One Snowy Night by Amanda Grange

impassable. Even the mail has had to be suspended, and
if the mail can’t get through then nothing else can. But I mean to set out as
soon as there is any chance of success. The manager has been left in charge of
the mill for some time now, ever since I went abroad, and although I have every
faith in him for the short term, I would rather not leave him in charge for too
long.’
    Charles
nodded. ‘You must be eager to see the mill again, and take the reins into your
own hands. There are some sharp practices going on in some of the mills these
days, and it’s as well to make sure your manager hasn’t fallen prey to
temptation.’
    ‘I’m concerned
about that myself,’ said Rebecca. ‘If there are any unreasonable fines being
levied, I hope you will make sure they are removed.’
    Joshua’s
eyebrows raised, as though he had not expected her to be so well informed, and
she had the satisfaction of having surprised him.
    ‘I have had
the good fortune to meet and talk to Mr Cobbett,’ she explained.
    Joshua put
down his glass. ‘Have you indeed. William Cobbett’s opinions need treating
carefully. He has been imprisoned for libel before now, as I am sure you know —’
    ‘His crime was
nothing more than speaking the truth,’ said Rebecca.
    ‘As he sees
it. But he lives in the past. He wants England to return to the days when labourers
worked merrily in the fields. Unfortunately, he forgets that labourers did not
always work merrily, and that they were often plagued by poor harvests . . . as
well as bad backs. Scratching a living from the land can be hazardous. Farmers,
as well as mill hands, have been known to starve.’
    Rebecca
sighed. ‘I know he tends to idealize the countryside and I know that he has a
dislike, if not to say a hatred, of the mills, but some of his reasons for that
hatred are sound. The way spinners are fined a shilling for leaving their
window open, for example, or sixpence for leaving their oil can out of place.’
    ‘I agree.’
    ‘And that is
not all,’ said Rebecca, who had been so convinced that she would have to argue
her case that she did not immediately take in what he had said. ‘In some mills,
men are fined a shilling for whistling. I warn you, I will not countenance . . . ’ Her voice tailed away as his
words sank in. ‘You . . . agree?’ she asked hesitantly.
    ‘Yes. I do. Is
that so surprising?’
    ‘Yes. No. I
don’t know.’
    ‘Just like a
woman!’ laughed Charles. ‘Three answers in one!’
    Joshua smiled,
but nevertheless he turned to Rebecca curiously. ‘Which one is it?’
    She frowned. ‘Grandfather
told me you were ruthless . . .’ she began.
    ‘And so I am,
in commerce. But not in my dealings with people who depend upon me for their
livelihoods. I know what it is to be poor. Your grandfather began life in very
difficult circumstances and he told me many stories of those days.’
    Rebecca nodded
thoughtfully. Her grandfather had told her about the hardships of poverty. ‘I
knew Grandfather would never have allowed such fines, but as I knew he had not
taken an active role in the mill for some time I wondered . . . ’
    ‘Whether I
would be a slave-driver?’ asked Joshua with a lift of his eyebrows.
    ‘Not a
slave-driver,’ said Rebecca. ‘I know that Grandfather would not have left you
in charge if you had been that. But a hard taskmaster, perhaps.’
    ‘I am a hard
man,’ he acknowledged, ‘but I am not a monster, as I hope you will soon
discover.’
    His eyes
washed over her disturbingly, and she was pleased when Charles spoke.
    ‘It looks like
you two have more in common than you thought,’ he remarked.
    Rebecca
nodded. She had wondered, when she had become aware of Joshua’s ruthless
streak, just how far this would carry him in his running of the mill, and she
had been prepared to stand up to him. But she was pleased to learn that,
although he undoubtedly had a ruthless streak - and, in business, she knew, a
ruthless streak was necessary -