Where Seagulls Soar (20 page)

Tilda’s eyes widened. ‘I’ll talk to David about it.’

‘If you can stand up to me, you can do the same to her. And don’t tell her anything private, like Grace’s background, else she’ll be making her life a misery next with
her slanderous gossip. And tomorrow you’d better get yourself to the doctor. Now I’ve said that I’ll stop being bossy.’

There was a smile edging across Tilda’s face now. ‘What if it’s not what you think?’

‘Then you’ll have to learn to live with it, the same as everyone else.’ Joanna grinned. ‘But I bet you the loan of my cradle that you’re carrying an infant inside
you.’

Eyes widening, Tilda gazed at her. ‘Your cradle? But it’s so precious to you.’

‘So are you, Tilda dear, and don’t you ever forget it.’

Oliver couldn’t believe the change in his sisters. Gone were the slightly hysterical and pretentious creatures he’d always known. Two lovely and capable girls had
emerged. ‘Joanna has wrought miracles with you,’ he told them, at which Lydia laughed.

‘It was a question of survival.’

Irene shook her head. ‘We were so useless to begin with, Joanna must have thought we were a couple of idiots. We’ve learned so much from her, and it’s been such fun, except . .
.’

The twins exchanged a glance, then Lydia took over the conversation with, ‘Lord Durrington came here with his horrible servant, Bisley. He demanded that he be given custody of
Toby.’

‘Toby? What for?’

‘He needs an heir, and Toby is his grandchild on account of Alex having been his son.’

Shock registered in Oliver’s brain. ‘I didn’t realize you knew about that particular family secret.’

‘Oh, we’ve always known about it. Remember that dinner in London when Alex threw something in Elijah Morcant’s soup and stormed off. Then the old man went blue in the face and
died? That’s when we found out.’

‘Yes, I remember. You were just children.’

‘Alex was so brave,’ Irene said wistfully. ‘He was the only one who stood up to mother on our behalf. We miss him so much. And Lord Durrington will have to kill us all before
he can have Toby. We keep a good watch out for them and we never leave Toby alone, just in case.

Oliver was wondering how he should break the news to them about their mother’s death when Lydia said, ‘Did our mother die peacefully?’

‘Yes. She had her medicine.’

‘Opium, I expect. She was addicted to it. We used to make it for her. Two ounces of opium, one of saffron and a finely ground clove, dissolved in wine. She used to sip at it all
day.’

Oliver gazed from one to the other, surprised by their calm acceptance of the event.

Lydia said, ‘I expect the Nash family were pleased. They despised her. They didn’t like us much, either. Aunt Agatha was the only one who was civil to us.’

‘Agatha Nash has settled some money on you. Not a great deal, you understand, just something for the future, in case you need it. I’ve placed it in a trust account, and it will
provide you with a modest income once it starts earning interest.’

‘Don’t worry, Ollie, dear, we’ve learned to economize. You should have spent some of that money on food for yourself. You’re so dreadfully thin.’

‘I thought that you might be able to rent a little cottage for yourselves. At least you’d have a roof over your heads.’

Lydia’s forehead wrinkled into a frown. ‘Irene and I have discussed it and we’re not leaving Joanna unless she marries again. We love Joanna and Toby and, except for Alex,
she’s the only person who’s ever made us feel as if we have any worth. She needs us, too, for company and support.’

Oliver hadn’t realized things had been that bad for his sisters, but he’d barely known them, and knew Joanna even less. ‘Is it likely that Joanna will marry in the near future,
then?’

‘There was a gentleman caller once. Seth Adams. He’s handsome and elegant, has beautiful manners and the most wonderful silver eyes.’

Irene sighed. ‘I do wish he’d called on me instead, but he only had eyes for Joanna.’

‘And to think she sent him away,’ Lydia continued. ‘But I heard that gentlemen prefer women who resist their overtures, because they regard them as a challenge, so he’ll
probably visit her again.’

Grinning at their prattle, Oliver leaned back on the battered couch with his legs stretched out towards the fire. His stomach was full to bursting and his hand surrounded a glass, warming a
generous tot of excellent brandy.

Irene had hastened to inform him it wasn’t contraband, since they’d found it on the beach after a high tide had washed the pebbles from around it.

‘Joanna said it was good for medicinal purposes, so we removed a couple of bottles and filled in the hole, in case it was washed out to sea and wasted.’

And that
would
have been waste. As Oliver watched the flames leap and dance he was feeling more contented than he’d felt in several months.

But, still, something nagged at his mind. Where had he heard the name Seth Adams before?

Thaddeus Scott was giving the window frames a coat of paint when Edward Staines and James Stark came in through the gate.

Edward, dressed in standard navy blue, wore his company cap. Thaddeus’s rush of pleasure at seeing his former first officer was dampened by a twinge of envy that Edward was still young
enough to ply his profession. He took Edward’s outstretched hand in a firm grip and in a voice warmed by the emotion he felt, growled, ‘’Tis nice to see you, Edward. How the hell
are you?’

‘Fine, Thaddeus.’ Edward smiled broadly at him. ‘In fact, I feel better than I have in a while.’

James shrugged when Thaddeus gave him a questioning look. ‘Edward knows, Thaddeus. He saw Tobias in Melbourne.’

‘Aye,’ said Edward, ‘and he ran like a horse with ginger up its arse before I could grab him by the scruff of the neck, but the bugger won’t escape me next time.
I’ll turn Melbourne upside down to find him, by heck I will.’

Thaddeus offered James a hard stare, and said, ‘What have you told him?’

‘Not quite everything, but he’d already worked most of it out for himself before he came to see me. This is a very worrying situation, Thaddeus. It will affect us all if
there’s speculation and it gets back to the authorities.’

‘Rest assured, I’ve no intention of letting this out,’ Edward stated.

‘I know, Edward, but you’re not the first person to realize what happened. Joanna and Charlotte were. Why do you think Joanna sailed off to Australia on the spur of the moment?
Shortly afterwards, young Alex put two and two together and followed on after her.’

‘So many things make sense now. The company hasn’t been the same since Alex died, though,’ Edward said. ‘I understand Oliver is having a run of bad luck, too.’

‘Oliver’s gone to Portland to be with his sisters, he’s living in Joanna’s house,’ James told them, causing Thaddeus to gaze sharply at him.

‘Oliver didn’t want you to know, Thaddeus. Durrington has blacklisted him and he couldn’t find work. He’s ashamed of his poverty. He had to beg for food on the streets
for a while and has lost some weight. That Durrington is a bastard who soils everything he touches.’

‘We’ll see Oliver tomorrow, then. Charlotte and I are going to Portland. We thought we’d take a look over the
Great Eastern
. I understand you can have a tour for half
a crown.

Choking out a laugh, Edward scoffed, ‘I never thought to see Thaddeus Scott aboard a steam kettle. I thought she was about to leave for her cable-laying contract.’

‘Aye, she was, but an explosion blew her forward funnel apart. Several crew members were killed and she’s laid up for repairs.’

Edward muttered, ‘You can’t trust steam, and what will happen to the sailing men when it takes over, as it eventually will. Alex was convinced of it.’

The three men gazed soberly at one another at the mention of Alex.

Charlotte said lightly, as she came around the corner of the house, a velvet shawl wrapped around her, ‘Why such long faces? It’s Captain Staines, isn’t it? And you, James.
What a lovely surprise. What are you thinking of, Thaddeus, keeping our guests standing outside in the cold? And where’s your scarf. Wear it round your neck, unless you wish to catch
cold.’

Thaddeus grinned at her. ‘Wear my scarf! Are you barmy, woman? ’Tis as balmy a day as you can get, isn’t it, gentlemen?’

The men nodded agreement, managing to keep a straight face until Charlotte said with some asperity, ‘Don’t you be fool enough to try and twit me, Thaddeus Scott. Wasn’t it just
yesterday you decided it was cold enough to don your longjohns. Wear your scarf, I didn’t spend all those hours making it just for it to be ignored.’ From a nearby chair she plucked a
woollen object and hung it around his neck, where it dangled like a couple of long red tongues over his shoulders. ‘There, that’s better.’

‘Very pretty, Thaddeus,’ James drawled. ‘I bet the colour matches your longjohns.’

When Edward roared with laughter Thaddeus glared at him. ‘If my longjohns become common knowledge I’ll have your liver sliced and fried with bacon for breakfast.’

‘I can’t believe that this is a purely social visit. Is somebody going to tell me what this gathering is about?’ Charlotte said, her eyes as bright and inquisitive as a
bird’s as she gazed from one man to the other.

Putting an arm around Charlotte’s waist, Thaddeus pulled her against him and planted a kiss on her cheek. ‘My dear, Edward ran into Tobias while he was in Melbourne town.’

Charlotte’s eyes widened, but she said calmly, ‘How is my son, Edward?’

‘We didn’t speak, but Tobias looked well. We were about to discuss the situation.’

‘His name is Gabe Tremayne now, you know.’ Charlotte smiled as she said softly, ‘I would so love to see him and meet my daughter-in-law, Jane, who is shortly to give birth to
their second infant.’

Edward nodded in a satisfied manner. ‘There was a store named Gabriel Tremayne and Son. So, Tobias has married again and has a son? I don’t understand. What about Joanna?’

Thaddeus placed a finger over Charlotte’s lips. ‘We’d best go and see Joanna tomorrow, let her know what’s happened. No doubt she’ll enjoy having
visitors.’

Charlotte smiled and gazed round at them all. ‘You will all come, won’t you? We can take the steamer. I’ll tell Stevens and Mrs Bates to pack a hamper or two. Joanna has enough
mouths to feed as it is. Are you gentlemen staying the night? We have room. I’ll just caution you not to discuss the situation in front of the servants, though.’

Before they could answer Charlotte bustled off, saying happily, ‘Good, I’ll go and make sure the sheets are aired, then.’

Seth Adams faced his half-brother over the highly polished oak table in his study.

Fifteen years his senior, the corpulent Barnard Charsford lived in a house in Hanover Square. It was richly furnished in predominately dark red velvet and mahogany, and was stuffy and dark.

Mrs Charsford had shown him in without saying a word, though her eyes had momentarily met his, and he was shocked by the despair in them. Barnard’s wife was comfortably cushioned, her
trunk sturdily supported by whalebone. Sallow face lined into a map of discontent, she’d long ago lost any attraction for her husband, who, since he’d been provided with four sons from
her, preferred the delights to be sampled at Lord Durrington’s house.

As far as Barnard Charsford was concerned, duty lay in the woman’s domain. Any opinion his wife might have held had long ago been browbeaten out of her. Seth couldn’t even remember
her name, and he doubted if Barnard could, for he’d always referred to his wife as Mrs Charsford.

‘You were a damned fool to put Durrington out of countenance. I was doing you a favour, for he can put a lot of work your way.’

‘I don’t like the type of work he wants me to do. And I advise you to sever your connection to him, Barnard. People in the city are beginning to talk about the methods you and he
employed to relieve the Morcant widow of her living and home.’

Barnard’s eyebrow arched. ‘Sever my connection, when he owes me a fortune? That transaction was entirely legitimate, since the loan had been defaulted on.’

‘Couldn’t you have waited until the body grew cold?’

‘Business is business, and I’d thank you not to try and advise your elders and betters.’ Barnard’s whole body jiggled when he laughed. ‘Don’t be such a fool,
Seth. The Morcant widow had her eyes on the main chance right from the beginning. She just wasn’t smart enough to hang on to it. At least she has a roof over her head, I
understand.’

‘She’s back on Portland, living in the house she was raised in, forced to grow her own food and to work as a maid to make ends meet.’

‘Then she’s doing what she was brought up to do. There’s many worse off. The streets are full of the starving. Forget her, she’s nothing.’

‘Lord Durrington is after her son.’

‘He simply wants an heir. You can understand that, can’t you? The boy is the bastard son of a bastard. The mother should be grateful he’s been offered a good start in life,
since only a fool would turn their nose up at the chance of a title. Not that I approve of giving a home to some mongrel by-blow, myself. You mark my words . . . blood will out. That girl you took
in will come to no good in the end, too, just like her mother. You should put her in an orphanage, forget her.’

‘My sister was abused in the house of her half-brother, and the perpetrator of that abuse was never brought to justice.’

‘Matters such as this should not be aired, for they offend the sensibilities of the public. It was bad enough that our mother married beneath her station. If this other affair ever comes
out it will ruin the reputation of the family. People are bound to ask questions, which is why the child will never be acknowledged. Be advised. It’s best to sweep such things under the
carpet and forget them.’

Seth felt a pulse of anger begin to beat in his skull, but it was no use trying to change Barnard’s mind. As far as his two elder brothers were concerned, Kate was beneath contempt.
He’d nearly come to blows with his elder brother over her future. Hard things had been said, all irredeemable, and they hadn’t spoken since. Seth decided not to push the issue, for
Barnard was useful, in that he was indiscreet at times, as he proved to be now.