Miss Ellerby and the Ferryman (40 page)

‘You
really ought to allow it, father,’ said Charles unexpectedly, who
had hitherto kept his thoughts to himself. ‘It is perfectly obvious
that Isa’s happiness is at stake here. She ought to be trusted to
decide for herself where it is most likely to lie, should she not?
You have always said that she has a good head on her shoulders, and
has never been given to wild flights of fancy.’

Isabel cast her brother a grateful look, and received a wink
in return. His words did not appear to operate upon their father as
he might have hoped, for Mr. Ellerby’s frown deepened, and she
could see that he was working himself into one of his fits of
disapproval. He would burst forth any moment in an angry tirade,
and none of the opinions or judgements he expressed would be at all
to Talthimandar’s taste — or her own. She braced herself for the
onslaught, biting her lip to hold back the tears of frustration and
dismay which began to approach.

Talthimandar’s hand crept into her own, and she gently
squeezed his fingers, attempting to offer all the silent comfort in
her power.

But
her father’s indignation seemed abruptly to dissipate. He said
nothing at all for some time, except to direct some soothing
comment to his wife. When at last Mrs. Ellerby had composed
herself, he said brusquely to Talthimandar: ‘Which property were
you planning to purchase?’

Talthimandar blinked. ‘I… had not yet proceeded so far with
my plans.’

Mr.
Ellerby sighed, and beckoned to the erstwhile Ferryman. ‘You may
speak with me in my study.’ He turned and left the hallway the
moment these words were spoken, and did not wait to see whether
Talthimandar followed.

‘Mr.
Ellerby!’ wailed his wife. Her remonstrance failed to stop him, and
she was left to the comfort of her sister’s embrace. Eliza winked
at Isabel as she led Harriet away, and smiled her dazzling
approbation of her niece’s choice. Tafferty followed them, pausing
only to press her nose against Isabel’s leg by way of
farewell.

Mr.
Thompson, Isabel that moment realised, had quietly withdrawn at
some point during the discussion, and Tiltager was also nowhere in
evidence. Her brother now also took his leave, pausing to bestow an
affectionate kiss upon Isabel and a cordial handshake upon
Talthimandar. ‘Father will come around,’ he said. ‘Mother will take
longer, I’m afraid. She has many years of ingrained prejudice to
overcome.’ He departed, leaving Isabel alone with the
Ferryman.

Talthimandar looked at Isabel. ‘D’ ye really wish me t’
proceed?’ he said softly. ‘Ye need say but a single word, if’n ye
don’t, an’ I shall go away at once.’

Isabel could not help contrasting this deference to her
choices with Mr. Thompson’s reluctance to accept her refusal, and
liking Talthimandar the better for it. She gave him her hands, and
smiled up at him with unreserved approval. ‘I do not wish for you
to go away,’ she said. ‘Not ever.’

He
squeezed her hands, and kissed them. ‘Then I will speak wi’ yer
father.’ He touched her gold-streaked hair, very gently, and kissed
her cheek.

Alleny, one of Ferndeane’s brownies, tapped his knee. ‘I will
take you to the Master’s study,’ she said in her soft
voice.

‘Thankin’ ye,’ said Talthimandar, and gestured for her to lead
on. Isabel watched as her Ferryman left the hall in the wake of the
tiny brownie, her heart swelling with love and joy and relief until
she felt in danger of bursting with so much felicity.

Well,
now! We ‘ave reached the end o’ my tale, which I think to be
somethin’ of a shame. I ‘ave right enjoyed talkin’ to ye. An odd
bundle o’ happenin’s, were they not? Strange things come to pass
when the worlds of England an’ Aylfenhame ‘appen to collide, an’ no
mistake.

Talthimandar did settle in England, if ye were wonderin’. He
got hisself a nice little place ‘bout two miles from Tilby, an’
there he an’ Miss Isabel went to live straight after they was
married. Oh, but Mrs. Aylfendeane, I should say! An odd name,
perhaps, but it were chosen to satisfy the requirements o’ society,
an’ to reflect both his heritage an’ hers. Fer my part, I think it
rather fine.

I am
sorry to say tha’ Mrs. Ellerby was not wholly wrong in her doomin’
an’ gloomin’. There’s talk about the Aylfendeanes o’ Somerdale, an’
some as will ‘ave nowt to do wi’ them. But Mrs. Isabel cares
nothin’ fer that. An’ why should she? Them as matters ‘ave grown
used to her face, an’ accepted her husband, an’ thas all she
wanted.

They’s
often in Aylfenhame, as ye may imagine. There’s a new Keeper o’ the
Ferry Boat Mirisane, now, an’ the lass is often seen around
Somerdale, pickin’ up the Aylfendeanes or droppin’ them back home.
I’m happy to say tha’ Miss Landon an’ Aubranael are often visitin’
at Somerdale, too, now tha’ travellin’ betwixt their realm an’ this
is a mite easier. Some say tha’ freer passage is to be a growin’
thing, now, an’ I did hear word tha’ there’s a new ferry-boat bein’
built. Not news to please all, I’ll wager, but I think it a mighty
fine thing indeed.

There’s just one disquietin’ matter on my mind, which I’ll
share wi’ ye before ye go. Who was it that gave Talthimandar’s name
to Miss Isabel? It were none o’ Lyrriant’s folk, or so he says. I
mislike tha’ it was done so clandestine-like, an’ on the
Kostigern’s own property besides. There’s more to that than meets
the eye, mark my words, an’ I mislike my Isabel bein’ beholden t’
whoever-he-be.

An’
what o’ tha’ tricksy Grunewald? His Majesty the Goblin King, if ye
please? I don’t rightly know what he was gettin’ hisself up to wi’
meddlin’ at the Chronicler’s Library, but he ‘ad a purpose. No
doubt about it. What that might ha’ been, though? Yer guess is as
good as mine.

If ye
should happen to pass this way again in the future, stop a while
wi’ me. Mayhap I’ll have more to tell ye. Fer now, though, I wish
ye a good journey! Mind the road towards Toynton, now. It’s dry
enough at this time o’ year, but there’s a stretch as’ll do yer
carriage-wheels no good if’n ye go too fast. I’ll ‘ave a quick word
wi’ yer coachman.

***

End
Notes

Thank you for
reading
Miss Ellerby and the Ferryman.
I hope you enjoyed
the read! The next book,
Bessie Bell and the Goblin King,
is
coming in 2016. Click
here
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Art
credits:

Cover design by Elsa Kroese (
elsakroese.com
)

Illustrations by Rosie Lauren Smith (
autumnalchemy.blogspot.com
)

Also
by Charlotte E. English:

Tales
of Aylfenhame

Miss Landon and
Aubranael

Miss Ellerby and
the Ferryman

Bessie Bell and
the Goblin King (
Coming
2016
)

The
Draykon Series

Draykon

Lokant

Orlind

The
Lokant Libraries

Seven
Dreams

The
Malykant Mysteries

The Rostikov
Legacy

The Ivanov
Diamond

Myrrolen's Ghost
Circus

Ghostspeaker

The
Drifting Isle Chronicles

Black
Mercury