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‘Naturally.’ Ridgeway was indignant. ‘He said he’d never seen him before but thought he must have come from the House. ‘'Tall, thin and dark” was all he could say.’
‘Young or old?’ asked Sandford impatiently.
‘Well, he said ‘'old” but to a child of his age, that could be anyone from twenty upwards,’ Ridgeway pointed out. ‘Sorry, old chap, back to square one, almost.’
‘Not quite,’ said Sandford, frowning. ‘We know how it happened, but as to why? Miss Cordell has not yet met your mother, so where does she fit into the conundrum?’
‘Oh, I figured that one out,’ said Ridgeway. ‘If the little varmints have any loyalty at all it’s to ‘'Lady ‘Genie''. Billy actually thought he was doing it on Ma’s behalf and this chap, whoever he is, must have known that!’ He looked squarely at Sandford. ‘You want me to lay them off—send them back to London?’
Sandford flushed. ‘I hope you know me better than that, Charles,’ he said shortly, getting ready to mount his horse. ‘Sounds as if you’ve put the fear of Lucifer into the brats already. The real villain has still to be discovered!’
He wheeled his horse out of the Dower House stableyard and, raising his crop in salute, he galloped back down the lane to Beldale.
Upon his entry into the hall he encountered Harriet sitting on a chair, reading. To his surprise she jumped up and came forward to meet him.
‘Lord Sandford,’ she said, clearly in some agitation. ‘Could I speak with you, if you please?’
Puzzled, he led her into the salon and, closing the door behind them, he turned to face her.
‘How may I help you?’ he asked, feeling his heart contract at the sight of her downcast face. He steeled himself
for whatever battle of wits he was sure must be about to follow.
‘I—I—want to apologise, my lord,’ she said in a small voice. ‘I fear I have misjudged you. I …’
Discomfited, he put up his hand to stop her.
‘Please, Miss Cordell, no more!’ he protested. ‘It is I who am at fault if I gave you the impression that I disbelieved your story. Believe me, it was never my intention …’
‘But you have found the culprit?’ she interrupted eagerly. ‘You have solved the mystery?’
‘Alas! Not entirely,’ admitted Sandford, vexed at having to disappoint her. ‘Sit down please, Miss Cordell. Let me tell you what I have ascertained.’
Briefly, he related his own investigations and his cousin’s discoveries, deeply conscious of Harriet’s eyes on his own the whole time he was speaking and sick at heart that he was unable to bring a smile to her face.
‘But these boys,’ she said, anxiously gripping her hands together. ‘Surely they are in some danger now? The man must be aware that they could expose him. Who can he be and what do you suppose it all means?’
Sandford shook his head and laid his hand on hers, to still the trembling.
‘I confess I am at a stand,’ he said reluctantly. ‘Unless you know of anyone who would wish you harm? These Middletons … ?’
Harriet shook her head. ‘They could not have known of my whereabouts last week,’ she said. ‘Even Mama did not, until the—engagement—notice was in the paper.’
Sandford regarded her silently for a moment then, rising purposefully to his feet, he became his normal efficient self again. ‘Then we must assume that the whole thing was some unfortunate mistake,’ he said decisively. ‘For the present, however, I must insist that you refrain from wandering off on your own again and that you always tell one of the household where you may be found …’
He stopped, at her look of astonishment.
‘Must you persist in treating me like a child?’ she asked in disgust. ‘Perhaps you could look out some leading-strings for me?’
He sighed, all at once too weary to engage in the inevitable bout of verbal fisticuffs he had come to expect from their interchanges.
‘My concern is merely to ensure your safety until your grandfather arrives to remove you,’ he said stiffly. ‘I would be obliged if you would comply with my request during the remainder of your stay here. I have wasted far too much time on this wild-goose chase already.’
Wrenching open the door, he left the room, conscious of an overwhelming desire to give Harriet a good shaking or, perhaps, just hold her tightly in his arms. Cursing under his breath, he crossed the hall and climbed the stairs to his chamber, where he curtly dismissed Kimble and attended to his own toilette, much to his valet’s chagrin.
Harriet, still angry, paced the floor of the salon for some minutes after the viscount had gone, mulling over both his revelations and his subsequent chastisement. Aware that she had little choice but to heed his instructions, she contemplated the possibility of dashing down to the village the following morning in order to catch the Osbornes before they left for Hampshire. Rejecting this idea as impractical and, ruefully sensible of the fact that Martha would simply return her to Beldale, she wondered once more whether she could confess her situation to Judith Hurst but, oddly, the closer her friendship with Judith grew, the less that idea appealed to her. Reluctant to expose herself to her friend’s possible disapprobation, she realised that she had no alternative but to sit tight until her grandfather arrived, however long that might be. She resigned herself to remaining inside the four walls of Beldale House for the foreseeable future, since there was absolutely no way she was going to stroll about the grounds with a footman at her heels and, as for riding with Sandford, she would see him damned first!
Once more an uneasy truce attended their meetings, which Sandford confined to the barest minimum, unwittingly causing his mother deep misgivings, for she could sense his unhappiness and concluded that he was regretting his decision to return to Beldale permanently.
The earl continued to make good progress and no longer seemed to have a compulsion to dwell on his accident. Harriet spent a good deal of her time with him, playing chess and piquet and reading scurrilous articles from the newspapers to him, which latter usually developed into heated debates between the two of them, culminating in paroxysms of laughter.
Sandford entered his father’s room on one such occasion and, although the sight brought a smile to his lips, his eyes remained bleak and he indicated to Chegwin that he would return later.
Lord William, however, noticed his son’s retreat and speculated upon the cause of it, but was reluctant to broach such a delicate subject with Sandford. Instead, he elected to quiz Harriet during one of their games of Hazard.
‘I shall miss you when you are gone, my dear,’ he said gently. ‘I’m sure you must know how attached I have grown to you—we all have. Her ladyship calls you her breath of fresh air!’
‘Sandford would probably say ‘'whirlwind'',’ she said, smiling ruefully as she took her turn at the dice. ‘He seems to take such exception to everything I do.’
‘You dislike him?’ he shot at her, regarding her intently.
Startled, she raised her green eyes to his faded grey ones and sighed. ‘There are times when I really do, I’m afraid,’ she admitted. ‘He can sometimes be so overbearing, you know, and then, just when I could happily murder him—he does something so—so—unexpected.’
Beldale gave a snort of laughter. ‘Well, you are honest, I’ll give you that—not that I’d expect anything less of you, of course,’ he said, looking at her fondly. ‘Care to tell me about it?’
‘Well, it seems that no matter how hard I try to conduct myself with the dignity and propriety he expects of me,’ said Harriet with a grin, ‘I find myself involved in some sort of scrape. Papa always used to say it was lucky I wasn’t a cat—although I do have the eyes for one—for I must easily have lost all nine lives before now!’
‘Curiosity is regarded by some philosophers as a prime virtue,’ observed his lordship thoughtfully. ‘How else could we acquire knowledge? My throw, I believe.’
Harriet passed him the dice-box and studied her score-sheet. ‘That makes about fifty thousand guineas I owe you, my lord,’ she laughingly informed him. ‘I will have to ask for time to pay, or shall you have me cast into Bridewell?’
‘Bridewell? Hmm—that might just be the answer.’ The earl answered absentmindedly, as he shook the box.
Harriet looked up puzzled. His lordship seemed abstracted.
‘Oh, I have tired you out,’ she exclaimed, jumping up in concern and beckoned to Chegwin to clear away the bed-table.
Lord William smiled at her agitation and took her hand in his. ‘Perhaps I shall take a nap, my dear,’ he said. ‘It’s Judith’s assembly this evening, is it not? Be sure to come and see me before you leave.’
Harriet, bending to kiss him on the forehead, promised that she would.
As soon as the valet had closed the door on her departure, Beldale hauled himself up on his pillows and issued several succinct orders and a request for Lady Caroline’s immediate attendance.
That evening, as she stood submitting herself to Rose’s final administrations, Harriet felt a pang of regret that she would shortly be losing the cheerful young maid and wondered if her grandfather would allow her to offer the girl a position in his household.
‘Don’t frown so, miss,’ admonished Rose, as she buttoned her mistress’s glove. ‘You’ll get lines on your forehead soon enough, believe me! There, now—a real picture you look!’
Harriet studied her reflection in the pier-glass. Her soft, copper-gold hair had adapted happily to its new shape, its curling tendrils framing her elfin face, whilst her deep green eyes mirrored the colour in the shot silk of the over-tunic. The neckline of the white satin underslip was low but decorous, without ruffle or frill, accentuating the creamy curves of her bosom. The tunic, which was sleeveless, fastened around the waist with a narrow sash decorated in a gold-threaded Greek-key design and Rose, still bemoaning her mistress’s lack of jewellery, had fashioned a similar ribbon to weave through her curls.
Feeling enormously pleased with the whole effect, Harriet took the fan and reticule Rose was holding and thanked the smiling girl for all the effort she had made on her behalf, determined that she would find some way of rewarding her for her loyalty before she left.
‘You’re to go and see the master,’ Rose reminded her, as she handed Harriet a dark green velvet cloak. ‘He’ll be wanting to see you in your finery, I expect.’
Both Lady Caroline and Sandford were waiting in the earl’s room when Harriet arrived. The old man’s eyes lit up when he saw her and he beckoned her to him.
‘Just like a little sea-nymph,’ he chortled, beaming with pleasure and nodding at his wife. ‘See, my dear? I was right. Hand me the box, please.’
The countess, smiling, passed him a flat leather case from which he lifted a glittering necklace of tiny emeralds strung on a gold chain. Harriet gasped as Beldale passed the necklace to Sandford and bade him fasten it round her neck.
The viscount, whose senses had been considerably affected by Harriet’s appearance, found his fingers trembling as he battled with the clasp.
‘Oh, Lord William!,’ breathed Harriet, as she leaned over to kiss the earl’s cheek. ‘I promise I shall take the greatest care of it! I shall return it to you personally first thing in the morning.’
‘It is not a loan, my dear.’ His lordship patted her hand. ‘It is but a small token of thanks for the many hours you have devoted to my recovery.’
‘But I cannot possibly accept such a gift,’ she protested. ‘And you know perfectly well that I, too, have enjoyed our tête-à-têtes.’
‘Which is why you cannot possibly refuse my gift, I think,’ said his lordship gently. He looked at his son. ‘Isn’t there something else, my boy?’
Sandford cleared his throat. ‘Father was concerned that Judith’s guests would be sure to mark the absence of an engagement ring,’ he said, reaching for the small box which he had previously selected from the assortment on the side table.
‘These jewels are all part of the Beldale collection, my dear,’ said Lady Caroline conversationally, as Harriet removed her glove. ‘They belonged to Lord William’s grandmother,
the third countess. She was very fond of emeralds, we are told. I myself prefer the sapphire and our girls have always regarded the green stone as unlucky …’ She hesitated. ‘Oh dear, I trust you have no such qualms, my child?’ She looked anxiously at Harriet, who let out a ripple of delighted laughter.
‘Not at all, ma’am—it is, in fact, my birthstone so I believe that to me it must be lucky …’ She stopped, as the box Sandford was holding fell from his grasp and bounced across the floor. Chegwin bent to retrieve it and handed it back to the viscount, who was looking at Harriet with an incomprehensible glint in his eyes.
‘Perhaps you would do us the honour of wearing this tonight,’ he said, executing a stiff bow and handing her the box. ‘Certain people are sure to comment—will it suffice?’
Harriet opened the lid and beheld a flawless square-cut emerald, surrounded by diamonds and mounted on a gold ring. Her lips trembled as she slid the jewel on to her finger and, holding up her hand for all to see, ‘It fits perfectly,’ she observed, in shaky surprise.
‘I hoped that it might,’ murmured Sandford impassively as, somewhat shaken himself, he picked up the box and returned it to the pile.
‘And just one more,’ interposed the countess, holding out a bracelet she had selected. ‘This matches the necklace, I believe—now you will do us proud.’ She clasped the bracelet around Harriet’s wrist and stood back to admire the result. ‘Your grandmother would have loved you so—I can hardly wait to see the effect you have on Ramsey!’
‘I shall be sorry to miss seeing the effect she has on Judith’s male guests,’ chuckled Lord William, bringing a deep blush to Harriet’s cheeks. ‘I shall expect to hear all about it tomorrow, so don’t disappoint me.’
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again.
‘Oh, I shan’t, I promise—and thank you so much—all of you. I swear I have never looked so grand!’
Sandford’s lips twisted in a wry smile as he turned to pick up his cloak. ‘A vast improvement on certain of your outfits, I am bound to agree,’ he said, failing to register either Harriet’s crestfallen expression or the look that passed between his parents. ‘Shall we depart, ladies?’
Chapter Six
The August evening was warm and still. Judith had thrown open the doors of her largest drawing-room to allow her guests to walk on the rear terrace, should they desire to take the air. She had also arranged for the carpets to be taken up, determined to encourage ‘a little dancing’ in spite of Lady Butler’s sighing disapproval.
Groups were already assembling around the room when the Beldale party was announced. Conversation ceased as all heads turned to scrutinise Sandford’s betrothed and more than one hopeful mother of unwed daughters heaved a sigh of regret at the charming picture that Harriet presented.
About a dozen families had accepted Judith’s invitation and Harriet was quickly presented to the most senior of these, amongst whom were the local vicar, the Reverend John Taylor, with his very pleasant wife and two daughters, and Squire Bevans accompanied by his prodigious family. Also present were the earl’s family physician, Sir Basil Lambert, along with his wife Patricia and their son Cedric. This youngster considered himself a very bang-up, dashing man-about-town and lost no time in claiming Harriet for one of the sets, which started a minor flurry as other young men jostled to be included in her favours, and Sandford found himself having to take a back seat during these proceedings.
‘Making quite a mark, dear coz,’ came Ridgeway’s amused voice next to him. ‘Trust you to win such a prize. Every man in the room is full of envy.’
Sandford forced a smile. He had been studying Harriet’s bright and animated expression and wondered how it was that he always seemed to manage to quench her natural liveliness. Other young ladies of his acquaintance had always conducted themselves with elegant composure and dignity, but this one seemed to have little respect for convention—even laughed at it—and yet everyone was drawn to her. His father was obviously entranced and his mother adored her and yet he, himself, constantly found fault with her and could not explain the sometimes violent irritation she aroused within him—especially at this moment, surrounded as she was by laughing admirers.
Harriet lifted her eyes and caught his frown and her eager expression vanished as she excused herself from her court and came at once to his side, acknowledging Ridgeway with a polite and conventional smile while Sandford inwardly cursed himself.
‘Oh, I see Eugenie is here,’ said Lady Caroline, taking Harriet’s arm. ‘Do come and meet her, my dear. Charles, do your duty.’
Ridgeway bowed to his aunt and presented Harriet to his mother. Again that lively look of real interest appeared on Harriet’s face and in no time at all she was deep in friendly conversation with the earl’s sister as the countess brought Lady Eugenie up to date with Beldale’s progress. Harriet had been as fascinated by Sandford’s aunt’s history as Lady Eugenie quickly became with hers and they were soon immersed in a cheerful debate concerning some charitable organisation or other with which Lady Eugenie was involved.
Sandford, all at once discovering a growing hatred of himself, interrupted their laughing exchanges to point out to Harriet that he supposed the company might expect them to dance together at least once. She handed him her card and invited him to take his pick.
‘Not a lot of choice, I see,’ he said, scribbling his initials in the few blanks that remained. He desperately wanted to tell her how lovely she looked and to compliment her on her success but, realising that he had missed the moment, could think of nothing that sounded neither flippant nor contrived. ‘I shall take you in to supper, of course.’
‘Of course, my lord,’ she replied, without enthusiasm.
He hesitated and was about to begin his speech when one of her young admirers arrived to claim her for the reel that was presently assembling.
Harriet threw herself into the dance with relief, skipping around the circle, changing partners as the movement required and clapping her hands in time to the sprightly tune being executed on the piano by Lady Eugenie, who had been happily persuaded to perform that task.
Judith, looking radiant in her ruby silk gown, mingled gracefully with her guests, ensuring that no one was ignored or left without a partner for a set. She was sad that Philip was not with her to enjoy the success of his brother’s betrothal party, but equally determined that she would not shun society because she had been widowed. She had the children’s future to consider and knew that Philip would want her to see that they grew up with the same standards and expectations that he would have given them. He himself had not been fond of high-society occasions but had always entered wholeheartedly into the many country dances and musical evenings which had been held at Westpark and Judith was delighted to find that she had not lost her touch.
His vigilant sister-in-law had paired Sandford off withone of the vicar’s daughters, still in the schoolroom, and it required all of his social skills to put the girl at her ease and to rescue her from her many foot-faults. When he was finally able to return her to her parents, having brushed away her stumbling apologies with a melting smile, he looked about the room for Harriet and, as he could not immediately locate her, he strolled outside along the terrace, fearful of being collared once more by his zealous hostess.
Couples were forming for the next set and Harriet had promised this to Charles Ridgeway but, finding herself slightly out of breath from the Circassian Circle she had just thrown herself into, she begged him to take her outside for some air instead. Laughing, he admitted that he was not the most practised of dancers and would be glad of the respite himself.
Lady Caroline, holding court beside the doors, waved to them as they went through and Harriet was embarrassed to overhear her own virtues being extolled at some length as Ridgeway led her down the terrace steps into the garden.
‘—even won Cook over by begging to be taught to make almond tartlets and three hours later I discovered her sitting on the table regaling the entire kitchen staff with her tales!’ This was received with peals of delighted laughter from most of her ladyship’s listeners, but one or two ladies raised their eyebrows at one another.
Harriet glanced up at Ridgeway. ‘I suppose I shouldn’t have done that?’ she said mournfully.
Charles laughed. ‘Why not? You are something of an original, to be sure. Robert must be delighted that you have everyone’s admiration.’
His own eyes travelled across the room to where Judith Hurst was standing. ‘Not that he would care if they took you in deep dislike, I’ll be bound,’ he continued, absent-mindedly.
‘Does she know that you’re in love with her?’ Harriet asked bluntly.
With a shocked expression, Ridgeway swung to face her. ‘What are you saying?’ he said, as a dull flush crept up his cheeks.
‘Well, it is pretty obvious,’ said Harriet cheerfully, motioning him to the seat at the foot of the steps. ‘You never take your eyes off her. She speaks very highly of you, you know.’
‘As her estate manager,’ Charles said bitterly. ‘What could I possibly offer her? She even pays my salary!’ Involuntarily his eyes homed in to their target once more and his shoulders slumped. ‘I should leave,’ he said. ‘I have tried, but I cannot.’
Harriet put her hand on his sleeve. She was desperately sorry for him, realising how keenly he felt the hopelessness of his situation.
‘Judith is still young and so beautiful,’ she said awkwardly, ‘but she is also very lonely and she still has a lot of love to give—someone. Why should it not be you? Do you mean to stand by and watch her turn into an embittered old harpy like—well, you know …’ She bit her lip and looked around anxiously.
