When The Rain Falls

Chapter Thirty-One

Behind me, Alice gasped softly whilst I tried not to show any emotion on my face, but the shaking in my hands became a little more prominent. After almost two weeks of no one coming forward about Rebecca, I had given up on the idea of it ever happening. Yet Mrs Ramone was a real person, but I had my doubts about her knowing anything.

Why did it take so long for her to present herself to Father? George had gone to every house in the village and beyond, but not one person had claimed to know Rebecca or where she had come from. If Mrs Ramone really knew her, why hadn't she come forward immediately? There were just too many questions that didn't have answers.

I stepped into the room and took a seat in one of the armchairs with Alice copying my actions. After the heated discussion upstairs, I couldn't even bring myself to look at her, and I was certain she felt the same way. With the bruises on my face, I kept my eyes downcast to my lap rather than make eye contact with Father or Mrs Ramone.

"If you would like to start your story again, Mrs Ramone," Father said. "It shall be better for Nathaniel to hear if it comes straight from the horse's mouth. He has become rather attached, for lack of a better word, to Miss Edwards."

"We had Miss Edwards in our employment for a year or so before she disappeared. Our housekeeper, Mrs Warrick, sent her out on what should have been a simple errand, but she failed to reappear for several hours. She had always been a flighty little thing with her head in the clouds, so we assumed that she was just taking her time, as was common.

"When she did not return before sunset, we grew worried and sent one of the stable hands out on the path she might have taken, but there was no sign of her. This was six months ago. We heard hide nor hair of her until our stable hand heard a conversation in the village about a strange girl appearing in the woods. I had hoped it would be her, and it seems I was correct."

"The general assumption is that Miss Edwards was taken on her way either to the village or back to Mrs Ramone's property. Whoever took her is likely the person responsible for the injuries she sustained," Father said.

"Why come forward now?" I looked up from my trembling hands, running them across my thighs in an attempt to quell the shaking. "George spoke to everyone in the surrounding area and was certain the messages were sent to those in the nearby houses"

"We wanted to be certain and not cause any unnecessary stress to the girl if she were not Miss Edwards. That, and we live a little way away from the village and it takes a little while for messages to reach us."

"Everything has its explanation, Nathaniel."

"Sometimes, the explanation might not be believable."

"I apologise for my son, Mrs Ramone," Father said, glaring at me. "As I said, he has grown rather attached to Miss Edwards."

"That is perfectly, alright Mr Thorpe. I understand where he is coming from and it certainly does seem a little far-fetched. Your son has every right to have his doubts. I would be surprised if he was so willing to accept my story."

I frowned, a stab of pain travelling across my forehead from the bruises. Although there were elements of Mrs Ramone's story that might have been considered believable, some of it didn't feel right to me. My conversation with Rebecca had all but confirmed she worked for several households after leaving the Marlows, but I just couldn't wrap my head around how they found out she was with us.

It had been almost two weeks since George first started to look into Rebecca's appearance and the story would have reached everyone within a week. We had shared her name from the beginning. Regardless of whether she thought she was looking out for Rebecca, leaving her with strangers hardly seemed like the right thing to do.