12. Back To Business
CHAPTER 12
Back To Business
T he journey back to Hatfield in the Ferndale carriage was far too short, in Louise’s opinion. Shaun took the carriage back to town with them, and she savoured every moment with him and Bernadette and Mrs Poole, chatting and feeling completely comfortable in each other’s company.
“I was very impressed with your skills, Miss Bernadette,” Shaun said. “Miss Yates was lucky you were in attendance. You were so quick to bring her around.”
“Truly, I wasn’t sure it would work,” Bernadette said. “We were lucky it wasn’t anything serious.”
“She gave me such a scare,” Mrs Poole said. “She’s been ever so kind to me over the years.”
“In any case,” Shaun said, “I shall use that chest rub technique in future, should I ever need to.”
“And to think, she’d been trying not to make a scene,” Louise said.
“How so?” Shaun asked.
“She said a little sherry went down the wrong way when you commented about the absence of mistletoe. So she held her breath to stop herself from coughing and… she still ended up making a scene.”
“That was funny,” Mrs Poole said. “The look on his lordship’s face when you said there was something amiss. He truly thought he’d make a mistake!”
Louise’s memories were a little different to Mrs Poole’s. As she recalled, Shaun had been looking at her with fondness at the time, making her tummy swirl in that lovely way. Just as it did when he was looking at her now.
The carriage slowed and they arrived at the bookshop. Shaun helped them out and encouraged Bernadette and Mrs Poole to get into the warm.
Riot Jones was there on the footpath, and he approached Shaun as the carriage rumbled away again. One of the Mr Foxes was also nearby, and he jogged up to Shaun as well. Louise wanted to get inside out of the cold, but she was madly curious as to what they could be talking about, especially as Riot had just mentioned the bookshop specifically.
Shaun nodded and thanked his men for their diligence, and asked them to continue monitoring the situation for the rest of the day.
“What’s that all about?” Lousie asked, as the two men retreated to the archway.
Shaun smiled. “Good news. I asked my men to keep an eye on the bookshop because I’d be unable to, what with being at the Ferndales. At the time I hadn’t known you’d be there too. I’m doubly glad I did, now, as the shop was empty for the best part of three days, though they said Rosie came in diligently each morning to feed the cats.”
“I know I should thank you, but… this does not sit right with me. The bookshop is my responsibility. Although… I should have thought of hiring some men to watch over it while we were away. We have the funds for that sort of thing now…” She trailed off, feeling at odds with herself. “Why am I not pleased? I should be. I think you should have asked me first, or let me know what you were planning.”
Shaun’s face looked stricken. “I have overstepped. Please forgive me.”
“It was very thoughtful,” she jumped in hastily, not wanting him to feel bad. “Oh goodness, I promised myself I wouldn’t make Estelle’s mistakes and fight with my sweetheart, and yet here I am!”
“Your sweetheart?” Shaun repeated.
“I don’t want to argue. But this feels wrong.”
Shaun smiled broadly. “I rather like the idea of being your sweetheart.”
“But I’m cross with you!” Louise said. “And I don’t like that you’ve made me cross, or that I am feeling cross. I wish these feelings would go away.”
He pointed to the shop door. “Why don’t we head inside? The fire shingle is still there, that’s got to be a good sign.”
An excellent idea. At least then she’d be warm and cross instead of cold and cross.
Inside, Mrs Poole was setting the fire and Bernadette lighting some lamps.
“We haven’t checked the floors for entrails yet,” Bernadette said. “We thought we’d take all the nice jobs and leave that for you.”
Cheeky!
Louise watched her step as she and Shaun moved over to the lending section of the shop and continued their fraught conversation.
“This is my fault entirely,” Shaun said. “I’m so used to operating independently, and then having something to report at the end of it. I overstepped and I should have asked you first if my idea was a suitable plan of action.”
“You are so kind,” Louise said. “And… I think I’m mostly cross at myself for not having the sense to make sure the building was safe, considering what’s happened.”
Shaun stepped closer and tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear. The touch sent warm flurries through her. Very welcome warm flurries.
Anticipating a kiss, she said, “I’m sorry, we don’t have any mistletoe either.”
“We can pretend it’s there,” he said, leaning in closer.
Louise’s heart nearly stopped in anticipation.
The front door crashed open and the bell flew off its screws and skittered over the floor.
Louise and Shaun leapt apart.
“Where the hell have you been?” Joshua shouted, storming into the shop with Benjamin on his heels.
“I beg your pardon!” Louise drew herself up to her full height. “I’ll thank you not to use that kind of language here!” She scowled at Joshua. “And why do you care? It’s not as though you and Phoebe were going to invite us to Christmas dinner, is it?”
Behind her, Shaun made a sound that could have been a snort but Louise was fairly sure was actually a laugh.
Joshua’s mouth was flapping as though he hadn’t a clue what to say, and Louise decided to press her advantage.
“Frankly, it’s none of your business where Bernadette and I spent Christmas, and I must say that Brutus was well aware of where we’ve been, so if you ever talked to your middle son, you would already know!”
“Your reputation affects not just yourself,” Joshua spluttered, finally finding his purpose for berating them this day. His face was red, and his chest was swelling up. “Your comportment at the Midwinter Assembly brought shame to the entire Baxter lineage. I’ll not be surprised if the entire town of Hatfield, no, all of Hertfordshire, shuns this business! It’s a blessed relief your father is not here to witness your fall.”
“I grow tired of your theatrics, Cousin,” Louise said, drawing in a deep breath. “And your barely-veiled threats. I supposed if I had refused to dance, you would no doubt accuse me of sulking. If I had not attended, you would accuse me of being remiss in my civic duties. The day you arrive bearing good news will be such a shock I shall no doubt faint!”
Pulse pounding in her ears, she felt so much better for giving him a taste of his own ridiculous medicine.
“As it so happens,” Joshua blustered and began to stammer, “Th-the reason I came was t-to deliver you a boon. After the assembly, Farmer Stratforth asked my permission to court you.”
The world tilted for a moment. Louise wondered whether she might indeed fall over in shock.
Joshua delivered a nasty little smile, as if he thought he had the upper hand. “I haven’t yet made up my mind.”
Benjamin, obviously not seeing Shaun in the shadows of the bookshelves behind Louise, took a couple of threatening steps towards her… and stepped in a pile of mouse entrails.
“Faugh, what’s that?” Benjamin cried in disgust, retreating hastily.
Shaun did begin laughing then, moving forward to stand beside Louise. Joshua had apparently not noticed him either, because he took a step back, surprise coming across his still-red face.
“You haven’t heard the last of this!” Joshua warned, wagging a finger at Louise, but he was already backing up.
“The last of what? I don’t need your permission to go anywhere I please, whenever I please!” Louise snapped, thoroughly sick of her cousin’s interference.
Joshua paused in the doorway, his eyes flicking to Shaun briefly, before he smiled victoriously. “You need me for one thing at least, miss, in your father’s absence. You’ll need my permission if you want to marry.”
And with that parting shot, he slammed the door behind him again.
Louise found that her hands were shaking. She clenched and released her fists a few times, trying to release her anger.
“Are you all right?” Shaun asked quietly after a few moments.
“I have never resorted to violence in my life, but oh, I want to slap his face so hard I can almost feel it,” she said through gritted teeth.
“I fully understand the sentiment.” His hands landed on her shoulders, slowly rubbing, and she felt a little of her rage and tension fall away. “Why does he hate you so much? I know he wants the building, but from what you said about the entail, it seems he’ll eventually get it anyway, when your father passes. Is he so short of funds that he needs to run you out of town sooner?”
“Quite the opposite, he’s one of the wealthiest men in Hatfield,” Louise said with a bitter laugh. She should turn to face Shaun, she supposed, but his large warm hands gently rubbing her shoulders felt so nice, she didn’t want him to stop. “But he and Father have never seen eye to eye, and the entail does also state that our branch of the family must be running a viable business out of this building in order to keep it. The definition of ‘viable’, however, is a bit… loose. Cousin Joshua thinks it should not just support us, but enable Father to give us hefty dowries so we can move up in the world, or some such nonsense. Father - and all of us, I should note - disagree.”
“And because Joshua Baxter’s the local magistrate, the law’s on his side,” Shaun surmised.
“He is the law in Hatfield. He’s only not pressed the issue because he’d have to pay to take it before Chancery Court in London, and he’s too miserly to do that. And now, we haven’t heard anything really from Father in months, but the books keep coming…” tears were running down her cheeks, Louise suddenly discovered, and she took a great gulp of air to try and stop them.
“Sh.” Shaun’s arms went around her, and he turned her round and pulled her close against him and just held her.
Louise buried her face in his neck and for a few, glorious moments let somebody else be the strong one, for once. “We’ll be all right,” she said finally, muffled. “Things were a bit shaky financially for a while because Father took out this huge loan to go to France, but Estelle’s husband Mr Yates is so lovely, he paid several months’ worth of the loan, and all these very valuable books keep arriving and are selling so well. And now the money’s come from the Earl of Dema-Renwick, I mean, we’re quite flush.”
“And even if, Lord forbid, something has happened to your father, Mr Yates and Lord Ferndale will make sure the rest of you are secure,” Shaun said.
“Yes.” She sniffed a little and pulled back to look up at him, and he reached up to gently wipe away the tears on her cheeks with his thumb. “We’ll be all right,” she said, more firmly, and more to herself than to him.
“I have not the slightest doubt that even if you had nobody at all to help you out, you’d pull through, Louise Baxter,” he said quietly. “You’re really quite remarkable, you know.”
She smiled shyly up at him, wondering if maybe he would kiss her now, but they were interrupted yet again, this time by Bernadette's cries of dismay on coming down the stairs and finding the doorbell on the floor.
“Let me fix that up for you,” Shaun said, letting go of Louise and going to pick up the bell. She hugged herself, feeling the loss of his warmth, and then sighed and went to pick up the pan and rags to clean up the mess of entrails Benjamin had tracked across half the floor on his way out of the shop.
“Why do they always take it upon themselves to make every situation worse?” Bernadette lamented as she surveyed the chaotic scene. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another!”
Scraping entrails off the floor, Louise sighed in agreement. “I’m so tired of dealing with them. Father can’t come back soon enough.”
“And you, Pie!” Bernadette scooped up the half-grown cat as he dashed past her feet. “You’re a menace!”
“Good mouser, though,” Shaun noted, with a quiet laugh. “If he’s still here when I get a house of my own, I’ll happily take him.”
That made Louise feel warm inside again; further proof that Shaun was thinking of staying in Hatfield long-term. He finished fixing the bell and departed with a cheerful farewell, saying that he needed to talk some more to his men. Louise didn’t think it was only in her imagination that his final glance at her was filled with wistful regret for the kiss they still hadn’t managed to steal.