Jonathan merely stood perfectly still, and waited. His patience was rewarded when the man spoke.
“Nobody likes him around here much, sir,” the man whispered as he cast a furtive look around him in search of witnesses. “There is something odd about him.”
“I know there is,” Jonathan replied equally quietly. He was glad that the man had chosen to confide in him, but made a mental note to ensure that the gossipy excise man was moved on as soon as Harrison left his post. Excise men as unprofessionally co-operative as the one before him should not be working on government business. “Keep an eye on the man for me and, if you uncover anything untoward, it is in your best interests to make sure either myself, or Mr Hamilton-Smythe, learn about it in the first instance. Do you understand?” The man nodded emphatically and an almost malicious glee entered his eyes.
“Don’t tell Harrison I have been,” Jonathan ordered. He rapped his knuckles gently on the highly polished desk briefly and took his leave with a warning look before he left the building. He closed the front door. The man’s simpering ‘yes sir, anything you say sir,’ still rang in his ears, and he sighed. The man really would have to go.
Right now, Jonathan knew that had to find out what Harrison had uncovered, if anything, in Bentney on Sea. As far as he was concerned, searching a small fishing village like Bentney shouldn’t take several hours. As he rode toward home, he mentally sent a prayer up that nothing even remotely related to smuggling could be found in his home village. If it was, then he had a hell of a lot of explaining to do to Hugo and his colleagues.
Kat sighed and stared at the greasy young man who stood before her. Arrogance hung over him like a cloak. His hawkish features were swathed in a mixture of condescending malice and ruthlessness that made Kat want to smack his face. Her fingers curled into her palms and she stared coldly back at Brian Meldrew, the albatross of the village.
Nobody liked him, but nobody could get rid of him either. His mother, poor soul, appeared to be completely oblivious to just how vile her son really was. Kat wondered whether she was ignorant of her son’s appalling reputation, or just chose to ignore the fact that she had made such a mess of rearing the most obnoxious human being in the entire county of Cornwall. Unfortunately, Brian wasn’t alone. His associates, Wally, Robert and Colin, stood only a few feet behind him and they had equally vile smirks on their faces.
When she had returned Molly to her field, she had not noticed that Brian and his friends had followed her. She was now out in the middle of nowhere, far away from help. She stood face to face with four of the village’s most troublesome occupants, with nobody to help her for miles around.
“Go away, all of you,” Kat sighed and gave Molly a gentle pat before she turned toward the gate only for Brian to jump in her path to stop her from leaving. Noise from behind warned her that his friends had gathered around. She wondered where this stand-off was going to take her. Determined not to give them the satisfaction of knowing they unnerved her, she fought down the flutter of nerves, squared her shoulders and hardened the arrogant stare she threw back at Brian.
“Oh, the Kat has claws,” he smirked and grinned at his own inventiveness.
“God, if that is as good as you can manage, heaven help us all,” Kat sighed. Weariness weighed heavily on her shoulders but her day was far from over yet. She was tired, hungry, and still had to go over to Dentham House to read to Jonathan’s uncle before her shift at the tavern started. The last thing she wanted, or needed, was to stand in the middle of a field being harassed by these wastrels.
“You would be wise to curb your smart mouth against me Kat Baird,” Brian snapped. All trace of mirth abruptly left his face. The cold, hard mask he now wore made a shiver run down her spine. A flurry of nerves settled deep into the pit of her stomach and the growing fear that she was in deep trouble began to make her feel physically sick. Brian, she could just about fight off, but the three behind her? She had no chance. The best she could manage was to try to bluff her way out of the field and run hell for leather for home.
With a quick glance down at the ground, a thought began to unfurl in her mind and a look of malice entered her eyes. Determined not to give in, she firmed her chin mutinously. She straightened her spine and stared arrogantly back at Brian.
“I can distinctly remember watching your mother change your dirty backside as a kid, Brian Meldrew, so don’t come that bully-boy rubbish with me,” she wagged her finger at him in her best motherly manner and curled her lip. “Take it from me, if you start with me then I shall take great delight in giving you a lesson that you will never forget.”
Her confidence was boosted by the hesitation that flickered on his face and she turned around to stare at each young man in turn.
“It’s about time you lot got yourselves jobs. Maybe then it will stop you being the pariah’s of the village. Keep causing trouble and we will all drive each of you out on your ear,” she snarled. She spun around and moved until she was nose to nose with Brian. The hesitant step back he made was all she needed. She was unwilling to relinquish the upper hand she had won. Her hands landed firmly on her hips and she stared at each man as though they were nothing more than naughty little boys. She was rewarded when Wally shuffled uncomfortably and stared down at his feet as though he wasn’t sure what to do. Brian merely stared back with a frown while being watched by Colin and Robert, who daren’t move without orders.
“I think you had better not cross me again, or you will be sorry,” Kat snapped. She shoved roughly at Brian and bent down to scoop something off the floor while he regained his balance and couldn’t see what she was doing. As expected, her elbow was caught in Brian’s painful grip as he swung her around to face him.
He intended to threaten her again. What he got instead was a face full of Molly’s richest manure, which Kat took great delight in rubbing into his face. He immediately relinquished his hold and spat the foul straw covered mass out of his mouth, while his friends smothered their laughs.
“I wouldn’t stand there smirking if I were you,” she growled and gave each of them a warning glare before she shoved Brian roughly out of the way.
It took every ounce of self control she possessed not to run for her life. She could hear the muttered conversation behind her, and was half way to the gate when she heard Brian order, ‘get her’.
Fear locked in her throat. Lifting her skirt, she ran the last few feet to the gate and hurtled over the top so swiftly that she didn’t notice the dark flurry of movement to her right until the horse’s terrified squeal rang loudly in her ears.
“Good God, woman. What are you trying to do, get yourself killed?” Jonathan snapped with a scowl. He froze at the sight of the fear evident on Kat’s face. He took a quick look at the four men who raced towards them and moved his horse around until he blocked Kat from their view. He didn’t wait for permission, and grabbed hold of Kat. The effortless way he swung her up behind him left her clinging on for dear life.
“Hold on,” Jonathan growled.
It all happened so swiftly that Kat gasped for breath as she clutched the back of his riding jacket with desperate hands. She wondered why he made no effort to race away and took a breath to ask him when he shifted before her. Her hold was loosened by his movement and she had to fight to keep her seat on the rear of the horse. Her view was blocked by the broad width of his shoulders. She wasn’t tall enough to see whatever he had in his hand, but whatever it was had enough impact to make all four of her pursuers slam to a stop on the other side of the gate. Their gazes were fixed on whatever he held and they made no attempt to approach any further.
“Who are these people?” Jonathan drawled, and threw her a questioning glance.
“These are the village’s worst occupants. Brian, Wally, Robert and Colin are all wastrels who have far too much time on their hands and are the worst of bullies,” Kat reported sharply. She wished her voice didn’t tremble so much but she shook uncontrollably and didn’t seem able to control it.
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“I was just bringing Molly back to her field for the night before going to read to your uncle, but then this lot turned up looking for trouble.” She gasped when Jonathan moved to sit sideways in the saddle so he could face the men without the need to dismount. He studied her so carefully that she had to work hard not to squirm under his intense stare.
“Did they hurt you?”
“No, but they would like to,” Kat whispered.
The lingering fear in her eyes unmanned him. It made him furiously angry that anyone would threaten any woman’s safety in such a way, and it angered him even more that Kat was the person they had chosen for their target of the day. He wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t turned up when he had, and quickly closed that thought out. Four men in a field with one woman – the prospect of her getting out unscathed was remote. He stared stonily down at the defiant men gathered before him.
“I suggest that you all depart this area, now, before I really have to get down and teach you all not to mess with this woman,” Jonathan drawled, aware that the gun in his hand had drawn the attention of all of them. The implied threat he carried was enough to keep them at bay. He could see from their assessing gazes that they were trying to figure out if he would actually shoot them. Luckily, nobody had the courage to test him.
Eventually, Wally sighed and climbed over the gate. He sidled around Jonathan’s horse warily, and began to walk down the narrow lane toward the village. He was soon followed by Robert, Wally and lastly Brian, who paused beside Kat.
“Later,” Brian warned. His gaze was defiant and he studied the gun in Jonathan’s hand dismissively for a moment before he flicked Kat with a warning glance. “You will be alone some time Kat Baird, and you will be sorry for it.” He didn’t glance back as he made his threat, but then he didn’t have to. He knew that she understood she was at risk when she left work at night, and she felt a wave of revulsion sweep over her again.
Kat slumped with relief when they disappeared around the bend in the road. Her shivers took over to the point that she wasn’t sure how she managed to stay on the horse. She made no protest as Jonathan’s long arm swept around her waist and drew her into an awkward hug. She leaned closer to him and savoured his strength for several moments while she gathered her nerves.
“I am sorry,” she whispered when she eventually drew away. The concern in his eyes made her want to cry for some reason, and she hadn’t done that since her father died several years back. She wasn’t a habitual crier, mainly because she rarely got the time to indulge in such wayward emotions.
“Who are they?” Jonathan asked. He dipped his head to look down into her pale face and wished that they didn’t have to sit so awkwardly, but at least she let him hold her. That was far more than he had ever expected and he wasn’t about to break that hold just yet. She was softly rounded, curvy almost. The dips, hollows and sweetly rounded curves that fit against him felt as though she had been made specifically for him.
“Brian Meldrew is a spoilt little boy. His dad used to run one of the fishing trawlers, but went out to sea one day and didn’t come back.” Kat sighed. “Rumour has it that his boat didn’t go down. One or two of the fishermen swear blind they have seen it head back to one of the ports further along the coast. The gossips say that he has found another woman and simply vanished to live with her, but nobody can prove anything.”
“Go on,” Jonathan sighed and used her distraction to draw her infinitesimally closer. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t seem to notice their physical proximity. He did not want to take advantage of her. That was not in his nature, he just wanted to give her comfort.
“His mother ruined him. Gave him whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it, but she could not cope with him and he has run riot ever since. As he has grown older, his behaviour has deteriorated considerably. He believes he is beyond the law. He steals what he cannot afford to buy and has been linked to some of the muggings, rapes and petty crime in the area, although always seems to get away with it.”
“What about his associates?” Jonathan made a mental note of all of their descriptions and looked forward to being able to pay each of them a visit.
“Wally, Walter Seabourne, is the youngest of all of them and is very impressionable. Some question whether he is a bit simple,” she shared a knowing look with him. “He goes along with anything anyone suggests, yet is always kind and helpful when not in the company of the others. Because he is so impressionable, Brian and his friends manage to get him to do all sorts of things they themselves don’t want to get caught doing.”
“Is he another fisherman’s off-spring?”
“No, he is the son of the farmer from Seabourne Farm.” She nodded down the road behind them and watched recollection dawn on Jonathan’s tanned face.
He really was incredibly handsome. Up close, his brown hair had been tousled by the stiff sea breeze but rather than make him look unkempt, it gave him a roguish look that accompanied the devilish twinkle in his blue-green eyes; eyes that now studied so closely that she struggled to remember how to breathe.
She realised then that he was waiting for her to expand on her explanation of the men she had just encountered. She gave herself a mental shake and turned her attention back to Walter Seabourne.
“He is quite nondescript. Helps out on his family’s farm but seems to have gone off the rails of late, ever since he met Brian, as a matter of fact. I don’t know much else about him, except that he also does everything Brian asks of him.”
Jonathan scowled at that and stared darkly down the lane after the boys. “What about the others?”
“Robert Taylor is a bully through and through. He is the kind of person who would drown kittens just for the laugh. He isn’t averse to breaking children’s toys when he passes them just to prove that he can do what he wants and get away with it. He is a horrible man who is too big for his boots.”
“Parents?”
“None. He lives with his grandma in Smisben.”
Jonathan lifted his brows.
“Colin Foster is also from the village but comes from a family who are just as bad as he is. The trawler they run is barely able to stay afloat yet they continue to take it out.”
“I take it that Colin works on the trawler?”
“Yes, but unfortunately that gives him the rest of the day to cause trouble.”
Jonathan sighed. He knew that none of the boys posed any serious threat to him, they were in his eyes still boys, however they did pose a threat to Kat, and that was something Jonathan had to put a stop to. As quickly as possible given the sinister threat Brian had just issued.
Jonathan gently placed a kiss on her forehead in an almost fatherly manner. The warmth of his lips as they briefly pressed against her cold brow made her gasp in surprise but, before she could fathom what to say to him, he relinquished his hold and turned to face forward.
“Let’s get you home,” he drawled.
“I was going to go to read to your uncle,” Kat murmured from behind him. For some reason, she was strangely reluctant to put her hands on him, much less her arms around him. She was astonishingly aware that her skirts were rucked up above her knees. As they made their way toward the village, she frantically tried to think of something to say that would make him leave her at the edge of the village. While she didn’t want to offend him, she didn’t want the gossips to have a field day. Although being connected with the lord of the manor wouldn’t be too much of a discredit, she didn’t want her virtuous reputation to be tarnished by being branded his lover, his whore or anything else they wanted to call her. She couldn’t lose sight of just how easily he disappeared from the village, and stayed away for many months at a time. She didn’t want the pitying looks, or suspicious glances, when people assumed that she was his dumped lover.
To her consternation, Jonathan insisted on her riding to the front gate of the first house that marked the edge of the village. Even then she had to persistently nag him until he sighed
and agreed to allow her to dismount. To her dismay however, he dismounted too and insisted on escorting her to her front door. She was aware of the curious looks and the cautious greetings of her neighbours as they passed, but didn’t take the time to explain.
She tried to say goodbye to him at the front door, only to be thwarted by her own family. As soon as she opened the door, she walked in and caught sight of her mother. The initial shock that appeared on Agnes’ face when she caught sight of Jonathan behind Kat was quickly replaced with a cautious smile of welcome.
Kat’s eyes met and held her mother’s for a moment and she silently willed Jonathan not to tell her mother what had happened. Her mother had enough to worry about as it was.
“Kat has been accosted by Brian Meldrew and his gang,” Jonathan warned darkly when he was waved into the room and offered a seat. He watched horror flood Agnes’ face and understood in that moment just how much of a threat Brian and his associates posed to Kat.
Although Kat had done her best to put on a show of bravado, he knew now why she had high-tailed it over the gate as quickly as she had. Had she not wanted to lose face in front of him? For some reason that thought touched him deeply, and he felt a gentleness sweep through him that made him want to hug her. It drew out his fierce protectiveness even more and he knew that whatever it took, Kat and her family had to remain safe; from smugglers, from Brian and his gang, from the mysterious Harrison and, to his even bigger concern, his work with the Star Elite.
“She is alright, but I think it would be best for now if she doesn’t go anywhere alone,” Jonathan sighed. He ignored Kat’s put upon sigh and turned to stare at Agnes. “I thwarted them this time but they gave her a hard time in Molly’s field and I dread to think what would have happened had I not turned up.” He pointedly ignored Kat’s impatient sigh and gave Agnes a warning look.
My Lord Deceived Page 6