Chapter 1
Chapter One
Cornwall 1785
Alexander Turner had given a lot of thought to the hangman’s noose, and what it must feel like around your neck. What went through a person’s mind? A feeling of inevitability and a hope for salvation? A strange desire for it all to be over? Maybe an overwhelming feeling of regret for the things you’ve never done.
For the first time ever, Alex had a clear idea of how those people must have felt. As someone who had always prided himself of being in charge of his own destiny, a power far greater than he was controlling his life, and he had never felt more doomed.
He stood looking out of his bedroom window. In the far distance he saw the beacon go out on the cliffs. It was used to guide ships into shore, and usually when it went out it meant someone was trying to confuse the captain, so the boat would miss its turn and hit the rocks, resulting in a wreck. The local bootleggers and thieves could then ransack it and be off with the cargo before the often drunken crew had a chance to even realise what was going on. It was dangerous and reckless, but Alex knew of the poverty in St Merryn and the neighbouring towns and villages, and the extreme lengths people often had to go to feed their families.
There was a knock on the door. He told the person to come in, and he caught their reflection in the glass. It was Matthew Helders, his oldest friend. Matthew was the accountant to the local wealthy landowners these days, and a respectable married man. But Alex remembered when they were at Harrow and what a scallywag he could be. Even now his palms bore the scars of several canings.
“I thought you’d gone missing,” he said, sitting upon Alex’s bed, reaching under his waistcoat and adjusting the waistband of his britches. Despite only being thirty, middle-age weight had started to creep up on him.
“I needed a breather,” Alex said, turning from the window and sitting beside Matthew. “I find it all a bit much. Let Eliza enjoy the limelight. It’s her favourite thing.”
“She’ll make a fine wife. Half the men in that room envy you. Even us married ones!”
Alex looked at Matthew in surprise.
“I thought you and Dorothy were devoted.”
“We are, but Eliza Cunningham….the most beautiful girl in the county.”
Alex laughed and reached into his pocket for his cigarillo tin.
“Don’t let Arabella hear you say that.”
“Arabella’s a child.”
Alex lit his cigarillo and took great pleasure from inhaling the acrid smoke. It filled his lungs and he felt himself relax as he exhaled.
“You won’t be her favourite honorary uncle if she hears you speaking like that.”
“I’ll live,” he chuckled. “I’ve actually sought you out because Bob Fettle came to my office yesterday. He knew I’d be coming to the party tonight, and he gave me this to give to you.”
From the pocket of his waistcoat, he took out a piece of paper folded in two. Without opening it, Alex guessed who it was from. Bob Fettle was dogsbody to Wilbur Kenney, the town solicitor, but he was also the cousin of Jed Harris, Alex’s brother-in-law.
He opened the letter and as soon as he saw his sister’s beautiful sloping writing, he felt a sense of longing to see her…sad that she wasn’t here to witness his special day. Maybe if he’d had Evelyn to support him, things might have seemed a little easier.
Dear Brother Alex
I hope this finds you well. I heard about your engagement to Eliza. You will make each other very happy. I am writing with sorrow in my heart because Freddie is sick again. The fits happen more often now, and the last time it happened, he was asleep for a day afterwards. There is a doctor in Truro, Doctor Pengelly, who has new methods to treat fits. Please help in any way you can, brother. I am begging you.
Your loving sister
Evelyn
Alex folded the letter back up and put it in his pocket.
“I didn’t read it,” Matthew said. “Is it from Evelyn?”
“Freddie is ill again. She wants to take him to a doctor in Truro.”
“Well, your father isn’t going to help.”
“I will have to find some other way of helping. Damn Father for demanding to know what I spend every penny on.”
Matthew laughed and patted Alex on the shoulder.
“You’ll think of something, old chap. You always have been the most resourceful man I know.
Matthew got up and left the room, and Alex knew he should go with him, but he still couldn’t face people yet. He finished his cigarillo and thought about his sister. Five years ago, Evelyn was banished by the family for falling in love with Jed Harris, the son of a local farmer, who’d been working up at High Green House. She became pregnant and was thrown out by Alex’s father Abraham, and Percy, his older brother. Not only had she brought embarrassment to the family by marrying a pauper, at the time she’d been betrothed to Adam Crosby, the son of one of Cornwall’s biggest shipbuilders, causing Abraham to lose face in the most humiliating way.
Indeed, Alex’s engagement to Eliza was a sort of pay off for this. Her father was the richest man in Cornwall, and as only child, all his fortune would one day be hers, which meant one day Alex would be far wealthier even than his father. Ironic really, seeing as wealth and status meant very little to him. For Alex, this marriage felt more like a punishment for his acts of rebellion over the years.
Stubbing out his cigarillo in the ashtray on the nightstand, he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked tired. His eyes always gave away how he was feeling, and they were not the eyes of an excited future bridegroom. His eyelids were heavy and faint dark circles sat beneath them. Strands of his chestnut brown hair were escaping from the black velvet bow holding it back low on his neck, and he wished he could just undo it and let his hair fall naturally. He hated anything that restricted him.
But he had no choice. Tonight wasn’t about anything he wanted, but he was expected to put on a front. So, he splashed his face with the freezing cold water that was in the wash bowl from this morning. He fixed his hair and straightened his coat. Time to put on the face of the devoted son and eager fiancé. It was only for a few more hours, then at least life could go back to normal for a while.
The ballroom of High Green House was packed with Cornwall’s High Society. The Turners were one of the county’s most revered families, owning the biggest boatyard, and several mines, and Eliza Cunningham’s beauty was almost stuff of legend. This was the event everyone was going to want to be at just so they could boast to their peers, and Alex found most of them insufferable. To him, they were nothing but boring people who would die and leave behind no meaningful legacy, no real achievements, except to have been fortunate not to have been born poor.
“Where the hell have you been, boy?” Alex turned around to find his father furious. His large nose was red from too much port, and his jaw was clenched – a look Alex was familiar with. He had made Abraham angry so many times he’d lost count.
“Well?” Abraham demanded.
“I felt a little nauseous, Father. I went to get some fresh air.”
“Well for God’s sake go and speak to your fiancé, you’ve barely acknowledged her all evening.”
Eliza was in the corner of the room, hardly looking starved of attention. Several young men were talking to her, and she was holding court quite happily. Even though Alex had known her all his life, he had taken her for granted – she bad been Evelyn’s best friend and he would often watch them from the nursery window, wishing he could join them in the garden, playing tea parties with their governess; but it was like he was seeing her for the first time tonight. She was exquisitely beautiful, with her tall, wispy frame, and jet-black hair which tonight was piled on top of her head and adorned with cream coloured flowers that matched her ivory dress. Her blue eyes twinkled as she laughed with the men around her, all desperate for her attention, and her lips looked quite exquisite, decorated in that red cochineal.
She was a goddess, but in her, Alex just saw a trap. A cage that would finally hold him down and stop him living his life as he wanted. His independence had always been his most treasured possession. He’d had none of the weight of inheritance upon his shoulders like Percy. He was the spare. The forgotten one, and he’d hoped he could remain a bachelor. Not realising all the time those around him had been conspiring to push him and Eliza together. He just hoped their engagement was a long one.
But for now he had to play his part – people were watching. His fiancé was talking animatedly to other men, it didn’t seem acceptable.
“Eliza, dear,” he said, stepping in between her and Miss Wylie, her companion. As Eliza was beautiful, Miss Wylie was unfortunate looking - even taller than Alex, with a rather manly jaw and light blonde hair that looked like straw.
“Alex, my beloved,” Eliza beamed, grasping his hands and smiling sweetly. “I thought you had abandoned me.”
“I needed to take some air.”
“A splendid idea,” she smiled. “I shall take some air with you.” She linked her arm through Alex’s and guided him away.
“Do you want me to come?” Miss Wylie asked, sounding rather desperate. Eliza looked round at her.
“No,” she said. “You can retire for the night if you wish. Goodnight Josephine.”
“Goodnight Eliza,” she smiled sadly.
They went out into the gardens, and without the eyes of everyone he knew upon him, Alex relaxed a little. Suddenly Eliza became one of his oldest friends again. It was like he’d forgotten she was the girl who would escape her governess and go rambling through the bushes with him and Matthew, and could climb trees better than Alex. He was scared of heights, but Eliza would scale the branches to the top, then she would perch up there, making bird noises. It was only when she started to blossom that her father tightened the reins and she’d had to confirm. But Alex hoped that rebel was still underneath there.
They made their way to the ornamental gardens, just near to the maze. As they sat on the so-called Love Seat, Eliza sighed and stuck a gloved finger in her ornate hairdo and scratched her head.
“What a dreadful evening,” she said. She looked at Alex and smiled. “Not because of you. Just all those horrid people.”
Alex dared to laugh.
“I thought it was just me who felt like that.”
“Dear God, no. Lady Fulworth was actually giving me suggestions for governesses if we have a daughter.”
Alex felt that noose tightening. Children…..another thing he’d dared not think about.
“You haven’t got a cigarillo, have you?” she asked suddenly.
“I didn’t know you smoked.”
“I’ve been smoking those things since finishing school. We had a gardener who used to sneak them in for us.”
Alex took his tin from his pocket and lit two, passing one to Eliza. She took a deep inhalation, giving a sigh of satisfaction as she exhaled.
“That’s better.”
Alex was surprised by this little fact he had discovered about Eliza. She was still fun, and he was filled with that deep seated regret that he couldn’t feel any desire for her. She was exquisitely beautiful, as tall as Alex, but so delicate, and her skin was flawless, unlike so many other girls who had pock marks under their face powder. Eliza would make the perfect wife, and Alex would be the envy of most men, but he felt nothing.
“Your stepmother is talking about a Spring wedding,” she said. “No doubt, she will take it upon herself to organise it all.”
“It will give her no greater pleasure. The quicker I am away from her and living in Jayson House, the better, as far as she’s concerned.”
Eliza looked at Alex with a strange expression, furrowing her brow. It caused a small crease to appear in her forehead….bringing home the fact that at twenty eight, she was an old bride.
“Do you know, it feels like I haven’t spoken to you properly in such a long time? Are you still doing your good works?”
“I try, but it isn’t easy. So much is stacked up in favour of the likes of us, Eliza. I spoke for Solomon Parry last week at the Assizes, trying to point out that since he had his accident, he has been incapable of making reasonable decisions. They took no notice of me whatsoever and now he is on a filthy holding ship in Plymouth, waiting to be transported to the New World. I doubt he will even survive the journey. If you’re poor, it is as though you’re guilty of the crime of being born.”
He realised the depth of his speech and he looked at Eliza, feeling a little foolish.
“I’m sorry, you don’t want to be hearing about such things.”
“On the contrary. You are going to be my husband and I want to know about your life.”
Alex wanted to tell her about Evelyn but he didn’t know if he could. Eliza was a kind girl, but Alex was sure wouldn’t want any contact with her future sister-in-law, who would bring shame by association – despite them once being as close as friends could be.
Before he could answer, they were both disturbed by a giggle that came from nearby. Alex recognised it straight away.
“Excuse me, Eliza,” he said, standing up.
“What is it?”
“My sister.”
“Oh dear, I’ll come.”
Alex and Eliza left the ornamental gardens and Alex headed to the maze, from where the giggle had come. Fortunately, the moon was full and cast good light, and he could clearly see what was happening. A couple were walking along the narrow entrance to the maze, and Alex immediately recognised Arabella. She was as tall as him, and willowy like Eliza. Most recognisable were the loose chestnut curls that hung down to the middle of her back. Like Alex, her hair was thick and wild, and much to the annoyance of Raine, their stepmother, Arabella was refusing to start dressing like a lady and fixing her hair in an elaborate style. She was walking arm in arm with a young man in naval uniform, and from the muscular build and impossibly broad shoulders, Alex guessed it was Harold, the son of Lord Styles. Harold was a rather strapping and handsome fellow and the object of desire for many of the local young noblewomen.
“Arabella!”
Both young people froze on the spot, not turning around.
“I know it’s you, Bella,” Alex said.
Arabella and Harold both turned at the same time. Harold at least had the decency to blush. Arabella just covered her giggle with her gloved hand.
“Sorry Mr Turner,” Harold said earnestly, quickly decoupling himself from Arabella and striding towards Alex. “We were all in here earlier on, playing a game, and Arabella thought she had lost her earring, so I said I would help her find it.”
Alex walked past Harold and up to his sister. She quickly switched to her coquette act, hunching her shoulders and pouting her rosy pink lips, looking at him with fake remorse in her big brown eyes.
“Don’t be angry dear brother.”
Alex pushed her hair behind her ears on both sides, and there were two pearl earrings perfectly fixed in place. Alex turned and looked at Eliza.
“Can you take Arabella back to her room?” he asked her.
With a sulky pout, Arabella pushed past Alex, deliberately knocking him with her shoulder. She joined Eliza, and they headed towards the house. Alex waited until they were out of earshot and approached Harold. He was a good half a head taller than Alex, but he looked genuinely afraid. It was no doubt the ‘Turner stare’ a trait inherited by all four children from their father. It was all the more effective in Alex and Arabella as they were the ones who had Abraham’s huge, dark brown eyes.
“W-We were just going for a walk…” Harold uttered.
“You think it’s appropriate to walk alone in the dark with unaccompanied young women do you?”
“I’m sorry sir. Please don’t tell your father.”
“And why shouldn’t I? What were your intentions toward my sister?”
“Just to talk. She is by far the most beautiful girl in the whole of Cornwall.”
“I doubt you have seen every girl in Cornwall, Harold, and even if you have, and you wish to pursue my sister, there are ways and means. Now, be off with you. I won’t tell my father on this occasion, but if I catch you with Arabella again, I will.”
Harold rushed off back off in the direction of the house, but Alex didn’t follow. He stood in the confines of the maze, behind him was the house, and Eliza and his family, and all what his stifling future held. In front of him was that dark and puzzling maze, the perfect place for stolen kisses and promises that could never be kept. Alex closed his eyes and for a moment he was there again – Arabella’s age and just as curious about the world of love.
With a sigh, he opened his eyes and turned and walked back to the house and his responsibilities. His thoughts returned to the present. Arabella was going to need a companion. Now Eliza was about to be married, Arabella was indeed going to inherit the mantle of most beautiful and eligible girl in the county. There would be many suitors, and the last thing Alex wanted was Arabella ending up in the same situation as Evelyn. To lose one sister was heartbreaking. If he lost Arabella as well, it would feel like he had no one.
