‘Tell Amelia. I think you will be better at breaking the news than I. I’m too angry and would probably say something that I would later regret.’
Talek spun his horse round and rode away. It would be several hours before she saw him again.
Amelia took the news badly. Grace was thankful that she had been the one to tell her and was able to offer the comfort she needed. Talek didn’t understand the depth of Amelia’s feelings for Henry, and perhaps now was not the best time to tell him.
As night fell, Talek finally returned home with the news that he had accompanied Henry to hospital.
‘He has a broken arm and is bruised and battered . . .’ he loosened his necktie and threw it on the back of a chair ‘. . . but he’ll live.’
Grace prepared him a drink as he sat down. Amelia fired questions at him and Talek patiently answered, despite looking weary and in need of a good rest. He accepted the drink Grace offered him, his fingers gently grazing hers as it passed from hand to hand. She glanced at him, wondering if he had noticed their brief touch, but his troubled expression hid it well if he had.
‘Don’t look so worried, Amelia,’ he said, as Amelia searched her pocket for a handkerchief. ‘We can manage without him.’
Grace offered Amelia her own freshly laundered handkerchief when Amelia failed to find her own. Grace knew it was not the business that worried her. It was Henry. After some quiet reassurance, Amelia eventually appeared more pacified and asked to be taken to her room. It had been a long anxious day and she needed to sleep. Grace went with her, helped her prepare for bed and waited for her to settle. Eventually she did and Grace immediately went in search of Talek. She found him where she had left him, sitting in his chair with the untouched drink cradled in his hands.
‘You are holding something back. What is it?’
He glanced up at her. For a moment she thought he was going to deny it, but after a short silence he told her.
‘The workers are due their wages at the end of the month. I leave the accounts to Henry. He has his own system and I can make no sense of his figures when I have looked at them in the past. How am I going to tally the hours each miner has worked with their ages and the extra shifts they do? If they’re not paid, there’ll be a riot. Many live hand to mouth already and cannot afford to wait for what is due them.’
‘It can be remedied.’
Talek leaned forward in his chair, his head bowed, his untouched drink still cradled in his cupped hands.
‘You don’t understand. I run two pits and employ several hundred men, women and children. I should have planned in case something like this happened. I’ve relied too heavily on Henry. I called him a fool, but I am the fool, not him.’
‘I have the experience.’ Grace sat down opposite him and leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees and her hands casually cradled in front of her. ‘Let me help you. I’m sure Amelia won’t mind if I spend my time helping to sort the wages so your workers don’t go hungry.’ She recalled the glimpse she had seen of Henry’s coding. ‘It may take me a few days to understand his record keeping, but I’ve been preparing the Kellow Dairy wages since I was old enough to help my mother. I think I’ll be able to help with yours.’
Talek frowned. ‘You want me to allow you access to our financial affairs?’ He rubbed the back of his neck, his face ashen with worry.
‘Please, Talek. Let me help you. It’s the least I can do to repay your kindness for allowing me to stay here.’
‘You mean my sister’s kindness,’ he corrected her. ‘I have lacked in that department.’
Grace smiled. He was a stubborn, proud businessman; it wouldn’t be easy for him to relinquish the secrets of his financial affairs to an outsider — especially a woman.
‘Perhaps Amelia had more to do with the offer of employment than you, but she would not have gone against your wishes if you had refused to have me here.’
Talek may have not been as welcoming as she would have liked, but he had still opened his home to her.
‘Most of the ledgers relating to the wages are kept at the mine office in St Austell. You would have to travel to the town.’ He answered his own question as if she was not there. ‘I have a spare trap and a driver who can take you.’ He rubbed his brow briefly. ‘You’ll need full access to everything. Henry will be recovering for several weeks and the main accounts will need to be kept on top of.’ He glanced up at her. ‘Would you be willing to do that too?’
Grace nodded, pleased he was willing to trust her enough for more than just wages. ‘Yes, of course.’
Talek still appeared reluctant. Grace held her breath, aware he could snatch the offer away again at any point. This was what she had been missing — being able to contribute to something bigger than herself, which incorporated the community and their livelihood. The position as a companion failed to stimulate her brain and was a stark reminder that her arrival was unplanned. She watched Talek as he struggled to accept her offer. He drained his glass with a sharp tilt of his head. Grace fancied that she felt the warmth of the spirit moving through him as surely as she had drank it herself.
His hazel eyes met hers. ‘I’m the sort of man who likes to be in control . . . but your skills will help me greatly.’ The corner of his eyes creased slightly as his resigned smile reached them. ‘Thank you, Grace. Your help would be appreciated.’
* * *
The expansion of St Austell town, since the discovery of clay in the previous century, had been rapid and incessant. The neighbouring port of Charlestown, which was built to ease the transportation of clay by sea, ensured that the mining companies made the town their base. Banking, administrative and legal services, sprung up like eager shoots to cater for the new industry, marking their presence by raising impressive buildings to line the narrow sloping streets. The main road, which cut through the centre of the town, was used to transport mineral laden wagons to the port and tramway network beyond. Extra horses were brought in to help pull the loads up the steep, long inclines, causing a strangely organised chaotic confusion as both man and beast worked together to carry the loads through the town.
To Grace’s eye, who had spent her childhood running on the barren landscape of Bodmin Moor, the town was a strange mix. The dirt and noise of industry, and the starched clothes and fancy architecture of commerce, both played out their roles amongst the hustle and bustle of ordinary town folk living out their lives. Wagons from the numerous mines, which scarred the surrounding area, converged on the city as she arrived. Men, women and children respectfully made way as they navigated the steep hill that led to the turning for Charlestown. Although the white gold dirtied their town, the inhabitants were happy to tolerate the invasion, after all it had rescued them from poverty due to the decline in metal mining and earned them a monthly, albeit meagre, wage. Clay was the blood that pumped through their countryside and gave life to their villages.
Talek escorted Grace to their main office, an imposing brick building nestled between the offices of their competitors. Office and land space was at a premium, but its proximity to the main bank was an advantage to all. All the legal documents relating to their mines were kept here. Lease documentation, wage ledgers, invoices and deeds lined the shelves. Grace had thought they were kept at the office in the sky, but now she could see that only a small fraction was stored there. She surveyed the daunting array of shelves and files and wondered if she was up to the task.
She felt Talek’s light touch in the small of her back. It was meant as a comforting gesture, gentle and controlled as if reassuring a child, but it did little to calm her and, to her surprise, inspired the most intimate daydream.
‘Grace?’
‘Yes?’ said Grace, startled.
‘I asked if you still want to do this?’
She turned and saw her doubts reflected in his hazel eyes. She nodded decisively to reassure him.
‘I’ll need a few days to customise myself to Henry’s method of working.’
‘Of course.’
‘Without interruptions. I may need to bring some documents to Roseland so I can continue to study them later in the day.’
‘I will provide you with a key to the office.’ His hand fell away from the small of her back. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t realise I was—’
‘No matter,’ she replied, crisply. Grace let her hand trail across the untidy desk for want of something to do. It would give them both a moment for the heat in their cheeks to fade.
Talek cleared his throat. ‘You can have free access to our trap for transport and come and go as you please.’
