Ben spoke sarcastically.
‘Nobody set on the fine young specimens. I found them fighting among themselves, rolling about in the sea like the abominable wreckers greedy for their spoils.’
He never noticed how Matt flinched, nor recalled the old suspicions that Matt and Ben’s cousin Jude had once been over-charmed by the excitement of the wreckers.
‘It seems they’ve had punishment enough,’ Morwen said through stiff lips. ‘The three boys look bruised, and the others shaken, and I’ve no doubt you’ve already dealt with them, Ben.’
He nodded curtly. ‘They can all go to their rooms, and the maids can attend to them, unless you wish for special attention for your son, Louisa?’
‘Ben, really!’ Morwen hated him at that moment, but Louisa covered the insult magnificently.
‘Not at all. He probably got what he deserved, the same as the others. Let the maids take care of them, by all means.’
The children escaped thankfully, and Ben bawled instructions to the maids before coming back to the room and slumping in an armchair. Morwen handed him some tea, tight-lipped and appalled at his insensitivity. The thought flitted through her head that Jane must be glad she didn’t marry this oaf of a man after all. Her newspaperman, brash though he was, had always been infinitely better-behaved than this in public.
‘So, Jane,’ he made an effort to be sociable at least. ‘And how are you liking it back in Cornwall?’
She gave a wry smile. ‘I seem to have lost my feeling for it,’ she admitted. ‘I’ve lived in Yorkshire for so long now, I feel it’s where I belong.’
‘I love it here,’ Cathy said. She spoke like her father, with the quick, flat accent of the north, but somehow it suited the girl. ‘I’d like to stay, but Mother wants to get home as soon as Daddy finishes his present assignment.’
‘That’s understandable, Cathy,’ Louisa said gently, still ruffled at the fight between the boys, and trying not to show it.
‘Yes, I know, but I want to stay with Grandma, and I’m still trying to persuade everyone to let me.’ Whenever she gave that quick smile, her face glowed with prettiness. She was like her mother, but with all her father’s astuteness. Whatever Cathy Askhew wanted, Morwen had a shrewd idea she would get it.
‘Well, if you do get your wish, you can come and visit us as often as you like, Cathy,’ she said, mildly astonished at her own generosity. But Cathy wasn’t Jane, and she hadn’t missed the looks that passed between her and Walter. How odd, how very odd it would be… They were children… yet not children. Fifteen was old enough to fall in love, however immature that love might be.
She stopped her thoughts immediately, as Jane said she thought they must go home.
‘By the way, I met your cousin in Truro, Louisa,’ she remembered to say just as they were leaving. ‘He’s such a charming man, isn’t he? I was passing the time of day with Annie Tremayne and she introduced me to Mr Wainwright. It’s so nice for you all to be here at the same time.’
It was polite conversation, no more. It didn’t mean a thing. It certainly didn’t warrant the old familiar jealousy to stab at Morwen, just hearing Jane Askhew mention Ran, and to see the smile playing at the sides of her mouth as she remembered their meeting. First Ben, now Ran…
‘Are you coming to see Jane and Cathy out, Morwen?’ Ben said pointedly. He was already on his feet, waiting for her to act the hostess, and she flushed at her own tardiness. She followed them to the door, and waved until the Askhew carriage was out of sight.
‘And now we’d better have a discussion about our children,’ Ben said grimly. ‘I don’t imagine Matt and Louisa are too pleased at seeing their ewe-lamb come home bloodied.’
Morwen frowned. The easy-going Matt who had gone away would probably have laughed it all off, saying that the children could sort out their own problems. But this was a different Matt, an older and keener Matt, and she wasn’t sure how much he was offended by the fight. As soon as she and Ben went back to the drawing-room, she could see that her brother was very angered by what had happened, and that he and Louisa had been discussing it.
‘We shall have to do something about this,’ he said at once. ‘I don’t like family tensions, and if they can’t get along together, then they’ll be best kept apart. Your children don’t go back to school yet, do they?’
‘No,’ Ben said shortly. ‘Their holidays coincided with your visit. Unless you’re suggesting that we pack them off somewhere, so that Cresswell can have the run of the house?’
‘Ben, don’t be ridiculous,’ Morwen muttered.
‘I didn’t mean any such thing. I was going to suggest that Cresswell spends a few days with his grandparents, if my mother’s agreeable, and then perhaps he could stay a short time at Ran’s house. We must obviously keep the children apart for a time, until their tempers have cooled. I shall speak to Cresswell, of course.’
He was very much in control, and Ben nodded curtly. He too, could see that this was no dreaming Matt Tremayne, but a man whose business demanded a cool brain and clear thinking. And Ben’s own thinking was becoming more muddled by the hour.
Louisa suddenly leaned forward, her face full of concern.
‘Please don’t let us quarrel about this,’ she pleaded. ‘We’ve looked forward for so long to this visit, and if I’ve any excuse to offer for Cresswell, it’s that he’s so rarely among other children. Even his school is progressive in making them grow up as early as possible, and at home we’ve always included him in adult conversations and discussions.’
Morwen’s warm heart went out to her.
‘Please don’t distress yourself, Louisa. These things happen, and nothing changes the feelings we have for one another. It will all blow over, I’m sure, but I do think Matt’s idea is sensible. Keep them apart for a week—’
‘I think we should go to Ran’s as well,’ Matt decided. ‘He’s Louisa’s cousin, after all, and it would give us all a breathing space. Cress can go to Mammie’s on his own, then we’ll pick him up and take him on to Ran’s. The invitation’s there.’
‘All right. If that’s what you think is best,’ Morwen said slowly. She wished she could go too. How easy it was for Louisa to be installed in Ran’s house as his cousin, when all Morwen wanted was to be there as his lover. Even more so as his wife…
This day was turning out all topsy-turvy, she thought miserably. But she would see Ran this evening. Since the visitors had been here, he had started coming to Killigrew House most evenings for dinner. Ben had reluctantly agreed to Morwen’s insistence that it was only good manners to include him.
Ben was thinking of Ran too. Good riddance to his visitors for a few days, and it was only right that Ran should have a share of them. Not that he was indisposed to Matt and Louisa, who were likeable enough, just their snot of a son. And he might not have felt so irritable with him if he hadn’t just had the most appalling news from Charlestown port.
Chapter Eighteen
He kept it bottled up inside himself for half the evening. The children had been allowed down for a short while, cleaned up and looking abject and strained, and having to explain it all to Ran when he arrived. After dinner they had been sent to their separate rooms again to ponder on their rudeness, and when the adults were all moderately relaxed, considering the trauma of the day, Ben told them.
Morwen gasped, and even though it meant little to Louisa, she couldn’t fail to see how serious it was, by the reactions of the others. Morwen was the first to speak.
‘The ship turned back before it got anywhere near France? But I thought you expected to hear that it had arrived safely long before this.’
‘So I had,’ Ben said harshly. ‘That’s why I was at the port, to check with the harbour-master on the delay, and I was actually there when the ship was sighted and eventually came limping back. She was holed on a rock, and since she was still nearer to England than France, the captain had no choice but to throw some of the cargo overboard to ease the weight of her in the wate
r, and bring her back to Charlestown for repairs.’
‘And the cargo was your clay blocks?’ Louisa asked.
‘The cargo was my clay blocks.’
‘How much was lost?’ Ran said.
‘Enough to make a difference on the price paid for what’s left. Not quite enough to ruin me, but with the time wasted while the repairs are being made, and then the delay in getting the blocks to France, and the money coming through—’ He shrugged, wishing he hadn’t run on quite so eloquently.
‘But this won’t be the only ship taking spring despatches away, surely, Ben?’ Matt put in.
Ben saw that he hadn’t forgotten how the clay business operated. He hadn’t seemed so keen to stay in it as a young man, but the interest was still there, all the same. It wasn’t so surprising, when his family had been so much concerned with it.
Morwen gave her husband a warning look. Don’t spoil this visit, the look said. Let Matt and Louisa go away unaware of the problems looming ahead… Ben ignored the warning.
‘Maybe it’s time you all knew what’s been happening lately. We’re in a bit of trouble, financially.’ He stopped, and then gave a twisted grin, his voice still harsh. ‘I’ll rephrase that more honestly. Killigrew Clay is in the devil of a lot of trouble, and the loss of half a shipload of clay and a delay in payment could mean disaster. I just thank God that the ship didn’t sink, or I’d have sunk with it. It’s a damnable situation.’
Matt spoke up at once. ‘But good God, man, couldn’t you ask someone for help? A gentleman’s agreement, rather than going to a loan-shark. You could have gone to Ran here, or come to me. I can still help. Tell me exactly what’s involved—’
‘Matt’s right. You should have told me, Ben. Whatever’s needed, we could have sorted something out—’ Ran intervened in annoyance.
‘No!’ Ben’s voice was brittle. This was more humiliation. Matt Tremayne was a fine man now, but he’d once been a clayworker in Ben’s father’s employ, and Ben would never beg from him. It was also why he could never accept such help from Hal. If these people couldn’t see why, then it only marked the differences between them. And he didn’t want a foreigner interfering in his business affairs…
‘Ben, please don’t upset yourself,’ Morwen said quickly, seeing the pulse beating in his throat, and the reddened veins standing out on his forehead.
‘Your father’s already offered me money, Matt, and I refused to take it. I’ll never accept charity.’
‘I hardly think Daddy’s in a position to help much,’ Matt commented. ‘But I could, and so could Ran. We’re all family, Ben, and we don’t offer charity.’
‘Look, I don’t want to discuss it any more!’ This time, he did take notice of Morwen’s look. Nobody else knew of Hal Tremayne’s true situation. Nobody knew he was a partner in Killigrew Clay, and that apart from this house and its contents, that he had more assets than Ben Killigrew himself.
Louisa spoke nervously. ‘Ben, I do understand that this is all embarrassing to you, but Matt doesn’t mean to offend you, and I’m sure Ran doesn’t either.’
‘I’m not embarrassed. But the subject is closed.’
For a few seconds nobody spoke. Then Louisa turned quickly to her cousin.
‘Ran, it was so sweet of you to agree to our coming to stay at the end of next week. Are you sure it’s not putting you out? Matt thinks his mother will love to have Cress for a few days first, and we mean to go see her tomorrow.’
‘Of course you’re not putting me out. I can take some time off and show you around Truro. It’ll be my pleasure.’
‘Actually, I’m keen to take Cresswell up to the clayworks. We haven’t been there yet,’ Matt said suddenly. ‘Perhaps we could go on up to the moors after we’ve called to see Mammie tomorrow. Will you come too, Louisa, or will it be too boring for you?’
‘Of course I’ll come. I want to see it, and especially the cottage where you lived and all.’
‘You know all about that, do you, Louisa?’ Morwen said, smiling. The other girl laughed.
‘I should just say I do. When I first met Matt, he was so homesick for Cornwall and all of you that I was quite jealous. But then when he began talking about it in that poetic way he used to have, I felt I knew it all, and I began to love it too, even though I’d never seen it.’
Matt moved across to her and put an arm loosely around her shoulders in a gesture of real affection.
‘You’ve never had anything to be jealous of, honey,’ he said softly. He looked at his brother-in-law. ‘How about it then, Ben? Is it all right if we come up to the works tomorrow?’
‘Suit yourself. Hal will be there if I’m not. He’ll show you around – but of course, you won’t have any need for a guide.’
‘It’ll have changed a bit, though.’ There was an odd nostalgia in Matt’s voice now. ‘You’ve a railway instead of the old clay waggons, and there’ll be less excitement than in the old days. And a lot of the people I knew will have gone.’
He looked at Morwen, and she sensed that they were both thinking of two particular people at that moment: of Celia, whom Matt had found drowned in the claypool and brought to the Tremayne cottage, frightening Morwen out of her wits; and Sam, their brother, the only fatality in the collapse of Ben’s first rail tracks.
‘We’ll go on to Penwithick church as well,’ Matt said, confirming her thoughts. ‘I want to see where Sam’s buried.’
‘We’ll take some flowers,’ Louisa nodded. ‘I want to see that too.’
Ran broke into the sudden air of gloom.
‘I was wondering about postponing the party at my house until just before you all leave. Sort of a house-warming and farewell party in one,’ he said. ‘What do you say, Louisa? And how about inviting that nice Mrs Askhew and her daughter, since all Matt’s family knows them?’
‘That would be a lovely idea, Ran,’ Louisa said warmly. ‘Jane came here to visit with us today, and I liked her enormously. Yes, why don’t we do that?’
Morwen kept her eyes down. Suddenly, it seemed as if Ran’s party was none of her business. It involved him and his cousin Louisa, and they could invite whom they liked. Including Jane Askhew. It was a neighbourly thing to do, and since Morwen had already seen the attraction between Walter and Cathy, it would be nice for the young people… but deep down, she knew she didn’t really want them to meet. She didn’t want Jane Carrick Askhew having any connection with her family, and she especially didn’t want her at Randell Wainwright’s party.
But she didn’t have any say in it, and everyone else was smiling and saying how nice it would be. And Ben was looking at her in that mocking way as if he guessed how she was feeling, and remembered her one-time frustration at trying to learn the pianoforte in order to compete with the accomplished Miss Finelady Jane… and now she was seething all over at knowing it had been Ran who suggested this party invitation. It was Ran who wanted Jane inside his house…
* * *
The children were all busy the next day, thankful to be free of Cresswell, who had gone off with his parents to visit Bess, and then to go to the clayworks. Ben was away to Charlestown port again, hoping desperately that the repairs to the French ship wouldn’t take too long. Morwen had the day to herself for once, and decided she would do some calling too. Ostensibly to visit Annie in Truro, but mainly to go to Ran’s office. He had once said if she needed him, she only had to go there. And she did need him. She had never needed him more.
He looked up in pleased surprise when she was shown in by his clerk. One look at her face, and he told the young man that he could take the rest of the day off. He turned the key in the lock and she moved into his arms.
There was no constraint between them. No false modesty or preliminary flirtatious remarks. There was only love. She saw it in his face and felt it as his body pressed close to hers. They didn’t kiss at first, merely held each other close, as if to draw strength from one another. And she leaned against him, feeling the steady beat of his heart, and wa
nting him.
‘Ran, I had to come. I miss you so much,’ she whispered tremulously.
He lifted her face to his, his hands cupping her cheeks. She saw the longing in his eyes, matching her own.
‘Do you think I don’t miss you too, my darling? Do you know how it torments me to sit there so politely in your husband’s house, making small-talk when all I want to do is ravish you?’
‘Oh, Ran—’
‘Have I shocked you, honey?’ he said softly. ‘Don’t you know that love and lust go hand in hand? One without the other is either pure or hateful, but both together make the best loving of all.’
‘I’m not shocked,’ she said huskily. ‘I remember how it was in London—’
‘So do I. And I want it again. I want you again. All the time I want you, but I dare not let it overwhelm my life.’
‘Just as long as I know that you still feel the same—’
He looked down at her flushed face.
‘Why should you ever doubt it, darling?’
‘I thought – I thought you showed an interest in Jane Askhew. ’Tis foolish of me, I know—’
‘It’s foolish, and impossible, when my heart already belongs elsewhere. I’ve no interest in Mrs Askhew apart from showing friendship, honey,’ he said gently. ‘Besides, she’s a married lady.’
‘So am I, my love.’
He said nothing for a moment, and then he gave a small sigh. ‘Morwen, if you were free, I would marry you tomorrow. It’s what I want most in all the world. But I can’t shut myself up in a tower until that day happens. I like people, and that includes women. It doesn’t mean I’ve stopped loving you, or ever will.’
‘And if you find someone else to love before – I’m free?’ She hated herself for even saying it, as though she willed Ben’s death to free her.
‘I’m not looking for anyone else to love. I can’t guarantee that it will never happen, but I can’t imagine it, because you’re everything I want. Do you have any more questions, or are you going to stop talking and let me make love to you?’
Family Ties Page 24