by Mary Nichols
‘I thank you for it,’ she said, pleased by his compliment. He was changing, she decided. The impatient man trying to deal with a troublesome pest was acting the gallant. If she did not know him better, she would have said he was coming round to liking her a little. He certainly seemed to know her taste in clothes.
Betty arrived in one of her new gowns, with a spruced-up Joe at her side, feeling big and important to be dining with his betters, just as Sadie, the maid of all work, came to tell them dinner was served and they moved into the dining room. It was a convivial gathering over a simple meal, but all the better for that. They talked about everything: music, art, the dreadful weather, the state of the roads and the growing problem of highway robbery and violence. ‘At least one of the miscreants is behind bars now, thanks to you, Mr Linton.’ Mrs Slater said.
‘And Louise,’ he added, smiling at her. ‘She was the one who laid him out.’
‘I did not stop to think,’ Louise said.
‘No, my dear, we know that,’ he said. ‘Thinking before you act is something you have yet to learn.’
‘Sometimes there is no time for such niceties,’ Mr Slater put in before Louise could flare up at that. ‘Sometimes our instincts serve us best.’
‘I sincerely hope I do not have to call upon my instincts in that manner again,’ Louise said. ‘And I am glad Mr Linton was able to identify him.’
‘If I remember corhave you disrectly, it was Joe who first did that,’ Jonathan said, looking across at Joe who was whispering with Betty, not paying any attention to the conversation. He put out his toe and gave him a sharp kick. The young man looked startled for a moment, then sheepish. ‘We were speaking of Jed Black,’ Jonathan told him.
‘What about him?’ Joe asked.
‘How did you know him?’ Louise asked.
‘He’s not the handsomest of men, is he?’ Joe said. ‘And he has a finger and half a thumb missing.’
‘Do you know how that came about?’
‘No, it could have been in a fight, or shut in a door, or an injury at work.’
‘Work!’ Jonathan laughed. ‘The man does not know the meaning of honest work.’
Louise shuddered. ‘Let us not talk of him. He is safely put away, and there are more pleasant subjects of conversation.’ She turned to Mrs Slater. ‘Did you know Mr Potton took us to the races the day after we arrived in Doncaster? We enjoyed it very much. I put a modest wager on Black Knight and won. It was exciting.’
‘The races are an important part of Doncaster’s attraction,’ Mr Slater said. ‘People flock to the town from miles around; some even come from London.’
‘Yes, it was why we could not find a seat on a coach to continue our journey and ended up on a carrier’s wagon and a barge.’
‘Why did you not wait for Mr Linton?’
Louise coloured. ‘I am afraid we were out of sorts with each other at the time.’
Jonathan laughed. ‘I do believe Louise has now learned not to turn her nose up at my efforts to help her. We go on together. Is that not so, my dear?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘When?’
‘It depends how you are feeling. When you are well enough.’
‘I am perfectly well now, and though I am very grateful to Mr and Mrs Slater for all they have done, I think we have imposed on their good nature long enough.’
‘We have been glad to have you,’ Mrs Slater said. ‘You are welcome to stay.’
‘I know, ma’am,’ Louise said gratefully. ‘But I feel we must be on our way.’
‘Tomorrow, then.’ Jonathan said. ‘If we set off early we should make York in a day. I believe the roads have been improved over that section.’
And so it was arranged.
At eight o’clock the following morning, Jonathan’s carriage was at the door. Goodbyes were said and promises to write were made. Louise, dressed in an amber gown that heightened the colour of her hair, climbed in, expecting Betty to follow her, but that young lady clambered up beside Joe, saying she meant to bear him company.
‘Do you think it is quite proper for her to do that?’ Louise asked as Jonathan took his seat beside her and they moved off.
‘Proper, Louise?’ he teased. ‘How can you talk of proper? Are you so very proper yourself?’ He was inordinately cheerful. She had accepted his escort and now he could keep her safe and enjoy her company and perhaps she would at last confide in him.
‘No, but I feel responsible for her.’
‘You, responsible?’ He pretended incredulity.
‘Why not? I asked her to come with me. I did not know I was going to lead her into scrapes.’
‘Why did you ask her?’
‘I did not want to travel alone. I thought a husband and wife would attract less attention.’
‘My dear, you cannot fail to attract attention, whatever you do. It is the way you are.’
‘How do you know the way I am? You know nothing of me, just as I know nothing of you. I might be shy and retiring, afraid of my own shadow, trying to be brave when I am really a coward,’ she retorted crossly.
‘You might, but give me leave to doubt it. A coward would not have accepted a challenge to a duel, nor felled that ox of a man, nor fought a bargee and saved her friend from drowning. A coward would have died of fright long before now. I can only surmise your up bringing was out of the ordinary.’
‘No, it was very ordinary.’
‘Will you tell me about it?’
‘Why?’
‘I am interested. Do you have a father and mother, brothers, sisters, people who care for you?’
‘Yes, parents and three brothers, no sisters.’ As she said it, she wondered if that might not be true. How did she know she did not have sisters? Or that she did have brothers? Questions like that brought her quandary back to her full force. She was a woman without a place in society.
‘Then why abandon them to go travelling? It must have been something very compelling. A lover, perhaps.’
She looked sharply at him. It had not occurred to her that anyone would think that. ‘No, it is not,’ she snapped. ‘Just because I want to visit a relative, does not mean you may jump to conclusions about my morals.’
‘I beg your pardon.’ The astonishment in her eyes when he made the suggestion would have given him his answer even if she had not denied it and he was surprised at how relieved he felt.
‘And I have not abandoned my family. They know where I am.’
‘Do they?’ he asked softly.
‘Yes.’
‘And they gave their blessing to this escapade? Oh, Louise, you do not expect me to believe that, do you?’
‘I left them a letter explaining where I was going and that I would soon be back. I did not expect we should be gone so long. When we arrive in York, I will write and tell them what has happened to delay my return.’
‘And after that?’
‘Why, I will go my way and you will go yours,’ she said with a lightness she did not feel.
‘Supposing I will not agree to that?’
‘Why should you not? You have business in Yorkshire, you told me so.’
‘I also told you it could wait. I will see you to your destination.’
‘But you do not know where that is.’
‘True, but if I stick by you long enough, I shall find out, shan’t I?’
‘I cannot think why you want to. I have been nothing but trouble to you.’
‘True,’ he said, grinning wickedly. ‘But such delightful trouble. I shall be very sorry when this voyage of discovery comes to an end and would prolong it as long as I can.’
She turned to stare at him. Why did he rail at her one minute and pay her compliments the next? He was having fun with her. ‘Well, I would not. We will part in York.’
He did not contradict her because the coach was drawing into Ferrybridge. It was a very busy place, being on a crossroads where coaches branched off on to several routes, York and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Carlisle, and Leeds, be
sides being the crossing point over the River Aire. There seemed to be coaches, carriages and horses everywhere and several inns. Joe drew up in the yard of the Angel for the horses to be changed and Jonathan helped Louise down to stretch her legs and go inside for refreshment.
He was still musing on her determination to be rid of him. For the first time in his life he was being rejected by a personable young lady and instead of making him shrug his shoulders and let her go, as it would have done not so long before, it had made him all the more determined to hang on to her. His own feelings puzzled him. He wanted to shake her, make her confide in him, be angry, at the same time as he felt her un happiness, the front of self-confidence she put up to hide it. He wanted to protect her, probably from herself. If it was not a lover, who was it she was so set on visiting? She had said her parents knew where she was going and a phrase of her letter came into his mind: you know I have to make this journey. He was sure that Mrs Vail, at least, had been hiding something from him. He wished now he had insisted on knowing the whole. Would he then have taken the commission? He smiled to himself as he watched Louise picking up a chicken leg and gnawing it; it would have been his loss if he hadn’t.
Louise looked up and saw him watching her. He had a way of doing that which made her feel transparent, as if all her bones and sinews and nerve ends were in full view, especially the nerve ends. Did he understand that her reason for wanting to be rid of him was not that she disliked his presence, but quite the opposite? She liked him too much, and if in the end she was revealed as the daughter of a mother who had to keep her birth from her husband, then she would be too ashamed for him to know it. How did a woman keep a pregnancy from her spouse, unless he was often away from home for long periods? Perhaps that was it. Or perhaps she was never married at all. It was getting closer now, this revelation, and she was suddenly very nervous.
They finished their meal and were soon back on the road, making for Tadcaster, where they would have another change of horses. Jonathan seemed to have no difficulty obtaining the best there was to be had and they fairly bowled along in good weather.
‘We shall make York today,’ he said. ‘What then? Is your destination close enough to be reached by nightfall?’
‘I am not sure. I must make enquiries. If it is not, I must put up somewhere. What about you?’
‘Me?’
‘Yes. You have quizzed me about my destination, but have said never a word about yours. In truth, you have told me nothing about yourself at all. You could be the worst rogue in the kingdom for all I know.’
He smiled. ‘You do not believe that, do you?’
‘No. You have proved you are not. You could have taken advantage of me over and over again, but you have not. I wonder why. Is it because my rackety ways give you a disgust of me?’
‘No. They are part of your charm.’ He paused. ‘Do you wish I had taken advantage of you?’
‘Certainly not! I was simply curious. Other men might have.’
‘I am not other men, Louise.’
‘Then are you married?’
‘Married? No, I am not.’
‘Betrothed, perhaps?’
‘Not that either. Marriage is not something that I am in any hurry to undertake. It is too serious to be entered into lightly. It is for life and choosing the wrong lady for a spouse can end in a lifetime of regret for both. It is too much of a lottery.’
‘You sound bitter.’
‘Not bitter, Louise, cautious.’
‘Then have you never been in love?’
He laughed. ‘Dozens of times in my green days, though I was never foolish enough to propose and the feeling did not last, for which I give thanks.’
‘Then you were never truly in love. Real love lasts,’ she said simply.
‘No doubt you are right.’
‘And the ladies in question?’
‘I do not think their hearts were broken.’
‘You make yourself sound callous and I cannot believe you are like that. Something must have given you an aversion to marriage.’
‘I am not averse to marriage, simply against rushing headlong into a union just because it is expected of me.’
‘Who expects it?’
‘I was speaking generally,’ he said hastily.
‘Is that why you chase all over the country tracking down criminals, simply to escape what is expected of you?’
Her questions were hitting home a little too uncomfortably. ‘No. I am not the one running away. You are.’
‘I am not running away.’
‘No,’ he murmured. ‘I take that back. I cannot imagine you running away from anything. Exactly the opposite. You are more likely to confront your fears, even when it would be wiser to withdraw.’
‘Now you are roasting me,’ she accused.
‘No, I am being serious. Those brothers of yours have a great deal to answer for.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They have made you too intrepid, too independent, blind to the risks you are taking. Why not give up and go home? It will be my pleasure to escort you.’
‘No, I am nearly there now.’ She looked out of the window, wondering, not for the first time, whether it would be better to give up the quest, especially now, when she knew she must part from the man at her side, who had protected her so ably. That would come to an end when they reached York because she could not allow him to learn the truth about her.
The countryside had given way to houses and they were soon drawing into the yard of the White Horse to change horses, the last time they would do so before reaching York, nine miles away, a mere nothing compared to the miles behind them.
They were soon on their way again, but they seemed to have exhausted their conversation. Both were silent, each wondering what the future might bring.
An hour and a half later, they found themselves passing under the archway of a tower that guarded the entrance to the walled city of York, then over a bridge, between houses and businesses. A little later they turned sharp left and a little way along the street, stopped at an inn which, according to its sign was the Black Swan. Joe jumped down and came to the door, just as Jonathan opened it. ‘Shall we rack up here for the night, my…sir?’ He hurriedly corrected his slip of the tongue.
‘Yes, if there is room for us all. Miss Vail and I have unfinished business.’
A purse full of sovereigns and his winning smile obtained rooms for them and Louise and Betty were soon being conducted up the staircase with its dark oak panelling to a comfortable bedchamber. Jugs of hot water were brought up to them, so that they could wash off the grime of travel and change into fresh clothes before going down to the dining room to have dinner.
‘We are here at last,’ Betty said, sprawling across the bed. ‘Tha’s what you wanted, ain’t it?’
‘Yes. I am sorry it has taken so long. I am afraid our folks at home will be worried about us. I shall write and tell my parents we have arrived safely. I will include a note from you, if you like. No doubt Alfred will be relieved to hear from you.’
‘Yes, but what next? I can’t believe you came all this way just to turn round and go back again.’
‘No, I told you I am going to visit a relative in Moresdale.’ She was stripping off her clothes as she spoke.
‘Where’s that?’
‘I have yet to find out, but I do not think it is far.’
‘You reckon Mr Linton is going to come all the way with us?’
‘Not if I can help it.’ She poured some of the hot water into a bowl and set about washing herself.
‘Why not? He’d take us in his coach. Joe reckons he won’t leave us ’til we get back to Barnet,’ Betty said.
‘Does he? Joe does not know everything, you know,’ Louise replied tartly.
‘I do not know why you are so set on going alone.’
‘Because I am.’
‘Then leave me ’ere. I’ll stay with Joe and Mr Linton.’
‘Betty, I cannot possibly do
that. I am responsible for you. When we have been to Moresdale, then we will go home, but we will go together. Please do not make things any more difficult than they are already.’ She threw the water into a slop bucket and turned to find a dress to wear, a blue-and-white striped silk, whose stomacher was decorated with a row of ribbon bows from the square neck to the pointed waist. Betty, still mutinous, washed and changed herself. They were just putting the finishing touches to their toilette when there was a knock at the door. Louise went to answer it.
‘I am come to escort you to dinner,’ Jonathan said, looking her up and down, appraising her. Every time he saw her he was taken afresh by how lovely she was, a loveliness that had no need of paint and powder. Now, if Dorothea Mantle were half as beautiful and spirited as this one, he might be tempted to obey his parents and pay court to her. He smiled at his own foolishness. ‘Are you ready?’
Dinner was a noisy affair because the inn was full and everyone was trying to out-talk everyone else. The main topic of conversation was a daring robbery that had taken place on the city walls. York was a historic city, which had been occupied by the Vikings and the Romans before becoming an Archbishopric with a magnificent cathedral, called The Minster. It had also suffered at the hand of Cromwell’s men in the Civil War. Its ancient ramparts, though decaying in places, still stood and afforded a pleasant walk from which to view the city and the surrounding countryside. The robber had attacked a young man out seeing the sights with his sweetheart and had threatened to throw him off the wall if he did not hand over his purse, sword and brown silk coat. The thief had put it on at once, it was said, leaving his own coat behind: a black stuff garment, green with age.
‘There is a job for you,’ Louise said to Jonathan. ‘Catching the criminal will be far more rewarding than escorting me.’
‘Why, my dear,’ he said, ‘I do believe you would be rid of me.’
‘To be sure, I would not have you disappointed. I will bring you little reward, but the capture of a dangerous criminal would be another case altogether. You might even be able to buy yourself some fashionable clothes to match that fine carriage of yours.’