Where Love Takes You (11 page)

I stayed at Middlepark until the following Spring, wishing to do right by Lina and not desert her until she was ready for me to leave. The young man, Brett, whom she had danced with at the ball, courted her and in the March, they became betrothed. It was then I knew it was time to leave Middlepark.

“Lina,”
I said to her one day when we were sat together stitching her trousseau in the drawing room.

“I
know what you are going to say,” Lina said, raising her head from her work to look at me.

“Then
I have no need to say it,” I teased her, as I always did for we were friends more than companion and charge now.

“No,
Charlotte, please speak to me. Do not tease,” she said seriously.

“You
know that the time has come for me to leave. You are a woman now and no longer in need of a companion,” I told her, as gently as I could.

“You
are right, Charlotte. You need to pursue your own life with Mr Moor, as much as you loathe Georgina.” Here she giggled for we were always talking of Jonathon’s sister although I had learned over the past months to tolerate her.

“I
am pleased you understand,” I said with relief, for I had picked my moment well.

I
saw little of Richard Roseby or his sister Verity except at dinner when I joined then as usual. I felt their problems must have resolved themselves somehow, for we were all still at Middlepark and Richard seemed more relaxed these days. I could never forgive him or Verity for trying to force me into a marriage on that misty evening in September, but as I told Jonathon, I stayed for Lina’s sake.

On
one occasion, I met George, Richard’s father, on the landing and all he said was, “My son is a foolish man.”

I
had declined Mrs Rivers’ offer of employment, but had agreed, on special occasions, to sketch a gown for her, to which suggestion she gratefully agreed.

A few days later, as Jonathon and I walked through the grounds of Redcliffe Manor, admiring the Spring flowers, we found ourselves by the lake.

“I
need to speak with you,” said Jonathon stopping and turning me to him, “and this is the very place to do it.”

“It
is our place, isn’t it,” I said, “our very special place, because this is where it all began.”

“It
is indeed, Charlotte and that is why I want to ask you here, in our special place, if you will make me the happiest of men and marry me?”

“Yes,
yes, yes!” I told him, my joy unconfined and I reached up to kiss him gently on the mouth. “Together we will bring this glorious house to its former glory,” I told him.

“You
said that one day you would describe Redcliffe Manor to me in a word,” Jonathon said. As we stood, our arms around each other, full of love for one another, I looked down toward the hauntingly beautiful home I would share with Jonathon for the rest of our lives, a place where we would love and laugh and hopefully raise a family. I looked up at the man I loved.

“It
is a jewel,” I told him, “a precious jewel for us both to treasure.”

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Design for Loving by Jenny Lane

One

Whistling to herself, Katie Mead turned the corner leading to the workshop. Refreshed from a fortnight’s holiday, she was raring to get on with designing her jewellery. The tune died on her lips, however, as she saw the white Peugeot pulled up in the courtyard. Either Jack had come into a fortune or they had an early morning visitor.

The workshop door was wide open and she dashed inside, eager to discover what was going on. ‘Jack!’

But the man rummaging through the cupboards wasn’t Jack and, in a fleeting moment, as he turned to face her, she registered that he was tall and muscular with longish fair hair framing his tanned, handsome face.

‘Who on earth are you?’ she challenged.

The man surveyed her slowly, taking in the shapely figure in jeans and sweatshirt, the clear skin and silky dark-brown hair scraped carelessly back in a scrunchie.

‘I could ask you the same, but I assume you’re Katherine Mead.’

Katie, feeling at a disadvantage, drew herself up to her full height of five feet four inches and met the piercing hazel eyes with a cold stare.

‘What if I am? You’re trespassing...Where’s Jack?’

His expression was stern and there was a determined set to his squarish jaw-line. ‘If we knew that I wouldn’t be here at all. I wondered when you’d show up, heard you were back last night.’ He extended his hand. ‘Lyall Travis. I’m staying at Mrs Mason’s.’

‘Well, that’s easy enough to check out,’ Katie told him ignoring the hand. She reached for the phone.

‘She’s away,’ he informed her. ‘Her sister was taken ill soon after my arrival, so I’m taking care of things until she gets back. I’ve moved into the flat.’

Katie glared at him, her topaz blue eyes full of disbelief. ‘She would have let me know!’

‘She didn’t want to spoil your holiday so she left a letter for you. You can always verify it; ring her at her sister’s. In the meantime, I’m afraid Jack’s cleared off and, apparently, taken most of your stuff with him.’

She gave a little laugh, ‘That’s ludicrous, Jack wouldn’t have done that.’

‘Well, I can assure you he has!’

Katie fixed him with a scathing gaze, convinced that, for some reason, he had a grudge against Jack and was doing his utmost to blacken her friend’s character.

There was a stony silence and then he said, ‘If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask Shelley?’

‘Shelley!’ Rather belatedly, Katie remembered the third member of their team. ‘Where is she?’

‘Oh, she’ll be along presently. I told her I’d take a look round, try to see what I could make of the situation.’

With an effort, Katie pulled herself together. ‘So what makes you feel you’ve to take charge of things here? How do I know Jack isn’t lying in a ditch somewhere and that you’re not the one who’s made off with all our things?’

The minute the words were out of her mouth she could have bitten her tongue, for she realised she could be dealing with an armed robber, although, somehow she didn’t feel threatened, just angry at his ridiculous accusations against Jack.

He shrugged. ‘Believe what you will. The fact remains that what I’m telling you is true. Search my car if you like, but you won’t find anything. Look, I don’t want to worry Alice Mason with all this; she’s got enough to think about at present. She’s obviously fond of Jack and treats him as if he were her own nephew.’

Katie’s mouth was dry and she swallowed. ‘Yes, well she hasn’t many relations of her own, so she was naturally over the moon when Jack turned up about ten months ago, after her late husband’s solicitor finally managed to track him down. She’ll be devastated if what you say is true. I expect it’s all a silly misunderstanding.’ But Lyall Travis looked serious enough and, for the first time she felt uncertain. ‘I suggest you take a look in the safe Miss Mead and see if your things are there.’

Her topaz eyes smouldered. ‘Oh, I wasn’t born yesterday, that must be the oldest trick in the book. What a smooth con artist you are!’

‘Please yourself,’ he told her angrily. ‘I’ve got better things to do with my time than argue with you. I’ll be outside if you need me.’

Katie locked the door behind her and went into the back room. At first glance there was no sign that anything had been disturbed. She sighed with relief as she looked through the drawers where they kept their tools and found them all intact.

On opening the cupboards a moment later, however, her worst fears were realised, for the boxes that had housed their work had been removed. Shelley had obviously discovered this already, but didn’t have the combination to the safe where Katie had stowed away a number of the more expensive pieces of jewellery for their exhibition.

Heart in mouth, she hurried over to it now and keyed in the numbers. The heavy door swung open beneath her touch and, removing one of the cases, she opened it to find just two pairs of earrings and a note from Jack. It was an I.O.U. together with the words: SORRY KATIE. I HAD NO OPTION. I HOPE YOU’LL FORGIVE ME.

In a daze, she relocked the safe and sank down on to a stool, burying her head in her hands. All she could think about was the exhibition in London in a few weeks’ time and that all their hard work had been for nothing.

As for Jack, none of it made sense. She couldn’t imagine what would have possessed him to have behaved like that. She had thought the three of them had a good working relationship, but she had obviously been mistaken. Relief surged through her, as she suddenly remembered that she had placed some of the valuable items of her silver jewellery in a safety deposit box at the bank, prior to going on holiday.

Lyall Travis was sitting on the old mounting block in the courtyard. ‘Well?’

She shook her head in bewilderment, wondering just exactly who he was and if she could trust him. ‘I don’t understand what it’s all about, but Jack seems to have let us down big time. We’re supposed to be exhibiting in London in a few weeks’ time and, like you said, he’s disappeared with most of our stock.’ She swallowed. ‘I apologise for doubting you. I don’t know how you’ve come to be involved or why. You’re not the police, are you?’

His eyes flickered. ‘No, just a concerned bystander. I told you, I’ve taken the flat in Mrs Mason’s house. Shelley came to me for help when Jack took off on Saturday. I didn’t think you’d want the police brought in, but perhaps I was wrong.’

She shook her head. ‘No, I need to work out what’s happened first.’

He jumped athletically off his perch and caught her arm. ‘Come on, let’s have some coffee and talk about this in a civilised fashion.’

It felt as though his fingers were burning into her flesh as, against her better judgement, she allowed him to lead her back into the workshop.

A few minutes later they sat at one of the workbenches sipping steaming mugs of coffee.

‘OK, so let’s discuss the situation. Jack’s let you down badly. I suppose we can assume that he intends to sell your jewellery?’

She nodded. ‘He’s probably already done so over the internet. We’ve recently got our own web site. Unfortunately, it gets worse...He’s also walked off with my supply of silver. However, looking on the brighter side, he’s left our tools and I’ve still got some of the larger pieces of jewellery, for the exhibition, on deposit in the bank.’

‘He couldn’t have taken those?’

She shook her head. ‘He didn’t know they were there. I usually keep them at home, but being away...’ An awful thought suddenly struck her. ‘Of course, he could have emptied our business account because he was a signatory! I’ll have to go to the bank and find out, and I also need to see Shelley, discover just how much of her enamel work he’s taken.’

‘Quite a bit, from what I gather. She was too upset to say much yesterday. So, without Jack you can’t go ahead with the exhibition?’

She sighed. ‘No, I’m afraid it just wouldn’t be possible. The three of us joined forces about ten months ago, and, although our work is very individual, we made a good team. We need three displays in order to satisfy the entry conditions. Jack’s a very talented potter and has obviously taken the best of his own stuff with him, as well as ours.’

Lyall Travis sat back on the stool, hands cupped round the mug of coffee, a thoughtful expression on his hand some face. He looked up. ‘Would you consider a substitute?’

Katie was startled. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, I’m a bit of an artist myself. Perhaps I could help.’

She stared at him, wondering if he were serious. ‘
You? It’s kind of you, but I don’t think paintings would fit in with our theme.’

He waved a hand at her impatiently. ‘Just hold on a minute! Let me explain what I had in mind. Ceramics, bowls, coasters, cufflinks, that sort of thing.’

Everything was happening too quickly, and suddenly Katie, still confused by the morning’s events, was full of doubts. Had she been mad to confide in this stranger?

‘Wait a minute. How do I know you’re genuine?’ she challenged and watched his face darken in sudden anger.

‘I thought we’d already had that conversation. I can provide you with references if necessary.’ He got to his feet, pushing the stool back with a clatter. ‘Think what you choose to…but, just remember one thing, you might not find anyone else who is prepared to offer help at short notice in order to bail you out of this disastrous situation!’ And, throwing Shelley’s keys on the table, he strode out of the building. Katie, aware that she’d probably jeopardised their only chance of help, wondered if she would regret her hasty words. A visit to the bank did nothing to reassure her either.

She had just returned to her cottage when Shelley arrived. ‘I’ve just heard you’re back! Oh, Katie, whatever are we going to do?’

Katie, who wasn’t at all clear on this point herself, gave her friend a hug. ‘Jack’s virtually emptied our bank account into the bargain. I just wish I knew what had possessed him.’

‘It’s all my fault,’ Shelley moaned, sinking on to the nearest chair.

‘Yours? How do you make that out?’

The girl looked distraught. ‘I saw what he did and didn’t try to stop him. He persuaded me that he needed our stuff to take up to London. Said the organisers of the exhibition wanted to know what the standard was like. Katie I’m so sorry.’

Shelley was as pretty as a picture, but rather scatty and incredibly naive. Katie hadn’t the heart to be angry with her.

‘He’s been through some of my things here too, hasn’t he, Shelley?’ she said quietly. ‘You were supposed to be keeping an eye on the house. One or two things appear to have been moved. I was so tired when I got in last night that I didn’t notice. In fact I’ve only just found Aunt Alice’s note amongst the junk mail.’

Shelley looked embarrassed. ‘He came round with me the morning he left, said you’d want him to take the best of your jewellery, along with mine, to give the right impression, and did I know where you kept it, but of course I didn’t. So he opened one or two drawers. He seemed annoyed because your bureau was locked. Katie, he seemed so different, so unlike himself, but I didn’t guess what he was going to do or I’d have tried to stop him.

Katie sighed, realising it would be useless to be cross with the girl. ‘Well, fortunately there was nothing he could get his hands on here.’

‘I’m glad Jack didn’t get those beautiful necklaces. Where are they?’

‘In the bank, of course. I wouldn’t have been so stupid as to have left them lying about the place, although in the heat of the moment I thought I had. He must have got the combination to the safe somehow. Probably by watching me and memorising it. Anyway, what about you? I suppose all your lovely enamel work has gone, too?’

Shelley’s enormous blue eyes filled with tears. ‘Most of it! What are we going to do, Katie? I can’t possibly ask my family for any more money. I’ve borrowed enough off them as it is.’

Katie patted the younger girl’s shoulder. ‘Don’t worry we’ll think of something.’ She was tempted to tell Shelley about Lyall Travis’ proposal, but didn’t want to raise her hopes until she’d thought it through properly. Anyway, he’d more than likely changed his mind by now.

‘Of course, the immediate problem is capital so that we can start building up our stock again. The bank aren’t prepared to help and, I have to tell you, it’s highly unlikely we’ll be able to claim on insurance, because Jack had his own key to the workshop. In any case, I really don’t want to involve the police in this, do you?’

Shelley shook her head, blonde curls bouncing.

Katie got to her feet. ‘Well, in the meantime, I’m going to see the Glovers and see if we can, at least, postpone paying the rent for a couple of weeks until we get back on our feet again.’

A few minutes later, Katie walked along the picturesque street towards the gift shop and tearooms, sandwiched between cottages with window boxes spilling over with Busy Lizzies and trailing Petunias. Her friend, Faye Glover, who owned the workshop premises, looked up and smiled as she opened the door. Apart from two elderly ladies lingering over an early cream tea, the place was deserted which meant Faye would have time for a chat. ‘Katie, did you have a wonderful time? Have you had lunch?’

Katie, whose mind had been on other things, shook her head. ‘I’m not hungry.’

‘Nonsense!’ Faye called out to her husband, Dylan, as he emerged from the kitchen and he disappeared again. Katie knew that if anyone could put things in perspective for her, it would be Faye. She sat on the chair opposite Katie, pushed back her mop of unruly auburn curls and said, ‘OK, so how was it?’