They ate a meal of freshly baked bread and fine cheese and John insisted on paying the landlord. He was well aware that his meagre supply of money would not last very long but it was important to make a good impression right away. Lily would be repaying him a thousandfold, John would make sure of it.
It was almost dark by the time the coach was finally equipped with fresh horses and all the baggage loaded. John glanced at Lily. By the time the coach made its first stop he would be well in with her.
‘Polly grown tired of you, I understand?’ Her bluntness was a shock. Lily was not as easily fooled as he had first believed. ‘She quickly forgot her whim to run off with you into the sunset.’
He decided to stick as close to the truth as he dared. ‘Once Polly heard I had no prospects she no longer found me interesting,’ he said tersely.
‘Oh dear.’ She allowed him to pull a rug over her legs. He was playing for time, thinking of some way to get round her. He need not have bothered.
‘Look,’ Lily said, ‘I’m not a fool, I know you have nothing, why else was Polly paying all the bills for you?’
‘It was an arrangement that suited us both,’ John said. ‘We were never in love but she needed a strong young man and I was happy to play the part.’
‘I’ll make you a deal,’ Lily said, lowering her voice as other passengers came on board. ‘I long for the respectability I had with my husband, I’ve had enough of being a mistress. You marry me, make me Mrs John Pendennis, and I’ll look after you until you sort yourself out.’
He thought about it for a moment. What harm would there be in going through a ceremony with Lily? It would not be valid, he was still a married man, but Lily did not know that.
‘Lily,’ he said, ‘I would be honoured to have you as my wife.’ He put his arm protectively around her shoulder and whispered in her ear.
‘Let’s start acting the part now, shall we? I’ll be happy to take care of you until we make our vows in church.’
She smiled up at him. ‘That’s a lovely idea, husband.’
She was quick-witted, John realized with a dart of pleasure, together they might well make a good team. In any case he would at least get food and shelter out of her for the duration of the journey.
The driver shouted a command to the horses and the coach jerked into motion. ‘We’re on our way,’ John said and, taking Lily’s hand, he covered it with his own, congratulating himself that once again he had fallen on his feet.
‘The creditors have agreed to my request.’ Llinos sat at her desk and looked up into Watt’s smiling face. ‘See, I have the letters here. Now we’ve got a real chance to make the business prosper again.’ She got to her feet and, on an impulse, hugged him. ‘Thank you, Watt. For everything.’
‘Don’t thank me, your letters did the trick.’ Watt hugged her back. ‘I was just the delivery boy.’
‘No I won’t have that, your money certainly helped; nothing talks as loudly as money.’
‘Well, I’ll be paid back a thousandfold so don’t worry about it. Listen, I have to go into town again today,’ Watt said. ‘Shall I take Lloyd with me? We could go across the river on the ferry boat, he’d like that.’
‘That would be lovely for him,’ Llinos said. ‘I’ve hired a carriage to take me down to Alice Sparks’s home so I’ll be out most of the day.’ She looked up at Watt. ‘Have you got a message for Rosie?’
‘Just tell her I love her.’ Watt looked away in embarrassment. ‘I’ll go and get Lloyd.’
Llinos was putting on her coat in the hall when Lloyd came galloping downstairs, his scarf flying, his hat crooked. ‘Mamma, I’m going across the Tawe on the boat!’ He hugged her waist. ‘Can we come back on the boat too?’ He moved impatiently from one foot to the other as Llinos buttoned his coat around his chest.
‘Well I should think so,’ Llinos said. ‘Otherwise you’d have to swim and it’s a bit cold for that, isn’t it? Here, put your hat on straight.’ She kissed him and, as he twisted away, she smiled to herself. Lloyd believed he was too manly for kisses now. ‘Behave yourself, do you hear me?’
She watched as Lloyd walked sturdily beside Watt and love flowed through her. Her son was everything to her now, the only one in the whole world who really needed her.
It was early afternoon by the time the carriage drew up outside the mansion where Alice Sparks lived. For a moment Llinos was intimidated by the sheer size of the building but, at last, she took a deep breath and rung the bell.
Alice was in the drawing room and Rosie was sitting with her, working a sampler in coloured silks.
‘Rosie, you keeping well?’ Llinos said quickly. ‘Watt sends his love.’
‘Mrs Mainwaring,’ Alice intervened, ‘I’ve been expecting you. Please take a seat, make yourself at home, we will have tea shortly.’
‘It is very kind of you to see me, Mrs Sparks,’ Llinos said awkwardly, ‘though I’m sure you know my visit is not strictly a social one.’
‘I do know and I’m happy to talk business but let me just say first how warmly Rosie has been singing your praises. She tells me you are a fine woman and a woman alone at that.’
Alice shook her head. ‘Men! They can be such a disappointment. My husband had no time for women in business but then he was an ignorant spiteful little man.’
Llinos felt uncomfortable; everyone knew that Mr Sparks had died a terrible death. It seemed wrong to talk disparagingly about him.
There was silence for a moment and Llinos decided to get to the point of her visit before she lost her nerve. ‘I explained my request in my letter to you,’ Llinos said. ‘I need a swift injection of money to build my pottery trade up again or it will be finished.’
Alice smiled. ‘I know you won’t say it, you are far too polite, but the decline in the business was my husband’s doing.’
The maid brought the tea in and Rosie took the tray from her. Rosie seemed quite at home in the opulent surroundings of Alice’s mansion.
‘I have decided to reimburse you at once,’ Alice said as she took a cup of tea. ‘I know that the legalities of such a complex matter could go on endlessly by which time the pottery, as you say, would be finished.’
‘That is very generous of you.’ Llinos had not expected her request to be granted so easily.
‘Put it down to Rosie’s high regard for you,’ Alice said smiling. ‘And, I have the desire to see your little pottery succeed again.’
‘Why should you care about the pottery?’ Llinos asked.
‘It will keep Rosie’s husband busy.’ Alice laughed out loud. ‘I know the man wants her back and I want her to stay, at least for a while.’
‘I see. Well thank you anyway.’
‘Now with the business done let us just gossip like women, shall we?’ Alice asked. ‘What’s happening in Swansea? I hear my friend Matthew has rid himself of his mistress.’
Llinos smiled. Alice, for all her wealth, was just an ordinary gossipy woman.
It was almost dark when Llinos returned to Swansea. As the carriage carried her past the river she could see the bobbing of lanterns on the bank and frowned in bewilderment.
‘What’s happening? What is it, driver, can you see?’
‘Seems to be some sort of trouble with the ferry boat, Mrs Mainwaring.’
Llinos felt her heart begin to pound. ‘I must go and see for myself.’ She scrambled down from the seat, her feet slipped on the damp earth. She lifted her skirts and took the path leading down to the river.
Llinos caught the arm of one of the men holding a lantern. ‘What is it, who was on board?’
‘Full boat, Mrs Mainwaring. Seems your boy along with Watt Bevan boarded the ferry at Foxhole. But don’t worry too much, the rescuers are working as swiftly as they can. They’ll have all the survivors ashore before long.’
The word ‘survivors’ sent chills through her. ‘Please God,’ Llinos whispered, ‘don’t take my son away from me!’
The rain pounded against her face, the cold wind whipped her dress around her legs as she strained to see the river through the darkness. The waters could be cruel on a night like this.
A crowd of onlookers surged onto the bank and Llinos fought to keep her place at the edge of the water. She could see figures bobbing like corks on the swell. It seemed impossible that anyone could be rescued in the cold and the darkness.
The clouds sped swiftly above her head and parted, a shaft of moonlight illuminated the river and Llinos gasped as she saw the full scale of the catastrophe. The hull of the boat jutted up like a rock from the water; bits of timber littered the river, washing seaward with the tide.
‘All on board must be lost.’ She heard the voice behind her and waved her hand as though to push the words away from her. ‘Lloyd, my lovely boy, where are you?’
A body was dragged out of the river, a man with his face pallid and his hair plastered to his skull. A woman began to scream. It was a nightmare, this could not be happening. Any moment Llinos would wake up and all would be well.
Slowly, almost majestically, the rest of the hull disappeared under the water and waves eddied shoreward. Llinos put her hands over her eyes; she could not bear to watch as the water dragged strong men down in the undertow.
All at once a warm glow encompassed her. ‘Joe?’ She knew that he was close by, she could feel him, almost touch him, though she could not see him.
‘Look! Someone is coming out of the river!’ A man’s voice carried above the noise of the waves. The cry was taken up by the crowd and Llinos was pressed even closer to the muddy edge of the water. She felt as though a warm blanket of love was being wrapped around her and, even though the river water lapped coldly at her feet, she knew that Joe was near, that everything was going to be all right.
‘It’s the big Indian!’ The cry echoed in her ears and Llinos staggered as the crowd pressed closer.
Like a Phoenix from the ashes, a man was rising from the river. His hair streamed water and mud smeared his face but Llinos knew at once that it was Joe. Watt was with him, clinging to Joe’s sleeve as he was hauled from the grip of the river.
Llinos could think of nothing, see nothing, but the small body in Joe’s arms. ‘Lloyd?’ she whispered. She watched, her heart in her mouth, as willing hands dragged the two men and the boy onto the bank.
‘Lloyd! My lovely boy!’ As Joe put their son on his feet, Llinos took Lloyd in her arms and held him close. He clung to her for a moment, his wet head against her breast.
‘I’m all right, Mamma,’ he said. ‘I’m not hurt so don’t worry.’
‘Let’s get you home,’ Llinos said shakily. She was almost afraid to look at Joe, wondering if he would disappear into the night as quickly as he had come.
Llinos held Lloyd’s hand and led him up the bank and onto the roadway. A carriage was waiting there with Charlotte sitting beside the driver, her face pale in the moonlight.
‘Thank God!’ she said. ‘Come here, Lloyd, let me wrap you in my shawl.’ Llinos just stood there, her senses blunted by shock and fear. It was Joe who took charge.
‘Watt, go with Charlotte, I’ll take Llinos home.’
‘There’s a carriage, the one I hired, it’s waiting just there, look.’ Llinos felt her mouth tremble as she tried to speak. She felt chilled to the bone. She wanted to cry but the tears would not come.
Joe helped her into the seat and climbed in beside her and, as the carriage jolted into motion, Llinos fell against Joe’s shoulder. She felt his wet hair touch her cheek and was filled with indescribable longing for the way things once were between them.
‘How did you get here? How did you know our son was in danger?’ Her teeth were chattering. She still could not look at Joe even though he was sitting close beside her.
‘There was no magic to it,’ Joe said. ‘I came home earlier today. I brought Charlotte with me.’ She could hear the smile in his voice. ‘Or perhaps I should say she brought me.’
She felt her heart lurch; so he had not come back because he wanted her, he came back because Charlotte asked him to. The moon disappeared, the crowds had dispersed, the silence of the night folded around her and Llinos felt she was alone in the world with the stranger who was her husband.
The lanterns were lit to welcome them when the carriage drove into the pottery yard. Joe helped Llinos to alight and spoke a few words to the driver. The carriage wheels rang hollowly on the cobbles and, then, Llinos and Joe were alone.
She forced herself to look up at him, this man who was her husband. He stood there, his tallness a surprise to her. She had forgotten how big Joe was. His hair gleamed black in the slant of light from the lanterns. He smiled and Llinos felt as though the breath had been snatched from her body.
He held out his hand and she stared at him as though she could not believe he was really there. She hesitated for only a moment and then she put her hand in his.
She could not speak; her legs trembled. She felt that if she stood there any longer looking into her husband’s eyes she would fall into a faint. He drew her closer and she could smell the scent of him, the scent of sun and wind and the salt of the river.
She thought briefly about Sho Ka, about the child, Joe’s child, but his nearness was blotting out all the pain. His mouth was only inches away from hers; she felt his love reach out to her. She swayed towards him and his arms folded around her.
‘I love you, Llinos,’ he said tenderly. ‘I’ve never stopped loving you, however it looked, whatever you thought.’
She believed him. The questions could come later but for now it was enough that he was here in her arms. His lips touched hers and it was the sweetest kiss Llinos had ever known. Happiness flooded through her. The river that had almost taken her child roared past in the distance, the water churning angrily towards the sea, but all she could hear was the sound of two hearts, hers and Joe’s, beating as one.
THE END