The Chaperon Bride

by Nicola Cornick

  Annis looked out at the bright summer evening. The sun was still high in the sky. ‘It will take us all of an hour to get back to Eynhallow and it will not be dark even then. I cannot see the problem.’

  ‘Sorry, ma’am.’

  There was a tense silence.

  ‘Why do we not drive ourselves?’ Della suggested. ‘I am sure that either of us could manage the cart, Annis.’

  ‘Sorry, ma’am,’ Tom said again. ‘I can’t let you do that. There’s pickets on all the roads already and tonight is going to be fierce. So…you’re to stay here. Master says so.’

  ‘I would like to meet this Master of yours,’ Annis muttered. ‘Of all the high-handed, arrogant nonsense!’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Tom grinned. He gave an awkward bow. ‘Don’t think to set off walking either, ma’am,’ he added as an afterthought. ‘There’s men on the end of the drive that would bring you back!’

  ‘Of all the ridiculous situations!’ Annis said, after Tom had gone out. She took an angry swish about the room. ‘Here we are marooned for the night in a scarce-habitable house, with no food, mice in the rafters and a restless mob outside! I am almost inclined to walk back to Eynhallow and damn their impudence!’

  ‘Why do you not come into the drawing room and sit down?’ Della suggested soothingly. ‘I am sure that Mrs Hardcastle can scrape together something for us to eat and she mentioned that at least two of the bedrooms are fit for human habitation. Although, Annis…’ she hesitated ‘…I would prefer to sit up tonight with you, if you do not object. I am unlikely to sleep a wink, knowing that there is a rabble of rioters outside!’

  In the event they dined royally by candlelight on ham, cheese, bread and apples, with some of Mrs Shepard’s cider to accompany the meal. Annis had tried to persuade Mrs Hardcastle to join them, only to be put in her place by the housekeeper, who said that she had work to do turning down the beds, heating the water and warming the bricks to put in the ladies’ beds. In vain did Annis and Della protest that they would not be able to sleep. Mrs Hardcastle went away muttering that she had her housekeeping duties to fulfil.

  ‘I hope that Adam understood your message,’ Della said, pouring more cider into their beakers. ‘He is going to be unconscionably worried when we do not arrive back.’ She looked at Annis, her grey eyes bright with mischief. ‘He will be angry as well, but I am certain that you may talk him around. I believe you could wrap him about your little finger, he loves you so much!’

  Annis blushed and disclaimed. ‘All the same,’ she said, ‘I know Adam is a good man.’ Her voice dropped. ‘Better than I deserve.’

  Della narrowed her eyes. ‘Why do you say that, Annis?’

  It was dark outside now. Beyond the uncurtained windows the moon was rising and the sky was black. The moon was shining through the mullions and pooling on the wooden floor. On the makeshift table the remains of the meal sat between them. The candlelight was warm and a small fire burned in the grate. Annis drank some more of her cider.

  ‘I do not deserve Adam for I know that he loves me, yet I am unable to trust him and love him back. I want to love him,’ she added, with a fierce vehemence, ‘but my first marriage…My husband was a bully who would browbeat me into submission. Oh, not physically,’ she added hastily, as she saw the shock mirrored in Della’s eyes, ‘but sometimes other methods are just as bad. He would lock me in my room when he went out and he would open my letters to see who was writing to me…He dominated every aspect of my life in and in the end I thought I would run quite mad, and I was so ill that I wanted to die to escape him.’ She looked up. ‘That is the reason I find it so difficult to trust any man again—and the reason I cannot tell Adam why I am so cool with him.’

  She blushed a little, for coolness was not precisely the word to describe their relationship. Yet for all their physical intimacy, for all the delight that she took in their kisses, there was a part of her that she always held back. It was a barrier between them. She knew it and Adam knew it too.

  Della was shaking her head. ‘I am sure that love and trust will come in time, Annis. I think that you do love Adam. You are just afraid to let yourself give in to it.’ She laughed and drained her beaker. ‘Hark at me! I was hardly such a pattern card of marital bliss myself!’

  There was a bitter note in her voice. ‘Humphrey was a weak man and I could not give him my respect. At least you do not have that difficulty, Annis.’

  ‘No,’ Annis agreed, thinking that Adam could hardly be described as weak. She drank some more cider. It was extremely delicious. Della evidently thought so too, for she pushed her beaker across to be filled and leaned one elbow on the table. Annis’s lips twitched. It was perhaps fortunate that she was no longer a chaperon, for her recent behaviour was far below the standard that was acceptable. Shamelessly embracing a gentleman in the woods, getting tipsy on cider…She felt warm and pleasantly at ease.

  ‘Your cousin, Mr Lafoy,’ Della said casually. ‘Is he a man a woman could respect, Annis?’

  Annis hesitated. ‘I used to think so. I love Charles and Sibella dearly, for they are my only family and have always been there for me. Yet recently Charles has changed.’ She frowned. ‘It is not so much that he has fallen under the influence of Mr Ingram, but more that he seems a different character…All his good qualities have been distorted. I cannot quite explain it.’ She looked at Della, who was now pillowing her head on her folded arms. Her dark hair was tumbled about her face and there was a dreamy look in her eyes. Annis suddenly remembered the scene in the Promenade Rooms and the night at the theatre. The words came out before she could stop them.

  ‘You like Charles, do you not, Della? Like him a great deal, I mean?’

  Della raised her head and for a second Annis could see her heart was in her eyes. ‘I love Charles,’ Della said slowly, almost defiantly. ‘I have loved him since before Humphrey died. We were lovers, Annis. There! I have shocked you—’

  The shock was in fact almost enough to sober Annis up. She stared, her hazel eyes as wide as an owl. ‘Della? But how…’

  The tears trembled on Della’s lashes. ‘It was just the once. I do not know…It happened so slowly, yet so inexorably, somehow. We had known each other for an age and then I began to realise that my feeling for Charles had changed and then, one day, I was out riding and met him here…’ She smothered a little sob. ‘Humphrey was a weak man and, as I said, I could not respect him. But that is no excuse, no excuse…’ She covered her face with her hands again, but when she looked up a second later, her eyes were dry. ‘So I told Charles that it must end. It had not really begun, and since then we have barely spoken.’

  Annis put a hand out to her and after a moment, Della clasped it hard, before letting her go. She took another draught of the cider and gave a watery giggle.

  ‘Oh, Annis, look at us here like two topers drowning our sorrows in drink! I declare we must be the most outrageous sight!’

  Annis started to laugh too. ‘Oh dear, this is all too melancholy to be true. I cannot bear it…’ She dissolved into giggles and after a moment, found she could not stop. She reached for the pitcher of cider and saw that it was almost empty. ‘And as if that were not the outside of enough, we have run out of drink! I must ask Mrs Hardcastle for some more…’

  She lurched none too steadily to her feet, then sat down again heavily as the door opened with a crash that shook it on its hinges. Della was still laughing, her face flushed pink, her eyes bright.

  Mrs Hardcastle appeared in the doorway, carrying a candle. ‘Miss Annis, his lordship is here.’

  Annis waved the pitcher at her. ‘Hardy, we should like some more cider, if you please.’

  ‘It is quite clear that you have had enough,’ Adam said. He strode into the room and his gaze fell on Della, now almost asleep on the table. ‘Both of you,’ he said, ‘what the devil is going on here?’

  Chapter Twelve

  ‘O h dear,’ Annis said. She blinked at him, feeling ever so slightly cast away. ‘Yo
u received my message then, Adam.’

  Adam gave her a look. ‘I did. However, you neglected to mention that the two of you would be carousing on cider at Starbeck with a restless mob of rioters less than a mile away. What the deuce are you doing here, Annis?’

  Annis went up to him and put a hand against his chest. He looked stern and unyielding, yet she could have sworn that there was a gleam of amusement in his eyes.

  ‘I am so glad to see you,’ she said conversationally.

  Adam laughed. His arm went about her. ‘Do not try to gammon me, Annis! When Ned and I got back we found nothing but Mama in a state of high excitement and a cock-and-bull note from you saying that you were looking for treasure at Starbeck and would be back by nightfall! Ned and I got over here as quickly as we were able.’

  The door opened and Edward came in. His gaze took in Annis, standing within the circle of Adam’s arm, Della asleep on the table and the two empty beakers of cider.

  ‘I see,’ he said, with a grin.

  Annis turned towards Adam. ‘Tom Shepard said that the men were blockading the roads. How did the two of you get through?’

  Now it was Adam’s turn to grin. ‘We talked our way past them.’ He gave her an old-fashioned look. ‘Surely you did not imagine that we would leave the two of you here unprotected but for Mrs Hardcastle? Although I concede that it would be a brave man who tried to take her on.’

  ‘I suppose that you have come to take us back to Eynhallow.’ Annis moved away and went over to take her cloak from the back of the chair. ‘If we have your escort we should be quite safe.’

  Adam shook his head. ‘It is not safe for anyone to be out tonight. The gang are but a half-mile from here. They are tearing down the fences Ingram put up to enclose Linforth Common.’

  ‘And the troops,’ Annis said quickly. ‘Have the regulars been called out?’

  Adam and Edward exchanged a look. ‘I heard so,’ Edward said.

  ‘And you have warned the men?’

  Adam laughed. ‘Annis, do not ask! Now, what is this about treasure?’

  Before Annis could reply there was the sound of a horse approaching up the drive, and fast. Edward turned back into the hall for a lantern and they all hurried to the main door. The cool night air was sobering. By the light of the moon Annis saw the bay stallion with the white flash. It was carrying a double load. One man dismounted and the other slid from the saddle to crumple on the gravel sweep. Annis started forward.

  ‘Charles!’

  Her cry was echoed by another from behind them. Annis swung round to see Della hurrying down the shallow stone steps to join them on the drive.

  ‘Charles! Are you injured?’

  In the candlelight Annis saw that her face was paper white, her eyes huge.

  ‘Devil a bit,’ Charles Lafoy said cheerfully. He straightened up. ‘I did not expect to see you here, Della—nor the rest of you.’ He nodded to Adam. ‘Servant, Ashwick. Can’t talk for the time being. Can you help me?’ He gestured to the prone figure, whom Annis saw was Ellis Benson. She went down on her knees beside him on the gravel.

  ‘Is he much injured, Charles?’

  ‘He took a bullet in the shoulder,’ Charles said. ‘He has lost some blood, but I think he will be fine.’

  ‘A bullet?’ Annis said.

  ‘The troops are out,’ Charles said tersely. He glanced over his shoulder at Adam. ‘We are indebted to you for sending word, Ashwick.’

  ‘Let us get him inside,’ Annis said quickly, as several ideas quickly rearranged themselves in her head. ‘We may talk later.’

  Adam nodded. ‘I’ll help you carry him inside, Lafoy. Ned, could you take the horse around to the stables? Della, would you and Annis be so good as to search out some bandages and water and whatever else we might need? I do not suppose there is much here, though Mrs Hardcastle may have some ointments.’ He turned back to Charles. ‘Are we to expect a visit from the militia, Lafoy?’

  ‘I hope not, but one never knows.’ Charles shifted a little to support Ellis Benson’s weight. ‘I do not think that we were followed, but I cannot be entirely certain.’

  ‘Then the most difficult thing to explain will be the horse. We can hide Benson and it is not surprising for you to be visiting your cousin, but it is known that I only have one bay stallion.’ Adam cast Edward a glance. ‘See what you can do, Ned.’

  They carried Ellis Benson across the threshold and up the stairs, laying him on the bed in the first chamber they came to, which was the one Mrs Hardcastle had prepared for Della. There was a hot brick in it and the chamber was warm.

  ‘There are no bandages,’ Della whispered to Annis. ‘I suggested to Mrs Hardcastle that we might tear up some sheets, but she told me it was a waste and to make do with my petticoats!’

  Annis smothered a laugh. ‘We may use mine too, although I think that Hardy’s would be best. She wears flannel, even in summer!’

  They ripped some strips off their underclothes and then Mrs Hardcastle arrived with the hot water and she and Della set to work cleaning and binding the wound to Ellis Benson’s shoulder. Annis looked across at Charles and saw that he was watching Della intently as she worked. She glanced at Adam, who met her look with a faintly questioning one of his own. Annis smiled faintly and shook her head. That was another explanation that must wait until later.

  Ned returned from the stables. ‘All’s quiet outside,’ he announced. ‘How goes it here?’

  ‘He’ll survive.’ Mrs Hardcastle spoke briskly. ‘Tough lad, is our Ellis.’ She turned accusingly to Charles. ‘What do you think you were doing, Master Charles, lettin’ him get beat up like that?’

  Charles grinned. ‘Sorry, Hardy. I did my best. I brought him here to you, didn’t I? I just didn’t expect you to be entertaining a house party!’

  ‘Well, give the lad some air,’ Mrs Hardcastle said, steering them all towards the door. ‘I’ll fetch you all some tea and then I’ll sit up with him.’

  ‘I’ll get the tea, Hardy,’ Annis said. ‘You had better stay with Mr Benson, since you seem to know exactly what is going on here!’

  The housekeeper turned a little pink and looked a little shifty. ‘One hears things, Miss Annis…’

  Annis looked at her cousin. ‘I am sure that Charles can put the rest of us in the picture,’ she said pointedly.

  Charles, Edward and Della went back into the drawing room whilst Annis went along to the stone-flagged kitchen. The huge copper kettle was already hissing on the fire and she made a pot of tea with quick efficiency.

  ‘I would rather have some brandy,’ Adam said, following her in, ‘but I do not suppose that there is any in the house. Just cider, I suppose?’

  Annis laughed. ‘I assure you that I am quite sober now, my lord. Dramatic events have a habit of having that effect!’

  Adam nodded. He leaned against the table and folded his arms. ‘Did you know about any of this, Annis?’

  Annis raised her brows. ‘Which bit? That Charles and Ellis Benson were mixed up in the riots? Of course not. I thought that you knew!’

  Adam shook his head. ‘I confess that I wondered about Benson, but I had no idea about Lafoy. He has played his hand with an admirably cool nerve.’ He gave her a searching look. ‘Did you know about his feelings for Della? Good God, I could not believe my eyes when I saw her come flying out of the door to save him!’

  Annis smiled a little. ‘I knew about that five minutes before you and Edward arrived. We were sharing confidences in our cups…’

  Adam’s eyes narrowed. He pushed away from the table and took a step towards her. ‘I see. And what were you telling Della in return, Annis?’

  Annis busied herself fussing with the teapot and the cups. She leaned over the tray, allowing her hair to fall forwards to hide her face. ‘I? Oh, not a great deal…She…I…’

  ‘Yes?’ Adam said. He took the tea cloth from her nerveless fingers and put it aside. ‘What were you saying?’

  Annis turned away. She wondered
if perhaps some of the cider was still in her blood, or whether perhaps it was simply a night for taking risks.

  ‘Della was saying that you loved me.’

  ‘That is no great secret,’ Adam said dryly. ‘Go on.’

  ‘And that she thought that I loved you too,’ Annis finished in a rush. ‘She thought that I was simply afraid to admit the truth.’

  ‘Are you?’ Adam said, after a pause. A hint of impatience came into his voice. ‘Will you please put that teapot down and answer me, Annis?’

  Annis turned and looked at him. There was an expression in his eyes that made her heart turn over. ‘No,’ she whispered.

  She saw the hurt on his face before his expression turned studiously blank. ‘I see,’ he said dully.

  ‘I am not afraid to admit it.’ Even as she spoke, Annis was aware of the lie. She was afraid, very afraid. Her heart thudded and it was all that she could do to speak the words. ‘I do love you, Adam. I love you very much.’

  She thought later that she had never seen anyone move as quickly as Adam did then. One moment he was standing staring at her and the next she was in his arms, held closer than she had ever been before. His kiss was overwhelming, passion and tenderness rolled into one. Annis pressed closer and gave him back kiss for kiss, without restraint. After a time, she freed herself a little.

  ‘Adam, I want to explain to you why—’

  ‘Some other time.’ Adam’s voice, husky with desire, was barely recognisable. ‘My darling Annis, I do not want to talk just now…’

  Some unquantifiable amount of time later, Annis was aware of the kitchen door opening.

  ‘I wondered if you needed any help—’ Edward began, then stopped. ‘Evidently not,’ he said, and closed the door.

  ‘I scarce know where to begin, Charles,’ Annis said. A fresh pot of tea had been made and Annis, Adam, Edward, Charles and Della were seated in the drawing room. Charles and Della were holding hands. Della looked flushed and starrily happy and there was such a look of incredulous contentment about Charles that Annis could have cried. She herself was sitting close within the circle of Adam’s arm in a quite improper manner, but nothing could have separated them at that moment. She could not bear to be far from his side.