“As manager of all his enterprises,” he said. “As someone to oversee them as he withdraws gradually into retirement.”
She gazed at him as anger balled inside her.
“You do not like the sound of it.” He half smiled.
“It is aninsult,” she said. “You are a gentleman, a baronet. You have property and fortune. He is a—acoal miner.”
“An owner,” he said. “There is a difference.”
“He cannot be serious,” she said. “Did you tell him how insulted you were? Did you give him the set-down of his life? It is timesomebodydid.”
“I did not feel insulted.”
“And whyyou?” she asked. “Does he believe that by offering you employment he will be currying favor with me?”
She glared. He half smiled.
And a thought struck her.
“Why have you not set out on your journey?” she asked him. “Why did you come?”
“To say goodbye,” he said. “I had been delayed anyway and thought another hour would make no great difference. Goodbye, Samantha. Try not to think too hardly of him.”
She watched him turn and make his way back through the gap and move in the direction of the cottage. Tramp started to go after him and then turned to stare at her, his tail waving, waiting for her to come too.
To say goodbye.
I had been delayed anyway and thought another hour would make no great difference.
She went hurrying after him and caught up with him just above the rock where she had left her shoes.
“You came to tell me, did you not?” she said. “You have accepted his offer.”
“I have not,” he said. “I will be leaving as planned within the hour.”
“Oh, Ben,” she said, setting a hand on his arm. “Come to the house and sit down. Mrs. Price will bring us some tea. You came to ask me what I thought, then. You would not accept without my approval. Am I right?”
“Iwillnot accept without your approval,” he said. “And you do not approve. That is the end of the matter.”
“No, it is not,” she said with a sigh as they reached the garden gate and she held it open for him. “I was insulted for you. But you were not insulted. You must tell me why not. And you must tell me why on earth you would consider taking employment with the owner of a coal mine.”
“Coal mines,” he said. “And ironworks.”
They went into the house, and Samantha went back to the kitchen to talk to Mrs. Price while he went on his way to the sitting room. It was only as she joined him there that it struck her fully—he was still here. She had thought never to see him again, but here he was seated in his usual chair, his canes propped beside it.
“Your grandfather claims to be a good judge of character,” he told her. “He believes I have the abilities and experience and qualities of character he has been looking for in an overseer. Apart from all the knowledge and experience I would have to acquire, being in charge of everything would have certain similarities to being a military officer.”
“All you ever wanted to do in life,” she said softly.
“And,” he said, “it is something I could do despite my disability.”
“Yes,” she said.
“I would not be here to trouble you,” he said. “I would have to live and work in Swansea and the Rhondda Valley. I need never come here again. If I accept the offer, I will be leaving immediately, just as I planned anyway.”
“Then why,” she asked him, “did you need my approval?”
“I would be working for your grandfather,” he said, “from whom you may choose to remain estranged. And…Samantha, you are his heir. If he were to die suddenly, I might be working foryouuntil a replacement could be found.”
