Hush Now, Don’t You Cry (7 page)

“Don’t tell me you have been cut off by the tide and need rescuing. How delicious. I’ve always wanted to be a hero and save a maiden in distress, but opportunities to do so have been denied to me until now.”

“Thank you, but I don’t need rescuing,” I said primly.

“Ah, but you do,” he said. “If you’re not a mermaid, and intending to swim back out to sea—and I perceive no tail—then you’ll have to climb up this cliff and will find yourself trespassing on a private estate where trespassers are shot on sight. Fortunately for you, I am a member of the family and can save you from a rapid and horrible death.”

With this he scrambled nimbly from his perch to a lower rock and then came down the rest of the way with remarkable agility to my side.

“I said I didn’t need help,” I said. “And I am afraid I’m not about to be shot either. I’m a guest on the estate, just like you.”

His face lit up. “A new family member I haven’t heard about? Has one of my disreputable cousins finally done the decent thing and married you?”

“Not at all,” I said. “I’m not connected with your family. I’m a guest of the alderman.”

He looked at me now with great speculation. “Are you now? The old dog. So he’s finally tired of widowhood and is thinking of marrying and recapturing his lost youth.”

“You make a remarkable number of speculations, don’t you?” I said. “When I said I was a guest of the alderman, I meant just that. My husband and I are staying in the guest cottage at Mr. Hannan’s invitation.”

“Oh, no, don’t tell me you are married. Why is it the pretty ones are always taken? Just my lot, I suppose. But then you have a roguish twinkle in your eye. You might not be the horribly faithful kind.”

“I’ve only been married three weeks,” I said. “Even the most unfaithful kind is hardly going to look for dalliances during the first month.”

He laughed then. “I like you. A woman of spirit, indeed. And all that Irish red hair. Delectable.” He held out his hand. “I’m Terry, by the way. Terrence Hannan.”

“And I’m Molly Murphy—Sullivan, I mean.”

“Molly Murphy Sullivan? That’s surely a surfeit of Irish names.”

“Actually it’s Molly Sullivan now. I just haven’t become used to the name yet.”

“Well, Mrs. Sullivan, allow me to assist you back to civilization before we’re both swamped by the incoming tide.” He held out his hand to me. I took it and he stepped from rock to rock, ably assisting me up to the estate above. There was something like a path at this point up a sloping tumble of rocks, and we reached the top with no problem. He released my hand a trifle reluctantly I thought.

“Well done, Mrs. Sullivan. You managed that without a single swoon.”

“I am not the type of woman who swoons,” I said, “and I grew up climbing rocky shorelines.”

With that I tried to walk away with dignity, until I realized that my shoes and stockings were still in my other hand.

Eight

We came out onto the lawns close to where the stand of Scotch Pines reached almost to the cliff edge.

“Now you are surely in need of a little brandy to calm your nerves,” Terrence said. “Come over to the house for a drink.”

“I hardly think I’m in a fit state to come to the house,” I said. “Look at me—shoeless and sodden.”

He looked me up and down and then laughed. “Yes, I do see your point.”

“If I cut through the pine trees, can I make it back to our cottage unseen, do you think? I really don’t want to encounter any other members of your family while I’m in this state.”

“Oh, absolutely. We’ve come up at the perfect spot. You’ll notice that you can’t be seen from the house here, and I’ll be happy to escort you through the pine wood. There is a little path. I find it very convenient myself for times when I wish to come and go without attracting attention.”

“I’m afraid I need to put my shoes on first,” I said. “I’m out of the habit of walking barefoot, so I’d be grateful if you’d point me in the right direction and then leave me.”

“I can wait while you put your shoes on.”

“I daresay you can but it wouldn’t be proper, would it? I don’t think your family would approve of my exposing my bare ankles to you.”

He laughed. “But I already observed them, when you stood at the edge of the surf. And very pretty ankles they were too.”

“All the same, I’m not going to sit down and put on shoes with you watching, so please go.”

“I’ll be gallant and turn my back,” he said. “See, there’s a convenient log over there you can sit on and I promise not to watch.”

“I don’t think I can trust you,” I said.

He laughed again. “I am cut to the quick. All right. I’ll stand here behind this large shrub. Does that reassure you?”

“I suppose so,” I said. I picked my way over to the log and lifted my wet skirts enough to put on my shoes. I wasn’t about to attempt stockings.

“So you’re a friend of our esteemed patriarch, are you?” Terrence asked as I pulled on first one shoe then the other.

“I’ve never met him,” I said. “It was my husband who received the invitation and I’m not sure how they are connected. Daniel’s family lives out in Westchester and knows a lot of influential people.” I remembered that Daniel had avoided mentioning his profession and thought it wise to follow suit.

“Sullivan,” he said thoughtfully. “I don’t think we’ve ever met. But then I rarely find time to get out to Westchester. I am expected to keep my nose to the grindstone, slaving away at the family firm, which I am supposed to take over some day—even though I keep pointing out that my father’s generation kept their noses to the grindstone precisely so that I wouldn’t have to. But the word leisure is considered obscene in this family.”

I stood up, my shoes now safely on my feet and my skirts hiding the offending ankles. The way that he stepped out to meet me convinced me that he’d been peeking the whole time.

“Are you Brian Hannan’s son?” I asked as we set off together through the pine wood. “I thought he only had one child.”

“He does. The exquisite Irene. You haven’t met her yet then? I think I saw her arriving a while ago. Oh, yes, an only child and raised like one to have everything she wanted. A spoiled little miss and hasn’t changed. Can still arrange the odd temper tantrum like a two year old if she doesn’t get her own way—even though she’s now past thirty.” He grinned at me wickedly. “Of course she has received her just desserts—married to the horribly boring Archie because she wanted his distinguished name. The man hasn’t an interesting or novel thought in his head and has never done a day’s work. It’s all about polo and sailing and the occasional flutter on the gee-gees. All the expensive sports and luckily Irene’s money allows him to live in the lifestyle to which he is accustomed.”

“Isn’t his family rich in their own right?”

“Used to be. Bad business decisions and too many idle sons like Archie. Oh, no, it was a marriage of utter convenience to both. He got the money, she got the name and the stature that goes with it. So both, we hope, are satisfied and deserve each other.”

“So if you’re not Brian Hannan’s son—”

“Joseph’s my father,” he said. “But it’s Uncle Brian who pulls the strings in this family, and controls the purse strings too. When he tells us to jump, we jump, even my father who is technically a partner in Hannan Construction. Of course he lacks in Uncle Brian’s fanatical work ethic. And his tastes are more expensive. I seem to have inherited that weakness—” He broke off. “I say, I shouldn’t be revealing the family skeletons to a stranger, should I?”

“My lips are sealed,” I said, making him laugh.

Suddenly we heard a voice calling “I think I see them!” and a young woman came running through the trees toward us. She was dressed in a severe dark blue dress, almost looking like one of the Salvation Army ladies and had an equally severe pale and haughty face. She looked startled then stared at us in disgust.

“Oh, it’s you. I didn’t think that even you would stoop as low as going off into Uncle’s woods with some woman.”

“How lovely to see you, Eliza,” Terrence said. “And as usual you’ve gotten the wrong end of the stick, seeing degradation where there is none. This lady is a guest of Uncle Brian’s and I have just risked life and limb climbing down the cliff to rescue her from being cut off by the tide.”

The haughty face flushed. “Oh, I am so sorry. It’s just that my brother—well, his behavior is not always what one would wish and when I saw you I naturally assumed…” She held out her hand. “I’m Eliza Hannan.”

“This is my dear sister,” Terrence said. “As you can see from her clothing, she has taken after our mother and has devoted her life to good works among the poor.”

“Molly Sullivan,” I said frostily. “And I really must examine the way that I dress, since this is the second time I’ve been taken for a lady of ill repute since I arrived on this property.”

“Oh, no, there is nothing wrong, I assure you,” she gushed, her face bright red now. “It was a hasty judgment knowing the wild ways of my brother. I’m sorry you’ve had an ordeal on our beach. The tide does come in quickly, doesn’t it?”

I nodded, still unwilling to let go of this latest slight. I hoped the rest of the Hannan family would not be so unwelcoming as these first members.

“Mrs. Sullivan’s skirts are cold and wet, so if you’ll excuse us, Liza dear. I’m escorting her back to the guest cottage, where she and her husband are staying.”

“Of course,” Eliza said. “Off you go, then.”

“What were you shouting about anyway?”

“Thomas and Alex. They are missing and Irene is in a terrible state, after—well, you know.”

At that moment there was more blundering through the bushes and crunching of leaves and a man came running up to us. “Have you found them yet?” he asked breathlessly, then he noticed me and looked at me inquiringly.

“No, we haven’t seen them,” Terrence said. “But we were down on the seashore and there was no sign of them there.”

“Thank God,” the man said. He was immaculately dressed, hair perfectly parted in the middle, and had the pale face and light hair of Dutch ancestry, drawing me to the conclusion that this was indeed Archie Van Horn, the boys’ father.

“Little devils,” he said. “That new nursemaid cannot control them. Absolutely hopeless. They run rings around her and poor Irene is distraught.”

“I’ll help you look, as soon as I’ve escorted Mrs. Sullivan back to the guest cottage,” Terrence said.

“Oh, please don’t concern yourself about me,” I said. “I am quite able to find my own way. It’s more important that you look for the missing boys.”

“Mrs. Sullivan and her husband are Uncle Brian’s guests,” Terrence said, noticing Archie’s questioning stare.

“She got caught by the tide,” Eliza added. “And Terrence rescued her.”

“Dashed dangerous place,” Archie said. “Don’t know why we come here. I don’t know why Irene’s father still likes it here so much, and insists on our joining him. But Irene will never disobey her father. Just because I’m planning to compete in a yacht race this Saturday he insisted we all come up to watch. Frankly I’d rather have come up alone and stayed at the yacht club. Whoever heard of using the cottage in October? Ridiculous idea. We are probably the laughingstock among the usual crowd.”

“Have you found them yet, Archie?” a high voice floated through the woods and an exquisite creation in pale blue silk joined us. Her red-blonde hair was piled on her head in tiny curls and her wide blue eyes looked terrified.

“Not yet, my dear, but don’t worry. They can’t have gotten far. They’ve only been gone a few minutes.”

“A few minutes is enough,” Irene said. “How could that incompetent woman let them slip away from her? She only has one job and that’s to guard my boys. You must fire her as soon as we get home, Archie.”

“I will, my dear. But in the meantime…”

I had moved away from the group feeling awkward and superfluous in such an intimate family setting. As I walked through the undergrowth, I thought I heard something. It could have been a bird, but it sounded like a giggle. Up in an old oak tree I spotted a foot.

“You’d better come down right away. You’ve frightened your poor mother,” I said sternly. “Come on. Quickly now or it will be straight to bed with no supper for you.”

Two little boys slithered down sheepishly. They looked to be about eight and ten years old and they were dressed in identical sailor suits that were now the worse for wear.

“Here they are!” I called. “They were hiding in a tree.”

Irene rushed over to them, her arms open. “Thank God, thank God. You naughty, naughty, naughty boys. You made Mama so frightened.” Irene enveloped them in a big hug, holding them to her bosom and rocking them fiercely.

She looked up at her husband as he strode angrily toward them. “Speak to them, Archie. Make them understand that they must never do this again.”

“You’ll get a damned good thrashing if you ever do that again, do you hear?” Archie said in a not-too-threatening voice, as Irene released her hold and the boys wriggled free.

“Yes, Papa,” the boys muttered.

“Archie, they are just little boys. Be gentle with them,” Irene begged, trying to embrace them again.

“They need discipline, Irene. They are running wild.” He wagged a finger at the boys. “Now off to the house with you and get cleaned up before you meet your grandfather. You look a disgrace.”

“Yes, Papa,” the boys chimed in unison, but I got the impression that they knew no threat would ever be carried out.

They ran across the lawn toward the house.

“Thank God,” Irene said again. “When I couldn’t find them, I thought—”

“They are boys, Irene,” Archie said. “They need some freedom. You can’t keep them wrapped in cotton all their lives.”

“I can and I will. If I have to follow them every second we are here, then I’ll do it to keep them safe.” And she started after them across the lawn. She stumbled on the wet grass. Archie took her arm to steady her but she snatched it away as if burned.

“I think I’d better let you go back to the house. I can find my own way from here,” I said to Terrence and Eliza who were watching with expressions both pained and embarrassed. “I had tried to avoid meeting the family in this disheveled state. I’d prefer not to come face-to-face with Alderman Hannan himself, so if you don’t mind…”