Shining Threads (56 page)

In the ensuing moments of introduction his eyes holding hers let her see quite openly. that it was not so. I told you you were not to fall, did I not? they seemed to say, warm and expressive
with some deep-felt emotion. You are here with that diminished man you call a husband because of me; because I showed you the way to do it. A few words, no more, were all that were needed to put
you on the right path since you are an intelligent woman. These men have been assembled at your command. Let no one tell you differently. They are here to do
your
bidding so show them from
the start that you are as strong and forthright as other women in your family have been. Do it, Tessa. It is all yours, so grasp it with both hands and let no man,
no man
pull you down.

‘. . . and this is Mr Will Broadbent, Mrs Greenwood. He is a millowner from Hepworth who has been invited to take a seat on the board.’ She smiled since she was well aware now that
Will Broadbent would not have waited to be invited and the sardonic gleam of humour in his eyes confirmed it. ‘He is a man who knows cotton,’ Mr Bradley was saying, ‘is that not
so, Mr Broadbent? . . . and will, I’m sure, be an asset to the newly formed Chapman Manufacturing Company Ltd.’

‘Mr Broadbent and I have already met, Mr Bradley.’

‘Is that so, Mrs Greenwood?’

Will took her hand and bowed over it but his eyes continued to smile audaciously into hers. They were a lovely pale brown, flecked with amber and gold, the colour they had been, she remembered,
when they had made love in his small overlooker’s cottage, the colour of love. And she knew, suddenly, as he held her hand just a shade too long, that everything that had happened in the last
three months had been his doing: the miraculous suddenness with which the building plans had been re-designed and completed; the increasingly smooth growth of the building itself, the absence of
hitches, the wondrous removal of the obstacles and snags which had plagued her in the beginning. Every man on the site from the master builder himself right down to the lowest hod-carrying labourer
had worked hard and fast, and in unison, to get her mill up in record time – why did she now think of it as
her
mill, she wondered curiously – and now it was complete and within
weeks would be manufacturing the cotton which her family had manufactured for almost a century. Engineers had been employed, sent ostensibly by Mr Bradley or Mr Dalton who had vouched for them.
Managers and overlookers found who had been connected with the old mill, all eager and willing to work with, and for, Mrs Drew Greenwood.

And it was all thanks to Will Broadbent who was turning away now to take the reluctant hand her husband held out to him.

The tiny flame of quite giddy joy burned deep within her as the meeting began and she was afraid to look at him. Drew sat beside her, refusing the chair at the head of the table as though the
seat might prove to be red hot. On his face was an expression of ill-mannered boredom which she knew hid his painful fear that somehow, while he was not looking, so to speak, he might find himself
embroiled in the machinations of the mill again. He barely listened as Mr Bradley began to speak of the advantage in terms of the future development of Chapmans’ to be found in the forming of
a limited company. He showed some interest when the words ‘chairman’ and ‘managing director’ were mentioned for did they not imply that someone, not himself, naturally, nor
his wife, was to take over the running of the business? He voted with the rest, as Tessa had told him to, staring quite openly at Will Broadbent who came, of course, from the lower classes, despite
his expensive, well-tailored suit, when he was put forward as managing director. It was incomprehensible to him that such a man, a man who had once worked, so he had been told, in one of his own
family’s spinning rooms, should hold such a position of authority. Still, if the rest of them thought he could do the job who was he to argue? As long as he had enough money in his pocket to
continue his own pleasant life with his wife he didn’t give a damn who earned that money for him. A Mr Entwhistle, whose wealth came from breweries, Mr Bradley whispered in his ear, as if it
made any difference to Drew Greenwood, seconded the motion, and Drew’s brief interest flagged. Mr Dalton was proposed as company secretary, seconded by Mr Bradley and Drew put up a languid
hand to indicate that he agreed. It was not until his wife’s name was mentioned that his unfocused gaze which had wandered to the patch of streaked blue sky beyond the window, swung sharply
back to the proceedings.

‘What was that?’ His arrogant, well-bred voice brought the vote taking place to a halt.

Mr Bradley smiled smoothly though it was evident from the expression in his eyes that he had been hoping young Mr Greenwood would remain in the imperceptive doze into which he appeared to have
fallen in the last half-hour. He was far less trouble that way. It was necessary for him to be here at this first meeting of the board for appearances’ sake if nothing else, and when Mrs
Greenwood was made chairman, with the signed agreement of the biggest shareholder, Mr Drew Greenwood himself, giving her the right to chair the proceedings and vote in his place, there was no need
for him to attend a board meeting again. And with Mrs Greenwood under the . . . ah . . . wing, if one could call it that, of that astute businessman, Mr Will Broadbent, Chapmans could once again be
the thriving concern it had been under the direction and guidance of Mrs Jenny Harrison and Mr Charles Greenwood. Dear God, the lengths he had had to resort to, the secrecy to which he had been
sworn by Mr Broadbent, of course, in order to get this far in the business dealings. He and Mr Dalton, both as close-mouthed and discreet as men of their respective professions had to be, had
worked closely with Mr Broadbent on Mr and Mrs Greenwood’s behalf and it was not up to him or Mr Dalton to ask why. This was a business transaction; a helping hand to get a thriving business
over a sticky patch and to find the means to keep it the profit-making concern it had always been, and for which, naturally, he and Mr Dalton would be suitably rewarded.

‘What is what, Mr Greenwood?’ he asked patiently, somewhat alarmed by the wild cast in Drew Greenwood’s eye.

‘You mentioned my wife’s name in connection with . . . what was it?’

The whole room held its breath as the lovely Mrs Greenwood turned to her husband, her expression one of concern. She smiled at him, a brilliant smile and yet softly reassuring, and there was not
one man there who did not envy Drew Greenwood that look. They watched him with expressionless faces but their indignation and impatience could be quite plainly felt. Had it not been for the esteem
in which they had held his aunt and uncle and the presence of Will Broadbent who had assured them that there was a profit to be made, it was doubtful if any of them would have agreed to sit on this
board. They had expected nothing less, of course, from this young gentleman whose concern it was, since his inflammable nature was well known in the Penfold Valley, but Tessa could see in their
cold eyes that in their opinion the quicker the proceedings were got through the better they would like it.

‘Mr Bradley is asking for the agreement of the board to . . . well, myself as chairman of the board.’ Her voice was patient and the room held its breath.

‘
You?
’ His face was comical in its amazement.

‘Someone has to . . . to chair the board, is that not the correct expression, Mr Bradley?’ She turned her charming smile on the bank manager who assured her that it was.

‘I don’t give a damn about the correct expression, Tessa, nor who the hell does the job as long as it is not you nor myself. Let one of these . . . these gentlemen see to it, for
God’s sake. That’s the whole idea of this arrangement, surely, so let’s get the . . . the positions allocated and get out of here.’ He turned to Mr Bradley, making a decent
attempt to be civil she could see, yet letting it be known nevertheless that he was not accustomed to dealing with tradesmen, which these gentlemen were. ‘Can we not just appoint someone,
sign a paper or something, Mr . . . er . . . You will know how these things are done, I’m sure, since that is what I pay you for.’ His rudeness was inexcusable but only his wife knew
that it was caused by fear. ‘My wife and I have an important engagement and really cannot remain any longer.’

‘Drew . . .’

‘No, Tessa, this has nothing to do with us, really it hasn’t. A chairman must be employed . . .’

‘That is what we are trying to do, darling.’

‘Then let it be done.’

‘It must be the major shareholder, Drew. That is how Mr Dalton has arranged it, legally, I mean . . .’

The gentlemen about the table, except for Will Broadbent who looked as though he might, for some reason known only to himself, spring from his chair at any moment, were grim-faced, clinging,
Tessa could see, to their equanimity with the greatest difficulty. And all the while Drew was becoming more restless, his face showing his absolute disdain for these trumpery business dealings.
After all, he had only come because Tessa had promised him that it would be just this once, to appoint members to the board and would soon be done with. Now they were taking the liberty of begging
his own wife to be employed on it. How dare they even suggest it when it was well known that she was Mrs Drew Greenwood, a lady, and though she had been forced to move amongst them for the past few
months, the purpose of this bloody meeting was to ensure that she need do it no longer?

‘Don’t talk nonsense, Tessa. Any of these fellows could do it. They are all qualified, I’m sure . . .’

‘No, we are not, Mr Greenwood, or we would have no need of you at all.’ The quiet voice from the end of the table was Will Broadbent’s. Tessa could see the dangerous gleam in
his now-darkened eyes and she put out an instinctively protective hand to her husband. Will’s jaw clenched perilously when he saw it and she knew she must get Drew away from here at once.

‘I think it’s time we left, darling, or we shall be late for our engagement.’ Her voice was light and airy. ‘I think our business here is concluded but I believe Mr
Bradley has some papers you are to sign, and myself too, is that not so, Mr Bradley? In fact, I think it might be appropriate if we dealt with that now, if it is convenient, then we can take our
leave. There is no other immediate business, is there, gentlemen? We have a managing director . . .’ She dare not look at Will lest they see the tiny glow which shone not only in her eyes,
but in his, ‘. . . and a chairman . . .’ Without revealing to Drew the chairman’s name but letting them know that she would be taking the position herself, she turned to Mr
Bradley and smiled.

Drew signed his name carelessly to every paper put before him, ignorant of the fact that, witnessed by a dozen of the valley’s leading businessmen, he had just signed away his inheritance
to his equally ignorant wife.

‘Good morning, gentlemen,’ she said breathlessly to each one whilst her husband chafed at the door, a curt nod in their direction all that he considered necessary.

‘Good morning, Mrs Greenwood.’

‘Good day to you, ma’am.’

As he held her arm courteously, leading her across the room to the protection of her husband, no one but Mrs Greenwood heard Will Broadbent murmur in her ear of his habit of walking the moorland
high above Friar’s Mere each Sunday.

‘Well, thank God that’s over. Now perhaps you will come with me to Johnny’s Friday to Monday next weekend. You will not believe me when I tell you that poor old Johnny has
fallen hook, line and sinker for one of the Henderson girls and has invited her family down from God only knows wherever it is they live, to view his prospects. He means to marry her and she not
more than fifteen, so they tell me. Can you believe it? Though why I should be surprised I cannot imagine as I have extolled the virtues of the married state to them all for the past three years.
But then they cannot all have the good fortune to be married to the most beautiful and charming woman in the whole of Lancashire, can they?’

The offensive scene in the board room might never have taken place. Indeed, like all the tiresome irritations which came to trouble Drew Greenwood’s feverish spirit, it was cast already
into a deep hole and covered over with all that was frivolous and amusing and with which he filled his life.

He pulled her to him in the carriage, his boyish face filled with good-humoured satisfaction that at last all that dreadful business was behind him. He could not wait to return to the carefree
life they had enjoyed together before Charlie’s death and to which now, now that affairs were in other hands more suited to them than his own or hers, they could return.

‘I’m pleased for Johnny, and the Henderson girl, whoever she may be,’ she answered carefully, not wanting yet to disturb his triumphant belief that she was to be his completely
from now on. She knew she would be forced to compromise, to share some of her time with him in his hedonistic pursuit of pleasure; to keep an eye on him, she supposed, but she could not forget that
small budding of pleasure she had enjoyed when those men round the board room table had treated her with the respect and care one man will show to another who has power. They would wait to see if
she would fail dismally, not displeased if she did since she was a woman, but she’d done damn well so far in her handling of the Chapman venture, they believed. The forming of the company to
look after her husband’s concerns was good sense since anyone with half an eye could see he was incapable of doing more than pursuing the life of the gentleman he thought himself to be. The
mill was to start up again, which none of them had predicted almost a year ago, and she had been clever enough to get some decent advisors, themselves in fact, to guide her along what would be a
hard road to tackle.

They had believed
she
had done it. Will Broadbent had given her that. He had let them all believe that
she
had done it and they admired her for it. She had liked their admiration
since, until now, both as a woman and a girl she had earned nothing but scorn for her wild ways, her complete lack of judgement, her inability to do more than skylark about the county with her two
reckless cousins.