A Regency Invitation

by Nicola Cornick

  The Countess gave a short laugh. ‘Yes, I think you’re right, Amy. But he’s not…not unfeeling, you know.’

  Amy noticed that the Countess was suddenly blushing. Not surprising, perhaps. When Amy had first entered the room, Sarah had had the air of the cat who had stolen the cream. Sarah and her Earl clearly enjoyed the pleasures of their marriage bed. Whatever those might be.

  The Countess’s gaze was now fixed on the tray. ‘It’s just that he…he has always been surrounded by willing servants. He takes them for granted.’

  Amy reached for a second piece of toast. ‘So do most of the gentlemen in this house. But they have different ways of showing it. I prefer to be ignored, I think. Both above and below stairs.’

  ‘Oh, dear. You haven’t given yourself away, have you?’

  ‘No. Thank God.’ Amy knew that she, too, was now flushing. Guilt, of course. If Sarah only knew what had happened in Major Lyndhurst’s bedchamber…That unknown man was possibly the one gentleman in the house who might recognise Amy without her disguise. She swallowed at the vivid memory, at the way he had stared at her. He had been stark naked, but it was she who had been embarrassed. He was proud. Arrogant, even. It had been a shock to see him, of course, and yet…She had not thought a man’s body could be so beautiful. Her own body seemed still to carry the imprint of his touch. It was as if the warmth of his fingers was—

  ‘Amy?’

  Forcing her thoughts back to the present, Amy said, ‘You would not believe the lengths I have had to go to in order to avoid the wandering hands in this house, Sarah. Not always successfully. First, there was that loathsome man, Grant. He has gone, thank God, but his erstwhile employer is cut from the same cloth. I have just had another encounter with William Lyndhurst-Flint. When he saw that I was carrying your breakfast tray, he came up behind me and put his hand—’ She shuddered. ‘I would willingly have tipped your chocolate over his head. He is disgusting.’

  ‘Maybe he has noticed how pretty you are behind those horrid spectacles.’

  ‘Sarah! Would you defend him? Why, he has not the least idea what I look like. His eyes have never once risen as high as my face.’ Ignoring Sarah’s embarrassed giggle, Amy went on, warming to her subject, ‘And he is just as bad with the other female servants. Always touching, accidentally brushing up against them. He had his hand under the skirt of one of the housemaids yesterday. If I hadn’t come upon them—’

  ‘Amy! You must take care!’

  ‘Don’t worry, Sarah. I behaved precisely as a high-class lady’s maid should. I exclaimed in disgust and looked down my nose at them both. You would have been proud of me. And the maid will take pains to avoid him in future, I dare say.’ She paused. ‘Shall you tell your husband?’

  Sarah hesitated. ‘No,’ she said finally. ‘I don’t think I can. John and William are not on good terms. Even if John believed it, he would not wish to take William to task. There have been so many quarrels, you see, and John knows how much it upsets me to see brothers at outs. Especially as it is my fault.’

  Amy’s brows rose.

  ‘John always said he would never marry again. That William would be his heir. And William became used to the notion, I’m afraid. When John and I married, and then the boys were born…Well, you must see that William was bound to feel much aggrieved. John feels guilty about it still.’

  ‘And so he makes allowances for his brother’s womanising?’

  ‘Oh, not that, surely?’

  Amy shook her head. ‘Actually, I think it’s an automatic reaction with him. He sees a female form—any female form—and he just has to touch it.’

  ‘Not with ladies, Amy.’

  ‘No? Well, perhaps his urges are limited to servants. He sees no need to restrain himself with them. With us.’ She grimaced at the thought of where she now belonged. Even temporarily.

  The Countess was sipping her chocolate appreciatively. ‘It would have been better if you had pretended to be a governess or a companion, you know. Then William would have treated you properly. As a lady.’

  ‘He might have. But you know that it would not have served. How would I ever have discovered anything about Ned’s disappearance? As your abigail, I am able to go below stairs without questions being asked. And I have to have a ready excuse if I am found where I should not be. To search a bedchamber, I have to walk in boldly, as if I had every right to be there. So far…’ She crossed her fingers, hidden in the folds of her skirts, and fixed her gaze on the floor, remembering. ‘So far the rooms have all been empty. But if I were to encounter someone, I should simply say that I was on an errand for you and had mistaken the chamber. What could a governess say if she were caught? Or a companion? No one would believe such a tale from either of them.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose. Oh, you are such a talented actress that it seemed the perfect solution when you first suggested it. But that was before you actually had to play the part! I should never have dreamed it would be so difficult. And so dangerous. Your reputation will be in shreds if you are caught.’

  ‘Yes, I know. And life below stairs is…not quite what I expected. They have even more rules there than we do! If it were not for you, Sarah, I should have been unmasked almost as soon as we arrived. Luckily, since you are the highest-ranking lady here, I take precedence over all the other female servants. If I don’t understand what is going on, I simply behave as though it is all beneath my exalted notice.’ Amy laughed a little nervously. ‘I have to tell you, my dear, that on one or two occasions I had no idea what on earth they were talking about. So I put my nose in the air and just mentioned to the housekeeper that we do things very differently at Mardon Park. It was as well that your husband’s valet was not around to hear me tell such a Banbury tale.’

  ‘Amy Devereaux, you will come to a bad end!’

  ‘No doubt I will,’ replied Amy with a conspiratorial grin, ‘especially if anyone hears you calling me by that name. I am Dent, the abigail, if you please, my lady. Amelia Dent.’ She fetched Sarah’s wrapper. ‘And now, if your ladyship has finished your breakfast, may I ring for the maid to remove your tray? And which gown would your ladyship have me lay out for this morning?’

  The sound of a carriage on the drive came clearly through the open window. ‘Goodness,’ Sarah exclaimed. ‘Who can that be? Surely not Great-aunt Harriet already?’

  Amy handed the wrapper to Sarah and crossed to the window. ‘I can’t see anything from here, I’m afraid. Shall I go downstairs and find out who it is?’

  ‘Yes, do. If it is Great-aunt Harriet, she will not have brought a maid, so, if anyone should question you, you may say that…that I sent you down to offer assistance to Miss Lyndhurst after her long and tiring journey.’

  Amy grinned. ‘You, too, are fast becoming an accomplished liar, Sarah. But thank you. The more excuses I have to loiter near the guests, the more chance I have of finding out what it was that Ned discovered. I’m absolutely sure it was something here, in this house. Something important. And dangerous.’

  ‘Be careful, Amy. If Ned was right…Just think. If Ned really has been kidnapped, as you fear, then you could be at risk as well. Would it not be better to confide in John? I’m sure he would help you.’

  ‘If he did not have an apoplexy first, on finding his wife’s old friend in the guise of a servant.’ At Sarah’s pained look, Amy went on, in a rather more reasonable tone, ‘You must see that I cannot confide in your husband, Sarah. I have nothing to confide. I could say only that Ned wrote to say that he had discovered something smoky at Lyndhurst Chase. That he said he would tell me all about it when he arrived home. And that he never arrived. Although I feel sure that something has happened to him, that is because I know Ned. Anyone else would assume he had simply gone off somewhere—gambling with his friends, perhaps—and had failed to tell me of his change of plans. And it might be true, too. Except that I feel certain that it is not.’

  ‘But you have discovered nothing.’

  ‘Nothing about Ned’s where
abouts, I admit. However, I did hear Lady Quinlan complaining about Ned. She was saying that he had left the Chase without taking his leave of her and the other guests. She thought he was unpardonably rude. Now, Ned can be reckless and selfish, I admit, but even Ned’s manners are not as bad as that. He would have taken his leave in the proper form. Unless something, or someone, prevented him.’

  ‘Yes, I see. What do you think it means?’

  ‘It means that something has happened to Ned. And that it happened here, at Lyndhurst Chase, when he was about to leave. Whatever he discovered must be…important enough for someone to risk a kidnapping to protect it. At least, I hope it was a kidnapping.’

  ‘Amy? You don’t think—?’

  ‘I don’t know what to think, Sarah. I just pray that, wherever he is, Ned has not come to any real harm.’ Amy swallowed hard in an attempt to quell the nerves that were churning in her belly at the thought of what might have happened to her brother. No one would have harmed him. Would they? He was little more than a thoughtless boy, after all.

  Amy rubbed her damp palms on her skirt. She must stop worrying and start doing something. ‘I had better go down to meet the new arrivals, if I am to be seen to be of service. I do not relish the thought of a trimming from Miss Lyndhurst for my tardiness. I have not forgotten that she is renowned for her very sharp tongue.’

  At that, Sarah smiled again. Amy was glad to see that the worried frown had left her friend’s face. It was enough that Amy herself should fret over Ned. There was no need to infect Sarah as well.

  ‘Amy!’

  Amy was already halfway to the door.

  ‘Remember, Amy dear, that if Miss Lyndhurst should test her venom on you, you must behave like a servant, not a lady.’

  Amy dropped a demure curtsy. ‘Yes, your ladyship. Of course, your ladyship. Having learnt my skills at your ladyship’s side, how could my behaviour be anything but that of a perfect lady’s maid?’ She curtsied again, making no effort at all to hide her broad grin.

  Sarah shook her head in mock despair. ‘I knew I should never have permitted a mere servant to share my breakfast.’

  Chapter Two

  ‘Certainly not! At my age, I am due a little more consideration. I shall have a bedchamber on the first floor.’

  ‘As you wish, Aunt Harriet.’ Major Lyndhurst’s face was grim. His mouth was drawn into a tight line as he looked down at the bird-like old woman.

  ‘I should think so, indeed!’ Miss Lyndhurst glanced round towards her companion. The woman almost seemed to be trying to melt into the background. She was staring down at the ground, her face totally hidden by the poke of her dark blue bonnet. Amy could not tell whether she was young or old, though she was certainly rather thin, like her mistress. Amy felt a sudden pang of sympathy. It must be a nightmare to work for an old harridan like Miss Lyndhurst. No doubt the companion was poor and had nowhere else to go.

  Amy swallowed hard at that thought. If something had really happened to Ned, she, too, might be forced to earn her own living. In any way she could.

  Major Lyndhurst did not appear to have noticed Amy’s arrival. All his attention seemed to be focused on the empty space between his great-aunt and the companion. He had begun to frown heavily.

  Miss Lyndhurst poked him in the chest with her brass ear trumpet. ‘Are you going to leave me standing here all day, Anthony? I thought your mother would have taught you better manners than that.’

  Major Lyndhurst glanced sideways at the old lady. There was a question in that look, Amy decided. And something else, too. Not malice exactly, but…something dark.

  ‘I had instructed my housekeeper to give you a chamber on the second floor, ma’am, so that you would not be disturbed by the comings and goings below. At present, all the suitable rooms on the first floor are taken, and—’

  Miss Lyndhurst waved her ear trumpet perilously close to her host’s face. ‘Balderdash! Don’t give me your lame excuses, lad. Just move ’em elsewhere!’

  ‘As you wish, Aunt,’ he said again. ‘I shall move William. But I cannot evict anyone else from the first floor in order to provide a suitable room for your companion. She may have to be accommodated on one of the upper floors.’

  ‘Nothing of the kind,’ snapped the old lady. ‘Miss Saunders will sleep in my dressing room. I take it you are able to offer me a chamber with a dressing room?’

  The Major threw her a baleful look. For a space, he said nothing at all. Then, at last, he said, in a harsh voice, ‘In your dressing room, Aunt? How very…singular. If you had warned me that your lady companion had such…er…unusual needs, I should certainly have made special arrangements to deal with her, I can assure you.’

  Miss Lyndhurst narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. She began to tap her foot instead.

  Catching sight of Amy at last, the Major said curtly, ‘Did Lady Mardon send you? Good. You may escort Miss Lyndhurst and her companion up to the ladies’ sitting room. And then tell the housekeeper to move Mr Lyndhurst-Flint’s belongings and to make his room ready for Miss Lyndhurst and her companion.’ He glanced yet again at the lady in the blue bonnet. Amy could have sworn that he was suddenly absolutely furious. But why?

  Amy curtsied obediently and took a pace forward. ‘Will you come this way, please, madam? The ladies’ sitting room is on the first floor, overlooking the garden.’

  Miss Lyndhurst showed no intention of moving a step. She looked Amy up and down with dark, beady eyes. Amy felt the skin of her back suddenly becoming quite clammy. Miss Lyndhurst was a downy one, and no mistake. Amy must be very, very careful now.

  ‘Who the devil are you?’ the old lady asked rudely.

  ‘Dent, madam. Lady Mardon’s abigail.’

  Miss Lyndhurst’s brows rose. ‘Don’t look much like a proper lady’s maid to me.’ She pulled off a glove and reached out to rub the stuff of Amy’s skirt between finger and thumb. ‘What kind of a lady’s maid wears something like that? Wouldn’t give it to a scullery maid. I know that Lady Mardon has something of a reputation—’

  ‘Aunt Harriet—’ There was a clear note of warning in the Major’s voice.

  ‘Hmph! Even Sarah Mardon should know better. I shall speak to her about it. Immediately. Where is she?’

  ‘Her ladyship is taking breakfast in her bedchamber, madam. Knowing that you would not have brought your own maid, she sent me down to offer my services.’

  ‘Don’t need any services,’ snapped the old lady. ‘Miss Saunders here will look to all my needs. That’s what a companion is for.’ She began to walk briskly towards the front door. Then, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder towards her great-nephew, she added, ‘Ain’t that right, Anthony?’ She did not wait to see how he responded, but merely beckoned impatiently to her companion to follow.

  Amy was astonished. The Major was positively glowering at Miss Lyndhurst’s departing back. She was certainly very trying, but until now, the Major had behaved as the perfect host to all his guests, even when they were at their most provoking. Now, confronted with one acid-tongued old lady, he seemed to be on the point of exploding.

  ‘This way, madam,’ Amy said blandly.

  Miss Lyndhurst nodded once. And then, with a fleeting smile in the direction of the ear trumpet she carried, she followed Amy into the entrance hall and began to climb the stairs. Her silent companion, head still bowed, followed in her wake.

  ‘Miss Lyndhurst has arrived, Sarah.’

  Lady Mardon took one look at Amy’s face and said, with a grimace, ‘I can see that she has already made her mark. You are as white as a sheet.’

  ‘Your husband’s great-aunt has a tongue that could melt ice at twenty paces.’

  ‘Yes, I know. And I’m not sure she altogether approves of me, either. She retired to her house in Cornwall after our wedding, but she made it clear that—Oh, perhaps it will be different now. After all, I’ve given John two sons. His first wife didn’t do that, in spite of her grand pedigree.’

  ‘Er…that’s
not exactly the problem. I should warn you, I think, that she is about to take you to task for your taste in abigails. She does not think I am suitably dressed for the part.’

  ‘Is that all?’ Sarah smiled. ‘Now that I can deal with. I shall tell her that, while your skills are of the highest order, your unfortunate addiction to piety does not allow you to dress as befits your station. Just make sure you trot out the right biblical quotations when she twits you about it. For she will, I promise you.’

  ‘You sound very confident, Sarah. What if—?’

  ‘I can give as good as I get, my dear, on any subject except my suitability as a wife for a belted earl. If Aunt Harriet should say anything about that—’

  Amy put a gentle hand on her friend’s shoulder. ‘I am sure she will not. Why should she, after all? You have made John so very happy, besides presenting him with two sturdy sons. Miss Lyndhurst has only to see the two of you together to know that you are ideally suited.’

  ‘Perhaps. I don’t think she actually believes in marriage. I don’t know the full story, but I think she was jilted in favour of a richer catch when she was quite young. She swore then that she’d never let any man have dominion over her. Apparently she didn’t shed a single tear when her former lover was killed in action in the American wars. She couldn’t have really loved him.’

  ‘If he did marry someone else, I’d say it was more the case that he never really loved her, Sarah.’

  ‘It’s not always possible to marry for love, even nowadays, Amy. Everyone needs to eat. Look at you. If Ned—’

  ‘I’d rather not discuss my gloomy prospects just at present, if you don’t mind, Sarah. I need to concentrate on finding out what’s happened to Ned.’ She laughed a little bitterly. ‘With luck, my dowry—small though it is—may still be intact. I do hope so, since I may need it to buy Ned’s freedom.’