Sally James (19 page)

'Do you really think he would have taken you there? I suspect he'd have kept you somewhere, until he was sure of getting some money from me. I doubt if Limmering wants to wed anyone unless he can gain by it. The longer he kept you with him, unwed, the more he would have hoped to force my hand. He did not appear unduly eager to remain and press his suit once I had made the position clear to him, did he?'

Kate bristled. 'I told him I wouldn't consider it, and you know I had no notion that was his plan,' she snapped. 'Neither am I going to marry you, nor will I be forced back to that hateful Academy.'

'That is not something we wish to discuss now.'

'Then what are you going to do?' she asked tiredly.

'We are not many miles from Malvern Court, my house in Lincolnshire. I shall escort you there until I can make other arrangements. You need a different kind of schooling to that which Mrs Johnson tried to provide, and I mean to take a greater part in it myself. Now I suggest you go to bed. It is not a long journey but you must be tired. I will go and make arrangements for a chaise tomorrow.'

Kate thankfully did as he suggested. Rather to her surprise, instead of lying awake puzzling over Adam's actions, and the reason why he had kissed her, she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. She woke refreshed in the morning to find a maid tending a bright fire, in front of which was a tub of steaming water and a profusion of warm, soft towels.

'Would you like some chocolate before you have your bath?' the girl asked with a cheerful smile, and Kate could not help contrasting the warmth and comfort she was now faced with and the cold cheerlessness of William's empty house.

'Yes please,' she replied, and it was an hour later before she emerged from her room, having indulged fully in the unaccustomed luxuries.

Adam was having breakfast, but Kate refused his offer of slices of cold beef and ham, accepting merely a cup of coffee and a slice of bread and butter.

'How long will it take us to drive to Malvern Court?' she asked in a low voice, rather shy of meeting him again. To her intense relief he made no reference to the previous evening.

'A couple of hours or so. Are you ready to leave?'

'I have little option,' Kate responded tartly.

'No,' he replied coolly. 'It was a mistake to pass the responsibility of guarding you onto someone else. In future I must see to it myself.'

'I won't marry you,' she stated firmly, trying to still her shaking limbs at the very thought of it.

'You will,' he replied just as resolutely, 'but there is plenty of time for you to change your mind.'

'Do you mean to keep me locked up in some country house until I am twenty-one?'

'Of course not,' he said scornfully. 'You will not be locked up at all, just watched so that you have no opportunity for playing more tricks on me.'

'But surely you will go back to London soon?' she asked, suppressing the temptation to quarrel with his words.

'There is little for me to do there. I will remain with you, my dear, schooling you in the behaviour I expect from my wife. Now are you ready? The chaise I have hired is waiting.'

A maid had packed Kate's new valise with her few possessions, and Adam’s saddlebags were standing by the door, ready packed. One of the inn servants came to carry them down and while Adam was settling the shot with the landlord Kate strolled out into the stableyard.

There seemed to be an unusual amount of activity, even for such a busy hostelry. A couple of chaises stood to one side of the yard, but no one was making any effort to put horses in the shafts. Two horses with their collars on were tied to a ring set into the wall, and the ostler who had knotted the reins was hurrying back to the open stable door the moment he had secured them.

Ostlers, two postboys, a waiter from the inn, and a couple of maids milled round the entrance.

'Send for master,' one of the ostlers said hoarsely, and the waiter turned and sped past Kate into the inn, while one of the maids suddenly staggered across the yard and sat on the mounting block, an older woman following and pushing her head down onto her knees.

'What is it?' Kate demanded, crossing to them. 'What's the matter? Is she ill? Do you need help?'

'She'll be fine in a minute,' the other said, glancing up at Kate. Her face was white. 'It were the shock, see.'

'Shock?' Kate asked, but at that moment the landlord went running across the yard, followed by Adam at a more moderate pace.

'Kate, go back up to the rooms, I'm afraid we can't leave yet,' he ordered and disappeared into the stables.

Kate bristled. What right had he to order her about in such a manner?

She followed him into the stables, where the men were huddled in a group at the far end. Cautiously Kate approached. The landlord was kneeling in the straw, Adam standing behind him, but between them Kate saw the crumpled shape of a man's body, partially covered by a many-caped riding coat.

'It's the dandy as left sudden, last night,' the waiter said excitedly. ' 'Im what 'ad the fight wi' - '

'Shut yer gob!' one of the others hissed at him. 'Let constable deal wi' 'im. 'Snot fer us ter start accusin' the nobs o' murder.'

Kate, tugged by invisible strings, drew closer to the body. It was Darcy, and now she could see the wound in his chest, a gaping hole surrounded by encrusted blood. The prongs of a hayfork, pressed either side of his neck, had been driven into the beaten earth, and pinioned him to the ground.

Adam suddenly turned and saw her. 'Kate! What the devil? Go back inside, I'll come when I can.'

This time she didn't argue. All she wanted was to get away from that terrible sight before she disgraced herself and became as weak as the girl outside. She forced herself to walk back across the yard, when her instinct was to run. With dragging, heavy limbs, she climbed the stairs to the rooms they had been using.

The fire was still bright, and she crouched down on the hearthrug, hugging her knees, and tried to think.

After the fight with Adam Darcy had slunk out. By that time of night the grooms were no doubt snug in their rooms over the stables, and he'd have had to rouse one to provide him with a carriage. Where was his baggage? She and Adam had been moved to another suite of rooms within minutes of Darcy leaving, and she assumed someone would have packed his belongings and taken the bags down after him. Why hadn't they seen what had happened and raised the alarm?

Adam had gone down much later, after he had eaten. By that time Darcy should have been well away. She gulped. They couldn't have met again. There was no chance of that. She couldn't, wouldn't believe it.

Adam couldn't possibly have attacked Darcy with that hayfork, and left him bleeding to death in a stable. Could he?

There was a knock on the door and one of the maids came in, carrying a glass. 'I were told to bring you this,' she said diffidently.

'What is it?' Kate asked, looking suspiciously at the amber liquid in the glass.

'Master's best brandy,' the maid answered. 'Drink it, do, it'll make you feel better.'

Kate slowly took the glass and raised it to her lips. She sipped, and broke into a torrent of coughing.

'There, there, it'll do you good,' the maid said, briskly thumping Kate on the back. 'Drink it slow like. Once in your belly it'll warm you something wonderful.'

When Kate's eyes stopped watering she sipped again, more cautiously, and felt the brandy searing her throat. But then a warm glow spread through her, and she realized she had been shivering and now had stopped.

'Dreadful thing to walk in on,' the maid commented. 'He would insist on going, late though it were, and 'im drunk as a lord. I suppose he were a lord,' she added, sounding surprised. 'Landlord offered him a room where the other gentleman wouldn’t see him.'

'He didn't go straight out, after - after the fight?' Kate asked, sipping again, and desperately hoping she had misunderstood.

The maid shook her head. 'Stayed in tap, 'e did, fuming about what happened. The fight, I mean.' She looked at Kate and grinned cheerfully. 'What it be to 'ave two gentlemen fighting over you. Both be in love with you, I reckon,' she added, her tone a question.

'Neither of them are - were,' Kate said sharply. 'What's happening? Out there, I mean.'

'Constable's been sent for. Don't know as how anyone can say the rights of it, though, not unless anyone saw summat. Will you be all right now? Shall I fetch some more brandy?'

Kate looked at the glass and saw that it was empty. She shook her head. 'Thank you, no. It helped, but I suspect more would make me tipsy.'

The woman went away, and Kate sat wondering what was happening. The room didn't overlook the stable yard, and the walls of the inn were so thick she could hear nothing. In a fever of impatience she decided to go and ask someone whether the constable had been. Surely Adam would tell her what he'd said, and then they could leave. She wanted to get away from the inn and the town as fast as she could.

Then it occurred to her that the constable might suspect Adam, and they would not be able to leave. The thought sent her hurtling from the room and down the stairs, to land in the arms of Adam who had just reached the bottom.

'Now what's the matter?' Adam gasped as he staggered back slightly, clutching Kate to his chest.

'What's happening?' she demanded breathlessly, trying to free herself from his grasp.

Another voice intervened.

'If this is the young lady, my lord, we can question her here in the parlour.'

Kate found herself almost carried into a small room off the main taproom. She struggled free of Adam's hold and looked at the small, bald man who had spoken as he followed them in, with the landlord and one of the ostlers bringing up the rear.

Adam nodded curtly. 'Show her what you found.'

The constable, for Kate assumed that was the bald man's position from the way the others stood behind him, expecting him to lead, nodded. He drew out a flattish jewel case from a capacious pocket and with a flourish opened it and set it on the table in the middle of the room.

'Are these jewels yours?' he asked.

Kate was staring at the rubies displayed, nestling on a bed of white velvet and winking as they reflected the glow from the fire. Wordlessly she shook her head.

'You are sure?' Adam asked, and she turned towards him angrily.

'Of course I'm sure! If I possessed a set of rubies like this I'd be rich. Or I would be if I sold them.'

'Then how did Limmering come by them?' Adam said almost to himself. 'I wonder if he could have won them from someone?'

'I think I know whose they are,' Kate said slowly. 'I only saw them once, but the settings are unusual. I was told it was a set from India, that might account for it.'

'Whose?' Adam asked after a moment of silence.

'I don't understand,' Kate said doubtfully. 'They were stolen.'

'Whose?' Adam repeated, and the sharp tone in his voice made Kate look up.

'Mrs Shore's,' she replied. 'All her jewellery was stolen. Do you think Darcy won them from the thief?'

'Unless he stole them himself.'

'No. Even he wouldn't have done that.'

'It seems unlikely. He wouldn't have the nerve. Constable, I suggest you send a message to Bow Street. I imagine the Runners are looking for the thief?' he added, turning with raised eyebrows to Kate.

She nodded. 'Was that all he - Darcy, had?'

'These were in his pocket. His baggage was in the chaise, and we assume he went into the stables to find an ostler.'

'Fearful time to be leavin',' the ostler said. 'It weren't a good night fer drivin'. We dain't expect no more that late. Mebee 'e was just goin' somewhere else in town.'

'That's as may be,' the Constable said. 'You can go back now, and Landlord, I think a jug of porter would help. Perishing cold out in those stables. Now, Miss,' he went on as the two of them departed, 'I believe you were travelling with the poor gentleman? Sit down and tell me what happened.'

He took one chair at the table and Kate sank into the one opposite. Adam went to stand near the fire, his boot resting on the coalbox as he surveyed them.

Kate glanced at him but he was regarding the Constable and ignoring her. She took a deep breath and tried to explain as briefly as she could.

'I - he is - was - the brother of my cousin's wife,' she said. 'He was escorting me to Yorkshire, where my cousin is staying.'

'Your cousin's name?'

'Sir William Byford.'

'And the address of the place where they are staying?'

'I - I don't know. It's near Harrogate, I believe, but it was Mr Limmering's house, or rather his mother's, and I never knew exactly where.'

'And you were travelling with him, to an unknown destination?' the Constable said. Kate flushed but didn't respond.

To her relief the landlord came in with a tray containing the porter the Constable had requested, and ale which he offered to Adam.

'I thought you might prefer a pot of tea,' he said to Kate and she tried to smile at him. She was thankful he'd not brought more brandy, for her head was beginning to feel light from that and trying to puzzle out what had happened to Darcy, and why he was carrying Mrs Shore's jewels.

'And then the Earl of Malvern arrived,' the Constable went on after the landlord had left the room, 'and there was a fight over you?'

'It wasn't like that,' Kate said hastily.

'I believe you are the Earl's ward?'

'No, I'm not!' Kate snapped.

'I see,' the man said slowly, and glanced from one to the other with an expression on his face that made Kate squirm with embarrassment and anger. 'What caused the fight?' he went on.

'It was a quarrel between two gentlemen,' Adam put in, his tone so cold that Kate flinched, and the Constable began to look uncomfortable.

'Yes, my lord, of course,' he began, but Adam interrupted him.

'It dated back to an incident in London, and can have nothing to do with the unfortunate man's death, except in that it caused him to depart from the inn somewhat precipitously. But as you heard the landlord say he need not have done so. I imagine he disturbed some vagrant who'd hoped to find some warmth in the straw.'