Furious, Durward dismissed the man, well aware that the true culprit was not the steward buthim. Whether he had been too trusting or too careless hardly mattered. The results had been hardship for many and very nearly tragedy. He therefore had to spend much longer than he had intended on untangling the mess, restoring the original rents and his people’s faith in him. He had long discussions with the manager of the home farm, old Todd Greengrass, and began to realize the improvements that needed to be made to the land, to his tenants’ property, and, most of all, to his ownlaissez-faireattitude.
Eventually, he and Greengrass agreed the next steps, and the extra labour to be taken on. Even then, he only felt able to leave after promising to be back before September. And if all went well, he would be glad to return with his bride... Though it seemed bad luck to eventhinkthose words let alone announce them. So he kept his marital intentions quiet and finally drove himself back to Harwich.
Approaching the town toward nightfall, he was conscious of an eager anticipation he had never known before. To see her again, smiling that shy, sparkling smile that always seemed just for him... Would she throw convention to the winds and rush to his arms? Or pretend indifference? Surely not the latter, she was too honest for that. He just hoped Captain Jasper had been behaving himself and was in a fit state to give his consent...
How soon could they be married? Three weeks from Sunday, surely, if they could induce her local vicar to read the banns, or less if he could obtain a special license. That would involve going to London, though...
Abandoning his horses and curricle at the same inn as before, he bespoke his old room, and paused only long enough to wash, change his clothes, and brush his hair, before striding off to the Jaspers’ house.
Somewhat ominously, there were no lights on in the front parlour. But the usual curtains twitched when he turned into the Jaspers’ front gate, mounted the two steps and knocked on the door. His heart was beating like a schoolboy’s approaching the object of his first obsession.
Smile just once and I will know...
From nowhere, he recalled her response to the first words he spoke to her.Bugger off. His breath caught on oddly painful laughter. Was he assuming too much? Again? He had been so sure she cared, but what if she had changed? What ifhehad?
Maddeningly, no one answered the door. He grasped the knocker again, only to have it whipped back out of his hand.
Captain Jasper stood there, and he did not look well.
His hair stood on end. Dark, puffy rings encircled his blood-shot eyes and beneath his seaman’s weather-beaten skin he seemed pale and ill. He blinked at Durward several times before recognition dawned.
“Travis! What a pleasant surprise!” The man’s face had lightened. He smiled. But he did not invite him in.
“Got a cup of tea for a weary traveller?” Durward asked, stepping forward.
For a moment, he thought Jasper would hold firm, then the captain gave a resigned little shrug. “I’ll light the candles in the parlour. If there are enough.”
Durward watched him close the front door. “Have you been sitting in darkness?”
“Of course not,” Jasper said irritably. “But I don’t use the parlour when Carina isn’t here.”
Durward paused. “She isn’t here?”
“No, she’s been gone several weeks, now. Gone for a governess in some grand house to the north-west of the county.”
Durward’s heart sank. In fact, it seemed to drop right out of his body with the disappointment.But I told her I would comeback... I should have written. Aloud, he said, “Don’t light more candles on my account. I’ll sit with you in the kitchen.”
Jasper cast him a surprisingly clear glance. “You won’t like it. Never had the knack for clearing up.”
That was something of an understatement. Many cups, plates and dirty pots were packed into the sink, giving off an odour of musty old food. A newspaper and a couple of letters had fallen onto the floor and been left there, along with the wrappings of some meal he had probably bought in the tavern.
Worst of all, in front of the only pulled-out chair at the table, stood a full bottle and an empty glass. Jasper picked them both up and stuffed them into a cupboard. Only then did Durward realize there were no empty bottles among the general mess. He could not smell brandy or gin or even ale among the stale scents of the kitchen.
“Sit down, if you like,” said Jasper wearily.
“No, you sit,” Durward said more gently, and pressed him into the chair. “I’ll make the tea. You must have been working all day.”
“I was,” Jasper said, with a brief spark of pride which faded quickly. “It’s hard, though, with her gone... Not much point, you know? I think you came at just the right time. I was going to have a glass...”
The fire was at least built, so Durward lit it, and hung the full kettle over it.
Jasper smiled ruefully as Durward sat opposite him. “That’s why she went, you know. My one glass. She warned me, but I knew—I thought I knew—that she’d forgive me if I had another few... She didn’t. She went off to take up some position a friend of your sister’s offered her.”
“Which friend?” Durward asked quickly.
“I can’t recall,” Jasper said irritably. “I never thought she’d go... Trouble is, she’s happier there. What’s so good about looking after other people’s children?”
“Independence,” Durward said mildly. He bent, picking the letters off the floor and placing them in front of Jasper. “A change of scene.”
