An Ideal Companion

by Anne Ashley

  On the contrary, Miss Shipley, I very much suspect I have, Ruth responded under her breath.

  Yes, she certainly had heard of it; had heard, too, more than enough to convince her that to remain longer might prove a grave mistake. She needed time to think what to do, how to proceed. Moreover, she wasn’t anywhere near adept enough at concealing her thoughts and feelings from anyone with a degree of discernment. Her close association with Hugo had proved that beyond doubt! The last thing she needed now was to come face to face with a possible murderess!

  She reached for the kidskin gloves that she had earlier placed on the seat beside her and proceeded to put them back on. ‘Well, ladies, I mustn’t take up any more of your time. It was good of you to welcome a stranger into your home. But a further appointment obliges me to leave without seeing Mrs Adams.’

  ‘Oh, but we haven’t offered you any refreshment as yet!’ Miss Shipley glanced reproachfully at her niece. ‘It was very remiss of you, Alice, not to have done so.’

  ‘Another time, perhaps,’ Ruth put in before the spinster aunt could reprimand the girl further. She then rose resolutely to her feet. ‘Please be good enough to inform your sister that I called...and shall be in touch in the very near future.’

  * * *

  Once back in the safety of the Lansdowns’ town house, Ruth didn’t waste time in seeking the privacy of her allotted bedchamber. Fortunately Sarah had not returned from her round of daily visits and so Ruth had leisure to contemplate on what action, if any, to take.

  There was no doubt in her mind now that Lady Beatrice Lindley had seen Julia Adams on the cliff walk that day. And after making the acquaintance of young Alice Adams, there was little doubt in her mind either, now, of just why her mother had been in that small seaside town, well away from the capital.

  An unconscionable womaniser, Sir George Hilliard had made his young governess his mistress and had very likely housed her in that out-of-the-way spot, well away from the watchful eye of the ton, but close enough for him to visit frequently. Perhaps, when he had discovered Julia was carrying his child, he had wished to terminate their liaison, thereby providing poor abandoned Julia with a strong motive for murder. Then, years later, Julia had crossed the path of the only witness to that fateful cliff-top meeting with her former lover, forcing her to act promptly once again. Yes, everything discovered that day strongly suggested Julia had done precisely that, and yet...

  An image of the woman, when last Ruth had seen her, on that eventful morning at Dunsterford Hall flashed before her mind’s eye. Either Julia Adams was the most accomplished actress who ever drew a breath, or she had been genuinely concerned when she had offered to remain to assist in any way she could. Not only that, she had also appeared shocked to see Lady Beatrice, cold and lifeless, in her bed.

  Of course, her real motive for offering to remain might have been to ensure that no finger of suspicion would ever be levelled at her; to ensure that no evidence could ever link her to Lady Beatrice’s untimely death, either. Somehow, though, Ruth didn’t think this had been the case.

  But then, Ruth reminded herself, Julia Adams hadn’t come to Dunsterford Hall with the intention of committing murder. That course of action had been somewhat forced upon her after the discussion that had taken place over dinner. No, she hadn’t arrived at Dunsterford Hall with malice aforethought; Ruth felt certain of that much at least. If Julia did murder Lady Beatrice, then her actions, surely, had been the result of blind panic, borne of strong desire for self-preservation? She was not a cold, heartless killer. She was a woman who had worked and struggled hard to raise her child in a positive cloak of respectability.

  Turning away from the window, Ruth sat herself at the small desk in one corner of the room and drew out a sheet of paper. Serious though the situation was, she found herself unable to suppress a wry smile. Any right-minded person, of course, wouldn’t think twice about penning a letter to the authorities, revealing all she knew. Evidently there was a serious defect in her character, she decided, for she simply couldn’t bring herself to consider that form of action, at least not yet, not until she knew the whole story—everything. And there was only one way she could achieve that objective!

  After taking time to compose the missive, she signed her name before sealing the letter carefully with a wafer and then going over to the bell pull. While waiting for a response to her summons she began to pen another missive, one that she found far more difficult to write. She was still engrossed in the task when her personal maid entered the room.

  ‘We’re going out again, Aggie,’ she told her, much to the maid’s surprise. ‘Go and collect your bonnet and send the footman to me. I have an urgent letter here I wish him to deliver by hand.’

  * * *

  A little over an hour later, Ruth re-entered the house for the second time that day. She had hoped to return before its mistress, but sadly had failed by some twenty minutes or so, and felt she must seek Sarah out at once. Not to do so might easily give rise to speculation. And that must be avoided at all cost, she told herself. She must at least attempt to appear normal, even though she was about to embark on the most dangerous subterfuge she’d possibly ever undertake in her life!

  Running her quarry to earth in the front parlour, she found it no difficult matter to greet her warmly and indulge in a few minutes’ inconsequential chatter. ‘It certainly sounds as though you spent an enjoyable morning with friends,’ she remarked, when Sarah had related in detail all the latest scurrilous gossip she’d discovered from various sources. ‘And it just so happens that I, quite by chance, bumped into an acquaintance of mine whom I haven’t seen for many years. That is why I was a little late in returning to the house.’

  She hated repaying Sarah’s many kindnesses towards her with a mouthful of lies. But what choice had she? She didn’t wish anyone to be concerned for her welfare. Moreover, she had no intention of putting anyone else’s life at risk. What she intended to do was entirely her own decision, and she felt, therefore, she had to do it alone. More importantly, her meeting with Julia Adams must of necessity take place away from London, where her close association with the Lansdowns, and more importantly Hugo, could be more easily concealed. Not for the world would she endanger his life.

  ‘It just so happens my friend is leaving the capital tomorrow,’ she continued to explain, wondering how she could lie so easily. ‘Her family home is situated a few miles only outside the capital and she has kindly invited me to return with her on the morrow. Apparently there’s to be a large party at the family home tomorrow evening. She was so eager for me to return with her, I simply hadn’t the heart to refuse. I shall be away only for the night and shall have returned long before Hugo and Merry, with luck.’

  ‘Well, of course, you must go if you wish to do so, my dear,’ Sarah agreed affably. ‘It will be a pity you won’t number among the little party I’ve arranged to go to the theatre tomorrow night, but I shall make your excuses. I’m sure my friends will quite understand. But what about the soirée this evening? Shall you wish to forgo that, too?’

  ‘I think I had better do so, Sarah. I’ve an early start in the morning, so I’ll want to be up bright and early. Aggie, of course, will accompany me as far as the hotel where my friend is putting up.’

  This did bring a slight furrow to Sarah’s brow. ‘Do I infer correctly from that that you do not intend to take her with you?’

  ‘No, there’s no need. My friend is adequately chaperoned by her own servants, not to mention a maiden aunt. Apart from which, there will be a number of guests staying overnight, so space at the house will be at a premium, and my friend has kindly offered me the services of her own personal maid. Not only that, I’m more than capable of fending for myself. I’ve been doing so for years, remember?’

  * * *

  Sarah might have accepted this decision to go travelling alone, but Agatha was not so easily plac
ated, especially as she was very well aware that no meeting with a friend had ever taken place.

  ‘I might not know what you’re really about, miss, but I’m very sure it isn’t proper for you to go jaunting off on your own,’ she warned that evening, after being ordered to pack an overnight bag for her mistress in readiness for the early start the following morning. ‘Heaven alone knows what the Colonel will say when he gets wind of your comings and goings!’

  ‘Might I remind you, Aggie, that he isn’t your master yet. You take your orders from me and I shall come and go as I please.’ She shrugged. ‘Besides, with luck, I shall have returned before he’s due back, so he’ll know nothing about it.’

  Agatha’s expression betrayed her scepticism. ‘Oh, he’ll find out. You mark my words,’ she warned. ‘Not much ever escapes that gentleman, as well you know.’ Her expression then grew markedly more disturbed, as she added, ‘Besides, I just don’t like lying to people, miss, most especially the Colonel.’

  ‘No, I know you don’t, Aggie.’ Ruth went over to place an arm lovingly around the maid’s shoulders. ‘And neither do I. I hated lying to Lady Lansdown earlier. Sarah has been good to me. She’s treated me like a sister almost from the first.’

  This briefly erased the deep lines of concern from the maid’s forehead. ‘Well, miss, you’d have needed to be a complete simpleton not to have seen that you and the Colonel were made for each other. He’s always taken the greatest care of you. Even all those months back, when he turned up at Dunsterford Hall that day, he showed the kind of man he was by his little considerate acts, especially towards you. Oh, can’t you wait until he returns, miss? I’d feel a deal happier if the Colonel were with you. I’d know then you’d come to no harm.’

  But he might, and I won’t risk that, Ruth thought, but said determinedly, ‘No, Aggie, I can’t. I must do this alone. I truly do not believe I shall be in any danger. I don’t believe I could be so wrong in my judgement about someone.’

  After hearing this Agatha appeared, if anything, a deal more concerned. ‘I really don’t know what you’re about, miss. And maybe it’s better that way. But one thing I do know—you’re too kind-hearted by half at times. You tend to think more highly of some folk than they deserve. Look how you always made excuses for Lady Bea’s behaviour. You know different now, of course!’

  Honesty obliged Ruth to acknowledge the truth of this. ‘Yes, I must admit I’ve not always been the best judge of character, though there have been exceptions—you and Colonel Prentiss being prime examples. And I believe I’m right about this...other person. But I’d be foolish not to accept that there is a very real possibility that I might be quite wrong. That is why I’m not prepared to risk anyone else’s life, and must do this alone, and meet this person away from the capital, where my connection to this household is unlikely to be discovered. Besides, more than one life might be ruined if matters aren’t handled...discreetly. And I’ll not have that on my conscience, either.’

  After collecting the now sealed letter from the desk, she handed it to the maid. ‘I cannot tell you more, Aggie. And maybe, as you’ve admitted, it’s better that you don’t know, then you won’t be forced to tell more lies than you need. As I’ve mentioned before, I intend to remain away one night only. With luck, I should arrive back here Friday afternoon. Should I fail to return, then I wish you to place this letter in the Colonel’s hand only...and no other.

  ‘You may go now, and I shall see you first thing in the morning, when you’ll accompany me on the first stage of my journey.

  ‘Goodnight, Aggie.’

  Chapter Twelve

  Hugo smiled lazily across at his travelling companion, as Lord Lansdown apologised for the umpteenth time since setting off on their return journey earlier that morning. Hugo had been obliged to agree that the racing hadn’t been up to the standard expected, with many of the favourites not running for various reasons. Even so, he was under no illusion about just why Merry had wished to return to town a day earlier than originally planned.

  Poor Merry had caught a slight chill and was feeling distinctly sorry for himself. He was craving his creature comforts and the pampering attention he’d be sure to receive in his own home from a doting wife and loyal servants.

  ‘Not that I suppose you’re in the least sorry to be returning early,’ his lordship ventured, as his travelling carriage continued along the bustling streets of the metropolis. His blue eyes twinkled suggestively. ‘I don’t doubt for a moment you’re longing to be reunited with the delightful Miss Harrington.’

  Again Hugo chose not to be drawn and continued smiling to himself.

  Unlike Sarah, his brother-in-law had never once attempted to interfere in his private concerns. Merry had never been party to one of Sarah’s harebrained schemes to find him a suitable wife and Hugo had always been grateful to him for that. All the same, Merry had casually slipped Ruth’s name into several conversations since they had been away, hoping, no doubt, to hear that an official engagement was imminent. Nothing would have made Hugo happier than to have confirmed this, but he had no intention of uttering an outright lie, for the truth of the matter was, even now, he was far from certain that an official engagement would ever take place.

  ‘I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you’ve found yourself a sweet little filly there, old fellow. She’s a very restful young woman, not the type to fall victim to the vapours too often, if at all. Mind,’ Merry continued, after blowing his nose on a square of fine lawn, ‘she doesn’t lack spirit, not if I’m any judge. And she’s not afraid to stand up to you, as big as you are!’

  ‘No, she doesn’t want for courage,’ Hugo agreed softly, then shook his head, not attempting to hide his misgivings. ‘Yet, she’s wary of something, that I do know. She’s yet to consent to an official engagement. Which, I’ll admit, I find disturbing.’

  ‘Oh, come now!’ Merry scoffed. ‘Any fool can see the gel thinks the world of you.’

  ‘Yes, I believe she does,’ Hugo agreed. ‘But she’s troubled about something...something is holding her back from making that final commitment.’

  He recognised at a glance his brother-in-law’s distinctly sceptical expression. ‘You forget, Merry, the life she’s been obliged to live during the past years, living day in, day out with an out-and-out man-hater,’ he reminded him, repeating almost word for word the conversation he’d had with his friend the Viscount a couple of weeks before. ‘It would be wonderful, indeed, if she’d remained impervious to all that negativity concerning our sex.’

  He shook his head, still not wholly convinced in his own mind that this was the reason for the reluctance on her part. ‘The first opportunity I get, I mean to have a long talk with that young woman, because I’m determined to get to the bottom of her concerns,’ he vowed as the carriage finally drew to a halt outside the front of the house.

  Alighting first, Hugo led the way into the hall and was informed the mistress was indeed at home and alone in the front parlour. Although understandably surprised, Sarah betrayed sufficient wifely concern when she discovered the reason behind the early return, providing her husband with a glass of brandy before tucking a rug about his knees.

  Hugo looked on with some amusement, wondering whether he would appear so smugly contented as his brother-in-law now did if he was to receive the same cosseting in the years to come when suffering from some trifling ailment.

  As if by a natural progression of thought, he then asked if Ruth was in the house and didn’t attempt to hide his surprise when he learnt she had left the capital early that morning and wouldn’t be returning until the morrow.

  ‘Quite by chance she ran across some friend or other and was invited to a party, and to spend the night,’ Sarah then went on to explain, which resulted in Hugo pausing momentarily before raising the glass of burgundy he’d been given the rest of the way to his lips.

 
He recalled with distinct clarity several conversations he’d had with Ruth during the past few weeks, where she had divulged many aspects of her upbringing. He had gained the distinct impression that during her childhood at the rectory she had enjoyed the company of a wide circle of friends. She still retained contact with many of them by letter. It was not inconceivable, of course, that one of those friends, together with her family, had come to live close to the capital, but it wasn’t the norm for people to move far from the area of their birth, at least not those who didn’t belong to the privileged class. And by Ruth’s own admission, until quite recently, she had known precious few on the highest rungs of the social ladder.

  ‘There’s nothing wrong, is there, old fellow?’ Merry asked, as he detected the telltale lines of concern etched across his brother-in-law’s high forehead. ‘Surely you don’t object to the gel staying overnight with a friend?’

  ‘I wouldn’t be in the least troubled if it wasn’t for the fact that I was unaware she had any friends in this part of the country,’ he told them both. ‘As I remarked earlier, Merry, I don’t think either of you quite appreciate the relatively solitary existence she was obliged to live during the past decade. As far as I’m aware her only friends, her only acquaintances, prior to staying here, are all either living in Somerset or the place where she grew up.’

  ‘No, there you must be wrong, Hugo,’ Sarah countered. ‘I distinctly recall her informing me that this particular friend resides with her family a few miles outside London. I didn’t think to ask for names. Although,’ she added, after a moment’s thought, ‘her maid might know.’

  At this Hugo looked at his sister sharply, his unease having soared to new heights in seconds. ‘Do you mean to tell me she didn’t take Aggie with her?’