by Iris Gower
‘Good lord, God-Mamma, where do you think he’s going?’
‘To see this lawyer chap, I imagine, to find out the truth of the matter,’ Catherine said. ‘I can’t help feeling a little sorry for the boy.’
Georgina stiffened her shoulders. ‘With luck, the fool will fall and break his neck, that would save everybody a great deal of trouble!’ she said savagely.
‘I think I shall return home to England at first light tomorrow,’ Catherine said. ‘I find all this intrigue very tiring.’
‘Well, maybe it’s a good idea,’ Georgina said. ‘I suppose it’s all too much for you, at your age.’
She did not see the angry look her godmother flashed her way and if she had, she would not have been disturbed by it.
It was with a sense of relief that Georgina saw her godmother into the carriage that would take her home. Catherine could be a little tiresome and anyway, once out of the way, Catherine might forget that she had ever wanted any part in the potteries.
It was towards evening when Philip entered the room. He smelled of the china sheds and she wrinkled her nose at him.
‘Darling, do you have to come in here straight from work?’ She turned her face for his kiss, which landed on her cheek. ‘You have underlings to see to things at the pottery, you should not bother yourself with it all.’
‘For heaven’s sake, stop talking to me as if I’m in my dotage, woman.’
‘Sorry!’ Georgina made a face behind Philip’s back. He looked up at her sharply.
‘I have done all you asked, now when are you going to do your part and provide me with an heir? Am I not vigorous enough for you?’
‘Of course you are, darling, you are a wonderful lover, don’t be so touchy.’
‘Well, madam, answer me, are you with child yet?’
She knelt before him, her arm around his waist, her eyes downcast.
‘I have not had my . . . how shall I put it? My monthly curse. It could well be that you have made me . . . well, you know.’
‘Do you mean it?’ Philip’s mood changed. ‘My dear girl.’ He drew her onto his knee. ‘You do look a little pale. I have been unnecessarily harsh with you.’
‘Darling, you are tired and worried about work, that’s what it is. I know you had to sack some of the men and now they are running back to the Savage Pottery. I’ll never understand these people.’ She understood right enough, Philip was overbearing, he had become hard, unreasonable and the men did not like it. And also, they did not like the cut in wages that he had imposed on them.
‘Aye.’ He shook his head and she could clearly see the bald patch that was growing larger every day. She closed her eyes and turned away.
‘Those idle workers don’t know a real boss when they see one. A touch of the birch they need to keep them at it,’ he said.
She swallowed her anger but she could think of nothing reassuring to say. She changed the subject.
‘I went to see Eynon yesterday.’ She spoke softly, sensing that Philip needed to be humoured. ‘I told him about the unfortunate circumstances of his birth.’
‘You did what?’ Philip rose to his feet, unbalancing her. She looked up at him, he was white with anger.
‘Who do you think you are, woman? You have no right to run my life, I’m not a child. I should have been the one to talk to Eynon. You take too much on yourself.’
‘But, Philip, I did very well while you were away, I made all the workers from the Savage Pottery come over to us.’
‘And how long did that last?’ Philip said sourly. He walked to the cabinet and took out the bottle of brandy. ‘In any case, they were useless, bone idle. I want real men to work for me, not Lloyd Savage’s leavings.’
‘Oh, Philip!’ Georgina was unable to hide her exasperation and Philip looked at her with narrowed eyes, his displeasure plain to see in the tight set of his mouth.
Georgina hastily recovered from her mistake. ‘I wish you wouldn’t upset yourself so over these people. They are not worth it. You are right, we can do without that sort.’
Inside, she was seething. Had Philip never heard of diplomacy? These men from Pottery Row could have proved valuable allies. Now Philip had alienated them, they would undoubtedly carry tales to Lloyd Savage. Philip was losing his grip. He was growing old and crotchety, quarrelling with his own shadow. The sooner he gave up and handed the reins to her, the better it would be for everyone.
She sank back in her chair. For now she must play the game of loving wife to this old, tired man standing before her. And it was not a role she relished.
‘I’m sorry, Eynon, you have to accept this.’ Timothy Beresford was seated behind his desk, his spectacles caught in a slant of sunlight giving him a blind look. He rested his fingers heavily on the document before him. ‘It’s the truth.’
‘But knowing my father he has bribed these people, can’t you make other enquiries, Timothy?’
‘Eynon, I knew your mother well, we were very close friends, she told me everything. Do you understand me?’
‘Are you saying she admitted the truth?’
Timothy Beresford sighed. ‘Wild horses wouldn’t have dragged this from me but now I have no other choice. You are the son of a serving woman by the name of Jane Cowper, father unknown. By the time your mother arranged all this, she had realized that she did not love your father, had never loved him.’ He paused, considering his words.
‘Indeed, she had found him to be greedy and cruel and she was determined he would not profit from the large fortune her family owned. So her will and those of her dead brothers are made in your favour. You will never want for anything.’
Eynon sat in silence, not hearing Timothy’s words. It was all too difficult to comprehend. He had loved his mother more than any other living soul; had loved a stranger, a woman who wanted him only to spite her husband.
‘Thank you for your honesty, Tim.’ Eynon rose to his feet. ‘Give me a few days to think all this out, will you?’
‘Of course. I have not replied to Philip, not yet, I too have a great deal of thinking to do.’ He paused. ‘Eynon, may I just say one thing? Your mother loved you, loved you as much, no, more than if she had borne you herself.’
Eynon sighed. ‘I am in no state to distinguish truth from lies. Thank you for talking to me.’
He left the building, not seeing the sun rising high in the sky or the long street that stretched towards the beach. He was picturing his parents, his true parents, and realizing how little they must have thought of him to give him away without a second thought.
‘We’d better be getting back.’ Joe drew Llinos to her feet and the breeze whipped her hair around her face. She looked fresh and beautiful, her eyes as dark as those of any Indian maid. He had the urge to lay her down in the sweet heather of the hillside and make love to her. ‘Come on, let’s go before I do something rash.’ He was trying to make light of his feelings but he could see by the glow in Llinos’s eyes that she was aroused as he was.
He drew her close and kissed her hair, her eyelids, her mouth. His lips moved to her neck and to the softness of her breasts. He felt fire spread through him, desire like molten gold ran through his veins.
‘Llinos, my little Firebird, how can I resist you when you look at me like that?’
The pounding of horses’ hooves at first seemed to be the drumming of blood in his head. Joe felt the prickling of the hair rising at the back of his neck. A sense of danger hung heavily in the air.
Then he saw him: Eynon, his hair flying, was riding his horse as though the demons of hell were after him. The animal was foaming at the mouth, eyes rolling. Eynon was heading the animal straight for the rocky headland that fell away into a wide gorge.
Joe measured the distance with his eyes, the flying hooves were coming closer. He was all native now, his senses alive. As he sprung towards the crazed animal, he heard Llinos scream. He caught the reins and held on, dragged across the ground close to the pounding hooves, too close. The world dissolve
d around him and he was drawn through a tunnel of flashing lights that faded abruptly into complete darkness.
Llinos stood for a moment, paralysed with fear. She saw Joe being dragged along the ground, watched horrified as the animal lashed out, hooves flying. Joe rolled sideways and lay quite still.
The horse, crazed with fear, tried to turn away from the abyss, the creature reared, mane streaming, then fell heavily, slender legs beating the air. Slowly, the horse rolled over, crushing Eynon beneath its broad back.
Llinos started to run, she cried out and the wind took her words and tossed them over the mountainside. She could scarcely breathe as she fell onto her knees beside Joe.
‘My love!’ She drew his head to her breast and rocked him as though he were a baby. ‘Joe, Joe!’
As if in answer to her voice, she felt him stir against her, a small trickle of blood was making a rivulet along his forehead.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and blinked as though to clear his head.
‘I’m all right,’ he said. ‘Don’t cry, Llinos.’ He sat up, rubbing his hand across his eyes. ‘Go and see to Eynon.’
‘Joe, I don’t want to leave you.’
‘I’m just dazed, I’ll be all right in a minute.’
Reluctantly, Llinos left him and hurried to where Eynon was lying spread-eagled across the grass. His arms were flung outwards across the ground, his leg was trapped beneath the body of his horse.
Llinos bent over him, fighting a sense of unreality. It was like living in a nightmare. ‘Eynon!’ There was a gash across his jaw and his eyes were beginning to swell. Llinos tried to pull him free of the animal and he groaned in pain.
‘He’s alive,’ Llinos called over her shoulder. Joe was already on his feet. He limped across the intervening ground and knelt beside the fallen horse.
He took out his knife and began to dig the earth away from beneath Eynon’s trapped leg. Feeling the movement, Eynon opened his eyes and groaned. He tried to get up but Joe put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
‘My grey,’ Eynon said. ‘Is he . . .?’
‘He feels nothing. Lie still, I’ll have you free before you know it.’
As Joe dug away the earth, Llinos held Eynon’s hand, talking quietly, encouraging him to keep up his spirits.
The sun was dying in the sky by the time Joe was able to pull Eynon free of the dead horse. As he did so, Eynon cried out in agony. From the angle of his foot it was clear a bone was broken.
Joe worked rapidly. He found two stout branches and bound the injured leg with the reins he had taken from the dead horse.
‘You stay here with him, Llinos.’ Joe rested his hand on her shoulder. ‘I’ll go and fetch help.’
‘Joe, are you sure you’re all right?’ She looked up at him anxiously and he smiled.
‘I’m not ready to die, Llinos, not just now.’
She watched as he walked away, still limping, and then she sat on the ground, edging closer to Eynon. She lifted his head into her lap and caressed his cheek.
‘Silly, Eynon, riding like a mad thing,’ she said. ‘You could have killed yourself!’
Eynon sighed heavily and after a moment looked up at her.
‘I’m a bastard, Llinos, illegitimate.’ The words fell into the silence and hung there for what seemed an eternity.
‘Who told you that?’ Llinos said at last. ‘No, don’t tell me, Georgina has been talking to you, hasn’t she?’
He nodded.
‘And you believed her, just like that? Didn’t you think to find out the truth, Eynon?’
‘I have. I spoke to Timothy Beresford, he confirmed it. My mother’ – he laughed shortly – ‘the woman I thought was my mother, took me from a poor family and brought me up as her own. She did it just to get back at my father.’ He sighed.
‘I believe her money is mine, she’s willed it to me,’ he said, ‘but that’s not important, it’s just the thought that nobody cared enough to love me for myself. Not my real mother who gave me away nor my adopted mother.’
He glanced remorsefully at his horse. ‘I should have been lying there dead.’
Llinos touched his cheek. ‘I love you and I’m sure your mother must have loved you, too. Things are not always as simple as they seem. When you are poor, a great deal of what you do is forced on you.’
He sighed. ‘Do you know, Georgina actually smiled as she smashed my life into pieces. How can people be so unkind, Llinos?’
‘Greed, spite, fear. Any number of reasons.’
The darkness was creeping round them, spreading shadowy fingers over the uneven ground and turning the rocks below into a chasm of blackness. Llinos was relieved when at last she heard the sound of carriage wheels coming towards them.
Joe was riding a wagon across the uneven land and Ben and Jim Cooper were with him, both men holding lanterns.
As he drew in the reins, Joe smiled down at her and in the dim light she saw the heavy bruising on his temple and fear caught her by the throat. How easily she might have lost him. He turned to the men at his side.
‘Help me to lift Mr Morton-Edwards into the wagon, carefully now, Jim, you don’t know your own strength.’
Eynon bit his lip as he was lifted bodily and placed on a blanket, his broken leg stretched before him.
‘Soon have you back in civilization, Eynon,’ Joe said. He put his hand around Llinos’s waist. ‘Climb in.’ She rested her head for a moment on his chest, feeling his heart beat rapidly beneath his shirt.
‘Go on, get in. I’ll see you later.’
‘Later?’ She looked up at him.
‘I’ll stay behind, deal with the horse.’
Llinos sat beside Eynon and he caught her hand, grimacing in pain. ‘I think the fall has jarred the big bone in my leg, the one I broke before,’ he said through clenched teeth.
‘It won’t be long now, we’ll have you down at the doctor’s house in no time.’
She stared over the edge of the wagon. Joe was beside her, looking into her face, his hair flying loose in the breeze. They touched hands briefly and then the cart jolted into movement. When Llinos looked back, Joe was a distant figure on the horizon.
When at last Llinos was able to take Eynon home, Maura was standing in the doorway, the candles behind her filling the hall with light.
‘Old Ben rode over to tell me what happened.’ She ignored Llinos and spoke directly to Eynon. ‘I’ve got a bed set up in the side room. It will be light in there and you can look out onto the garden. If it’s fine, I can open the French doors for you to get a breath of fresh air.’
Eynon forced a smile. ‘Thank you, Maura, I appreciate your kindness.’
‘Go away with you! I’m doing what I’m paid for and nothing more.’
‘If that’s a reminder that you haven’t been paid for weeks, point taken.’
‘Looks like the doctor took good care of you,’ Maura said drily. ‘If you can smile and joke you must be feeling better.’
Maura’s back was turned deliberately, shutting Llinos out. Maura had always been impertinent and yet now there was something sad and lost about her. She turned to Llinos abruptly as if sensing her thoughts.
‘You’ll be getting married soon, I hear.’ Maura looked at her with hooded eyes. ‘The half-breed, is it?’
‘Do you have to be so unpleasant? Can’t you just wish me luck, Maura?’
‘Aye, maybe so but then I don’t hold with marriage. Married one day and deserted the next, fine judge I am of men.’
Llinos turned away. ‘If you don’t mind, Eynon, I’d better get back home,’ she said. ‘I’ll come and see you tomorrow.’
He held up his hand. ‘Llinos, thank you and Joe, tell him . . .’ His words trailed away and Llinos smiled.
‘I know. Now, don’t worry, everything is going to be all right.’
She stepped out briskly along the roadway, glad of the breeze against her hot cheeks. She was exhausted, the accident had upset her more than she was willing to admit.
Llinos reached the banks of the river Tawe and paused for breath. The walk was much longer than she had anticipated. She sat down on a fallen log and looked at the swiftly flowing river, the water was rising, it must be high tide. Llinos closed her eyes, feeling the calming effect of the rushing water drain away her tension.
‘Llinos, what are you doing here?’ Philip was beside her suddenly, his face shadowed in the moonlight.
Startled, she looked up at him. ‘I’m fine, thank you. I’ve walked a long way and I’m tired, that’s all.’
He sat beside her, his booted feet jutting out before him. He looked older than she remembered, his hair was thinning and the lines had deepened around his mouth.
‘Philip, there’s been an accident.’
‘What sort of accident?’
‘Eynon had a fall from his horse. He’s got a broken bone but the doctor says he will make a complete recovery.’
He frowned. ‘When did this happen? Why am I always the last one to know what’s going on?’
‘Joe and I were on the spot,’ Llinos said. ‘Eynon is all right, there’s nothing to worry about. He’s very upset, of course. Philip, did your wife have to be so cruel breaking the news about his birth the way she did?’
‘If the truth hurts, so be it,’ Philip said harshly.
She looked at him closely. ‘Georgina was wrong about one thing, Eynon is not penniless.’ She smiled. ‘His mother made a will, it’s all legal, the lawyer told him so.’
‘Well, I shall see about that! In any event, Eynon is not my son, and I’m glad, do you hear me, glad! Now I know why I have never cared for him.’
‘You never cared for him because you are a cruel, sadistic man and greedy to boot,’ Llinos said angrily.
Philip seemed to slump sideways and suddenly he was leaning heavily against her. She touched his shoulder.
‘Philip, are you all right?’
‘No, I don’t think I am. Will you walk to the house with me, I feel quite ill.’
