by Mary Brendan
‘Why, that sounds like an excellent idea, Mrs Fenton,’ Jack declared heartily, ignoring the furious floridity that was rising above Mansfield’s collar. ‘If the vicar is agreeable to that sensible solution I know our mutual friends will be delighted to have Lily as a playmate for Viscount Booth.’
‘Viscount Booth?’ Peter echoed stiffly.
‘The Earl of Houndsmere’s firstborn. Lance Harley is a good friend of mine. He mentioned to me only the other day at dinner that in his opinion children need friends from an early age if they are to thrive. Your daughter, I would say, is about the same age as their son and would make an ideal companion.’
‘I believe that friends are important, too,’ Dawn spoke up with a private smile for Jack to thank him. ‘And so does the Countess of Houndsmere believe in children socialising. Emma would gladly welcome Lily into her home as readily as she does me. Young Bernard is a delightful little boy and would adore having Lily to play with.’
The Reverend Peter Mansfield was aware that Dawn had lofty friends, but he’d paid the connection scant heed before, as he’d never seen a way to benefit from it. Now he suspected he might. He also suspected something else. ‘You are previously acquainted?’ He swung a glance between the couple.
‘Indeed, we have known one another for many years,’ Jack confirmed. ‘Mrs Fenton and I have close mutual friends in the Earl and Countess of Houndsmere. It is a very odd coincidence that we met by chance in Essex. Would that a happy rather than sad event had occasioned it.’
Dawn was discreetly watching for Peter’s reaction and a burgeoning optimism started to make her heart race. Though she displayed not a jot of her feelings she was sure the vicar was considering the likely benefits to be had from his daughter getting to know an earl’s heir.
Jack had been observing Mansfield, too, and knew it would be as well to act immediately. He got up and walked to the window, looking out with a heavy sigh. ‘It is hard to believe that the recent fine spring weather has so quickly disappeared. I shall need to return to London without delay. I cannot be snowbound when I have important meetings in London to attend. Those clouds blowing in look threatening. A heavy fall followed by a thaw will flood the roads for weeks.’ He turned back and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘If you wish to travel home with me today, Mrs Fenton, I have a good coach and a fast team of horses. We can outrun the worst of it with ease.’
‘I would like that, sir, thank you.’ Was this really happening? Dawn thought wildly. Was she really going home—so soon, please, God—with her beloved granddaughter at her side?
‘Will it take you long to pack, ma’am?’
Dawn forced herself to sound calm when replying, ‘Not at all, sir.’ And that was the truth. With all the commotion that had met her arrival Dawn had only removed a few necessary items from her trunk. All that was required was those to be replaced and the lid to be dropped down again.
‘And your daughter, sir? Is she sensibly to come with us while you attend to planning her future and engaging the necessary staff?’ Jack’s tone of voice made it clear he would think the vicar a fool if he refused.
‘Yes...you may take the dear child to London then, I suppose.’ Peter gave a gracious nod. ‘In her absence I will endeavour to sort out a suitable nurse until a governess can take over the task.’
‘I expect it will take many months to find the right candidate,’ Jack said. ‘In the meantime you will be content knowing your daughter is perfectly well cared for and is making fine new friends in London.’
‘I’ll pack Lily’s things with mine,’ Dawn blurted, standing up, wanting to make ready for the journey straight away. She felt an urge to dash to Jack and hug him for what he’d done for her, but knew she must not act in any way that might pique the vicar’s resentful nature. She managed to manoeuvre into position to send Jack a look that she hoped he would understand. She wanted him to wait and take them with him now. Once he was gone, even if only briefly before returning to collect them, Peter might brood and retract what he’d just agreed to.
Jack walked away from the window where he’d been studying storm clouds and picked up his drink. ‘If I might impose on you, Mrs Fenton, would you hurry, please? I shall wait for you to ready yourself. It would be expedient to set on the road without delay.’ He paused. ‘In the meantime I will speak to the vicar and hear of his plans for the upkeep of the church. I have noticed, sir, that the perimeter wall of the graveyard appears unstable.’ Jack took a sip of his port. ‘Is the roof in good repair?’
As though to add her weight to the decision to flee this house Lily sprang up and started whizzing about the room, whirling her dolly in a hand.
‘Oh, do take her away with you,’ Peter snapped impatiently.
‘I will be ready to set off when you are, Mrs Fenton. I have nothing of note to collect from the Grange other than my valet. And he will follow when he is ready. We should be back in London by nightfall.’
‘Thank you.’ Dawn waited for his eyes to skim past the vicar and tangle with hers, as she knew they would. But though he displayed no more than polite friendliness in his smile Dawn knew what was in his mind. Her triumph and pleasure were equally hidden. The Reverend Peter Mansfield must never understand how overjoyed she was to have her beloved granddaughter going home with her.
Chapter Six
‘I will always be in your debt, my lord. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for the wonderful help you gave to me and to Lily.’
No flirting, Jack told himself sternly as a rogue thought of how he’d like this desirable woman to please him infiltrated his mind. He gazed into a pair of glowing green eyes, then leaned forward on the coach seat to take the slender fingers she held out to him. She squeezed his hands strongly in gratitude and he caressed the soft skin beneath his thumbs. It was innocent, he told himself, letting her go and gazing out into the gathering gloom. There was nothing seductive in a kind touch.
‘There is one thing you can do for me that will be ample reward,’ he said with a half-smile. ‘No more “my lord”, please. I remember you called me Jack years ago, at my insistence, it’s true. And I believe you permitted me to use your name, when we were alone.’
‘I would like that, sir...’ Dawn gestured a bashful apology as he raised a wry eyebrow. ‘It is a habit that I will soon break now I feel we are becoming friends.’
‘I hope we are already friends, Dawn,’ he said quietly, but held back on hinting he intended they’d eventually be more than that. Since their reunion in London he’d spent just a few hours in her company, yet she’d already crept back beneath his skin. It wasn’t so long ago he’d sworn he’d never again let Dawn Sanders mean too much to him. Yet within a week of being home in England his sensible intention of avoiding her had been overtaken by a restless need to be wherever she was. He had arranged to dine with their mutual friends, guessing that the Houndsmeres would invite her along, too. He’d also guessed she might stay away to avoid him and she had. But it had done nothing to lessen his need to see her. He’d rather be spurned than know she was indifferent to his presence. Spotting her on Regent Street had been a stroke of luck. Once he’d spoken to her, he’d known she was no more immune to him than he was to her.
After that meeting all logic had been overtaken by memories of how much he’d once wanted her. He had a mistress who was sensual and amiable enough to satisfy his need for female company, yet he’d taken Pauline home from Regent Street that day and hadn’t visited her since. She had twice called on him, though, uninvited and much to his annoyance, to try to rekindle their relationship.
Jack hadn’t had a pressing reason to travel to Essex. Once he’d discovered that Dawn was heading in that direction he’d decided to visit his estate in the hope of seeing her again. Now he thanked the Lord he had set out on the road, even if for mile upon mile he’d mocked himself for acting like a moonstruck fool obsessed with his first maid. But that was forgotte
n now, overtaken by genuine relief that he’d been in the right place at the right time to be of service. He felt immensely glad to be removing Dawn and her granddaughter from Mansfield’s clutches and the depressing atmosphere at the vicarage.
Despite all of that, he regretted that the timing couldn’t have been more inappropriate to hint at how they had once felt about one another. He still wanted her and hoped she still had similar feelings for him. But holding her, soothing her with kisses and caresses, as a lover would, had to wait. For now kind words and condolences must suffice. Jack knew for decency’s sake he must be very patient. Dawn needed to deal with the consuming heartache that was preventing her turning her thoughts to anything other than her granddaughter’s welfare.
Jack looked at the little girl stretched out beside her youthful grandma with her head on Dawn’s lap. ‘She quickly dropped off to sleep after her upset.’
‘I’m sorry Lily made such a dreadful racket. She can be mischievous at times, but is usually easily distracted from it.’ Dawn placed a loving hand on the child’s fair hair. ‘The poor little mite must be so confused. I have told her that her mama is in heaven and she seemed to accept it. But in her own way, she knows something is wrong and is now missing her mama dreadfully.’
Almost from the moment they had started on their journey Lily had howled for her mother. The commotion had gone on for at least two miles before eventually petering out. Rocking her, singing to her, playing dolls with her... Dawn had tried it all, but none of it had worked. Jack had not batted an eyelash despite the fact that his temples must have been throbbing equally badly. She guessed he was unused to being around fractious children; nevertheless, he had coped admirably. He had eventually quietened Lily by showing her some sleight-of-hand tricks with a coin, producing the sovereign from behind one of the little girl’s ears. Lily’s sobs had transformed to giggles. Grabbing at the gold Jack had sent spinning on the edge on the seat, she had refused to hand the coin back for any more magic to be performed. She had curled up and fallen asleep with it clutched in her hand. Now Dawn eased the sovereign from her slumbering granddaughter’s fingers and returned it to its rightful owner. ‘I know it is hard to believe after her tantrum, but lately Lily has been unusually subdued. She is only three, but I imagine children can be very sensitive little souls.’
‘She doesn’t take after her father, then,’ Jack commented drily, slipping the sovereign into a pocket.
‘Indeed, she does not!’ Dawn responded with muted force. ‘She is the image of her mama in looks and temperament and I thank the Lord for it.’
‘Was it an arranged marriage?’
Dawn knew he was circuitously asking why her stepdaughter would have tied herself to such a repulsive individual. Dawn wasn’t sure why the marriage had come about either and wished fervently now that it never had.
‘The Reverend Peter Mansfield was an acquaintance of my late husband’s from the days before I married him. When Eleanor was seventeen the vicar approached Thomas to ask for his daughter’s hand and his suit was accepted.’
‘And your stepdaughter had no objection?’
‘She was exceedingly close to her papa. He advised her to accept Peter and she did. Eleanor implicitly trusted her father to have her best interests at heart.’
‘And what did you think about it all?’
Dawn contemplated for a while before answering. ‘I think my husband loved his daughter very much. She resembled her mother and was a reminder of his first wife.’ Dawn knew he was remaining quiet in the hope she’d explain that comment. ‘I felt no jealousy for my predecessor. It was not a love affair between us, but a convenient arrangement that suited us both.’ She didn’t want to sound disloyal to her husband, yet there was no doubt in her mind now that her stepdaughter’s marriage had been a dreadful mistake. ‘I thought that at seventeen Eleanor had time to wait a while and get to know the vicar better before committing to a betrothal,’ Dawn said carefully. ‘I didn’t like him from the start, although he did put more effort into being genial back then.’ She paused, wondering whether to confess that she’d almost argued with Thomas over Eleanor’s future.
Just a few hours in Jack Valance’s company after years apart and yet she felt she could bare her soul to him...tell him anything. And she had never felt that way with Thomas in several years of marriage. ‘I aired my concerns and Thomas tried to allay my uneasiness about the match. He believed Mansfield was just trying too hard to impress his prospective bride and in-laws.’ She hesitated, then added, ‘My late husband wanted to see Eleanor quickly settled. He’d had some business setbacks, you see, and his debts were mounting.’
‘A father would want to know his daughter was provided for in those circumstances,’ Jack said fairly.
Dawn nodded agreement. ‘Thomas wanted her dowry safely transferred to a husband in case creditors seized it and ruined Eleanor’s marriage prospects.’
‘An understandable action,’ Jack said.
Dawn began to nod, then a frown furrowed her brow and she shook her head instead. ‘But even with my husband’s reassurance I was still not convinced it was the right thing for Eleanor to do at so tender an age. She wasn’t very mature at seventeen and Mansfield was already over thirty when they were married. I believed a younger man might have suited her better, but allowed myself to be swayed from making a fuss. I had been part of the family just a short while and was conscious that Eleanor was not my daughter. Things would have been very different had she been my flesh and blood.’ Dawn gazed at Jack, explaining, ‘A second wife has a tricky path to tread when joining a ready-made family. I got on well with Eleanor from the start, but she was very much her father’s child and I didn’t want to come between them.’ A wave of sadness made her bite her lip to disguise its trembling. ‘Perhaps with hindsight I should have said and done far more.’ She choked a bitter sound in her throat. ‘How useless is wisdom when it comes too late.’
‘We’re all guilty of knowing the right thing to do after the event,’ Jack said gently.
She gave him a grateful smile, then looked fondly at Lily. ‘I will be more vigilant with her...and speak up at every opportunity if I think I should to protect her. I hope that Peter will always allow me to see her. It is hard to know his moods sometimes or what he will do.’
‘He will do what he believes will benefit him. At present he hopes that your connections might serve his purpose of getting to know an earl and his heir.’
‘You have understood him rather well after so short an acquaintance,’ Dawn said ruefully. ‘It took me longer to fully appreciate how unpleasant and devious he is.’
‘There is nothing unique about the Reverend Peter Mansfield. Such fellows are ten a penny,’ Jack said contemptuously. ‘Whereas women with your qualities are rare indeed.’
Dawn felt a little flustered by his praise. He hadn’t smiled when complimenting her and looked quite severely serious. ‘Thank you, but I think any grandma would do the same.’ She chuckled to lighten things between them. ‘Anyway...please don’t have me too virtuous or I will surely let myself down.’
He did smile then in a way that brought heat to her cheeks. ‘Oh... I don’t want you virtuous, Dawn. Heaven forfend...’
Jack saw a glimmer of comprehension in her eyes before she looked away and began soothing her fidgeting granddaughter with a gentle touch. She understood what he wanted. But he’d been right in thinking that her devotion to the little girl was all that mattered to her right then. It seemed odd to think of Dawn being a grandmother when she was clearly younger than Lily’s father.
‘You had no children of your own?’ he asked.
Dawn shot a look at him. Did he know of her own lost baby? She doubted that her best friend would have mentioned anything so personal.
‘I’m sorry. That was impertinent of me.’
‘I don’t mind speaking of it. I nearly became a mother, but miscarried. My hus
band had had his accident just two weeks previously and the doctor blamed the shock of it on causing me to lose the child.’ The lump in her throat had made the explanation sound very husky.
Jack thrust his fingers through his fair hair in a show of regret. ‘I’m sorry... I had no idea. I shouldn’t have asked and made you dwell on yet more heartache you’ve endured.’
‘I think of it often without any need for a reminder, and anyway I like to talk to you.’ Dawn was gazing at the darkness beyond the coach window. ‘I always enjoyed our conversations.’ She felt his eyes lingering on her profile and slowly met them. It had been the first proper reference to their romance years ago and she deduced from his reaction that he hadn’t forgotten about any of it either. She avoided his steady stare by concentrating on Lily and stroking the child’s hair. ‘So...tell me all about your adventure abroad, if you will,’ she said lightly. ‘I imagine you saw many lands and peoples. It must have been an exciting time for you.’
‘Indeed...and not all of it pleasant.’
‘Oh? You found your adventure a disappointment?’ If he had, she thought acidly, it had taken him a long time to return from it.
‘In part,’ he answered and lifted the leather blind at the window, peering out into a wintry scene. ‘I’m afraid that the bad weather has caught up with us.’
Glancing past him, Dawn saw a swirl of white flakes spattering against the glass. She had noticed that the carriage had lost pace and seemed to be moving in a more laboured way.
‘It might be as well to put up somewhere rather than risk the roads further along. The winds have changed. We are driving into the snow as we head south.’ He rested his elbows on his knees, leaning towards her to ask, ‘Would you mind if we broke our journey at a tavern and spent the night there?’
