Joanna Maitland – Bride of the Solway (страница 12)

Miss Elliott blushed. ‘You do me too much honour, ma’am. And I should be delighted to call on you again.’ She glanced towards her brother, who was frowning. ‘As soon as I am able.’

‘You will understand if we take our leave now, ma’am,’ her brother said. ‘We must get home while it is still light. It would not do for Cassandra to become chilled.’

The normal courtesies were soon exchanged. Elliott could almost have been a real gentleman. Certainly, his assumed manners could not be faulted. Ross felt his gorge rising as he watched. The man was the very devil.

Ross insisted on escorting Miss Elliott to her carriage, offering his hand to help her to mount. With one foot on the step, she turned to look into his face. Their eyes met, and held. He felt a slight pressure of her fingers in his. ‘Thank you, Captain Graham,’ she said softly. ‘I am truly most grateful to you.’

‘Your servant, ma’am,’ he said, returning the pressure for just a fraction of a second. A silent message was sent and received. Ross had no doubt that Miss Elliott—Cassandra—understood what he intended. He had risked his life to save her once. And he stood ready to do so again.

Chapter Five

C assie shrank back into the corner of the carriage, where James could not see her if he chose to ride alongside rather than out in front. She had only the length of the journey home to order her thoughts and to decide how she would respond to his demands. For they would certainly come.

Jamie would go to any lengths to get what he wanted. And what he wanted now was to marry Cassie off to a rich man as soon as he possibly could. His debts must be even more pressing than before, she decided, for until now, he had been planning to wait until Colonel Anstruther was free to remarry. No doubt James expected to borrow money from his future brother-in-law at every opportunity. But surely that meant finding a man who was both rich and weak? Colonel Anstruther was certainly not weak. He would never be an easy mark.

And nor would Captain Graham. He, too, was every inch the soldier—strong, determined, resourceful, and a knight in shining armour to a damsel in distress. She was sorry now that she had snubbed him when he mentioned having been thrown into gaol. But she had been mortally embarrassed at the thought that he was about to tell his valet about her outrageous behaviour. Once one servant knew of her attempted flight, it was bound to become the talk of Dumfries. What little standing she had in the community would be gone. She would not even be able to call on Mrs Anstruther again.

That meant she would not be able to meet Captain Graham again.

She felt a sinking in her stomach at the thought. She was grateful to him. Of course, she was. But it was more than that. She had not met many single gentlemen since she had left her Edinburgh seminary, and almost all of them had been old, or lecherous, or both. Captain Graham was neither. He was young and vigorous, and handsome enough if one overlooked his red hair. He had very pleasing blue eyes, too, that twinkled with good humour. And he was kind to hoydens on the banks of the Solway. Altogether the kind of gentleman that any young lady would wish to know.

But was he rich? Oh, dear, she did not know. She had discovered—quite cleverly, she thought—that he was a single man, but she knew little of his circumstances. Perhaps if she had not snubbed him, he would have been more forthcoming? But no. He had not wished to speak of his family. He had inadvertently let slip that he knew little about them. And he had been embarrassed at having said even that. There was no way she could have successfully quizzed him.

James would not accept such an excuse. What was she to tell him? Perhaps she could draw inferences from what the captain had said without actually telling a lie. Think, Cassie, think! She knew he had served in the Fifty-second Foot and she imagined he would have had to purchase his commission in such a good regiment. That meant he had some money, at least. Good, that was a start. His family came from Scotland, and fairly recently, too, judging by his accent, yet he knew nothing of them. So he must have been brought up in a home in England. Somewhere in England. And a gentleman’s home in England, however small, would require money to maintain it. She would tell James that the captain was Scottish-born but English-bred, and that he appeared to be comfortably off.

And she would say that, if James wanted her to find out more details about the captain’s finances, he would have to allow her to meet him again, in easier circumstances. She had done the best she could in the space of a few minutes’ polite conversation.

Yes. She would suggest that they take up Mrs Anstruther’s invitation to visit her new garden and that Captain Graham be invited to accompany them. On such a visit, there would be many opportunities to draw him out. Surely even James would see the sense in such a plan?

‘Never seen yer linen in such a state, Captain. Not even when we was in the Peninsula.’

Ross sighed and set about smoothing Fraser’s ruffled feathers. ‘The colonel’s man has done his best, Fraser, but it’s been precious little use after the mauling Elliott and his men gave to my belongings. Do your best to restore what you can. For the rest, we’ll have to buy new.’

Fraser was not mollified. ‘And yer boots, too, sir. Surely the colonel’s man knows how to black boots?’

‘Indeed he does, but not boots that have been squelching through Solway mud and then spent days in a sodden and stinking gaol. I’m surprised they haven’t rotted through. I doubt even you would be able to rescue them, Fraser.’ Ross quirked an eyebrow at his batman and long-time companion.

‘Aye, well, they may not be a total loss, sir. I’ll see what I can do.’

Ross smiled. The challenge had provoked exactly the response he had expected.

‘And in the meantime, you won’t go barefoot. There’s another pair in the bags I brought with me, and a supply of linen, too. I must have you respectable to dine with Mrs Anstruther. I can’t imagine how you looked when you were wearing the colonel’s coat. Disgraceful, no doubt.’

‘Perhaps, but it was a great deal better than how I looked when the colonel first found me, I can tell you, Fraser. I had neither hat nor gloves, my coat and breeches were damp and filthy, and everything about me reeked of the gaol. It was a wonder the poor colonel did not put a handkerchief to his nose.’ He laughed softly at the memory. ‘To his credit, he did not, though he did soon learn not to stand downwind of me.’

Fraser tried in vain to hide his smile.

‘So be grateful that this is the worst you see of me. Or smell!’

Fraser gathered up Ross’s scattered clothing and made for the door. ‘If you won’t be needing anything else this evening, sir, I’d best get on with salvaging what I can.’

‘Thank you, Fraser. I know you’ll do your best.’ He waited until the valet was halfway through the door before adding softly, ‘And when you have a moment free, I have a special task for you. One that you will enjoy, I fancy.’

Fraser turned. One look at Ross’s face was enough to tell him what was in store for him. He grinned widely. ‘That’s more like it, Captain. Sounds just like old times. What was it you was wanting me to find out for you?’

Ross beckoned him back into the room. Once the door was safely closed, he said, ‘I need you to discover some information for me, Fraser, about a young lady and her family. She—’

‘That would be the young lady you rescued down by the Solway, would it, sir?’

Ross groaned and struck his forehead in mock despair. ‘By Jove, Fraser, is there anything you don’t find out? The colonel and I have gone to considerable lengths not to have that tale bandied about, and yet you know about it before you have been here five minutes. I suppose there’s no point in asking how you know, is there?’

‘No, sir,’ Fraser said flatly.

Ross knew there was nothing to be gained by pressing the man any further. He sighed theatrically, shaking his head. ‘Very well. I shall not ask. Now, just in case you do not already know, the lady in question is Miss Cassandra Elliott and she lives with her half-brother, James, at Langrigg House, between Dumfries and Annan. I want to know what James Elliott is about and what was so terrible that his sister was prepared to take the risk of fleeing across the Solway. I need to—’

‘You need to know everything there is to know about the Elliott family. Very good, sir. Leave it to me.’

Ross wondered how Fraser, a stranger newly arrived in Dumfries, could possibly hope to get the information Ross needed. But he knew better than to ask. ‘Thank you, Fraser. I know I can rely on you,’ he said simply, and meant it. ‘Oh, and forget about the ruined boots. Better use your time for the Elliotts.’

Fraser drew himself up to his full height, which was considerably shorter than Ross. ‘I shall do my duty, sir,’ he said formally, ‘and that, sir, includes your boots.’

‘Make sure you take your most becoming gowns. God knows I’ve paid enough for them, over the years, just to make sure you look the part of a fine lady. I want my investment to be repaid, Cassie. Mark that. You must ensure that the gentlemen are suitably impressed.’