****
Two weeks later, Barret set sail for Vienna to have Colin’s music published. I didn’t accompany him. I told him I was needed to help the villagers re-establish themselves. That was only an excuse. The real reason was that I’d discovered I was pregnant again and didn’t want to risk losing the child on a sea voyage. I kept this news from Barret. He had to go.
Ben Smith, restored as proprietor of his store, also helped the villagers get back on their feet. He advanced reasonable credit for seed and farm implements to give much neglected agriculture a chance. The valley must become self-sufficient, he declared. Its people must not rely on overseas credit or foodstuffs.
He rode to the provincial capital and spoke in Randall’s vacant government seat to secure jobs for the men in building railways and roads, and instruction in the running of trains and steamships. With the assistance of the local priest, he found nuns willing to establish a school for the families of Acadian fishermen, and others who would set up a rudimentary hospital in Pine.
A month later, he was once again appointed magistrate for the valley, with Johnny Kelly acting as his constable and jailer. The house of cards that Abraham had built his wealth upon looked, in retrospect, incredibly ostentatious and superficial when compared with Ben Smith’s sturdy new society.
Bridgit became manager of the fish-packing industry. She paid a fair price for catches, a fair wage in the packing sheds. Brisk and businesslike in her trim, new suits, Bridgit O’Brien was every inch the lady entrepreneur, wise and resourceful, but also compassionate and altruistic when the situation warranted.
Meg Warden continued to serve liquor in her establishment, but on certain occasions prohibited its sale and invited families, French and English, rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic, to enjoy the music and song supplied sometimes by itinerant musicians and sometimes by myself. Mary, who kept books by day for Ben and Bridgit, was always more than willing to mind Colin for an evening.
Ben Smith and we four women were setting the foundation for a solid and lasting colonial town. If Captain Barret Madison had been with us, our contentment would have been complete.
****
Barret had been gone several weeks when a lawyer arrived from England. He was a small, gray-haired man who carried a large briefcase as he walked gingerly and furtively toward my cabin through the golden leaves of late September. Apparently he was new to the colonies and was expecting some poisonous snake or other deadly creature to manifest itself in my dooryard.
“Mrs. Madison?” he asked when I met him near my front step. “Formerly Starr Reynolds, fiancée to one Darcy Pod?”
“Yes.”
“May I come inside your house, madame? I believe I have news which will prove most agreeable to you.”
As he spread a film of legal papers over our plank table, I poured him a cup of coffee. Then I took the place he patted beside him.
“Mrs. Madison, before he left England, Darcy Pod made a will, a very legal, very all-encompassing will,” he began. “He named you beneficiary to all he owned or ever might own. The amount he left in trust for you with our firm at that time was minuscule, barely enough to buy you a gown and a pair of decent shoes. Recently, all that has changed, and we felt impelled to find you. Have you heard of Sir Charles Blackwell?”
“Yes,” I said, a shudder washing over me. “I knew Sir Charles.”
“He passed away recently, without issue but with a rather unusual bequest.” The lawyer paused, drew a deep breath, then continued, “It appears he and your fiancé, Darcy Pod, shared a rather…er…intense relationship; so intense, in fact, that Sir Charles left Mr. Pod the entire Blackwell fortune. The most lucrative item at this time is, of course, the coal mining business he inherited from his mother. Steamboats and railways have made that commodity as valuable as gold. Now, if you’ve been following me, Mrs. Madison, that makes you, as Mr. Pod’s sole heir, a very wealthy woman.”
I gasped. Was I hearing correctly? Was Sir Harry’s wealth, which my mother had died trying to secure for me, finally mine? Surely fate could not be so dramatic, so twisted.
“It’s true, Mrs. Madison,” the lawyer was continuing. “We’ve checked the details thoroughly. In such an unusual case, we must. Rest assured, I would not have made this arduous journey if I had not been certain you are the legal heir to Blackwell Mining and the Blackwell estates. Now, please do me the honor of signing these papers quickly, so that I might catch passage on the next ship leaving this wilderness.”
****
I was a wealthy woman. After the lawyer left, I sat by the table and pondered how his visit would change my life. He had left me several hundred pounds in cash “to tide me over,” as he’d put it, until I could take full possession and command of my mines and other interests. I could pay my bills, buy new clothes for Colin and me, presents for Bridgit, Ben, Meg, and Mary. I could even fulfill one of my heart’s fondest wishes…to see Barret dressed as he’d once been and able to enjoy the amenities of life again. I could do almost anything except what I wanted most…bring my husband instantly back home to share my good fortune with me.
My mind slid back over the years. So many things were clear now. Sir Charles had taken young Darcy from the mines to be his lover. His position as secretary had been a cover for his real purpose in the manor. I shuddered as I thought of innocent young Darcy being taken from the mines that November night and up to the manor where Charles Blackwell waited, riding crop in hand.
I recalled Darcy’s condition on the day he’d told me he’d managed to have Simon driven from the estate with the hounds at his heels; the dark circles under his blue eyes, the hoarseness in his voice, flinching when I’d touched him.
Then I remembered how, later, when he’d told me of his chance to go to America, he’d called Sir Charles simply Charles. Perhaps, later, it had not been so terrible for him, perhaps he’d come to care for Sir Charles and he for Darcy. That was probably why Maude Bell had insisted on sending Darcy away. Older, shrewder, and more worldly than I at that time, she’d no doubt recognized their relationship for what it truly was. She’d seen there would be no chance of the all-important heir if Darcy remained Charles’ intimate friend.
I struggled to understand such a relationship. It was easier to comprehend that of Darcy and Colin. The latter must have been as intense and satisfying to them as Barret’s and mine was to us, I thought.
****
It was Christmas Eve. I put away my notes and got up from my place at the table, glad I had finished writing my life story to that date. Perhaps someday someone would read it and find some measure of interest in it.
Colin was asleep in the bedroom, Mary dozing by the fire.
“I’m going to the tavern, Mary,” I said. “The musicians Meg hired didn’t arrive because of the storm yesterday. I don’t want the families she invited for caroling to be disappointed. I’ll play my guitar for them and be back in a couple of hours, when they leave to attend church services.”
“Are you sure that’s wise, Starr?” Mary was instantly awake, her eyes wide with concern. “Your child is due any time. Captain Madison wouldn’t want you to take any unnecessary risks.”
“Life is a risk,” I replied. “Captain Madison would understand I cannot disappoint these good people.”
I put on my boots, fur coat, and hat, and went out into the last slowly falling flakes of the previous day’s blizzard, Colin’s guitar on my back.
****
Seated on a stool at the end of the bar, I led the caroling with Ben, Bridgit, and Meg by my side. Then, as the evening drew to an end and church bells began to summon the faithful, I was requested to sing “Ava Maria.” Carefully I started the emotional and difficult piece, not sure how successful I would be. Suddenly, from the shadows near the doorway, a tenor voice, strong and beautiful in its support, came to steady me.
Startled, I stumbled to a pause, hardly daring to breathe, not daring to recognize it. Then he was coming toward me, still singing and
looking so tall and strong and handsome in the lantern light he took my breath away.
When he stood beside me, he removed the guitar from about my neck, took up the instrument, and continued the hymn. Overcoming my joyous surprise, I joined him with overwhelming happiness. My captain was home!
****
Our second child was born at dawn that wonderful Christmas. Lovingly delivered by his own father, Randall Abraham Madison was a handsome, lusty baby, strong and robust, another fitting son for a man like Captain Barret Madison. Our next child I vowed, however, would be a girl…Lise Ida Madison…in honor of her grandmother and her great-grandmother.
As the baby nursed contentedly, Barret told me Colin’s scores had met with wild approval in Vienna. Posthumously, Colin Douglas was an acknowledged musical genius. Then I told him of my newfound wealth and my plans. We would use the money to help the people of the valley. We would build roads, and a new school, and a real hospital with a real doctor. And he must take me to England aboard the Maris Stella once baby Randall was weaned. I must oversee the ending of the despicable conditions in the mines I now owned.
Barret smiled at me in the lantern light, his expression so full of love and caring that tears welled in my eyes. “I’ll take you anywhere,” he said. “I’ll do anything you ask…except leave you. Nothing will ever separate us again. Now rest. I must go to my firstborn. Colin needs his father. We mustn’t give him reason to be jealous of his brother.”
He kissed me and left the room. I drifted off to sleep, his child slumbering in my arms, a smile on my lips, knowing he spoke the truth.
A word about the author…
Gail MacMillan is the award-winning author of twenty-eight published books and a graduate of Queen's University. She has had articles and short stories published in magazines both in North America and Western Europe.
Contact her at:
[email protected]
Other Books You Might Enjoy
When a thief and a notorious privateer get together, there is no doubt sparks will fly. With a necklace that once belonged to Marie Antoinette hidden in her bodice and a pack of hounds at her heels, Emma Prescott flees from the prospect of a loathsome marriage. In the storm-blackened night, a dark-cloaked man on an ebony horse offers assistance, and Emma regards the gesture as a blessing, little knowing her fate will eventually be tied to that of an infamous privateer.
Eager to get back to London and his fiancee, to set sail for home, Captain Morgan Reynolds helps the mysterious runaway only because of his Highland hatred for her English pursuers...and something about the girl herself. But will Morgan and Emma ever learn to be honest with each other?
Read Caledonian Privateer by Gail MacMillan
http://amzn.com/B0057P7PCO
As a young woman in Florence, Diana Savrano's life is a privileged one of elegant balls, handsome suitors and frivolity. But the sudden death of her mother leaves her adrift and abandoned. As she sobs over her mother's casket, another member of the procession reveals the awful truth. Before her last days, Diana's mother had joined a Luciferian cult. Despite knowing little beyond her pampered world, Diana determines to unmask those responsible for her mother's death. But someone does not want such secrets revealed, and they are willing to send assassins to keep her silent. Paranoia and loneliness set in as even her closest friends reveal hidden agendas. Worst of all, the further she follows the intertwined threads, the closer they appear to lead to her own father.
Discover Suicide Kings by Christopher J. Ferguson
http://amzn.com/B00G8HWX0E
Thank you for purchasing
this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
For other wonderful stories of romance,
please visit our on-line bookstore at
www.thewildrosepress.com.
For questions or more information
contact us at
[email protected].
The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
www.thewildrosepress.com
To visit with authors of
The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
join our yahoo loop at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thewildrosepress/
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Praise for Gail MacMillan and…
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Other Books You Might Enjoy
Thank you for purchasing this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Praise for Gail MacMillan and…
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Other Books You Might Enjoy
Thank you for purchasing this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Shadows of Love Page 33