Farewell to Lancashire (44 page)

He stuffed his hands into his pockets. ‘Oh, do what you want!’

Reece waited a moment or two, but when neither of them added anything else, he said, ‘If you’re sure, I’ll ask him tonight.’

‘I’m very sure,’ Livia insisted. ‘Pandora and I will look through our stores and see what treats we can devise.’

Two days later, Reece drove Kevin the long way round to join the celebrations.

‘I’m still surprised they invited me,’ he said as the ugly mare clopped up the gentle slope to the farm.

‘Mrs Southerham invited you. Mr Southerham usually does as she tells him.’

Kevin grinned. ‘Well, I’m glad to have some company, I am indeed, not to mention a good meal. And if you and your young lady will speak to me from time to time, I’ll be satisfied to sit quietly and try not to upset my host too much.’

When Reece helped him down, Kevin took the bottle of port wine he’d brought as a gift and presented it to his host with a small bow.

‘Thank you,’ Francis said stiffly.

‘Just what we needed to crown our celebrations,’ Livia said.

It was the strangest Christmas he’d ever had, Reece thought. A hot day, still too warm for coats or wraps even after the sun had gone down. They ate outside at the table, spread for the occasion with a white cloth. There were no church bells pealing, only the rustling of trees and the occasional call of a boobook owl, which sounded more like a cuckoo than an owl.

Reece joined in the hymn singing, his eyes meeting Cassandra’s and their voices blending well together.

‘It gladdens my heart to see those two,’ Kevin murmured to Livia as the song finished. ‘He’s a good man, Reece is.’

‘Yes. They’re well matched, I think.’

As the two men drove back through a moonlit landscape, Kevin said quietly, ‘I like your young lady.’

‘So do I! I just hope I can make a good life for us here.’

‘If hard work will do it, you’ll succeed.’

‘Sometimes fate won’t let you succeed.’

‘No.’ Kevin fell silent, staring ahead, clearly lost in his own thoughts, and Reece could have kicked himself for making that remark.

‘It’s all right, lad.’ Kevin patted Reece’s hand. ‘It’s not what you said that’s upsetting me. Christmas always brings back memories. It was the last meal I shared with my family, you see. I only saw them once afterwards, and that across a courtroom.’

Two weeks later Mrs Southerham produced a long list and handed it to Reece. ‘We ladies have put our heads together and we need a lot of things if we’re to live comfortably. I want you to go and see how much of this you can buy in the little shop on the highway.’ She gave him a conspiratorial smile. ‘And you’d better take Cassandra with you. There are some items better chosen by a woman. Oh, and you could ask them where you can get married. You may have to go all the way to Perth for that.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Southerham,’ Cassandra whispered to her as she got ready to leave.

‘I’d like to help you two. I married the man I loved and for all his faults, I’m happy to be with him. While you’re away, find out how near you are to your sisters so that you can go and tell them your good news the following week.’

‘You’re so kind, so very kind!’

‘I like to see people happy.’

The ‘shop’ was another small wooden house, with the front room full of sacks and basic household necessities. Stock feed, farm materials and a few tools and nails were in a shed nearby, so Reece went out to see what he could find while Cassandra dealt with the other items on the list.

‘Your husband looks happy today,’ the woman who was serving her said, clearly wanting to gossip.

‘We’re not married yet, but we will be as soon as we can find someone to marry us. I was going to ask you how people round here get married.’

‘There’s a visiting clergyman who comes the first Sunday of each month. He holds a service in our barn. Most people attend, whatever their religion was back home. It’s the same God we worship, after all. He’ll marry you – and you won’t have to wait for banns to be called, because he can only come once a month.’

‘That’s wonderful news! I’ll tell Reece. We’ll come in February. Um – do you know a place called Galway House? Is it close to here?’

‘Ten minutes away by cart. He’s a strange one, that Mr Largan, never smiles though he’s civil enough, you have to give him that. Do you know him?’

‘My sisters are working there as maids. I’m hoping to go and visit them.’

‘Ah, I’ve met one of them. He brought her here shopping. She had a strange sort of name. Began with a Z, I think.’

Tears filled her eyes. ‘Xanthe.’

Reece came in just then and the women stopped chatting as the final purchases were sorted out and payment made. Quite a few things had to be specially ordered from Perth, which would disappoint Mrs Southerham, and they had to pay half their cost now to make sure the shopkeeper wouldn’t be left with them and lose money.

‘Ready to leave?’ Reece asked. ‘I’ll just load this on the cart.’

Outside he said, ‘We’ll go and visit your sisters now, if you like. I have the directions. It’s not far. We can only stay for an hour or so, though.’

She flung her arms round him and hugged him, regardless of who saw them. ‘I was going to ask you. Oh, I feel so much better to know they’re within reach.’

When they were on their way, he said, ‘We can get married—’

‘On the first Sunday in February,’ she finished for him with a smile.

‘We can live at Kevin’s afterwards. I’ve asked him. You can still work for the Southerhams for a while, but only if they pay you.’

‘I don’t think they can afford it.’

‘Then I’ll suggest they take it off the months of service I still owe them.’ He beamed at her. ‘In fact, I’d prefer that. There are so many things I want to do for myself. Oh, and Kevin wants you and Pandora to come to tea on Sunday. I hope you don’t mind living with an ex-convict. I’m building us a new bedroom on the side of his house. He was transported to New South Wales for political reasons, but was given an absolute pardon once they’d got him out of Ireland.’ He hesitated. ‘I know respectable people don’t associate with convicts, but I like him.’

‘I do, too. And
I
don’t look down my nose at people, as Mr Southerham does.’

Galway House was a huge place, though its roof looked slightly lopsided, some of the veranda posts were leaning a little, and many of the windows needed cleaning.

As the cart stopped in front of it and Reece helped Cassandra down, Conn Largan came round from the side of the house, but before he could say anything, there was a shriek and Xanthe flew out of the front door, flinging her arms round her sister.

It was the most joyous of reunions, and the twins were delighted that Cassandra was to marry Reece. When Conn was asked, he agreed to bring the two maids to the wedding, and his mother, if she was well enough. She’d certainly seemed better since Maia had started looking after her.

Surely an hour had never passed so quickly, Cassandra thought as Reece pulled out his watch and said they must leave. It seemed as if they’d only been there for a few minutes and she found it hard to tear herself away.

On the following Sunday Pandora walked across with the engaged couple to take tea with Kevin. She breathed a deep sigh once they were out of sight of the Southerhams. ‘I’m so glad to be away from there! I don’t think I was cut out to be a maid. The way Mr Southerham tosses orders at me makes me want to say something very sharp to him about manners.’

‘Or remind him that we’re not stupid,’ Cassandra added.

‘Anything but,’ Reece said with a smile. ‘He even treats his wife as if she’s not very clever sometimes. I can’t understand why she doesn’t pull him up on that. He didn’t seem as bad in England.’

‘She loves him dearly and I think he needs to feel superior to someone, because he’s not a very capable person, is he?’

Pandora walked along the top of the log where Reece had proposed to Cassandra, arms spread out for balance. ‘Mrs Southerham is much nicer to deal with. In other circumstances, I think she could have been a friend.’

Reece grinned. ‘He’d never countenance her making friends of
our class
, just as he hated having Kevin to tea on Christmas Day. I’m glad they agreed to witness Kevin’s will. It seemed to set his mind at rest. He’s says he’s left me “a little bit of something” which was why I couldn’t witness it. He’s shown me where the will is kept and has asked me to deal with it when he dies. He’s looking better, though, now I’m living with him and can see that he eats properly. I mean to keep him alive as long as I can. You don’t easily lose a good friend.’

‘Who has he left the main estate to? Will you lose your lease when he dies?’

‘I don’t know who he’s left it to. His family, I suppose. But my lease is safe for five years. He made sure of that. By then I hope to have saved up enough to lease a bigger property.’

The tea party went just as well as the visit to the twins had done, with much laughter and an occasional piece of wise advice from Kevin. They inspected the house and the half-built room which would be their bedroom. Reece promised to build them a bed frame, and buy enough straw to stuff a mattress with. It wouldn’t be a very good one, but it would be enough. Cassandra would make curtains out of one of the old sheets Kevin had offered them.

‘We won’t own much, I’m afraid,’ Reece said as they walked back just before dusk.

‘I don’t mind. We’ll have each other.’

Pandora had been more cheerful while away from the farm, distracted by helping plan her sister’s first home as a married woman. However, she grew silent again as they approached Westview.

Cassandra glanced at Reece and saw that he too had noticed the sadness return to her sister’s face.

Sometimes you could do nothing about a situation.

C
assandra wore her best skirt and bodice for the wedding, though she’d put on weight and had to alter them. They were a soft blue in colour and she’d found some creamy lace in Hilda’s trunk, so was able to add that to the bodice. She got up as soon as it was light each day to put in an hour’s sewing before her duties began, because she had the straw mattress ticking to sew as well, for their marital bed.

She smiled when Pandora made a fuss over her, insisting on helping her wash her hair in the washing tub the night before, and helping her dress in the morning before they left. It didn’t really matter what she looked like. She was quite sure that Reece would have loved her just as much in sackcloth as in silk.

It filled her with warmth and a sense of wonder every time she thought of him, and she was excited about making a life together. In spite of the horrors she’d been subjected to, she was surprised to find that she wanted him to touch her and he’d promised her it’d be very different when you loved someone.

She’d lost most of her fear already, because Reece was so gentle, so concerned not to upset her that his kissing and caressing bore no resemblance whatsoever to the acts that still occasionally gave her nightmares. Making love, he said, was very different from animals rutting.

She beamed as they drove across to the barn in which monthly services were held, enjoying the hot weather and bright sunshine that left poor Pandora and Mr Southerham drooping with exhaustion.

Reece had insisted on Kevin joining them for the wedding, which made Francis Southerham pull a face but with Livia on their side, the old man’s presence was accepted.

The journey passed very pleasantly, with the ladies using umbrellas as parasols, and the horses clopping along in an unhurried way, one cart under Mr Southerham’s charge, the other under Reece’s.

The four sisters hugged and kissed one another, moving to one side for a little private conversation.

‘You can tell they’re sisters, can’t you?’ Livia said to Reece. ‘It must be nice to have sisters. Do you have any?’

‘Just a brother. He’s older than me, lives in Yorkshire. We’re not close. I’m much closer to my cousins.’

The ceremony was brief, as theirs was one of three weddings to be conducted by the visiting clergyman that day.

Afterwards Cassandra walked out of the barn on Reece’s arm, trying to feel married. But being with him now was no different from before. He was just – Reece, her love, the man with whom she hoped to spend the rest of her life.

After the ceremony, Conn Largan took everyone a short distance along the road to a clearing where logs provided seats and a picnic could be eaten in the dappled light under the trees.

‘Happy, Mrs Gregory?’ Reece whispered.

‘Very happy, Mr Gregory,’ Cassandra answered with a smile.

‘I’ll work my fingers to the bone for you and this child and any other children we’re fortunate enough to have,’ he said softly, raising his tin mug of tea as if it were the finest wine in a crystal glass.

‘We’ll work together. I’ll—’

‘Kiss the bride properly now, Reece!’ Xanthe called. ‘You only pecked her cheek after the ceremony.’

He stopped Cassandra protesting at this with a kiss and there was a round of applause from their friends and families.