by Janet Woods
Grace hadn’t given the legacy much of a thought up till today, and she hadn’t discussed her situation with anyone. Now there was panic fermenting inside her. She felt trapped and supposed there would be no legacy for her unless she married Maximilian Crouch. If the choice was to wed a miner in a far away land, she might as well stay here in a place familiar to her, and marry. The difference would be a comfortable house to live in rather than being mistress of a dirty tent with spiders walking in and out as they pleased. She wasn’t the adventurous type and digging in the dirt for gold sounded highly speculative.
She mumbled, ‘Thank you for the offer, Jessie. I’ll think about going with you, but Mr LéSayres has offered me employment as his clerk and I think that might suit me better.’
‘Well, there’s generous of him. But don’t set your cap at him. He has family responsibilities.’
‘What makes you think he has commitments?’
Her heart lurched when Jessie said, slightly maliciously, ‘The messenger saw him with a woman in Poole a few weeks ago when he was delivering a message. A lovely young lady he said she was, very elegant, and they seemed familiar with each other. He signed for the message with just his family name, LéSayres. It saved the messenger from riding all the way from Poole into Dorchester with it, which shows he has some respect for the ordinary folk. Besides, I asked him just yesterday whether he had a family, and he gazed at me with that thoughtful look he has when he’s considering his answer, and then he smiled and said, “Yes … I do have a family”, before he walked off.’
It felt as though a brick had fallen on to Grace’s head.
‘Now, I must go before he comes looking for you. I don’t want to end up in the middle of a barney.’
Grace’s hands went to her hips and she tossed her head. ‘I’m not scared of him. Which hen will we be eating? I don’t think I can eat Sophie, she’s so sweet.’
‘Mr LéSayres fetched a brace of rabbits back from his ride this morning, a clean shot through each head so they didn’t see it coming. We ate Sophie the day before yesterday.’
‘And you didn’t tell me.’
‘The last thing Sophie needed was you weeping over her when she faced the hangman’s noose. Tomorrow it’s Henrietta and Jane’s turn, stuffed with chestnuts and roasted with vegetables. There will be apple pie with custard for a pudding. I must admit, I’m getting sick of eating chicken.’
‘I expect they’re more sick of us eating them. It makes me feel guilty.’
‘That’s because you gave them all names, as though they were people.’ Jessie grinned at her before leaving. ‘You’re too soft, Grace. If we don’t eat them they’ll die of starvation, or the foxes will get them.’
It wasn’t long after Jessie left before Grace heard Dominic’s heavier tread on the staircase. It sounded quite menacing and her stomach quaked, though knowing her imagination was out of control.
Despite telling herself she wasn’t scared, Grace pushed a heavy footstool in front of the door, but not so close it would prevent the door from opening. She jumped when a firm knock landed on the panel, and she pressed her ear against the door that led to the corridor.
The doorknob rattled and Dominic’s voice was as smooth as silk against the panel. ‘Come out, Gracie Ellis, I need to talk to you.’
‘Liar … you just want your own way.’
He rattled the doorknob and said against the door panel, ‘I have a key.’
So had she, but why should she be obliged to lock doors against this man?
Metal scraped against metal and there was a solid clunk as he unlocked the door.
Grace retreated into the connecting dressing room. Locking the door between them, she opened the one into the corridor – her escape route.
‘Come out of there else I’ll come in.’
She didn’t answer. The sound of the connecting door being unlocked was followed by a crash and a succinct curse when he tripped over the stool.
Taking in a deep breath and hoping he hadn’t hurt himself, she flew out of the door into the corridor and scurried down the stairs before he had time to collect himself. She rang the bell for the dinner to be brought in.
Not long afterwards Dominic limped into the room, seating himself opposite her.
‘You’re late,’ she said, her heart lurching like a cart in a pothole.
‘Then please accept my apology. I was attacked by a ferocious foot stool.’
A giggle gathered force inside her. ‘Were you injured?’
‘One of my shins is bruised and I have a hole in my hose.’
Guilt overcame her giggle. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘No doubt I’ll recover.’
‘No doubt.’ They gazed at each other without speaking for a while, and she gave a breathless huff of laughter. ‘I am sorry, truly I am. I shouldn’t have hit you. I was in a bit of a dudgeon.’
‘Yes … I noticed.’ He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. ‘You have quite a punch on you.’
‘It was only a slap. It does less damage and has better shock value than a punch because it’s noisy.’
‘Since when have you been an expert on the art of pugilism?’
‘Two men thumping each other with their fists is hardly an art.’
‘You’d be surprised how much of an art it can be.’ He smiled as he poured some white wine into her glass and then placed a hand over hers. ‘Will you forgive me for upsetting you?’
She summoned up only a small amount of scorn because when she was with him her bad mood seemed to dissipate as soon as it flared up. He brought out the worst as well as the best in her. ‘I’m not your responsibility, Dominic.’
‘I know … but why do I feel that you should be. I’m just following my instincts.’
It was a remark so casual it nearly robbed her of breath. She tried to push him further into the personal. ‘Why do you feel like that?’
‘Because you’re a young woman in my employ, and you have nobody but me to offer you some fatherly advice.’
‘I’m not in your employ yet, since we haven’t agreed on terms. Besides, I’m still considering going to Australia.’
‘Is that wise? The place is populated by criminals and is barely habitable by all accounts. You will have nobody to turn to should your expectations prove to be false. I beg you, Grace, do not embark on such a perilous venture.’
Beg? She was surprised he cared enough about it to beg. ‘It’s wiser than marrying a complete stranger. And may I point out—’
‘That I am not your father, your uncle, brother or any other adult that could be responsible for you. Yes … yes, I’m quite aware of that, but I’ve heard that the southern continent is filled with deadly creatures such as snakes and spiders and their venom can kill almost instantly. Most of Australia is unexplored and it’s believed that the deserts stretch for thousands of miles. Water is scarce in more places than not and people perish from the lack of it. Were your father still alive I’m sure he’d caution you against taking such an imprudent step.’
‘My father was the least prudent person I’ve ever known. He lived for the day.’
‘And you’re paying the price for it. Perhaps his lack of fortune when he died should warn you that money, however earned, is easily spent when one is bent on pleasure. My own father was similar in his habits and disposition to yours, and it compelled me to realize the value of money.’
Grace didn’t want to discuss their respective fathers. ‘We were talking about Australia, I believe, and not the nature of my father. If you think he’d step out of his grave in support of your argument – even though he’d probably agree with you – then you’re very much mistaken. He was reckless and I am not, since he encouraged me to think for myself, and my disposition leads towards caution.’
He shrugged. ‘That’s debatable, since you cannot see through the eyes of others. Besides, the gold coming out of Australia is of no great volume at the moment and the main export is the fleece from sheep farming. Earning a liv
ing there will be hard. In the main, the population is drawn from convict stock, soldiers and settlers, and the native population. It’s a vast country, mostly unexplored.’
Grace shuddered as she thought of the snakes and spiders, though she found his discourse fascinating. ‘How do you know all these things?’
His shrug was a mixture of pride and modesty. ‘It’s my business to know. I’ll worry about you if you go.’
To which she wistfully thought, it might be nice to have someone who worried about her. ‘Would you truly?’
His hand covered his heart, a somewhat childish, but heart-warming gesture. ‘Do you doubt it?’
‘That’s sweet of you, Dominic. Would you worry if I married Crouch?’
He slanted his head to one side and considered for a moment, aware he’d allowed himself to be shunted into a corner. Grace Ellis was hardly out of childhood, yet she managed to get under his skin without even trying. Would he worry about her? Yes, damn it! He would. The brigadier was too old for her, certainly, and he was a career soldier set in his ways. As for the brigadier’s private life … it wasn’t that private if the talk was anything to go by.
Even if it was gossip Grace’s position within the household would be untenable and she would be shunned. Were Grace his daughter, would he marry her off to a seasoned soldier who was forty years her senior? Certainly not!
‘I would always wonder where you were and what you are doing.’
Her smile came, a little on the smug side, as though it was the answer she’d expected … or hoped for. Her next words bore that out. ‘Why would you when you didn’t even know me a few weeks ago?’
She wanted a reason to lighten the atmosphere their argument had created, so he gave her one. ‘It’s because you’re as enchanting as a spring morning as well as being naïve, Gracie dear, and you would become a target for every red-blooded male who set eyes on you.’
Honeyed eyes reflected the candlelight flickering in their depths. They widened as she looked at him. There was a sweep of her eyelashes as she closed her eyes, and then they swept open again, quivering slightly. Her eyes grew even wider and her voice was so soft that for a moment or two afterwards he wondered if he’d heard her properly.
‘Men like you, Dominic?’
Most women he knew enjoyed a compliment so he looked over his glass at her. ‘Regretfully.’
‘Why regretfully? Do you have wicked thoughts?’
Dominic swallowed his wine down the wrong way and snatched up the table napkin when he began to splutter.
She didn’t seem to notice him choking to death beside her but carried on with the conversation. ‘My father told the reverend there was no such thing as wicked thoughts. He said nature designed us just as we are, faults included. I’d much rather heed my father, then I wouldn’t need to pray for forgiveness every time I did something wrong. The reverend advised him he was feckless and had brought me up to be a heathen.’
He began to laugh. ‘It would have served you better had the good reverend provided you with a roof over your head.’
‘Only one man did that, and that was Mr John Howard. And he asked for no reward. I had only met him once, I recall, and that was when I was a child and I thought he was stern, so that was a kind thing for him to do.’
She peered at him. ‘Perhaps I’ll marry Mr Howard instead if he’s available … at least I’ll be able to spell his name. Maximilian Crouch is awfully tricky; I can’t even pronounce it properly. And the family name reminds me of a frog waiting to leap at me from the pond.’
‘John Howard is widowed … and he is a little on the mature side.’ Dominic doubted that John could leap from a pond with any great ease though, and began to wonder what the cogs of her brain were greased with as he struggled not to laugh all over again. He couldn’t imagine his sedate business partner married to such a lively young woman.
‘Are you all right, Mr LéSayres? You sound rather hoarse?’ she said, and so sweetly he began to laugh. Pouring water into a glass she handed it to him with a beaming smile. ‘Be careful you don’t choke.’
Dominic shook off the remnants of his laughter and pulled on a more sober mien as he briefly analyzed his feelings towards Grace. This young woman was running rings around him, and he was disinclined to put a stop to it.
Why?
He liked her and enjoyed her company … he liked her too much. He loved her company and he loved her. The stray irrational thought stunned him.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door and Brian entered carrying a tray. He held out a square of folded paper. ‘The messenger delivered this yesterday and I forgot about it. Sorry.’
‘No matter, I doubt if it’s urgent. He read the missive and then folded the paper. His glance went from one to the other. ‘I’m reminded that I need to attend a business meeting in Poole tomorrow. Brian, tell Sam I’ll take him with me and he can settle into his new home. No doubt you can manage without me for a couple of days.’
‘That we can, sir. Jessie and I will be departing next week. Jessie thought you should be reminded so you can calculate the money we are owed in advance.’
They had obviously read the note from John Howard, and he wondered if they’d take the opportunity to leave while he was absent. But did it matter? Grace could manage being on her own for a day.
But what if she decided to go with them?
So be it … it was a choice only she could make.
‘Your dues are ready, and a cab has been booked to collect you and take you to Southampton. I’ll settle up with you this evening, and will collect your signatures before I go into town. Is there anything else, Brian.’
Brian cleared his throat and Dominic watched the man’s gaze flicker towards Grace. His voice had a truculent, hectoring sound when he said, ‘Are you coming with us or not, Grace? Make up your mind.’
She looked down at the table, and then at Brian, and Dominic noticed something in her that he hadn’t seen before, a stubborn streak. She wouldn’t be pushed.
‘I haven’t had time to decide one way or the other. Sometimes I think I will, and then caution sets in.’
She wasn’t usually so indecisive, and Dominic thought it a good time to place a little pressure of his own on her. ‘You can use the donkey and cart for the next few days in case you have last minute business to conduct, Brian.’ And he reinforced his own claim to her. ‘You might as well know I’ve advised Miss Ellis that going so far away would be foolhardy, especially since there appears to be the suggestion of a marriage of convenience on the table.’
‘To Maximilian Crouch, I believe. The old lady must have been insane to suggest such a match. If it’s a marriage for her you’re after I’m sure my brother would oblige her. Of course, no cash transaction would be involved, so neither of them could be accused of marrying for convenience, though a little advance to help the newly weds along would be welcome, no doubt.’
Grace flinched. Having her business discussed as though she wasn’t present, was galling.
Dominic said, ‘This isn’t really your business, Brian.’
‘Beggin’ your pardon sir, but neither is it yours. We’d planned for Grace to come with us. Jessie is expecting a baby in about six months. Grace knows about doctoring and she’s delivered babies before. Besides which, if we add her legacy to ours it should tide us over until we can get ourselves established … as if we were family.’
Grace’s head jerked up. ‘You never mention a baby to me before?’
The man averted his eyes. ‘Well, Jessie’s not sure yet.’
Dominic’s immediate thought was that Jessie seemed to him to be a little past childbearing age. He tried to remember the notation of age on her employment record. He recalled she was about forty-five.
Grace’s small pot of savings might be the main reason they wanted her. Once that was spent he imagined Grace would be discarded somewhere along the way.
‘Would it be fair to suggest that Jessie wasn’t with child when you first p
lanned this venture.’
‘Yes but—’
‘There are no buts about this, Mr Curtis. It’s wrong of you to use the coming infant to pressure Miss Ellis with, since responsibility for the infant belongs entirely with you and your wife. I also need to make you aware that I have offered Miss Ellis a position as my clerk, and with advantageous conditions as an added incentive. I expect her to accept. Now, may we eat, please?’
Dominic caught a gleam of annoyance flicker in the man’s eyes as he placed the dishes containing the food in front of them and departed, his mouth a tight line.
Grace began to serve the food, and afterwards she looked directly at him. ‘Remind me of the advantageous terms, Dominic … this is the first time I’ve heard mention of them.’
‘An inflated salary and furnished rent-free accommodation situated just a pleasant five minutes’ walk from my establishment … oh yes, and a maid of all work to look after your needs.’
She tucked a stray strand of her hair into her braid, and he could see that having a maid appealed to her. ‘I’m wondering … why would you go to all that trouble?’
‘Isn’t it enough, Gracie?’
She’d live in a hole in the ground if he asked her to. ‘It’s exceedingly generous of you and you know it is, so you needn’t look so bruised.’
Bruised? He grinned. A good verbal skirmish came a close second to making love and together, they could be quite powerful. ‘Shall I fetch the contract and call Brian back in to witness our signatures?’
‘Certainly not.’
‘Why, when you know you’re going to accept my offer?’
‘You’re much too sure of yourself. I may have conditions of my own to add after I’ve read the document through. I might decide I want to look after Jessie and her baby.’
He pierced a piece of cabbage with his fork and lifted his eyes to hers. ‘You’re a contrary little madam. When you want a baby to care for just let me know and I’ll arrange it.’
‘Dominic LéSayres! How dare you make such a suggestion?’
He gazed at her for a moment, and then shrugged. ‘How dare you think of something so outrageous, Miss Ellis? My mind was travelling innocently along the lines of adoption of an orphan, or a position as a nursery maid. However, your idea certainly has merits.’
