LIEUTENANT JORY KENDALL arrived at the Trethevy rectory early in the evening of the day before the Camelford fair. He brought with him a huge bunch of roses, picked from the Kendalls’ rose garden by his mother and sent with her best wishes to Alice, together with an invitation to spend a few days with the family at the Kendalls’ mansion at her earliest convenience.
It should have been an exciting moment for Alice. Not only would it signal recognition by the Kendall family that she existed, but be an acknowledgement by them that she occupied a special place in their younger son’s life.
But Alice was not at home. She was spending a few days at the Bodmin vicarage with her childhood friend. Ursula would be returning to Windsor with her father in a few days time and their Bodmin host had invited Alice to his vicarage in order that she might spend the last few days of Ursula’s holiday with her.
It was a perfect excuse for Alice not to meet up with Jory during his visit but Eliza was strongly critical of her decision, so much so that Alice felt a need to remind her that she was her ladies maid and not her nurse maid. Nevertheless it did not stop Eliza from using subtler means of letting her employer know she felt she was wrong.
In truth, Alice was not happy to be avoiding Jory. Despite all she had learned at Helynn about his unforgivable conduct towards the late Isabella Trevelyan, she found herself thinking of him quite as much, perhaps even more than before, despite a determination to convince herself she had eliminated him from her life.
Nevertheless, she tried hard to dismiss him from her thoughts and she left for Bodmin having reminded Eliza about the way she was to behave at the fair. Then she set off in the pony trap to see her friend. Tristram was driving her there and Eliza did not doubt that he would receive a similar warning along the way.
Jory had arrived at Trethevy in one of his family’s carriages, emblazoned with the Kendall family’s crest on both doors. The groom driving the splendid vehicle had shared Tristram’s room overnight and now he and the Trethevy employee were together on the driving seat, while Eliza sat inside, with Jory.
Eliza felt very important as they bowled along the narrow lanes on the way to Camelford, slower vehicles and pedestrians giving way to them, unaccustomed to such grandeur on the rural back roads.
Jory seemed wrapped in thought for some time after their early morning departure from the rectory and when he did speak it was quite apparent what he had been thinking about.
‘It was very disappointing that Miss Alice was not at the rectory for my visit, Eliza. It is a long time since I last saw her and I had been greatly looking forward to our meeting.’
‘I expect Miss Alice is disappointed too, sir,’ Eliza lied, ‘but it is many years since she saw her best friend and as she’s someone Reverend David seems quite smitten with they might well have important things to talk about.’
‘Even so, she could have written a note to me, explaining matters.’ Jory was upset, he had been looking forward to spending time with Alice. ‘Is there something I should know about, Eliza? You went with her to Captain Trevelyan’s home, is there anything more than a friendship between them?’
‘Oh no, sir, I can assure you of that. There is nothing between Captain Trevelyan and Miss Alice and there never will be!’
Eliza realised she had been too emphatic and Jory was aware of it too.
‘How can you be so certain, Eliza? Did something happen at Trevelyan’s home I should perhaps know about? Was he less than gentlemanly towards Miss Alice?’
Alice found herself in a difficult situation. She liked Lieutenant Jory very much and would be delighted if she could heal the breach between them, but a loyal maid did not talk about her mistress’s private life. On the other hand she was probably the only person able to bring them back together, although she would need to be careful what she said to him.
‘Nothing happened between them, sir, and I should know, I slept in Miss Alice’s room that night although that was only because the house wasn’t really in a state to have visitors, but it seems you are known to the Trevelyan family.’
‘I doubt it, Eliza, to the best of my knowledge I have never met any of them.’
‘Well they certainly believe you have, sir, they had a great deal to say linking you with Captain Trevelyan’s sister, a Miss Isabella. I believe she died some time ago.’
‘They think I had something to do with an Isabella Trevelyan? That is quite absurd. I have never even heard the name, but why on earth should Captain Trevelyan lie about such a thing – unless his intention was to discredit me in Miss Alice’s eyes? If that is the reason it is thoroughly despicable.’
‘It wasn’t only Captain Trevelyan who spoke about it, sir. His father and their housekeeper seemed to know you too.’
‘That is sheer nonsense. I would take it up with Trevelyan right away if I could, but someone I spoke to recently mentioned that he will be returning to India very soon and is probably already in London. But that will not stop me from calling on his father and demanding an explanation from him.’
‘You would be wasting your time, sir.’
Eliza told him of the senior Trevelyan’s behaviour and his mental state. Although it had not been her intention, as she talked Jory gained a fairly accurate idea about some of the things which had occurred during Alice’s visit to the Trevelyan home and he was appalled.
‘It sounds very much as though mental instability runs in the family, Eliza, your visit to them with Miss Alice must have been a great trial. I intend getting to the bottom of this ridiculous story that I was somehow involved with the unfortunate daughter of the family, but I am very disappointed that Miss Alice should have given credence to such infamous lies about me.’
‘She didn’t want to, sir, I’m sure of that, and she wouldn’t have, either, if such stories only came from Captain Trevelyan. It was because the same things were said by his father and the housekeeper too. They were so convincing it would have been difficult for anyone not to believe what they said.’
‘Well, thank you for telling me, Eliza. I can assure you that whatever was said, I know nothing of Isabella Trevelyan and am quite certain I never met her, but I will find out what this is all about and put things right between Miss Alice and myself.’
‘That would make me happy, sir, and Miss Alice too, I’m sure.’
Camelford fair was all, and more, than Tristram had promised Eliza it would be. As the Kendall carriage neared the small market town which unevenly straddled the River Camel, it passed a great many men, women and children heading in the same direction.
Most of those they met with on the road stood politely to one side as the carriage passed by, but shortly before entering the town it was almost forced to a halt by a large group of marching men carrying banners and lustily singing a Methodist hymn.
When they were eventually clear of the group, Eliza asked, ‘Who were they, did they belong to the fair?’
Jory smiled, ‘I doubt it, the banners were proclaiming the evils of drink and encouraging men to join the temperance movement. They must intend holding a rally at the fair. It could cause trouble. A great many men, and some women too, see fair day as an opportunity to get very drunk. It is a good day for the publicans, their premises stay open for as long as there are drinking men left with money in their pockets and if the temperance men are too vociferous it is not unknown for publicans to offer free beer to their customers to chase them away from their premises.’
At that moment Tristram’s face appeared at the open window as he precariously hung down from the roof of the carriage and called, ‘Did you see who was leading the temperance men?’
When both occupants answered in the negative, he shouted, ‘It was Eval Moyle. I’d say he’s on his way to make trouble at the fair.’
When Tristram disappeared from view, Jory said, ‘With any luck Moyle will get himself arrested again. The Camelford mayor has brought a police sergeant and two constables from London to deal with any trouble at the fair. They won’t put up with any nonsense from Moyle.’
‘It’s a pity he didn’t stay in America,’ Eliza said, ‘but perhaps he caused trouble there too.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Jory replied, ‘I have heard that he is in fact very happy there and has come home to persuade his brother to sell their farm and return to America with him. It is said that with the proceeds from the farm he intends building a chapel there.’
‘I hope he succeeds in selling it quickly and goes away again,’ Eliza said. ‘He gives me the shivers.’
‘Hopefully he will be far too busy saving sinners to trouble you or Tristram,’ Jory said, optimistically, ‘and here we are at the fair now. I will show you and Tristram where my recruiting booth is and we will meet up there at the end of the day for the journey back to Trethevy.’