“I've been thinking about that.” His arm had come around my shoulders and he drew me close to him. “I doubt if your mother is going to know to whom everything belongs. But the village constable will have had each incident reported to him. We'll hide everything in some safe location in the village and send an anonymous note to the constable. He can find it, return the goods, and get all the praise. How does that sound?"
I felt so wonderfully safe and protected in his arms. The most I could do was nod.
“And what shall we do about your cousin?” he asked.
“I have a plan for Cousin Bret.” I hadn't intended to tell him, but I had told him everything else and I realized suddenly that I trusted him completely. There was something so strong and honest about him that I wondered I had ever doubted his sincere desire to help my family. He had always wanted to help Robert, and he had come to want to help the rest of us, with his sympathy for Mama's foibles and his acceptance of Amanda's correctness, and his...
Was it love for me? I couldn't tell. All I knew then, looking into his deep, intense eyes, was that I loved him. And I would share my plans with him. I would have been willing to share a great deal more than that with him—if only he had asked.
* * * *
Later we separated before we reached the house, Sir John to ride Thunder and me to carry out my plan for the strongbox and the booty. He had allowed as how my plan might work, and that I had a perfect right to carry it out, at least these initial stages, on my own. How delightful it was to find a man who didn't balk at the slightest irregularity. Really, I considered myself most fortunate.
I found the strongbox key right where it always was, and made my way to the attics, where the strongbox was in its usual place, surrounded by other wooden boxes and wardrobes containing old clothes. Nothing could have been better for my purposes.
Leaving the strongbox open, I returned to the hall outside Robert's room and ascertained that there was no one about. Too bad I hadn't had the opportunity to put the items in my closet as I'd planned. It would have felt a lot more comfortable working there.
I let myself in with the key and went quickly to the draperies. The room was dim and had the faint air of a closed space, stuffy and airless. I would have liked to open the windows and let a fresh breeze in. But I couldn't take the time. I felt an urgency about removing the stolen goods.
As I was working the necklaces off the drapery rod, I heard a distinct sound in the corridor outside. My hand froze where it was, lifted high to clutch the cool string of pearls. Suddenly the doorknob turned. I could see the movement and hear the sound. I quickly hid myself behind the drapery, remembering too late that I had not locked the door after myself.
Peeking out from my hiding place, I saw the door begin to open. My mind worked frantically to manufacture some excuse for my being there and for the presence of the highwayman's spoils. Who could be coming in? Surely not one of the servants. I felt certain that it must be Cousin Bret, who had discovered the booty but who had left it here so that he could use it at his convenience in accusing Mama and forcing Amanda into marrying him.
From the hall I heard a familiar voice say, “I don't believe that's your room, Cummings.” I always liked the sound of Sir John's voice, but this time it sounded particularly pleasing to my ear.
“No, it's Robert's room,” Cousin Bret admitted. “I thought I would just take a look at it."
“Somehow I doubt that Robert would appreciate your investigating his room,” Sir John said in his driest voice.
“I can't think why not."
Despite Cousin Bret's defiance, I could see that he was pulling the door closed, and I heaved a sigh of relief. In a matter of moments I heard both sets of steps leave the area, but I knew that Sir John would manage to keep my cousin away until I had finished my task. In the meantime I tossed the purses, jewels, and loose coins into a sack I had brought for the purpose. All the while I was trying to decide if my original plan would still work.
Thwarted in getting his hands on the stolen goods in Robert's room, Cousin Bret would be searching for their next hiding place, presumably. And his discovery of the strongbox key, as if by accident, would prove too much of a temptation for him to resist. Or so I hoped.
When I had gathered everything from the room, I swung the sack over my shoulder and was surprised at the weight of it. Mama had certainly been an amazingly successful highwayman; you had to give her that! The hallway was clear and I raced along to the back stairs leading up to the attics. Trudging up the narrow steps to the next floor was harder than I'd anticipated, but I was in a hurry now to be finished. I wanted no one else to come upon me before I was finished.
I dumped the bag near the strongbox and allowed myself just a minute in the old rocking chair to catch my breath. When I set to work again I found that all the pieces just barely fit in the strongbox, though it was of a moderate size. I couldn't help but wonder what it was all worth, those rings and purses and pieces of gold. And Mama not the least bit tempted to appropriate them.
After locking the box I went by a circuitous route down through the house and out into the grounds. At the dovecote I felt for the other key and placed this one directly underneath it, so that Amanda could scarcely miss it when she reached in. In her artless fashion she would undoubtedly give away exactly the information that I wanted her to.
Surely Cousin Bret would suspect that Mama had removed the spoils to the strongbox and hidden the key in the dovecote. I had left the door of Robert's room unlocked so that he could discover that the goods were gone from there. I only hoped his mind would not dwell on the fact that it was Sir John who caught him going into Robert's room. Mightn't Sir John have mentioned the incident to Mama, who would have gotten the wind up? Yes, it could have happened that way, and Cousin Bret had better believe that it had!
At length I returned to my room to dress for dinner. This process had become much more important in the last few weeks. Though we had always dressed to a certain extent, it was nothing like the way we did now, with Sir John there to admire our toilettes. Cousin Bret, unfortunately, made his own share of comments on them, but that was neither here nor there.
Just when I was about to descend, I heard the distant rumbling of thunder and saw a crack of lightning. Well, there would be no walks out in the shrubberies that night, I thought, discouraged. Our scheme for fooling Bret would have to wait and I wasn't just brimming with patience. I wanted the whole mess over and behind us—so that I could concentrate on winning Sir John's love.
Chapter 16
It rained the better part of the next day and we all wandered about the house bumping into one another. Only by early evening were things beginning to clear. Just before dinner I found Amanda in the drawing room before the men and Mama joined us, and I said, “Try to make it tonight. The grass isn't so wet that it will ruin your slippers. And let me know right away when you've shown Cousin Bret the key."
She reluctantly agreed to this, though I could tell that she was concerned about her slippers. When dinner was over and Cousin Bret tried to get her to go walking with him, she fluttered her hands, eyed me rather petulantly, and agreed. Sir John looked amused, but he said nothing. When they had left, Mama urged me to walk out with Sir John. “But you must put a shawl about your shoulders,” she insisted. “Run up to your room and get one, so you won't keep Sir John waiting."
I had the distinct impression she wished to have a few words alone with him, but I was unable to linger at the keyhole because the butler was hovering there himself, waiting for a summons to bring in the port or Madeira, which was the usual habit we'd gotten into of an evening.
Instead, I rushed up to my room, grabbed the first shawl that came to hand, though it did not perfectly match my dress, and skipped back downstairs to see if I might make another attempt at listening in on their conversation. But there was silence in the room when I got there, and chagrined, I merely walked in and found them sitting in adjacent chairs, puzzling over an old book of
Papa's about the family.
We passed Amanda and Cousin Bret on our way farther out onto the grounds. She gave me a conspiratorial nod, but her brow had that puzzled wrinkle that told me they had also discovered the strongbox key. Very good. Knowing my cousin, he wouldn't let any grass grow beneath his feet. I could count on his claiming the key and the strongbox that very night.
For Sir John's benefit I rubbed my head the way Mama does when she is about to be communicated by one of her ghosts and said, “I have this feeling that something is going to happen tonight. I see gold and jewels."
Sir John grinned at me. “Your sister isn't very adept at playing these games, is she? If Cummings hadn't been looking in the other direction, he would surely have wondered why she winked with such ferocity."
“Don't be too hard on her. She has managed to bring it off just fine, I would say. You can tell Cousin Bret is already scheming to get his hands on the strongbox.
“He was rather transparent, wasn't he?” Sir John agreed.
There was something a little unusual about his own actions, it seemed to me. For one thing, he'd made not the slightest effort to kiss me, even when Amanda was out of view. And he held my arm in a rather formal way, not hugging it so warmly against his body as he usually did.
Thinking that he might be offended that I hadn't given him a bigger role in the coming activities, I said, “If you wish, I will allow you to be the one to discover my cousin with the strongbox. He might not take me as seriously as he would take you, in any case.''
We had arrived at the little wooden bridge over the stream. The trees on either side seemed to cast wide shadows. In this secluded spot I felt certain that Sir John would at last take me into his arms. But he did nothing of the sort.
He stood towering over me, staring down into my eyes with his usual expressiveness. “You've become quite trusting in your attitude toward me. It's certainly a change, and a welcome one. In fact, I have a good mind to run off to the border with you this very night, rather than wait for the Public Day confusion."
I blinked at him. He was referring to the letter I had sent Robert. “How could you possibly know? Has he written to you? It was only a joke, you know. Nothing to put you out of countenance."
“Well, if he kills me in a duel for it, you will have only yourself to blame. Robert would not take kindly to the idea of his sister eloping, even with his best friend."
I snorted. “He was not supposed to challenge you to a duel. He was supposed to come down to Cambridgeshire so that he might sort out the whole mess."
“You gave him very little choice,” a voice behind us said dryly.
I hadn't heard his voice in such a long time. Stupidly, tears sprang to my eyes. I swung around and threw myself on his chest as he emerged from the shadows. “You did come, you silly, wonderful fellow. Now everything will be all right."
“I'm sure I don't know why you thought I couldn't handle it myself,” Sir John protested, laughing. “Robert is such a scatterbrain that he's likely to make a muddle of it."
I paid no heed to his teasing. It was so good to see Robert. I had forgotten how solid and handsome he was, with his shock of dark-brown hair and steady green eyes. He stood only a few inches taller than me, not nearly so tall as Sir John. “Mama will be so happy that you're here,” I sighed. “She's very much in need of your guidance, so long as it isn't unbearably self righteous. She couldn't bear that."
“I understand. I believe you've done very well in my absence."
Whether this was true or not, I was so pleased to hear him say it that I almost missed Sir John's next comments.
“We think it would be best if Robert waited to see her until the morning. That is, I suspect something is going to happen tonight that would best be handled by your brother and myself, with your mother and sister quite uninvolved."
I wondered if Sir John had told Robert all about Mama being the highwayman, and I raised an inquiring gaze to his face.
“Yes, he knows. In fact, he knows a great deal, because you refused to trust me earlier."
Something about the way he said this made me blush. Surely he hadn't told Robert about our various interludes. They were, after all, a very private matter. But I couldn't get him to look me directly in the eye, and Robert's mind was already on the night ahead.
“What if Cousin Bret simply decides to take off with the spoils?"
I didn't think that was very likely. “He has made the most determined effort to get Amanda to marry him, you see. The jewels and money could not amount to anything near as much as Hastings and all our family possessions."
“Which he was not likely to intimidate me into giving him, was he?"
“You weren't here,” I reminded him.
“My emissary was,” he assured me, nodding to Sir John.
Something about the baronet's smugness at this point made me feel saucy. “But Sir John has been a little distracted by certain elements of his visit. Perhaps he has not been thinking as clearly as you might have hoped."
“I'll have you know I have been thinking perfectly clearly,” Sir John said as he pulled me close to him and tucked my arm through his. “Little distractions cannot induce me to forget the call of duty."
“Little? Ha."
Robert shook his head with amusement. “We'll discuss that further tomorrow. Right now we have to concentrate on ridding ourselves of Cousin Bret once and for all."
* * * *
The best view of the dovecote was from Robert's room. Robert had gone straight there as secretly as possible. Sir John and I joined him after we left Cousin Bret for the night. There was only a faint moonlight, but it was easy enough to see my cousin saunter to the dovecote and reach his hand up for the key. He pocketed it as casually as he might have his own handkerchief. What a dastardly fellow he is.
And then he headed directly into the house. He could not even have stopped at his room, he was so quickly near the attic door. From his years of visiting us, he knew where the strongbox was. It didn't even occur to him that it might have been moved because it was now being used as a repository for stolen goods.
Hiding in the dark of Robert's room with the door slightly ajar, we heard Cousin Bret move quickly down the hall toward the entrance to the attics. I peeked around the corner of the corridor and saw that he had a candle shedding a very small amount of light on the area before him. On tiptoe we moved down the hall toward the door. Above us we could hear the dragging of the old box away from its companions so that Cousin Bret could more easily get at the lock. Robert now motioned me behind him in preparation for the big act we had planned. Sir John waited downstairs in the corridor just in case my cousin should try to break and run.
As though he suspected only a friendly though misguided servant to be at fault for making noise in the middle of the night, Robert called, “Who's up there? This is not the time of day for someone to be working in the attics; you'll wake the entire household."
I could hear Cousin Bret's sharp intake of breath. Not in a million years would he have suspected that Robert might be home or that he would be in a position to discover him at his night's work.
“I was just looking for something up here,” he called back, hastily slamming the top down on the strongbox.
Robert made his way quickly up the rest of the stairs and stood like a giant at the top of them, frowning down at my cousin, who was still trying to get the lock attached.
“I had no idea you were home,” Cousin Bret squeaked, his fingers working frantically. “Imagine your arriving without my being told! How very strange of your family."
“No one,” Robert said, and then added, “except Catherine, knows that I've arrived. It was too late to wake them. What is it you're doing, Cousin Bret?"
“Oh, nothing, nothing. I was just looking for a costume for Public Day. Your family is thinking of having a costume ball, and when I found that I couldn't sleep, I thought I would just take a look up here."
“But why the old strongbox? We've n
ever kept clothing in it."
“No? Well, I didn't know."
“And the key. Where did you come by the key?” Robert's brow had puckered with concern. “It's not really something one of our visitors should have hold of, you know."
“I just happened to come upon it. Actually, I was walking with Amanda when she noticed it in a very strange place."
“Where was that?"
I could scarcely keep from laughing by this point, watching my cousin wriggle and twist to get out of this jam.
“In the old dovecote. Where you apparently kept a key to get into the house when you were out late at night."
“I certainly never had the strongbox key out there.” Robert sounded astonishingly disbelieving. “Perhaps you would give me the key, Cousin Bret."
Oh, the reluctance he showed. I thought for a moment that he was going to toss the key somewhere deep in the bowels of the attic where we would have the devil of a time finding it. But no, he slowly handed it to Robert, though he protested the whole while, “I hadn't even a chance to open the box,” he insisted. “I had just gotten up here when you came."
“Surely that can't be true,” Robert demurred. “I heard the sound of someone dragging a heavy object across the floor. That is what first called my attention to you.” He stooped down in front of the box and inserted the key. I felt that my cousin had begun to hold his breath.
With a small scraping sound, Robert turned the key and the lock sprung open. He lifted the lid and simply sat there for a long moment. Inside were all the valuables, the purses, and rings, and gold and silver and all sorts of coins that Mama had collected. Robert whistled. Then he leaned back on his haunches and glared up at Cousin Bret.
“What is this doing here? These are without doubt ill-gotten gains. How did you come by them, cousin?"
“They aren't mine,” Cousin Bret protested. “They're your mother's."
Miss Ryder's Memoirs Page 19
