A Murderous Masquerade (Unrivalled Regency Book 2)

by Williams, Jackie

  Callum stepped forwards.

  “It would be a pleasure to take the beast for you ma’am. I need to settle our own horses for a while as we have driven through the night.”

  Giles nodded in agreement and Charlotte acquiesced with a small smile.

  “You had best come straight in afterwards. There’s no one in the stables to offer you any refreshment. Come up to the house. I’ll see what rooms cook and I can manage to make liveable for your stay.” She turned towards the front door and pulled a key from her breeches pocket.

  Giles narrowed his eyes. Was she telling him that there wasn’t even a man about the place to see to visitors? He glanced about again and realized that there was probably no need. It was quite clear that no one had come visiting for a very long while. A chill crept into his heart. The house, which had looked almost derelict before, had gone to ruin since his last visit. He only hoped that his uncle had some hidden reserves that would pay for repairs, though, if he had any, he couldn’t imagine why the man hadn’t spent the money himself.

  Craddock followed them up the crumbling steps, hauling a trunk with Callum. Charlotte opened the creaking front door and they deposited it inside before fetching the second. A thin, grey haired woman bustled into the hall. She wiped her bony hands down a grubby apron.

  “At last! Thank the Lord for small mercies!” She exclaimed loudly as she looked Giles up and down. “Maybe we will see some sense about this place now. The last ten years ‘ave been bad, but the last year ‘as been worse than ever. It was the Master’s fault, ‘im leaving that son of ‘is to run the place. Would have been better to leave it to the girl rather than that great fool, beggin’ your pardon for talking about your brother like that, Miss Charlotte, but it’s no more ‘un the truth.” She bobbed a rough curtsey at Giles. “I’ll go and see if I can stretch the haunch of pork to three more places. Was going to save a slice for tomorrow’s dinner but we’ll have to fetch in from the village. I hope that you can see your way to payin’ for the extra expense, Sir. We haven’t seen hide or hair of a coin since the Master passed on.”

  Giles raised an eyebrow at Charlotte who studied a broken nail with great interest.

  “Mrs...?” Giles stopped short and the woman broke in.

  “Downham, but you can call me Cook.”

  “Well, Cook. Would it be possible to find something to drink? Some tea perhaps? And if you have any bread or cakes I’m sure that we will survive until supplies can be replenished.” He thought of the small purse of coin that he carried in his pocket. It certainly wouldn’t cover anything like all the immediate needs of the household but it would cover a decent amount of food. He almost wished he had brought along one of the sides of pork that he had hanging in his own larder. “Charlotte is there somewhere comfortable that we might talk. I’m afraid that the solicitor’s letter has confused me somewhat. I had no idea that John had even passed away. I offer you my sincerest condolences.” He gave a small bow but Charlotte strode to his side and linked her arm through his.

  “We can sit in the library and I will tell you all. It faces east and the sun will be warm in there now. The rest of the house is full of drafts even during the summer.” She began pulling him towards a closed door before she stopped suddenly. She turned back to Craddock who looked slightly bemused as stood at the bottom of the stairs. “Third door on the right upstairs. It’s basic but I keep it aired. There is a small room adjoining if you would like to use that one and the room next door could be cleaned for your man without too much ado.”

  Craddock smiled at the young woman and nodded as he made for the stairs.

  Giles opened the door of the library and waited until Charlotte had seated herself before he spoke.

  “You had best tell me everything from the beginning. I am feeling rather ashamed that I haven’t been in touch for some time. I can barely remember my last visit.”

  Charlotte laughed.

  “I drove you mad with my chattering and father sent me to bed so that I couldn’t bore you to death over dinner. I think I was about ten at the time.”

  “And how old are you now?” Giles looked at the young woman’s flawless skin and shining eyes. She couldn’t possibly be older than sixteen but he was long past guessing the age of young women.

  “I’ll be eighteen at Christmas, not that it matters seeing that I have no money for a coming out. Not that I want a coming out at all. I never have you know, I don’t like the sound of all that preening in front of the King and all his courtiers.” She spoke brightly without a note of regret in her tone.

  Giles laughed at her. His young cousin was exactly as he remembered her. Young and exuberant. She was a complete delight.

  “I never fancied that world myself though I understood that most young ladies enjoyed it.”

  Charlotte shook her head and lifted her dainty chin.

  “Not this one. I have no use for it what-so-ever. As soon as I am able to resurrect the breeding stables I’ll be an independent woman.”

  Giles looked about the shabby room. The arms on the chairs were worn, the rug had threadbare holes and the curtains looked thin on the edges. Though the room was free from dust to about his head height the upper shelves of books were covered in a layer of greying dirt.

  “Do you have any money to resurrect the stables?” Giles asked doubtfully.

  Charlotte looked momentarily confused.

  “I thought you would bring money. I assumed that father had left everything to you.” She shot up from the chair. “Don’t tell me that you’re a miser like the rest of them.” She was about to bolt for the door when it opened and Mrs. Downham came in with a tray of tea and what looked like a plate of scones with a small pat of butter and a dish of jam.

  Charlotte eyed the platter and for a moment looked as though she might still stalk out but her stomach suddenly growled. She heaved a great sigh and plopped back into her chair.

  Giles motioned for her to eat and he began buttering a scone for himself as Mrs. Downham poured the very weak looking tea. As soon as the woman had left the room Giles spoke up again.

  “As of this moment all I know is that I am now the title holder and owner of Caithwell. I know nothing of any money or even if there is any. I sincerely hope that there is some because my own estate barely holds its own as it is. I have no reserves to put into a place of this nature. Did your father do nothing for the upkeep? What about the lands? The rents and incomes from tenants must have brought in something, surely?”

  Charlotte brushed crumbs from her lips.

  “What John didn’t drink, he gambled. I only kept Lightning by hiding him in a long forgotten barn in the lower wood. Father had kept John in check until a few years ago when he had a seizure and took to his bed. After that, there was nothing I could do to stop John. He lost his prize mount and one of our best breeders, Dancer in a round of cards. He died the same night after falling from a horse he had borrowed at the inn. The inn keeper told me that he was so far gone in his cups that he was surprised he could even mount the thing. He broke his neck trying to jump the wall at Stoney Brook. Father was inconsolable at the news. He seemed to go even further downhill. Nothing would cheer him or even make him smile. It was all I could do to keep him eating but in the end I failed at that. He began refusing all food about a month ago. When Doctor Michaels tried to force feed him it all came back up and left father in an even worse state. He died three weeks ago. Doctor Michaels helped me with the funeral. It was just as well that we have our own plot here or father would have gone into a pauper’s grave. I had no money to pay for anything.” She brushed a tear from the corner of her eye and Giles fished in his pocket before passing his handkerchief to his cousin.

  “I am sorry that I wasn’t aware you were in such distress. I had no idea of the circumstances that you were enduring. I would have come earlier if you had sent word.”

  She shook her head.

  “I couldn’t leave father. He wouldn’t have Mrs. Downham near him even though she was
the only staff who stayed with me. I’ve been here alone since John lost us everything but the house, and I feel lucky that he hadn’t gambled that away.”

  Giles snorted.

  “He couldn’t. It’s an entailed estate. Even if he’d gambled it he couldn’t have honoured the bet.” He pressed his fingers to his brow and took in a long breath before he spoke again. “You do understand what this means for us? I suppose that I am now your official guardian until the age of your majority. You are my ward and it’s now my responsibility to look after you.”

  Charlotte gave a grim laugh.

  “I don’t need looking after. I just need some money to bring the stables back up.”

  Giles held up his hand.

  “It’s not as easy as that, I can assure you. You can’t possibly go on living here on your own with the place in this condition and I can’t give up my own estate to bring this one to order.”

  Charlotte gave him a horrified glare.

  “I’m not leaving my home and my dreams and coming to live with you, if that’s what you are thinking. I want to be an independent woman with my own income. If I can breed from Lightning...” The enthusiasm died as she watched Giles’ expression. “You’re not going to let me?” Her bottom lip trembled.

  Giles shook his head and put on his most serious frown.

  “Not this week. I have rather a lot of pressing engagements, including going to a masquerade ball and getting married, but afterwards we shall see what we can do.” He laughed as Charlotte squealed in delight and threw herself into his arms again.

  She punched his shoulder playfully as he set her in the chair again.

  “You are a rotten tease cousin! A ball? Where? And who are you marrying? Will I like her? Does she ride? What will happen if she doesn’t like me? Will you send me away? John threatened to once, you know. I hid in my room for three days afterwards.”

  Giles leaned forward and pressed his finger to her mouth.

  “I’m not surprised at his threat. Your questions are enough to send anyone to the mad house. Let me answer one or two for you before you think of any others. We will be attending a masquerade at Ormond where I am to announce my betrothal to Lady Anne, sister in law to the Duke. I have a special license and hope to be married to her by the end of the week. She’s a widow, older than you but young still and very beautiful. I love her deeply, have done since the day I set eyes on her, and you will adore her too. She rides like a demon and has her own fabulous stables. The Duke, his wife Lily, Anne and I have already set up a breeding programme and hopefully you and Lightning can be part of that, so no, I won’t be sending you away even if you do drive me mad.”

  Charlotte suddenly became thoughtful.

  “You just said that we would be attending the masquerade. I hope that you didn’t mean me. I haven’t been presented and so cannot come out at a Duke’s ball, but there’s something even more pressing than that little obstacle. I don’t have a thing to wear. Father didn’t leave me enough money to feed the household let alone buy fancy gowns. I’ve grown out of most of my dresses and have had to alter John’s old shirts and breeches so that they will fit. A ball will be impossible unless you let me dress as a stable hand.”

  Giles looked her up and down. Seventeen she may be, but she looked all woman to him. Her nipped in breeches and lawn shirt left nothing to the imagination. He drew in a deep breath.

  “I’m certainly not leaving you here looking like that and neither am I going without you so you will have to resign yourself to dancing and the like. I don’t think that we will have time for anything to be made, but you’re not that much smaller than Anne or Lily. I know that they will have something that you can borrow. Being presented won’t be a problem either. Ormond doesn’t really hold with tradition like that, being so distant from London, Alexander will accept your presentation on behalf of the King.”

  Charlotte looked up at her cousin with shining blue eyes.

  “But you were not titled until father died. How come you are so well acquainted with a Duke? You talk as though you are good friends with him.”

  Giles nodded and smiled fondly as he remembered all their escapades together.

  “I am. We are the best of friends. We met on the battlefields in France and fought side by side through thick and thin. He saved my life once or twice and I returned the favour on several occasions. He is a good man to have at your side but he wasn’t titled back then either. Being the second son, he had no thought to becoming the Duke, but on our return to England he discovered that his father and brother had both drowned while rescuing shipwrecked seamen. The title and a new wife were thrust upon him within weeks of his arrival home, but all has worked out in his favour. Lily is profoundly deaf but she lip reads well enough and we have all been learning to sign with her. You will need to learn that as well. It isn’t as difficult as it sounds and the added communication skills are handy when we don’t want to bellow at each other across the dining table.”

  Charlotte stared at him with incredulous blue eyes.

  “How awful for him...The losing his father and brother like that. It must have been a terrible shock to him to have come home to that news, though it sounds as if he has found true love with his wife. I don’t know what to say, Giles. This has all come as a shock to me too. I’m only glad that you are the next nearest relative to take the title. I had fears that the solicitors would conjure up some ancient great uncle who would send me off to become a governess.” She looked appalled at the thought.

  Giles laughed at her pinched expression.

  “I could still do it if I took the fancy, but I think I would pity the children that you would have to look after. No, I’m afraid that you will be stuck with me until you are wed.”

  Charlotte bounded to her feet again and shook her dainty fist up at him.

  “Then you will be stuck with me forever because I do not intend to wed at all.”

  Giles caught her hand in his much larger one and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

  “Don’t worry, sweeting. Nothing is going to be forced on you. We will journey to Ormond and then see what is to be done with you, but for now I need to look at your father’s paperwork. Something must be done about this place but without funds or an income I cannot see what. I will need to see what tenants you have and how any income is spent. Do you know where your father kept his papers?”

  Charlotte nodded.

  “Everything is in the study. John took it over for a time but I don’t think he took much care over the running of the place. I couldn’t make head or tail of anything in the books after he died. There are no bills or credits or anything. I think he had been reduced to dealing only in the money he held in his pocket. Come, I will let you see if you can make more sense of it than I.”

  She led him from the library along a gloomy corridor and into a small, dark room. The smell of old papers and stale tobacco was thick in the air. Giles went immediately to one of the windows and forced it open. The summer air swept in, bringing with it the scent of fresh dew. He moved to the next window and was about to push it open when he noticed the rot along the bottom sill. He pressed it with his thumbnail and watched it crumble to dust. He left the window alone for fear of the whole frame collapsing.

  “I’ll make do with the one window for now.” He turned back to the paper strewn desk and began leafing through the sheets. Charlotte looked with him.

  “Tell me what I am looking for and I will help you sort it all.”

  Giles shrugged. “Impossible to say. Anything from your solicitors should be looked at first, I suppose. Any letters or payments from tenants should come next. If there are demands from creditors I will need to send word immediately.” He began peering at the different letters and papers.

  They soon found a system where any receipts were put in one pile, correspondence in another. They sub-divided the letters. There were several demands for immediate settlement of gambling debts. Giles silently totalled the amounts. It wasn’t as large as he ha
d feared. Another letter appeared to be from a group of tenants asking when their cottages would be repaired. Giles looked at the shaky hand and grimy paper and supposed that only one of the tenants could write well enough to make their wishes known.

  He looked up at Charlotte.

  “I’m going to have to take a tour of the estate. I need to see what’s to be done before I can offer any form of assistance, but first I want to go into town and see if there are any funds available. I can’t imagine that there are, but I must make sure.”

  Charlotte agreed.

  “I’ll stay here and prepare the rooms for your party. I think the windows are better on the first floor. Cook and I will give them all a good airing.”

  Giles’ gaze wandered over the young woman. She was clearly holding her own, but having to make up guest rooms was not really something that the daughter of a Lord should be doing, but without staff and the money to pay them there was little else he could do.

  “I feel awful that you are doing this, Charlotte. I hope to be able to set the place on its feet again, but if it proves impossible I may have to try and sell some of the land, not that I’ll get anything much for it in its current state.” He let out a frustrated breath as he glanced at the rotten window frames again. “I can only hope that there is enough money somewhere to enable us to repair the roofs and windows. If we can make the place weather proof that will be something worth doing. We can carry on with other works once the worst of the decay is under control. Now, I just have time to make a quick search here before going into town. Is there anywhere you can think of that your father or brother may have secreted any cash? Your father especially as he knew that John would attempt to clean him out at a moment’s notice.”

  Charlotte frowned and her blonde curls danced as she shook her head.

  “Not in here, unless there are secret drawers behind the panelling. Father used to keep some papers in a vault, but I have already checked there. Perhaps there was somewhere in his room. It seems more likely. The doctor never asked for payments from me or sent a bill and there’s nothing from him here in this pile of papers. I assumed that father paid him when he made his daily visit. That would mean a reserve of cash in his room, but I’ve looked and cannot find anything.”