by Dilly Court
‘No, never. It’s not that.’
His tone gentled and the angry look faded from his eyes. ‘Then what, sweetheart? What is so terrible that you cannot accept me as your husband?’
‘I’ve only just found out who I really am. I was born out of wedlock. The Coggins brought me up but I wasn’t their child.’
He drew her back into the haven of his arms. ‘Is that all? Have you been resisting me because of a stupid convention? Do you really think I care about details like that?’
‘You – you don’t mind?’ She blinked hard; surely she was dreaming? He looked almost boyish in his enthusiasm as he clasped her hands, lifting them to his lips and kissing them.
‘I don’t care who your parents were or whether you were born in or out of wedlock. I want to marry you, Kate, not them.’
‘Good man. I knew you were a fine fellow, Harry.’
Kate spun round to see John standing a little way from them down the path with Josie leaning on his arm. Both of them were smiling. ‘You’ve been listening,’ she breathed. ‘How could you?’
John held up his hands. ‘No, believe me, Kate. We only heard Harry’s last words to you, and I wanted to applaud his good sense.’
‘It was my fault,’ Josie said hastily. ‘I saw you from the window. When Harry kissed you I knew that you had sorted yourselves out at last. We came out to congratulate you.’ She ran to Kate, hugging her until she could hardly breathe. ‘I am so happy for you.’
‘You don’t understand,’ Kate said, pulling away from her. ‘I’ve just told Harry that I can’t marry him.’
‘And I won’t accept that.’ Harry caught her by the hand. ‘I don’t care if your parents were tinkers, tranters or felons – I love you, Kate, and I want to marry you.’
‘And you have my blessing,’ John said, laying a hand on each of their shoulders. ‘Kate, if you don’t tell him that I am your uncle …’ He broke off, laughing. ‘Oh dear! I’ve let the cat out of the metaphorical bag.’
‘Uncle?’ Harry stared at him in astonishment.
‘It’s a long story,’ John said, nodding. ‘I suggest we go indoors out of the hot sun and allow Kate to tell you everything we discovered about her past, and how we are connected.’
Harry slipped his arm around Kate’s waist. ‘With all due respect, John, I think this is between the two of us. Come, Kate, we’ll go for a walk by the river and you can tell me in your own way.’
It was over an hour later when they returned to the vicarage. They entered the drawing room, hand in hand.
Josie leapt to her feet and ran to them. ‘Well, then? What’s the news? Are we to congratulate you?’
Kate felt herself blushing. ‘Yes.’
‘I am so happy for you both,’ Josie cried, flinging her arms around Kate’s neck and hugging her. ‘I am really, really glad.’ She turned to Harry. ‘And you’d better look after her, Challenor. Or I’ll want to know the reason why.’
John rose from his chair to shake Harry’s hand. ‘Well done, my friend. I couldn’t be happier.’ He kissed Kate on the cheek. ‘I hope you will allow me to perform the ceremony, my very dear niece.’
‘I wouldn’t want anyone else to do it, Uncle. But we have agreed to wait until we find out what happened to Sam.’
Harry turned to Josie with a glimmer of a smile. ‘I don’t want to raise false hopes, but there is a slim chance that Sam might have survived.’
She sat down suddenly, the colour draining from her face. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I have a ship leaving for St Peter Port in the morning. Kate has agreed to come with me.’
‘Then I am coming too,’ Josie said firmly. ‘You’re not going without me. I’ll find my Sam or die in the attempt.’
‘And I.’ Molly rushed into the room, her bonnet strings flying. ‘I heard what you just said, Harry. You can’t leave me behind.’
‘I wouldn’t think of it, Molly. You must come too.’
‘I’ll start packing right now.’ She took off her bonnet and flung it into the air. ‘Sam is alive – I’ve never doubted it. When do we leave?’
‘As soon as possible.’ Josie rose to her feet and the colour came rushing back to her cheeks. ‘I’ll come with you. I don’t trust you to put the right things in my valise.’ She hurried after Molly who had raced from the room.
John moved slowly to a side table and picked up a decanter, pouring sherry into three glasses. He handed one to Kate. ‘Here’s to your future happiness, and to success in finding Sam.’
Kate raised the glass to her lips, but her happiness was dulled by the hint of sadness she saw in his eyes. ‘I’m so sorry, Uncle,’ she whispered. ‘But there has never been anyone for Josie other than Sam.’
‘I know, Kate. And I suppose I am a crusty old bachelor at heart, but I’ll be here if she ever needs me.’
Harry’s ship, its hold filled with a cargo of corn, docked in St Peter Port harbour late next day. A carriage was waiting to take them to the house that he owned in Hauteville. Everything was so new and strange to Kate. Even at first sight, the island of Guernsey had totally charmed her. Perhaps, she thought dreamily, she was seeing everything through the eyes of a woman deeply in love and secure in the knowledge that her feelings were returned. She tried hard not to appear too happy when Josie and Molly were around, but inside she was bubbling with joy, and yet a little afraid that it was all too good to be true and might suddenly end.
After they had enjoyed an excellent dinner prepared for them by the caretaker’s wife, Harry took them to the drawing room on the first floor, but it was not long before both Josie and Molly retired to bed, saying that they wanted an early start next day.
Standing by one of the windows, Kate gazed down at the harbour filled with sailing craft of every description. The house was high up on a hill and the lights of the town twinkled below them. The masthead lamps of the moored vessels cast dancing reflections on the dark water and to Kate it looked like fairyland. Harry came up behind her and took her in his arms, turning her so that their lips met in a long and languorous kiss. ‘I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am, my darling, Kate.’ He smiled into her eyes as he kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose and, last and more lingering, on the lips. ‘I do love you so.’
‘And I love you, Harry. I can’t believe that we’re here together like this.’
‘We’ll be married as soon as we get home, sweetheart. I’ll get a special licence and then I’ll take you back to Copperstone as my bride. There is someone there who can’t wait to see you again.’
‘Really? I can’t think who that could be.’
‘A young man by the name of Alfred, or Alfie as he prefers to be called. You’ll know him better as Boy.’
‘Alfie.’ She repeated the name, smiling. ‘Of course I remember him. Is he doing well?’
‘He’s settled in splendidly. My cook has great hopes for him, and it was he who gave Alfie his name, after a mishap with some overcooked cakes, so I’ve been told.’
‘Alfred the Great.’ Kate chuckled at the notion. ‘How apt. But didn’t Boy – I mean, Alfie – mind?’
‘Not at all. He’s really happy.’
Kate gazed dreamily into his eyes. ‘As am I. I didn’t know that such happiness could exist. If we could just find Sam everything would be perfect.’
Next day, Kate came down to breakfast to find that Josie and Molly had already eaten and were dressed in their outdoor clothes, eager to begin the search for Sam. Josie paced the floor impatiently while they waited for Harry to join them. Kate nibbled a croissant and sipped a cup of coffee, but she was too nervous and excited to enjoy her meal.
‘Where is he?’ Josie demanded angrily. ‘Why isn’t Harry here, ready to go out and look for my Sam?’
Before Kate had a chance to comfort her, Harry entered the parlour brandishing several copies of the Star newspaper. ‘We have to start somewhere,’ he said, eyeing Josie warily. ‘I suggest we each take one of these back copies of the local
newspaper and go through them thoroughly.’
‘What?’ Josie screeched. ‘Sit about reading newspapers, when we should be out there looking for Sam? You told us that you had news of him, which is why we came here. Were you lying to us?’
‘Take off your bonnet and sit down, Josie,’ Harry said calmly. ‘I’ve had people searching for him since I first learned of the tragedy. I may have discovered something, but if not I don’t want you to be there when it turns out to be another wild goose chase.’
‘Then why did you bring us here?’ Molly’s eyes filled with tears. ‘That was cruel.’
‘Harry’s right,’ Kate said calmly. ‘He might do better on his own. We’ll search through the newspapers, just in case something has been missed.’
‘Give them to me.’ Josie ripped off her bonnet and flung it across the room. She snatched the newspapers from Harry. ‘You go with him, Kate. I’m sure that’s what he’s hoping for. Go off and enjoy yourselves, while Molly and I do all the hard work.’
Kate opened her mouth to protest, but Harry took her by the hand. ‘Come, Kate. I have other plans for us.’
‘I’m sure you have,’ Josie said acidly. ‘Go on, get out of here. I’m beginning to think that you only brought us here to make your romantic tryst with Kate look respectable.’
Muffling a sob, Molly sat down at the table and bent her head over a newspaper. ‘I hate you, Harry.’
‘And at this moment, so do I,’ Josie said with feeling. ‘Go then, but don’t come back unless you’ve found him.’
Kate was about to leap to Harry’s defence but he ushered her out of the room, closing the door behind them.
‘Did you do that deliberately, Harry?’ Kate followed him downstairs to the entrance hall. ‘You know that Josie is a bundle of nerves.’
‘My enquiries have turned up something at last, but I thought it best if you and I went to investigate on our own in the first instance. Who knows, if it is Sam, he might not want to be discovered.’
‘You deliberately provoked Josie, knowing that she would react in that way.’
‘I had the measure of your fiery friend a long time ago, Kate. I know that she explodes and says the first thing that comes into her head and is then very, very sorry.’
‘You are so clever,’ Kate said, reaching up to brush his lips with a kiss. ‘Where are we going?’
‘There’s a small island off the west coast which is accessible by a causeway at low tide only. We must leave now or we will have missed our chance to get there today. I’ll tell you all about it when we are on our way. I sent for my carriage and it should be waiting outside. I had the maid bring your bonnet and shawl from your room,’ he added, taking them from the chair by the door.
She smiled. ‘You think of everything, and you presume a lot. What would you have done if I’d insisted on staying to comfort the girls?’
‘I’d have been very sorry to have missed the opportunity to be alone with you, my love.’
As the carriage manoeuvred through the narrow cobbled streets of the town, Kate leaned against Harry listening intently while he told her his plan. He had learned from one of his contacts on the island that monks from the Benedictine priory of St Mary on Lihou had found a man washed up on the causeway the day after the great storm. They had thought at first that he was dead, but by some miracle he had survived, although he was seriously injured. He had nothing on him by way of identification and it was several weeks before he was able to tell them the full story.
‘But is it Sam?’ Kate demanded, clutching Harry’s arm. ‘He must have given them a name.’
Harry shook his head. ‘The name he gave was not Sam Loveday. But there could be any number of reasons why he kept his identity to himself. We’ll soon find out, Kate. Be brave, my darling.’
Once they were outside the town, the horses picked up speed and Kate held onto Harry as the carriage swayed from side to side on the uneven road surface. She prayed silently that the man whom the monks had saved would turn out to be Sam. It seemed like a slim chance.
The green hedgerows, wooded valleys and pastures with tethered cows grazing the lush grass flashed past the windows as they cut across country. Kate felt that she had died and gone to heaven as she sat close to Harry, in the luxurious confines of his private carriage. She prayed that the man in question would turn out to be Sam, but she could not help wishing that the journey would go on forever. All too soon they were speeding along the coast road. The golden sands were licked by white crested waves and the majestic pink rock formations stood out against an opal sky.
‘There it is,’ Harry said, leaning forward and pointing to a small island off the headland. ‘And it looks as though we are in time. I can see the causeway.’
‘I feel sick,’ Kate said breathlessly. ‘I want it to be Sam so much. What shall we do if it turns out to be a stranger?’
Harry squeezed her hand. ‘We’ll go on searching, my love. We’ll stay on the island until we know one way or the other.’
The coachman drew the horses to a halt as close to the causeway as was possible without the carriage wheels sinking into the wet sand. Kate clung to Harry’s arm, holding her bonnet on with one hand as they crossed the windy pathway that would soon be covered by the incoming tide. Men were working on the foreshore, picking up what looked like seaweed and dropping it into rush baskets. They were so close now that she could see that some of them wore monks’ habits, but others were obviously laymen, clad in breeches and fishermen’s smocks. One man in particular caught her eye and she came to a sudden halt. He was bent over his work, but she would have known him anywhere. ‘Sam!’
He raised his head and Kate broke away from Harry. She ran, slipping and sliding on the slimy wet stones, calling out to him. Her voice was carried away by the wind and her bonnet flew off her head, landing with a splash in the water, but she did not care. She waved her arms frantically, screaming his name. He dropped his rush basket and picked up a crutch, leaning heavily on it as he limped towards her.
‘Sam. Sam – I can’t believe it’s really you.’ Kate flung herself into his arms, sobbing for joy. ‘You’re alive – it is you!’
He crushed her to him, rubbing his cheek against her hair. ‘Kate. Dear Kate.’
‘Why didn’t you let us know that you were alive?’ she demanded, pummelling his chest with her fists. ‘How could you let us suffer torments thinking you were lost at sea?’
He shook his head slowly, glancing down at his twisted limb. ‘I didn’t know where I was, or who I was, for weeks. The monks found me and took me in. They brought me back from the dead, and they did what they could for my leg, but it will never be right.’
‘As if that matters. You’re alive and that is all we care about.’
Harry had stopped to speak to one of the monks, but he now approached them smiling and holding his hand out to Sam. ‘We’d almost given you up for dead.’
Sam tugged his cap off, clutching it tightly in his hands. ‘I would have been if the monks hadn’t taken me in. I was lucky to be washed up on the island. Not that I remember much about it.’
Kate shivered. ‘It’s a miracle. I can’t wait to tell Josie.’
‘Is she here?’ Sam’s dark eyes widened and his lips trembled. ‘I don’t want her to see me like this.’
‘Nonsense, man,’ Harry said impatiently. ‘The girl has been out of her head with grief. She wouldn’t care if you had lost both legs. She loves you, you fool.’
Sam’s eyes were bleak. ‘But she married you, or she’s going to.’
‘No, my dear. That’s not true.’ Kate slipped her hand through the crook of his arm. ‘It might be what she told you, but she didn’t mean a word of it. Josie has always loved you, and you love her. You were meant to be together. Even as we speak, she’s searching through the local newspaper for clues as to your whereabouts. She almost died from shock when she heard that you were lost at sea. You have to believe me.’
Harry took a gold half-hunter watch from
his waistcoat pocket. ‘The tide will be on the turn soon. We must leave now, or we will be stuck here for another twelve hours. I’ve had a word with Brother Michael.’ Harry jerked his head in the direction of one of the monks who was standing a little way from them. ‘He said that you are free to leave whenever you choose.’
‘I owe them my life,’ Sam said, rubbing his hand across his eyes. ‘I have been working the vraic – or seaweed, as we call it – in order to repay them for all they have done for me.’
‘But you will come with us, Sam?’ Kate looked up into his face, suddenly fearful. She had not imagined that he might want to stay.
He met her eyes and his mouth twisted with pain. ‘Look at me, Kate. I’m a cripple. I can’t go back to farm work. Who would employ a one-legged man? I’m not educated or clever. What else could I do? How could I support a wife?’
‘I can find work for you,’ Harry said, glancing anxiously at the waves lapping at the causeway. ‘There’s plenty for you to do on my estate or on the docks in Weymouth where my ships are berthed.’
‘I appeal to you, sir,’ Sam said, turning to Harry with a desperate look on his face. ‘Man to man. You must understand that I could never marry Miss Josephine Damerell of Damerell Manor, not now, or ever. I couldn’t drag her down to live with me in rented rooms or a tied cottage. She is a lady, born and bred, and deserves better than a crippled beggarman.’
Kate tugged at his sleeve. ‘You fool, Sam. Josie loves you heart and soul. You must come back with us. Once you see her and hear what she has to say, you’ll change your mind.’
Sam’s jaw stuck out in a stubborn line. He shook his head. ‘You must go, Kate. The tide is on the turn so you must hurry.’
‘Listen to her, Sam,’ Harry said urgently. ‘Kate is right. You should at least give Josie a chance to speak for herself.’
‘I can’t see her; it would break my heart. I want you to go, please. Leave me here with the monks. They were willing to let me stay on as a lay brother. I can do this work and earn my keep. I want you to go back home and forget all about me.’
