Kingdom's Dream (3 page)

‘Don't worry, Papa, I'll always love you – and don't forget you still have good friends.' She paused and there was an edge to her voice when she spoke again. ‘You'll always have Llinos Mainwaring to keep you company, won't you? You still love her – you've always loved her, even when she disgraced herself so badly. If she hadn't been married to the foreigner you'd have married her like a shot.'

‘Llinos is a good friend and I won't hear a word against her,' Eynon said sharply.

‘All right, Papa. We won't talk about it any more. But you must promise you will be polite to Dafydd. I'm always nice to Llinos, aren't I?'

‘Yes, Jayne, I'll grant you that.'

Suddenly they heard a carriage drive through the gates and went to the window. ‘Here's Llinos now!' Eynon exclaimed.

‘Talk of the devil!' Jayne had come to his side. ‘Mrs Mainwaring and her bastard offspring, no less.'

Eynon caught his daughter by the shoulders. ‘Jayne!' he said sharply. ‘You aren't being polite about her now, are you?'

Jayne twisted out of his grip as the front-door bell echoed through the house. Eynon heard the maid's voice in the hall and his heart leaped in anticipation. Even after all these years, Llinos's presence still had the power to stir him.

She came into the room like a breath of fresh air, leading her son by the hand. She was flushed from the sunshine, her eyes were glowing and her hair, soft and silky, was shaped into a bun on her slender neck. She was still as lovely as the day he had first set eyes on her.

‘Llinos! How delightful.'

‘I'm sorry to arrive unannounced,' she said breathlessly. ‘It's such a beautiful day that I couldn't stay in the house. I hope you don't mind.'

‘Of course not. Sit down, the maid will bring us refreshments.' He glanced at his daughter. ‘Take Sion into the garden, Jayne, and show him the changes we are making.' It still hurt him to look at the boy. Dark and strong-featured, the image of his father. God damn Buchan! Eynon wondered briefly how Llinos's husband coped every day with the tangible evidence of his wife's infidelity.

‘Don't let him be a trouble to you.' Llinos kissed Jayne's cheek.

After a brief pause, Jayne looked at Sion and smiled. ‘Come on, let's go out and leave these old dears alone.' She halted in the doorway. ‘I know you want to talk about me, Father, but it won't do any good, you know. My mind is made up.' Then she left the room, and Sion followed her, anxious to be out in the sunshine.

‘Forgive her forthrightness but my daughter can be a little wayward.' Eynon grimaced.

‘There is no need to apologize,' Llinos said. ‘A great many people are sharp with me now.'

‘Oh, Llinos,' Eynon said softly, ‘I can't bear anyone to hurt you, and it's time my daughter learned to be more tolerant.'

Llinos smiled. ‘Jayne can wrap you around her little finger with no trouble,' she said.

Eynon watched as Llinos settled her full skirts around her dainty ankles. Her waist was as trim as a girl's and her breasts rounded and womanly. Even now Eynon lusted for her. He cleared his throat. ‘I have something to tell you.' This was going to be difficult. ‘Jayne is talking about an engagement.' He released his breath sharply. ‘She thinks she's in love with Dafydd Buchan.'

Llinos pressed her hands together and looked up at him. ‘So she wants to marry Dafydd? Well, he's very rich, and a good man into the bargain. She could do worse.' Her eyes glistened with unshed tears and her soft lips trembled. ‘Don't worry about my feelings, Eynon. Dafydd was bound to marry sooner or later.'

‘You still care for him, then?' He could scarcely believe that after all the man had put her through she still wanted him. The idea made him feel angry and sick.

‘He's the father of my child and will always have a special place in my . . .' she hesitated ‘ . . . in my affections.'

‘I'll never understand women.' Eynon shook his head. ‘And I'll never understand Joe's forbearance.'

‘Perhaps he has a more forgiving heart than you, Eynon,' Llinos said softly. ‘Anyway, it's a case of “let he who has never sinned cast the first stone”, isn't it?'

Eynon could find no answer and thrust his hands into his pockets. ‘It hurts that you allowed Dafydd Buchan into your bed and always denied me,' he said at last.

‘So it's your pride that's hurt, then, is it?' Llinos asked. ‘Eynon, can't you see that a woman is ruled by her heart while a man is ruled by lust?'

‘That's not true! Llinos, my love for you has always been pure. Have I ever tried to make you betray your wedding vows?'

‘No, you're a true gentleman, my dear friend.'

‘And that makes Buchan anything but a gentleman, and I'm supposed to agree to him marrying my daughter.'

‘Eynon!' Llinos got to her feet abruptly. ‘Jayne is a woman now and she has feelings – strong feelings. She must love Dafydd very much to set herself against you.' She rested her hand on his arm and he resisted the temptation to pull her close. ‘No man has an unblemished reputation. You know that from your own experiences with Jayne's mother, don't you?'

‘I was a very young man when I met her.' He knew his protest was weak. ‘I never loved her, but I married her when I learned she was expecting my child.'

‘You were tempted by a beautiful, willing woman and you succumbed. No one would blame you for that.'

‘At least I was free to marry, which was more than you were when you bedded Buchan.' He watched as she made her way to the door. ‘Llinos, I'm sorry.'

‘I have to go, Eynon, I have no part in any of this. It is no concern of mine who your daughter marries.'

Eynon followed her into the hall. ‘Please, Llinos, don't go like this. Stay and talk, drink tea with me. I didn't mean to upset you.'

‘Well, you have upset me.' Llinos was taking her gloves from the maid. ‘I am upset that you still choose to judge me.' She looked up in his face and Eynon felt his love for her melt his heart. ‘You are my dear friend, Eynon, and no man or woman will ever take your place, but there is a limit to what I will accept from you.'

He watched helplessly as she slipped her arms into her light coat. ‘I'm sorry, Llinos. I was carried away with anger against Buchan and I took it out on you. Say you forgive me.'

‘I'll consider it.' Her lips were trembling.

‘You'll come to see me again, soon?' he asked pleadingly.

He stood by the open front door with her and watched as she sent the maid to fetch her son. Damn Buchan! One way or another the man was ruining Eynon's life and he could not be allowed to get away with it.

CHAPTER TWO

Bull Beynon stood looking at the scene around him with frustration. The work was going too slowly – the railway line from Landore into Swansea was only half finished and the navvies were restless. If the job was to be finished in time for the grand opening next year, the supply of new equipment must be improved.

Further along the track, the navvies were setting up their temporary huts for the last leg of laying the tracks that would carry the iron monsters a few more miles into the heart of Swansea town.

Bull caught sight of a girl with bright hair and recognized her. His heartbeat quickened. ‘Miss Cullen!' he called.

She stopped walking and hitched her large bag on to her other arm. ‘Mr Beynon,' she said breathlessly, and glanced around her as if she had a mind to run away.

‘I don't mean to be forward, Miss Cullen, but I want to apologize again for the men. They won't bother you now, you can be sure of it.' He seemed to be rushing his words. ‘Are you well again after your accident?'

‘I'm very well, thank you,' she looked away shyly, ‘and you were kind to stand up to them the way you did.' She glanced up at him. ‘One good thing to come out of it all is that Mr Morton-Edwards gave me a job at the Big House and I'm settled there now. I've just been fetching some of my things from Greenhill.'

His eyes were a warm blue as they looked into hers. ‘Can I help you with that?'

‘No, thank you. I've got to get used to managing because Cook's put me in charge of the shopping.'

Bull folded his big arms across his chest. ‘Mr Morton-Edwards has a fine reputation and I know he'll take care of you.'

Katie smiled then and her whole face lit up. She was like a flower touched by the sun. ‘He's a good master to work for.' She seemed more at ease as she put her bag on the ground. Bull resisted the urge to pick it up – it looked far too heavy for a small girl like Katie.

‘And I'm sure you will make a good maid.' He watched, enchanted, as the colour came into her cheeks. She was so pretty, so dainty, and he wanted to put a protective arm around her slim shoulders. ‘I wonder if . . .' Was it too soon to ask her to come out with him? ‘I wonder if I can call on you sometime.'

She picked up her bag hastily, covered in confusion, and Bull cursed his clumsiness, but as Katie began to walk uphill he fell into step beside her. She glanced at him then quickly looked away. ‘I'll have to see what the master thinks about gentlemen callers.' She stopped and faced him. ‘I shouldn't be taking you away from your work – I don't want you to get into trouble.'

Bull was touched by her concern. ‘As foreman I have some privileges,' he said, ‘and I don't often abuse them. Would you mind if I walked with you a little while, then?'

‘That would be nice. But you'd better not come right to the house in case Mr Morton-Edwards don't like it.'

As Bull walked along beside her he was very aware of how he towered over her. She aroused within him his protective instincts. He wanted to hold her and keep her close to him. ‘Can I meet you later?' he asked humbly. He was in charge of hundreds of men yet he was behaving like a gauche child.

‘I'll try to pop out into the garden round the back of the house when the master's having supper.'

Bull felt jubilant. ‘I'll look out for you later, then.' He watched her walk across the stretch of muddy lawn and disappear into the Big House. Then he leaned against the wall, as excited as a boy waiting for his first love. He had made progress. He smiled and looked up at the sky: the day was brightening.

Katie stood in the kitchen of the Morton-Edwards house and gazed around her. The table was scrubbed clean and the fire burned brightly in the huge fireplace. She was lucky to get a position in such a fine house.

‘Well, put the bag down, girl,' Cook said, ‘and count yourself lucky that the master isn't a stickler for time. You've been an age doing that little bit of shopping. Did you fetch the carrots I asked for?'

‘Yes, Cook, and some of my clothes from Greenhill as well. That's why I've been so long.'

Cook poured tea out of a brown china pot. ‘Come on, then, sit down. No one's going to bite you.' She smiled wryly. ‘Except perhaps Miss Jayne. She bites all of us from time to time. Right little temper on that madam.' She eased herself into her chair. ‘Your mam would have jumped at the chance to get you a good place like this, wouldn't she?'

‘I expect so.' Katie wondered briefly how she could bear to live in a strange household. Until her mother's death she had been spoiled: as a treasured only child born late to the Cullen family she had been kept at home and not forced into labour like so many of the Greenhill children.

‘Well, you'll find things strange at first,' Cook said, ‘but you look the sort of girl who'll soon settle in. You're going to be an upstairs maid, lucky girl. Got your own room, haven't you? The master must like you. He's as good as gold, bless him.' Cook refilled her cup but did not offer Katie more. ‘Shows us a bit of
chwarae teg,
you know, fair play. If we do our jobs well enough, he leaves us alone.'

As Katie put down her cup Cook looked at her impatiently. ‘Right, then, we'd better get sorted out. I'm Mrs Grinter but mostly I'm just called Cook. That little scamp doing the veg is Lottie, and Becky does the floors and such.'

The other maids glanced at Katie and nodded. Cook tapped her arm. ‘Go on, then, girl, and get your room sorted out, because after that you're going to do a bit of work.' She half smiled. ‘Nothing too hard, mind! You'll start by dusting the lamps in the bedrooms. Go on, off with you!'

Katie made her way up the back stairs, wondering if she would be able to find her room. On the top landing she opened a door and realized at once that this was Cook's: a large nightgown was laid out on the bed and a pair of enormous slippers stood on the floor.

She found her own up another flight of stairs, high in the attic. She knew it was hers because it was bare of personal possessions. She put her bag on the floor, took out her clothes and put them in a drawer. Some time soon she would have to go back to Greenhill for the rest of her things. Then she sank onto the bed. This was to be her home now, perhaps for a long time, until she married – if she ever did get married.

Her thoughts turned to Bull and his gentle kindness. He was a giant of a man but now she knew him he did not frighten her. Did he like her – really
like
her? Surely he must think something of her to ask her to meet him again. But he might have asked out of politeness. Katie sighed. Everything in her life was changing and she could only hope it would be for the better.

‘Bull, what are you standing down here by the track for? It's starting to rain. I thought you was never coming home.' The question startled him and he turned to smile at his woman. Rhiannon had been with him during the long months of work on the Great Western lines.