Where Seagulls Soar (6 page)

She sank into the nearest chair, stunned. ‘Are you sure, David?’

‘I met Captain Morcant coming from the hospital. He was about to come to break the news to you. He said his brother didn’t wake up after the operation. Alex passed away peacefully in
his sleep with the captain at his side.’

‘Alex wouldn’t have gone peacefully, he had too much to live for,’ she said fiercely. ‘He would have fought death every inch of the way. It was that damned anaesthesia
the doctor talked about. They must have given him too much.’

‘My dear, something like that would be hard to prove given the circumstances.’

Joanna felt suddenly defeated. A tremor started in her hands as her mind told her to accept the truth. Soon, she was trembling all over. Tears filled her eyes and poured over her face. Her
throat felt swollen and thick, as if she were drowning in her own tears.

The clock ticked, louder and louder. ‘
Stop it! Stop it!
’ Picking up the nearest object she hurled it at the mantelpiece. The face glass smashed into pieces and the noise
ceased. ‘It shouldn’t tick. It reminds me I’m still alive, and right at this moment I wish I wasn’t,’ she said irrationally.

Tilda stood up when Toby began to cry, his voice coming from a great distance. ‘I’ll fetch him. David, give Joanna a brandy to help calm her.’

David Lind went to the sideboard, coming back with a small amount in the glass. ‘Here, Joanna, drink this. It will help. Try not to feel too bitter. It was God’s will.’

‘What sort of God takes a husband from his loving wife, a father from his son?’ She took the brandy and gazed at it, thinking, was this anaesthesia to stop her becoming hysterical?
She swallowed it in one gulp, then began to cough, for it tasted like poison.

David looked embarrassed as he handed her his handkerchief. ‘I’m so sorry, my dear, I should have warned you. We’ll stay in London for the funeral, of course,’ he
said.

‘Of course. Thank you for your support, David. I appreciate it.’

All went quiet, since they’d ran out of things to say to each other.

Tilda appeared with Toby, his face streaked with tears. Toby held out his arms to her, and gave her Alex’s smile, a mixture of confidence and mischief. Alex was in the depths of his eyes,
looking out at her. There was never a son so like his father. Joanna took the boy in her arms, hugging him protectively. Thank goodness he was too young to know anything untoward had occurred. He
fell asleep on her shoulder. She must remember that Alex lived on in her son.

She gazed over him at David. ‘I want to see Alex. Will you take me?’

‘Is it wise, Joanna?’

She shrugged. ‘Wise or not, I need to see him. Besides, arrangements will have to be made.’

David nodded. ‘The morning might be best.’

There was an urgency in her, a note of anger in her voice. ‘I want to go
now
.’

Tilda exchanged a glance with her husband and nodded. ‘I’ll look after Toby while you’re gone.’

‘I’ll put him to bed first, he should sleep until morning.’

Joanna kissed her son’s downy cheek as she lowered him into his cot. ‘We only have each other now, my darling boy, but your papa will be watching over us and we’ll
survive.’

Ten minutes later she set off through the darkening streets with David. Now and again a stench rose from the river, like the mouth of a dog gusting a foul breath. Mist thickened on the surface
of the water.

The rain had stopped, but the air was damp. The hem of Joanna’s skirt dragged forlornly through the puddles.

‘The air in Portland will smell fresh after London, I expect,’ she said suddenly, attacked by a strong sense of nostalgia as she remembered the wind flattening the grass in the
churchyard and the seagulls soaring in the air currents. Funny how she’d recalled the good and ignored the hardship.

David smiled in a humouring sort of way. ‘I never imagined myself as a country parson, but rather as a teacher or a missionary.’

‘Then that’s what you should do, David. You won’t have a large congregation in Portland. Most of the islanders are methodists, you know. They enjoy the preaching.’

‘It’s too late to change my mind now. Tilda is looking forward to going home.’

Home? It seemed strange to think of Portland as home, now. It wasn’t that long ago since she’d left the island, though, barely three years. But it had been an eventful three years,
in which Joanna had discovered her true identity, had sailed to Australia and back on the
Joanna Rose
and had given birth to Toby. She’d married Alex and now . . . she was
widowed.

She gazed up at David, troubled. ‘You’ll look after Tilda, won’t you? She wants to please you, but she might become melancholy in Portland.’

‘Because of her ill-treatment at the hands of her family? She’s my wife, of course I’ll look after her. And, Joanna, if you need any help in the future, we’ll always be
there for you.’

‘You’re a kind man, David Lind, just like your uncle. He was always a good friend to me.’

‘Richard enjoyed your friendship. He said you brought meaning to his life, and I know his last year was the happiest he’d ever known.’

‘How sad it is when good men die. What will I do without Alex to love?’

He took her hand in his and gently squeezed it. ‘You’ll go on living, Joanna, for you have no choice. You’ll love and care for his son, and raise the boy to love and respect
his father’s memory, as God intends you to do.’

‘Yes, I’ll do all of that, but because I’m his mother and I love him, not for any other reason.’

They fell silent for the rest of the way to the hospital morgue, where a further shock awaited them.

‘Alexander Morcant’s body was claimed by Mrs Clara Nash, not more than half an hour ago,’ the orderly on duty told them. ‘She came to sign for the body accompanied by an
undertaker’s cart. I understood her to be the patient’s mother.’

Joanna’s face blanched. ‘I’m Alexander Morcant’s wife.’

The man shrugged. ‘Sorry, missus. You’ll have to take it up with his mother, then.’

‘And right now,’ Joanna said when they were outside.

‘Shouldn’t we wait?’ David cautioned, for the mist had thickened considerably and was taking on the appearance of a fog.

‘You needn’t come,’ she said gently. ‘There will probably be an unpleasant scene, since Clara Nash and I despise each other.’

He placed a hand on her arm. ‘Remember, Clara Nash is Alex’s mother. She will be suffering too, Joanna.’

‘Hah! It’s obvious you’ve never met her,’ Joanna told him, wishing that David wouldn’t assume that everyone was as gentle and generous natured as he was. ‘The
woman hasn’t got a motherly bone in her body.’

‘A few more hours won’t make any difference,’ David urged. ‘I’ll accompany you there in the morning, when you’re refreshed by sleep and your mind is more
accepting of the situation. As it is, we’d better get you home before this mist gets any thicker.’

She bowed to his greater wisdom, and they trudged back to her home, where Tilda waited with a pot of hot soup to warm them.

Joanna forced her food down, at the same time trying to comfort the weeping Mrs Bates, who kept saying, ‘What will become of us now the master has gone?’

‘Don’t worry, Mrs Bates. Whatever happens, I’ll look after you,’ she said with more confidence than she felt.

The company lawyer, James Stark, arrived after dinner, his face hollowed with shock. ‘I’ve just heard about Alex. This bodes very badly for the future of the company. Oh, my dear . .
. I’m so sorry. How can I be of service?’

‘I don’t know, James. What’s likely to happen?’

‘The company assets could be seized and sold to cover the loan.’

‘But only two of the ships are affected.’

‘There’s more to it than that, Joanna. Alex’s death will send company business into chaos. The clients will go elsewhere to secure cargo space. Without cargoes and passengers
you won’t be able to cover the interest payments. The loan guarantor will take everything and sell it off cheap to cover what’s owed, plus interest.’

‘That’s not fair.’

‘Business is hardly ever fair.’ He gazed at Tilda and David, who promptly excused themselves and went to help Mrs Bates in the kitchen. ‘If you’ve got anything valuable
in the house I’ll take it with me. And you might as well know, while you were in Australia, before you were wed, Alex began to pay back the money you withdrew from the company account. There
is a large amount still outstanding.’

‘I thought that money was mine. I gave it to my father when I was in Melbourne.’

‘My dear, I can’t give away a large chunk of company money without it being accounted for, not even to the owner. You signed a receipt to keep the account books legal, and there have
been regular amounts paid in, as if to repay a loan.’

‘Are you saying the house will be seized?’

‘Unless you can reimburse the money it’s bound to be questioned, since it’s an asset. The creditors might demand payment.’

‘Oh Lord! Of course I can’t repay such a large amount. What a mess everything is. What if somebody asks me what I did with the money? I can hardly tell them I gave it to a man who
supposedly died two years ago, a man with whom I entered into an incestuous marriage.’

Alarm filled James’s eyes. ‘That you can’t, else we’ll all end up in prison. Charlotte Darsham and Thaddeus Scott included. If asked, you might have to tell them the
money was stolen.’

She nodded. ‘Who would have thought so many problems would arise from discovering my true identity. If Charlotte hadn’t noticed the resemblance between her son, her former
daughter-in-law and myself, I might have lived happily with Tobias Darsham as his wife.’

‘If that marriage to Tobias hadn’t taken place, all would have been well. If the timing had been more fortuitous you could simply have lived with him in your proper place, as his
daughter. Everyone would have rejoiced at the reunion. What has happened is nobody’s fault, it was just a chain of well-intentioned events that seems to have suddenly grown a will of its
own.’

‘Trying to keep the company afloat, knowing it could destroy the people involved in this deception, just doesn’t seem worth the risk. Alex could never grasp that. He lived and
breathed the company. Why couldn’t he just let it go, like my father did?’

‘Because your father was the only person Alex respected and loved. He felt he needed to prove himself to him, and earn his respect.’

‘Alex didn’t have to do that. He already had my father’s love and respect. I often wondered if he loved me for myself, or because he wanted to please my father.’

‘Alex was never in any doubt. The reason he went after you was because he loved you, even though he was terrified of going to sea.’

‘Thank you, James. You don’t know how relieved I am to hear you say that.’

‘Is Alex’s body in the morning room? I’d like to say goodbye to him before the funeral.’

Bitterness welled up in her. ‘Alex died in the hospital. Clara Nash claimed his body and has already handed it over to a funeral home. You know about the signature Clara forged to get
funds to have Oliver released from prison, don’t you?’ When he nodded, she said, ‘Oliver has been staying here as our guest. He went with Alex to the hospital, and he promised to
come back. But he never did. I feel so betrayed by him. David Lind is taking me to see Clara Nash in the morning. I intend to discuss the situation with her. The meeting will not be pleasant, I
imagine.’

‘Oliver is an honest man of good intention. He’s not as strong minded as Alex was, but he wouldn’t deliberately let you down. Clara would have done this to provoke you. Too
much can be said in the heat of anger. I advise you to let it go, Joanna.’

‘I can’t, James. I loved Alex. I want to see his face again and I need to say goodbye, too.’

‘Then allow me to accompany you to the house of Clara Nash, and act as your spokesman.’

Joanna nodded, tears thickening her throat. ‘I have borne a son who’s the image of Alex. His name is Toby.’

A brief smile flitted across the lawyer’s face. ‘I’ll make his acquaintance tomorrow, I hope. I’ll be here at ten sharp, and we’ll sort things out between us. In
the meantime, pick out anything you want me to hide.’ A slight bow of his head and he was gone, striding off into the layers of the fog that was beginning to blanket the city.

Joanna sent her friends home, saying, ‘The fog is becoming thicker. I’ll be all right now. And, David, James Stark has offered to take me to see Clara Nash tomorrow. He will act as
my spokesman. You were right, I must sleep on it, for I’m often headstrong, and I’m exhausted at the moment.’

‘Then you must go to bed at once,’ Tilda said, and the pair exchanged hugs.

Joanna was relieved after they left. She went through to the kitchen, where Mrs Bates sat in the rocking chair in front of the stove, tears streaming down her face. The kettle was singing on the
hob. Steam puffed from its spout and rattled its lid.

Taking up the china teapot they always used, Joanna made a strong brew and poured them both a cup. She took up the chair on the other side of the stove.

The women gazed at each other.

‘It’s hard when someone you love dies,’ Joanna said, remembering that Mrs Bates had lost her own husband just a few weeks before.

‘Especially somebody as young and strong as Mr Morcant was. He’d hardly lived.’

They fell silent for a moment, united in the common misfortune of their widowhood. Then Mrs Bates said, ‘Mr Morcant adored his son.’

‘Toby will forget him in the years to come, I expect. Perhaps that will be a blessing. I don’t know what will happen in the future, Mrs Bates. Mr Stark thinks the house and company
will be seized, and sold to pay off the creditors. If that happens I’ll probably leave London and move back to Dorset. Do you have anywhere else to go?’

‘Without Bates I’m all alone in the world.’

‘You have me. I doubt if I’ll be able to pay you, but we can share what I have, and I can find work, even if it’s only farm labouring.’

Mrs Bates managed a smile. ‘It’s a nice girl you are for thinking of me. We’ll manage, I’m sure, and I can be of help with young Toby.’