Chapter 16
Barbara
his is my sister,” Mr. Cantwell said, drawing the stranger forward. She was dressed in a beautifully cut suit of gold and black that fitted her exquisite figure like a silk stocking. The colors set off her reddish hair and strange, dark orange eyes.
“Good afternoon, Miss Cantwell,” Theodosia said, hurrying forward and stretching out one hand in greeting. “Welcome to our home.”
“Call me Barbara, please,” the sister said in a curiously light, husky voice, gracefully touching two fingers to Theodosia’s palm. “We shouldn’t stand on ceremony if we are to be in business together.” She sat on a chair opposite Miriam, Simon and Neil.
“You work for the company as well?” Miriam asked curiously. She couldn’t imagine this exotic-looking creature doing accounts or writing letters about bolemor trees.
“Of course not –” Theodosia began, but Mr. Cantwell interrupted her.
“My sister is my right hand,” he said, taking his seat beside Miriam on the settee and leaning towards her intimately. “She advises me in every capacity, including my current search for lodgings.”
The sister smiled faintly and lowered her head, her veil casting an attractive shadow over her face. “We are in the market for a house, but we cannot find one that is suitable,” she said. “At the moment, we must make do with hired rooms.”
“Good lord!” Virgil expostulated, the ever-present decanter in his hand. He handed a glass to his partner, and offered, “Why not stay here for the moment? Plenty of space.”
“Oh, do say you will,” Theodosia said eagerly. “Make this your home for the moment.”
Brother and sister looked at each other for a moment, and Barbara said, “Well, we’ll see. We hate to intrude on your hospitality.”
“I just can’t bear the thought of your being in a rented place,” Theodosia gushed, turning to Mr. Cantwell. “You could go to the city with Virgil when you have to visit the Company, and I could show Barbara around.” Her gaze flicked over the sister’s elegant clothes.
Miriam thought to herself, she means, she could find out the name of her dressmaker. Barbara’s smart suit contrasted drastically with Theodosia’s own clothes, which were in varying shades of ill-advised lavender.
Barbara tilted her head as if considering, and Theodosia watched her hopefully.
“Think on it, in any case,” Virgil said, emptying his glass down his throat. “In the meantime, why don’t you ladies take a short walk before dinner, and Cantwell and I can discuss business?”
Again the brother and sister regarded each other, and a message seemed to pass between them. “Very well,” Barbara said, rising, “provided that the children and your handsome son come with us.”
“Very well,” Simon echoed, looking delighted at not being included as part of ‘the children’. He bounded to his feet and offered Barbara his arm, which she took with a smile.
Miriam turned to Neil in surprise, and he shrugged. Theodosia, Miriam noted, was beaming at the sight of her son shepherding Barbara into the garden. As they moved outdoors, Miriam maneuvered her way to Neil’s side and whispered, “Neil! What is going on with Simon?”
Neil knew exactly what she meant. “Hold on,” he hissed back, pausing until Barbara, Simon and his mother had moved on a bit. “There, they won’t be able to hear us. Obviously, Simon has taken a fancy to Miss Cantwell.”
“Oh! You mean Barbara,” Miriam said, stressing the last word. She felt a little disappointed. She and Simon, ever since they had discovered the letter, had avoided being alone together by tacit agreement. They had only come into contact if Neil and Mana were in the vicinity. Still, she missed talking to him about her stories and laughing with him and Neil after lessons.
She had begun to feel as though they could eventually become friends, once they forgot about that silly idea of marriage. “Is he always like this around girls?”
“He fell in love with the cook’s daughter once,” Neil said gloomily, “and wrote her poems. Picked flowers for her, too.” He added in a burst of confidence, “He was pretty damned boring while it lasted.”
“Yuck. I can just imagine. Suppose he won’t want to come down to the sea with us and Mana and hunt for shrimps tomorrow,” Miriam said regretfully. “You won’t start this kind of thing, will you?” she asked Neil accusingly.
“No fear,” he said emphatically. “No, thank you. And besides, there’s something a little strange about those two –”
“You mean the Cantwells?” Miriam said. “Yes, I think so as well! I’m so glad I’m not the only one. He never answers any questions, even though he talks and talks. Have you noticed?”
“You’re right.”
“I’m going to keep an eye on them,” she said, squinting ferociously at Neil. “Will you help me?”
“I don’t know if I should,” he said, his ears turning pink. “I mean – I’m a guest in your house.”
“Come on, be a sport,” Miriam cajoled. “No one will know. And besides, all we’ll be doing is observing them.”
Neil capitulated; he obviously was dying to do a little spying. “Simon will probably be at dinner with them, which means you and I will have to be there too,” he said.
“Let’s see if we can learn anything.”
“I’ll try to talk some sense into Simon as well.” He continued, “Although, it won’t do any good if it’s like the last time. He’s deaf and blind to the world when he’s infatuated with a female.”
“Well,” Miriam said, “do what you can.”