Chapter 20 - One Last Spring

Lewis’s unexpected brief appearance did nothing for Gwen’s peace of mind. She found herself thinking of him far more than she wanted to, puzzling over why he’d sent her a gift at Christmastime and treated her with such friendliness on Sunday yet ignored her for the months in between. She tried not to think about his relationship with Mabel. She didn’t know how far it had progressed—she didn’t want to know. It simply made her miserable.

To her irritation, it was difficult to concentrate on her school studies, and she usually ended up abandoning her textbooks in favor of drawing outdoors. So it wasn’t a big surprise that a few days later, Thomas Henley found her sketching on the mountain again. This time, however, Gwen heard him coming. The snapping of twigs and gentle swoosh of branches springing back into place alerted her to the presence of someone on the path, and she was already on her feet when he entered the clearing.

“Wait, Gwen,” he said as she started to move toward the path. “You don’t need to leave. Please stay and finish your drawing.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going to sketch anymore today.”

“Then may I see what you’ve done?”

Gwen hesitated. “I don’t want to sell it,” she said.

He chuckled. It was a pleasant sound. “Fair enough. But I’d still like to see it.”

Reluctantly, Gwen turned her book around so her sketch faced Thomas. It was a picture of the dam, but this time, instead of drawing the overall scene, she’d narrowed her focus to the stones that made up the base of the retaining wall itself. Thomas stepped closer and examined the picture.

“Have you ever seen the stones up close?” he asked.

Gwen shook her head. “I’ve seen them going down the mountain from the quarry on the locomotives,” she said.

“It’s hard to get a feel for how big they are unless you’re standing right beside them,” he said. “Most of them weigh ten to twelve tons, and the masons at the quarry sometimes work on one stone for a full month just to get the shape and size exactly right. They follow the plans given them by the draughtsman and make sure each stone is numbered with a ticket so it’s placed into the wall exactly where it’s meant to go.”

He looked at her picture and pointed to the pile of logs Gwen had sketched in the corner. “You know,” he said, “if you were to sit on those railroad ties, you’d be less than twenty yards from the dam and have an unobstructed view. It would give you a whole new perspective and enable you to sketch details you can’t see from this distance.”

“That’s probably true,” Gwen said. “But as no one from the village is allowed that close to the construction site, I’ll content myself with the view from here.”

Thomas thought about that for a moment. “If I accompanied you there, you could do it.”

For a split second, Gwen considered it. To be able to draw not only the enormous rock wall but also the ongoing activity at the dam from close quarters would be a new and exciting challenge. Then reality set in, and she remembered who else would be there. “The workmen,” she said. She stopped, not wanting to divulge her fear of the navvies to someone she hardly knew. “It wouldn’t be right, me being there with all the men.”

Thomas frowned. “They wouldn’t be anywhere near you. Most of the construction is happening on the other side of the dam at the moment. And even if it weren’t, if the men are at the site, they’re working. You’re not in any danger of them socializing.”

Gwen felt the blush on her cheeks. “It’s good to know you have such control over all those navvies,” she said. “Maybe if you could extend that to overseeing how much alcohol they consume, none of the girls in the village would need to worry about them anymore.” She swung on her heel and started for the path.

“Wait! Gwen!” His hand reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Don’t touch me!”

Thomas dropped her arm and stepped back as though he’d been burned. “Gwen, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Have any of the workmen bothered you?”

“Bothered me?” she said, barely controlling her emotions. She pointed toward the dam site. “That may be the most obvious scar that’s been inflicted on this valley since the Liverpool Corporation arrived, but believe me, it’s not the only one. The damage done to my village by men who’ve come here with loose morals and foul mouths is just as permanent and equally unwelcome.”

She’d shocked the man into silence. Ruefully, she realized this wasn’t the first time her sudden outbursts had had a similar effect; Lewis and Ioan Llanwddyn had shown similarly stunned expressions at the smithy. And now, just as had happened then, she had nothing more to say. Before Thomas could gather his wits, she ran out of the clearing and hurried down the path as quickly as the uneven terrain would allow.

It was Gwen’s turn to look stunned the next morning when Thomas Henley walked into the post office.

“Hello, Gwen,” he said.

Gwen almost dropped the pile of letters she was sorting. Aunty Jane slowly lowered her pen onto the ledger book in front of her and gave Gwen a curious look before turning her steely gaze to the stranger.

“Good morning, Mr. Henley,” Gwen said.

“Thomas,” he corrected her.

“Thomas,” she said, acknowledging his olive branch with an accepting nod. “How can I help you?”

“I’ve thought a lot about what you said yesterday, and I’d like a chance to show you the dam as I see it—not a scar that ruins a beautiful valley but a magnificent piece of architecture that may actually come to enhance this area. With your artistic eye, I don’t think it will be hard for you to visualize the end result once you’ve seen the blueprints and renderings we have in the office.”

He lowered his voice a little. “I’d also like the opportunity to prove to you that not all the Englishmen who invaded your village are the cads you’ve had the misfortune of meeting up until now.”

Aunty Jane cleared her throat. “Gwen, as you already seem to be acquainted, would you introduce me to this gentleman?”

Only when Aunty Jane spoke to her in Welsh did Gwen remember that her aunt’s English was nowhere near as good as her own. With guilty relief, she realized it was unlikely Aunty Jane had understood much of what Thomas had said, which meant she might be able to avoid an awkward explanation.

“Aunty Jane,” she said in Welsh. “This is Thomas Henley. He’s an engineer at the dam. I spoke to him briefly yesterday, and he’s come in to ask if you’d let me go to the construction site. He thinks I’d be interested in seeing the blueprints of the dam.”

Aunty Jane raised her eyebrows. “An engineer, is it?” She looked over at Thomas again. “He doesn’t dress like a navvy, but you never can tell with these Englishmen.”

“Is something wrong?” Thomas asked in English.

Gwen switched languages again, hoping she could maintain them both without too much confusion.

“No. Nothing’s wrong. My aunt was curious to know who you were, is all.”

“This is your aunt?” he asked.

Gwen nodded. “Yes. Mr. Thomas Henley, this is Mrs. Jane Jones, the village postmistress and my guardian.”

Thomas reached over the counter and shook Aunty Jane’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Jones,” he said.

“Thank you,” Aunty Jane said in English before turning to speak to Gwen in Welsh. “They’ve been working on that dam going on five years. If he’s the engineer, ask him why we haven’t seen him here before?”

Gwen couldn’t deny Aunty Jane’s point was a valid one.

“My aunt’s English is limited,” Gwen told Thomas, “but she’d like me to ask why she hasn’t seen you in the village before.”

“I actually haven’t been here very long,” he said. “I’m a junior engineer working under Mr. George Wainwright. Mr. Wainwright was on-site up until three weeks ago—perhaps she’s met him—but he started experiencing some health issues and asked that I take his place until he has them resolved.”

Gwen relayed this information and saw the skepticism in her aunt’s face begin to diminish.

“Well, at least he’s honest,” Aunty Jane said. “I’ll give him that. I know Mr. Wainwright. He’s come in to post things a few times. I always thought he looked a bit sickly, so I’m not surprised he’s taken ill.”

For her part, Gwen was feeling the pinpricks of shame over her outburst the day before. If Thomas had only been here three weeks, it was no wonder he had little knowledge of the navvies’ tendencies to carouse away their earnings every Saturday afternoon.

“Will you tell her why I came in today?” Thomas asked. “Ask if I may have permission to escort you to the dam site.” He paused. “Or perhaps I should ask you first? Will you come?”

Gwen hesitated. It would seem pigheaded to tell him no when he’d gone out of his way to find her after she’d been so rude to him. She knew he wanted her to see the dam from his perspective, but her reservations about the navvies remained. “If I go with you, I need to know that I can leave anytime I wish,” she said.

“You have my word,” Thomas said, and the sincerity on his face convinced her that he was telling the truth.

“Mr. Henley would like your permission to show me around the dam,” Gwen told her aunt.

“Without a chaperone?” Her aunt’s eyebrows rose alarmingly high.

Trying to hide her discomfort, Gwen translated Aunty Jane’s query.

“I’d love to escort your aunt too,” he said. “She’s welcome to come with us.”

It appeared that the surprises were not over. Upon hearing Thomas’s offer, Gwen watched Aunty Jane’s entire expression transform. Her habitual frown melted into a pleasant smile. “That’s very thoughtful,” her aunt said. “And I would be delighted to go, but it’s too far for me to walk in my current condition, and someone must stay here to run the post office.” She gave a nod as though she’d come to a decision. “You may go with him, Gwen, but I trust you will maintain a respectable distance while you are together.”

Gwen hoped that her astonishment did not show. She’d never known her aunt to capitulate so easily or so happily. “My aunt will stay here, but I will go with you,” Gwen told Thomas.

He gave a pleased smile and leaned over the counter to shake Aunty Jane’s hand again. “I will return Gwen to you soon,” he said.

Aunty Jane nodded. “I want to hear all about it afterward, Gwen,” she said.

“Yes, Aunty Jane.” Gwen put on her shawl and waited until Thomas walked ahead of her to open the door. “Thank you for letting me go,” she said. “I won’t be long.”

As soon as the door closed behind them, Gwen turned to Thomas. “I don’t know how you did that.”

“Did what?” he asked.

“Won my aunt over so quickly,” she said. “I’ve rarely seen her respond the way she did with you.”

Thomas smiled. “She reminds me of my mother.” He gave a small shrug. “I’ve noticed that Mother rarely leaves home to go out in the evenings with me or my sister, but she likes to be invited nonetheless. I’ve come to the conclusion that no one wants to feel that they’ve been overlooked, no matter how elderly or infirm they may be.”

Gwen studied him thoughtfully. Thomas may have believed he was sharing a lesson he’d learned through experience, but she felt sure he’d actually given her a glimpse of his generous nature. “Thank you,” she said, warmed by his kindness. “I’ll remember that.”