TREACHERY at Porthpenny

Was Tredemon House really a place of secrets? Eliza was about to find out

- Sarah Swann

THE STORY SO FAR Eliza is to start work at Tredemon House as a lady’s maid. She tells her friend Tamsyn, who works there, that Lady Isolde and James Pascoe met secretly in the woods. Tamsyn admits to eavesdropping on Lord Tredemon and the sheriff John Tallack, who are planning a smuggling raid. Back at Porthpenny, disaster has struck. Tamsyn’s brother, Clemo, and his friend, Henry, have been snatched by pirates. Later, Eliza’s mother Jane reveals that James and Isolde were childhood sweethearts. Isolde’s father lost his fortune and died, leaving her and her mother in penury. Around the same time, James’ father died, bequeathing the family estate to his wayward older brother, Denzel, leaving animal-loving James impoverished. With wealth and power, Lord Tredemon wooed Isolde, who had to marry him to save herself and her mother from destitution. Although she’s pleased to have work, Eliza is apprehensive about her future at Tredemon.

Wednesday 19 July 1662 Before she lay down to sleep, Eliza scattered the mugwort on her straw bed as Elowen had told her to do. She wondered how Tamsyn had coped with the news that her brother Clemo had been snatched by pirates. As she drifted off to sleep, the herb worked its magic. Her dreams were lucid but echoed the maelstrom in her mind – horses galloping untethered, spinning rooms and waves lashing against rocks. Then there was a lull... she was standing at the top of a cliff, and a young man, his breeches and shirt sodden from the sea, was climbing the rocks towards her. As he lifted his head, she saw it was Clemo, with twinkling blue eyes and hair the colour of straw. When she awoke the next morning, Eliza remembered her vision and broke into a smile... the mugwort had revealed it was Clemo she loved. A warm glow filled her, then the memory of Clemo’s kidnap came crashing down on her like a giant wave.