Destiny's Path (35 page)

Xanthe gave her a hug. ‘I knew you’d be the right person to ask.’

That evening over tea, Xanthe said, ‘I’ve waited long enough. I’m going to Ireland to see Ronan. If he won’t set a date for us to marry, I’ll do it for him.’

Pandora’s gasp echoed round the room.

Zachary stared at her in dismay. ‘But you can’t just go and demand that he marry you! You said he had no money.’

‘I know he loves me and wants to marry me. That’s enough for me. And what
he
considers enough money to support a wife and what I would consider enough are two very different things. I don’t need keeping in style. He’s being too stupidly noble for words and I’ve given him long enough to come to his senses. Anyway, I have the strongest feeling that he
needs
me, that if I don’t go to see him now, he’ll never marry me, so I’m going if I have to walk barefoot all the way.’

‘I think she’s right,’ Pandora said.

Zachary turned to her, dismay on his face. ‘You’re
encouraging
her to go travelling on her own?’

‘She’s already come from Australia on her own.’

‘She had Ronan with her.’

‘Not when she started off. She went as far as Galle on her own. She should be allowed to follow her heart. You and I did, after all.’

‘Well, I won’t have her travelling on her own. And in winter, too. No, no, it’s not to be thought of.’

Pandora winked at Xanthe then said to her husband, ‘Rubbish! Besides, the solution to that is easy. She can take someone with her. How about Hallie? Your sister’s dying to see something of the world. I know you promised to take her to Blackpool in the summer, but that’s a long time to wait.’

‘Two young women, both of them pretty, travelling alone. Definitely not!’

‘You’re getting stuffy as you get older, my love.’

He gaped at this unexpected dig.

Pandora looked at him sadly. ‘You are, you know. But as you’re not Xanthe’s guardian and she’s over the age of twenty-one, you can’t stop her. All you can do is make sure she travels safely.’

Interested, Xanthe let them argue. In the end, he said, ‘Well, if Hallie agrees to go, I’m making sure the whole journey is carefully planned. Every single detail. I’m not leaving that to anyone else.’

‘No one could do it more carefully than you,’ Pandora said. ‘Who will you ask to help you?’

He thought for a moment, then said, ‘Mr Featherworth told me he always has a railway guide in case he has to travel suddenly. I’ll go and borrow his.’

It was a full hour before he came back waving a book in a bright yellow wrapper at them. ‘Here you are!
Bradshaw’s Monthly Railway Guide
. I called in at Mother’s on the way back and persuaded her to let Hallie come with you – though she too thinks you’re foolish for rushing off like that. But Hallie’s as reckless as you are and thinks it’s going to be an adventure.
I
think you’ll both be very uncomfortable, travelling in the depths of winter, and will soon regret your hasty decision.’

When he’d gone back down to the shop to supervise the staff during the final hour of opening, Pandora cocked one eyebrow at her sister. ‘Well, you’ve got what you wanted, haven’t you?’

Xanthe went across to hug her. ‘Yes, yes, yes! And you’re the best of sisters for helping me like that!’

Pandora hugged her back. ‘I don’t want to lose you, but I know what it’s like to love someone who’s being stupidly noble. Zachary was exactly the same about marrying me, because I was part-owner of the shop. I had to put my foot down and make him see sense before he’d agree to marry. So I do understand.’

Xanthe heaved a sigh of relief. ‘That’s settled then. I’m sorry we’ll be travelling in the middle of winter, though. It’d be far more interesting in the summer, I’m sure. Maybe you could all come and visit me there, after I’m married.’

‘You’re that sure Ronan will still want to marry you?’

‘Yes, but all sorts of things can happen and I don’t want to leave anything to chance.’ She sighed and her eyes grew dreamy. ‘I can’t wait to see him again.’

Only when she was in bed did she allow herself to remember his letter saying she was free to marry someone else. As if she would!

And she’d not let him marry anyone else, either.

Ronan sat in the library at Ardgullan, feeling depressed. He’d managed to save the estate, but at what cost? He’d used up all his own inheritance to pay off the most pressing debts and was living as frugally as a monk.

If any more debts came in, he didn’t know how he’d pay them. Mr Hatton thought they were all accounted for, but even he did not go so far as to guarantee that.

The last time he’d been to see the lawyer, Mr Hatton had again raised the question of him marrying Miss Johnson.

‘I’ve spoken to her father and he thinks it a fair match, is prepared to lend you money to modernise the house.’

‘What does she think?’

Mr Hatton looked surprised. ‘I don’t know. I deal with her father.’

‘Well, I’m still considering it and so is she.’

And it was still the last thing he wanted, but if it was a choice between that and losing Ardgullan . . . no, what was he thinking about? He couldn’t, wouldn’t! Look what had happened to Conn in an arranged marriage?

No, Ronan would rather sell up and seek employment – except that he didn’t know how he’d earn a living. Unlike Conn he hadn’t trained for any profession, had lived what now seemed an idle and self-indulgent life until now.

The future looked very bleak.

And his dreams were still filled with Xanthe, smiling, teasing, challenging. How could he ever marry another woman?

A few days later Mr Hatton sent his clerk with a letter saying another debt had surfaced and it seemed as if it was genuine, so would have to be paid.

Ronan read and reread his letter, despair filling him. Mr Hatton was pressing him to reconsider the suggestion of marrying Miss Johnson. It was now the only way to keep the family estate.

After a wakeful night, his heart heavy with grief, Ronan wrote to his lawyer to say he was willing to consider it.

Then he went out for a long ride in the rain, where no one could interrupt him, or want him to do something, or above all, see how upset he was at the mere thought of marrying someone other than Xanthe.

Did duty demand that you give up everything you truly wanted for the sake of the family name and estate?

He still wasn’t sure he could do it. But he was caught in a cleft stick and had no idea what he would do if he lost the family estate
and
his money, because no one was going to pay much for a run-down place like Ardgullan House.

If he had no money at all, there was no way he could marry Xanthe, so it wasn’t a choice between her and Georgina Johnson, but between losing everything or marrying money.

20

L
ivia was woken by a sound she couldn’t identify. Then she realised it was coming from Kathleen’s bedroom. Her guest was talking away, but who was she talking to?

A figure appeared in her doorway: Orla.

‘Are you awake, Mrs Southerham?’

‘Yes.’

‘I think she’s gone mad. I daren’t go near her. I’ve never seen anything as shameful in all my life.’

Getting up, Livia went barefoot into the living area and saw that Kathleen’s bedroom door was half open and the room was a blaze of candlelight. Had all the candles in the house been lit? What on earth for?

She went closer and saw Kathleen sitting naked on the bed, gesticulating wildly and talking earnestly to someone – only of course there was no one else there. Livia glanced sideways at Orla, who looked terrified, and suddenly she was afraid, too, because Kathleen was a strong woman.

She tiptoed away, followed by the maid. ‘You stay here and keep an eye on her.’

‘I’ll watch from outside but I daren’t go near her. Not for the life of me, I daren’t.’

The door squeaked as Livia opened it but the voice inside didn’t falter. She stood on the tiny veranda for a moment or two, getting used to the dimness outside compared to the brightness in the guest bedroom. The moon was less than half full, but it gave her enough light to pick her way down to the lean-to by the stables, where Leo slept.

She rapped on the door, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Kathleen hadn’t followed her and that Orla was all right. She had to knock a second time before it opened and Leo stood staring at her, clad in his nightshirt.

‘Mrs Southerham? Is something wrong?’

‘Yes. Kathleen’s behaving very strangely and I’m a bit afraid of her.’

He stared at her, his brow furrowed as if taking this in slowly, then said, ‘Reece told me to help you if you were worried. What do we need to do?’

She explained, embarrassed at the thought of him seeing Kathleen naked, but even less willing to go back into the house on her own and try to persuade her guest to put on some clothes. She’d tried her hardest to settle Kathleen down, but it wasn’t working and she would now have to ask Conn to find somewhere else for his wife to stay – somewhere she could be cared for and protected against herself.

‘I’ll get dressed and come back to the house with you,’ Leo said.

‘I think we’d better take some ropes. We may have to tie her up.’

He vanished inside and came back a few minutes later, fully dressed, though with his buttons wrongly fastened, and carrying two short lengths of rope.

Still Livia hesitated to go back to the house. ‘She’s very strong. Can you manage her on your own, Leo? Or should we go and fetch Reece first?’

‘I think I can manage her long enough for you and Orla to slip the ropes over her feet or hands. I’ve made a sliding loop on each piece, like I do for horses. You just need to pull it tight.’

They went back up the slope to the brightly lit house. Orla was standing outside, a shawl over her nightdress. They could hear Kathleen singing now and when they went inside, Livia was upset to see that the younger woman was still naked.

Kathleen turned round to stare at them as they went into her bedroom. ‘I was waiting for you, Leo. If Conn can have a lover, I can have one too.’ She smiled at him, a smile meant to be enticing, but which looked wrong on her heavy features, like a grotesque cartoon creature in
Punch
magazine.

‘Put your clothes on now, Kathleen,’ Livia said. She could feel herself blushing at the sight of her guest’s nakedness and she could see that Leo was embarrassed too.

Behind them Orla muttered something and crossed herself but Kathleen ignored Livia and continued to smile at Leo.

‘It’s time to get dressed now,’ Livia repeated.

‘You don’t get dressed to entertain a lover.’ Kathleen stared down at herself and stroked her fingers along her thigh. ‘I’m sure Conn and his whore don’t get dressed when they’re together. You’d better take your clothes off, Leo. You’re the only man round here so you’ll have to do for a lover till I can get up to Perth. There are lots of fine gentlemen there.’

As she rose and moved towards him, he took her by surprise and flipped her down on the floor, lying sideways across her.

Livia tried to get the rope round Kathleen’s ankles, but she kicked out, knocking Livia flying, then tried to roll over and get rid of Leo. But he was very strong and by working together, Livia and Orla got the loop of rope over one kicking foot.

While Kathleen was shrieking at them and kicking out with her free foot, Leo managed to twist one of her arms behind her back. She yelled out in pain and forgot to kick for a moment, during which time Livia got the loop over her other foot and tightened it. Orla immediately grabbed the other rope to deal with her hands.

It was several minutes before they managed to get Kathleen tied and helpless, by which time all three of them had been kicked and bumped about. When they stood back, she jerked around on the floor like a landed fish.

‘Shall I cover her, ma’am?’ Orla asked.

‘Yes. We’ll use a sheet from her bed.’ Livia pulled one off and they tried to cover her, but she tossed it off.

Livia suddenly remembered the laudanum Francis had taken occasionally towards the end and went to find it. Leo watched her put some into a glass and nodded to Orla. He held Kathleen’s head motionless while Orla pried her mouth open and tipped the liquid in.

Kathleen choked and cursed, biting Orla before she could take her hand away, and using the sort of words no lady was supposed even to know.

‘We need to wait a while,’ Livia said quietly, though she could have shouted for all the attention Kathleen was paying to them.

Gradually the laudanum worked and she began to subside, her struggles to free herself grew less violent. In the end she fell asleep.

‘She’ll sleep for a while now,’ Livia said.

‘The Lord be praised.’ Orla crossed herself and flung the sheet over Kathleen’s plump white body.

Livia sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling suddenly exhausted. ‘Could you please go and fetch Reece, Leo? We’ll have to take Kathleen back to Conn and the sooner the better, before she harms herself or one of us.’