by Amanda Scott
When she had first met him, she had not thought he would be kept long in Royal Crescent, for although he had said he remained because he needed money, she found it hard to believe, even before quarter-day had come and gone, that he would allow himself to be constrained for such a cause. In her experience, gentlemen in need of financial recuperation went to the horse races or to the gaming tables. And certainly no sense of obligation kept him. Other sons might have felt obligated to attend an ailing father, but he was not among them, and though she had at first thought him an unnatural son, she knew now that not even the highest stickler could cavil at his having so little regard for a man he scarcely knew.
Nor had it occurred to her at first that Manningford might have stayed out of consideration for her. His attitude toward her all along had been kind but careless, and even now, with all the encouragement he was receiving from her great-aunt to do so, she could not suspect him of dangling after her. He was no hero on a white charger, thundering to the rescue of an innocent heroine, but just her good friend. When she compared him to Sir Percy, the hero of Sir Mortimer’s novel, the thought made her laugh. In fact, as she realized the following evening, the hero she and Sir Mortimer had created was, in many ways, much more like Sydney Saint-Denis than he was like Brandon Manningford.
The party for their outing to the gardens included Nell, Lady Flavia, Mr. Lasenby, Manningford, and Mr. and Mrs. Saint-Denis, and after strolling along the gravel paths for a time, they had taken their places in the box Manningford had hired for them, enjoyed a tasty supper, and then sat back to enjoy the colorful display. Nell had plenty of time to observe her new acquaintances and decided she liked both of them very much.
Carolyn Saint-Denis, with her raven tresses, deep blue eyes, and rosy cheeks, was a beauty in the most fashionable sense of the word, looking much as Nell herself had often wished to look. But, apparently unconscious of her beauty, she was an animated, laughing creature, full of life and laughter, a perfect foil for her amiable, rather foppish, lazy husband. At one point, seeing friends in the distance, she had turned quickly to Mr. Saint-Denis and tugged at his sleeve to direct his attention to them.
Patting her hand as he carefully disengaged himself, he said in a sleepy tone, “My dear Caro, a matron lady, even one with two painfully energetic children, does not bounce about in public or seize unsuspecting persons by their coat sleeves. Consider my vanity, if you please.”
She smiled saucily at him. “I will consider it, dearest Sydney, if you insist, but I believe it only fair to warn you that you are becoming just a trifle stuffy again. I cast but a hint your way, you see, knowing that you will prefer to attend to the matter yourself, rather than leave it to me.”
He looked at her for a long moment, the dawning twinkle in his gray eyes warming to something more than simple enjoyment, until Carolyn’s cheeks grew quite pink with pleasure. It was just such a look, Nell decided, as she would like to be skilled enough to place in Sir Percy’s eyes when he gazed upon Elizabeth. Indeed, if she could produce an intimacy between the pair of them that was anything like what she was rapidly coming to see between the Saint-Denises, she would be very pleased with her work.
Hearing her name spoken, she turned away from Carolyn and Sydney to find herself face to face with Jarvis Bradbourne, who had bent over the railing of the box in order to make himself heard above the cheers of the crowd when a fiery rocket exploded overhead. As the cheering died away, Jarvis said, “How delighted I am to find you enjoying a bit of gaiety again, Cousin.”
Lady Flavia, hearing his voice, turned away from Mr. Lasenby, who had been speaking close to her ear, and said, “You here, Jarvis? What can you want now?”
“I called at the house to pay my respects, ma’am, and was so fortunate as to be told by the admirable Sudbury where I might find you. Since it was such a short distance, I took the liberty of paying out my sixpence to join you, but I see that your box is too full to accommodate me, so I will just take Nell for a short stroll, if I may. Walk with me, my dear.”
She hesitated. There was no reason that she could think of to be rude to him, but neither did she want to go with him. She felt a sense of menace whenever he was near, and though she could not believe he would do anything so absurd as to try to force her to leave with him, and had never been given actual reason to believe he meant harm to her, she had no wish to listen to more of his persuasiveness.
When she did not speak, Manningford got to his feet and said calmly, “Sydney, Caro, care to join us for a walk?”
“I thought this indolence was too pleasant to last,” Mr. Saint-Denis said, getting to his feet and helping his wife adjust the light scarf she wore over her shoulders as protection against the evening’s light breeze. “Don’t believe I know you, sir,” he said to Jarvis. “Sydney Saint-Denis. This lady is my wife.”
Nell said, “Forgive me, everyone. He is a cousin of mine, Jarvis Bradbourne, who is visiting Bath for a few days.”
Jarvis made his leg, then said pointedly, “I’ve something of a rather private nature to say to you, Cousin.”
“Well, this is hardly the place for it,” she told him, “and if you must know, I don’t wish to walk alone with you.”
“You don’t trust me,” he said with a sigh. “By my oath, but that is foolish, my dear, for I wish to marry you, and thus have every reason to protect your good name. Certainly, you need not fear to walk a little apart with me. I leave for London in the morning, and I would have speech with you before I go.”
Glancing at Manningford, she said, “Very well then, but only a little way. What is it?” she demanded, scarcely waiting until they had moved far enough along the torchlit path to be beyond earshot of the others.
“You’ve been avoiding me, my dear, and though I find that somewhat tedious, I have no doubt that you will soon come to your senses. Your friends are kind to you now, but should they chance to discover your entire history—that is to say, your brother’s history—I doubt you would find them so amiable.”
She looked up into his face. “Are you threatening me, sir? I confess, I did not expect such a thing from you.”
“And you were not mistaken, my dear. Only think of how carefully I have used you, how tenderly I have nurtured Highgate on your impulsive brother’s behalf. But in eight months we have traveled no farther forward. I have respected your megrims and your mourning, but now I see that you have put both behind you, and I cannot be expected to remain patient much longer without something to show for it. I wish to protect you and the Bradbourne name, my dear, but I would be a fool to continue along this path without some reward for my efforts.”
“You will marry me or you will ruin us both; is that it?”
“Such bluntness, Nell, does not become you. I quite agree that it would be a pity to use you so, and I should prefer that that particular tale never come out. I have been at some pains to prevent it, after all. But the note of hand Nigel bestowed upon me that fatal night is not sufficient to allow me to do all that needs doing, and as he does not seem to have sent anyone his direction, I have been unable to request broader authority from him. However, there is the wager, and even without it, since I am his heir apparent, I anticipate no difficulty in persuading a Chancery Court to grant me full power to act, if not complete title. It is for the purpose of looking into that matter that I am going to London in the morning.”
His tone was so confident that Nell longed to slap him, but she knew she dared not. Since his arrival in Bath she had been expecting him to take some such step as this, to press her to change her mind about marrying him. Since she knew now, if she had not before, that she could never do such a thing, every cell in her body ached for her to tell him that he didn’t fool her, that she knew full well that taking Highgate from her family had been his intent all along. But she did not know his immediate intent, and she did not want to put him on his guard lest he do something horrid. Surely, she thought, if he believed himself safe, he would proceed with caution, slowly and meticulous
ly. He had waited this long; he would not go headlong now without cause.
So it was that she said as calmly as she was able, “You will do what you believe necessary, I suppose. I cannot believe that a court will grant you title to land that is not yours, however, so perhaps you would do better to be content merely to be granted legal power to act on Nigel’s behalf.”
“You wish to forget the wager,” he said gently. “I quite agree that it don’t redound to our credit. By my oath,” he added with ponderous humor, “the court is likely to think the whole family as crazy as loons when they hear of it.”
“Then don’t tell them. That the stakes were as you say they were can be contested, you know, and in the event, you might find that the law nowadays will not support such extravagant stakes.”
An expression of annoyance crossed his face, and she knew she had struck a nerve. He had not expected her to know anything about gaming laws. She sent a silent thank you to Mr. Lasenby for the information and waited to see what Jarvis would say next.
“My dear Nell,” he said calmly, “that law pertains only to such matters as are placed in dispute, and there can be none in this case, since the wager is properly noted in a well-respected betting book, signed by both principals and a witness. Moreover, Nigel is not present to dispute my claim, and you have no cause.”
She believed him and, thus, could content herself only with the knowledge that, for a brief moment, she had put him out of countenance. She must trust to luck, not to the law, to find a means of stopping him before his plan could succeed. On the good side, matters of Chancery, as she had heard often enough, were not concluded in a day or a week. There would be plenty of time to think of a rub to put in his way before the wheels of the law had begun to turn against Highgate.
When they returned to the others, a look brought Manningford to her side. “He is certainly a paltry fellow,” he said quietly.
“Well, stop looking daggers at him,” she said, drawing him a little away from the others. “You cannot want him for an enemy.”
“By the look of him just now, it seems I shall be given no choice in the matter. Your cousin does not like me, my dear.”
“Never mind about that; he is going to London to learn what he can expect from a Court of Chancery,” she said, determined to keep to the point but undeniably warmed by the casual endearment.
Manningford frowned. “Is he? I confess, I found nothing at the club last night to stop him—that bet was recorded just as he said—but I should still think he was being a trifle premature if he truly has heard nothing yet from your brother.”
“He still maintains that he has no wish to flaunt the wager before a public eye but says it may be necessary for him to do so, whether he likes it or not.”
“In other words, he goes to test the water.”
His tone was pensive, and Nell looked into his eyes. What she saw there eased the tension that had taken hold of her from the moment Jarvis had joined the party. Though she had once thought Manningford irresponsible, she knew now that she could count him as her friend, to stand by her and help her with whatever came her way. Had anyone asked how she knew, she could not have told them, but she knew. She said quietly, “Nothing can happen quickly, can it, sir?”
His hands came gently to rest upon her shoulders, and he gazed into her eyes in much the same way she remembered his having done once in her dreams. “Some things happen quickly, Nell, but not the business of a Chancery Court. We have time on our side.” His gaze held hers, and she waited hopefully, but a moment later one of the others spoke, and the spell was broken.
That there was not so much time as they had thought was brought home to her the next day. Lady Flavia having gone to visit Mrs. Prudham, she was working at the escritoire when Sudbury entered to announce a caller.
“Deny me, if you please,” she said without turning. “I cannot come just now, so ask whoever it is to leave a card, Sudbury, and extend my excuses. Or tell them that Lady Flavia will be at home after one o’clock.”
Sudbury cleared his throat and said gently, “The gentleman is not an ordinary morning caller, Miss Nell.”
Hearing a familiar chuckle, she turned sharply to see her brother’s laughing face just beyond the butler’s shoulder.
“Nigel! Oh, Nigel, my dear, how delightful! That is,” she amended as she leapt to her feet, “it is not delightful at all! What are you doing here? Are you out of your senses?”
Lord Bradbourne, a slender young gentleman of medium height, whose auburn locks and dark blue eyes gave him to look so much like his sister that people who knew one were frequently able to recognize the other, stepped past the fondly smiling butler and gathered Nell into his arms, giving her a crushing hug. “Nellie, Nellie,” he said when she burst into tears, clutching at his lapels, “gently, my sweet. This coat was made for me in Paris, and I’ll not have you crushing it to bits.”
She gave a watery chuckle. “You sound very much like a gentleman I met only last evening,” she said. “Paris has turned you foppish, my dear.”
“The deuce you say! It’s done no such thing. I’m a Corinthian perhaps, my sweet, but never a fop.”
“I do not suppose there can be any difference. They are all the same to me.”
“Good God! To you, perhaps, but to no one else.” He held her away and looked at her searchingly. “You’re looking hagged, Nellie. Been going the pace too much, I’d say.”
“Then you’d say wrong,” she retorted. “We are still in mourning, though you don’t look as if you’d remembered the fact.”
He shrugged. “’Tis a hard thing to recall in Paris, where the music is so lively and the young ladies so beautiful.”
“You do not change,” she said with a tolerant sigh. “I had thought you would play least-in-sight, and avoid anyone who might know you, but I daresay I ought to have known better.”
“Yes, sweet Nell, you ought.”
“Well, this past week is the first I can claim to have done anything out of the way. Which is not to say that I have had no cause for apprehension, and do not have more now, you wretched creature. What can you mean by coming to Bath, of all places? You will turn my hair white with worry!”
He shrugged, glancing over his shoulder to be sure Sudbury had gone and had shut the door behind him. “I hope he brings me something to wet my whistle, Nellie, but he can take his time if he likes. Now, smile, for I’ve done nothing to put you in such a pelter. Indeed, I begin to think I never have done.”
She gripped his arm. “I know you did not. You could not! Oh, but Jarvis told us that you had fired before time, and no one has denied it, Nigel, so I do not see how you can hope to clear your name. The risk! If you fail, you will be hanged!”
“Perhaps I deserve hanging,” he said, his expression heavy. “I killed my own father, after all. I cannot tell you what it was like to learn of his death, and to be so far away, but I dared not return. Not then, in any case.”
“I understand. But, Nigel, you are not to say such a thing.” She grabbed both his arms and gave him as much of a shake as she was able. “Papa killed himself. His is the blame.”
“Had I not—”
“No, hush, I’ll not hear it. You went to try what you could do to straighten out a tangle of his making. He ought to have gone himself. And however that man Bygrave died, I will never believe that you turned and fired before the signal.”
“You know, Nellie,” he said as he gently disengaged himself and moved to lean against the mantelpiece, “in all the confusion there was nothing else to believe but what Jarvis told me.”
“He said you were inebriated, Nigel. How came you to drink so much at such a time as that?”
“Well, I did not go there to fight a duel, after all! Bygrave was not there when we arrived, so we had a glass or two while we waited. I must have had more than I thought, for I was dashed muzzy by the time Bygrave came in. I know I asked him to tell Jarvis the truth about the wager, and he said flat out that Jarvis had the right o
f it. Showed me that damned book and said he remembered as if it was yesterday that Papa staked Highgate against that damned brewery. Jarvis said later that I called the man a liar, and I must have done, but I’d never have been so cork-brained as to fight him on the spot if he hadn’t insisted. I ask you! It might have done well enough for our grandfathers, but the law frowns heavily on such doings nowadays.”
“When did you come to see the matter differently?”
“I thought about it often, and bits kept coming back to me. Something dashed havey-cavey about Bygrave. I can see that now.”
“Someone else said the same thing about the whole affair,” Nell said. “I think Jarvis had a hand in it.”
“What, him?” Nigel shook his head. “I never much liked him, but I don’t see how he could have done, you know. There’s no making any sense of it.”
“Well, don’t try. Tell me instead how you managed to get into England without being taken in charge, and how you mean to look into the matter without being hanged.”
Grinning at her matter-of-fact tone, he said, “I met a marquess in Paris and attached myself to his entourage. The whole group travels under his passport, you know, so there was no difficulty about it at all once he vouched for me with Customs.”
“A marquess?” Nell looked at him. “Not Axbridge!”
“The same,” Nigel said. “But how did you guess? You cannot know him, though I daresay you will before this is done, for he’s here in Bath, as a matter of fact.”
She nodded. “At Manningford House in Royal Crescent. I visit the house nearly every day. You will not like to hear this, Nigel, but I have been reduced to working for my living.”
“To what?” The look of astonishment on his face was all that she might have expected it to be, but he seemed to accept her glib explanation of her work, and did not ask any awkward questions about how she had come to discover such a position.
