body. For a moment he held her there, the fingers of his free hand twined in her hair to prevent her from turning her head away from the mouth brushing her own.
‘Here!’ He spoke thickly, his breath hot and rapid. ‘Shall I take it here, take my payment for what I did for you, the reward you thought to deny me?’
‘Please!’
‘Please.’ He laughed again, an exultant laugh. ‘Oh I shall be pleased, Miss Spencer, be assured of that, I shall be pleased many times over.’
He meant to rape her! In panic Ann twisted her head away from the hot breath, the sickening touch of a tongue flicking against her mouth, pleading to be let go even as she was brutally forced once more to face him.
‘Let you go!’ The reply snarled against her lips. ‘Oh I intend to let you go, in fact I shall make it my business to see you gone from Wednesbury, you and the brat you brought with you; but of course I cannot allow that until I deem your debt fully repaid.’
‘I am not in debt to you, I paid the required rent, I—’
‘Not in debt!’ Thomas Thorpe snapped away the reply. ‘Not in debt to the man who secured you a place to live, the man who argued against his friends, against the very congregation he tries so hard to serve, that it would be no more than Christian charity to let you have the tenancy of Chapel House.’
Disgust overcame her fear, making Ann’s response lash like wind-driven hail. ‘Christian charity!’ She held the pale eyes with a look of pure contempt. ‘Is it in the name of that same charity you would force a woman to lie with you, does Christian charity include rape? And once you have taken what you see as your due will you inform those friends, that very congregation you try so hard to serve, will you tell them about the extra payment? Payment demanded by their so-caring layman!’
Layman! She had taken pleasure in using that word, highlighting the fact of his non-clerical status. A mistake, Miss Spencer. A very grave mistake . . . and one which the grave alone would rectify. He had thought to drive her from the town by use of slander but now that must change. There would of course be no enquiry; Ann Spencer and the boy had chosen to leave Wednesbury to go who knows where. Nobody would care enough to ask and certainly not to suspect murder.
Thomas Thorpe glanced to where in the distance a solitary building stood opposite the Monway Sidings, a pair of rail tracks conveying the products of Monway Steel to the main London and North Western Railway for transport across country. One house and nothing more than open heath until Hobbins Street marked the edge of the town’s miserable housing. He could take her here. He released Ann from his arms yet fastened a grip on her wrist while he contemplated the idea. There was little chance of being observed, but any chance of being watched detracted from the enjoyment of the act, from the pleasure of stripping away each garment, the delight of laying that naked body beneath his own, the ultimate satisfaction of thrusting deep between parted legs. No. He turned along the track worn between bracken and yellow-crowned gorse. That entertainment would be the more gratifying taken in the privacy and comfort of Chapel House.
Chapter 6
There had been no reply.
Leah glanced at the window of a house set amid a long row of dark-stained tight-packed terraced houses each joined to the other like so many peas in a pod. A shake of her head emphasised an inward snort of disapproval. Tight-packed they might be but peas were pleasant to look at. She glanced again at the line of buildings, faceless in their unanimous drabness. She knew well the interior of those houses; hadn’t she once lived in similar? Two bedrooms upstairs, a living room and scullery downstairs and three children. How much less space for families she knew were housed here, families with six and seven children who along with three other households shared the use of one privy and one brewhouse set in a tiny
‘Here!’ He spoke thickly, his breath hot and rapid. ‘Shall I take it here, take my payment for what I did for you, the reward you thought to deny me?’
‘Please!’
‘Please.’ He laughed again, an exultant laugh. ‘Oh I shall be pleased, Miss Spencer, be assured of that, I shall be pleased many times over.’
He meant to rape her! In panic Ann twisted her head away from the hot breath, the sickening touch of a tongue flicking against her mouth, pleading to be let go even as she was brutally forced once more to face him.
‘Let you go!’ The reply snarled against her lips. ‘Oh I intend to let you go, in fact I shall make it my business to see you gone from Wednesbury, you and the brat you brought with you; but of course I cannot allow that until I deem your debt fully repaid.’
‘I am not in debt to you, I paid the required rent, I—’
‘Not in debt!’ Thomas Thorpe snapped away the reply. ‘Not in debt to the man who secured you a place to live, the man who argued against his friends, against the very congregation he tries so hard to serve, that it would be no more than Christian charity to let you have the tenancy of Chapel House.’
Disgust overcame her fear, making Ann’s response lash like wind-driven hail. ‘Christian charity!’ She held the pale eyes with a look of pure contempt. ‘Is it in the name of that same charity you would force a woman to lie with you, does Christian charity include rape? And once you have taken what you see as your due will you inform those friends, that very congregation you try so hard to serve, will you tell them about the extra payment? Payment demanded by their so-caring layman!’
Layman! She had taken pleasure in using that word, highlighting the fact of his non-clerical status. A mistake, Miss Spencer. A very grave mistake . . . and one which the grave alone would rectify. He had thought to drive her from the town by use of slander but now that must change. There would of course be no enquiry; Ann Spencer and the boy had chosen to leave Wednesbury to go who knows where. Nobody would care enough to ask and certainly not to suspect murder.
Thomas Thorpe glanced to where in the distance a solitary building stood opposite the Monway Sidings, a pair of rail tracks conveying the products of Monway Steel to the main London and North Western Railway for transport across country. One house and nothing more than open heath until Hobbins Street marked the edge of the town’s miserable housing. He could take her here. He released Ann from his arms yet fastened a grip on her wrist while he contemplated the idea. There was little chance of being observed, but any chance of being watched detracted from the enjoyment of the act, from the pleasure of stripping away each garment, the delight of laying that naked body beneath his own, the ultimate satisfaction of thrusting deep between parted legs. No. He turned along the track worn between bracken and yellow-crowned gorse. That entertainment would be the more gratifying taken in the privacy and comfort of Chapel House.
Chapter 6
There had been no reply.
Leah glanced at the window of a house set amid a long row of dark-stained tight-packed terraced houses each joined to the other like so many peas in a pod. A shake of her head emphasised an inward snort of disapproval. Tight-packed they might be but peas were pleasant to look at. She glanced again at the line of buildings, faceless in their unanimous drabness. She knew well the interior of those houses; hadn’t she once lived in similar? Two bedrooms upstairs, a living room and scullery downstairs and three children. How much less space for families she knew were housed here, families with six and seven children who along with three other households shared the use of one privy and one brewhouse set in a tiny
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