Anne Ashley, page 18
‘I assume, because you’re here,’ she began, ‘you wish to part company with the free traders, Will.’
‘Aye, ma’am, that I do,’ he readily confirmed, before casting an anxious glance in his sister’s direction. ‘Providing Mary, ’ere, comes to no ’arm.’
‘I can offer no assurances,’ she told him bluntly, ‘but someone I know may be in a position to do so, if you’re both prepared to take the risk. I have not confided in him myself. He’s learned nothing of your association with a smuggling ring from me, so there is still time for you to change your mind and take this no further, should you wish to do so.’
As the siblings merely exchanged reassuring glances, Briony assumed they wished to go through with the meeting. ‘Very well,’ she said, rising to her feet. ‘I think it’s only fair to tell you that, in return for his help, he’ll expect something from you, Will. But I shall leave him to explain about that. It only remains for me to say that it is an act of good faith on my part taking you to see this person. No one has learned of your involvement in smuggling from my lips, Will, and I expect the same trustworthiness from you both in return. No one must learn of your meeting with this man. Is that understood?’
Although both of them had been clearly puzzled, they hadn’t hesitated to offer their assurances. Their puzzlement was as nothing, though, when compared to the shock they displayed a few minutes later when Briony led them both down to the cellar and opened the door to the secret passageway.
Mary was the first to find her voice. ‘Well, I never! In all the years I worked at the Manor I never knew this was here.’
‘You are by no means the only one who remained in ignorance. I discovered it myself quite by—er—accident,’ Briony revealed, while lighting three lanterns. ‘Now, if you could both carry a basket and a lantern each, we can be on our way. Perhaps you’d be good enough to ensure the door is closed behind you, Will. And for heaven’s sake keep your head well down!’ she cautioned. ‘We don’t want you knocking yourself out on the low ceiling.’
Picking up the third basket containing food that Janet had carefully prepared, Briony led the way. After the many times she had used it since Luke’s accident, the tunnel no longer held any fears for her. Mary and Will were evidently still shocked by its existence, for neither spoke a word until they had mounted the steps leading up to Vulcan’s stable. Only then did Will find his voice, after he had caught his first glimpse of the magnificent black stallion. Somehow Vulcan’s unexpected presence had a calming effect on the big man, who had spent most of his life looking after horses, for he seemed less tense as he followed Briony out of the stable and into the lodge.
Whether Luke had observed them passing the window, Briony had no way of knowing. He certainly betrayed no surprise whatsoever, save for a slight raising of one brow, when Mary and her brother followed Briony into the small bedchamber. The same could not be said for the siblings, however. Mary stopped dead in her tracks, nearly causing her brother to cannon into her.
Their astonished expressions made Briony smile. ‘Yes, Mary, the person who might be able to help your brother is none other than my husband.’
She turned to him. ‘I don’t for a moment suppose you remember Will Norman, Luke. He worked in the stables here at the Manor for quite a number of years before taking up a post at Petersham House.’
At being regaled with this information Luke intensified his gaze only marginally. None the less, Briony noticed the change. ‘Yes, Luke, Will may be the very person you require to assist you. But Mary and I shall leave you to discuss matters in private.’
She smiled wryly as she went back across to the door. ‘I’m sensible enough to appreciate that there are things it might be wiser for Mary and me never to discover.’
* * *
It was a good hour later before Briony caught sight of Will making his way through the shrubbery to where she and his sister had taken tea on the terrace and were now enjoying the late-afternoon sunshine. She didn’t attempt to ask any questions, and neither did his sister. All the same, it was quite evident to them both from Will’s whole demeanour that a great weight had been lifted from his mind.
She accompanied them both round to the stables where she waved a last farewell before returning to the lodge, using the same route as Will had trodden a short time before, and discovered Luke sitting up in bed, appearing more contented than she had seen him look in many a day.
That wonderful smile that instantly curled his lips and the hand that shot out in welcome were so spontaneous, so very natural, that she couldn’t help but be moved by the simple gestures. All the same, she was determined to keep a sense of perspective and not read more into those actions than was wise. They were signs of gratitude and friendship, no more, no less, and she must accept them as such.
Allowing her hand to remain captured in warm fingers, she vaguely wondered why it was that, after tending to his most every need, and being familiar now with every inch of his skin, she could still be reduced to the level of a giddy schoolgirl by his touch.
Withdrawing her hand most reluctantly, she seated herself in the chair positioned by the bed. ‘I assume by your smugly satisfied expression that Will is precisely what you’ve been looking for.’
There was a hint of exasperation in the look he cast her. ‘You damned well know he is, you baggage!’ he retorted, not attempting to moderate his language. ‘Why the deuce didn’t you tell me at once that Will was involved?’ His expression changed, as did his tone when he added, ‘Didn’t you trust me?’
She was totally untroubled by the evident censure, but the suggestion of wounded pride was another matter entirely. ‘Of course I trusted you. That wasn’t the issue,’ she assured him, rising to her feet and going over to the window to gaze at the view that had become so very familiar in recent days. ‘But Mary remains a friend of mine. How could I reveal what I suspected about her brother without discussing it with her first? I couldn’t have reconciled it with my conscience had I done so.’
He remained silent for so long that she began to think no excuse she made would serve to placate him, but then he said softly, ‘You’re a strange girl, Briony. You could drive a fellow to the brink of distraction with your deliberate provocation and wildly dangerous antics. Whereas on other occasions you accomplish amazing feats that would completely overwhelm most every other member of your sex. Furthermore, you even consider most carefully before taking action. In short, you have a contrary nature, my girl, and not one a fellow can easily understand or predict!’
Her gurgle of mirth at his disgruntled tone was not the reaction he might have expected, as she discovered for herself when she turned to look at him again. ‘It would seem, Luke Kingsley, that you and I have far more in common than I would ever have imagined possible. That is precisely what I thought about you for a good many weeks.’
‘Ah! But there was a reason behind my diverse behaviour,’ Luke pointed out in a flash. ‘I’ve explained all that. I was putting on an act, playing the privileged fribble for a specific purpose. Whereas your contrary behaviour, I very much fear, is perfectly natural.’
Although his remarks, she felt sure, were not intended in any way to be complimentary, Briony couldn’t find it within her to take offence. Instead, she returned to the chair by the bed and asked if Will had been willing to help. ‘Of course, I don’t expect you to furnish me with details. But I just want the assurance that he will come to no harm, for Mary’s sake.’
He looked gravely back at her. ‘That, I’m afraid, is something I cannot guarantee. Of course there’s a risk, a very grave risk, and Will appreciates this himself.’ He sighed. ‘In a way I feel sorry for the young fool. I can now understand why he got himself into this mess in the first place. He was influenced by an older member to join the gang, and did so in the spirit of adventure, not for any financial gain. He soon realised the stupid mistake he’d made, when he revealed he wanted nothing to do with any subsequent runs and was informed in no uncertain terms that he had no choice.
‘I told him I believed I would be able to ensure his sister’s continued safety without too much difficulty, and for that assurance alone he handed me a sheet of paper with the names of all the gang members listed upon it, which I believe Mary herself penned for him before coming here. One or two, like Will himself, are very reluctant members whose services are retained by threats of reprisals. As for the others… Well, they’d happily do anything for a price. It makes interesting reading, believe me.’
Curiosity got the better of her and she couldn’t resist asking, ‘Would I be correct in assuming that more than one member of the Petersham household are among the list of names?’
He smiled appreciatively at her quaint perspicacity. ‘I shall tell you this much, it was none other than the head groom himself, a real hardened member of the gang, by all accounts, who recruited Will in the first place. I shall reveal something else, too, as you richly deserve to know,’ he continued, thereby unequivocally acknowledging her invaluable help. ‘On one particular occasion, when Will was helping to offload goods, he noticed Miles Petersham standing a short distance away among the rocks, conversing with a complete stranger, a Frenchman who had come ashore in one of the rowing boats containing the contraband. He couldn’t hear precisely what was being said, and wouldn’t have understood much either as they were conversing in the stranger’s native tongue. But he did happen to notice Miles exchanging something with the stranger—papers, or a small package, he seemed to remember.’
‘Hardly the conclusive proof you need,’ Briony remarked, after giving the matter a moment’s thought. ‘Miles could merely have been making sure he received his share for allowing the goods to be offloaded on Petersham land. But I certainly think he’s looking increasingly the traitor you and your associates are after.’
‘My sentiments precisely!’ Luke agreed hollowly. ‘And what’s so confoundedly annoying is I’m not in a position to do a damned thing about it! I cannot even get further word to Sir Bartholomew. I cannot send a missive via the mail and risk it going astray. Or, worse, falling into the wrong hands.’
Briony could well understand his sense of frustration. On the other hand, she didn’t want him exerting himself too soon. Although he’d never admit to it himself, he still tired easily. Often she would slip into the room in the afternoons and catch him dozing.
Rising from the chair, she straightened his bedclothes in the businesslike fashion she’d adopted from the first. ‘If Ben doesn’t return and no news reaches us by Friday, I shall travel to London with a letter for Sir Bartholomew myself.’
Far from appeasing him, he cast her the steely, determined look of a gentleman well accustomed to being obeyed. ‘Oh, no, you won’t, my girl! I’m not having you careering across the country by yourself. So you can put that foolish notion out of your head here and now.’
Not knowing whether to feel moved by his evident concern for her safety or irritated by this dictatorial stance, she plumped for a provocative response and curtsied quite prettily. ‘But you’re hardly in a position to prevent me, now, are you?’ she reminded him sweetly.
‘Baggage!’ he muttered, before she had managed to whisk herself from the room.
* * *
When Friday dawned fine, if a trifle overcast, Briony began seriously to think that travelling to London was the only solution, if she wished to prevent Luke from indulging in rash actions.
Understandably, frustration at his continuing weakened state had given way to irritability, and with every passing day his temper had become progressively worse. She had succeeded thus far in persuading him to continue taking things easy, but the previous afternoon he had demanded Janet provide him with a full set of clothes, an order that the dutiful housekeeper quite naturally had obeyed.
Briony had been on tenterhooks since the housekeeper had conveyed the news of this worrying development, but she had appreciated immediately there was little she could do if Luke was bent on leaving the lodge. In truth, it would not have surprised her in the least to have seen him stroll boldly into the Manor. What she had never expected to witness, however, was him alighting from a bang-up-to-the-mark travelling carriage midway through Friday morning, followed by a distinguished-looking gentleman in late middle age.
When James the footman opened the door, thereby allowing his master, his right arm in a sling, and the stranger to stroll into the room, Briony hardly knew what to say or how to act, for that matter. In truth, she could quite cheerfully have boxed Luke’s ears soundly, but appreciated this was neither the time nor the place to vent her frustrations. Fortunately she was able to take her lead from him when he announced quite boldly,
‘Briony, my darling, allow me to make you known to Sir Bartholomew Walters, my friend and saviour. As you can see, I have been hurt. Set on by footpads in London and received an injury to my shoulder. My good friend saw to it that I received the very best of care whilst I was recovering by taking me into his home.’
Briony realised, of course, that Luke’s little homily had been for the benefit of the footman, but even so she willingly took the baronet’s outstretched hand after the servant had left the room. ‘It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir.’
‘Believe me, my dear Mrs Kingsley, the pleasure is entirely mine,’ Sir Bartholomew responded, before willingly accepting the offer of a seat and refreshment. ‘I cannot express my gratitude adequately enough for the invaluable service you have rendered our country. Everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve for many, many months might so easily have been for naught but for your timely actions. Your country owes you a debt of gratitude it would find hard to repay.
‘Now, I shall leave Luke here to explain what I have been doing, since receiving your letter, in an attempt to smooth things over with the local militia and with the Customs’ people,’ he continued, after fortifying himself from his glass. ‘You should receive no further trouble from them now. Quite the opposite, in fact! This latest development, finding a member of the smuggling gang willing to help, obliges me to return to the capital as soon as I can. I am supposed to be staying with my sister in Bath for a week or two in order to take the waters.’
All at once there was a disarming twinkle in the baronet’s eyes that Briony found reminiscent of the one she had glimpsed in her husband’s on the odd occasion—disturbingly irresistible.
‘Sadly, I fear I shall rapidly grow impatient of the water cure,’ Sir Bartholomew continued, little realising the favourable impression he was making on his young hostess, ‘and shall return to London before the week is out in order to put into effect the chain of events that, with luck, will bring our country’s enemies to justice…at least, a few of them.’
After finishing his wine in one swallow, he rose to his feet. ‘It only remains for me to assure you, my dear Mrs Kingsley, that I shall do my utmost to make certain your young friends come to no harm as a result of their assistance in this business. Your husband’s invaluable contribution is virtually at an end, as far as I am concerned. So, I entrust his future well-being into your safe-keeping.’
Sir Bartholomew glanced from a clearly startled expression flitting over quite lovely feminine features, to catch a half-crooked and satisfied smile lurking on masculine lips, and drew his own conclusions.
‘No, no, don’t trouble yourself to see me out, Kingsley. I’m certain one of your servants will do that admirably well, if you would kindly ring the bell. It is my considered opinion that your time would be much better spent explaining to your darling wife what I have been about since reading her beautifully written missive.’ He then turned again to Briony, just as James returned to the room in response to his master’s summons. ‘I sincerely hope I shall have the pleasure of seeing you again in London, Mrs Kingsley, in the not-too-distant future.’
Briony waited only until the charming baronet had left the room before giving voice to her bewilderment. ‘Anyone might suppose he doesn’t have the faintest notion why you were obliged to marry me!’ A disturbing possibility then suddenly occurred to her. ‘He must know, surely? I cannot imagine you haven’t confided in him. And yet to hear him speak, anyone might suppose…?’
Luke smiled crookedly again as he went across to the window. ‘Let me assure you, Briony, hardly anything ever escapes that man. I’m so very glad he’s on our side. I wouldn’t want him as an enemy, that’s for sure.’
‘Yes, appearances are so often deceptive, are they not?’ she agreed softly, thinking particularly of him, and how she had been only too happy always to think ill of him. ‘On the surface Sir Bartholomew seems so gracious and charming. Yet, common sense suggests he must be quite ruthless to undertake his kind of work.’ She gave an involuntary shudder. ‘I shouldn’t wish to be in Miles Petersham’s boots.’
‘No, and neither should I,’ he admitted sombrely.
She looked at him keenly. ‘Do you feel a little sorry for him, Luke?’
‘Not sorry, no,’ he answered, after giving the matter some thought. ‘But I’ll take no real pleasure in ensuring he receives his just deserts.’
‘But your involvement now is over, surely?’ When he didn’t attempt to respond, Briony began to experience some alarm. ‘Sir Bartholomew said you’ve achieved what you came down here to—’
‘He wants me to continue liaising with the new colonel of militia he’s had transferred down here,’ he interrupted, keeping his back towards her, thereby denying her the opportunity to glimpse the speculative look in his eyes. ‘He’s a reliable fellow by all accounts, totally trustworthy.’
‘That’s as may be. But you’re still not strong enough to—’
‘He also wishes me to keep Lieutenant Henshaw abreast of any new developments,’ he again interrupted her to reveal. ‘Seemingly he’s under strict orders not to question my movements and to offer me every assistance in the future, should I require it.’
