The Wicked and Wonderful Miss Merlin (6 page)

‘Lord Brough, milady.’

The butler flung open the doors and Robert entered the very pretty parlour, which was done out in shades of cream and rose.  A lady of mature years, but looking not a day over forty was sitting in a delicate elbow chair wearing a lace peignoir of bright crimson, a pair of satin slippers on her small feet.

‘Forgive me if I could not come down to you, sir,’ she said in a voice husky with sensual charm.  ‘I suffer from what my doctor is pleased to call arthritis and seldom venture downstairs before tea these days.  Besides, I have always found it pleasant to receive gentlemen in my boudoir.’

‘I am sorry for your pain, ma’am, for I know the condition to be crippling.  My grandmother suffered from it for years,’ Robert said, some of his ire abating.  ‘However, I have no time to waste.  I am searching for your nephew Toby Brockleton and my sister, Eleanor.  Apparently, they are staying with you?’

‘I did have a letter from Toby asking if he might bring a friend to stay, but I have heard nothing more of him, sir.  Are they engaged?  It seems highly improper otherwise – and not at all like my nephew.’

‘I think they had some notion that I would not allow the match and decided to run away…probably at my sister’s urging,’ Robert said grimly.  ‘Do I have your word that they are not here?’

Lady Merrill fixed him with a haughty stare.  ‘In my youth I may have been a little out of the ordinary, sir – but I do not lie, and I should certainly not approve if Toby brought a young gel here without the approval of her family.’

Robert’s lips moved but no sound came out.  A little out of the ordinary?  She had been notorious!  Yet somehow he believed her.

‘Forgive me, ma’am.  I did not mean to question your honesty, but I am near driven mad by this affair.  I have searched for them everywhere – and then Eleanor wrote to me from an inn and said she was on her way here…’

‘When was this pray?’

‘The letter was sent some ten days or more ago.’

‘Then something must have happened to them,’ Lady Merrill said in a practical tone.  ‘You may find them still at the inn – or perhaps between that inn and my house if they had an.  I am sorry I can offer no other advice, except to say that if Toby was fit and able he would have brought the young lady straight here.’

He offered his card.  ‘You will write to me at my house in the country should you hear anything, ma’am?’

‘Certainly.  I shall also instruct my nephew to call on you at your earliest convenience, sir.’

‘Then I thank you, ma’am, and wish you good day.’

Lady Merrill held out her hand.  He took it, bowed and air kissed the back, bringing a smile to her lips.

‘Once upon a time you would not have been in such a hurry to leave me,’ she said.  ‘Nor should I have let you go…’

Robert could not help but laugh.  ‘You must admit that you were often involved in scandal, ma’am.’

‘Ah, those were the days,’ she said and her eyes twinkled.  ‘I fear arthritis has put a stop to my…little adventures.  Nowadays I am the soul of respectability.’

‘Had we met some years ago I do not think I should have wished to leave so soon,’ Robert said, chuckled and went out.

He was smiling as he went downstairs and the butler opened the door for him.  However, outside in the warmth of a pleasant day, his smile disappeared. 

Where on earth were they?  He was feeling frustrated and angry as he mounted his horse and rode on.  All he could do was to ride back to the inn from which Eleanor had sent her letter and inquire if they were sill there -–or if the host had any idea of where they had gone.

Robert had spent his anger, and his encounter with the elderly but still wholly charming courtesan had left him feeling amused.  Lady Merrill was still attractive despite the years and a crippling disease.  She must have been a beauty in her day!

Sighing, he set out once more.  Perhaps it would be as well to inquire at the inns along the way, for it was too late to worry about Eleanor’s reputation.  If she’d been seen staying with Toby alone at various inns, especially those frequented by the Ton, the only thing he could do was to insist that they marry as soon as they banns could be called.

‘You do not mind that I brought Eleanor, Mr Brockleton and Miss Tompkins with me?’ Samantha asked Lady Wrexham when she was shown into parlour of the large, sumptuously furnished townhouse.

‘I am delighted you could spare the time to visit me,’ Annabel said and embraced her.  ‘It will be lovely to see Eleanor again.  I do not know Mr Brockleton, but I am sure he is very pleasant if you approve of him.’

‘Well, they have been a little foolish, but if you would mention that you invited them here it may help us to brush through this little masquerade without scandal. I am sure that when Lord Brough eventually comes to see us, he will be prepared to allow them to marry – and then it should all be fine.’

Samantha sounded more optimistic than she felt, for she knew that Lord Brough was bound to be very angry.  He might feel that she should have written to him before bringing his sister to London, but she’d had little choice.  Toby had really been quite unwell on the journey; they had stopped a few times to allow him to be sick and there was no doubt that his balance had been affected by the bang to his head.

Samantha was a little worried and had asked him if he wished his parents to be told, but he’d asked her not to write to them.

‘I dare say I’ll be perfectly well again in a few days,’ he said.  ‘Please do not worry them for nothing.’

Samantha could only do as he wished.  At least she had established them in a respectable house.  If a whisper began to the effect that they had an understanding, though nothing could be announced until Eleanor’s birthday next month, it would go a long way to squashing any rumours. They were guests of Viscount and Lady Wrexham and therefore society could find nothing to object to – and the fact that they had arrived with Miss Merlin and Miss Tompkins made it all perfectly proper.

However, it was not to be expected that Lord Brough would see things quite as she did, and Samantha thought that she would rather like a few days grace before the axe descended.

If he was truly angry with her, he might decide to blacken her name.  The end of term was close and her pupils would be going home to their parents in a few days.

She was not certain how many would wish to return…

‘I’m sorry, milord,’ the innkeeper said in a respectful tone.  ‘The young people were here but they left yesterday.  After the other one arrived it all changed and they said as the young sir ought to see a proper doctor in London – one what knows about bangs to the ‘ead, like.’

‘A bang to the head?’  Robert frowned.  He did not like the sound of that much.  Eleanor’s letter had said nothing about an accident…only that she was going to stay with Mr Brockleton’s aunt. Or had it?  He had not bothered with the last lines.  The foolish chit had sent him on yet another wild goose chase.  His mouth thinned as he asked, ‘May I inquire the name of the person who suggested the visit to London?’

‘I believe it was Miss Merlin…a rather unusual name, wouldn’t you say?’

‘Damn her interfering…’ Robert recollected himself.  It would not do to let anyone know what he was thinking.

He might have known who it would be.  No doubt Eleanor had written to her and told her all.  Why the devil hadn’t she sent him word?  Or was there a letter waiting at his home?

He gave the innkeeper a gold coin and, after stopping to rest his horse and take a bite to eat, decided to return home.  It was on his way to London after all and his clothes were not exactly what was needed in town.

What had Miss Merlin done about the situation?  If she was with Eleanor for most of the time perhaps something could be saved from this mess after all.  His mouth settled into a grim line.  In one way he was relieved to know that his sister was in the charge of a respectable lady, but in another he was furious.

It was all Miss Merlin’s fault in the first place for putting ideas into the girl’s head and she would feel the full force of his displeasure when they next met.

‘I think we should order one or two new gowns for you, Eleanor,’ Samantha said when the young lady accompanied her to her dressmaker that morning.  ‘Although we do not intend to go out into society much, Annabel will entertain friends and you must be properly dressed.  You have only a few simple gowns with you and they simply will not do.’

‘I have no money,’ Eleanor replied blushing.  ‘My allowance was spent at the inn before you arrived.  I dare say Robert might pay the bill – if he isn’t too angry…’

‘He might indeed, but we shall not ask him,’ Samantha said.  ‘They shall be my leaving gift to you, for I do not think you will return to the school.’  She would either be married – or her tyrant of a brother would drag her home in disgrace.

‘You are so kind to me – the sister I never had,’ Eleanor said.  ‘Had Aunt Grace been more like you I should never have run away.’  She was silent for a moment, then, ‘I visited the wishing well, you know – and I wished that Toby might love me.  He told me how he felt the very next day.’

‘Oh…that foolish tale,’ Samantha said.  ‘I believe that the lady of the well does sometimes grant one’s wish, but usually if it is for someone else.’

‘Oh…I did not realise I was supposed to ask for someone else,’ Eleanor said.  ‘Had I known I should have wished that Toby would be happy.’

‘I dare say the lady of the well knew what was in your heart.’  Samantha looked at her curiously.  ‘Did you by chance hear anything when you made your wish?’

‘Yes…’ Eleanor stared at her.  ‘Have you heard it too…that strange haunting music?  It isn’t like singing or any instrument I ever heard.  I supposed it must be the wind sighing in the trees.’

‘It does sound a little like that, but it usually means that the lady has heard and approves of your wish.  I think even as you asked for yourself, your heart was saying something different – and I believe she listens to our hearts not our words.’

‘Are you a white witch, Samantha?  Some of the girls think you can cast spells.’

Samantha laughed and shook her head.  ‘I have no magic – unless it is the love I have for my girls and for life itself.  It is that love which I try to instil in you all.  I want you to enjoy your lives but also to be kind and considerate to others…to bring joy into another person’s life is to light a star in the heavens…’

‘You say such beautiful things,’ Eleanor said.  ‘I think it is why we all love you so much.’

‘I say what is in my heart.  Perhaps I say too much at times.  I am very sorry if what I said made you think it right to run away, Eleanor.’

‘Oh…’ Eleanor had the grace to look ashamed.  ‘No, of course not.  I knew you would not approve – but I just couldn’t face the thought of living with Aunt Grace again after I’d known what it was like to be happy.  Toby saw me crying and said he would take me to his aunt’s house – but I thought he might elope to Gretna Green if I asked him nicely and that’s why…but he thought it would not do…’

‘Very sensible of him,’ Samantha said.  ‘I think him exactly right for you, my love, and I’m sure you will be happy together.’

‘If only he is not too badly hurt…’ Tears welled up in Eleanor’s eyes.

‘Well, we shall know when we see him later, for the doctor will examine him – and now, my dear, we are here.  Forget your troubles for the moment and enjoy buying your new gowns.’

Robert looked through his letters immediately he reached his home.  There was nothing from either Eleanor or Miss Merlin.  Damn her!  Call herself a schoolmistress!  She was not fit to have charge of a puppy.  Well, she would not get her claws into any more impressionable young ladies.  By the time he was finished with her…

He glared at his butler, who had come to inquire when he would require dinner.  It was bad enough that he had been chasing all over the country in search of his errant sister – but that her head mistress should conspire to keep her from him when she knew…She would rue the day she’d tangled with Robert Brough.

For a moment delightful pictures of his hands about her throat and her begging for her life threaded through his mind, to change quite abruptly to another scene.  A scene in which she had let down her long hair and was standing in a pool of light in a diaphanous gown that showed her skin…My God!  What was he thinking?  He could not imagine why he had suddenly thought how delightful it would be to kiss her…to take her to his bed…

It must have been his encounter with the courtesan.  It had addled his brain, or perhaps he was just so exhausted that he did not know what he was thinking.

Cursing himself for allowing such wayward thoughts into his mind, he addressed his butler.

‘James, forgive me, I must leave in an hour.  Have the kitchen send up some beef and pickles and bread in thirty minutes.  I shall change and have my valet pack me a bag.  I am going to London and he shall follow with a small trunk in the chaise.’