Sir Ashley's Mettlesome Match

by Mary Nichols

  Pippa was not the only one to see the vessel drop anchor; almost the whole population knew in no time at all that another run was imminent. Ash, riding round the village, apparently deep in thought, saw it too, but gave no sign he had. He assumed the Coast Watch was aware of it and the Revenue men and dragoons alerted. It would be folly to make a landing under the circumstances. He was surprised when he returned to the Manor for dinner to find his host was absent. ‘Called away suddenly to his daughter’s sick bed,’ the butler told him. ‘He begs to be excused and bids you make yourself at home. He has left orders for a meal and wine to be laid out for you.’

  Ash thanked him. He did not doubt Sir Felix knew there was going to be a run and was making himself scarce. He ate the meal provided, but was sparing with the wine though the butler kept trying to refill his glass. Afterwards he changed into his rough working clothes and ventured out on foot.

  It was a dark night with low cloud that obscured the moon and the sea was calm, a good night for a run, he decided, as he made his way to the Customs House. It was deserted. When he enquired of the only man on watch, he was told everyone had ridden off with the dragoons because there had been intelligence of a landing being attempted farther along the coast at Hunstanton. He had no doubt the information was false and wondered who had provided it as he turned and went down to the beach where the tide was nearly in. He could watch, but single-handed he could do nothing.

  The beach was crowded with men and he blended in with them, as they hurried down to the water’s edge to haul in the boats and land the contraband. He was not the only one who should not have been there. Miss Kingslake, dressed in her brother’s clothes, was in the forefront with them. His disappointment with her was profound. She was not the innocent he had believed and wanted her to be, but an active participant. She had been using him, making him feel sorry for her, enough to dull his sense of duty, taking him off to Norwich so that the convoy could take the contraband inland. And here she was again, helping to unload the boats. What a fool he had been!

  She turned and saw him watching her, making him smile grimly at her expression of shock. ‘Ah, you did not expect to see me here,’ he murmured, standing very close to her so that the others could not hear. ‘No doubt you thought I was safely at the Manor enjoying Sir Felix’s hospitality.’

  ‘I did not think about you at all, sir,’ she said, also in a low voice, though if she had shouted it, the others on the beach would have made sure he would do no more spying. She could not condemn him to that. Unless, of course, he was a smuggler himself; that would account for his presence, not only tonight but on previous nights. ‘But I am not surprised. You seem to be able to change your coat whenever it suits you. Upholder of the law one day, smuggler the next.’

  He did not answer that. Instead he said, ‘And I wonder how it is that whenever there is mischief afoot, you are in the thick of it, Miss Kingslake.’

  ‘Nat, don’t stand there like a post, catch hold of this.’ John Bristow tossed an oilskin-wrapped bundle at her. Its weight was nothing to a man as big and powerful as he was, but she could not hold it and it bowled her backwards into Ash and they both went over into the wet sand. The blacksmith laughed and turned away, expecting them to get to their feet and retrieve it.

  ‘Are you hurt?’ Even in anger Ash managed to sound concerned.

  She was almost sitting in his lap, with her head against his chest. It reminded her of the time he had hauled her out of the stream. She could still feel the prickling in the back of her neck. ‘No,’ she said breathlessly. ‘Just winded. It caught me in the chest.’

  He looked down at her heaving bosom. How could that dolt of a blacksmith not see that she was not her brother? He scrambled to his feet and, bending, took hold of her arm to haul her to her feet. ‘I think we had better get you home before you are really hurt,’ he said.

  ‘No.’ She stood beside him trying to brush the wet sand from her breeches.

  ‘I insist. As soon as the Revenue men realise they have been sent on a wild goose chase, they will be back here, rounding everyone up. You cannot expect to escape a second time.’

  ‘Who sent them on a wild goose chase? Was it you?’

  ‘Now why would I do that?’ He had his hand firmly under her elbow and was leading her away as he spoke. She tried turning back to look at the crowd on the beach, but she could not see her brother among them.

  ‘Perhaps because you are one of the smugglers, the one with the biggest stake in the enterprise, I shouldn’t wonder. It is the men with the money who are responsible for ordinary working men and boys like Ben being led astray.’

  ‘Yesterday, you were blaming yourself, as I recall,’ he countered. ‘You said you had filled his head with adventure stories. The trouble with those is that they do not reflect real life.’

  ‘I know that,’ she snapped.

  ‘Come, my dear,’ he said placatingly. ‘Do let us stop bickering. I am exactly who I said I was. As for you, there is no sense in going about dressed like that. No one could be deceived for long. And if you were to be arrested with the others you would be a laughing stock.’

  ‘So, you would save me from myself.’ She gave a dry laugh. ‘I am left wondering why you bother.’

  ‘Do you know,’ he said, pretending to consider it, ‘I have no idea, except that to see a lady mocked would affront my sensibilities.’ They were approaching Windward House. ‘Ah, I see there are lights showing. Your aunt must still be about. Does she know you go out like that or must you creep in unobserved?’

  ‘I do not need to creep into my own home, Sir Ashley.’

  As they approached the door, it was opened by her aunt. ‘There you are, Philippa. You have been gone an age. Goodness, child, you have never gone out in those clothes again. You will give Sir Ashley a disgust of you.’

  Pippa took that to mean that Ben was out of sight and it was safe for Sir Ashley to enter. She smiled. ‘It is easier to walk about like this, Aunt. And as you see, I have brought Sir Ashley back with me.’

  Augusta turned to Ash and bobbed her knee. ‘Good evening, sir. I hoped you would come. I was just enjoying a cup of tea.’ She stood aside for them both to enter. ‘You will join me?’

  He doffed his hat and followed her into the back parlour where she habitually sat of an evening when they did not have guests. It was cheaper to keep that room warm than the larger drawing room. She had not been alone; there was a young lad sitting in the rocking chair by the hearth. ‘Heaven forfend, Pip,’ he said, seeing Pippa. ‘You are wearing Nat’s clothes.’

  She did not answer and Ash smiled. ‘Mr Benjamin Whiteside, I presume.’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ Augusta said. ‘He has come home. Ben, make your bow to Sir Ashley.’

  The boy did as he was bid, but Ash saw the wary look in his eyes and smiled. ‘Young man,’ he said in mock severity, ‘you have led us a devil of a dance. What have you to say for yourself?’

  ‘Tell him,’ his mother urged her son as she sat at the table on which the tea things were set out. ‘Tell him what you told us. Do sit down Sir Ashley.’ She indicated the sofa where Pippa had already seated herself.

  He put his hat on the table and folded himself down beside her. ‘Yes, I am anxious to hear your tale,’ he said, addressing Ben.

  Pippa gave her cousin a warning look as he launched into his account of why he had gone down to the beach and been arrested and why he was obliged to escape with the others when the wagon was attacked. Ash listened without interrupting. At the end, he said, ‘You realise that you have put yourself outside the law?’

  ‘I did not mean to. It was an adventure. Pippa’s heroes are always having adventures and falling into scrapes, but they always win out in the end.’

  ‘Pippa’s heroes?’ Ash murmured.

  ‘Yes, you must have read some of her books,’ Ben went on, ignoring Pippa’s frantic shaking of her head. ‘She is famous for them.’

  ‘Ben!’ Pippa warned.

  ‘But you are,’
the boy protested. ‘Though perhaps Sir Ashley don’t know they are yours.’

  ‘I am intrigued,’ Ash said, looking at Pippa.

  She declined to reply, but Ben was not to be held back. ‘Pippa is Philip King. Surely you have heard of him?’

  ‘Philip King,’ Ash repeated. ‘I certainly have. The last volume, Honour Redeemed, I believe it was called, caused a stir in literary circles in London. I read it myself. You are to be congratulated, Miss Kingslake. A great story and the military research was well done.’

  The colour flared in Pippa’s face. Now he would have another reason to disapprove of her. ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ‘It is how she has supported us all,’ Ben went on. ‘Without Pippa we should be in dire straits.’

  This was all a revelation to Ash and it explained a great deal. His admiration for her, already high, increased until he knew he would do anything to help her out of the coil into which she had unwittingly led her young cousin. ‘Am I to conclude the next book is to be about smuggling?’ he asked her.

  ‘That was the idea,’ she admitted. ‘But I am finding the research a little complicated. Real life keeps getting in the way, which is not nearly so romantic.’ She paused. ‘However, we were not talking about me, sir, but what is to be done about Ben.’

  ‘Ah, yes. I am afraid, young man, that you will have to turn yourself in.’

  ‘No!’ Augusta cried. ‘I thought you would help us.’

  ‘So I will, dear lady, but I cannot do it while Ben is a fugitive. Give yourself up, lad. Your mama and cousin know I have a letter from Lord Borrowdale giving you into my custody.’

  ‘What then?’

  Ash had been thinking while they had been talking and had come to a conclusion that meant more involvement, not less, but he could see no help for it. He believed the boy had only been curious and understood now why Miss Kingslake blamed herself. ‘I will confine you at Fairfields, my home, until your innocence or otherwise is established,’ he answered. ‘That may take some time, so you will be expected to work while you are there as one of my outdoor staff. Is that agreeable to you?’

  Ben looked from him to his mother. ‘You must go with Sir Ashley, son. You cannot stay here, for sooner or later someone will see you and the Customs men will hear of it and come for you.’ She turned to Ash. ‘I shall hate being parted from him, but it is better than seeing him in prison or condemned to death. If you can prevent that, Sir Ashley…’

  ‘I will do my utmost. And if you wish, you and Miss Kingslake are welcome to come to Fairfields as my guests. I shall not always be there, but my servants will take good care of you.’

  ‘Oh, thank you, thank you, sir.’ Augusta jumped up and seized Ash’s hand. ‘You are our saviour. Philippa, is that not so?’

  ‘Yes,’ she agreed, but she was wondering what Sir Ash would do when Nat turned up. Would he be so ready to help them then? ‘But I shall stay here and put it about that you and Ben have gone to stay with Aunt Martha. It will look less suspicious that way.’

  Ash looked sideways at her. She appeared somewhat discomfited, fiddling with the neckerchief she wore as if it were strangling her. What was she plotting now? And then he remembered the blacksmith twice mistaking her for her brother, which must surely prove Nathaniel was one of the smugglers. But where was he? Was he hiding about the building as Ben had been doing? If he was, would he have remained hidden when his sister went down to the beach in his clothes? But why had she? Surely not to further her research? Oh, how he wished she would confide in him!

  ‘I expect you to come with me now,’ he told Ben. ‘The longer we delay the worse for you. We will go to the Manor and you will give yourself up to Sir Felix, who will formally hand you over to me. As soon as it becomes light enough we will go to Fairfields.’ He stood up and retrieved his hat. ‘Mrs Whiteside, I will come with the carriage in the morning, if you will be so good as to be ready.’ He bowed to her and then turned to Pippa, who was on her feet beside him. ‘Miss Kingslake, your obedient. I trust you will do no more research until I return.’

  ‘You mean to return?’

  ‘Oh, do not doubt it. There is something about Narbeach that draws me hither—the wild coastline, the hospitality of the people, the adventures I keep having here. And I would discuss your next book with you. I have never met a lady author before and the plot intrigues me. So, you see, you will not be rid of me so easily.’

  She smiled wanly at what was meant to be a joke, but there was in his dark eyes something she could not fathom. He seemed to be able to see through the masculine garments she wore to the softly feminine woman she really was, a woman who craved tenderness and love, something he had demonstrated he was capable of giving when he kissed her. Love! Oh, no, she had eschewed that and he must never be allowed to weaken that resolve. She was a source of amusement to him, a nuisance, always into scrapes from which he was obliged to rescue her. Never again, she told herself, never again. She curtsied. ‘Goodnight, Sir Ashley.’

  Ash strode to the Manor with Ben beside him. The village was in darkness as it had been when the smugglers had landed three nights before and there was now no one on the beach. When the Revenue men arrived, they would be too late; the contraband would be hidden and the villagers all in their beds. He smiled ruefully to himself; once again Miss Kingslake had thwarted his investigation.

  ‘I am sorry to be a trouble to you, sir,’ Ben said.

  ‘You will be a lot sorrier if you do not do as I bid.’

  ‘I will, sir, I will. Anything you say.’

  ‘You must be thankful that Sir Felix is inclined to be well disposed towards you. Any other magistrate might be less accommodating.’

  ‘That’s on account of him hoping to marry Pippa.’

  He ought not to quiz the boy about her, but he could not help allowing his curiosity to get the better of him. ‘And will she accept him, do you think?’

  ‘Might—she’s not likely to get another offer at her age, so Mama says. But I hope she don’t.’

  Ash silently agreed. ‘Why not?’’

  ‘Don’t like him. He’s too pompous. And I heard he wasn’t kind to his previous wives. They both died young.’

  ‘Good enough reasons, I suppose. But I believe there was someone once who caught her eye.’

  ‘Edward Cadogan, yes, but that didn’t come to anything. She said they would not suit, though I reckon there was more to it than that. Miserable she was, snapping at everyone.’

  ‘Edward Cadogan?’ Ash repeated, shocked. ‘You mean heir to Lord Cadogan of Holbeach?’

  ‘That’s the one. Do you know him?’

  Ash’s only answer was a grunt. Edward Cadogan was his cousin on his mother’s side. Aunt Gertrude, Teddy’s mother, had said he had been disappointed in love and had asked Ash to help him come out of it. ‘Take him to London,’ she had said. ‘Introduce him to some suitable young ladies.’ Ash had done his best, but the trouble was that Edward, once out from under his mother’s thumb, was quite capable of behaving rashly. He had been bored and had soon discovered the ladies of the night, who were suitable only for amusement and satisfying a man’s physical needs, not what his aunt had in mind at all. When she found out, she had come up to London, rung a peal over Ash, as if it were all his fault, and taken her son back home. A little while after that Edward had gone to India.

  Had Edward really decried Pippa’s red hair and used it as an excuse not to marry her? How could he? He was not a cruel man; in fact, he was on the soft side, allowing his mother to dictate to him. She was a strange woman, extremely superstitious, so she might have said something about red hair being the mark of the devil. Had that really been enough to put Edward off? He found it hard to believe, but if that was really what had happened, it was no wonder Pippa had become hard and mannish and why she had assumed no one would marry a red-haired woman. He found himself wishing he could put it right, persuade her that not all men were so unchivalrous.

  ‘You won’t tell Pippa I told you that, will
you?’ Ben said. ‘She will be very angry and Pippa in a temper is not something you want to see, I can promise you.’

  ‘No, I will not tell her.’

  But it had given him food for thought.

  Sir Ashley, Augusta, Babette and Ben set off early the following morning and as soon as they were out of sight, Pippa set about looking for Nat. She searched every nook and cranny of the house and the outbuildings and quizzed Joe mercilessly, to no avail; her brother was nowhere to be found. She poked about in the church and the inn, pretending to have lost a shawl. She asked in the village, phrasing her question carefully, but no one had seen him, except John Bristow, who told her Nat had been on the beach the previous night and related with glee how he had bowled him over. She felt obliged to tell him the truth, which made him laugh so much the tears ran down his face.

  ‘And what have you discovered about the guest at the Manor?’ he asked, when he had finished laughing.

  ‘Nothing. As far as I can tell he is a gentleman amusing himself travelling about the country. And he has gone now.’

  ‘Good. We don’ want strangers poking their noses into our business, do we?’

  ‘What am I to do about Nat?’ she asked, refusing to be drawn on what Sir Ashley was up to.

  ‘I’ll ask some of the others if they know what’s happened to him, but I’ll swear he got into that longboat.’

  ‘If he did go on board the Sally Ann, why did he not come back when the rest of the contraband was landed yesterday?’

  ‘I dunno, do I?’ He was clearly not concerned.

  Pippa had returned home and tried to settle down to write, but, for the first time in her life, the words would not flow. There was nothing swashbuckling in the real-life smugglers, especially as she was so closely involved. As were Nat and Ben and Sir Ashley. Sir Ashley was the problem. She kept stopping, her pen idle in her hand, because he would not leave her head and, while it was filled with thoughts of him, she could not concentrate on anything else.