“I was prepared for that,” said Rhys. “I am fated to disappoint them. I have no political aspirations whatsoever. Canning Shipping is enough to keep me occupied for quite some time.” He hesitated slightly. “The captain of theCarasealed me to believe my father did not have much respect for the Garnet Line. Frankly, I’m curious as to why that was. Kenna and I have been impressed by what we’ve heard and seen.”
“If I may speak plainly,” Tanner said, raising his eyebrows in question.
“Please.”
“Roland was an astute business man. There was much about his management of the line that I admired. But Canning Shipping became the means to an end in his hands. His end was power; for himself and for Richard. He used political leverage to win special concessions for his business and he used money from the line to further his political ambitions. I spoke out against sending him to London to work out the terms of peace treaty and I was opposing Richard’s bid for the senate seat. Roland took exception to my right to free speech.”
“What did he do?” Rhys waved away Tanner’s look of surprise. “I knew my father well enough to know he would not take exception quietly. He must have acted against you in some way.”
It was Alexis who spoke. “It’s unimportant. We did not ask you here tonight to speak of these matters or to insist you do anything differently than your father has done. I will tell you this, your father’s displeasure with us existed before Cloud spoke out against him.”
“Alex,” Tanner said warningly.
She touched his hand lightly. “It’s all right. I want to tell them.” Her gold flecked eyes traveled from Rhys to Kenna. “Roland believed I was responsible for the death of one of his dearest friends.”
“Were you?” asked Rhys directly without the slightest fear of offending her.
Alexis’s admiration grew. Not many people would have asked, preferring to reach their own conclusions based on the slim body of evidence available to them. “Two years ago I was responsible for the arrest of Senator Howe on charges of treason. He was a popular man here in Massachusetts and, as I mentioned, a good friend of your father’s. He was found guilty after a short trial and later he hanged himself in prison.”
Rhys grimaced in disgust. “That is hardly your fault.”
“Roland thought differently. When the war was officially declared at an end in December of last year, Cloud and I came to Boston to help his sister and brother-in-law with the Garnet Line. Roland made it quite clear that not only were we not welcome, but that we were to blame for Howe’s death. Reasoning with him was out of the question. He remained adamant.”
“Yes, he would. He did not stray easily from a course once it was set.”
“Not an entirely unadmirable quality,” said Tanner. “I admit to a stubborn streak myself.”
Alexis feigned surprise, laughing lightly, easing the strain in the room. “You do?” She spoke to Rhys and Kenna. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
The conversation continued in a bantering manner throughout the remainder of the dinner. A plate of cheese and fresh fruit was served for dessert. They took the tray and their cups of hot spiced coffee to the music room where Kenna was coerced into playing something on the spinet.
“Alex doesn’t play,” Tanner told her as he put out the sheet music. “She keeps threatening to learn.”
“She has other accomplishments,” Kenna said a trifle wistfully. “I should love to learn to sail.” She ignored Rhys’s affected groan. “I lived along the Channel my entire life and never once was allowed to put out in a boat.”
“The Channel waters can be treacherous,” said Alexis.
Rhys added quickly and significantly, “And so can these waters.”
“I take your meaning, Rhys,” she laughed and began playing.
Shortly after Kenna’s impromptu concert was at an end she and Rhys bid the Clouds goodnight. Kenna sat in the carriage beside Rhys, her head on his shoulder.
“It was an enjoyable evening, wasn’t it?” she yawned sleepily as the carriage rocked them gently over cobbled Boston streets.
“Yes.”
His quiet, single-word response gave Kenna pause. “What are you thinking?”
“That my father was a true bastard.” The cords of his neck were knotted with tension. “I know he found a way to retaliate against the Clouds. I only wish they could have told me what he did. I could set it to rights. They don’t deserve my father’s revenge for speaking their minds.”
“I think I know what he did,” Kenna said quietly after a long silence had separated them. “There were things…. they didn’t make sense then, but now, after tonight’s conversation, well, I think I know what they mean.”
She had his complete attention. “Kenna, what are you saying?”
“I found some items in the accounts that I was going to discuss with you because they made no sense to me. Were you aware your father was making regular payments to the lumber mills and iron forges and getting nothing in return? He was also making payments to certain individuals like foremen, carpenters, and laborers who were not employed directly by Canning Shipping. Not only that, but I found contracts with some merchants, no doubt good friends of your father’s, that set ridiculously low prices for importing or exporting their goods. Rhys, Roland was paying peoplenotto supply materials or work for the Garnet Line.”
Rhys swore feelingly under his breath. “That he could be so vindictive. It is nearly beyond belief.”
