Elizabeth Rolls – Regency High Society Vol 3: Beloved Virago / Lord Trenchard's Choice / The Unruly Chaperon / Colonel Ancroft's Love (страница 29)

Katherine would have been the first to admit that she had grown increasingly impatient of her dear Bridie’s incessant cosseting in recent months, but she had to own that she had been immensely grateful for the landlady’s thoughtful attentions. Not only had the kindly woman provided her with a few basic necessities, including the loan of a night-gown, but she had also taken the trouble to wash and dry all Katherine’s clothes. It felt wonderful being attired in freshly laundered garments once more, and no less satisfying being able to brush and arrange one’s hair.

Once Katherine had completed this task to her satisfaction, she went downstairs to join Daniel for breakfast. She hadn’t seen him since he had accompanied her upstairs as far as her bedchamber door the evening before, where he had informed her, prior to disappearing into the chamber opposite, that he had arranged for her dinner to be brought up on a tray. Just why he had taken it upon himself to organise this she had no way of knowing. Nor had she any idea how he had spent the evening. None the less, one glance was sufficient to convince her that he too had received the landlady’s kindly attentions. His linen had been laundered, his coat had been sponged and pressed, and he had made excellent use of mine host’s razor. The only thing that hadn’t improved, she swiftly discovered, was his morose state of mind, for although he rose to his feet as she joined him at the table, and did not fail to ask if she had slept well, he displayed yet again a marked disinclination to indulge in small talk.

Throughout breakfast and later, after they had set off on the last leg of their journey to Normandy, Katherine racked her brains, trying to think of what might have brought about Daniel’s strangely subdued state. She would have been the first to admit that there was much she still had to learn about him, but she wouldn’t have thought that he was a man prone to brood unnecessarily. So she could only imagine that he was concerned that there might still be pursuers hot on their trail. It would be foolish to advise him not to worry. Besides which, she clearly recalled her mother saying once that gentlemen would share their troubles only if they wished to do so; if not, they were best left alone to resolve their concerns in their own way, for eventually they would return to normal.

And how right her mother had been! As the morning wore on Daniel began to betray definite signs of shaking off his strangely subdued mood, and by mid-afternoon, as they arrived at the town where his friend resided, his spirits had lifted noticeably.

‘Except for crossing the Channel, the most arduous part of our journey, sweetheart, is now over,’ he announced, sounding relieved.

‘Are we so close to the coast?’ Katherine asked, surprised that they had managed to cover so many miles.

‘We’re about ten miles away. We’ll have no difficulty reaching it from here. The problem besetting us now is finding someone to take us across to England. And that is where I’m hoping my friend can help. At the very least we’ll be offered a bed for the night.’

The certainty that he could rely on his friend ought to have offered some comfort, and to a certain extent Katherine didn’t doubt that it had. So she couldn’t quite understand what lay behind the troubled look he cast her before he swiftly turned his mount off the busy main street and into a fashionable thoroughfare, lined with large dwellings set a little way back from the road.

Drawing his horse to a halt in front of the last dwelling but one, he dismounted, and then helped Katherine to do so, before securing their mounts to the railings and leading the way towards the front door. Once again Katherine detected that fleeting look of concern before he raised the polished door-knocker and administered several short, sharp raps. They were forced to kick their heels for several minutes before the summons was eventually answered by a middle-aged woman, built on generous lines, who bore all the appearance of a housekeeper.

Grim-faced, she cast disapproving grey eyes over Daniel, before betraying surprise as she glanced in Kath-erine’s direction. ‘Yes, what is it that you want?’

Her openly hostile tone didn’t deter Daniel from demanding to see the lady of the house. ‘She’ll see me,’ he interrupted, when the woman attempted to inform him that her mistress did not receive callers at this time of day. ‘Have the goodness to inform her that Major Daniel Ross is here and wishes to speak with her immediately.’

It was quite evident that the woman had never set eyes on Daniel before, but she certainly recognised the name, for her demeanour changed immediately, and she became almost reverential as she stood to one side and bade them enter.

‘Madame usually does her accounts at this time of day, monsieur, but I’m sure she will see you. If you’d care to make yourselves comfortable, I’ll inform her that you’re here.’

Unlike Daniel, Katherine availed herself of one of the gilt chairs positioned against the wall, and looked about with interest. Directly ahead was an ornately carved wooden staircase that swept upwards in a graceful arc, and to the left was a wide archway, surrounded by plasterwork cupids, by which one gained access to a large, crimson-carpeted salon. There were several low tables dotted about the very spacious room, surrounded by numerous chairs and several chaise-longues, all of which were upholstered in the same shade of dull yellow velvet. The walls were covered with gilt mirrors and paintings of females in various states of undress, or wearing absolutely nothing at all, between which sconces in the shape of cupids held their candles aloft.

The furnishings were undoubtedly expensive, but far too ornate and faintly vulgar. The strong odour of perfume about the place was a trifle overpowering too, Katherine decided, before the door on her right, through which the housekeeper had disappeared a few minutes before, opened. A moment later a woman of about Daniel’s age entered the hall, uttered a squeal of delight, and then cast herself upon his chest, planting full red lips upon his mouth.

After recovering from the shock of witnessing such wanton behaviour in a member of her sex, Katherine felt herself in the grip of an emotion quite foreign to her nature, before anger and acute resentment won control. For almost two days she had been forced to endure the humiliation of being virtually ignored for most of the time. But be damned if she would be overlooked yet again whilst he enjoyed an amorous woman’s embrace! she decided, inwardly seething, and drew immediate attention to her presence by clearing her throat quite pointedly.

Large brown eyes, clearly betraying surprise, peered above Daniel’s left shoulder. ‘But what have we here, mon cher Daniel?’ the woman enquired in a voice that was both silky smooth and seductively husky.

Suddenly appearing highly embarrassed, Daniel disengaged the slender arms from about his neck and held her away. ‘Josephine, may I present Miss O’Malley … Katherine, this is my good friend Madame Carre.’

Katherine swiftly discovered that dark eyes could glint with seductive invitation one moment and become quite disconcertingly direct in the next, when Madame looked her over from head to toe, her gaze openly assessing and remarkably astute.

Her full lips curling into a provocative smile, Madame then returned her attention to Daniel. ‘You naughty, naughty man! What have you been doing that you must bring this girl to me?’

‘Not what you might suppose, Josephine,’ he hurriedly assured her before she could give voice to further outrageous assumptions. ‘But I do require your help. Katherine and I need somewhere to stay tonight. And, more importantly, we need to find someone who’ll be willing to take us across to England as swiftly as possible. I shall explain everything to you presently. But first, have you a room where Katherine may go … where she’ll be safe and—er—left quite undisturbed?’

A look clearly betraying immediate understanding flickered over the Frenchwoman’s expressive features. ‘Of course, my friend,’ she assured him as she reached for the tiny silver bell on the table by her elbow.

Quite some time later, after having been plied with refreshments, and having experienced the sheer luxury of bathing and washing her hair in rose-scented water, Katherine’s opinion of the formidable housekeeper had undergone something of a change. From the moment Madame Carre had instructed her servant to take good care of their unexpected guest, the housekeeper could not possibly have done more to oblige, and was even now taking the trouble to groom the long red hair which she had patiently dried on a fluffy towel.

‘Your hair is beautiful, mademoiselle,’ she remarked, at last setting the brush aside. ‘Many women would give much to call it their own.’

Maybe, Katherine mused, smiling up at the surprisingly kindly servant through the dressing-table mirror. She knew, however, of at least one person who didn’t hold her auburn mane in the highest regard.