A Most Rebellious Debutante

by Karen Abbott

  ‘Are you all right, miss?’ Nora enquired anxiously.

  Lucy managed a faint smile. ‘Yes.’ She didn’t want to talk. She needed to think. ‘I’m just a little tired, that’s all.’

  ‘It was a lovely outing, miss. Mam and Da were right pleased to meet you. Did I do all right for yer, miss? Will you tell Mrs Cunningham?’

  ‘You did very well, Nora, and yes, I’ll tell Mrs Cunningham how efficient you have been. But I think I’ll close my eyes for a moment.’ She knew there was little point going to the village now. Potterill surely wouldn’t have the effrontery to try to recruit accomplices from there and the afternoon was passing by. It would be dark soon. If Theo or Lady Montcliffe were planning to return today, maybe he or she was already there. Unsuspecting targets.

  Since Potterill was hiring men to assist him in whatever foul deed he was planning, it must be happening soon. He wouldn’t want to give the men time to change their minds or inform the authorities about it. It must be tonight. Or tomorrow at the very latest.

  She wondered if she should ask Higgins to drive on to Montcliffe Hall so that she could make proper enquiries, but she didn’t know if anyone there would be in a position to do anything about it. And, if she did, what would she say? She had nothing to speak of save a growing unease about Lord Rockhaven’s safety.

  But that unease was growing. Surely Theo’s safety was the most important thing. What was the threat of punishment compared to that?

  She knew immediately what she must do. She must risk telling Marissa what it was that she feared. She would have to tell her all about it, right from the very beginning and hope she would understand. And, if Rupert were there, he could initiate an enquiry at the Hall. She felt Theo would understand if, by her anxiety on his behalf, she inadvertently committed a social blunder. As long as it was handled discreetly.

  She almost smiled. When had she started to worry about doing things discreetly? The word didn’t used to be in her vocabulary.

  ‘We’re nearly home, miss,’ Nora’s voice penetrated her inner musings.

  ‘Mmm. Thank you, Nora,’ Lucy murmured. ‘Ohh!’ Her eyes flew open with a start as the carriage lurched over to the left and both she and Nora were flung from their seats into a tumbled heap on the floor. Ouch! Lucy’s head banged against the hard wood of the doorframe and the next few moments became a bit hazy. Sounds of panic from the horses merged with the sound of splintering wood as the axle of the carriage was dragged along the road and it seemed as though the juddering and shaking was never going to stop.

  When, at last it did stop, there was an unearthly stillness that seemed all the more alarming and, for a few moments, Lucy felt paralysed in mind and body. What had happened?

  She opened her eyes to discover she was in a topsy-turvy world. The roof of the carriage sloped down to her left and both she and Nora were half under the rear facing seats. Above their heads was the seat she had been sitting on; now it was leaning over her at a drunken angle.

  One of the horses neighed and must have attempted to move forwards because the carriage lurched again.

  ‘Miss?’ Nora’s voice seemed petrified.

  Lucy forced herself to think clearly. They needed to get out whilst they could do so, in case the horses panicked and caused even more damage to the carriage. She moved her arms and then her body. Although she felt bruised, everything seemed to be working satisfactorily and she struggled to extricate her legs from where they were jumbled with Nora’s. At last she was able to sit up.

  ‘Can you move, Nora?’

  Nora struggled beside her. ‘I … I think so, miss. Ooh, my head hurts! I didn’t ’alf give it a bang!’

  She gingerly touched the back of her head and Lucy leaned forward to feel it also. ‘I can feel quite a bump forming, Nora. No doubt it will be the size of a goose egg in no time at all …’ – she drew back her hand – ‘but there’s no bleeding. My nursemaid used to say, “Where there’s no blood there’s no lasting damage”. I’m not sure it was always correct, but it lessened my desire to cry, so we will believe once more. Now, it doesn’t seem as though anyone is coming to help us so let’s try to get ourselves out of here.’

  They managed to disentangle themselves and, by standing on the edge of the rear-facing seat and grabbing hold of the looped strap that hung down from the far doorframe, Lucy was able to reach up and force open that door. It wasn’t easy and she felt quite exhausted when at last the door flopped forward and clattered against the side of the carriage.

  ‘I’m going to try to clamber out, Nora. Be ready to take my hand when I am able to reach down for you.’ Lucy was thankful that she was no namby-pamby miss. Her sister may have despaired of her tomboyish ways but they were standing her in good stead right now.

  When the two girls were balancing precariously on the sloping top of the carriage, Lucy could see that they were only yards from the entrance to Glenbury Lodge and, when she looked around to see if anyone was in the vicinity to help them, she saw Higgins limping along the road about twenty yards behind them. She realized he must have been flung from the driving seat when the carriage first became unstable. He was lucky to be alive.

  With all three of them shaken but at least on their feet, Lucy directed Nora to make her way to the house and Higgins to calm down the horses.

  ‘Use the front door, Nora. It is the nearest. Farrell will organize the men to come to our aid. And, no, don’t worry about the parcels,’ as Nora seemed to be a bit bewildered and was more concerned with scooping up some of the scattered parcels than obeying her directions. ‘Farrell will see to them too and have them taken upstairs. Then, get yourself off to Mrs Hardy to let her know what has happened … and ask her to assure Mrs Cunningham that we aren’t badly hurt. I will come as soon as someone else is here to help Higgins with the horses.’

  Higgins was already holding the two bridles and talking in soothing tones to the two horses. He had a bloodied gash across his forehead and, from the way he winced each time the horses pulled against his hold, he was in some degree of pain. He looked relieved to hand one bridle over.

  Lucy began to talk to the horse as she gently stroked her free hand down its nose. ‘There! There! Everything’s fine!’ she murmured. She glanced at Higgins. His face was quite pale under the streaks of blood and dirt that besmirched it. ‘Do you know what happened, Higgins?’ she asked, as much to distract him from his present discomfort as for want of information.

  ‘Don’t rightly know, miss. T’front wheel just came off. Though I checked everything afore we left t’yard. There was nothing wrong with the wheel then. Summat must ’ave loosened it!’

  ‘Or someone?’ Lucy mused out loud.

  ‘Yer what, miss?’

  Lucy compressed her lips. The less she said the better at this stage, since her thoughts were only guesswork. ‘Thankfully, you were driving with extreme care, Higgins,’ she complimented him instead. ‘Things could have been much worse if you had been driving more recklessly.’

  Higgins seemed shocked by the insinuation that he might have been likely to drive with less care. ‘Eeh, no, miss. Mr Taylor would ’ave me guts for garters if he thought I’d put your life at risk!’

  Lucy laughed at his words, though the action brought a stab of pain. She was feeling a little light-headed, wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold on to the horses.

  Help was at hand. A shout from behind them alerted them to the approach of a number of the outside staff and stable hands, followed a little more decorously by Farrell and two underfootmen. Lucy was more than thankful to hand over to them and only made a murmuring protest when Farrell insisted that the two footmen made a chair of their joined hands to form a seat to carry her indoors.

  Now that dealing with the carriage accident was in other capable hands, Lucy dragged her mind back to the urgency of her concern over Theo’s return and Lieutenant Potterill’s probable treachery and, as Farrell instructed the footmen, ‘Take Miss Templeton upstairs’, Lucy twisted around and
said, ‘No, no, Farrell, I need to speak to my sister or Mr Cunnigham. It’s very important.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Miss Templeton, that’s impossible. Mrs Cunningham and party are not yet returned from their afternoon visit. I believe it is to go on until early evening … a special treat for the children.’

  Lucy’s face fell. ‘Oh!’

  She hadn’t realized. That was a blow. What now? How was she to seek to warn Theo about his cousin’s presence in the area? She was almost sure that he had somehow engineered the interference with the wheel of their carriage which meant he must have recognized her from their previous encounter and deemed her a possible hindrance to his plan. Her heart chilled as she realized that, with no more than a suspicion of her complicity, for it could have been no more than a suspicion, he had been willing to put not only her life at risk, but also those of her two servants. A man so ruthless would stop at nothing to gain his objective.

  She must do something!

  Thirteen

  LUCY KNEW SHE could not involve her sister’s servants in her desperate plan to warn Theo or his servants about Potterill’s presence in the area. They would be unlikely to act upon her say-so and would probably feel compelled to persuade her to wait until her brother-in-law returned home later, but later might very well be too late.

  As her agitated mind raced over her options of how she could proceed, her glance flickered about the reception hall. She spotted an unopened franked letter on the silver platter on the hall table and recognized her mama’s hand. Much as she loved her parents dearly, she hoped all this intrigue was over before they arrived on the morrow, or, at least, her warning passed on. It spurred her on to come to a decision, reflecting ruefully that her mama would have hysterics and probably faint if she knew what her younger daughter was now contemplating.

  ‘Think calmly,’ she told herself. ‘First things first.’ She needed to ensure that she was left undisturbed for the rest of the evening. She halted the progress of the two footmen who were about to ascend the wide staircase with her still seated upon their entwined hands and spoke to the butler. ‘Farrell, will you send word to Mrs Hardy to attend me in my room?’

  ‘Certainly, Miss Templeton. She will be with you directly. In fact, here she is right now.’

  Mrs Hardy was hurrying along from the back of the house, her usual calmness overtaken by a natural agitation at the unfortunate event of the overturned carriage.

  ‘What a to-do, Miss Templeton!’ she exclaimed, her hands flapping in front of her bosom. ‘Nora is all of a tremble and here’s you all shook up as well. Taylor will have something to say to young Higgins if it turns out to be lack of care on his behalf! Now, let’s get you upstairs to your room so we can ascertain the damage.’

  Lucy was torn between protesting herself fit enough to walk up the stairs unaided or making use of the convenience of her reaction to the shock of being thrown on to the floor of the carriage. Her body didn’t seem to be quite its normal self and she chose the latter, but felt compelled to intervene on Higgins’ behalf.

  ‘No, no! No blame can be attached to Higgins for the carriage accident. His driving was exemplary. In fact, his careful handling of the horses prevented a much worse outcome, I am sure.’ She didn’t want to voice her suspicions of sabotage in the presence of the servants, but she was sure that a close examination of the vehicle would prove her suspicions.

  ‘Never mind that for now, Miss Templeton. Mr Cunningham will see to everything that’s necessary. Follow me, Jones and Brown.’

  At that, Mrs Hardy swept up the stairs, with the two footmen valiantly trying to keep up with her. Once in Lucy’s room, they lowered her feet to the ground, allowed her to gain her balance and immediately bowed their exit.

  Lucy was surprised to find her legs were trembling and that she was barely able to sustain her balance. Mrs Hardy steadied her and led her to the bedside chair.

  ‘Let’s get you disrobed, Miss Templeton and then you will be able to rest to recover from the shock of the accident,’ she soothed her. ‘One of the maids will be up directly and we can get you tucked up into bed in no time at all. Did you bang your head at all?’

  ‘Only a little,’ Lucy confessed, not wanting a great fuss made of her. ‘I am just a little shaky, that’s all. I am sure a hot drink of something will make me as right as rain again. Maybe I could then be left to rest in quietness?’ She needed to be alone, to decide what to do. What bad luck that Rupert had joined Marissa at the home of the Darlingtons. He was the only one she felt at liberty to confide in.

  ‘You are looking rather flushed,’ Mrs Hardy commented as she slipped Lucy’s carriage gown over her head. ‘No doubt you are also over-excited by your parents’ imminent arrival. Does your head ache?’

  Lucy’s concern – and her mental efforts to devise a suitable plan of action – was indeed making her head ache and she admitted as much.

  ‘Then I suggest you remain in your bed for the remainder of the day, Miss Templeton.’ She smiled kindly, as she held out Lucy’s nightrobe. ‘I will tell Cook to make you some beef tea and then you will probably find a short sleep will do you the world of good. You will ring for assistance if you need anything?’

  ‘Yes, indeed. Thank you, Mrs Hardy.’

  Lucy lowered herself to the bed and allowed Mrs Hardy to help her to raise her legs and tuck the blankets around her. She leaned back against the pillows, thankful for the moment that someone else was making the decisions for her. After fussing about for a few more minutes, Mrs Hardy was satisfied that she could do no more for Miss Templeton’s comfort and she quietly left the room.

  Lucy was on her own at last. She needed to plan exactly how she was going to accomplish what she knew she must do but she felt surprisingly languid. She forced her mind to stay alert.

  One option, of course, was to send word to the local magistrate, but, on such slender evidence, he would think her a buffle-headed miss who had nothing better to do than to dream up a complete bag of moonshine.

  No, in Rupert and Marissa’s absence, she must creep out of the house and go up to the Hall to see if Lord Rockhaven were already there, or if Tomkins was expecting his master to return that night. If, by chance, Lady Montcliffe was there, Lucy felt sure her past acquaintance would mitigate any offence her uninvited visit might cause. But first, she must just close her eyes for a little while to clear this muddleheaded mist that seemed to want to envelop her….

  Lucy awoke and lay still for a moment. A slight sound made her aware that someone was in her room and she opened her eyes. Why was she in bed? It didn’t seem to be the right time of day, although she could tell it was dark outside.

  It was Nora. ‘Are you awake, miss? I hope I didn’t disturb you, only Cook told me to bring up your tray, Miss Templeton, as Peggy is cleaning the silver. It’s a bowl of beef tea. Shall I put it here, miss?’

  At Lucy’s assent, the maid carefully put the tray on the bedside table. ‘I hope you’re soon feeling better, miss. Is there anything else I can do for you while I’m here?’

  Lucy shook her head. ‘No, thank you, Nora. But surely you should be resting, too. You had just as great a shake up as I did.’

  Nora gave a small laugh. ‘Eeh, no, miss. With all the preparations for Lord and Lady Templeton’s arrival tomorrow, there ain’t enough of us to give me time off, besides, Cook said as ’ow sitting with you would be giving me a rest, like. She said as I was to make sure you ’ad this beef tea and then settle you down to sleep. And she said as I could sit in the chair by your side to make sure you’re all right.’

  Oh, dear! That was unfortunate. Whilst Nora had been talking, Lucy had remembered her plans for the evening, but she hadn’t considered the likelihood of having the presence of a maid to overcome. ‘What hour is it, Nora?’ she asked, not sure how long she had been asleep.

  ‘It must be about six, miss. Cook was just saying ’ow fortunate it is that she didn’t ’ave to break off the preparations for tomorrow to make the children’s nursery
tea and then cook Mr and Mrs Cunningham’s dinner with them all being out at the party. We’d normally be in the thick of it all by now!’

  ‘Hmm! Why don’t you just give me the bowl of beef tea and then go and lie down in your own bed?’ Lucy suggested. ‘I am sure that would be much more comfortable for you.’

  ‘Eeh, I couldn’t do that, miss! Cook’ud likely get me dismissed!’ Nora protested. ‘No, I must stay ’ere. I’ll be as quiet as I can, miss. I won’t disturb you.’

  Lucy felt in a quandary. She didn’t want to involve Nora in her misdeed but could really see no option. Besides, it would be comforting to share her concerns. ‘The thing is, Nora,’ she began, ‘there’s somewhere I really must go this evening.’ And she quickly explained what she had to do.

  Nora was horrified. ‘Eeh, no, miss! You can’t do that!’

  ‘I must, Nora. Lord Rockhaven’s life is in danger.’

  Nora was literally wringing her hands. ‘No, you must wait until Mr Cunningham comes home, miss!’

  ‘I can’t. We don’t know how long he will be.’

  ‘Then tell Farrell, miss. He’ll know what to do.’

  ‘No, I daren’t risk it. He will react just as you have. And there’s no one else. I’ve got to go myself. I’ll be all right, really I will. Now, you must help me get dressed, Nora. The sooner I go, the sooner I will be back.’

  ‘Ohh, miss! Don’t do it. There’ll be trouble.’

  Lucy swung her legs out of bed. ‘Either you help me, or I dress on my own. Either way, I have made up my mind – I must go and warn Theo … that is, his lordship. You can help me … and you’ll be able to stop anyone coming in to see if I am all right.’ Lucy was now warming to this slight change of plan. ‘You’ll be able to tell them I am sleeping and say that they mustn’t disturb me. Now, come on, Nora, get my old carriage dress out of the wardrobe for me.’