Different Tides (27 page)

But Alexandra smarted, and she felt sick from her heart right down to her ankles. Eight hundred pounds. It had seemed such a lot to start with. Now it didn’t. Was that all she was worth?

It seemed so. How scathing Roland had been … not that she hadn’t deserved it.

A roar went up when Zachariah won. Basil strode off.

Later, when everyone left early, trickling away one by one, Alexandra expected to be summoned to Zachariah’s study and taken to task. But the summons didn’t come.

After she said goodnight to her last guest she couldn’t face anyone so went up to her room. The tears finally came and she began to sob.

There came a knock at the door and Clementine came in. Joining her, the girl seated herself on the bed, drew her into her arms and held her close. ‘I’m sorry your feelings were hurt.’

‘I deserved it. I’ve been horrible to everyone. It was the legacy. It went to my head and I made all these stupid plans.’

‘What will you do, Alexandra?’

‘Go with Roland, I suppose. I love him … I really do, but I wanted more.’

‘He seems like a nice man, and he has his own business and he works hard. He’s handsome too. And best of all … he loves you, which is more than that horrible Basil Cheeves does. Aren’t you pleased you didn’t accept him?’

‘Oh, he never even asked me. He was waiting to see what the legacy was worth, and like most men, just wanted to touch me.

‘As for Roland, he made me feel worthless. I should have gone to his mother’s funeral. I liked her and we were good friends. Then there was Zachariah.’

When her companion’s body stiffened, Alexandra grinned. She was not beyond digging a fork into her yet. Clementine would have some trouble on her hands when Zachariah Fleet decided he was in love with her and let himself off the leash.

‘What of Zachariah? Did he … show an interest in you?’

Her eyes had such desperation in them that she felt sorry for her.

‘I liked him a lot but on the times when I encouraged him he kept his distance. He was being awfully stuffy so I kissed him, knowing you were in the hall and would likely see it if you came in. To be honest, Zachariah didn’t really know I existed.’

She decided not to mention Evan, though shame flooded through her, that she could have welcomed his advances … and he’d been so cold-blooded about it afterwards.

‘Help me pack, then I’ll ask Ben to bring the carriage round tomorrow, early before anyone gets up. I’ll give you a letter for Zachariah, because I can’t face him at the moment.’

She drew in a deep breath, and crossing to the dressing table she picked up two of the figurines and handed them to Clementine. ‘These are for you, Clemmie … Columbine and Harlequin.’

She dropped Pierrot into the heart of the flames, where he cracked into several shards. ‘Nobody wants a sad clown,’ she said.

Zachariah didn’t read Alexandra’s letter. He just slid it into his waistcoat pocket. Clementine guessed it contained an apology.

‘Am I to take it that Alexandra has gone back to London with Roland Elliot?’ he said.

Clementine nodded. ‘She told me last night that she’d be leaving early. She was upset by what happened and she blamed herself.’

‘I wish you had told me earlier. I would have liked to talk to her before she left. I rather liked her young man … he didn’t give a damn for the company he found himself in. I wanted to return his money to him. It would have taken a lot of work for him to have earned that much.’

‘With a few exceptions, generally, the company was not very impressive.’

‘I’ll look them up when I get back to London, make sure Alexandra is settled and give her news of the legacy when I have some.’

‘I didn’t realize it was quite so much. Eight hundred pounds is a fortune.’

‘What will you do with it if it comes your way?’

‘I’ll probably give half of it to Alexandra, so she wouldn’t be too disappointed.’

He smiled at that. ‘She wouldn’t do the same for you.’

‘I wouldn’t expect her to. Alexandra didn’t want to talk to anyone. She said she was too ashamed.’

‘I admit she put a brave face on it afterwards. I admire her for that. Bringing Alexandra here wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made. She didn’t fit in, and she treated you badly.’

‘Finding out about her background was difficult for her. I made allowances … but I could have been kinder to her. Nobody made her feel welcome, and she reacted to that. She was a good daughter to her foster father, which says a lot for her.’

He placed a hand on her arm. ‘You make me feel ashamed, Clemmie. I want to explain about what happened between myself and Alexandra in the study that day.’

Some devil in her made her say, ‘You don’t have to try and wriggle out of it, Zachariah.’

‘I just wanted you to understand—’

‘Oh, Alexandra has already explained it. It’s not my business anyway; you can kiss whoever you wish to.’

Exasperation crept into his voice. ‘I’m well aware of that, but there’s not many women who I’d care to kiss. Alexandra is not one of them. If she explained, then you must know that she kissed me and without encouragement. Did you mean that about me kissing whoever I wished?’

He’d turned the table on her and she took a hasty step back when he chuckled. ‘With their permission, I meant.’

‘And I haven’t got your permission?’

‘You employed me to look after the children and be their companion. Nothing more.’

‘It’s true, but I’ve come to rely on you for many other things.’

‘And kissing isn’t one of them, so don’t do anything that will make me feel that I need to leave your household.’

He stared at her and grinned. ‘That’s good old-fashioned blackmail?’

‘I won’t stay here unless I’m treated with respect.’

He took both of her hands in his and engaged her eyes. ‘I hold you in the utmost respect. I always have and I always will. What has brought this on, my Clemmie? Where would you go?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Are you telling me you’d leave my children to fend for themselves, when they’ve grown to love and trust you and look upon you as their mother? I’d never have thought you’d be that cruel.’

Huffing out a sigh she removed her hands and took a step back. ‘That wasn’t fair.’

‘It wasn’t meant to be. I fight dirty when I’m pushed to it. Would you really leave me? No, don’t answer that. I don’t want such a possibility hanging over my head while I’m in London.’

Dismay gathered force inside her. ‘Are you going away soon?’

‘Within the week, I expect. I’m keeping the new maid on the staff. Her main job will be to attend to you and act as companion and chaperone when the need arises. It might stop a few tongues from wagging in the district.’

‘Thank you, Zachariah.’ She had an urge to slide her arms around him and keep him with her. ‘It will be quiet here without you all. I already miss Alexandra. She was so lively and talented. We are not alike. We don’t even look alike.’

‘Your maid, Ellen, can play the piano and will teach you if you want to learn, and you will have the refurbishment of my study to keep you busy. I daresay you will see Alexandra again. I don’t think she will miss the opportunity of flaunting the fact that her brother is a baron, do you?’

‘I did notice the strong resemblance to your sister-in-law in that portrait. Everything is in such a pickle. We are tangled up together like knotted string. How long will you be gone?’

‘I don’t know. I’d like to spend the summer here if I can. When I return I intend to make some adjustments to your contract. If you have any changes you’d like to make we can discuss them then.

‘Now, there’s something else I need to discuss with you. Come to the study and take tea with me, would you? It’s a fine day, so Julia will take the children out for a walk and keep them occupied for an hour or so.’

The study was warm, with the fire dancing in the grate.

After Mrs Ogden had delivered the tea tray he placed some sheets of paper on the table.

She gazed up at him, surprised. ‘Edward’s book?’

‘Yes. I’d like you to read it.’

‘There’s not much to read by the look of it. It’s mostly pictures.’

‘I think you’ll be able to make sense of the pictures.’

The boy had possessed the sense to number the pages. The first page had a picture of four adults and two smaller figures standing in a row. They had ear-to-ear smiles. There was a yellow river at the front and a hut, with leaning walls. On a table was a heap of grey stones. She ran a fingertip gently over the children and looked up at him. ‘Your family?’

He nodded. ‘I imagine so.’

The next picture had had the same background, except there was another man, dressed in dark blue. He had a pistol in his hand and it was pointing at the other two figures. JONAS was written at the top.

Page three showed four figures lying on the ground. Blood gushed out of their chests in a fountain. One of the children was little more than a baby and big tears flew off her face into a puddle. The boy was open-mouthed and he held a stick in his hand.
Screem!
was written under him.

‘Oh God, what a brave little boy,’ she whispered, tears flooding her eyes.

Page four had thick rain slashes across it. The prone figures were floating on the water. One of them had long red hair.
Wake Papa!
The urgent black letters were thick, as though they were shouting out to them.

The next page only had a river and
Run! Run!

On the last page there were four figures again. The two smaller ones had eyes but no mouths. They were ragged. There was a ship behind them.

The final page was a picture of a meadow full of different coloured flowers with a child running around and butterflies and birds in the air. Two dogs sniffed at a tree trunk and there was a boy on a pony. They all wore smiles.

Clementine stifled a sob and gazed at Zachariah. ‘Your brother and his wife were murdered?’

‘If Edward’s account is correct and not a figure of his imagination.’

‘Do you think the Sheridans killed them?’

‘They don’t strike me as being killers, and if they are, why didn’t they kill the children as well? And who are the other two people? On the strength of this I think we can safely assume that Edward and Iris are my brother’s children. We are certainly going to make further enquiries though. Should I question Edward about this, do you think?’

‘I think he’s told you what happened in the best way he could. You saw how scared he was when he arrived. He’d been threatened and told not to say anything. Yet he found the courage to draw those pictures as a way of getting round that. I would say that it’s all he can remember of the incident after all this time. If you question him about it for detail he might stop talking again, and he might make things up.’

He nodded. ‘I’ll let him know that I’ve read it.’

And he did, saying to Edward, ‘Thank you for the book. I’ll treasure it and keep it in a safe place, so you don’t have to worry any more.’ He pulled the lad close and hugged him.

The week sped by fast. The children grew used to the thought of Zachariah leaving.

When the day came Julia Beck made tearful goodbyes.

‘Be good, my sweet darlings,’ Julia said to the children, and was almost in tears as she hugged them. ‘Clementine, darling, you must ask Zachariah to bring you and the children to London for a visit one day. No, don’t you ask him. I’ll tell him myself that he must.’

‘It’s a long journey for the children to make.’

‘Nonsense, dear. They managed to come from Australia without mishap.’

The trunks were distributed into the carriages, overseen by Evan. He would travel with Zachariah, and he loaded a hamper of food, as if they were going off for the day on a picnic.

Clementine and the children watched the comings and goings from the upstairs window. The horses were restless, stamping and squealing and tossing their heads. The children were trying not to cry at the parting, so their voices were thick with the effort.

Wolf panted with excitement as the carriages started off and Happy chased his tail in a circle.

Then the Fleet carriage stopped. Zachariah jumped out and ran back towards the house, taking long, loping strides.

Had he forgotten his hat?

No … he’d forgotten the children. He grabbed them up, one in each arm, and hugged them. Then he kissed each of them and put them down again. ‘Look after Miss Clemmie,’ he said.

‘You forgot to kiss her goodbye too,’ Iris told him.

‘So I did.’ He smiled at her. ‘May I have that privilege on this occasion, Clemmie?’

She nodded. After all, he couldn’t get up to much mischief with the children looking on.

He took her face in his hands and his lips touched gently against hers. He drew her closer and she felt the slow disintegration of her senses as they peeled off to expose each layer beneath. He nipped her bottom lip then kissed her again, giving her a little lick when he’d taken his fill, as though he was removing a smear of piquant mayonnaise from her mouth.

Mischief obviously came in many forms. ‘
Ummmm
,’ she said, so thoroughly robbed of her wits that she couldn’t think of anything else that sounded remotely like intelligent human speech.

He gazed down at her, eyes full of laughter. ‘Was that an
ummmm
of protest or an
ummmm
of approval?’

She was weak at the knees and became aware of Edward and Iris giggling together: ‘Ummm – ummm – diddly – dummm – hum …’

‘I must get back to the carriage. I only returned to the house because I’d forgotten my hat.’

Ah, so he
had
forgotten his hat. It was still on the hallstand. He did something spontaneous and completely out of character. He ran down the stairs and tapped the brim smartly with his stick. The hat did a somersault. Catching it on the end of his stick, he bowed, and then transferred the hat to his head.

When the children laughed and clapped hands he laughed too. ‘Evan taught me that. Perhaps I should join a travelling show, what do you think, Clemmie?’

‘I think you’re showing off. You’d need more than one trick if you were intent on having a successful career with a travelling show. As for that kiss of yours, I think it might have been an ummm of approval,’ she called down to him.