Lord Portman's Troublesome Wife

by Mary Nichols

  Alf grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the dog, giving the animal a vicious kick as he did so. It yelped and subsided. ‘You should know better that try to pass that animal, my lady,’ Alf said, still holding her arm. ‘What are you doing here?’

  Rosamund had caught a glimpse of Harry in the doorway of the barn, along with several others. If she had not seen him at home dressed in that filthy garb, she would not have known him for her husband. Now she did not know what to say to explain her presence.

  She and Francis had ridden to Chiswick as fast as they could, though she had little hope of catching up with her husband. Francis had entertained her on the way with stories of Harry’s exploits as a boy and his unnatural affinity with the lower orders. ‘There was nothing he liked better than climbing trees with the village boys for chestnuts to roast on a camp fire and fishing for roach and eels in the river,’ he told her. ‘He would invite them on to the estate and they would swim naked in the lake.’

  ‘Did you join them?’

  ‘Me? I was still in leading strings. Saw them once when I was out with my nurse. She was disgusted and hurried me away.’

  ‘No doubt they were only enjoying themselves.’

  He had sniffed his contempt of that remark and reined in because they had reached the crossroads at Chiswick. They had been about to turn down the lane that led to the river, when a coach rumbled out of the yard of the Packhorse and Francis had a glimpse of O’Keefe inside it. ‘They they are!’ he had cried in triumph, as the vehicle disappeared up the road. They had followed at a discreet distance. Rosamund had begun to wonder if Harry was taking his companions home to Bishop’s Court when they turned off. Following as closely as they dared, they had watched the coach turn down the lane to Feltham Farm. She had been no less surprised than Harry had been.

  It was at that point Francis refused to go any further with her. ‘You go on,’ he had said, turning his mount. ‘I will wait for you at Bishop’s Court.’

  ‘What am I supposed to do?’

  ‘That is up to you. I only undertook to bring you to him. If you are not back at Bishop’s Court by five of the clock I shall inform the Hounslow constable that there is devilment afoot. That’s two hours from now.’ And with that he had left her.

  Cursing him under her breath, she had tethered her horse at the top of the lane and come the rest of the way on foot. So intent on reaching Harry and warning him what his cousin was threatening to do, she had forgotten about the dog. And now, here she was in the painful grip of a vicious man who showed no sign of releasing her, and faced by half a dozen stony-faced men, her husband among them, who had spilled out of the barn.

  ‘Release me at once,’ she commanded. ‘May a lady not pay a call without being manhandled?’

  ‘Pay a call?’ Alf laughed. ‘Last time you paid a call you went off with his lordship’s bratling and cut off my wife’s little income.’

  ‘Yes, I am sorry for that,’ she said, thinking quickly. ‘I did not realise how much you had come to depend on it. I came to offer you some compensation.’

  Harry, listening to her, could not believe that was the truth, but the alternative was worrying. He decided it was time he intervened, but he had to keep calm and stay in character, difficult though it was. ‘Did I ’ear you call the wench lady?’ he asked Alf. ‘She ain’t no lady.’

  ‘No, she ain’t,’ Alf agreed. ‘But seein’s she married Lord Portman we have to bow and scrape to ’er.’

  ‘Married Lord Portman!’ Harry exclaimed, affecting surprise and looking directly at Rosamund, trying to convey a warning in his eyes. ‘So tha’s what you bin up to, Rosie, me girl, is it? I wondered why I ’adn’t seen you about. ’Ow did you manage to ’ook a lord?’

  ‘You know the wench, Gus?’ O’Keefe demanded, looking from one to the other.

  ‘Oh, Rosie and me ’ave known each other for…’ He paused and addressed Rosamund. ‘’Ow long is it now, me darlin’?’

  Rosamund swallowed hard. She had never aspired to be an actress, but she had to act now. Her life depended on it. ‘That is a time I would as lief forget,’ she said haughtily.

  ‘Pity,’ Harry said. ‘’Twere good while it lasted.’

  ‘I reckon that fancy ’usband o’ yours might give a lot for us to keep your past from coming to light, don’t you think?’ O’Keefe put in.

  Harry could not help chuckling, but no one paid him any heed. O’Keefe turned to the other men. ‘Her pa, for all his fancy ways, was one of us, until he lost his stomach for it and tried to double-cross us.’

  Rosamund gasped, genuinely distressed. ‘I don’t believe you.’

  ‘Don’ matter what you believe, but d’you think your ’usband might believe it?’

  She looked at Harry appealingly, but he would not meet her eyes. ‘Of course he would not,’ she said. ‘My father was a gentleman.’

  O’Keefe laughed and the others grinned and Harry had perforce to follow suit, though he was desperately wondering how to get them both safely away. ‘Some o’ the best rogues I know have been so-called gen’lemen,’ he said.

  ‘I came here in good faith,’ she protested, pretending outrage. ‘And all I have met with is ridicule and manhandling.’ She tugged at her arm still in Alf Chappell’s painful grip. ‘Let me go.’

  ‘I don’t know if we can.’ This from Bob. ‘You know too much.’

  ‘I don’t know anything,’ she cried, guessing these were the men who had given her father the counterfeit guineas. And Harry appeared to be one of them! Had he known about Papa all along? ‘And I do not want to know.’

  ‘There’s my girl,’ Harry put in. ‘Shut yer eyes and pretend yer never was ’ere. Then your ’usband don’ need to know about your pa, do ’e?

  ‘What if she squeals?’ Ironside said.

  ‘She won’t do that,’ Harry said quickly. ‘She’s too much to lose.’

  ‘Course, if we was to let you go, we’d need a little demonstration of good faith,’ Alf Chappell said rumi-natively. ‘What say you restore my wife’s five yeller boys each month? Genuine ones, naturally.’

  She hesitated, wondering whether to tell them to do their worst, but before she could say so, Harry intervened again. ‘You’d best agree, Rosie, m’dear,’ he said. ‘Your ol’ man don’ keep you on short commons, do ’e?’

  ‘No, he’s very generous,’ she said.

  ‘Glad to ’ear it,’ Harry said and turned to Alf. ‘I could act as go-between. Rosie pays me an’ I bring it to you, alonga anythin’ else I’ve got for you.’ He laughed lewdly. ‘I wouldn’ mind remakin’ the lady’s acquaintance. We ’ad some good times t’gether.’

  Alf seemed to take a long time considering this and Harry knew they were still not sure of him, but the man had released Rosamund’s arm. She stood there, rubbing it. ‘What makes you think I am desirous of renewing my acquaintanceship with you?’ she demanded angrily of Harry.

  ‘Oh, I think I can change your mind,’ he said and before she could protest he had pulled her into his arms and was kissing her soundly. She struggled, but he held her firmly, his mouth on hers, his hands straying to her back; she could feel them spread over her buttocks, pressing her into him. In spite of her annoyance, she felt herself responding, felt her taut muscles relaxing and her mouth softening, but the raucous laughing of the other men brought her back to her predicament. She pulled her mouth away from his, freed her arms and beat at his chest with her clenched fists.

  He laughed and stood back to look at her. ‘Tha’s my girl! I always did like a woman with a bit o’ spirit.’ But his eyes were telling a different story and she was thoroughly confused.

  She wiped her hand over her swollen mouth and glared at him. ‘You are a filthy beast. I hate you!’

  ‘Oh, now tha’s a pity,’ he said, apparently unconcerned by her venom. ‘’Cos I reckon we could deal well together, if’n that ’usband o’ yours could be got outa the way.’

  ‘He’s ten times the man you are!’ She was not sure if
she was acting or not. The words and the emphasis seemed to have a touch of reality about them. It was almost as if he were two separate men.

  Harry’s guffaw at that was Gus’s, then realising that the longer the exchange went on, the more they would risk giving themselves away, said, ‘Never mind ’im. ’Ow did you get ’ere?’

  ‘I rode,’ she said. ‘From Bishop’s Court.’ She looked hard at him as she spoke, but did not know if he understood.

  ‘Oh, take the wench away,’ Alf said, losing patience. ‘I’ve got other things to do than listen to you two bandying words. Take the first payment to the Nag’s Head the day arter termorrer. If you don’t…’ He left the sentence hanging in the air.

  ‘My pleasure.’ Harry stepped forwards and grabbed Rosamund by the elbow. ‘Come on, me lovely. You’ve no business ’ere.’

  She allowed him to lead her away, at first in leisurely fashion, but once away from the farmyard he quickened their pace, almost dragging her along. ‘What were you thinking of, coming here?’ he demanded angrily. ‘You could have got us both killed.’

  ‘I could ask you the same thing,’ she snapped back. That the men had not known Harry’s true identity was plain, but who did they think he really was? A criminal like themselves obviously. ‘Your cousin was right…’

  ‘My cousin?’

  ‘Mr Portman…’

  ‘What about him?’

  ‘He said if we were not back at Bishop’s Court in two hours, he was going to inform the Hounslow constable.’

  ‘Inform him of what?’

  ‘That you were up to no good. He said the men you were consorting with were criminals and you could hang…’ She paused to get her breath. ‘Do we have to walk so fast?’

  ‘Yes. The sooner we get away from here the better.’ His expression was grim. So Francis had recognised him at the Nag’s Head, after all. He cursed himself for his carelessness. ‘Where did you leave your horse?’

  ‘At the head of the lane.’

  They found the animal contentedly cropping the grass. Harry untethered it and hoisted Rosamund into the saddle, then he got up behind her, put his arms about her and picked up the reins.

  Grasping the saddle in front of her, she could feel the warmth of his breath on the back of her neck as he held her close against his chest, but it was not a loving embrace. He was stiff with anger. And so was she. He had put himself and his whole household at risk, and for what? A cheap thrill, a rig, to use his cousin’s words, for he certainly did not need the money, counterfeit or genuine. Was Francis right and it was done on her behalf? But how could that be? He had not known about Max and the clipped guineas the first time she had seen him dressed as vagrant. She did not doubt Francis would carry out his threat; the man could not wait to discredit his cousin and become the owner of Bishop’s Court by default. She wished they could hurry, but with two on her back the mare could not go any faster.

  As they neared Bishop’s Court, he turned off and entered the grounds by a back lane. ‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked, screwing her head round to speak to him. ‘We have to go home, before Mr Portman carries out his threat.’

  ‘I can’t ride up to the house like this,’ he said, close to her ear, his breath making her shiver. He could still make her want him, in spite of what had happened. He reined in and slid off the horse’s back. ‘You go on. Placate my cousin. I shall join you as soon as I have changed.’

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘To the boathouse. I have some spare clothes there.’

  She rode on, rehearsing what she was going to say to Francis. Angry as she was with Harry, she did not want him arrested. She wanted him to explain himself and make her believe in him. But it did not seem possible.

  She rode round to the stable block, dismounted and made for the side door. Before she reached it, Annabelle tumbled out and threw herself into her arms. ‘Mama, you’re back!’ Rosamund found herself hugging the child to her while the tears rained down her face.

  Harry made his way to the boathouse to find Ash waiting for him. Two horses were cropping the grass nearby. ‘Thank God!’ Ash said. ‘When I saw her ladyship and Portman going down that lane, I feared the worst.’

  ‘It was touch and go,’ Harry said, grabbing a bundle from a locker against the wall and pulling out a pair of white kid breeches. ‘How did you manage to track me?’

  ‘I saw you leave the Nag’s Head and then Portman came out, grinning from ear to ear. He followed you and I followed him. When you got into that boat, your cousin turned away. I couldn’t follow you by water so I decided to keep my eye on him, guessing he might know where they were taking you. He went to Portman House and soon after that he left with your wife. Where is she, by the way?’

  ‘I sent her home.’ He was busy changing his clothes as he spoke. The breeches were followed by a white shirt and a pink waistcoat. ‘It appears Portman is waiting to inform the Watch of my lawlessness. I have to put a stop to that.’

  Ash watched him doing up buttons. ‘Did you find the coiners’ workshop?’

  ‘Yes. My dear wife was nearly my undoing, though.’

  ‘What happened?’

  Busy adjusting his fresh clothes and shrugging himself into a burgundy riding coat, Harry told him, mimicking the conversation, making Ash laugh. ‘You may think it was funny,’ he said. ‘I didn’t. I thought we would both be done away with. Luckily Rosamund kept a cool head.’

  ‘Not one to panic, is she?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘So she knows what you have been doing?’

  ‘No. She thinks I am one of the coiners and I discovered her father was in league with them and was probably killed because he lost his appetite for it. And there’s her brother, almost certainly passing counterfeit money. How can I tell her that I am sworn to track them down? She will think I set out to trap them through her, especially as she mentioned O’Keefe’s name to me.’

  ‘She knows him?’ Ash asked in surprise.

  ‘I don’t think she has ever met him, she showed no sign of recognition when he spoke to her. Unless, of course, she is a better actress than I thought.’

  ‘Well, you should know.’

  ‘That is the trouble, I don’t.’

  ‘You cannot let that gang get away with their crimes. James would never condone it.’

  ‘Of course not, but how do I protect my wife?’

  ‘Do you believe she is innocent?’

  ‘Either that or she is the world’s best actress. She was visibly shocked when O’Keefe said her father was one of the gang.’ He was once again dressed as Lord Portman. He pulled his fingers through his hair, tied it back with its ribbon and crammed a bicorn hat on top. He bundled up Gus Housman’s clothes and put them in the locker. ‘I must go. Are you coming back to the house with me?’

  ‘No, I thank you.’ Ash chuckled suddenly. ‘I am expected at a certain little lady’s house in Leicester Square tonight. If I set off now, I should be in time.’

  ‘I hope to be back myself tomorrow, but I have a private matter to sort out before then,’ Harry told him. ‘You would be doing me a favour if you could alert the rest of the Gentlemen and the Runners where they can lay their hands on that gang. The sooner the better. I am supposed to be taking more coins to the Nag’s Head the day after tomorrow and I would as lief not be obliged to do it.’

  ‘My pleasure.’ Ash mounted up. ‘I’ll see you back in town.’ He left at a canter.

  Harry jumped into his own saddle and rode to Bishop’s Court. He was not looking forward to a confrontation with Rosamund.

  As soon as they were indoors, Annabelle had begun firing questions at Rosamund. ‘Why are you back early? Miss Gunstock said you would not be back for another two days. I have been keeping a journal and crossing off the days in it. Where is Papa? Did you see the king and queen crowned?’

  ‘Yes, I did.’ Although her mind was on Francis Portman, wondering where he was and if he had already gone to carry out his threat, Rosamund did her
best to satisfy the child, explaining that she had missed her so much that when she went riding, she had simply turned her horse in the direction of Bishop’s Court without thinking.

  The child had been delighted by that and did not question it.

  When Rosamund said the same thing to Mrs Rivers a little later, the housekeeper was not so easily taken in. ‘But, my lady,’ she said, ‘won’t his lordship be worried about you?’ If she wondered why her mistress should go riding in London in a gown that had seen better days and her hair all over the place, she did not mention it. Nor that London to Bishop’s Court was a long ride for a lady to undertake alone.

  Rosamund gave a light laugh. ‘Oh, he caught me up before I had gone very far and came with me. He stopped on the way to speak to the smithy. I think his horse needed a new shoe.’ She paused. ‘Have you seen Mr Portman? I believe his lordship was expecting him.’

  ‘I think he is in the library, my lady. He arrived some time ago and has been prowling about the place ever since. Doesn’t seem able to sit still.’

  Rosamund sent Annabelle back to Miss Gunstock and went in search of Francis. He had taken several books from the shelves and had them spread out on the table. She noticed that they were all about Bishop’s Court, its history and the men who had owned it. He looked up as she entered and scrambled to his feet. ‘Where is he?’ he demanded without the preamble of a greeting.

  She made herself smile. ‘How do you do, Cousin Francis? I hope the servants have been looking after you properly.’

  ‘Yes, oh, yes,’ he said vaguely. ‘I thank you. Did you find Harry?’