Read Online Another Country by Kate Hewitt - Free Book Online Page B

from neighbors’ homes, as
well as a fair sampling from Harriet and Betty’s own kitchens.
    “Care to dance, Mrs. MacDougall?” Allan put his arm
around Harriet’s shoulders as she sipped some cold lemonade.
    “Oh, aye, I’m always ready to kick up my feet! I’ve
barely seen you all day, with the work being done. Is Father
pleased with the crop?”
    “As pleased as any of us are. It’s been a poor
summer, but we’ll manage.” Besides bringing in their own wheat,
Allan and Rupert had helped Sandy with his. It was the way of
island families, especially in the strong Scots’ community.
    Allan frowned. “I didn’t like the sound of his
cough. I know he was a bit poorly this winter, but surely it should
have gone by now.”
    Harriet glanced at Sandy, sitting with Betty on an
upturned bale of hay. He looked as strong as ever, although his
hair was whiter and the lines scoring his cheeks deeper. “Like you
said, it’s been a wet summer,” she said. “Surely his cough will
disappear now that we have a bit of sunshine.”
    “Just in time for winter again.” Allan took her in
his arms as the fiddle struck up another tune. “It’s hard to
believe on a balmy evening like this, but the first frost is no
more than a month away.”
    Harriet smiled back at him. She could hear the
crickets calling by the river, and the moon cut a silver swath
through the inky black waters. She didn’t want to think about the
long, frozen months ahead, or the hardship they caused. Right now
she was just happy to rest in Allan’s arms, with the warm night air
like a cloak around her.
    “I wonder if Rupert will be with us at the frost,”
she murmured. “He seems to have a head full of plans.”
    “Indeed he does.” Allan chuckled wryly. “I’m sure
he’ll tell us, in time.”
    In time turned out to be the very next day. Rupert
laid a letter on the breakfast table, next to his tin cup of
coffee. “From Henry Moore,” he said in a voice radiating pride. “I
didn’t want to tell any of you, until I was sure.”
    Allan raised his eyebrows, bemused. “Sure of
what?”
    “He’s offered me a position, as clerk, in his
shipping office. In Boston.”
    “What!” The spoon Harriet had been stirring the pot
of porridge with fell on the floor with a clatter. “Rupert, you
can’t be serious!”
    “Why not? I’ve always had a head for figures, and
those years being tutored in Fort William shouldn’t go to
waste.”
    “But this is your life here,” Harriet protested.
    Rupert shook his head. “No, it’s not, Harriet. It’s
yours.”
    “Clerk, hmm?” Allan sipped his coffee thoughtfully.
“I suppose it’s a start.”
    “It is that. I won’t be satisfied as a lowly clerk
for too long, I can assure you, but I’m grateful to Henry for
giving me the offer. For all that we’re kin, we’re still strangers
to one another.”
    “ When do you leave?”
    “There’s a ship leaving Pictou for Boston in two
days.” Rupert glanced apologetically at Harriet. “I’m sorry to
leave so quickly, but Henry wants me to start as soon as
possible.”
    Harriet nodded in understanding, although she’d a
feeling it was Rupert who wanted to start in haste, not Henry. His
life, she realized with a pang, was about to begin, and in a place
far from here.
    “You must look after Eleanor, then,” she said. “My
suggestion wasn’t as far-fetched as it seemed!”
    “No, indeed.” Allan nodded at Rupert. “Perhaps you
will fetch her back for us in a few months’ time. I’m sure Father
and Mam will want word of you, by then.”
    Rupert nodded. “When the time comes, I’ll be happy
to bring Eleanor back. It’s high time this family saw one another!
As for me...” he rose from the table. “I’ll start to pack.”
     
    Eleanor clutched the embossed stationery with
Caroline’s address in one gloved hand. She’d walked from Ian’s
lodgings in the South End to this Beacon Hill mansion, enjoying the
sights and sounds of a new