Lessons in French

by Laura Kinsale

  Mrs. Easley seemed readily willing to take this advice, but she retained her hold, muttering, "Have a care, m'lady! Don't 'er go near 'em!"

  "I'll say nothing of your activities, I can promise you," Callie assured her. She pulled away and took a determined stride toward Dove House. Mrs. Easley tried to cling, uttering some further slurred objection, but Callie shook her off and turned down the lane. She doubted any thief-taker would dare to accost a lady. She was walking quite quickly by the time she reached him, and didn't hesitate or give him notice. She merely hastened past, aware that he stopped and stared at her as she turned in at the gate of Dove House.

  The garden gate swung closed behind her with a bang. She didn't pause to ring, but to her surprise the cottage door was locked. She rattled at the latch, then rang the bell with a clamor. After a few interminable moments, Lilly's muff led voice came through the door, demanding in a rather quavering tone who was calling.

  "Lady Callista!" Callie responded impatiently. Her fear of the duchesse's condition was rising with every obstacle that delayed her. "Do let me in!"

  The door cracked. Lily peeked out, grabbed her arm, and pulled Callie inside, slamming the door and turning the key in the lock. "Upstairs, my lady!" she said urgently. "Oh, hurry!"

  Callie ran up the stairs, almost colliding with the nurse at the top. "I'm sending Lilly for the doctor, my lady," Nurse exclaimed. "She won't let me in the door, Madame won't!"

  Callie looked at Nurse in dismay. She could hear the duchesse coughing violently. "Won't let you in?"

  "Locked me out!" Nurse said. "I fear the worst, my lady." She looked grim. "She's gone out of her head."

  "Go for the doctor yourself," Callie ordered. "And send Lilly to the Antlers to fetch Mr. Rankin. He'll be able to unlock the door. I'll see if I can coax Madame to let me in. Hurry."

  As the nurse pounded down the stairs, Callie faced the duchesse's closed door. The coughing beyond had ceased, which frightened her even more. She put her hand on the latch and pushed, expecting it to resist her.

  It gave way easily. She opened the door. A strong hand grabbed her arm. For the second time in a few moments, she was yanked inside as a door shut behind her with a sharp thump.

  She caught herself and turned, looking from the duchesse, who was sitting up in bed, to Trevelyan, who was engaged in locking the door. She had expected to find the duchesse alone and dreaded to discover her in the midst of fatal spasms. Instead she was looking quite animated and gesturing at the door with her handkerchief. For an instant Callie was unable to perfectly comprehend the scene.

  She glared at Trev.

  "You!" Her whole body seemed to lose any sense of up or down; her hands went slack and then began to tremble. "What are you—" She blinked back a peculiar stinging in her eyes and nose. It was difficult to find any air for a moment, and then all her feeling came rushing back upon her at once. "You!"

  He gave her a look, a little shamefaced, a wry half smile, and a shrug, so much like him that she put her hands to her mouth, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath into her lungs. When she opened them again, he was still standing there. He was not a figment of her strained nerves or imagination.

  "What are you doing here?" she cried. "And that man… that man outside…" She paused as the rami fications all came clear to her. "Oh my God—he's a thief-taker!"

  Nineteen

  "MY DEAR—WE MUST BEG FOR YOUR AID—IF YOU WILL assist us one more time. I am so sorry to trouble you again! But there is a thief-taker, yes. I fear so."

  The duchesse gave a little wry smile, and Callie saw where her son had inherited that particular expression of self-deprecating appeal. But Callie hadn't gone through coaxing Hubert out of a kitchen, masquer ading as a Belgian lady, suffering an animal rout at the cattle fair, and then discovering that Trev was married to some person who forged bank notes, without learning anything. She resisted forcefully the danger of succumbing to any Gallic charm.

  "I'm very sorry," she said, holding herself stiff. "I had thought you were unwell, ma'am, and so I came as quickly as I received your note. I'm happy to see that you aren't in danger. Regarding thief-takers, I don't see what I can do in such matters. If you'll excuse me, I'll go and prevent Nurse from fetching the doctor."

  She turned toward the door, half expecting that Trev would endeavor to stop her. He didn't. The duchesse said nothing. Callie reached for the latch with silence in the room behind her. She paused with her hand on the knob.

  His mother made a very small cough, a faint, muff led sound, as if she tried to stif le it.

  Callie dropped her hand. She turned about. "Oh, very well!" she exclaimed. "What is it?"

  "It's nothing," Trev said. He stood across the room from her, making no attempt to move closer. "I didn't know that my mother had contacted you—I asked her not to do so." He gave the duchesse a brief glance. "I'll inquire into how you managed that under my very nose, Maman, but later. Please, Lady Callista, if you'll just contrive to forget that you've seen me here, you needn't concern yourself further in the situation."

  "Excellent." She threw up her hands. "The last I was told, you were arrested on the Bristol quay and put to trial, and now I'm to forget I've seen you here while a thief-taker out of Bow Street lurks in the garden."

  "Hired by your new fiancé, as I understand," he replied acidly. "I could wish you'd suggested to him that he call off the hounds. I've had his pursuers on my heels since I left Hereford."

  For herself, she could have wished that he had mentioned he was married. But she was determined to say nothing of that. She had spent a number of nights weeping into her pillow over the disclosure, but she would die rather than allow him to know it. It was quite certain to her now that she had made the veriest fool of herself. She could not remember with any clarity their brief discussion of marriage in Hereford, though she had spent long hours trying to recall what precisely he had said about it. All she could seem to draw from her memory, with considerable blushing, were the parts that had little to do with conversation. He had not wished to marry her in the morning, however—that much she remembered perfectly.

  "I beg your pardon," she said. "If you mean Major Sturgeon, the topic of you has not arisen between us in conversation."

  She felt that she adhered to the spirit of the truth, if not the letter. After the incident of spilling hot bran mash all over his boots, which he had taken very well, considering, the topic had not arisen again. She lifted her chin a little. Let Trev suppose she had forgot him the moment he had disappeared by vanishing into an alley.

  "It makes no matter. My apologies for disturbing you." Trev leaned a shoulder against the wall. "Please go on about your day, my lady." He seemed to find some spot on the fading wallpaper to be of deep interest, observing it with his lashes lowered.

  "But you will have to go away, Trevelyan," his mother said. "I cannot… abide the strain of… worry that these thief men will discover you here."

  "I'm not going away again, Maman," he said strongly, glancing at her.

  "But they will come here, and come again… as they did this… morning… until I am driven… mad."

  "I'll simply have to hide when they come."

  "Hide where? You cannot… be under my bed… all the day while Nurse comes and goes." She clutched nervously at the bedclothes. "Already I am thinking all night, how will I make sure she does not… see you in the dressing room? It is exhausting."

  "I'll think of something," Trev said.

  "And now the doctor is on… his way. He must pass that thief person who… lurks outside."

  "I'll think of something." Trev swung away from the wall. He gave Callie a brief, polite smile. "Let me offer my best wishes to you and Major Sturgeon on your engagement, my lady. I'm sorry that I can't make a formal call, but you'll comprehend that circum stances prevent me."

  The duchesse began to cough. "Do not… pretend—" She wheezed and caught her breath. "As if… it is a drawing room! You must… have a hiding—"

&
nbsp; "I'll think of something, Maman," he said in an edged voice. Callie looked at the duchesse, who could not seem to draw air enough into her lungs, but only put her hand to her face and covered her eyes, her body trembling with the effort.

  "Well, something must be done," Callie snapped. "Your mother will fret herself to death!"

  "And what precisely do you suggest, my lady?" He threw her an angry look. "Dress myself as a footman and serve you and the major your tea?"

  "Or secret yourself in my bedchamber, perhaps," she retorted. "I'm certain no one would ever look for you there."

  The duchesse recovered her breath. She sat up. "Perfect!" She gasped and subsided in another cough. "It's… perfect. I knew you would… aid us—"

  "Maman, for God's sake—"

  A distant sound of the bell made them all turn and look with apprehension toward the locked door.

  "That will be Mr. Rankin," Callie said. "I'll go down and tell him he's not required."

  It was indeed Mr. Rankin, but to Callie's dismay and annoyance, he hadn't arrived alone. Lilly met her on the stairs, hurrying up with her apron lifted. "They're coming into the garden, my lady!" She looked harassed. "Oh, but he's brought that awful major with him!" She stopped on the stairs, giving a little gasp, and then dropped her eyes. "Oh, I forgot—my lady. Begging your pardon, but I meant—why has he come? Madame duchesse won't want to see him!"

  Callie didn't want to see him either. She recalled belatedly that he was putting up at the Antlers now; he must have heard the summons for Mr. Rankin. She closed her eyes for a moment to gather some composure. "I'll speak to them," she said. "Send them into the parlor."

  Just then the constable emerged from the depths of the kitchen, holding a large bun between his teeth and shouldering on his coat. He looked as if he'd just got out of bed; his hair and neck cloth oddly disordered for the middle of the day. When he saw Callie, he stopped and quickly dropped the bun from his teeth, stuffing it into his pocket. "Good morning, my lady!" He bobbed his head. "We've not caught that scoun drel yet, but we're on the job here, my lads and I, as you can see!"

  Callie paused on her way to the sitting room. "Constable Hubble. Have you spoken to this new thief-taker?"

  He looked puzzled. "An' who would that be, my lady? Only fellow paid to take thieves round and about Shelford is myself. And my boys, if I want to share a bit with 'em."

  "He's from London, I understand."

  The constable's jaw dropped. "London!"

  Callie nodded, beckoning him into the parlor. "Yes. From the city. Come in, Constable. Perhaps you can discover more about him, and what he knows of the duke's location. You may wish to work together."

  "I have my doubts about that, my lady." The constable followed her, dusting f lour from his sleeve. "He's after the duke too, is he?" He snorted. "I did hear they thought they'd caught him, up to Bristol, and he slipped out of their hands. He's a sly fox, ain't he? Got to respect that in a criminal. So they think he's come here to his mama's, and s'pose I wouldn't know of it, do they? We'll see about that."

  She sat down in a chair and folded her hands as Lilly ushered the gentlemen into the house. The maid brought them to the door of the parlor, gave a curtsy, and said in a resentful tone, "Major Sturgeon, my lady." She glanced at the innkeeper and added with more pleasantry, "And Mr. Rankin."

  Mr. Rankin, stood back, holding his hat in his hands, to let Major Sturgeon come ahead of him. Before the major could speak, Callie said quickly, "Mr. Rankin—it was very good of you to come. I'm afraid I've brought you out of your way to no use. It was all a misunderstanding, and I've seen the duchesse. She is as well as might be expected."

  "Well, I'm glad to know that, my lady." The innkeeper stood on the threshold with Lilly lingering behind him. "I was sorry to hear the poor madame went out of her mind."

  "Her feelings are in considerable distress," Callie said. "I understand that this thief-taker out of London has been troubling her." She glanced at Major Sturgeon. "I should like you to ask him to remain at some distance from this house, Major. As a favor to me. In fact, I really see no need at this time for him to continue in pursuit of the Belgian gentleman. All's well that ends well, is it not?"

  "Belgian?" the constable asked. "I was told he was French, my lady."

  "It's all the same, I'm sure," Callie said quickly. The stories had multiplied to such an extent that she hardly knew who was pursuing Trev under what guise anymore. His misdeeds appeared to be uncountable— another reason to maintain a severe detachment between him and her heart.

  "Aye, my lady." Constable Hubble nodded. "Belgian, French, they're none of 'em English." He ducked his head toward Major Sturgeon. "And you won't take it ill, sir, I hope, if I just humbly say that being the representative of the king's law in Shelford, I didn't give my permit to some London fellow to come pokin' about here for thieves."

  Major Sturgeon had said nothing before; at that, his mouth tightened. "I spoke to the Bow Street man just before we came in, my lady. And I've reason to believe the criminal in question—be he Belgian or French or a Hindoostani—is hidden in this house at this very moment."

  Lilly gave an audible gasp, peeking round Mr. Rankin with wide eyes. Callie would have liked to gasp herself, or at least shriek and tear her hair out, but she managed to stif le it. "If that's the case," she lied blithely, "I haven't noticed him, though I've been with the duchesse quite some time. And Lilly, you may go up and see to Madame until Nurse returns with the doctor." She gave the maid a pointed look. "You're not required here."

  Lilly ducked her head and curtsied. "Yes, my lady." She vanished up the stairs.

  "He's hiding, of course," Major Sturgeon said. "Most likely in the attic, or perhaps in the kitchen, if there's a cellar attached. It's only been out of respect for the lady's illness that we've not moved to take him yet." He inclined his head toward Callie. "I know she's a particular friend of yours, my lady, and as such I don't wish to cause her any undue distress. But her son is wanted for breaking the law in several instances. So we're waiting for him to come out."

  "He ain't in the kitchen," the constable said bluntly. "That I know. And he ain't in this house at all, come to that. Do you think I wouldn't have taken him up myself if he had been? I s'pose your fancy thief-takers from up London think they can discover what we country fellows can't."

  "It seems unlikely, I must agree, Constable," Callie said. "Would he return to where it must be known he's a wanted man?"

  "He's in here," the major said with certainty. He looked at her. "Do you doubt me, ma'am?"

  "Well, I—" For one fatal moment, in the face of his hard blue stare, she allowed herself to glance away. When she looked back again immediately, a strange expression came into his face. He tilted his head, as if to observe her more closely.

  Callie fidgeted with the fingers on her gloves. He made her feel as if she had a f ly on her nose, he looked at her so intently. "It's not a matter of doubting you, sir," she said, forcing some backbone into her tone. "I've requested that you call off your pursuit. If it doesn't please you to do so at my request, then I suppose there's no more to be said." She stood up. "I must be going now; my sister and Lady Shelford will be missing me at Miss Poole's."

  "Allow me to drive you, my lady," he said swiftly. "I was just on my way to call at the Hall; my landau stops outside."

  "No, no, there's no need. They brought the Shelford carriage." She was f lustered at the way he looked at her so. "Please don't trouble yourself."

  "Then do me the honor of riding with me," he insisted. "It's coming on to rain; I can take you home directly. We'll send a message to let them know."

  Lilly appeared at the door, making a light cough. Callie turned to her, thankful for the diversion. "Yes, what is it?"

  "Madame says that if the men must search the house, then they ought to do it this very minute," the maid said with a curtsy. "She wishes to have it over directly."

  Lilly stood with her eyes lowered. Callie had no trouble reaching the
obvious conclusion that Trev had concealed himself or got away somehow. She turned to Major Sturgeon. "Well, then." She lifted her eyebrows. "Here is your opportunity, sir."

  He bowed his head slightly, but still he observed her in the oddest manner, as if he would make note of her every smallest move. He had been suspicious of Trev in the house; now he seemed suspicious of her too. But he said only, "If you prefer that we not disturb the duch esse, then I won't have anyone come into the house, now or in the future. Let us simply drive on to Shelford Hall, shall we? I'm at your service." He bowed.