Finally, after a tense silence that stretched for ever, Susan gave a little shrug and handed him the pistol. Nancy felt the relief to her very bones and she fancied a collective sigh ran around the stable yard.
‘Thank you, my lord.’ Captain Graves stepped up. ‘Sergeant, get these people into the carriage and you, Corporal, you will sit up on the box and make sure that coachman doesn’t pull any tricks. We’ll take them all to the castle.’
Susan looked up at Gabriel.
‘I take it you are working for the Crown? I guessed as much, seeing you here today. It would go ill with me to kill you, I suppose.’ She added contemptuously, ‘And poor Hugh is not worth a bullet.’
The Earl turned on her angrily. ‘Am I not? Why, you damned—’
Captain Graves took his arm. ‘Come along my lord, into the carriage, if you please.’
‘What? You can’t want me. I know nothing of all this!’
‘The magistrate will decide that in Lincoln, my lord,’ said the captain, polite but unmoved.
The Earl was marched off, pausing only to complain when he realised he was expected to travel in the same vehicle as his groom and Lady Craster’s maid. Only when the Sergeant brandished his rifle did he climb, grumbling, into the coach.
Captain Graves turned to Lady Craster. ‘My lady?’
‘Yes, yes, I am coming.’ She cast a last look at Gabriel. ‘With hindsight, I should have threatened to shoot Lady Ann. You would do anything to save her, isn’t that so, my lord?’ She laughed. ‘She swept you off your feet at the first glance, did she not? And it is clear the feeling is mutual. Pity, I might have made a play for you myself, if it hadn’t been obvious you are head over heels in love.’
* * *
Lady Craster walked away to the carriage and Gabriel stood frozen in shock. He felt winded, as if he had been punched in the gut. Was he in love with Nancy? Was this what it felt like, this unsettling feeling that he was not complete when they were apart? But they were friends. Good friends. That was the reason for going against orders when he realised she might need help.
That does not mean I am in love with her, he thought. I would do as much for any friend.
He looked across to where Nancy was standing. She could not have failed to hear Lady Craster’s words and he saw she was staring at him, her face pale. In fact, she looked quite horrified. That delivered another blow, this time like a vicious kick in the ribs. She thought he was suffering from unrequited love!
‘We have everyone in the coach now, Lord Gabriel.’ Captain Graves was at his shoulder. ‘My Sergeant will remain here with a couple of men to secure the house, pending a thorough search. The rest of us will escort the prisoners to Lincoln.’
‘Yes, yes, of course, Captain. Thank you. I will follow in a few moments.’ Somehow, he managed to respond calmly while his mind was in turmoil. Love. He was too old for such emotion. It could not be true. Lady Craster had been fooled by his play-acting.
The small cavalcade had rattled away and Davy had gone off to the house to have his wounds dressed. Gabriel and Nancy were alone in the yard. She was smoothing her sleeves, as if to remove all traces of the rough hands that had held her, but she looked distracted, troubled. He longed to take her in his arms and kiss away that worried frown, but as he moved closer she tensed. His embrace would not be welcome.
He said, ‘Are you well enough to go to Lincoln today? You will need to give evidence about what they tried to do to you.’
‘Must I?’ She wrapped her arms about herself. ‘I would rather not bring charges against my own father.’
‘After what he has done I think you owe him no allegiance, but I understand.’ He shrugged. ‘Let him stew in the cells with the others for a while. Captain Graves will be questioning them about the more serious crimes of murder and treason. You might be required as a witness, although if we can persuade the lady’s accomplices to confess, that may not be necessary.’
‘If I am called, then I shall do my duty.’ She shivered. ‘I know it must come to trial and I am afraid my father’s circumstances may go against him, his lack of funds...’
‘There is no evidence that your father knew anything about Lady Craster’s activities. Indeed, she as good as said so before us all today, so there is every chance he may escape any severe penalties.’
She touched his arm. ‘You will do your best for him, won’t you, Gabriel?’
‘You have my word on it. And I am hopeful of the outcome. He is not the first man to have lost his head over a pretty woman.’
If she noticed the self-mockery in his final words she gave no sign.
‘Thank you.’ She turned away. ‘Excuse me, I must find Hester.’
‘Nancy!’ He could not let it go. He had to speak. ‘What Lady Craster said, about us—’
She stopped, her back to him, and said lightly, ‘Oh, heavens, I took no note of that. Susan delights in making trouble. Pray do not think I shall be wearing the willow for you, Gabriel.’
He tried to smile, but his habitual insouciance had deserted him.
‘I would like to think you will miss me a little.’
She turned her head, presenting him with a view of her lovely profile.
‘Well, of course I shall,’ she answered, a little impatiently. ‘We enjoyed ourselves, did we not? But it was never going to last and there is much to be done now. You have your work to finish and I must go back to Compton Parva.’
‘You will return to Prospect House?’
‘For a while, but once I have my grandmother’s legacy I think I shall set up my own establishment. Buy a little house, perhaps. And I shall write a book on household management.’ She laughed. ‘I have always wanted to do so, you know, and being back at Masserton has convinced me that it would be well received. The meals here were not as good as I remember. Why, the cook does not even have a recipe for Bath cakes, I had to show him! And many of the newer staff did not know how to go on at all, but that is no doubt because Mrs Crauford is too old now to manage them properly—’
‘Damnation, woman, stop it!’ She turned to look at him then, eyes wide with alarm, and he put out his hand to her. ‘Nancy, it doesn’t have to end like this. I want to—’
‘There you are, Miss Nancy. Thank the Lord!’
Nancy turned away with relief as Hester came hurrying into the yard and ran up to hug her. Whatever Gabriel had been about to say she did not want to hear it. She had been trying to marshal her thoughts ever since Susan’s parting shot. She had known her own heart for some time, but that Gabriel could be in love with her—it was unthinkable. Impossible. And yet...
If it were so, if he did think himself in love with her, then it made everything a hundred times worse. But whether or not that were so, she was very much afraid Susan’s words had convinced Gabriel he should propose. She would have had to refuse him, even though it would break her heart. It was one thing to masquerade for a short time as a respectable widow, but as Lord Gabriel’s bride the truth would have to be told. How she had lived and worked and although she was not ashamed of what she had done to survive, the ton would have a very different opinion. They would laugh up their sleeves at Gabriel, think him a lovesick fool to take a wife who had been no better than a servant for the past dozen years.
‘Oh, my dear ma’am,’ cried Hester, clinging tightly to her, ‘I have been kicking myself for allowing them to deceive me so. I was lured away to the attics in the east wing and locked in a room up there, where no one could hear me! Not that I was afraid for myself, for that uppity piece that calls herself Lady Craster’s maid told me I should be set free as soon as you was securely locked up in the doctor’s asylum.’
Hester rattled on, but Nancy barely heard her. Still hugging the older woman, she peeped at Gabriel. He had told her his father wanted him to take a wife and settle down, but the Marquess of Baxenden was hardly likely to think the prodig
al daughter of a disgraced earl a good match for his son. She would be shunned, ostracized and Gabriel would be humiliated.
She squeezed her eyes shut, pushing back the tears that burned her throat. Even if, by some miracle, she was accepted as his wife, they had known each other only a matter of weeks. His affection for her would not last and she could not bear to see it die, to have him make excuses for spending days, weeks away from her. To become the society wife who turned a blind eye to her husband’s infidelity.
She murmured a few soothing words to Hester, then drew herself upright, taking in a long, steadying breath so that she might address Gabriel.
‘Thank you, my lord, I shall do very well now that I have Hester with me. You had best follow the captain to Lincoln and make your report.’
Her face and throat ached with the effort of looking and sounding cheerful. She forced herself to return his searching look with a smile and prayed he would go before the leaden weight inside her grew too oppressive and she gave way to the tears that must surely follow.
At last he bowed.
‘Very well, my lady. I will bid you good day.’
With that he turned and walked away. The glinting smile she knew so well had quite disappeared from his eyes, but it would return. The memory of their snowy idyll would fade and more quickly from his mind than hers, once he had found himself another mistress. A searing pain welled up inside and as soon as he was out of sight she buried her face into Hester’s shoulder and let the tears fall.
Chapter Seventeen
The view from Nancy’s room at Prospect House was generally pleasing, but on this drear spring morning, the Yorkshire landscape looked bleak and unappealing. A blanket of grey cloud hung low over the fields and trees and there was the steady drip, drip of rain from the eaves.
With a sigh Nancy turned away from the window. It was four months since she had last seen Gabriel and the longing for him was as strong as ever. Some days she regretted that she had not gone to London for the trials, even though she had not been called as a witness. She might have seen him then, although she would not have wanted him to see her.
She suspected he had used his influence on her behalf and she was certain he had done so for her father, who had been lampooned in the news sheets, but had been acquitted of anything more serious than being a gullible fool. The Earl had retired to Masserton Court to lick his wounds, but Nancy’s letter to him had received a scathing reply, proving he was not at all grateful to Gabriel for his efforts. She knew she would have to thank him on her father’s behalf, when she wrote. And she would do so, she thought, her hands going instinctively to her belly. She must do so, but not yet. Not yet. Not while the pain was still so raw.
Gabriel was her first thought on waking every morning and her last before sleeping. She missed his smile, his teasing remarks. She missed his lovemaking. In an effort to forget, Nancy busied herself with the concerns of the house, but in her long absence things had changed. She had returned to find her replacement in the kitchens was a very competent cook and, knowing she no longer wished to live the rest of her life at Prospect House, Nancy had declined to resume her position there. Instead she pottered around, helping out with whatever was required. Thankfully there was always plenty to do. Everyone at the house welcomed her return, but she soon saw that although they enjoyed her company, asked her advice and welcomed her help, Prospect House had gone on very well without her. In truth, they did not need her.
Neither did Hester, who was lodging with a widow in Compton Parva. The two older ladies had become firm friends and although they were always happy to see Nancy, they had their own concerns to occupy them. Nancy thought with sadness that she was not really needed anywhere now.
‘I fear I have grown very conceited,’ she muttered to herself. ‘How very foolish to feel so low merely because I am not essential to anyone’s happiness.’
What made it worse was everyone’s kindness. They treated her as if she were convalescing and in need of cossetting. Nancy had told only her friend Mrs Russington about her adventure in Lincolnshire and in the strictest confidence, but although Molly had not breathed a word, everyone at Prospect House was aware that something had happened during her months away.
And being females they all think it must have been a romance, she thought bitterly as she made her way downstairs. The sooner I find myself a house of my own the better. Somewhere I can be miserable in peace!
She sighed. That plan must wait. Molly had counselled her against moving out of Prospect House, at least for a while, and Nancy knew it was sage advice. In the next few months she would need her friends around her. Pinning on a cheerful smile, Nancy went into the kitchen where Martha, the new cook, was already at work preparing food for breakfast.
‘Ah, good morning to ’ee, ma’am.’
Martha greeted her with a smile and a wave of her porridge spoon. She had been an upper servant for a wealthy baronet until she succumbed to the advances of his son and heir and had been thrown out on the street. She was a little in awe of Nancy and today, as always, she asked her if there was anything she would like to do. And as always Nancy replied that she was at her disposal.
‘Well, there’s not much cake left and you have such a light way with your hands, Miss Nancy, I’d be obliged if you’d make up another. And perhaps a couple more, to sell at market tomorrow, if you have time.’
‘All the time in the world,’ said Nancy, trying not to make it sound like a penance.
She slipped an apron over her plain gown and began to gather together the ingredients. An almond cake, she decided. And perhaps some rout cakes for the market. Prospect House supported itself with its farm produce and anything they could make for the weekly market, and heaven knew there was little enough to sell at this time of the year. Reaching for the jar of dried fruit, she remembered Gabriel stealing a handful of currants at Dell House. She realised how she had loved him even then. Even though they had known each other only a few days.
Where was he now? She wondered. Was he in town, flirting with the pretty debutantes arriving for the Season? Or perhaps he had already found a mistress and installed her in some discreet little house. A mistress who would spend her days making love to Gabriel, not making cakes to sell at market.
The latest addition to Prospect House’s residents, a diminutive young maid in the last months of pregnancy, came into the kitchen, one hand protectively resting over her extended stomach.
‘Excuse me, Miss Nancy, there’s a gennelman askin’ t’see you.’
Nancy stopped rubbing the butter into the flour. Her heart began to thud painfully against her ribs and she could feel the blood draining from her cheeks.
Turning from the stove, Martha took one look at her and said to the maid, ‘Thank you, Dolly. Did he give you his name?’
The girl’s hands flew to her mouth. ‘Oh, lawks, I forgot to ask.’
Martha tutted, but she gave Nancy a reassuring smile. ‘It’ll be someone we know, Miss Nancy. Moses wouldn’t have let him in, otherwise.’
‘No. No, of course.’ Nancy picked up a blunt knife and began to scrape the flour mixture from her shaking fingers. ‘I will go up. Is he in the morning room?’
‘N-no, Miss Nancy. I left’n in t’hall.’
‘Then run back up now, Dolly, and show him into the morning room,’ said Martha, patiently. ‘Then come down here and I will have a tray of refreshments ready for you to carry up.
‘Bless the child,’ she said, when the maid had gone, ‘she has such a lot to learn.’ She went over to Nancy and put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Are you all right, my dear? You’ve gone as white as a sheet. Shall I go up and see your visitor? It’s most likely to be some sort of house business. It might even be old Jem Cayton, come to see if we’re ready to take those piglets from him yet. Although I can’t see how even Dolly would call him a gentleman!’
‘No more do I.’ Nancy manag
ed a smile. ‘Do not fret, I shall go and see, as soon as I have washed my hands.’
Martha was right, it was most likely a neighbour, nothing for her to worry about at all. Yet the tiny flame of hope she had kept buried for the past four months would not quite be extinguished.
Trying not to hurry, she washed her hands and removed her apron, then put a hand up to her hair. She caught the cook’s knowing look and flushed rosily.
‘You are as pretty as a picture, my dear,’ said Martha, ushering her out of the kitchen. ‘Now stop dawdling and go!’
Dolly was on the stairs, returning for the refreshment tray and Nancy stopped her.
‘Well, did you find out the gentleman’s name?’
‘No, Miss Nancy. Was I supposed to?’
Hiding her frustration, Nancy carried on to the morning room. At the door she paused, squaring her shoulders before going in, her head held high. The room seemed darker than usual, for someone was standing by the window, blocking much of the light. The man had his back to her, but there was no mistaking that tall figure, or the broad shoulders. Or the long, powerful legs thrust into top boots that were today liberally splashed with mud.
‘Lord Gabriel.’
How many times had she dreamt of this meeting? How often had she imagined what she would say? A calm, friendly greeting, assurances that she was very well, thank you, that she required nothing from him and, no, she had not missed him at all. But now, when he was only yards away, all the practised phrases deserted her. She felt flustered and not a little cross.
‘How did you get in here?’ she managed to say at last. ‘We do not allow strange gentlemen to enter this house.’
‘Strange gentlemen? I should think not!’
He turned from the window and came towards her. She thought idly that she had been right when she had said that the mischievous glint would soon return to his eyes. It was there now, causing her heart to beat erratically and sending those deliciously familiar chills running up and down her spine. However, it did nothing to improve her temper. How dare he walk in, looking so cool and collected, while her own thoughts were in such disorder?
The Highborn Housekeeper Page 21