‘You-you didn’t have to do that,’ she said, her voice shaking a little as the carriage drove on.
‘It was well worth the effort, for if ever anyone deserved it, he did,’ he replied, leaning his head back and closing his eyes for a moment.
Blanche looked at him with swift alarm, for there were beads of perspiration on his forehead, and his face had gone a little gray. She put her hand quickly over his. ‘Sir Edmund…?’
‘It’s all right, Blanche, it will pass in a moment.’
‘You shouldn’t have done something like that, least of all on account of a toad like Antony Mortimer! Your wounds….’
‘Grow less tiresome every day,’ he interrupted quietly, smiling at her.
‘But by doing something as strenuous as that, you could have set your recovery back!’
‘It would take much more than that to set me back, Blanche,’ he said softly, putting a hand to her chin and tilting her face a little. His lips brushed hers in a kiss so tender and fleeting that she barely felt the touch, but she was very conscious of the caress, so conscious that her whole being flared into complete awareness of him.
But then he released her, turning away to hold the carriage blind aside. ‘We’ll soon be at Amberley St Mary,’ he murmured, as if nothing had happened.
Confusion tumbled wildly through her, and she didn’t know what to say or do. But then came cold common sense. She had to take her cue from him, and behave as if nothing had happened, for that was the way he wished it to be. The kiss had been a gesture, no more than that, and even though she wished she could read so much more into it, she knew that she would be foolish to do so.
CHAPTER 23
By seven o’clock that evening, all interested parties had gathered in readiness at Amberley Court. Colonel Cummings and his men had ridden from Cheltenham, and Jonathan and Deborah had driven from Eastington House. The soldiers waited in the kitchens, where they were served refreshment while they waited for the orders to disperse to their various positions, but everyone else waited in the grand chamber.
The minutes passed so slowly that the suspense became unbearable, and at last Blanche could endure it no more. She rose to her feet, drawing her shawl more closely around her arms and shoulders.
‘Forgive me, Sir Edmund, but I can’t just sit here. Would you mind very much if I walked in the gallery?’
‘The gallery? Why of course, if that is your wish, but if Neville should arrive….’
‘I will keep well out of sight,’ she replied, gathering her gray woolen skirts and hurrying out. Her light shoes tapped on the hall’s tiled floor as she made her way quickly toward the staircase, pausing for the briefest of moments to look at the portrait of Queen Elizabeth and the Amberley pendant. Then she hurried on up to the floor above, where the great gallery stretched away along the western wing of the house, unlit and shadowy in the winter darkness.
In the past, the gallery had been used for strolling when the weather was inclement, but now it was simply a place of display, where the paintings, sculptures, and fine porcelain that graced Amberley Court could be gazed upon and admired. Cabinets lined the walls, and dark green velvet curtains were drawn across the tall windows.
The cold didn’t seem to touch her as she walked slowly along the gallery’s full length, and then turned to walk back again. The atmosphere of the house folded over her, carrying her back to happier times, when she and Jonathan had chased each other where she walked now. They had never dreamed then that Amberley Court would fall out of their hands and belong to another, everything had seemed so simple; one day Jonathan would marry and raise children of his own in the house where his family had lived for centuries, and she, Blanche, would marry as well, and have to leave, but the house would still be in the family, there for her to visit whenever she chose.
She paused by a window, stepping behind the drawn curtain to stand in the embrasure, looking across the park toward the river, which swept toward the sea, a dark snake curving through the snowy, moonlit countryside.
The light of a carriage lamp pierced the darkness from the drive, arcing across the snow as the vehicle drove toward the house. Her heartbeats quickened, for it must be Roderick Neville. Slipping from the embrasure, she ran along the gallery, past the head of the staircase to a window that overlooked the front of the house. From there she could see the carriage approaching. She pressed close to the glass, her hands shielding her eyes from the candlelight that reached up out of the great hall below, and suddenly she saw the carriage quite clearly. It was a gleaming black vehicle drawn by a team of blood bays. Her breath caught on a gasp of dismay, for it was Athena’s carriage.
Gathering her skirts again, she fled back to the staircase to warn the others, but Sir Edmund was at that moment mounting the staircase toward her. He halted as she appeared.
‘Blanche? What is it? Is he here?’
‘It’s Lady Hetherington’s carriage, Sir Edmund!’
‘Athena?’ He turned, looking toward the main door, where the sound of the carriage could now be heard.
Evans emerged a little concernedly from the direction of the kitchens, and saw Sir Edmund on the staircase. ‘Sir, I believe it’s her ladyship!’
‘Yes, Evans. Show her in.’
‘Very well, sir.’ The butler walked to the door and went out into the night, where the carriage was drawing up at the porch.
Sir Edmund looked urgently up at Blanche. ‘Keep back out of sight until I know why she has come.’
‘But….’
‘Do as I say!’
Flinching a little at the vehemence of his order, she drew back up the staircase, melting back into the shadows by the gallery, but not so far back that she couldn’t see what took place in the hall below.
Evans came back inside. ‘I will inform Sir Edmund of your arrival, my lady,’ he was saying, obviously uncertain how to deal with the situation.
Athena followed him in. She wore a hooded white fur cloak that must have cost a fortune, and she flung the hood back as she saw Sir Edmund by the foot of the staircase. Diamonds glittered in her short dark chestnut hair and trembled from her ears, and there was a hint of rouge on her cheeks, giving her a flushed, animated look that enhanced her already breathtaking beauty.
‘Good evening, Edmund,’ she said softly, untying the strings of the cloak and allowing it to slither to the floor. Beneath it she wore a clinging white silk gown that was so sheer and delicate that it outlined every curve of her figure. The neckline dipped low over her full bosom, and the tiny sleeves left the clear pale skin of her arms exposed before they vanished into long, elegant white gloves. A spangled reticule was looped over one wrist, together with a fan that she now snapped open.
‘Have you nothing to say to me, Edmund?’ she asked, as Evans closed the door, gathered the cloak from the floor and then fled from a scene he found very awkward and embarrassing.
Sir Edmund walked slowly toward her. ‘Why have you come back, Athena?’
‘Because I thought better of my departure. It was foolish and immature, and I regret it now.’
‘Indeed?’
‘I thought that if the dinner party was still to take place, then I would join it, as we had planned.’
‘The dinner party is not to take place, Athena, as you know well enough.’
A light passed through her lovely green eyes. ‘I thought we merely spoke in the heat of the moment last night,’ she murmured, stepping closer to him.
‘It’s finished, Athena, can’t you accept that? Your actions brought it all to an end, and I am not prepared to forget your duplicity.’
‘I’ve been a fool, Edmund, I fully accept that, but it’s all in the past now, and I want to try again. I promise it will be different this time.’
‘What’s happened, Athena? Has he gone back to London?’
She drew back a little, the diamonds in her hair flashing in the light from the chandeliers. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘No? Athena, I left
you in London and came here alone because I wasn’t prepared to share you with the Earl of Mordene, and because I wasn’t prepared to go on encountering his unfortunate wife, who suspected nothing of his philandering with you. It was your wish that we try again, and so we did, but your interest in Mordene has continued, has it not? He followed you here to Gloucestershire and took rooms at the New Inn, where you went to him yesterday afternoon.’
‘That isn’t true!’ cried Athena, spots of high color staining her cheeks.
‘Isn’t it? Athena, you returned here very late last night, after claiming to have spent all that time with your brother….’
‘I did, I swear I did!’
‘Roderick was on duty yesterday afternoon; indeed, he came here to Amberley St Mary to carry out another search of Orchard Cottage. Where were you, Athena?’
‘I met people I knew and took dinner with them at the odious Saracen’s Head,’ she replied, her fan moving busily to and fro. She turned away, her gown soft against her magnificent figure. ‘Check with that fool of a landlord if you don’t believe me.’
‘And where were you today?’
‘I went to see Roderick again, if you must know, to tell him you’d unjustly ended our betrothal and that there was not to be a dinner party tonight, but he wasn’t there. He has the whole of today to himself, and no one knew where he’d gone.’
‘And then?’
‘Edmund, you begin to sound like a court-martial. I’m not one of your soldiers, you know,’ she countered, turning so that the gown clung still more.
Blanche gazed secretly down, her lips parting at the immodesty of the gown, which revealed only too clearly that the darling of London society wore very little, if anything, beneath. But the gown was of little real importance, for what Athena, Lady Hetherington, had to say was much more interesting than what she wore.
Sir Edmund’s attention was fully upon Athena. ‘You haven’t answered my question. What did you do after you left the barracks?’
‘I went to see Johnny and Phyllis Worthington at Winchcombe,’ she said smoothly. ‘Do you remember them? Johnny gambled his fortune away at White’s and they both had to retire to the wilds of the countryside.’ She smiled, coming to him. ‘Enough of this, my darling, for what does it matter where I went today? All that matters is that I’m here now, and I know we can still be happy together. Let me prove it to you, tonight….’ She linked her slender arms around his neck and reached up to kiss him passionately on the lips.
Slowly he put his hands up to disengage her. ‘No, Athena, for you no longer mean anything to me. You didn’t go to Winchcombe today, you went to the New Inn and Mordene!’
‘No!’
‘Damn it, I saw your carriage there! I know Mordene took rooms there, Athena, I made it my business to find out!’
Her green eyes were ablaze with anger and humiliation. ‘You-you’ve been spying on me?’ she cried, her hand raised to strike him.
He caught her wrist. ‘Call it spying if you wish, madam, but I prefer to call it belated common sense. You’d make a very poor wife, Athena, for I’d never know whose bed you were gracing when you weren’t in mine!’
‘How dare you!’ she breathed, her face pale except for the rouge she’d applied earlier.
Evans suddenly hurried into the hall again. ‘Sir Edmund, there’s a light vehicle approaching; I’m certain it’s the curricle you anticipate!’ The butler chose his words as tactfully as he could, because of Athena.
Sir Edmund nodded. ‘Take Lady Hetherington to the grand chamber, if you please, and inform Colonel Cummings that I’ve gone to deploy his men.’
‘Yes, Sir Edmund,’ replied Evans, looking at Athena. ‘If you will come this way, my lady…?’
She remained where he was, her green eyes suddenly sharp and shrewd. ‘I’m not going anywhere until I know what this is about. What’s going on, Edmund? Colonel Cummings is…’ She paused. ‘Is it Amberley? Is that it? Have you laid some sort of trap for him?’
Before he could respond, Evans spoke urgently to him. ‘The lieutenant’s curricle was approaching quickly, sir.’
Athena looked sharply at Sir Edmund. ‘Amberley doesn’t have a curricle,’ she said slowly, then her breath caught. ‘Roderick? Is it Roderick?’
Sir Edmund turned to the butler. ‘Stay here with her ladyship,’ he ordered, then he strode away toward the grand chamber to warn Colonel Cummings and Jonathan that their quarry was approaching.
It didn’t occur to him that Evans would do anything but obey instructions, but in the heat of the moment the butler felt he’d be better employed alerting the soldiers in the kitchens, and he dashed away. For the space of a heartbeat Athena was undecided, but then she fled toward the door, struggling to wrench it open.
Blanche hurried down the staircase to stop her, but it was too late, for Athena succeeded in opening it, and ran out into the night screaming a warning to her brother. ‘Roderick! Go back, it’s a trap!’
Sir Edmund was already running across the hall, dashing out after her, followed by Colonel Cummings, Jonathan, and the soldiers, who streamed noisily from the kitchens as they saw the officers running from the house.
Deborah hurried to join Blanche, and together they emerged from the porch, watching the lamps of the curricle as it still approached the house. Athena ran through the snow, her white gown almost invisible against it, and Sir Edmund, closely followed by Jonathan and Colonel Cummings and the soldiers pursued her, hoping against hope that she wouldn’t succeed in warning her brother.
But suddenly Roderick saw her, and began to sharply rein in his team of two. The horses strove to come to a standstill, going down almost on their haunches.
‘Go back, Roderick! It’s a trap!’ screamed Athena, stumbling a little with the effort of running through snow in her light evening slippers. Her warning reached him this time, and from the porch Blanche saw how he half-rose on the curricle seat as he saw the men in uniform running toward him.
He was galvanized into action, sitting down again and flinging his horses forward, but to turn he had to leave the relatively clear drive and strike through the deep, untrodden snow on the park itself, and the team had to put in a huge effort to complete the turn.
Sir Edmund was almost upon him, reaching out to try to snatch the bridle of the nearest horse. Roderick swung his whip, lashing at the tall figure in red, and to avoid being struck across the face, Sir Edmund had to fling himself to one side. The horses plunged in fear as the whip cracked, and they swerved, thrusting heavily against Sir Edmund, and knocking him bodily to the ground, where he lay motionless.
The curricle drove wildly on, sweeping wide in a circle and then back onto the drive again, where the crack of the whip swiftly brought the terrified team up to a reckless pace. The lamps moved away into the night as Roderick drove his horses to the utmost in order to escape capture.
CHAPTER 24
Blanche and Deborah stood frozen with dismay by the porch watching as Jonathan and the colonel knelt in the snow to attend to Sir Edmund. The soldiers continued to pursue the curricle, but it was drawing farther and farther away, and after a while they gave up the chase.
At last Blanche’s shocked immobility lifted, and followed by Deborah, she gathered her skirts to hurry after the soldiers toward where Sir Edmund lay, with Jonathan and the colonel still kneeling by him.
Seeing her distraught face as she reached them, Jonathan put up a warning hand. ‘He’s only unconscious, Sis.’ She gazed down at Sir Edmund’s pale, still face. His eyes were closed, and there wasn’t even the smallest flicker of movement. It was as if he were dead. Fear raced through her. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, Miss Amberley, for there is a pulse,’ replied Colonel Cummings, getting up and gazing after the fleeing curricle. ‘Damn it, we’ve lost the blackguard now.’
Blanche followed his gaze, and a sudden thought struck her. ‘Jonathan, if you and the colonel cut across the park to the postern gate into the lane, you may be able to reach
the fork in the road before he does. He’s bound to go the Gloucester way, for the other way leads nowhere, which means he has to drive past the fork!’
Jonathan rose slowly to his feet, his eyes quick with hope. ‘You’re right, Sis!’ He turned swiftly to the colonel. ‘Sir, we may still be able to catch him. There’s a short cut across the park.’
Colonel Cummings needed no second bidding. ‘Lead the way, man!’
They began to run back toward the house, the soldiers following, and Blanche heard Jonathan shout to Deborah to have Evans send someone for Doctor Paulet, and to have two men carry Sir Edmund inside.
As Deborah hurried back to the house again, Blanche sank to her knees by Sir Edmund’s head, taking it tenderly in her lap and smoothing the tangled dark hair back from his pale forehead. Tears stung her eyes as she willed his eyes to open, but they remained closed, his lashes black against his ashen cheek.
She had no thought of Athena, who’d remained nearby throughout, but a movement in the snow made her look up as Athena came toward her.
The two women met each other’s eyes, and Athena gave a thin smile. Her feline glance flickered toward Sir Edmund’s face, and the tender way Blanche cradled him close. ‘So, I was right, Miss Amberley, you aren’t the retiring little mouse, the innocent with no thought of passion.’
‘And how innocent have you been, my lady? What of your dealings with the Earl of Mordene?’ Blanche looked desperately past her toward the house. Why didn’t they come to carry him into the warmth?
‘You don’t believe all that, do you? My, my, what a gull you are, to be sure, far too rustic and inexperienced for the heat of London drawing rooms. The ways of high society are evidently totally unknown to you, otherwise you would under-stand more how people like Edmund and I go on. I would never be foolish enough to think I had sole claim to his bed, my dear; indeed, I’d have been amazed if I had. There were others before you, and there’ll be others after you, for you are simply a passing diversion. Did you know that you were the subject of a wager? He said that you would not succumb to his advances until the new year, but I was sure you’d surrender before Christmas. Was I right? Yes, I rather think I was, for your actions now aren’t those of a chaste young thing, are they? Do you love him, Miss Amberley?’
A Christmas Courtship Page 22