’t spite, Harry – that was sorrow. Couldn’t you see that in his eyes? He didn’t want to believe it and he hoped you’d tell him it wasn’t true. If you’d denied it, he’d have let it go – even if, in his heart, he didn’t believe you. But you wouldn’t deny it, so he came to me.’

‘The look on his face, Morwenna,’ he said, and she could tell from his eyes that he was reliving that moment with a new sense of horror. ‘I didn’t even have to push him, for goodness’ sake. He was so frightened when he saw me – all I had to do was take a couple of steps towards him.’

‘He thought he’d driven you to suicide,’ Morwenna said quietly. ‘I put that in his head – I was so angry with him.’

‘After everything he’d been through, all the confusion over what he felt and what he knew – he must have thought a dead man had come to take him to hell. It’s what I wanted him to think. What must that be like when you believe what Nathaniel believed?’

Throughout the misery of the last few weeks, Morwenna had, she realised now, been nurturing a vague, elusive hope that there was a way out of the wretchedness, and, as she looked at her brother, she saw it with a clarity which both frightened and astonished her. ‘You’re right,’ she said calmly, knowing that her certainty would reassure him. ‘We do have to go away – I see that now. We’ve got no choice.’

‘Really? But how can we after…’

The look of hope in his eyes almost made her waver. She had always wondered if a day would come when she would destroy him completely, and she realised now that this was it. ‘Don’t argue, Harry,’ she said, putting her finger to his lips. ‘We both need to be strong. We’ll go away, the three of us, and start again, but you need to rest first. You’re exhausted. Let’s go inside and get you something to eat, then I’ll go and find Loveday and tell her what we’re doing.’

At the thought of her sister, Morwenna felt a stab of regret but she pushed it quickly from her mind and led Harry back into the kitchen. She built the fire up and made him sit down next to it, then went into the pantry to fetch some food. When she came back, he was unlacing his boots, wincing with pain as he did so. ‘Here, let me,’ she said, bending down to help.

He smiled gratefully at her. ‘They’re not my boots,’ he explained.

‘They’ll have to do for now,’ she said. ‘We buried your best ones with you.’ Gently, she washed his feet while he ate, noticing how badly blistered and cut they were and trying not to think about the man whose boots had done such damage. ‘Go to bed and rest now,’ she said when she had finished. ‘I’ll bring you a drink up. I think there’s some whisky left over from the wake – it doesn’t seem right that you missed it.’

When she took the glass upstairs, Harry was standing in the doorway to his room. ‘You’ve cleared my things out already,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing left. It’s as if I never existed.’

‘It was all I could think of to do,’ she said, wishing she’d told him to take her bed. ‘The one thing I could control in the middle of so much that I didn’t understand. I’m sorry.’

He shook his head. ‘Don’t be – it’s all right. After all, I don’t exist any more, do I? Harry Pinching’s dead. Neither of us can be who we were before.’

‘Use my room,’ she said, opening the door. She watched as he undressed and got into bed, then sat down next to him and handed him his drink. ‘This will help you sleep.’

He downed it in one. ‘God, that’s good. You’ll come back as quickly as you can?’

She took the empty glass from him and went over to the door. ‘Of course. You won’t even know I’ve gone. Then the three of us can leave.’

‘Do you know where you’d like to go?’

‘I don’t mind. As far away as possible, as long as we’re together.’

‘And you’ll fetch Shilling?’

‘Yes, I’ll fetch Shilling.’ She turned to go, but thought better of it and went back to the bed. As she bent her head to kiss him, the taste of the whisky on his tongue – mixed with the familiar feel of his hand on the back of her neck – almost overwhelmed her. ‘You do know I love you, don’t you?’ she asked, when she eventually pulled away.

‘You wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t,’ he said, and smiled.

‘You’re right,’ she said sadly. ‘I wouldn’t.’

‘So it hasn’t all been for nothing?’

‘No, Harry – not for nothing,’ she said, and left him to sleep.

Loveday listened as her sister moved about downstairs. She had been furious when Harry and Morwenna went outside, leaving her alone in the cottage, unable to hear what was going on. Her anger had soon disappeared when they returned, however: at last, it seemed as though everything she had ever wanted was about to be hers. Harry was back, and the shouting had stopped. Perhaps the three of them could be happy together after all. She would miss the Loe estate – and Christopher, of course – but going away would be an adventure. The adventure that Harry had always promised her.

She sat down on the narrow bed, feeling suddenly quite tired. If she were honest, Morwenna was right – she still wasn’t completely better. Like Harry, she ought to get some rest. Quietly, Loveday crawled between the sheets and waited for Morwenna to fetch her.

There was a long silence in the room. Archie looked at Josephine and saw the shock and disbelief in her face. Rather than share her surprise, though, he felt that something had suddenly fallen into place which would explain everything. He could not begin to imagine yet how Harry had achieved such a complex illusion, but his instinct was to believe that Morveth’s suspicions were correct. ‘You’re saying that Harry put the other man’s body in the Loe Pool to fake his own death?’ he asked.

‘I’m saying it’s possible.’

‘But surely someone must have identified the body?’ Josephine said, still incredulous.

‘It’s not as simple as that,’ Morveth replied impatiently. ‘A body in the water for that long barely seems human. Morwenna identified the belt as Harry’s and Jacks had seen him going into the lake – that was enough to satisfy the authorities.’

‘But wouldn’t the undertaker be able to tell? Is it really that bad?’

‘It can be,’ Archie said. ‘It depends on the temperature of the water and, to an extent, on predators, although most of the decaying organisms come from the body itself. I’ll spare you the details but a month would be long enough to make visual recognition impossible, or at least very difficult – and don’t forget how badly the man’s face was already beaten.’ He turned back to Morveth. ‘And I suppose that certain people were quite relieved to bury Harry Pinching after everything that had gone on. The world was a far more convenient place with him dead.’

‘I can’t speak for Jago, although he’s never given me any indication that he suspected the body wasn’t Harry’s. I certainly didn’t know.’

‘But now you seem quite sure. Is that because of what happened on Tuesday night? You realise, I suppose, that if you’re right, and Harry is still alive, he’s a prime suspect for Nathaniel’s murder? Did you see him at the Minack?’

‘Not exactly.’

‘What the hell does that mean?’ Archie asked, exasperated. ‘I’m beginning to lose patience here, Morveth. If Harry Pinching is alive and somewhere on this estate, I need to find him before someone else gets hurt. I haven’t got time to sit around here all day playing word games with you, so I’d be grateful if you would tell me as quickly as