The Wicked Baron

by Sarah Mallory

  ‘Better than that—it is from your father. My coachman returned from Leicestershire this afternoon and he has brought a note for you from Signor Durini.’

  Eagerly she unfolded the paper and scanned it. ‘Thank you, Mr Ainslowe. I had asked Papa to let me know that they were safe.’

  ‘Well, now you can rest easy.’ He smiled down at her. ‘And when Woollatt returns we shall see the smile back in your eyes, I hope. Oh don’t colour up, my dear; Adele noticed that you had lost a little of your sparkle, but that’s to be expected, with your fiancé gone away.’

  Carlotta blushed, confused, and strove for something to say. ‘May I write a letter to my parents, sir?’

  ‘Of course—give it to me when it is finished and I will see it safely delivered.’ With a final reassuring smile James stepped quickly out of the embrasure. ‘What the—!’

  Carlotta heard his exclamation. As she moved forward she saw he had come to a halt at the head of the stairs.

  ‘Reed! What the devil are you doing there?’

  Sir Gilbert’s manservant was almost at the top of the grand staircase, but at these words he stopped and made a low bow.

  ‘My apologies, sir. My master sent me to the library and I thought, this being the shortest route and with all the guests in their rooms, dressing for dinner—’

  ‘Well, quite clearly they ain’t all in their rooms,’ retorted James coldly. ‘Please use the service stairs in future.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  Watching from the window, Carlotta observed the smirk on the man’s ferret-like features as he bowed again.

  ‘One moment, Reed!’

  ‘Yes, sir?’

  ‘Where’s your book?’

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘If Sir Gilbert sent you to the library, it must have been for a book.’

  ‘I was returning a book for him, sir,’ Reed said quietly. Then, with another bow, he continued on his stately way.

  ‘Insolent dog,’ muttered James.

  ‘I understand that all valets think themselves superior,’ murmured Carlotta.

  ‘Aye, they do, but most of ’em make a better pretence at subservience than that creature. In fact, most of ’em keep out of sight. Ah, well, Mattingwood tells me the man has been with him for many years and long-serving attendants are the very devil, Miss Rivington. Now, I had best let you get on, or we shall both of us be late for our dinner!’

  Luke wished the interminable day would come to an end. He had spent his time avoiding Carlotta, as much for his sake as hers. It was bad enough that he couldn’t get the thought of her out of his mind; when he walked through the hall the perfume from the flowers on the console tables made his step falter and for a moment he was back beneath the trees, burying his face in her hair and breathing in her sweet, flowery fragrance. Just going out of the front door and looking up at the frescoes reminded him of Carlotta. Now, at dinner, he had to steel himself to face her. He had deliberately come down late to the drawing room, but not late enough, for James was laughingly informing the assembly that his wife had kept the young ladies out of doors for far too long, and they were even now at their dressing tables.

  Luke positioned himself in a far corner and watched the door, waiting for a first glimpse of that beloved, heart-shaped face. When Carlotta did come in, he thought how well she looked, the effects of the walk still discernible in her glowing countenance. He had hoped to avoid her, but it was as if some magic thread drew her gaze to his. She looked away immediately, as anxious as he was to avoid detection, but that one fleeting glance set his pulses racing, made the blood course faster through his body.

  With an effort he turned his back to her and joined Sir Gilbert and Mr Price for a lively debate on horses, but he was aware of her presence and found himself straining his ears to hear the soft words she was exchanging with Adele. Luke soon realised that he was not the only gentleman showing an interest in Carlotta. He noticed how often Sir Gilbert’s eyes wandered over to the little group, and when the ladies engaged upon an argument regarding The Mysteries of Udolpho and Carlotta was about to run to the library to fetch Mrs Radcliffe’s novel, Sir Gilbert swiftly stepped in, offering to go in her stead. Damn the man, he had not shown such great interest in Carlotta before she became engaged to Woollatt. Was he trying to set up as her flirt even before she was married? Scowling, Luke tried to give his attention to Mr Price, but from the corner of his eye he watched as his brother joined the little group.

  ‘So, my love,’ said James, ‘did you and your young friends enjoy your stroll through the park?’

  ‘Very much. We completed a full circuit around the lake. The new path makes it a most pleasant walk with beautiful views across the park. We passed the bathhouse.’ Adele threw a mischievous glance towards Julia, who blushed vividly. ‘We were most impressed.’

  The devil, thought Luke. They have been inside. He imagined Carlotta looking at the bathing scenes. Had they also visited the inner sanctum? He glanced across at Carlotta and immediately looked away again, biting his lip. Of course they had. Her sparkling eyes and the telltale flush on her cheek gave her away. He wondered if she, too, was imagining how delightful it would be to swim together in that cold pool—could she swim? If not, he would teach her. Afterwards they would lie naked in front of the roaring fire in the warm room. He turned away suddenly. It could never be, of course—she was Woollatt’s fiancée. But still the thought was far too arousing.

  ‘We are very tempted to join you in the bathhouse when you have done with your shooting,’ murmured Adele.

  Luke swung back in time to see the look of horror on Miss Price’s face. James wagged a playful finger.

  ‘We have entertained you with dancing and rides and I know not what every day thus far, madam wife. You will now allow us to enjoy ourselves in peace! Besides, have we not promised that we shall join you here for supper?’

  ‘Your wife is teasing you, Mr Ainslowe,’ put in Mrs Price. ‘We have plans for our own entertainment that day, I assure you. More to the point, is anything arranged for tomorrow? If it remains dry, I would very much like to take the lakeside walk—Mrs Ainslowe’s description has given me a desire to try it.’

  ‘Yes, I, too, would like to see it,’ added Lady Broxted.

  ‘Let us all go,’ suggested Sir Gilbert, returning from the library.

  ‘Yes, James may escort you,’ declared Adele. ‘And since we have already seen it, I shall take Julia and Carlotta out in the gig.’

  ‘Th-thank you, but Lord Fairbridge has already promised to take me out for an airing in his curricle,’ stammered Julia.

  James laughed. ‘Miss Price has seen your driving, my dear, and is in dread of being overturned! And you, Miss Rivington—will you risk life and limb?’

  ‘I understand it was you who taught Mrs Ainslowe to drive,’ replied Carlotta in the same bantering tone. ‘Have you no faith in your pupil?’

  ‘Bravo, Carlotta! James knows I am a very good driver, else he would not have given me my own carriage.’ Adele nodded at Carlotta. ‘I thought we could drive up through the woods to the south of the house; there is a fine view from top of the hill. We will set out directly after breakfast, if you would like it.’

  ‘I should,’ said Carlotta. ‘I should like it very much.’

  A bright, sunny day greeted Carlotta when she awoke the following morning, but despite the promise of driving out with her hostess, there was a tiny shadow over her anticipation. Mr Woollatt might well return that day. With a sigh Carlotta slipped out of bed. The diamond ring was resting on her dressing table, a physical token of the promise she had made. She forced herself to slip it onto her finger. She should be happy; she was betrothed to a good man with a handsome fortune. If she had not met Luke—she cut off the thought. She had met him, nothing could change that, and nothing could change the fact that she was engaged to Daniel Woollatt. There was no going back. Therefore she must make the best of it. Perhaps if she and Luke were not in the same house, if they did not see each
other every day, then it would be easier to bear. She could forget him—well, perhaps not quite forget him, but at least this crippling, aching longing might ease a little. Carlotta decided that she must persuade her aunt to take her away from Malberry. Away from Luke. The thought made her eyes prickle with hot tears, but she brushed them away, resolutely turning her thoughts to the more pleasant prospect of driving out with Mrs Ainslowe.

  Adele drove the gig from the stables at a smart pace, sending up a shower of gravel as she swung sharply around the corner to bring the equipage to a halt at the front steps.

  ‘There,’ cried James, waiting on the steps beside Carlotta, ‘do not say I did not warn you! My wife is a demon when she is handling the ribbons.’

  Carlotta heard the affection and pride in his voice and said nothing as he helped her up into the gig and tucked the rug around her.

  ‘Have I kept you waiting?’ said Adele. ‘I beg your pardon—Perkins was nowhere to be seen and Little Jones, the stable boy, was struggling to yoke poor Brigadier all on his own. But we are here now, you see.’

  ‘Will you return to take luncheon, my love?’ asked James.

  ‘Oh, I am sure we shall be back by then.’ Adele arranged the reins between her fingers. ‘When do you set off for your walk around the lake?’

  ‘As soon as we are all ready,’ said James. ‘But I doubt we shall make such good time as you did yesterday.’

  ‘No. We set a very smart pace, did we not, Carlotta?’

  ‘Well, go a little more slowly today,’ he said, stepping back. ‘Be careful, my love.’

  Adele smiled at him. ‘Am I not always? Stand aside, sir!’

  With a flourish of her whip she set the team in motion. Carlotta turned to wave to Mr Ainslowe, her smile slipping a little when she spotted Luke staring out of the study window.

  ‘Tell me, Carlotta,’ said Adele. ‘If you and my brother-in-law are so in love, why did you accept an offer from Mr Woollatt?’

  Carlotta jumped. ‘H-how did you know? We have been so careful…’

  ‘That is what made me suspicious. You both prowl around each other, being far too rigidly correct. Oh, have no fear, I doubt if anyone else has noticed, even darling James.’ Adele paused while she guided the horse out of the gates and turned away from the village to drive up the hill. ‘Perhaps it is being so in love oneself that makes one especially aware—or perhaps it is being with child.’

  ‘You are—oh, Adele, that is wonderful news!’

  ‘Yes, isn’t it?’ she laughed. ‘That is why James is so concerned that I should be careful. He would have me lie abed all day if he could, but I am not such a poor creature.’

  ‘But you will drive steadily, will you not?’

  ‘Pho.’ Adele laughed at her. ‘I will not overturn you, I promise. But you have not told me why you are marrying Daniel Woollatt.’

  Carlotta had twisted slightly in her seat with her right hand resting along the back rail, but as the gig swayed alarmingly on the uneven road she hooked her arm around the rail and held on tightly.

  ‘Well?’

  ‘It is a very good match.’ This sounded lame even to Carlotta, and she added, ‘He is extremely rich.’

  ‘But you love Luke.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And what does he say about this?’

  Carlotta felt the hot tears burning her eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to speak lightly. ‘H-he agrees it is a good idea.’

  ‘The devil he does!’ exclaimed Adele in a most unladylike manner.

  ‘He told me so,’ said Carlotta miserably. ‘When…when he knew Mr Woollatt was going to make me an offer.’

  ‘Then he is a fool, and I shall tell him so to his head!’

  ‘Oh, no, pray, Adele, you must say nothing of this. We are agreed that it is too late, and we must forget each other.’ She sniffed. ‘L-Luke will soon find himself someone else.’

  ‘Unfortunately, my dear, I am afraid that is more than likely,’ said Adele. ‘Luke has something of a reputation.’

  ‘I know.’ Carlotta gulped back a sob.

  ‘You could cry off from your engagement.’

  Carlotta shook her head. ‘I have thought of that, but it would not do. I would be labelled a jilt; my aunt and uncle would be mortified and Mama and Papa would be very disappointed in me. There would be gossip; everyone would learn about m-my parents and I should not be welcome in polite society.

  ‘But I could bear all that, I really could, if only…You see, if Luke married me, everyone would blame him, too. We w-would be outcasts. That would not trouble me very much, because I have not lived in society very long, but I could not ask Luke to give up everything he has known. It would make him unhappy, and he would end up hating me for it.’

  Carlotta gazed ahead, considering her future and unappreciative of the bright sunshine or beautiful woodland that surrounded them.

  ‘I must say it is a pretty coil,’ confessed Adele after a moment. ‘I was very fortunate, you see. I fell in love with James the first moment we met; although he was a younger son and not the most important of my suitors, Papa could see how much in love we were and eventually gave his consent.’ She sighed, but after a moment she turned her head to give Carlotta a reassuring smile. ‘You must not be cast down, my love. I am a firm believer that everything happens for the best. Something may yet turn up. And if it does not, and you do marry Mr Woollatt, well, just think how much pin money you will have to spend!’

  Carlotta did not find much to comfort her in this thought, but she nodded and tried to enjoy the drive. They had emerged from the trees and were now travelling through open grazing land towards the summit of the hill. As the road levelled out, Adele gave an expert little flick of the whip and the horse picked up its pace.

  ‘There are some outstanding views up here,’ she said. ‘They will make you forget—’

  The sentence was never finished. The gig gave a sickening lurch. Carlotta’s arm was still hooked around the back rail and instinctively her fingers clung on as the carriage dropped away from her. Her arm was almost wrenched from its socket; the gig tipped onto its side and Adele tumbled past her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Carlotta scrabbled to find some ledge for her feet since the footwell of the gig was now tilted at a steep angle. She managed to push her toes against the side wall of the carriage and relieve some of the strain upon her arm, but her tentative foothold was shaken as the gig shuddered, then lurched again. She looked up to see that the horse was trapped in the tangle of harness and gig shafts and was frantically lunging forward, trying to pull free. She was not that far from the ground, and thought she might well be able to jump down if the gig would remain still. She was aware of voices, heavy footsteps running up. Turning her head, she saw one man drop his shepherd’s crook and run to the horse’s head, calming the frightened animal. Another was reaching up for her.

  ‘It’s all right, miss, I’ve got you!’ Strong hands were around her, trying to lift her down.

  ‘Wait, wait—my hand!’

  The muscles of her right arm had seized up and would not obey her brain. With a great effort she managed to uncurl her fingers from the back rail and ease her arm free. She felt herself being lifted bodily from the carriage.

  ‘Adele,’ she panted. ‘Where is Mrs Ainslowe?’

  ‘Let’s be sure you’s taken no hurt first, miss,’ her rescuer replied in a soft country drawl. ‘Can ’ee stand on yer own? Good. Now then, let’s look to yer friend.’

  ‘Adele!’

  Carlotta staggered a few steps and fell on her knees beside the still form stretched out on the grass verge. Adele had lost her bonnet and was lying on her back with one hand thrown above her head. To Carlotta’s terrified gaze she looked extremely pale.

  ‘She’s stunned, miss. Took a nasty tumble, I’d say.’ The man scratched his head. ‘We needs to get ’er to a doctor. Are you from the Court?’

  ‘Yes, yes, we are,’ said Carlotta, taking off he
r spencer to make a pillow for Adele’s head.

  ‘Well, I’ll run down and fetch some help. T’ ain’t far if I goes down through the trees. Abel will stay with ’ee.’

  ‘Aye.’ The man holding the horse’s head nodded slowly. ‘An’ I’ll try to get the poor ’oss out of this tangle.’

  Carlotta turned a grateful gaze upon her rescuer. ‘Yes, please, fetch help as quickly as you can!’

  ‘Don’t you worry, miss, I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.’

  Carlotta watched him set off at a lumbering run down the hill and he was soon lost to sight amongst the trees. The man he had called Abel was talking soothingly to the horse, at the same time quietly grappling with the buckles and straps of the harness. Carlotta struggled to her feet and fetched the rug from the gig. It had fallen to the ground when they had crashed and was lying abandoned on the track. It was only a few steps, but Carlotta felt very unsteady and she was glad to sink down again beside Adele once she had covered her with the rug. Adele stirred.

  ‘Carlotta?’

  ‘Hush, now. Pray be still.’ Carlotta put her hand on Adele’s shoulder to prevent her from rising. ‘We have sent for help.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘You lost a wheel, ma’am,’ called Abel.

  Only then did Carlotta notice that one of the gig’s wheels was lying some distance away.

  ‘Oh, good,’ murmured Adele. ‘James cannot blame me for overturning us.’

  ‘Miss’ll be relieved to hear you talkin’, ma’am,’ continued the shepherd. ‘She was afraid you was a goner.’

  Adele lifted one hand and Carlotta grasped it.

  ‘No,’ said Adele with a weak smile. ‘I’m not gone yet.’

  Even as Carlotta squeezed her fingers, Adele’s eyes closed again as she sank into unconsciousness.

  Carlotta had no idea how long she sat beside her friend at the roadside. She was aware that Abel had managed to move the horse from the shafts of the carriage. Once the animal was securely tethered, the man made no attempt to approach, but remained at a respectful distance, chewing on a straw. She was glad of the summer sunshine, but the hillside was quite exposed and without her spencer the fresh breeze felt chill on her bare arms. She was aware of how quiet it was; only the whisper of the wind in the distant trees and the exuberant trill of a skylark disturbed the stillness. Then she heard the faint but unmistakable sounds of a carriage approaching at speed and a few minutes later the silence was replaced by a bewildering amount of noise and bustle. Two carriages hurtled up the hill and came to a stand, the horses stamping and blowing. James Ainslowe ran to his wife, barking commands. Carlotta tried to rise, but her trembling limbs would not work. She staggered and fell against a comfortingly solid body. She was lifted off the ground by a pair of strong arms. Raising her eyes, she found herself looking up into Luke’s anxious face. He smiled down at her.