Arian (18 page)

‘Yes, Bella, what is it?’ Calvin spoke impatiently, dropping the pen onto the desk as the maid bobbed a hasty curtsy.

‘It’s a young lady to see you, sir,’ she said breathlessly. ‘Mrs Frogmore, she says her name is but she was Sarah Miller before marriage and a right little minx she was too if …’ Bella’s words died away as Calvin held up his hand.

‘Show her in, Bella,’ he said abruptly. ‘I presume she’s not applying for a position in the household so a character reference is hardly necessary.’

Arian moved towards the door. It seemed her meeting with Calvin was at an end and she had the unsatisfactory feeling that there were things they should have spoken about but had failed to do so.

She glanced with some curiosity at Sarah Frogmore. Arian, too, had heard some of the scandal about the girl’s past but then who was she to judge? She’d been the subject of enough scandal herself and not all of it justified.

She forced herself to smile when she noticed that Sarah’s gown was daringly cut to emphasise her rather splendid figure, and an absurd dart of jealousy pierced her. What did it matter who visited Calvin’s house? It was nothing to do with her and she would be making a fool of herself to think otherwise. Calvin was not bound to her in any way. He was simply her employer, he liked her and trusted her, but nothing more.

Sarah nodded to Arian and paused for a brief moment before sweeping into the library. The door closed and Arian stared at the polished wood panels as if trying to see through them, wondering what was being said within the room. She could think of no reason why Sarah would want to see Calvin; so far as she knew, they had no business contact, no other sort of contact either.

After a moment, she sighed. It was nothing to her, what Sarah Frogmore did or what she wanted with Calvin. In any case, she was probably here on some quite humdrum matter.

Arian smiled softly. Calvin was a law unto himself – he did just what he wished, came and went as he pleased, he had no keeper, needed none, asked no-one’s permission, certainly not that of Arian Smale.

She moved away slowly, almost reluctantly. She had work to do, problems of her own to think about and nothing would be cured by standing in the hallway feeling jealous because another woman was shut in a room alone with Calvin Temple. It was about time Arian was honest with herself; she meant nothing to Calvin, her head knew it, she just had trouble convincing her emotions that it was true. She shrugged and mentally shook herself and yet the strange feeling that somehow Calvin was being taken away from her persisted.

When Arian had gone, Sarah faced Calvin and her courage almost failed. ‘May I sit down?’ she asked, glancing up at him standing tall and so very masculine at her side.

‘Please, forgive my rudeness. I was taken by surprise by your beauty.’ He smiled and she was aware that his words were meaningless, spoken lightly in order to put her at her ease, to charm, and charm her they did.

He indicated that she take a seat and she smiled up at him warmly. Honesty, she decided, was going to be the best policy. Calvin Temple was no man’s fool and would not be taken in by feminine wiles.

‘In return for that pretty compliment, may I say that you are more handsome than I’d realized but then we have only met over dinner in other people’s houses.’ She moved restlessly, unwilling to blurt out the reason for her visit. ‘I’m very happy I came to see you.’ She knew she was prevaricating and she saw by his curious glance that he knew it too.

‘And why have you come to see me?’ His question was blunt but his smile still warm and interested. He moved to the table and held up a dazzling cut-glass decanter. ‘May I offer you some claret?’

‘That would be lovely.’ Sarah knew quite well that Calvin had expected her to decline, to ask instead for some tea but she felt she needed a drink to give her courage – her mission now seemed bizarre, almost ridiculous.

When she took the drink from him, she looked up into his face. ‘I have come to ask you a very great favour,’ she said simply. ‘I want a child and I feel it would be a privilege if you would agree to be the father.’

He stared down at her in silence, his eyebrows raised and nervously she rushed on, ‘I can’t have my husband’s baby. I would rather not go into the reasons for that but I assure you it’s the truth. I desperately long for another child and I have been very careful and deliberate in choosing you to be the father.’

‘I’m flattered,’ Calvin’s tone held a touch of derision, ‘but my dear lady, it’s out of the question. We scarcely know each other.’

‘Does that matter?’ Sarah looked up at him beseechingly. ‘I’m not asking you to love me or even to have an affair with me, just lie with me, give me a child. Would that be so difficult a task for you?’ She faced him squarely. ‘Don’t you find me desirable?’

She saw Calvin frown. ‘I’m a red-blooded man. Of course I find you attractive, even beautiful, but to lie with you just to give you a child is out of the question. Don’t you realize what complications that might cause?’

‘There would be no complications,’ Sarah urged. ‘A son or daughter born to me and Geoffrey in wedlock would be seen to be
his
child. There would be no repercussions for you.’

Calvin shook his head. ‘You must be out of your mind, madam. I’m sorry, it’s impossible, it really is.’

Sarah put down her glass and rose to her feet. ‘Please, don’t give me a flat refusal now, just think it over. Given time, it might not seem such a strange request.’ She went to him and touched his hand, looking up into his face imploringly. ‘I am an experienced woman, I admit I have had more than one lover, and as for you,’ she shrugged, ‘you are estranged from your wife. She is living with another man. We could have a good time together. What would you have to lose?’

She put her finger over his lips as he would have spoken. ‘Don’t say anything now but please, please think about it. You could be the means of bringing me so much happiness.’

She turned away from him before he could protest once more that what she asked was impossible. Awkwardly, she let herself out of the room, aware then that he was striding after her, opening the large front door, smiling down at her, drinking in her appearance. She felt a dart of triumph – there was interest in his eyes. He was susceptible then, after all.

When she was once again outside in the freshness of the day, Sarah fanned her hot cheeks with her hand and a small smile played on her lips. She would best Geoffrey yet. She would have a baby and have the attentions of a fine man into the bargain.

Now that she had spoken with him, been close to him, she was more than ever convinced that Calvin Temple, Lord Temple would be a fine father and a fine lover too. In spite of her high-minded protestations about longing for a baby, Sarah knew that she would be thrilled to be in the arms of a man like Calvin. There was strength of character in every noble line of his face.

She would have her way with Calvin, she felt it in her bones, by hook or by crook she would have him in her bed and then Geoffrey would learn that if he didn’t give her what she wanted then she would take it from someone else.

‘We must go to France.’ Simples was standing looking down at her and Arian felt herself grow tense. ‘There is no other way to secure the load of calf. We must confront the directors of this company, make them honour their obligations. You might have been hasty paying in full.’

‘I know and something has to be done,’ she said. But to go to France with Simples – she couldn’t think of anything worse. She moved to the window of the office and stared out at the waters of the dockside without seeing them.

‘His lordship is in deep trouble as it is, he mustn’t lose any more money. It could prove disastrous.’

Arian doubted the truth of Simples’s words. Calvin had certainly not given her any such impression. And yet his tense look, his open statement that he had made mistakes, perhaps he was in trouble. Either way, she knew that she had no choice in the matter.

‘All right,’ she said, ‘you make all the necessary arrangements Mr Simples and I’ll pack some clothes. We’d better sail as soon as possible.’

Simples left the office quietly and Arian sank down into her chair. The books before her were a mockery, the orders she’d so diligently sought were unfulfilled. Her customers were still waiting for the delivery of leather she had promised so confidently.

She hid her face in her hands and the tears, so hot and angry, burned her lids. She would not cry, she told herself fiercely. Crying was for weaklings not for the likes of Arian Smale. She sat up straight in her chair and squared her shoulders. Crying did no good at all, she’d found that out a long time ago. But then it was easy to be hard when there was no-one on earth she cared for. Now she cared about Calvin she couldn’t hurt him.

Later, she stood in her room in Stormhill and looked around at the familiar drapes, the ornate black fireplace, the pretty flowered tiles that surrounded the grate, and signed. She felt she was leaving a safe haven and going out into the world where all was uncertain.

She placed the letter of explanation she had written Calvin on the mantelpiece and, after a moment’s hesitation took up her bag and left her room, closing the door carefully behind her.

She had not faced Calvin with her plans for the trip to France for obvious reasons; he would ask questions and not only would he disapprove of her travelling with Simples but she would have to confess that she knew of Calvin’s financial problems.

Calvin would be generous, he would urge her to forget the calf, he would doubtless insist that he could bear the loss without too much trouble but she would not allow that – she had made the blunder, she would put it right.

Simples was waiting for her at the back door. He too, had a bag in his hand and he was smartly dressed in a dark suit and a high-collared shirt. His eyes were approving as they rested on her neat black skirt and coat and the hat pulled down over her brow.

‘The
Marie Clare
sails at midnight,’ Simples said, ‘an unearthly hour I know but the captain has to obey the tide tables.’ He smiled, ‘Not even the redoubtable master of the
Marie Clare
can alter the rhythms of the sea.’

Arian was in no mood for humour so she led the way out of the house and began to walk briskly down the drive. Simples went quickly back into the house, then caught her up and walked beside her. She knew it must appear most odd to the servants. The idea of a young lady going off alone with a man on a journey to foreign lands was so outlandish to a girl like Bella that she just wouldn’t understand the motives behind such a venture. Mrs Bob, with her common-sense attitude would probably tell Arian she was being all sorts of a fool, warn that she would be the subject of a great deal of gossip in the servants’ quarters.

Arian shrugged. It would not be the first time or the last that tongues had wagged behind her back.

‘Come along, Miss Smale. We can get on board and make ourselves comfortable, at least.’

She walked with Gerald Simples towards the docklands in silence, very conscious of the man at her side. She felt her instinctive distrust of him rise up within her and she wondered at her madness in accompanying him to a foreign country.

She was tempted, for a moment, to turn back to Stormhill before it was too late but the thought of Calvin’s worried expression prevented her and doggedly, she went onward towards the waiting ship.

The
Marie Clare
was set to ride on the rising tide, an old creaking vessel, three masts pointing skyward, beautified by the moonlight that streaked across the bay from Mumbles Head to the jutting arm of the Swansea pier. Arian felt a catch in her breath – she hadn’t realized how much she loved her homeland until she was about to leave its shores.

‘Take my hand, Miss Smale,’ Simples said as he mounted the gangway leading up to the side of the barquentine, and as it seemed churlish to refuse, Arian allowed him to help her upwards above the dark waters of the dock and onto the lilting deck of the ship.

‘I hope you won’t feel sea-sick,’ Simples said, releasing her hand, ‘but in any case, the coast of France is not very far away.’

No-one seemed around to greet them and Arian followed as Simples led her across the gently moving deck towards the upper deck.

‘You wait here,’ he said as he made his way across the sloping boards, ‘I’ll find the master.’

She watched him for a moment and then glanced back at the shore almost with a sense of unreality. What was she doing here in the darkness on a strange ship, trusting herself with a man like Simples, crossing the sea to a foreign country? She shivered, and yet some stirring of excitement began to filter into her mind. This was an adventure, she told herself. A visit to a foreign land was something that most people never experienced in a lifetime. Arian knew she would have enjoyed it had it been someone, anyone, by her side other than Simples.

He reappeared after a few moments and gestured for her to follow him. Simples led the way below, negotiating the steps easily and waited for her to join him. She felt embarrassed, her skirts rising so that her legs were revealed but Gerald Simples didn’t appear to notice. He opened a door and gestured towards a small cabin.

‘You can wait in here out of the weather,’ he said. ‘The master thinks there’s going to be a bit of a squall but nothing to worry about.’

Arian didn’t like the way Simples was taking charge and yet what could she say? He was clearly trying to be as helpful as possible and his attitude was one of remote deference. It was almost as though they were strangers.

She looked around and saw by the charts spread out on the table that this was the captain’s own cabin. She sank into a chair and put her face in her hands. She wished she was back at Stormhill with Calvin Temple sleeping in the room near by, within easy reach should she need him.

But she had to prove to him that she knew what she was doing. She couldn’t allow him to think she’d failed at the first obstacle fate put in her way. Calvin had trusted her with his money, that was something it would pay her to remember. She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. She would do her level best to sort out the matter of the missing supply of calf, and would either fetch the load home with her or somehow recoup the money she had spent. She was determined on it.