Page 76 of Marry in Secret
“I dragged him off the old man, seized his stick and was about to give the evil little rat the thrashing of his life when the other slaves stopped me. They dragged me away and kept me in the lockup until I calmed.” By doing so, they’d saved Thomas’s life, for the punishment for hitting the owner’s son would surely have been death.
“Oh, Thomas. What did they do to you then?”
“Sold me to the galleys, to the master with the most vicious reputation—a pirate. And you know what? I was better off there.”
“You don’t mean that, surely?”
“I do, because hideous as that existence was, it was from the galleys I eventually escaped, and thus made my way back to England, and you, my sweet Rose.” He kissedher.
Chapter Ten
It is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible.
—JANE AUSTEN,NORTHANGER ABBEY
“Did you send this?” Rose asked Thomas when he called in around noon a few days later. He’d arranged a delivery of wine and spirits—he was stocking the cellar—and had come to supervise the unpacking and storage of the wine.
“What is it?”
She showed him an elegant wooden box, shallow and divided into segments, each one containing a piece of beautifully made and arranged marzipan fruit. There were grapes, apples, pineapples, peaches and more, colorful and lifelike.
“Very fancy,” he said.
“Isn’t it? It came with this card.” She passed it to him.
Welcome to your new home.He turned the card over and frowned. “There’s no name.”
“I know, I thought it strange but perhaps whoever sent it forgot to sign it. Or maybe the shop mixed things up. It was on the doorstep when I arrived this morning.”
“Odd. Oh, well, I expect someone will mention it and then we’ll know. In the meantime, they look very fine and expensive, so enjoy them.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t much like marzipan. I thought you might enjoy them.”
“I used to love it when I was a boy, but these days...” He grimaced. “A bit sweet for me. Anyone in your family?”
She shook her head, then became aware of the young apprentice paperhanger watching, clearly listening in. “Was there something you wanted, Peter?”
He reddened. “Sorry, m’lady, just, I never seen anything so pretty. Are they some kind of sweet?”
“Yes, marzipan. Almond paste and sugar, shaped to look like fruit and painted with vegetable dyes. See?” She held it out so he could see into the box.
Peter edged forward, barely able to take his eyes off the glistening sweets. “That there’s a pineapple, ain’t it? And there’s a peach. And cherries, like they was just picked off a tree.”
Rose glanced a silent question at Thomas, who nodded. She handed him the box. “Here, Peter, they’re yours.”
The young man’s eyes almost popped. “Mine, m’lady? You mean it?”
She smiled. “Take them home to your mother or your sweetheart, and enjoy them with our compliments.”
“Thank you, m’lady, sir.” He closed the box carefully and hurried away.
“Nice thing to do,” Thomas said. “Thought you were dark on paperhangers these days.”
She laughed. “He wasn’t the one who got the pineapples upside down.”
The wine merchants arrived and Thomas went off to supervise the unpacking and stowing of the wine in the cellar. He’d had wine racks built earlier.
Rose was preparing rooms for the servants: fresh paper for the women, paint for the men, a rug on each floor and warm blankets for the beds. Emm had stressed to her that you got the service you deserved—Emm recalled her own time as a lowly teacher, living in a cold attic room with no heating and inadequate bedclothes. It had made quite an impression on Rose and she resolved to ensure that herown servants were as comfortable as she could make them.
