Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
PARTINGS
Richard found Emily in her family’s sitting room the next afternoon. From the look on her face, she had heard the news and welcomed it as poorly as Richard had.
“I hear you are being summoned back to England.” Her voice was low.
Richard attempted a smile, but failed. There was no joy to be found today.
“Regrettably so. My aunt, it appears, cannot manage her estate accounts without me, and commands His Majesty to bring me home. In truth, her accounts are in fine shape, and she only wishes to demonstrate her power. And possibly convince me to marry my cousin should Will Darcy refuse. I am a wet-nurse and a pawn, and all I wish is to be a soldier.”
“Well-trained troops are England’s strength,” she replied at last, her voice as flat as Richard’s spirits. “And a good commander is vital to that training. You are still serving your King well.” She sat very still; the usual graceful gestures of her hands were nowhere to be seen.
“I am also giving up much.” He allowed his eyes to settle upon her, and he did not deflect his gaze when she met it.
“I shall miss you sorely, Richard. I have cherished our friendship beyond anything I have known before.” She blinked and looked away. Were her eyes glistening with unshed tears?
“And I you. But come, let us not be maudlin. My ship is not for two weeks yet. It appears I shall celebrate Christmas on the freezing Atlantic, and with luck will see the new year arrive in London. But until I leave, I have no duties and would be pleased to attend you whenever I may. Perhaps a correspondence between a confirmed bachelor and a confirmed spinster would not be looked upon as amiss. Else, I shall write through your father, whom I am certain would not mind the task. We will remain friends! I am a newly named colonel, and I order it so!”
Her answering laugh was thin, but it was a laugh, and Richard felt an unwelcome frisson trace its way up his spine. He was starting to suspect his feelings for Emily were not as innocent as he tried to tell himself.
The following days were filled with packing and repacking trunks and in acquiring whatever supplies Richard felt he might require for the long sea voyage.
Since Hamilton was the largest town in the colony, a day’s shopping there was deemed necessary.
Richard convinced Emily to join him for the excursion.
“I must purchase gifts for my mother and sister, and also replace some of the items that… were lost in the vandalism of my room. And I must think of my cousins Will and Georgie Darcy, my cousin Anne, my dragon of an aunt, Lady Catherine—she shall get oleander sweets—and various other relations. I cannot possibly do this alone. I desperately require your help. Can your mother spare you for a day, do you think?”
Her laughter was, once again, disconcertingly endearing. “How can I refuse an invitation like that? I am certain I can absent myself from these walls for a day. Do you propose to ride?” The trip overland was nearly fifteen miles of difficult terrain, something far from impossible, but lengthy.
“There is a steamer leaving port with documents and orders for supplies tomorrow morning; your father has granted permission for two more passengers. We may travel and experience no exertion in the process, if you will sail?”
And thus, the plan was made and agreed to, and the two friends found themselves aboard the fort’s little steamer early the next morning.
The boat itself was simple enough: based on similar transports that travelled the Thames from London to Margate and the Hudson in America, it had a steam-powered engine that pressed its serpentine route through the waters of the Great Sound between the Dockyard and Hamilton.
The otherwise uncomfortable journey now became something easy and even enjoyable.
They disembarked on the jetty by the main street of the town, which ran between a row of buildings and the shoreline.
The air was cool for Bermuda, but the sky was clear and there was no wind, and the warm sun felt splendid.
Richard knew the town from previous visits, both professional and personal, and set immediately about finding the supplies and presents he sought.
His first stop was at the potter to replace the vase that Weekes’ cronies had destroyed, and then, because the new piece he found was so lovely, he bought a second one to give to Darcy.
He and Emily then set about exploring the shops that lined the street to purchase presents for his family.
He found a set of seashell hair-pins for his sister, a scrimshaw fan for Anne, and a beautifully woven shawl for his mother.
A final stop at a woodcarver supplied him with a carved toy boat for his brother’s sons and a cribbage board for his batman and himself to while away the hours whilst on their sea voyage home.
All of these were packaged up and sent to the jetty to be loaded onto the steamer.
Then he set about purchasing the provisions he needed for the journey, which were not many. All was accomplished by the early hours of the afternoon, some length of time before the steamer would depart to make its way back across the sound to the Dockyard.
“I see a new tea shop at the corner,” Richard commented as they exited the sweet shop, a large package of sugar sweets tucked under his arm.
Some would be for him on the journey, others would be to share with friends and family when he was once more in England.
“Shall we see what their cakes are like? They can hardly be equal to the ones the mess provides, but they might come close.”
Emily laughed, and tucking her hand around his free arm, followed him down the street.
The tea was hot and fragrant, and the cakes sweet and delicate, and the two spent a very pleasant afternoon over their treat, talking and laughing and reassuring each other of their continued friendship, even when they were separated by the great expanse of ocean.
Such intimacy, Emily opined, such a perfect union of thought and sentiment, could hardly be destroyed by mere physical absence.
When, at last, the serving girl had collected their cups and plates and the bill of fare had been paid, they exited the shop to walk for a while on the path that hugged the shore on the other side of the street. They strolled for a while, and as they walked, Emily grew quieter and quieter.
“What bothers you?” There was no escaping that something was troubling her, and a friend always asked after another friend’s problems.
She walked a few more paces to where a low fence edged the path, and they paused there, overlooking the sound and the scattering of islands that dotted this part of the bay.
Emily was so silent, so lost in her thoughts, that Richard hoped she was well.
“There is something I have to tell you,” she replied after a space of silence. Her voice remained distant. She did not pull her gaze from the water but tugged her wrap tighter across her arms. At last, she turned to him. “You asked me once why I never married.”
Richard said nothing but let her continue when she was ready.
“I nearly did, once. It was seven years ago, before Father was stationed here, when we were back in England. He was an officer, the son of a good family, someone known to my father through an associate of his. We met at an officer’s ball, and then again on several occasions—at parties and at the park, and eventually he began to call at the house.
He was charming and handsome and did not seem bothered that I had but a small portion.
When he asked me to marry him, I accepted without reservation. ”
“Father approved of the match, and Mother was delighted, and we began to plan for the wedding itself. But our plans were postponed when Father received sudden orders to a regiment in the North of England. His time there was not to be very long—a few months at most—but I felt it important to delay the wedding until his return, that he might celebrate with us.”
Her voice was calm and her words clear, but her eyes clouded over in the pain of bad memories. The inclination to wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders was almost too fierce to control.
“Charles, for that was his name, was not well pleased. He insisted we marry sooner, despite my father’s absence, and was most unhappy when I refused.
One evening shortly after Father departed for his posting, Charles came to the house and begged me to take the air with him.
He took me to the park, and there into a copse of trees, where he… ”
Here she broke off, her stoicism at an end. There was no disguising her agony in a disaffected recital.
“He assaulted you?” Richard’s voice was barely a whisper.
Tears flooded Emily’s eyes, but she did not allow them to fall.
“I broke off the engagement immediately. He thought it would spur me on to hasten the wedding, but I could not marry a man who would act so heinously towards me. If he would disrespect me thus while we were only engaged, I could not think what he would do once we were married and he all but owned me. I knew it was the end of any hope I had of marrying well, of marrying at all, but he killed something within me. This is why I am pleased to remain a spinster and have nothing to do with men... other than you.”
At last Richard understood why she had been so afraid of him on that very first encounter on the path to Somerset, so long ago. He had thought she had been the victim of improper advances by the intimates of the fort. Never did he imagine her distrust of men ran so very much deeper.
“I do not know what to say. I cannot imagine your distress, and I grieve for it.”
She said nothing, but hugged her shawl even closer.