Daughters of Rebecca (11 page)

‘We'll see about that, Jayne, but I do not want you living in London. It's a racy place and your grandmother had some strange friends.'

Jayne smiled. ‘I know. Wasn't she a courtesan to a royal personage at one time?'

‘That's just idle gossip.' Eynon looked at his daughter, whose eye held a wicked gleam. He realized suddenly that she also had a will of her own. No-one would deceive Jayne Morton-Edwards: she was far too sharp.

The sound of carriage wheels crunched along the gravel outside the house and Jayne looked up expectantly. ‘That will be Lloyd,' she said easily.

Eynon followed her into the hall where the maid was already holding out a warm coat and a thick scarf. Jayne scarcely looked at the girl, and Eynon shook his head; his daughter had grown up to expect a privileged lifestyle, good food on the table and servants to cater to her every whim. It was the natural order of things. Eynon himself had never known poverty. What he had known was the sharp edge of his father's tongue on more occasions than he could recall. Phillip Morton-Edwards had been a selfish man, who considered his only son a failure. Anything Eynon had attempted was met with ridicule.

Eynon pushed away the unpleasant memories of the past. At least he could claim he had built up the pottery founded by his father, and when he had sold it, he had made a huge profit.

‘I'm going now, Father, so stop daydreaming
and kiss me goodbye.' Jayne stood on tiptoe to plant a kiss on Eynon's cheek.

‘Take care, now.' Eynon watched as his daughter stepped out of the house and waved to Lloyd Mainwaring as casually as if he had been an underling, a servant to obey her command. If Lloyd was anything like his mother, he would be too spirited to put up with any nonsense from Jayne. From behind Lloyd, Eynon caught sight of Shanni Price, her red hair peeping out from beneath her bonnet. Eynon smiled. His daughter would not like to be seen in the company of a girl who had once been her maid, especially as that girl was so pretty. Shanni looked composed and held herself like nobility. She was finely dressed in an outfit of warm red with a bonnet covered in feathers. She looked every inch a lady born to riches. What did Llinos have in mind for Shanni's future, he wondered. The girl was neither fish nor fowl, educated like a lady but with all the disadvantages of the mean slums from which she had come. Her health might suffer from the effects of living in a hovel, eating little food – and poor food at that. Many of the inhabitants of Swansea drank water from the canal into which the filth of the town had settled. No, the girl would not be sturdy and healthy as his daughter was. What he really worried about, if he was honest, was that Shanni Price would take Lloyd's attention away from Jayne. But that could never happen: Lloyd was a most discerning young man.

He stood waving until the carriage was out of sight, then returned to his fireside and to the glass of rich red claret waiting for him on the side table.
He was happy with his lot. As he sipped the fine wine he thought that all he needed to make his life complete was a good wife. What a pity the only woman he had ever wanted was Llinos Mainwaring, who was married to a man she loved very much. Eynon rested his head against the soft cushions of the chairback and closed his eyes. His feet were warmed by the glowing coals and his stomach by the wine. All in all, it was a good life.

Shanni moved aside reluctantly for Jayne Morton-Edwards to sit next to Lloyd. He smiled at Shanni as if to beg her tolerance.

‘This is Shanni,' Lloyd said. ‘Shanni, this is a childhood friend of mine, Jayne Morton-Edwards.'

‘She knows who I am,' Jayne said sharply. ‘Perhaps you've forgotten she used to be my maid.'

Shanni had taken a dislike to Jayne when she first set eyes on her. The girl's haughty, unpleasant remarks did nothing now to make her change her mind. She was of the breed of gentry who looked down their noses at ordinary folk. Thank goodness she did not have to work in the Morton-Edwards household any longer. Shanni suddenly realized how grateful she should be to Llinos Mainwaring for taking her in and treating her so well.

Jayne was studying her, and Shanni straightened her shoulders. ‘Don't you know it's rude to stare? Are you sure you'll recognize me next time you see me?' She knew her tone was impudent but Jayne brought out the worst in people.

‘Well, you do look different now you're not wearing a cap and apron,' Jayne said. ‘And it's a good thing you've left service – you were a dismal failure and it takes little intelligence to wait on your betters.'

‘Especially those so-called betters who have no intelligence at all,' Shanni replied.

‘Hey!' Lloyd intervened. ‘Come along, you two. I thought you would be friends.'

‘I'm sorry,' Shanni said. ‘I just can't help being sensitive, which Miss Morton-Edwards is not.'

‘We're going to the Assembly Rooms,' Lloyd said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that followed Shanni's words. ‘There's a discussion about the toll-gates. The prospect of raising the tolls is being debated and I think it should be a lively discussion.'

Shanni frowned. ‘It's stupid to propose yet
another
rise in tolls,' she said. ‘What do you think, Lloyd?'

Lloyd met her eyes. ‘I think it's hard on the ordinary folk who are trying to make an honest living.'

‘Rubbish!' Jayne broke into the conversation with a burst of righteous indignation. ‘The lower orders have no conception of the way the country is run. Do they think that the government of Britain comes without cost? Roads have to be maintained, and who is going to pay for it?'

‘I'd be quiet if I were you,' Shanni said innocently. ‘I hardly think you're qualified to judge affairs of this magnitude.'

‘Why not?' Jayne demanded, her face flushed.
‘And how is it that you class yourself an expert? Are you one of the rebels?'

‘That is beside the point.'

‘No, it is exactly the point.' Jayne was leaning forward in her seat. ‘You happen to be of the lower orders yourself. Is that why you are such a hot-head about paying what is due?'

Shanni tried to keep her voice calm. ‘It might just mean that I have more compassion than someone like you, brought up to live on your father's bounty.'

Lloyd took Shanni's hand. ‘Look, we don't have to go to this meeting. I'm sorry I suggested it now.'

‘No, no,' Jayne said. ‘We must attend such an important debate. Who knows? I might even learn something about the rights of the poor.'

Shanni studied Jayne's face, searching for signs of sarcasm, but there were none. Perhaps Jayne Morton-Edwards was not such a stuck-up prig after all, or perhaps she was good at hiding her feelings.

The meeting at the Assembly Rooms was well attended. Shanni caught sight of Dafydd Buchan and thought with a sudden shock of the night she had stayed with Madame Isabelle. Had Dafydd been responsible for the death of Mr Carpenter? He had been angry that the man dared to disagree with him. But, no, it must have been the tragic accident Madame Isabelle claimed it to be.

Dafydd saw Shanni and acknowledged her with a slight tilt of his head. Shanni responded, hoping that Jayne had not noticed the discreet action. Her hope was in vain.

‘Ah, you know him. He's one of the rabble-rousers, I assume,' Jayne said. ‘Isn't he one of the speakers, Dafydd Buchan?'

‘Yes, and he is a very powerful man, too. Remember that.' Lloyd ushered them into a seat near the front row.

Shanni wished he had chosen somewhere near the back where she did not have to meet Dafydd's eye. She was having feelings for Dafydd that were not appropriate in a girl of her station. But, then, what exactly was her station? She no longer knew.

Lloyd leaned closer to Shanni and whispered in her ear, ‘Do you know Buchan, then?'

‘I have met him once,' Shanni said. ‘He might be unpopular but he has common sense on his side, Lloyd.'

‘It all depends which side of the argument you support,' Lloyd replied, settling back in his seat.

Shanni listened as the first speaker, a member of the planning committee, outlined the proposals for increasing the tolls at the end of the year. His tone was reasonable and his arguments convincing.

‘You surely understand,' he said, ‘that we who are responsible for the smooth running of our fair town impose these tolls with the best of motives. We have to improve roads, attend to proper sewerage, but this costs money and we all have to pay to ensure a better future for ourselves and for our children.'

‘But what about the poor sods who have to dig into their pockets?' The protest came from someone at the back of the room. Someone called for the man to hold his tongue and uproar broke out.
Chairs were sent flying and one hit a man sitting close to Shanni. He got to his feet bellowing in outrage, and lifted his chair above his head.

‘What bastard did that?' he shouted, and Shanni put her hands over her ears. Jayne began to scream.

‘We have to get out of here.' Lloyd tried to force a way for them between the crowd, but bodies heaved and fell and a missile spun past Lloyd's head missing him by inches.

Shanni became aware that Dafydd Buchan was suddenly at her side. He caught her arm in a none-too-gentle grip. ‘Tell your friends to hold on to each other, form a chain and I'll get you out of here.'

Shanni was dragged through the crowd towards the doorway with Jayne clinging to her skirts like a frightened child. Lloyd followed in the rear as Dafydd pushed and beat his way through the morass of fighting men.

Outside in the cold winter air, Shanni took a deep breath. She looked up at Dafydd fearfully. She knew he was right that the meeting was no place for her and certainly not for a hysterical girl like Jayne.

‘Get off home, Shanni,' he ordered. ‘You shouldn't have come here. I would have thought you had enough intelligence to expect trouble over such an emotive issue.'

He disappeared back into the hall and Shanni realized that she was trembling. ‘Come,' she said. ‘Let's do as he says and leave while we can.'

‘That awful man knew you!' Jayne said, weakly.
‘I might have known you'd be associated with rabble.'

‘Be quiet!' It was Lloyd who spoke. ‘It was that same rabble who got us out of there alive.' He led the way to where the carriage was waiting, the driver sitting in his seat shivering a little in the cold.

‘Sorry, Graves,' Lloyd said, ‘I didn't think to tell you to go into one of the inns and warm yourself. Take us home, there's a good man.'

Jayne climbed into her seat, her face white. For once she seemed subdued, her eyes wide with shock. Shanni suddenly saw how frightening the experience had been for a girl who had never seen violence before.

‘It's all right, Jayne, we'll be safely away from here and nearing home in just a few minutes,' she said.

Lloyd sank into the seat beside Jayne and put his arm around her. ‘Come, come, there's no harm done.' He glanced across at Shanni. ‘I was foolish to take you girls to the meeting. I might have known there would be trouble. But, then, you would think folk who attend the Assembly Rooms would be more respectful of each other.'

Shanni sank back against the leather seat and closed her eyes. Between those who were born rich and those born to poverty there was a great divide, and Shanni wondered if it was too great ever to be breached.

LLINOS STARED OUT
of the window, her hands clasped. A light powdering of snow covered the yard, melting rapidly as it reached the heat of the kilns. The trees were brushed with light, the bare branches tipped with frost. It was going to be a hard winter, and somehow Llinos felt very alone. But, then, she was alone.

Lloyd had gone riding and he intended to spend the night with some friends at the gentlemen's club in the town. Shanni was staying at Madame Isabelle's house and Joe, her dear husband, was away on business yet again.

She bit her lip, wishing he would come home. She was missing him but, worse, she was worried that she was thinking too much of Dafydd Buchan.

Dafydd had called to see her only yesterday. He had told her of the near riot at the Assembly Rooms and his tone had been stern. ‘Keep your son and his companions away from political meetings in future. It's for their own good.'

Llinos had reacted frostily. How dare he talk to her like that? And yet, even while she argued with
him, told him to mind his own business, she was aware of her attraction to him.

She sighed, bringing her thoughts back to Lloyd. He was balking at returning to college. It seemed he wanted to travel to America to see the place where his father had been born.

Llinos was at a loss as to how to deal with Lloyd. Her son seemed wilful, rebellious, even. When he had returned from the fracas at the Assembly Rooms Shanni had been trailing behind him, looking wretched. Lloyd's clothes were torn and he had a bruise on the side of his face. But he had still been defiant. His father should have been here to give him a good dressing-down.

Llinos lifted her head as she heard the crisp beat of hoofs against the frozen earth and her heart quickened. Perhaps Joe had come home. She heard voices in the hall, but when the maid opened the door it was Eynon who came into the drawing room, his face red from the easterly wind.

‘Llinos, I am so angry with Lloyd,' he said, without preamble. ‘What was he thinking about, taking my daughter to a meeting of rowdies and villains? I don't want Jayne mixing with such people. She is just a child and innocent in the ways of the world.'

Llinos held up her hand. ‘You don't need to lecture me. I agree with you wholeheartedly. In any case, I've already had one lecture from Dafydd Buchan. Please, Eynon, sit down, you're making the room look untidy!' She paused. ‘Look, Eynon, I'm as angry as you are about the disgraceful way Lloyd behaved. It was irresponsible of him to take the girls to such a meeting.'