Straw in the Wind

by Janet Woods

  He raised his voice. ‘Off you go, then; it’s safe to go ashore since the entire crew has turned into a cage of drooling monkeys instead of getting on with their work. Marianne, you look after her, now. Take a cab from the rank, and if you see Nick, tell him that Red and Sam are on board. Adam, join me on board if you would.’

  A short time later Adam and Erasmus watched the two women walk off, chatting together as though they’d known each other for years. As they reached the cab rank near the turn off to the High Street, they exchanged a hug before they got inside.

  ‘Now there’s a sight,’ Erasmus said with some satisfaction as the cab moved off. ‘George Honeyman would turn in his grave.’

  Adam shrugged. He wasn’t interested in the former family rivalry, except as a means to an end. He’d always had a strong feeling that something had been left unsaid by somebody – something that would resolve the whole issue. Still, he was happy that Serafina had been accepted, so far. ‘What do you think, Captain? Is she yours?’

  Erasmus’s mouth curled into a grin. ‘I reckon there’s some strong similarities to my mother, at that. Anyway, she’s got herself a pa as far as I’m concerned.’

  ‘We have to be sure. Between you and me there’s some other business concerning Serafina that she doesn’t even know about yet. It regards property that has been fraudulently claimed by another. By now the lawyers should have that investigation well in hand, and before it can be settled Serafina’s connection must be proved beyond a doubt.’

  ‘Can’t the girl remember who she is?’

  ‘She has memories, but because of certain circumstances in her life she is unsure, and you need to be told about those.’

  He nodded. ‘Come to my cabin. We’ll talk over coffee and I’ll settle your bill if you like.’

  ‘No charge, except for necessary expenses. You’ll receive a detailed account in due course.’

  ‘I always pay my way, mister.’

  ‘Not this time.’ Adam grinned at him. ‘You could call this a labour of love, since you’ll end up being my father-in-law if Serafina will have me. I intend to wait a while though, and allow her to get used to this new set of circumstances. Would you have any objections?’

  Erasmus scratched his head. ‘I’ll be damned . . . what am I supposed to say to that when I’ve only been a father for ten shakes of a rat’s tail? You’d better ask me when the time comes.’

  He raised his voice. ‘Take over Mister Grimshaw . . . seems I’ve got some talking to do.’

  ‘Aye, aye, Captain,’ came the reply.

  Sixteen

  Serafina had fallen immediately for Marianne’s charm during the short ride up Constitution Hill, though she found her chatter a little overwhelming. The house she was taken to was solid, though it seemed a little cramped after Leighton Manor.

  ‘You must move in with us. Aunt Daisy won’t mind. It’s her house, you see, only she doesn’t live here now she’s married. We’re only living here ourselves until our new house is built. It’s got a view over the harbour. There’s a boarding house next door, but it’s very respectable so there won’t be any undesirables loitering in the district.’

  ‘I believe it might be the boarding house where we’re staying, since there’s a house being built further down the hill. No wonder Adam laughed when I asked him if we could see your house from there.’

  Serafina smiled when Marianne said, ‘Adam didn’t tell me you were staying there. I was there yesterday afternoon, to see how the building was progressing. He could have introduced us then. He is so infuriating, making me wait until Erasmus arrived. What if the ship had sunk? We’d have waited for ever.’

  ‘Under those circumstances, I doubt it. As it was he hired a vehicle and showed me the . . . countryside around Dorchester. It’s very pretty here.’

  Marianne shrugged. ‘I find that the town can make me feel closed in at times. I grew up on the heath, you see, and my . . . our . . . sister still lives in the family house. Nick says the new house with the view over the water should suit us both. He used to be a sea captain, and was master of the Samarand. The ship had a reputation of being unlucky. I fell down a hatch when I first went on board, and I wasn’t found for two days. On Nick’s very next run to Australia, the ship was overturned by a huge wave, and Nick lost most of his crew. He gave up the sea when he finally got home. That’s when he opened the emporium. I didn’t see him for nearly a year after he was shipwrecked, and I thought he was dead. I gave birth to our son during that time.’

  ‘That must have been hard on you.’

  ‘Well, you’re right of course, Serafina, but though everyone thought he must have drowned, I never gave up hope because, somehow, I knew he was still alive.’ She abruptly changed the subject. ‘Serafina is such a pretty name. I knew you had that name; I heard it whispered on the wind when I was on the heath. I was with Nick, and he didn’t laugh or turn a hair when I told him. We have gypsy blood through our mother’s family, though it goes back a long way. Charlotte doesn’t believe in such things . . . she doesn’t want to really, so she tends to deny it to herself. Adam named your file Serafina after I told him.’

  ‘I’ve heard my name on the wind too,’ Serafina confessed. ‘I was with Adam. We both heard it the first time. And I heard it again just yesterday. Adam took me to the house where he thinks I spent my early years. I recognized certain things . . . and I saw a woman who I believe was my aunt.’

  ‘Then the gypsies will know you are here. That must have been Constance Serafina Jarvis you saw, who was my aunt too. Only she didn’t get on with my father. He was incensed when she died and left most of her money to charity. He thought it should have gone to him. How wonderful if she’s come back to haunt the place! I do love family skeletons, don’t you? Everyone tries to cover them up but they always come to the surface.’

  ‘I don’t think she was a ghost, because I was with her. It was more the experience that I saw what I wanted to see. And of course, I am the family skeleton, so can’t really see it the same way as you do,’ Serafina said morosely.

  ‘Oh, but of course you are . . . oh, don’t worry about it, my dear. I would be gripped with delight if it were me, since it adds an air of mystery, and people notice you. The Honeyman and Thornton families are gossiped about all the time. We have terribly wicked reputations. There’s the gypsy blood, though God knows it’s well diluted. Then we have the affair between my mother and Erasmus, and her death . . . then you . . . the innocent lamb who was cast out of the family. And Charlotte married a man she’d only just met to spite Nick, who had been in love with her since childhood. As for Charlotte and Erasmus, they hardly talk to each other because of the scandal your birth caused, so Charlotte might not be as welcoming of your return to the family as she should. But she’ll come round to it, I promise. Oh yes, I nearly forgot. When Nick and I married we kept it a secret, but there was a dreadful scandal and Charlotte threw me out and didn’t speak to me for a whole year.’

  Serafina’s head buzzed. ‘It sounds as though there is a melodrama a minute.’

  ‘Oh, it seems like it sometimes, but your drama beats all.’ Tears flooded Marianne’s eyes. ‘I can barely comprehend a more cruel act than my father casting an innocent infant from her rightful home. I shall never forgive him, and it’s a wonder you want to know us at all.’

  Serafina hadn’t really wanted to know them, but had allowed Adam to talk her into it. She couldn’t be churlish and say so, though she experienced a sudden, crushing need to be back in her little nest at Leighton Manor. But she’d cut herself adrift so couldn’t blame anyone else, she reminded herself, and was under suspicion of theft. The thought made her feel sick so she stopped thinking about it.

  Serafina found herself taken into a hug that a boa constrictor would have envied. If her sister kept this up she’d end up with cracked ribs, she thought, and she patted Marianne awkwardly on the shoulder. She felt relieved when a knock came at the door and Marianne set her free.

  There ca
me an exclamation when Marianne opened the door. ‘Aunt Daisy, how wonderful to see you . . . you’ll never guess who is here!’

  ‘Of course I can guess, you ninny.’ A slim woman in a grey dress appeared and was introduced as Mrs Phipps. Dark-brown eyes that eerily resembled Erasmus Thornton’s raked her sharply up and down. ‘You’re the spitting image . . . yup, you’re a Thornton all right, from the female side, anyway,’ she said with some satisfaction. ‘This is going to cause a good old stir of the stew in church come Sunday.’

  Serafina was folded into another bone-crushing hug. She was being given hardly any room to breathe by these people . . . her family. She felt trapped, the air in the room seemed dense and she wanted to run, except there seemed to be no way out. To her dismay she began to weep.

  ‘There, there, my dear,’ Daisy said. ‘It’s all been too much for you.’ Serafina was led to a chair, where two concerned women with faces just as wet as hers gazed at her.

  ‘Sorry . . . I don’t know what’s come over me. I’ll be all right in a minute.’

  But she wasn’t all right. She wanted to go home, but realized that she didn’t have a home now, and she couldn’t stop crying.

  ‘You’re just overwrought. It’s my fault for insisting on seeing you before you were ready. I’ll never forgive myself.’ The dark-blue eyes of Marianne were awash with tears now. ‘Lord, I’m such a fool.’

  She couldn’t let Marianne, who’d been so generous and sweet towards her, take the blame. ‘You’re not . . . it’s me that’s the fool,’ Serafina said, and they hugged each other and started to weep on each other’s shoulders again.

  ‘Now we’ve decided that we’re all fools, I’ll go and make us some tea and we’ll drink to it,’ Daisy said over-brightly.

  A minute or two later a large, handsome man with black eyes appeared. ‘What the hell’s going on, Aria? The place is full of weeping women. Aunt Daisy is in tears in the kitchen, and you’re bawling like a couple of Irish banshees in here . . . and where’s Alex?’

  Marianne wiped her eyes with a lace handkerchief. ‘He’s with the maid, upstairs.’

  ‘Alex is bellowing as well, now he’s heard all the noise. He thinks we’re having a party and ignoring him. Go and get him, would you, while I sort things out here. It sounds like a wake rather than a reunion.’

  A large expanse of clean white handkerchief was placed in Serafina’s hand, and the man grinned at her. ‘Here, blot your eyes before you drown yourself. I’m your cousin, Nicholas Thornton, Nick for short. I only use Nicholas when I want to appear dignified.’

  She gave a faint smile as she gazed at him. He was brimming with confidence. ‘You look quite dignified to me. I’m Serafina . . . Sara Finn . . . Fenn.’ She sniffed and wailed, ‘Oh . . . I’m so mixed up that I don’t know who I am any more, and I don’t really care.’

  ‘My guess is that Aria hasn’t stopped prattling at you. She does that when she’s nervous and can spin people like a top without even trying. Where’s Adam? Why isn’t he with you?’

  ‘He’s with Captain Thornton on his ship.’

  Nick nodded. ‘How did my uncle react to the sight of you? Was he civil?’

  She nodded. ‘Mostly, though we spent only a few minutes together. He was taken aback at first, I think. I did things all wrong. I wouldn’t listen to Adam and insisted on going on board by myself and without introduction.’

  His chuckle was like cream. ‘That sounds like a Honeyman trait; the womenfolk never do what they’re told. Then Aria turned up and took charge of you, I suppose.’ He took her chin between his finger and thumb and gazed at her face. ‘No wonder my uncle was taken aback. He had some romantic idea in his head that you’d resemble his lost love, Caroline Honeyman, but you don’t, and thank goodness, because Aria is the very image of her, and another one in the house would cause mayhem. You greatly resemble Erasmus and Daisy’s mother though, which is no bad thing. There’s a picture of her in the attic room upstairs. Erasmus will probably show it to you later. If he forgets, ask him if you can see it. It might make you feel as though you belong somewhere definite in the family.’

  She liked this man. ‘Thank you, Nick, you’re very kind. I feel like an idiot for crying.’

  He kissed her on both cheeks then released her. ‘Of course you do. To be honest, I cried myself when I first met Erasmus, but I was only young then and I thought he looked fearsome. He told me to stop snivelling, said my father was dead and my mother had begged him to take me off her hands because my stepfather and brothers were being cruel to me.’

  ‘Oh, how dreadfully sad,’ and she sniffed, though was grateful for the connection that their similar early childhoods provided.

  ‘Hey, don’t you start crying all over again. There are only so many tears I can cope with in one day. It was actually the best day of my life. I just didn’t realize it at the time. Are you feeling less soggy now?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Thank goodness for small mercies,’ and his sigh of relief made her laugh.

  ‘Papa!’ The young boy who wandered in was the image of his father, and he had a smile as wide as Nick’s as he scrambled into his father’s lap. Laying his head against Nick’s chest he stuck his thumb into his mouth and stared at her, then he gazed up at Nick and whispered, ‘Lady.’

  ‘Say hello to your new aunt, Serafina.’

  ‘’ello, Fina.’ When the boy giggled Serafina’s heart melted. He was a handsome boy with dark liquid eyes and curly dark hair like his father.

  ‘Serafina, this is your nephew, Alexander Thornton . . . Alex for short.’

  ‘Hello, Alex.’ She gazed from the boy to Nick and smiled. ‘He looks like an angel.’

  ‘He’s wearing his disguise at the moment. He has a pair of horns hidden under his curls and a long tail with a pitchfork on the end of his spine, haven’t you, Alex?’

  Alex solemnly nodded. ‘Me good.’

  When Nick laughed Alex did likewise, and to prove his point the toddler fished Nick’s watch out of his pocket by the chain and held it to his ear. ‘Tick-tock tick-tock,’ he whispered, then put it back where it belonged and began to investigate the other pocket. There, he found what he was looking for, something wrapped in tissue paper. A grin widened his mouth. ‘Ahah!’ Tearing the wrapping from a piece of rose-coloured Turkish delight, he tossed the scrap of paper on the floor then stuck the sweetmeat in his mouth. One cheek bulging, Alex gazed at his father in triumph.

  Serafina laughed. ‘He’s certainly got charm. Have I got any more nephews?’

  ‘Three, and one niece. They’re Charlotte and Seth Hardy’s brood.’

  Marianne bustled in carrying a tea tray. Daisy trailed behind with a plate of sliced fruit cake.

  ‘Goodness . . . what on earth is Alex eating?’

  ‘A snail,’ Nick said.

  Apart from a grin, Marianne didn’t turn a hair. ‘Then let me put a napkin under his chin before he dribbles it all over you. Keep him on your lap till it’s all gone, Nicky darling.’ Tying the napkin in a knot at the back of the boy’s neck, Marianne kissed both of her males, momentarily exchanging an intimate look and a smile with her husband before taking up position behind the tea tray. They seemed happy together.

  Daisy Thornton took a seat next to her, she was red-eyed from crying and Serafina imagined she looked the same.

  ‘I suppose you think I’m an idiot, Missy.’

  ‘No, Mrs Phipps, of course I don’t. I know this must have come as much a shock to you, as it did to me. I thought I had no relatives left alive until Adam contacted me, and was unaware of the circumstances of my birth. Now my whole life seems to have been taken apart, examined, and put back together differently, so I now feel as though I’m someone else altogether. It’s a little uncomfortable.’

  Daisy patted her hand. ‘We’ll soon get used to one another.’

  ‘I expect we will, and I’ll try and find employment as a housekeeper, so I won’t get underfoot and can pay my way.’

  �
��Find employment as a housekeeper?’ Marianne said faintly. ‘You don’t have to go that far.’

  ‘But I’m used to keeping myself busy.’ Her glance travelled to Daisy. ‘I understand that you’re married to Reverend Phipps. I used to work for a reverend when I was young. He was . . .horrid . . . mean, and very strict, and pompous. He acted as though everyone was beneath him. His wife treated me well though. Elizabeth was my friend in the workhouse until she married him. Even after her marriage she was good to me, and she taught me lots of things, for which I’m grateful.’

  ‘Oh, Phipps isn’t in the least bit pompous. He makes me laugh, and he encourages me to use my own mind and have my own opinions.’

  Nick chuckled. ‘He knows better than to try and stop you, Aunt Daisy. I don’t know why you waited so long before you accepted him.’

  ‘I had you and Erasmus to make a home for when you were in port.’ She gave Marianne a fond look. ‘Now Marianne does it.’

  ‘Erasmus will have to come to the new house when it’s finished.’

  Daisy smiled. ‘Not necessarily. If everything goes well and Serafina decides to stay with us she’s welcome to make her home here. Erasmus is a creature of habit, and he grew up here.’

  Nick said, ‘Serafina will need employment under those circumstances, and I’m sure I can use her in the emporium once she’s settled in and decided what she’s going to do. There’s plenty of accounting work, or if you don’t fancy that I could make you the supervisor of the female staff. If you’d prefer not to work for me, then I’m sure I’ll know someone who would be willing to employ you. In the meantime, don’t worry about anything. There’s no rush, and you might meet a nice young man, fall in love and get married.’

  All enthusiasm, Marianne said, ‘We must entertain then; you know several unattached young men, Nick. We’ll invite them all to dinner so they can meet her.’

  ‘All at once?’

  ‘Goodness, no, Nick! Men find safety in numbers and they talk about boring things like the economy and politics instead of paying attention to us women. You have to catch men alone if you want them to notice you, Serafina.’ There was only one man Serafina wanted, but he was probably out of her reach when it came to marriage. ‘I appreciate the offer of a job, thank you, Nick. As for meeting men, I’ll put that on the bottom of my list for a while if you don’t mind, Marianne.’