by Anne Herries
‘Never, sir,’ Drew said and smiled as he was offered a glass of Madeira. He tasted the wine and nodded approvingly. ‘Very good. You must give me the name of your merchant.’
‘Have it brought in—legally!’ The major’s beetle-bright eyes met Drew’s. ‘I was pleased to have your note, asking if you might dine this evening. Always glad of company and especially a man of your cut, sir. Are you going to tell me why you came down here? I ain’t a fool and I never saw a man in ruder health.’
‘I might have known I couldn’t fool you,’ Drew said with a rueful laugh. ‘Unfortunately, I have probably not deceived those I wished to deceive either.’
‘Is it to do with the smuggling? Captain Rogers was telling me the other day that they suspect the amount of drops has increased this last year or so. We’ve always had it, of course. One of the Revenue officers was killed just up the coast from here a few weeks back. He came across the gentlemen as they were transporting their goods. He was alone and they shot him. They left him for dead, but he lived long enough to tell the tale. He thought that at least one of them was a Sawlebridge man.’
‘Rogers is one of the local Revenue officers?’ Drew nodded. ‘I thought you would know a good man I might call on. I may have discovered your ringleader—but it isn’t because of the smuggling that I’m here. There’s quite a bit more to it than that.’
‘I imagined there might be,’ Major Barr said. ‘I am glad you came to me, Beck—if that is your name?’
‘It’s Marlbeck, actually,’ Drew told him. ‘But I should be grateful if you could keep that to yourself. I had asked a friend of mine to help me. He came to Truro to meet me, but he has other business he cannot neglect. I shall need Rogers and his men.’
‘Do you know when they plan to make their next drop—and where?’
‘I know where. I believe it may be within a few days, but I need the ringleader caught in the act.’
‘Would you tell me why?’
‘It is my belief that he is a go-between for a French spy. If I am right, he betrayed us to the enemy in Spain and twenty men died because of it.’
‘Ah…’ Major Barr nodded. ‘Now I understand. I knew your uncle slightly, Marlbeck. Can’t claim to have been his friend, but I should like to shake your hand.’
Drew smiled as he offered it. ‘I knew I could count on you, sir. Robbie is a good man, served with me over there—but we shall need assistance at the right time.’
‘Leave it with me. I’ll see you have your men. And now we may eat. I hope you like your beef?’
‘Thank you, sir. After living on Robbie’s cooking for the past few weeks, it will be very welcome…’
And it would serve to take his mind from his other problem, the very personal problem that concerned his feelings for Marianne. He knew that he had gained her trust, but he was very much afraid that he might do something in the future that would destroy it again.
Chapter Seven
‘Ah, Marianne,’ Joshua Hambleton said when he saw her the next morning. She had just come into the house with a basket of freshly-cut flowers. ‘How nice it is to see a lady with flowers. It is pleasant to feel the sun once more, is it not?’
‘Very pleasant, sir,’ Marianne agreed. ‘I hope to walk for a while when I have finished arranging the flowers.’
‘Yes, of course, you like to walk,’ he said. ‘I should warn you not to go too near the cliff edge, for the heavy rain we had a few days ago may have damaged them. I should be very sorry if anything were to happen to you.’
If he had been in London, how would he have known of the rain? Marianne would have liked to ask, but she already knew the answer and she had to be careful. She had sensed something in his warning and wondered if he knew that she had seen him in the rhododendron walk. She had believed she was well hidden, but it was possible that he might have caught a glimpse of her gown as he walked past her hiding place.
‘Do you think so?’ she asked, giving no sign of her inner turmoil. ‘I must abide by your warning, sir, for I know so little of the coast about here. I have been told that the tide turns very quickly in Sawlebridge Cove?’
‘Yes, that is my understanding,’ Joshua said. ‘Though I do not know it well myself. I scarcely ever visit the beaches. I prefer to ride rather than walk, as I believe I may have mentioned before.’
‘Perhaps,’ Marianne said. Was he testing her—trying to discover what she knew? ‘There are so many beautiful walks on this estate, are there not?’
‘Yes, certainly…’ Joshua hesitated and then moved towards her, an odd expression on his face. ‘I do so admire you, Marianne. You have settled here so well. It must be hard for you to leave your family and come here, when perhaps you might have expected a Season in town.’
‘Oh, no, that was out of the question,’ Marianne told him. ‘Mama could not possibly have afforded it. I might have gone to Bath with an aunt, but I was very pleased to come here instead.’
He gave her a look of speculation. ‘I have suggested that Lady Edgeworthy might think of leasing the estate and house to me and retiring to Bath. I am sure it would suit her so much better. If you were to leave her, I think she might go into a decline, especially now that Miss Trevor is to marry.’
‘I am not likely to leave her, at least until she is settled with a new companion, and even then I dare say she will have company. I have sisters who would be glad to come and stay—and Mama might even care to make her home with Lady Edgeworthy.’
Marianne could not help a note of defiance creeping into her voice, because it was so wrong of him to speak to her this way.
‘I see…’ He frowned, clearly frustrated. ‘Well, I dare say you know best—though I am sure you will wish to marry one day.’
‘Perhaps—though at the moment I have not met anyone whom I would wish to marry,’ she said. ‘Nor have I been asked.’
Joshua looked at her oddly for a moment, and then inclined his head.
Marianne did not turn her head as he walked away. She had a feeling that she had annoyed him, but she had no intention of siding with him against her great-aunt. Lady Edgeworthy would make up her own mind what she wanted to do.
She frowned as she went into the house, making her way to the flower room where she proceeded to fill the vases for the downstairs parlour, keeping a few roses for her aunt’s bedroom. She would take them up to her before she went out for her walk and inquire if there was anything she wanted before she left.
She wondered briefly what Mr Hambleton was up to and where he had gone, but she could only be glad that he was out of the house. She would feel much safer if he took himself off for good!
‘Are you sure about this?’ Joshua Hambleton looked at the lawyer’s clerk in annoyance. They had met in the Seafarer Inn to avoid being seen together by anyone who might know them. The man had been in Joshua’s pay for some months now, and it was through him that he had learned of certain changes to Lady Edgeworthy’s will. ‘She has decided to change it yet again?’
‘We had her letter this week,’ the clerk said. ‘You are to receive only a thousand pounds. The estate is to be divided between Marianne Horne, her mother and her sisters, Miss Marianne being the main heir. On her death, the house at Sawlebridge, the land and some money will be Miss Marianne’s; the London house will go to Mrs Horne and the various other properties will be divided between the other two sisters—some one hundred and twenty thousand pounds in all, I believe.’
‘Damn it!’ Joshua Hambleton, alias Lieutenant Joe Humble and various other assumed names, seethed with frustration. ‘I had the old woman eating out of my hand before she came. She is an interfering—’ He swore beneath his breath, his mind working fast. He had a lot riding on the next drop of smuggled goods, because his French contact was coming in on the ship and would need somewhere safe to stay for a few weeks. They had important work to do and the house they had used for Raoul’s hideaway was no longer available to them. ‘It is a question of priorities…’
Joshua was thoughtful as h
e considered his options. He could dispose of Marianne in the same way as he had of Cedric Sawlebridge—an accident at the cliffs would be the easiest, for he had no doubt that she would ignore his warnings and walk there if she pleased. But another accident on the cliff tops might be one too many.
If he had succeeded in causing Lady Edgeworthy’s death in easy stages, he might have inherited most of the money and been in the clear by now—but he knew that he dared not risk an investigation. If Lady Edgeworthy’s death had looked suspicious, someone might have wanted to know more about him, and his credentials would not stand up to investigation.
He had worked for Joshua Hambleton as a secretary for some months after he was dismissed from the army, and when a sudden fever took his employer, he had seized on the idea of impersonating him. Hambleton had told him about his wealthy aunt, who would probably leave him nothing because of a quarrel between her husband and Hambleton’s father.
Joshua had taken his employer’s clothes, his possessions and what money he had, though it didn’t amount to much. He had come down to Sawlebridge on the off chance to spy out the land. The first time he had visited under yet another false name and it was then that he had met Cedric Sawlebridge. They had drunk a few glasses of wine together—and, made unwary by the wine, Cedric had asked him to stay the night. On the way to the cliff house, Joshua had taken the opportunity to be rid of the man who stood between him and a fortune. At that time he had known nothing of the Horne family. Now it looked as if they might frustrate his ambitions.
Joshua had expensive tastes. He managed to pay for them at the moment, because of the money he made from the smuggling and information he was able to pass on to the French. He still had his contacts at Headquarters, despite his dismissal from the army, and obtained snippets of news for a few gold coins, though nothing of real importance had come his way for a while. It was for this reason that Raoul was coming over to stay for a few days or longer. He had some plan to break into a certain Government official’s office and steal papers he said were of vital importance. Smuggling was a hanging offence in itself, as was passing information to the enemy. As for that other business in Spain[ ]Joshua had nightmares about it sometimes, because he hadn’t realised what he was doing when he accepted Raoul’s gold that first time. A lot of men had died that day, and he knew that their blood was on his hands.
It was his shame and disgust at himself for causing so many deaths that led him to drink and cheat at cards, which in turn meant he was thrown out of the service without even the dignity of a court-martial After that, he had become bitter, determined to get his revenge on the officers who looked at him as if he were a piece of excrement on the heel of their shiny boots. He had known that to live as one of them he needed a new name and money…lots of money.
The smuggling was never going to bring him that amount of gold, because there were too many palms to grease in order to be sure of a safe passage. He had hoped to give all that up once the old woman was dead, but since his plan had failed, he had decided on bringing in one last huge cargo, sufficient to make him wealthy enough so that he need not risk continuing this dangerous work. He had tried everything he could to get the old woman to move from the house for a few weeks, but she seemed determined to stay put—and now she was changing her will.
Wild thoughts of murdering her went through his mind. He could break her neck with his bare hands or put a ball through her head, but that would be too obvious and he might well end up by being hanged. It seemed as if there was one last chance to gain something from this business, though he knew it was a slim one. Marianne Horne had told him that there was no one she wished to marry—and she was to inherit most of the money. He believed that he had made a good impression with her, and she was, after all, a beautiful girl.
He decided that he would ask her to marry him. It need not be a marriage of long duration, for, once the money was his, he could arrange an accident and disappear somewhere—become someone else…
Drew sat on in the Seafarer’s Inn after Joshua Hambleton had left. The man Hambleton had come to meet still sat staring sullenly into the fire. He looked so dissatisfied that Drew thought his business with Hambleton had not gone well. He had not been able to get close enough to hear what they were saying, but the expression on the face of the man who remained was enough to tell him that he felt disgruntled with his lot.
Drew summoned the barmaid, telling her to bring a jug of ale and a flask of rum to the table. He got up as the man finished his ale and looked as if he might leave, reaching him as he rose to his feet.
‘Stay a moment, friend,’ he said just as the barmaid brought the drinks he had ordered. ‘I would ask for a few minutes of your time?’
‘What do you want?’ Bill Symonds said, his crafty eyes narrowed. The stranger might be dressed as a seaman, but he was used to serving quality and he knew it when he saw it, which that stingy devil Hambleton wasn’t if he were any judge. He looked at the ale and rum. ‘I don’t tell what I know that easy.’
‘And what makes you think I want information?’ Drew’s eyebrows rose.
‘Because you wouldn’t be bothering to buy me a drink if you didn’t want something,’ Symonds replied. ‘Well, I’ll tell you what I know—but I’ll want something for my trouble.’
Drew nodded, taking two gold sovereigns from his pocket and laying them on the table. ‘Tell me something interesting about the man who just left—his real name if you know it and what you told him that made him so angry. If what you say is what I need to know, there is more gold in my pocket for you.’
‘That’s easy,’ Symonds said and took the coins, biting them before thrusting them into his coat pocket. ‘He calls himself Joshua Hambleton, but I take leave to doubt it was the name he was born with—the Hambleton family was gentry and he ain’t, though he acts like he were born to it. He wanted to know the details of a client’s will.’
‘And you work for the lawyer who made her will, is that so?’
‘Aye, I’m the clerk, and little I get paid for my trouble.’
‘So Hambleton, or whoever he is, paid you for information?’
‘Yeah. He were pleased the first time, see, because the old lady left most of it to him, but she’s gone and changed it again—probably found him out. Left it to her great-niece or most of it…’ Symonds drank some of his ale. ‘I can’t tell you the name of the client, breach of confidentiality.’
Drew snorted in derision. ‘Slightly late for an attack of conscience, I think. However, you need not supply the fine details. I imagine I know the lady in question.’ He took another two coins and tossed them onto the table. ‘If I were you, I should be more careful in future, sir. Otherwise your employer might find it prudent to dismiss you.’
He walked from the tavern, leaving Symonds to glower at his back as he picked up the coins.
Drew was thoughtful as he began the walk back to the house on the cliff tops. He did not think Joshua had noticed him at the inn, but he could not be certain. At this moment, however, he was more concerned for Marianne’s safety than his own business. If Hambleton had been thwarted by Lady Edgeworthy’s decision to change her will once more, he might become desperate.
Marianne had taken her sketchpad out into the garden. Her great-aunt was in the front parlour with her lawyer, who had come to the house at her request that morning, and Marianne had been asked if she would like to go out for a while. She had taken the chance to sit out in the garden, for it was a pleasant autumn day and she had a project in mind that would be best completed while the weather stayed fine.
It was her mama’s birthday in a few weeks and she had decided that she would try to capture an image of Sawlebridge House. She could colour it in with pastels after she had drawn it and perhaps have it framed. It might be expensive to send by carrier, but she could not let her mother’s birthday go by without some token of her love. Mama would much prefer something like this to anything she could buy in the shops, even if she went into Truro.
&nbs
p; She was happily preparing her outline drawing when a shadow fell across her shoulder and she looked round to see that Joshua Hambleton had come up to her unnoticed. She hid her feeling of annoyance as best she could, nodding her head in acknowledgement.
‘I believe I offended you this morning, Marianne?’
‘I do not think it proper that you should speak to me of something that is surely for my aunt to decide,’ Marianne said, choosing her words with care. Something about him at that moment sent a shiver down her spine, and she sensed that he was angry, though he was doing his best to hide it.
‘You are perfectly right,’ Joshua said and sat down on the wooden bench beside her. ‘I have come to apologise. My concern for Lady Edgeworthy may have led me to say too much.’
He was the perfect gentleman, contrite, anxious, all that he should be. Had Marianne not known him for the rogue he was, she might have been convinced of his sincerity. It was easy to understand why a lonely, elderly lady would have been taken in by his charm, for he was not ill looking and his manner was pleasant enough when he set out to please.
‘Perhaps it would be best not to speak of this again, sir. You need not apologise to me, but I believe my great-aunt was a little upset.’
‘Then I shall say no more to either her or you,’ Joshua said. ‘Will you think it impertinent of me if I say how much I admire you? You have so many talents[ ]Miss Trevor told me that you had helped her with her wedding dress and I know you play the pianoforte—and now I see that you have an eye for detail. This is an excellent drawing.’
‘It is a gift for my mother’s birthday,’ Marianne said, for she could speak of this without the need for caution. ‘I shall colour it and frame it and send it to her by carrier.’
‘Perhaps I could take it for you? My business takes me to many parts.’
‘I think I shall not trouble you,’ Marianne replied. ‘Though it was kind of you to offer, sir.’