by Mary Nichols
The overskirt was made of the palest blue-green crepe with an open front which floated round her like shimmering water. It had puffed sleeves and a deep round neckline filled with rouched lace and the bodice was caught under the bosom with a cluster of silk flowers in pale colours of pink, blue and lilac; more of the flowers trimmed the hem. The underskirt was of white satin. Molly ran her hands lovingly over it. ‘Oh, it is beautiful, but I do not know…’
‘Try it on,’ Duncan said.
He watched as she disappeared into an adjoining room to put it on, a procedure which had been going on all morning. He had thought he would be bored by it, but he was captivated. She was so easy to please and he guessed she had had few such pleasures in her young life. He was prepared to wager that Harriet had all the gowns she needed, while her daughter had nothing but what would suit a schoolgirl.
He looked up as Molly came back to stand before him. The gown fitted perfectly and her simple beauty took his breath away so that, for a moment, he could not speak.
‘What do you think?’ she demanded. ‘Is it not beautiful?’
He swallowed hard. ‘Indeed, yes.’
‘It could have been made for the young lady,’ Mrs Solomon said.
‘But it was not,’ Duncan put in. ‘It has been left on your hands…’
Molly held her breath; she wanted to have the gown so very much and if the Captain haggled the woman might not let him have it.
‘I am sure we can come to an arrangement,’ she said with a simpering smile. ‘For such a good customer.’
‘Wrap everything up, put it into a trunk and send it to The Bell Hotel,’ he instructed, pulling a purse out of his frockcoat. ‘And I want a discount for cash.’
‘Certainly, sir.’ The sight of Duncan’s hoard of hard-won coins was too much to resist.
Molly could hardly contain her excitement. Somehow or other, she was going to make an opportunity to wear that gown when they arrived in London. Already, she could imagine the occasion—the ballroom, the lights and music and the elegant young men clamouring to dance with her. Her mama would be very proud of her and not ashamed of her as she always seemed to be.
She chose to ignore the fact that they still had a long way to go before reaching the capital and she was almost sure the Captain was a wanted man. A more crucial problem was that she did not know how to dance. ‘Captain,’ she said, as they left the shop and turned back towards their lodgings, ‘can you dance?’
‘Tolerably well,’ he said. ‘But if you think I am going to take you to a ball…’
‘No, not that; I was hoping you might teach me the steps. Mama always said there was plenty of time for that and so I never learned. And I should like to waltz.’
‘I am not sure young unmarried ladies are allowed to waltz.’
‘Why not?’
‘I believe it is considered improper.’
‘Why?’
‘Because of the way the man holds his partner. It is a little…’ He paused and smiled. ‘A little too intimate for unmarried ladies.’
‘Oh. There is a very great deal I do not know, isn’t there?’
‘Yes, I am afraid there is.’
‘Then you must teach me.’
‘Oh, no,’ he said, laughing. ‘I have undertaken to take you to your mother, nothing more. It is her place to instruct you.’
‘Yes, but she is always so busy and it would be so much better if I could learn it all before we arrive in London. Then if an important invitation should come my way I would be ready.’ ‘No.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘I have more pressing things to do.’
‘Like holding up coaches and gaming. I wish you would not do such dangerous things. I cannot bear the thought of you being shut up in that castle.’
He turned to look at her, trotting along beside him, trusting him completely, and a twinge of conscience smote him. What he was doing was highly improper and what was worse he was allowing himself to use her to allay the suspicions of the custodians of law and order. The fact that he had spent almost his last sovereign paying for her clothing in no way relieved his feelings of guilt.
‘I have no intention of allowing myself to be shut up inside it,’ he said brusquely.
‘Why are you so blue-devilled? Is it because you have laid out more money on me than you intended? Mama will reimburse you, I am sure.’
‘I have not laid out more than I intended,’ he said, knowing perfectly well he would never accept repayment from Harriet, even if it were offered, which he doubted. ‘What use are sovereigns except for spending?’
‘Especially when they are not your own,’ she retorted.
‘I did not notice you refusing to take advantage of them,’ he snapped.
‘You said your pockets were at my disposal. I think it is very unkind of you to fly into the boughs just because I said I should not like you to be shut up in the castle.’
‘Then there is no more to be said on the subject.’
‘What are we going to do now?’
‘Go back to The Bell and eat a good dinner.’
‘Do you think Mr Upjohn will have arrived?’
‘I certainly hope so.’
He shut his mouth so firmly after speaking, she knew it would be unwise to pester him. She walked on beside him, hobbling a little because the tight shoes were pinching her feet, and she wished she had asked if she might wear a pair of the new ones he had bought for her. But it was not the tight shoes which had spoiled the pleasure of the outing but his tetchiness. His mood was not improved when they returned to the hotel and found no sign of Frank and Martha.
‘Perhaps Mrs Upjohn was not agreeable,’ she suggested.
‘Like all good wives, she will do as her husband bids her.’
‘I should not like her to come against her wishes, Captain, and I should hope Mr Upjohn would not insist.’
‘Then you would have to go back to Stacey Manor. I am determined we shall not continue alone.’
‘I know what it is,’ she said, speaking in a whisper, so that others in the crowded room would not hear her. ‘You are afraid you will be forced into making an honest woman of me. That is not at all flattering.’
‘And you are not at all consistent,’ he said, also keeping his voice low. ‘Yesterday you told me I am too old and you would not consider such a match. Now you seem to be saying the opposite…’
‘No, I am not. I simply said you were afraid you might have to. Let me set your mind at rest, Captain. I have no wish to marry you, but, having come this far, it would be foolish to turn back, especially as we are like to run into more trouble going back than going forward.’
‘How so?’ he queried, wondering what she understood by the term marriage. She could have no conception of physical desire, the love and passion that, in his view, should exist between husband and wife. The novels she read and her mama’s conversation had filled her head with nonsense. The man who married her would have a pleasurable time educating her.
‘Why, Mr Upjohn may very well have been taken up; had you thought of that?’
‘Yes, I had,’ he said irritably. He was beginning to wish he had not drawn Frank into this escapade, though it had seemed like a good idea at the time.
They had shared so much during the Peninsular campaign, both the comradeship and the danger, but Frank had had enough of war by the time Napoleon surrendered in 1814, and decided to return home to his wife. He had not taken part in the Battle of Waterloo. Duncan had come back to England in late 1815, after recovering in a Brussels hospital from a wound in his side received at Waterloo, but he could not bear the thought of going home and so he had reported to the War Office, hoping to be given active service. Instead he had been sent to track down a traitor. His enquiries had taken him to Norfolk and it was in Norwich he had met Frank again.
He smiled, remembering the night of revelry they had enjoyed as they’d reminisced and talked about old battles and the people they had known. But it had been obvious Frank was in a bad way. He was thin as a rake and his clothe
s were in tatters. He had admitted he could not find work and had turned to crime. Duncan had been appalled and infuriated. There was something wrong when a good and valiant man like Frank should be so little thought of by the country for which he had given years of his life, while men like Sir John Partridge prospered. He had asked him to join him.
‘There won’t be regular pay,’ he had warned. ‘But there will be something at the end of it, if we are successful.’
And so they had joined forces. Becoming a highwayman and living the life of a ne’er-do-well had been one way of dealing with a personal situation he found difficult to come to terms with and he justified it with the argument that he was obeying orders. Taking risks was a way of finding release. Until he met Molly.
She had made him see life with a different perspective, had forced him to examine his motives. And in spite of her conviction that he was a criminal, which was only half true, she trusted him. Did he deserve that trust? Did he deserve anyone’s trust? Martha’s? Or Frank’s?
‘Do not look so cross.’ Molly’s voice broke into his self-analysis. ‘It is not my fault you were seen holding up that coach. Indeed I have done my best to help you.’
He was about to tell her that she was more hindrance than help and that if she had not told the constable they were married he could have sent her back to Stacey Manor and forgotten all about her, but changed his mind. Not only would it hurt her feelings, it was palpably untrue. He could no more have sent her on alone than fly. Besides, he and Frank had brought their troubles upon themselves.
She smiled suddenly. ‘Mr Upjohn might be here soon and I am hungry, so do you think we could have something to eat while we wait? I am starving.’
In the face of her imperturbability, he could do no more than take her into the dining room and order a meal, in the hope that Frank would arrive before they had finished it.
Molly hated long silences, and though she tried very hard not to speak she could not resist trying to bring him out of his ill humour. But he would have none of it and she turned her attention to the conversation going on at the next table, which was occupied by four men—tradesmen or perhaps farmers, judging by their plain trousers and gaiters, frieze coats and shallow hats.
‘He says he gives them homes and educates them which is more than they had where they came from.’
‘Don’t make no odds,’ another said. ‘It’s trading in human beings and I don’t hold with that.’
‘But they ain’t exac’ ly human, are they?’ queried a third. ‘They’re savages. Black savages.’
‘That’s on account of they don’t know no better.’
‘Well, ain’t that just what I’ve been saying?’ the first man put in. ‘He educates ’em in the scriptures and teaches ’em to work in the house.’
‘Only so’s he can get more money for ’em. Why, I heard he makes ten thousand a year.’
‘You seem to know a lot about it.’
‘My brother-in-law was on one of his vessels. In the navy in the war, he was, but had to come out at the end of it. Surplus to requirements, he was, even though he was in ten years and didn’t know nothin’ else. Grunston offered him a berth and he took it, but when he comes back the tales he told fair made me shiver, I can tell you. He didn’t go only the once, said he’d rather starve than serve on a slaver again.’
By the time they had finished their meal, she had discovered that Mr Grunston owned two ships going out from Lynn to buy his human cargo, some of whom he sent on to the Indies, and the ships returned with cargoes of sugar from the plantations there—a double profit. Others he brought home and, having cleaned them up and taught them how to behave, he sold to Society ladies for whom having a black page or footman was the height of fashion. Two days hence he was off to London to purchase another decommissioned ship from the Admiralty to enlarge his fleet.
Molly leaned forward in order to whisper, ‘Captain, did you hear that?’
‘Hear what?’
‘Those men at the next table. They are talking about a slave trader earning ten thousand a year. Don’t you think that is disgraceful?’
‘It is not unlawful…yet.’
‘Well, I think it is reprehensible. I am persuaded the Dark Knight would have something to say on the matter.’
‘The Dark Knight?’ His only concession to being even slightly disconcerted was to raise one dark eyebrow quizzically. ‘Is he another of your fictional heroes?’
‘Oh, no, he is a real person, as you very well know.’
‘Do I?’
‘Oh, yes. I believe he models himself on Robin of Locksley.’
‘Who is Robin of Locksley?’
‘He is a mythical figure I read about. He lived a long time ago, in the time of Richard the Lionheart, and he was always holding travellers up and giving their gold to the poor.’
Duncan was diverted. ‘And what would this Dark Knight do, if he were here now?’
‘Hold the man up. Take his ill-gotten gains from him and set his slaves free.’
‘That would be a crime,’ he said drily.
‘But justified, don’t you think? You could distribute his wealth to deserving people and prevent another cargo of poor black men, women and children being sold into slavery.’
‘Me?’ he queried in astonishment.
‘Why not?’
‘Miss Martineau, I abhor the trade as much as anyone and I support those who advocate its abolition, but that is not the way to bring it about.’
‘Oh, I did not think you were so pudding-hearted.’
‘Molly, I wish you would put the Dark Knight from your mind. The Dark Knight is not Robin of Locksley, nor yet Don Quixote.’
‘Indeed he is not, if he will not tilt at a few windmills.’
He laughed in spite of himself. ‘Oh, you will be the death of me.’
‘Oh, no, but you must admit you would like to do it.’
‘Indeed I should,’ he said. ‘But that is not to say I will.’
‘No, perhaps it would not be wise without Mr Upjohn to help you.’ She liked to tease as much as he did and was gratified when he rose to the bait. ‘I think we should have waited at the Crosskeys and not come here without him.’
‘Do you? I recollect you wanted to go shopping.’
‘That was your idea. I did not ask to go.’
‘You could not go to London dressed in nothing but a filthy riding habit.’
‘No, but I was not in such haste that I would want you to abandon your friend.’
‘I have not abandoned him. He is well able to look after himself, which is more than can be said for you, who are young and vulnerable and whose head is filled with fantasy.’
‘My head is not filled with fantasy. You do not know me very well or you would know I am a very practical kind of person.’
‘Is that so?’ He smiled for the first time for over an hour. ‘I have seen no evidence of it so far.’
‘Then I will prove it. I shall come back with you. We may well meet them on the way.’
‘Not so long ago you were of the opinion we would run into greater trouble going back than going forward.’
‘I am sure you are clever enough to avoid anyone searching for you if you go carefully, and I am not afraid of a little adventure.’
‘No, that I had noted. And not above inciting a man to crime either.’
‘Oh, that,’ she said airily. ‘I was bamming. But you must allow that you are troubled about Mr Upjohn.’
He sighed heavily, admitting she was right. He was worried and his conscience was troubling him. Frank must be in trouble or else Martha was proving difficult. But if that were the case Frank would have come on without her.
If it were not for Molly he would not have hesitated, but if it were not for her he would not have been in this predicament in the first place. He was not at all sure he liked being so accountable for another human being, and one who was so artless. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘We will go back, but only as far as the Crosskeys
. He may be there.’
He rose from the table, leaving Molly to scramble under it in search of her shoes which she had kicked off.
‘Now what?’ he asked in exasperation.
‘Nothing. I am simply looking for my shoes. They were tight and…Oh, there they are.’ She bent to retrieve them and squeezed her white-stockinged feet back into them, to his unfeigned amusement. ‘It will be a relief to go back to my riding boots.’
She went up to their rooms to change while he gave orders for Molly’s new trunk to be kept for them when it arrived, and then they set off on horseback, retracing the route they had covered that morning, meeting a little traffic—a coach or two, several loaded haycarts, people on horseback and on foot—but not the curricle.
‘Where are we going now?’ she asked him when he’d returned from questioning the innkeeper at the Crosskeys and been told his friend had not returned there.
‘To his home. We’ll find out if he reached it.’
‘How far is that?’
‘An hour’s ride. Are you tired? Do you want to rest?’
‘No. I can keep up, never fear.’
They had been riding for perhaps an hour and were passing through a wooded area, when they came upon the curricle. It was tipped on its side in the ditch beside the road and there was evidence of a struggle, but of Frank or Martha there was no sign. Nor could they find the horse, though they stopped and searched the area.
‘What do you suppose happened?’ she asked him. ‘Did the watch catch up with him? Or was it robbers?’
‘Robbers?’ he queried. ‘What could robbers want with him?’
‘Why, Sir John Partridge’s gold, of course. They could have overheard the man who witnessed the hold-up of the coach and recognised Mr Upjohn from his description.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ he snapped, his concern for his friend making him speak sharply to her. ‘There is no gold.’
‘I am not being ridiculous. You are the most uncivil man I have ever come across. I am beginning to wish I had never consented to ride with you.’
He gave a bellow of a laugh at this statement. ‘Consent to ride with me! Tell me, when did I ask you to?’
‘Oh, well, if you are going to split hairs, then I might as well remain silent.’