by Anne Ashley
‘I don’t doubt it, Hugo,’ she assured him gently. ‘It never crossed my mind for a moment to suppose you wanted me for my money.’
‘Well, that’s something, at any rate,’ he responded, sounding genuinely relieved, while doing little to disguise his lingering puzzlement. ‘And if you don’t think it’s too presumptuous of me, I think it would be no bad thing if you asked that man of business of yours to invest your money for any daughters we might be blessed to have. That way they’ll have a decent dowry to offer any future husband, should they choose to marry, and if not they could at least live a life of relative comfort in some small house of their own.’
‘What a splendid notion!’ Ruth agreed, knowing that her late benefactress would have wholeheartedly approved of that at least.
‘Good, that’s settled then!’ Hugo responded, now looking very well pleased. ‘So, I can send a notice to various journals without delay officially announcing our engagement.’
‘I never said that,’ Ruth countered, only to witness a look of acute disappointment instantly wiping away his smile and automatically placed a reassuring hand over the large one gently resting on her arm. ‘Have those couple of days away at the races with Merry,’ she urged softly, ‘and when you return we’ll discuss matters further, then maybe announce our betrothal to the polite world.’
If she had doubted his honest desire to make her his wife his sudden shout of pure joy would have vanquished it in an instant. No, she didn’t doubt for a moment that he truly desired to marry her. She didn’t believe, deep down, she ever had. It was her own niggling little demons that still needed to be vanquished. And, God willing, their short time apart might enable her to do precisely that!
* * *
A few minutes later they had arrived at their highly fashionable destination. Hugo wasted no time in escorting her straight round to the mews, where he discovered the young groom whom his friend the Viscount left in sole charge of the stables at his London residence, when he and his family were in the country.
The lad wasn’t precisely overworked, of course, for his master left only a pair of carriage horses and a decent hack behind whenever he returned to the estate in Kent. The lad seemed genuinely pleased to see Hugo, and only too happy to harness the high-stepping greys to his master’s curricle, and accompany them out.
Ruth, on the other hand, wasn’t so enthusiastic about having the groom along, as she felt it would naturally inhibit conversation, and voiced her disappointment in an undertone before the groom had had a chance to take up his position on the perch behind.
‘Although it’s hugely gratifying to learn that you’d prefer having me all to yourself, I must bring the lad along to look after his master’s horses, should we be fortunate enough to find the good doctor and his sister at home. As I’ve mentioned before, my angel, Kingsley would be furious, understandably so, if I were negligent enough to leave his cattle in the care of some street urchin. And I value his friendship too highly to risk his displeasure. Besides which, it adds a certain respectability having a groom along.’
She didn’t pretend to misunderstand. ‘It didn’t seem to concern you overmuch during our walk not having a maid along,’ she reminded him.
‘It wouldn’t do for you to make a habit of it,’ he warned. ‘At least not until after we’ve tied the knot,’ he added, thereby giving the impression that he had accepted this as a foregone conclusion.
She hadn’t the heart to disabuse him and merely voiced her eagerness to return to the country before too long. ‘The restrictions placed on females here in the capital are nothing short of ludicrous!’ she declared with feeling. ‘And don’t try to persuade me that it’s significantly better for married women, because from what I’ve witnessed these past few weeks I consider it isn’t. How many married ladies do you see walking about the streets alone—precious few,’ she answered for him. ‘Oh, how I miss those long, solitary walks in the country!’
Hugo didn’t like the sound of this—no, not at all! It had to be said that, in general, the country was a deal safer than the capital, but even so accidents could and did sometimes happen even in the remotest spots. ‘Accustomed to taking long walks by yourself, are you? Well, you’ll not have much time for that, my angel, after we’re married.’ He experienced a deal of satisfaction in enlightening her. ‘You’ll be far too busy running the house, not to mention learning how to ride. But I suppose there will be time, too, for us to go out walking together, should you wish to.’
Either she didn’t quite appreciate his gently phrased opposition to her going about on her own, or she was too interested in her surroundings to pay much heed to his objection, for she made no attempt to respond.
She continued to sit quietly, observing what was going on about her, until they had arrived at their destination. ‘Good heavens!’ she exclaimed, genuinely surprised at the overall shabby appearance of the small house before which Hugo had drawn the team to a halt. ‘Don’t tell me Dr Dent and his sister live here. From what I can remember of him he attempted to give the impression of a gentleman successful in his chosen profession.’
‘It’s always a mistake to judge by appearances. First impressions, too, more often than not turn out to be grossly inaccurate,’ Hugo warned, before jumping nimbly down from the curricle, the instant the groom had moved to the horses’ heads.
‘I cannot say how long we’ll be, lad, so you’d best walk the horses. Or better still take a turn round the streets from time to time,’ Hugo added, after helping Ruth to alight, then placing his hand gently in the small of her back in readiness to assist should she miss her footing on the slightly overgrown path leading to the front entrance. Yet another of those spontaneous thoughtful acts that proved to her what a considerate and caring spouse he would make.
A somewhat tarnished brass plaque, fixed to the front wall of the house and bearing the doctor’s name, suggested that they had arrived at the correct address. Moments later a young maid readily confirmed the fact when she opened the door in answer to their summons.
‘I’m afraid the master be out at the moment, sir,’ she revealed in answer to Hugo’s request to see the doctor. ‘But Mistress be home, if you’d care to wait in the parlour?’
Clearly the girl had been well trained. All the same, Ruth could detect at a glance that she lacked the overall neatness and that certain air of efficiency found in maidservants working in more affluent homes in the capital. She was instantly struck, too, by the shabby gentility of the front parlour. The curtains, though clearly of good quality, were now faded and, although no effort had been spared to give the appearance of comfort, even the beautifully embroidered cushions could not disguise the fact that the furniture upholstery was sadly threadbare in places.
Yet there were suggestions here and there of prosperity, too. There were several fine porcelain ornaments dotted about the room and a beautiful silver rose bowl taking pride of place on an occasional table; indications, surely, that the good doctor and his sister had experienced more prosperous times.
The door opening instantly captured her attention and she watched the neat and diminutive figure of Miss Dent sweep into the room, Hugo’s gilt-edged calling card still clasped in one hand.
Ruth had quite forgotten just how tiny the woman was. Surely far too fragile a creature ever to contemplate attempting murder, she decided, suddenly wondering how on earth they were going to explain their joint presence in her front parlour.
She need not have concerned herself. Smiling, Hugo came forward to take the little woman’s outstretched hand briefly in his own, while announcing with consummate ease that they were in the area and felt they could not pass so close without calling to see how Miss Dent and her brother went on.
‘Why, that is most thoughtful of you, Colonel Prentiss!’ Miss Dent declared, while darting a puzzled glance in Ruth’s direction, which clearly conveyed that, although gratifie
d by the unexpected visit, she couldn’t quite understand why they were together. ‘It is always agreeable to meet up with former acquaintances, brief though our association was,’ she added, before offering refreshments.
Ruth politely refused and was very glad she had when she saw Hugo’s grimace, only partially disguised, after taking his first sip of wine. ‘Although it is many months now since we all met for the first time,’ Ruth began, in an attempt to fill the slightly awkward silence after they had been invited to sit down, ‘I have frequently thought of you all and wondered how you fared with the remainder of your journey back to London.’
‘Oh, it was quite uneventful,’ the spinster revealed. ‘Tediously tiring, of course, but uneventful. Quite unlike the tragic occurrence at Dunsterford Hall! That was dreadful! I have often thought of you, too, my dear.’
Frowning, she stared at Ruth for a moment before transferring her puzzled gaze to Hugo. ‘You must forgive me, sir, but I didn’t realise that you and Miss Harrington were so well acquainted. For some reason I seemed to suppose we were all strangers, thrown together as it were by unforeseen circumstances.’
‘You were not in error, ma’am,’ Hugo assured her, before bravely tossing the remainder of the wine down his throat in one swallow and setting the glass aside. ‘Miss Harrington is at present staying in town as a guest of my sister.’ His lips twitched only ever so slightly as he reached for one of Ruth’s hands. ‘I’m sure Miss Harrington will not object to my divulging that, although nothing official has been announced as yet, we hope to be married in the not-too-distant future.’
Although Ruth had already accepted that some explanation for their being together would be required and a future alliance between them was the most natural reason in the world for them being seen together, she could still quite cheerfully have boxed Hugo’s ears, mainly because he seemed to derive such amusement from the fact that she could hardly refute the explanation.
‘How lovely!’ Miss Dent enthused, clapping her hands together joyfully. ‘So something good did come of that terrible time.’ Smile fading, she looked directly at Ruth. ‘We all felt very sorry to leave you like that, Miss Harrington. But, sadly, we all needed to return to London. My brother, of course, has his practice to run. A doctor’s reputation can so easily suffer if he neglects his patients for too long.’
‘And you were in the West Country to attend a relative’s funeral, if my memory serves me correctly,’ Hugo prompted when the spinster, for some reason, continued to stare silently down into her glass of ratafia.
Clearly her mind had been wandering somewhere, for she gave a visible start. ‘Oh, no...well, not initially. We had planned a short visit to a maiden aunt of ours who we’d discovered had been unwell. She kept house for our father for a number of years before his death. Sadly, she passed away the day before we arrived, so we remained for the funeral and to deal with legal matters regarding the disposal of her property.’
‘Mrs Adams, too, attended a funeral, I believe,’ Ruth reminded her, while finally becoming aware that Hugo retained her hand. She attempted to remove it, only to feel those strong fingers fractionally tighten their grasp. Was this a show of possession? If so, for whose benefit—hers or the female seated opposite?
‘Yes, that is correct. It was her father’s funeral, I believe.’
‘And do you enjoy travel, Miss Dent? Do you find you need to travel a great deal?’
‘Oh, no, Colonel Prentiss,’ she answered in a trice. ‘Quite the contrary! I came to London more than twenty years ago to keep house for my brother. My journey to the West Country last year was the first occasion I’d left the capital in all that time. My brother, of course, has travelled about a good deal more than I have, while I have been quite happy to remain in my home.’
‘You’ve lived in this house a very long time, Miss Dent,’ Ruth remarked, striving to focus on the reason for their visit and not Hugo’s possessive hold. ‘Clearly you both prefer life in the town.’
‘Oh, we haven’t always lived here, Miss Harrington,’ the spinster enlightened them, an almost wistful expression flickering over her pinched features. She then went on to name an address in a much more affluent part of the metropolis, where properties had been bought and sold for increasing sums in recent years. ‘Unfortunately, because of—er—unforeseen circumstances, my poor brother was obliged to sell our beautiful home and set up a practice here.
‘But we cannot complain,’ she continued, after staring with scant enthusiasm at her surroundings. ‘My brother’s services are called upon reasonably frequently, so we go along quite well.’
Ruth couldn’t help wondering what exactly had obliged them to relocate. She could only suppose the move must have been somewhat forced upon them. No one in his right mind would have chosen to reside at this address in preference to their former fashionably located property.
Seemingly a similar thought must have been crossing Hugo’s mind, because he said, ‘It must have caused you great distress to leave your former home, Miss Dent. It’s a truly charming part of town, especially those properties overlooking the park. I should like to own a house there myself.’
‘It was lovely, sir! It gave me such joy to invite people into the drawing room. My brother had his own little consulting room across the hall, overlooking the park. More than one titled person crossed our threshold in those days.’
‘You must, indeed, have been very sorry to leave, Miss Dent.’
‘I was, Colonel, I truly was,’ she freely admitted. ‘Even after all these years I still cannot help feeling a trifle resentful. Such wicked lies were spread abroad about poor Samuel. It doesn’t take long before a doctor’s reputation begins to suffer. Most all his wealthier patients deserted him and went elsewhere, once the wicked rumours had begun circulating. Then, inevitably, the bills started mounting up and he was forced to leave, and buy this smaller property in order to settle his debts.’
Narrow-eyed, Hugo gazed across at the spinster. ‘The medical profession can be both a lucrative and a very precarious one,’ he remarked sagely. ‘It only takes one—er—unfortunate death attributed to negligence to destroy a practitioner’s good name.’
Ruth could see at once that Hugo, astute demon that he was, had hit the mark, when the sister drew out a piece of fine lawn and commenced to dab at the corners of her eyes.
‘It is a sad fact of life that most infants succumb to a variety of ailments during childhood and many do not survive. That particular child had, apparently, been sickly from birth, always falling prey to some contagion or other. Poor Samuel did his best to save her, but the child’s father insisted Samuel had been negligent and should have recognised the symptoms of the more serious condition earlier. He held my poor brother entirely to blame for the death of his daughter and wasn’t slow to spread such wicked lies abroad, ruining poor Samuel’s reputation. And just because he happened to be a titled gentleman he was allowed to get away with it!’
* * *
‘You’re very quiet, my angel,’ Hugo remarked a short while later, as they headed in a westerly direction, without having seen, according to the loyal sibling, the much-maligned Dr Dent. ‘You didn’t object, I hope, to my revealing our future plans to the—er—good doctor’s sister?’
This succeeded in interrupting Ruth’s clear recollection of a conversation she’d had the evening before with a young baronet. She then darted Hugo an exasperated glance. ‘I don’t suppose it would trouble you overmuch if I had objected. You seem intent on divulging the fact.’
His shoulders shook. ‘Only because it seemed the most natural reason for us to be about together. And you must admit, she didn’t seem in any way suspicious about our visit after that.’
‘That’s true enough,’ Ruth was obliged to concede. ‘Furthermore, we did learn something of great interest—the doctor’s reputation was ruined because of the death of a titled gentleman’s
daughter.’ She regarded the strong line of his jaw as he continued to keep his eyes on the road ahead. ‘It just so happens that Sir Philip Hilliard mentioned the death of his youngest sister last night. And I think, unless I’m much mistaken, it would have occurred about that time.’
‘Interesting,’ Hugo responded.
‘Yes, isn’t it, just,’ she agreed. ‘Of course it might be pure speculation, but if Dr Dent happened to have been the practitioner attending the child during the time of this illness, which sadly proved fatal, then it does give him a motive for murder. Miss Dent clearly blames the titled gentleman for her brother’s damaged reputation, and their current much-less-affluent lifestyle. If the good doctor was of a similar mind, then he might have sought revenge on that cliff top, overlooking the sea.’
‘He could, of course,’ Hugo agreed, but not sounding wholly convinced. ‘But why go to the trouble of killing him there? And how on earth did he manage to lure Sir George to the coast? Why not just kill him here in town?’
He shook his head, clearly sceptical. ‘No, it’s no good speculating, my angel. We must discover, first, whether Dr Dent was the Hilliard family’s practitioner at the time of the girl’s demise, and then, maybe, take things further from there.’
Chapter Eleven
The following morning, after being informed the gentlemen were on the point of departure for the races, Ruth went down to the front parlour to discover only Hugo present.
He was an imposing figure by any standard, but there, within the confines of the small parlour, dressed for the journey ahead in top-boots and a many-caped travelling cloak, he seemed much larger somehow, made an even more impressive figure than usual. Even so, she’d never once felt daunted by his obvious strength or breadth of shoulder, not the least intimidated by his superior height. Yet, perversely, as she went to stand beside him and slipped her hand shyly into his, she could feel the unexpected surge of colour heating her cheeks as those bronzed fingers wrapped themselves round hers in immediate response. She could only put her shyness down to the fact that it had been the first time ever that she herself had instigated any physical contact between them.