Walker growled his disapproval, all reticence dissipating. ‘I can assure you that is no longer the case, my lord. As to the nature of the dispute with the father, all I know is that the father accused his son of involving himself in something despicable. I have no idea what, precisely, but frankly nothing would surprise me. Conrad is suave and self-assured, and very popular with the ladies, I understand, but completely unreliable and totally without morals or conscience.’
‘I presume you had suspicions that Conrad was dipping his fingers into the bank’s assets,’ Archie said, ‘but didn’t prosecute for fear of losing his brother’s custom. And to prevent the damage to the bank’s reputation, naturally.’
Walker inclined his head. ‘You are very perceptive, my lord.’
‘So what happened? Where is Conrad employed now?’
‘A small provincial bank in Salisbury, at least that is my understanding. We received a request for a character reference and supplied them with the bare essentials. We confirmed that Conrad had been employed by us and implied that he left for personal reasons.’ Walker cleared his throat and briefly looked away from Archie. ‘The small untruth was necessary to prevent our competitors from spreading stories about our reliability. We did not recommend his services, but I believe the establishment took him on.’
‘I see.’ Archie sat forward. ‘You have been very forthcoming, Mr Walker, and I appreciate your candour. I also like the idea of the bills of exchange.’
Walker smiled broadly. ‘Most astute of you, my lord.’
‘Leave the particulars with me. I’ll run them past my man of business and get back to you.’ Archie rang the bell. ‘I shall start small, and if I’m satisfied with the service I receive, I shall consider increasing the investment.’ Archie hauled himself to his feet and offered Walker his hand. ‘Thank you for taking the trouble to come all this way. I will have someone take you back to the railway station in time to catch the London train.’
Walker inclined his head. ‘The pleasure has been entirely mine, my lord.’
Once Archie’s visitor had been sent on his way, Pawson rejoined Archie, who related everything Walker had just told him about Conrad.
‘What’s he up to, guv’nor?’ Pawson asked, scratching his head.
‘I have absolutely no idea. Yet. But being based in Salisbury means he could have encountered Latimer by accident.’
‘Not likely. The two are chalk and cheese. Latimer thinks he’s on first name terms with God, while Conrad is a scoundrel who got away with stealing from one of the finest banking establishments in the country.’ Pawson sniffed derisively. ‘Can’t see much common ground there myself.’
‘And yet there must be something.’ Archie managed the suggestion of a smile. ‘I think a visit to Fox Hollow is justified this afternoon.’
Pawson grinned. ‘I had a feeling you might say that. I’ll arrange for the horses to be harnessed.’
Flora smiled at her sister, squeezed onto the gig seat beside her. It was really only wide enough for only one person, but the girls made do as Flora drove Mabel around her old ladies’ cottages.
‘It seems to me,’ Melanie said thoughtfully as they headed towards Mrs Finch’s abode, the last of their stops, ‘that you do more to help these lonely people than all of Papa’s so-called charitable committees put together do for similar people in Salisbury. They all perk up no end when you knock at their doors.’
‘I try to give practical help rather than preaching the Bible at them, that much is true,’ Flora replied. ‘I don’t think their souls are in any danger from me, but Papa might well give you an argument on that score.’
‘Probably, but I confess I gave up listening to Papa’s scoldings years ago.’
Flora laughed. ‘Very sensible. There is nothing more trying than a lengthy lecture on one’s shortcomings.’
Is this Mrs Finch’s cottage?’ Melanie asked as Flora turned Mabel under the protection of the adjoining lean-to. ‘You have mentioned her several times.’
‘Yes, this is hers.’
Flora jumped down, collected her basket of remedies from beneath the seat and scooped up the parcel of books she had borrowed from Archie.
‘Good morning, Mrs Finch.’ Flora tapped on the door and let herself in.
‘Ah, you’re here.’ Mrs Finch was short-sighted and peered up at Melanie. ‘And this is your sister, no doubt.’
‘How on earth did you hear about Melanie joining me?’ Flora asked, unsurprised that she had.
‘It’s the talk of the village. My daily woman mentioned it yesterday.’
Flora rolled her eyes but said nothing.
‘Good morning, Mrs Finch.’ Melanie’s smile lit up the room. ‘I am Melanie.’
‘You’re the image of your big sister.’
‘The poor child,’ Flora said, unpacking her supplies. ‘I hope she is prettier than me.’
‘Ha! Fishing for compliments.’
‘If I was,’ Flora replied, passing the cake she had brought with her to Melanie and nodding in the direction of the scullery, ‘I would know better than to come here in the hope of receiving any. Make us some tea please, Melanie.’ Flora crouched down in front of the old lady’s chair. ‘How are your joints coping in this cold weather?’
‘Not so bad.’
She grumbled as Flora examined her ankles and then applied her ointments.
‘Stop complaining or I shall not give you the present I brought.’
‘A present?’ Mrs Finch’s eyes lit up, but whether at the prospect of her gift or at the sight of the tea and cake that Melanie served her with at that moment, Flora could not have said. ‘Thank you, child,’ she said politely to Melanie.
‘I spoke to Lord Felsham about you,’ Flora said, stirring her own tea, ‘and he let me borrow some books that I thought might interest you.’
‘Here they are,’ Melanie said, picking up the package. ‘Shall I unpack them for you?’
‘Thank you, dear.’
Mrs Finch’s eyes lit up at the sight of the titles on the spines, and Flora could see that she was itching to delve into the treasure trove. Grateful for Melanie’s presence, which prevented Mrs Finch from asking probing questions about Flora’s visit to Felsham Hall, the girls left her to her reading once they had finished their tea.
‘What am I to do with myself if I live here?’ Melanie asked over luncheon. ‘I was never permitted an idle moment at home. Every second was accounted for by Mama.’ She grinned. ‘I feel positively decadent in my new clothes, with no demands upon my time and no Bible passages to memorise.’
‘We must do something about your clothes. You don’t have nearly enough.’
‘No! Flora, you have already been far too generous.’
‘Not nearly. I should not have abandoned you in the manner that I did. I shall always feel guilty about that.’
‘I was not your responsibility. Besides, if you had not, Papa would have worn your resistance down and you would eventually have married Mr Bolton. And if you hadn’t left, I wouldn’t have found the courage to run away.’
‘Let’s not dwell upon the past. As for being here, you will earn your keep. I will teach you about the herbs and how to use them.’
‘I’d like that.’
‘And there are plenty of other ways you can make yourself useful.’
‘Whatever you ask of me, you know I will do it.’
‘I do. But for now, enjoy your freedom. You have a lot of adjustments to make, and you are still recovering from your ordeal.’
‘Adjusting is easy when…’ She coloured. ‘Well, it sounds disloyal, but anything is preferable to being at Mama’s beck and call.’
‘It isn’t disloyal to tell the truth. Mama is a cold woman. Perhaps she wasn’t always that way, but she follows Papa’s lead, so it’s not really to be wondered at. I think she is a little afraid of him. She certainly doesn’t dare to question his word.’
‘You are the only one of us who does. I hope you will teach me how to
stand up to him as well.’
They both laughed.
Flora had a letter to write and Melanie went into the kitchen, probably in the hope of finding Alice awake and in need of a playmate.
Engrossed with her letter, it took Flora a moment to sense that she was about to have a visit from Archie. She patted her wayward hair in the vague hope of making it look more respectable, then gave up on such a hopeless endeavour and opened the front door herself as the carriage rattled to a halt outside of it.
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, smiling in spite of the severity of her greeting as Pawson helped Archie from the carriage and he stepped up to her. ‘Come in before you freeze to death.’
‘Good afternoon to you too, Flora,’ Archie said, fixing her with a look of amused forbearance. ‘I could have wished for a warmer welcome, but I will take whatever I can get.’
‘Which is more than you deserve. I am very cross with you, Archie Felsham,’ she said, taking his hat and gloves and helping him to shrug out of his coat.
‘Whatever have I done this time?’ he asked, his expression far too innocent.
‘Come in.’
‘Flora, a strange man has just come into the kitchen and Polly has turned all pink and…oh, sorry…’ Melanie’s headlong rush of both feet and words came to an abrupt halt when she looked up and noticed Archie. How she could have missed him when he appeared to so effortlessly dominate the room with his stark masculinity was a question that defeated Flora.
‘Lord Felsham, may I make my sister Melanie known to you?’
‘Delighted,’ Archie replied, winking at Melanie and making her blush. She recalled her manners and dipped a curtsey.
‘Sit down, Archie. I can see that your leg is paining you. Melanie, ask Beatrice to make us some tea, please. Not that Lord Felsham deserves any, but I suppose we must at least go through the motions of civility.’
Melanie, usually so loquacious, appeared to be struck dumb in the presence of a marquess and a little taken aback by the familiar way in which Flora addressed him. She nodded and scampered off again.
‘She favours you,’ Archie said, smiling as he watched her go.
‘You knew she was here, of course.’
‘Word has reached me.’
‘I’m sure that it did,’ Flora muttered. ‘I’m told the entire village is talking of little else.’
Archie raised a brow. ‘And that surprises you?’
‘No, I suppose it makes for titillating gossip. The daughter of the Dean of Salisbury Cathedral running off in the middle of a snowstorm to join her sister.’
‘I would like to know what I have done to offend you, but first tell me about Melanie.’
Archie’s expression darkened as Flora’s tale unfolded.
‘The poor child,’ he said softly. ‘What sort of a monster is your father?’
‘That is what I asked him when I had the dubious pleasure of a visit from him yesterday.’
Flora paused when Polly came in with the tea things. Flora sent her back to the kitchen straight away so that she could enjoy Pawson’s company and then poured for them both. Their hands briefly touched as he took the cup from her and she felt a strong jolt of awareness surge through her body.
‘Steady.’ He relieved her of the cup in question but held her gaze in a heavy-lidded and seductive manner that further disadvantaged her. The wretched man appeared to know precisely what she had felt and was enjoying the discomfort that she was too inexperienced to hide from him.
‘Stop it!’ She turned away from him, her cheeks burning hot.
‘What did I do now?’
His innocence seemed contrived, but his amusement at her expense was entirely genuine.
‘I presume you were also aware of Papa’s visit yesterday before I enlightened you,’ she said, deciding against answering his question. It would be very unwise to enter into a discussion about her emotional reaction to him when he was in quite such a provocative mood. Or at any other time, for that matter.
‘There isn’t much that goes on around these parts that doesn’t reach my ears.’ He winced as he stretched his bad leg out in front of him. ‘I am supposed to be responsible for law and order in the district.’
‘Mrs Finch has no such responsibilities but she knew all my business too. She is housebound but knew who Melanie was the moment I took her to her cottage this morning. She is delighted with the books, by the way, and is now your greatest advocate.’
‘I am glad someone is,’ he replied, regarding her with affectionate amusement over the brim of his teacup. ‘Tell me how you managed to persuade your father not to take Melanie home with him.’
She grinned mischievously. ‘I threatened to expose his cruelty to the bishop.’
Archie chuckled. ‘I am perfectly sure that you did, but I doubt whether that would have deterred him. I don’t know what it is that he holds over the bishop, but presumably your father assumes it’s sufficiently scandalous to make the bishop do whatever he wants.’
‘Ah, but I doubt whether he will. Everyone has their limit.’ She paused. ‘I never explained the reason for the bishop’s capitulation to my father. I promised that I wouldn’t speak of it to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary, but I know I can depend upon your discretion and I think you need to be made aware.’
‘You don’t even have to ask. Anything you tell me will remain a secret between us.’
‘I know. You infuriate and confuse me, Archie, but you are also very good to me and I sometimes think that I depend upon you a little too much.’ She paused and Archie didn’t attempt to interrupt her as she struggled with her conscience, trying to decide if the current situation would justify her breaking the bishop’s confidence. ‘His grace’s nephew, the man whom my father and the bishop both wanted me to marry…’
Archie scowled. ‘That scoundrel Yardley.’
‘Yes.’ She looked away from him. ‘Papa overheard a private conversation that the bishop had with his lawyers.’ She inhaled deeply. ‘It seems that the bishop was not always the paragon of virtue that he is nowadays—’
‘Which of us can lay claim to such a distinction?’ he asked with a self-deprecating shrug.
‘Certainly not you,’ Flora replied with asperity. ‘Anyway, the bishop in his younger days, was led into the most extreme form of temptation. Suffice it to say that Yardley isn’t his nephew.’ Flora paused. ‘He is his son.’
‘Good heavens!’ Archie’s brows disappeared beneath his hairline. ‘Does Yardley know?’
‘No one does, other than the bishop my father, me—and now you.’
‘And you think that your father used that information to force the bishop into giving him the deanship.’
‘I do. But I also think that capitulation didn’t sit comfortably with the bishop. Everyone has to face up to their youthful indiscretions at some point or another.’
‘True,’ Archie agreed with a jaundiced glance down at his broken body.
‘The bishop is now tussling with his conscience, and I suspect that he will allow the truth to come out rather than be coerced into doing Papa’s will for a second time. That is why I threatened to go to him. Papa is now aware that I am a party to the bishop’s secret and he realises that it would be a miscalculation to depend upon further higher ecclesiastical support.’ She grinned mischievously. ‘Two can play at manipulation.’
‘Your father was angry?’
‘He was absolutely furious. I have never seen him in a greater rage, which is saying something. But that is beside the point. What he said, and implied about you, is the reason why I am so cross with you.’
A flicker of unease passed through Archie’s expression. ‘What did he imply precisely?’
‘I think you already know.’ She fixed him with an implacable look. ‘He insists the entire village is aware that I live beneath your protection.’ She puffed out her chest to emphasise her disapproval but soon realised it had been a mistake when Archie’s gaze was drawn to her bosom, lin
gering there. ‘He called me a jezebel. What have you done, Archie? Is it true? Is that what everyone thinks?’
‘Flora, my love…’
‘I am not your love, Archie Felsham, even if the entire village assumes that I am.’
‘I know how hard you have struggled to procure your independence, and how important it is to you, and I admire your determination to live your life as you see fit. Never doubt it. But what you have failed to take into account is that the world in general, and a small village like Lyneham in particular, isn’t ready for something quite as avant-garde as a single female living alone, without even a companion to lend her existence a degree of respectability.’
‘There is nothing the least bit unrespectable about me!’ Her voice had risen and become a little shrill, indicating the level of her stress. ‘I try very hard to live by the terms of my own moral compass and help others as much as I can, even if I don’t spend half my life on my knees praying for divine guidance. I thought I was getting somewhere; that I had earned the respect of the locals.’ She gave an indignant huff. ‘Now I find that Papa was in the right of it and they all look upon me as a harlot.’
Archie pushed himself awkwardly to his feet, moved to sit beside her and took her hand. She wanted to shake her fingers free, but couldn’t find the strength. The pressure of his uninjured thigh pressing against hers muddied her thinking further. How could she be so angry with him and yet still desire him with every fibre of her being? If this was love, then she could do without it. It was more confusing, restricting and tempting than it had any right to be, and she had no time for its interfering presence in her life.
‘You are more attractive than you realise,’ he said in a deep, persuasive growl that resonated with an earthy vibrancy. ‘That in itself would make you a target for men of low morals who would arrogantly suppose that you could not possibly live without a man to protect your interests.’ She harrumphed but remained silent. ‘Add to that the fact that you live so comfortably and you wouldn’t have known a moment’s peace. Men with pockets to let would be forming a disorderly queue at your door.’
A Sense of Fate (Perceptions Book 7) Page 17