Chapter Thirty-Seven

Home And Away Again

Daniel walked forward to stand next to his wife. Carolyn sagged a little, grateful for the strength of his comforting arm around her waist. The dock stopped moving when he was so close beside her, giving her his unquestioning support and the courage to face the chaos of their family members.

Daniel glared at the assembled trio. "Whatever foolish belief has prompted the three of you to come hurrying down to the docks, carrying sordid tales, they will wait until we are finally through our own front door," he said evenly. "Until then, I do not wish to see or speak with any of you. Is that clear?"

"Of course, of course. Point taken…" Bradford hurried to say as he seized his wife's arm and pushed her back toward their waiting coach. "Sorry for the intrusion. We'll await you back at your house…"

"Oh, but…" Emily tried to protest but she was overruled for once by her harassed husband.

"Not now, dear…" he advised, hustling her away from the temptation of annoying their irate son-in-law further.

"Yes, yes, duly noted…" Claymore muttered, regarding his cousin with a mixture of trepidation and disappointment.

In this mood, he knew an already infuriated Daniel would dismiss him utterly. He put one hand to his aching forehead, feeling over-tired and badly stressed. He wanted to mention the strange things that had happened to him in the last few weeks.

The demonic coachman and his disturbing promises of great wealth that still disrupted his dreams. The weird compulsion that had come over him, made him throw his usual innate sense of caution entirely to the wind to rent out what was not his.

"Surely that was it," he whispered to himself. "It's all right. I've been possessed."

The absurd notion lifted his slumped shoulders briefly. Then he saw his cousin's bleak expression of deep disappointment in him and he crumbled internally again. No, it's all so very wrong! I'm a practical man of figures and balance sheets. I don't believe in demons or phantom gold! Blast…

"Very well… I'll see you back at the house. But I insist on being heard first. A private word is all I ask." Understanding it was useless to argue, he lifted two fingers to the brim of his hat before turning and stalking stiffly away. The dock workers watched him leave and made ribald comments behind his back as he passed from view.

Through it all, Candy and Jonathan stood still, holding onto an excited Henry, as they watched their step-father with awed eyes. They saw their grandparents and Claymore mutter their excuses before making good their escape. They had never seen anyone sent on their way so quickly.

Both children turned to look at each other, nodding their delight. They'd also never seen the Captain in such fine form, or so dismissive. It impressed them immensely.

"That was brilliant…" Jonathan muttered in an aside to his sister. "He was great."

"Yes…" Candy nodded. "Our father would never have stood up to Grandmother like that."

Jonathan's brow wrinkled. "I don't remember him…"

"I know…" Candy linked arms with him and took Henry's grubby hand. "But our new Pa is way better than our old one. And Mother thinks so, too. Come on, let's go home."

"All right…" Jonathan nodded, allowing himself to be drawn toward the newly- arrived carriage that was to take them to Gull Cottage. "I think so, as well."

Daniel looked down at his wife as they joined Martha and the children at the carriage door. "What in the name of holy was that all about?"

"I'm not sure. Claymore arrived first." Carolyn shrugged as she accepted her husband's hand up into the coach. "It seems he has been doing something my parents don't approve of. But he didn't have time to tell me. He wanted to talk to you, alone. He doesn't look well."

"There's nothing new about Claymore doing exactly what suits him," Martha opined darkly, as she assisted the three children up into the coach. "What I want to know is, what are your parents doing here at all. Last we heard they were back in the city. They have no business being here unless invited."

"I think we all want to know why they're here," Carolyn replied, as she settled herself. "And what has my mother been doing at our house that requires her to be hiring housemaids."

Daniel threw his sea bag up to the waiting hands of their driver before he joined them within. "We will know soon enough. But I will not have you being any further upset, my love. Not in your delicate condition."

He shook his head. "If you wish to go upstairs and lie down when we arrive, no one will say otherwise. I will deal with the three of them and send them on their way."

"Oh, no, please…" Carolyn laid a denying hand on his forearm. "This I would not miss for all the gold in the world. I am dying to know what has been going on since we've been away. It seems the adventures were not only in London."

"Very well…" Her husband looked only half-convinced. "But the matter will be settled, once and for all, today. I will not have them tacking back around with a fresh shipload of complaints the very moment I am back to sea and out of earshot."

"Yes…" Carolyn agreed, settling against him once more with a grateful sigh.

※※※※※

The Williams' coach was outside the front gate of the house when the Gull Cottage family finally arrived. As was Claymore's. The three of them were standing on the front porch, waiting and watching with varying expressions of guilt and annoyance.

"Wait!" Daniel held up a denying hand as he got down from their coach. "Not here," he instructed as the three of them started forward down the steps. "Go inside to the living room and we will be in directly."

They all complied with ill grace. Claymore was the last to retreat into the house. He tried to defy his cousin's order, but then his courage failed him and he scuttled after the other two.

It took some time to get everything in order and into the house. Carolyn took her children upstairs to wash up before dinner. She left them in their room, playing a game. Martha carried Henry into the kitchen to wash and feed him before putting him down for a nap while Daniel took his time supervising the unloading and stowing of their luggage.

The sound of bickering voices in the living room made him smile grimly as he left the house again to pay off the cart men and retrieve his sea bag from the coach driver, who caught his fee deftly in one hand. He bit down on the coins, nodded his thanks and put the coach in motion, followed by the baggage cart.

Daniel walked back inside to find Carolyn and an indignant Martha standing close together at the foot of the stairs. "I tell you it's not right," the housekeeper was complaining. "I can't find a single thing in its right place in my own kitchen. Everything's been turned upside down and given an extra shine into the bargain. As if I did not have all in order before we left."

She set her balled hands on her hips. "And I've always kept the house as shipshape as it ought to be and more. I've a good mind to go in there are give your mother a very large piece of my mind. She's an intrusive old biddy and no mistake!"

"I'm so sorry…" Carolyn gave her friend a warm hug. "But you know my mother. She cannot leave well enough alone."

"Yes, only too well, to my cost. Never so happy as when she's interfering in business not her own," Martha acknowledged, turning toward the kitchen with a rough exhalation of infuriation as she went to set all back to the way she liked it.

Daniel shook his head as he linked his wife's arm through the crook of his. "Once more into the fray, my love?" He kissed her cheek. "Emily needs to hear the truth, once and for all."

"From the sound of it, they've already started," Carolyn confided as her husband opened the door to the living room.

"At last!" Emily declared dramatically, as they entered the room, closing the door behind them. "We have been waiting in here for a positive age! No one has even offered us so much as a cup of coffee!"

"I don't need coffee," Bradford commented, standing beside the liqueur cabinet with a large measure of whisky in a cut crystal tumbler in his hand.

He saluted Daniel with the glass. "Can I get you anything?" he asked somewhat unsteadily.

"Martha has enough to do with her own duties to see to," Carolyn replied to her mother, seating herself in the chair beside the fireplace. "And her kitchen to set back to the way she likes it."

"I was only trying to help," Emily replied stiffly. "You were not here and your Uncle left it all in such a mess."

"No, thank you, Bradford…" Daniel held up his hand to deny his father-in-law's offer of a drink. "All I wish to know is what has been going on here since we have been away."

His eyes tracked to his cousin who was standing in the window embrace, watching him with discomfort. "What exactly has been going on here."

"Business is business…" Claymore declared, looking hunted. "I saw no harm in it. It was only for one weekend." He put a hand to his aching head.

"Business you had no right to be conducting on your own account," Bradford challenged, emboldened by the two large whiskies he'd already consumed. "If we had not arrived when we did…" He shook his head significantly.

Claymore sidled forward, dragging his hat off with unsteady fingers. "I do wish I could have a word with you, Cousin. In private, if you please…"

"No!" Daniel crossed his arms and glared at him. "I am sick of all this blasted double talk and innuendo! Tell me what has been going on behind my back, and do it now, before I eject you all from my house and command you never to return!"

"You wouldn't!" Emily gasped. "You couldn't! Bradford, tell him!"

"Then do not try my patience any further, Madam," Daniel replied grimly.

"Very well. Your mercenary cousin there, took it upon himself to rent out your house for a wedding!" Emily declared in a dramatic tone. "We arrived to find the whole place in chaos and all manner of strange people wandering all about, everywhere!"

She turned to look significantly at her daughter. "It was just as well we arrived when we did. I shudder to think what could have happened."

"You did what!?" Daniel roared at a cringing Claymore.

"Well, I was… I was out of suitable housing stock…" Claymore babbled. "There was no harm in it. I was setting all to rights when they arrived!" He stabbed an accusing finger at the Williams. "Nobody needed to know anything about it!"

"I cannot believe you did such a thing," Carolyn whispered with disappointment, a hand creeping up to her cheek. "How could you?"

"Please believe me, I do see that now…" Claymore wheedled, tears gathering in his eyes behind his wire-rimmed spectacles. "I cannot express how sorry I am." He made to approach her, but his path was blocked by his cousin stepping between them.

"And how much did you make from this odious transaction of yours?" Daniel asked in a harsh tone, his blue eyes blazing with suppressed fury. "Of course, you charged handsomely for using the services of my house!"

"I made not a single cent!" Claymore exclaimed, driven to protest. "In fact, I am well out of pocket." He glared at Bradford who was busy pouring himself another glass of liquid courage.

Again, he badly wanted to mention his strange encounter with the demonic coachman. The odd whiffs of sulphur and whatever insane spell had been cast over him made him act as he did. Like the very worst version of himself.

He'd given it a great deal of thought in the last few hours and he was now sure he'd been possessed by powers beyond his control. It was the only explanation. The lure of impossible wealth made his palms sweat with blind avarice.

But, in the cold light of day, it all seemed absurd. To confess he suspected demonic possession was a sure way to getting himself admitted to a lunatic asylum and locked up for the rest of his life. The very thought made him shiver and bite his tongue.

And how could he convince a hard-headed, practical man such as his cousin of his plight? An honest seaman who could never be brought to believe in demons or things unseen that went bump in the night.

"Then you got exactly as you deserved, Uncle," Carolyn observed, shaking her head at him. "After all we have done for you. We trusted you."

"He's not telling the truth. I saw that payment passed to him as they left. We made sure we took possession of that," Emily replied comfortably. "Show them, Bradford."

"Oh yes, of course…" Her husband turned unsteadily before dragging the purse of gold from his inside coat pocket. He tossed it across to Daniel with a smug smile. "All safe and sound."

"I should hope so…" Daniel replied as he caught the bag deftly and inspected the contents. "A fine sum for a weekend's hire," he remarked sarcastically. "No wonder you could not resist the temptation."

"And yet, I am still out of pocket," Claymore complained in an injured tone as if that excused his unforgivable behaviour. "That is what I wished to speak with you about, Cousin." He stared at the bag of gold coins. "To assist me in recovering my property."

"None of this money is yours. It will go to a good cause." Daniel snapped the bag shut. "And you will be even more out of pocket if only to teach you a lesson. You will furnish me with exactly the same amount as is in this bag, and you will do so today by close of business or it will be the worse for you."

"The same amount? All of it?" Claymore's voice rose high with shock. "Oh, I say, now, Cousin. That's a bit rich! A bit rich, indeed! I told you I've made nothing on the deal. I also swear by all that is holy to never do so again."

Daniel smiled grimly. "You reached out your money-grubbing hands to interfere with what is mine. You were contracted to take care of my house, not make use of it. I would have paid you for that. Be grateful I am only asking for the same amount."

His eyes narrowed. "No one would deny me if I decided to prosecute you for trespassing where you do not belong and ruin your beloved reputation in the town for all time."

"I… Um, the same amount you say…" Claymore swallowed tightly, as he ran one finger around inside the collar of his shirt, tugging at his necktie. "Oh, very well…"

He replaced his hat on his head with a grimace. "I will send my office clerk out with it as soon as I get back to town." He looked around the room. "I will bid you all a good day. Even if it's not."

Daniel took his arm in a vice-like grip. "And you will never darken our doorsill again without first receiving a written invitation from myself or my wife. Which will not be issued any time soon. Is that clear?"

"As crystal…" Claymore muttered before he walked stiffly out of the room and then left the house.

No one tried to prevent him from going. Least of all Carolyn, who watched his departure with a disappointed shake of her head.

"I knew he had a perfidious heart," she commented. "But we have always treated him as a welcome member of our family and a guest in our home." She sighed. "I know I should be more angry with him. But all I really feel is sorrow. He looked truly contrite and not his usual self."

"Claymore's one and only love is money and he saw a way to make a quick profit without our knowledge. He will never change." Her husband lifted her hand to kiss the backs of her fingers. "And your heart is too good. He will recover and be back to his usual self soon enough."

"Yes…" Carolyn nodded dubiously as she turned her attention to her parents.

Martha appeared in the open doorway. "I saw Claymore leave." She looked around the room. "Now that my kitchen is back to the way it should be, shall I bring in the coffee?"

"Yes, please. That would be very welcome," Carolyn replied, getting up from her chair and crossing to the couch to sit down next to her mother.

"We can thank you both for your intervention on our behalf," she began, taking her mother's hand between her own. "But why are you here, at all?"

Emily sniffed. "You did not see fit to answer my last telegram. We were worried about you."

"As you can see, we are fine. And I have already explained about that." Carolyn shook her head. "There was much to do and so little time."

"But I am your mother," Emily reminded her stiffly. "You should always make time for me."

"For you, yes…" Carolyn persisted. "But not for your opinions on my marriage and how I should conduct it. This is my life now and I am making my own money from my writing and I'm very happy to be doing so. How I choose to live it, is no longer any of your concern. But I do wish you could be happy for me."

"Well, I…" Emily flushed warmly, looking discomforted. "I have always been happy for you."

Her gaze tracked to her son-in-law who was watching their interplay closely. "I wasn't aware my approval held such weight with you. You have always gone out of your way to upset and confuse me. Even when you were a small child, you were wilful and disobedient."

"Have a great care to your words, Madam," Daniel warned grimly. "Your daughter loves you, to her cost. But you also must allow her the room to breathe and be the woman she was always destined to become. Remember that she is a wife and a mother. And also a very successful authoress. You can be very proud of her and all she has achieved."

"Yes, it's about time you cut those apron strings of yours," Bradford concurred, staring down into his fourth glass of whisky to avoid looking at his wife. "In fact, it's beyond time."

"Coffee…" Martha walked into the room carrying a laden tray. She placed it on the coffee table close to Carolyn's hand. "I'll leave this with you while I go and feed the children. Then dinner will be on the table for anyone who's hungry." She glanced around the room before she left, closing the door behind her.

"Mother?" Carolyn held up the coffee pot in invitation.

"Thank you…" Emily replied in a rush of frustrated breath.

Carolyn poured the coffee into the assembled cups and handed them out. Her father ended up with his whisky in one hand and his coffee in another. He looked from one to the other in confusion.

His wife regarded him with simmering disfavour. "I do think you've had quite enough of that liquid courage." She nodded toward his whisky, finding an outlet for her deep sense of chagrin.

"Thank you…" Carolyn smiled at Daniel, shaking her head. She then shrugged, knowing the time had come for her own confession.

"Mother, I have some truly wonderful news to tell you both…" she began, drawing a steadying breath as she tightened her grasp on Emily's fingers.

※※※※※

"Seeing your mother lost for words was a unique experience," Daniel commented as they entered their bedroom late in the evening and shut the door behind them.

"It was, wasn't it?" Carolyn turned to him, pushing her arms around his waist and fisting the material of his shirt in the small of his back. "Now that she knows I'm pregnant, she has a whole new reason to try and mother me or send the twins to see us. We have only achieved a small reprieve."

"I will carry you all away to sea before I allow that to happen," her husband promised, kissing the tip of her nose. "I will keelhaul each and every one of the Williams females if they dare to intrude on your peace. But your mother knows her place, for now."

"Then, I'll hold you to that vow…" Carolyn chuckled as she rose onto her toes to kiss him lingeringly.

"We all had enough of that blasted busybody, Hazel, the last time she visited," Daniel affirmed, gathering her up into his arms and walking toward the bed.

"Do we truly only have tonight?" Carolyn whispered as he came down on the bed beside her. "I will miss you more than any words can say."

"Yes…" Daniel nodded regretfully, beginning to unbutton her blouse. "I must leave as soon as we have wished your parents a fond farewell and seen them on their way home. Lucius will not wait and I would dislike to lose our bet over being the first back into the Pool of London."

Carolyn moved her shoulders with acceptance. "What will you do with Claymore's money? He looked like he'd lost everything."

"I will give it all to the orphanage. They're always short of funds, given their miserly landlord. I think that will be very fitting. Young Jack was very pleased with that when he carried out what Claymore owed. He will take the donation along to them."

"Very fitting, indeed," Carolyn approved, watching him through her lashes. "If we only have tonight…"

"Then we must make the most of it."

"Yes…" Carolyn sighed gustily as she toed off her shoes, not caring where they landed on the floor. "For, by the time you sail back to me, there will be a lot more of me to come back to."

Daniel spread his fingers wide across the soft mound of her belly. "You are beautiful. In all your seasons. I could wish I was always here, but—"

"No…" Carolyn placed her fingers across his lips, stilling what he was about to confess. "You must do what you must do, while I wait and do what I need to do. I will write all about our adventures in London and Sally Hall promised to come and stay with me. I will not be so lonely, much…"

"At least, your parents have agreed they will leave in the morning," Daniel acknowledged. "We have achieved that small miracle. Your poor father looked very relieved even if my supply of good whisky has been severely depleted."

"I do hope my mother has finally realised her place in my life." Carolyn shrugged her arms out of her blouse. "But, I do fear, once she gets back to Philadelphia, she will talk herself around again."

"As long as she does that in her own house and not in ours, then we have very little to complain about." Daniel sat up to pull off his boots. The rest of his clothing quickly followed.

"Now, where were we?" He slid back onto the bed beside his wife, his fingers reaching to undo the ties of her skirt and thin chemise.

Carolyn's brow creased in mock thought. "I think we were up to number thirty-nine on my list of likes and dislikes," she teased, assisting him in his quest to uncover her nakedness. "You do remember my parents are sleeping right next door?"

"Well, if they think to intrude on us, they may see more than they bargained for," her husband teased softly. "Certainly how a married couple should be with each other. Lord knows, your poor father seems to have forgotten that."

He shrugged. "But if it will quieten your concerns, I will lock the door to be safe."

"Yes, please…" Carolyn begged prettily. "To be safe…"

"We had more privacy aboard the Carolyn," Daniel grumbled softly as he pushed himself off the bed and padded across the carpet to turn the key in the lock. He turned back to her. "Satisfied?"

"Not yet…" Carolyn smiled as he walked back to the bedside, naked and magnificent. Just the way she loved him to be whenever they were alone together…

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