Straw in the Wind Page 5

  Marianne adored Nick and she adored her son, and seeing them all together made Erasmus realize what he’d missed out on by not marrying. Nick had been right when he’d stopped earning his living from sailing the oceans.

  Erasmus would have done the same for a woman he’d loved. But when Caroline Honeyman had died he’d lost his mind for a short time. He’d pushed himself, his crew and his ship almost beyond capacity in the mad turmoil of his grief until something brought him back to his senses . . . the fact that he had a nephew who needed his care and his guidance.

  Uneasily, he remembered that he’d promised Marianne that he’d try and find out the truth. If the girl born to Caroline Honeyman was alive – as Marianne suspected – and if she proved to be his daughter, then he would have done her a great injustice by not providing for her. But it wouldn’t be too late to redress that.

  What if she proved to be George Honeyman’s daughter?

  Erasmus remembered George’s voice as if he was standing next to him. The man had swallowed a skinful of brandy and had been swaying back and forth.

  ‘You took the woman who belonged to me, and you killed her. The infant was a Thornton, there was no doubt about it. She couldn’t be allowed to live, so I waited until the midwife was gone then smothered her with a pillow.’

  Closing his eyes on the anguish he felt, Erasmus thought: I must have fathered the child. George wouldn’t have taken the life of his own child, and neither would he have taken her to the orphanage. George must have killed the infant. It had struck him then. Had George killed Caroline, too?

  The burden of that knowledge had been hard to bear – too hard for George, who’d spent the next few years drinking himself to death. Erasmus had to live with his remorse as well as his suspicion, that his love for another man’s wife had been the death of her, as well as their baby daughter.

  Even now he found it hard to think of George Honeyman committing such a hideous act, and he couldn’t bring himself to tell the sisters that their own father had confessed to killing the child. He doubted if Charlotte would believe it anyway.

  It had been a long time since he’d come to terms with it, and longer still before he’d allowed himself to be persuaded that the infant might be alive, and that George had left her at the orphanage – not only to keep them apart but to punish him as well. Erasmus had never repeated what George had said to anyone.

  When he opened his eyes it was to find that Adam Chapman had moved into his line of vision. There was the answer. The young man was a detective, and a very good one from what he’d heard. He’d try and get him alone and ask his advice.

  A burst of clapping brought Erasmus out of his reverie. The ribbons were cut and the band began to play. After the ceremony, the band struck up a lively march and his foot was trampled on by Miss Stanhope who nearly pushed him out of the way as the surge of shoppers headed into the various departments, where salesmen and women were on hand to relieve them of their cash.

  He cornered Adam Chapman and held out his hand. ‘My name is Erasmus Thornton. I’d like a private word if you’ve a moment, though it will have to be now because I need to get back to my ship.’

  ‘My pleasure, Captain Thornton. I’ll walk back to the quay with you and we can talk on the way, then we won’t be interrupted. I’ll join you outside, after I’ve informed my sister of my whereabouts.’

  He didn’t keep Erasmus waiting long, saying when he returned, ‘Celia is just about to be taken on a conducted tour of the emporium by Marianne so there is no need to hurry.’

  The young man listened without interruption as Erasmus briefly outlined the problem. It was hard to find the right words. When he did, stating them left a raw, aching void in his stomach, as if he’d ripped flesh from flesh.

  ‘So you want me to find out if the girl is alive or dead?’

  He shrugged. ‘Aye, that’s about it.’

  ‘After all these years, why do you want this?’

  ‘Marianne wants it. She’s convinced that her sister is alive.’

  There was a sceptical look in Adam’s grey eyes. ‘So, you’re doing it for Marianne. Trying to prove her wrong, perhaps?’

  ‘Hell, no! I’m hoping she’ll be proved right and that George Honeyman . . . well, never mind.’

  Chapman didn’t seem to notice his slip. ‘Why then?’

  ‘Damn it man, why do you bloody well think? I loved her mother. If the infant was my daughter and she’s still alive I might be able to do something for her.’

  They strolled down High Street, Adam apparently deep in thought. Then he said, ‘You mentioned George Honeyman?’

  ‘Did I?’

  ‘You know you did. If there’s anything further I need to know tell me, otherwise we’re both wasting our time.’

  Erasmus hesitated. ‘George was drunk at the time, and it would split the family apart if they found out.’

  ‘You’ve trusted me with this story so far, and I must know that I have your absolute honesty before I decide whether or not to involve myself in this. I’m discreet, and your secret will be safe in my hands.’

  ‘George told me that the infant had looked like a Thornton, and he’d smothered her with a pillow.’

  Breath hissed between Adam’s teeth.

  ‘After he told me that I began to wonder, and I couldn’t get the thought out of my head . . . did he kill his wife, as well?’

  ‘And you didn’t relate your suspicions to anyone in authority?’

  ‘I’d already done George enough damage, and I’m not in the habit of kicking a dog when it’s down. I could have broken him entirely, but it wouldn’t have made me feel better about myself or bring Caroline back. Then, there were the girls. Who would have looked after them? George was a bully and an indifferent father, but he was better than nothing. I kept a roof over their heads for all those years when he was drinking himself to death.’

  ‘You owned their house?’

  ‘And the business. I won the deeds in a poker game. George was reckless and going downhill fast. Better me than someone who would have sold the place from under them.’

  ‘If George told you he killed the infant, why do you believe differently now?’

  ‘I have no strong belief that she is alive, but if she is then my fears will prove to be unfounded. George wouldn’t have killed Caroline and left the baby alive.’

  ‘Therefore your reasoning is that if the child is still alive, Caroline Honeyman is more likely to have died a natural death giving birth to it.’

  ‘That’s my drift.’

  Chapman frowned as his direct gaze engaged the brown eyes of Erasmus, and Erasmus found it hard to look away. His voice was quiet, but just as direct. ‘There’s something you’re not telling me.’

  Erasmus gave a faintly, self-mocking smile, yet the hairs on the nape of his neck raised when he admitted, ‘Only because I’m superstitious and because it would be of no use to you, Mr Chapman.’

  ‘Allow me to decide that.’

  He hesitated for just a moment then he sighed. ‘Marianne heard a whisper in the wind coming off the heath, and it told her the girl’s name.’

  ‘And you don’t believe it was a figment of her imagination.’

  ‘I believe Marianne when she said she heard what she did. She has strong . . .instincts.’

  Chapman didn’t as much as turn a hair. ‘A straw in the wind?’

  ‘I expected you to laugh and call it a nonsense.’

  ‘I discount nothing. You never know where seemingly nonsensical or unimportant details can lead. You’re a surprising man, Captain Thornton.’

  He shrugged. ‘You get to believe in instinct and signs when you spend your life at sea.’

  ‘I imagine you do. I might as well tell you that I don’t want to jeopardize my relationship with either of the two families, or cause a further rift between you and them. This infant could prove to be a catalyst to cause further unrest within your family. If she still exists, as well as being a half-sister to Charlotte an
d Marianne she is possibly your daughter, a niece to your sister, a cousin to Nick and an aunt to the children of the family.’

  ‘You pick things up quickly, young man.’

  Adam nodded. ‘Moreover, she will also be an adult now and may be perfectly happy with her lot in life. She might be married. She might be a whore. She might not want to know you or she might welcome you with open arms. Her situation, needs and wants will have to be taken into account, and you might end up disappointed. But as long as you realize that, if the other adults agree I’ll take an extra day here and see what I can find out before I decide.’

  Dismay closed wolf teeth around Erasmus’s tough seaman’s heart. He had not thought that far ahead. Perhaps it was a foolish idea and he should forget it. But he didn’t want to disappoint Marianne. Then he realized he wouldn’t have to, since her sister would do it for him. ‘Charlotte Hardy will never agree anyway.’

  ‘She will if it’s put to her the right way. Better leave that to me. What did you say the name was that Marianne heard?’

  ‘I didn’t, but it was Serafina,’ he said.

  Four

  ‘Very well, Adam, since the others have agreed, I have little choice, unless I’m to suffer Marianne’s reproachful looks and sighs for the rest of my life. And if Erasmus Thornton doesn’t get your help, he’ll simply hire someone else. Why didn’t he ask me himself?’

  ‘Because he knew there would be an argument and you’d turn him down.’

  Charlotte sighed. ‘I imagine I’ve given him enough reason to think that. At least I know you’ll be discreet, Adam. Just don’t ask me any questions.’

  Adam didn’t let his dismay show. ‘I was hoping to start off with you and Marianne. You must have memories of the night your mother died.’

  ‘Yes, I do.’ She sighed again, the pain in her eyes there for him to see. ‘My mother was in agony, her screams went on and on until she was too tired to do anything but groan.’

  ‘Where was Marianne?’

  ‘She couldn’t stand it. She went out on the heath, and just as I was getting worried about her she came back. It was almost dark and I reprimanded her. She said she’d visited the gypsies, and one had told her that the baby would be a girl. But she was trembling and scared and I think she instinctively knew that our mother wouldn’t survive the birth.

  ‘The baby was born during the night. It was a full moon. I remember looking out of my bedroom window, because the water and heath look so pretty in the moonlight. Marianne woke and crawled into my bed. She was scared and so was I, but we didn’t know why. I told her a story and we cuddled each other until she fell asleep. I stayed awake, and I went to see my mother. She was lying still. There was blood on her nightgown, and the baby was there too.’ Charlotte closed her eyes. ‘She was on the bed . . . so little and naked and quiet . . . then . . . Marianne called out in her sleep and I went to her.’

  Tears trickled from under her lids. ‘That’s all I remember until morning. Our father woke us at dawn, to tell us that our mother and the baby had died. He was beside himself, weeping and wailing and banging his head against the wall. He scared Marianne. She ran downstairs and hid in the hall cupboard.’

  ‘Your sister said she heard the baby cry.’

  Charlotte shrugged. ‘Marianne has always had a vivid imagination . . . she could have dreamed it, or heard an owl taking its prey on the heath.’

  Charlotte was keeping something back from him – something she wanted to forget herself, perhaps. He held the glance she threw at him.

  ‘Is that what you believe, or what you want to believe?’

  Her eyes slid away. ‘I don’t know, Adam. I don’t want to remember what happened in my childhood. Growing up without a mother, and with a father who was drunk for most of the time, was unpleasant. Marianne liked her freedom, and I had to try and keep her under control. I was always on edge, trying to appease our father, whose temper was uncertain at the best of times. Marianne seemed to go out of her way to vex him. I tried not to bully her, but I know she resented my authority. I was only two years older than her, after all. I seemed to live in perpetual fear that one of us would do the wrong thing and upset him.’

  ‘Marianne appreciates what you went through.’

  ‘She does now. I was often wrong about her and I know I was unfair to her when I didn’t credit her with any sense. She has plenty of good sense, otherwise she wouldn’t have gone on to the heath that day. I feared for her sometimes.’

  ‘Feared for her?’

  ‘Pa used to turn against her in a way he never did with me. It was as though he saw our mother in her, and remembered she’d been unfaithful to him. Sometimes when he was drunk, he called her by our mother’s name. He took a riding crop to her for answering him back, once, and I thought he was going to kill her. She was covered in welts and bruises.’ Charlotte faltered, and her face paled. ‘I pray that she doesn’t remember those times. I begged him to stop hitting her but he wouldn’t, so one day I picked up his gun and threatened to shoot him with it.’

  Adam hadn’t expected that. As his eyes widened in surprise he thought that Charlotte had been incredibly brave to defend her sister against a man. Even so he didn’t disturb the thread of her thoughts.

  ‘Pa laughed, and although he’d taught me to shoot he told me to go ahead and pull the trigger, and put him out of his misery. So I did. Marianne hit my arm to divert the shot. It went wide, and the ball creased the top of his ear and buried itself into the panelling in the hall, thank God. It’s still there.’

  She suddenly paled and a fine sheen of perspiration covered her brow. When he noticed she was trembling he crossed to the sideboard with her coffee and added a measure of brandy from the decanter. He placed it in her hands. ‘My dear, I’ve upset you, and I’m sorry. Here, drink this down.’

  ‘No, it’s not you, Adam.’ She swallowed the remains of the coffee as he’d urged, grimaced, then shuddered and pushed the cup away from her.

  ‘Shall I fetch Seth?’

  Before his eyes she pulled herself together and gained her strength. ‘No, it was just a faint and I’m beginning to feel better. The worst thing was, I didn’t try to wound pa. I wanted to kill him. Marianne was so small and helpless – too small to fight back. Her eyes were so wounded and bewildered. I told him that if he hurt her again I’d wait until he was asleep, and I wouldn’t miss the second time. He broke down and cried then. It worries me to think I’ve inherited his temper. I don’t let go of grudges easily.’

  He lightened her mood with, ‘Rest assured, if you ever point a gun at me I’ll run in the opposite direction like a hare with the wind under its tail.’

  Her eyes lit up with amusement. ‘Adam Chapman racing a bullet might be a sight to behold.’

  He laughed. ‘Marianne has a good head on her shoulders; no wonder she loves you so dearly.’

  ‘I know that now, Adam. For the first time in my life I’m happy and contented, thanks to Seth. I don’t want things to change. So yes, I want to believe that Marianne imagined that cry. If she didn’t, it means that the baby lived, and . . .’

  ‘Have you an opinion on what might have been the fate of the infant?’

  Her face closed up and she murmured, ‘Not one I want to think or talk about. I’ve already said more than I meant to.’ Her lovely mouth twisted in a wry smile. ‘You have a sneaky way with you, Adam. You asked me two questions and despite my resolve not to, I answered all the questions you didn’t ask, as well.’

  ‘Perhaps it’s because I’m a good listener and you needed to answer them. If there’s anything else you might have forgotten—’

  ‘No, there isn’t!’

  It was said too emphatically, but he let it go, giving a faint smile. ‘You’ve been helpful. You know, Charlotte, you have more goodness in you than you give yourself credit for. Will you mind very much if your sister is found?’

  ‘I don’t know. If she exists, and if you happen to find her, ask me then. It’s hard to be civil to someone
you’ve despised all your life.’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll manage if the time comes.’ He stood, picking up his hat and gloves. ‘Be sure that I’ll keep you informed through Marianne, who has been appointed by Erasmus Thornton to act on his behalf.’

  She shook her head. ‘I never imagined he’d have a conscience.’

  Gently he kissed her cheek. ‘Most people do. Captain Thornton is no exception and he’s in an awkward situation. It could be that Marianne has given him the incentive to act that he needed. People are often surprising.’

  Seth came from the study when they went into the hall. His glance went immediately to Charlotte’s face, and he relaxed, as if reassured by what he saw there. He moved to her side, and said, ‘You’re leaving already, Adam?’

  ‘Yes, I have some enquiries to make, and my cab is waiting. Thank you, Charlotte, you were very helpful, and I hope it wasn’t too painful.’

  After they watched the cab leave, Seth smiled at her. ‘Well?’

  ‘I wished you’d been in there with me.’

  ‘I thought my presence would have been intimidating.’

  ‘You never intimidate me, but you do make me aware of being cautious.’

  ‘Adam is a family friend now. He is totally discreet, and there’s no need for caution.’

  Her eyes met his and she smiled. ‘I want to tell you something, Seth.’

  ‘Is it that you love me?’

  ‘Of course not.’ Her eyes mirrored her consternation in case he misconstrued her words. ‘I do love you though, didn’t you realize?’

  ‘Yes, but say it again in cold blood.’

  An expression of shyness appeared in her eyes and she offered him a breathless little chuckle that charmed him. ‘I love you, Seth Hardy. There, will that do?’

  ‘Perfectly. You’ve never told me that before, you know.’ Cradling her face in his hands Seth bowed his head and kissed her before smiling. ‘You taste of brandy. Can this account for your tongue being loosened?’

  She laughed. ‘Adam gave me the brandy because I nearly fainted, and he thought his questioning was the cause. However, the fault lies with you, since we’re expecting an infant in the spring. That’s what I had to tell you.’