Mary Brendan – Regency High Society Vol 1: A Hasty Betrothal / A Scandalous Marriage / The Count's Charade / The Rake and the Rebel (страница 12)
At last the letter for which Harriet had been praying arrived. Rothman delivered it to her ladyship at the breakfast-table and the countess broke open the seal eagerly.
‘How quickly he has replied,’ she said, as she scanned the contents. ‘Yes, he says he has written at once—you are to remain with us—he is actually coming to fetch you himself! He says he is overjoyed—and forever in our debt—what nonsense—but how sweet! Oh, my dear! Your troubles will soon be over!’ She placed the missive into Harriet’s trembling hand. ‘There, my child. You may read it for yourself. Your grandfather will be with us in no time at all if all goes well with his travel arrangements,’ and, turning to Sandford, she said, ‘Isn’t this happy news, Robert? Ramsey will surely come to his granddaughter’s rescue now that he knows her whereabouts, don’t you think?’
Sandford nodded, but did not reply. He felt a sudden lowering of spirit for which he could not account and stared moodily across the table at Harriet, but she was still deeply engrossed in her grandfather’s words. Excusing himself, he quickly finished his coffee and left the room.
‘We must go and tell Beldale the good news,’ said the countess. ‘He will be so happy for you—and glad to see Ramsey again, I dare say—if only to compare the wrinkles!’
Harriet laughed joyfully. She was feeling euphoric, hardly believing that her dream was finally about to become a reality. How long would it take her grandfather to travel to Beldale? Two weeks, perhaps. She could surely hold out until then, now that she knew he was actually coming. Then she was struck by a sudden thought.
‘But—Judith’s party?’ she inquired of the Countess. ‘We must inform her before it is too late to cancel. It will not be necessary to pretend an engagement now, surely?’
Lady Caroline hesitated on the stairway, considering the problem.
‘On balance, my dear,’ she said at last, ‘I think it would be wiser to wait until your grandfather arrives—supposing he were delayed? Remember that we conjured up the plan in order to prevent unsavoury gossip. It is still the best protection we can offer you until he comes. Judith’s guests will have seen the notice in the
And with this she continued up the stairs.
Harriet was perturbed, but did not mention the subject again. She knew that the countess had gone to considerable trouble to keep other members of the family away from Beldale House, using Lord William’s indisposition as an excuse even to her own two daughters, who had been besieging her with requests to visit their father. Harriet had been relieved to learn that she was not expected to come under Sandford’s sisters’ scrutiny, as she doubted that her acting ability would pass muster under such close inspection. Casual observation by a few local families at a small houseparty would be much less of a trial, she decided. She determined to put away her fears and do her best to look forward to the forthcoming assembly, reasoning that Sandford was unlikely to accord her anything other than the devoted attentions of the newly engaged man he was supposed to be, especially since the plan seemed to have been concocted with his approval. After that, as far as she was concerned, he could please himself!
Sandford stood at the entrance to the Dower House with a frown on his face. He was not looking forward to confronting his aunt with his discovery and, on being shown into Lady Eugenie’s morning room, he saw that his cousin Ridgeway was also present and resigned himself to an uncomfortable few moments.
Ridgeway saluted him from his seat at the desk and Lady Eugenie smiled at him in welcome.
‘Why, Robert,’ she said, holding out her hand for his kiss. ‘This is indeed a pleasant surprise—but your father—’ her voice grew anxious ‘—he has not taken a turn for the worse?’
The tiny, birdlike Lady Eugenie was a sweet and gentle soul who had suffered a very unhappy marriage to a man who had married her only for her considerable dowry and name. He had treated her monstrously, flaunting both debts and mistresses with total disregard for her sensitivities. When he had finally taken his life she had felt nothing but relief and had dedicated the succeeding thirty years to charitable works. Her brother’s pensioner, she had no money of her own, but gave her time unstintingly to any deserving organisation that approached her, from orphans’ relief to support for fallen women. The meagre staff she employed at the Dower House consisted entirely of waifs and outcasts rescued from disaster by her ladyship. Ridgeway jokingly predicted that they would one day be found murdered in their beds but, secretly, he was immensely proud of his mother’s achievements and her entire household was devoted to both the baroness and her son.
Sandford, having assured his aunt of the earl’s continued improvement, stood undecided momentarily, abstractedly tapping his crop against his boot.
Ridgeway, attending to some paperwork, raised his head at the sound and looked at Sandford curiously.
‘Problem, coz?’ he asked cheerfully.
The viscount nodded. ‘Rather tricky, Charles, actually.’
Ridgeway’s face grew serious and he rose at once to his feet. ‘Let’s have it then, Robert—and for goodness sake, sit down. If it’s not Uncle Will, what’s the trouble?’
Sandford cleared his throat and turned to his aunt with a troubled look. ‘It’s one of your boys, Aunt Eugenie—he seems to have been up to mischief.’
Ridgeway laughed and his mother’s pensive frown vanished immediately.
‘The young scamps are always up to something, Robert,’ said his cousin. ‘Stealing apples, I suppose? You’d think we didn’t feed them…’ He stopped as Sandford shook his head.
‘Fact is, Charles,’ he said brusquely, ‘two days ago one of them pulled Miss Cordell into the lake and swam off!’
His aunt gasped and put her hand to her throat while Ridgeway started in disbelief.
‘You can’t mean it, man! Let’s have the whole, if you please!’
Sandford related Harriet’s tale briefly, then went on to describe how he and Tiptree had scoured the lake area for the culprit, without success. He had then extended his search into the village where every boy of relevant age had been questioned thoroughly.
‘I admit I was at point non plus,’ he confessed wryly, ‘until Tip brought me word that old Mrs Jennings remembered having seen one of your young imps scrambling through our hedge with his clothes soaking wet. She supposed he had been messing about in the lake and thought no more about it. I’m sorry, Aunt Eugenie,’ he finished awkwardly, ‘but I’m afraid I’ll have to follow it up.’
His aunt looked helplessly towards her son, who nodded briskly at Sandford.
‘Right, man,’ he said. ‘Let’s get at it.’
Turning to his mother as they left the room, he said, ‘Don’t worry, Ma. I’ll sort it out. It’ll be one of Sukey Tatler’s young ‘uns—you mark my words.’
He led Sandford down the back stairs to the kitchens where a group of Lady Eugenie’s reclaimed streetwalkers were to be found chattering merrily as they went about their work. They immediately fell silent at the sight of the two intruders to their domain.
Ridgeway sought out the young woman he had named and beckoned her to the doorway. ‘Come outside, Sukey, his lordship wants a word with you.’
Eyes full of foreboding, the young woman complied, while the rest of the group stood looking at one another in consternation. Grateful to have been rescued from the awful poverty and degradation of their former existence, they still lived with the constant fear of being rejected and returned to their old haunts. They idolised their benefactress with unalloyed reverence for her part in their salvation, but were generally resigned to the fact that life had a habit of delivering the most crushing blows when one least suspected them.
Ridgeway ushered the scullery-maid out into the yard.
‘Do you know where Billy is?’ he asked her gently. ‘His lordship needs to speak to him.’ Sukey shook her head.
‘Don’t never know where ‘e is, guv,’ she said tremulously. ‘But ‘e’ll be ‘ome for supper, that’s fer sure. What’s ‘e done this time, guv?’
‘Something very serious, I’m afraid, Sukey,’ said Ridgeway.
The woman’s face was filled with fear.
‘You ain’t gonna send us back, guv?’ she pleaded. ‘I’ll skelp ‘is ‘ide, I swear to God!’
‘I hope it won’t come to that,’ Sandford intervened. ‘I have a feeling that he isn’t entirely to blame. Do you know who his friends are?’
Getting no further help from the boy’s mother, they sent her back to the kitchen where she was at once surrounded by her peers demanding to know whether they were all about to lose their places.
‘I’ll send one of the men to look for him,’ offered Ridgeway. ‘If he comes back and hears you were after him, he’ll make himself scarce. We need to find out why he did it. Someone must have put him up to it—it makes no sense.’
Sandford agreed with his cousin and reluctantly left the matter in his hands for the time being, but insisted on being notified as soon as the boy was found. He asked Ridgeway to give his regards to Lady Eugenie and took his leave.