A Christmas Courtship (14 page)

She glanced at him. ‘How did you find it, Jake? Jonathan and I used to come here when we were children, but we didn’t know it was there.’

‘Well, I was keeping out of the way of one of your father’s keepers, Miss Blanche, and it was a rainy night and I came a bit closer to the edge than I realized. I lost my footing and fell, knocking my head as I did so. I must have rolled down the ledge to the boulders, because that’s where I was when I came around. As I got up, I saw the cave, and right away I knew its worth to a poaching rogue like me, so I used it from time to time, and I never told another living soul.’

‘Until now.’

‘Well, reckon my poaching days are over now that Sir Edmund’s eye is upon me. He’s made it plain what he intends to do to poachers, and I’m not foolish enough to run that sort of unnecessary risk. Come on, we’lI go down. Go easy now,
step-by-step
, for it’s very slippery at the best of times, and will be more so with all this snow.’

Taking her hand out of the sheepskin muff, she accepted his assistance, resisting the temptation to close her eyes as she took the first fateful step over the edge. It seemed that she could hear the silent flow of the Severn far below, and then she realized that she could indeed hear it, for the bore was sweeping in, splashing against the banks. She felt faint at the sound, and her steps faltered.

‘I-I can’t, Jake….’

‘It’s all right, Miss Blanche, just you ignore the river. You’re safe on this ledge, I promise you. Come on now, just put one foot in front of the other … That’s right.’ He eased her along the sloping ledge, and at last they reached the safety of the boulders.

Jake looked through the cleft between them, at the yawning
black entrance of the cave beyond. ‘Master Jonathan? It’s me, Jake, and I’ve brought Miss Blanche with me.’

A tall, shadowy figure appeared, pushing through the bushes toward them, and Blanche flung her arms around her brother and held him close. ‘It’s going to be all right, Jonathan,
everything
’s going to be all right!’ she whispered, her voice catching on a sob.

Embracing her, Jonathan looked inquiringly at Jake. ‘What’s happened, Jake?’

‘That note, the one that was pinched from your pocket, it’s come to light again, Master Jonathan.’

Jonathan stared at him. ‘Is this really true?’ he breathed. ‘Yes, Master Jonathan.’

The snow was still falling heavily, and Jonathan glanced back toward the cave. ‘Let’s go in there; it isn’t exactly warm, but it’s dry.’ With an arm around Blanche’s shoulders, he led the way between the boulders and the bushes.

He’d managed to light a small fire from some driftwood he’d found down by the river’s edge, a smoky fire, but better than nothing. He grinned at Jake. ‘That tinderbox you put in with the food was useful after all, for any heat is better than none. Here, sit on this blanket. You too, Jake.’ He sat down, drawing Blanche down beside him, and Jake sat down as well, putting the new package of food on the floor of the cave.

‘Now then,’ said Jonathan, pushing his handkerchief into Blanche’s hand. ‘What’s all this about the note?’

She wiped away her tears, and then took a deep breath before explaining all about Sam Baxter, the note, and the need to sell the pendant.

On hearing the sum that was being demanded, Jonathan leapt up furiously. ‘The damned villain!’

She tugged his sleeve. ‘There’s nothing to be gained by getting angry, Jonathan, for if we want the note, then we have to pay up.’

‘Yes, but eight hundred and fifty guineas?’

‘I’m afraid so.’

For a moment he remained standing, the anger dark on his face, but then he slowly sat down again. ‘You’re right, there’s
nothing to be achieved by giving vent to my anger. Oh, damn the world! All this is so unfair! That pendant means everything to Father….’

‘No, Jonathan, for you mean much more,’ she said quietly.

He smiled a little. ‘I notice that you haven’t mentioned your visit to dearest Deborah.’

‘That’s because there’s nothing to tell, except that she won’t change one word of her story.’

He looked at the smoking fire. ‘I knew she wouldn’t. The prospect of one day becoming Lady Normanton was too great a carrot for the Jennings donkey to resist.’

‘She says it’s nothing to do with the title, but that she’s
marrying
him because she loves him.’

‘Did you believe her?’

Blanche shook her head. ‘No.’

‘Nor do I, but she’s still doing it, and so we come back to ambition for a title, do we not?’

‘It seems so. Jonathan, don’t let’s talk about her, for she’s about to face the consequences of her deceit, as is Lieutenant Neville. Now that we’re going to get the note, you don’t have to stay here anymore, you can come home with us.’

‘No, Blanche.’

‘No? But why? What possible reason…?’

‘I won’t leave here until the note is safely in our possession, Blanche. Only then, when I know beyond all shadow of a doubt that it’s
the
note, will I give myself up.’

‘Please, Jonathan, for Father wants you to come home. For his sake….’

He shook his head, putting his hand gently to her cold cheek. ‘No, Blanche, let me do it my way. The moment you have the note, send Jake here for me and I’ll come home.’

Tears filled her eyes. ‘Is there nothing I can say?’

‘Nothing, sweetheart.’ He bent across to kiss her. ‘There are so many slips, ‘twixt cup and lip, too many for me to be anything other than excessively cautious. Neville is as cunning as they come, and I don’t mean to take any chances. Maybe I’m being cowardly, but I have so much at stake that to be rash now might prove my undoing.’

She searched his face in the darkness, and then nodded. ‘All right, I won’t press you anymore.’

Jake got up suddenly and went to the cave mouth, listening carefully.

Blanche watched with sharp anxiety. ‘Can you hear
something
, Jake?’

‘No, Miss Blanche, but I have to say I’d feel easier if we took ourselves home now. The snow seems a little lighter, and if it stops our tracks will remain. We should go while it’s still falling, or a keeper might happen upon our trail and find this place.’

Jonathan nodded. ‘He’s right, Blanche. Go now, while it’s still snowing.’

She hugged him again, and then got up. He followed her to the mouth of the cave, a forlorn, shadowy figure in the darkness as they slipped out through the cleft between the boulders.

The tide was still swirling in the Severn below as they made their way carefully back up the ledge, with Jake leading the way, and Blanche’s heart almost stopped with terror as she lost her footing a little at the top, slipping back a short way. Jake reached back and caught her, holding her firmly for a long moment until her fear subsided.

‘It’s all right, Miss Blanche, you’re still safe,’ he said
reassuringly
, dragging her up from the ledge onto the clifftop.

There he glanced nervously around at the fringe of trees about twenty yards away, then he looked up at the sky. The snow was indeed falling more lightly, and there was a feel in the air that told him it would soon stop altogether. Their footprints would be there for all to see come daylight. He looked at the trees again. ‘Wait here, Miss Blanche, I won’t be a moment.’ He hurried away, being careful to step where they’d stepped before.

She watched anxiously. Where was he going? She glanced over the clifftop, for the river’s soft sounds were eerie in the night.

Jake returned with two fir tree branches. ‘We must do what we can to mask our prints, Miss Blanche. If we’re careful to step where we’ve been before, and if we brush the good snow over the marks with these branches, hopefully there’ll still be enough of a fall to hide everything completely. Do you understand?’

‘Yes, Jake.’ She took the branch he held out.

He went back down the ledge, and then came slowly up to the clifftop again, brushing the branch to and fro and teasing fresh snow over his tracks. ‘Reckon it’s working, Miss Blanche,’ he said as he reached her again. ‘The worst part is here on the top, where we’ve moved about a bit, but it shouldn’t take long.’

They worked swiftly, swirling the branches around to hide what they could, then they made their way back toward the trees, covering their footprints as they went. By the trees, they looked back toward the cliff. Their tracks were visible, but
mercifully
the snow was still falling, and within a few minutes it would be impossible to tell they’d been that way at all.

Progress back toward the wall and the oak tree was painfully slow, and their backs ached from constantly bending over to brush the fir branches over the snow. The oak tree was almost in sight when Jake suddenly straightened, his whole body alert.

‘What was that?’

‘I didn’t hear anything.’

He listened again. ‘That!’

A cold finger of fear passed through her, for she heard the low murmur of voices coming from their left.

‘Keepers,’ breathed Jake, ‘and they’re coming this way!’ 

Blanche was rooted to the spot with fear as she stared helplessly through the trees. The voices were already a little more clear, so that at any moment she knew she’d see the men to whom they belonged.

Jake glanced swiftly around, his glance alighting on a thick clump of holly. ‘You hide in there, Miss Blanche,’ he whispered, seizing her arm and dragging her toward the bushes.

‘But, Jake….’

‘Just stay there! I’ll draw them away, I know my way about this wood like the back of my hand. The moment they’re after me, you get yourself to the oak tree and then home.’

‘Jake, I can’t let you do that!’

‘You can and you will. I’m the master now, Miss Blanche, and it’s you who must take orders! Just you do as you’re told, or it’ll be the worse for both of us!’

She nodded dumbly, pushing into the bushes and cowering low out of sight. Jake tossed her fir branch aside, and then used his own to swiftly brush away all sign of their diversion from the path. Brushing furiously, he moved on toward the oak tree,
stopping
some fifty yards short of it. Then he listened.

The keepers were moving slowly, talking together in low voices. One of them laughed, and the sound carried easily between the trees. He recognized the voices, for he often shared a jar of ale with them at the Red Lion. He knew their measure, but they didn’t know his. Getting on he might be, but he still had a turn of speed when necessary. Taking a deep breath, he gave a loud cough.

The voices fell warily silent, and he could sense how both men
had turned toward the sound he’d made. He waited a moment or so, then slowly took the fir branch in both hands, bending it until it broke with a sharp snap. Then he tossed it aside and began to run deeper into the park, away from the wall and away from Blanche’s hiding place.

The keepers saw his shadowy figure and gave warning shouts, but he kept his head down and ran even faster. A shot was fired, whining through the trees to strike a trunk just behind him. It was too close for comfort, but still he kept running. He could hear them giving chase, and knew that all they had to do was follow his footprints. But he also knew the clearing where all the keepers had recently gathered before going their separate ways, and if he could get there in time his prints would be lost among many because there was no longer enough snow falling to have covered them. Damn his old legs, they felt like some lead off St Mary’s roof! His heart was pounding in his ears as he darted through the trees, making all the time for the clearing where those lifesaving footprints would mask his flight. He could see it ahead now, and it was deserted. Gasping for breath, he ran right into the center, and then along the main track that led toward the big house.

He paused after a while, hiding behind a tree to look back toward the clearing. He could see the two breathless keepers standing perplexed and angry in the middle, glancing around at all the prints, and wondering which might belong to their quarry. With a sly grin, Jake hurried safely away. All he had to do now was keep well out of sight, and he’d be back at the cottage in five minutes or so. He only hoped Miss Blanche was all right, and had done as he’d told her.

The moment Jake had given his presence away and made a run for it, Blanche slipped out of her hiding place, dashing as quickly as she could toward the oak tree. Her feet slithered on the fallen trunk, and without Jake’s height she could barely reach the branch that hung over the wall, but at last she managed to haul herself up, clinging tightly to the branch as she inched along it. Her heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure the sound would carry. She was almost in tears of fright as she at last
clambered
down the oak tree to the safety of the ground on the other side.

Gathering her cloak, she hurried toward the lane, glancing fearfully back from time to time in case someone had seen her after all. The snow was easing off now, with far fewer flakes falling through the air. The tracks to and from the oak tree would remain once daylight fell, but at least no one would know about their visit to the cave.

She reached the lane and paused, listening carefully, but the night was quiet. There were no sounds from the park, and she knew instinctively that Jake had evaded his pursuers. She began to hurry along the lane toward the village.

She was almost within sight of Orchard Cottage when a
horseman
emerged from the gates of Amberley Court. It was Sir Edmund, she recognized him immediately. For a moment she thought he was going to ride away from her, down through the village, but to her dismay he turned his horse in her direction.

The last thing she wanted was to be found out in yet another nocturnal excursion, and she cast swiftly around for somewhere to hide. There was a barn in an adjacent field, and a thousand and one hoofprints from the herd of cattle that sheltered there at night. Without a second thought, she opened the gate and slipped through, closing the gate as softly as she could, but its hinges were rusty, and they squeaked. She ran into the barn, appearing so suddenly that she disturbed the cattle. They milled around uneasily as she made her way to the ladder that led up to the hayloft above. There she lay down among the bales of hay, straining to hear beyond the sounds of the cattle.

As the animals below became calmer and stopped moving around, she heard the clip-clop of Sir Edmund’s horse in the lane. As she listened, the hooves halted, and then to her
unutterable
dismay she heard the squeak of the field gate opening and closing. She peeped anxiously over the edge of the loft and saw Sir Edmund step softly into the barn, moving calmly so as not to disturb the cattle again.

He paused, teasing off his white gloves and glancing around, his figure clearly visible against the snow outside. She could even see his breath, silvery and misty. He saw the ladder, and
then looked sharply up at the loft.

‘You may as well come down, whoever you are, for I know you’re there,’ he said.

She pressed back, her heartbeats quickening with dismay.

‘I advise you to show yourself before I start taking potshots,’ Sir Edmund said tersely, and when she peeped down she saw that he’d drawn a pistol from inside his scarlet coat.

Slowly she struggled to her feet, for there was no point in seeing if he was bluffing or not. Her hood was still raised as she climbed reluctantly down the ladder, and she knew that he could only see that she was a woman, not who she was.

Her face was still in shadow as she approached him, and then she halted a few feet in front of him, slowly tossing back the hood.

He stared at her. ‘We seem destined to meet under
extraordinary
circumstances, Miss Amberley.’

‘It would seem so, Sir Edmund,’ she replied, avoiding his eyes.

‘Would it be too much to ask why you’re hiding in here, of all places?’

‘I-I was out walking, and I saw a horseman approaching. I didn’t know who it was, so I thought it best to hide. Only I must have been too slow, for you evidently saw me.’

‘I did indeed, and since my keepers failed to apprehend a poacher in the park only a short while ago, I naturally thought that the stealthy figure might be that poacher.’

‘As you see, sir, it’s only me.’

‘Yes, Miss Amberley, it’s you. You are indeed much given to nighttime activities, are you not?’

‘It is not a crime to walk or ride at night; you do it yourself.’

‘I am a man, Miss Amberley, and you most definitely are not. For a lady to do as you do is rather strange, to say the least.’

‘I have a great deal on my mind, sir, and I find I can think when I walk.’ That much at least was true.

‘Mortimer?’

‘Partly.’ That also was true.

He breathed out slowly. ‘Well, that I can understand, for when affairs of the heart do not run smoothly, one becomes very
restless
That is why I have been out so much instead of staying in, where I know another argument will further blight what was once …’ He didn’t finish the sentence, but smiled almost ruefully at her. ‘You see? The hero of Vimiero is something of a coward after all, preferring the safety of his own company to the rigors of dissent.’

‘I’m sorry things are not well between you and Lady Hetherington, Sir Edmund.’

‘No doubt it is but a passing phase, for I know that I’m not the easiest of souls when I’m forced to kick my heels like an invalid.’

She couldn’t help smiling a little. ‘I know of very few invalids who kick their heels, sir.’

‘I think you know full well what I mean, Miss Amberley.

‘Yes, I do, and I confess I find it hard to believe that you are a difficult man.’

‘I can be damned difficult when things don’t go my way, as witness my preoccupation with poachers. Normally I wouldn’t give a damn if a few pheasants or salmon were stolen, nor if I lost the occasional deer, but because I have to dally here until my health returns, and because there is disagreement with Athena, I get the bit between my teeth and pursue poachers at every turn, imaginary or not.’ He gave a short laugh. ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you this, for I’m sure it’s of no interest at all.’

‘On the contrary, Sir Edmund.’

‘You flatter me, I think.’

‘Perhaps we have something in common, sir, for we are both less than happy at the moment.’

He smiled. ‘Mortimer’s a damned fool,’ he said softly. ‘I swear that if you were mine, Miss Blanche Amberley, I’d make sure I held on to you.’

‘You’re very gallant with your compliments, Sir Edmund.’

‘I only pay compliments where they are due, Miss Amberley, and they are most definitely due to you. Now, may I convey you home?’

She wondered if he’d have been as free with his praise if he knew she’d just been trespassing on his estate, visiting her deserter brother who was actually hiding on his land. ‘It’s only a short way….’ she began uncomfortably.

‘I happen to be going right past your door.’

‘Then I accept your offer, sir.’

They left the barn. The air was clear, for the snow had stopped completely, and Sir Edmund’s horse whinnied softly as it saw its master returning.

Sir Edmund lifted Blanche onto the saddle, and then mounted behind her, his arm steady and strong around her waist. He rode slowly toward the village, and neither of them spoke until they reached the gate of Orchard Cottage, where he dismounted and lifted her down again.

‘Miss Amberley, I begin to wonder how many more odd
meetings
we will have.’

‘Our next one will be very correct and proper, sir, for we are to attend church in the morning.’

‘So we are. How dull.’ He smiled. ‘Good night again, Miss Amberley.’

‘Good night, Sir Edmund.’

He remounted, turning his horse down the hill and riding away through the snow.

For the second time that night she gazed after him. There was something about Major-General Sir Edmund Brandon,
something
that reached through her defenses. She didn’t want to like him, but in spite of herself she was drawn to him. She lowered her eyes. Was she so shallow that so soon after the heartbreak of her ill-placed love for Antony she could find another man atttractive?

The cottage door opened behind her, and she turned to see Jake standing there. She smiled, and hurried up the path toward him.

As she entered the hall, he closed the door behind her. ‘I didn’t expect to see you return with Sir Edmund, Miss Blanche, not him of all people. It gave me quite a shock when I looked out and saw him with you by the gate.’

‘It’s all right, Jake, he doesn’t suspect anything. Did you have any difficulty evading the keepers?’

‘No, Miss Blanche, though my legs feel like ton weights after all that running.’ He looked at her. ‘Your father was upset when I told him Master Jonathan wouldn’t be coming back until we
had the note, but I think he understands. Hannah made him some mulled wine, and he went to his room about five minutes ago. He put his candle out straightaway.’

She glanced up the staircase. ‘Then I won’t disturb him.’

‘Come through into the kitchen, Miss Blanche, otherwise Hannah’ll skin me alive for keeping you gabbing out here in the hall.’

‘Jake…?’

He turned. ‘Yes, Miss Blanche?’

‘Thank you for doing all this.’

‘It’s nothing, Miss Blanche.’ He smiled. ‘Tomorrow afternoon I’ll take the pendant in to that rogue Gilbey, and, by tomorrow night, God willing, Master Jonathan will be home with us.’

‘I hope so, Jake, oh, I do hope so.’