“What won’t do? My entertaining Sir Edward in
your absence, or…my entertaining Sir Edward?” The banter was rife
on her face as well as her voice.
“Oh take a damper, m’girl. You know exactly
what won’t do.” He moved over to the sideboard and poured himself a
glass of sherry, but turned slightly and said over his shoulder, “I
only want you to consider that his sort…well…may not be serious…and
you, my girl, you are so very serious at bottom, aren’t you?”
“Ah, but his sort is just the sort I want,”
she answered him and waited for her brother’s reaction. She and her
brother had a beloved link. They had grown up close and in harmony.
They had shared and lost both their parents, however, she knew her
own mind and waited to see if he was going to buck her on this.
He sipped his sherry as he contemplated her
quietly, “Star, you have had any number of local gentlemen at your
feet. You have even had a London beau come courting, but I fancy,
Sir Edward is a cut above them all and well…I don’t want you
hurt.”
This was not precisely telling her what to do
and the truth hung on each word, thus, it effectively depressed her
into silence. Her shoulders sank with sudden doubts. She said, “Of
course, you are right and I am a stupid girl to have
contemplated…even for the briefest moment, such things are what
dreams are made of…”
“Star, Star…” he said grabbing her fingers as
she turned away from him, “I didn’t mean to burst your bubble and
bless me, what do I know about such matters? Don’t listen to
me.”
She smiled, “You haven’t, but you are quite
right. I should hold back and evaluate matters with more than…my
heart.”
“Right, good girl and now for the
coup de
gras
!” he said with some excitement.
She laughed, “There is more?”
“Yes, Miles and I will sail the yacht to
Hastings. At first I had told Duncan I would have to see about
that, but Miles says that it would be a grand adventure, so I
agreed.”
“You already spoke to Miles…?”
“Yes, busy day at the bank. He was coming in
as I was going out…said he wanted to see his man about his trust
fund so that he could…well, he wanted to loan us enough to get by
on.”
“Oh, he is a dear,” she said.
“Told him, it wasn’t necessary and then we
went back in and saw Duncan and told him we accept.”
“But, why can’t Duncan sail it into Hastings?
What if something happened to the
Vision
while you and Miles
were sailing it? He might hold us accountable?”
“Deuce take it, don’t you think I thought of
that? He can’t sail it as he is due in London on some business or
other and doesn’t want to wait to get his men working on it for the
next race. We wrote up a contract. We would have to do something
grossly negligible to be held accountable for any damage that might
occur during delivery and we won’t do anything of the sort. Sailing
is not my favorite thing, but I have the knack of it from Papa and
Miles. Miles has the sea in his blood.”
She laughed, “So he has always told us. You
know, Duncan was Papa’s rival in all those races years ago.”
“Yes and he always lost. Thinks it was
because of papa’s schooner. That is why he wants it so bad, but
that isn’t the reason. It is his inferior sailing skills.”
She laughed, “Well then, I suppose it is all
settled. I wish you lads well. When do you leave? Do you take a
crew?”
“That’s a good girl, now, need some things…no
crew,” he said going to his writing. “I’ll make a list.”
“When do you leave?” she repeated.
“At dawn,” he answered absently.
“Ah,” she said. “And how do you propose to
return.”
He eyed her, “That is where
you
come
in. It will take us the better part of the morning to get to sail
into Hastings Harbor. I should think you wouldn’t have to leave
before ten or eleven. That will put you there by noon or so.” He
smiled at her. “Things should move along now, for we’ve got it sewn
up right and tight.”
“Indeed, yet I have this awful feeling of
impending doom.”
“Nonsense,” he said and shook his head.
“Women have absurd notions.”
She watched him for a long moment before
leaving him to his list and going to the kitchen to see what Cook
was preparing for a lunch.
Chapter Twenty-Two
JULES SAT BACK in his coach and watched the
rain as his driver made their way to Madison House. He could still
hear Edward’s voice in his ears.
“Jules, you and I both know Star would never
suit you and you and I both know why your face lights up whenever
you look toward Georgina Madison.”
“Don’t be absurd,” he had told his friend.
“You don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Oh, but I do. What is more, I am going to
tell you straight to your face, don’t let her get away from you,
for you will regret it all the rest of your life.”
Those last words of Edward’s kept repeating
themselves over and over and his sleep had been a fitful effort.
When he awoke, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what he had to do
next. He would call on her. He hadn’t liked the way they had left
things. Why, she very nearly called him a libertine and he was
not…well, not like Edward had been. It disturbed him that Georgie
thought so poorly of him and he had suddenly realized that he
wanted to shine in her eyes.
The coach pulled up at her front doors and a
few moments later, the Madison butler had taken his hat and cloak.
He put a hand to his hard chest and took in a long gulp of air as a
door opened and closed and he imagined a servant advising Georgie
that he was awaiting her.
She appeared, a vision in blue with her tawny
curls piled high on her perfect head and her eyes glinting brightly
at him.
“Jules,” she said softly.
“Georgie,” he answered.
“Would you like to have tea in the morning
room?” she asked as she moved closer to him.
He reached for and took her fingers, stared
at them as he played with their lengths, held them tightly in his
two hands and met her gaze, “I would like to have tea with
you…
anywhere on this earth if you would allow.”
She smiled and he saw that it was a quirky
curve of her lips. It tickled him and suddenly all his fears, all
his tensions were gone. He barked a laugh and hugged her to him. “I
am forgiven?”
“Yes, you are forgiven. Now…do come so that
we may be comfortable,” Georgie said and led the way, a secretive
smile playing with her face.
* * *
Dusk had settled, the rain had drizzled
itself out, and a quiet softness had fallen over Berkley. Star
turned from dream gazing out her window and returned her attention
to her brother.
“Here Star…sign here,” he said and handed her
the quill.
She eyed him quizzically and laughed. “I
thought women couldn’t own property and such? Georgie is always
going on about such things.”
“Papa put a codicil on the deed. The yacht
belongs to both of us…you, unlike I, did so enjoy sailing, so I
suppose he thought you might like to keep it.” He stopped and
looked at her, “I swear, sis, if I ever get things turned around, I
shall get you your very own sloop.”
She smiled softly and touched his cheek, “I
know you would, but honestly, I am not certain I want to sail. It
was something I enjoyed with Papa,” she sighed and shrugged her
shoulders. “Never mind…where do I sign?”
He pointed to the line and he sat back, his
hands going behind his head, “Again, Star…I am so sorry…I hope you
know that?”
She waved it off, “Nonsense, there is nothing
to be sorry for.” She heard something out in the hall and looked
around to the sound.
Dilly had already left for the day and they
had left the front door unlocked as they were expecting Miles to
arrive for the night.
This was not the first time Miles Denning had
let himself in. He opened the door wide into the dimly lit central
hall, turned, closed and locked it before taking his firm hard
strides down the corridor much as he always did. He called out for
Vern, “Vern ‘ole boy!”
“Here, in the library,” Vern answered him and
smiled as his sister giggled.
“Honestly, you two will never grow up,” she
said fondly.
At the library doors he patted his flat belly
and stepped inside, “Ah,” he said happily, “When do we eat?”
He went forward as he could see brother and
sister were at the desk with a set of papers laid out before
them.
He went immediately to Star, took her hands
in his and kissed her fingers fervently. “Star, as always, you
soothe my eyes.”
“Oh, are they sore?”
“Vixen, yes they are sore, when they don’t
have
you
in their sights,” he returned gallantly.
“You twiddle-poop,” Vern said with a shake of
his head.
She laughed, “Come sit with us. Dinner will
be served shortly, but we want to just finish these last forms for
the bank. Mr. Port left them with us, you see.”
“Ah, then you know?” he said on a frown.
“Know what?” Star asked and saw that her
brother looked puzzled.
“About your mortgage being bought out from
under you?” Miles said frowning. “I must say I was surprised. I did
not think even
he
would stoop quite that low.”
“Well yes, we knew that,” Vern said.
“Stoop…who has stooped?” Star interrupted
worriedly.
“Sir Edward. I was at the bank this morning
when he was just leaving. I saw him shaking hands with the bank
president who congratulated him on his acquisition. Told him that
Berkley would fetch a wondrous penny when it was refurbished,” He
shrugged, “I was shocked and hoped I had somehow misunderstood?” He
eyed them, “Have you sold out?”
“Devil you say! No, we have not!” Vern
returned sharply. “I don’t know what all this stuff and nonsense
is, but yes, we knew that someone had bought up the mortgage from
the bank, and yes, I had heard something that led me to believe it
was Sir Edward who had purchased it. We hoped that they meant to
allow us time, with interest, of course, to continue to make our
payments until we were in a position to retire the loan,” Vern
growled.
Star had gone white. The room started to spin
for her. Had he betrayed them? Had Sir Edward used their ill
fortune to increase his own? And what was that wrenching sound in
her chest? Was that her heart breaking in two?
Chapter Twenty-Three
DAWN ARRIVED AND Star saw her brother and
Miles on their way. They trotted their horses sedately down the
drive and she sighed as she watched them go. They made their slow
progress down the drive, with Miles amiably complaining about the
earliness of the hour.
Luckily it was a fine summer’s morning. The
air was crisp and she took a long gulp of it before turning away
from them. They had agreed with her that they would leave their
horses at the Rye livery before boarding the
Vision
and
sailing her to Hastings, where Star would hopefully meet with them
around noon.
She closed the door, sighed wearily and she
smoothed her white silk robe around herself. She had not slept very
much. Troubled over what Miles had told them about Sir Edward
buying out their mortgage. Her mind had felt swollen with her
chaotic thoughts.
She couldn’t believe Sir Edward would serve
them such a trick. He wouldn’t buy up their mortgage just to turn a
profit. Yet, there was no other reason for doing so. She could
think of no other viable reason.
She could see his dear handsome face as he
told her to remember the moment they were last together. She had
tried to remember it all, the feeling, the look in his eyes, the
hope she had felt. Now, in the face of this new development, it
seemed like a fairy tale.
In addition to her awful doubts, was the fact
that she had an awful ‘feeling’. Every instinct in her body made
her dread the upcoming day.
Why?
She could not find a reason
why she should feel this way. It was as though she knew, absolutely
knew, that something quite dreadful was about to take place.
But
what?
She hurriedly bathed because she had a full
day ahead of her.
It wasn’t an overly long journey to Hastings,
the good part of an hour or more and she knew she shouldn’t drive
the gig there alone
. Hmmm
, what to do?
It wasn’t quite the thing. She never minded
breaking rules, but although it was one matter to go into town
alone, it was quite another to take on such a lengthy trip in an
open gig. Of course, she would be met by her brother and Miles, but
what if they were late? Hastings was a large seaport town and she
would subject herself to social criticism if she were seen
unattended there.
Jeffries couldn’t be spared from the stables
and thus, taking the coach was out of the question. It would have
to be the gig as she would have to drive herself.
Dilly then? She could ask Dilly to accompany
her.
Her mood immediately brightened as she
realized she could ask Georgie—she would ask Georgie to accompany
her.
Why hadn’t she thought of this yesterday and
sent a note around in time? Georgie could have spent the night.
Well, never mind,
she told herself, she would send a note
round to Georgie at once.
No
—she had better just take a
quick ride over there, just in case, Georgie’s mother, needed some
gentle persuasion. In fact, she would just have the gig hitched up
and if Georgie could attend her, wonderful. If not, she would
return for Dilly and only lose thirty minutes.
She called to Dilly to get word to Jeffries
to hitch up the horses to the open gig and have it ready for
her.
Yes, Georgie was just who she needed with her
cool common sense. She would tell Georgie as much as she could and
see what she thought.