One Snowy Night (15 page)

Conversation
then became more general. The ladies exclaimed on the wonderful things they had
seen in the shops, whilst the gentlemen fetched them ices. Though the weather
was cold, the shopping had heated the ladies and they were glad of the cool
refreshment. Whilst they ate, they showed each other their purchases, and the
gentlemen contented themselves with talking about the war. An hour later,
feeling much refreshed, Rebecca and Louisa took their leave.

‘For we must
get ready for the evening’s entertainment,’ Louisa said, before she and Rebecca
departed.

Rebecca found herself
looking forward to the soir
ée
as she stepped out of the carriage later that evening and made her way,
beside Louisa, into Mrs Camberwell’s house. She was dressed in a becoming gown
of white satin with an underskirt of deepest crimson. Deep reds were still
fashionable, according to the
Ladies’ Monthly Museum
, and Rebecca was
glad of it. Strong colours had always suited her snow-white complexion and her
rich, dark hair.

Mrs Camberwell
lived with her brother in one of the fashionable new houses that were going up
in
Manchester
all the time. It was
similar to the house Rebecca and Louisa had rented, but its furniture and
decorations were much more elegant and reflected Mrs Camberwell’s fine taste.
Gilded mirrors hung on the walls, Buhl furniture graced the living rooms, and
Aubusson carpets softened the floors.

‘My dears, I
am so glad you could come,’ said Mrs Camberwell, taking them by the arm and
leading them in. ‘There are so many people I am longing to introduce you to. My
sister, Camilla, you already know,’ she said, indicating Mrs Renwick, ‘and . .
. .’

Rebecca heard
no more. Standing at the far side of the room, which had been arranged ready
for the evening’s music with rows of chairs facing an ornate music stand, was
Joshua.

Now that
matters had been resolved between them, Rebecca had hoped they could look
forward to a normal working relationship. But all such reasonable thoughts flew
out of the window when she saw him at the other side of the room.

He was looking
more devastatingly attractive than she had ever seen him. His clothes were
immaculate, clinging to his body as though they had been formed around him,
revealing the hard contours of his broad shoulders and the firm lines of his
powerful chest. His hair, by contrast, was rumpled, as though he had run his
hands though it. But instead of making him look untidy it made him look
vigorous and vital. His face, catching the shadows created by the candles, was
sharply contoured, and where his cheekbones caught the light they glowed.

He turned as
she walked into the room, but there was nothing burning in his gaze. Instead it
was cool.

His apparent
indifference hurt her. Despite the fact she had refused his hand she found she
could not be indifferent to him. It was not simply because she was attracted to
him, it was because of the way she felt in his company - truly alive.

But she must
quell such unruly feelings. Because having given her a cold nod he turned his
attention back to the young lady he was talking to, and to make things ten
times worse, that young lady was Miss Serena Quentin.

Rebecca had
met Miss Quentin at a number of the recent dinner parties and she did not like
the coquettish blonde, who had a hard, ruthless streak - but then, Rebecca
reminded herself, so did Joshua.

Rebecca
averted her gaze, but not before she noticed that Joshua was apparently
enjoying Miss Quentin’s bold sallies.

Rebecca forced
herself to give her attention back to Mrs Camberwell.

‘ . . . Mr
Willingham,’ finished Mrs Camberwell.

Rebecca
managed a polite smile as Mr Willingham bent over her hand.

‘We meet again,’
he said.

‘Yes, indeed,’
said Rebecca.

‘You have
already met?’ asked Mrs Camberwell in surprise.

‘I had the
pleasure of meeting Miss Foster this afternoon, outside the Exchange Hall,’
said Mr Willingham. ‘I was with Mr and Mrs Renwick,’ he explained. ‘We repaired
to the library and partook of some ices.’ He gave his attention back to
Rebecca. ‘I may be allowed to sit next to you, I hope, when the music begins?’

Rebecca said
that he might.

As the
musicians set up their music stands he began to tell her all about the
excellent concerts that were held in
Manchester
.

‘I wouldn’t
want you to think the mills are the sum total of the city,’ he said. ‘We are as
cultured as our fellows in
London
, I hope. Concerts in the Cornmarket are a regular feature of
life in
Manchester
.’

Rebecca
answered him politely, but couldn’t help her eyes once again drifting to
Joshua. Was he really finding Miss Quentin so diverting? she wondered, as he
smiled again at something the young lady said.

As Rebecca
talked to Mr Willingham about her impressions of
Manchester
, Mrs Camberwell drew Edward, her
brother, aside.

‘I want you to
pay particular attention to Rebecca this evening, Edward,’ she said to him in
an undertone.

Edward looked
mildly surprised.

‘She seems to
be getting on very well with Willingham,’ he said. ‘He’s a very wealthy
gentleman, and a man of some influence in
Manchester
. I thought you would be keen to
promote the match.’

‘Willingham?
Nonsense! Rebecca was made for Joshua.’

Edward glanced
at Joshua. ‘I hate to contradict you, Emily, but his interests lie in another
direction. He seems to be very taken with Miss Quentin.’

‘Serena
Quentin is a scheming hussy who wants to add him to her list of conquests. But
Joshua has too much sense to be taken in by her. He is simply passing the time.’

‘He seems to
find it a very pleasant way of doing so.’

‘Nonsense,’
declared Mrs Camberwell. ‘Didn’t you see the look on his face when Willingham
kissed Rebecca’s hand? He looked as if he’d like to strangle the man with his
bare hands.’

‘Really,
Emily,’ said Edward, but without any hope of changing his sister, or of
encouraging her to use less dramatic turns of phrase.

‘Which is why
I want you to pay attention to her,’ said Emily.

‘Why?’ he
asked her innocently. ‘So that Joshua can strangle
me
with his bare
hands?’

‘Nonsense!’
said Emily in exasperation. ‘Of course not! So that he’ll be jealous, of
course.’

‘I cannot see
the point of making him jealous, when Rebecca, too, is clearly interested
elsewhere. She is looking avidly at Mr Willingham,’ he protested mildly.

‘Only because
she has impeccable manners and therefore looks at him when he is talking to
her. But the second he looks away from her, her eyes go straight to Joshua.
There is evidently some bad blood between them but they are finding it
difficult to keep their eyes off each other. See!’ she declared triumphantly,
as Mr Willingham helped himself to a drink from a tray carried round by a
waiter and Rebecca’s glance went at once to Joshua. ‘What did I tell you!’

Unaware of Mrs
Camberwell’s well-meaning interference, Rebecca continued to talk politely to
Mr Willingham, whilst wishing he would betake himself off to one of the other
young ladies who glided round the room. However, he seemed to want nothing
better than to stay by her side - as Miss Quentin seemed to want nothing better
than to stay by Joshua’s side.

Serena was
teasing him about something, that much was obvious, and the harder Rebecca
tried not to take any notice of it the more the conversation seemed to reach
her ears.

‘Do let me!’
Miss Quentin was saying laughingly, tugging at Joshua’s hand. ‘It is such a
pretty ring, and would look so lovely on my finger.’

Rebecca
realized with a sinking feeling that Miss Quentin wanted to try on Joshua’s
signet ring, the one that had been left to him by her grandfather.

Joshua
evidently shared her feelings on the subject, however, for his voice, deep and
masculine, carried towards her across the room. ‘No.’

Rebecca
glanced in his direction and saw him put his hand down firmly by his side. Miss
Quentin pouted, but he remained unmoved. ‘I will allow no one else to wear that
particular ring,’ he said.

‘Not even your
future bride?’ asked Miss Quentin, looking up at him with a sideways glance.

Joshua
laughed. ‘For my future bride I will make an exception,’ he said. A moment
later dashing her hopes by adding with a sardonic smile, ‘But not for you.’

Miss Quentin
pouted, but Joshua was impervious to her coquettish ways and making her a
mocking bow he left her side.

Rebecca
hastily turned her attention back to Mr Willingham, who was exhorting her to
choose a seat for the concert.

As the music
began, Rebecca thought that the one bright spot of the evening was that Louisa
appeared to be having an enjoyable time. The gentle spinster’s face glowed and
she looked much younger than her five-and-forty years. Edward Sidders had
noticed it, too, if the animation of his conversation was anything to go by,
and Rebecca was glad. It was time Cousin Louisa had some fun.

Then she gave
her attention to the music. The lady harpist’s fingers flew over the strings,
and the time passed most agreeably until supper

‘Ah! Here is
Joshua,’ said Louisa, as she and Edward joined Rebecca. ‘He has come to take
you into supper.’

Joshua had not
come to do any such thing, of that Rebecca was sure. But Louisa’s spontaneous
words left him with no alternative and he murmured, ‘Delighted.’

Mr Willingham,
robbed of his chance to escort Rebecca, made his excuses and then left them,
for which Rebecca would have been grateful if it had not meant that she had to
go in to supper with Joshua.

She had found
his heat and passion difficult to cope with. She was finding his coldness far
worse.

‘I told
Rebecca we would see you here,’ said Louisa happily. ‘I hoped to see you
sooner, but I dare say you have been busy with the mill.’

Joshua
responded warmly, and Rebecca was pleased to see that, although his attitude to
her was distinctly cool, his manner with Louisa was friendly and unrestrained.

And yet it
made her realize that this was yet another feature of his personality which
drew her to Joshua - his kindness to those so much weaker than himself.

Her feelings
were becoming confused again, she realized. Given that he had offered her his
hand for the sake of her reputation she was not sorry she had refused it. But
yet the thought of his never offering it to her again made her feel very low.

It was all too
difficult. She was not used to such conflicting emotions, and she found them
most uncomfortable. But then, wasn’t that what love was all about?

Love! What
nonsense. In love with Joshua? What an idea! She was perplexed by him. Angered.
Confused. Provoked. But in love with him?

Never.

‘But come!’
said Louisa, rescuing Rebecca from her thoughts. ‘We must go into supper, and
you can tell us all about it.’

Joshua made
Rebecca a stiff bow and offered her his arm. She placed her hand on it, letting
her fingertips barely graze it, and they went into supper.

‘You must be
delighted to be running the mill at last,’ said Louisa. ‘I know how interested
you were in it, and how you spent a great deal of time with Jebadiah whilst he
taught you all about it. What a long time ago that seems.’

‘I am
delighted,’ Joshua agreed, scarcely looking at Rebecca as he took his place at
the table.

‘Fancy
Jebadiah leaving half of the mill to Rebecca! Stocks and bonds, these are what
most people would have left, but not Jebadiah! He was an eccentric old man, to
be sure. But Rebecca has always been so clever, and Jebadiah liked clever
women. Our grandmother had a keen mind. So I suppose it is no wonder, after
all.’ She beamed at them both. ‘And when are you going to show her round the
mill?’ she asked.

Rebecca
glanced at Joshua. He glanced at her at the same moment and their eyes met. He
looked away.

Rebecca had a
momentary wish that she had never expressed an interest in the mill; that she
had said from the outset that she wanted nothing to do with it; because
becoming involved in the mill would mean spending time with Joshua, and despite
the fact that she did not love him, she felt a strange connection to him which
was making it difficult for her to be in his company.

A moment later
she chided herself for cowardice.

Of course she
must take an interest in the mill. She owed it to her grandfather. And besides,
she was interested, and felt she had a part to play. If she found it difficult
to be in Joshua’s company, that was simply a misfortune she would have to bear.

‘Perhaps we
can set a date for my visit to the mill tonight,’ she said, as they sat down to
a varied selection of appetizing food. ‘Now that I am in
Manchester
I would like to see round
it as soon as possible.’