The Trader's Reward

by Anna Jacobs

  ‘Years of practice,’ he admitted ruefully when she asked about this. ‘My uncle took most of my wages to pay off my parents’ debt to him.’

  ‘He must be a mean fellow to treat a relative like that.’

  ‘He is.’

  She travelled up to Perth twice more to help Mr Deeping, going on her own, leaving Rémi to make plans and wander round Fremantle, looking at possible sites for a bookshop.

  She wasn’t sure they’d have the money, but he was quite prepared to risk all he had in the venture.

  One evening she looked across the table at him and said, ‘We’d better start adding my money to the total.’

  He looked at her in shock. ‘No, no! I know how important that money is to you.’

  ‘Not as important as you are. And anyway, I’ve got to know you better. You’re not like Francis, not a rash man, thank goodness.’

  He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. ‘Thank you. Your trust means a lot to me.’

  The next time she made plans to go to the shop in Perth, Livia asked Rémi to go with her. She didn’t know why, she just had a feeling she’d need him. Such fancies weren’t usual with her but he seemed happy to accompany her, whatever the reason.

  She knew Rémi was still fretting that he hadn’t been able to buy the bookshop. It’d have been perfect for them. But as she’d found, life was rarely perfect.

  And at least they’d found one another. That was so wonderful.

  When they got to the shop, they found it locked, the blinds still pulled down in the windows. Livia was concerned. ‘Mr Deeping usually opens up well before this time.’

  ‘Do you have a key?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘We could go round the back and see if he’s hidden a spare key anywhere. People often do.’

  The back yard was in a mess, even though the tenants in the rear part of the house were supposed to keep it tidy.

  A woman came out to see what they were doing. ‘No, I haven’t seen Mr Deeping this morning. It’s not like him not to open the shop, I must say. Wait a minute. I have a key to his back door.’

  When they went inside, Livia called out, ‘Mr Deeping? Are you all right?’

  There was no answer.

  ‘I’m not going upstairs to look,’ the tenant declared. ‘He might have dropped dead. I can’t abide dead bodies. I’ll be in my house if you need anything else.’

  Livia took a deep breath. ‘I’d better go up and check.’

  Rémi moved ahead of her, barring her way with one arm. ‘I’ll go up first, in case he’s not in a fit state to see you.’

  She waited at the foot of the stairs and a minute later, Rémi called down. ‘Can you come up, Livia?’

  When she reached the landing, he took her hand and said gently, ‘He’s dead. Must have passed away during the night. Are you all right about dead bodies? He looks very peaceful.’

  ‘Death is something most people are used to by my age. Anyway, I’d like to see him, to say goodbye. He is – he was such a dear old fellow.’

  As Rémi had said, Mr Deeping looked very peaceful. His spectacles were still perched on his nose and his book had fallen on to the floor, still open at the page he’d been reading. He looked mildly surprised, but not as if he’d suffered any pain.

  ‘Who do we send for?’ Rémi asked.

  ‘I know who his lawyer is. Shall I go and find him?’

  ‘I’ll come with you. Mr Deeping doesn’t need me now.’

  ‘Thank you, Rémi. You’re a great comfort to me.’

  They told the tenant what had happened and asked her not to let anyone else in, then walked down the hill, holding hands shamelessly like two children.

  The lawyer stared at them in shock. ‘Dead? But I only saw him a couple of days ago. My goodness! The poor man didn’t even get a chance to spend his final months with his favourite books. He was telling me how much he was looking forward to that.’

  ‘Had he signed a contract to sell the place? Do we have to contact somebody about it?’

  ‘No, he’s not signed anything yet. The fellow who wants to buy it is in the country and Mr Deeping said there was no hurry. Indeed, in the circumstances, that’s probably a good thing.’

  ‘Circumstances? What circumstances?’

  ‘I can’t talk about that until I’ve confirmed that he is indeed dead. I’ll walk back with you and send my clerk for the doctor.’

  When he stood by the bed, the lawyer nodded. ‘No doubt in my mind that he died peacefully. We all wish for that sort of ending, do we not?’

  With the doctor’s confirmation that everything had happened naturally, the lawyer asked his clerk to make the funeral arrangements they’d already discussed with Mr Deeping.

  He then turned to Livia. ‘Do you have time to come to my office? Mr Deeping has named you as his heir, you see.’ She looked at him in surprise. ‘Me?’

  ‘You didn’t know?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Well, he only changed his will this week, but he said he was going to mention it to you. He left you all the money remaining after he’d passed away. Of course, he expected to need much of it to care for himself during the next year or two, which is why he’d decided to sell. But as he hadn’t sold when he died, or even given a firm agreement to sell, that option is up to you now and— Mrs Southerham? Are you all right?’

  For the first time in her life, Livia had fainted.

  Rémi had seen her eyes roll up and recognised the signs, so had been quick enough to catch her. The lawyer gestured to the sofa at one side of his room and they laid her gently on it.

  When she came to a few moments later, she asked the lawyer, ‘Did I dream it, or has Mr Deeping really left me the bookshop?’

  ‘You didn’t dream it. He’s left his entire estate to you, Mrs Southerham. Said his nephew in Sydney hadn’t even bothered to write for the past two years, so it might as well go to someone who had cared about him.’

  She sat up, not daring yet to stand, but turning to Rémi automatically. He was looking rather solemn and she knew him well enough by now to guess why, but she didn’t say anything about that. She turned to the lawyer. ‘I’d like to go home now. Can I leave the funeral arrangements to your clerk?’

  ‘Yes, of course. But you’ll come back for the funeral and then sign the papers for me? And perhaps you ought to come to Perth tomorrow to take care of the shop. Are you going to run it or sell it?’

  ‘Run it.’ She stood up and Rémi was there to offer his arm.

  As they walked slowly down to the ferry, she said, ‘This means we can get married quite soon.’

  He stopped walking. ‘How can we do that? Everyone will think I’m a fortune hunter.’

  She gave him a fond glance. ‘I shall know that you’re not, which is the only thing that matters to me. Anyway, you told me you had a lot of books. If you were happy to, you could add some of them to the stock, make a contribution to the business that way, as well as helping me run it.’

  ‘It … still doesn’t seem fair.’

  ‘Of course it is. There’s just one condition I’m going to make about marrying you, that you never make financial decisions about our money without consulting me.’

  He swallowed hard. ‘Do you really trust me enough to marry me? We haven’t known each other very long.’

  ‘Were you lying when you said you’d fallen in love with me?’

  ‘No, of course not. You know I wasn’t.’

  ‘Then what’s to stop us? And of course I trust you, you fool, or I wouldn’t even be considering marriage.’

  So he stopped walking, took both her hands in his and said solemnly, ‘Then I swear by all that’s in me to love and cherish you all the days of my life, Livia.’

  She looked up at him misty-eyed, greatly touched by his words. ‘I shall do the same for you, Rémi – all the days of my life. I like that phrase, don’t you?’

  ‘I do.’ He bent to kiss her cheek very gently, then the corners of his lips star
ted to curl up and she waited, knowing he’d found something humorous in the situation. Didn’t he always?

  ‘What have you thought of now, Rémi Newland?’ she demanded when he didn’t share it with her immediately.

  ‘I can’t wait to tell Orla and Rhoda. On the way back, let’s see who can correctly guess what they’ll say.’

  ‘And what penalty will the loser pay?’

  ‘A kiss.’

  ‘That seems a very fair punishment to me.’ She chuckled, then shook her head. ‘I shouldn’t be laughing when poor Mr Deeping is lying dead.’

  ‘I think he’d enjoy the joke.’

  As it turned out, neither of them won the bet, because neither of them had guessed how delighted and approving the two maids would be.

  So they agreed to each pay the required penalty once they were alone.

  ‘And we’ll marry as soon as we can by special licence,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I can wait much longer, you see.’

  ‘I’ll tell Bram and everyone tomorrow. Tonight I just want to sit quietly with you, my darling.’

  Livia and Rémi’s wedding was postponed just a little, at Bram’s request.

  ‘Who can deny Bram anything when he’s so happy?’ Livia said in excuse to her fiancé.

  ‘A few days here or there won’t matter. But my lodgings at the bookshop aren’t nearly as comfortable as your house was. And I’m very impatient to make you mine.’

  ‘Orla and Rhoda were adamant. It wouldn’t look right, you living with me once we were engaged to be married. Anyway, it’s giving us time to clear out Mr Deeping’s quarters and get the tenants out of the back part of the building.’

  ‘Your maids are thrilled that they’ll have a little house to themselves.’

  She gave him a mischievous smile. ‘I’m thrilled to have them staying next door. Once we’re sharing a bed, I shall prefer to be truly alone.’ She watched his breath catch in his throat. Well, hers did too, every time she thought of having a loving husband again – in bed, in her daily life, in sickness and in health.

  25

  When news came that The Bonny Ismay had been sighted on her way into Fremantle, Bram let out a cry of joy and grabbed Isabella, twirling her round the shop.

  Customers stopped to smile at his obvious happiness and when he realised everyone was staring, he gave a shamefaced smile and announced, ‘My sister’s about to arrive from Singapore.’

  He heard someone say that he was a good family man. He hoped he was. He loved to have his family around him. That was a better reward for his hard work than any money, as far as he was concerned, though the money had helped make it possible.

  Isabella poked him in the ribs. ‘Go on. Get yourself down to the harbour and see her in. You’ll be no use here today.’

  ‘You’ll go home and get things started?’

  ‘As soon as I’ve finished serving Mrs Greenhalgh. We’ve got it all planned, though. We’ll just enjoy their company tonight, and then we’ll have the big family party in a day or two.’

  Letting out a sigh of pure happiness, Bram walked down to the harbour, taking his time, not caring that clouds were gathering and it looked as if some autumn rain was about to fall. He stood waiting for the ship to come in, oblivious to everything but the joy welling inside him.

  It seemed to take a long time, but eventually the schooner was close enough to the jetty for him to make out his sister so clearly that he didn’t need to ask if she was well. Rosy-cheeked, her dark hair flying in the breeze, she waved vigorously, jigging up and down with the same excitement he was feeling, he knew.

  As soon as they had a gangway in place, Ismay came running down it and flung herself into his arms.

  ‘Oh, it’s wonderful to see you again, Bram. We have so much to tell you.’

  ‘I have a big surprise for you, too.’

  ‘Oh! You go first.’

  ‘Fergus has come out to join us in Australia.’

  She stood very still for a moment, eyes wide open in surprise, then she let out a cry of joy and gave him a big hug. ‘I thought I’d never see that brother again. Oh, Bram, how wonderful!’ She burst into tears, but quickly stopped crying and blew her nose. ‘Sorry. I’m just so happy.’

  ‘I’ll tell you the details as we walk back – or are you needed here?’

  ‘No. Adam said to go home and leave him to get on with it. He is the captain, after all.’ She turned to blow a kiss at her husband, who paused for a moment to blow one back and wave to Bram, then went back to supervising the docking and preparing for the customs inspection.

  ‘Now, tell me everything,’ Ismay said, linking her arm in Bram’s.

  They didn’t even get to his house, because she had to go to the ice works at once and see Fergus.

  When they entered the shop attached to the ice works, Bram looked round in approval at how clean everything was now. Cara was behind the counter and he beckoned her over.

  ‘This is my sister Ismay. Ismay, this is Fergus’s wife, Cara.’

  Ismay didn’t wait but hugged Cara. ‘Lovely to meet you. Is Fergus in the back?’

  ‘Yes.’ Cara stood aside, smiling, and waved her through.

  They followed to hear Ismay shriek, ‘Fergus!’ as she threw herself at her brother.

  ‘See to the shop,’ Bram whispered to Robbie.

  The lad smiled and went to wash his hands. He was as changed as the shop, Bram was pleased to see, in appearance and cleanliness.

  It was a while before Ismay could be persuaded to stop hugging Fergus and leave the ice works.

  ‘You’ll see him again this evening,’ Bram told her. ‘Everyone will be going round to Maura’s after tea. We arranged to do that as soon as you arrived, though we’re holding a proper party too. There’s so much to celebrate.’

  She patted his cheek. ‘This has made you very happy, hasn’t it?’

  He nodded. ‘Oh, yes. So, you said you had news for me?’ he prompted as they began walking to his house to say hello to his wife, who had gone home early today.

  ‘Wait till Isabella’s there and I’ll tell you together. We’re almost at your house now.’

  The two women hugged, then Ma was introduced.

  ‘Well?’ Bram demanded. ‘What’s the other big news, Ismay?’

  ‘Mr Lee has got married.’

  ‘He’s married? So quickly? Who to?’

  ‘A nice, quiet young lady with a very rich father. I have trouble remembering her name, and she doesn’t speak English, but she smiled a lot and bowed, you know the way they do, so I did it too. Xiu Mei has written it all down in her letter to you, Isabella.’ She fumbled in her pocket and handed it over. ‘We didn’t get to Singapore in time for the wedding, but Xiu Mei says it was splendid and everyone who is anyone attended, even the Europeans. Her brother wants her to get married next but she’s insisting on having a say in who her husband is.’

  ‘I was hoping he would be more liberal with her.’

  ‘Oh, Mr Lee pretended to be angry at her for saying that, but he wasn’t really. He’s very fond of his sister and I’m sure he won’t do anything to make her unhappy. And you should see the wonderful silks she’s sent this time. Even better than usual. I bought a length from her shop and had it made up into a skirt and bodice. They do it so quickly and cheaply there.’

  When her spate of words had run down, Bram said, ‘We have some other news. Livia is going to get married.’

  Ismay let out another of her joyful shouts. ‘Oh, how wonderful! Is he nice? How did she meet him?’

  ‘He’s charming. Not only that, but Mr Deeping had died – which we’re sorry about, of course, he was a nice old chap – and he’s left her his bookshop. She and Rémi are going to run it together. He’s as mad about books as she is.’

  She laughed. ‘Well, I hope he’s more practical than her. She’ll spend all her time reading the books instead of serving customers. Oh no!’ She had caught sight of the clock. ‘Look at the time! I’d better go home now. Uncle Quentin an
d Aunt Harriet will be wondering what’s happened to me. I must see that everything’s ready for Adam. He loves travelling, but he loves coming home, too.’

  ‘I’ll walk back with you, though I won’t have time to come in,’ Bram said. ‘Tell Aunt Harriet and Uncle Quentin that they’re invited to a big Deagan family party next Sunday. A huge celebration at Maura’s. You know how she loves arranging parties.’

  But the family party had to be reorganised a little to include a wedding, because Livia and Rémi couldn’t bear to wait a minute longer.

  Orla and Rhoda took their mistress in hand and she was beautifully dressed, for once, in a dusky pink silk that flattered her greatly.

  The newly-weds looked so happy that Bram was, as always at weddings, reduced to tears. He wasn’t the only one.

  Fergus and Cara walked to Maura’s house with Ismay and her husband, chatting happily. Adam clearly adored Ismay, which was enough for Fergus to like him.

  Maura had prepared mountains of food and had even found a couple of girls to supervise the children’s play, so that the adults could enjoy an hour or two of real leisure. Noreen opted to help out with the younger children.

  Ryan refused to be included among the children, and condescended instead to take Sean for a walk. The younger boy spent every minute he could with his young uncle and nothing could have made him happier. It had taken the children a while to understand all the new relationships, but that was families for you, Ma said.

  Bram tapped on the table, and when people didn’t fall silent, banged on it hard with his fist.

  ‘I wish to say a few words—’ he began.

  ‘Make sure it is a few, for once,’ Isabella said. ‘We’re not in the mood for speeches, Bram Deagan, and the newly-weds have to catch the evening ferry back to Perth.’

  Everyone cheered and laughed.

  He grinned back. ‘I know that. But we have to do a very important task. Do you all have something to drink a toast with, whether it’s wine or tea?’

  When they nodded, he took a deep breath. ‘Right then. First I would like to wish Mr and Mrs Newland a very happy life together.’ He raised his glass and everyone followed suit.