She had said all there was to say. She could not heal him. That was something he had to learn to do himself. Grace turned,marched briskly back to the waiting trap and climbed aboard. They watched Alfred walk away.
‘Did speaking to him make you feel better?’ asked her father.
‘Yes. It had to be said.’
‘Where do you want me to take you?’ They both knew the question meant more than that. Had she made it up with Talek and would return to Roseland to care for his sister, or were they as far apart as they were before her visit.
Tears pricked Grace’s eyes as she thought of Talek. Perhaps she had more in common with Alfred than she cared to admit. Both rejected by the one they loved.
‘You didn’t tell him that his sister swore you to secrecy, did you?’ Her father’s gentle voice was almost the undoing of her. Tears welled up in her eyes. She stared hard at a house across the road in order not to blink. To blink would make them fall and once one fell, others were sure to follow.
All throughout her care for the injured miner, Talek had not been far from her thoughts. She had been terrified for his safety and had never been more thankful than when she saw him walking down the hill, dirty and exhausted, but alive and well. She must not think of him. She wiped her eyes dry and shook her head.
‘No, I didn’t tell him.’
‘Why not?’
More tears threatened. Grace clenched her jaw to draw courage. She was determined not to break down. It must be the shock of the day making her feel so fragile.
‘Talek believes that Amelia is the only woman who has not betrayed him in recent years. I don’t want to hurt him further by telling him the truth. Besides, I have nothing to gain. He no longer cares for me so it is best for all concerned to keep silent on the matter.’
‘Did he say he didn’t care for you?’ asked her father as he took her hand in his. His warmth and protection reminded her of the times when she was a child and he had lifted her in his arms after a fall. It had the power to drain the tension from her body and soothe her wounds. It did so now as she relaxed against him. He lifted his arm and wrapped it about her. Her defences melted away along with the sob that rose up inside her. This time she did not stop it.
‘He did not need to say it,’ she sobbed.
‘Then you can’t know that for sure.’
Her father’s arms tightened about her. Her body, raw, tender and as weak as a kitten, allowed her father’s solid frame to shield her.
‘I do. I saw it in his eyes.’
Chapter Twenty
The evening sun hung heavy on the horizon, scorching the sky blood red as if it had been slashed with a sword. Talek returned to Roseland on foot. It suited him to walk and gave him some precious time to be alone before his sister’s persistent questions and the staffs’ inquisitive glances and gossip.
His thoughts were full of the new widow’s grief. She had cried like a wounded animal when he had informed her of her husband’s death. It was heart-wrenching to witness, but he had stayed until she had quietened and someone else had arrived to stay with her. He had given his reassurance that she would be financially well cared for in the immediate future, but he had known, as he had spoken the words, that his generosity would be inadequate for the pain she was suffering now. No amount of money could take that away.
The edges of the blood red sky began to take on a golden sheen as the sun rested on the horizon in the distance. The ball of fire was untouched by the grief of the village, a grief that Talek felt utterly responsible for, despite the young widow’s later reassurances he was not. The logical side of him agreed with her. Heavy downpours and storms were part of Cornwall’s changeable weather, just as the setting sun was now. It was not unusual to have the sun beating down in the morning and, by the end of the day, heavy rain causing rivers to rise dangerously high. If mining stopped every time it rained then it would cut the production of clay by half and leave men without the means to put food on the table. Yet — if only he had inspected the pit when he had first arrived at the site, he may have decided to close it. A seemingly inconsequential decision to walk one way rather than the other had resulted in a man’s death. It would be a decision he would regret for the rest of his life.
After his visit to the widow, he had sought the injured miner out. He found him in his little terraced house, resting on a makeshift bed by a fire and dozing like a drunkard. It seemed Doctor Borlase’s little brown bottle had already worked its magic to dull the miner’s pain.
‘Is it broken?’ Talek asked the miner’s wife as she frantically tidied the room around him.
‘Dislocated,’ she said, flustered and hiding a pair of muddy boots under a blanket, ‘but Doctor Borlase says it will mend well.’
Talek watched her pick up a plate and hurry from the room, returning almost immediately. Her eyes darted about the cottage for something else to clear. He realised his visit was unsettling her rather than providing comfort and he should cut it short. It was not every day the mine owner came into their home and it had set her on edge at a time she had more pressing worries.
‘I won’t stay,’ he said. Her relief was immediate. ‘I just wanted to let you know that you needn’t worry about your rent. I will provide for you financially until Michael is able to work again.’ How he would manage it if the business did not recover from Henry’s actions he did not know, but that problem would not be this family’s concern.
The miner’s wife was grateful and hurriedly showed him to the door, thanking him profusely as she did so.
‘Please thank Miss Kellow and her father for me,’ she added as Talek inclined his head goodbye. ‘Miss Kellow was so kind and calm. I don’t know how I would have coped if she had not been here.’
Talek forced a smile. He could not promise to pass on her thanks and would not lie to her now. Instead he had inclined his head, although this time a little more stiffly.
‘I’m sure you would have coped.’ He offered her a stiff smile. ‘Goodnight.’
The door of Roseland opened as he approached. His servants were well trained or they had heard and were looking out for him, whatever the reason, he realised he didn’t care. He asked for his sister and was informed she was in the drawing room. To the servant’s surprise, he went straight there.
