Page 37 of The Demons of Wychwood

“Aye milord,”

“It’s come to my attention that General Edward Napier has been…how should I phrase this?—” Kit paused, then continued “—Overstepping somewhat. Do you understand what I mean?”

Mrs. Trelawney’s cheeks pinkened and she nervously bit her lip and then nodded.

“Please tell me what you understand, speak your mind my dear. I assure you; you will not get into any trouble.”

Mrs. Trelawney had already started crying, but she spoke on bravely, mastering the tears. “Oh, milord. I’ve been at Penhelligan since you were a babe. The house was so happy, and then your sister came along and it seemed like a perfect picture, you know?”

Kit’s eyes watered as he nodded and gestured for Lily to continue. “After your dear father was killed, we wuz in a state. The ladyship was in mourning and rarely came down and so we did our best to keep the house in ship-shape. We’d had the General to stay a time or two with permission from her ladyship cos he was the lordship’s comrade. But when the ladyship wed the General things changed. He took over, see, as if he were the Duke of Penhelligan himself, and not you. He would have his friends down for the shooting season and they’d throw wild parties and behave like our home was a…a…God bless us and save us…a knocking shop. He’d bring girls back from Exeter. Girls and boys sometimes. Your mother was never around, of course. She had no idea what he was really like when she weren’t in residence. We prayed that when you came of age you’d come and save us from him. But…and I know you must have had your reasons…but you stayed away, milord, and the General went on behaving like Penhelligan was his.”

Kit looked pale, drained, and heartsick. Mrs. Trelawney then turned to me and asked.

“Forgive me, sir. But are you Zenna Lazarus’s boy?”

I nodded. “Ah, that makes sense then, cos you’re the spit of your Ma. I’m so sorry for your loss, son. Zenna was my friend, and I miss her dearly. I don’t suppose you know where your Elowen is? She ran away a while back and we ain’t heard hide-nor-hair since. I’ve always worried about her and wondered what happened.”

“Did you know about her condition?” I asked.

Mrs. Trelawney’s chubby cheeks pinkened further then. “Aye, I knew she was in the family way, and that’s why I thought she ran, to be with her beau.”

“Mrs. Trelawney, Lilly, as you were friends with my Ma, you’d know to keep what I tell you close to your chest.” The older lady nodded.

“My sister never had a beau. She was assaulted by the General. She didn’t run away. She told me that when her belly was too big to hide, he stole her away in the night and then abandoned her in London.” The housekeeper gasped and her eyes welled up with tears again.

“Oh, no, no. I told Zenna I’d look after her girl,” she wept.

“Don’t you worry, you couldn’t have stopped what happened, and Elowen’s fine now, and happy. She has a smashing daughter named Bess.”

“Oh, blessed be!” The housekeeper made the sign of the cross. “Please tell her I think about her often and it warms my heart to know she’s alright.”

“I will, I will. Look, Lilly, we’re here because Elowen told us that she’s not the only one the General hurt. She said she’s the only girl who survived childbirth though. Is that right? Can you tell us what else the General has done?”

The floodgates opened then and from between the sobs, we got five names of maids who had died in the past four years. Jenny Penrose, Tamsin Birch, Lamorna Carne, Myrna Darke, and finally Annie Gregor, who had passed just three weeks ago.

“She was so ashamed she threw herself off the cliff down at Dawlish,” the cook sobbed.

All of the girls were aged between fourteen and sixteen. They told Mrs. Trelawney that the General had ‘done it’ to them. Lily also told of two stable boys Jago Traynor and Elias Kellow who had vanished after the General took a shine to them. Jago was fifteen when he disappeared, and Elias was just twelve. I felt sick.

“I was scared, milord, for my girls. Their little bodies weren’t grown enough to cope with birthing. None survived…it was awful, just awful. Their families went down to Exeter and petitioned the magistrate for justice. But the magistrate dismissed them cos he said the age of consent is twelve, and as they were all above that age there was no proof against the General.”

“Did anyone make a report to the police?”

“Gahh, the police don’t care. They’ve done shag all about the General’s behaviour when he and his cronies come down to carouse, here and in Exeter,” Mrs. Trelawney said fiercely. “The General can do what he wants and no one with the power to stop him lifts a finger.”

Kit pinched the bridge of his nose while Mr. Beckett’s pen continued its scritch-scratch across his parchment as he wrote the witness statement.

“The call of the sea’s strong for Exeter lads, isn’t it Lily. Could Jago and Elias have joined the Merchant Navy and gone to sea?” I asked.

Mrs. Trelawney regretfully shook her head. “I wish they had, but I’ve spoken to those boy’s mothers and they’re sure their sons did not abandon them willingly. The pay from Penhelligan was keeping those families fed. Poor Mrs. Kellow spent days on the steps of the police station begging for even one of the constables to look for her Elias. But when the General palms them a few coins the police don’t care about a stable boy much as they don’t care about a maid in the family way.”

Kit stood and began to pace with agitation. “I’m so sorry, Lilly. This is unconscionable. I wish the situation had been brought to my attention earlier, but I understand why it was not. I’ll arrange a meeting with the district magistrate to get to the bottom of this, and the police shall be alerted that General Napier is not welcome on Penhelligan land. You can rest assured you will not see that brute again, Mrs. Trelawney.”

After the cook left to continue with her duties, we spent the next two hours questioning the servants one-by-one. The butler Mr. Jenkins was elderly and had been with the Havelock family since before Kit was born. He too had seen much and felt powerless to act against Napier as he feared losing his position in his dotage and being thrown out onto the streets. As a man his latter years, he’d have nowhere to live and no chance of getting a new position.

It was a similar story for all of those who had not dared to speak out about the General. Not all of the servants were party to gossip or had personal experience of wrongdoing on his part, but all knew what he was like and were terrified of the man. I could well understand the predicament the servants of Penhelligan found themselves in. This is the lot of the working class. We work to feed our families and keep a roof over our heads. We have little chance of justice when the law was made for the likes of men who had the money and power, and not for the likes of us.

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