‘Yes.’
‘Very well, I’ll send her to you and tell the class what has happened once she is gone.’
When the grave-faced priest told Sally to go to his office because Nessa wanted to speak to her there, she realized immediately there was something seriously wrong. ‘Is it to do with Arthur? Won’t they let me see him?’
‘Go to speak to Miss Pyne, Sally,’ Father Michael said gently, ‘She’ll tell you what it’s about.’
Watching the young girl hurry away, he felt a deep pity for her, but could not help wondering what effect Arthur’s death might have on his school. Sally’s rise above the squalor and despair of the Old Nichol had brought a bright ray of hope into the lives of its children. So much now depended upon her reaction to the tragic news Nessa had to tell her.
‘Come in and sit down, Sally.’ Guiding the young girl across the office with an arm about her shoulders, Nessa tried very hard to conceal the distress she felt about breaking the news of Arthur’s death to her protégée.
Allowing herself to be led to a chair, Sally said, ‘It’s about Arthur, isn’t it … something’s happened?’
‘I’m afraid it has, Sally … I’m so very, very sorry.’
Now Sally realized that what Nessa had to tell her was more serious than a refused visit to her brother. ‘What is it…? Have they already transported him?’
‘No, Sally, they’ve had a serious outbreak of typhus on board the Warrior….’
‘Typhus? Arthur has typhus?’
‘It spread among the convicts … the gaolers too.’
Searching Nessa’s face, Sally saw the anguish there and she tried twice to speak before the broken words came out. ‘Arthur … he’s dead, ain’t he?’
‘I’m afraid so, Sally. More than thirty others died with him … I am so sorry.’
Sally sat silently rocking back and forth in her chair, gazing unseeingly down at the floor, her hands gripping each other tightly in her lap. There were no tears, but Nessa was aware of the intense grief locked inside her … and she knew of no way she might help her exorcise it.
Unexpectedly, Sally suddenly looked up and said, ‘Where is he, can I see him?’
Nessa shook her head, ‘He’ll have already have been buried with the others, Sally.’
‘Where?’
‘Somewhere on shore with all the others, close to the hulk. Sadly, I doubt very much whether they will have marked the grave.’
‘Poor Arthur …’ Sally was silent for a long while before saying, unexpectedly, ‘Perhaps it’s for the best. Arthur’s used to being leader of the boys in the Old Nichol, but I knew when I saw him with the others in the cell beneath the court that they wouldn’t take orders from a boy. He’d always have been bullied and in trouble….’
Unable to prevent a sob escaping, she added in a choked voice, ‘He’d have been very unhappy.’
Nessa felt an agony of sympathy for Sally, but also a deep sense of helplessness. She wanted to take Sally into her arms and comfort her, but she had come to understand the young girl well enough to know it would be a mistake. Sadly, this was something Sally needed to work out for herself.
‘I want to go for a walk around the Old Nichol for a while, Nessa – on my own.’
The thought of Sally disappearing into the Old Nichol on her own in her present state alarmed Nessa, but she said, ‘If that’s what you want – but you’ll come back?’
Sally nodded. ‘I’ll come back. It’s what Arthur wanted for me and what I want too.’
Nessa was relieved by her reply, she had feared Sally might be contemplating returning to a way of life she had shared with her brother, but she was apprehensive too. Sally was no longer a girl who was at one with the Old Nichol urchins.
‘I don’t think you should go wandering around the Old Nichol dressed the way you are now.’
Sally nodded agreement. ‘Can I borrow something from the store?’ Father Michael had gathered a store of old but wearable clothing at the school, some donated by a rag-and-bone man, others by sympathetic pawnbrokers. Deloused and washed, they were kept in a storeroom for the benefit of new pupils to the school.
It was a good idea but, in spite of the young girl’s assurance, Nessa was apprehensive when Sally walked away from the school some minutes later, with only her cleanliness setting her apart from the many urchins of the Old Nichol. She was afraid the memories of life with Arthur all around her might prove too much for her to abandon it once and for all.
She was greatly relieved when, some hours later, Sally returned to the ragged school. She never disclosed where she had been, or what she had done, but she appeared to have come to terms with the loss of Arthur, although she would remain uncharacteristically quiet for many days to come, carrying an almost palpable air of sorrow.
Nevertheless, when she changed back into her new clothes and agreed to being taken straight back to Kensington, Nessa knew the young girl had closed the chapter of her life in the Old Nichol.
Chapter 44
1840
‘YOU’RE UP BRIGHT and early this morning!’ Goran made the comment as he entered the stables at Elworthy Farm and found Jenken feeding the two plough horses. Dawn had only just broken and it was a chilly but clear morning and on the way from the house Goran had glanced appreciatively at the trees growing nearby, their branches hidden by a cloak of leaves, proof that spring was now firmly established.
‘I wanted to make a start on clearing the turnip field now the sheep have been moved out. I think the horses are going to be kept busy one way or another this year.’
Goran nodded agreement, it was likely to be an exciting year. He was now tenant of not one farm but two, Elworthy and Roach being worked as one. The change had come about at the end of what had been a severe winter during which Agnes Roach’s arthritis had seriously worsened, making her a virtual invalid incapable of performing all but the simplest of household chores and making supervision of the Roach farm impossible.
Mabel Trebartha had moved in to Agnes’s farmhouse for a week to take care of her, leaving Goran to eat with the ever-increasing Bolitho family. By the end of the week Mabel had secured the services of a newly widowed village woman of middle age who moved in to the Roach farmhouse to care for the needs of both Agnes and Elworthy, although Mabel would still call in at least once a day to satisfy herself the arrangement was working satisfactorily.
Then, only a few weeks after this domestic arrangement had been made, Agnes sent for Goran and offered him the tenancy of Roach Farm at a ridiculously low rent, to work with Elworthy Farm as a single holding. Her only stipulation was that she and Elworthy would remain in her farmhouse and should anything happen to render her totally incapable, physically and mentally, Goran and Mabel would take on responsibility for her brother.
Goran agreed to her terms eagerly. He would be quite content to have Elworthy working with him again. He was hard-working and could be trusted to take good care of the farm animals and carry out any of the routine tasks about the farm.
Nevertheless, Goran took on four additional farmhands to help him carry out the many plans he had for all the land now at his disposal. There would be no problems in the immediate future financing his ambitious projects. The dues from the Wheal Hope mine had exceeded all expectations, not only delighting Goran and Agnes but also the adventurers who had financed the mine and who now saw their investments reaping a rich reward.
‘Have you heard about the trouble they had at the Spurre Arms, down in the village, last night?’ The question came from Jenken.
‘No – but how do you know anything about it, you won’t have seen anyone this morning? Were you there?’
‘You won’t find me wasting my money on drink,’ Jenken said firmly. ‘No, Pa was working very late on the mine engine and some of the men coming on night shift told him about it. The trouble was between gamekeeper Grimble and Alan Toms.’
Goran was instantly interested. ‘What sort of trouble?’
‘Grimble had been drinking at
the inn for some time on his own and wasn’t happy that so many miners were in there, even though they were apparently ignoring him. Anyway, some of the miners were talking about the news that Jacob Barlow had been transported for life for stirring up trouble among the coal miners up north. Grimble pricked up his ears when he heard the name because, of course, it was Barlow and his men who gave him such a beating. He made a loud comment to the landlord that Barlow should have been hanged, together with all those miners who supported him. Alan once being one of Barlow’s men made an equally loud remark that there were some gamekeepers who deserved to be hanged too – one in particular.
‘It seems Grimble took offence – as Alan no doubt intended he should – and wanted to fight him. The landlord threw Grimble out and warned Alan that he’d do the same to him if he caused any more trouble.’
Goran shook his head in disapproval. ‘Alan will need to be careful, we all know what sort of man Grimble is … and from all I hear he’s become worse since he took to drinking heavily as a result of what happened at the last Liskeard Fair, you winning a cup while he returned home with nothing.’
Grinning happily at his memory of that day when he had been presented with a small silver cup and five guineas for coming second in a ploughing contest, Jenken said, ‘I think Sir John went away even unhappier than his gamekeeper that day.’
‘And with good reason, I believe,’ Goran said, ‘Rumour has it that Sir John gambled a lot more than he could afford on Grimble winning the shooting contest, same as he had for the last five years.’
Grimble had been favoured to win the gamekeepers’ shooting contest but the prize had been taken by a newcomer who, it later transpired had served as a sharpshooter with the Spanish Legion, fighting in the Iberian Peninsular. He had shot so well that a dispirited Grimble could manage no better than fifth place. Sir John had been additionally galled because the winner’s employer was a man who had made his riches from mining ventures and was regarded by the baronet landowner as an ‘upstart’.
‘That was the beginning of Grimble’s fall from favour,’ Jenken agreed, ‘but after what he did to Pa I won’t waste any sympathy on him. I learned only last week that his wife left him some years ago because she’d had enough of him. Ma and Annie were talking about it when Annie came down to the house a couple of evenings ago.’
‘I haven’t seen Annie Pyne for months. How is young Jennifer and the rest of the family?’
‘The family’s fine. In fact Annie came down to tell Ma that Morwenna’s expecting, so I doubt whether Alan will be spending much time in the future drinking with his mates.’
‘Did Annie mention Nessa? I’ve hardly heard anything of her since she went away and I often think of her.’
Jenken’s mother had told him that Mabel had at one time thought a romance was blossoming between Goran and Nessa. The old ploughman, Horace Rundle, had also mentioned the bracelet Goran had bought for Nessa at the Liskeard Fair when the two men first met. Jenken wondered what had gone wrong for them, but thought it might be time Goran forgot about her and moved on.
‘It seems she’s doing well teaching up in London. Annie says her letters are full of the young vicar who’s started a school for poor children. Nessa’s working there with him. He’s from Cornwall too and Annie says that from the way Nessa writes about the wonderful work he’s doing she wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear there was something going on between the two of ’em.’
Goran felt unexpectedly despondent by the news. He had always nursed a forlorn hope that one day Nessa would return to the Wheal Hope, remember the accord they once had and realize it had been more than friendship.
He believed the sole reason they had taken different paths in life was because he had only just taken over Elworthy in those early days and had been so busy she must have believed she meant nothing to him. But he had never forgotten her and was reminded of what he had hoped the future held for them both every time he opened the drawer in his room where the box containing the bracelet he had never presented to her was kept.
Suddenly aware that Jenken was giving him a quizzical look, Goran said quickly, ‘Well, we’ve both got a great deal to do so we’d better get on with it before there’s a change in the weather, or something.’
Chapter 45
‘LOOKS AS THOUGH you’ve got an important visitor, Cap’n, perhaps he’s come to invite you to dinner at the big house!’
Looking up from his desk in the mine office at his shiftcaptain’s words, Piran Pyne looked through the window and saw Sir John Spurre riding towards the mine office, his horse skittish because of all the noise and bustle surrounding horse and rider.
‘He’s more likely to be coming to complain about Alan fighting with his gamekeeper, although he usually sends one of his servants with a note when he has something on his mind. Whatever the reason, it won’t be to congratulate us on how well we’re doing!’
Captain Pyne was wrong. After perfunctorily shaking hands with him, Sir John waited only until the shift captain had made a judicious departure from the office before saying, ‘You seem to be very busy up here, Captain Pyne – and doing well, I believe?’
‘We are keeping the adventurers happy.’
‘Ah yes, the all-important shareholders. Had I understood more about mining I might well have been one of them.’
‘Investing in a mine is a gamble, Sir John. More adventurers lose money than make it.’
‘Well, the Wheal Hope is not losing them money, by all accounts it is proving very profitable indeed for Agnes Roach and her tenant farmer.’
‘Happily, yes, they have both gone out of their way to be supportive.’
Well aware he had done nothing to co-operate with Wheal Hope, Sir John ignored any implied criticism. ‘It is actually mining dues I am here to speak to you about, Captain Pyne. One of the servants at Spurre Hall is friendly with one of your miners and he has told her you have discovered a very rich copper lode extending beneath the old mine which is on my land.’
‘I have not carried out any work beneath your land if that is what you are suggesting, Sir John.’
Piran Pyne’s reply was decidedly cool and the baronet was quick to react, ‘No, no! I am not suggesting for a moment you would do such a thing without prior negotiation. In fact, the reason I am here is to say that if the information is true I will be very happy for you to pursue the lode beneath Spurre land – and I understand that if it is copper you are working the dues will be considerably higher than for tin?’
‘That is so,’ the mine captain confirmed.
‘Have you any idea when you might begin work once we have reached agreement on the dues?’ Sir John could not conceal the eagerness in his voice.
‘I haven’t given it a great deal of thought and before I go ahead I would need to carry out a great deal of cross-cutting in order to evaluate the lode’s potential. Also – and this would need your approval – as the lode would appear to run beneath the old workings it might be necessary to install a pumping-engine on your land. I would need to choose the best place for such an engine.’
Doing his best to hide the disappointment he felt, Sir John said, ‘Oh! So even if you did decide to work the lode it would not be in the near future.’
‘I am not saying that. If this particular lode was followed we could be bringing out ore in weeks rather than months but, to be truthful, when we began working here and it was thought the mining dues would be coming to you, the percentage you demanded was so high it was quite unacceptable. In view of that I have stopped short of following the lode you are discussing. For the foreseeable future I can make a very satisfactory profit from the ore we have beneath Mrs Roach’s land.’
‘You must forget the dues I was asking for then, Captain Pyne.’ Sir John gave the mine captain an ingratiating smile. ‘That was mere “business talk” when it was by no means certain the Wheal Hope would be successful and there was the likelihood of more disruption than profit as a result of your activities. That is no longe
r the case. I have no doubt we could agree dues that would be satisfactory to everyone involved.’
‘Should that prove so I would be happy to follow the lode beneath your land, Sir John, but the dues question would need to be settled first.’
‘Of course! As a matter of fact I am riding into Launceston today and will visit my solicitor and instruct him to call upon you to discuss the matter. If we can reach agreement when do you think you will begin the work?’
‘Once the legal details are settled I will begin checking the possible value of the lode immediately.’
‘Splendid! If you find my solicitor is putting difficulties in your way, come and see me at Spurre Hall immediately. I am confident we will be able to overcome them man to man.’
When Sir John had left the Wheal Hope, Piran Pyne thought of all that had been discussed. It was evident the rumours about the landowner’s financial state were not without foundation. Sir John’s eagerness to have him extend the Wheal Hope’s activities to Spurre land was that of a desperate man.
Captain Pyne’s observations were confirmed when Simeon Quainton, the Spurre estate’s solicitor, arrived at the mine late the following afternoon. The negotiations in respect of mining dues were settled before he returned to Launceston less than two hours later, even though the mine captain offered terms less favourable than those he was giving to Agnes Roach and Goran.
However, there were a number of factors to be considered before work would begin on the lode beneath the Spurre estate and not until two days later did Piran Pyne send two of his miners to accompany a surveyor to the piece of land beneath which mining might, or might not begin. One of the miners was Alan Toms.
The three men set out together and, with the aid of a compass and some of the surveyor’s instruments, were soon satisfied they were above the unworked lode and began inspecting the terrain to examine it for signs of previous mining activity.
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