Honeymoon with Death

by Vivian Conroy

  “He offered them for free. Just a kind gesture, nothing to get upset about.” Damaris clutched the bag. “He says they keep insects away.”

  “There never were any insects,” Teddy snapped. “You made a complete fool out of yourself by—’

  He fell silent and reached up to rub his forehead. “Sorry. I just… I was so worried when I came to our suite and found it empty. I had no idea where you had gone. I thought… Last night you were so upset and… I…” He swallowed hard.

  “I’m all right.” She touched his arm. “Honestly.”

  He looked at her and then pulled her into his arms, hugging her hard. “Don’t ever do that to me again, you hear? Ever.”

  “Of course not.” She brushed through his hair with her free hand. “I love you.”

  As she closed her eyes, she willed herself to feel it, to suck it into her very core. She loved Teddy and Teddy loved her. That was all that mattered.

  Chapter Four

  When they came back to the hotel, hand in hand, Medea came running up to them. “There’s a man here to see Mrs Ramsforth. He said it was very important. I asked him to wait in the garden.”

  A cold finger touched Damaris’s spine. Who would come to see her while she was on honeymoon? Had something happened to her aunt? She didn’t have any other family.

  She clutched the bag with lemons and followed Teddy, who was already on his way into the garden.

  A man in a suit – a bit hot it seemed for the warm weather – sat on a bench, staring at the ground in front of his polished shoes. He looked up when he heard them approach and rose to his feet, smiling. “Mrs Ramsforth?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

  “I wanted to telegraph about my visit but I heard that the telegram would probably be on the same ferry to the island as I was. It seemed pointless then.” He reached out a hand. “Fennick. Solicitor.”

  Damaris’s heart skipped a beat. “Is it my aunt? Has something happened to her? Is she… dead?’

  A deep sense of guilt and regret washed over her. She looked at Teddy. “I should never have agreed to not inviting her to our wedding. I do know she was so against it, but she raised me. She’s all I’ve ever known for a home.”

  “I don’t know anything about your aunt,” Fennick rushed to say. “I’m here because of the trust.”

  “Trust?” Damaris repeated, not understanding.

  “Yes. The money you’re to come into upon your thirtieth birthday, or your marriage. As you’ve married now, the money is yours. I need a signature and it would be wise if you made some provisions. How the money should be managed and…” He fell silent.

  “Money?” Damaris frowned. “What money? My aunt doesn’t have any.”

  “This is money that was set aside for you when you were born. By your parents.”

  “Oh.” Damaris raised a hand to her mouth. “I had no idea. But they must have wanted to take care of me. Ensure I had something of my own.”

  “I would like to talk to you about it,” the lawyer said. “In private.” He cast a quick look at Teddy.

  Damaris wanted to say her husband could know about it, but Teddy already said, “Very well. I’ll go into the bar, have a drink. You talk to the lawyer, darling. See you later.” And he walked off.

  “Money doesn’t interest him,” Damaris explained quickly. “He has enough of his own. He knew I didn’t have any and still he wanted to marry me.’

  It amazed her again as she put it into words. He could have married anyone he set eyes on, and he chose her.

  “Well, from now on you do have something.” The lawyer studied her. “Do you have any idea how much money we are talking about, Mrs Ramsforth?”

  “No. I never knew much about my parents. I had no idea they had money at all. I do feel a bit bad for my aunt now. She raised me on a tight budget, always had to make ends meet. Now it turns out there was money all along?”

  “Set aside for you.” The lawyer looked about him as if to make sure no one was close enough to overhear. “We are talking about half a million pounds.”

  Damaris dropped the bag with lemons, barely registering as they fell at her feet. She stared at Fennick. She couldn’t believe the solicitor had said that. “Excuse me, I think I misheard you. Half a million pounds?”

  “Yes. And you do understand that money of that amount should be managed carefully? You should make provisions for it. Determine who is to have it after you.”

  “After me?” Damaris repeated.

  “After your death.”

  Death. The beetles were a portent of death. Last night dozens of them writhing in her hotel room. Death being near her. And now money. A whole lot of it.

  “If you do not make a will,” the lawyer continued, not noticing her inner turmoil, “the money would go to your relative, that being your aunt. If you do not wish this, you should make provisions as soon as possible. I’m here to ensure you are aware of this and can act.”

  Damaris wet her lips. “Does my aunt know of the money?”

  “I have no reason to assume she does. The money comes from your father’s side of the family. The American branch.”

  “American?” Damaris repeated. “My father was American?” Her mind whirled.

  The lawyer said, “As you’ve married, you could consider making your husband your heir. But you just mentioned he has money of his own and some men resent accepting money from their wives. So you should discuss this.”

  Fennick paused a moment. “I didn’t want to mention the amount of money with him present because it might be better if he doesn’t know. Such… changes can upset a relationship.”

  Damaris thought of Dupin saying men didn’t like women to know more than they did. How would Teddy feel about a wife who suddenly had more money than he did? After all, he came from a wealthy family but he couldn’t actually touch that money. Not until his father died.

  And she now had access to half a million pounds. The prospect dazed her like the sunshine. For a moment she even wished the lawyer hadn’t come and she had stayed who she was: Damaris with nothing, whom Teddy had simply loved.

  “You need not tell your husband about the money.” The lawyer eyed her. “You can tell him it’s ten thousand pounds or something. That is much, much better, I assure you. It prevents him from mentioning your sudden fortune to friends and them… well, wanting favours. It can be so painful to have to say no.”

  Damaris acknowledged that it probably was. Teddy had a lot of friends, and if they found out he had married a rich heiress, they might see it as an opportunity.

  A rich heiress.

  It sounded unbelievable, not at all applicable to her. Why had she never known anything about this?

  “This, uh, trust,” she asked. “Who knew about it?”

  “No one. It was kept in a sealed envelope in a safe. Only when you turned thirty or we were informed of your marriage could we open it and act on what it said.”

  “But someone must have drawn it up at the time.” Damaris felt rather cold at the ideas that were whirling through her mind, but she had to make sure now. Get it over with.

  “That would have been my father,” said Fennick. “He passed away a few years ago. He never shared the contents of his papers with anyone. Not even with me. You can rest assured that no one knows about the stipulations. That is why I came out here myself to tell you. It cannot be put into writing and I was worried it might fall into the wrong hands. You tell your husband it was ten thousand pounds and he will be gratified.”

  Damaris didn’t know quite how to respond. This was all new to her, and intimidating. She reached up to rub her temple. The headache seemed to have returned. “I have to think about this. Where can I reach you?”

  “I’ll be staying in a hotel on the mainland.” He pulled out his card and wrote something on the back, then handed it to her. “I do urge you to make provisions on short notice. You never know.”

  The lawyer retreated with a nod. “Have a pleasa
nt day, Mrs Ramsforth.”

  Damaris sank onto the bench the lawyer had sat on before. This was too much to grasp. How could she suddenly have an American father who had left her a substantial sum of money? Why had her aunt never mentioned any of this to her? She had not known about the trust perhaps, but that her father had not been English…

  American. Hadn’t Dupin said the house the hotel was now in had belonged to an American family?

  Damaris looked towards the building that housed their suite. The building that had been redone, but which had been open to the garden before being converted. Was it possible she did recall something of it? Had she been here before, when her parents were still alive? After all, they had died when she was four.

  But it seemed so odd that Teddy would take her on a honeymoon to an island she had been to before without remembering that she had, until she was actually there, and then a lawyer showing up and telling her she had a fortune to her name, just because she was now married. It made no sense at all.

  Or did it? In a twisted way?

  Damaris’s hands were very cold despite the warm air swirling around her. Had Teddy known? Had he somehow known that her marriage would make her rich? Had he taken her here on purpose, because he knew? That this house had once belonged to her family?

  But how could he have known? The lawyer had just told her no one had known. Least of all Teddy, who didn’t work in the legal world. Or in banking. Who could have told him? Not even her aunt had known.

  Damaris raised her hands to her face and took a couple of deep breaths. It was all a coincidence. An odd coincidence which put all kinds of terrible thoughts into her head about Teddy. Questions as to whether he had married her on purpose, to get his hands on her money.

  But he had money of his own. He didn’t need hers. Besides, she had access to it, not him. Not even because of the marriage. And the marriage hadn’t made him heir, either. Not unless she made a will. Which she wasn’t about to do. So what could his plan have been then?

  Suddenly determined, she pulled her hands away from her face. She would follow the lawyer’s advice and tell Teddy it was just ten thousand pounds. That she was happy with that and intended to save it for their children or something. She’d see how he took that. And then she’d arrange with the lawyer for the real money… making sure that…

  Teddy couldn’t touch it?

  Why was she so protective of it? She had never had much.

  But still, these developments had confused her, and she needed more time to clear her head.

  She got up from the bench, collected her lemons and walked into the hotel, to find Teddy and tell him her lie.

  * * *

  Teddy sat at the bar staring into his glass. The conversation with the lawyer seemed to take for ever. He wondered for a brief moment if Damaris had taken off again, like she had this morning. First claimed to have a headache, then disappeared.

  Perhaps he was mistaken about her and she wasn’t the sweet, innocent girl he had taken her for?

  He clenched the glass and raised it to his lips, gulping down the contents. Finding her in the orchard with that worker had thoroughly ruined his day. First of all, she had promised him she’d go and see the orchard with him, not wander out there alone.

  And then the looks of that worker… There was something about him. As if Teddy had seen him before.

  In London? Had Damaris’s meeting with him in the orchard been as coincidental as she had tried to make Teddy believe? Or had Damaris asked the man to come to Kalos?

  Was he her secret lover?

  All women are devious little liars, his father had always said.

  Teddy hadn’t really believed the old man, but today he wondered.

  Suddenly, an old woman all dressed in black stood by his side. She looked at him and clicked her tongue. “You look sad, sir.”

  Her English was surprisingly good for a native.

  Teddy made an evasive gesture. He had seen such old women before. “I don’t want to buy any potion that will make me lucky in love. I don’t believe in charms and I won’t cover your palm with silver to learn my future.”

  “I don’t want money from you for an honest warning.” The old woman’s deep-set eyes sparkled as they bored into his. “Your wife is unfaithful to you. She came from the suite with the man. They left together.” She bowed her head and turned away.

  “Wait! What?” Teddy jumped to his feet and grabbed her arm. It felt as thin as a twig through her clothes. “What man?”

  “The painter. They left together this morning. He walked her down the path into the orchards.” The old woman clicked her tongue again. “He put his arm around her. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  Teddy let go of her as if he had burned himself. That a woman might betray her husband later in the marriage was common knowledge to him. But on the honeymoon?

  Painter, yes, that was where he had seen the chap before. In the harbour. Painting their arrival.

  He had even put Damaris in the painting. Daring bastard.

  The old woman nodded at him and left. He didn’t feel the need to ask her any more. He didn’t even feel the need to rush out and confront Damaris with his new knowledge. He would keep this in the back of his mind and think it over. Think it over hard.

  He turned and saw Damaris coming from the garden. She was so lovely it hurt his eyes. He looked away as she came towards him.

  “Shall we go and see the sea?” she asked. “Then I can tell you what the lawyer said.”

  The lawyer. She had seemed so surprised at the mention of a trust and money coming to her on her marriage. But now he wondered if she had known all along. If she had only married him to be able to go to places which was much harder when you were a woman alone. People talked about it. Men might take advantage of you. She needed his protection. Was that why she had pretended to be so fearful last night? Beetles in the suite… There hadn’t been any when she had met her painter friend there that morning.

  Anger rushed like lava through his veins but he controlled himself. He’d hear her out, watch her and see what she was up to.

  As they walked out of the hotel and down the path to the edge of the cliffs, Damaris said, “The lawyer told me I have ten thousand pounds to my name now. I had no idea I had anything coming but I guess it is nice. I’ll put it away safely for our children.” She smiled at him.

  “Of course,” he said. “That’s a good idea.” Nothing more came to mind. He couldn’t ask her in a whisper if she’d like to have children soon, he couldn’t grab her around the waist and hug her, kiss her, lift and swirl her around. His heart was cold, and his feet dragged as he kept walking. What had she known? How had she expected him to react? What was all of this?

  Damaris halted and looked at him. “Is it a problem?”

  “Why would it be?”

  “Well, you believed I had nothing and now…’

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said, and felt like it was the biggest lie of his life. It did matter. She was lying to him and he didn’t understand why. He had wanted to believe in her innocence and suddenly that belief was taken away from him. Now what was left?

  * * *

  Gideon came home to find his wife in the hallway waiting for him. She held up an envelope. His stomach churned. Envelopes were usually bad news.

  Robin said, “From Meadows. They’ll start production if you can raise the funds.”

  Gideon gave her an incredulous stare. “You can’t be serious. Last time I talked to them, they said there was no market for it.”

  “Well, if you don’t believe me, read it for yourself.” Robin held out the envelope.

  He tore it from her hand and fumbled to get the sheet of paper out. His eyes flew over the lines. Meadows thought they could produce a prototype before the end of the year and then present it at an exhibition in Stockholm. If it got interest, they’d go from there.

  He looked up at Robin. “They could actually be producing my electric razor.”

  “If
you come up with the money.”

  Gideon’s elation died. He clenched the sheet in his hand. “Yes, the money.” He turned away from her. She knew his family had enough but wouldn’t give him any. She thought it was because he hadn’t fitted into the fold. She had no idea it was because of his brother’s death. That he was an outcast for what he had done.

  He bit down hard. His entire life couldn’t be ruined by one mistake. He had to make something out of it. His invention, his future. Just money he needed. It seemed so trivial.

  He cleared his throat. “Couldn’t you ask—”

  “No.”

  The sheer humiliation that she didn’t even hear him out. For crying out loud, she had rich parents, she had worked as a secretary for a multi-millionaire of some sort, travelling the world with him, seeing places Gideon had never been to. She could raise money somehow. If she really wanted to support him.

  Which, apparently, she didn’t.

  Robin said, “You’ll have to ask Teddy. It’s his dream as well. After all, he made this little wife of his believe he can make money from his own business. Well, he wouldn’t like to look bad by telling her there is no business. So he’d better help you put it all together before the honeymoon bliss wears off and she finds out. Don’t you think?”

  Gideon sighed. “I can’t believe you actually made us come here so we can badger a man on his honeymoon for money.’

  Robin waved a careless hand. “It’s the ideal time. He’s in a good mood, he wants to make his new wife happy. Strike the iron when it’s hot, I say.”

  She came over and caressed his face in a swift movement. “Be happy that I found out where they were going, darling, and that I actually had friends with a house here. I set it all up for you. All you have to do is ask dear Teddy for the money. Then you’re in business.”

  Gideon hated her smugness but he acknowledged she was right. All that was needed to get his invention to Stockholm was money. And Teddy had enough of it.