Lady Star

by Claudy Conn

  Farley got up from his chair near the fire and put his fists on the table, “Aye, Oi think we best stay clear of the free traders’ routes.”

  “The other roads ain’t traveled that well by the swells…” offered another man.

  “Oi know. That’s why we gave up riding the highway in the first place. If it isn’t a free trader in our way, it’s the excisemen. Well Oi don’t mean for us to bump into either of them.”

  The chubby man shook his head and said as he held out a mug he had fetched from a side table, “Lor’ bless ye, man. Drop a bit of firewater in that, will ye?”

  Farley grinned, took up a bottle of gin and poured a generous amount into the man’s mug before sliding it across the table to the others. “Now, there is a well traveled road that goes into Hastings. It might be nicely traveled this time of summer by some of the swells, what wit the flash coves giving their routs and small balls here and there.”

  “Well, whot then and when?” asked another of his men.

  “Right. Listen up, then, lads, listen up.” Farley’s grin was wide for he had it now planned out in his head just what they would do.

  * * *

  “Did Star seem unusually preoccupied to you?” Georgie asked Jules as they slowly rode their horses down the road. He had been attentive in a gentlemanly manner, but aloof ever since he had walked into Vern’s bedroom and appeared shocked to find her so close to Vern.

  She knew how it had appeared and had been at pains, with off-handed remarks designed to display that she and Vern were like brother and sister. Had it worked? Apparently not, for he still seemed to hold himself apart.

  He frowned and said without committed interest, “Quiet, perhaps. She seemed quiet, but then, Georgie, you know her so much better than I do.”

  “Ah, so you say…”

  “Well, don’t you? You seem to be very close, you and Star, as I see you are to Lord Berkley.”

  “Vern? Yes, I hold him in great affection, like the brother I never had,” she said pointedly.

  He eyed her for a long moment before he smiled, “Indeed. He seems to have a different notion.”

  “Oh yes, but not because of any passion for me. He is in need of making a ‘good connection’ and bringing Berkley back.” She sighed, “You must see that?”

  He seemed to give this some thought and nodded and with an obvious show of relief before asking, “What do you really think is going on? I agree with you, something is off with those two.”

  Georgie was relieved for she was sure he now believed that she thought dearly of Vern but only as a friend. She sighed over his question and said, “Yes, a great deal is off, but when I asked her what in particular occurred earlier today, she would only sigh and say naught.”

  “And you don’t believe that nothing occurred?”

  “No, sir. I do not believe her at all. Something has happened…since last night, I think on her ride this morning. I am certain of it, but I can’t think what it might be. At first I thought it might have something to do with Sir Edward.” She bit her lip thinking she had said too much.

  Jules’ brow went up. “What do you mean? Why would Sir Edward…I mean…?” He faltered then and she hurriedly waved this off.

  “I am speaking nonsense. Pay me no mind.”

  “Yes, but Georgie…,” he started.

  “I am only worrying for nothing,” she cut in.

  “So then what we have is the fact that you as her friend did not believe her when she told you nothing was wrong,” he mused out loud.

  “Precisely so, sir. I did not believe her. Something is very wrong.”

  “What do you think it is?” he asked frowning over the problem. “Her brother’s health?”

  “No, he is on the mend. Oh Jules, you see, when I pressed her she told me she had bumped into Sir Edward during her morning ride. She was about to tell me something more when she suddenly bit her lip, turned away from me and would not meet my eye.” Georgie shook her head. “I must get to the bottom of this before she and Vern plunge deeper into…into whatever it is they have already muddied their feet in.”

  “Muddied their feet? Whatever can you mean? Do you think Edward might have upset her somehow when she met him during her ride?” he pursued.

  “No, I do not. In fact, when she spoke of Sir Edward, it was the only time I truly saw her smile. No, this is something else altogether, something horrible, but I cannot fathom what.” She looked around and saw that he should have turned off toward the left if he was headed for either Stamford or town and said, “Oh sir, you needn’t see me all the way to my house. Thank you for listening to me and coming this far out of your way.”

  “I have not come out of my way, since my way was anywhere you chose to go,” he said gallantly and his eyes glinted brightly.

  She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his eyes and for a moment, found it difficult to breathe. She said on a scarcely audible whisper, “You are too kind.”

  “Why, for grasping at the pleasure of your company?”

  “Thank you, but honestly, I can see myself home,” she countered. A part of her was irritated with him. He openly still seemed to be looking to court Star. How could he blatantly flirt with her if it was Star he wanted? She did not think he wanted Star in earnest, but even so, she would not be caught in the middle of this.

  “But, I insist on doing that for you.” His smile was warm, his voice low and she thought intense. How could he? How could he switch from one woman onto another? Who did he really want?

  Suddenly swept up in a moment of agitation so foreign to her that she felt at a loss for words, she said with a touch of annoyance, “Jules, I am quite accustomed to roaming at will between Madison and Berkley.” Bolstered by her own words, she eyed him challengingly. “If my mother does not object and she does not, how then, can you?”

  “Indulge me,” he said cajolingly. “I should like to see you safely home.” His voice was soft, caressing, his eyes full with the sincerity of his words.

  “You are all that is chivalrous…”

  He cut her off, “I am only being selfish, my dear.”

  “How so?”

  “It affords me that much more time in your company.” He laughed at her expression and added, “Now don’t go pulling one of your cynical looks at me, my girl. I swear, I mean every word.”

  The next words that spilled out of her mouth came without brain function. “As you are most sincere when you say the same thing to every maid in your company, I am sure.” As soon as the words were out and she heard them, she wanted to sink into the ground. Why had she said such a thing?

  He was surprised. “Is that what you think of me? You have me confused with Miles, I believe and you wrong me, Georgie.”

  “I wrong you?” Had he not been chasing her dearest friend Star? Had he not shown a preference for Star? The words had come because it was what she felt. Georgie never stomped her feet. She couldn’t now because she was on horseback, but she had the urge to stomp a foot at him. “How can I wrong you when I have heard you speak thusly to my dearest friend, Star?”

  “Indeed, that does not mitigate my sincerity when I speak to you,” he countered unwisely. Evidently he had been trapped in the moment and had not been able to think of a defense.

  Infuriated now, Georgie put up her chin, “I take leave to tell you that you are an outrageous flirt.”

  “I am not, I swear to you…” he answered turning a bright shade of red.

  She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She never was so emotional. Why was she now? She said, “I cannot believe that you are not aware that you have made Star, the object of your attentions for some weeks now.”

  “Yes, but then…” he stopped himself and regarded her speculatively, unable to continue.

  “Precisely, sir.” With which Georgie rode off toward the bridle path that would take her the remaining distance to Madison Stables. She wanted to cry and rant at herself. She had been unable to stem the flow of her words and tone. What w
as wrong with her? That was no way to win a man. But, she didn’t want to win a man. She wanted him to freely love her as she loved him. She didn’t want to play at games. She didn’t want to flirt and be coy and tease. She wanted him to feel for her, want her, love her above all others. She wanted him to know his mind and she wanted his mind and heart to see only her.

  She loved Jules Stamford with all her being, and this total realization made her burst into tears.

  * * *

  The Berkley library was a cozy scene, Star thought as she looked around. Candles burned softly in their holders and the summer evening had brought a cool chill, so that she had closed the windows and lit the fire in the hearth. She watched her brother push the logs around in the grate while Miles told him he wasn’t stacking them correctly and laughed.

  Miles had joined them for an early dinner. He had stayed on while the sun went down and had kept them entertained with anecdotes.

  Star plopped onto the sofa while she waited for the men to finish their ‘work’ at the fireplace and take up their drinks and join her.

  Miles came to sit beside her and sighed comfortably as he sipped his brandy and advised her happily, “Good stuff this. I’d wager it never saw the inside of the customs house.” He found this amusing and chuckled.

  Star gave him a soft smile. She was really only half listening as her mind was elsewhere. Vern left the fireplace, downed his brandy and paced by the window and with his hands clasped behind his back and asked Miles, “How much do you think that old relic of a yacht would fetch me?”

  Miles screwed up his mouth as he thought about this, “I don’t quite know…but do you really want to part with it?”

  Vern shrugged, “I can remember my father standing at the helm…but sentimentality has to be discarded at times like these. Do you think it might fetch a handsome coin?”

  “As a matter of fact, it is in fairly decent condition. Yes, yes, I think it might. Shall I take care of the matter for you? I’ll send my man to attend to it, Vern.”

  “Would you, Miles? Best of good fellows…”

  “Yes, we shall get the finances in hand, you and I, now that I am aware of the problem, but we have to do something about Farley. We cannot allow him to threaten Star. That, my friend is punishable by death, as far as I am concerned.” Miles announced strongly.

  “Yes, I quite agree. Mean to find him and run the fellow through as soon as I get stronger,” Vern answered staunchly.

  “Stop it, both of you! We must not go outside the law,” Star admonished.

  “Challenge him to a duel…” Miles said. “That is what I shall do.”

  “Also quite against the law,” Star stuck in.

  “Indeed, besides one does not duel with the likes of Farley. He hasn’t a shred of honor in his blood. He would have his henchmen shoot you in the back. No, he must be dealt with as his lives… ruthlessly!”

  “Agreed, let’s just put a bullet in his head when we find him,” Miles said.

  “No, no, stop it! You shan’t do such a thing. I won’t have it,” Star said. “If anyone is to kill him, it should be me! I am the one he accosted and if he tries it again, I shall be ready for him.”

  “There are some things, a man does not discuss with his sister,” Vern told her.

  “Too late, you already have, and this sister knows too much to be left out at this juncture. Honestly,” Star said shaking her head.

  “Let us play at ducks and drakes. Where is the board?” Miles said all at once and although Star got to her feet and fetched the board and pieces from the cupboard she glared at him and said, “Don’t think for one moment that I am fooled. I will have my eyes on both of you!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  IT WAS A well sprung coach of modern design. Its lines were sleek and its doors carried its owner’s crest painted in gold. It was led by a pair of matched bay geldings and Websly, the driver at the long reins knew his job well.

  He called out to his employer through a small trap door at his back and said that he was sorry for the bumpy road and hoped sir was not too uncomfortable.

  His passenger said, “Don’t concern yourself, Websly. You and I have traveled far worse roads than this.”

  “Aye, that we have sir, but this is in a sorry state, it is.”

  “So it is, but I don’t think we have much further to go,” Sir Edward answered thoughtfully as he peered through the darkness of his open window and surveyed the passing landscape eerily lit up by a waning moon.

  He could see shadowy trees and bushes trailing beside the unkempt road. He had a great deal to think about, but leading the list was the minx of a woman child and her name was as bright as her smile. Star. How had he caved in to his basest needs and taken her? If he wasn’t so in love, he would be a cur…a cad…a…but he did love her and before long she would be his, and his alone.

  He sighed. His, she was his, and damn, bloody damn, no one would rest her away from him. She was his and he was…dash it all to hell, he was hers. This is what the Lady Babs had meant when she told him one day he would fall in love and he would know it.

  It was as though he had always been looking for Star. It was as though a secret thread reached out of her heart and found his and weaved a net around it just before he was thoroughly reeled in.

  The problem was Jules.

  Jules thought he wanted her and now, there was nothing, not even his honor, or his loyalty that would allow Jules to have her. Star was meant for one man, and he was that one man.

  He had wanted to see her this evening, but business had kept him in Hastings longer than he had anticipated. He didn’t complete his business with his bank until well into the evening. There had been nothing for it but to have dinner and then proceed home, taking a road that was not the main road, but he remembered that it was a shortcut to Stamford Manor.

  Suddenly Websly sounding worried called out, “Bless me, Sir Edward…there is a tree blocking the road! Oi don’t loike the looks of it…no Oi don’t.”

  “What are you thinking, my man?” Sir Edward had already pulled out his horse pistol and put it ever ready in his lap.

  “Has the taste of wickedness, it does,” Websly said in grim tones. “Oi’ve got m’gun handy.”

  Sir Edward reached into his satchel and pulled out another smaller gun and stuck it into his belt. It would be hidden by his cloak. A third gun went into his boot. He had a great deal of experience on the road and knew just how to thwart an attack as did Websly.

  “Can you get around the tree?”

  “Aye, with some effort…but Oi’ll have to get down and lead them careful not to ditch em on the side of the road.”

  “Aye, slow down then man and I’ll get out as well,” Sir Edward said. “That’s it, just enough for me to get out for I mean to get a lay of the land.”

  Sir Edward’s eyes roamed the area and then he saw the form of a horse and rider quietly make its way out of the woods. Hurriedly he hid behind the trees alongside the opposite side and smiled to himself. He would not be expected. The high toby would think he was inside the coach and he knew Websly would wait for just the right moment to pull out his own gun.

  A harsh voice muffled by the wool scarf covering the toby’s face called out, “Whoa there, aye then, Oi’ll be thanking ye to pull up, now.”

  Sir Edward’s driver pulled his team to a complete stop and said nothing, his gun hidden beneath his blanket.

  Two more masked riders emerged from the woods. Each took up a stand at the doors of the coach, while another rider appeared and took up position at the back of the vehicle.

  “Now then, whot is it Oi should be saying to the flash cove in there? Aye, right, Oi knows. Eh, Oi say, guv, yer money or yer life…and quick about it, before Oi take both.”

  The toby’s men chortled with laughter. No sound was emitted from within the coach. The toby’s voice sounded angry when next he spoke, “Be ye deaf, covey? Come on then, out wit ye, or are ye quaking in yer boots so much ye have lost yer tongue
?”

  The man at the back shouted out, “He must be shaking with fear…just grab him and drag him to the ground.”

  “Aye, mayhap that will be the way of it.” The man in charge pulled open the carriage door and before he had a good look said, “Shake yer shambles and get yerself out here where we might have a look at ye, covey!”

  Sir Edward heard and watched all of this. It would be a tricky business. He would have to be quick and quiet, but it called for immediate action, for it was now or never.

  Before the high toby leader realized there wasn’t anyone in the dark carriage, Edward moved in on foot and caught the toby unaware.

  Sir Edward had him off his startled horse in a thrice and as the toby struggled and tried to recoup his breath, Edward held a pistol to his head and demanded, “On the ground, face on the ground.”

  The toby did what he was told for he knew when a man would as happily kill him as not.

  “He is a dead man if any of you lift a finger to stop me. Understood?” Sir Edward said grimly.

  Websly had his gun out then and pointed it at the man on his right, “Aye then, two of ye will be dead…two and then we’ll make certain we find the rest if ye try and run off.” He looked at the man on his left and made his horses move backward ever so slightly so that the chubby rider would not have a clear shot. “Aye, Oi wouldn’t get one of me own men shot, would ye?”

  The chubby toby called to the rest of the men, “Stand down lads…let’s not be rash, any of us.”

  “Farley…whot do ye want us to do?” called the man at the boot.

  “Damn yer soul, what did ye go and say m’name fer?” Farley lifted his cheek from the dirt and responded angrily.

  Sir Edward’s foot was on Farley’s back but with this he grinned to himself and said, “Well, well, so we meet again, you and I?”

  Farley’s wool scarf had shifted off to his chin and he looked up and around as best he could, “Who might ye be? Do Oi know ye then? Why not let me and the lads go and we’ll call it a night?”