Trade Winds (Choc Lit) (27 page)

‘I see.’ Killian shook his head in exasperation. Did Farquhar never give up, he wondered. He’d have to have it out with his cousin once and for all to put a stop to his intrigues. If he made it back from China, that was. With a sigh, he went to sit by the tile stove next to Adair and held out his hands towards the welcome warmth. It had been a while since he’d felt his fingertips and they tingled back to life now with painful needle pricks. ‘In that case, thank you. At least now I can be on my guard. I wonder if the man is here to put a spoke in my wheel or to do me physical harm?’

‘He looks like a thug if ye ask me. Name of Allan. I asked aboot an ’ he’s no’ a fellow I’d like tae mix wi’, if ye ken wha’ I mean. I heard some verra nasty things aboot him.’

‘That’s all I need right now. As if I’m not in enough trouble …’

‘Ye’re in trouble, Mr Kinross?’ Adair was all ears, presumably since it was usually he who was the troublemaker.

‘You could say that. I’ll tell you about it in a minute, but first I believe I hear the lovely Mrs Ljung coming up with some supper. If it’s some of her pease pottage, I swear I shall love her for ever.’

The following morning, Killian made his way to the warehouse by a different route to the one he normally took. As an extra precaution Adair followed some way behind him, keeping his eyes open as always. Killian doubted this Allan person would attack him in broad daylight, but since he didn’t know what the man had planned, he decided it was better to be careful.

It was very early still, and the warehouse was empty. When he entered the office, he found Holm already there before him, his spare shoulders hunched over a ledger.

‘Ah, good morning. I should have known you’d beat me to it.’

‘Kinross! Where on earth have you been? We heard about the heavy snowfall inland, but surely you could have made your way back sooner than this?’ Holm looked disapproving, as if Killian had been evading his duties, which he supposed he had, even if it was in a good cause.

‘No, it’s been impossible to leave until now. I’m sorry, but there it is. And there were other reasons as well why I couldn’t go.’

‘Other reasons?’

‘Yes, well, uhm, is Mr Fergusson due in this morning? I’ll need to have a word with him. It’s about his stepdaughter. Oh, and Mrs Forbes. She’s been very ill.’

‘Jess is ill?’

‘No, not her, Mrs Forbes. Caught the whooping cough and then it turned into congestion of the lungs, but she’s better now. Just a bit weak still.’

‘Thank goodness for that. I thought for a moment there we’d lost another poor soul.’

‘Another?’ It was Killian’s turn to frown.

‘Of course, you don’t know, do you? Little James … I’m afraid he didn’t pull through. So sad. He just wasn’t strong enough.’ Holm shook his head and looked down, overcome with emotion.

‘Oh, no, Jessamijn will be devastated. She told me how much she loves her brothers.’

‘Yes, well, that’s nothing compared to how her mother feels. The poor woman has gone to pieces and Mr Fergusson’s fairly cut up about it as well. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t been near the warehouse for two weeks. So to answer your question, I doubt you’ll see him today.’

Killian sat down, beginning to see just how difficult it was going to be for him to break the news of his and Jessamijn’s marriage to Fergusson. They had agreed, in cold, clipped sentences the day after their marriage, that Killian would return to Gothenburg and confront Jess’ stepfather first before fetching her back to town. Since Mrs Forbes wasn’t in a fit state to travel in any case, Jess thought it best to stay behind. But how could he break this news now, when Jess’ mother and stepfather had other things on their minds?

Holm had stood up without Killian noticing it and come round behind him to put a hand on his shoulder. ‘What’s the matter? You look upset, but surely you barely knew the baby?’

‘What? Oh, no, that’s not why … The thing is, well, I was going to inform Mr Fergusson first, but I may as well tell you now. Jessamijn and I are married.’

Holm’s mouth fell open. ‘Married? But you said you weren’t interested in her.’

‘I wasn’t. Well, not in that way, but she asked for my help. Said it was the only way she could escape from Mr Fergusson because he wouldn’t let her marry anyone else. And with Mrs Forbes so ill, there was no one to stop us.’ Holm was glaring at him. ‘You don’t have to look at me like that. I swear, I didn’t marry her for her money. By all the saints, I’m in line to inherit the entire Rosyth estate one day. I don’t need her measly dowry!’

Holm seemed to consider this for a moment. ‘I apologise,’ he said. ‘I know you’re not as frivolous as you first seemed and I confess I had begun to like you a lot. I’m afraid you shocked me, that’s all. I thought perhaps I had misjudged you after all.’

Killian shook his head and raked his fingers through his hair, closing his eyes. ‘No, please don’t apologise. I’m not a saint. In fact, I can’t really explain it even to myself. It just … happened. And now we have to break it to Mr Fergusson.’

Holm looked thoughtful. ‘Could you wait a while? That is, unless Jessamijn has returned with you?’

‘No, she’s still at Askeberga. I said I’d fetch her when things had calmed down a bit here.’

Holm smiled ruefully. ‘That might be a long time.’ Then he turned serious again. ‘The thing is, I’ve been doing a little bit of investigating. You remember you told me about Mr Milner before you left? Well, it seems he does have something to hide. A mistress and several illegitimate children, to be exact.’

Killian blinked. ‘How did you find that out?’

‘Spying. Not something I would normally do, but it seemed important.’ Holm shrugged. ‘I just followed him around whenever I could. In fact, I’m surprised he’s been able to keep it a secret for so long, he wasn’t exactly circumspect.’

‘But no one else knows?’

‘I don’t think so. Except Mr Fergusson, of course.’

‘Yes. So we were right then, but what is it they’ve colluded at? That’s what I don’t understand.’

‘Me neither. It’s a shame we can’t search through Mr Fergusson’s study properly, but I couldn’t ask Jessamijn to take such a risk. He must have a secret hiding place there. There could be some more clues.’

Killian smiled. ‘Oh, we don’t need to involve Jess in something like that, because I know just the person to help us. Hold on a moment, let me introduce you.’

Not long afterwards, Holm made Adair’s acquaintance. Although he was doubtful at first, he was soon persuaded to allow the boy to help them. As a demonstration of his skills, Adair produced Holm’s pocket watch which Killian had told him to steal at the first opportunity.

‘See, he’s quick as a flash,’ Killian said proudly, while prodding Adair surreptitiously into giving the watch back. ‘If anyone can do it, Adair can.’

‘I really shouldn’t let you risk it. What if Mr Fergusson catches him red-handed? He’d hand the boy over to the nearest magistrate and the punishment would be severe.’

‘Dinnae wirry, sir, I’ll no get caught,’ Adair said confidently. ‘If anyone comes, I’ll jump oot the windae. I always open ‘em first so’s I can escape.’

Holm shook his head, but in the end it was agreed Adair would try that very night.

‘You’d best keep out of sight until then,’ Holm said. ‘Go back to Mrs Ljung’s and stay there. I’ll come and see you tomorrow morning and if you’ve found anything, you can show me then.’

‘Agreed.’ Killian and Adair started to leave, then Killian remembered something. ‘Oh, and Mr Holm? If anyone Scottish should come looking for me, would you please tell them I’ve gone to China already?’

‘If you wish. Why?’

‘It’s a long story. I’ll tell you some other time, but I’d be grateful for your help. Thank you.’

It was a dark night and Killian and Adair both dressed in sombre clothing in order to blend into the shadows as much as possible. There were hardly any people out and about, just a few late-night revellers singing at the top of their voices and a courting servant couple huddled in a doorway. They made it to the Fergusson residence without being seen. Adair walked fifty paces behind Killian and they met up in the yard just inside the gate.

‘There was no one following us?’ Killian looked around to make sure the coast was clear.

‘No. I told ye I saw that Allan fellow sittin’ half asleep at the inn earlier. He’d bin drinkin’ and won’t be goin’ nowhere on a cold night like this.’

Killian shivered, still feeling uneasy. ‘I hope you’re right. Now, are you sure you remember what I told you about the layout of the house?’

‘Aye, dinnae fash, Mr Kinross. I’ll be fine. Just ye wait oot here by the windae and if I jump oot sudden, run like the wind.’

It sounded easy enough, but Killian had more misgivings than he’d let on to Holm. Normally he would never allow Adair to break into anyone’s home, only follow them around and keep his eyes and ears open, but this was different. His future might be at stake here.

He stayed crouched under the window to the study and watched while Adair made his way to the back door. Once there, the youth made short work of picking the lock, which was probably a fairly simple one. He disappeared inside, closing the door behind him without a sound. Killian gritted his teeth and prayed for the boy’s safety. If anything happened to him, it would be Killian’s fault and he couldn’t bear to think of that.

It seemed an absolute age before the window above him opened a fraction and Adair hissed, ‘Here, tak these an’ have a look-see. I cannae read Swedish like, but these looked important.’ A bundle of papers slid out into Killian’s waiting hands.

‘Wait there unless someone comes. I won’t be a moment,’ he whispered and made his way over to the privy. Once inside, he tried not to breathe in the noxious air and concentrated on lighting a small lantern which he had brought. Quickly, he scanned the papers. They were mostly official contracts between Fergusson and other merchants for various things, all completely legitimate as far as Killian could see. He didn’t really know what he had hoped to find – something to incriminate Fergusson in shady deals perhaps, especially with Milner – and he was disappointed but not entirely surprised. However, at the very bottom of the bundle he found something infinitely more interesting. His breath caught in his throat and his heart began to pound.

It was an official looking document written in Swedish, and the top proclaimed in large letters: ‘
Testamente. Aaron Vilhelm van Sandt. Anno Domini 1725.
’

Killian had by now learned enough Swedish to be able to understand most things. Although this document was written in complicated legal terms, he still got the gist of it, if not the exact wording. Skimming past the beginning of the will, which seemed to contain the usual legal phrases about being of sound mind and so on, he studied the important part further down where bequests were detailed.

‘… och till min Dotter Jessamijn Katrijna van Sandt överlåtes härmed full kontroll av Messrs. Van Sandt & Fergusson, på villkor att hon låter sig tillrådogivas av Herr Robert Fergusson i den mån hon behöver tills dess hon når en ålder av tjugo-fem år eller ingår giftermål. Vid sådant tillfälle skola halva denna firma tillhöra henne och halva hennes make och de två skola råda över allt gemensamt ...’

He felt his head reeling. If he understood this correctly, the entire company belonged to Jessamijn outright and if she married, half of it would still be hers and the other half her husband’s. In other words, Killian’s. He sat down on the privy with a thump, forgetting where he was for a moment.

‘Good Lord,’ he muttered. ‘No wonder the man didn’t want Jessamijn to go poking around.’

The will went on with various other stipulations, but as far as Killian could make out, there was no mention of Robert Fergusson other than in the role of advisor. He had no right to any of it.

The thought stunned him, and he understood everything all too clearly now. Somehow Fergusson had managed to keep this will a secret and had taken over the company himself. How could that be?

He could only think that the will had never been proven, or Fergusson had shown a fake one to Milner and blackmailed the man into declaring it legal. No one except Jess had questioned Fergusson’s actions. Everyone else thought he had a right to run things as he saw fit and marrying the widow had been a masterful stroke.

It was an outrage.

Killian suddenly remembered he was in a smelly privy and poor Adair was still waiting in the study. He gathered together the rest of the papers in a rush, while pocketing the will, and made his way across the yard back to the window.

‘Are you there?’ he whispered.

‘Aye.’

‘Put these back where you found them and make sure you don’t leave any trace of your visit.’

‘O’course I won’t.’

The papers disappeared inside and the window closed with a soft click. Not long after, Adair emerged from the back door and made his way over to Killian as quickly as he could.

‘Anythin’ guid?’ he asked.

‘Tell you later. Let’s go.’

They left the yard one at a time, moving as stealthily as predators on a hunt. Then they made their way back to Killian’s lodgings by separate routes, meeting up outside Mrs Ljung’s front door. Once safely inside, Killian breathed a sigh of relief and sank into a chair.