Chapter Sixteen
The Unwelcome Intrusion
"You're home! You're finally home!" Candy danced a happy circle around her parents followed by her equally excited brother.
Scruffy added to the din by prancing around on his hind legs and barking excitedly. He was not going to be left out of the homecoming.
"They would've had me down here at the docks every day if I'd allowed it." Martha hugged her employer and good friend. "They've been keeping a constant watch with the telescope or from the widow's walk on the house and swore every new mast cresting the horizon had to be yours."
She chuckled. "And Henry is thriving. He didn't even seem to notice you had left. He only has eyes for his pretty young nurse. She's taken him for a stroll down to the beach since it's such a nice day."
"It was a lovely voyage." Carolyn smiled mistily. "I wouldn't have missed it for anything. But it is good to be home again. I have missed you all so much."
"We missed you too, Mother." Candy hugged her tightly.
"And you're back a whole day early," Jonathan marvelled, shaking his stepfather's hand. "We saw it was your sails so we hurried down to the docks to greet you. Martha was so slow; we had to run on ahead to be in time."
"It was a fair and following wind that favoured us well." Daniel ruffled his hair. "We have brought gifts for you all from Boston."
"Ooohhh, thank you," Candy enthused, going up on her toes to kiss her mother's cheek.
"But they may wait until we are home. And to earn them you will both be mindful of your duties and walk with Martha all the way back to the house," Carolyn told them both.
"Oh, thank you, Captain. And yes, Mother, we will!" Jonathan began to struggle manfully with the weight of Daniel's sea bag before his stepfather took it from him and slung it over his own shoulder.
"You need to do some growing first, lad." Daniel took him by the arm and turned him toward home.
"And dare I ask if Boston was all you hoped it would be?" Martha asked. "You managed to see that Miss Hall? Was she good to you?"
"It was everything we could want and more besides," Carolyn reassured her happily. "Miss Hall was quite the revelation. She has contracted us to write three more novels before the end of the year. She loved 'For A Captain's Love…' She said she wouldn't change a thing and will publish it immediately."
"Three more…" Martha whistled softly in amazement. "That will certainly keep you occupied while the Captain is away at sea. We will all pitch in and help."
"Yes…" Carolyn smiled. "Sally was also rather taken with Daniel."
"Oh, I'm so glad for the both of you!" The housekeeper beamed, looking from one to the other. "That'll show your mother. A bluestocking, indeed," she harrumphed. "She will just have to get used to you being a famous novelist instead."
She clapped her hands. "Oh, I can't wait to see her face when she finds out!"
"Yes, me too," Carolyn admitted softly. "Though I somehow doubt she will approve. She never has."
"Then that is her burden, not yours," Daniel replied. "You no longer need to answer to anyone from the Williams or Muir family for your actions now that you're a Gregg. And I approve of you wholeheartedly. Even Claymore is pleased for you and he's never pleased for anyone."
"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" Carolyn whispered, cupping his bearded cheek in her open palm.
"I can wait until tonight…" Daniel kissed her temple. "But I am not known as a patient man."
"Um, Sir…?" Malcolm appeared at Daniel's elbow, touching his forelock. "Excuse me, Sir. Do you wish me to fetch my cart and convey your sea trunks home for you?"
"A fine idea, lad." Daniel nodded.
He dipped his hand into the pocket of his trousers and the required payment changed hands. "And you will make ready to sail again in three days' time. You have done well on your first voyage."
"Oh, thank you, Sir!" The boy beamed as he turned to Carolyn. "And thank you, Mrs Captain Gregg. It was a pleasure to sail with a lady as fine as you." He saluted again before he turned on his bare heel and hurried away toward the town, full of his business.
"That boy will be a heartbreaker before too many years have passed," Carolyn observed. "He also needs some shoes."
"I will make sure he purchases a few necessary things with his nine dollars as soon as he's squared away in his new lodgings. I doubt he has ever seen so much money in all his young life."
Daniel kissed her hair. "But he also needs to grow some and learn a good trade. I might yet apprentice him to Grimes as a ship's carpenter. The lad seems to have a talent for carving wood."
"Well, I'm glad that matter of my handkerchief was cleared up." Carolyn shook her head. "I would hate for our honeymoon to have been spoiled by any man's unwarranted punishment over my carelessness."
Daniel shook his head. "Your woman's heart is soft and kind. But I must always be seen as being even-handed in both my justice and my mercy. Or I will be a captain of nothing but a restless crew of malcontents looking to create mischief and take over my ship."
He shook his head. "I have no desire to suffer the same rough misfortune as good Captain Bligh. He was a much-maligned man who deserved a better fate."
"I wouldn't want that. I'm happy it all worked out for the best." Carolyn hugged his arm.
Martha approached. "We'll go back and get everything ready for your homecoming. And then you can tell us the rest of your wonderful news and all about Boston," she commented before she and the children walked on ahead through the town and were soon lost in the hazy distance of the dusty Bay Road.
Carolyn slid her fingers through Daniel's, resting her head briefly against his shoulder. "It is good to be home. But we have so much to do and so little time in which to complete our notes and get everything ready."
"Without interruption, we should be able to get ahead before I leave in three days. I'm sure we can break the back of the work. Miss Hall is counting on us to help her turn the magazine around and we will not disappoint her."
"Yes…" Carolyn sighed. "It still amazes me how much my life has changed in such a short time." She reached up to kiss his cheek. "Thanks to you."
"It is my pleasure…" Daniel smiled down at her, admiring the picture she made in the bright sunshine. "It always will be. But do not undersell your talents as a writer. You constantly amaze me with your gift for words."
"Together we will prevail…" Carolyn nodded.
They walked along for some time in companionable silence, both enjoying the warm spring sun. But their delight ended abruptly.
Jonathan came running back over the crest of the hill leading down to Gull Cottage. His determined expression was full of urgency and importance. Scruffy ran beside him, barking noisily.
"What on earth…?" Daniel demanded to know as the boy ran up to them.
"Martha sent me back to tell you… that we have a visitor," Jonathan blurted out as soon as he reached them, breathing heavily.
"Who is visiting?" Carolyn took her son's arm to calm him down.
"Martha said to tell you it's our Cousin Hazel. She said she's come to stay with us. She said she's here to look after you while the Captain's away at sea."
He grinned as he shook his head. "Martha said a very bad word. She told me to tell you to come quick because Hazel's being really bossy and she's just as likely to tell her a few home truths." The boy pulled away, turning to run back over the hill and out of sight followed by his dog.
"Cousin Hazel?" Daniel questioned blankly, his smiling expression turning into a picture of total discontent at their idyll being interrupted. "Who, in God's good name is this blasted Cousin Hazel and why does she think you need looking after?"
He dropped his sea bag to the ground. "Your family, Madam, needs to be soundly schooled in good manners and knowing their place. They will not board any ship of mine without my permission."
"Hazel is the daughter of my father's late brother," Carolyn explained hastily. "She and her twin sister, Harriet, are spinsters of independent means and they may go wherever and whenever they may please."
"And yet she pleases to come here to bother us at this crucial time without so much as a by-your-leave. It is not to be borne!" Daniel shook his head. "You do not need a chaperon while I am away at sea. The children and Martha will suffice. And Claymore will keep a weather eye on you all."
"I know…" Carolyn sighed. "But, you see, the twins couldn't come to our wedding because they've been touring in Europe for more than two years since their father died. We'd quite lost track of them. Mother did tell me they'd recently returned home to Philadelphia and that Harriet had taken ill."
"Well, we are not ill and do not have to put up with this woman now. She can find someone else to visit." Daniel stood his ground. "You will walk down to the house and tell her to go away."
He waved an imperious hand. "Or I will. She is not welcome here. Not at this point in time, when we have so little time left to be together before I sail for London."
"But she's family…" Carolyn moved uncomfortably. "If only it were that easy. I cannot just send her away without a very good reason. Saying she is not welcome is not good enough. She will be hurt and upset."
"Why not? She is no kith or kin to me," Daniel bit back. "I can gladly send her on her way with a well-placed broadside."
Carolyn's lips compressed. "I'm afraid if Hazel ever got the idea that I'm not happy to see her, after all, this time it would not go well. We did not part on the best of terms when I last saw them before Robert died."
"And yet you despair of her unfavourable report back to your family?" Daniel shook his head. "Which will only bring forth more mayhem if my suspicions are correct. Such as your mother's unwarranted return. But I married you, my dear. Not your family."
"Yes, you did…" Carolyn breathed cautiously. "And I am truly sorry she is now here. If we can agree to endure her company while making it clear we do not need her to stay it should go smoothly enough. We can still work on our manuscript."
"Then you can promise me that no more of the Williams clan will descend upon us to share their unwanted opinion on our married lives." Daniel passed a hand over his eyes. "I can see now how put upon you were when you first became Robert's widow. Your mother's attempts to run our lives were only the first shot across our bows."
"Something like that." Carolyn shook her head. "It's the way it's always been. If not Hazel, then it would be Harriet pushing her way in. They have always pleased themselves who and when they visit in the family. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they went away. And now they have two years of family doings and gossip to catch up with."
Daniel huffed his frustration. "I should have carried you all away to sea and out of harm's way when I had the chance. It may still come to that."
He re-shouldered his sea bag before linking arms with his wife. "Spending the summer in London with my family has far better appeal than precious time wasted dancing attendance on one of your relatives in my own house."
He shrugged. "We still have work to do and she will not get in the way of that. We will lock the door to our bedroom if we must and leave her to Martha's tender mercies."
"Oh, Martha would love that." Carolyn shook her head in despair. "They do not get on at all. Only Harriet is worse. Martha cannot even stand the sight of her and told her so, once. It almost got her dismissed."
"Is it wrong of me to wish for the days when you were estranged from your whole family and we could conduct our romance in peace without their ongoing interference?" Daniel asked, putting a hand on her arm. "I do not mean to hurt your feelings."
"Don't worry, I feel exactly the same," Carolyn told him with a guilty smile. "I could wish the twins had stayed in Europe where they could do no harm to us. But I fear they have long outstayed their welcome there and decided to return home. You will soon see what I mean. They are not for the faint of heart."
"Nor am I," Daniel assured her. "Hazel will not get the better of me. We will work on her removal the moment we get inside the house."
They crested the hill and walked down toward the house. Martha was standing at the gate, with the children, beside an elegant, well-dressed woman who was seated on one of her trunks looking highly annoyed and twirling a large parasol between her gloved hands. Scruffy stood guard beside the gate, growling softly.
"Oh, dear…" Carolyn sighed roughly. "Someone has already upset Hazel. She doesn't look best pleased. This will not go well."
"Then I must salute whoever has managed that wonderous feat," Daniel muttered. "If she is that easily overset, she will not be staying long under our roof. I may happily overset her again with the best will in the world and see the back of her in no short order."
"Please be patient with her, for my sake," Carolyn whispered as she hurried up to her cousin. "Hazel, how wonderful to see you again. You're looking very well. Welcome to Gull Cottage. Did you have any trouble finding the house?"
"My dear cousin, I had trouble finding the entire town," Hazel Williams replied dramatically, her dark eyes flashing. "Why anyone would choose to live in such an out-of-the-way place is quite beyond my understanding. And the driver of the carriage I managed to hire seemed to delight in finding and remarking upon every pothole from that Schoonerville to your gate. I have been badly jolted and put well out of sorts."
She pursed her lips. "He was so rude when I refused to pay the outrageous fee he charged. I said he should be happy with half and gave it to him. He then piled up my luggage here in the dust and left me to fend for myself."
"Oh, I'm so sorry…" Carolyn attempted to soothe her cousin's ruffled feathers. "The children and Martha had walked down to the docks to meet our ship."
"So that was why there was no one home to greet me when I arrived," Hazel continued in an offended tone. "Your mother did try to warn me against coming out here so soon after my dear sister and I had arrived home."
She sighed dramatically. "Your sainted mother shares my state of delicate health and was deeply concerned for mine. Dearest Emily is always thinking of others before herself."
Daniel and Carolyn shared a look at that statement. Both managed not to comment.
Hazel seemed not to notice as she shook her head. "But I said I had to see you and I was sure I would be very welcome since it has been two years since we last saw each other, dearest cousin. We have so much to catch up on."
She glanced at their interested audience. "The children are growing up and I was quite overcome to hear you'd come to this wild place and had married again so soon after poor Robert died. If I had known of your sad state of penury…"
She frowned at Candy and Jonathan. "But I suppose they do need a father to school them in manners and discipline."
"As my mother well knew, we had sailed to Boston for our honeymoon. We have only just returned." Carolyn shrugged as she turned to Daniel, taking his hand. "Hazel, this is my husband, Captain Daniel Gregg."
Daniel touched two fingers politely to his sea cap but his expression remained anything but welcoming. "Good morning, Miss Williams."
"Captain…" Hazel inclined her head politely, her distressed expression remaining tight and fragile.
She grimaced. "And as you well know, the Williams sisters would never dream of going anywhere they are not welcome. Harriet would be the first to tell you that we would never think to intrude or impose ourselves on anyone. It is not in our natures. We go only where we are wanted."
She raised her brows. "All you have to do is tell me if you would rather I not stay with you since you are so newly married…" She waited, twirling her parasol.
"I do not believe this," Daniel muttered as he regarded her with a look of fascinated disquiet. "She's had too much sun and her mind is addled."
"Well, every word is true," Hazel sniffed. "I am the very soul of sensibility and discretion. Everyone will tell you so."
"Of course, Hazel dear. And of course, you are most welcome." Carolyn managed to smile as she remembered the first day she'd arrived in the town on the mail coach.
The driver had also delighted in finding each and every pothole in the road. Maybe they were one and the same.
"Very well…" Hazel rose to her feet, easing her back with a groan before she came forward to hug her cousin dutifully. "I am pleased to see you have not lost your manners in this place. I am also the bearer of heartfelt messages from home. Everyone misses you and the children."
Carolyn barely had time to embrace the other woman before she'd pulled away to fuss and readjust her fashionable European clothing. Almost overpowered by her cousin's heady eau de cologne scents of violet and bergamot, Carolyn compressed her lips. She was uncomfortably reminded of the vain Vanessa Beauvoir and her unwelcome intrusion into their enjoyment of their success.
"The family knows exactly where we are," she replied briskly.
"Well, dearest Harriet sends her deepest regrets," Hazel remarked. "If she could have been here, she would. Her nerves, you know. They are so very easily overset by the slightest disruption in her delicate constitution. I am sad to say I do sometimes share the same unfortunate disposition. We found both Rome and Paris far too inclement for our liking and unbearably noisy. We decided it was time for us to return home to the arms of our beloved family."
"She sure likes to use a lot of big words," Jonathan marvelled to his sister from their position on the top of the stone wall beside the gate.
"She sure does," Candy agreed, staring at the odd confection of lace and feathers decorating the top of her relative's dark curls. "The last time I saw Cousin Hazel was before our father died. She was just the same then. And Harriet too. They came to the house to tell Mother they were leaving to travel in Europe."
She put her hands over her ears briefly. "They never, ever stopped talking long enough to listen to anyone. She's doing it now. The Captain looks real mad."
"I don't remember her doing that," Jonathan replied. "But I do remember she didn't like us. She kept saying we were getting on their nerves and couldn't we be locked in our rooms while they were visiting. I know Mother didn't like being told what to do in her own house. And Cousin Harriet hated Scruffy."
"Yes…" Candy sighed. "I was glad when they went away. Mother was too, I could tell. But now they're back and Cousin Hazel's here. And she intends to stay while the Captain's away."
She shook her head. "Blast…"
"Then it's just as well we don't have any lock on our bedroom door now…" Jonathan leaned over to whisper.
Daniel leaned close to Carolyn's ear. "This woman will not take ill in this house, Madam. You can be very sure of that. I would see her installed in a room at the Schooner Bay Inn first and I'd pay for a private nurse."
"I'm sure everything will be fine," Carolyn replied hastily, feeling trapped between them.
Hazel looked around, taking in the house and the sea view. "How do you tolerate living out here? And you walked all the way from that Schoonerville."
Carolyn shook her head. "It's such a beautiful morning and Schooner Bay is not that far. It's a quaint little town, isn't it? We like it."
"Yes, well, the sun is already too hot and drying on my delicate skin and my throat is parched from all the dust," Hazel complained, putting up one hand to check the state of her elegantly-coifed dark hair. "My bags need to be taken inside and I must have something cool to drink."
She frowned at Martha and the children who came forward reluctantly to help with the pile of luggage. Hazel laid a gloved hand against her cheek. "Oh, I do hope I didn't forget anything. It's so hard to know what one needs to pack for a country visit. I do prefer life in the city where everything is within easy reach."
"If you have forgotten anything I am sure you could go right back home to find it," Daniel offered helpfully. "Perhaps tomorrow morning…"
"I'm sure you'll have everything you need," Carolyn said hastily as she picked up two bags. "If not, I'm sure we will have it inside somewhere."
"Yes…" Hazel looked the house over again and sighed. "Your children do know how to be quiet, don't they, dear Carolyn? Of course, you must know I'm not one to ever complain. But it's just that my poor nerves are never the best around incessant disruption and the noise of small children clattering about. Another reason we were forced to leave Paris and came home."
She stared at Scruffy still guarding the gate, softly growling his discontent. "And I see you still have that dog," she said rather unnecessarily. "Does it bark?"
Carolyn stared at her. She could hear again her mother's voice complaining of the same things and it saddened her. She thought she'd left that world of constant backbiting and fault-finding far behind.
The idea of spending six weeks in Hazel's exclusive company set her teeth on edge. But she felt helpless to change the situation without causing offence.
"My children are as quiet as church mice," she replied stiffly. "And Scruffy bothers no one who is friendly toward him." She walked away through the open front gate, her head held high.
"The children are young and healthy and this is their home." Daniel put aside his sea bag to assist with the remaining four trunks, taking two in each hand. "You need to get used to it."
He noticed that Hazel carried nothing but her parasol and a small leather dressing case. And she was making heavy weather of them.
He turned away toward the house. He would not comment or assist the woman further. If he had his way he would shut and lock the front door in her mutinous face and let her make the best of it. He had no care for her overworked sensibilities.
He had to remind himself that he was only tolerating the woman for his wife's sake. And that Cousin Hazel would soon be gone if he had his way. For his family's sake, he would make very sure of it.
As he'd listened to the woman's whining complaint about the state of her nerves an idea began to form in his mind and he smiled now. There was one young member of the Gregg family household he guessed the fastidious Cousin Hazel would not wish to have anything to do with.
Someone who shouted the odds at the top of his lungs at every opportunity if his needs were ever thwarted. Sometimes he was a little overly fragrant and inclined to spill his milk down a person's front if he was held the wrong way.
"There's more than one way to scupper a ship in fair weather or foul…" he murmured, following the children up the front path.
"Well, I don't think Cousin Hazel has forgotten anything," Jonathan commented to his sister as the children manhandled their burdens into the foyer. "Is she staying for a few weeks or a whole year?"
"She said a few weeks. She wants to take care of Mother," Candy panted as she added her load to the pile of luggage. "She said she wanted to make sure the Captain's the right man for her. Whatever that means."
"It means as always that one or both of the twins has to try and have the last word on Williams' family business," Martha muttered. "They have two whole years of gossip to make up for. I'm surprised they stayed away on the continent for as long as they did."
She shook her head. "Thankfully, you'll both be Greggs as soon as Claymore completes the adoption paperwork, so that's the end of the matter. And Hazel has left her run a bit late to get to know the Captain. He didn't look best pleased to find her here and I doubt she'll be staying long if he has his way."
"From the look on his face, I'd say the Captain would like to keel-haul her and then feed her to the sharks!" Jonathan exclaimed gruesomely. "I'll bet he'll say so when we're alone up in the wheelhouse."
"Sshhhh…" Martha waved a warning hand. "Here she comes. She'll hear you. Now you both need to be on your best behaviour. Do not repeat anything you hear your mother or the Captain saying about Cousin Hazel while she's here, however true it might be. Least said, soonest mended."
"All right, Martha, we won't," Candy promised. "And we'll keep Scruffy out of the way, just in case. We don't want to be sent up to our room because she doesn't like him."
"Gotta make sure we're all ship-shape and Bristol fashion, right, Martha?" Jonathan offered.
"And we need less of that salty talk too, my lad," Martha warned. "We do not want to give Hazel any cause to carry complaints back to the family in Philadelphia. She wouldn't understand how it is around here."
"That'll make them even then," Candy offered. "Because I don't think the Captain understands her either. And he doesn't like her at all."
"There is more than a grain of truth in that statement. Leave the Captain to it. He'll know what to do for the best to move that woman on that'll cause us the least trouble or upset," Martha acknowledged in a whisper as she turned away toward the kitchen to fetch them all something cool to drink.
"Blast…" Jonathan said under his breath as his parents and their unwelcome visitor walked into the house.
※※※※※