IT WAS ANOTHER ten minutes before Eliza came to her employer’s bedroom and Alice was greatly relieved to see her, saying, ‘I feared that every sound I heard was Captain Trevelyan coming up to the room. He is drinking very heavily and was quite angry when I left him to come upstairs. I do not trust him, he is certainly no gentleman and I am seriously concerned lest the bolts were deliberately removed from the door. Do you think we should move some of the furniture against it?’
‘I can do better than that!’ reaching into the large pocket of the kitchen apron she was wearing, Eliza pulled out a sharpening-steel. ‘I took this from the kitchen, it will serve in place of the top bolt and we can use the poker from the fireplace for the bottom one. It’s a very stout door and with these in place we’ll have nothing to fear from Captain Trevelyan.’
‘You are an absolute wonder, Eliza. I would never have thought of replacing the missing bolts in such a fashion. You don’t know how very relieved I am. What would I do without you?’
Pleased by Alice’s praise, Eliza said, ‘Lieutenant Jory says I’m “resourceful”.’
It was a word that had made her feel important at the time and she had carefully stored it in her memory, but quoting the source of such praise proved to be a mistake.
‘I do not think I want to hear anything about Lieutenant Kendall, Eliza, he would seem to be no better than Captain Trevelyan. Perhaps all so-called “gentlemen” are the same.’
‘You don’t really believe that,’ Eliza protested, ‘and you can’t believe anything Captain Trevelyan says, especially if it’s about someone he thinks means something to you.’
‘It is not only the captain who has spoken of how badly Isabella Trevelyan was treated by him, Captain Trevelyan’s father and Miss Grimm have also mentioned his name. They have no reason to lie about him.’
As Alice was talking she was forcing the poker firmly into the bolt fittings at the bottom of the bedroom door frame. Eliza had already performed the same task at the top of the door with the sharpening steel and the door was now secured as efficiently as if the original bolts were in place.
Greatly relieved, Alice relaxed a little and asked Eliza, ‘Did you see Mr Trevelyan in the hallway when you came upstairs?’
‘I came up the servants’ staircase,’ Eliza replied, ‘Miss Grimm warned me to keep away from the hallway because Mr Trevelyan is on guard there. She says he is really quite harmless but not always responsible for his actions and there could be a nasty accident.’
‘This visit to Helynn has turned out to be an absolute nightmare, I will be greatly relieved to be away from it, Eliza. We will leave for Trethevy as soon as possible in the morning.’
‘At least we will be able to sleep soundly knowing that no one can get into the room,’ Eliza replied, ‘and hopefully Captain Trevelyan will get himself so drunk he’ll forget all about you.’
Hugo Trevelyan did become very drunk but, far from forgetting about Alice, he became more obsessive about her with every drink and eventually determined to do something about it.
The two women were just dozing off, Alice in the bed and Eliza on a chaise-longue, when they heard a sound from the passageway outside the bedroom, as though someone had fallen against a piece of furniture.
A faint sliver of yellow light appeared in the narrow gap between door and floor and in the darkness of the bedroom they both held their breath in fearful anticipation of what was about to happen. They heard the sound of the door handle being turned and the door was forced against the makeshift bolts, then pushed again … and again.
After a lengthy pause, there came a knock on the door and Hugo Trevelyan’s soft but drink-affected voice called, ‘Alice, what have you done with the door? Open it, I wish to talk with you.’
Both women remained silent in the darkness and Hugo’s plea was repeated, this time louder than before. He knocked again, the sound reflecting his growing anger.
His attempt to provoke a response continued for some minutes before the patience of the drunken son of the house was finally exhausted. After hammering on the door with both fists, he charged at it, using his shoulder as a battering ram.
Both women inside the room were terrified and Eliza rose from the chaise-longue to check that the makeshift bolts were holding firm.
They were and Eliza whispered to Alice ‘The poker and the steel haven’t budged. He’s not going to be able to get in at us.’
Hugo Trevelyan realised it too and, making no attempt to keep his voice down now, he shouted, ‘You are a stupid and ungrateful little nobody, Alice, and you will end your days as a dried-up spinster. I should never have bothered to save your life.’
His outburst was followed by moments of unintelligible mumbling before he banged on the door for the last time, shouting, ‘Very well, we’ll see if your maid has more life in her than her mistress. You can stay cowering in your room imagining how much she is enjoying me … Damn!’
The oath came as the sliver of light disappeared from beneath the door and the women realised Hugo had dropped the candle. Fortunately, it had gone out.
After muttering about getting another drink first, he could be heard crashing his way along the dark passageway in the direction of the main staircase and both women breathed huge sighs of relief.
‘Thank the Lord you had the brainwave about the makeshift bolts, Eliza, I shudder to think what would have happened had he …’
Alice never completed the sentence. There was the sound of a shot from the direction of the main staircase and they heard Hugo shout furiously, ‘You bloody old fool! You could have killed me. Give me the other gun before you do it again.’
‘Come near me and I won’t miss again. I’ll teach you to come here in my house after Isabella.’
This time it was Albert Trevelyan’s voice, followed by that of Miss Grimm, then everyone seemed to be talking at once, although it was not possible for the two women in the bedroom to discern what was being said.
‘Do you want me to go out and find out what has happened?’ Eliza asked tremulously, hoping Alice would not say ‘Yes’.
‘No, if Captain Hugo has been shot it is no more than he deserves. If he has not, you would be the one in danger. Miss Grimm is there with them, she can sort things out, but I doubt if we will be able to sleep now, not after all that excitement. See if you can find a light for the candle, Eliza. We will pack our things and leave Helynn at first light. Captain Trevelyan will be in a drunken sleep by then, although we might have trouble sneaking past his father if he remains in the hall. I don’t want to be shot!’
‘We don’t need to go out of the house that way. We’ll use the servants’ staircase and leave through the kitchen, it’s closer to the stables anyway, but do you think you can harness the pony to the trap? I’ve seen both old Percy and Tristram do it quite a few times, but I’m not sure I could do everything by myself.’
‘It should pose no problem. When I was a young girl I would sometimes help the servants to harness the horse to our dogcart. It was a long time ago, but I feel certain we will be able to manage it between us. We have to, Eliza, I do not intend remaining in Helynn manor for one minute more than is absolutely necessary. I feel I have been a guest in a lunatic asylum!’