by Janet Woods
The floorboard creaked outside. Swiftly, she crossed the floor and threw the door open.
Except for a few dusty shadows haunting the landing the space was empty.
‘You’re chasing shadows, Gracie.’
He was right. ‘You’ve made me doubt the people I work with and I don’t like feeling that way.’
‘A little caution won’t harm you. Shall we open the box together or would you rather do it alone?’
‘Do you have a list of the contents?’ she asked.
‘I haven’t brought it with me, but I do have a good memory. I’m aware of most of them.’
She challenged him. ‘Tell me.’
Grace lost the contest before they really started when he said, ‘There’s twelve troy ounces of gold and an equal amount of silver.’
‘What’s a troy ounce?’
‘It’s a system of weighing precious metal. Using the avoirdupois method, which is common calculation, sixteen ounces would equal one pound. In troy weight it would be twelve.’
‘So that provides an answer to the question: which weighs heavier, a pound of lead or a pound of feathers? They both weigh the same.’
‘Do they?’ and he chuckled. ‘You will find it easier to treat the two methods of weight as separate entities.’
‘I think I will put that puzzle aside until I have learned more about the troy measurement. Have you seen the jewellery?’
‘No … but John Howard said it’s old-fashioned and heavy, and includes a tiara, necklaces, brooches, rings etcetera.’
She made a face. ‘I’ll never wear it.’
‘The jewellery can be broken down and sold for its value in precious stones and metals, though a better idea is to keep it as an investment. There is also a letter of credit to an account in the Bank of England for two thousand guineas.’
Her mouth nearly fell open. ‘Two thousand guineas?’
‘It’s a generous sum,’ and he ran his forefinger roughly down the stack of coins, as though he was angry with them. One of the golden towers collapsed and the coins slid across the dressing table. ‘With this added in it the sum could almost double.’
Grace reached for the nearest chair and sank into it. ‘It’s too much.’
‘More than you expected?’
Something in his voice made her gaze sharply at him. ‘Of course it is. I expected something personal to remember Lady Florence by, a brooch or a figurine perhaps. The most I hoped for was the same sum as the others received. With an amount like this I might be able to buy a small house in town to live in, one that isn’t too expensive to run.’
And with roses rambling round the door and a little lily pond with golden fish. And from it she’d walk to Dominic’s office every day and it would be wonderful to work for him.
And admire him from afar.
The second tower of coins was demolished into a pile of expensive rubble. ‘I would have thought that living here would have made you more ambitious in your pursuit of the life you had before you became a drudge.’
She winced. ‘I never considered myself to be a drudge. As for being ambitious, that’s an odd word to use. If I was ambitious it was because I was educated. Becoming a servant didn’t occur to me because I wasn’t brought up to it. Both occupations are worthy ones if the person takes pride in their work.’
‘I wasn’t criticizing. I’ve cleaned a few floors in my time, and cooked a few dinners. Our stepmother used to make a work schedule every week, and we’d rotate the jobs. The house wasn’t always clean. There were corners where the broom never reached and we locked the door on the dust. The rooms we used regularly got all the attention. You must miss the home you grew up in.’
‘Not very often, since I didn’t have the time. My step down on the social scale brought an increase in my activities. Looking after an invalid was time consuming, and left little time for leisure. Even if I’d had enough money to purchase the house I grew up in, I wouldn’t have bought it. It was too big for one person, and cost too much to run. So does this one.’
‘Yes … I suppose it does. Grace, I have to tell you something – something I should have discussed with you before this, but I was bound by Lady Florence’s instructions.’
She engaged his eyes. ‘What is it?’
‘There’s a condition attached to the legacy, I’m afraid.’
‘Which is?’
He gazed at her for a moment, expression inscrutable, and then said, ‘The money is to provide you with a dowry.’
She smiled at that. ‘As to that, I suppose the legacy can remain in the bank until I need one. I’ve never been comfortable with the notion of buying a spouse.’
‘That’s only half of the condition,’ he said, his expression morose as he reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He took her hands in his. ‘Don’t think I’m happy about saying this, but there’s more to the condition than that. Lady Florence’s wish was that you should marry her nephew.’
She gazed at him for a full minute, her expression unbelieving, then colour rushed into it and she gave a strangled scream. ‘What have I done to become a condition in somebody’s will? It makes me feel liked an animal trapped in the boundary of my cage, looking for a way out. I’m speechless.’
She was not speechless, as was demonstrated by her next sentence.
The words were forced out – brittle words, so they snapped off in short sections like twigs in a gale or a dagger stabbed into her chest. ‘Not only does she provide me with a dowry, she dares to chose that odious parody of a man to be my husband. Brigadier Maximilian Crouch, I recall his name is.’
‘She suggests you might be good for him. Even if you refuse the marriage the contents of her wardrobes will be yours, excluding any jewellery or cash.’
‘I don’t want the contents of her wardrobes. They’re a testament to her vanity. Besides that, her nephew would hardly want a wardrobe full of ladies’ gowns.’
Dominic gave a wry grin. ‘From what I hear I wouldn’t rule that out, my dear.’
She stared at him for a moment and then she blushed and averted her face.
‘I’m sorry if I embarrassed you, Gracie. Forgive me.’
But it seemed she was just warming up.
The long sigh she gave was followed by a short, frustrated scream. ‘So if I want the legacy she’d have me marry a stranger. Her seemingly generous gesture will simply pass from her hands into mine and then back into the family coffers. In other words I will be earning my own dowry but without actually being paid it. In fact, she is insulting me, treating me like a—’
Hastily, he said, ‘Getting in a temper and letting fly with bar room language will not encourage anyone to think better of you.’
She gasped.
He placed the sealed letter in her hands. ‘This is addressed to you.’
She stared down at it, and after a while he asked her, ‘Aren’t you going to open it?’
‘No, I don’t want to read her pathetic excuses, for it will only serve to make me think less of her. And I don’t want her clothes. I’d rather walk around undressed … or, in rags, at least. What she is trying to do is turn me into a … a woman of fortune for her relative. I’m surprised you think so little of me that you’d act as a messenger.’
Coming from her sweet little mouth the stark meaning of the words shocked him, and although he had to admit the thought of seeing her naked held a lot of charm, he had to admit that she was right in her assessment of the situation.
She mocked him. ‘Oh dear … did you think I wasn’t aware of such words? I’m not a delicate bloom raised in a hothouse, I’m a doctor’s daughter, remember? Tell me, Dominic, what if I refuse Maximilian Crouch?’
‘Then no one person will receive the main legacy, not even her nephew. All of her money will go to charity.’
It was an onerous burden to place on a young woman’s shoulders, and Dominic felt for her. He could almost see her simmer as she thought the matter through and looked for someone to bl
ame. He was the closest.
Her voice grew stronger as she found the courage to hurl some scorn at him. ‘You led me on and paid me attention, and you made me like you, when I didn’t want to. God only knows why I enjoy your company so much. I imagined … well, never mind, fool that I am. I suppose your conceit allows you to believe that all types of females sigh over you, and without you even noticing them.’
‘My dear Gracie, believe me, I notice every woman who flutters an eyelash at me, and also those who don’t. Let’s not allow this to become personal.’
‘It’s not funny. How could you be so conniving and cruel, Dominic LéSayres? Damn it, you were her adviser.’
‘No … John Howard was.’
She shot to her feet, shoved the paper into her pocket and glared at him. ‘You should have told me about this earlier.’
He flinched and his mouth set into a taut line. ‘It would be better if we discussed this issue rationally.’
‘Issue … issue! This is the rest of my life you’re talking about. For whom would it be better, may I ask? It’s easier said than done when the outcome of it will affect me rather than you. Didn’t anyone consider I might not want to become the bride of Brigadier Crouch?’
‘It seems not. Calm down, Grace. Nobody has consulted him yet. He may have wed, or he might refuse the condition.’
‘There is a possibility he might pressure me to obtain the money. There is a possibility … Lady Florence may have placed me in danger.’ Her eyes widened and colour rose to her cheeks. ‘Did you say he might refuse to wed me? Why, what’s wrong with me?’
‘Nothing … except when you turn into a shrew. I’m not accustomed to people shouting at me. You should learn to control yourself if you intend to work for me.’
‘How can I work for you if I’m married off to Brigadier Crouch?’
‘You do have the right to refuse the condition, Grace. If you don’t want to be married off, then don’t be. Most women I know would jump at the chance to be respectably wed to a man of means. You could stay on as the mistress of this house. I doubt if he’d bother you much since he would be going about his soldiering for most of the time. I’ve heard the war is practically over now though, and Napoleon is exiled on the island of St Helena. You need only to run the brigadier’s household, bear him a child or two and play host.’
Her voice rose and she gave a little shiver. ‘Oh, is that all I have to do. Obviously you haven’t met him. He’s an old man of at least sixty years, and he has a moustache that looks like a grey caterpillar.’
His mouth twitched at the corner. ‘I didn’t think you’d met him.’
‘I haven’t. Lady Florence told me. Sometimes she was indiscreet when she drank strong spirits, and she told me he preferred the company of men, but I didn’t think … well, I daresay you know what I didn’t think. Her ambition in life was to see him settled in a suitable marriage and with a family. I was given no reason to believe she’d chosen me for that particular responsibility. She suggested once or twice that marriage would knock the foppish nonsense from him, and I agreed with her because it’s one of those statements that didn’t need to be explored. But I didn’t think she meant marriage to me.’
Dominic looked as shocked as Grace felt. Lord, what had she said? Young women of breeding were not supposed to know such things, let alone talk about them … but then, perhaps he’d used his own interpretation of her words.
A growl gathered inside her. So that’s what he thought of her, that she was a vixen. He was probably right. She gulped back a retort to stop her anger from spilling over again and choked out, ‘I’m sorry.’
He took her hands in his, turned them over and kissed the palms. ‘You’re forgiven. I’m sure we can work something out between us.’
He was treating the problem as though it were nothing … a tease. ‘It’s you who needs to control himself. I’ve told you not to do that.’
He chuckled. ‘You’ll be striking me next.’
‘If that’s what it takes to reinforce the notion that you cannot take advantage of me every time you feel like it.’ She lashed out and her hand slapped against his cheek as though she was swatting a fly.
They stared at each other, and there was shock in his eyes. Then he touched his stinging flesh, his fingers gentled the site of his pain as his words reflected the damage she’d inflicted on him as more emotional than physical. A sudden bewilderment grew in his eyes that made him appear vulnerable so she wanted to snatch him to her and hold him tight.
‘That hurt, but I imagine I deserved it,’ he said. ‘Will you accept my apology?’
He was an expert at making her feel guilty. Of course he hadn’t deserved it, and she owed him an apology, not the other way round.
Her lips were trembling as she gazed at him, tears gathering in her eyes. Eventually, she brought herself to say, ‘Of course it hurt, it was meant to. It was unforgivable of me and now I despise myself as much as I … like you.’ She drew in a deep, shuddering breath. ‘I’m sorry … it’s me who should ask your forgiveness.’ She touched her finger against the reddening mark on his cheek.
‘You are overwrought, and that was my fault. Go and compose yourself,’ he said calmly, and he handed her his neatly folded handkerchief.
Dashing her tears away encouraged more to flood down her face and replace them. Damn him … her eyes would turn red, she thought.
She burst into tears, and then she turned and hastened away from him to the room she called her own – though for how much longer, even that was in the lap of the gods.
Locking the door behind her and feeling like a child she threw herself on the bed and sobbed into the pillow.
Five
Grace didn’t immediately join Dominic for dinner, though the smell of cooking wafted deliciously through the house and set her mouth watering. She was wondering which of the chickens had been sacrificed when Jessie came up to fetch her.
‘Mr LéSayres desires your company for dinner.’
‘Tell him I’m in no mood for his company, I’ll have my dinner in my room.’
Jessie had no sympathy to spare for her. ‘I’m not running up and down the stairs pandering to the likes of you. Either come down to the dining room or go without, but I warn you, the man is in no mood to be trifled with. He said you have ten minutes before he comes up to fetch you. If I were you I’d do as you’re told.’
‘You’re not me, and I’m in no mood be trifled with, either. I’ll box his ears if he’s not careful. Tell him—’
‘You tell him. By the way, you should be careful of him. Gentleman he might be but he’s got a way of looking at you that tells me he’s sizing you up. Has he made any advances yet?’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she lied, because it wasn’t really Jessie’s business.
‘Of course you do. You’re young and impressionable, but you’re not daft.’
Grace shrugged. ‘Even if he did approach me in an unseemly manner it wouldn’t do him any good.’
‘Tell me that when his unseemly hand is under your skirt giving you an unseemly tickle. Men are right sneaky creatures. I’m telling you … he’s just biding his time. You can only lead a man along for a short time before they lose control over themselves. Then there’s no stopping them. If she’d lived, your mother would have told you that.’
Her mother wouldn’t have been so vulgar, Grace was sure. ‘I’ll be careful.’
‘Good. Cook is going to take up her new position tomorrow and Ella will be going with her. If you don’t come with us to Australia – and I’ve done my best to persuade you. I’ll give him this, I don’t know what you’ll do. For all his superior manners, he found employment for those staff that needed it, just like this man said he would, and he’s hired a carriage to take them to their new abode. Reckon he’ll do the same for us. Send us off in style to board the ship.’
When Brian and Jessie left she’d be alone here with Dominic, except for young Sam, who regarded his new employer and his hors
e with a certain amount of worship in his brown eyes, and his master’s horse with reverence.
Already shocked by Jessie’s blunt warning Grace placed her hands over her ears. ‘I don’t want to hear any more.’
Jessie pulled them down. ‘Now, listen to me, girl. The man has a right persuasive look to him and a way with women from all accounts. We’ve heard a thing or two … gossip, mind you, but there’s no smoke without fire.’
‘What sort of gossip?’
‘This and that … some say they wouldn’t be at all surprised if he turned out to be a married man.’
Gracie felt as though the house had collapsed around her. Her initial anger was replaced by more rational thoughts and they crowded in on her. Dominic hardly ever discussed anything personal from his background. She had never asked him if he was married, so she couldn’t say he’d lied to her, one way or the other. All he’d done was flirted with her, as other men had on occasion. That didn’t mean he wanted to take her to the altar.
No … but he’d like to take you into his bed.
Her voice thickened in her throat. ‘Thanks for telling me, Jessie. You’re leaving sooner than I thought.’
‘We’ve stayed longer than we should have, but it was worth it for the extra wage. We have a ship to board.’
‘You’re still going to Australia to dig for gold then?’
‘Brian’s cousin has bought the claim next to his and they’ll work them together.’ She lowered her voice. ‘There’s room for you if you want to come. They’re short of women over there … especially those who have any quality. You’ll need to have some money behind you for the ship’s passage, and to set up your school.’
Two thousand guineas floated before her eyes. It was tempting … but no. She didn’t like the way she’d have to earn it.
‘I’ve saved all my wages since I’ve been here, so if need be that should cover it.’
‘Don’t forget about your legacy? Mr LéSayres said we’d be getting twenty pounds apiece.’
