Page 31 of The Cornish Widow

“Which is most surprising,” Ysella said, keeping her voice low as though she didn’t wish to be overheard. “Never was I more shocked to see Jack in the company of a proper lady.”

For a moment, Harriet didn’t know what to say. “Oh,” was all she managed.

Ysella nodded vigorously. “Oh, indeed. Jack is quite the recluse. Sam calls him a bit of a hermit. Not so his charming mother, who has attended all our soirées at Carlyon Court and is quite the loveliest of hostesses… only while he’s away from Rosudgeon, of course. But while he’s at home, she organizes nothing.”

“Where does Jack go when he’s away?”

Ysella shrugged her slender shoulders. “Heavens, I don’t know. He’s off in his ship, I believe. Sam says talk is Jack’s wedded to the sea and will never find a wife. I assume he’s moving goods up and down the coast, which is what a lot of the ships here do—so Sam says. A risky business with the unstable weather we have down here.” She glanced at Captain Carlyon’s back. “It’s odd, you know, but before we met up with you, Fitz was asking all about Jack. I’ve no idea why. Mind you, he’s quite a nosy person and is always asking me about people I know. Anyone would think he was an old lady in her dotage, he’s so fond of hearing all the gossip.”

Odd, indeed, but then Captain Carlyon was in charge of the revenue men down here and perhaps fancied himself a bit of a sleuth. Harriet peered at where he had his head turned and his eyes fixed on Jack, an acquisitive expression on his face. What was it he was after? Surely not Jack himself? She felt an odd proprietorial instinct towards Jack, as though he might need protecting. She frowned. “He was?”

Ysella nodded. “But there’s little to tell. Jack is such a private person with only a few friends—like Sam and me. And of course Nat and Caroline.” She dimpled. “And I’ve yet to see him paying court to any respectable lady such as yourself.”

Harriet felt the heat rise again to her cheeks. “He’s not paying court to me. I’m a widow and still in mourning, and he knows I am.”

Ysella chuckled. “My dear Harriet, if you think that makes you off limits to a man like him, then you are very much mistaken. Can you not see the look in his eyes?”

“The…?”

Another chuckle. “I may be young, but I know the look of love when I see it. He’s smitten.”

Harriet’s hand shot to her mouth. “Oh no. I didn’t mean him to… I-I didn’t think I was encouraging him in any way. This is terrible.”

Ysella chuckled again, her eyes twinkling in amusement. “Well, if it’s not reciprocated he’s gentleman enough to back down. But do you not think him quite the catch, with Rosudgeon, his own ship and his aristocratic father?”

“His what?”

“His own ship. Did he not tell you?”

Harriet, still reeling from the revelation that Ysella thought Jack interested in her, clutched the reins so tightly poor Peggy curvetted in discomfort. “Not the ship—the father. I didn’t think there was a Mr. Trevelyan. His mother gave me the impression she was a widow, like me.” The words came out little above a whisper.

Ysella leaned towards her with the air of someone about to impart a big secret. “I would not tell you were it not common knowledge. But you are right in one way, there never was a Mr. Trevelyan. Jack is the son of Sir Austin Trengrouse of Trengrouse Castle. Jack’s mother was his mistress.” She glanced furtively at the backs of the three men. “Sir Austin wanted to marry her, but his father refused his permission and forced him to marry a woman who brought with her a fortune—and gave him just the three daughters. No son and heir.”

“Good heavens.” And the man had set up his mistress and son in Rosudgeon House only a mile or two from where he must now live with his wife. What sort of a man did that? If she hadn’t met Talwyn, she might have felt sorry for the legal wife, but she couldn’t. And for Jack to have seen his father from afar as he grew up, but perhaps never had anything to do with him; that, too, seemed cruel on the part of his parents.

They had reached the lane down to Rosudgeon by now, and Jack and Harriet had to take their leave of the party from Carlyon Court, Jack with evident relief, Harriet wishing she could have heard more from Ysella.

“You must come over to the Court with your daughter,” Ysella said to Harriet, as they parted. “I should love to meet with her. And your little boy, of course. I have a little girl of my own, and a baby boy. Merrin loves to see other children and gets so few opportunities to do so. We can send the carriage for you, if you like.”

Caught unawares by this flamboyant offer, Harriet hesitated, but before she could answer, Jack did so for her. “I’m sure Harriet needs to settle in first, Ysella. We’ll send a message to you when she’s done so.”

Annoyance rose in Harriet’s breast, but she didn’t contradict him. It had been bad enough when Ben answered for her, and he’d been her husband, but to now have a man she hardly knew doing the same made her hackles rise. However, ingrained into her through her years of marriage was the inability to contradict what a man had said. She bit her lip instead.

Captain Carlyon managed an approximation of a bow to her from his horse and a nod to Jack. “If you don’t mind, Harriet, I would like to call on you. It worries me to think of you in your isolated cottage so close to the cliffs. No,” he forestalled Jack who had clearly been about to butt in again. “I insist. It’s the least I can do. I feel a responsibility as your late husband was in the same regiment as me. An officer always helps the family of a fallen comrade-in-arms. Nothing you can say will change my mind.”

Harriet managed to bestow a weak smile on him, yet again falling foul of her inbred inability to refuse a polite request. “Thank you, Captain. That would be most kind of you.” Only it wouldn’t, would it? Surely what the smuggler-hunting captain really wanted was a closer look at Bessie’s Cove and her house just happened to be close to it.

“Shall we say tomorrow, then?” He smiled his wolfish smile at her, showing too many of his white teeth. “We’ll all be staying overnight at Roskilly, so I can call on my return journey.”

“Won’t that be a long way out of your way?” Jack got in, speaking as though through clenched teeth. “After all, aren’t you based in St Ives?” He frowned. “Indeed, it seems odd to me that Sam and Ysella met you near Penzance. Where were you headed?”

Captain Carlyon’s upper lip curled. “Oh, I was checking on the new customs men I’ve set up in Penzance. It was only when I met Ysella and Sam that I decided to return home via Roskilly. It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen Nat.”

“Well,” Jack said, his brows furrowed as he turned Shadow away. “No doubt you’ll enjoy your stay at Roskilly. Good day to you all.” And he trotted away.

Did he know more about the smuggling than she’d suspected? With a wave to Ysella, Harriet hurried Peggy after him.