Caught in a Cornish Scandal by Eleanor Webster (best books for 20 year olds TXT) ๐
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- Author: Eleanor Webster
Read book online ยซCaught in a Cornish Scandal by Eleanor Webster (best books for 20 year olds TXT) ๐ยป. Author - Eleanor Webster
โWe have to stop her. I do not think she is quite sane. Jason was likely cruel to her also,โ Millie said.
Cautiously, she walked over the shale. โMrs Ludlow?โ She raised her voice, but kept the tone kind. โPlease, come in, before you catch your death.โ
Mrs Ludlow stood knee-deep in the shallows, looking into the distance. Almost to Millieโs surprise, she turned, her expression startled, as though she had forgotten the presence of others.
โIt went away, Miss Lansdowne,โ she said. โThe boat. It went away.โ
โI know, but come in now. The ocean is so cold. We do not want you to become ill.โ
Mrs Ludlow smiled, as though privy to some secret knowledge. โI do not believe catching my death will really matter, you know. They will hang me.โ
โPlease do not think that. They wonโt hang you,โ Millie said. โWe are alive and you arenโt responsible for Jasonโs choices.โ
โMiss Lansdowne, Jason doesnโt choose. He careens through life like a drunken blunderer. Rather like your brother, I suppose.โ
Millie stiffened at the mention of Tom. It still hurt, that mix of pain and grief and a seldom-acknowledged raw anger.
โCome in, Mrs Ludlow, so you can get dry.โ
To her surprise, the woman complied. She walked towards the shore, the water splashing with her movement. โI had intended to take my own life, but I find it not as easy as I had anticipated. Likely, they will resolve the issue for me.โ
Millie glanced towards Sam. He had finished binding Jason and rose, the ropes held in his hands. Frances was still unmoving with her arms hugging her knees, her eyes focused on the horizon.
The older woman moved steadily, displaying little haste, as she stepped further up the shale shore. Her skirts hung about her legs, clinging in damp folds. Her hair fell on to her forehead, wet and dishevelled. She looked at Jason where he lay, unconscious, but secured with ropes.
โPoor Jason. So inefficient. Never the brightest, you know. I told dear Jason to make you dead. But you are not dead.โ She walked up the shore towards Sam.
โYou told Jason to attack me?โ Sam said.
โNot attack. Get rid of. A mistake, I know. I should have done it. If a jobโs worth doing... But I was needed somewhere...else.โ
โSomewhere else?โ He went up to her, the ropes held limply in one hand, the rocks and shale rattling under his feet.
An expression of horror and confused disbelief suffused his face and Millie knew that it was duplicated in her own.
โSome...where...else,โ he repeated, pacing out the words. โMy God, it was you...on the beach. You killed those men. Not Jason.โ
Out of the corner of her eye, Millie saw Frances move, uncoiling from her rock.
โSam, you have surprised me,โ Mrs Ludlow said, with that odd laugh. โIt is quite refreshing as I am so seldom surprised. You were there?โ
โI was there,โ he said and Millie knew from his tone that he was remembering the drowning men and the three who had made it to shore, only to be picked off like clay pigeons, staining the tidepools red with blood.
โI had wondered how you survived. The smugglers picked you up. What humanity. I wouldnโt have thought theyโd have bothered.โ She glanced again towards Jason. โSilly boy, he should have killed you properly. Or kept his wife happy until we were ready.โ
โYou.โ Frances had walked several feet so that she was on a line with Millie, facing her mother-in-law. Something in the way Frances said that single word made Millie shiver.
โOf course, I blame myself as well.โ Mrs Ludlow spoke to Sam, not even glancing at Frances. โI underestimated you when I chose her. I did not think youโd visit. You were drinking and hardly devoted to family.โ
โYou...did...this...to...me. You...chose. You plotted...โ Frances now stood only a few feet from the other woman. Every part of her body seemed tight, her intensity in sharp contrast to Mrs Ludlowโs peculiar nonchalance.
Mrs Ludlow shrugged. โDo not sound so surprised. Jason has very few original thoughts. Besides, as I said, Jason doesnโt choose, he careens.โ
โYou are worse than him,โ Frances said.
โI am what the world has made me.โ
โYou planned this? You plotted with Jason to fake his own death?โ Sam asked.
โBut why?โ Millie whispered. โI understand that you wanted Jason to escape and you also wanted Noah. But why did you kill Jem and all those men?โ
โDead men cannot talk. The Captain knew too much.โ Mrs Ludlow stopped, her eyes moving towards Millie with an expression close to animation. โWhy, Miss Lansdowne, how vastly amusing. You were there, too. You were on that smuggling ship. Indeed, I believe you rescued dear Mr Garrett.โ
She smiled, her expression beatific. โI find it satisfying. I prefer my original plot, of course. I always wanted a villa in Italy and money. However, it is interesting that it was you, Miss Lansdowne, who changed the narrative. Have you noticed, Miss Lansdowne, that women always play a role, but we never get to write the script?โ
โIโโ Millie paused, meeting the other womanโs gaze. Mrs Ludlow stood in her wet clothes with her hair in tangles about her face and that oddly pleasant smile. She was mad, of course.
โI have noticed it,โ Millie said.
Standing at the waterโs edge, time paused and Millie knew that these moments would be indelibly carved into her mind for ever. She would always remember every word, the dim outline of the older woman silhouetted against the moonโs shimmer, the injured man sprawled across the pebbles, the seaweed scent, the lap of waves, the cold air and the rocks hunkered at the shore.
Then, as if to compensate, time started again, moving with an excess of speed, a blur, like the countryside during a fast gallop.
The beach, deserted moments before, became a veritable thoroughfare. With a burst of cracking branches, rustling foliage and shouts, Banks, Cartwell, Sir Anthony and two other gentlemen arrived, catapulting themselves onto the beach.
Millie turned at the noise. For a moment, it felt that while her eyes were able to discern and identify
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