Lord Atherton's Ward (2 page)

Jane found her voice. ‘She says Lord Atherton wishes you to come to Chelmsford so that he may marry you without the bother of looking for a bride in the normal fashion.’

‘That’s fustian. She says in the previous paragraph that he will ignore me, which is far more likely to be the case. Why should a man of his eminence wish to marry a nonentity like me?’

‘Have you looked in the glass lately? You are beautiful; why, you could have been married a dozen times in the last four years if you had chosen to accept any of the offers made by local gentleman.’

‘I am too tall to be fashionable, and according to the latest gossip, auburn curls and abundant curves are not what is required to be a diamond of the first water this season. It would seem that diminutive fair maidens are
de rigueur.
And I doubt that even our substantial dowry will make up for our physical deficiencies.’

Miss Read put down her embroidery frame with a decided snap. ‘My dear girls, you are both exceptionally lovely, and well you know it. Jane’s dark hair and slender frame are a perfect foil to your fiery looks. It is high time you were both seen in public. If Lord Atherton’s mother is prepared to present you both next season with her daughters then I think you should agree to go.’

‘I had already decided that Jane should have her season, but after reading this missive I’ve decided it would be far better to open our own town house and ask Great-aunt Isabelle to act as her sponsor. After all she was eager to do it for me, and was far more disappointed than I when Mama was taken ill and I cancelled my visit.’

She dropped the first letter without bothering to finish it, amused to see her sister eagerly scanning the rest of its garbled contents. She turned her attention to the second letter guessing what its contents might be. There was a brief note from her own lawyer and a much longer one from his lordship’s legal man.

She read it with growing anger. How dare Atherton send threats to them via his lawyer? It was outrageous. The man didn’t have the courtesy to write to them himself but employed a minion to do so. She tossed the letter into the fire.

‘That decides it. I shall send Foster to London this afternoon and get him to organise the opening of our own house. I shall also write to Aunt Isabelle and make sure she is installed and waiting for us.’

‘We can’t appear in public so soon after Papa’s death, Sarah. It would be disrespectful and…’

‘Of course we can’t, you peagoose, but there are lots of lectures and museums we can visit which would be quite unexceptionable, don’t you think, Miss Read?’

‘Could we not go to Norfolk and stay with Aunt Isabelle instead?’

‘No, Jane. It’s far too cold up there at the moment, and anyway it will be more interesting in London.’ She would brook no argument on the matter and, as always, got her own way.

The following morning the house was under holland covers and the staff that weren’t accompanying them, left behind to spring clean and redecorate in their absence. Sarah had not told her sister the contents of the second letter she had burned. If Jane had known their precipitous departure was solely because she objected to the tone of the letter from Lord Atherton’s lawyers, she would quite probably have refused to leave.

The senior footman had two letters to deliver to the inn from which the mail coach left once a day. One was to the Dowager Viscountess Atherton thanking her for her kind invitation, but saying they were otherwise engaged, the other was enclosed inside one addressed to his lordship’s lawyers, she was certain they would send it straight on to their guardian.

* * * *

As Perry read the letter from his ward his eyes narrowed and his fingers clenched on the page.

Dear Lord Atherton,

I am writing to inform you that neither my sister nor myself have any wish to be associated with you or your family. We are leaving Kesgrave Hall and shall be visiting friends in Edinburgh for the foreseeable future. When I reach my majority next summer I shall contact you again.

Yours very sincerely,

Sarah Ellison, Miss

Chapter Two

The journey to London was accomplished in two easy stages. Her butler, Foster, having made the appropriate reservations when he had travelled up the day before. They arrived on the outskirts of the city late afternoon of the second day.

‘We have been lucky with the weather, the journey would have been intolerable if the roads had been as muddy as they were two weeks ago.’

‘And sun is out, which is what makes the streets look so much more cheerful, my dear, Miss Ellison.’ Miss Read was not enthusiastic about this trip. ‘I find the acres of flag stones and cobbled streets depressing. I soon yearn to have the soft ground of the countryside under my boots. Even the delights of the theatre, or a lecture at a prestigious venue, cannot make me enjoy London.’

‘We have almost an acre of ground at the back, surely that’s enough for you to walk around in and imagine yourself at home?’

‘It is not the same, Miss Ellison. The air is not so fresh here, it is full of smoke and noxious fumes.’

Sarah smiled. ‘Admittedly in the East End, the part we are traversing at the moment, the streets are grey and dismal, the populous unkempt. But where we live, things are quite different. We have wide thoroughfares, and the only smell is from the dung left behind by the horses.’

‘Miss Ellison! How indelicate! I have no wish to hear about such things.’ The girls laughed and their former governess joined in.

On arrival at their destination Sarah was pleased to see Foster, his white gloves pristine, his tailcoat immaculate, waiting at the head of the steps to bow them in. ‘Any problems, Foster?’

He shook his head. ‘None at all, Miss Ellison. The house was as it should be, you’d not think it has been unoccupied for three years. We’ve had the fires alight since yesterday, the house is warm and the larder is well stocked. Cook is preparing a delicious repast even as I speak.’

‘I am delighted to hear you say so. And our baggage arrived safely this morning, I hope?’

‘Indeed it did, Miss Ellison. Lady Isabelle is in residence and is awaiting you in the large drawing room.’

In normal circumstances Sarah would announce their arrival in Town by sending cards to all the families they were connected with, but this time she was determined to remain invisible. Although the house was open, she had no intention of parading up and down the street, or of receiving visitors or leaving cards. As far as Lord Atherton was concerned, and his lawyers, they were visiting friends in Edinburgh.

 Her lips twitched at the thought of him galloping up to Scotland in search of them. It would serve him right; she was not used to being threatened and had no intention of obeying his rude demands however
displeased
he might be at her refusal.

By the time they were settled, and had eaten the high tea Cook had prepared specially for them, it was dark, and the shutters were closed and the window drapes pulled. On the streets it would have been hard to tell that anyone was in residence.

 Sarah had taken Foster into her confidence, and he would make sure that none of the servants mentioned anything when they went out. She knew information spread through staff working at big houses quicker than it did through the families who lived there.

They had been happily established in London for over a week and Sarah no longer looked anxiously to see if there was a letter from Lord Atherton or his lawyers. Her ruse had been successful, she was free of the wretched man and could continue to live her life as she pleased, taking care of Jane and Miss Read and organizing her household.

Tucked away as they were in Shepherds Mews, off Park Street, Sarah was convinced nobody would know they were in residence. It was unlikely indeed that any of her acquaintances would wander past for the road led only to the livery stables.

 She decided it was high time they started enjoying the sights. She would take Jane out to view the ravens and the menagerie at the Tower of London. Neither Aunt Isabelle nor Miss Read wished to accompany them, but assured her it was perfectly in order for two young women, accompanied by their abigails
and
a footman, to visit alone.

‘The carriage is outside, Jane. Although the weather is quite mild today it would not do to keep the horses waiting. If you have changed your mind about accompanying me, then please say so and I shall go on my own.’

Sarah was ready, dressed in a fashionable walking dress of leaf green, with matching pelisse and bonnet trimmed with egret feathers. She tapped her foot as she watched her sister adjusting the hang of her lemon yellow gown.

‘Of course I’m coming, but I have a slight headache, and was allowing my breakfast to settle before being jolted over the cobbles in the carriage. I have no wish to develop one of my megrims.’

Sarah laughed. ‘I shall take a receptacle with us, just in case you wish to cast up your accounts on the journey.’ The girls ran downstairs, Sarah slightly in front, Jane behind and both laughing at her disgusting suggestion. As they reached the hall there was a thunderous knocking on the front door and Sarah skidded to a halt so suddenly Jane cannoned into her.

 The marble tiles in the hall were slippery and like ice skaters with little skill and too much speed they twirled about before sliding ignominiously to the floor in a heap of arms, legs and reticules. The young man, a newly appointed footman, didn’t have the common sense to ignore the door and assist his mistresses to their feet. The door swung open and a veritable giant, in many caped driving coat, a beaver rammed on his thick dark hair, erupted into the entrance hall.

‘What in tarnation! Good God, I have come to a madhouse.’ His barked exclamation echoed round the spacious vestibule. By this time Foster, accompanied by another footman, had appeared and Sarah was grateful to have the elderly gentleman’s bulk between herself and the fulminating glare of the man who could only be Lord Atherton.

 She could feel Jane’s hands shaking and looked down fearing her sister was as nervous as she. To her horror she realised Jane had succumbed to a fit of uncontrollable giggles. This happened occasionally and she knew, to her cost, that nothing would stop them - they had to run their course. ‘Jane, please desist, it is Atherton. Try and pull yourself together. He will think we are laughing at him.’

Tears were running down Jane’s face; she shook her head trying to find space between gasps and giggles to speak. ‘I know who it is, and I’ve never seen anyone look so angry in all my life.’

Sarah continued to untangle herself, accepting the hand of the footman to regain her feet. She was barely upright when Foster was thrust rudely aside and she found herself within arm’s reach of the man she’d done her best to avoid. Jane was quite right, he did look more than displeased, he looked ready to murder.

The sound of hic-coughs and giggles behind her was not helping the situation. She took a deep breath, pinned on her most pleasing smile and dipped in an elegant curtsy. ‘Lord Atherton, I assume. Please do come in.’

An explosion of laughter greeted her inane comment. It was too much. She felt her self-control slipping, despite the man’s terrifying countenance, the thinness of his lips and the steely glint in his eyes, she felt her mouth curving in an involuntary smile. Instantly she too was helpless with laughter. There was no alternative but escape.

She turned her back on him and taking Jane’s arm pushed her back upstairs. Hopefully before Atherton realised what was happening, they would be out of his reach. Guardian or not, he couldn’t in all decency follow them into their private apartments.

 Holding Jane’s hand she raced along the wide passageway that led from front to back of the spacious house, into the apartment they shared, slamming the door loudly behind her.

‘Goodness me, whatever must he think of us?’ Jane gasped before collapsing in a heap on the
chaise-longue
burying her face in her hands and crying with mirth.

Sarah recovered more quickly. Jane hadn’t seen his face, felt him vibrating with fury. If she’d known just how formidable Atherton was, she might have reconsidered her rash decision to rush to London. At least there hadn’t been time for him to go on a wasted journey to Scotland. How ever had he discovered their whereabouts so quickly?

* * * *

Perry watched his quarry running up the stairs, the sound of her laughter drumming in his ears. He was tempted to follow, to get hold of the young woman and shake some respect into her. As he glared at the deserted staircase he became aware that there were several members of staff watching him.

Schooling his features he turned nodding to the butler. ‘Here, take my things. Is Lady Isabelle down? Tell her Viscount Atherton is here to speak to her.’

The butler bowed, accepted his top coat and hat with aplomb. ‘If you’d be so kind, my lord, to follow me to the small drawing-room, I shall go at once and enquire if her ladyship is receiving this morning.’

Perry followed him across the hall and into a pretty chamber, a substantial fire burning in the grate, and furnished with impeccable, if outmoded taste. A slight cough behind him made him turn. He raised an eyebrow.

‘Would his lordship require any refreshments?’

He shook his head. As he paced back and forth across the carpet he simmered with righteous indignation. It was lucky for Miss Ellison that he hadn’t gone on a wild goose chase to Edinburgh, that her lawyers had let slip there was a house in Town. It had not taken long for his man to ascertain the girls were in residence. What in God’s name had he let himself in for?

Twittering women were the bane of his existence. He believed that his father had been talked to death by his mother. He had moved his family to Chelmsford on his father’s demise. He had not lived with them for years and time had not changed his opinion of the distaff side of his family in particular, and women in general.

When he had stepped through the door and seen two staggeringly beautiful young women rolling around on the floor he had been nonplussed. He was still at a loss to know what they had been doing and could only surmise they had taken a tumble. That was an extraordinary enough, but for them both to ignore his presence and run away laughing at him beggared belief.