The Heart is Torn (4 page)

‘I am sorry, Adam, for my preoccupation, but I am sorely worried about my father. His drinking has worsened these past few months. He has no time or inclination for business, and I fear that everything he has gained is about to come crashing down around his ears.’

‘I gathered something of the truth from Nick when I saw him on the coach last night. He explained that all was not well with your father’s business. He’d been to London in an attempt to raise money, and failed. Leave me to look into it, dear Beth. If I can help your father at all then it shall be done. I cannot have you looking as if your last hour had come. This should be the happiest day of your life. Your ship has come home, but you’re looking as if it went down with all hands. Come now, cheer up. I’ve brought you a chest full of treasures, and, as soon as
Seagull
gets in from Falmouth, you will see the evidence of the extent of my love for you.’

Beth smiled, reassured by his confident words, but her heart was heavy, and, when they alighted from the coach in the little market square, the first person she saw was Jonah Peake, holding the reins of his restless stallion and talking very seriously with a sullen Martin Cresse. She glanced quickly at Adam’s harshly-set face and saw that he had spotted the two men and was eyeing them intently.

‘Is there going to be trouble, Adam?’ Beth demanded, and he laughed and relaxed, shaking his head.

‘None,’ he replied gently, then added harshly, ‘unless it is thrust upon us. There will have to be an accounting for the attempted mutiny on
Seagull
, and if Peake did arrange it then he will be held to answer for his actions. But I doubt if he can be called to justice. With men like Martin Cresse serving him, he can hold himself clear of responsibility. But we will test his mettle, and if he does not suspect that we doubt him then we might just learn what we need to know.’

‘That means there will be trouble,’ Beth said worriedly.

‘If it does, you will not be affected, Beth. I shall see to it that your family does not suffer. Now put that business out of your mind. You have much to think about our future together. We have waited too long as it is, and I am impatient to set our plans in motion. Put your mind at rest and come along and let me get my business over with. Then we shall be free to follow our own plans. I have much to tell you about my voyage.’

4

Beth was surprised by the change in the weather since her earlier visit to Polgarron. Now the wind was blowing hard from the south-east and heavy grey clouds were piling in across the Channel, warning of the first of the autumn storms that could wreak havoc upon the Cornish coast.

The town looked bleak and unwelcoming as rain splashed across the sloping terraces of huddled roofs and half-concealed the square tower of the church. Adam led Beth into the doorway of a tavern for shelter and they watched the rain driving furiously upon the cobblestones. Beth looked at the forest of masts marking the sanctuary of the port and shivered as she imagined what it must have been like for Adam, ploughing across the watery wastes of the big ocean. But now he was here, safe from the dangers of the sea. She sighed and leaned against him.

Adam looked down into her face, smiling, and his left arm slid around her shoulders. She gasped at the intensity of her feelings, aware that she was small and defenceless in this brutal world while Adam stood square and solid. And yet she was compelled by blood and family to obey her father’s wishes, even to marrying Jonah Peake, if that was the only way to save the Farrell family from scandal and disaster. But she knew she would not have the strength of will, or the inclination, to withdraw from Adam. She shivered and tried to quell her thoughts. Adam drew her closer.

‘Are you cold, Beth?’ he enquired. ‘I could leave you here while I attend to my business, and come back for you later when I’m free.’

‘I’m all right.’

She leaned into his embrace as Martin Cresse walked by, and trembled when Cresse bestowed a spiteful sideways glance at her in passing.

‘I expect to meet someone here from Falmouth for a report on
Seagull’s
condition,’ Adam said. ‘I did not stay a moment longer in Falmouth than I was forced. Normally I would have attended the ship’s business before embarking on personal matters, but I am only human, and I needed to get to you. I have missed you, sweet Beth.’

‘These are troubled times, Adam,’ she said in a low tone, searching for the words with which to explain what she felt and what might be.

But she could not bring herself to say what was uppermost in her mind, for she would wipe out his happiness at a stroke, and probably set him off on a course that would spell disaster for all of them.

‘Trouble, if faced, can be warded off.’

He frowned, gazing speculatively after the big figure of Martin Cresse as the man hurried to get under cover from the rain.

‘I have never liked Cresse,’ he mused. ‘And he gave you some odd looks when we passed him and Peake back there. Is Cresse still working those poor acres he calls a farm?’

‘The place stands untended year in and year out. There is talk these days that Cresse works for Peake.’

‘Doing what? Peake has an interest in many things, and, I suspect, not all of them honest,’ Adam said softly, but his tone was harsh. ‘There is only one business in these parts that embraces men of all kinds, and pays a great deal more than honest toil. You know what that is, Beth?’

‘Smuggling!’ she whispered.

‘Never say that word aloud outside your own home,’ he cautioned.

His eyes were narrowed and glinting.

‘You are aware what happens if folk get too inquisitive or talk too much about other folk’s business. Murder has been committed many times in defence of smuggling. It is a way of life along the coast, and seafaring men are only human in these poverty-stricken times.’

‘I was only telling you what Cresse is doing these days,’ she whispered.

‘I suspect he’s always been inclined to lawlessness.’

‘And now he’s always talking with Jonah Peake. But surely Peake isn’t involved in smuggling! He’s the town mayor, and a magistrate. Shouldn’t he be above that sort of thing and set a fine example for others to follow?’

‘I’ll wager Peake, as a magistrate, has never convicted a known smuggler!’ Adam laughed softly. ‘He would fear for his own skin if he did, and, in any case, the customs’ men would never find anyone to give evidence against a contraband runner.’

‘Are the Trahernes involved in smuggling?’

Beth looked searchingly into his face. Adam regarded her for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.

‘We were always too busy building up an honest business, Beth, and that’s the truth.’

‘I believe you. But what can you do if Peake is a smuggler, and did cause the mutiny on your ship? Could you fight him and win?’

‘I’ll get to the bottom of that business, and if Peake is involved then he’ll pay for it. But how to get at him is another matter. I’ll wager there isn’t a fisherman along this coast that hasn’t run a cargo at sometime to eke out his lawful income, or a farmer, smarting from the Government’s harsh tax on the export of wool, who hasn’t hauled his bales to the Continent in order to feed and clothe his children. The whole countryside is with the smugglers, from the richest to the poorest, all bound together by their code of silence. But if Peake is responsible for my trouble I’ll find someone willing to inform against him.’

Beth nodded quickly, chilled by Adam’s words as much as by the driving rain that half-froze the air. They had taken shelter in a doorway, but the heavy shower ceased as abruptly as it had started, and Adam drew Beth out of their shelter, holding her close to his side. She was filled with a sense of foreboding as they picked their way through the puddles, aware of the hostility that was never far from the surface of everyday life in Polgarron.

‘Thomas,’ Adam called, and a tall man, dressed as a seaman, paused in the act of entering an alehouse and glanced over his shoulder at them.

He nodded when he saw Adam, and came towards them briskly, his face set in grim lines.

‘Captain, I’ve got bad news,’ he greeted. ‘A band of men boarded
Seagull
last night and tried to take her over. We were hard put to beat them, but saw them off in the end, although they killed Tredgett and William.’

Adam’s expression hardened at the news, and Beth experienced a cold thrill as she imagined what had occurred. She watched Adam’s face, fascinated by the knowledge that he held the power of life and death over his crew and the men opposing them.

‘So we were right to take precautions,’ he observed.

‘Aye, Captain. There are some dogs on the shore who plan to steal your profits. But we have their measure and they won’t catch us napping. I’m returning to Falmouth within the hour. Have you fresh orders for the crew?’

Adam looked down into Beth’s taut face, shaking his head and sighing.

‘It looks as if the fates are against us at the moment, Beth,’ he said. ‘You’d better return to the coach and go back to Sedge Manor. I have to sort out this business in Falmouth, but I’ll come straight back to you the minute I’m able. I’m sorry for this, but there is nothing I can do.’

‘Your ship comes first,’ Beth said firmly. ‘I’ve waited three years for you, Adam, and a few days longer won’t be a great hardship now that I know you’re safe. But please, take care.’

He kissed her lightly on the cheek. ‘Shall I walk you back to the coach?’

‘No. You do what you have to. I’ll be waiting at Sedge Manor for you.’

‘Tell the coachman to return for me after he’s dropped you off, Beth.’

Adam grasped the seaman’s arm and strode off along the street with him, their heads close together, and Beth watched until they entered an alehouse, her disappointment complete and a niggling fear rising in her breast.

She began walking back along the street to where they had left the coach, and had barely covered twenty yards of the muddy thoroughfare when Martin Cresse appeared at her side like a black shadow. She started nervously at the sight of him, and he grinned.

‘You should be nervous, mistress,’ he said heavily. ‘Jonah is not pleased with the way you are reacting. If you think the Trahernes can save you you’d better start thinking again. It’s time you heeded the warnings I’ve been giving you. If you want to save your father from what’s facing him then you should start doing as you’re told. There’s much going on in the background that you know nothing about, and although you don’t believe me, I’m only trying to save you trouble. I’m about the only friend you have, believe it or not, and soon you’ll be needing all the help you can get. Don’t make the mistake of relying on the Trahernes. They can’t help you.’

Before Beth could reply, Cresse lengthened his stride and departed, and she gazed after his powerful figure, filled with a coldness that had nothing to do with the weather. Her steps faltered as she considered, and she was relieved when she saw the Traherne coach and found the coachman sitting inside. Her relief swelled when she was conveyed out of town, but her happiness at seeing Adam again had vanished completely.

Rain was slanting down again, and Beth gazed worriedly out over the Channel as the coach jolted along the cliff road to Sedge Manor. The sea was rising, the roar of the waves and the wind growing louder.

The branches of the trees surrounding Sedge Manor were whipping and waving furiously in the grip of the tenacious wind howling across the Channel. As she alighted from the coach, Beth instructed the coachman to return to Polgarron and wait for Adam. She felt reluctant to face her father, but entered the house quickly to get out of the storm.

Her brother, Nick, was in the library, seated by a roaring fire, and he looked up at her entrance and watched her silently as she advanced towards him. She met his gaze, and saw nothing but trouble in his expression.

‘Where’s Father?’ she asked.

‘He’s gone for a ride. The stallion needs exercise. At least, that was Father’s excuse. Jeremy Traherne was on the point of leaving when I came home, and there was some bitterness in their conversation. I couldn’t catch the drift of what they were discussing because they both shut up the instant they saw me, but Father was angry. I managed a few words with him before he set out, and he had a look of desperation about him.’

‘In which direction did he ride?’ Beth asked, instantly alarmed. ‘You shouldn’t have let him ride off alone, Nick. He’s in a poor state of mind.’

‘I couldn’t stop him! And I certainly wasn’t going to ride with him in that weather. Only a maniac would willingly go out in such a storm.’

‘Where did he go? Do you know?’

‘He looked to be riding towards Needle Point, and you should be worried because it’s all your fault. You hurt him badly by refusing to marry Peake. You’re the only one who can help the family now. You’ve got to see sense.’

‘I don’t want to talk about it now,’ she responded. ‘Can I borrow your horse? I left my mare at Traherne Court when I went with Adam in the coach to Polgarron.’

‘Jeremy brought your mare back. It’s in the stable. I’ll need my horse. I’m going out again shortly. I saw Jonah Peake in town earlier. He offered me a job and I’ve decided to take it. I need to get on his right side if we’re going to lose the estate to him.’

‘You would work for Peake?’ Beth was shocked. ‘How could you, Nick? Adam offered you a job last night and you turned him down.’

‘Don’t go on about it, Beth,’ he said wearily. ‘I’ve got to look out for myself, for you’ll surely do the same. We’ve got to be sensible about this. Father has ruined us all, and we have to save what we can. The Farrell family is facing a crash, and if we don’t protect our own interests then we’ll go down with Father.’

‘You’re deserting the ship like a rat!’ she accused. ‘Did you tell Father about your plans?’

‘I didn’t get the chance to,’ he responded.

‘I’ll talk to you again when I’ve found Father.’

Beth turned and departed hurriedly. She went to the stable, fetched her mare, and rode out on the cliff path towards Needle Point, a local landmark on the eastern edge of Polgarron Bay. The mare was buffeted by the gale, and staggered when the more powerful gusts struck her. Visibility was poor. But Beth ignored the discomfort and went on, afraid for her father.

Presently a riderless horse came galloping towards her from along the cliff, and she recognised her father’s black stallion as it passed her. Stabbed with fear, she stood up in the stirrups, peering ahead for sight of her father. She rode on, tense, worried, and eventually sighted a figure sprawling inertly on the short grass of the cliff top. She reined in beside it and dismounted quickly, aware that it was her father, and Henry Farrell was unconscious.

Beth trailed her reins and dropped to her knees beside her father, but was unable to rouse him. He seemed to be deeply unconscious. She sat back on her heels and looked around, the wind howling incessantly in her ears. Then she saw a small figure coming towards her, riding a young horse, and recognised the stable boy.

‘Master Nick sent me to keep you company, mistress,’ the boy said, sliding out of the saddle and crouching at Beth’s side. ‘Is the master hurt?’

‘You’d better ride back to the stable and tell Tom to bring a cart,’ Beth instructed him. ‘Can you do that?’

‘Yes, I’ll be as quick as I can.’

He swarmed into the saddle of his horse and turned it, urging the animal back the way it had come. Beth gazed after him until he disappeared into the shadows. The wind tugged at her, almost overbalancing her with its power. She checked her father again. There didn’t seem to be any bones broken, and no signs of injury anywhere on his head, yet he was still unconscious.