The Hungry Heart Fulfilled (The Hunger of the Heart Series Book 3) Page 7

  Dalton smiled thinly and shook his head. “But that's where you're wrong. Emer didn’t give the letter to me, nor this strange bill from Amos Chandler for a few days' worth of food and water, when thirty ships were supposed to be victualled while we were waiting for the quarantine to lift while we were all rotting aboard ship under the summer sun with scarcely a drop to eat or drink. That was you again, Father, wasn't it?"

  His father's expression proclaimed him guilty on that charge as well.

  "So you see, Father, all your lies have come home to roost, and I'm appalled at all you've done to harm the woman I love and her friends and family."

  "You would take that slut's word against your own father?" he growled, trying to look wounded.

  Dalton shook his head, and for a moment, Frederick sighed in relief, thinking he had won after all.

  Then Dalton said, "Emer never, ever said one word to refute your story. She’s done nothing but try to keep her end of the bargain, to never see me again, by chasing me away at every opportunity."

  "The better to try to reel you further in—"

  Dalton folded his ams in front of his chest, and looked so grim that his father's defense trailed away into silence.

  "The Bishop gave me the note, and thank God he did. Emer must have been in despair when you treated her so cruelly. Without his help she would have died. Emer didn’t expose you for the liar you are because she loves me too much! But your own words and actions have condemned you.

  “And before you call her greedy and grasping, just stop to think for a minute. If she had married me, she would have had a half share of everything I own! If she was so greedy, then she would have married me straight away on the ship when we had a chance to, not allowed herself to be fobbed off for only a few thousand pounds.

  "If she did take the money, it was because she was desperate, not because she was mercenary. And we can see what she did with the money, can't we? She hasn't run off to live in the lap of luxury. No, she's shown her true colors, for she has taken your blood money and set up an orphanage to help even more people."

  Frederick's brows knit, but he was determined to find fault with her no matter what. "Aye, and orphanage, to better to lure more people into parting with their cash. Or better still, it's a front for a house of ill repute, with underaged girls all—"

  "Your mind is like a cesspool, and I will not listen to another word against the woman I love, do you hear me?" Dalton barked.

  Frederick lapsed into glowering silence.

  "So here's what we're going to do, Father. I am going to see Emer now to clear up all these misunderstandings, and you're coming with me. I want the truth from both of you, and God help you if you've done all I suspect you have,” Dalton growled.

  “We can’t go now. Look how late it is! It can wait until morning,” Frederick protested.

  “No, it can’t,” Dalton insisted. “It can’t wait another minute. I already nearly lost Emer once because of you. I’m not going to rest in my bed until she knows the truth, and comes home with me here as my intended bride.”

  “If you wish to marry her, then you are no son of mine. I’ll disown you,” Frederick threatened, turning purple.

  Dalton snorted in contempt. “I never wanted your money, Father, I only ever wanted your love. But this proves to me how little you care about me, and that you're incapable of such a deep, abiding, pure emotion.

  "So mark my words, Father, if you don’t come with me now, in addition to publicly breaking off my engagement to Madeleine, I shall also tell the good people of Quebec exactly what you’ve done to that poor girl."

  "You wouldn't dare—"

  He gave his father a look that quelled him at once. "For Emer's love, I would dare anything. Get your cloak, we’re leaving now,” Dalton ordered, and went to tell the stable manager to prepare their carriage.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Adrian Lovell had worked long and hard in the fever-ridden slums throughout the day and night, doing what little he could for the many suffering souls who had fallen prey to cholera.

  He and Dalton had seen to preparations to ensure that an epidemic didn’t break out in Quebec, and he had lingered behind to see if anyone needed to be brought to the fever hospital urgently.

  After Dalton had gone home, one thin emaciated young man had beckoned him over, and asked, “That wasn’t Mr. Dalton Randall, was it?”

  “It was, son. Why do you ask?”

  “I was on the Pegasus with him last summer, and recognised him.”

  “Did you also know Emer, and Captain and Mrs. Jenkins, and Patrick Bradley?” Adrian asked.

  The boy struggled to sit up, “Oh, please, sir, are they alive? Do you know where they are?”

  “I do indeed. They're all in a big house over on the other side of town. Emer’s been looking for everyone who sailed with her, for she knows all about you being unfairly dismissed, and wants to offer you a job, and a place to live,” Adrian said reassuringly.

  “Did she end up marrying Mr. Randall then, and becoming very rich? They sure were in love with each other when they were on the ship.” Charlie smiled weakly.

  Adrian’s face fell as he listened to the boy reminiscing about their times together on the Atlantic crossing, but then recovered his composure, and declared, “Well, I can’t leave you here on your own, with no one to look after you. Do you think you’re well enough to come in the carriage with me to go and see Emer?”

  “Oh yes, please! But I wouldn’t want to be a burden to her.”

  “No burden at all. There will be plenty of people to look after you at the home, and I’m sure she will be delighted to see you.”

  “I’m called Charlie, sir, and thank you for your kindness.”

  “I’m Adrian. Charlie, yes, I remember hearing tales about you and Fred,” Adrian said as he gathered up the boy in his arms, and carried him down to the carriage.

  “Aye, poor Fred, God rest him.”

  “Poor you, for by the looks of things, you haven’t fared well,” Adrian observed kindly, before settling him into the seat.

  “I was out west with some of the other men, looking for work logging and such like, but the winter was bitter, and I ended up at Emer’s sister Brona’s house, frozen in, and we nearly all starved.

  ’Tis a poor piece of ground he has for farming, though it's a large enough holding. Michael’d be better off with livestock, but of course he can’t afford any, and the winters here are nothing like Ireland.

  We had some terrible hard times, sir, yes, sir, but don’t tell Emer I said so. She will only worry.”

  “Emer still has a sister?” Adrian asked in surprise.

  “That’s right, two in fact, but they got married and left the family. I think it was pretty rotten of them leaving Emer to do everything for her family and friends on Grosse Ile. I was sorry she crept away in the night before I had a chance to say goodbye,” Charlie sighed.

  Then his head lolled weakly against the side of the carriage, and he began to doze.

  “Don’t worry Charlie, you’ll soon be all together again. You just have to concentrate on getting well,” Adrian said pityingly as he tucked the skeletal boy in with one of his traveling rugs.

  Adrian’s carriage then crossed the river on the ferry, and drove on through the night towards Emer’s house.

  Just as they were nearing the orphanage, he saw Madeleine Lyndon running through the woods, the hem of her bright pink gown luminous in the moonlight.

  “Good lord. Causing trouble again, I have no doubt,” Adrian muttered to himself, having heard all about the party at the Hearsts the night before from Myrtle.

  Charlie also saw the woman. “Friend of yours, is she sir? For a moment I thought she was a ghost.”

  “What a novel idea, pink phantoms,” Adrian teased, ruffling the boy’s hair. “We’re nearly there now. Are you all right?”

  “Fine, I just can’t wait to see Emer, that’s all.”

  “Don’t let yourself become unduly exci
ted. You need to take my medicines, and plenty of water, and concentrate on getting well.”

  “I will, Doctor," Charlie promised, "cuz I got something to live for now.”

  Adrian lifted the boy out of the carriage, and brought him straight in the front door, where Emer and Sissy were waiting to greet the doctor.

  Emer stared for a few seconds at his burden, and exclaimed happily, “Charlie! Oh here, bring him into the library, and put him on the sofa. Where did you find him? What’s wrong with him?”

  “One thing at a time, Emer. He has cholera. I was with Dalton trying to trace the source of the infection, and this young man recognised Dalton, and told me he was a former shipmate of yours from the Pegasus. I couldn’t leave him in that slum, and so I thought he would be better off here,” Adrian explained as he brought him into the library.

  “Yes, of course, we’d be happy to look after him. Here, lay him down, and let’s get a bed and so on organised for him.”

  “I want to check him over again in the light, if you don’t mind, and if you could make sure you give him plenty to drink?”

  Emer poured Charlie a glass of water from the carafe on the sideboard, and held it to his lips as he drank thirstily.

  “Again, another glass, only this one with opium in it,” Adrian instructed.

  “Do you have any lead and red pepper? That’s what we used in Grosse Ile.”

  The doctor looked at Emer oddly, and then took two more bottles out of his case, and stirred a small quantity of each power into the water. Emer forced Charlie to drink it, and then he lay back exhausted.

  “I’ve seen your sister, Brona, Miss. I was out west with them working, and logging as well. They said to send their love, and hoped they would get a letter from you soon.”

  Emer looked at her carpet sadly for a moment. “I should have written. I should have tried to persuade them to come here to share in my good fortune.”

  “But Miss, it’s been nothing but hard struggle since you started in November. There wasn’t much you could do for her then, now was there?” Sissy said kindly.

  “No, but things are going well now. I shall write to her at once, if I may, Doctor, and ask them to come.”

  “I think that would be a fine idea,” Adrian said, with a conspiratorial wink at Charlie.

  The doctor helped Charlie remove his dirtiest outer clothes, while Emer scribbled furiously, and then folded the letter and gave it to Sissy. “Put it in your pocket, and when you go into town tomorrow, please see that it's posted.”

  “I shall, Miss, never fear. Is your sister anything like you?”

  Emer smiled. “No, not at all, but I can only try to see if she and her husband are willing to join our endeavour. And a letter to Cara, my other sister, wouldn’t be amiss, in case she decides that the sea-going life is not to her taste after all.”

  “No one took to the sea like you did, Emer,” Charlie said proudly, earning an astonished look from Adrian and Sissy as he regaled them with tales of Emer’s bravery on the high seas.

  “Don’t exaggerate, Charlie, and don't exhaust yourself with idle chatter,” Emer scolded playfully, as she sat back down and wrote another letter, and then handed that to Sissy as well.

  “How is he, Adrian?” Emer asked more quietly, as Charlie ran out of steam and began to doze again.

  “He’s a tough boy, despite all the hardships he’s had to endure. I think I caught him early enough, but don’t be too hopeful,” Adrian warned.

  “I’ll try not to be, but thank you for all your help,” Emer sighed, and patted her friend on the shoulder.

  Adrian saw his opening, and said quietly, “Emer, I know this is not really any of my business, but I wish you had confided in me about your friendship with Dalton Randall. I thought he was in love with Madeleine Lyndon. Well, you just naively assume these things when you find out someone is getting married. I didn’t really like to interfere."

  Emer stared at him in surprise, but said nothing.

  “But Charlie here says you and Dalton were in love with each other on the ship. I don’t understand what separated you, but I think I can see now all the terrible pain and suffering you’ve gone through because of it. I'm really sorry if I embarrassed you by being too friendly with him, and inviting him to dinner on Sunday.”

  She patted his forearm soothingly. “It isn’t you fault. You had no way of knowing. He was your friend long before I was, and he is now a colleague as well. I don’t wish to come between you. I didn’t tell you because it is too painful to talk about, and I didn’t wish to shock you. It’s enough to say that his father poses a threat to my safety, and if he finds out that Dalton and I are seeing each other again, or that it's Dalton’s child I am carrying, I'll be in desperate trouble.”

  “Is that why you separated, because his father didn’t approve of you?” Adrian asked with a bitter laugh.

  Emer stared at her friend for a moment, wondering why he had suddenly become so agitated.

  She nodded. “Yes, it was partly that, and Dalton’s decision to go back to Ireland to help the suffering people there, rather than stay with me.”

  “But I don’t understand, Dalton was always such a decent man. To abandon you like that, it isn’t like him. And to marry Madeleine Lyndon? How can he be such a fool?” Adrian stormed.

  Emer shrugged resignedly. “His father arranged the match long before he met me. She’s been waiting for him for two years. Her virtue would be compromised if Dalton didn’t got through with the wedding.”

  Adrian snorted with derisive laughter again.

  Emer stared at him in surprise. “What is it, Adrian? What have I said?”

  “Her virtue, if it ever existed, was compromised long ago, when she was about sixteen, I seem to remember. My best friend, Giles Benedict, committed suicide because she led him on, became his lover, and then dropped him for another man,” Adrian revealed bitterly.

  Emer sat back in her chair, one hand to her slender throat. "Adrian, what are you saying?"

  "That the woman is a lying, conniving whore, who will do whatever it takes to manipulate a man for her own ends."

  Emer stared at him in astonishment. "I don't know who told you this gossip, but—"

  He shook his head. “Tis no gossip, it's first-hand experience. That other man she was having an affair with was me, and may God forgive me for it."

  "Oh, Adrian, I'm so sorry."

  Adrian's handsome mouth twisted as though he tasted something foul. "Not half as sorry as I was. I was an idiot. It was all my fault. I was flattered by Madeleine, and fell prey to her charms. But I swear I didn’t know that Giles was in love with her," Adrian revealed, his tone conveying ever bit of the agony he had endured at the hands of Madeleine.

  "It was only after he died, when I received a long wretched letter of misery about all Giles had felt for her, and why he wanted to end his life, that I understood what I had done to the kindest soul that ever lived for one brief week or so of mindless physical gratification, until she grew weary of me, and took up with yet another victim.

  “I've tolerated Madeleine Lyndon since then, and seen her destroy other men by leading them on with promises of her body or her fortune. I've tried to warn them, but she's the mistress of cunning. Virtue? Compared to you, she doesn't know the meaning of the word. She is little better than a whore, for all her fine airs and graces.”

  “Do you think that’s what happened to Dalton, that he was led on by her?” Emer asked sadly, feeling the stinging pangs of jealousy burn in her breast. Adrian shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know, Emer. He never seemed to pay her much mind, until she set her sights on him two years ago. But what I do know, my dear girl, is that you are a million times better than she is, and I’m sorry I’ve remained silent this long. Dalton deserves the truth, and I’m going to tell him.”

  “But if he loves her?” Emer asked quietly.

  Adrian shook his head. “Dalton loves you. I can see that now. I knew there were some pieces to the puzzle
missing about your life, and the way he was acting the other day. I can understand it all now. Don’t worry, I won’t say I know about your past together, of course, but I have to tell him the truth about Madeleine Lyndon before it's too late.”

  Emer sighed. “But then I’ll never know if Dalton really loves me or not. I want him to choose me because he does, not because he feels obligated, or has no other choice. No, Adrian, please don’t say anything. Dalton has to make up his mind on his own as to whether he wants to wed her on Thursday. Please, don’t tell him what you've just told me. If he really loves me, he should be able to make up his own mind."