21. ... and a revelation

Sir Arthur apologised for his man's actions, and the constable was beside himself. He had, he said, attempted to warn the fugitive to stop. I accepted the apologies, but there was no need for anyone to apologise. I could not fault anyone's actions, and could not blame them either. Indeed, if it had been myself in charge of the constables, I probably would not have done anything different. If Dodgson had not attempted to flee then he would still be alive.

My problems were, however, doubled. Now I had no answers to my questions, but also, I had to convey the news to Mrs Dodgson and her daughters that her husband and their father was dead.

At this point, as the constables were placing Dodgson's body into their carriage to be taken to Buckingham for burial, Hopley appeared with the carriage. I instructed the Dodgson's maid, who had remained behind, to attend on her mistress at the hall the next day, secured the house, placed the satchel of papers in the carriage and thanked Sir Arthur for his assistance.

It was with a heavy heart that I alighted at Rogeringham Hall. Emily Dodgson had been through turmoil enough today, for me to bring the news of Alfred's death would be difficult enough for her to bear as well.

I called for Helena and went directly to my study.

My mother saw by my face that things were not good as she entered. Her face fell as I told her what had happened.

"And are you alright, William?" She asked taking my hand.

"I have failed, mother. I failed Mrs Dodgson, and in a sense, I failed Alfred Dodgson as well. What the man did was wrong and he deserved to be punished for it. But I would not have called for his death. Will you bring Mrs Dodgson to me?"

"I shall stay as well while you talk to her?" I nodded my thanks.

I explained to Mrs Dodgson what had happened, and she sat and listened quietly. She did not appear to be distraught at the news, if I had been pushed to say what she was feeling, I would have said that she was relieved. When she did speak next it was as if someone had thrown a grenado in amongst us.

"He was not my husband, Your Grace." She said simply.

"I beg your pardon?" I could see the incredulity on my mother's face as well.

"He was not my husband," she repeated. "Alfred Dodgson was my brother."

"The deuce, you say?" I said as I got up and walked to the decanter. I needed a drink, and sherry, even that fine Amontillado would not turn the trick. I poured myself a rum, and offered the women a sherry.

"May I have a tot of your rum, please William?" Helena asked. Emily Dodgson nodded her request as well.

"Perhaps Emily, you should tell us the whole story." I suggested.

She took the whole tot in one gulp, shook as it burned its way down and sat up straight.

"I feel like I have had a huge weight lifted from my shoulders to be able to say this, Your Grace, but Alfred was my brother and we were living as man and wife these last twelve years."

"Please? Go on." I reached out and took Helena's hand.

"Alfred was my elder brother by a year, and we lived in Tring with our parents. When they died, we remained in the same house, Alfred took up the lease instead. While we had never been close when we were younger, Alfred began to act as the man of the house. He worked as a clerk, but in the evenings, he would drink with his friends. One night after he had been at an ale-house, he came home and demanded his rights."

"As the man of the house?" Helena asked softly.

Emily nodded. "Exactly Your Grace. He came into my room that night and took me." She choked.

"I had never even seen a man naked, let alone slept with one. I was thrown onto the bed and he took me like a whore. Oh, I fought and kicked against him. But as you are aware ..." Emily's voiced tailed off.

"The next morning before he left for his employment, he took me again, and as he left, he told me that from that moment on, I was his and his alone, to do with as he pleased, when he pleased, and I was to accept that."

I kept my expression neutral, and I noted that Helena did too. The difference between how our relationship had started and how Emily's had begun was shocking, but we could not reveal that to Mrs Dodgson.

Emily's glass was empty, so I offered her another tot. She went to drink this one back like she had the first, but I stilled her hand, and she sipped it instead.

"I think my eldest, Emily, was conceived that first night. I started the sickness and my belly began to swell. I didn't know what to do. But Alfred solved it by moving us to Aylesbury. When we settled there, he told people we were man and wife.

"As I told you this morning, Your Grace, Alfred was a man with demons in him. Sober he could be the sweetest man alive and a hard-working man at that, but with drink inside him his temper came to the fore. He was ready with an open palm or even a belt.

"Grace, my second daughter was followed by Susan the youngest. I learnt to live with the situation, always fearing that we would be discovered for our incestuous relationship. The beatings I could take, he never laid a hand upon the girls, but he often took his frustrations out upon me. I excused them, he worked hard and kept us fed. Then he secured the post of steward to Your Grace's father, two years ago. It was a big step up for us."

This gave me a chance to ask Emily about her brother. "And how would you describe his behaviour at that time?"

"I'm not sure, Your Grace." She thought carefully about her answer. "When Alfred first began to work for your father, he was diligent and well behaved - if I was to judge, I would say that he had a new purpose in life. He did still drink and sometimes he would come home from Buckingham or Aylesbury on the duke's business, and he would smell of other women. If I asked about it, he would dismiss my fears and promise me that soon we would be 'well off out of it'.

"What do you think he meant by that?" I asked her.

I cannot say for sure, but I think ..." At this point Mrs Dodgson got up and went to the satchel with the papers. After rummaging through them, she handed me a hand-bill, a printed note about a meeting.

It announced a public meeting regarding the building of a 'trunk', an extension of the Grand Trunk Canal from London to take the waterway to Aylesbury. "Alfred's behaviour seemed to change after this, Your Grace."

Well, I thought to myself, this IS curious. It was well into the evening and Dives would be summoning us for supper.

"Will you be joining us for supper William?" Helena asked.

"But of course, we have guests tonight!"

Emily Dodgson, began to excuse herself, stuttering reasons why she should not.

"Nonsense!" I told her. "I am looking forwards to seeing you and your young ladies at supper."

"But, Your Grace!" Emily sounded urgent. "What I told you? About Alfred and me?"

"Mrs Dodgson - Emily - I believe if you look into every family, especially one like the Rogeringhams, you will find secrets similar to yours." I chuckled, "It is rumoured that the 2nd Duke had an overly fond relationship with one of his ... well, you follow my drift.

"We are very good at keeping secrets, aren't we, mother?" We exchanged an amused glance. "And as the only people who know about you and your brother are in this room, then I suspect that it is safe."

Although she still looked uncertain, Emily allowed herself to be drawn away by my mother to prepare herself. I sat for a moment looking at the handbill, I suspected that it was the crux of the whole matter, but for the life of me could not see what it meant.