Where Seagulls Soar Page 16

  ‘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?

  10

  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. S
allow 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.

  ‘I shouldn’t be surprised if Bisley isn’t jealous over the whole affair. He’s been with Durrington since he was a child, and thought he was set to inherit the estate, if not the title. But Bisley is of mixed blood, and although Durrington looks after his by-blows, he’s not about to allow the son of an African slave to inherit. Durrington will have to keep an eye on Bisley when the boy comes to London to live with him.’ Barnard’s eyes washed critically over him. ‘You’re looking rather down at heel. Work drying up, is it?’

  As if Barnard didn’t know Durrington had put the word out. Not that it mattered to Seth, for he had contacts in the law courts, and also at number four Whitehall Place, otherwise known as Scotland Yard. Both sources kept himself and Geevers supplied with investigative work.

  Seth shrugged, flicking a piece of lint from the lapel of the respectable but slightly shabby suit of clothes he usually wore when visiting his brother. ‘Oh, it comes and goes. How are your sons?’

  Barnard’s chest swelled at the mention of his offspring. ‘Chips off the old block, all of them. They’re all at Rugby now. The discipline will do them a world of good. Mrs Charsford spoiled them in the nursery. As far as I’m concerned, the less a mother has to do with a man’s sons, the better. It makes them soft. That was my father’s policy and, by damnation, he was right!’

  Pity rippled through Seth, for their mutual mother had borne great love for her children, just as Joanna Morcant loved her son. The bond of maternal love was something joyous and natural that Barnard had not been allowed to enjoy in infancy, for his father had been a strict disciplinarian, by all accounts.

  Now Barnard had delivered his message, Seth was dismissed in a rather perfunctory manner.

  As he was leaving, Mrs Charsford came to help him into his overcoat. She gazed nervously towards the study door and whispered, ‘I overheard them talk of abducting the boy from his mother.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Lord Durrington and Mr Charsford. It’s not right, separating a mother from her children.’

  ‘Did they say when?’

  ‘No, but I believe it will be soon.’

  He nodded and handed her his card. ‘Thank you, Mrs Charsford. If you ever need my help, this is where my office is situated. You may speak freely to Mr Geevers if I’m absent. In an emergency you can go to my home.’ Seth whispered his home address in her ear, then added, ‘For your own sake be careful, I beg of you. And please, if you know the history of my niece, you will understand why I ask that you be discreet and not allow my brothers to learn of my residential address.’

  ‘You don’t have to tell me that.’

  ‘What’s your first name?’

  ‘Constance.’ The card was slid swiftly into her sleeve as the door to the study opened and Barnard looked out.

  ‘Not gone yet, Seth?’

  ‘As you see. I’m just about to depart.’

  Barnard’s eyes darted to his wife, who immediately lowered hers to the floor in a submissive manner when he asked her, ‘Where’s the footman?’

  ‘I sent him to find one of the housemaids.’

  ‘I see. May I remind you that your place isn’t to linger in the hall and gossip with the visitors. Mr Adams can see himself out. Go about your business now, Mrs Charsford. You can wait for the maid in the morning room.’

  Before she had a chance to move Seth took her hand in his and brushed his lips across her knuckles. ‘It’s nice to see you looking so well, Constance.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Adams, you’re most kind.’ As their eyes met for a second she coloured slightly, then she darted a nervous glance at her husband and scuttled away towards the stairs.

  Seth let himself out when the study door closed again. As he stood on the pavement he realized he’d been given a legitimate excuse to go and see Joanna Morcant again, for she had to be warned.

  Catching sight of the procession coming up the hill, Joanna swiftly changed into a clean bodice, tied a freshly ironed apron around her waist, then tidied her hair. She pulled a clean smock over Toby’s head, gave his face a lick and a promise with her handkerchief, then brushed his dark, unruly curls into a semblance of submission.

  Going downstairs when a knock came at the door, she couldn’t stop smiling when she set eyes on her visitors, and she didn’t know who to hug first. She settled for Charlotte. ‘It’s so good to see you, do come in.’

  The cottage suddenly seemed crowded, the men blocking out the light from the window. Toby went to stand amongst them, craning his head upwards, not at all awed by their height, as if trying to recognize the one who belonged to him.

  Charlotte stooped to pick her great-grandson up. Toby bestowed his Alex smile on her and plucked at the pearl brooch on her bodice. ‘No you don’t, young Toby,’ she said, and in the next breath, ‘My, how you’ve grown; you look more like your father every time I see you.’

&n
bsp; Joanna gazed from one man to the other, Thaddeus, James Stark and . . .?’ She remembered meeting the third, but only once before for a few moments. She smiled as his name came to her. ‘Captain Staines, I believe.’

  ‘I’m surprised you remember me.’ His voice was gruff as he gazed at Toby. ‘The boy’s like his father. Alex would have been proud of him, I reckon.’

  ‘Yes, he was.’ Her glance settled on James. ‘Is something wrong, James?’

  ‘Not exactly.’ He looked around him. ‘Are we alone?’

  She laughed. ‘Hardly, but if you’re asking if Oliver and his sisters are around – no, they’re not. Oliver is fishing for our dinner, and Irene and Lydia are at their places of employment, teaching piano. What do you need to tell me?’

  James offered Edward a sly glance. ‘Edward saw your father in Melbourne.’

  ‘So that’s the reason for this visit. That’s wonderful. Is he well? What about Jane?’ Her voice tailed off when she saw Edward’s confused expression.

  He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out except a strangled snort and a muffled ‘Well, I’ll be beggared.’

  ‘Are you all right, Captain Staines?’

  ‘Tobias is your father? The devil he is. How can he be when you were married to him?’ Edward said, choking out an incredulous laugh.

  ‘We didn’t know about our relationship when we wed. Luckily, my grandmother saw my resemblance to my mother before . . . well, before any harm was done. He then removed himself from my life . . . from all our lives.’

  Edward shook his head and chuckled. ‘Now I see it all. What a schemer.’

  Joanna gave him a big smile. ‘Captain Staines, I apologize for giving you such a shock, but I daresay you can understand why it was kept quiet.’

  ‘It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out the reason for his disappearance, now. And that smile of yours is unmistakably Tobias Darsham.’

  ‘I hope you don’t mind. But you haven’t told me how they are.’