Read Online The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Winston Graham
Tags: Romance, Literature & Fiction, Contemporary, Sagas, Genre Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Family Saga
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same.'
'He came here to supper twice while you were away in July.'
'Yes, he told me. It was kind of you to ask him. But was it because...'
'Yes, mainly. Though he is Jeremy's friend and might have come anyhow.'
‘I t was then that he invested in the mine, wasn't it?'
'In spite of my warnings. He's a very personable young man, intelligent, a quick thinker. It seems he should have -done more with his life. Opportunities, of course, do not come easy when one has no connections. Perhaps when - if - he has a stabilizing in fluence, a different kind of am bition...'
'When can you see him?'
'See him? Not tomorrow. Any time Thursday. In the forenoon would be best. Tell him to come to the library. We shall be undisturbed there.'
Clowance moved across and kissed him. 'You will tell Mama?'
'Of course! ’
‘I mean tonight.''
'Certainly. We have few secrets from each other, and this is the last subject...'
Clowance smiled. 'That is the way I wish it to be between Stephen and me.'
'Tell him to wait on me at eleven.'
III
'What was she?' asked Ross. 'A schooner?'
‘ Yes, sir. Tops'l. Quite small.'
‘ How small?'
'About eighty ton.'
'And commanded by?'
'A Captain Fraser. Out of Bristol.'
'Had you been with him long?'
'Twas our second voyage. He was a Scotsman, hard, red-haired, not the type to cross.'
'But not a very good sailor?'
'Why d'you say that, sir?'
'Running his vessel aground on Gris Nez. Even if there was a storm at the rime.'
'No, sir, the cannon shot that killed Captain Fraser carried away our foremast, and the whole mass of yards and stays and shrouds came crashing down, so that the vessel yawed and near went on her beam ends afore they could be cut away. We did our best to daw up into the wind, but in trying to escape from the Frenchies we'd closed the land, and sea and tide was too much for us.'
'You never heard, in Bristol of any of the others being saved?'
'No. I think they was all lost.' 'How old are you, Stephen?' 'Thirty. ’
'You've been at sea all your life ?'
'Nay, I worked on a farm when I was a lad. Then for a short while I was a coachman to Sir Edward Hope, who lived just outside of Bristol. That's when I first saw the sea and the ships. I walked the docks, narrowly missed being pressed and instead got away in a brig sailing for Canada. After that-'
'Why did you leave Sir Edward Hope's service?'
'It was not for me.'
‘ in what way?'
'Little chance for promotion. And I thought one day to be me own master.'
'But you haven't become that?'
'Tisn't easy, as you yourself have said, pulling yourself up wi'out influence.'
'Are you for an indoor or outdoor life?'
'Outdoor, for preference. I always have been. Couldn't stand going down a mine. But I'm - just keen to get on - for every reason.'
Ross walked to the window. It was raining again.
'You are thirty, Stephen. You must have had attachments such as this before.'
Stephen looked at his questioner warily, ‘Attachments I'll not deny. Never one such as this. Never one to be deep in love.'
'Have you ever heard of Charles Dibdin?' 'Not so far as I know.'
'He writes popular songs of the sea. They were much in vogue in London a few years ago.'
‘ Oh?'
‘I remember one in which a sailor is supposed to be singing. The words are: in every mess I find a friend. In every port a wife.' Has that ever applied to you?' Stephen flushed. 'As God's me witness! That's unfair! -' 'Why is it unfair? Might it not have been natural -' 'D'you think I'd come here asking for your daughter's hand if I was already wed?' His tone was rough ’
Ross said: 'You might have been married and your wife died. These things can happen. If you consider you have the right to ask for my daughter's hand, I consider I have the right to inquire.'
Stephen swallowed, ran a hand through his hair. For a moment he had looked a big formidable man, the muscles and veins of his neck tightening.
‘I 'm sorry, Captain Poldark. You have a right. The answer's no. I
'He came here to supper twice while you were away in July.'
'Yes, he told me. It was kind of you to ask him. But was it because...'
'Yes, mainly. Though he is Jeremy's friend and might have come anyhow.'
‘I t was then that he invested in the mine, wasn't it?'
'In spite of my warnings. He's a very personable young man, intelligent, a quick thinker. It seems he should have -done more with his life. Opportunities, of course, do not come easy when one has no connections. Perhaps when - if - he has a stabilizing in fluence, a different kind of am bition...'
'When can you see him?'
'See him? Not tomorrow. Any time Thursday. In the forenoon would be best. Tell him to come to the library. We shall be undisturbed there.'
Clowance moved across and kissed him. 'You will tell Mama?'
'Of course! ’
‘I mean tonight.''
'Certainly. We have few secrets from each other, and this is the last subject...'
Clowance smiled. 'That is the way I wish it to be between Stephen and me.'
'Tell him to wait on me at eleven.'
III
'What was she?' asked Ross. 'A schooner?'
‘ Yes, sir. Tops'l. Quite small.'
‘ How small?'
'About eighty ton.'
'And commanded by?'
'A Captain Fraser. Out of Bristol.'
'Had you been with him long?'
'Twas our second voyage. He was a Scotsman, hard, red-haired, not the type to cross.'
'But not a very good sailor?'
'Why d'you say that, sir?'
'Running his vessel aground on Gris Nez. Even if there was a storm at the rime.'
'No, sir, the cannon shot that killed Captain Fraser carried away our foremast, and the whole mass of yards and stays and shrouds came crashing down, so that the vessel yawed and near went on her beam ends afore they could be cut away. We did our best to daw up into the wind, but in trying to escape from the Frenchies we'd closed the land, and sea and tide was too much for us.'
'You never heard, in Bristol of any of the others being saved?'
'No. I think they was all lost.' 'How old are you, Stephen?' 'Thirty. ’
'You've been at sea all your life ?'
'Nay, I worked on a farm when I was a lad. Then for a short while I was a coachman to Sir Edward Hope, who lived just outside of Bristol. That's when I first saw the sea and the ships. I walked the docks, narrowly missed being pressed and instead got away in a brig sailing for Canada. After that-'
'Why did you leave Sir Edward Hope's service?'
'It was not for me.'
‘ in what way?'
'Little chance for promotion. And I thought one day to be me own master.'
'But you haven't become that?'
'Tisn't easy, as you yourself have said, pulling yourself up wi'out influence.'
'Are you for an indoor or outdoor life?'
'Outdoor, for preference. I always have been. Couldn't stand going down a mine. But I'm - just keen to get on - for every reason.'
Ross walked to the window. It was raining again.
'You are thirty, Stephen. You must have had attachments such as this before.'
Stephen looked at his questioner warily, ‘Attachments I'll not deny. Never one such as this. Never one to be deep in love.'
'Have you ever heard of Charles Dibdin?' 'Not so far as I know.'
'He writes popular songs of the sea. They were much in vogue in London a few years ago.'
‘ Oh?'
‘I remember one in which a sailor is supposed to be singing. The words are: in every mess I find a friend. In every port a wife.' Has that ever applied to you?' Stephen flushed. 'As God's me witness! That's unfair! -' 'Why is it unfair? Might it not have been natural -' 'D'you think I'd come here asking for your daughter's hand if I was already wed?' His tone was rough ’
Ross said: 'You might have been married and your wife died. These things can happen. If you consider you have the right to ask for my daughter's hand, I consider I have the right to inquire.'
Stephen swallowed, ran a hand through his hair. For a moment he had looked a big formidable man, the muscles and veins of his neck tightening.
‘I 'm sorry, Captain Poldark. You have a right. The answer's no. I
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