Free Whispering by Jane Aiken Hodge Page A

it was he had understood.
    He was back at the window, noticing the telescope on a balcony table, when the door from the staircase opened and a tall man came into the room.
    â€˜Ah, you have finished; I thought you would have. How do you do, Mr Craddock. I hope that clever sister of mine has done you some good.’ Where his sister was slender and elegant, Ralph Emerson was tall and broad, with a rubicond complexion that suggested a lavish style of life. His hand, too, clasping Jeremy’s, was hot and moist, where hers had been cool and firm. He was handsome, Jeremy supposed, if you liked those florid kind of good looks.
    But he returned Emerson’s greeting civilly enough. ‘Your sister has a great gift, sir.’
    â€˜That’s what they all say.’ Ralph Emerson rubbed his large hands. ‘It’s a funny thing, Mr Craddock, and I wouldn’t say it to everyone, but my sister’s gift means nothing to me. But in my view that makes me all the more fit to handle her affairs. Bless her heart, she would cure all the world for love, if I would let her. But the labourer is worthy of his hire, Mr Craddock, or hers as the case may be. Besides, we only value what we pay for. I am sure you, as a man of the world, will understand that.’ And he proceeded to a brief, firm statement of terms that made Jeremy stare. ‘In gold, of course,’ he concluded. ‘You and I know just what this Portuguese paper money they are so lavish with is worth. And a down payment for the first three treatments the next time you come, Mr Craddock? I am sorry to have to say it, but we have had some unpleasant experiences, my sister and I. And would you be so good as to make a neat little parcel of it, and hand it to me as inconspicuously as possible? My poor Rachel very much minds what she looks on as the sordid commercial aspect of her work, but man must live, Mr Craddock, and woman too. You will find out soon enough how the wretched mercenary Portuguese take advantage of the foreignersin their midst. I have heard stories of problems your gallant army is having just in getting supplied, and I have no doubt the captain of the
Anthea
down there at the quay is paying over the odds for the fast unloading job he has had. And a heavy enough lot of goods it looked too! Supplies for the army, I take it, since it all seemed to be going straight upstream.’
    â€˜Was it? I am afraid I was so busy getting my young companions and their baggage ashore I did not have time to notice anything else. I was glad to get on to land too, I can tell you.’ He turned to look out across the balcony. ‘You have such a good view from here I should think you could almost see for yourself. Specially with this splendid telescope. May I?’ He picked it up and focused it on the
Anthea
, making a little business of it as if it was something he was not used to doing. ‘No, I see what you mean. You can’t really tell the detail at this distance, can you? It might be almost anything they are loading now, except that even I can tell it is not wine.’
    â€˜Nor will be for years to come, by what I hear. One army is as bad as another when it comes to ravaging the countryside. I suspect that the worthy wine merchants here in Porto pray nightly that wherever Lord Wellington turns when he has finally got rid of Masséna, it is not this way. They have had more than their share here. My sister and I arrived quite soon after Wellington’s brilliant strike across the Douro. What a man! What a general! I cannot tell you how impatient I get with the moaners here who complain that he does not move fast enough. And you have them in England too, I believe. What is the word there? You will find us all eager for the latest news.’
    â€˜I can imagine so.’ He must not seem too cautious. ‘The uproar over the Convention of Cintra died down in the end, and Lord knows that bit of lunacy was no fault of Wellington’s,