Netherby Halls (4 page)

Motives
, Percy thought as he watched his big
rake of a friend take his leave. The marquis’s inscrutable motives
were bound to plunge them into some sort of complication, he was
sure of it, because he damn well knew Justin wasn’t making this
trip just to further his cause with Sophy!

~
Three ~

The day had been long, without enough to do, though
she had had to dodge Sir John—and more than once. Therefore, it was
with some relief that she bid her ladyship and Sir John goodnight
and made her way to her room.

She had locked her bedroom door, as was her habit,
and was sitting on a hardback chair, reading by candlelight, when
she heard the key slip into the lock on the other side of the
door.

She looked up to find him in shirtsleeves, his
breeches unbuttoned. He exposed himself, holding his hardened
manhood as he leered at her and said, “Look what I have for
you …”

Her reaction was spontaneous. She leapt to her feet,
threw a nearby vase at him, and growled, low and threateningly,
“Get out, and if you don’t, I shall scream loud enough to bring
down this entire house around your ears!”

Faith
, that should have sent him off. Instead,
swaying slightly and with bloodshot eyes, he sneered and took a
step towards her.

She threw the chair she had been using at him, but he
ducked it, ran at her, and grabbed her arm.

Magic came to her rescue. It swirled around him,
lifted him off the floor, and flung him out of the room. She rushed
the door, locked it, and once again, without even having to rub her
ring, she called on her magic and pushed a dresser in front of
it.

Her fear of Sir John had taken precedence over
caution, but he was drunk and would not remember details—hopefully.
She spelled the door so his key would not work again. Magic. It had
become a living entity within her. She had but to need it, and it
was there. She would have to be careful.

* * *

By morning, realizing matters were now intolerable,
Sassy knew what she had to do.

Sir John was unabashed and unashamed. He had come up
to her after breakfast. “Sooner or later,” he threatened, his eyes
mere slits in his fury, “
I shall have you
.”

She knew he would be forever hovering about, ready to
pounce on her. He was without principle, and although she might be
able to put a stop to it by informing Lady Margate of his behavior,
she found she simply could not tell her benefactor such a
thing.

She went looking for Lady Margate and found her
sitting at her writing desk in the study. Sassy had an idea and
hoped fervently that she would be able to implement it. She would
take on a position as a governess.

As she broached the subject, Lady Margate put up a
hand and frowned. “Enough … impossible … your dear
father—”

“I think I would make a good governess,” Sassy
interjected. Silently she said to herself,
My father would not
wish me to remain exposed to Sir
John’s advances.
However, she could not find it in her to say that to dear Lady
Margate.

“Nonsense. What woman would want you under her
husband’s gaze? Absurd child … that is out of the question.”
Lady Margate sighed. “I did hope you would be happy here. I have
such great plans for you. Of course, not until your mourning period
is at an end … but …”

“There must be something I could do, for I simply
cannot stay,” wailed Sassy, wringing her hands. “I adore you, my
lady—I always have—but you know I have never liked to be idle.”

Lady Margate was a kind-hearted woman, and observant.
Now and then Sassy suspected Lady Margate knew her son was
something more than merely a bit of a cad.

Her ladyship eyed her thoughtfully. “Has it gotten
that bad?” Then she added, “Ah, I see that it has. Very well
then … let me—” She stopped herself and then said with some
excitement in her tone, “
Netherby Halls
!
”

She put a plump finger to her lips. “Indeed. I think
you will like that.” She sighed but then put on a hopeful smile.
“Perhaps you will get your bearings during this very difficult time
in your life.”

“Hmmm. Sounds intriguing. Is it a school?” Sassy
returned.

“Yes. My dear friend Edna took to running the school
when her husband died. It was a pet project of his, you see. It is
a very prestigious school for orphaned girls of the gentry.
Sometimes, young girls are left orphaned and penniless, but they
have gentle backgrounds. The school is maintained by subscriptions
and very little else.” Lady Margate clucked. “Perhaps she has an
opening … it is just that, well, Sassy,
you are not
just
the daughter of a local vicar. You are the daughter of a
prominent aristocratic family, and how the Earl of Wollington will
look at my part in this, my dear, I don’t know.”

“I am only a member of that branch of the family by
blood. They have never bothered with me, so I doubt that they would
care even if they were to inquire after me, which after all this
time, even after my mother’s and now my father’s passing, they have
not done.” She shook her head. “This sounds … perfect for
me.”

“Actually, I am not certain that it is anything I
will allow to go on indefinitely, but I am confident it will be
good for you to keep busy and give you a chance to adjust. However,
I am hoping that once you have satisfied this need to be
independent, you might come back to me. Sassy, you are, well, there
is no other way to say this—you are simply ravishing, and to be
quite blunt, there isn’t another young woman that could come close
to you. The only thing you lack is a large inheritance, but you are
not without
some
income, and you have your family’s name
behind you, no matter
what we may think
of them.” Lady
Margate sighed. “It is not the time to launch you in London just
after your father’s passing—well, not this year at any rate—but
next year, if you decide you are ready, then you will come back to
me and we shall take London by storm, you and I.”

Sassy hugged her ladyship. She had been a friend of
her mother’s, and Sassy had known her all her life. “Oh, but I
don’t know if I could afford the wardrobe I would need for a London
season, my lady, and I don’t indulge myself with fanciful
notions …”

“Absurd child, I have so many lovely things that do
not fit me, and we can alter them quite nicely for today’s ‘look’
and your figure. In addition to that, I mean to outfit you with a
few new things as well. After all, your mother was my dearest
friend. ’Tis the least I can do, and don’t wave any objections at
me. My pocket can well afford it, and I have always wanted a
daughter. What fun! So then, what say you?”

“Then, yes. I do promise you that if Netherby does
not work out, I will come back to you, and then, well, we shall
see.” Sassy played with her fingers and sighed. “The thing is, I
shall be too old to launch on the marriage mart, and the thought of
the entire business is most daunting.”

Lady Margate laughed out loud. “Absurd child!” She
smiled fondly and waved her hands in a ‘shooing’ motion. “Off—go
for a walk while I jot off a letter to Edna. Indeed, the only thing
that worries me is that you will have to travel on your own to
Bristol. That doesn’t sit well with me.”

“I will manage,” Sassy said.

“Hmmm … I can perhaps send that little
chambermaid—oh dear, what is her name?”

“Dolly.” Sassy smiled. “No, you must not do that, for
then she would have to travel home alone.”

Lady Margate laughed. “That is part of her job. No,
go on, and we shall see how the rest is to be managed.” She
suddenly stopped. “Why did I not think of it at once? I shall send
my John with you.”

Sassy’s face must have blanched, because her ladyship
reached out for Sassy’s hand. “Oh, my dear … you are white.
Has
he
stepped over the line?” She clucked her tongue. “I
see that he has. No,” she said, her voice firm, “then, you will not
need to suffer his advances any longer.” Lady Margate looked
troubled as she stared off for a moment.

“Oh, my lady …” Sassy was not sure what she
could say. What would Lady Margate think of her son if she knew
what he had tried only last evening?

“I am an old fool.” Lady Margate patted Sassy’s
fingers. “I should have realized what he was about.”

“Oh, he means no harm, I’m sure,” she said quietly
and suggested, “Perhaps I am a bit too shy …”

Lady Margate did not comment on this, but her eyes
held a sad expression. “No need to make excuses for him. I have
done that, I am afraid—too often.” She clucked again as she made up
her mind. “Very well. Go for a walk, and I shall immediately put
quill to paper …”

* * *

It was a cool morning. Sassy wrapped her cloak
tightly about herself as she walked in the Margate gardens while
trying to sort out her jumbled thoughts. Netherby Halls? She felt
excitement at the prospect of being useful.

She had turned one and twenty a few weeks after she
had lost her father, and with her majority, the transition she was
experiencing was nearly complete. Her thoughts bounced off one
another, and memories weaved themselves around those thoughts.

Her mother had spoken to her about the flood of magic
that would begin to seep into her mind and into her blood. She had
spoken of the responsibilities that came with it. Like all the
women in her mother’s line, Sassy was a white witch, but her mother
had told her she was meant for more, so much more. What did that
mean?

Her mother had always said the magic’s intensity had
passed over herself but had landed deeply etched in Sassy’s inner
being. Now Sassy knew how true that was, for she could feel it
growing inside her.

She had used it without thinking last evening with
Sir John. To her surprise, she’d not been frightened, only
disgusted.

Without calling on it, her magic seemed to take form,
whispered words into her mind, and she had found the magic seemed
almost to work itself. No wonder her mother had been so strict
regarding its use.

She touched her ring, which her mother had given her
in place of a wand before she passed. Its stone centered in the
gold was iridescent and unique. Engravings in the gold could not be
read by an outsider and looked like a mere design.

The ancient Gaelic word
Solas,
an innocent
word that if seen by a ‘clear’ human would simply mean
light
, to her family meant so much more.

All at once, the face of her dream lover flashed
before her eyes. He seemed always to be there—calling to her. Oh,
but the heat that rushed through her whenever he came to mind. It
just had to stop …

~
Four ~

THE JOURNEY TO Netherby took Sassy over roads in poor
condition, making her all too sorely aware that what she had
thought might be somewhat exciting was in fact an endless
tribulation of bumps, boredom, dust, and a memory that left her
yearning for something she would never have.

When they passed a young woman heavy with child
obviously in need of help, Sassy had stopped Lady Margate’s driver.
She took some bread and fruit from the basket that had been
prepared for her and jumped out of the carriage.

The girl thanked her with her eyes lowered. Sassy
offered her a ride, but the girl declined, saying she lived with
friends, just around the bend.

She thanked Sassy once more for the food, saying that
she hadn’t had a piece of fruit in months, and went on her way.

Sassy returned to her carriage and sighed heavily.
She recalled how, when she was fifteen, she and her parents had
gone on a trip to Dover. They had seen a girl no older than she was
at the time, heavy with child. The girl was in rags and begging in
the street as people unfeelingly passed her by.

Sassy’s father had nodded an assent as Sassy looked
imploringly at him, and she’d run over and given the girl the money
she had saved to use on this trip. When she returned to them, her
mother had stroked her cheek and Sassy had asked, “Why was the girl
alone like that?”

Her father had answered crisply, “She gave her love
before taking the man’s name.”

This immediately triggered a sense of injustice in
her, and she turned to her mother. “But … if she gave her
love, did not the man …
take it?”
She shook her head.
“Why, then, should he not have to help her?”

Her mother had said softly, “He should have to help
her, shouldn’t he? You are quite right, but this is an imperfect
world, love, and justice is rarely distributed equally. Remember
that when you make choices.”

Her father had reached over and touched her mother’s
face, and they had proceeded with their day, but that image had
struck her and stayed with her. And now, what was she doing?
Dreaming of making love with a man she was certain she had never
even met, whom she’d seen only once across an avenue.

At the end of a long day of travel, the driver of
Lady Margate’s barouche stopped at an attractive and well-kept
posting house. He appeared tired as he assisted her from the
carriage and opened the door of the inn for her to pass through. He
left her there and went to meet the livery boy that had hurried
towards him.

Sassy sighed to herself. What she wanted after the
tedious day was to wash, have dinner alone in her room, and sleep
away all her confusion.

That was what she wanted, and as a small, thin woman
wearing a full white apron and a white linen cap came crisply
forward, she smiled hopefully.

The woman’s gaze traveled over Sassy and then out to
the barouche visible through the window overlooking the courtyard.
“What do ye want?”

Sassy was taken aback by the woman’s waspish tone.
“First, I should like a room—”