Fool's Gold (34 page)

She forced herself to return his smile.

‘There!’ he exclaimed triumphantly. ‘Not too painful, was it?’

Before she could answer, he had sprung lithely out of the bed, swept up his clothes and left the room to her.

That set the tone for their daily contact. Alicia, who had dreaded she knew not what changes at Tresco, found that very little had, in fact, altered.

Every day she organised the house and the feeding of the men, aided by Li and Angelina, while Kai was busy down at the riverside. The restoration of the village buildings was now almost complete and the men were gradually moving down there. The next plan was to convert the old outbuildings to store grain, although much of this year’s harvest had already been shipped on to San Francisco on the
Tresco
.

Every day she found herself growing less and less awkward with the man who had become her husband. He made no demands of her and after a while she no longer recoiled when he touched her and she could even accept it when he occasionally put his arm around her shoulders. He made it seem so natural that it would have been pointless to fuss.

The day after their marriage he had a folding screen put into the bedroom, giving her some privacy, and moved Tamsin into a small room close to theirs. A few days later he had a couch put in the dressing alcove and often slept there when he was restless. His arm, he explained. She had to admit that she had no grounds for complaint.

Weeks passed with no sign of any threat from Fisher. She could almost persuade herself that she had imagined the whole affair, except for the wedding ring on her hand.

Cornish was sitting at the window one evening, watching the sun dipping towards the peaks of the Sierras, when Tamsin came creeping down the stairs barefoot, holding the hem of her flannel nightdress up in case she tripped and looking anxiously around her.

*

The movement from the window startled her and she looked as though she were about to turn and flee.

‘What is it, Tamsin?’ he asked softly.

The child hung back. ‘Lisha said I wasn’t to bother you,’ she said anxiously.

‘I’m not busy.’ He crossed to the foot of the stairs and knelt down in front of her. ‘Tell me.’

The words came out in a rush. ‘I can’t find Beatrice anywhere! I’s frighted the wolves will get her!’ Tears stood in her eyes.

‘Ssshhh!’ he soothed her. ‘There are no wolves at Tresco. Not you nor Beatrice will come to any harm, I promise you. You’re quite safe, you and Beatrice and your — and Lisha. Come along, we’ll both go look for her.’ He took her by the hand.

They found the doll out on the
portal
where Tamsin had been playing earlier with Josefa. She clutched Beatrice to her joyfully and gave Cornish an exuberant hug.

Smiling down at the child, he caught sight of Alicia in the doorway, looking rather anxious. Forestalling her rebuke, he bent his head to speak softly to the child. ‘Don’t ever be scared to come to me for help, Tamsin,’ he said deliberately. ‘I’ll always find time for you, child.’

She looked at him with her head on one side. ‘Am I your little girl now that you’ve married Lisha?’ she demanded. ‘Josefa says I must call you Papa now, but Lisha said I wasn’t to trouble you.’

‘I’d be honoured to have you for my little girl,’ he replied gravely.

‘But — what about Chen Kai?’ she said with a wail. ‘I loves him too!’

He reached out and took her in his arms. ‘Sweetheart,’ he reassured her. ‘Chen Kai brought you up and looked after you long before I met you. I wouldn’t ever want you to forget that. We all love you. Nothing has changed. You and Chen Kai and Lisha can stay at Tresco for as long as you want and we can all be happy together. Names don’t matter!’

She seemed satisfied with that, smiling cheerfully as Cornish took her back into the house. Alicia had disappeared again, so he picked the little girl up and carried her up the stairs to the little bedroom where she now slept.

‘I s’pose I’m very lucky,’ she muttered sleepily. ‘I’ve got two sort of papas and one sort of mama. If Chen Kai married Pearl then I’d have two sort of mamas too, but she’s going to marry Li.’ She snuggled down beneath the covers with a yawn. ‘Will you sing me that Cornish song you singed me last week?’

*

The next morning Kerhouan came in with a report of broken fencing in the valley where the new Shorthorns were pastured.

Cornish swallowed his coffee hastily and rose to his feet. ‘Round up a handful of men,’ he ordered. ‘We’d best ride over straight away and see what’s about. Chen Kai, take whoever you need to finish the work in the water meadows. Up here there’s only the sweeping out of the new storehouse; Luis and Xavier can deal with that. Anyone still down in the village?’

‘Only Pearl,’ replied Alicia. ‘Mrs Chang is sorting laundry for the
agua caliente
tomorrow.’

‘Fine.’ He leaned over to ruffle Tamsin’s golden curls and looked across to Alicia. ‘Might be better if you don’t ride out today,’ he suggested mildly, ‘Stick around the ranch.’

The light died out of Alicia’s eyes and Cornish almost wished he had not spoken. ‘It’s not likely there’ll be any problems,’ he said, giving her a brief reassuring hug. ‘But best to be safe. Chen Kai will be down at the water meadows if you need help.’

‘I’ll be all right,’ she assured him. ‘Plenty to do here.’

‘Fine.’ He dropped a chaste kiss on her cheek and released his grip on her. ‘’Til this evening then.’

Luis had saddled up Ross for him and as he put his foot in the stirrup, he reflected that living with Alicia was rather like being around a nervous colt. Patience was all. If he ever lost sight of that and allowed himself to be angered or irritated, he might lose all that he had gained. He had almost made that mistake just now, when she had stood there like a statue while he longed to kiss her warmly, passionately. No, tell the truth, he rebuked himself sternly. While he longed to kiss her, undress her, take her right there and then. But there was nothing new in that. It was a long time since he had seen her and
not
wanted to do that. Up to now, thank God, he had managed to control himself, but he did not know how much longer he could stay cool and detached. Even sleeping on the couch was not distance enough from her. He still lay awake for hours on end, listening to her breathing, wondering in the still small hours of the morning whether he should not risk it all and climb in beside her, his imagination running riot and seeing her holding out her arms to him, welcoming him, wrapping him in a warm embrace. Thank God reality had always intervened before he made a fool of himself. Up to now.

He realised that Luis was watching him with interest.

‘Is it your arm, Colonel?’ he asked solicitously.

‘No, Luis,’ he laughed, shifting the reins to the fingers of the left hand, just to prove it. The arm was still encased in its leather shield, but he was able to use it quite a lot now. Chen Kai examined it regularly and had confirmed that the bones were well knitted. He had never been so free of pain or had such mobility of his fingers in all the years since the mine cave-in. The last few evenings he had even been able to dispense with the heavy leather. However, he had promised Chen Kai that for the next month, whenever he was using his arm, he would keep the shield on.

Halfway through the morning, Alicia set off down to the village, leaving Tamsin and Josefa shelling peas with Angelina in the kitchen garden. She was determined to speak to Pearl that morning even if she had to go and find her, for she had hardly slept last night for thinking about the news of her forthcoming marriage.

Not that is was entirely on Pearl’s behalf that she had lain awake every night these last few weeks. The relief she had felt when Jack had taken to sleeping on the couch had evaporated like snow in summer and she found herself these days lying awake in the cool hours before dawn remembering how comforting it had been when he had lain beside her, wishing that she could turn and he would be there, that he would take her in his arms and hold her tightly. Further than that her mind would not go, only that she wanted to feel his arms around her, feel the comfort of him holding her close, knowing that she was not alone. Lying there last night listening to his steady breathing, she knew she had to stop Pearl and Chen Kai — and Li — making the mess of their lives too.

The village was deserted. She walked along the path between the houses looking for a clue as to where Pearl was working, but she could see no dust flying, hear no brooms knocking against wooden floorboards.

At last she tracked her down in the little half-ruined church, still awaiting its new roof and open now to the blue cloudless sky. In front of the cross on the wall, where the altar table had once stood, someone had placed a pot of wild flowers and there, in the dusty shaft of sunlight, knelt Pearl, her face wet with tears, her lips moving silently in prayer.

‘I — I’m sorry, lady.’ She leapt to her feet. ‘I will get back to my work again.’

There was no tactful way to put it, so she plunged straight in. ‘Pearl, is it true that you are to marry Li?’

‘Yes lady.’ She bowed her head.

‘Why, Pearl?’

‘I am betrothed to Li.’

‘But you don’t love him!’

‘I am betrothed to Li,’ she reiterated stubbornly.

‘And you’ll wed him even though you love Chen Kai-Tsu?’ demanded Alicia scornfully.

Pearl hid her face. ‘Please — not to say such thing,’ she muttered.

‘I shall say it to Kai himself unless you can look me in the face and tell me you do
not
love him.’

Pearl looked up at her, her determination faltering. ‘I — I shall marry — Li,’ she insisted. ‘I — do not love —’ Her eyes filled with tears and she could not go on.

‘I knew it!’ Alicia exclaimed in triumph. ‘But … any betrothal would have been sufficient to save your father’s face. Why Li? Why not Chen Kai-Tsu?’

The tears spilled over and ran down her pale cheeks. ‘Chen Kai-Tsu said that I was to be betrothed to Li. And it must be so, for he paid my father’s debt and so I must do his will.’ She subsided onto one of the pews, sobbing as though her heart would break. ‘I am unworthy of Chen Kai, but even though he sent me away, I am still his servant and must do his bidding.’

‘This is folly, Pearl! He does not look at you like a servant!’

‘He sent me away, I tell you! He does not want me. He likes only women like you, who can talk and ride like a man.’

‘Pearl, listen to me,’ she insisted. ‘I have travelled with Chen Kai for five years and I know him very well, as a sister knows a brother, and the way he looks at you is not the way of a man and a servant!’

‘Then why did he turn me away?’ she demanded angrily. She raised her head. ‘I shamed myself,’ she whispered. ‘I went to his room and offered myself to him.’ She shuddered at the memory. ‘And he told me to marry Li.’

‘Oh, Pearl!’ She realised what it must have meant, to both of them. ‘It is not his way to — to take you as a payment of debt! He despises the old ways. And both he and Colonel Cornish thought you were betrothed to Li.’

Pearl looked up at her hopelessly. ‘No. I was never betrothed to anyone. My father intended me to stay at home and care for him as he grew old.’

‘You don’t have to marry Li.’

‘But my father will have demanded a dowry …’

‘Pearl, listen! Forget about dowries, forget about debts and duties! This is a free country and you don’t have to marry at all if you don’t want to.’ The irony of that statement did not escape her. ‘If Chen Kai and Li both wanted to marry you, would you choose Li?’

‘To me Li is like a young brother,’ confessed Pearl sadly.

‘Pearl, in your country marriages are arranged by go-betweens, aren’t they? Middle men?’

‘It is true.’

‘Well, I’m going to be your middle man!’ Alicia decided. ‘Now, wipe your tears. You must help Mrs Chang this afternoon, because I’m going to be very busy!’

*

When Luis heard the hoofbeats in the yard and saw Chen Kai swing out of the saddle, he sent up a silent prayer of thanks to his guardian angel. He had so almost been tempted, when he had finished sweeping out the old bunkhouse, to slip away down to the river where he knew a fine, shady pool where the salmon were jumping. Instead he had begun to put in place the rough hewn pieces of wood which would separate one storage area from another.

‘Good work.’ Chen Kai looked round him approvingly. ‘A lad does what he’s told to do, but a man does what he sees needs doing.’ Luis glowed.

‘Has the Colonel come back?’ asked Chen Kai.

‘Li thought he saw some riders coming over the bridge.’

‘Nobody came up into the yard,’ said Luis.

‘Strange. He said one of them had a badge. I’d better go check down in the village. Xavier has taken the chow down to the men, but I thought you and I could take ours down to the river and see if we can tempt some fish to join us for supper.’

Luis grinned at the prospect. Chen Kai had a skill with fish, picking one with his keen eyes and then scooping it, seemingly effortlessly, out of the pools.

He tethered Chen Kai’s horse in the stables and they made their leisurely way down towards the village.