CHAINS TO FREEDOM.✔

Chapter Eighty-Four

When Jessica arrived in England she had what she considered, two or three months of her pregnancy left. She pawned her last earring and booked passage to Ireland on board a barque called Waverley. It was heading for Dublin to load its cargo of convicts who had been sentenced to transportation.

Jessica stayed with Emily and Jake Wilson at his father's house. It was one in a row joined together with others that were all similar. Mr. Wilson's house had been white washed and the stairs, which led from the footpath, had been marbled, making this house different from the rest. He was a thin man with a beaked nose and a harsh face. Jessica felt instant discomfort in his presence.

"And your husband, Mrs. Loxton? He is waiting to meet you in Dublin?" he said as he looked down his nose at her.

Emily and Jake had decided it would be better if Jessica was thought to be married in the eyes of Mr. Wilson. She looked nervously at him. "No, I shall travel to Belfast and he will meet me there."

"You are from Belfast then?"

Jessica shook her head. "No, sir, a small village to the north."

"Your husband, Mrs. Loxton what does he do?"

Jessica wished this man would stop his line of questioning. "He is a farmer, sir."

Morgan Wilson looked thoughtfully at Jessica. "You do not have the appearance of a farmer's wife and I feel you are too well spoken." He sniffed the air and added, "Could it be that you have married below yourself?"

"I have received a good education, sir. However, I do not believe I have married beneath myself." She paused as Emily frowned at her and shook her head from behind her father-in-laws back. Jessica continued, "It is true that there are members of my family who believe I have married below my class. All I can say is that I love my husband very much and he treats me well."

The older man huffed and lifted his nose in disgust. He turned his back on her and focused on his son. "Jake. What do you intend to do now that you have come to your senses and returned to England?"

Jessica quietly excused herself. Emily followed. "I am so sorry that he put you through that barrage of questions," Emily said smiling at Jessica. "But you handled it very well I must say."

"If only Louis could have heard me." Jessica giggled. "A farmer of lower class. He'd have a seizure I'm sure." She grinned again knowing the pleasure Louis would get from this. "For goodness sakes, I could think of nothing else to say."

Emily placed her hand on Jessica's arm bringing them to a stop at the base of the stairs. "This Louis. Will you ever see him again?"

Jessica grimaced and shook her head. She was going to continue walking up the stairs when Emily again stopped her.

"Will you at least write and tell him you are carrying his child?"

Jessica again shook her head.

"But he has a right to know."

"Emily there is nothing he can do. By now he will be married to another and I do not wish to make myself a burden to him."

"I would have married her but for you coming into my life."

"There is still something between us! Louis I am carrying your child!"

"I need time to think, will you give me time, Rachel?"

"Anything, Louis. I will do anything for you."

Jessica saw concern on Emily's face. She reached out and touched the lace collar of her friends dress, straightened it and patted it down. "I will be fine, Emily. Believe me. I have money of my own and I shall be able to support myself. I just need to get to Belfast to claim it. Please do not worry about me." She put her arms around Emily and hugged her. "You have been such a good friend to not judge me. Without you I should never have survived the journey back to England as well as I have." She released Emily, and then held onto her shoulders as she looked at her face. "When I have had the child I shall send a letter to you. You can come and visit me so I can show you how well I am faring. Please be happy for me. I carry the man I love's child. I shall always have a part of him with me. I am not unpleased with my situation, so please don't you be."

Emily nodded and wiped tears from her face with the back of her hand.

*****

Her journey to Belfast was uneventful. Jessica had enough money take a room in the cheaper part of the city. The next day she made her way to her father's bank and asked to see Mr. Matthew Stephens, an older man who had been responsible for almost all of her father's transactions. Jessica did not have to wait long before the elderly man's clerk admitted her into his office.

"Lady Jessica," he gushed as he came around the table toward her with his hand held out.

She took it and smiled. "Mr. Stephens it is a pleasure to see you again."

Matthew Stephens looked curiously at her. "You have been away my dear. In London, Lord Loxton tells us?" He smiled as he looked at her stomach and added, "And married?"

"No, Mr. Stephens." Jessica shook her head. "I will not lie to you. If I may sit and take up a small amount of your time I should like to explain my past two or so years to you, sir."

"Please forgive me for my thoughtlessness." He frowned and motioned her to a chair. When she had sat he continued, "So you too, have fallen on hard times, My Lady?"

"I do not understand your implication, sir." Jessica frowned at his statement. "If you will allow me to tell you my tale, perhaps you shall be so kind to explain your meaning."

He nodded and sat across from her. "Please begin."

"Jessica Reily. I sentence you to serve a term of seven years transportation!"

"So you see, sir. I have returned to claim my inheritance. I am now of age. Adam no longer has any say over me."

Matthew Stephens clasped his hands together in front of him and rubbed his lips with his fingers. "I am sorry, My Lady, to have to tell you this but there is no inheritance left."

Jessica gasped. Before she could ask why he continued. "When I said you too have fallen on hard times, it is because Lord Loxton himself has no inheritance left. He has made some very bad judgments. Every month large amounts of money have been transferred to a bank in England. He informed us this money was for you. As you have just disclosed, this is not so. Lord Loxton is in debt, My Lady. The last I heard he was considering selling Loxton Hall though he has not placed this in our hands. You, My Lady shall find you will get nothing but more grief from that man."

"If you do not get rid of the both of them, I shall ruin you."

He stood rigid in front of her, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"With my father's help I shall strip you of your wealth and your dignity. There is no more Jessica and there will be no more Hannah. I do not want your Mistress and her bastard child here in this house!"

The banker leaned back and shook his head in sympathy as he watched the colour drain from the young woman's face. He jerked to his feet, rushed around the desk and took hold of her hand. "Are you not well?"

Jessica covered her face and cried. She did not hear him, when he asked his clerk to bring some tea and only did she respond when he tapped her on the shoulder with a cup in his hand. "I have no idea what I shall do. My child is expected soon." She trailed off hoping he'd understand the situation she was in.

Mr. Stephens nodded his understanding. "I suggest you knock on the door of Loxton Hall. Lord Loxton cannot turn you away. Perhaps there is something of value, jewellery, of your mother's or father's. You may be able to sell it and buy yourself a passage back to Van Diemen's Land and find the father of your child. You say he does not know. If he is a decent man he will do the right thing by you."

What could she say to this old friend of her father's? Jessica looked wide-eyed up at him and nodded. How he had not shunned her thus far was a blessing, but to reveal that her father's child would be married to another by now. Never.

Copyright © 2019 Donna Fieldhouse. All rights reserved.

Oh dear. Things do not seem to be going well for Jessica.

I hope Adam at least allows her to stay in her old family home until she's had her baby and worked out what she's going to do. :(