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Whilst her companions dissolved into laughter, Katherine swung round in the chair to discover Daniel framed in the open doorway. ‘Oh, are you here?’ she remarked, totally unmoved by his unexpected appearance. ‘Well, you know what they say about eavesdroppers, don’t you, Daniel?’
‘I’ll give you eavesdroppers, you impertinent baggage!’ he threatened, though the unmistakable flicker of affection in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed by any one of those seated at the table.
Janet exchanged a swift glance with McGann before hurriedly rising to her feet. ‘Well, I haven’t time to sit about gossiping all day. I’ve the dinner to prepare.’
‘And I shall help,’ Katherine informed her, rising also and catching a look of distinct disapproval taking possession of Daniel’s features.
‘I cannot imagine why you’re glowering at me in that objectionable way,’ she told him, instantly proving to one and all that she wasn’t in the least in awe of the master of the house. ‘Janet cannot possibly be expected to manage everything, especially not with a guest staying here. And as I’m not completely useless in a kitchen, I see no earthly reason why I shouldn’t lend a hand. So if you’ll kindly remove yourself from under our feet, and take McGann with you, Janet and I shall make a start on dinner.’
Although muttering under his breath, Daniel departed as requested, and went into the large sitting-room, McGann, chuckling wickedly, at his heels. ‘It’s all very well for you to laugh,’ Daniel remonstrated, once he had the door firmly closed behind them, ‘but I’d sooner be asked to manage a company of raw recruits than be responsible for that unruly little madam!’
‘She’s a spirited little filly, and no mistake. But nothing you can’t handle, I’m thinking.’
Daniel refrained from comment, and merely invited his companion to take a seat before explaining precisely why Katherine was a guest in his house. ‘So you can now appreciate why I need you to make contact with Sir Giles Osborne without delay,’ he went on to say, once he had regaled his ex-sergeant with a reasonably detailed account of his recent exploits on the other side of the Channel. ‘With any luck you’ll find him at his country home in Hampshire. Unfortunately, with the very real possibility of renewed conflict with France, he might well be in the capital. In which case you must go on to London with the letter I’m about to write. You are to hand it to Sir Giles personally, McGann, and await further instructions. In no circumstances are you to leave it with a servant or a secretary.’
‘Understood, sir.’
By the time McGann was on the point of departure, Katherine had taken Janet into her confidence. Her explanation had taken somewhat longer, for she had found herself having to disclose the reason why a gently bred young woman should wish to embark on such a hazardous venture in the first place.
‘But do you not enjoy living in Bath, miss?’ Janet asked in some surprise, when Katherine had quite openly admitted that she had become increasingly dissatisfied with the life she had been leading in recent months. ‘I’ve never been there myself, but I’ve been told it’s an elegant place.’
‘It isn’t as fashionable as it once was,’ Katherine responded, raising her head in time to see Daniel’s trusted henchman riding out of the yard. ‘There’s no denying, though, that it’s a pleasant place to live, and one is never short of company.’ She shrugged. ‘I suppose though, Janet, I’m a country girl at heart. I spent the first sixteen years of my life in Ireland, living in a house not unlike this one. Then, after both my parents died, I came here to Dorsetshire to live with my grandfather, Colonel Fairchild.’
Janet only just succeeded retaining her grasp on the bowl she was holding. ‘You’re Colonel Fairchild’s granddaughter …? Then your mother must have been Miss Charlotte Fairchild.’
Fixing her short-sighted eyes on the figure busily working at the table, Janet scrutinised the delicate features. ‘Yes … yes, I can see the resemblance now. I remember your dear mother well, Miss Katherine. She were a lovely-looking young woman, with a nature to match.’
‘Yes.’ Katherine sighed. ‘I sometimes wish I were more like her in some ways. She was always so placid, so controlled, whereas I—’
‘Tend to be a little volatile on occasions, and act without thinking,’ Daniel finished for her, having entered the kitchen in time to catch the last fragments of conversation. ‘I’m pleased to see that you two are becoming better acquainted,’ he remarked, blithely ignoring the lethal darts emanating from a pair of turquoise-coloured eyes.
‘Yes, I’ve been hearing an account of your recent doings.’ Janet tutted, a clear indication that she did not wholeheartedly approve. ‘When are you going to stop all this gallivanting about, Master Daniel, and settle down? You ain’t a boy no longer. It’s high time you began to think about the future and take responsibility for this fine place of yours.’
‘I have every intention of doing precisely that,’ he assured her before turning to Katherine who was unable to judge whether he was truly in earnest. ‘Your explaining the situation to Janet has saved me the trouble of doing so. Much of what will happen next depends upon Sir Giles’s response to my letter. I’ve sent McGann off to Hampshire to apprise him of your arrival in England.’
Katherine nodded. ‘It’s highly likely that he will want me to travel to London. In the meantime, Janet,’ she added, turning to her, ‘it would seem that you will be forced to put up with my presence here.’
‘That’ll be no hardship at all, miss,’ she answered, and this time there was no doubting the sincerity of the assurance. ‘What bothers me is what I’m to call you.’
‘No need for you to trouble yourself unduly over that,’ Daniel put in, seating himself on the edge of the table, where Katherine was busily engaged in making pastry. ‘We shall put our heads together over dinner and work out some tale which will satisfy the curious. Until word gets about that I’m home, I doubt we’ll be plagued with many callers at the house. In the meantime, I would suggest you continue to call our guest Miss Katherine.’ His lips twitched very slightly. ‘But under no circumstances call her Kate. She only allows me to address her in such a fashion.’
Katherine’s look of exasperation only succeeded in making him chuckle. ‘Just because I became fagged to death requesting you not to do so, does not necessarily mean I now approve. My father always maintained that you could lead a mule to water, but you could never force it to drink.’
‘Horse,’ Daniel corrected.
‘Mule is more appropriate in this instance,’ she countered, which resulted in the kitchen resounding with the housekeeper’s appreciative chuckles.
‘Oh, I think I’m going to enjoy having you here, Miss Katherine!’ Janet declared, much to her master’s intense relief, for he knew better than most that his housekeeper did not take an immediate liking to everyone.
‘That might well be so, but I am going to deprive you of her company for the next half an hour or so by taking her on a guided tour of the house and gardens—if she would care to accompany me, that is?’
Seemingly Katherine didn’t need asking twice, and Janet, watching them leave, caught sight of them a moment later, walking side by side across the yard.
Moving across to the window, she continued to study their progress as they headed towards the gate leading to the garden in which her master’s grandmother had loved to work, and which was now sadly overgrown. But it could so easily be put to rights, she mused, a spark of hope igniting. The next few days would give her a clearer indication if her young master had been in earnest, and had made up his mind to settle down at last. Yet already she was forced to own that there had been a change in him. He seemed very relaxed and happy, something which he had not been for such a very long time. And there was that in his eyes when they rested upon that auburn-haired girl …
‘We’ll trust, Master Daniel, that word of your return doesn’t get about too quickly,’ she muttered, a worried frown dimming the hopeful glimmer in her eyes, ‘otherwise you might receive a visitor to the house I for one would certainly prefer not to see.’
Chapter Thirteen
Katherine found it no difficult matter to settle down to country life at Rosslair. In fact, she loved it, and within a very short time had established a routine whereby she would help Janet in the kitchen for part of the day and spend the afternoons, weather permitting, in the garden. Daniel might frown dourly whenever he saw her down on her knees, doing battle with a particularly troublesome weed, but even he was forced to concede, before his first week back home had drawn to a close, that there was a noticeable improvement to the look of the rose garden.
The master of the house always made a point of returning home to bear her company during mealtimes. Breakfast and luncheon were always eaten in the kitchen, where Janet would join them to make the occasions very enjoyable. Nevertheless Katherine always looked forward to the evening meal when she and Daniel ate alone together in the privacy of the large front parlour, which also functioned as a dining-room.
Undoubtedly the parlour was Katherine’s favourite room in the house. There was always a welcoming fire burning in the huge grate by which she and Daniel would sit together in the evenings, sometimes talking; sometimes in companionable silence: Daniel reading a book while she continued to make the new parlour curtains Daniel’s grandmother had begun more than a decade before, and which she and Janet had come upon quite by chance in one of the trunks in the attic, whilst they had been searching for garments suitable for Katherine to wear.
Having been forced to don the late Mrs Ross’s clothes was the one slight blot in what for Katherine had been a rewarding and very happy first week at Rosslair. The novelty of parading round in garments worn by ladies a quarter of a century before having swiftly dwindled, she longed to dress in her own fashionable clothes again. Unfortunately there had been no word from Sir Giles Osborne, and she had seen no sign of McGann either.
‘You don’t appear in the best of spirits this morning, sweetheart,’ Daniel remarked, after consuming a substantial pile of ham and eggs, and glancing up to catch Katherine’s pensive expression.’
‘Oh, I’m all right,’ she assured him, having no intention of burdening him with her rather insignificant concerns.
He had been very busy since their arrival at his home. Every day he had ridden out with his land manager, discussing ways to improve the yield from the vast acreage of farmland that Mr Prentiss had maintained well during his master’s long absence from home.
‘No, you’re not,’ Daniel countered, betraying that keen perception which Katherine sometimes found faintly unnerving. Increasingly she was beginning to suspect that she would never be able to keep anything secret from him, at least not for long.
‘Oh, very well,’ she relented. ‘If you must know, I’m not quite happy that we’ve received no word from Sir Giles.’
‘Ah! But we have,’ he surprised her by announcing. ‘McGann arrived back late last night, after you’d gone to bed. I’m to receive further instructions in due course. In the meantime, Sir Giles wants you to stay here and not attempt to journey to London.’
Katherine didn’t object to remaining at Rosslair in the least. If the truth were known, she was beginning to dread the thought of having to leave the place. There remained the problem, however, of her attire. ‘I do not suppose Sir Giles mentioned anything about forwarding my clothes, did he? I left a trunk full of them in his care for when I should arrive in the capital.’
‘Afraid not. And McGann certainly didn’t bring anything back with him, except Sir Giles’s letter.’
‘Oh, confound it!’
Daniel appeared mildly surprised by the unexpected show of annoyance, but Janet perfectly understood, and suggested that a trip to the local market town was all that was required.
‘You’re sure to find something suitable,’ Janet added. ‘At the very least you can purchase some lengths of material which we can make up into dresses.’
‘What’s wrong with what she’s wearing now?’ Daniel asked, displaying all the tact of the typical male who paid scant attention to fashionable female apparel. ‘I rather like her in those clothes. It’s a pleasure to see a female clad in garments that emphasise a trim waist. And in its proper place too!’
Katherine’s pained expression drew a chortle of laughter from Janet, a sound frequently heard reverberating round the kitchen in recent days. ‘You might like them, but I happen to prefer the prevailing mode,’ she countered. ‘How can I possibly continue to go about looking like a leftover from the last century?’
Daniel’s winning smile swiftly crushed her slight feeling of pique. ‘All right, sweetheart. I’ll take you into town in the gig. We can stop on the way at Lord Kil-bride’s residence. Prentiss told me yesterday that Kil-bride’s eldest son is being forced to sell his light travelling carriage and a pair of horses in order to pay gaming debts. We’ve not had a decent carriage here since I parted with Grandmother’s aged landau some years ago. You pop upstairs and put on a cloak and bonnet, whilst I hitch up the horse to the gig.’
Katherine didn’t need telling twice. Hurriedly finishing off the last mouthful of buttered roll, she hurried up the stairs to don the wide-brimmed straw bonnet that she had worn during the afternoons when working in the garden, and collect the rough woollen cloak that Daniel had purchased for her in France. Then she returned speedily to the kitchen to discover only Janet there, busily clearing away the breakfast dishes.
‘I’ll give you a hand until Daniel is ready to leave,’ Katherine offered, and was a little surprised not to receive one of the housekeeper’s grateful smiles in response.
‘No need for you to be troubling yourself, Miss Katherine,’ she eventually managed to squeeze past tightly compressed lips, clearly betraying disapproval. ‘He’ll be some time yet, I expect. He has a visitor.’
‘Oh?’ Katherine was mildly surprised. ‘I didn’t hear the door-knocker.’
‘You wouldn’t have. She arrived when the master was about to cross the yard to harness old Jonas to the gig. He took her into the front parlour. You’d best go through, miss, and let him know you’re ready to leave.’
‘Oh, no. I couldn’t do that, Janet. It will not hurt to wait until his visitor has left.’
‘You’d best go through in any case, miss, and make yourself known,’ Janet persisted, determined, it seemed, to have her way. ‘You can’t go hiding yourself away every time someone calls at the house. And it’s my belief this one will not be a rare visitor now that the master’s returned.’ She gave vent to an unladylike snort. ‘Though how in the world she found out beats me. The master ain’t ridden off his land since he’s been back, as far as I’m aware.’
Clearly the housekeeper, for whatever reason, wished to have the kitchen to herself. And perhaps Janet was right, Katherine mused, for unless she wished to skulk away in corners for the duration of her stay in this house, she was bound to come into contact with Daniel’s friends and neighbours sooner or later.
She hovered for a moment, uncertain, then made her way towards the parlour to discover the door slightly ajar. Once again she found herself hesitating, debating whether to knock or merely enter, and decided to compromise by pushing open the door and remaining on the threshold.
The pang of envy Katherine experienced at first sight of the female clad in a very stylish, dark blue riding habit was quickly swept aside by the sudden eruption of a far stronger emotion that left her feeling slightly numbed and reluctant to believe the evidence of her own eyes, as she gazed upon the intimate little tableau: the woman with her hands pressed lightly against Daniel’s chest; he with his long fingers clasped about slender wrists. So locked was their gaze that they seemed oblivious to the sights and sounds about them, having eyes only for each other.
Then, as though sensing they were no longer alone, Daniel turned his head towards the door and Katherine wasn’t certain whether it was a flicker of relief or embarrassment she detected in those dark eyes of his, or perhaps a mixture of both. He certainly didn’t seem totally displeased to see her, for he immediately released his hold on his visitor and came smilingly forward.
‘Your arrival is most opportune, Cousin Louise,’ he told her, his eyes now clearly darting a warning, which Katherine perfectly understood. ‘I should like to make you known to one of my oldest friends,’ he added, taking such a firm grasp of one wrist that she had little choice but to accompany him into the room to make the visitor’s acquaintance.
Katherine guessed, even before Daniel made her known to the woman regarding her with keen interest, that the visitor was none other than the female he had once hoped to marry. It was not at all difficult to understand why he had wished to wed her either, for Julia Ross was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful women Katherine had ever set eyes on. From the perfect arrangement of soft blonde curls to daintily shod feet, she was the epitome of lovely femininity. If there was a slight fault then perhaps it was a mouth that was fractionally too wide. Even so, it was difficult to imagine that the most hardened male could have withstood the allure of the thickly lashed, cornflower-blue eyes.
Beneath the crop of lustrous curls, fine brows rose in surprise. ‘Your cousin, Daniel?’ She did not attempt to hide her astonishment. ‘I didn’t realise you had any cousins.’
‘Several in France, Julia,’ he confirmed. ‘Have you forgotten my mother was a Frenchwoman?’
Full lips curled into an easy smile. ‘Of course, how very foolish of me!’
Katherine then found her outstretched fingers clasped briefly, while her own features were scrutinised. ‘I quite fail to perceive any resemblance between you and your cousin, though, Daniel.’
‘There wasn’t a great deal between Simon and me,’ he reminded her, quick as a flash, before inviting her to sit down. ‘Besides which, Louise and I are only distantly related.’
He then recaptured Katherine’s wrist, once again giving her little option but to sit beside him on the sofa. Not that she objected in the least to this cavalier treatment. She was quite prepared, for the time being at least, to play the part of his docile little cousin, and more than happy to follow his lead.
‘I went over to France to bring my cousin to England,’ Daniel enlightened his visitor, after watching the cornflower-blue eyes flicker momentarily over Katherine’s attire. ‘You must be aware by now of the unfortunate events taking place across the Channel. It was utter chaos at the ports. Unfortunately, all Louise’s baggage went missing, and she is having to wear some of my mother’s old clothes.’
There was undeniably a flicker of sympathy in the blue eyes now, but Daniel was not slow to note that it didn’t quite disguise the suspicion which continued to lurk there. ‘Louise’s elder sister married an Englishman, a soldier, shortly after our troops entered Paris last year. Once they had settled in England, it had been their intention to send for Louise. Unfortunately she hasn’t heard from them for several months. I called upon her when I was in Paris, and assured her that she could always contact me if she were ever in need of my help.’
Katherine was quite amazed at the wonderful tale Daniel was concocting, but decided, having already wearied of her docile role, that it was high time she added something to the conversation. ‘My brother-in-law, he has a house in Der—Derb—Bah! What is the place called, Daniel? My English, madame, it is not good, you understand,’ she added, turning to Mrs Ross and raising both hands in a helpless little gesture. ‘My big cousin I find is a boar, and orders me always to speak the English now.’
A soft gurgle of laughter rose in the air. ‘I believe you mean bear, my dear,’ Julia offered helpfully.
‘Do I?’ Katherine turned her head on one side, as though considering this, while masterfully suppressing a chuckle of her own at the darkling look she received from the man beside her. ‘Perhaps you are right, madame.’
‘As you have probably gathered by now, Julia, my young cousin has a somewhat perverse, Gallic sense of humour. Which,’ he added, smiling sardonically, ‘I’m inclined to believe she’ll moderate before too long, especially if she knows what’s good for her.’
‘You see what I mean, madame?’ Katherine was beginning to enjoy herself hugely, safe in the knowledge that Daniel could do little in retaliation whilst his guest remained. ‘He is a brute, no? Ever since the day he came over to collect me from Paris he has bullied me unmercifully. I yearn to be with my own people again!’
‘I’m certain you do,’ the visitor agreed, sounding genuinely sympathetic. ‘Have you had any success in locating their whereabouts, Daniel?’
‘No, not yet, and possibly shan’t for some considerable time,’ he answered with a certain grim satisfaction. ‘So my cousin must reconcile herself to remaining with me. In the meantime, Julia, I must see what I can do about replenishing at least part of her wardrobe. I have promised to take her into town this morning. In fact, I was on the point of hitching up the gig when you arrived.’
If she was offended by Daniel’s obvious wish to bring her visit to an end, she betrayed no sign of it, and rose at once to her feet. ‘What a pity I have called at such an inconvenient time!’ She paused for a moment to slide her slender fingers into a pair of leather gloves. ‘I was hoping to persuade you to escort me back to the Hall. Your uncle unfortunately suffered a further mild bout of gout recently, and is feeling a little depressed. But no matter. Perhaps you might ride over to pay us a visit some other time?’
Although uncertain whether it was the promise he had made to escort her into the local town that held Daniel mute, or there was some other reason why he seemed faintly reluctant to escort the lady he had once hoped to marry back to her home, Katherine didn’t hesitate to assure him that she was quite willing to await his return, if he did wish to pay a visit to his uncle.
Mrs Ross was quite obviously delighted by the generosity of this unselfish gesture. Daniel’s reaction was not so easy to judge, for he betrayed neither enthusiasm nor disappointment before he escorted his visitor out of the room, merely saying that he would return as soon as he could.
There was no mistaking Janet’s feeling on the matter when Katherine rejoined her in the kitchen a few minutes later in time to see Daniel riding out of the stable-yard with his beautiful companion beside him.
‘Now why on earth is he going off with her? I thought he was supposed to be taking you in to town?’
‘I assured him I didn’t object to delaying my shopping trip if he wished to escort Mrs Ross back to her home.’
‘Well, I could have wished you hadn’t, miss.’
‘But why, Janet?’ Katherine was at a loss to understand the housekeeper’s obvious displeasure. ‘After all, an hour or two makes no difference. Besides which, Mrs Ross informed Daniel that his uncle is wishful to see him.’
‘Ha!’ Janet scoffed. ‘A likely story!’
More than just mildly curious, Katherine joined the housekeeper at the table. ‘What are you saying, Janet? Is there some bad feeling between Daniel and his uncle?’
‘Oh, no, miss. I weren’t meaning that. They’re fond of each other, right enough. Both Sir Joshua and Mr Edwin were very close and their sons were destined to be the same, more like brothers than cousins.’
Setting aside her sewing, Janet relapsed into a reminiscent mood. ‘I have to say I was very fond of Master Simon myself. He were a good-natured boy. I have to say too, it was always Master Daniel who was responsible for getting them into a scrape. Forever into mischief he was. Still …’ she sighed ‘ … if his father had spent more time with him when he was a boy, he might have been more settled.’
‘Were they not close?’ Katherine asked gently.
‘Oh, the old master loved him right enough. But after the mistress died there’s no denying he withdrew into himself and concentrated all his efforts on improving his house and lands. It was a blessing Master Daniel’s grandmother was here. She doted on him.’
‘Whenever he has spoken of her it has always been with deep affection,’ Katherine remarked.
‘Oh, yes, miss, there was a real bond between them. But it’s small wonder the young master grew restless, and showed little interest in the place. Perhaps if his father had spent more time with him, it might have been different.’
Katherine frowned at this. ‘He seems contented here now, Janet. He was talking only the other evening of his plans to improve the land, and his intention of extending the house by adding a separate dining room and a library, and two extra bedchambers.’
‘Oh, the love of the place has come to him, miss,’ Janet agreed. ‘But there was a time when I thought it might never do so. Years ago, when it was suggested that the young master should see something of the world and go out to India to work for the company Mr Edwin had a small share in, I thought it were no bad thing. His grandmother had passed away the year before, and he seemed more unsettled than ever.’ She shook her head sadly. ‘When I waved him off in the carriage, I never imagined the poor boy would be returning to an empty house … and everything.’
‘You mean to discover the girl he loved had married his cousin during his absence,’ Katherine remarked, not in the least reticent to reveal that she knew something of Daniel’s history to Janet. ‘My aunt Lavinia told me a little of his past.’
It seemed so strange, Katherine mused, clearly recalling that cold morning in early February, when she had sat with her aunt and cousin in the parlour, that her aunt’s disclosures had had little effect upon her then, save a moderate feeling of sympathy towards the man whom she had so foolishly maligned. How differently she felt now! Daniel had come to mean so much to her … Perhaps more than she cared to admit.
Swiftly thrusting this disturbing reflection aside, she said, ‘If my memory serves me correctly, my aunt seemed to suppose that pressure might have been brought to bear upon Julia to marry Daniel’s cousin?’
‘Pshaw!’ Janet dismissed this with a wave of one hand. ‘I heard that tale myself, and never believed a word of it! The Melroses doted on their daughter. They may have wished her to wait a year or two before becoming engaged to Master Daniel, and I cannot say I ever blamed them for that. She were only seventeen and he only just turned twenty when he set sail for India. But I don’t believe for a moment they forced her into marriage with Master Simon. No, I reckon she just fancied becoming Lady Julia Ross when the old man died and Master Simon came into the title. There’s no denying that some say that Sir Joshua served his nephew a bad turn by blessing the match, and that at least he ought to have insisted the wedding be delayed until after his nephew had returned.’
But not you, Katherine thought, but said, ‘I imagine that Simon must have been very much in love with Julia.’
‘Oh, yes, miss. He loved her right enough. And although Master Daniel might have bore him and his uncle some ill will when he came home from India, that’s no longer the case, and he was genuinely sorry to hear of his cousin’s death in that riding accident two years back.’
