Merrywood Hall (Part Two)

By James Ryder

Edward Merrywood has stopped Jack and Tom being together, but when Jack discovers exactly how he has manipulated Tom, he vows to put an end to Edward's cruelty. His plan backfires however and leaves those at Merrywood Hall reeling and looking tragedy in the face.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Ryder
• Release date: Dec 23, 2015

James Ryder

James Ryder Lives in Ireland. Sign up to his Reader Group below to get FREE books, plus info on upcoming publications. https://us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=fb95efc0f5b9115badd6092c7&id=9f05af9fa9

Book preview

Part Two

London in the summer of 1914 was a heady, dazzling place to be for Tom. It was a world away from Merrywood Hall. Everything was new to him and it was almost overwhelming. The traffic terrified him – horse-drawn carriages jostled with automobiles and open-topped omnibuses on the busy streets, all moving at tremendous speed.

The people seemed to always be in a hurry too. The pavements were thronged with people and there were all manner of types to be encountered – ladies and gentlemen in their fine clothes, roads-sweeps in their dusty aprons, policemen in their round helmets, and urchins who all begged for pennies even though they might have picked your pocket before you could give it to them.

Edward and Tom took up residence at the Savoy hotel in a lavish suite of rooms that included a large bedroom, a study, and a Drawing Room. Next to this was a smaller servant’s bedroom which Tom presumed to be where he would sleep.

Edward smiled. ‘No, Tom. You’ll be sleeping in my bed with me.’

*

At Merrywood Hall Jack remained confused and frustrated by the sudden change in Tom’s attitude toward him. He couldn’t understand it at all. And what made it worse was that Tom was in London and he couldn’t even confront him about it.

Jack didn’t quite know how to process these feelings so he ended up going to the pub in the village and drowning his sorrows.

The Lion was a friendly place, a watering hole where the men of the estate and village could congregate. Women weren’t allowed, except for Nancy, the flirtatious barmaid. Nancy was considered a loose woman because she worked at The Lion, but the truth of it was that although she could tease and flirt with the customers, it was all an act.

She noticed that Jack was spending more and more time drinking.

‘What brings you here?’ she asked him one night.

Jack was sitting in the corner, alone.

‘I just want to be left alone if you don’t mind,’ he said, morosely.

‘Has love got you down?’

Jack looked up at the barmaid. ‘What?’

‘When a man looks as sad as you it’s usually because of love,’ Nancy said. ‘When you work in this job you get good at reading people.’

That the reason for his melancholy might have been detected embarrassed Jack. He didn’t want anyone knowing anything about him. It was safer that way, he thought. It was better to keep all your emotions pressed down deep where nobody could touch them. That’s what he’d done at the workhouse. It had been a mistake to let Tom in.

Annoyed, Jack jumped up and stumbled out of the pub.

Nancy sighed and looked at the other men. ‘Was it something I said?’

*

It had been a long day for Tom. Edward had decided to go shopping. He had spent a fortune on new clothes from all the best tailors on Savile Row. Tom was obliged to wait on him and he watched Edward admire himself in the mirror with contempt.

‘How do I look, Tom?’ Edward asked.

‘Very well, sir,’ he lied.

‘I can’t decide which waistcoat suits me best. Which do you prefer? This