An Affair of Honor (28 page)

But Jeremy had gone quite pale at the mere mention of the two names. He had met his lordship, of course, and Nell had no doubt that Rory had provided him with an excellent description of the large major as well. He cleared his throat twice.

“Well, Jeremy? I am waiting.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He eyed her unhappily, then capitulated. “They be landing at Black Briar Cove, Miss Nell, which be about three miles along the coast road, Rottingdean way.”

“I know the place,” Nell said, sighing in relief. “What time will that boat land?”

“Not till midnight or after, but there’ll be lookouts posted long afore that.”

“Does Rory know?”

“Aye.”

“Will they harm her, Jeremy? She’s wearing male attire, probably in the belief that it will somehow protect her, but will it fool them at all?” Nell made no attempt now to conceal her anxiety.

Jeremy shifted his feet. “Depends, miss, but I doubt it, and probably it be best if it don’t, if they see she’s a lass. Either way, if one of my cousins is on look-out and if she mentions my name, they might only send her off with a flea in her ear. But she might not mention me.”

“Why ever not?”

He looked sheepish. “I told her they’d not like me telling her so much, that they’d be like t’ murder me if they found out.”

“I’ve a certain degree of sympathy for such feelings,” Nell muttered, thinking quickly. “You must go as fast as you can to Mrs. Fitzherbert’s house, Jeremy. I’ll write a note for Lord Huntley, but you will have to show him the way. He’s not so familiar with this part of the coast as we are.”

Jeremy was staring at her in dismay. “I cannot! I’ll go myself, Miss Nell, but ’tis no place for a gentle-bred lady like yourself, and I cannot take his lordship there.”

“You shall!” Nell snapped. “What’s more, we shall send word to Brighton Camp, just in case all does not go well.” Jeremy looked mutinous, and Nell stamped her foot at last. “Be sensible, Jeremy! If we hurry and bring her back before that boat lands, no harm will be done to anyone. But if we dither, anything might happen.”

“No harm done! I suppose the major and his patrol will just turn about and go home again if no one has landed yet,” he added sarcastically.

“Perhaps not, but your people will be safe enough if the boat hasn’t beached before the soldiers get there,” Nell pointed out, “and if there is a spot of difficulty, well it’s no more than they’re accustomed to, after all. But you would not wish, any more than I do, to put the Lady Aurora in jeopardy, now would you?”

Jeremy muttered something that Nell could not hear, but she was wise enough not to demand that he repeat it. Instead, she scrawled a brief note to Huntley and another to be delivered to Brighton Camp.

“If either gentleman cannot be immediately found, he must be tracked down,” Nell said firmly. “Get Mr. Lindale’s Ned to take the message to the camp. You are to go for Huntley yourself.” Just saying his name stirred emotions deep within her. He would be angry, but he would help her, and she could not imagine any way by which they might successfully keep word of the night’s business from him. She took a deep breath, steadying nerves that showed an alarming tendency to jump about. When she spoke again, her voice at least was under control. “Mind, Jeremy, no dawdling. I shall go on ahead, just in case you cannot find him immediately. In any case, he will want his horse, so there will be some delay at best.”

“You can’t go after her, Miss Nell! That’s daft!”

“No doubt,” she retorted crisply, “but I certainly cannot remain here with my knitting while my niece may be in danger of her life. Now go, Jeremy. Oh, wait!” she called as he turned on his heel. “First take this letter paper to Lady Agnes. She must be wondering what has kept me such an age. Tell her anything but the truth. Now, hurry!”

The moment he had gone, Nell hurried to her bedchamber and threw on her riding habit. Grabbing hat, gloves, and whip, she hurried down the back stairs and by way of a narrow passage at the back of the garden to the stables. Jeremy and Ned had already departed on their errands, and she was thankful to see that Peter had her horse and his own saddled and ready to go.

“Are you armed, Peter?”

“Aye, mistress. Me pops be under me coat, all handy like.”

“Good. You know Black Briar Cove?”

He allowed as how he did, and helped her into the saddle.

Moments later they were cantering up Edward Street to the Kemp Town Road. Nell knew it would have been faster to take the Marine Parade, but they’d have been far more likely to meet someone who knew her, and that would have been disastrous.

There was no moon, and once they were past Bedford Street, there were no more lamps to light their way. But there was a blaze of starlight overhead, for the night, though moonless, was clear.

After half a mile or so the bulk of the hospital loomed on their left, and another half mile brought them to the new Lewes Crescent and Kemp Town proper. They passed the brewhouse and the Bush Hotel without incident and came at last to the coast road.

After riding in silence for some time, Peter said over the sound of their horses’ hoofbeats, “Almost there, Miss Nell. Best draw up and walk from here.”

Nell agreed, wondering how he knew where they were and glad she had not come by herself. At night the whole coast road seemed unfamiliar, and the cliffs here overhung the beach in such a way that any activity below would be well nigh impossible to see from above. She wondered how Rory had expected to find the place, or if, indeed, she had even attempted to do so. If this was another wild goose chase, Huntley would murder them both. Now the thought of him sent a little shiver up her spine. He was bound to be furious with her no matter what came to pass, but hopefully the fact that she had sent for him would count a little in her favor. She hoped so. Though she didn’t fear his anger, the thought of it made her uncomfortable, and she would so much rather please him. A sigh escaped her as she realized the unlikelihood of pleasing him by her actions this night.

“We’ll leave the horses here,” Peter said quietly, helping her dismount. “I been thinkin’, ma’am. Best ye let me see what’s what afore we both find ourselves in the briars.”

But this Nell would not allow. She had hoped that Jeremy and Huntley would have caught up to them by now, but since they hadn’t, she had no wish to be left behind to face Huntley on her own before finding Rory. Peter, knowing better than to waste his breath arguing with her, merely snorted and motioned for her to stay behind him.

There was little cover along the clifftop other than occasional large rocks and bits of scrub brush, and since the brush had more a habit of catching Nell’s skirts than of offering, concealment, she was soon wishing she had taken time to find some old clothes of Kit’s to wear. Really, she thought, as she hastened to keep pace with Peter, gentleman’s attire was far better suited than a lady’s for sneaking up on smugglers.

Two rocks large enough to be called boulders loomed ahead at the very edge of the cliff, and Peter stepped between them, then seemed suddenly to disappear. Nell, hurrying after him, realized he had found the pathway down to the beach, but as she peered over the edge, her heart seemed to miss a beat. She could see only dark shadows. The sound of the sea was louder than ever, and she could make out white foam edging the dark swell of the water below, but she could see no path, and though she could hear him, she could not see Peter either. She called softly to him.

“Here, Miss Nell,” came his voice a little to her right. “’Tisn’t bad. Just zigzags down the face. Mind where you step, but there be little difficulty.”

Easy enough for him to say, she told herself, thinking Peter must have eyes like a cat. Then she had another thought. “Peter,” she whispered, “I was warned there would be look-outs posted. Where do you suppose they will be?”

“One of ’em be just ahind of ye, miss,” came a gruff voice from beyond the larger boulder. “Don’t ’e move, now. There’s a good lass.”

Nell went quite still. There was no sound at all for a moment except for a tiny stirring of stones below her and to her right. Then the gruff voice came again.

“Like an ant hill it be tonight. Shoulda sent out proper invites, we should, what wi’ all the gentry folk astoppin’ by t’ see ’ow we does business.”

Nell let out a breath of relief. “She’s here, then,” she said. “You found a young lady and her groom on these cliffs tonight. We have come in search of them. Please, where are they?”

“A gentry mort, ’e say?” A large shadow emerged from behind the boulder. “Dressed like a cove, she were? In breeches?”

“That is my niece, a very foolish young woman,” Nell said with as much dignity as she could muster. “Where have you taken her?”

“Pleased t’ show ye, ma’am, if ye’ll lead the way down ’at path there.”

“Oh, but I can scarcely see to find my way,” Nell protested.

“Where’s the cove as was wi’ ye, ma’am?”

She sighed in frustration. She had hoped he hadn’t noticed Peter. “Below me somewhere,” she said.

“Got pops on ’im, ’as ’e?” Nell was silent. “Hear me, cove,” the voice went on, “we doesn’t want no fuss, and we doesn’t want no ladies being ’urt. So just you be a good lad ’n toss them barkers o’ yourn out toward Davy Jones, or it’ll be the worse fer yer fine lady ’ere, an’ that, I tell ye tr—ah-h!”

Nell had not heard the slightest sound, but another, even larger shadow had loomed up from behind the man and somehow his words had been cut off in midsentence. After a brief, nearly silent struggle, he went limp. Her first notion was that Peter had somehow managed to creep around behind him while he talked, but she immediately realized her error.

“Bring that rope, lad,” Huntley growled.

“Thank God,” Nell squeaked, her heart singing as relief flooded over her.

“We’ll see if you thank God or not once I’ve got that blasted niece of yours safe,” Huntley muttered. “Now for the love of God, keep your voice down. Peter, you there?”

“Aye, m’lord.”

“Good. Take your mistress back to her horse and keep her there. And if Major Talcott and his men arrive, show them where we’ve gone. According to young Jeremy here, there should be only one more to account for, so we ought to have things all right and tight before the cavalry arrives.”

“Philip, wait!”

“Later,” he said brusquely. “Go with Peter.”

His voice seemed oddly tight, but it was clear from the implacable tone that it would be the height of folly to argue with him, so Nell went obediently to stand beside her horse, twisting her fingers nervously while she strained her ears to catch the slightest sound. Though it seemed an age, it was less than fifteen minutes before she heard a scrambling at the cliff edge and could make out shadows moving near the boulders. A moment more and a slim, boyish figure came running up to her.

“Aunt Nell, is it really you? Huntley said—”

“I’m here, young lady,” Nell replied gruffly. “Where is your mare?”

“Across the road. Joe went for her. Oh, Aunt Nell, it was most exciting! We were captured by smugglers!”

“It was utterly foolhardy of you to do this thing,” Nell said sternly. “You might have been injured, even killed.”

“Oh, no, for Jeremy’s cousin knew who I was, you see, as soon as I told them my name, and though the other man was quite a nasty sort and wanted to hit Joe and me both on the head, Jeb said he would see no harm came to us. Only they didn’t want to let us go until after the boat came, because they were afraid we should squeak beef, which I think means to tell someone, so Jeb and I and poor Joe were sitting by a tiny fire inside a cave, drinking coffee Jeb made in a tin pot, when Jeremy and his lordship burst in upon us. It was just like a Gothic tale! Truly, it was. Oh, don’t scold, Aunt Nell. I have had such an adventure!”

“Aurora,” Huntley grunted behind them, “here is Joe with your mare. I’ll put you in the saddle.” Nell waited, her breath in her throat, for him to begin scolding, but to her astonishment he said nothing further. A moment later he moved toward her. “Why are you not mounted? The sooner we are away from here, the better it will be for all of us.”

“Indeed, my lord.” She felt his hands firmly, warmly at her waist, and then he lifted her to the saddle. A moment more and he was astride the big roan stallion beside her. “I must thank you for coming so quickly, sir.”

“Thank me later. The rest of that charming crew could arrive at any moment, and I’d as lief not have to explain our presence here, if you don’t mind.”

They had not ridden far, however, before a pair of lighted torches came into view on the road ahead and the thunder of hooves beating on the roadbed announced the arrival of the military. Major Talcott had brought Lieutenant Lord Hubert Coltrain and four of his men. The major rode ahead of the others.

“Huntley! Have you found her?”

The two groups converged, and it was clear from his reaction to seeing Rory that the major had feared for her safety. As though the others were little more than so much ambient air, he began immediately to reprimand her, and she attempted just as quickly to justify her behavior on the grounds of having enjoyed a great adventure.

“There is no excuse for what you have done tonight,” he said, interrupting her without hesitation, “and furthermore, you look disgraceful.”

“But I could not wear my riding habit, Gideon! It would have been impossible to creep around on the cliffs in such long skirts. And we should have been perfectly safe, had Joe not slipped while we were trying to creep down the cliffside to find a place where we might be able to see something exciting. But I do not repine, I assure you, for if he had not slipped, we might never have met a real smuggler—two of them, in fact—”

“It was a crack-brained thing to do,” the major cut in uncompromisingly, and Nell waited in fascination to hear what he might say next. But Talcott had recollected himself at last, and after sternly adjuring the still protesting Rory to hold her tongue, he turned to Huntley. “The free-traders, did you find them?”

Huntley shot a rather speculative glance at the obediently silent young girl before replying. “Two of them. One is tied up near the pair of boulders at the top of the path, and the other can be found in a cave halfway down the cliff-face. You may keep them both with my compliments, but you’d probably be well-advised to let them escape in hopes that they go ahead with whatever signal they use to draw the boat in. I’m perfectly certain the others won’t come in without it.”