Arian (22 page)

After a time she undressed and, in her petticoats, climbed beneath the blankets, feeling the warmth with a sense of relief. She moved right to the edge of the bed, keeping as much distance between herself and Gerald Simples as she could.

Slowly tiredness overcame her. She desperately needed sleep, her head ached and her body was sore and exhausted. She felt languor, sweet and soft, steal over her and then she gave herself up to the weariness that slowly overtook her and she slept.

She woke suddenly. It was dark. She felt a body against hers, strong and masculine and with a sense of horror and embarrassment she realized that in the night she must have turned towards the warmth of another human being – she was in Gerald Simples’s arms.

She tried to see him in the dark. He was breathing evenly, clearly asleep. She tried to edge away from him but he grunted and wound his arms around her waist. She knew that he was unaware of his actions, as she had been of hers. She was still so weary, so in need of rest that she relaxed. What did it matter if in the throes of sleep they held onto each other? In the morning she would make her position more than plain; she wanted none of him and, once they were home in Swansea she would seek advice on how to escape from the awful situation she had found herself in.

Her last thoughts before sleep once again claimed her were of the ceremony in the jail. It could not be legal; everything would be sorted out and it would be all right in the end but for now she simply must sleep.

In the morning she opened her eyes to find Gerald Simples looking into her face. He was only inches away from her and she had one arm flung around his broad back. For a moment she didn’t know where she was. He was smiling, his teeth white, his hair tousled across his forehead. She sometimes forgot in her dislike of him what a handsome man Simples was.

She moved sharply away from him and he smiled. ‘Good morning, Mrs Simples.’

She rolled away from him and climbed out the other side of the bed without replying. Anger poured through her, anger at herself for allowing him to get close to her.

‘Don’t make any mistake,’ she said firmly, ‘once we are home again, this sham of a marriage will prove worthless.’

‘Really?’ he said rising from the bed and standing near the windows stretching his arms. ‘What makes you think so?’

‘It was under duress,’ she said, ‘and a pretence just to get us out of the jail.’

‘Not at all,’ Gerald Simples said evenly. ‘It was a perfectly legal ceremony performed by a Father Alain, a properly ordained priest. Face it, Mrs Simples, you are my wife whether or not you like to think so.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ Arian said hotly. ‘Now get out of here while I wash and dress.’

Ignoring her, Simples drew on his trousers and moved to the wash-stand. ‘I intend to use this water and if you choose to wash, you can fetch your own water from the pump outside.’

He calmly poured the water from the jug into the basin. Arian turned away in futile anger. She listened to the sounds of his ablutions, the scrape of razor on his chin, with a sense of unreality. These were things you shared with your nearest and dearest, with your husband. But then Gerald Simples was her husband. With a sense of despair, she knew that she believed him when he said the marriage ceremony was legal.

‘You might have made me your wife in name,’ she said hot with anger, ‘but in name is all it will be! Remember that.’

He didn’t reply but continued to shave and Arian sat amongst the bedclothes staring at his broad back, hate and anger pouring through her like wine.

Later Gerald left the boarding house without a word and Arian had no means of knowing where he had gone or when he would return. He had not confided his intentions and she was quietly seething at the way he had left her alone, knowing she would be afraid to venture outside after what had happened.

She ate, with little appetite, the breakfast an aged lady dressed in black set before her. ‘Good morning,’ she ventured. ‘Did Mr Simples leave any message?’

The old lady shrugged and spoke in a torrent of French. Arian sank back in her chair, knowing it was useless – she would just have to contain herself in patience as best she could until Gerald chose to return.

The day passed slowly with Arian feeling uncomfortably in the way. What she imagined was a boarding house was little more than a cottage with a spare bedroom apparently let on occasions to passing travellers.

When she attempted to spend some time alone in her room, the old lady entered, gesticulating wildly, her eyes bright, her grey hair in wisps around her thin face. The young girl at her side was carrying a broom and a handful of old rags. The old lady spoke quickly nodding towards the bed and Arian gathered that she was in the way; the bed was to be made up and the room tidied, presumably to receive other visitors.

Arian was at a loss to understand the old lady’s questions, accompanied by excited waving of her bony hands, until the young girl intervened.

‘Are you to stay here more nights?’ she asked haltingly. ‘Madam wishes to know this.’

Arian shook her head. ‘I don’t know how long we will stay but for tonight, yes, I think so.’ The day was passing and Arian had no way of knowing the tide times. All she did know was that if Gerald Simples didn’t return soon there would be no alternative other than to stay until morning.

It was all his fault. If he didn’t think of telling her his plans, then even if they were sailing on a late tide, he would just have to pay madam for another night’s lodgings.

Supper was a simple meal of paté, crisp fresh bread and a glass of wine. Arian fumed with impatience. Gerald had been out of the house for hours now. What was he doing? If he was visiting the offices of the calf suppliers then she should have been with him. What did he think he was doing, behaving in such a high-handed manner?

In the cool of the evening she ventured outside into the cobbled courtyard, overcome with the need to leave the confining walls of the small cottage. Her mind was in a turmoil as she asked herself how she’d allowed such an absurd situation to develop. She had come to France with the best of intentions and she’d been thrown in prison, ill-treated and beaten like a common thief.

She looked down at the thick band of gold on her finger. She had allowed herself to be tricked into marriage. No, not tricked, not really, she admitted to herself – in her desperation she’d have done anything to be out of that terrible jail. Still, there had been some solitary hope in her mind that the marriage would not be legal, that somehow, once she was safely home, it could be dissolved. And yet Gerald seemed so sure they were tied together for good. She sighed in despair. This was surely some nightmare from which she’d wake.

She sat in the slant of dying sunlight and stared out across the street towards where the masts of ships rose above the rooftops. She thought longingly of home, of Stormhill, of Calvin Temple whose lips she had kissed so sweetly. She placed her hands on her hot cheeks. She was in love with Calvin Temple, an impossible dream which might just have come true but now there was an impenetrable barrier between them – her marriage to Gerald Simples.

When he returned home at last, Arian could not wait to talk to Gerald. ‘Well?’ she challenged when they were together in the small bedroom. ‘What’s been happening today while I’ve been kept prisoner here?’

He ignored her outburst and sat on the bed easing off his boots. Finally, he spoke. ‘I’ve been to see the people at the French calf company.’ He gestured impatiently. ‘Sit down and listen to me. I’ve been doing my best for both of us and I don’t need any histrionics from you.’

‘Why didn’t you take me with you then? I had as much right to speak to the suppliers as you. No, I had
more
right – the business transaction was mine.’

‘I thought after the events of the last few days, you were better kept off the streets,’ Gerald said smoothly. ‘In any case, these people feel more comfortable dealing with a man. Can’t you understand that?’

Arian subsided onto the bed. There was a lot of sense in what he said and yet anger still burned within her. ‘Go on, tell me what’s happened.’ She spoke as quietly as she could.

He sighed heavily. ‘Several firms have been bankrupted by this farce; it seems that the calf business was nothing more than a front for a shady, not to say fraudulent, deal.’

‘You mean Calvin’s money is lost? I’ve been a gullible fool, grasping at what I thought was a wonderful bargain. What an idiot!’

‘There’s worse to come,’ Gerald spoke dryly. ‘Lord Temple might well be investigated for his involvement in all this and if that’s the case he can kiss goodbye to his good name and possibly his fortune.’ Simples failed to meet her eye.

‘How can this be? Calvin had never heard of this company before. I can speak up for him.’

‘Don’t be so naïve,’ Simples lied effortlessly. ‘I’m telling you I’ve handled money in Lord Temple’s name for some time. It was the only source from which he gained any profit. He will be implicated up to his neck – he’s not the paragon of virtue you believe him to be. Lord Temple might even go to prison, unless …’

‘Unless what?’ Arian was suddenly fearful, her mouth dry as she stared into Simples’ face.

‘Unless I take the blame.’ The words fell into a silence and Arian tried to comprehend what that would mean.

‘But then
you
would go to prison,’ she said. ‘How could you bear it after seeing me in that awful place? In any case, what would you gain from it?’

‘I would be set up for life by the gratitude and money Lord Temple would shower upon me.’ He stared at her levelly. ‘And I’d probably be let off lightly as a mere pawn in the game. I’d certainly be willing to take the chance if …’ his words trailed away and Arian swallowed hard. She knew what he was going to say but she had to ask anyway.

‘If what?’ She felt her legs tremble and she bit her lip waiting for his answer.

‘If you will come to my bed.’ He watched her reactions carefully, and when she didn’t answer he spoke again.

‘I know you don’t love me but love can grow, given a chance,’ he said persuasively. ‘I would be good to you, I would treat you with respect always, you know that.’

‘But why should I give up my freedom for Calvin Temple?’ Arian asked but her voice lacked conviction.

‘I think we both know the answer to that, Airs Simples,’ he said. ‘You fancy yourself in love with him. You wish to protect him but you and he are worlds apart. It could never be but at least you can preserve his good name.’

‘I don’t know,’ Arian said. ‘How can I be sure you are telling me the truth?’

‘I’ll be taking you to see the authorities involved, people who are already conducting an investigation. Then I will ask the police to talk to you. Perhaps then you’ll be convinced I’m telling you the truth.’

Arian closed her eyes. She was so confused. Could she allow Simples to take the blame for what must have been nothing but carelessness on Calvin’s part? She couldn’t believe him guilty of anything underhand whatever Simples said. But what if he was? Could she bear to be Simples’s wife just to save Calvin from disgrace and possibly imprisonment? She tried to imagine Calvin in the dank smelly hole of a cell where she’d been put, imagined him enduring the indignities that she’d endured and she shuddered.

‘All right.’ She straightened her shoulders. ‘We’ll go to see these people and when I know you are speaking the truth, I will make my decision.’

They again spent the night in the same bed, back to back, with Arian scarcely sleeping at all. Her mind raced around like a rat in a trap. She didn’t want to be Simples’s wife, she didn’t even like him. And yet what was the giving of her body? What did it really matter? She had not ever seen virtue as something to be prized.

When she was a young girl she had given herself freely to Eddie, her first lover, and had enjoyed him shamelessly. She had even survived the attentions of Price Davies, so would giving in to Gerald Simples be so bad? At least he said he loved her and would respect her.

She knew, in her heart, there was no question to be answered. She would do anything if it meant saving Calvin from imprisonment. She didn’t for one moment believe him guilty of anything underhand. If he was in trouble over the leather company then it was all a mistake on his part – he was nothing if not honest. She curled up in the bed, her knees drawn to her chin. This could be her last night of being her own woman. Tomorrow she might have to agree to receiving Gerald Simples as a husband. She wanted to cry but tears would not come. In any case, hadn’t she learned a long time ago that tears solved nothing?

In the morning she was heavy eyed and headachy and she dressed without caring that Gerald Simples was in the room with her. What use was modesty now? She was his wife, would be his wife in fact as well as in name once their inquiries were completed, for she knew instinctively that he would prove to her all that he’d said was true.

He took her into the nearby town with a name she could not pronounce and led her to the same police building where she had been imprisoned. She shuddered as she entered the doorway and saw again the uniforms of the French police.

Gerald led her along a corridor and then they were entering an office occupied by four men. One of them looked up from behind his desk and nodded in recognition.

‘Mr Clerice, would you explain the situation regarding the French calf company to Mrs Simples?’ Gerald spoke quietly in English when they were both seated opposite the Frenchman. He inclined his head.

‘The people behind this company are in deep trouble, madame,’ the man said in a heavy accented voice. ‘They have broken many people, robbed them of their money. Some victims were so desperate they have taken their own lives. It is a dreadful business.’

‘Lord Temple, he is implicated?’ Arian asked, her mouth dry. The man toyed with the bowl of his pipe, and his eyes met hers with a gleam of something she could not quite understand.

‘It would seem that way, madame, unless there is someone else to blame for the problems.’

‘Like who?’ Arian asked, her heart pounding in her breast. The man raised his eyebrows.