Amanda Scott - [Dangerous 03]

by Dangerous Illusions

  “I believe you said you had cousins in St. Ives,” Daintry said, hoping the remark was not too pointed.

  Evidently it was. Flushing, Catherine said, “You are thinking of the dreadful accusations Susan made, and believe I ought to leave, but she has apologized to me, you see, and I am quite willing to forgive her, for she must have been utterly furious with Geoffrey. I have told him he mustn’t look to me for sympathy, either, for in my opinion, he was much too harsh with her. Men do tend to forget their own strength, do they not?”

  Susan was smiling at her husband, and just then he put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. For the first time, Daintry’s convictions were shaken.

  “You see,” Catherine said softly. “He loves her very much and is truly sorry to have hurt her. He will not do so again, for he has promised us both that he will not.”

  At the table, Daintry saw nothing to indicate that Susan was not content in her marriage. Nothing at all was said about the day before, and when she said Charley had been disappointed not to be allowed to accompany Melissa home, Seacourt said she could visit whenever she liked. “And you must come often yourself,” he added. “Here we are, so near, yet so far that Susan sometimes begins to think she lives in quite another county altogether.”

  Later, as they were driving away, Lady Ophelia said with satisfaction, “That looks to be going well now, very well indeed. We have taught Sir Geoffrey a valuable lesson, I think, my dear.”

  “Perhaps,” Daintry said, but she decided to put him to a more severe test. In the weeks left before Christmas, instead of attending house parties as she had planned to do, she would visit Seacourt Head often, with or without Charley, to discover for herself if what they had seen today was truth or illusion.

  She had turned to confide this simple plan to Lady Ophelia when the first shots rang out.

  Sixteen

  THE CARRIAGE SLOWED RAPIDLY, and Daintry heard the driver shouting at the horses to “Whoa.” Looking out the window, she saw several masked horsemen approaching, pistols drawn.

  “Highwaymen!” she exclaimed.

  “Villains,” Lady Ophelia said grimly. “Dash, I must take off my gloves!”

  Daintry, startled nearly as much by these words as by the approaching highwaymen, turned sharply to see that Lady Ophelia was struggling to tug a pistol from her large reticule. The old lady snapped, “Don’t sit gaping, child. Your father never thought it right to mount proper holsters in his carriages, on account of you girls and then Charlotte, but no sensible person travels the moors these days without a weapon at hand. We have just been fortunate enough never to need this one before.”

  Daintry stared. “But do you know how to use it, ma’am?”

  “Certainly. Papa taught me. Like this.” She put down her window and a deafening shot rang out. Daintry looked out again just as one of the villains yelled and clapped a hand to his shoulder. “Got him,” Lady Ophelia said with satisfaction.

  “Goodness, ma’am, that was an excellent shot!”

  “Would have been if I’d been aiming at him,” the old lady said. “Dash, the others are still coming! I believe this thing fires twice. Let us see if it will.”

  It did. “That does for them,” she announced happily, banging with the butt of the pistol on the forewall of the coach. “Drive on, Cotter, drive on! I hope those men are not greater nincompoops than I think, and have sense enough not to follow.”

  But the men had retired, evidently believing themselves defeated, and the rest of the trip was without incident. At Tuscombe, the earl chose to make light of the matter.

  “Disgruntled miners, no doubt, looking for easy pickings,” he said when they told him what had happened. “Lots of that sort of nonsense going on hereabouts, what with the bread shortages and so many of the mines closing down. But upon my word, Ophelia, it’s lucky you didn’t blow your fool head off with that damned popgun. If you must go gallivanting over the countryside, take care that Cotter and your footmen are armed from now on.”

  Thus it was that the first few times Daintry took Charley to visit Melissa, they went by carriage, making the journey over and back a full day’s business, but though they heard of other incidents occurring elsewhere, they saw not the least hint of danger to themselves and soon began riding the cliff path instead, which made the journey much shorter.

  Daintry was determined to make her presence felt at Seacourt Head, and Susan’s delight in the frequent visits was obvious, making her certain that they forced Seacourt to keep his promise to control his temper. Lady Catherine Chauncey was still with them and clearly had no plan to depart until after Christmas. Her cousins at St. Ives, she said, had gone to visit friends in Devonshire, and she had no notion when they meant to return.

  Daintry heard nothing from Deverill, nor did she see him, although it had become her habit to ride on the moor any early morning that it was not fogbound. By mid-December, with an increasing hint of snow in the air, such mornings became rare, but she did not want to leave matters as they were, because she was still determined to end the feud between the two families and knew she could scarcely make any progress toward that end if she remained at outs with Deverill.

  She thought about writing to him again, but although she sat down to do so several times, she could not bring herself to send the letters. Now that she knew he was simply a traditional male with traditional values and attitudes about female behavior, she was certain he would think less of her if she committed the social solecism of writing to a man not only unrelated to her but whose family was at outs with her own. Moreover, each time she picked up her pen, the words flowed from its nib as if she wrote to an intimate friend, and since she was well aware that she wrote to the mysterious stranger she had concocted in her imagination and not to the real Deverill at all, she was certain that to send any such letter would be utter folly.

  Thus, when she did meet him one fine afternoon, she instantly recalled letters written with an intimacy that had no place in their real relationship. Moreover, she and Charley were not alone, for Davina, home from her most recent house party and forced to remain for a few days before attending another, had chosen to accompany them. It was she who first saw Deverill.

  “There is someone riding yonder,” she cried as they galloped together toward Dozmary Pool, that ancient haunt of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. “Perhaps it’s the ghost of Sir Bedivere, riding to throw the sword Excalibur into the pool.”

  Daintry, seeing the rider and recognizing his form at once but determined to give Davina no cause for teasing or comment, said lightly as she slowed Cloud, “More likely it is the ghost of that wicked fellow who was forced to empty the pool with a perforated limpet shell to atone for his sins.”

  Charley, hearing them, laughed. “It is Lord Deverill, Mama, on Shadow. A most magnificent animal!”

  “Yes,” Davina said, her eyes twinkling as she exchanged a look with Daintry, “he certainly is.”

  Daintry said nothing, drawing rein and pretending to keep her interest focused on the dark and lonely lake that for centuries had fascinated local inhabitants and visitors alike. Though its shores were said to have been inhabited before any other inland area of Cornwall, the place had been desolate for years, peopled only by ghosts and legends. “Hard to imagine now that it was once thought to be bottomless,” she said casually.

  But the others were paying her no heed. Charley had waved to Deverill, who was riding straight toward them, and Davina’s interest was clearly riveted upon the magnificent figure he made.

  He was with them in moments, greeting them politely, then saying, “And where are your grooms today, ladies?”

  Charley said, “Oh, we didn’t want them. Mama said we should bring them, but Aunt Daintry said we needn’t. What can they do that we cannot do ourselves?”

  Deverill was looking at Daintry, and she felt telltale warmth enter her cheeks. Having so frequently imagined his presence and herself making peace with him, she discovered now tha
t he was with her that she could think of nothing to say. She wished her body were not so aware of his presence. She wanted to glare at him, to let him know she was still angry with him for refusing to help Susan, but she could not even seem to look at him. Perversely, it occurred to her just then that regardless of what had happened at the Assize Court in Launceston, he had stood beside her to face Jervaulx, and for the first time she wondered if she had been unreasonable to resent the fact that he had not then danced to the tune of her choosing. Now, confronting him, she felt like a schoolgirl, and a shy one, which she had never been even at the age of twelve or thirteen.

  He said, seemingly in response to Charley, though Daintry knew he was still looking at her, “My dear child, this part of the moor is not safe for females traveling alone. The three of you ought to know better than to come so far without escort.”

  Was that why he had ridden here, Daintry wondered, because he had not expected her to do so? Had he hoped to avoid just such an encounter as this one?

  Davina said lightly, “We did not mean to come so far, sir, I assure you, but these two just seem to forget where they are once they throw themselves atop a horse, and whoever is with them either rides along or is left behind. Not that anyone could blame them on such a beautiful day. We seldom see so much sun at this time of year in Cornwall, you know.”

  Collecting her wits, Daintry said in what she hoped was as light a tone as Davina’s, “It can be nothing to you what we do, sir. My father did not forbid our coming here.”

  “The miners are restive,” he said, his voice still even but with a note in it that reminded her suddenly of how quickly his temper could rise. “Even I have been fired upon twice, for there is widespread discontent, which no doubt will continue until such time as they can more easily feed and clothe their families.”

  Nodding wisely, Charley said, “That is just what Grandpapa said, sir, when Aunt Daintry and Aunt Ophelia were shot at one time, coming home from Seacourt Head.”

  Daintry glanced at him then and the look on his face sent a shiver racing up her spine. Certain that it would be wise to divert him before he could respond to Charley’s naive revelation, she blurted out the first thing that came into her head. “Do you know the legend of Excalibur, Deverill? When we first caught sight of you, Davina thought you might be the ghost of Sir Bedivere riding away after the battle with Mordred, after he had thrown the sword into Dozmary Pool.”

  His hard expression did not alter. “Bedivere at least understood obedience and sensible behavior. Who fired at you?”

  “Why, we presume now that they were some of those miners you mentioned, although we did not see them closely enough to identify them. At the time, we thought they were highwaymen.”

  “Since you are unharmed, I suppose your people were armed.”

  “Not then, although they are always well armed now.” Saying the words, she realized they really had been foolish to ride so far from home without their grooms, but it had been just as Davina had said. They had meant to go only a short distance, but the mixture of sunshine, idle conversation, and a tremendous urge to let the horses stretch their legs had carried them much farther than they had intended to ride. She saw the thought form in his mind as clearly as if it had been her own and said quickly, “Aunt Ophelia carries a pistol in that huge reticule of hers, and she managed to injure one and frighten the rest off.”

  “The redoubtable Lady Ophelia,” Deverill murmured, but the stern look disappeared from his face just as she had hoped it would. “If you are returning to Tuscombe Park now,” he added, “I will do myself the honor to accompany you.”

  Charley and Davina accepted with alacrity, and the latter managed to manipulate matters so that Deverill was soon riding beside her. Daintry saw that he was perfectly willing to respond to Davina’s flirtatious manner, and when Davina mentioned that she and Charles were to be guests the following weekend at a house party in Truro, and hoped to see him there (as indeed they seemed, from the conversation, to have seen him at numerous other such parties), Deverill said he looked forward to seeing them again, too. Daintry had also been invited to the Truro house party but once again had sent her regrets, believing it was far more important to continue her visits to Seacourt Head. Now she tried to convince herself that she was glad she had done so.

  Deverill reined in when the road began to descend toward Tuscombe Park. “It would be unwise for me to accompany you farther,” he said, “and since you can now be seen from the stable yard, you will be perfectly safe.”

  Charley said bluntly, “Why do you not tell your papa to stop fighting with my grandpapa, sir?”

  He smiled. “Do you tell your papa or your grandpapa what to do, Miss Charlotte?”

  She shook her head. “No, but I am just a child. No one listens to me except Aunt Daintry and Aunt Ophelia.”

  Davina, laughing, said, “Unnatural girl, would you have him think your own mother pays you no heed? And to think I even exerted myself to come riding with you today!”

  “But it is the first time in ages you have done so, Mama,” Charley pointed out, “and you mostly talked with Aunt Daintry. I wish you would do it more often, however.” Turning back to Deverill, she said, “I do not think that for you to tell your papa is at all the same thing as for me to tell mine, sir.”

  “Perhaps not,” he agreed, “but I must warn you that parents rarely forget they are parents, and continue to treat their sons and daughters like children even after they are grown up.” He shifted his gaze to Daintry, saying ruefully, “I confess, though I did search the records for the years before my grandfather’s marriage, I have done no more to the purpose, for I’ve come to believe there is no one left who knows what began the feud.”

  She nodded, meeting his gaze, surprised to learn that he had not stopped thinking about it altogether. Quietly, she said, “I too have had no luck, though I did talk with my father. He said there were rumors, albeit no proof, that your grandfather was involved with Jacobites, and he mentioned petty incidents that have occurred, but even he seems not to know what began it all.”

  “But that’s plain silly,” Charley said. “Really, sometimes I think children are more intelligent than grown-ups are.”

  Davina said sharply, “That will be enough of your impudence, miss. If you really wish me to ride with you more often, you must take better care not to put me to the blush when I do.”

  Charley, flushing deeply, fell silent, but Deverill said dryly, “She makes a good point, you know. Since our families are neighbors, it seems ridiculous that we cannot mend the rift. Perhaps we can manage to bring our fathers together once everyone is fixed in London for the Season. When do you mean to go?”

  He was looking at Daintry again, but Davina answered, “We go in late February, sir, just before the opening of Parliament. Lady Ophelia has already begun to complain that she will get no sleep, but I just hope we do not find ourselves buried alive here in Cornwall from Christmas until London like we did last year!”

  “There will be shooting parties, and hunting, to amuse you.”

  “To amuse the gentlemen, you mean,” Davina retorted. “If you think a house party where the gentlemen retire immediately after dinner in order to be up at cockcrow to scramble through bushes and briars after elusive birds and rabbits—or to fling themselves onto horses to chase a fox—holds much amusement for their ladies, sir, you are mistaken.”

  Shooting a provocative look at Daintry, he said, “But ladies frequently hunt too, ma’am, and in any case, surely we are but carrying out our ancient masculine duty to put food on the table for those living under our protection.”

  Charley said, “Oh, but sir, Aunt Ophelia says—”

  “Lord Deverill,” Daintry said at the same time, grateful for an opportunity to vent at least some of her feelings, “surely you do not believe that any society, ancient or otherwise, has had to depend upon its hunters for food. Nowadays, most Englishmen take their guns out only when game is plentiful, and even in the old day
s it was more likely that such kills provided seasonal treats, just like they do now, while the family’s daily dependence was on the bounty of orchards and gardens planted, tended, and harvested by its womenfolk. Moreover, sir—”

  “No more,” Deverill said, laughing. “You had been so quiet that I found myself unable to resist casting a fly to see if I could get a rise. I look forward to Truro, ladies. Good day.”

  Gideon rode away with a smile on his face. She had been glad to see him, and she had not liked it one bit when he had flirted with her sister-in-law. Realizing now that she had been singularly silent on the subject of Truro, he wondered if she would be at the house party. He hoped so, but then he had assumed that she would be present at many of the other parties he had attended, which, if the truth were told, had been the primary reason he had attended as many as he had. It had been fine to renew old friendships again, to be sure, and to see men with whom he had served on the Continent, but everywhere he had gone, he had found himself searching for one face, and with the exception of the Mount Edgcumbe party, he had searched in vain.

  Charles and Davina Tarrant had been at many of those same parties, and though he had not wanted to make an issue of asking after Daintry, he had once approached Davina in hopes of leading casually to his point, only to encounter a savage look from her husband that made him change his mind. It made him wonder, too, if perhaps St. Merryn had forbidden his daughter to attend any more house parties simply because she might encounter him again.

  He no longer questioned his feelings but conceded that he had been drawn to her from the first. The young woman intrigued him, surprised him, outraged him, and delighted him. She made him feel protective one moment, exasperated the next. She flatly refused to see any point but her own, her temper was frequently as ungoverned as Charley’s, and she was a darling. He had set out to tame her. Now he just wanted her. Winning her would be difficult, certainly, but he had never yet run from a challenge.