Kerensa smiled and laughed a lot. She appeared to be enjoying herself and joined in many of the dances and at one point got up to sing with Nathan O’Flynn, who had his own brand of fine Celtic voice, a love song in honour of the bride and groom. But there was not the usual sparkle in her eyes or healthy glow to her cheeks. Although she spoke to many, her expression was far away. It was one he recognised well, it looked back at him if ever he saw himself in the mirror.
Rosie and Matthias seemed at last to be holding a conversation of mutual interest and Clem excused himself to stand alone. His feelings for Kerensa were mixed. He didn’t want her to be sad but she was rightfully his and he didn’t want her to be happy with the man he hated. He helped himself to a tankard of ale. It was almost knocked out of his hand by a rushing child.
‘Hey, hold on there,’ he called out good-humouredly, grabbing the child to stop him falling to the ground. ‘Oh, ’tis you, young Kane. You’re in a hurry.’
Kane, slightly breathless, looked up from his permanently startled-looking brown eyes. He grinned when he realised whom he’d ploughed into. ‘Sorry, Clem, I’m playing hide and seek with Philip and David. Where can I hide?’ The red-topped head bobbed from side to side, searching up and down the barn, and returned to look hopefully at Clem for suggestions.
Clem liked Kane Pengarron. He had been interested in Kane from the time Kerensa had brought him, as a badly ill-treated infant about to be sold by his terrible father in the marketplace, to live at the manor. News soon after that of Kerensa’s first pregnancy had hurt Clem but when the child turned out to be a girl he’d felt rather smug knowing that Oliver Pengarron longed for a son and heir. But, according to Alice, Pengarron had not minded at all that his firstborn was a girl, and the following year when his son was born Clem had harboured an instinctive dislike for the dark-eyed, black-haired child. He was fond of Olivia, so like Kerensa, and having met Kane on various fair days and at Marazion market had become friendly with the boy.
He bent to whisper in Kane’s ear. ‘If I sit down on a bale of hay you can hide behind me. My boys will never think to find you there.’
‘Good idea, Clem,’ Kane said enthusiastically.
Philip and David ran into the barn soon afterwards. They searched the faces of the people there and on finding their father ducked in and out of the dancers to reach him. To join in Kane’s game, Clem pretended not to notice them but he was quickly forced to.
‘Tas, Tas, come outside!’ they shouted in unison, tugging at Clem’s coat.
‘What’s up?’ Clem said, rising hastily, leaving his tankard on the bale. Kane peeped over from his hiding place.
The Trenchard twins were not the kind of children to play silly practical jokes and from the urgency on their faces there was obviously something amiss. Philip looked at his brother before speaking.
‘’Tis Master Luke, he’s hurting Jessica and won’t let her go, she’s crying.’
‘What!’ their father exploded.
‘We wanted to fight him, Tas,’ David added, ‘but Miss Olivia said to fetch someone.’
Kane was now standing on the bale looking straight at Clem. Alice and Kerensa, sensing trouble, moved quickly to the male gathering.
Alice took Clem’s arm. ‘What’s going on, Clem?’
‘I’ll make him pay!’ Clem hissed, pushing off Alice’s hand and storming outside.
The twins followed on his heels, leaving Kane, his eyes even more startled, to explain to the two worried mothers the cause of Clem’s abrupt departure.
Clem was furious as he ran to the stud stables. Jessica was a tough child used to pitching in with her brothers’ squabbles; if she was crying then Luke Pengarron must be really hurting her, and he hated the thought of a true Pengarron even touching his daughter. He found her wailing; the tall, broad-shouldered boy was clutching her by both arms. Olivia was trying to reason with Luke and pull him away. His face red with fury, Clem wrenched Luke away from Jessica and keeping a grip on him by the back of his coat held him up in the air kicking and screaming.
‘Let me go, you bloody swine!’ Luke screamed in rage.
‘I’ll thrash the skin off your backside first, you little runt,’ Clem snarled, ‘terrorising a little maid younger than yourself. And mind your language.’
Quick and agile, Kane reached Clem first out of all those rushing from the barn. ‘Please, Clem,’ he pleaded, tugging at the waistband of Clem’s breeches, ‘put Luke down, he’ll say he’s sorry.’
‘Sorry! Him!’ Clem snorted. ‘There’s too much of his rotten father in him for that! I’ll be the one to make sure he’s sorry.’
A crowd was gathering. Alice shouted at Clem to release Luke as Jessica ran to her. Rosie gasped and threw her hands to her face. Kerensa, her face ashen, moved forward to where Clem could clearly see her.
In precise words, she said, ‘Please put Luke down, Clem.’ Clem made no move and she added purposefully, ‘He’s my son too.’
Clem sharply dropped his arm, making Luke’s feet hit the ground with a thud, but he held on tightly to the boy’s coat. He spoke to Kerensa as if they were the only two people there.
‘It’s hard to think of this child as yours. I see too much of his father in him.’
The music had stopped. All went quiet. Then a voice came through the crisp air like a whiplash.
‘Just what the hell do you think you are doing with my son, Trenchard?’ Oliver angrily pushed his way through the crowd. ‘Release him at once or I’ll swear I’ll break your neck.’
Glaring at his adversary, Clem opened his fingers slowly and Luke was free. No one dared to move or speak.
Luke straightened his coat then walked haughtily to his father’s side.
‘Your son,’ Clem said harshly, ‘your beloved well-brought-up son who should know better but obviously never will was bullying my daughter.’
Oliver shot a hard look at Kerensa. ‘Is this true?’
There was no mistaking Kerensa’s distress as she nodded and answered quietly, ‘I’m afraid it is.’
‘I, was not!’ Luke spoke up angrily. ‘We were playing a game and she,’ he stabbed a finger in Jessica’s direction, ‘wouldn’t—’
‘Be quiet, Luke!’ Oliver commanded, fixing his eyes on Clem’s face. ‘I will deal with my children’s misdemeanours, Trenchard. If you ever lay a hand on one of them again I’ll not only break your neck but every bone in your body as well.’
‘You just be sure your son never comes near my daughter again, not ever,’ Clem growled back, ‘Or it’ll be his neck you’ll have to watch out for.’
‘Why you—’ Oliver sprang forward with clenched fists raised.
‘Sir!’ Adam Renfree stepped smartly between the two warring men, his elbows out, prodding their ribs. ‘Tes Ted’s wedding day, sir.’
Clem was ready for a fight and Oliver, in his present state of mind, wanted more than anything to give him one, but Adam’s words struck home and the two men reluctantly drew back from each other.
‘Take your family home, Trenchard,’ Oliver snarled.
‘We’re not ready to go yet,’ Clem returned obstinately.
‘You will do as I say!’ Oliver exploded. ‘See to it, Adam!’ It was unthinkable that he should be disobeyed on his own property. With a short but sincere apology to the Trembaths he looked stonily for a moment at his culprit son then stalked off.
‘We’ll have to leave, Clem,’ an acutely embarrassed Alice said from his side. ‘For Ted and Lou’s sake, not ours.’
‘Get the children into the wagon,’ Clem told her, only just holding his anger back. ‘I’ll go find Rosie, she’s run off somewhere.’ He kissed little Jessica and shooed the disappointed twins after their mother.
Satisfied his employer’s orders were to be carried out, Adam gave Clem a reproachful look for disturbing the party then called to the fiddler and other musicians to begin playing again. The crowd of spectators dispersed, eager to get back to the food, drink and dancing, although some we
re disappointed there wasn’t going to be a brawl, reckoning it added to the enjoyment of any social gathering.
Clem was left in the yard with Kerensa and her children. She looked as if she had turned to stone. It was the love he cherished so deeply for her that decided him to leave without further battle.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked her gently.
Luke glared at him. How dare this farmer speak intimately to his mother and without using her title? He turned to stare at Kerensa to see how she would answer. She merely nodded her head slightly and putting out a hand each to Kane and Olivia she walked away with them to the farmhouse. Luke and Clem were left to scowl at each other.
‘You are a very horrid man,’ Luke hissed.
‘And you are a troublemaker and a spoiled brat,’ Clem retorted.
Luke made to go but turned back. ‘Are you still in love with my mother?’
Clem reeled, shocked at the question. ‘Why do you say that?’
Luke looked at Clem with contempt. ‘I know all about it, how my mother left you to marry my father, and all over Trelynne Cove.’
At that moment Clem felt he could hate the son as much as the father. ‘Then you,’ he said coldly, ‘know too much.’
* * *
Rosie had run off from the stud, embarrassed and ashamed. She stopped well away from the buildings and put her burning cheeks in her hands. She felt emotionally wrung out. The hatred between the brother she loved and the man she had so very nearly had an affair with left her with a terrible debilitating weakness down to the depths of her soul. It was rapidly growing dark and she wanted to hide for ever in its consuming coldness.
‘Rosie?’
It was Matthias. She could not bring herself to turn round and face him.
‘There is no need for you to feel badly over what happened,’ he said softly.
‘How could they behave like that?’ she whispered bitterly.
‘The enmity between Clem and Sir Oliver goes back a long way.’
‘I can understand Clem hating Sir Oliver but why should Sir Oliver dislike Clem so much?’ Rosie said harshly. ‘He has Kerensa and everything he wants.’
‘Fear,’ Matthias said simply.
‘Fear? But why? Fear of what, for goodness sake?’
‘Fear at the back of his mind that Clem could even now take Kerensa back from him.’
Matthias moved in closer behind her and Rosie leaned back to rest her head against his shoulder.
* * *
Oliver was mounted on Conomor ready to leave the farm when he was confronted by Alice. Her face was serious and her arms folded in a no-nonsense manner.
‘Are you looking for me?’ he asked defensively.
‘No,’ she said tartly. ‘Jessica dropped her doll, I’m looking for it. But I’ll take the opportunity of having a few words now we’re alone and face to face.’
‘If you’re concerned about Luke I’ll make sure he’s punished.’
‘No, Kerensa will see to that as any good mother would. What I would like to know is what that was all about.’
‘I’m sorry if you don’t approve, Alice,’ he said stiffly, tightening his grip on the reins, ‘but I will not allow anyone to treat a child of mine in the manner your husband was employing.’
‘You know I’m not talking about the clash between you and Clem,’ Alice said stoutly. ‘That was only to be expected.’
Oliver jumped down beside her. ‘What are you talking about, woman?’
‘Don’t you “woman” me. We’re friends, you and I, Oliver Pengarron, and friends notice things others miss. I mean the way you spoke to Kerensa just then.’
Oliver folded his arms also. ‘God damn it, I simply asked her a question, Alice!’
‘There’s no need to blaspheme either. You spoke to her very harshly and it’s not the first time you’ve done so lately in my hearing. Kerensa is very unhappy, she’s tried to hide it from me but I know her too well. I was her maid at the beginning of your marriage, don’t forget, I know what you can be like. Please don’t get angry with me, but I have to know. Is there some sort of trouble between you and her?’
His sternness died away and he put out a hand and rubbed Alice’s arm. ‘I wish I could say you’re imagining it, Alice, but… I wish I could tell you.’
‘We’ve confided in each other before,’ she reminded him.
‘I know, but this is different, it’s something I have to work out by myself, in my own time. Believe me, it’s the best way. But I do value your friendship, Alice.’
Alice waited for Oliver to remount, then said, ‘Don’t be too hard on Kerensa, I beg you, Oliver. I have a feeling she’s far from well and couldn’t take a lot more upset. Whatever is wrong between you, don’t forget that she loves you.’
‘I know.’
She watched as he was quickly eaten up by the darkness. She was uneasy and her round face contorted into a deep frown. She had chewed over many times what the reason could be for Kerensa’s unhappiness. It was no good talking to Rosie. She was apparently suffering the emotional upheaval of a broken romance and had lost interest in everything, even refusing Beatrice’s requests to go over to the manor kitchens and help her with her herbs and potions.
The most obvious reason for Kerensa’s unhappiness was that she had discovered Oliver was having an affair. The whole parish had waited expectantly for it to happen. He had never gone long without looking for the favours of a female before he married and women had never stopped throwing themselves at him since. But if Oliver was having, or had had, an affair, Kerensa would be the one showing hostility, not Oliver.
Alice found Jessica’s doll lying forlornly on the ground at the scene of the incident, its dress dirtied by someone’s careless foot.
‘He knows now… your father,’ she said, rubbing at the dirt with stiff fingers. Clem wasn’t blind, he would have seen how things stood between Oliver and Kerensa.
Whatever the trouble was, Alice’s worst fears were the same as Matthias’s. What would Clem do? She had not asked Matthias the reason for his more frequent visits to Trecath-en Farm but she was certain it had nothing to do with her pining sister-in-law.
* * *
After giving Morley and Kenver a brief explanation as to why they were home early, and leaving a subdued Alice to fill in the details, Clem headed out of the farmyard with Charity dutifully at his side. He had a lot to think about. There was enough light from the stars to tramp the familiar track to the bottom of Trecath-en valley and sit under the clump of elm trees at the river’s edge.
Kerensa was miserable and now he knew why. Oliver Pengarron had made it plain that at least on his part there was animosity between them. He had not spared her feelings in front of Ted Trembath’s wedding guests. He was proud and haughty and Clem despised him for it. His heart ached for Kerensa. Pengarron was a man who could make others suffer. He had better not hurt her, or he’ll have me to contend with, Clem vowed angrily.
He gazed up through the still black branches at the winking stars. What had happened? What had changed Oliver Pengarron from a man who openly adored his wife to one who treated her with shameless rudeness in public? There had been no gossip that trouble was brewing. Like Alice, Clem’s first assumption was that Oliver was having an affair; it was the easiest thing to believe but Clem grudgingly thought it unlikely.
The stars, silvery and twinkling, gave him no clue. He closed his eyes to dig deeper into his mind, unaware of the gurgling river and intense cold penetrating his bones. If the situation was really bad then Kerensa would turn to him, he was confident of that. It was what he had waited for for eight long years, and he wallowed in the warm, beautiful memories of the times he had held her, comforted her, tenderly kissed her and of the time he had nearly totally possessed her.
Charity, who had been lying across his boots, jumped up at a sudden scurrying sound along the river bank and Clem, disturbed from his memories, opened his eyes and sat up straight. As the bitch sniffed about, Clem thought dole
fully that the Pengarrons had probably only had a row like all married folk do. Oliver was a proud man who thought nothing of speaking his mind in public and causing others embarrassment. It was probably no more than that; he was foolish to think of winning Kerensa back. Still, he would look out for her, try to meet her alone, and if she needed him…
* * *
Kerensa arrived home a long time before Oliver. She suspected he had ridden straight from Ker-an-Mor Farm to Pengarron Point and she would have followed him, intent on a confrontation, but the children were too unsettled to be left. By the time she had helped Cherry to put the children to bed she felt too depressed and weary to face him. She wished despondently that he was not entertaining at home tonight but would stay out all night as he so often did.
Olivia wanted to keep Kerensa in her bedroom, imploring her to read more stories than usual and to look again and again at her paintings. When at last she was coaxed to lie down and be tucked in, Kerensa promised to return a short time later and read her another story if she was still awake.
Kerensa was thankful to have no problems with Kane when she moved on to the room he shared with Luke. Kane was always eager to please her and the moment he saw how fraught she was he settled down, with Bob dozing across the foot of his bed. She did not expect to be so fortunate with Luke and she was not.
He was teeming with unspent energy and frequently interrupted the story Kerensa read, making silly remarks and fidgeting persistently. She was used to his forthright questions made blatantly to shock but she was totally unprepared for the question he threw at her when she thankfully closed the book.
Pengarron Pride Page 22
