by Lucy Gordon
‘My love, be calm,’ Millicent adjured her. ‘The servants...’
‘I don’t care about the servants,’ Charmaine wept. ‘I hate her, I hate you all. You drove Leon away from me.’
‘For very good reasons,’ Justin said in a tight voice. ‘He was a libertine and no husband for you.’
‘It’s not true, he loved me. We were going to run away to Scotland tonight, but Kate has spoilt everything.’
‘So it was true,’ Justin said. ‘She said you were planning something foolish and she had to save you.’
‘A pretty story,’ scoffed Millicent, who had taken the letter from Charmaine and read it. ‘Don’t be duped by these lofty sentiments, my dear Justin. Kate has run off with him because that is the kind of woman she is.’
‘Be silent!’ Justin spoke in a voice of cold fury and he turned on Millicent with a look in his eyes that made her fall back. ‘I know the kind of woman that she is, and it’s something I should have seen long ago. She sacrificed herself for her son, for me, and now for a girl too stupid to appreciate her danger. Stop crying, Charmaine. I don’t mean my harsh words. How can I blame you when I myself am so much to blame?’
He looked at Millicent who was making a vain attempt to rally her forces.
‘Your spite has played its part in this. I’m going after Kate now, to bring her back. And if I ever hear of you speaking ill of her, or spreading tales about her, it will be the worse for you.’
Chapter Twelve
Just past Woolwich was the bleakest part of the river, a mass of ugly warehouses and shabby waterfront inns. At nearly midnight the darkness hid much of its vileness, but a brilliant moon picked out silhouettes and gave them a menacing aspect.
Nobody in The Black Anchor was surprised to see ‘Mr Rayfield’. They knew his true identity, even if they were under orders not to speak it, and if his latest doxy chose to pull her hood down to conceal her face, that, too, was something they were used to.
The two of them had hurried straight up to the room Mr Rayfield always used on these occasions, and he had slammed the door. Then he’d turned and surveyed the woman, who was standing as far from him as she could, and he grinned. That grin would have terrified her if she hadn’t already been half dead from exhaustion and misery.
‘Let me look at you.’ Leon yanked back the hood of her cloak, exposing Kate’s pale, distraught face. She tried to take a step back, but he held on to the hood, restricting her movement. ‘What a face!’ he mocked. ‘A woman running off with her lover should be all smiles at the thought of the pleasure to come. Never mind, I’ll put a smile on your face before the night’s over.’
She almost gagged in her revulsion and tried to turn away, but he’d twined his fingers in her hair, drawing her face closer to his.
‘Still up to your tricks,’ he growled. ‘It was always tease and withdraw with you...lead me on then put on a big show of modesty. Just as you’ve been doing recently. And that’s your charm, do you know that? That’s how I like you best. The world is full of willing women and after a while they become a bore. But a woman who makes a chase of it – that’s what I call a woman.’
His lips fastened on Kate’s, crushing her cruelly, forcing his tongue between her lips so that she almost choked. She tried to fend him off but he seized her hand and thrust it between his legs so that she could feel the hardness of his lust. The idea of yielding to this slobbering satyr after the miracle of passion with Justin disgusted her so much that she had to fight not to lose consciousness.
‘You might show a little enthusiasm,’ he growled. ‘Or is this another part of the act to tempt me further? Well and good, but don’t take it too far. I’m running out of patience, and it’s time you began to repay me for all the effort I’ve had to expend on you. Tonight, madam...let me promise you, that tonight I shall collect payment in full.’
His eyes were wild and for a dreadful moment she thought he would drag her to the bed and force himself on her at once. To her vast relief there was a knock on the door, forcing him to halt and bawl, ‘Who the devil is that?’
‘Supper, sir.’
‘Damn you, I never ordered supper.’
‘But sir, you always...’
‘All right, all right. Well, but I’m hungry at that. First one appetite then the other, eh, sweetheart? Come in!’
He kept his arm about her waist as the door opened and a stream of servants entered, bringing with them a small table and various trays, laden with food.
‘A roast fowl, the best wine from our cellar...‘
At last the table was laid, seats were drawn out, wine glasses were filled. The servant took up a long, wicked-looking knife and approached the fowl.
‘Never mind that,’ Leon growled. ‘I’ll carve for myself. Get out.’
When the door had closed behind the retreating servants, Leon locked it.
‘Damned if I want to be disturbed.’
‘Shall I...pour you some wine?’ Kate asked in a shaking voice. She was playing for time.
‘Later. Stop your damned tricks and come here.’
‘I’m hungry,’ she said. ‘I want to eat first.’
He gave a snort of anger and moved towards her but she eluded him and went to the table, pouring herself a glass of wine.
‘A little wine will make me feel better,’ she said, not taking her eyes off him. ‘That’s what you want, isn’t it?’
‘If you mean it’ll make you more reasonable, it’s about time,’ he growled. Then he gave a crack of laughter. ‘But not too reasonable. If you’re willing, it spoils the fun.’
‘You needn’t worry about my being willing,’ she assured him.
‘But you’re here though, aren’t you? It took the devil of a job to get you here, but I thought you’d come when you heard about my proposed
elopement.’
‘What are you saying?’ she asked, aghast. ‘There was no elopement?’
He shrugged. ‘Oh yes, there would have been one if you hadn’t come to me instead, but I thought you would come. Ellen did her job very nicely didn’t she?’
‘I hope you paid her enough,’ Kate said bitterly.
‘A couple of guineas and a kiss was enough. After the damned unpleasant way your husband spoke to me I had to do something. Run off with his wife or elope with his cousin, either way he’ll never be able to forget my existence. But I’m glad it’s you. Dinner can wait. We have unfinished business.’
Now there was no escape. He meant every word. Wild thoughts rioted through her brain. She had said her life was her own to dispose of. Her eyes seemed to fix, of their own accord, on the knife for carving the fowl. It had a serrated edge and a sharp point, a point that could be used to stab a man to the heart.
As Leon came towards her, she picked it up...
*
Ferris was waiting in the inn yard. With him was Allton, one of Justin’s grooms, chosen for his vast size.
‘A man and a woman arrived here in a chaise an hour ago, My Lord,’ Ferris said in a low voice. ‘From the description I think the man might be the one we seek. The woman kept her hood pulled low and nobody saw her face.’
Are they still here?’ Justin asked curtly.
‘Yes, My Lord.’
‘How did you find this place?’
‘Acting on Your Lordship’s instructions I followed his valet to a tavern and offered him a glass of gin. Fortunately he has no head for drink and a few glasses were sufficient to make him confiding. Apparently ‘Mr Rayfield’ as he’s known about here, is the owner of The Black Anchor and has a room kept aside for himself at all times.’
Justin swore violently under his breath. ‘We use no names. We enter and leave as quickly and as quietly as possible,’ he said in a voice so soft that it was like the threat of murder. Ferris, who thought he had seen his master in all his worst moods, knew he had never seen one as terrible as this.
All of them were dressed unobtrusively. The landlord’s first thought was that these were more of
those customers, of which he had so many, who were up to no good. He was sure of it when he found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol and into a pair of deadly eyes.
`Don’t make a sound,’ Justin murmured. ‘Just tell me where I can find Mr Rayfield, and you won’t be hurt.’
‘First door on the right upstairs,’ the landlord managed to say.
Justin was up the stairs in a moment, pausing outside the door. He listened for a moment but he could hear nothing. When he tried the handle he found the door was locked. Wasting no further time he kicked it in.
At first he thought the room was empty. In the centre stood a table laid for dinner with two chairs, one overturned on the floor. Beyond it, in an alcove, was a large bed, the covers disarranged as though by some struggle. Justin’s eyes narrowed as he looked around.
Then a groan made him look sharply at the floor where a man lay stretched out on his back. He was without his jacket and his shirt was heavily stained with blood. More blood covered his face and it was a moment before Justin was sure of his identity. Dropping to one knee beside him he saw that this really was Lord Danby.
Leon opened his eyes to find Justin kneeling over him.
‘Damn her!’ he said hoarsely. ‘She nearly killed me.’
‘No more than you deserved,’ Justin snapped.
In truth he was afraid. For Kate’s sake he didn’t want this man to die. But as he examined Leon more closely his fears faded. One arm was cut and bleeding copiously but the wound wasn’t serious. More noticeable was the slash on his face which had clearly been made by a knife with a jagged edge. And there lay the knife, a few feet away, where Kate must have dropped it. A bruise on Leon’s forehead showed where he had hit the table as he fell, briefly stunning him.
‘Get up,’ he snapped, hauling Leon up and pushing him into a chair. ‘I want to know where she is.’
‘How do I know?’ Leon yelped. ‘She was here, now she’s gone. For God’s sake, get me a doctor.’
With a swift movement Justin pulled off the tablecloth, sending the dishes crashing to the floor, and began tearing the cloth into strips. These he bound round his enemy’s arm, staunching the bleeding.
‘You’re in no danger,’ he said curtly. ‘Not, at least, from that wound, but if you don’t tell me where my wife is it’ll be the worse for you.’
‘I don’t know where she is,’ Leon howled. ‘She tried to kill me, and then she ran.’
‘How? She didn’t come out of that door. It was locked on the inside.’
A gust of wind made the open window bang against the wall. Striding across the room to close it, Justin saw that several feet below was a muddy yard. By the moonlight he could just make out that the mud had been disturbed, as though someone had landed there. Fear assailed him. Could she have made that jump without injuring herself?
There was sound in the doorway and Ferris and Allton entered together, their eyes widening as they saw Leon.
‘I’m going to have to leave him in your care,’ Justin said. ‘When I’m gone, pour brandy down his throat until he gives you no more trouble. Then get him away from here, attracting as little attention as possible. If he tries to talk to anyone, knock him out. Take him to The Old Haystack. The landlord there owes me a favour. Send for my own doctor; he knows how to be discreet. Then keep him quiet and wait for me. I shan’t be long.’
‘And what do you hope to achieve with this charade?’ Leon demanded in a voice that was feeble but still vicious. ‘To avoid a scandal? Think again.’
For a moment Justin didn’t respond. Then, moving without hurry, he picked up the knife from the floor and held the point against Leon’s throat.
‘A wise man wouldn’t have said that to me,’ he remarked, almost conversationally. ‘It makes me think that the easiest way to avoid scandal is to kill you now. You attacked me as soon as I entered the room, and I turned the knife back on you in self-defence. Ferris and Allton here saw it happen. That would be simplest, don’t you think?’
Looking into Justin’s eyes Leon saw real intent. All the stories he’d ever heard about the ruthlessness in the Farringdon family came back to him.
‘It wouldn’t be murder,’ Justin went on. ‘It would be no more than stamping out an insect, and it might be better to do it now.’
Leon made an inarticulate noise. He had been a soldier and in the normal way he had as much courage as the next man. But there was something about Justin at this moment that sapped his spirit.
‘No,’ he said hoarsely. ‘You don’t need to...I’ll say nothing.’
‘I think so too. You’d be well advised to go abroad...to Spain perhaps. Yes, I feel sure Spain is the right choice. Wellington needs heroes such as yourself, and your regiment would be delighted to welcome you back. As for your face, you’ll hardly tell your comrades in arms that a woman did it. And when you return from war...if you return...the scar will need no explanation.’
Leon made an inarticulate noise. He was beyond words. Justin laid down the knife.
‘Let there be no misunderstanding,’ he said coldly. ‘If ever I heard that you’ve slandered my wife, I will seek you and kill you myself.’
He gave a curt nod to the other two, and left the room.
Once outside he studied the house until he found the yard beneath the window, where Kate must have made her escape. After a short search he located a door in the wall. Opening it he found himself at the top of a small flight of steps that led down to a muddy beach. The moon was muted behind a bank of cloud, but in the dim light he thought he could make out Kate’s footprints, hurrying away along the beach, out of sight.
Before he left the room he’d seen something that filled him with dread.
Kate’s cloak had been tossed across a chair and her reticule was lying on the floor. She was somewhere in this freezing landscape with no money and no way of keeping warm.
‘Kate,’ he called. ‘Kate!’
He listened for her answering call, but there was only the ripple of the tiny waves against the mud. ‘Kate!’ he shouted in desperation.
He began to run along the mud bank, wishing he knew how great a head start she had. After a while he felt the water against his boots and realized that the tide was coming in. His blood ran cold as he thought of further along the river, where the water was swelling and a desperate woman might cease to struggle and let herself be carried away.
At that moment the moon came out from behind the cloud, and in the brilliant silver light he saw far ahead, to where the footsteps vanished into the water.
‘No!’ he screamed, running madly towards the place.
He reached the water’s edge and waded in, looking frantically for Kate, but there was no sign of her. He felt he was going mad. She couldn’t die like this, apart from him, not knowing that he blamed himself, and needed her forgiveness. But the surface of the water was unbroken as far as he could see.
‘Kate! Kate!’
Slowly he turned around to view all directions. And that was when he saw her, halfway up a flight of stone steps that rose out of the water against the wall, with a door at the top. His heart thundered against his ribs in his relief, and he called her name. But she seemed oblivious, staring out over the rising water as though at something only she could see. Her hair was down about her shoulders, blown every way by the wind, and there was a wild look in her eyes.
‘Kate,’ he called her again.
This time she heard, but the sight of him seemed to frighten her, and she retreated further up the steps, pulling on the door but finding it locked. He waded into the water as far as the bottom step.
‘Darling,’ he called, ‘my darling, please don’t run away from me.’
Silence. He couldn’t tell how much she heard, or understood. He took another step up.
‘Don’t come near me,’ she screamed.
‘Please my love, listen to me. I love you, I’ve come to take you home.’
She didn’t speak, but she shook her head in a kind of forlorn
disbelief that hurt him to the heart.
‘Kate, I mean it. I love you. I’ve come to tell you that I forgi- that I beg you to forgive me. I should have helped you. If I’d been the kind of husband I meant to be you could have trusted me, and come to me. I should have dealt with him for you instead of abandoning you to him.’
Still she said nothing, but her cheeks were wet.
‘The past doesn’t matter,’ he said desperately. ‘The only thing that matters is the person you are...the most honourable woman who ever lived, and the woman I love. The woman I can’t live without.’
‘It’s too late,’ she cried. ‘I’ve killed a man. Don’t you under stand, it’s too late for us?’
‘Danby isn’t dead. He isn’t even very badly hurt. I’ve scared him into keeping quiet and he’s going abroad. It’s not too late for us unless...unless you can’t forgive me.’
Slowly Kate’s hand fell from the door but she stood there, shivering violently, unable to move. Justin came up beside her and wrapped his own cloak about her.
‘Stand back,’ he said and, taking out his pistol, shot the lock. In another moment they were through the door and away from the river. He pulled the cloak more tightly about her and drew her into his arms.
‘Come home, my dearest,’ he said. And let us begin again.’
*
Justin’s first act, on reaching Grosvenor Square, was to carry his wife upstairs and see her safely to bed. After kissing her repeatedly, he went down, to discover his grandmother sitting by the fire of the library, while Millicent angrily paced the room.
‘Well!’ the dowager duchess snapped. ‘What a mull you’ve all made of this business!’
Millicent was about to speak but, catching Justin’s eye on her, she kept silent.
‘She’s talked long enough,’ Lady Havering said witheringly. ‘What do you have to say?’
‘You’ll forgive me, ma’am, if I have little to say,’ Justin replied austerely. ‘Certain facts have come to light regarding Lord Danby, which make him ineligible as a husband for Charmaine. That is all anyone needs to know.’