‘And when you parted ways, was he asleep?’
‘He was.’ Jack caught on slowly, adding, ‘I was certain we had come past all the points where we might be accosted, and as I was keen myself to get back home I thought it safe enough to leave him there to carry on his way without me.’
Daniel turned back to the merchant. ‘If you are convinced, sir, that this man did rob you, though you saw it not and could not swear an oath to it, by all means take your case before the Justice of the Peace.’
But he had sowed the seed of doubt. I felt a fleeting twist of sympathy for the merchant as I watched him wrestle with his own misgivings, trying to decide what he should do.
Then Daniel in one motion sheathed his dagger in his belt and drew a small bag from the lining of his coat as he went on to say, ‘Whatever you decide, sir, I am sorry for the loss that you have suffered, and I would not have you leave here thinking all Polgelly men are thieves.’ Holding out the soft bag, which looked weighted down with coins, he said, ‘This likely will not match what has been taken from you, but perhaps it may restore your faith in those who live here.’
I watched the merchant take the purse from Daniel’s hand and open it, and from his quick reaction I could tell that it contained more money than he had been robbed of. Quite a bit more, it appeared, because he closed it with a hurried gesture, squirrelling it tidily away into his own coat while the constable objected, ‘Careful, Butler. You do seek to interfere too much.’
‘I only seek to show good Christian charity to one who is in need of it.’
‘By paying him with profits from your own illegal trade.’
The merchant interjected, ‘Come now, come now, sirs, I would not be the cause of any argument between you.’ Giving the front of his waistcoat a pat, he gave Jack a once-over. ‘I do now confess I am not altogether convinced in my mind that this man was the culprit.’
The men who’d assembled behind, and who appeared to have been drawn into the whole affair to serve and aid the constable as his reluctant deputies, reacted now with unconcealed relief, from which I gathered none among them had been keen on taking Jack to see the Justice of the Peace.
I knew little of laws in this time, but I had vague recollections of reading at school about children who, in Queen Victoria’s day, had been sentenced to hang for the theft of a loaf of bread, and that had been more than a hundred years later than this.
Jack, too, breathed his relief, though his cockiness showed in the half-bow he aimed at the merchant. ‘I am in your debt, sir.’
‘Not at all,’ said the merchant. ‘The fault was all mine.’
Daniel didn’t allow that. ‘An honest mistake, to be sure. Will you dine with us?’
‘Dine with you?’
‘Ay, as a show of our gratitude. My house does lie but a short distance in that direction.’ He pointed, and the merchant after brief consideration gave a nod.
‘I will, sir. Many thanks.’
The constable snorted. ‘You fool. These men would play you like a fiddle, and that purse you have so lately won will be back in their hands by nightfall, mark me well.’
Which was as good as saying that the Butlers were both thieves and scoundrels, there in front of everyone, and Jack’s temper flared. ‘Then come and guard it for him, if you have a mind to.’
It was not an invitation, really, so much as a dare. I had the sense Jack Butler often said things without thinking first, his reckless nature making him as reckless with his words.
I watched the constable react, and saw him hold back his own anger in response and slyly turn things to his own advantage. ‘Very well, then. I will dine with you as well. ’Tis very kind of you to offer.’
Daniel kept his own face neutral. To the other men, he said, ‘I do regret we have not room enough for all of you to join us, but if you ride on now to Trelowarth House and say to Fergal that I’ve sent you he will find you ale to drink at least, and water for your horses.’
The men – there were five of them now I could count them – broke ranks for a moment to ride forward, splitting to both sides of the road as they came round the standing horses of the merchant and the constable and Jack. One man, an older man, stopped briefly beside Daniel.
‘Thank you, Danny.’ He inclined his head, and Daniel answered with a nod.
‘Peter.’
‘’Twas not our doing,’ the man said by way of apology, as he moved on and regrouped with the others who, safely past now, heeled their horses to quicken their pace as they carried on round the bend into the trees.
The silence they left in their wake had a dangerous edge.
Only the merchant seemed unaware of it, as his gaze shifted over to me. ‘Mrs Butler,’ he said with a gracious bow. ‘I pray you will forgive me, as your husband has.’
The constable cut in, ‘That is not Mrs Butler.’ From his tone it seemed that the suggestion had offended him, and not for the first time I found myself wondering what his connection had been to Ann Butler.
Daniel let the comment pass, and made the introductions while Jack looked at me as though he had just noticed I was there.
‘You’re out of bed,’ said Jack, with some surprise. Which wasn’t the best choice of words, but as the merchant’s eyebrows lifted, Daniel saved my reputation with the simple statement, ‘She has been ill these past days.’
I felt the keen appraisal of the constable. ‘She does look well recovered.’