The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner

Author:Sally Gardner [Gardner, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Head of Zeus

29

January to February 1813

‘Do you know this Mr Eugene Jonas?’ Mr Gutteridge asks Elise while Neva is accompanying Mr Seaton to his carriage. ‘Because it’s a mystery to me why Victor has done this.’ Neva comes in, bringing with her a blast of freezing air that makes Elise shiver. ‘Mr Jonas,’ the solicitor continues, ‘is, by all accounts, a remarkable young man, or so my client, Mr Dênou, told me. He went as far as to describe him as brilliant.’

Neva is trying to coax the fire into life and is shaken to hear Henri’s name in this context. She feels herself blush.

This is not what she wants to be talking about, not now. The timbers of this ship she lives in, which have felt so solid to her, are beginning to tremble around her. Nothing is stable. The tide has turned, the clouds are too low and she is lost in a fog of grief. The chess-playing bear is standing in the shadows behind Mr Gutteridge.

Henri Dênou, long banished from her mind, has, in the space of ten days, been mentioned twice.

‘He spent an evening at Brooks’s in Mr Jonas’s company. Mr Dênou was under the impression Miss Friezland was engaged to him. Are you, Miss Friezland?’

‘No,’ says Neva, slightly too quickly.

‘Then this is most untoward,’ says Mr Gutteridge, ‘and it makes me wonder if we should trust Mr Jonas if he can mislead Mr Dênou in that way. But of course, circumstances may have changed.’ He looks questioningly at Neva. ‘This was, after all, four and a half years ago, just before Mr Dênou departed on that ill-fated voyage.’

Neva is confronted with a merry-go-round of emotions. Even if she might never wish to see him again she would be sorry to hear of Henri meeting with a fatal accident.

‘I hope Mr Dênou is well,’ she finds herself saying. ‘Did the ship arrive at its destination safely?’

‘Oh, it was damaged in a storm and limped into harbour in Denmark where the expedition was eventually abandoned and Sir Edward Fairbrother returned home. I always thought that gentleman had more words in him than actions and this apparently proved to be the case. Mr Dênou went on to New York to visit his aunt – his father’s sister. When I last heard from him, he was hoping to find a passage home to England.’

Cassie can see Neva is longing to know more. ‘What will happen to him if he can’t get home?’ she asks, hoping to tease further information out of the solicitor.

‘I beg your pardon, Miss Lamb?’

Cassie repeats her question.

‘That is a question I’m not qualified to answer.’ It is obvious to everyone that what concerns Mr Gutteridge most is Victor Friezland’s will. ‘We must hope Mr Jonas has the moral strength to exert his rights and maintain his hold on the property and business. Whether he will be generous to all of you, there is no knowing. It is, in short, most unsatisfactory. Do you know where Mr Jonas is?’

‘Yes,’ says Elise, to Neva and Cassie’s surprise.

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