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problems. The Luddites have caused a
lot of difficulties in the north of England recently, and in the Midlands as well.’ Her mouth quirked
humorously. ‘Despite being a mere woman, I have been known to read a newspaper
from time to time,’ she said with a sideways glance.
    He laughed.
But then his expression became more serious. ‘Reading a newspaper is one thing;
running a mill is another. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that mills are
dangerous places. If you read the newspapers, you know that what I am saying is
true.’
    ‘I know it was true,’ said Rebecca. ‘There has been a lot of unrest, but it is over
now. The ringleaders have been dealt with and that has put a stop to it.’
    ‘Unfortunately
it may not be as simple as that. Although a lot of the Luddite ringleaders have
been dealt with, the underlying problems haven’t gone away, and trouble could
break out again at any time. We will not know if the Luddite movement has
really been broken until we have had at least two or three peaceful years.
There is still a lot of resentment against the using of machines because the
machines take away men’s jobs, and without jobs they can’t feed their families.’
    ‘In that I
have a great deal of sympathy for them,’ said Rebecca. She looked at him
challengingly as she walked down the room beside him, her hand raised and
joined to his. ‘I warn you, if you mean to put men out of work then I will do
everything in my power to thwart you.’
    ‘It would not
surprise me,’ he returned, with a flash in his copper-coloured eyes.
    And oh! how
they sent shivers through her, those eyes, she thought, as she turned away from
him, in accordance with the dance. Why could they not have been green, or blue,
or grey, or anything but copper?
    The dance
brought them together again.
    ‘I can
understand why the men hate machines,’ continued Rebecca. She was determined
not to succumb to the magnetism of the man before her. If she did that, he would
surely relegate her, as a mere woman, to a subordinate role, and forbid her any
real influence over her inheritance.
    But she was
determined to play her part. Although she knew very little about running a mill
she meant to use her part-ownership to make sure that the men and women who
worked there did not suffer the draconian working conditions that were
prevalent in some mills.
    This, she
suspected, was the part her grandfather had meant her to play, bringing a
softening influence to Joshua’s hard and predatory nature.
    ‘The machines
take away their jobs. I am not surprised they’re resentful.’
    ‘Being
resentful is one thing,’ he remarked. ‘Being violent is quite another. The
Luddites are no respecters of persons. If they feel their livelihoods are
threatened they are not above breaking into the homes of mill owners and
holding them at gunpoint.’
    ‘You are
thinking of James Balderstone,’ said Rebecca. The assault on James Balderstone
had been in all the newspapers at the time. His house had been broken into by a
mob, and he had been held at gunpoint by a number of Luddites whilst their
fellows had smashed up one of his frames.
    ‘Among others.
And in some cases the situation has been even worse. In Stockport , a mob broke into one of
the mills and destroyed the looms before turning their attention to the owner’s
house and setting it on fire.’
    ‘Nevertheless,
I intend to take an interest in my inheritance,’ said Rebecca firmly. ‘Grandfather
left me half the mill for a purpose and I don’t want to let him down. Besides, he
is right. I can’t be content with sitting by the fire and knitting! I long for
a challenge. I am too much like him to be content with idling my life away.’
    To her
surprise, she saw a look of respect and understanding cross Joshua’s face. But
then it disappeared, and she could tell that, no matter how much he might
understand her feelings, he was not about to give in. He did not want a woman
as a partner, and it would take