Most Rebellious Debutante (12 page)

‘I’ll be fine. Where shall I leave you until help gets here?’

‘I’ll stay here with Staines. Bruno won’t let anyone get close without warning me and, just to be extra sure, would
you mind opening that cupboard over there? That’s right. Carefully hand me the pistol you should find within. Thank you. Now, if you’ll move me into that corner behind the door, I’ll be able to see anyone who comes in before they see me.’ He gave a hard laugh. ‘Better warn Boulton to come in
carefully
!’

‘May I come back? After I’ve seen the Boultons?’

‘Better not, for I have no doubt that Piers will be back. He murdered my brother and has seriously harmed my good friend. He has gone too far to leave it there, but, next time, I will be ready for him.’

He took hold of her hand and Lucy wondered if he was going to kiss it again, but he didn’t. He held it for a moment and stroked his fingers along its length a few times.

‘Take care, Miss Lucy Templeton and, as
you
said yesterday, may God go with you.’

‘And may He stay with you,’ she whispered, as she straightened her body. Her throat felt too tight to say more and she hurried away, anxious to complete her allotted task, hoping she didn’t meet too many people who might wonder at the state of her.

L
UCY ENTERED THE
village with her senses alert,
determined
that, if Piers Potterill were still in the area, she would know it. Her frequent visits throughout the past week or so had made her presence accepted without query and she received a number of cheery acknowledgements. However, unsure whether or not her physical appearance would stand up to too close a scrutiny, she didn’t stop until she reached the Boultons’ cottage.

‘Eh, miss! Whatever—?’

Lucy held up her hand, cutting short Mrs Boulton’s
exclamation
of surprise. ‘May I come in, Mrs Boulton? I know I seem rather dishevelled but I need your assistance … and that of your husband. Is he available?’

‘Eeh, bless yer, miss, he’s harvesting at Gerard’s farm. Shall I send fer him?’

‘Please, but say nothing to alarm him or anyone else. Just say something like he is needed at home.’

‘I’ll send our Johnny. He’s a fast runner. Now sit yer down, miss, and let me mek you a cup of tea, an’ I’ll get a brush fer your hair, miss. Eh, whatever has happened? You look fair done in.’

Lucy briefly told her as much as she felt necessary and
let the concerned woman make her a little more tidy. Later, when Georgie Boulton hastened in, his face flushed with his exertions, she repeated the tale.

‘I be honoured to help ’is lordship, miss, and don’t fret none. I know any number to choose from to give a ’and. Now you get yerself back to yon lodge, miss, and put yer feet up. Leave it to us men. We’ll see to ’is lordship, and sort yon upstart out, we will, or my name’s not Georgie Boulton.’

Lucy was thankful to return home. Cook was curious about her long absence, but Lucy made the excuse that she had spent her time with Mrs Boulton and hadn’t been aware of how long she had been there. She was glad Mrs Boulton had helped her to tidy up her appearance and Cook seemed unaware of the stains on her carriage gown. She knew her sister would notice the stains and tears and resolved to get it brushed and sponged down before Marissa’s return … but not today. She was too tired to work out a strategy to avoid too many questions.

Not that Cook was completely blind to the irregularities of Lucy’s behaviour. ‘I’ll be glad when the master and mistress are back and no mistake,’ Cook now admonished her, with the familiarity only an old family retainer would dare to assume. ‘You young folk today have far too much liberty. It didn’t happen in my day, I can tell you! Young ladies knew what was expected of them, not like today!’

Lucy tried to look suitably chastened and asked for a tray to be sent up to her room before making her escape, thankful that she didn’t have a maid to make excuses to, though she was sure Susie would have relished the
excitement
of her last few hours.

She sighed at the state of her hands as she slipped out
of her dress. They were scratched and blistered and felt quite sore. She slipped into Marissa’s room and borrowed a pot of her rose-scented salve, knowing she wouldn’t mind. When she was little, Marissa used to enjoy dressing her up in her nice clothes and letting her try out her creams and powders, painting her face and curling her hair, until Lucy tired of sitting still. Ten minutes later, she would look more like a ragamuffin than the daughter of a peer of the realm unlike Marissa who never had a curl out of place and had never ever torn her dress! They were totally unalike, but they had been very close and attached to each other until Marissa’s marriage took her away from the family home.

Smiling at childhood memories, Lucy changed into a comfortable day dress, then lay on her bed and gently applied a lavish amount of the delicately perfumed cream to the palms of her hands, reflecting over the events of that day.

She had known a mixture of terror, excitement, despair over her lack of physical strength and satisfaction that she hadn’t handled the situation too badly. Oh, why were women so restricted in what they were allowed to do! If she were a man, she would still be there, making plans with Theo and making sure that Piers got his just deserts.

Her thoughts sobered. Piers Potterill had shown himself to be a ruthless adversary. Would that give him an
advantage
over Theo, who, she was certain, wouldn’t stoop to any dishonourable act? What would Theo decide to do after he had moved Staines to a place of safety? How could he get the better of his cousin without coming to any harm himself? In a fair fight, she was sure he would win, but
Piers had shown himself to have scant regard for honour and chivalry. He wouldn’t wait until they were standing face to face. He had already shot both brothers in the back and then denounced them as cowards! She was sure his next attempt would follow similar lines.

Lucy felt a rising indignation against him, but it was a helpless fury. She was only a female and was relegated to the sidelines, out of danger when all she longed to do was to fight at Theo’s side. An image of them standing side-by-side, swords at the ready, slipped across her inner vision.

Oh, he must come through it the victor! She couldn’t bear it if he were hurt, or worse. Right must prevail! She suddenly knew that she wouldn’t want to go on living if anything happened to him. Life would have no meaning.

At that moment, Theo was thinking through a series of plans to ensure the same outcome. The first thing was to get Staines assessed by Dr Fortesque and, hopefully,
transferred
to a suitable place for his recovery. He was confident that the good doctor would remain faithful and discreet. He had seen him and Con through many boyhood ailments and mended broken limbs on occasions. Maybe Fortesque would take Staines to his home? Thankfully, money to pay for any treatment was no problem. As long as they could transfer Staines there without anyone realizing what was happening, he should be safe.

He turned his thoughts to his own predicament. What would Piers do next? He tried to put himself in his cousin’s role. Would he come back here to the gamekeeper’s cottage? Or was he now persuaded that he had been mistaken about Theo’s presence there? Had he visited the Hall and found it
closed and shuttered? Theo hoped so. That might send him back to London for a time to follow other lines of enquiry, which would give
him
time to come up with a plan and put it into practice.

His eyes gleamed. There was nothing like a challenge to restore feelings of self-worth. And, at least he knew his enemy! Piers was a cheat, a liar, a murderer, a thug and a bully and, like most bullies who got others to do their dirty deeds, he was a coward. That knowledge was the ace up his sleeve. If he could get Piers into a tight corner, he would react in the only way he knew and, with reliable witnesses to backup his testimony, Theo would have him!

By the end of the day, Theo knew what his immediate plans were: Dr Fortesque needed no persuasion to take personal care of Staines and Boulton and Dodds, Boulton’s chosen ally, were prepared to take on Staines’s work and assist Theo in his efforts to get his legs working again, but in a location neither would know until they had taken leave of their families.

His only regret was that he couldn’t tell the two women in his life where he was and what he was doing. One of those women was his dear mother, the Countess of Montcliffe and the other was Miss Lucy Templeton, whose assistance and bravery he would remember for the rest of his life.

Lucy was devastated when she discovered that Lord Rockhaven had departed for a secret destination. Her only consolation was that he had taken Georgie Boulton and another villager with him, with the intention, so Mrs Boulton told her in strictest confidence, of regaining the use
of his legs and eventually coming back to his ancestral home.

‘But when will that be?’ Lucy asked Mrs Boulton, her heart in despair.

‘Georgie couldn’t say, love. It seems his lordship is
determined
to keep his plans close to his chest and what we don’t know, we can’t let slip, can we?’

‘But how will you manage without your husband bringing in a wage? I know things were difficult before, but it will a great deal harder on your own.’

‘Georgie said his lordship has got it all in hand. Old Tomkins from up at the Hall will take care of our needs. So, Miss Templeton, we just has to be patient and see what happens.’

That was easier said than done. How could she be patient when she didn’t know what was happening, nor how long it would be before she saw Lord Rockhaven again? If ever! The thought drove her to despair. He hadn’t said he wanted to see her again. Maybe, now that her part in his survival was over, he would forget about her? After all, what was there for him to remember? A slip of a girl who spoke her mind too freely and romped about the countryside with little thought for her reputation. What sort of enticement to him to keep her in his thoughts was that?

It was a subdued Lucy who, a few days later, welcomed her sister and family back home from their visit to Kent and Marissa wrote happily to their mother, saying that the isolation from society was having a good effect on her sister’s rebellious nature. Lady Templeton wrote back with thankfulness and said that they would leave Lucy with Marissa until Christmas, when they would travel down
from London to spend the festive season at Glenbury Lodge and take Lucy back with them early in the new year in time to plan a second Season, during which, Lucy would be prevailed upon to receive the first favourable offer of marriage with thankful gratitude.

Wisely, Marissa did not share this plan with Lucy. She just hoped that her rebellious sister had seen the
foolishness
of her former romantic notions and, now that she had had a glimpse of what her life might be like if she remained unmarried, that she would resolve to be a dutiful daughter in future.

Lucy knew that Bertie and Arabella would be eager to ask if they might visit Rocky at the earliest opportunity and she managed to interrupt Bertie’s urgent enquiry of, ‘How’s Rocky? Can we go and—?’ with a hasty, ‘The stable pups are all doing fine, Bertie, but you must wait until tomorrow morning to see them,’ thankful that Cassie had indeed produced a litter during the children’s absence. Her
interruption
was accompanied by a meaningful raised eyebrow and she was thankful that Bertie was quick on the uptake. Her conscience twinged with guilt that she was teaching the children to be deceitful, but she salved her misgivings with the knowledge that Lord Rockhaven’s safety took precedence over the normal niceties of life.

The following afternoon, after taking the children to see the new pups, she tried to explain the difference between lying and using an untruth to protect someone’s safety. ‘We aren’t lying for selfish gain for ourselves, or to escape a punishment,’ she clarified, ‘and we will be able to confess the truth to your mama as soon as Lo— Rocky says we may.’

Bertie considered her words. ‘That’s all right, and I’ll be very brave if I get a beating for having told a lie.’

‘Will I be beaten, too?’ Arabella asked with a tremor in her voice.

‘Nah! Girls don’t get beaten, do they, Aunt Lucy?’ Bertie asserted with a hint of scorn in his voice, adding hopefully, ‘Maybe Rocky will say I, too, may be excused for once, because we were lying to protect him? I’ll ask him, shall I? Can we go and ask him now?’

Lucy crouched down so that her face was level with the children’s faces. ‘I’m sorry, children. Rocky had to go away quite suddenly. Er … Mr Staines was taken quite poorly and they have gone away to make him better. It’s only for a while and I’m sure they will return before too long.’

‘But, where’ve they gone? Can’t we go to visit? I’m sure he’d like us to,’ Arabella asked.

Lucy shook her head. ‘I don’t know where they’ve gone. We just have to wait until he comes back, or lets us know where he is. I’m sure someone will tell us eventually.’ She fervently hoped so.

The children looked crestfallen and Arabella slipped her hand into Lucy’s, both giving and receiving comfort.

‘I bet Rocky’s sailing the seven seas, searching for treasure ships!’ Bertie declared optimistically, raising the edge of his hand to his eyebrows as if he were searching distant horizons. ‘I hope he comes back when I’m a bit older, then I can go with him. I’d better practise fighting and catching prisoners and making them walk the plank! Come on, Bella, you can be my first victim!’

With shouts and squeals, the children happily diverted into another make-believe game and Lucy suddenly felt
quite ancient in comparison to their innocent acceptance that, eventually, all would be well.

‘I pray that it is,’ Lucy breathed silently. ‘But when? When will Lord Rockhaven return? Will I still be here?’ She couldn’t bear to think that she might not be. If she weren’t, maybe Lord Rockhaven would forget all about her, as he had done after their first brief meeting, and that was too heart-wrenching to even contemplate!

Theo was equally frustrated. His self-imposed regime of fitness-training was arduous.

His first task for Boulton and Dodds was to retrieve the dismantled exercise bars that Staines had constructed for him. Not wanting to risk anyone deducing that he was in residence in the servants quarters at Montcliffe Hall, he planned the operation with military precision, instructing his two faithful cohorts to temporarily conceal each
separate
piece in different parts of the woodland, making it difficult for anyone who might catch sight of any part of the proceedings to keep a watch and lie in wait for the next move. He made use of the extra time this entailed in making their living quarters more habitable, aided by Tomkins, the elderly retainer left as caretaker of the family home when his mama had removed to Town.

Once the pieces of equipment were reassembled, his twice-daily exercises began in earnest. He gritted his teeth and persevered, even when his muscles and ligaments were screaming for rest and sweat was pouring down his
forehead
. Boulton and Dodds now knew better than to suggest a break before Theo was ready to give in to his protesting body. He had set himself a goal and was pushing his body
hard to reach it. He knew that his next meeting with his cousin Piers would more than likely be the final meeting one that would end with a victor and a loser.