Straw in the Wind

by Janet Woods

  To which information Serafina burst into laughter, and Finch chuckled as he said, ‘Ah . . . from your response I imagine Celia must have informed you of Oscar’s heroic role in her letter.’

  Looking pleased with himself, Oscar cracked his knuckles.

  Eighteen

  Charlotte was in bed when Marianne arrived at Harbour House. She gave her sister a hug. ‘I was so worried when Seth told me that you were ailing.’

  ‘Seth worries needlessly. I just feel sad. I can’t be bothered about things, and I cry for no reason. It’s nothing serious, or so Dr Beresford tells me. He said that many mothers feel like it after giving birth to an infant.’

  ‘I’ve brought Alex to cheer you up, and he’s promised to be on his best behaviour.’ She gave her son a kiss. ‘Be polite and say hello to your Aunt Charlotte.’

  Alex offered her a replica of Nick’s smile. ‘ello anty calot.’

  ‘As if I needed another child in the house,’ Charlotte murmured, but managed a smile for him. ‘Hello, Alex, my love. I’ve got to admit, he’s irresistible, Marianne. He’s got all of Nick’s charm and good looks. Isn’t it about time you produced another one?’

  ‘Lor, I’d love another one and so would Nick. It’s not through lack of trying, though that’s not a chore . . .’ She blushed. ‘Well, never mind.’

  Charlotte rang a bell and the nursery maid came through. ‘Take my nephew to play with the twins, Mrs Stevenson. Is James awake?’

  ‘Yes, Ma’am.’

  ‘Then bring him in and I’ll feed him.’

  ‘I’ll get him. I want to greet Jessica and Major Mitchell, anyway.’

  The twins fell on them both with excited cries of delight, and soon the cousins were rolling around the floor together and being generally noisy.

  Covered in kisses, her bonnet knocked awry, and having stirred them all up, Marianne picked up James and carried him through to Charlotte to be nursed. ‘I swear that Jessica’s ringlets get brighter each time I see her . . . and have you ever seen a boy more like his father than Major Mitchell?’

  ‘Apart from Alex, you mean.’

  Marianne gently twisted a curl of James’s baby hair around her finger, and she experienced a yearning inside her for another infant at her breast. ‘James is a handsome child. He looks so serious. I think he takes after our father for looks, and his eyes are more green than grey.’

  Charlotte shuddered. ‘I hope he doesn’t turn out to have his nasty nature.’

  ‘Oh, Charlotte, James is so placid, but he has Seth’s strong and dependable look to him, as well. Our father can have no influence on his mind since he is dead and gone. Why can’t you let the past go?’

  ‘What’s the use of doing that when it comes back to haunt us.’

  ‘When are you going to see our sister?’

  ‘Don’t nag me about it, Marianne. I just don’t feel like seeing her at the moment. I haven’t recovered from James’s birth.’

  ‘James is seven weeks old now, and you’re using him as an excuse. Serafina has already been rejected by us once, she must feel absolutely low at being scorned all over again.’

  ‘Why should she feel scorned? I didn’t ask her to come here, and I’m not convinced she’s who she says she is. I just don’t feel that I’m up to the strain of meeting her yet.’

  ‘I find your reluctance to meet her strange, since I have told you that she’s a dear girl, who is slightly overwhelmed by us, but grateful all the same. And she has asked for nothing . . . in fact she said she must find work to support herself, as she’s always had to.’

  ‘It’s probably a ploy to gain our sympathy. You have always been too trusting, and your good nature is easy to take advantage of.’

  ‘Adam has investigated her background thoroughly. Although there’s some doubt, it’s so slight that it isn’t worth bothering about. She’s the image of grandmother Thornton, but not so grim-looking thank goodness. Erasmus wants Serafina to take the surname of Thornton, that’s how sure he is.’

  ‘She’s welcome to it, and to him.’

  ‘You don’t mean that Char . . .’

  ‘Yes, I do mean it.’ She began to cry. ‘Oh, I know you think I’m horrid. I hate feeling like this, as though I have no control over anything . . . And poor James. Just because he looks like our despised father and is always so solemn, I feel as though I mustn’t love him as much as the others. My sadness and guilt is being fed to him through my milk.’

  ‘Oh, my God, you mustn’t think that way about him when he’s so small and innocent else it will become a habit. He loves you dearly and relies on you for his very life. He will smile when he’s learned to from you, and he’ll be an absolute charmer.’

  ‘But Marianne, don’t you see . . . if I think all these awful thoughts I shouldn’t be a mother at all, because I don’t deserve to have such beautiful children.’

  ‘Don’t deserve to have them? Of course you do. Get a hold on yourself, Charlotte. These children are Seth’s as well as yours. He loves them and he loves you. They need you.’

  ‘I know they do,’ she said miserably. ‘I just feel unworthy.’

  ‘It’s because we were made to feel that way when we were children. We mustn’t pass that on to our own children, Char. We must give them all the love we can, so they will feel worthy. That’s what Serafina missed in life. Through no fault of her own she grew up without us as sisters, and she lacked the love we would have shared with her. Now we owe her that.’

  ‘You always do this to try and soften me.’

  ‘You are soft, you’re just too stubborn to admit it.’ Marianne managed to get her arms around the pair of them. James had green eyes with grey flecks and seemed oblivious to his mother’s distress as he gulped down his breakfast in the first frenzy of feeding. ‘You need to get out and get some fresh air. When James is finished, get dressed and we’ll walk out on the heath. The heather will be in bloom and we can go up to the copse to see if the gypsies have arrived. Perhaps one of them can give you a herbal tonic.’

  Charlotte turned her face away. ‘I’m too tired.’

  Time to get tough with her, Marianne thought. ‘You stop this nonsense at once, Charlotte Hardy. Do you realize you were thinking and talking about your son in the same way our father must have thought about Serafina? Would you give him away to strangers?’

  Charlotte gazed at her in horror. ‘Of course not, and it’s a different thing altogether, since that didn’t happen. Pa didn’t give her away . . . Oh, stop twisting things, do! I’m not well.’

  ‘And father was unwell – he was sick with grief and anger. It made him abandon a newborn infant, one that could have been his own flesh and blood. No wonder Seth is worried about you. And if you talk this way in front of Lucian Beresford, be careful you don’t end up in an institution. He has turned out to be so pompous, and to think I thought I was in love with him, once. I pity his wife.’

  ‘He takes his doctoring too seriously, and his wife is pompous too. You don’t think I’m mad, do you? I’ve heard that mad people have staring eyes and that they froth at the mouth, and scream and shout and gibber nonsense.’

  ‘Lor, of course you’re not mad, the very idea! I refuse to have a mad sister, it would be mortifying. The Stanhope sisters would throw stones at you.’

  Charlotte’s laughter had a modicum of spontaneity to it.

  ‘Come on, dearest Charlotte. Make an effort. Remember how you stood by Seth when your stepson was abducted by his own grandfather. You took John under your wing and treated him like one of your own, and he’s growing up such a lovely, polite little boy. You’re a good mother, Charlotte. You’ll come to love James as much as you love your other children, just you wait and see. You must try and convince yourself to do the same for Serafina.’

  Charlotte sighed. ‘I hate feeling like this, and Serafina has nothing to do with it, because she doesn’t exist. If you mention her again I’ll shake you until your teeth rattle and drop out of your head.’

  ‘I
’ll stay for a few days and look after you if you like. I’ll cheer you up with all the gossip, and you’ll soon begin to think sensibly again.’

  Charlotte clutched her arm. ‘Would you stay? What about Nick, will he allow it?’

  ‘He’ll grumble like a bear, since he thinks it’s expected of him. A short absence will allow him to contemplate my finer qualities, and I shall tell him so.’ She grinned at the thought. ‘Besides, he and Erasmus will have Serafina to look after them. She’s wonderful, and helps me a lot about the house. She’s ferociously efficient.’

  ‘Oh, change the subject, do, Marianne. I’m sick of hearing her name.’

  Marianne grinned to herself as she walked to the window and threw it open. There was nothing like a good argument to light a flame under Charlotte. ‘Just smell that air, Charlotte, there’s nothing like it anywhere else in the world.’

  ‘The tide’s out and the mud stinks, that’s why.’

  ‘When we move into our new home Nick is going to buy a telescope, and we’ll be able to see you across the water from the lookout. You must get one too, so the children will be able to wave to each other.’

  ‘They’ll probably fall out of the window, especially Jessica. She’s like you, in that she doesn’t sit still for five minutes.’

  ‘You have no romance in your soul.’

  Charlotte managed a grin. ‘You’re wrong. I can conjure up plenty of romance at the appropriate moments. That’s how I got James. Despite what I said, I do love him dearly, you know.’

  ‘I know. When Seth goes to fetch John from school I’ll ask him to collect some things for Alex, and he can tell someone what’s going on. I can always borrow your clothes.’

  ‘Adam is visiting tomorrow. Seth told me that he has something that he’d like me to look at. He said it might convince me that Serafina is related, but I think he’ll be disappointed.’

  Marianne was curious as to what it could be, but the fact that Charlotte was allowing Adam to present that evidence convinced Marianne that her sister was trying to overcome the stubborn stance that she’d taken towards the issue. She just wished Charlotte would believe in her instinct more. ‘There you are, then.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean. Honestly, Marianne. I can’t imagine what evidence he has that would be conclusive enough to convince me. I know she is dead.’

  ‘How?’

  Shrugging, Charlotte detached James from her breast and gently patted his back until he gave a loud belch. She settled him on the other breast, sighing contentedly when the sleepy-eyed infant began to suck.

  ‘Adam might surprise you. How exciting; I can’t wait to see what the evidence is. I think Adam’s in love with Serafina, by the way. The looks they exchange . . . so poignant, like long, languishing sighs. I have a feeling Serafina won’t be with us for long.’

  Laughter trickled coolly from Charlotte. ‘Adam is such an elegant man. I can’t imagine him married to someone who has grown up in a workhouse and held a position as a household servant. I do hope he doesn’t intend to bring the girl with him as well. If he does I shall refuse to see either of them.’

  ‘How very mean of you, Charlotte, especially after all Adam did for you in the past. And if you hadn’t married Seth we might have ended up in a workhouse, ourselves. But no . . . because whatever you think of Erasmus Thornton, he wouldn’t have thrown us out to fend for ourselves. And however cruelly you treated Nick in the beginning, he’s never held it against you.’

  Charlotte looked ashamed. ‘It might have been cruel of me, but it was the right thing to do at the time. He knows it, and so do you. The pair of you are perfect together. Now, don’t lecture me when I feel so wretched and useless. I’m surprised that Seth is so patient with me.’

  ‘So am I.’ Marianne sighed. ‘Oh, I suppose you’ll get over it.’

  She couldn’t understand why her elder sister didn’t want to meet Serafina, though. She was so adamant that Serafina was dead that she couldn’t see past it. Apart from the unfortunate circumstance of her birth, Serafina had done nothing to deserve being snubbed like this. Marianne hoped Charlotte would cheer up in the next day or two. Much as she loved her sister, she also loved her husband, and she had no intention of neglecting him for long.

  Adam called on Erasmus and Serafina before he left for Harbour House the next morning.

  ‘I’ve come to collect that doll of yours, Serafina.’

  ‘It’s in one of the wicker baskets under my bed. It won’t take me a minute to fetch it. Why do you want it?’

  ‘Oh, just in case Charlotte’s seen it before.’

  ‘It’s one of your straws blowing in the wind, then?’ Erasmus said with a grin.

  ‘Exactly, you never know when they come in handy. I’ll wait here in the hall, Serafina.’ When she’d gone he said, ‘When do you leave for Boston, Captain Thornton?’

  ‘I’m giving temporary command of Daisy Jane to my first officer, Thomas Grimshaw for a while. It’s not much use having a daughter unless I can get to know her. I’m not taking Serafina sailing with me that’s for certain. It’s too dangerous an occupation, and she’s far too precious.’

  ‘She is that,’ Adam said softly. ‘You’ve heard of the saying that finders is keepers? Remember that I found Serafina. I’m giving you a year while I get my business in order, which is more than you deserve.’

  ‘I know.’ Erasmus grinned. ‘That’s a fine thing you’ve done, bringing her home to me, Adam. She’s got a bit of ginger to her when she gets her dander up, though . . . same as my sister, Daisy, I reckon.’

  ‘Or yourself, Erasmus. You and your sister are alike in your ways.’

  Erasmus held out his hand. ‘Could be, I suppose.’

  Serafina dashed down the stairs, a smile on her face. ‘I’ve wrapped it in a piece of cloth, since I can’t picture you walking along with a doll cradled in your arms. I can’t imagine what use it will be.’

  ‘You never know,’ he said vaguely. ‘I’ll see you both at dinner tonight.’

  ‘If you see Mr Leighton, would you tell him that it will just be myself and . . .’ she offered Erasmus a tentative smile, ‘my father. Marianne is at Charlotte’s for a few days, and Nick has a previous engagement.

  ‘Can I come with you to Harbour House, Adam? Charlotte might want to see me.’

  ‘She doesn’t, and I promised I’d go alone this time. Be patient and wait until you’re invited.’

  He hadn’t meant to sound so brusque, and her eyes mirrored the chagrin she felt. ‘Why is it me who has to be patient?’

  ‘Because I’m fast running out of ideas, and I’m asking you to be. That should be enough.’

  ‘Hah! I didn’t ask you to look for me,’ she threw at him, all challenge.

  Adam glanced at Erasmus, who grinned and made himself scarce. He then took Serafina in his arms and kissed her softly defiant mouth until she relaxed in his arms. Then he looked into her eyes and saw the laughter in them.

  ‘Hah, yourself,’ he said softly, and she grinned.

  The heath was alive with birdsong and the smell of the heath gorses tickled at Adam’s nose. Fronds of bracken unfurled and stretched fingers of green towards a blue sky stippled with cloudy white stripes. The tide was coming in. Mud creaked and bubbled as water crept and seeped into all the nooks and crannies.

  Up towards the copse Adam could see a thread of smoke filtering through the pines from the gyspy campfires. Some of the travellers were heading for Poole, baskets and sacks of goods over their arms. They stood to one side as he passed, their faces closed and secretive. Some touched their caps, as if in respect.

  A hand tugged gently at his sleeve and he gazed into a face that was old and wise, and somehow familiar.

  Head to one side, he contemplated her with a smile. ‘Have we met before?’

  ‘We’ve heard her name on the wind and my blood will become part of your blood. Buy a sprig of my heather for your sweetheart; in return she’ll give you everlasting love and many children
.’

  ‘How many children,’ he said with a chuckle, intrigued by this gypsy woman.

  She turned his hand over and gazed at the palm. ‘There will be two strong sons and a daughter called after her mother. Her name will be . . .’

  ‘. . . Serafina,’ he said, because he would have no other.

  For a moment the wind swirled around their ankles in a circle of leaves and her name was borne away.

  The woman laughed and pinned a sprig of white heather to his lapel, murmuring, ‘True love is bound to follow.’

  For a moment his eyes met hers, and before the gypsy went on her way he could see the eyes of Serafina gazing back at him.

  He must have been bewitched, Adam thought, looking back when he reached Harbour House. He could only see two figures on the heath path, two women who stood together. Both looked like Serafina from where he stood.

  Still slightly bemused, he knocked at the door at Harbour House.

  Seth Hardy greeted him with a smile of welcome. The successful clay and gravel miner had once been an army colonel. His missing stepson had been the catalyst that had started Adam’s association with the Hardy, Honeyman and Thornton families – one that had led him to Serafina. Seth had several men working for him now. Tall, upright with his soldierly bearing, and with a direct and honest manner, he was well on his way to being wealthy, and he commanded respect without even trying.

  They shook hands. ‘Charlotte is a little fragile and has asked me to stay with her for support, Adam. And Marianne will be there. I hope you won’t mind.’

  ‘Of course not. I haven’t much to offer them as regard to new evidence, just something that might, or might not be of significance to Charlotte. Erasmus has accepted Serafina as his own, and has offered her the legal protection of his name. His lawyer is preparing the papers.’

  Charlotte came up behind her husband and her chin went up. ‘Tell Erasmus Thornton that since he wasn’t married to our mother, if that girl happens to be our sister – though she can’t be, since she’s alive and our sister is dead – then she would be a Honeyman not a Thornton.’