The Ragged Heiress

by Dilly Court

  ‘Goodbye, Lennie,’ she whispered. ‘I know that you did it for me, but we would have managed somehow. I never told you that I loved you, but I did. You were my special friend and I would have looked after you always.’ Her voice broke on a dry sob and she bowed her head, biting back tears.

  Giles laid his hand on her shoulder. ‘He’s safe now, Lucetta. Nothing can harm him ever again.’ He allowed the cold dark earth to trickle through his fingers and it fell like rain on the polished oak.

  Mary patted her hand. ‘It’s over, Daisy. Let him rest in peace.’

  Lucetta nodded mutely. No words could describe her feelings of guilt and loss. Lennie had turned back to a life of crime in an attempt to provide for her and now he was gone. She was mourning for her father and mother all over again, only this time it was like losing a child that had been given into her care, and she had let him down.

  Giles held her a little closer as the biting east wind raked across the graveyard, rattling the bare branches of the trees and whipping dead leaves into eddies around their feet. ‘When you’re ready, Lucetta.’

  She glanced up into his face and she knew that he understood. ‘I’m ready to go home.’

  With Giles on one side and Mary on the other, Lucetta trod the same path that churchgoers, mourners and bridal parties had taken for many hundreds of years, passing through the lychgate and out into the street where the Harcourts’ brougham was waiting to take them home.

  During the carriage ride back to Lonsdale Square Lucetta made a conscious effort to face reality. Lennie was dead and gone, hopefully to a better place, and she must face the problems that she had pushed aside until now. Sam had not attended the service. He had been furious when she refused to accept his wedding plans, even though she had tried to explain that the funeral he had talked about so dismissively was that of her friend and protector. Sam had cursed Guthrie, telling her in the strongest terms what he thought of the escaped convict who should have paid for his life of crime at the end of the hangman’s noose. He had simply not understood or, Lucetta thought, he had chosen not to understand her feelings, and what began as an argument had erupted into a bitter quarrel. Mary’s attempts to mediate had been met with failure on both sides, and Sam had stormed out of the house leaving Lucetta in tears. She had not seen him since.

  It had started raining soon after they left the church, and by the time they reached the Hastings’ residence what had begun as light drizzle had turned into a steady downpour. Holding up a large black umbrella, the groom opened the carriage door and put down the steps.

  ‘I won’t come in,’ Giles said apologetically. ‘I have an appointment with Dr Glenn, the retiring physician at the practice I hope to purchase. There are just two of us competing now, so I can’t afford to be late.’

  ‘I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you, Giles.’ Mary gave him an encouraging smile as she allowed the groom to help her from the carriage.

  Lucetta was about to alight but Giles laid his hand on her arm. ‘Are you all right?’

  She nodded, resisting the temptation to throw her arms around his neck and sob on his shoulder. ‘I’m fine, thank you, Giles.’ She shot him a sideways glance, but she couldn’t look him fully in the eyes. Something had changed and it felt as though a glass barrier had come between them. She laid her hand on the groom’s outstretched arm and stepped down onto the pavement to join Mary who was sheltering beneath the umbrella.

  ‘Oughtn’t you to go with him?’ Lucetta asked anxiously. ‘It’s not too late if you call out to stop them.’

  ‘Giles doesn’t need me to hold his hand.’ Mary hurried up the path and tugged at the bell. ‘Don’t stand there, Lucetta,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘You’re getting terribly wet.’

  Lucetta had barely noticed the raindrops dripping off the rim of her bonnet as she watched the carriage leave the square, but Mary’s comment brought her back to earth with a jolt and she hurried up the path.

  ‘But you will be involved in his work too. Don’t you want to see the house where you will spend the rest of your life?’

  The door opened and Mary stepped into the hallway, shedding her bonnet and mantle which she thrust into Maisie’s outstretched hands. ‘What are you talking about, Daisy? I won’t be living with Giles. Whatever gave you that idea?’

  Maisie moved to Lucetta’s side. ‘May I take your wet things, miss?’

  ‘Tell Cook we’ll have luncheon as soon as possible, please,’ Mary said as she entered the morning parlour.

  Lucetta realised that she was dripping water all over the tiled floor and she shrugged off her wet garments, handing them to Maisie before hurrying into the parlour. ‘But I thought things were settled between you and Giles.’

  Mary went to warm her hands in front of the fire. ‘What Giles does or doesn’t do is his concern, not mine. I’m going back to Stockton Lacey in a week or two and I’m not planning to return to London.’ She glanced over her shoulder with a reassuring smile. ‘Don’t worry, Daisy. We’re keeping the house on for the foreseeable future, and you can stay here as long as you like. Papa hasn’t decided whether to sell or to let it out to a suitable tenant.’

  ‘But, Mary, I thought that you and Giles had an understanding. I thought that you and he …’

  Mary threw back her head and laughed. ‘Giles and me? Oh, no, we are too much alike. We get on like a house on fire, but there’s never been anything romantic in our attachment.’

  Lucetta sat down suddenly as her legs gave way beneath her. A multitude of conflicting emotions made her feel light-headed, and the uppermost feeling was one of inexplicable relief. ‘I – I thought you were in love with him.’

  ‘I do love him, but I got over my schoolgirl crush a long time ago.’ Mary angled her head. ‘There’s only one person who holds my cousin’s heart, and I think you already know her name.’

  Lucetta felt the blood rush to her cheeks. The mischievous sparkle in Mary’s eyes was so reminiscent of Giles that Lucetta had to look away. ‘I turned him down, Mary.’

  ‘I know you did, my dear. Don’t worry; he didn’t come crying to me. I could see that he was terribly upset about something and I wheedled the truth out of him.’

  ‘What did he say?’

  ‘He asked my advice and I told him to be patient.’

  ‘I love Sam.’

  ‘Are you trying to convince me of that, or yourself?

  ‘He loves me and he is desperate to marry me. I can’t let him down.’

  ‘It’s your decision,’ Mary said slowly. ‘You are the only one who knows what is in your heart.’

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it now. I’ve just said goodbye to poor Lennie, and if I lose Sam it will be like saying farewell to my past and my parents all over again. I do love him, Mary. I do.’

  ‘Then you have made your choice, Daisy.’

  ‘It sounds so simple when you say it like that.’

  ‘If you have any doubts …’ Mary paused, leaving the end of the sentence hanging in the air. She moved gracefully to a side table and selected a cut crystal decanter. ‘You look very pale; I hope you haven’t caught a chill.’ She poured the amber liquid into two glasses, handing one to Lucetta. ‘Drink this; it will do you good.’

  Lucetta accepted the glass of sherry and took a sip. The taste on her tongue was pleasantly sweet and nutty and the effect of the alcohol on an empty stomach was instantaneous and warming. She made a valiant attempt to continue the conversation on a less personal level. ‘You said you were going to live in Stockton Lacey. Why are you leaving London?’

  Mary settled herself in a seat by fire. ‘I suppose I’m a country girl at heart. I love nursing, but Papa didn’t like me working in the fever hospital. He thought the hours were too long and that in the end I would succumb to some dreadful disease. Besides which, he has decided not to stand at the next election.’

  ‘But he does such good work on behalf of his constituents. Why would he give all that up?’

  ‘I think he�
�s beginning to feel his age. He’s no longer a young man.’ Mary eyed her over the rim of her glass, but her serious expression dissolved into a smile. ‘I’m teasing you, silly. He isn’t dying from a broken heart. Papa has been asked to take over from the retiring magistrate in the area. He doesn’t think his party will get in at the next election and he says he’s had enough of politics. He would rather retire gracefully than be voted out.’

  ‘And what about you? What will you do in the country?’

  Mary’s dimples played at the corners of her mouth. ‘Oh, didn’t I tell you? After you left Stockton Lacey, I was introduced to the doctor who had bought the village practice when Giles turned it down. He is a widower with two very young daughters and he needs someone to assist him in his work. I can live at the Grange and have the best of both worlds. I couldn’t be happier with the arrangement.’

  Lucetta was instantly diverted from her own problems. ‘And is this doctor good-looking by any chance?’

  ‘Don’t be naughty, Daisy. Dr Goodwin is a very personable man in his early thirties, but that has nothing to do with my accepting the position.’

  ‘No,’ Lucetta said, keeping a straight face with difficulty. ‘Of course not, Mary.’

  ‘Never mind about me. What about you and Sam? Oughtn’t you to make it up with him? If you leave it too long he may think that you really don’t care.’

  ‘You’re right. I can’t leave matters up in the air. I’ll go and see him tomorrow.’

  ‘What’s wrong with today? I mean, moping about won’t bring Lennie back. I think you ought to go this afternoon. I’ll come with you if you like. I’ll order the carriage and we’ll go as soon as we’ve finished luncheon.’

  * * *

  Mary’s plans came to nothing. Sir Hector arrived while they were in the middle of their meal, announcing that he had made an appointment for Lucetta to see his solicitor friend that afternoon at three o’clock. Lucetta would not have admitted it for the world, but deep down she was relieved. She could not face another emotional battle with Sam, and she knew that he would take her visit as tacit acceptance of his proposal. It would only be a matter of deciding when and where they were to be married. At least she had a valid excuse now for putting off an irrevocable decision.

  Mary was waiting for them in the drawing room when Lucetta and Sir Hector returned from the solicitor’s office in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. She set aside her embroidery hoop and patted the empty space next to her on the sofa.

  ‘Come and sit down. Tell me all about it. Are you an heiress, Lucetta, or shall I still call you Daisy?’

  ‘Leave the poor girl alone,’ Sir Hector said, chuckling. ‘She must be exhausted after everything that’s happened today. Do something useful, Mary. Ring the bell and order some tea and cake. I’ll take mine in my study.’ He left the room with a nod to Lucetta and a genuine smile on his lips.

  Mary reached up to tug at the tasselled bell pull. ‘Father’s right, of course. You must be worn out. There’s no need to tell me now if you’re too tired. But I am dying with curiosity.’

  Lucetta sat down beside her. ‘Well, he was quite amazing. The solicitor, I mean, not your father. Although Sir Hector is very—’

  Mary laid her hand on Lucetta’s arm. ‘I know that my pa is wonderful. Just tell me what the solicitor said.’

  ‘He had sent one of his people out to find my ancient aunt in Surrey, and she had seen the likeness of me and said that I was the absolute image of her mother, my grandmother. She had shown him a faded old daguerreotype of her mother when she was a girl, and apparently it matched. Then he had sent the same person to look up my old headmistress and she had confirmed the likeness too. I had to swear an affidavit, and that, together with the letter from Sir John and confirmation from two respectable old ladies, will, he said, stand up in court. He had a copy of Papa’s will and everything was left to me.’

  ‘That’s wonderful, but what now?’

  ‘I’m going to see Jeremiah tomorrow. I’ll take the affidavit with me and try to persuade him to be reasonable. Perhaps we can come to some amicable arrangement before my Uncle Bradley returns from abroad.’

  A thoughtful frown puckered Mary’s smooth brow. ‘I don’t think you ought to face Jeremiah on your own. You should take Sam with you; after all, you do intend to marry him, and the money to repair his ship has to come from the business you are about to inherit.’

  Lucetta digested this in silence. The choices she made now would affect her for the rest of her life, and she realised suddenly that she was not the only one involved. There were the men and their families who depended on their wages from the company she now owned. With wealth and position there came responsibility; she could almost wish to be poor again. Life had been much simpler when she was plain Lucy Guthrie. The mantle of Lucetta Froy did not sit quite so easily on her shoulders now.

  Next morning Lucetta took a cab to the boatyard in Wapping where the Sea Eagle was undergoing repairs. As she had expected, she found Sam on the foreshore supervising the work. Picking up her skirts she made her way carefully across the slippery stones, avoiding the brackish pools filled with rusty bolts.

  His expression was not welcoming. ‘So you’ve come looking for me. That’s a turn-up for the books. Who are you today, then? Lucy Guthrie or Lucetta Froy?’

  ‘Why are you being like this?’ Lucetta demanded breathlessly. ‘I know you were angry, but—’

  ‘Angry. That’s putting it mildly. You chose that criminal over me and you jilted me on our wedding day.’

  ‘Then you must know how poor Dora felt when you left her at the altar.’ Lucetta rarely lost her temper but she had barely slept that night and her nerves were stretched to the point of breaking. She was about to face Jeremiah and she had hoped that Sam might be reasonable, but she could see from the grim look in his eyes and the set of his jaw that he was still furious with her.

  He gripped her by the elbow and hurried her out of earshot of the workmen. ‘I told you that was a pack of lies.’

  She drew away from him. ‘And I don’t believe you. If you love me as you say you do, why are you behaving like this? If you really cared for me you would think about my feelings and not put yourself first all the time.’

  He folded his arms across his chest, glaring at her. ‘Did you come here just to fight with me, or is there a purpose to your visit? I think I merit an apology before anything else.’

  Lucetta stared up at him. He had changed so much since those heady days in Bali, or perhaps she had never known the real Sam Cutler. His hair was dull and matted to his head and his eyes, which had once danced with golden lights, were now as grey as the skies above them. He was no longer a golden god of love and youth; there was no humour or even a hint of affection in his expression. The intervening years had hardened and toughened him into cold steel and she knew in that single moment that she did not and could not love him.

  ‘I just came to tell you that I can’t marry you, Sam. I’m sorry, but you were trying to push me into something that deep down I knew would not work for either of us.’

  He gripped her by the wrist, his eyes narrowed and his lips drawn into a thin angry line. ‘You’ve gained proof of your identity, haven’t you? You don’t need me any more, you cheating, conniving little bitch.’

  ‘Let me go. You’re hurting me.’

  ‘Let you go? Never. You agreed to marry me and I’m keeping you to that arrangement. I don’t know if a man has ever sued a woman for breach of promise, but if you go back on your word I’m going to have a damned good try. I’ll sue your company for every last penny.’

  ‘Let her go.’

  The staccato command caused Sam to loosen his grasp just enough for Lucetta to twist free from him. She spun round to see Giles striding across the foreshore towards them. Her breath hitched in her throat as she called his name, and she ran to meet him, tripping and stumbling on the slimy stones. He caught her in his arms and stared anxiously into her face.

  ‘Are you all
right, my darling? If he’s hurt you I’ll break every bone in his body.’

  ‘I’m all right, Giles. But how did you find me? Why are you here?’

  ‘Mary told me where you’d gone. She was worried about you coming here alone, although I don’t think she could have imagined that he would actually molest you.’

  Sam had caught up with her and he seized Lucetta by the shoulders, dragging her away from Giles. ‘Leave my woman alone, Harcourt. This doesn’t concern you.’

  ‘I’m not your woman,’ Lucetta cried angrily. ‘Let me go, Sam. I’ve told you that I won’t marry you and you’ll just have to accept it.’

  ‘If you think I’m going to lose my chance to take over your father’s business then you are very much mistaken.’ Sam let her go so abruptly that she stumbled and would have fallen if Giles had not stepped forward to save her.

  ‘What sort of man are you?’ Giles demanded. ‘You may be able to bully your crew but you’ll leave Lucetta alone or you’ll have to deal with me.’

  ‘You!’ Sam drew himself up to his full height, fisting his hands. ‘Come on then, pill-pedlar; let’s see what you’re made of.’

  Lucetta threw herself between them. ‘Stop this, the pair of you. I’ll see that you get the repairs to your ship paid for, Sam, but that is all you are ever going to get from me. And you can’t sue me because I am still a minor, and will be for another year. I’ve taken legal advice and although the company belongs to me, it is held in trust until I am twenty-one. Until then my uncle is my legal guardian and whether he likes it or not he has to protect me from fortune-hunters like you.’

  Giles slipped his arm around her waist. ‘Come along, Lucetta. Let me take you home.’

  She smiled up at him. ‘There is something I must do first.’

  ‘I’ll take you to court over this,’ Sam blustered.

  Lucetta shook her head, eyeing him sadly. ‘It would be a waste of your time and money. I did love you once, but you’ve changed and I’ve grown up. Can’t we leave it as a happy memory?’

  ‘Bah!’ Sam turned his back on them and trudged across the foreshore, kicking at anything that got in his way.