Whispering

by Jane Aiken Hodge

  ‘And now I hope you understand why I feel that we have a duty, you and I, to find out what he is really doing. Whether these “Friends of Democracy” really exist. And you are the one who can do it. When are you next seeing him?’

  ‘Tomorrow, I hope. But, ma’am, you can’t be asking me to spy on Luiz?’

  ‘Why not, if he is a spy himself? And if he is not, we will see to it that you do him no harm. But I am afraid I should be very much surprised. For me, the connection with Madame Feuillide is damning. And, I have to say this. She is an attractive woman still, they tell me.’

  ‘In a sort of a way –’ For a moment she did not understand. Then, ‘You can’t mean … after his father … impossible!’

  ‘I wish I was sure of that. I wish now that I had told him she was the cause of his father’s illness, but at the time it seemed impossible … Oh, Caterina, so many mistakes I have made …’

  ‘You mean, he knows of the association –’

  ‘But not the infection. And, I’m afraid, being Luiz, he might have felt it a challenge. I do beg you, Caterina, harden your heart against him.’

  ‘And spy on him?’ asked Caterina bleakly.

  ‘At least, don’t let him make you a spy. Which you will be, Caterina, if you take him answers to his questions.’

  ‘If you are right. But, ma’am, suppose this really is his chance to prove himself with these Friends of Democracy. To rehabilitate himself. And I spoil it for him. I’d never forgive myself.’

  ‘No,’ said the old lady. ‘But on the other hand, Caterina, would you forgive yourself if your information led to the defeat of Wellington and the fall of Porto?’

  ‘Never. But how can we be sure?’

  ‘I am sure, Caterina, and he is my grandson, the only hope of my house. I am so sure that if only I had proof I would hand him over to the British tomorrow.’

  ‘The British?’

  ‘He’d be safer with them than with the Portuguese. He may be a traitor, Caterina, but he is the sole heir to two great houses. I want him to live, and repent, and get a son.’

  ‘But he has a son.’ It was out, irrevocably.

  ‘What?’ The cherishing hand was suddenly still.

  ‘My son.’ Caterina’s voice was steady. ‘When I got to England. I didn’t understand what was happening to me, but the nuns did. They recognized it quite soon after I got to the convent. I owe them a great debt. It has taken me a while to realise just how great. They told no one, those good nuns. Just sent me to a woman with a house outside Bath who made a living out of such cases. She was good to me in her way, and there were companions in misfortune. Harriet, my friend Miss Brown, was one of them, but her baby died, poor thing. That made me realise, for the first time, how lucky I was. He’s everything I have in the world, ma’am, my Lewis.’

  ‘But how? Where is he? He must be almost three years old.’

  ‘Yes, walking and talking, a fine boy, beautiful … I thought my heart would break when they took him away and made me go back to the convent. He was given to Harriet to suckle. It’s a great bond between us. I think she loves him almost as much as I do. The nuns put it about that I had been visiting my grandmother in Wales. And they were kind, they let me see him sometimes, and they let me teach the little ones so I could pay for his keep. And then I did an idiotic thing. I can take a likeness, ma’am, I enjoy doing it. But they are not always flattering. Mother Superior found one I had done of her. I can’t blame her for being furious, after all she had done for me. She said I must go at once; I was a bad influence. I was to go to my grandmother in Wales, but my cousin Jeremy Craddock arrived just then with my father’s summons. I thought there was more hope in coming here, that perhaps I would be able to tell my father, that he would help. Or that Luiz …’

  ‘Have you told Luiz?’

  ‘No. Somehow, I didn’t, I’m not quite sure why; I meant to tomorrow.’ She found herself yet again slipping into the past tense.

  ‘Don’t,’ said the old lady. ‘Don’t trust him with that. At least, not yet. But, Caterina, this changes everything. I have an heir.’ The hand had resumed its gentle stroking as she almost chanted the words.

  ‘But, ma’am, you’re forgetting. Poor little Lewis, he’s not … He’s got no name.’

  ‘He shall have mine. Not Sanchez but Fonsa. You’ll be surprised, child, what money can buy.’

  ‘Money? I don’t understand.’

  ‘You don’t, do you, and I love you for it. It’s my money keeps this place going. We were cousins, my husband and I, both Fonsas. But I had the money. My family’s lawyers did not trust my husband – they were right, by the way – they tied it up so tight he never got his hands on the capital. Money is power, Caterina. If you don’t know that already you will soon learn. Oh, there is so much to be thought of, so splendidly much! We must put our heads together and think how we are going to manage things. I’ll talk to my lawyers. They will work out a story for me. He must come out here, of course, be baptised in the cathedral, brought up as the fidalgo he will be. Oh, what a happy day.’

  Caterina opened her mouth to say, ‘But he is my son,’ and closed it again. Overriding instinct warned her to go very carefully here. The old lady might not be mad, but was she entirely sane? Instead of the instinctive protest, she framed a practical question. ‘How shall I get in touch with you, ma’am, to tell you about Luiz?’

  ‘Best not come here again.’ The old lady thought about it. ‘The lawyers are bound to take their time. We don’t want any rumours until it is all settled. Your father might so easily do something crazy.’ And so might you, thought Caterina. ‘I have it,’ the old lady went on. ‘You’ll write to me. Carlotta’s grandson is courting your poor Maria’s daughter. They go to and fro across the gorge all the time. I pretend not to know, but it will be useful now. Give your letter to Tonio; it will reach me in a day and I’ll answer by the same route until everything is clear for us. But, oh, what a happy day.’ She folded Caterina in her arms for a long, stifling, almost frightening kiss.

  Chapter 10

  Harriet was beginning to think that Caterina had been gone a very long time when Sancho appeared with Frank Ware following close on his heels. ‘I know it is shockingly early, but I had to be the first to tell you the news.’ If he noticed Caterina’s absence it was only to be glad of it. ‘It’s the deepest of secrets, of course.’ With a glance for the man.

  ‘That will be all, Sancho.’ She managed a good imitation of Caterina’s tone, and decided as she did so that she would simply say nothing about her friend’s absence. Why should she? She sat down again and picked up her needlework. ‘What is this splendid secret news? Or should you be telling me?’

  ‘Of course I should. In fact, my mother asked me to, she said it was only right that you two young ladies should know. It’s about our party next week; we have hopes of a very distinguished guest indeed. Mother hopes Miss Gomez will not mind if she finds herself not exactly the guest of honour after all. I know you won’t.’

  ‘Well I never was,’ said Harriet cheerfully. ‘I am just grateful to your mother for asking me at all. I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to it. It will be my first dress party and I only hope I won’t do anything silly because of not knowing how to go on.’

  ‘I shall look after you,’ he promised. ‘And I know you will behave just like the lady you are. And because you are, you won’t mind if some of my mother’s friends seem a little stiff; it’s a curious ingrown society we British have here in Oporto. I didn’t mind it when I was young but sometimes now I do find myself wondering if this is where I want to spend the rest of my life.’

  ‘But have you much choice?’ asked Harriet.

  ‘I am beginning to hope that perhaps I may have. My friend Major Dickson has offered me worthwhile work to do, here in Oporto, and seems to think that it might even lead on to something back in England, if I make a job of it. Which reminds me that I had hoped for some help and advice from Miss Gomez.’ For the first time
he looked around as if wondering where she was.

  Harriet was still casting around for an explanation, when to her relief Caterina came sauntering up from the lower terrace, with a bunch of grapes in her hand. ‘Good morning Mr Ware. See what I found! My favourite vine run mad all over the summerhouse. Have some, they are delicious.’ She handed the bunch to Harriet, smiled at Frank. ‘You are an early caller. I hope it means you are the bearer of good, not bad news.’

  ‘It’s good.’ Harriet was aware of coiled tension in her friend. ‘Tell her, Mr Ware.’

  ‘My mother sent me, Miss Gomez.’ He came to a halt. What had been easy to say to Harriet seemed surprisingly difficult now.

  ‘They are expecting an immensely important guest at their party.’ Harriet came to his help. ‘So we are to put on our very best dresses and smiles, Cat, and not mind too much if we don’t seem to be quite the guests of honour we thought to be.’

  ‘Goodness,’ said Caterina. ‘Who can it be that is to take the wind so out of our sails?’

  ‘It’s a deadly secret,’ Harriet told her. ‘Mr Ware has not named the important guest, but I can make a guess, cannot you? I do hope I am right.’

  ‘I expect you are,’ said Frank Ware. ‘There is really only one man, here in Portugal just now, is there not? But Miss Gomez, I am also come to ask your help.’

  ‘Mine?’ Surprised.

  ‘Yes. Once again, this is entirely between ourselves, but my friend Major Dickson has asked me to do a job of work for him. He needs wheelwrights and carpenters, urgently, and has asked me to use my local knowledge to find them for him. I thought it would be easy, with times so hard here in Oporto, but the trouble is, the work is upriver, at Pinhel and even further, and it is turning out more difficult than I expected. I was wondering if you, with your local knowledge, could perhaps help me in this?’

  ‘I am sure I can. Old Antonio was telling me the other day about a cousin of his, a carpenter, who is desperate for work. And he will very likely have friends … But Mr Ware, it is all very well to say it is a secret affair, but one will have to give the men some idea of what they are to be doing.’

  ‘Repairing gun carriages,’ he told her. ‘That’s the wheelwrights, of course. And the carpenters are to alter the ones that came out on the Anthea with you, Miss Gomez. They are the wrong size, would you believe it, for the guns Lord Wellington has got up on the border.’

  ‘So that’s what we brought,’ said Caterina.

  ‘Oh yes, everyone knows that now. Even the French. That is why Masséna made that last effort to get supplies into Ciudad Rodrigo. His spies had told him that Wellington’s next move would be up there on the border. And Wellington is busy re-arming the fortress at Almeida as a base for such a move. That is what I am allowed to tell the men I hire, but I have to say it surprised me to find the Beau thinking in such defensive terms.’

  ‘The Beau?’ asked Harriet.

  ‘That’s what his officers call Wellington, because he is always so neat in his appearance. Well, you’ll see –’ And then, ‘Forget I said that.’

  ‘We didn’t hear it,’ said Caterina, smiling at him.

  ‘How can I help you if you will not relax?’ Rachel Emerson’s room was cool and shady as usual, her gentle hands were at the back of Jeremy’s neck, her voice was soft, soothing. ‘Forget your troubles, forget your illness, remember happiness and a quiet place … You are quiet, you are calm, you are almost asleep …’ There was a rhythm to her words now, a kind of lullaby effect and he felt his eyes begin to close …

  Fight it. He must fight it. He had known, from the moment he arrived, that something was different today. There had been tension in the air. He thought he must have interrupted a quarrel between the Emersons. And Ralph Emerson had been in a hurry to be off. He had an engagement, he said, to sample some new wine over in Villa Nova de Gaia. He had accepted the little package of gold coins Jeremy had brought and left almost at once, warning Rachel that he would not be home till late. ‘Don’t wait up for me.’

  Here was a chance, or a trap, or both. How to use it? The soothing incantation continued, the hands were gentle on his neck … How easy to let go, to float with the tide … ‘Rachel!’ He stood up suddenly, turned to face her, took both her hands in his. ‘We can’t go on like this, fencing with each other, pretending … I love you! You must know I love you, helplessly, passionately, beyond myself. I’m in your thrall. I don’t know who you are spying for. The French? The Americans? I don’t care. It’s not your fault, I know that, it’s that brother of yours, compelling you. Let me take you away from it all. I’m not a rich man. I only wish I were, so that I could pour my gold at your feet, make your life easy for you at last. But I will work for you. I have friends, I have influence in England. When they know what an inducement I have to work, they will find me a livelihood. We will be married at once, here in Oporto, if you wish it. Then I shall have the right to look after you, to take you away from that bullying brother of yours. He makes a mockery of your gift, makes you use it for his own ends. With me, you shall use it as it should be used, for the good of mankind. Rachel, why don’t you speak? Answer me.’

  She had stood all this time, silent, head bowed, the fair hair falling to screen her face, her hands quiet in his. Now she looked up at him, the grey eyes brimming with tears. ‘You knew all the time?’

  ‘I was sent to find out. But how could I help loving you? I have told them nothing yet. I am ashamed, but it is true. I love you too much to let harm come to a hair of your head. I shall have to resign, of course. But I have friends; I shall come about. We will be happy you and I. Together against the world …’

  ‘You are so sweet.’ Slowly, almost langorously, she raised her lips to his.

  ‘Rachel!’ He was devouring her, lips, cheeks, hair, the delicate body clasped against his. And getting a message he could not mistake. ‘Rachel?’

  ‘I enjoyed that.’ She pulled away from him at last, smiling like a contented cat. ‘Very much. But we must be practical, you and I. Love in a cottage would not suit either of us. And besides you don’t love me, dear creature, though it is kind of you to say so. Were you perhaps brought up to think you must love every woman you fancied? Now, we have not much time!’ With a quick practical look at the clock ticking away on the mantelpiece. ‘Ralph will break in and surprise us in just half an hour. He thinks I have been going too slowly with you; it was to be blackmail from now on. But I like you too well to let that happen to you, my little Jeremy. So, what are we to do? You knew – they knew in England all the time, you say?’

  ‘Suspected. We knew there was a leak here in Oporto; I was sent to find it.’

  ‘Looking for just one, my poor friend? The place leaks like a sieve.’ Another glance at the clock. ‘I’ll make a bargain with you, Jeremy Craddock. Safe passage home to America for me and Ralph and I’ll find out for you who the others are. Now I can’t say prettier than that, can I?’ Disconcertingly, as she talked her voice had coarsened, taken on an accent he did not recognise, except as alien.

  For some reason he did not understand it made him feel he must repeat his offer. ‘I meant it,’ he said. ‘I meant every word of it. If that is what you want, Rachel, I’ll take you to America, marry you and work for you there. Why are you laughing?’ It felt like a slap in the face.

  ‘Nice Jeremy, you understand nothing. If only I could, I really believe I might be tempted to chance it. Lord knows, you are an infinitely better prospect than my poor Ralph, but I can’t, you see. He’s not my brother, Jeremy Craddock, he’s my husband. And here he comes. Leave this to me.’ She turned to face the door as Ralph Emerson threw it open, then stopped on the threshold, surprised at the tableau he did not see.

  ‘In the nick of time, my dear,’ said Rachel coolly. ‘We are playing this scene quite differently, as things turn out. Mr Craddock knew about us all the time. Indeed, he was sent here to track us down, and has succeeded.’ She turned, smiling, to Jeremy. ‘How satisfying to think that all that gold
you have poured into my husband’s hands is British government gold after all. I was really hating to take it from you, my poor young friend. Little did I know! The case is,’ back to the man Jeremy was furiously recognising as in fact her husband, ‘Mr Craddock is in the process of agreeing to arrange our passage to America in exchange for a little information in his turn. Now, don’t lose your temper, Ralph, this is no time for a scene.’ She laid a restraining hand on his arm. ‘The goose that laid the golden eggs is dead; you’ll get no more little packets of sovereigns from Mr Craddock. And, frankly, the sooner I am away from this place the happier I shall be. I don’t a bit like the feel of things here; it’s blowing up for a tempest, and I’d rather be clear away before it starts.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I don’t know what I mean, but I know what I feel. Do you remember, Ralph, back in the spring of 1803, before war broke out again, how nervous I felt, how I urged that we take the first boat back to America? How I wish we had. This time, I tell you, I shall go even if you do not. I’d rather scrub floors for a living back in New England than live the shabby kind of life we have here. I mean it, Ralph, believe that I mean it. And I know Mr Craddock will help me.’

  ‘Of course I will.’ What else could he say? ‘Mr Camo has a ship sailing for the States in ten days or so,’ he told her. ‘I’m sure he will arrange passages for you two, if I ask him. And if you keep your side of the bargain.’ It struck him that there would be some satisfaction in using his secret service funds for their passages.

  ‘And what, pray, is that?’ Ralph Emerson still looked close to explosion point.

  ‘I’ll tell you later, Ralph, but I will tell you now, with Mr Craddock as witness, that this worm has turned. I wonder why I have let you browbeat me for so long, and make so many mistakes for us both. You know perfectly well that your French masters (yes, it is the French, Mr Craddock) have never taken you quite seriously; the pay has been miserable; the conditions wretched; I’ve misused the gift God gave me to no purpose. Whatever you decide to do, Ralph Emerson, I am going back to America on Mr Camo’s ship. And if you so much as lay a finger on me, I will report you to the police here. Mr Craddock will back me, and with a bit of luck I will leave you to rot in a Portuguese gaol.’