A Loving Family (46 page)

‘Kit is on board. I went to Deolali and just missed him, but I know he's here somewhere, Freddie. I must see him.'

‘You'll keep out of the way, my girl. If the captain gets wind of this you'll be dropped off at the first port of call.'

‘What must I do?'

Freddie grabbed her by the hand. ‘Say nothing and come with me. I think I know where you can hide for the time being.'

Stella found herself locked in one of the two cells below decks. The only light came from a grille high up in the door and the heat was suffocating. There was nothing she could do other than sit on the narrow wooden bunk and await Freddie's return. She had no means of telling the time but she could feel the change in the ship's movement as it left the shelter of the land and sailed onto the open sea. Eventually the door opened and Freddie handed her a cup of tea and a hunk of bread and cheese. ‘It's the best I can do,' he said apologetically.

‘Have you found Kit?' It was the question that had been burning on her lips since the moment she stepped on board. ‘Is he all right?'

‘It's a bit chaotic on the main deck. We've had to divide the soldiers up between the able-bodied and those who are too badly injured or too weak to sleep out on deck. The officers are making their own arrangements, but the captain's day room and the dining room are going to be packed out at night.'

‘But have you found Kit?'

‘I saw him heading for the officers' quarters, but I haven't had a chance to speak to him. He's a bit thin and pale but he was on his feet so he's obviously on the mend. You needn't worry about him.'

‘What will I do, Freddie?' I can't stay in here for the next six weeks. You don't really think the captain would put me ashore, do you?'

‘I don't know, Stella. As soon as I can get close to Kit I'll tell him you're here. Maybe you could be useful caring for the sick men, or maybe the captain will decide that you ought to be treated like a stowaway and kept down here.'

She leaned back against the hard wooden bulkhead. ‘At least I'm here and you and Kit are safe and well. I'm on my way home, even if they clap me in irons.'

‘I've got to get back on deck,' Freddie said, grinning. ‘I've persuaded Jones to keep quiet for now. I've told him you're my sister and I think I can trust him to keep his mouth shut.' He backed out of the doorway. ‘I'll bring you more food when I can – and take that fancy dress off. We don't want the crew getting the wrong idea. I'll have to have words with Mataji the next time I go ashore in Bombay.' He closed the door and once again she was imprisoned in the tiny cell.

She ate the food and despite the discomfort she fell asleep, rocked by the motion of the ship and overcome with exhaustion. She was awakened by the opening of the door and a shaft of light from a lantern. She sat up, blinking and shielding her eyes. ‘Freddie?'

‘No, Stella, my love. It's me.' Kit set the lantern on the floor and sat down on the bunk, taking her in his arms and holding her in a close embrace. ‘My brave girl. I couldn't believe it when Freddie told me you were on board. You came all this way to find me.'

She slid her arms around his neck. ‘I had to know that you were alive, Kit. I couldn't bear to think that you might be close to death in a foreign land.'

He stroked her cheek, gazing into her eyes. ‘I don't know if I'm still infectious. I want to kiss you but I'm afraid there might be some of the wretched disease lingering in my body and I might pass it on to you.'

‘I don't care about anything as long as we're together again.' Stella's voice hitched on a sob. ‘I thought I'd missed you yesterday and I couldn't find you at the Victoria Terminus, and then getting on board this vessel seemed impossible, but I'm here now. I won't leave you ever again.'

He stroked her tumbled hair back from her forehead. ‘I've thought about nothing but you, Stella. I had to survive so that I could return to London and start all over again with you at my side. I don't care about Heron Park. I'll gladly let Uncle Gervase live there for as long as he wants, and I'll give up the idea of the court case. I'll take a job as an articled clerk and we'll live in Fleur-de-Lis Street and raise our children to be model citizens.'

Stella drew back far enough to look him in the eyes. ‘Didn't you get my letters? Rosa wrote to you at least once.'

He shook his head. ‘I've had no word from home for months.'

‘Your uncle is dead, Kit.'

‘Dead?' He stared at her in disbelief. ‘How did he die?'

Slowly and haltingly she told him of the events that had led up to Gervase's murder. ‘He broke his word to you, Kit, and left the estate to my mother. Your uncle married her in order to prevent her testifying against him in court.'

‘I'd rather she had Heron Park than Gervase.'

‘But she didn't want it, my love. She signed everything over to you. So much has happened in such a short time. Ma married Mr Hendy and Rosa is engaged to Tommy Langhorne. Heron Park belongs to you, Kit. It's all yours and we've saved it from bankruptcy. There's so much to tell you, it might take all night.'

He smiled and caressed her cheek with the tip of his finger. ‘If I were to stay with you all night we would not waste time talking.' He kissed her on the forehead and stood up. ‘I'm going to put in an urgent request to speak to the captain. I won't allow you to spend the rest of the voyage cooped up like a criminal in a cell. I'll leave you now, but I'll be back as soon as I can.'

‘
OF COURSE I
remember Miss Barry.' Captain Lowther regarded Stella with a kindly smile. ‘She travelled with us on our outward voyage.'

‘I didn't mean to stow away, sir,' Stella said hastily. ‘I was desperate.'

‘It's all right, Miss Barry. Captain Rivenhall has explained the circumstances and although it's highly irregular I can't allow you to spend the rest of your time at sea locked in the cells.'

‘I'm most grateful, Captain.' Kit gave Stella an encouraging smile.

‘And so am I,' Stella said earnestly. ‘I convinced the sailor on duty that I was a nurse, which was a lie, but I'm willing to work my passage. I'll do anything I can to make the sick and injured more comfortable.'

‘This isn't a merchantman, Miss Barry. You are not required to work your passage as you put it, but I'm sure that our medical officer would be grateful for some assistance.' Captain Lowther sat back in his chair eyeing Stella thoughtfully. ‘You will occupy the first officer's cabin and take your meals at my table.'

‘Thank you, Captain.'

He picked up his pen. ‘Now I have work to do. Seaman Parsons will show you to your cabin.' He motioned to the sailor who stood to attention by the cabin door. ‘Take the young lady to Mr Wilson's cabin and see that she has everything she needs.'

Summarily dismissed, Stella and Kit followed Seaman Parsons as he led the way to the first officer's cabin. He opened the door. ‘Is there anything I can get for you, miss?'

She shook her head. ‘No thank you. I hope Mr Wilson isn't too put out.'

Parsons grinned. ‘I'm sure he's only too glad to oblige a lady, miss.' He saluted and walked away, matching the movement of the deck with his rolling gait.

Stella looked round the small cabin, which was furnished simply with a bunk and a chest of drawers. ‘This is more than I'd hoped for, Kit. I would have been happy to spend the whole voyage in the cell just so that I could be close to you.'

He laid his hands on her shoulders, studying her face as if committing each tiny detail to memory. His eyes were warm and his lips curved in a tender smile. ‘We won't get many opportunities to be alone on this crowded vessel, Stella, but I wanted to tell you how much I love you and how proud I am of you. I can't think there are many young women who would have done what you did.'

‘That's all in the past now. We've got the rest of our lives together, if that's what you really want.'

He drew her into his arms and answered her with a kiss.

‘Ahem.'

They sprang apart. ‘Mr Frobisher, you shouldn't creep up on people like that,' Kit said, chuckling.

Stella felt the blood rush to her cheeks as she met the ship's surgeon's candid gaze. He bowed from the waist. ‘I'm sorry to intrude, Miss Barry, but Captain Lowther told me that you had volunteered to act as my nurse.'

‘Yes, of course,' she said shyly. ‘I'll be glad to help in any way I can, although I'm not trained.'

‘I think the sight of a pretty face will do the men more good than all the pills and potions at my disposal.' He turned to Kit with a disarming smile. ‘I'm going to steal her away from you now, but I promise to look after her.'

If there was anything that the next few weeks proved to Stella it was her undying respect for Miss Nightingale and her nurses who had braved the horrors of war in the Crimea. Half-remembered stories her mother had told her about Scutari and the dreadful conditions in which the nurses tried to bring comfort to their patients kept flashing back to her as she helped to care for the wounded soldiers. Some of them were little more than boys and others were men coming to the end of long careers in the military. All of them had their stories and she spent most of her time sitting and listening to them as they spoke longingly of home and family. Many of them would never make it back to the land of their birth, and there were all too frequent burial services conducted by the captain. She could never get used to the sight of a body wrapped in canvas, and the sound of it sliding into the ocean as the soldier went to his watery grave.

She saw only a little of Kit and even less of Freddie, and when she did see Kit they were never alone on the overcrowded vessel, but just to know that he was alive and growing stronger by the day was enough to give her the strength to endure the sights she witnessed in the makeshift hospital on the main deck. The sick men had to share the space with the crew, who in turn ate and slept to the accompaniment of moans and groans and the occasional scream as one of the younger soldiers suffered recurrent nightmares. The cooks carried out their duties at one end of the living space and the aroma of boiled salt beef and onions mingled with the stench of suppurating flesh and the cloying smell of chloroform. Even when she managed to escape to the upper deck and breathe the cool salt-laden air, Stella was conscious that the smell lingered in her clothes and hair. Sometimes she wondered if she would ever be able to wash it away. She knew that the suffering she had seen would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life, but she took some comfort from the fact that she had been able to write letters home for those who were illiterate and had read to the men who wanted a brief respite from pain. Captain Lowther had a good and varied selection of books in his cabin and the works of Mr Dickens found favour with old and young alike. She had seen battle-hardened soldiers weep at the plight of Little Nell and others had laughed uproariously at the exploits of Mr Pickwick and his friends.

When the seas grew more turbulent and the weather worsened Stella was happy because it meant that the shores of England were getting nearer every day. The ship arrived in Portsmouth on a bitterly cold day with grey overcast skies and the threat of snow in the air. She said a reluctant goodbye to the friends she had made on board and thanked Captain Lowther, giving him a kiss on his whiskery cheek which made his weather-beaten face flush wine red. ‘I wish that all my crew were as diligent and charming as you, Miss Barry.'

‘D'you know what?' Freddie asked as they settled in a railway compartment, travelling first class at Kit's insistence. ‘I believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I'd lost track of time completely until now.'

‘It will be the best Christmas ever,' Stella said happily.

Kit slipped his arm around her shoulders. ‘I sent a telegram to Rosa. I told her we'll be home by evening.' He sighed. ‘Heron Park is mine again. I can hardly believe it.'

‘This time last year we were getting ready to travel out to Essex to spend Christmas with Mr Hendy,' Stella said thoughtfully. ‘Now he's my stepfather and I have two stepbrothers.'

‘And very soon you'll have a husband who adores you.' Kit hugged her closer. ‘You'll be mistress of Heron Park.'

She gazed out of the window at the English countryside as it flashed past in a succession of bare hedgerows and ploughed fields, lying dormant and waiting patiently for spring. ‘I have a business to run, Kit,' she said softly. ‘I've made a success of my cake shop and people depend on me for their living.'

He shifted his position so that he could look her in the eyes. ‘What are you saying?'

‘I can't abandon Belinda, who's too young to manage things on her own, and then there's Spike and Connie who work in the kitchen. Spike shows great promise as a baker.'

Kit shook his head. ‘My darling, I don't want you to abandon them, as you put it. I want to marry you but that doesn't mean I intend to shackle you to my side. Being mistress of Heron Park isn't a prison sentence. I want you to be yourself.'

‘I was a humble kitchen maid, Kit. My mother might have been married to your uncle but all the servants at Heron Park knew her history, as they know mine. How can I command their respect when they know I've risen above my station in life?'

Freddie cleared his throat noisily. ‘If I might put in my twopennyworth?'

‘Go ahead,' Kit said, sighing. ‘Talk some sense into your stubborn sister's head. I've told her again and again that there's no difference between us, apart from the important one that she's a woman and I'm a man. Other than that I see us as equals in everything.'

‘There, you see.' Freddie shot her a triumphant glance. ‘If Kit doesn't have a problem with our lowly beginnings then I don't see why you're making such a fuss.'