An Anne Perry Christmas_ Two Holiday Novels - Anne Perry [72]
“Yes.”
He thought for a moment. “He would have to have had luck on his side,” he said. “Or else Judah stood around for some time waiting for him. I asked everyone I could about that day, the servants here, the post office and in the village. There's no word of anyone delivering a message to Judah to meet Gower, or one from Judah to him. And it's not a place anyone would meet by chance.”
“Frankly, it's not a place anyone would meet at all,” Henry said. “I still find it hard to accept.”
“We have to,” Benjamin argued. “That's where Judah was, or he couldn't have found the knife. And the higher crossing is just as absurd, but that's where he was found.” He turned to Naomi. “What did you think of Gower?”
She hesitated. “A very angry man, one who hits out first, in case he doesn't get a later chance,” she replied. “A man so filled with his own emotions he doesn't have time or room to consider anyone else's. I'm not sure that I wanted to see any good in him, but if there was any, it was easy to overlook. But he is far from a fool. Which is why I wonder how he ever thought he could get away with such a stupid forgery.”
“Even the most intelligent people can behave idiotically once in a while when their passions are in control,” Henry said, pursing his lips as memory stabbed him. “We lose peripheral vision and see only what we want. It's a sort of mental arrogance. Being intelligent is not always the same thing as being wise—or honest.”
Naomi looked at him and the warmth of her smile was as if the fire had suddenly burned up, dispelling the shadows and the cold places in the room.
“No, it isn't,” she agreed. “But they are the things most worth winning, and without them the rest is of little value. I should be more sorry for Ashton Gower, and for stupid Mrs. Pilkington. It's themselves they are cheating in the end.”
Ephraim sat very quiet, almost without moving. One needed to look at him carefully to realize how fully his concentration was on Naomi.
“Could he have killed Judah? Is it possible?” Benjamin asked softly.
Ephraim turned to him. “Yes,” he answered. “And I can't like Colgrave, he's a cold man, for all that he hides it, but he'll help us, at least in this. He hates the injustice, for us and for the whole village. It's bad for everyone.”
Benjamin nodded. “Good. We have made a start, but it is not proof.”
“What else can we do?” Antonia asked. She was troubled, trying hard to hide the desperation inside her. She was beginning to face the long future ahead after they had gone and she was alone in the village, the whispers, the thoughts, her dead husband's memory to protect and her son to nurture, and keep his faith and certainty strong.
Benjamin looked at her. “I don't know yet. But we will succeed. Judah was our brother, and I, at least, will never leave here until I have cleared his name, I promise!”
“Nor will I,” Ephraim said fiercely. “I give you my word, for you, for Joshua, and for Judah himself.”
She bent her head, the tears spilling over her cheeks. “Thank you.”
he morning was sharp with high, drifting clouds and a thin sunshine. Henry rose early, had a cup of tea, and then dressed and went out. He preferred to walk alone and think. They had spoken brave words the evening before, but they had no plans that were assured of giving them the proof they needed. They were loyal, that was never in question. They were brave. Benjamin had the logic and the acute intelligence to marshal all the information they could acquire, and the force of mind to present it. Ephraim had the strength to face whatever unpleasantness, difficulty, or obstruction the people in the village might use, or to face Ashton Gower himself. Nothing would cause him to retreat from what he believed to be right, no matter what the cost.
And Naomi had a charm and wit, an imagination to understand others, a warmth to disarm them, so she could glean all kinds of information that a more direct, confrontational approach would not. Henry found himself liking her more with each encounter. He could easily see why Ephraim had