Sally James (19 page)

She glanced at Lord Fordington, but he had been looking at her and had apparently not seen anything.

'It's a lovely moon,' she remarked, and leaned sideways against the parapet which edged the terrace, facing the end where Lydia, if it were indeed she, had disappeared.

Lord Fordington turned and faced her, holding the hand which had rested lightly on his arm in his own still. He began to speak, but Isabella did not heed him. Two other figures she was positive were Ninian and Georgiana had emerged from the same window and also been swallowed up into the darkness.

'You are not even listening!' Lord Fordington accused with mock severity, and Isabella's attention was brought back to him. She thought rapidly. It would be better for Lydia's sake if she could deal with this herself, and if he knew he would be angry with Georgiana.

'I am sorry. I was thinking how thirsty I was,' she said apologetically.

'Then let us have some champagne. Would you prefer to remain out here while I fetch some?'

'Yes, please. I am too hot to return indoors yet,' Isabella smiled at him, and as soon as he had disappeared on his errand she swiftly followed the others.

* * * *

Towards midnight Lydia, after a hurried consultation with Georgiana, had slipped out onto the terrace and along it, disappearing into the darkness and making her trembling way through the gardens towards the old ruins. Several times she almost turned back, but the thought that her whole future happiness depended on her courage tonight spurred her on. Georgiana, in the ballroom, sought out Ninian. She found him standing alone beside some potted ferns, apparently watching Charlotte, who was dancing with one of the sons of a neighbouring squire.

'Ninian,' Georgiana whispered, and took his arm. It was the injured one and Ninian drew in his breath sharply, then gently disengaged her hold on him and turned to her.

'What is it?' he demanded.

'Lydia. I'm afraid. There's some trouble. She ran off into the garden. I saw her disappearing towards the ruins. Ninian, will you please come with me, I cannot go on my own, but I am afraid she will do something foolish. She has been so desperately unhappy since you stopped going to the Rectory.'

Ninian had been undergoing considerable discomfort at the realisation of how his thoughtless flirtation had distressed Lydia, and Charlotte, so soon to be betrothed to a man she sincerely loved, had left him in no doubt about her own condemnation of his behaviour, despite her willingness to help him out of the scrape. His mother had bewailed his thoughtlessness, more because she dreaded losing him to a wife than because of concern for Lydia, while his brother had been aloof, treatment Ninian found much harder to bear. Now his guilt made him conscious he should respond to this appeal and he followed Georgiana out of the house. From the other side of the wall of plants Sir Frederick watched them, and as soon as they had left the ballroom swiftly followed.

A few minutes later Lord Fordington returned to the terrace with two glasses of champagne. Isabella was nowhere to be seen and he frowned. Had she taken fright and returned to the house? He discarded the glasses and spent a fruitless twenty minutes searching for her and was standing, baffled and angry, in the ballroom when he saw Ninian, looking pale, slowly climbing the stairs towards the gallery. Ninian looked ill, and for the moment abandoning his search for Isabella, Lord Fordington followed his brother swiftly up the stairs and into the gallery.

As he entered it he saw Ninian disappear through a door at the far end. There were several guests in the gallery, but they were ensconced in the delightful little alcoves and more interested in their companions than anyone else. Lord Fordington was able to pass unnoticed through the gallery and follow Ninian into a passageway with several doors opening from it. One of these was just closing and Lord Fordington quietly pushed it open again. It was a small sitting room, cluttered with books and embroidery and a vast collection of porcelain figurines displayed on every available surface. Ninian was bending over an old chest which stood in one corner, taking out bundles of what appeared to be old letters, tied with a variety of different coloured ribbons, and laying them down on the floor. Then he stood up, his hands tightly clasped round some small object, and turned towards the door.

'Justin!' he exclaimed, and flushed to the roots of his hair.

'What is it, Ninian? Not an interest in Great-Aunt Selina's letters, I am sure. Why are you taking the dice?'

'I must!' Ninian answered anguishedly. 'Oh, my God! He'll kill her if I don't!'

'Who will kill whom?'

'That devil Hill! He's got Isabella, and Lydia and Georgiana are there somewhere too! He says he will take her away if I do not give the dice back to him. I cannot let that happen!'

'Where is she?'

'In the ruins. I do not know why, but Georgiana asked me to go with her, saying she was afraid for Lydia who had gone there alone. Naturally I followed, but when we were almost there Georgiana said she had a stone in her slipper and urged me to hurry on alone. After a while I did and just as I got there, into the cloisters, I heard a sort of choking noise. It was Isabella. Somehow she had been seized by Sir Frederick and he had his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. He said he had his chaise waiting nearby and would take her with him if I did not fetch the dice. I said I did not know what he meant but he laughed and pointed a pistol at me. He said he had gone too far to turn back, and Isabella must suffer for it anyway. If I brought the dice he would let her go, but if I did not return, and alone, he would shoot her!'

'Where are Lydia and Georgiana? Are they there too?' his brother demanded.

'I don't know,' Ninian replied. 'I didn't see Lydia, and Georgiana had disappeared when I came back along the path. I don't know what was happening!'

'We will soon discover it. Go down to the terrace and wait for me at the end of it, Ninian.'

'No! You must not come, he will kill her!'

'He will not dare in front of witnesses. I am fetching my own pistols. Do as I say.'

'Justin, you cannot! He does mean it, I swear! What has he to lose? If we expose him as a cheat he will be ruined in any event. He would have to fly to France. He could take poor Isabella with him. He's been paying attentions to her, but she would not have him. He's just the villain to enjoy forcing her!'

'Then give him the dice and we will take him as he leaves.'

'It's no good. He'll take Isabella with him. He said he would hold her for his own safety and set her down when he was certain no one pursued him. There's nothing we can do except agree! Yet I am convinced he will not release her!'

'He is ruined anyway for having made the attempt. We must rescue her, now. Ninian, do as I say and we will make it succeed. Take the dice, give them to him, and tell him you will persuade me to forget it all if he releases Isabella at once.'

'But he will not!' Ninian said. 'Justin, I must go back or he will grow suspicious!'

'Do as I say. It will keep him talking and enable me to shoot to disarm him. I shall be behind you until you come from the trees.'

'It's too risky!'

'It is the only chance,' his brother insisted. 'Ninian, we waste time!'

* * * *

Still protesting, but conscious of the passing minutes, Ninian permitted his brother to lead him out of the room and push him through the door into the gallery. Then Lord Fordington ran silently along the passage and disappeared through another door and Ninian, as if in a dream, went along the gallery, down the stairs and out onto the terrace, thankful to find most of the guests engaged in eating the supper set out for them in the large dining room.

He had barely reached the end of the terrace when Lord Fordington rejoined him. He was carrying a dark scarf which he wrapped about his neck to hide his white cravat, a pair of pistols, wicked looking objects that glinted in the shafts of moonlight which filtered through the trees.

'I'll stay well behind you,' Lord Fordington whispered as they drew near to the ruins, and Ninian silently nodded and, deliberately making a noise to cover any possible sounds made by his brother, went ahead, closely followed by Lord Fordington.

The bright moonlight lit up the open central space, casting into black relief the gloom of the surrounding trees. Lord Fordington silently positioned himself behind one of the stone pillars where one of the outer stones had slipped, leaving a gap through which he could see yet be unobserved himself.

Sir Frederick had bound Isabella's arms behind her back and was holding her as a shield in front of him as Ninian approached. Immediately at her feet the covers of the well shaft had been removed, and it needed but a slight push from her captor to send Isabella hurtling down into its vast depths.

'Well, have you brought them?' Sir Frederick demanded harshly, showing Ninian his pistol.

'You can have them if you release Isabella,' Ninian started to bargain, but Sir Frederick angrily gestured to him to stop.

'She comes with me. I'll not harm her if you've been sensible. Lift your arms above your head and come slowly towards me, holding the dice in your right hand.'

Lord Fordingtoon watched helplessly as his brother obeyed these instructions. He did not dare shoot, for, apart from the chance of hitting Isabella, if Sir Frederick suddenly released her she would most likely fall down the well, and no one could survive such a fall. He could see from the difficulty she had in remaining upright that her feet were also bound, and if she no longer had the support of Sir Frederick's arm she could not save herself.

'Put them in my hand and move back,' Sir Frederick ordered, slipping one arm through Isabella's bound ones and transferring the pistol, still pointing unwaveringly at Ninian, into that hand while he held out the other for the dice.

Reluctantly Ninian put the small case into his palm.

'Open it, fool, and take the dice out!'

Ninian complied.

'Back, I said!'

'You'll be ruined if you take Isabella away from here,' Ninian said desperately. 'I swear that we will say nothing-'

'I would be a fool to trust you. I shall leave the country, but to ensure I do so safely I'll take the delectable Isabella with me. Possibly she won't want to come back when I have finished with her! It was an unexpected piece of good fortune I discovered her here. I have a score to settle with you, my dear,' he added, addressing Isabella, who stared silently and defiantly at him. 'You scorned me once when I offered you honourable marriage. We'll soon see you crawling on the floor begging for my favours!'

As he had been speaking he had been examining the dice closely, and on these last words he threw them unexpectedly into the well. In the sudden silence, after what seemed an interminable wait, a faint splash sounded and he smiled grimly.

'They are safe now. I can very easily obtain some more, you know,' he added to Ninian.

Swiftly he bent down and untied the cord binding Isabella's ankles. Then, thrusting her before him, and training his pistol on Ninian, he moved slowly away from the side of the well, making for a path which led towards the stables where he no doubt had his carriage waiting for him.

'Do not attempt to follow me. There is a ship I intend to board. If you wish to see Isabella alive again you will let me go. I'll shoot her at the first indication of a pursuit.'

Inexorably, step by step, he was forcing her onward, going towards the trees at an angle to where Lord Fordington waited, his pistol ready for the best opportunity of shooting Sir Frederick, but hampered by the fact the man's own gun was still aimed at Ninian.

Then, out of the trees in front of Isabella, a wraithlike figure moved. It was dressed all in white, with trailing skirts, and moaned softly as it glided across the grass and back into the shadows behind a section of wall.

Isabella screamed.

'Look! The ghost!' she cried, and swayed against Sir Frederick as he swung round to see what ailed her, collapsing to the ground and, as he pointed his gun towards the ghostly apparition and fired, forcing his arm downwards so that the shot went harmlessly into the ground. At the same moment as his gun exploded there was another report and Sir Frederick, his mouth gaping open soundlessly, swayed and clasped his hand to his shoulder where a dark stain was slowly becoming visible.

'It's all over,' Lord Fordington said curtly, stepping from behind the pillar with his second pistol covering Sir Frederick. 'Ninian, see that Isabella is all right.'

Before Ninian could reach her, however, the ghostlike form of Georgiana, weeping hysterically, ran from the trees and threw herself onto Isabella's recumbent form.

'Oh, Isabella, darling, has he killed you? I meant to frighten him, I didn't think he'd shoot you, the pistol was not pointing at you!' she babbled.

A low laugh came from Isabella who was struggling to sit up.

'All that ails me is that my hands are tied together. Ninian, pray untie them! Lydia is locked in the cellar, my lord. She must be petrified, poor girl. He put her in there when she met him.'

Georgiana was sobbing loudly, clutching at Isabella, who, once Ninian had released her, cradled her in her arms comfortingly.

'Why did she meet him?' Lord Fordington asked, while Ninian ran across to the door barring the entrance to the cellar and struggled to open it, clumsy in his haste.

'She must have thought he was Ninian,' Isabella replied, since Georgiana was incapable of speech. 'She had a mad scheme to present him with a love token. The girl must have been frantic if she gave it to Sir Frederick in mistake for Ninia,!' she said with a chuckle.

'Of all the bird-witted notions!' Lord Fordington said in exasperation. 'For pity's sake, Georgiana, can you not cease that wailing? Isabella is unharmed, and no thanks to you and your idiotic friends! Is she there, Ninian?' he called, and Ninian, supporting Lydia, reappeared from the cellars.

Lydia was weeping noisily, but Isabella was thankful to see she was not, as might have been expected, in a dead faint.

'What of you, Hill, is it serious?' he demanded of Sir Frederick, turning away from Lydia and Georgiana, who, clasped in one another's arms, had burst into a fresh storm of tears.