The Lady's Maid (41 page)

Kate smiled reluctantly. ‘Squire Westwood has made it clear that my birth makes it impossible for a respectable man to marry me, although he is prepared to make an exception in my case.’

‘I heard that you were living at the Grange,’ Josie said with a roguish smile. ‘You aren’t going to marry that old man, are you?’

‘I don’t want to, but what choice do I have? Thanks to Sir Joseph and the man I thought was my father, I can’t get work because they have spread it around that I am part gypsy and might curse them. Then I have Molly to consider. She is still little more than a child, and I owe it to Sam to take care of her. If I marry the squire we will have a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs.’

‘And you will have his two horrible daughters to make your life a misery. Don’t do it, Kate.’

‘What would you have me do? Run away with the gypsies like you?’

‘No, but there must be another way.’

‘If there is I cannot think of one, Josie. Perhaps I am a coward, too afraid to face a life of poverty, but the squire is a good man and he says he loves me.’

‘You must do what you think best, but I’m of the opinion that you ought to go to Copperstone and tell Harry everything. You love him as much as I love Sam – loved Sam.’ She broke off on a sob.

‘Why did you send him away, Josie?’

‘Because I was a fool and I put money and status above everything. I was wrong, so very wrong. I said dreadful things to him. I deliberately hurt and humiliated him and I hate myself for it.’

‘Then you must seek him out and tell him just that.’

‘Don’t you think I haven’t thought about that? I went to Weymouth just last week and had doors slammed in my face. They are suspicious of gypsy folk and no one would tell me anything.’ Josie eyed Kate thoughtfully. ‘I couldn’t get any information out of the townsfolk, but you might be able to learn something. They wouldn’t turn you away.’

‘I wouldn’t know where to start.’

‘You could speak to the masters of vessels in the harbour. You could go into the taverns and alehouses to make enquiries.’

‘Edmund would be horrified if he found out that I had gone into places like that on my own.’

‘You sound as though you are already married. I thought you had more spirit, Kate.’

‘My life is already difficult enough without you adding to it,’ Kate said angrily, but she relented when she saw Josie’s downcast expression. ‘Perhaps we could do it together. If you’ve kept some of your old clothes and dress as you used to no one would link you with the gypsies.’

Josie beamed at her. ‘Why didn’t I think of that? I still have the garments I wore when I left home. You were always the cleverest one, Kate. We’ll go into Weymouth together. It’s market day tomorrow and we can mingle with the crowds.’

‘I’ll help you, but only if you promise that you will make no attempt to speak to Harry on my behalf. You should release him from your engagement and let him find a bride from his own class. He’ll forget about me, if he has not done so already.’

‘And you will marry the squire and regret it for the rest of your life.’

‘He’s a kind man, Josie. He’s offered me everything, and I, as his wretched daughters pointed out, am no one. I don’t even have a name. You at least have found your mother and now you have a family and an identity. I really am a nobody. Harry was right in the first instance.’

‘I have half a dozen half-brothers and sisters now, but none that I love more than you.’ Josie linked her arm through Kate’s. ‘Before you go, you must meet them. Tomorrow we will seek news of Sam, and if I
ever
see him again, I’ll go down on my knees and beg him to forgive me.’

‘You won’t need to. He’ll take one look at you and all will be well.’ Kate smiled, stifling a sigh. If only her own future looked so rosy.

Next day, they rode into Weymouth together. Josie wore her black velvet riding habit and a top hat with a lace veil. The moment she put it on she seemed to Kate to become a different person and her free spirit was instantly tamed. She was once again Miss Josephine Damerell of Damerell Manor, but despite her prim exterior, her sparkling eyes gave her away. She could not conceal the fact that she was in high spirits, and bubbling with excitement at the prospect of hearing news of Sam. Kate was a little more circumspect. Her own life seemed much more complex than Josie’s relatively free existence with the gypsies.

After her visit to the Romany camp the previous day, Kate had managed to slip into the Grange unnoticed, and she did not seem to have been missed. Only Molly knew where she had been, and her eyes had widened in shock when Kate told her that she had found Josie living with the Romany people, although she had omitted any mention of Sam’s name. It would be too cruel to raise Molly’s hopes if their mission to find him was unsuccessful.

Kate had seen Edmund briefly at breakfast that morning and she had sought his permission to go riding, although he had been insistent that she should not go
too
far from home, and that she must be accompanied by a groom. She had nodded her head in a vague acknowledgement of his wishes, but his proprietorial attitude did not bode well for their future together. She had had a sudden vision of herself as his young bride. He would be kind and considerate, but his affection for her might prove to be cloying and overpowering. She would be the virtual prisoner of his overprotective love.

She had left the table as soon as she had bolted down a few mouthfuls of toast, which she had not wanted, but Edmund had insisted that she must eat more if she was to undertake vigorous exercise. For a horrible moment she had thought he was going to accompany her to the stables, but he had not, and she had made her escape, riding out alone to meet Josie on the road to Weymouth.

When they reached the town, they left their horses in a livery stable and continued on foot, going first to the harbour where they questioned the captains of every vessel that was moored alongside, without success. They knocked on the doors of lodging houses in the area frequented by sailors, and then they tried the taverns on the harbour side, but no one seemed to have heard of Sam Loveday. Then, just when they were about to give up, Josie was leaning against the window of a pawnshop in a side street, when Kate glanced over her shoulder and uttered a muffled cry. ‘Look at that billycock hat, Josie. I know there must be hundreds of them much the same, but I could swear that that one belonged to Sam.’ She pointed at the jay’s feather stuck in the hatband. ‘I remember the time he found it.’

Josie peered through the green-tinged window glass. ‘I suppose it could be Sam’s hat, but I’d no idea he’d kept the silly feather.’

‘No, you were always too bound up in your own affairs to think much about Sam. You took his devotion for granted, never giving a thought to his feelings.’ Noting the startled look in Josie’s eyes, Kate bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry, but it is true. You always were a spoilt little madam, Josie.’

‘I expect you’re right, but never mind that now. I’m going inside to find out who pawned that hat and when. If Sam is desperate for money I must do something about it.’ Josie barged through the shop door, leaving Kate to follow her.

A gaunt man, dressed completely in black, appeared through a curtain at the back of the shop. ‘What can I do for you, young ladies?’ He gave them a calculating look. ‘Do you want to pawn a keepsake? Or those fine kid gloves, for instance?’

Josie shook her head. ‘There is a billycock hat in the window. Do you remember who left it with you?’

A glimmer of cunning flickered in his beady eyes. ‘I might, or I might not, miss. What is it to you, anyway?’

Kate put her hand in her pocket and took out a silver florin. ‘Will this help you to remember?’

He pocketed the coin. ‘It might. Do you want to buy the hat?’

Josie edged Kate out of the way and she leaned across the counter, speaking in a confidential whisper. ‘I think that the man who pawned this might be my maid’s brother. He went to sea and nothing has been
heard
of him for weeks. The poor girl is out of her mind with worry.’

Kate took out her last sixpence and pressed it into his hand. He gave her a gap-toothed grin. ‘I do remember him, as it happens. Sam Loveday rented one of me rooms upstairs for a couple of days afore he found a ship. Bad business that.’

‘What do you mean?’ Josie demanded breathlessly.

‘A coffin ship, that’s what everyone said the
Kimmeridge
was, but the fellow couldn’t get another berth and he was in urgent need of money. The ship was bound for Guernsey with a cargo of coal. She went down with all hands in a terrible storm. No one was saved.’

Kate stifled a cry of horror, but her first concern was for Josie who had paled alarmingly and was swaying on her feet, staring at the pawnbroker in stricken silence. Kate took her by the arm. ‘It might not be Sam, Josie. He might not have been on board that ship, and anyway he’s a strong swimmer. Even if he was part of the crew, he might have swum to safety.’

Josie stared at her as if she were speaking in a foreign tongue. Her stillness was more frightening than any amount of hysterics. Kate squeezed her arm. ‘Say something, Josie. You’re scaring me.’

Josie’s eyes were glazed and her lips moved but she uttered no sound.

‘Best get her outside in the fresh air,’ the pawnbroker said, scowling. ‘I don’t want a swooning woman on my hands. It’s bad for business.’

Before Kate could answer him, Josie let out an animal-like howl. She broke free from Kate’s grasp
and
wrenching the shop door open she ran into the alley, shrieking at the top of her voice.

‘Oh, my God!’ Kate ran after her, but Josie had a head start and she was racing towards the harbour. Her cries were attracting a great deal of attention from passers-by, and people stepped aside, staring at her in dismay, quite obviously thinking that she was a mad woman.

Kate picked up her skirts and tore after her, pausing to catch her breath as she rounded the corner onto the quayside. She could see Josie in the distance and her intention was patently obvious when she stopped abruptly, balancing precariously on the edge of the harbour wall.

Petrified with fear, Kate saw a group of well-dressed gentlemen coming out of the harbourmaster’s office. She shouted at them, waving her hands frantically in an attempt to attract their attention. ‘Stop her. For God’s sake, don’t let her jump.’ Galvanised into action, she broke into a run, but one of the men leapt forward and grabbed Josie round the waist just as she was poised to throw herself into the swirling water. His back was to Kate, but he obviously had Josie in a firm grasp, even though she was screaming hysterically, kicking out with her feet and flailing her arms in an attempt to break free. Kate stopped just yards from them, and her heart did a somersault inside her chest as he turned his head to look at her. His name was torn from her lips in a shuddering sigh. ‘Harry!’

He gave her a cursory glance, but Josie was struggling like a wild creature, and he was having difficulty in
restraining
her. He called to one of his companions, and together they managed to subdue her. As Kate hurried towards them she realised that the man with Harry was Charlie Beauchamp, who had been one of the shooting party when Sir Hector had met with his accident.

He grinned, tipping his top hat and almost losing his grip on Josie. ‘This is a fine how-do-you-do and no mistake, Miss Kate. What happened to upset her so?’

‘Never mind that now,’ Harry said brusquely. ‘We’d better get her somewhere quiet, well away from the water’s edge.’

Kate avoided meeting his eyes. Her heart was beating so fast that she could scarcely breathe, but her concern for Josie was paramount. ‘She’s had a terrible shock. Perhaps we could take her into the harbourmaster’s office, just until she calms down.’

Josie slumped against Harry’s shoulder and her whole body was racked with sobs. Charlie loosened his hold on her, setting his hat straight. ‘Must have been something dreadful to send her off into a fit of hysterics. If Harry hadn’t stopped her I really think she would have jumped.’

Harry lifted Josie up in his arms. ‘The George Inn isn’t too far away. Go on ahead, Charlie, and see if they have a private parlour. Tell them to light a fire and have a bottle of brandy at the ready.’

‘Right ho.’ Charlie strode off towards the public house a little further along the quay.

Josie buried her face against Harry’s shoulder, but at least she seemed quieter now and her sobs were intermittent. Kate fell into step beside him, stealing a glance
at
his stern profile. As if sensing that her eyes were upon him, he turned his head to give her a questioning look. ‘What happened to put her in this state?’

Kate dared not mention Sam’s name for fear of upsetting Josie all over again. ‘She had some truly dreadful news,’ she said vaguely.

‘It must have been very bad to make her attempt suicide.’

His eyes seemed to bore into her soul and she looked away, biting her lip. Why, of all people, did it have to be Harry who had saved Josie? ‘A very old friend was lost at sea,’ she replied in a low voice.

‘He must have been very close to have caused her so much distress.’

‘She’s supposed to be your fiancée,’ Kate said with a touch of asperity. ‘Perhaps if you’d stood by her she might not have got herself in such a stew.’ She dodged onto the narrow pavement to avoid being run down by a horse-drawn wagon, heavily laden with barrels, and his answer was lost in the noise of the rumbling wheels and clatter of the Clydesdale’s hooves.

They reached the George and entered the taproom, where they were met with the aroma of roasting meat mingled with that of hot rum, tobacco smoke and tarred rope. Dock workers, sailors and fishermen leaned on the bar or sat around tables, smoking, drinking and chatting. Charlie beckoned to them from a doorway at the back of the bar and led the way to a small parlour. Harry set Josie gently down on a chair. ‘Sit there and rest a while.’ He poured a tot of brandy into a glass
and
placed it in her hands. ‘Take a sip of that, Josie. Slowly, mind.’

She did as she was told, moving like an automaton. She coughed as the spirit hit the back of her throat, but she said nothing as she stared blindly into the fire.