Amanda Scott - [Dangerous 02] (10 page)

“Yes, I remember you now, Mr. Gabriel.” Judging his weight at over twenty stones, she recalled feeling sorry for any horse he rode, and was glad to see that the bay carrying him now was sufficiently large and sturdily built “You are the man who is refurbishing the ancient chest that will contain the communion vessels, are you not?”

“Fancy your remembering that,” he said. “The Seraphim Coffer it’s called, and I am indeed the man they asked to fix it up. I did not like to intrude on you today, but I knew your father, too, you see. Since you quite naturally did not attend the funeral, I wanted to take the opportunity to express my condolences on your great loss. His lordship and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Tarrant will be sadly missed in these parts.”

“Thank you,” Charley said, unable to resist looking back toward the beach. With relief, she saw that Matois had somehow managed to snatch the dog from the surf and was jumping from rock to rock, making his way back to shore. When a huge wave crashed against the rocks, spewing froth so high it seemed to swallow him, she gasped in horror.

“They are safe,” Letty assured her, her voice trembling. “He’s still there.”

The surf ebbed, and Matois stood upright, the dog safe in his arms.

Beside her, Gabriel said, “I saw what they did to that poor thing. Blasted fools doubtless thought they were doing no more than making their actions legal.”

Alfred had been eyeing Gabriel with disapproval from the moment the large man had first spoken to Charley. He said bluntly, “How can that be?”

Recognizing her duty, Charley said, “Forgive me, Cousin Alfred, and you, too, Rockland. This gentleman is James Gabriel, the mayor of Lostwithiel. Mr. Gabriel, this is Lord Rockland, and Mr. Alfred Tarrant.”

“Soon to be the sixth Earl of St. Merryn,” Alfred said, holding out his hand.

“Excellent, sir, for you are the very man I want to speak to. You see, the old earl had invited Wellington and his advisors to dine at Tuscombe after the ceremony, but now … Well, it’s soon to be asking what your own wishes are, of course, but—”

“Upon my word, sir,” Alfred said, turning pink with pleasure, “it will be my very great honor to receive him. I shall write at once to assure him that he need not alter his plans. Now then,” he added in a much friendlier tone than the one in which he had begun the exchange, “what nonsense is this about making the wreckers’ actions legal?”

“’Tis an old law, sir,” Gabriel said. “I take it, you’re a foreigner.”

“Aye, out of Norfolk.”

“Well, hereabouts they believe that a ship is not derelict if on board her is found any live creature—man, woman, child, dog, or cat. I’ve investigated the matter, and those are the very words used in an obsolete Act of Parliament passed under one of the early Plantagenet kings. Most folks forgot about them centuries ago, but these wretched wreckers still bear them in mind as living fact.”

“Upon my word,” Alfred exclaimed. “Do you mean to tell me they pitched that poor mongrel into the sea because they believed if it remained aboard they were not legally entitled to salvage?”

“Precisely. One cannot help wondering how many shipwrecked sailors have been murdered merely to render their vessels legally derelict. Hundreds, I daresay, for one cannot imagine an Act of law better calculated to turn the avaricious wrecker into a brutal, cold-hearted killer. I do not hesitate to say that it must be the worst piece of legislation ever enacted in this country.”

Listening with half an ear, Charley was still watching the man she believed to be Jean Matois, and she breathed a sigh of relief when he leapt safely back to the shingle and set the dog down. It promptly shook itself and seemed none the worse for its terrifying ordeal. When Matois strode off into the milling crowd of people, who were still removing goods and parts of the ship, she was amused to see the dog trot briskly after him, apparently in the belief that it had found a new master.

A
S ALFRED AND MR.
Gabriel continued talking about the wreckers, Charley heard the latter say, “Many of these folks have been here for hours. Hearing of the ship’s plight, they crowded to the cliff tops early this morning, long before the fog began to lift, in expectation of seeing her dashed to pieces against the rocks. It is hardly credible to me that human beings can be so lost to humanity and justice as to wish for the destruction of their fellow man, merely to plunder his property.”

“Dreadful, dreadful,” Alfred interjected. “But perhaps—”

“There is worse, sir. I have heard of incidents in which they did not even wait for a ship to founder. Wreckers have devised ways to draw unwitting ships onto a reef just so they’ll break to bits and render up goods for scavenge. I do not believe that is what happened today,” he added fairly. “Apparently, that ship was making for Fowey and its captain misjudged his distance from the reef at the entrance to this bay.”

“Most unfortunate,” Alfred said. “Were there any survivors?”

“Everyone aboard, thanks to heaven and the old earl’s lifeboats. Most were got off before the ship hit the rocks. I’ve sent for the Lloyd’s of London agent, and I’m hopeful that he and his customs men will arrive in time to save something for the underwriters. What we really need, of course,” he added bitterly, “is a full squadron of soldiers to prevent a repetition of this disgraceful scene each time a ship founders in these waters.”

The Lloyd’s agent from St. Austell appeared on the scene a half hour later. Although he had ten customs officers with him, he took one look at the teeming beach and gave it as his opinion that there was too little left of ship or goods to make risking his men’s lives a profitable course of action.

Mr. Gabriel, clearly disgusted with that decision, repeated his assertion that a strong military presence was the only deterrent that might prove effective. “That, or convincing a few Cornish juries to convict them when they’re caught.”

The men continued talking in this vein, but Charley soon became bored with the conversation, and with watching the diminishing activity on the beach. When hunger pangs reminded her that she had eaten practically no breakfast, she informed Rockland that she and Letty were ready to return to the house.

“As you wish, my treasure,” he said at once, “but perhaps we ought to discover first if Mr. Alfred Tarrant is ready to go back. I believe he has invited the mammoth Mr. Gabriel to take luncheon with us. One hopes there will be enough food.”

“You do as you please,” she said. “Letty and I are leaving.”

The three men caught up a few minutes later, apparently still deep in their conversation about the wreckers. Gabriel asked Alfred if he meant to follow the late earl’s policies regarding the wreckers, or those of other coastal landowners.

“What do you mean?” Alfred asked, frowning.

“Certain local landowners,” Gabriel said, “pounce like vultures on every ship stranded on their estates. They claim ancient privilege to justify their actions.”

“Privilege?”

“Aye, sir. They claim local wrecking rights. They believe such rights give them legal title to their plunder. The right to wreck belonged originally to the Crown, but lords with coastal estates usurped it. To this day, they vigorously enforce their claims. I’m happy to say that his late lordship took a more civilized attitude. He not only refused to support wrecking but encouraged local Lloyd’s men and consular agents to protect their property. We’ve seen little wrecking in St. Merryn’s Bay these past few years. This business today doubtless results from his lordship’s death and a hope that no one else will interfere. They’ll be wanting to know, sir, what stand you will take.”

“Upon my word,” Alfred said. “I can scarcely be expected to take a stand before I’ve investigated the matter. Still, I’ll be glad to learn all you can tell me.”

Charley stopped listening to them. Calling Rockland and Letty to join her in a gallop, she gave spur to her mount, soon leaving Alfred and Gabriel far behind. Alfred’s pompous attitude galled her. Thus, when they returned to the stables to find his carriage horses occupying stalls that previously had housed St. Merryn’s prize hunters, she reacted even more forcibly than she might have done otherwise.

Ignoring Rockland’s hint that she not raise the subject until after Alfred had eaten his lunch, she sent Letty upstairs, then lingered in the front hall to await his return. Shaking his head, Rockland stayed with her, although he opined more than once during the next twenty minutes that she was making a grave mistake.

The moment Alfred entered the house with Gabriel, Charley confronted him, despite the presence of the other two men. “Look here, Cousin,” she said as he and Gabriel handed coats, hats, and gloves to a footman, “if you or your people want to make changes in the stables, I think you should discuss them with me first. Your man has turned four prize hunters worth upwards of eight hundred pounds each into an open field without so much as a by-your-leave, to make room for ordinary carriage animals.”

The footman fled when Alfred exclaimed in outrage, “How dare you speak to me so! I warn you, Cousin, that is not wise. Recall that in future you will depend on me for practically every penny you spend.” Flicking a glance at the interested Gabriel, he added grimly, “Miss Tarrant recently discovered that her grandfather failed to leave her an independence.” Turning back to Charley, undismayed by her now speechless fury, he added, “I think we can forgo your company at luncheon, miss. Go to your room at once and consider how you will apologize to me.” With that, he took Gabriel’s arm, saying, “Come along, my dear sir. I want you to meet the rest of my family.”

Rockland was a silent but appreciative audience. As Charley watched the other two stroll away, he said, “I foresee victory in my future. A little more of that Turkish treatment and you will accept any proposal of marriage, even mine.”

“Don’t be daft, Rockland. I am not going to marry anyone. But did you ever before encounter such a coxcomb? How dared he speak so to me! And in front of you and Gabriel, not to mention Jago. Alfred Tarrant is an unmannerly beast.”

“In all fairness, my treasure, you took him to task in front of the same audience.”

“Well, that’s true,” she said, reluctantly admitting the point. “But surely, he cannot be so lost to all common sense as to wish harm to those hunters. The financial loss in the end could be his, after all.”

“There is no accounting for his behavior. Still, it does just occur to me that he tends to run counter to any advice you offer him. You might be better advised to try conciliation, or even flattery, instead. A few feminine wiles might go farther with our Alfred than your habitual plain-speaking.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” she snapped. “I’ve never employed a feminine wile in my life, and I don’t propose to begin with Alfred.”

“Do I take that to mean you don’t intend to retire to your bedchamber to contemplate a proper apology?” he asked sweetly.

Charley’s response being more in the nature of a growl than a civil reply, Rockland had the good sense to take himself off to join the others in the dining room.

With the help of Kerra, her personal maid, Charley managed to obtain a plate of saffron buns and a pot of tea, which she and Letty consumed in the privacy of her bedchamber. However, her spirits had sunk to a new low. Even Letty failed to raise them, and the child soon left her to her own devices.

Kerra, coming to collect the plates, said, “Begging your pardon, Miss Charley, but Mrs. Medrose said you’d be wanting to know that they be moving her ladyship.”

“What?” With effort, she focused attention on the maid’s evident distress.

“That new Mrs. Tarrant gave orders that Lady St. Merryn and Miss Davies are to remove to that suite of rooms at the east end of the second floor. Mrs. Medrose did say her ladyship be a mite put off by the notion.”

Certain that Kerra was understating the countess’s anguish, Charley changed quickly out of her riding habit into a simple muslin afternoon frock, recently dyed dark gray, and went to see what she could do. Finding she had judged her grandmother’s lacerated sensibilities correctly, she set about trying to soothe them, and listened with as much sympathy as she could muster, while the countess bemoaned her lot. Since a number of Lady St. Merryn’s complaints arose from the thoughtlessness of the two men who had left her to such a fate by dying before their time, Charley soon ran out of platitudes and went in search of a less tiresome way to expend her energy.

Having finally decided that nothing would help if she remained within doors, she donned a cloak and gloves, intending to walk around the small lake at the foot of the sweeping front lawn. She would let the sea breeze clear her mind. Halfway down the main stairway, she was startled to hear a female voice speak from above.

“Cousin Charlotte, good heavens, where can you be going?”

Stopping and turning on the stair, Charley saw Elizabeth peering at her over the gallery rail. “I am going out,” she said curtly.

“But surely Alfred told us at luncheon that he had ordered you to your bedchamber!” Then Elizabeth’s countenance lightened, and as one realizing that she must have made an error, she exclaimed, “Oh, can it be that you have seen the wisdom of apologizing to him for your bad manners?”

“I have not apologized, nor do I intend to apologize,” Charley snapped. “Nor do I mean to waste what’s left of the day in my bedchamber. Your idiot brother is keeping eight splendid hunters in an open field merely because he is too pig-headed to listen to wiser counsel. You people came here like a Mongol horde riding out of Norfolk, attempting to take over this house and everyone in it before you had the right to do any such thing, turning everything upside down. You are—all of you—rude, obnoxious, and encroaching!” She was vaguely aware that Rockland had appeared behind Elizabeth, his usually cheerful face looking grave and concerned, but she ignored him.

Her volatile temper had taken over, and suddenly it was as if the explosive fury she felt had taken on a life of its own, as if she were observing the scene rather than participating. While she stood there, shaking in anger, some other person went on speaking, shrilly, unleashing all her pent-up frustration and rage at Elizabeth. Words flowed without thought, and when she saw tears well into the other girl’s eyes, instead of stemming the tide, they intensified it.