Chapter 10
Ten
‘Of course I didn’t know it was your parents’ room?
’ Henrietta declared as the two cousins sat dutifully in the breakfast room the following morning waiting for the inevitable lecture.
Though breakfast wasn’t due for another couple of hours, their respective fathers had ordered the two women and their grandfather to make themselves available at seven a.m. prompt.
While they were still awaiting the arrival of the Reverend, the housekeeper, Mrs Bellamy, had very kindly stoked up the fire and brought them some tea and toast, declaring that no one should take a roasting on an empty stomach.
Henrietta certainly couldn’t argue with that.
‘I’m merely not in the habit of searching for men’s bedchambers in the middle of the night,’ she continued, taking a thoughtful bite of her toast. ‘Do you think we’ve got Grandpapa in serious trouble?’
Roseanna sighed. ‘Grandfather thrives on serious trouble – he’s never happier than when he’s in the suds. Everyone knows that.’
‘Yes, but none of this was his fault.’
‘It wasn’t yours either, Henri,’ Rosie sighed. ‘I’m the one who’s made a mull of the whole thing. I should have simply knocked at the front door like any normal person. My mother would have understood. After all, it’s not like she’s never tied her garter in public.’
‘Really? Aunt Hope has always seemed the most sensible of all the sisters – nothing like Aunt Tempy or Patience.’
‘Papa’s always said the quiet ones are the worst,’ Roseanna admitted with a small grin, before leaning forward and adding, ‘Mother and Father were actually locked together in a cellar by a perfectly horrid man. Before they were wed...’
‘What, alone?’ Henri didn’t know whether to be intrigued or horrified.
‘Totally alone,’ Rosie confided. ‘It’s not something they talk about much, but I do know it was Mother’s voice that saved them.’ She took a sip of tea.
Intrigue definitely won out over horror. ‘How?’ Henrietta asked. ‘Did she sing or something?’. To her surprise, Roseanna nearly choked on her tea. ‘I can only assume that you’ve never heard my mother’s singing voice…’
They were interrupted by their grandfather’s arrival. ‘Is that fresh?’ he quizzed cheerfully, pointing to the teapot and helping himself to a piece of toast. Henrietta regarded him dubiously. He certainly didn’t look Friday-faced.
‘See what I mean?’ Roseanna whispered, eyebrows raised.
‘Have they let you see your Frenchman yet?’ Augustus Shackleford went on, seating himself at the table.
Henrietta gave an embarrassed cough. ‘I didn’t realise it, but he’s not actually staying in the house. He’s lodging at the Poulton’s Hotel with Mr Augustin.’
The Reverend favoured her with a disbelieving look and shook his head, but before he had the chance to comment, Roan and Gabriel entered the room. Directly behind them was Tristan.
The supposed roasting turned out to be more of a reproach than anything else, and there was no argument over whether Roseanna would accompany them other than they should both be ready to board the Faith and Fortune immediately after breakfast on the morrow.
Finally, after inviting their grandfather to accompany him into the study, Henri was drily ordered to attend her cousin in the library so that she could speak with her fiancé without damaging any reputations…
Delighted that Rosie was not to be sent home, Henrietta followed the couple into the library, seating herself to the side of the large picture window.
Once there, she discreetly turned her chair, better to observe the garden, and occupied herself by watching two seagulls fight over a few crumbs of bread.
After only five minutes, they flew off, squawking, leaving the unfinished breadcrumbs scattered in the grass.
In her experience, seagulls did not usually relinquish their prize quite so easily.
Surprised, Henrietta leaned forward to see what had spooked them and caught sight of a man who’d clearly entered the garden via the back gate.
As she watched, he casually sat down on a bench underneath a large cherry tree and pulled out a pipe.
While the bench was placed to take advantage of the glorious view over the harbour, it was not easily visible from the house, and Henri suspected he’d chosen the location deliberately.
Frowning, she leaned forward but was unable to get any more than a side view.
However, from what she could see, the man was wearing a uniform the colours of the Faith and Fortune.
Clearly, he was waiting for someone, most likely her father – but why was he sitting outside rather than coming into the house? Whatever his reasons, the man didn’t wait for long. A mere fifteen minutes later, he emptied his pipe and left the same way he’d arrived.
The rest of the day was chaotic as packing was finalised and trunks were loaded onto carts to be taken to the ship.
The Duke of Blackmore departed, taking Emma and Eliza with him. On hugging her youngest daughter, Faith had laughingly cautioned her not to become too accustomed to having her own lady’s maid.
Henrietta and Roseanna spent the rest of the morning in the library, well away from the disorder, though Henri suspected her cousin was keeping a low profile in case her father should change his mind about allowing her to sail with them.
Rosie was subdued as they played a game of snap, clearly desperately worried about Tristan.
Although she was aware of the possibility that her fiancé might actually be the heir to a French title, Roseanna was no gold digger – her concerns were entirely for Tristan and the risk he was taking.
In truth, she’d have much preferred to forget she’d ever heard the name Montclair.
Henri too felt restless and anxious, though initially she couldn’t pinpoint the cause of it. After a cold lunch delivered to them in the library, Roseanna retired to their shared bedchamber to rest since neither of them had got much sleep the night before.
Once on her own, Henrietta tried to read but found herself unable to concentrate – until the sudden squawking of seagulls fighting outside finally explained what had been bothering her.
The unknown sailor in the garden. While it wasn’t that uncommon for members of Fortune’s crew to come up to the house, the whole episode had made her uneasy.
After mulling it over in her head for another half an hour, she finally decided to speak with her father.
Climbing to her feet, she went looking for him, only to find out a few minutes later that both her parents had gone into Torquay. Muttering under her breath about family members who leave the house without informing other family members, Henrietta wondered what she should do.
Of course, there was always her grandfather – he would undoubtedly have a theory or two. With a sigh, Henri went searching, only to discover that he, Percy and Dougal had gone with her father to show Finn around the ship. Her muttering became slightly more colourful.
By now Henrietta was feeling entirely overlooked, unconsidered and, quite frankly, unappreciated.
And it was beginning to get dark. Fifteen more minutes and walking alone down to the harbourside would be out of the question.
Gritting her teeth, Henrietta went to fetch her coat.
Then, without telling anyone where she was going, slipped out of the front door.
The sensible part of her knew she was being extremely childish by not informing anyone she was leaving the house.
She was also well aware that her Aunt Hope would have welcomed her company in the drawing room now that most of the trunks had been taken…
Unfortunately, the path of petulance was not quite as easy to get off as it was to get on, and marching down the hill in the gathering dusk, Henri stubbornly nurtured her grievances, until by the time she reached the harbourside, the little voice in her head was telling her she was the most unfortunate person alive.
The fact that she’d spent the whole walk completely oblivious to her surroundings did not occur to her until she realised she’d missed the turnoff to Fortune’s wharf and was now standing on an unfamiliar, disturbingly dark quayside - completely alone.
Raucous laughter erupted from a nearby tavern – undoubtedly filled with dockworkers and sailors, and glancing round, Henri felt the first stirring of fear.
While Torquay was on the whole a safe town, young ladies were not generally seen loitering around the seedier areas of the harbourside - unless they were of a particular kind, of course.
Biting her lip, Henrietta turned round and hurried back towards the main quayside. To her left, she could see her father’s ship rocking at anchor just beyond the wharf as the wind changed direction with the tide.
‘Lookin’ to earn yersel’ a bit o blunt, darlin’?
’ The drunken words came from her right.
With a small scream, Henri swung towards the voice.
Panic gripped her as her eyes initially struggled to pierce the gloom, then a second later she stepped backwards as a huge hulking form lurched out of the darkness.
‘’Ow much fer a kiss?’ he slurred, taking a long swallow out of the tankard he was carrying.
He followed his words with a loud belch and a grin revealing a mouth full of rotten teeth.
‘Don’t come any closer,’ Henrietta stammered, thrusting out her arm as if that would somehow ward him off. She continued to back away, her heart beating like a sledgehammer in her chest. How could she have been such a deuced widgeon?
‘Unless you’re looking to end your sorry life as fish food, I suggest you do not come one step closer.’ Another voice, this time wintery cold.
Panting now, Henrietta looked over her shoulder at the new speaker, and let out a sob of relief as she recognised Raphael.