Amanda Scott

by Madcap Marchioness

“Damn it, m’lady, let be!” The voice sounded familiar, but all her concentration was focused upon freeing herself. She dug her knees into the hillside and tried again to pull free.

  “Lady Chalford, it’s me, Petticrow. Damn it all, ma’am, I’m trying to help. Don’t fight me or we’ll both go tumbling.”

  Gasping her relief, she came nearer than she had ever been in her life to fainting, but Petticrow was able to get his hands under her arms then and hauled her up to sit beside him. As she struggled to catch her breath, she became aware of more sounds, including several shots, from the beach below.

  “Miranda!” she exclaimed. “Braverstoke’s got Miranda!”

  “Aye, in the tub boat,” her companion agreed. “They have nearly reached the ship by now. We were waiting till all the goods were landed. You caught us a bit off guard, m’lady.”

  There were scuffling sounds from the beach now, more shouts and sounds of fighting. She heard horses, too.

  “You’ve a squadron with you?”

  “Not a squadron precisely,” he said. “The nearest was beyond Dungeness Point and would have come too late. We’ll hope the cutter made good time, though. Look yonder.”

  She followed his gesture toward the mouth of the harbor. The sails on the Golden Fleece were up and she was making for the opening, but there was another dark shape, a smaller, more graceful ship that seemed to dance tauntingly in her path.

  “The Sea Dragon,” she whispered, her pounding heart fairly stopping the breath in her throat. “That’s the Sea Dragon!”

  “Aye,” said Petticrow, “and if his lordship can just manage to throw the other captain off his stride, mayhap he’ll run into one of the booms and save the cutter a deal of trouble.”

  But it quickly became obvious, as Adriana watched in terror, that the commander of the Golden Fleece had no intention of being outmaneuvered. The roar of cannon shocked her into momentary silence. Then she cried, “Joshua! My God, he’ll be killed!”

  “His lordship’s prepared, m’lady. Ah, and there’s his majesty’s cutter, right on the mark. Now we’ll see some action, ma’am. They’ll blow the Golden Fleece right out of the water.”

  The answering roar of cannon from the Sea Dragon was accompanied by an echoing boom from the cutter. Adriana felt now as though her heart had stopped beating altogether. She grabbed at the riding officer’s arm, shaking him out of his triumphant state. “Mr. Petticrow, Miranda is on the Golden Fleece. They must stop firing. Joshua! They’ll both be killed.”

  “Good God,” he exclaimed, “I plumb forgot the Lady Miranda in the excitement. No, but wait now.” He peered through the gloom. “Well, I’ll be … Look there, m’lady, on the beach.”

  Turning to look where he pointed, Adriana saw that the movement below had turned into a flurry. Torches and lanterns blazed alight. Boats were hauled out of places that seemed inadequate to conceal them and launched full-loaded with men into the rolling surf. In no time at all, while her heart thudded and Mr. Petticrow, beside her, cheered till he was hoarse, the Golden Fleece was surrounded by the torchlit flotilla. Men swarmed up the tub lines to her decks. The guns fell silent.

  15

  “WHO ARE THE MEN IN the boats?” Adriana asked when she could breathe with any semblance of normality again.

  “Local Gentlemen,” Petticrow told her. “It was his lordship’s notion that they’d be willing, for once, to give us a hand. Word was out there was a run coming in and the locals were warned off by the Sandgaters. Made them angry, so they agreed when Chalford said it was better to put paid to the Sandgaters by taking sides with his majesty than to mix it up anymore. When it’s over and done, the locals’ll swear till they’re blue that they’re naught but respectable, law-abiding men, but if what goods were landed be still on the beach then, I’ll be surprised.”

  “Well, I won’t,” said Adriana. “You saw how many men there were carrying those goods, sir. Mr. Braverstoke told us they don’t use horses, only men, so they need a large number. And even if the kegs weren’t all ashore yet, there were a good many, and there must have been ten boats, all loaded with men. How many more could have been left to carry goods? They won’t have left the Sandgaters unguarded, after all. Not if putting them out of business was their primary reason for being here tonight.”

  Petticrow gave a grunt that might have indicated agreement, then said, “Well, be that as it may, m’lady, the Lady Miranda will be safe now, and I’d best be getting you back up to the castle. Best you be safe within doors before his lordship’s put the Sea Dragon to anchor. What he’ll have to say about you young ladies being out and about tonight don’t bear thinking of, but he’d say a deal to me, I shouldn’t wonder, if I was to send you up by yourself. Like as not he’ll be leaving her here in the harbor, too, since it don’t seem like the wind’s meaning to blow up more than what it is right now, so we don’t have much time.”

  “The breeze blowing up was what gave me the first hint that Mr. Braverstoke was part of it,” she said, allowing him to assist her to her feet and talking as much to take her mind off what lay ahead of her as for any other reason. “I heard the sound you had described, like fingernails on a slate. The breeze must have caught the rigging on that stern mast. At first, I couldn’t think why the sound seemed important, but then that panel fell, and the lantern light flashed on the gilded medallion, and Mr. Braverstoke insisted it couldn’t be his boat. If only he had got angry and cursed the men for taking her, I’d never have suspected him. I’d merely have thought it was like—”

  Breaking off, shocked by what she had been about to divulge, she could have sworn she heard Mr. Petticrow chuckle, but he said no more than, “Best we shake a leg, m’lady. I ought to be down on that beach. Only came up here because, after I’d seen the pair of you join up with Braverstoke, I heard Lady Miranda set up a screech. We suspected him—first because he spent so much time cruising the French coast, then more when we couldn’t find where he got his money—but we had no real proof against the man. I figured when you got away from him, you’d be safer running into me than into any of his lot. Now, hurry, I’ve got to get back.”

  He was not to return as quickly as he’d hoped, however, for when Adriana pushed open the tall door leading into the entry hall, there was a stifled shriek and then Lady Hetta’s voice came, shaking but in brave, patriotic British accents. “Arretez-vous, vous mechants français, ou je tire … je tue … Ah, bah! Halt where you stand or I’ll shoot out your liver and lights!”

  Petticrow had stood aside to let Adriana precede him, but at these elegant words, he grabbed her elbow and yanked her back, saying as he stepped in front of her through the open door, “Good God, Hetta, where on earth did you learn your French? They’d never understand a word of it. Now for the love of God, put that thing down before you shoot yourself or one of us.”

  “Oh, Mr. Petticrow,” Lady Hetta exclaimed, rushing forward in her dressing gown and cap, waving a wildly flickering candle in one hand and a horse pistol in the other, “the French have landed. They are on the beach, and ships in the harbor are firing cannon. I told everyone, but no one would pay heed until the cannons fired. Now all the maids have run to the cellars, and I’m sure no one can blame them, and Adelaide will only say I must be mistaken and whoever it is must hush up their noise.”

  “Give me that pistol,” said Mr. Petticrow firmly.

  “Aunt Hetta,” said Adriana, “indeed, ma’am, it is only free traders again and not the French at all. The revenue cutter fired a couple of shots at Mr. Braverstoke’s yacht. And thanks to Mr. Petticrow and the local landsmen they have laid the Sandgate gang by the heels, and Mr. Braverstoke as well.”

  Lady Adelaide’s voice sounded just then from the south end of the hall. “I said those Braverstokes were a presumptuous pair. Now perhaps the rest of you will agree. Mr. Petticrow, why do you have your arm around my sister?”

  Mr. Petticrow leapt back as though he had been shot, then bowed and muttered something Adriana could not hear, but L
ady Hetta turned sharply at the sound of her sister’s voice. “Oh, Adelaide, it is just as you said, and not Frenchmen at all, but they have caught that dreadful gang of smugglers, so we may all be comfortable again.”

  “Then you may return to your bed in perfect safety,” said her sister, still eyeing Mr. Petticrow askance. “And you, sir, have no doubt got business below on the beach.”

  “As you say, ma’am,” said Mr. Petticrow, bowing hastily and casting an amused glance at Adriana. “You’ll be safe now, m’lady, I believe.”

  “Yes, thank you, sir.” She was watching Lady Adelaide, uncertain of what to say to explain her appearance on the scene with the riding officer.

  Lady Hetta spared her the necessity of speaking by saying rather sharply when Petticrow had shut the door behind himself, “There was no need to be so abrupt with the poor man, Adelaide, indeed there was not. He merely came out of kindness to see that we had not been unduly alarmed by the disturbance below.”

  “I daresay,” replied Lady Adelaide, unimpressed. “Light some of those candles, Hetta. I cannot think why we stand here in the dark. Why are there no menservants about? One would think they would know they are needed. Certainly, no one could have missed hearing that cannon fire.”

  Adriana said carefully, “I believe they are occupied, ma’am, and Lady Hetta says all the maidservants are in hiding.”

  “So I was also told. I have sent my woman to rout them out, however, and to order us some hot milk to settle our nerves. Not knowing you would be up and about, too, Adriana, I asked to have it served in our sitting room, but I will have them bring it to the great hall if you would care to share it with us.”

  “Thank you,” Adriana said, grateful to have been asked no difficult questions. “Joshua had a part in the action tonight and he has not yet returned. I ought to wait for him.”

  “Yes, I think that would be wise,” returned Lady Adelaide, giving her a straight look.

  Deciding that her ladyship had deduced a great deal more than was consistent with her own peace of mind, Adriana turned abruptly and walked into the great hall.

  Lady Hetta, at her heels, moved to light candles in this chamber, too, with her taper, then turning, she said briskly, “I’ve scarcely had time to think, Adriana dear, but why were you with Mr. Petticrow? Indeed, why were you out at all? Surely, Joshua did not take you with him.”

  “No, ma’am,” Adriana replied, wondering what on earth to say to her. She had no wish to speak of the incident at all, certainly not until she knew that Joshua and Miranda were both safe. Rescue came from an unexpected quarter.

  “You are dripping wax all over the carpet, Hetta,” said Lady Adelaide, entering behind them. “Do put that candle into a proper holder or put it out. Then sit down and straighten your cap. You look like something dragged out of a bramble bush.”

  “Oh, dear, do I?” Lady Hetta quickly snuffed her candle and stepped up to one of the side tables, setting the candle down before peering anxiously at her reflection in the gilt-framed glass set above the table. “Good gracious, what a sight!”

  Adriana, seeing that her attention was safely diverted for the moment, cast a glance at Lady Adelaide, who was regarding her steadily. “I suppose, ma’am,” she began cautiously, “that you must also wish to know—”

  “Don’t suppose anything of the sort,” said her ladyship decisively. “’Tis none of my affair or Hetta’s. What is my affair is the disgraceful way this castle was left unattended, and you may be sure that I shall have something to say to Joshua on that head. Regardless of his need, he might have left us one manservant to attend to matters here.”

  Lady Hetta repaired her appearance before their hot milk arrived, but Lady Adelaide managed to keep her from asking Adriana uncomfortable questions merely by requesting her not to chatter the first time she opened her mouth, and then, after their milk had been served, by ordering her briskly to drink up before it grew cold. She herself kept up a running monologue, commenting on the extraordinary noise of the cannon, on the intrusive ways of the Braverstokes and the Sandgate gang, and then once again deploring the lack of guards in the castle.

  When she had run the gamut, she began all over again, so Adriana felt little necessity to listen and was soon lost in her own thoughts. Having come to know Lady Adelaide better by now, Adriana was certain she was attempting to keep her from worrying about Joshua’s safety, and she was grateful for the kindness, but in truth, it was not his safety so much as the probable state of his temper that concerned her.

  She knew it was absurd to hope he would not discover that she and Miranda had been on the beach, and this time she could not pretend to herself that she had obeyed any part of his orders to her. This time she had disobeyed him outright. He would not care for the fact that she had felt obliged to go with Miranda, nor would he be impressed if she admitted that she had not known any way to keep her from going alone if she did not go. No doubt he would simply say, with reason, that if she had discussed the problem with him, he would have stopped Miranda. That she could not betray her sister to him any more than she would ever have betrayed her to Alston or their father was not something she felt she could adequately explain to him under the circumstances.

  Shivers shot up her spine when she remembered his chilling anger in Brighton and his later promise that the consequences would be much worse than that if she angered him again. She shifted uncomfortably where she sat, and Lady Adelaide broke off what she was saying just then to demand to know if she was cold.

  “No, ma’am.”

  “That maidservant ought to have stirred up the fire in here while she was about it. Ring the bell, Hetta.”

  As Lady Hetta got to her feet, however, the unmistakable sound of the entrance doors opening and shutting again came through the open doorway of the great hall. There were voices, too, male and female, and then the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. Chalford and Miranda appeared in the doorway.

  When they paused upon the threshold at the sight of the three persons within, Adriana leapt to her feet, aware of a fleeting look of profound relief in her husband’s eyes, replaced in a blink by burning fury. At the same time, but as a dim clamor in her mind, she heard her sister’s excited cries.

  “Adriana! My God, I thought you must be dead. Oh, my dear, are you really quite safe?”

  As Miranda ran into her arms, Adriana’s gaze clashed with Joshua’s over her shoulder. Though it was all she could do to speak, she said, “I am safe, goose. No one laid a hand on me.”

  “An oversight that may soon be rectified, believe me,” Joshua muttered furiously. Wrenching his gaze from hers with an obvious effort, he said to his aunts, “You must forgive me if I appear less than delighted to see you at the moment, but I am persuaded that at this late hour you would be more comfortable in your beds. I will be grateful, Aunt Adelaide, if you will see Miranda tucked into hers before you retire.”

  “Of course, Joshua,” Adelaide said, getting to her feet with her customary dignity. “Come along, Miranda dear. And, Hetta, don’t dawdle. You ought to have been asleep hours ago.”

  “Well, but I was,” protested Lady Hetta as she followed reluctantly in her sister’s wake.

  Miranda, after one scared look at Joshua and a warning grimace directed at her sister, went with them, leaving Adriana alone with her husband.

  Kicking the door shut behind him with unnecessary force, he moved toward her, his mouth a thin slit in his taut face, his eyes shooting fire. His intent was clear. He was going to murder her.

  She licked her lips, facing him, breathing rapidly. Had she not seen that brief flash of relief in his eyes, she might have been even more frightened, but he could not be glad to see her one moment only to strangle her the next. At least, she thought, looking into those blazing eyes, she hoped he could not.

  “Joshua, I—”

  His big hands clamped bruisingly upon her shoulders and he shook her, hard. “Damn you,” he said, the words coming with difficulty as though his thr
oat were too tight to release them easily. “Your misbegotten sister told me Braverstoke’s men had killed you, that he had threatened to kill her and had ordered them to kill you before he dragged her into the boat. She flung herself, sobbing, into my arms when we got her off that damned yacht, and that’s the first thing she said to me. My God, you little idiot, you deserve to be flayed for your insanity.”

  “Mr. Petticrow helped me get away,” Adriana said when he had stopped shaking her and she could catch her breath. “Did you not see him on the beach?”

  “Of course I saw him. Do you think I would be here if I had not? I’d be down on that beach throttling one man at a time until I found one who could tell me where your body was.”

  “They would have had difficulty telling you anything while you were throttling them, sir,” she said, less frightened now than she had been before.

  “Damn it, don’t tempt me,” he growled, shaking her again. “I haven’t been this angry since I was a boy, and I cannot be held accountable for the consequences if you push me too hard. Don’t you understand that I thought I’d lost you, that I didn’t believe Petticrow until I’d seen you alive for myself?”

  “Would it have mattered so much, Joshua?” she asked softly.

  “Mattered? My God, Adriana, don’t you know how much it would matter?” He stared at her, his hands tightening on her shoulders, and to her shock she saw tears in his eyes.

  “I didn’t know,” she whispered, adding in a firmer tone, “I told you before, I never can tell what you are thinking. You said when I feared the thunder that I must tell you when I am frightened, and another time you told me it was right for me to tell you of my anger, but you never told me anything about your feelings. Truly, Joshua, I never knew the meaning of ‘even-tempered’ before I met you. I thought for a long time that you wanted only a mistress for Thunderhill and a mother for your children. I know now I was wrong, but I thought only this pile of rock had the power to stir you to passion. I thought I could never compete with the castle in your heart.”