by Anna Jacobs
‘You’d better have your things packed, then, ready to leave.’
‘There’s no way I’d dare do that, because someone would notice and tell him. I’m hoping you’ll give me some clothes. You’re a bit taller than me, but I can easily take up the hems. I’ll just have to snatch what I can when I leave, my jewels especially.’ She closed her eyes and added in a low voice, ‘I can’t wait to leave him. Every servant in the house is terrified of upsetting him and even my aunt is nervous when he’s around. It’s a miserable way to live.’
‘I have to ask – are you sure your courage won’t fail you at the last minute?’ This point had been worrying Xanthe.
‘Oh, yes. I’m very sure.’
Her expression was so grimly determined, Xanthe believed her.
‘It’s partly because of you, you know. I can’t forget how you came after the man you loved. I envied you that day. Ronan’s face lit up when he saw you.’ She sighed.
‘How will you live after you marry Paul?’
‘He has some money saved. We’ll go to England and sell my jewels. They really are mine because my aunt and mother left them to me. Father thinks he has most of them locked away, but I know where he hides the box and how to open it. He doesn’t trust banks and anyway, he likes me to wear them when we go out, to show off his wealth.’
‘Why go to England?’
‘Paul has relatives there who’ll help him. He’ll lose a lot by going there, because he’ll have to abandon the family business to his cousin. But he says it’ll be worth it. He can always open another workshop – he’s a very skilled clockmaker. We’ve been wanting to marry for three years, but my father refused even to consider it. I’ve had to wait till I turned twenty-one – and until I found the courage.’
‘If your father is as bad as you say, you might even find it safer to go to America or Australia. It’d be far harder for him to find you there.’
Georgina looked at her thoughtfully. ‘You’re right, I suppose. But it’s such a long way, isn’t it?’
‘People there are just the same as they are here.’
Was the signed statement going to be enough? Xanthe wondered as she and Mary drove home, stopping at cottages here and there to distribute small amounts of food. The light rain soon had them soaked to the skin, in spite of the umbrella she held over them. It seemed to rain a lot in Ireland. Anyone coming from Lancashire was used to rain but to her surprise it seemed to rain more here, if the recent weeks were anything to judge by.
It was a huge contrast to Western Australia where it hardly rained at all for the warmer half of the year.
She couldn’t wait to ask what her husband thought of her plan. Surely he would help?
Ronan stared at her in shock after hearing what she’d done. ‘I can’t believe you got in touch with Georgina Johnson. Is there nothing you’re afraid of?’
‘Losing you.’
He had to give her a kiss for that and said against her hair, ‘Georgina’s right about you inspiring other people. You give me courage too, my darling, and not just courage but a desire to settle down and become a steady provider – and father of a family too, one day. I was an idle fellow till I met you.’
He looked down, saw her frown and added, ‘I know you’ve never wanted children, but I hope you’ll give me one or two. There are ways to limit the size of families these days, you know. They’re not infallible methods, but they’re good enough that you can be sure I’ll not burden you with one child after another.’
She smiled at him mistily and raised one hand to caress his cheek. ‘Thank you. That did worry me a little, though not enough to stop me marrying you. I’d like to have a child or two with you. Maia said I’d change if I loved someone enough, and I have done. But there were women in the streets where I grew up who hated their husbands, because they were forced to have one child after another till they were worn out and sometimes died.’
‘I’d never do that to you.’ He caught hold of the hand that had caressed his cheek and carried it to his lips, smiling to see her draw her breath in sharply as he placed a lingering kiss in her palm. She was so responsive, so loving.
‘Hadn’t we better go and see Mr Hatton about this?’ she asked when she got her breath back.
‘Yes, I suppose so. The sooner the better, really. It’s the only chance that I can see to keep Ardgullan.’
They went into Enniskillen that afternoon, the drive seeming much shorter when Ronan drove them in a smart new four-wheeled dog cart that had been one of his brother’s last purchases.
‘This is quicker than the carriage Hallie and I hired,’ Xanthe commented.
‘That heavy old thing! It can hardly rumble along at a walking pace. Only visitors are foolish enough to hire it. Even our carriage at Ardgullan is more modern than that one. But this dog cart is a very useful vehicle and luckily we have a pair of horses to draw it. They’re sturdy animals, these two. I’d not sell them except as a final resort, but I’ve taken your advice and looked at our other horses and there are a few I can sell.
‘Hubert would never sell any, but some don’t serve any real purpose and they all cost money to feed. Maybe, if we do manage to keep Ardgullan, I’ll take a leaf out of Conn’s book and breed horses.’
She was glad to hear Ronan making plans. She’d worried that he might not be able to settle down to the steady hard work that would be needed to bring the estate back to prosperity. ‘That sounds like an excellent idea. I’ll help you in any way I can.’
He chuckled. ‘What? Are you an expert on horse breeding now, as well as everything else?’
She tilted her chin and stuck out her tongue at him. ‘Well, I do know a little about it. I lived at Conn’s house for a few years and there wasn’t much to see except what went on in the yard at the back, so I often watched what he and Sean were doing. I’m a quick learner.’
‘You are, indeed.’ His smile faded and he said wonderingly, ‘Ah, you’re the light of my life, Xanthe girl. You’ll be the making of me.’
She felt a glow of happiness at his words in spite of all the worries they were facing.
When they explained to the lawyer what she’d arranged, Mr Hatton gloomily admitted that if they had such a statement from Mr Johnson’s own daughter it’d put the debt in doubt, at least. ‘He might even withdraw his claim to avoid a scandal. But then he could bring out that promissory note again at a later date. And I should warn you, he’s a dangerous man to cross. He never forgets it when he thinks someone has done him a wrong and there have been whispers of convenient deaths. I feel guilty now about bringing the two of you together.’
Ronan definitely wished Mr Hatton hadn’t done that, but you couldn’t change the past. ‘We’ll face whatever happens when we have to,’ Ronan said. ‘Now, what do we do? I don’t intend to let him steal my home without a fight.’
‘You’d better get Miss Johnson to come in here and make the statement in front of witnesses of my choosing.’
‘After which we’d better help her get out of the country immediately,’ Xanthe said. ‘It needs careful planning.’
Mr Hatton gave her one of his disapproving glances but said nothing. She wished Ronan had a more cheerful and modern-thinking lawyer. This man seemed to resent her even opening her mouth.
As she walked out she smiled at Mr Flewett. The young clerk was standing at a high desk, writing industriously, but he stopped work to wink at her behind his employer’s back.
Three days later, Georgina slipped out of her father’s house just before dawn, carrying two bundles. Ronan and his wife picked her up at the gate, again using the dog cart. Xanthe had packed a bag of clothes and other necessities for Georgina.
They brought Hallie with them, partly because it was time for her to return to her mother and partly because Mr Johnson and his minions would not be looking for two ladies travelling together.
By the time they reached Enniskillen, Mr Hatton was in his rooms, having got up earlier than usual by arrangement, something he�
��d been very grumpy about.
Looking as gloomy as ever, he showed them all into his office. ‘Mr Rawdon is already here. He’s been waiting for half an hour. It’s a good thing Mr Flewett came early to let him in. I have trouble thinking straight if I have to get up this early. It’s an uncivilised hour.’
Paul Rawdon was dressed as a manservant and grinned at Georgina, tugging on his forelock.
She let out a cry of joy and rushed across to hug him, which had the lawyer looking even more disapproving.
‘If we could sit down and see to the important business first?’ Mr Hatton waited for them to take the chairs set out in front of his big desk. ‘Now, I’ve had two copies of the statement prepared and young Flewett is waiting outside to witness it.’
‘Wouldn’t it be better to have someone not employed by you as the second witness?’ Paul Rawdon suggested. ‘It would look less like collusion between you and your client. I’ve got two friends waiting for me outside. I brought them along for protection, just in case. Let me bring them in and we’ll have one of them witness the document.’ He looked directly at Ronan. ‘I don’t trust Mr Johnson in the slightest.’
‘Neither do I.’
After the statement had been signed, Mr Hatton started to put the two pieces of paper away. Xanthe waited for Ronan to speak and when he didn’t, she said, ‘I think we ought to take one of those statements.’
Mr Hatton glared at her. ‘Are you insinuating that I won’t keep them safely?’
‘No, of course not. But it’s so important, I’ll – I mean, we will both feel safer to have one in our keeping.’
Bristling, he rolled one up and tied a red cord round it, shoving it across his desk so hard it nearly fell off. ‘Here, then. Take it. But make sure you don’t lose it.’
As Ronan slipped it into his inside pocket, flattening it a little to do so, Paul’s friend took out his pocket watch. ‘We need to get you three to the station if you’re to catch the first train.’
‘I think we should start playing our roles from the minute we leave here,’ Paul said. ‘From now on, I’m your manservant, and you two are sisters. Georgina, you did well to darken your hair. They’ll be looking for a woman with bright red hair not brown.’
She grimaced, touching it gently with one hand. ‘It’s shoe polish! I could find nothing else.’
Xanthe listened in approval. Rawdon seemed very sensible to her, as did Georgina. She hoped the two of them would get away from Mr Johnson. And surely, travelling with Hallie would help disguise them?
On the way there Paul gave Ronan an address in England which would find them. ‘I’m not running any further than that. My relatives there will help me set up another business. I’ll make sure we keep an eye out for trouble once we’re away from Johnson’s influence, believe me.’
As the Maguires stood waving goodbye Xanthe said regretfully, ‘I’m going to miss Hallie. And I’m sorry Georgina has to move away from the district. I think she and I could have become good friends.’
‘What about Kieran’s wife? She took the trouble to pay a call on us. Can you not make friends with her?’
‘She was so polite and formal I wasn’t sure. Only time will tell. They probably all think you’ve made a poor match.’
‘I don’t think I have. Though I do wonder sometimes if I’ve caught me a tiger by the tail.’
‘Did you really want a meek wife?’
He grinned. ‘No. That’d be boring. I didn’t want any wife till I met you. I wonder what Mr Johnson will say when he hears from Hatton? More to the point, I wonder what he’ll do.’
‘I hope he flies into a fury and dies of an apoplexy!’ She added hesitantly, ‘Once all the fuss has settled down, could we not find ourselves another lawyer? Mr Hatton is an old fuddy-duddy. He’s not only set in his ways but he disapproves of me.’
‘Let’s make sure of Ardgullan first and then see what we need. His family have been lawyers to my family for years so I’d not like to dismiss him.’
24
Mr Hatton wrote to tell them he’d informed Mr Johnson that they repudiated the debt claim and had sent him a copy of his daughter’s statement. Nothing more was heard, but Xanthe felt twitchy, as if a storm was brewing. They were all sure Mr Johnson wouldn’t take this meekly.
A week after Georgina’s flight to England they received a letter from her saying she and Paul had been kindly received by his relatives and had got married by special licence.
‘Why are you looking so worried?’ Ronan asked. ‘We’ve spiked Johnson’s guns. He’ll be more concerned to look for his daughter now than pursue us.’
‘I hope you’re right.’
‘Oh ye of little faith!’
But though she said nothing more to Ronan, she still felt worried. Something bad was going to happen, she was sure. She had these presentiments sometimes and they were never wrong. A man like Johnson wouldn’t stop at the first major setback.
But how far would he go to get his own back?
Maia contented herself with her home and her beloved Conn, letting him drive her across every week or two to visit her sister, who had also stopped attending the Sunday services at the barn because she was so angry about how people had treated her sister.
‘I’m worried about Xanthe,’ Maia announced on one of these visits. ‘You know how I get a feeling sometimes when she’s in trouble – well, I’ve got it now.’
Cassandra looked at her in dismay. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes.’
‘I hope it’s nothing too bad. That’s the worst thing about living here. We won’t hear from her for months.’
Maia was cradling her swelling stomach with one hand, her eyes gazing sightlessly into the distance. ‘I always know she’s still alive. That’s a great comfort to me. But I’ll feel it if the trouble continues. I just can’t help it.’
The following day a letter arrived from Perth for Conn, a summons to attend a preliminary hearing about his application for an annulment.
‘I shall have to go,’ he said, reading it through again. ‘Will you be all right here?’
‘Of course I will. I’ve Nancy and Sean to look after me.’
‘Don’t go to the shop on your own.’
‘I’ve no need of anything. I only go with you now. I’m a coward, I know, but the way people speak to me . . . hurts. No, I’ll stay snugly at home and Sean will go to the shop for me if necessary, though it won’t be. I don’t let our stocks run down.’
‘I hope I won’t be delayed, but don’t worry if I’m not back as quickly as I’d like. It may take a day or two.’
‘No, I won’t. Will you be riding or taking the cart?’
‘I think I’ll ride, unless you want me to buy a lot of things in Perth.’
‘Not this time. It’s more important that you see about the annulment.’
In Perth Conn found himself speaking to a priest who acted as secretary to the Bishop.
‘You realise it’ll be a mortal sin to lie about this,’ the priest said.
‘I’m not lying.’
‘You’re a ticket of leave man, so your morals are clearly not of the highest. His Excellency is very worried about that.’
‘I’ve already stated that I was falsely accused and you can tell the Bishop that I heard recently from my brother in Ireland. The man who arranged the false evidence against me confessed on his deathbed to a priest and signed a written statement to that effect. So although it’ll take time I expect to have my conviction quashed.’
His companion nodded and for a moment looked at him with almost sympathy. ‘It must have been hard, knowing you were innocent.’
‘Yes.’ He never talked of his days in prison or the journey out here.
‘His Excellency will be pleased to hear that news and it will make your plea more credible, I’m sure.’
Conn bit back a sharp comment, wishing the man would just hurry up.
‘Now, to your marriage. You say it was never consummated.’
‘Never.’
‘And yet your wife came out to join you in Australia.’
‘She had nowhere else to go after my father died. My brother wouldn’t have her living with him, nor would her brother.’
‘Where is she now? Has she been living with you? That won’t look good.’
‘I could hardly throw her out. She stayed in my house at first, but my mother was there and Kathleen slept with her maid in another wing until I found her somewhere else to stay.’
‘And that was where?’
Conn sighed. ‘She was staying an hour’s drive away with a lady of my acquaintance, but unfortunately my wife grew stranger and stranger and in the end she went completely mad. She’s now been admitted to the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum.’
But this made the priest look very sour and disapproving. ‘If that’s the case, one can’t help worrying that you might be claiming this non-consummation to get rid of a wife who was going mad.’
‘I’m not. Kathleen wasn’t mad when we married, but she’d never let me touch her, fought like a tiger the one time I tried, just after we were married. I wanted children, you see. I still do.’
‘Which is the true purpose of marriage. Well, in that case we must have your wife examined by a doctor.’
‘The doctor at the asylum has already examined her.’
‘So he can vouch for her virginity?’
Conn closed his eyes, but didn’t see any point in lying about something which could be checked up easily. ‘On the contrary. She’s not a virgin – and that’s not my doing – and she has contracted syphilis.’
An intake of breath was his only answer, so he waited, not knowing what to say or do next.
The priest was looking at him with eyes narrowed. ‘I shall have to speak to the doctor myself. Can you stay in Perth for a few more days?’
‘Yes. I’ll do anything to get out of this sham of a marriage.’
But Conn didn’t feel hopeful as he went in search of lodgings. He had no idea what was going to happen next, after what he’d told them, and his experiences over the past few years hadn’t left him feeling optimistic.
