Whispering

by Jane Aiken Hodge

  ‘Yes.’ Jeremy kissed the old lady’s hand and then, more slowly, Caterina’s. ‘I am glad she has you, ma’am.’

  ‘She has. Take me to my carriage, young man. Mr Ware will see to the young ladies.’ She let him settle her in her corner of the huge, dark vehicle and leaned back with a little sigh. ‘In the morning, Mr Craddock, early, and now, good night!’ As he bowed and withdrew, she reached out a clawlike hand to touch Caterina’s. ‘I thank God you are safe,’ she said. ‘We’ll talk when you come to me tomorrow. Now, be quiet, rest, you have earned it. But I do thank you for my grandson’s life. And no tears, please.’

  ‘No tears.’ Caterina managed something between a smile and a snuffle and was glad to sit in a quiet daze, Harriet’s warm arm around her. The morning would be time enough for thought.

  But when they reached the Gomez house, Tonio was on the lookout for her. ‘I’m glad you are here, minha senhora, your father is still up, he wants to see you.’

  ‘My father?’ She could not believe her ears.

  ‘Yes, he is in his study, minha senhora.’

  ‘I’ll wait up,’ said Harriet.

  ‘Thank you.’ She was glad that Carlotta had insisted on pinning the shawl securely round her shoulders and had tidied her hair for her.

  ‘Father?’ She found him sitting staring into the fire, and thought suddenly how old he looked, how forlorn.

  ‘Caterina. You have a son.’ It was not a question.

  ‘Yes.’ She had known that the fact of little Lewis would not be a secret for long, once Madame Fonsa went to her lawyers, but had not expected it to be out quite so soon as this.

  ‘And you did not tell me.’ Again it was not a question.

  ‘No, father.’

  ‘Fool of a girl!’ Out of old habit, he took refuge in anger. ‘Could you not see that this changes everything. A grandson. An heir! How old is he? Where is he?’

  ‘Three. Harriet’s mother is looking after him.’

  ‘And Madame Fonsa means to adopt him as her heir.’

  ‘Yes, father.’

  ‘To call him Sanchez?’

  ‘No, Fonsa.’

  ‘Impossible! He must be Gomez. I have sent Father Pedro back to his order with a flea in his ear. He took too much for granted. I hadn’t realised … Caterina –’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Must I apologise?’

  ‘I really think you should, father.’

  ‘Then I will. I do. Don’t go to Madame Fonsa, Caterina.’

  ‘But I have said I will.’

  ‘Please, Caterina.’

  ‘I’m very tired, father. Something happened at the Wares’ party. You’ll hear about it in the morning. Let it wait till then, please?’

  ‘But let him be Gomez?’

  ‘Fonsa y Gomez?’ She rose to her feet. ‘Goodnight, father.’

  Jeremy did not sleep much. Madame Fonsa’s words had been a command and he had promised to obey, but he resented it. Why must he pay his first call to that imperious old lady when all his heart was set on an urgent explanation with Caterina? But he had said he would go, and he did.

  ‘You came. I am glad.’ The old lady was ready for him.

  ‘I said I would.’

  ‘A man of your word. I have a favour to ask of you, Mr Craddock, some advice to give you, and an offer to make you. I knew your aunt, by the way. I think I loved her a little.’

  ‘My aunt?’

  ‘Caterina’s mother. I suppose you never met her, never thought about her much. Your mother’s older sister. They were an unlucky pair, those two. Motherless girls who married the first men who asked them. Disastrous. Don’t blame only your mother, Mr Craddock. Look at Caterina’s father, and think about your own. And now, my favour. Will you go to England for me, and fetch my great-grandson?’

  ‘Ma’am!’ He was dumbstruck by the implications of the request.

  She smiled at him very kindly. ‘Yes. I like you, Mr Craddock. And I rather hope Caterina does too. Marriage to you would certainly solve some problems for us all. Things are not going to be easy here for any of us, but they are going to be worse for Caterina. Luiz won’t behave well, and nor will that father of hers. I had hoped to carry things off for her with a high hand, and with your help I may manage it yet. I am going to adopt the boy, of course, bring him up as a Fonsa, my direct heir. If you get her, Mr Craddock, you get a rich woman.’

  ‘And a son,’ he told her. ‘And lucky to have both. But it’s her I want, ma’am, though I won’t play the hypocrite and pretend the money won’t come kindly too. I have to confess to you, as more of a guardian than her father, that I am a younger son, and probably out of a job. But I love her.’

  ‘And I like you. Which brings me to my offer. I dislike admitting it, but I am getting old. I need someone to manage my estates for me. Would you consider the job? After fetching my grandson, of course. You are the obvious person to do that, and it will give Caterina time, Mr Craddock, which is what she is going to need. She is a girl of great spirit, but apt to carry things with a high hand, just as I do. Whatever you do, don’t push her, that might be fatal.’

  ‘You’re right, ma’am, and I’m deeply grateful. For everything. And, yes, I will be proud to fetch your great-grandson from England, and more than honoured to act as your steward.’

  ‘I like a man who can make up his mind. Good, and good luck, Mr Craddock. They should be up and about in the Gomez house by now. Please tell Caterina I expect them this afternoon.’

  ‘Thank you.’ He bent to kiss her hand. ‘For everything.’

  ‘So what are you going to do?’ Harriet asked. The two girls were eating a very late breakfast on the terrace and Caterina had just finished describing last night’s scene with her father. ‘Stay here, or move over to Madame Fonsa? Either way, he is going to be a rich baby, your Lewis.’

  ‘Yes, bad for him, I think, but there’s not much I can do about it.’

  ‘Marry Jeremy Craddock. Give him a father.’

  ‘You think marriage is the answer to everything, don’t you, love? I’m not so sure. But, oh Harryo, I am so happy for you and Frank. It’s heartless to say it, but if his mother is really mad, the way is clear for you two.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Harriet soberly. ‘I think it is. But I want you to be happy too, Cat dear.’

  ‘Happy?’ said Caterina. ‘What is happy, I wonder? But one thing I do know, I will be happy when I have Lewis here. Oh, look, here come our cavaliers. Be a good friend, love, and see your Frank indoors? But first I must comfort him. He’ll want to apologise all over again. How is your poor mother, Mr Ware?’ As the two men approached across the terrace.

  ‘Mad as can be, thank God. That great man, Wellington, says there is no question of prosecuting her. In fact, he wants the whole thing hushed up. I was just telling Craddock – We met on the doorstep,’ he explained. ‘Wellington says it would be bad for Anglo-Portuguese relations if the real story came out. He’s had your kidnapper smuggled out of town already,’ he told Caterina. ‘And we are all to say it was just a vulgar snatch for money. There will be talk, of course, but if we stick to our story it will die down soon enough. I have promised to be responsible for my poor mother.’ He smiled at Harriet and took her hand. ‘I knew I could count on your support, my darling. And I can only beg for your forgiveness, Miss Gomez.’ Turning to Caterina.

  ‘You have it. And my deepest sympathy, and best of all, my congratulations. And now, please, take Harriet indoors and plan your wedding, while I talk to Mr Craddock.’

  Carrying it with a high hand, thought Jeremy and realised what a wise woman Madame Fonsa was. He must indeed be very careful. But Caterina’s first words amazed him.

  ‘I need your advice,’ she said.

  ‘My advice? It’s yours, of course.’

  ‘My father has heard about Lewis. I should have known he would. He was waiting up for me when I got home last night. He wants the child for his heir too!’ She smiled at Jeremy suddenly and his heart turned over. �
�I had no idea how clever I was to have a boy,’ she told him. ‘He’s twice an heir now, my little Lewis, but what am I to do for the best? I promised Madame Fonsa I’d go there; now my father is urgent I stay. He has even sent Father Pedro away.’

  ‘Now that is a gesture.’ Every instinct urged him to say, ‘Marry me’, but he remembered Madame Fonsa’s words and restrained himself. ‘It seems to me that you need to think very carefully about this, Caterina, for the boy’s sake as well as your own. It’s hard to advise when I know so little about him. How old is he? Where is he?’

  ‘He is three. He lives with Harriet’s mother outside Bath. She keeps a home for children like him.’

  ‘And you couldn’t go there to say goodbye to him, the day I fetched you away? Oh, Caterina, I am sorry,’ he said impulsively, and was amazed to see tears in her eyes.

  ‘Fancy your thinking of that,’ she said. ‘Yes, it was bad, but at least I was able to send a message from Harriet’s house, promising funds for him. I’ve been so worried about that, but now Madame Fonsa is sending for him. I can’t believe I’ll be seeing him so soon, but I have to think, you see, which household would be better for him to grow up in. I’m afraid he will be spoiled rotten in either, and I hate spoiled little boys.’

  ‘Better than neglecting them,’ he said. ‘Too much love never hurt anyone. What you must remember is that you are in a strong position. They both want him; you can name your own terms. Say you won’t make a decision until he gets here; that’s reasonable enough. Madame Fonsa has asked me to fetch him, by the way.’

  ‘And you will go?’ Her face lit up. ‘Oh, Jeremy, that is wonderful! I shall feel so safe if I know he is with you. But –’ she remembered. ‘Your work! Can you just go like that?’

  ‘I shall,’ he told her. ‘And it doesn’t matter anyway. Spying’s a shabby business; I’ve had enough of it. I’ve hated it from the moment I found myself having to lie to you and Harriet. It put me all at odds with myself, and everything else. I’ve not seen straight. But I do now. I know what I want. Madame Fonsa has also asked me to be her steward when I get back. It is a great compliment. She says she loved your mother. Did you know that?’

  ‘No, I never did.’ Caterina was silent for a moment, taking in the implications of it all.

  Jeremy took a deep breath. ‘Had you thought, Caterina, that the best thing of all for your son would be some brothers and sisters? We were both lonely children, you and I, we know what it’s like. Caterina –’ But she was laughing at him.

  ‘Dear Jeremy – ’ She held out an impulsive hand and he grasped it in his. ‘So you are telling me that Madame Fonsa thinks I should marry you to save my poor tarnished name, and you are advising me to do it for little Lewis’s sake?’

  ‘Not precisely that.’ He had her other hand now. ‘I am saying Caterina, that I have loved you from the first moment that we met, though like an idiot I didn’t realise it until it was almost too late. I wasn’t ready. I’ll tell you all about it some day, I hope. I think I was afraid of you, Caterina, of the depths in you. You have changed me, made a better man of me. Take the man you have made.’ He tried to pull her towards him, felt her gently resist. ‘And I promise to beat your Lewis when he is bad.’

  ‘You tempt me vastly!’ She still held back, but she was laughing now, tears in her eyes. ‘But it is too soon. You must give me time. And think more yourself. Just the other day I thought I still loved Luiz. And we have said nothing about Rachel Emerson.’ She overrode his attempted protest. ‘She changed you a little, too, I think. But we’ll say no more about that. Fetch my Lewis for me, get to know him. You may find you dislike him.’

  ‘Your child? Never. But, Caterina, one is not enough.’

  ‘Think a little, Jeremy. I’ve never really known him, been his mother. I had to leave him with Harriet and go back to the convent. It nearly killed me; what did it do to him? I need time with him, to make friends, to make amends, before I can think of love or marriage. For now, he must come first. Can you bear with me, be my friend, and his, while I get to know my son?’

  ‘More than a friend, Caterina, please?’

  ‘But less than a lover? I won’t offer to be a sister to you, but I’ll make a bargain with you. Fetch my Lewis, be our friend, give me a year to be his mother, then let us talk again.’

  ‘A whole year?’ He groaned.

  ‘Cut off a day then.’ Smiling at him. ‘Come to me next Bruxa’s Eve.’

  ‘You think this is all a warlock’s dream? It’s not for me, Caterina.’ He bent and kissed her lightly, first on one cheek, then on the other. ‘But I’ll not plague you further. It’s an odd rival to have, a three-year-old boy, but I shall love him just the same, you’ll see. It’s a bargain then, a year less a day, next Bruxa’s Eve.’

  She smiled at him. ‘Yes, Jeremy. A bargain, but not a promise.’

  A Note on the Author

  Jane Aiken Hodge was born in Massachusetts to Pulitzer prize-winning poet, Conrad Aiken, and his first wife, writer Jessie McDonald. Hodge was 3 years old when her family moved to Great Britain, settling in Rye, East Sussex, where her younger sister, Joan, who would become a novelist and a children’s writer, was born.

  From 1935, Jane Hodge read English at Somerville College, Oxford University, and in 1938 she took a second degree in English at Radcliffe College in Massachusetts. She was a civil servant, and also worked for Time magazine, before returning to the UK in 1947. Her works of fiction include historical novels and contemporary detective novels. In 1972 she renounced her United States citizenship and became a British subject.

  Discover books by Jane Aiken Hodge published by Bloomsbury Reader at

  www.bloomsbury.com/JaneAikenHodge

  A Death in Two Parts

  Greek Wedding

  Leading Lady

  Polonaise

  Rebel Heiress

  Strangers in Company

  Wide Is the Water

  Last Act

  Red Sky at Night Lovers’ Delight

  The Winding Stair

  Watch the Wall, My Darling

  Whispering

  For copyright reasons, any images not belonging to the original author have been

  removed from this book. The text has not been changed, and may still contain

  references to missing images.

  This electronic edition published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Reader

  Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square,

  London WC1B 3DP

  First published in Great Britain in 1995 by John Murray Ltd

  Copyright © 1995 Jane Aiken Hodge

  All rights reserved

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  The moral right of the author is asserted.

  eISBN: 9781448213962

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