Trade Winds (Choc Lit) (44 page)

‘You really don’t know?’ Killian raised his eyebrows in disbelief. ‘Farquhar always coveted the title of laird and the Rosyth estate. Surely you must have noticed that?’

‘Of course I did, but it was just the natural envy of a little boy who wanted what he couldn’t have. I thought he’d grown out of it. After all, he always knew you were the heir and I gave him a generous allowance for helping me run the estate.’

‘Ah, but did he grow out of it?’ Killian stared his grandfather straight in the eye. ‘Can you honestly say you made him believe I was good enough to inherit anything? Me, the half-Irish grandson who never lived up to my brothers’ memory? You didn’t even make me believe it, which is why I left.’

‘That’s nonsense. You needed to sow a few wild oats, I could understand that, but I always thought you’d come to your senses. At some point, you would have come back here to learn how to be the laird properly. By cutting you off without a penny I reckoned you’d come crawling back sooner, but either way, it was only a question of time.’

‘And be controlled by you? Never. I’m my own man. I thought I made that clear.’

‘We could have worked together,’ he said, but he knew he didn’t sound very convincing even to his own ears. He
did
have a tendency to be domineering, that was true. And the boy had always had a stubborn streak. They were very alike really, come to think of it. Too alike perhaps?

‘And all the lies Farquhar told about me? You swallowed every one,’ Killian said. ‘You even believed that story about Ruaridh’s daughter until I convinced you otherwise.’

Lord Rosyth shook his head. ‘Not all of them, no, but mostly they were corroborated by others. Can you deny you lived a life of debauchery at the card tables and in the gaming hells?’

‘I did what I had to do to survive. You can’t blame me for that when you gave me nothing.’ Killian stared into the fire, a muscle working in his jaw the only indication that he wasn’t as calm as he sounded. ‘There were times when I couldn’t afford to eat.’

‘I expected you to come to me for help. We could’ve made a deal – for you to come back here and do as I asked during part of the year in exchange for an allowance.’

‘It would never have worked.’

‘Huh, maybe not. You’re a headstrong boy.’ He contemplated this in silence for a while, then decided there was no point arguing about it further. His thoughts returned to his other grandson. ‘So you’re telling me your cousin was plotting against you all along?’ Killian nodded. ‘And that is why he followed you to China? What were you doing there?’

‘I signed on as assistant to the first supercargo on a trade journey to Canton. It was a great opportunity to learn how to be a merchant and since I’d also invested in the venture, it had the potential to make me rich. Farquhar must have found that out and set out to stop me. I suppose he didn’t want me to outshine him in your eyes.’ He smiled. ‘As if I ever could.’

‘I see. And did it?’

‘What, make me rich?’ Killian laughed wryly. ‘Yes, although my wife had something to do with it as well.’

‘You’re married?’ For some reason he was more surprised by this than any of the other things Killian had told him.

‘Yes, to Robert Fergusson’s stepdaughter, Jessamijn. I have a son too, Brice. He’ll be a year old soon.’

This was all too much for him to take in at once and he found himself gaping stupidly like a fish. ‘A son? You have a son? I never thought … When you and Farquhar both disappeared, I lost all hope the direct Kinross line would continue. Well, thank the Lord for small mercies.’

Killian snorted. ‘Small, is it? I’d say he’s a huge blessing, myself. In any case, he’s downstairs with Jess. If you like, I’ll introduce them to you before I go, but we digress. Do you wish to hear the rest or not?’

‘Yes, yes, go on.’

‘As I was saying, Farquhar somehow found out about the venture and set out after me, intent on murder if I’m not mistaken.’

‘Murder?’ Lord Rosyth drew in a sharp breath. He had always thought Farquhar too spineless to do anything that drastic. He didn’t like to think he’d been so wrong.

‘Well, he tried twice to kill my wife and son, and then he attacked me in front of witnesses. I can obtain signed statements if you want.’ Killian glared at him, obviously under the impression that his grandfather didn’t believe him.

Lord Rosyth held up a hand. ‘No, I’ll take your word for it. I just can’t quite understand it. He was always such a … coward.’ There was no other way to describe Farquhar, he had to admit.

‘I think by that point he wasn’t in his right mind. He tried to set fire to the house where my wife was staying. When that failed, he attacked her, then me. It was as if he didn’t care whether anyone saw him killing me or not. That doesn’t seem like the actions of a sane man to me.’

Lord Rosyth took another deep breath. ‘Indeed. But he didn’t succeed, obviously?’

Killian’s expression turned grim. ‘No, luck was with Jess and as for myself, I managed to best Farquhar.’ He shrugged. ‘In the end, he was taken into custody by Captain Ley, who had brought him and therefore agreed to take him back to Europe again. That was the last I saw of him.’

Lord Rosyth was quiet for a while, then cleared his throat. ‘I, er … it would seem, uhm, … I owe you an apology, Killian.’ He found it hard to say the words, but he knew they were necessary if they were to move forward. He had been in the wrong, at least about some things. He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue. ‘Can you forgive me?’

Killian looked at him as if he was gauging his grandfather’s sincerity and Lord Rosyth held his gaze. Then Killian nodded, smiled cautiously and held out his hand.

‘Very well. Truce?’ he said.

‘Yes, truce.’ Lord Rosyth took the outstretched hand in both of his and felt the strength of it. This was somehow reassuring, but it annoyed him that he should feel this way. He might be old, but he didn’t need anyone stronger to lean on. Of course he’d like to train the boy to take over one day, but he wasn’t ready to relinquish the reins quite yet.
Perhaps a little help wouldn’t come amiss, however,
he thought
. I do tire more easily these days…
‘So, do I get to meet your family?’ he snapped, covering his unexpected feelings of weakness by bristling.

Killian stood up. ‘Yes, I’ll fetch them.’

Soon after, he returned to the room followed by a pretty blonde girl carrying an infant. A wave of emotion swept over him at the sight of his great-grandson, and he had to struggle to stand up and greet Killian’s wife properly.

‘I’m very pleased to meet you,’ he murmured.

‘And I you.’ The girl smiled and curtseyed. ‘This is Brice.’ She set the sturdy toddler on the floor and he immediately pulled himself upright with the help of the nearest chair. He was blond, like his mother, but with his father’s cornflower eyes. He turned an inquisitive, fearless gaze on Lord Rosyth, who stared back.

‘Hello, little one.’ He looked at Killian. ‘Calling him Brice was an excellent choice, if I may say so.’

‘Yes, I thought you’d like that,’ Killian muttered.

‘Not because it’s Scottish,’ he said, bristling again. ‘Only because it means he’s named after a very brave young man who should never have been taken from us.’ He smiled tentatively at Killian and forced himself to admit to yet another thing he’d been wrong about. ‘But actually I think you’ll make a better laird than he would have. He had no head for figures, fighting was the only thing he ever wanted to do. You have more sense.’

‘Now he tells me,’ Killian said with an answering smile, rolling his eyes.

Jessamijn shook her head at him. ‘Behave,’ she said, and Lord Rosyth was pleased to see a look filled with love passing between Killian and his wife. He’d never thought his grandson would make a love match, but there was no doubt he had.

He sat down in his chair again and Killian did the same, putting his arm around Jessamijn’s waist and pulling her down to perch on the armrest.

‘What are your plans?’ Lord Rosyth looked at Killian and felt pride in his grandson for the first time. Definitely not a boy any longer, but a man grown, decisive and intelligent. He was exactly the sort of laird the Rosyth estate needed. ‘Will you stay here?’

‘Not permanently, no. I’m sorry, but Jess and I run a merchant business in Gothenburg. We enjoy that immensely and wouldn’t like to give it up just yet. We recently made a profit of seventy-five percent on the China venture, so I’m sure you can see it would be madness not to continue. We could spend part of the year here with you, but mostly we’ll need to be in Sweden.’

He saw the determination in Killian’s eyes and knew that even though he’d prefer it otherwise, he had to accept his grandson’s decision and be glad they wanted to spend at least some time with him.

He nodded. ‘That will have to do, I suppose,’ he said gruffly. He took the hand of the small child, who was now clambering around by holding onto his great-grandfather’s legs, and sent up a prayer of thanks to God for this gift. It was more than he deserved and he’d be forever grateful, but he didn’t need to tell his grandson that. Not yet anyway.

Two admissions in one day were more than enough already.

Author’s Note

This story is loosely based on the Swedish East India Company’s first journey to China in 1732 and I have tried to adhere to the true facts as much as possible. Since this is a novel, however, I have had to take a few liberties in order to make it a more exciting story, but the actual travelling and some of the incidents described really happened, notably the capture of the Swedish ship by the Dutch near Batavia.

The Swedish East India Company (the SOIC –
Svenska Ost Indiska Compagniet
) was formed in June 1731, although it was originally named
Henrik (Hindrich) König & Compagnie
. The first ship was called the
Friedericus Rex Sueciae
and it sailed to Canton on the dates given in this novel (leaving Gothenburg on 24th February 1732 and arriving home on 26th August 1733). Although Killian, Jessamijn and their families and friends are fictitious, Colin Campbell was the name of the first supercargo. The other supercargos and crew members named in this novel were also real people.

I have tried to portray Colin Campbell as accurately as possible, based on a journal he kept during this trip (see
“A Passage to China – Colin Campbell’s diary of the first Swedish East India Company Expedition to Canton, 1732–1733”
, Edited by Paul Hallberg and Christian Koninckx, Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg 1996, ISBN 91-85252-55-7). A Scotsman born in Edinburgh, he was about 45 years old at the time of this venture and had a wealth of experience of the East India trade. He had sailed as a supercargo to Canton before and was therefore asked to help form the Swedish OIC, of which he became one of the first directors. He decided to go along as the first supercargo to show others the way and thanks to him the venture was a success. Other SOIC ships were able to carry on the very profitable trade with China.

During the first few years of the SOIC, a lot of Scotsmen and Englishmen were employed, especially as supercargos, since they had more experience than the Swedes. Gradually this changed. To protect any foreigners who sailed with the Swedish ships, however, everyone was given Swedish nationality (as other countries were not keen on the competition). Campbell became a naturalised Swede at the same time as the first charter of the SOIC was approved in 1731 and was made the first ever Swedish envoy (Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy) to the Emperor of China. On his return, he was summoned to meet King Fredrik I in person and given a miniature of the king surrounded by diamonds as a gift. Campbell stayed on in Sweden and lived in Gothenburg until his death.

For anyone interested in learning more about the SOIC, the Gothenburg City Museum houses a collection of artefacts and much research material such as journals written by the intrepid SOIC employees. As mentioned in the Acknowledgements, I am greatly indebted to Agneta Hermansson and her staff at the Museum for their assistance in helping me to find the documents I needed and for being so kind and welcoming.

About the Author

Christina Courtenay lives in Herefordshire and is married with two children. Although born in England she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden. In her teens, the family moved to Japan where she had the opportunity to travel extensively in the Far East.