Arian

by Iris Gower

  ‘Well someone must have benefited from all this,’ Calvin said, ‘and I’ve got a good idea who that someone is.’

  Brighton replaced his glasses. ‘Well cut your losses, your Lordship,’ he said. ‘Fortunately you can afford one or two mistakes without too much of a problem but I should fire whoever was advising you; he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.’

  ‘Oh, I think he does,’ Calvin said softly. ‘Thank you, Brighton, you have cleared up a number of puzzles for me. I’m grateful for your time.’ He held out his hand. ‘Perhaps we can do business together again, I could do with a sound adviser, it seems.’

  When he was alone, Calvin sat at his desk and stared down at the books. His thoughts were in chaos. He could understand Simples taking him for a ride, but Arian? She seemed so straight in her dealings, so patently honest. He pushed the books away. Well, he would reserve his judgement until he had spoken to her.

  As for that charlatan Simples, he should be handed over to the proper authorities as soon as he returned from France. The man had feathered his own nest very nicely during the time he had been working at Stormhill. Had he corrupted Arian too? Was it possible?

  There was a knock on the door and the maid bobbed a curtsy. ‘A lady to see you, sir,’ she said, ‘a Mrs Frogmore. She says it’s urgent.’

  ‘All right, show her in.’ Calvin leaned back in his chair, his anger mounting. Women were all liars and cheats, hadn’t he learned that yet? They always wanted something from a man – if it wasn’t money it was something else.

  Sarah was flushed and her eyes were shining as she looked at him. ‘There’s glad I am you let me in,’ she said and in her excitement her Welsh accent was marked.

  ‘What did you want to see me about?’ he said flatly. ‘Did you want me to play the stud again? If so, forget it. I’m not in the mood for granting favours.’

  Sarah shook her head. ‘I’m going to have a baby,’ she said softly. ‘Your baby, and I’m so happy.’

  ‘Well at least someone is.’ Calvin felt slightly uneasy. His instinct to hurt vanished in the face of Sarah’s joy and he couldn’t help but feel a pang of conscience that he had made the girl with child, knowing that he would not have the responsibilities of fatherhood.

  ‘Sit down,’ he said. ‘Tell me, what does your husband say about all this?’

  ‘He’s left me,’ she said simply. ‘Geoffrey doesn’t care for women, you see.’

  Calvin digested her remarks in silence. He felt as if a noose was tightening round him. ‘I’m not sure I understand,’ he said. ‘You already have a child by your husband don’t you?’

  Sarah smiled. ‘He took me as he would take a dose of medicine, an heir was necessary to him, you see.’ She came towards where Calvin was seated and rested her hand on his shoulder. ‘Lord Temple, Calvin, Duw, I think I have fallen in love with you.’

  Calvin rose to his feet and stared down at her, knowing he had been foolish in having anything to do with her. ‘That’s just too bad, Sarah,’ he said. ‘I am not in love with you. There was never any question of love between us. In any case, you’re a married woman and you have obligations to your husband, whatever you might think about him. And then there’s your son.’

  ‘And what about our child?’ Sarah rested her hand on her stomach. ‘He will be a fine boy, I just know he will. Don’t you want a son?’

  Oh, he wanted a son, all right. A son with silver-gold hair, a son with the fine characteristics of Arian Smale. He wanted a legitimate son. What he did not want was to be tied, however tenuously, to a woman like Sarah Frogmore.

  ‘Be discreet,’ he said quietly. ‘I have just divorced my wife for doing what you have done. I’m not proud of my behaviour but it’s done now and it seems you’ve got what you want. But remember you would have a great deal to lose if Geoffrey Frogmore were to disown you publicly. As it is, the child will be presumed to be his, you yourself said just that. You do understand the position, don’t you?’

  ‘There’s a question! Of course I understand, I’m not dull,’ Sarah said and Calvin could see that she was stung by his attitude. ‘I came here to tell you about the baby. I don’t mean to talk all over Swansea about it.’ There was the hint of tears in her voice and Calvin softened.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I really do apologize, I’m a lout. Come along, sit down. We shall have some tea.’

  Sarah began to cry quite suddenly and Calvin stared at her in confusion. For a moment he stood there feeling helpless and then, awkwardly he put his arm around her. She looked up at him hopefully. ‘Say you’ll see me, just sometimes, just as a friend?’

  ‘Yes, of course I will.’ He patted her shoulder, knowing that he had let himself in for more than he had bargained for when he had taken Sarah Frogmore to his bed. He turned away from her, closing his eyes and all he could see, behind his closed lids, was the delicate face of Arian Smale.

  It was early the next morning when Arian returned to Stormhill and Calvin, seeing her standing in the hallway, her bag at her feet, felt warmth and love well up within him. She appeared tired, her face was pale, her eyes shadowed. She couldn’t be involved with this man Simples. She was ignorant of what he had been doing, she must be.

  ‘We must talk,’ he said. ‘You must tell me where Simples is, there’s a matter I must have out with him.’ He was leading the way towards the study but Arian stood still in the hallway, her shoulders slumped.

  ‘Please, I must get some sleep,’ her voice was cracking with fatigue. ‘The journey from France, it was so tiring.’

  ‘Of course,’ he said contritely, going to her, putting his hand on her shoulder, looking down into her glorious eyes. ‘You sleep, Arian. Sleep all you like and then we must spend some time together, we have a great deal to discuss.’ He watched as she slowly climbed the stairs. Love overwhelmed him. Why had he not spoken of it before? There was so much time missed. He wanted Arian Smale and her absence had made him realize just how much.

  Well he was a free man now and could do what he liked, marry whom he wished and with all his heart, he wished to have Arian as his wife.

  Impatiently he watched the clock. It was growing dark and still there was no sign of Arian reappearing from her room. At last he could bear it no longer. He took a lamp and mounted the stairs. He quietly opened the door to her bedroom and saw that she had fallen into bed in her shift, her bare arm hugged the pillow as if for comfort. She was so beautiful, so heart-rendingly beautiful that he longed to sweep her into his arms.

  She opened her eyes as though aware of his regard and, for a moment he thought he saw his love reflected in her eyes. Then she looked away.

  ‘Arian,’ he said softly, ‘Arian, I’ve missed you so much.’ She was silent for a long moment. Then she sat up and the sight of the soft swell of her breasts made him catch his breath.

  ‘I’ve got something to tell you,’ she said desperately. ‘Gerald Simples and I, well, we were married in France.’

  Calvin felt as though someone had slapped him across the face. ‘I don’t believe it,’ he said. ‘You don’t even like the man. He must have forced you.’

  ‘Stop,’ Arian held up her hand. ‘Calvin, such a lot of things have happened since I left here. I’ve learned things, things perhaps better left unsaid.’

  ‘He’s blackmailed you, that’s it, isn’t it?’ He had taken her shoulders and was shaking her and her silver hair tumbled across her pale face. ‘What has that bastard got over you? You would never marry him of your own free will.’

  Arian sighed heavily. ‘Please don’t ask me any more questions: I’m his wife, I’m married to Gerald Simples, that’s all that matters.’

  ‘You’ve slept with him?’ Calvin could not believe it, she and Simples lying together. The thought made him sick with anger and jealousy.

  ‘Yes,’ her voice was low. ‘I’ve been to his bed.’ She looked away from him but he could not let it rest.

  ‘He forced himself on you, that’s it isn’t it?’ he asked al
most desperately. Arian shook her head.

  ‘No, I went to him willingly,’ she said staring at him challengingly.

  Calvin rose to his feet. ‘But he made you, somehow he made you. You didn’t enjoy his attentions did you?’

  ‘Yes, of course I did,’ Arian said fiercely. ‘Why else would I have consented to be his wife?’

  ‘The man is a charlatan,’ Calvin ground out the words. ‘He’s a crook. I’ll expose him to the world for what he is.’

  ‘Don’t bother,’ Arian said. ‘He is probably in a French jail at this very moment serving time for something he didn’t do, not intentionally anyway.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Calvin asked flatly. He was puzzled. ‘Why should he be in a French jail …?’ He broke off. It was pointless to voice any accusations at this moment, in any event, it seemed that justice was being done; Simples was paying for his crime of embezzlement. ‘They suspect him then, the French authorities?’

  ‘He’s facing prison whatever.’ Arian turned her face away from him. ‘Please, go away, leave me alone. I’m tired of men and problems. I just want to be left by myself.’

  Calvin moved to the door. ‘I don’t understand any of this.’ His tone was bitter. ‘Why you should side with Simples is just beyond me, but then women always have a way of letting me down. I suppose I’m a fool to trust any one of them, even you.’ He couldn’t keep the edge of sarcasm from his voice.

  ‘Perhaps when you are less tired we can talk about my accounts and you can tell me just what Simples has been up to.’

  He left the room, his throat thick with what he could only describe as anger. Never would he admit that the moisture glazing his eyes was tears.

  Gerald Simples sat in the small café on the Rue du Bois with his friend Mr Bertrand seated opposite him. ‘Well, Gerald, so your wife has gone home before you?’

  Gerald smiled. ‘I shall soon join her and will be all the richer for our little venture.’

  ‘Ah, you’ve come out of it well, a small fortune and a beautiful wife – what more could any man ask?’

  ‘You’ve had your fair share,’ Gerald said evenly. He sipped the strong black coffee and leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs before him. ‘Soon I’ll go home, though I doubt I’ll work for Calvin Temple again.’

  ‘You mean he may have found out about your leetle, shall we call it, an enterprise?’ Bertrand’s thick eyebrows were raised. ‘It’s possible, the man is no fool so I’ve heard.’

  ‘He has so much money I doubt he’ll miss a little slice of it,’ Gerald said, ‘and if my little scheme has been discovered, I’ve my insurance, haven’t I?’

  ‘Ah, your little Arian, your lovely wife. You think his lordship is in love with her?’

  ‘I’m sure of it,’ Gerald said easily. ‘He wouldn’t prosecute me, not once he knows I’m married to his little love.’

  ‘But she is beautiful. It must be good to have such a beauty warming your bed. Is she eager, this Arian?’

  ‘Not eager,’ Gerald smiled, ‘but willing enough, I’ve made sure of that.’

  ‘How so?’ Bertrand’s large hand encompassed his coffee cup and he swallowed the bitter drink in one gulp.

  ‘Oh, I have my methods.’ Gerald said, wondering at the pinch of disquiet the thought of Arian’s obvious love for Calvin Temple gave him.

  ‘You are not falling in love with your wife are you?’ Bertrand sounded knowing. ‘It is no surprise, my friend. I would fall in love too if I had such luck.’

  Gerald had no place for love in his life. Arian was an obsession that would pass and he needed her as his insurance against Calvin’s wrath when, and if, his scheme was discovered.

  He couldn’t fall in love with her; Arian had known other men, indeed, his own cousin Price had possessed her. Gerald had married her with his eyes wide open, she was no shrinking virgin and yet his being stirred when he thought of her so soft beneath him. It excited him to know he could possess her body whenever he chose – she had made a bargain and she would stick to it – and yet it irked to know he would never possess the inner core of her.

  ‘You have gone all, what you say? broody, Gerald. Missing your little wife, you see. Hadn’t you better go home to her before she gets into mischief with some other man? Ah, but you cannot, she thinks you are in jail. Right now, she will be feeling sad for you, no? It will do her good. Absence has a way of warming a woman’s heart.’

  Gerald doubted it, she was probably relieved to be away from him, to be back beneath the roof of the man she really loved. The thought, surprisingly, had the power to give him pain.

  ‘Aye, she thinks I am in jail,’ Gerald said. ‘She will wait for me to come back to her, she’s a woman of her word. She might want another man but she won’t take one, not now. By the time I get home, she will be filled with remorse, thinking I’ve languished in prison.’ He paused. ‘You know, Bertrand, we will have to think up a good reason for my release.’

  Bertrand laughed, throwing back his head. ‘Poor petite, she does not know that there is no charge against you, not here in France, at least. Now back in England, that is a different matter. It is there that you have been so clever, diverting funds from his lordship’s coffers into our pockets.’ He rose to his feet. ‘As for an excuse, I should just say there was too leetle evidence against you. That, my dear fellow sounds plausible enough. Come, Gerald, it is time we had a little fun, no good sitting around feeling the need for a woman. I know a nice little house where the girls are all young and willing to please.’

  Gerald put some coins on the damp table top and followed Bertrand reluctantly. He somehow didn’t feel the need for a woman, not for anyone other than Arian.

  But that was foolish of him. He should not allow himself to be dependent on any woman; they only hurt you in the end, abandoned you as his mother had done. No, Arian was nothing to him, just a tool in his little plans, for he would make more money from Lord Calvin Temple, he was determined on it.

  The House of Ladies was in one of the back streets of the town. There the lamps filtered a soft light over the large room where men sat drinking freely of the wine that was poured by a young servant girl.

  Bertrand spoke to the madam in French and he and Gerald were led straight away up the carpeted stairs towards the bedrooms. ‘I want Collete,’ Bertrand’s tone was firm, ‘you, my friend, can have whoever you want. I will see you sometime, I do not promise when.’ He added with a grin ‘Bon voyage, my friend.’

  Gerald stood alone in the small bedroom and stared around at the silk drapes and the soft lights, feeling as though he was in some sort of unpleasant dream. A young girl entered quietly, her breasts revealed by the thin robe she wore. Her face was rouged and her eyes lit up when she saw that her customer was a personable young man.

  She came close to him. Her perfume was cloying, her hands were busy at his belt. Suddenly Gerald knew that he didn’t want this, not any of it, not the soft lights nor the attentions of the young whore. He held her away from him, handed her some money and then, deliberately, he left the room.

  ‘Now that you are rested, perhaps you’ll be good enough to explain exactly what has been going on.’ His voice was cold, distant, and Arian looked up at Calvin Temple as he stood over her, an accuser rather than the man she loved.

  ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said evasively, wondering how much he knew about the swindle and how much, if anything, he had gained from it. ‘What do you think has been going on?’

  ‘Don’t play games, Arian.’ Calvin thrust his hands into his pockets, ‘What I know is that I’ve been swindled out of rather a lot of money.’

  ‘You’ve been swindled!’ Arian repeated his words in bewilderment. ‘But you were the only one who gained anything from the whole sorry business.’

  ‘Gained? What are you talking about? I have lost close on two thousand sovereigns, that is an awful lot of money by anyone’s book.’

  Arian looked at him searchingly. Could he be speaking the truth? I
f so, what were the implications for Gerald Simples?

  ‘But the policeman in France said you were involved. I saw your signature on the documents.’

  ‘Huh!’ Calvin was angry. ‘No you didn’t. And if I have made a loss, others might have come out of this with pockets well lined. But not me.’

  Arian had married Gerald Simples to save Calvin’s good name and now it seemed that her sacrifice was for nothing.

  ‘But Gerald has gone to prison. He’s taking the responsibility instead of you.’ Her confusion was mounting.

  ‘I doubt that!’ Calvin said. ‘He might have told you he would be imprisoned but he’ll be back any day, just mark my words. He will suddenly have been miraculously released.’

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ Arian said. ‘It can’t be true. Gerald wouldn’t go to such lengths just to make me his wife.’

  ‘He might, if it involved making himself a small fortune into the bargain,’ Calvin said raggedly.

  Arian put her hands to her hot cheeks. ‘But I believed him,’ she said. ‘I’ve been so foolish …’ Her voice trailed away. ‘You are telling me everything, aren’t you?’

  Calvin stared at her with hard eyes and she flinched. ‘Are you telling me everything, Arian? That’s more to the point.’

  Arian sighed softly. ‘I thought you’d go to prison, I thought the French police had a case against you. You’re sure you couldn’t be blamed in any way?’

  She bit her lip, staring up doubtfully at Calvin. If Gerald had been lying, he’d backed up the lies with convincing proof. Could it be he had friends among the French police?

  ‘Arian.’ Calvin took her hands in his and she closed her eyes, resisting the longing to cling to him. ‘Arian, I think we’ve both been taken in but somehow we’ll make this all right. I’ll see that your marriage is annulled, if that’s what you want.’

  He bent towards her, his lips close to hers and Arian leaned against him, wanting him to make things right for her. ‘God, I can’t even think straight.’ Her voice was low, despairing.

  She wanted to tell Calvin that she loved him, that she wanted only him, that it pained her to give herself to another man but that she’d done it for him.