Justina opened her mouth to scream.
Then she realised that her intruder was a small boy, a very scared small boy.
He was dressed in stained and torn grey flannel trousers and a shirt that had once been white and now was indescribably dirty. The sleeves were rolled up, buttons were missing and if he had ever worn a tie, it had disappeared.
“Who are you and what are you doing in my cabin?” Justina demanded.
“Please, miss, my name is Harry Nicholls and I’m very hungry.”
He did indeed look half-starved.
His eyes were an intense dark blue and huge in his small face. This was not someone she need be frightened of.
“Where have you appeared from?”
He glanced over her shoulder at the porthole.
“I’ve – I’ve been living in one of the lifeboats.”
“One of the lifeboats?” Justina repeated, horror-struck. “You mean, you are a stowaway?”
Harry nodded.
“But why?”
Justina could not imagine how the small boy had found his way onto the ship.
His eyes filled with tears.
“I want to go home,” he answered and his voice wobbled.
“Where is home?” Justina asked gently.
“Bombay, miss. That’s where Mama and Papa live and my two little sisters and – that’s where I want to go.”
“But – ”
Justina could not understand why, if that was the case, young Harry was not with them.
“They sent me to England, miss, to school. All children go to school in England when they are old enough, Papa said. And – and he said I was old enough and it would be fine. Only it wasn’t – ”
Tears poured down his face.
“They beat me at school and the other boys are awful. They hate me because I can’t play rugger and I like reading poetry. And I spent the summer holidays with Aunt Martha and she, well, I think she hates boys. She doesn’t let me have any friends and I’m not allowed to make a noise or do anything that she says “gets in the way’.
“She never kisses me or tells me I’m a good boy. She’s always saying she’s taken me in as a duty!” he ended on a wail. “I want Mama and Papa and Milly and Agatha – and my Ayah.”
Justina hugged him hard and did not care if his tears stained her gown.
“So you thought if you jumped on this ship, you would get back to India?”
He nodded and dug his fists into his eyes to stop his tears.
“There was a boy joined the school late. His parents brought him. I heard one of the Masters ask them if they were returning on the new ship and they said, no, it was leaving the next day and they had business or something in London. So then I thought I would hide away on it.”
The magnitude of what he had done astounded Justina.
“How did you know where to find the docks?”
“When Papa and I came last spring,” again there was an unhappy wobble in his voice. “We went from the boat to the school by train. I knew where the station was.”
“Did you have money for the ticket?”
Harry shook his head.
“There was a family with lots of children going onto the platform, so I just went along with them. And when we got to the docks, I found another family and followed them onto the ship. It was easy!”
“And how did you find a lifeboat?”
“When we came over on the ship – it was much smaller than this one – Papa told me all about lifeboats, how they had what he called ‘iron rations’, in case everybody had to abandon ship. So I thought I’d be able to live in one and I had all the chocolate from my tuck box. But that soon went and I could only find dry biscuits in the boat and tins of things that I couldn’t open.”
Justina remembered the passengers who had complained that someone had taken fruit from their cabin.
“So you started to climb into people’s cabins to find food? You came into mine.”
Harry looked shamefaced.
Justina could not understand how he had kept going for so long. No wonder he looked so rough.
“My lifeboat is just outside your window, miss, and I’d seen you often and you looked friendly, so I hoped – well, I hoped you could help me, miss.”
“Of course I will,” Justina promised, wondering exactly what she could do.
Suddenly there came a loud knocking at the door.
“Justina, let me in. I want to say goodnight to you.”
It was Sir Thomas.
Harry looked startled and apprehensive.
Justina put a finger to her lips. Then she called,
“I am going to bed, Sir Thomas. I will see you in the morning.”
“You’ve got someone in there, I know you have, I heard you talking to him. It’s Castleton and I won’t have it, open the door.”
His voice was low, urgent and aggressive.
“There isn’t any man in here,” Justina protested.
She glanced around the cabin then motioned to Harry to get under the bed.
He understood immediately and in a moment had wriggled himself out of sight.
Justina, pretending the pause had been necessary so she could refasten the buttons on the back of her dress, opened the door a little.
“You are making a great mistake,” she told Sir Thomas.
At that moment Lord Castleton came along the corridor towards his cabin.
“Good evening,” he said pleasantly. “The concert went well, didn’t it?” He unlocked his door. “See you in the morning,” he added as he went inside.
“See?” hissed Justina at Sir Thomas. “See how ill-founded all your suspicions are. She flung open the door for a brief moment. “Nobody is here and certainly not Lord Castleton.”
She immediately tried to close the door again, but Sir Thomas stuck a foot in.
“I insist on my goodnight kiss,” he pressed in a different tone.
Justina realised with a sinking heart that he had drunk several brandies since the end of the concert.
Then along the corridor came Mrs. Bloxham, her bosom prominently displayed by her low-cut green silk gown.
“Sir Thomas,” she exclaimed in a low voice that seemed to throb. “You are just the man I need.”
His attention immediately switched away from Justina.
“Indeed, madam? What can I do to help?”
“But I do not wish to intrude,” Mrs. Bloxham purred suggestively. “It’s only,” she continued without a pause, “it’s only that this ship is so large and the corridors so confusing. I cannot find my cabin – isn’t that ridiculous?”
She gave a rich little laugh.
Justina seized on the interruption.
“Sir Thomas will help you, madam. Until tomorrow morning, Sir Thomas, I think we shall be in Port Said then.”
Justina closed the door and lay against it, listening.
Their voices faded along the corridor.
“Can I come out?” whispered Harry.
“Yes, of course, let me help you.”
Justina pulled the boy from underneath the bed.
She wondered exactly how to help him. Food was an obvious necessity, but she could not force him to return to his lifeboat and what was the alternative?
He stared back at her, his big eyes apprehensive.
She came to a decision.
“Stay here,” she ordered. “I will be back in a moment.”
She whisked herself out of the cabin and knocked on Lord Castleton’s door.
He opened it and looked at her with surprise and concern.
“Miss Mansell, is anything wrong?”
“Please, can you come with me,” she entreated. “I don’t know who else to ask.”
Just the sight of him, tall, kindly and authoritative, made her completely confident that he would find a solution to Harry’s problem.
He raised an eyebrow, but murmured helpfully,
“Of course, anything I can do,” and followed her back into her cabin.
As Justina watched with eager anticipation, Lord Castleton took in Harry and his filthy clothes and it seemed as if he understood everything in a glance.
“So, this is the ghost who caused so much upset the other day,” he observed. “You had better give me the full story.”
Lord Castleton leant against the side of the cabin and Justina sat beside Harry on the bed as the boy once again explained how he had come to be on the ship.
As he faltered to the end of his account, Lord Castleton said,
“Well, the first thing is to get some food inside you.”
He opened the door of the cabin– and came face to face with Sir Thomas.
“I knew it,” Sir Thomas cried. “I knew you were canoodling with my fiancé.”
Lord Castleton looked at him coldly.
“Don’t make more of a fool of yourself than you can help, Watson.”
He opened the door fully and revealed Harry.
“As you can see, we have a stowaway problem here. Miss Mansell has very properly called on me to help solve it.”
Sir Thomas looked as though he could hardly believe the evidence of his eyes.
“Send for the Captain,” he said. “The boy should be confined to quarters then put ashore at Port Said.”
“No!” cried out Harry. “I am going to Bombay.”
“Quarters, what do you mean by quarters? He’s been living in a lifeboat!” Justina burst out. “I am going to find a Steward and make sure he gets some food.”
She had never felt less in sympathy with her fiancé. Whereas Lord Castleton treated Harry as someone in need of help, Sir Thomas saw him as a nuisance to be disposed of.
She could hardly bear to think of what that poor boy had suffered. She wanted to gather him into her arms and keep him safe from the harsh world.
Justina did not know what Lord Castleton would do, but she had complete faith in his ability to sort the situation out and ensure Harry reached Bombay.
As she sought out a Steward and ordered whatever food could be quickly assembled, she thrust the problem of Sir Thomas to the back of her mind.
When she returned to the cabin, she found Lord Castleton had got Harry washed and into what she assumed was one of his shirts, which hung on the boy rather like a night shirt, his bare feet peeking out of the bottom, small neck.
“Sartorially speaking,” Lord Castleton said, “I don’t think any tailor would approve, but it’s better than what you’ve had to live in for the past ten days, eh?”
Harry grinned at him.
“It’s very kind of you, sir.”
She looked around the cabin. It only contained the three of them.
“What has happened to Sir Thomas?” she asked.
“Ah,” said Lord Castleton. “I am afraid I may have frightened him away.
“Frightened?” Justina found this hard to believe.
“I told him you would be so grateful if he took on responsibility for Harry, which would probably mean paying his fare to Bombay and equipping him with a new wardrobe in Port Said.”
“No?”
“Oh, but yes!” he said in amusement. “He immediately claimed that you would think he had lost his head if he did anything of the sort and discovered that he had arranged to meet someone in the Smoking Lounge.”
“He looked jolly cross,” contributed Harry. “I didn’t like him at all, sir.”
“Did not your Papa tell you it is very rude to make personal comments, especially about someone you have only just met?” scolded him Justina severely.
Harry hung his head.
“I’m sorry, miss,” he said. “Only he wasn’t very nice to me, not like you and – and, sir here.”
“This is Lord Castleton,” Justina informed him gently.
Harry looked embarrassed,
“I should address you as “my Lord’, shouldn’t I?”
“Don’t let it worry you,” Lord Castleton said. “The angel here who brought me into the picture is Miss Mansell.”
Justina could not stop her heart beating quicker as she heard Lord Castleton describe her as an angel. Then she reminded herself that he looked on her as a young girl in need of a fatherly figure.
There was a knock on the door and the Steward entered with a tray of food.
Harry’s eyes lit up, but the Steward’s face fell when he saw the stowaway.
“As you can see, we have a problem here,” Lord Castleton said cheerfully. “I think I need to speak to the Captain. Be good enough, Chappell, to ask him to come to my cabin. I will leave Miss Mansell in charge here.”
“I’ll have a word with the First Officer,” replied the Steward.
“You will be all right, Miss Mansell?” asked Lord Castleton.
Justina looked at Harry, tucking into the food as though it might be whipped away from him at any moment and smiled.
“We shall be fine.” She brought her gaze back to the man she now believed could manage anything. “You won’t let him be put off the ship, will you?”
He shook his head and gave her a reassuring smile.
“Leave it all to me. We’ll sort out young Master Nicholls.”
He left and Justina sat on her bed and watched Harry demolish the food.
“Feeling better?”
“Much, much better.” He ran a small hand through his fair hair, now dry again and flopping over his face. “I didn’t like being so dirty, Papa says a man has to keep himself clean at all times.”
There was a knock at the door and Lord Castleton entered.
Harry immediately stood up.
“Have you spoken to the Captain, my Lord?”
“I have. He is waiting for you in my cabin next door.”
Harry looked very apprehensive.
He shepherded the nervous boy out of the cabin.
Justina waited, as apprehensive as Harry. She tried to remember that she trusted Lord Castleton to fix everything in the best possible way.
Lord Castleton quickly returned.
“Sorry to leave you, but I thought I should introduce Harry to the Captain and not leave him to encounter the great man on his own.”
He spoke cheerfully and Justina felt that things were going to be all right.
“I suppose the Captain is rather like God,” she said with a smile.
“On his ship, I think you have it exactly right. Now, you will want to know what has been decided about young Master Harry.”
Justina nodded eagerly.
“He is receiving a bit of a dressing down at the moment but, don’t worry, the Captain is a splendid man with sons of his own. I trust him to level with Harry in just the right way. We cannot have him thinking he can ever repeat this escapade.”
“I think he’s been so hungry and miserable, he is not going to want to.”
“I hope you are right. Now, for tonight, he will sleep in my cabin. The Steward will arrange for an extra bed. Tomorrow there are several passengers leaving the ship at Port Said, so the Captain will have an empty cabin and he is willing to allow Harry to use it for the rest of the voyage.”
“My Lord, that is all your doing, I am sure,” Justina sighed in heartfelt tones. “Thank you so much.”
“No need, I am happy to be of help,” murmured Lord Castleton quietly. “Now I think it is time you retired, it has been a long and exhausting day.”
Justina nodded gratefully.
“You have done very well,” he added. “Both with the concert and now with our stowaway. I’ll see you again in the morning.”
He gave her a quick smile and left.
For a long moment Justina remained where she was and savoured the glorious feeling his compliments gave her and the relief that Harry’s situation had been so satisfactorily resolved.
But before she could start undressing, there was another knock at her door and Harry entered.
“I wanted to thank you for taking care of me so well and to wish you a good night,” he said.
His face was glowing and he looked a different boy from the dirty rapscallion she had discovered in her cabin.
Justina hugged him, gave him a kiss and said she would see him the next day.
*
Justina woke late the next morning to find that the ship’s engines had stopped.
She drew aside the curtain of her porthole to find they had docked at Port Said.
All at once the events of the previous evening flooded back into her mind and she knew that she had to ensure that Harry was being properly looked after.
The plight of the small boy who had gone through such trials in order to rejoin his family had touched her heart.
Before she could start dressing, her Stewardess appeared.
“I have a message from Lord Castleton,” she said with a smile. “You are invited to lunch at Port Said. There will be a carriage waiting in an hour and will you please be ready to accompany him.”
Justina gasped. It sounded wonderful, but how could she accept? There was Harry to think about and Sir Thomas.
When she thought of Sir Thomas’s behaviour over the little stowaway, she decided that it would probably be best not to encounter him quite yet or she might say something she would later regret.
And as for Harry, Lord Castleton was taking care of him and he could tell her exactly what the position was.
Yes, she decided, she would accept this dazzling invitation.
Perhaps Aunt Theodora would say that she was being dangerously impulsive, but for once she did not care what the dragon Viscountess thought.
She found a light muslin shirt and skirt in a becoming shade of pale green that Dorcas had brought up the previous day beautifully ironed. There was a tie of the same muslin to arrange around the crown of her wide straw hat and a matching parasol. For once Justina thought that she was both properly and stylishly dressed.
She picked up her reticule and the parasol and left her cabin.
Almost immediately she ran into Mrs. Arbuthnot.
“Ah, my dear Justina, I was coming to find you. Such excitement, everyone is talking about our little stowaway. The girls are quite overcome with jealousy that he didn’t come into our cabin last night.
“And then Lord Castleton sought me out and explained that Lord Cromer, the Governor of Egypt, has sent him an invitation to lunch. Well, not Lord Cromer himself, he, of course, is in Cairo, but his representative in Port Said, such a highly placed person, and Lord Cromer being a friend of your father’s and knowing that you are also on this ship, you are included in the invitation.”
Mrs. Arbuthnot drew breath and appeared to look respectfully at Justina for the first time.
“What a pretty dress, you are quite a belle today. Well, of course, I told Lord Castleton that it would only be right if Sir Thomas attended the luncheon as well.”
Justina’s heart plummeted. All her anticipation evaporated. For a moment she wished Mrs. Arbuthnot had never come on the ship – almost had never been born!
Her chaperone looked slightly embarrassed as she continued,
“Lord Castleton said he was most sincerely sorry, but since the engagement has not yet been announced, it would not be possible, etiquette would not allow it. Such a shame, my dear. I do hope you do not think it is my fault you have been placed in such an unfortunate position?”
Justina tried to contain her delight.
“I am sure you did everything correctly, Mrs. Arbuthnot. Now, forgive me, but I understand that Lord Castleton has a carriage waiting and I must not be late.”
“Oh, my dear, I would not delay you –”
There was more, but Justina had fled towards the gangway.
It was a busy scene on the dock.
A multitude of ships of all sizes were tied up or moving to and fro. Coaling ships were transferring fuel to steamers and the noise and bustle was tremendous.
Justina took a little time to locate Lord Castleton, but at last she saw his tall figure, elegant in cream linen, conversing with a couple of the passengers,
Justina descended onto the quayside and Lord Castleton at once came forward.
“Forgive me, I was tied up or I would have been waiting for you.”
“What a lovely day it is,” Justina smiled. “Mrs. Arbuthnot tells me we are to meet Lord Cromer’s representative.”
She looked around but could see no one who could fit that description.
“Ah, yes, Lord Cromer’s representative. Come, will you enter the carriage so we can be on our way?”
He helped Justina into the carriage. As the driver put his horse into motion, he entertained her with some details of the town.
“I should tell you that Port Said owes its origins to the existence of the Suez Canal. The port forms the northern entrance to that most convenient of modern constructions. You will know, of course, that the canal was opened in 1869. It cut the sailing time to Bombay by half. Imagine having to spend two months on board ship instead of one!”
She seemed happy to be in the carriage with him and he hoped that she would not react badly when he revealed exactly what he had arranged.
After a very short drive, the carriage reached a hotel.
Lord Castleton handed down Justina, paid off the driver and escorted her through to the restaurant.
There they were led to a table for two.
Lord Castleton allowed himself to appreciate the picture she made in her muslin dress with its wide sleeves and narrow waist. The broad hat threw a shadow over her lovely face and hid the gorgeous copper of her hair.
Justina looked around the table.
“But this is set for two, what about Lord Cromer’s representative?”
“Will you be very upset if I confess that there is no representative? That is a tale I made up for Mrs. Arbuthnot. I was afraid that there could be trouble if I insisted we lunched together alone.”
She gazed at him wide-eyed and then gave a charming little chuckle.
“You mean you lied to her?”
He nodded, keeping his expression very serious.
“I hope you will not tell Harry. It would not be a good example to set him.”
Another of those charming little laughs.
“But why? I mean, why did you want to lunch with me?”
He gave a silent sigh of delight.
What other female of his acquaintance would have asked such a question? They would all have assumed that their charms were quite sufficient to elicit such an invitation.
Watson would surely at this point look deep into her eyes and say that it was because she was the most beautiful woman he knew and he wanted her all to himself.
But he was convinced that if he said anything like that, he would only embarrass her.
“I want to be able to explain what Harry’s position is without the danger of interruptions from other passengers.”
“Particularly Watson,” he thought.
“Oh, yes, please do tell me everything.”
Across the table, Justina raised her face to look up at him. Lord Castleton enjoyed knowing that she had no idea the movement meant the inconvenient hat no longer shadowed her face.
“I have been thinking about Harry ever since you left my cabin last night,” Justina began. “He needs clothes. He cannot stay the whole voyage in your shirt. Even if his things are washed, I don’t think they would be very wearable.”
“I have taken care of that problem. You may have seen me talking to Major and Mrs. Partridge on the quayside.
They have kindly agreed to go shopping for a new wardrobe for him. You probably know that the Partridges have very recently lost a son of Harry’s age. A great tragedy that they are finding it difficult to come to terms with, so I was hesitant about asking them.
“But after I had told them Harry’s story, I asked for advice on what I should get him to wear and they suggested they did the shopping themselves. Of course I was delighted as they will know exactly what he needs.”
Justina’s face brightened.
“That is wonderful! How tactful you are.”
She paused for a moment and Lord Castleton enjoyed watching her face as it reflected so very clearly what she was thinking.
“Perhaps choosing clothes for Harry will help Mrs. Partridge feel there is still some use to life.”
“I do hope so.”
He reflected that as Justina revealed more and more of her character, he found his love for her becoming deeper.
Her expression remained solemn.
“I believe that not only have you organised Harry’s clothes, I think you have undertaken to pay his passage.”
“It is the least I could do. The poor boy has been through a nightmare. I keep thinking what if it had been a son of mine?”
“I don’t think you would have sent a son of yours away like that,” Justina said firmly.
“I wanted to explain all that to you. But first, I think we should order.”
He steered her away from the idea of a simple salad and suggested a rice dish.
“It is always better in these parts not to eat uncooked food unless you can be completely happy with the method of its preparation,” he explained.
Justina’s eyes grew wide.
“Really? My goodness, that is something to remember. But is it all right on the ship? I have often eaten salad on board without any upsetting effect.”
He reassured her that she could trust the ship’s cooks completely.
“Now, let me explain about conditions in India. The climate there is not suited to growing children, the hot season is so very hot and there are many diseases that their constitutions find it difficult to resist. I am sure it was well explained to Harry that he must return to England for his schooling.”
“Are you saying that he will have to return to England after all he has been through? That is awful!” Justina burst out.
“I am afraid almost certainly. However,” he added quickly as he saw mutiny gather in her eyes, “I shall have a long talk with his parents. I am sure they will be appalled at how he has suffered. I can recommend a school where I think Harry will be happier. I have a nephew there of about the same age and I can ensure that when Harry starts, he will have him as a friend.”
“If he really has to go to school in England, that sounds as though it would give him a much better chance of happiness,” Justina said doubtfully.
“I am sure he will soon settle down and enjoy making other friends.”
“There is also the matter of where he will spend his holidays,” Justina added, still anxious. “The aunt who has been looking after him sounds dreadful. I think his parents need to find somewhere else for his holidays.”
“As soon as he makes some friends, they will invite him to stay with them,” he replied cheerfully. “And I am happy to have him visit me. I have already told him that he may be of help to me on the voyage by exercising Breck.”
“Oh, that is too good of you,” said Justina and her face lit up. “Perhaps he could come and stay with us, too.”
It was the opening Lord Castleton had been hoping for.
“Us?” he asked.
“I haven’t a younger brother but I am sure we can – ”
“Her face paled and she stopped in mid-sentence. Then her expression lost its lively quality.
“Of course, that would only be until I am married.”
Justina put down her fork with a stifled sigh and the brim of her hat hid her face. She did not need to add that Harry would not be welcomed by Sir Thomas.
Lord Castleton took her hand in his.
“Justina, please, can we not admit that this ridiculous notion you are engaged to be married to Sir Thomas is a fantasy that can be quickly dismissed?”
For an instant he thought he saw hope flare into her face, but she looked straight at him and he knew he had made a serious mistake.
“Lord Castleton, pray do not talk to me in that way. Mama and Papa will be very happy that I have made such a suitable match.”
“But what about you, Justina? Will you be happy?”
He saw an anguished stubbornness in her face and knew what she was going to say.
“Sir Thomas will make a good husband,” she stated firmly. “Papa cannot afford to give me a large settlement so I need a well-off husband. I shall have lots of children and a very satisfying life.”
“Are you sure he will make a good husband?”
Lord Castleton thought he had to push as hard as he could.
“There have been times when it seemed to me that you and he were in difficulties with your relationship.”
“You have no right to talk to me in that way,” Justina said in a low and furious voice. “You are not my father nor my uncle, no matter how much you think you stand in that sort of capacity. What I do with my life is for me to decide.”
She stood up and snatched her reticule off the table.
“I am going back to the ship. Thank you for looking after Harry, but I do not require you to look after me.”
She stalked out of the restaurant, followed by interested stares.
Lord Castleton swore, dropped as much money as he thought necessary on the table and hurried after her, cursing at the way he had handled the situation.
Next he found himself stopped by an old acquaintance.
Impatiently he pleaded urgent business, but when he emerged from the hotel there was no sign of Justina. Nor could he find a carriage for hire. He walked as quickly as he could back to the ship.
He needed to find her to see if he could repair the damage he had caused.
There was also the fact she had disclosed that her father’s financial situation was not as good as he had thought. Did, he wondered, Sir Thomas know this?
If he told Sir Thomas and he broke the engagement, Justina might be relieved, but she would not forgive him for showing her what a poor fellow her fiancé” was.
Maybe he would have saved her from disaster, but he would not have advanced his own cause.
What was he to do?