by Dilly Court
He kissed her on the forehead. ‘How are you, Sadie? Although I hardly need to ask. The years have been kind to you.’
Sadie flapped her apron at him, spots of colour staining her cheeks. ‘Oh, get on with you.’
‘No, I mean it. You were a skinny little thing when I first met you, but now you’re a handsome woman, Sadie Dixon.’
‘Soon to be Mrs Laurence Bromley,’ Sadie said smugly.
‘I must congratulate the lucky man,’ Raven said smoothly. ‘I hope he is worthy of you, Sadie.’
She giggled, blushing like a girl. ‘Shut up, Raven. I know it’s Essie you’ve come to see, but she’s at the office.’ She led the way to the kitchen with Caroline close on her heels.
‘Is Jimmy well now?’ Caroline asked anxiously.
‘Fully recovered, I’m glad to say. Quite back to his old mischievous self.’
‘It’s very quiet.’ Caroline glanced at the clock above the range. ‘It’s time for lunch, but surely they aren’t studying on a day like this?’ ‘Laurence has given them all a holiday, and he’s taken your brothers and the two new boys, who started yesterday, on a fishing trip upriver.’
‘It’s good that Laurence has new pupils, but it seems a strange time for them to start,’ Caroline said, momentarily diverted.
‘To tell the truth I think their parents simply wanted them out of the way.’ Sadie heaved a sigh and her eyes darkened. ‘If I had children I would want to keep them with me.’
‘They’re in safe hands with you, Sadie.’
‘Of course they are. I’ll look after the little souls as if they were my own. Anyway, where are my manners, Raven? I’m sure you’d like something to eat and drink.’ She filled the kettle and replaced it on the hob.
Caroline was about to speak when the door that led on to the back yard opened and a young girl staggered in, carrying a bucket filled with coal.
‘Shut the door, Edna. Put the scuttle down and fetch the gingerbread from the larder, there’s a good girl.’ Sadie waited until Edna had disappeared into the larder. ‘I got her from the orphanage. She’s a bit simple, but she’s willing.’ She beamed at Edna, who reappeared carrying a plate of cake. ‘Put it on the table, please.’
‘Yes’m.’ Edna placed the plate in front of Raven and stood stiffly to attention.
‘Thank you,’ Raven said, smiling.
Edna’s freckled face flushed scarlet and she giggled.
‘Go and see to the boys’ rooms, Edna. Then you can come down for your luncheon.’ Sadie sent the girl off with a wave of her hand. ‘I’m training her,’ she said, smiling. ‘Who would have thought that Sadie Dixon would one day have a servant of her own?’
Raven cleared his throat. ‘The gingerbread looks very tempting. I’ll help myself, if you don’t mind.’
Caroline shook her head when he offered her the plate. She had other things on her mind than food. ‘Have you seen Maria recently, Sadie?’ she asked urgently. ‘Did she marry her sea captain?’
‘No, dear. She decided to remain in London. She’s been staying in Mr Colville’s house in Princes Square. Such a lot has happened in a very short time.’
Raven pulled up a chair and sat down, stretching out his long legs. ‘I’ve missed all this while I’ve been living a bachelor existence in Bendigo.’
‘It was your choice.’ Sadie bustled about taking cups and saucers from the dresser. ‘I always thought you and Essie would make a match of it, but you didn’t.’ She reached for the teapot. ‘Where was I? Oh, yes, I remember now. I was saying that the company couldn’t find a replacement for Theo, and Maria was supposed to travel down to Dover to get married, but she changed her mind. A good thing, too, if you ask me.’
‘I don’t suppose that Captain Reid had anything to do with her change of heart?’
‘He is rather dashing, apart from being related to the Colvilles, which makes him quite a catch, and they do seem to get on very well together.’ Sadie threw back her head and laughed. ‘Oh, to be young again. Mind you, I prefer to be my age and have all that silliness behind me. Laurence and I have named the day and the first of the banns was read last Sunday. At my age I can’t afford to wait.’
‘You’re not old, Sadie. What are you, thirty-two or thirty-three?’
‘My mother was a grandmother at thirty-two. Would you like some more gingerbread, Raven? I’ve just made another batch – the boys love it.’
‘I haven’t tasted gingerbread for years,’ Raven said, smiling. ‘My cook in Bendigo is an ex-convict and has only just mastered the basics.’
Caroline took a seat at the table. ‘I have something to tell you, Sadie. Although I really wanted to tell Mama first, but you’ll know soon enough.’
Sadie’s smile faded. ‘What is it, dear? You’re not sick, are you? Has anything happened to Grace or Freddie?’
‘No, I’m well and so are the others, but this concerns Grace and Maria.’
Caroline repeated what Grace had told them the previous evening, and when she finished speaking there was a moment of stunned silence.
‘Well, I never did.’ Sadie shook her head. ‘Who would have thought it of Jack? He loved your mother so much, I can’t believe that he’d do a thing like that.’ She dabbed her eyes with her apron. ‘It will break Essie’s heart. She mustn’t know, Carrie. Don’t tell her.’
‘It’s no use,’ Caroline said gently. ‘Now that Grace has let her secret out there’s no stopping it. Maria will have to know and it would be cruel to keep it from my mother. I dread telling her, but I feel I must tell Mama first.’
Sadie stood up, ripping off her apron. ‘Then I’m coming with you. Essie will need her friends standing by her.’ She glowered at Raven. ‘You were Essie’s friend – you’d better come as well.’
Sidney Masters was seated in his usual position at the front desk. The office looked neat and clean, but there was none of the hustle and bustle Caroline remembered from the old days when she had come to visit her father and mother. Masters greeted her with a wary look, as if expecting trouble, but he relaxed a little when she made it plain that she had come to see her mother. He rose stiffly from his chair.
‘I’ll just check to see if it’s convenient, Miss Manning.’
Caroline was too nervous to wait. ‘It’s all right, Mr Masters. She won’t be too busy to see us.’ She walked past him and let herself into the main office, which had once been the centre of their shipping operation – the walls covered with charts and lists of ship movements, and clerks working at their desks. Esther sat in solitary state behind the desk where Ezra Parkinson had once ruled the department. She rose to her feet, smiling and holding out her hands as she walked towards them.
‘Caroline, darling.’ She came to a sudden halt when she saw Raven. ‘No, I don’t believe it. What are you doing all this way from Bendigo?’ She rushed past Caroline to grasp Raven’s hands. ‘You’re really here?’
‘Are you pleased to see me, Essie?’
The warmth in his voice and the teasing smile in his eyes as he raised her hands to his lips came as yet another shock. Caroline had been used to seeing her parents together, but now she was seeing her mother in a new light. Until this moment Esther Manning had been a mother figure, slightly remote during Caroline’s younger days, but much loved and respected. It came as a surprise to realise that men still found her mother attractive, and Sadie had a smug smile on her face, as if she was party to a well-kept secret. Caroline was intrigued.
‘Why didn’t you let me know that you were coming, Raven?’ Esther demanded, breaking free from his grasp. ‘Has my pa come with you? And what about Falco, the old rogue?’
‘They’ll be here in a few days’ time. I left the ship to visit Freddie, and became embroiled in the most bizarre set of circumstances involving your daughter and people who were complete strangers to me.’
‘Dear me, how fascinating. Sit down everyone and tell me what’s been happening?’ Flushed and looking suddenly ten years younger, Esther motioned Carolin
e and Sadie to take a seat while she led Raven to the chair reserved for important clients. ‘Who is going to speak first?’
Caroline met Raven’s quizzical glance with a frown. ‘I have something to tell you, Mama. But perhaps it would be better if we leave it until later.’
Sadie nudged her in the ribs. ‘No, it won’t. Essie doesn’t need to hear this second-hand.’
Esther resumed her seat behind the desk. ‘It can’t be so very bad, darling. We’ve been through so much recently, what could be worse than losing my dear husband, my home and having to rely on the Colvilles for business?’
‘This concerns the Colvilles, Mama.’ Caroline began tentatively, but somehow she could not bring herself to say anything that would spoil her mother’s obvious happiness on being reunited with such an old friend.
‘There’s no way to say this other than to come out with the truth, Essie.’ Raven leaned forward, reaching across the desk to take Esther’s hand in his. ‘Last evening, at dinner, Grace told us that Jack was Maria’s father. I’m sorry, but it happened before you were married, and, according to Grace, it was a brief moment of drunken madness, for which she has paid a terrible price.’
Esther’s cheeks paled and her eyes widened. She gazed at Raven, shaking her head. ‘No. I don’t believe it. Jack wouldn’t – he couldn’t have – not Jack.’
‘I was going to tell you, Mama,’ Caroline murmured. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it is true. Maria is my half-sister.’
‘You’re wrong.’ Esther shook her head, her eyes magnified by unshed tears. ‘Jack loved me.’
‘He did,’ Raven nodded emphatically. ‘He was a good man, Essie. You were happy with him, weren’t you? Tell me that you were.’
‘Of course she was, Raven.’ Sadie jumped to her feet. ‘They were well suited and it was a happy home until Jack got into financial trouble.’
Esther snatched her hand away and rose unsteadily to her feet. ‘I want you all to go. Leave me on my own. I have to think.’ She began pacing the floor, wringing her hands. ‘It can’t be true. Maria can’t be Jack’s daughter.’
Caroline was about to argue when the door burst open and Phineas strode into the office. ‘Go away, please, Phin,’ she said urgently. ‘My mother is very upset.’
‘Upset?’ Esther was trembling visibly as she spun round to face Phineas. ‘Your family are to blame for all our ills. I hate you, Phineas Colville. I loathe the very sight of you.’
Raven leaped to his feet and wrapped his arms around Esther, holding her despite her struggles to free herself. ‘Calm down, Essie,’ he said softly. ‘It’s not this man’s fault.’
‘Yes, it is. He loaned money to Jack and then demanded it back when he could see that we were in trouble. Jack might still be here had the Colvilles not put pressure on him to repay his debt.’
‘That’s not entirely true,’ Phineas said icily. ‘I came to talk business, but I see that you are out of sorts and perhaps we should leave it until another day.’
Esther broke free from Raven’s arms, holding her head high. ‘I’ve just learned that my husband was Maria’s father. I don’t want anything to do with you or your family.’
‘I know, and I’m truly sorry, Mrs Manning,’ Phineas said gently. ‘It came as a shock to all of us.’
‘I don’t want your sympathy,’ Esther cried passionately. ‘Your family have been the ruin of us.’
Caroline had had enough. She felt her mother’s pain, but this was not the time to fall out with Phineas. She could only hope that he had forgiven her for her ill-judged remarks on the day of the rescue from Bear Island. She stepped in between them.
‘As my mother is clearly upset, I think you’d better deal with me, Mr Colville.’
‘You are not the head of the company, Caroline,’ Esther said icily. ‘That dubious honour falls to me.’
‘That’s something we need to discuss at a later date, Mama. But we have a ship in dock, as yet without a cargo and it’s losing us money. Phineas has agreed to help, and if we don’t act soon we will lose what little we have.’ She met Raven’s enquiring look with a lift of her chin. ‘Would you be kind enough to take my mother home?’
A gleam of admiration lit his blue eyes and he smiled. ‘I think that’s eminently sensible, but where is home?’
‘I offered them a house in Great Hermitage Street,’ Phineas said calmly. ‘I’ve had it cleaned from top to bottom and it might suit as a temporary base. It’s unfurnished at the moment, but that could easily be rectified.’
‘Great Hermitage Street.’ Raven frowned. ‘I think I know it and it’s not the sort of area that would suit Mrs Manning.’
‘I can speak for myself,’ Esther protested. ‘I don’t need you to tell me what I can and cannot do, Raven. I’ve been staying with Alice at Bearwood House, and that’s where I intend to go now.’
‘You should, by rights, own the Captain’s House,’ Sadie said in a low voice.
‘Nonsense.’ Esther turned on her with an angry frown. ‘It was I who advised Jack to leave it to you. Anyway, it would have been sold to pay off our creditors had it not been your property. You are part of my family, Sadie, and we look after each other.’
Sadie nodded. ‘You’ll always have a roof over your head while I live there, Essie. I’ll never let you down.’
Phineas made a move towards the doorway. ‘You don’t have to worry about your ship, Mrs Manning. A cargo will be found and the crew will be paid.’
‘And I’m sure whatever you do will be for the benefit of your own company,’ Esther said angrily. ‘I neither trust nor like you, Phineas Colville. I know who my friends are and that doesn’t include you.’
Caroline opened her mouth to protest but Raven forestalled her. He tucked Esther’s hand in the crook of his arm. ‘This is getting us nowhere, my dear. Maybe you could stay with Alice for a few more days while we look for somewhere more suitable.’
‘All right.’ Esther turned to Carrie. ‘Do what you must, but I want nothing more to do with the company. I’m handing it over to you, Caroline. It’s caused me nothing but grief.’ She marched out of the office, leaving a shocked silence in her wake.
Raven was the first to recover. ‘A sensible decision,’ he said firmly. ‘Don’t worry, Caroline. I’m sure that your mother will see things differently when she’s calmed down.’ He patted Sadie on the shoulder. ‘Essie will be all right. I’ll look after her.’
Sadie managed a tight little smile. ‘You always knew how to handle her. I was convinced from the start that she was too spirited for Jack, and she would have done much better to marry you.’
‘I was a fool to let her go.’
Caroline stared at him in surprise. ‘You and my mother?’
He smiled ruefully. ‘It was a long time ago, and I was chasing rainbows, but I never discovered the rainbow’s end, and perhaps I never will.’ He strode out of the office, calling to Esther to wait.
‘I’d best get home, too,’ Sadie said hastily. ‘I have to prepare supper for Laurence and the boys. Will you join us, Carrie?’
‘I suppose I ought to go to Bearwood House and make things right with Mama, but I must see Maria first.’
Sadie straightened her bonnet and looped her shawl around her shoulders. ‘The boys will be disappointed if you don’t stay with us. I’ve kept your room in readiness.’
‘Thank you, I will, but Mr Colville and I have some business to discuss, and then I have to find Maria.’ Caroline shot a sideways glance at Phineas. ‘I think I owe you an apology.’
‘I’ll see you at supper.’ Sadie walked to the door, but, before she could reach out for the handle the door opened and Masters rushed into the room.
‘Miss Dixon, there’s a young girl here who says she’s got an urgent message for you. Something about an accident upriver.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
‘Laurence!’ Sadie shrieked, heading for the door. ‘And the boys.’
‘Oh, no.’ Caroline hurried after her. ‘Wa
it, Sadie. We don’t know it’s their boat.’
Sadie was already in the outer office and she grabbed the young girl by the shoulders. ‘Tell me what happened.’
The child’s eyes almost popped out of her head as Sadie shook her. ‘Pa hires out the boats,’ she said on a sob. ‘Number 5 was late coming back and then we had news that it was turned turtle in the shallows upriver.’
Sadie uttered a strangled cry. ‘How far upriver? We need to know. Tell me, you stupid child.’
‘Stop shaking me, lady. Me brains will be addled.’
‘That won’t help.’ Caroline put her arms around the terrified child. ‘Did they tell you where they’d seen the upturned boat?’
‘On the foreshore, close to Battersea Park. Don’t let the madwoman get me, miss.’
Phineas stepped forward. ‘I’ll take you there, Caroline. My steam launch will get us there quickly.’
‘You’re prepared to help us?’ Caroline stared at him in surprise. ‘Even after I was so horrible to you.’
‘Don’t waste time talking,’ Phineas said briskly. He bent down so that he was more on the child’s level. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Who cares? Sadie gasped. ‘Hurry.’
‘It’s Rose, sir.’
‘Do you know the exact spot, Rose?’
‘Yes, sir. I think so.’
Phineas took her by the hand. ‘Show us the way and I promise to pay for the repairs to your pa’s boat.’
Caroline grabbed Sadie by the arm. ‘They’ll be fine, I know they will. Come on, Sadie.’
Despite Phineas’ assertion that his launch would get them upriver faster than any other means of transport, the steamer puttered along at a maddeningly slow speed, belching smoke from a single funnel amidships. Phineas took the helm and Rose stood in the bows like a figurehead on a sailing ship, puffed up with importance as the designated lookout. Caroline sat beside Sadie, trying hard to keep up her spirits, although inside she was just as anxious. Her only comfort was the fact that Papa had insisted on teaching both Max and Jimmy to swim. If, for whatever reason, their craft had capsized, the boys should have been able to get ashore. The long hot summer had kept the water levels low, and the Thames slithered towards the sea like a sleepy serpent.
