“He seems not to realize how lucky he’s been to have you.”
I smiled. “Maybe. But we’ve always depended on each other. And I’ve been lucky, too. He might have left when Da and Mum passed. He hates the mine. But he stayed.”
“What would he rather do?”
I turned to prick my boiling potatoes with a fork. They were soft, and I set them off the heat. “I don’t know, and I don’t think he does, either. Jack’s always been a dreamer.”
Who is it that’s married the mysterious master of Roche Rock?
“What have you dreamed of, Mina?”
Harker’s voice was low, and I turned. “Me?”
He held my gaze and waited.
No one had ever asked me this question. Not even dear Mrs. Moyle.
I gave a slow shrug. “People like me don’t really dream. Our future is set from the day we are born.”
“Not even when you were a child?”
He wasn’t going to accept a glancing answer. I folded my arms, considering.
“I suppose I did dream when I was a girl. Twins are close, and my dreams were wrapped up with Jack’s. For a time, I wanted to be a Knight of the Round Table.” Harker smiled at this. “And for a time, Jack didn’t see any reason I couldn’t be. We were near grown when our parents died, and soon after that Jack took to the bottle. Then I dreamed of a change.Anychange, really. I was lonely.”
“So you went to The Magpie.”
I lifted my piecrust into the tin. “Mrs. Moyle opened the tearoom after losing her husband, and in a way, she and I became family. We enjoy each other’s company. She helped me with my reading and writing. She loans me books. My pay from The Magpie makes our lives a little more comfortable.” I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “And I meet interesting people.”
He laughed, and the sound lifted my heart.
But he soon sobered. “Did you think of marrying? Of having a family of your own?”
I eyed him, uneasy. “Not in a way of longing for it. I knew it would likely mean giving up The Magpie. But I miss Jack and me and our parents all together. I haven’t quite figured out who I am without them.”
He nodded and lowered his gaze to my flour-dusted worktable.
“How about you, Harker? What have you dreamed of?”
Eyes still down, he echoed, “My future was set from the day I was born.”
I could have asked him what he’d asked me.Not even when you were a child?Yet I knew what his childhood had been, and the question felt cruel. No mother, no brothers or sisters. A boy who went looking for a playmate inside the other tower he could see from his window.
I pressed and smoothed the crust into the tin, wishing I were better with words.
Finally, he looked up. He smiled, but there wasn’t much warmth in it.
“Once we’re legally married,” he said, “everything I have will be yours. I’ll go over the books with you. We’ll find a new solicitor, andI’ll make sure everything is set up just as it should be. There are no Tregarricks left to dispute your claim.”
“What are you talking about, Harker?”
“Only that should anything happen to me, the money is yours. You may use it in any way you see fit, even if that means selling the estate. In fact I’d advise you to.”
I stared at him, heart thumping. “And where exactly are you going to be while I’m off spending your money?”
I could hear the angry edge to my voice, yet he let out a sound very much like achuckle. It was dry as dust, but my anger burned hotter anyway.
“I don’t mean to upset you,” he said. “I’m only talking of possibilities. Dangers seem to be hemming us in on all sides. I don’t want to leave anything unsaid.”
