Stay with Me (39 page)

‘Yes,' replied Lena, not wanting her husband to show any uncertainty.

Adam made no comment but sat deep in contemplation. Peter was still mulling over what they had done, troubled that they might be risking the entire business.

Lena was alive with hope; she badly wanted this commission because she had a feeling that one of the quotations in Adam's possession was from Ralph Bell, hoping to further the fortunes of Carnforth's. She wanted the contract so as to best him.

Adam looked from one to the other of them and said, ‘The contract is yours.'

Relief swamped Lena. She felt the tension drain from her. Peter was touched more by apprehension. Had they done the right thing?

Three days later Alistair made time to call in at Carnforth's office on the east side. He was making it a habit to do so once a week in order to keep an eye on his sister's interests. His father could have done so but had deemed it best that Alistair take on the responsibility. ‘Ralph Bell might see a visit from me as an attempt to glean information to further my own business. He knows you have little interest in trading matters and would be lost in the technicalities, but you should be able to keep a general eye on things for your sister.'

So it was that on this pleasant morning Alistair crossed the bridge, combining his visit to the office with one to see a patient. He knocked on Ralph's door and frowned when he received a gruff, ‘Come in.' The frown deepened when he saw Ralph's usually placid expression seemed dark with annoyance.

‘Something hasn't pleased you,' commented Alistair.

Ralph did not speak but thrust a letter at him. Alistair took it and read:

Adam had written a similar letter to the firm he had consulted in Newcastle, seeing no reason to hold back the name of the successful firm. It would be out soon enough once they set up operations.

Alistair's lips tightened in exasperation as the word ‘Hustwick's' burned into his mind. ‘Do you think they knew of our bid?' he asked, recalling the day Ralph had first mentioned the possibility of gaining some lucrative wine shipping.

‘I don't see how. There is no way they could know the figure I gave Carter-Brown, and he would not tell them because if it ever got out that he had done so, his reputation would be shattered and his lucrative employment in jeopardy. I think it's just bad luck for us that their bid was lower.'

‘But they may have learned that we met Carter-Brown, and bid low in the hope of beating us.' Was this an attempt by Lena to undermine the business? ‘Take care, Ralph.'

‘You think Mrs . . .'

‘It doesn't matter what I think,' Alistair interrupted. ‘I believe you have put two and two together and made four about what has happened between our families, and your assumptions are probably right. I know how highly you thought of James and his father, and no doubt still do, so all I'll say is, be aware there is someone not too far away who would like to see a reversal in the fortunes of this firm and seize their chance of taking it over.'

‘You need have no worries. This firm's survival means a great deal to me. I owe my good fortune to Mr Carnforth and James. I will endeavour to see their business thrives and that no one can succeed in undermining it.'

‘Thank you for your loyalty,' said Alistair. ‘Now let us put this setback behind us. But be aware all the time of our watchful rival in Hull.'

Lena and Peter studied the instructions received from Carter-Brown regarding the dates the consignment of wine would be available in the Spanish port and when he expected it to be in Hull for disposal in the North East of England.

‘The ships have to leave here next week.' Peter pointed to the date stipulated in the document with a trace of concern in his voice. ‘The
William Hustwick
will be ready, but we need that second ship.'

‘Then go out and find her,' came Lena's retort. She was irritated by the tight schedule detailed on the instructions, and the reminder of the penalty clause written into the contract they had signed when Carter-Brown was in Hull. She had expected longer to get the operation underway.

Annoyed by her terse reply, which had sounded like an employer's rather than a pleasant suggestion between man and wife, Peter rose from his chair. He said nothing, though. It was no use adding to an already worrying situation.

He did not see Lena again until he returned to their town house in the early-evening.

‘Well?' she asked, turning from the window when he came into the drawing-room ‘What took you so long?'

‘There isn't a ship available in Hull when we want it,' he said, crossing the room to her.

‘What?' she exclaimed in disbelief and turned her head away when he bent to kiss her, so that his lips only grazed her cheek. ‘What on earth have you been doing all day?'

‘I have scoured Hull, but no one can help until a week after the contract date.'

Lena's lips tightened in exasperation. ‘Then we'll have to look beyond Hull.' Her voice was sharp. This was a problem she had not anticipated.

‘You should never have said we could hire a second ship without investigating first,' complained Peter.

‘And lose the contract?'

‘Better that than fail to fulfil it.'

‘Fail? Don't be defeatist!' she snapped.

‘Well, where are we going to find a ship?'

‘Outside Hull, as I've said.'

‘Whitby then?'

‘What? And reveal our dilemma to Ralph Bell? Not likely! Get yourself off to Grimsby tomorrow.'

Lena spent a restless night, which did nothing to lighten her mood the next morning when she remarked to Peter, on seeing him leave, ‘And don't come back without a ship.'

Two days later he arrived home to be greeted by his wife's expectant enquiries.

‘I have a ship of sorts,' he confirmed.

Before he could explain that further, Lena snapped, ‘Of sorts? What do you mean?'

‘She's the right size. Her condition leaves much to be desired, but she'll survive unless she meets any violent seas.'

‘What? And if she does, we're likely to lose the whole cargo?'

‘That can happen with any ship.'

‘But from what you say, it is more likely with this one?'

Peter shrugged his shoulders and retaliated, ‘It was the best I could do. I had to take her crew besides.'

‘The cost?'

When he told her Lena raised her eyes heavenwards. ‘Exorbitant! You agreed to that?'

‘She was the only available vessel. And you yourself told me not to come back without one.'

‘I suppose that's it then. We'll make a profit, but nowhere near what we should have done. Let's hope all goes well and this leads to future orders from Carter-Brown.'

‘We'd have been far better staying as we were. The business was sound, trading was good without being exacting, and we would have been saved all this anxiety.'

‘And forego the chance to put this firm on top, not only in Hull but along the Yorkshire coast?'

Peter's mouth set in a grim line. ‘And where exactly will that get us? All it brings is worry upon worry.'

‘Don't you want to make more of yourself? Don't you want to have real standing and respect in this town?'

‘People already respect the Hustwicks. They won't if we fail!'

‘Then fail we shall not. We'll show other merchants here and elsewhere that the Hustwicks are a force to be reckoned with.'

‘Elsewhere?' He picked up on the fact that this was not her first reference to looking beyond Hull. ‘What have you in mind?' There was a suspicious look in his eyes as he fixed them on Lena. He recalled her homecoming from James's funeral and her reference then to Carnforth's being rightfully hers. ‘You have your eyes set on the firm your father created, I take it.' It was more a statement of fact than a question.

‘And why not? It is rightfully mine, and if I can get it I will.'

Peter stiffened at the venom in his wife's voice. He grasped her shoulders and stared hard into her eyes. ‘Lena, you could destroy us all with this. Stop - now.'

‘Never!' She shook herself free from his grip and walked briskly from the room.

Peter gazed after the woman he loved until the door closed behind her. Then he sank into a chair with his head in his hands. He did not want to lose Lena but what could he do to prevent her from continuing down the dangerous road she travelled? He had taken her into the firm because of the ability and knowledge nurtured in her by her father. He wished his own father had treated him the same way. He had recognised that his wife would be an asset to him in running the firm. To remove her from her position of authority would not only be unthinkable, it would be fraught with legal difficulties because of the way the Articles of Association had been drawn up. It had been agreed that major decisions would need their joint approval, but he now knew that Lena would be capable of stepping around that if it suited her. All he could hope to do was try to rein her in; temper, as best he could, her unquenchable ambition and desire for revenge.

 

When word reached the office that the ship from Grimsby, the
Seagull,
had docked Lena and Peter hurried to the quay.

‘Due to sail for Spain tomorrow and he arrives today? He'll get my tongue around him,' grumbled Lena, her face dark with anger. ‘He little knows the anxiety he has caused us this last week.' On seeing the vessel, she pulled up short. ‘Oh my God, what have we here?' She could not believe a ship could look so worn out, as if it was reluctant even to go to sea. She wondered when it had last seen a lick of paint or even when the decks had last been washed down. Some of the timbers were broken, and at one point two sailors were making a desultory attempt to repair part of the rail. The rest were lounging around the deck as if they had reached their destination and wished to go no further.

‘You engaged this lot?' snapped Lena.

‘I had no choice, remember?' countered Peter.

‘Right, where's the captain?' Lena started towards the gangway. Reaching it, she called to the man leaning against the rail, near the top of the gangway, ‘Where's the skipper?'

The man straightened up and was about to reply when he saw Peter. ‘Ah, Mr Hustwick, sir.' He touched his forehead in half-hearted acknowledgement of the man who had engaged him in Grimsby.

Lena looked at her husband in surprise. ‘
He's
the captain?'

Peter did not reply but called out, ‘Captain Goss, good day to you.'

Lena stared open-mouthed at the man before her. A less likely captain she had never seen. His clothes were dirty, he was unshaven, and despite the cap he wore as the mark of authority, he did not look like a man liable to inspire loyalty or obedience in any self-respecting sailor she had ever encountered.

‘You are late, Captain,' she called, without any attempt to disguise her displeasure.

‘Ma'am, who might you be?' he replied lazily.

Peter spoke up quickly. ‘Captain Goss, this is my wife who is my equal partner in the firm.'

The captain touched the battered peak of his cap again. ‘Ma'am.' Then he looked back at Peter. ‘You said nothing about working for a female, Mr Hustwick?'

‘Do I detect hostility in your tone?' demanded Lena.

‘Read it how you will. I don't know how my crew might react to this.'

‘Then you'd better see they react the right way.' Lena put on a warning tone. ‘And might I remind you that you are under contract? My husband signed you on in Grimsby. Break that contract and there'll be no wages for anyone.' She saw the man bristle for a moment but he said nothing and she knew she had scored a victory. ‘If anyone ought to break that contract, here and now, it should be me because of the rotten hulk you have brought me. I expected better.'

‘You get what you see, ma'am, and will have to accept it and like it if you want your cargo bringing from Spain.' He gave a little smile. ‘I don't think you have time to find yourself another ship.'

‘You're right, captain, I haven't. But I will remind you again that I hold the purse strings, and unless that cargo reaches Hull on time and entire, with not one bottle broken or opened, you will have pay deducted in proportion.'