The Silent Woman Read Online Free PDF

wondering what bad tidings were now pursuing him from the home that he had decisively turned his back on so many years ago.
     
    Anne Hendrik was alarmed when her servant brought the youth in to her. The boy was bent almost double as he clutched at his midriff and yet he would not hear of any relief for his distress. His one concern was to deliver a message to her lodger. When Anne suggested that she might take charge of the missive until Nicholas returned, the youth explained that he had no letter to hand over. His was a verbal message, but he went off into such a fit of coughing that Anne doubted if he would be in a condition to utter it. She and her servant guided the visitor up to Nicholas’s chamber and made him rest on the bed. The servant was then dispatched to fetch a surgeon to the Bankside house. Anne was a compassionate woman who hated to see anyone in such pain, but when she tried to nurse the stricken messenger, she was once morewaved away. Desperately ill as he clearly was, the youth still refused to be touched and begged to be left alone until Nicholas Bracewell came home.
    Bankside was notorious for its haunts of pleasure and vice, but Anne Hendrik represented one of the pockets of respectability in the area. The English widow of a Dutch hatmaker, she had inherited his house, his thriving little business in the adjacent premises and his positive attitude towards life. Instead of mourning his demise, therefore, she took over the management of the business and worked hard to improve its fortunes. She also took in a lodger – largely to provide a modicum of male company – but the relationship between them had developed well beyond the accepted one. In Nicholas Bracewell, she found an upright, caring and sensitive man, and he saw in her a handsome, intelligent and remarkable woman. They were kindred spirits and occasional lovers.
    Nicholas had been enormously helpful to her and his solid presence had been a convenient refuge from the unwanted attentions of other admirers. Anne had never felt more in need of him than now. A sick youth was babbling his name as if he were some kind of saviour. She wanted Nicholas there to take control of the situation, to give succour to the ailing visitor and to calm the unsettling thoughts that were beginning to flit through her own mind. Even in their most intimate moments, Nicholas never talked about his life in his native Devon. It was a closed book to Anne. This youth had staggered in to open the pages of that book and she was not at all sure that she would enjoy reading them.
    There was a dull thud from upstairs that made her jump then start towards the stairs. At the same time, however,the latch was lifted and Nicholas Bracewell came hurrying in. Anne had an impulse to fling herself gratefully into his arms but she was somehow held back. The expression of mingled anxiety and remorse was one she had never seen on his countenance before. He was both lover and stranger now.
    ‘Did anyone call here for me?’ he said.
    ‘A young man. He is still here and failing fast.’
    ‘Where is he?’
    ‘In your chamber. I have sent for the surgeon.’
    ‘What has the youth said?’
    ‘He will speak to none but you, Nick.’
    She stood aside as he dashed up the staircase then she hurried after him, but they were far too late. When they went into the bedchamber, the youthful caller lay twisted on the floor at an unnatural angle, the face pallid and contorted with agony. Nicholas felt for signs of life but there were none. He caught a whiff of something from the lips and bent low to inhale the sour odour more carefully.
    ‘Poison!’ he whispered.
    ‘May God have mercy on his soul!’
    He stood to comfort her. ‘Come away, Anne.’
    ‘Leave me be.’
    ‘You should not dwell on such a sight.’
    ‘It is my house, Nick.’
    ‘This is villainous work.’
    ‘But the issue of it lies dead under my roof.’
    ‘There is nothing you may do here. Turn away.’
    ‘No!’
    Wanting his