Page 42 of Hold Me Fast
Chapter Sixteen
Jowan and Branhad a morning of paperwork but finished everything essential by noon. Tammie and Evangeline arranged for the cook to fill a basket with foods that could be easily eaten under a tree somewhere, and the two men took it in turns to carry the basket.
They went to the steward’s cottage first. It was in the grounds of Inneford House and on the banks of the river that gave the house its name, and right beside the bridge that had taken the place of the ford that used to give access to the village on the other bank. The walk from the main house took five minutes, and its upper floors could be seen through the trees.
Built, like most of the local houses, from granite with a slate roof, it had been part of the estate for two hundred years but had been empty for the past twenty, since Sir Carlyon decided to be his own steward. When Bran picked up the steward’s role, he had continued living in the main house, so the only work done on the cottage had been essential maintenance to stop it from crumbling.
Evangeline and Tammie could both envision it as it could be, going from room to room, full of ideas about changes that could be made and furnishings that would bring the place to life.
“I suppose it is our part, while they talk about curtains and carpets, to notice the patched roof that needs to be completely replaced, the window frames with a touch of dry rot, and the floor boards and stair boards that need to be nailed down,” Bran commented, dryly, to Jowan.
Evangeline heard. “Yes, that is not my area of expertise, Bran. But I do have some opinions about improvements to the kitchen and scullery. Also, once we’ve seen the attics, can you show me where the cottage gets its water?”
Tammie had some of the same questions when it came to her cottage. It had been lived in more recently and needed fewer urgent repairs, but neither had any money been spent to update either utilities such as coal ranges or furniture and decoration.
It was furnished with a chaotic mix of hand-me-down furniture, old and not-so-old, finely wrought and rough, in different styles, woods, and colors. Some of it, Tammie remembered from the housekeeper’s rooms at Inneford. The paintings now missing from those rooms hung here, not so much adorning the walls as haunting them.
The apple orchard that had given the cottage its name had not had any pruning or feeding in years, and the whole garden was overgrown, though Tammie could see a few roses and other summer flowers splashing color here and there against the tangle of weeds and brambles.
It would take work. Still, Tammie thought she could be happy here. She could imagine herself on a winter’s evening, with a roaring fire in the grate of the parlor, which was a decent size, so a piano in the corner should be far enough away from the heat not to dry out too rapidly.
Could she afford a piano? She needed to talk to Jowan about going to Plymouth to sell her jewelry. Quite apart from the piano and some gowns suitable for winter, she should be responsible for the repairs and upgrades on the cottage that she owned.
She would not raise it now. Looking at the cottages was making Jowan unhappy. Perhaps he was worrying about Tammie again, or perhaps he was not looking forward to Bran leaving him.
They walked back to Inneford House, Bran, and Evangeline absorbed in a conversation about the changes they’d like to make to the steward’s cottage, which left Tammie to walk with Jowan. He was silent, and she was reluctant to disturb his mood. No. She had learned caution with Guy, but this was Jowan, and she trusted him not to lose his temper, even if he did not want to talk about what was bothering him.
Whatever they might be to one another now and in the future, they were friends, and friends looked out for one another.
“What is troubling you, Jowan?” she asked.
“Do you think they are wise?” he asked, nodding at the couple ahead of him. “They have known one another…what? For three weeks? Four? And they plan to be wed within another three. What do we know of Evangeline, after all?”
“That I owe her my life?” Tammie pointed out. “It has been an intense four weeks. Are you afraid for your brother? I do not think you need to be, but who can really know what another person is like? They are adults, Jowan, and will make their own decisions.”
She hesitated to raise their own relationship but reminded herself again that this was Jowan, her friend. “I would wish to go more slowly. Idowish to go slowly. You have been giving me time, I think. Is that true?” She peered up at him, trying to see his reaction.
Jowan met her gaze, the heat she had sometimes detected burning in his eyes. “My wishes have not changed, if that is what you are asking. I am willing to wait until you trust me, Tamsyn. I still want forever with you, once you are ready.”
“It is not that I do not trust you,” Tamsyn corrected, “but I do not trust myself. I find that I hardly know myself, Jowan. Can you understand that?”
“I think you are calling me a hypocrite, Tammie. Wanting to rush into the romance that you and I were denied all those years ago and crying caution to Bran and Evangeline.”
Tammie’s heart leaped at the confirmation that Jowan still wanted her, but she kept her voice level. “I think we each know our own motivations and can only guess at those of others. Our friends will marry, I think, whatever we think or say. And so, I will support them, and hope for the best.”
“It was going to happen sooner rather than later,” Jowan acknowledged. “Better now than in a rush to beat the stork. I wish everyone didn’t feel the need to leave Inneford House, though.”
“If it helps,” Tammie said, “you have an open invitation to take your dinner at Apple Cottage.”
It helped her. Even if she could find a suitable companion, she foresaw some lonely evenings.
Time for a change of topic. “I will need to convert my jewelry into money. Is there a suitable jeweler in Plymouth?”
“I would think so,” Jowan said. He called out to Bran. “Bran, Tammie wants to go into Plymouth to see a jeweler, and you and I need to make a push at finding Mrs. Mayhew.” To Tammie and Evangeline, he added, “we are trying to track down some papers that our father’s London solicitor had. He died at about the same time as our father, and we recently found out his effects were sent to a cousin in Plymouth. We know she is a widow named Mayhew. But we don’t have a current address.”
“She might have married again and have another name, or she might have moved away from Plymouth, but I suppose we need to try,” Bran commented.
“I would not mind visiting a fabric merchant,” said Evangeline. “Mrs. Penrose says that the dressmaker in the village is quite good, but I will need to buy fabrics and notions if I am to have a new gown made up. I thought of going to Launceston, but I imagine Plymouth will have a better range of choices.”
