Lord Lyndhurst was not ready to take ‘no’ for an answer and grasped Nat by the shoulder. ‘I realise that, but my existing estate manager is not to retire for another two years. I thought you could shadow him as his assistant and he could teach you the ropes. You are an intelligent man Nat, I know you are capable or I would not ask you. So please, do me a favour and think about it.’
Nat smiled with pleasure. A remarkable job offer with two years training was just too good to turn down, and he gave a huge grin. ‘There is no need to think about it. I am willing your Lordship, if Lady Winterbourne agrees. A man can learn a lot in two years. I should be honoured to accept such a position.’
Lord Lyndhurst smiled in relief. ‘I must make sure that she does accept my hand then,’ he replied jovially. ‘Nat, I cannot pretend that I am happy about the comings and goings that I have discovered here. I know that you have done your best under exceptional circumstances, but you must appreciate that Lady Winterbourne cannot stay here.’
Nat lowered his head in thoughtful contemplation. ‘No, your Lordship, my hands are tied and I must rely on your good intentions, but what have you in mind?’
At first light this morning, I sent to Croxdale for my carriage. I am expecting it to arrive at the Swan late this afternoon. I will be transporting your mistress to Croxdale as soon as she is able. My mother is in residence, so you need not worry about propriety, and anyway it will only be up until the wedding. I shall procure a special licence. It will only be left for you to follow when you are able. You can bring along Lady Winterbourne’s barouche and stallions at your own convenience. I shall have an army of servants prepare the gate house for your arrival, and you can take up your new position whenever you are ready.’
Lord Lyndhurst mounted his mare. ‘I am off to Daniel’s cottage now. Wish me luck Nat. If your mistress still proves stubborn,’ he jested, ‘I shall have to take a leaf out of Captain Blackmore’s book and resort to trickery.’
Lord Lyndhurst turned his mare toward to the gate and left Nat wondering just what he meant by trickery as he watched the Earl canter down the lane. Surely, his mistress could not reject his Lordship now. He had more than proved his salt these past few weeks, and Nat would find great pleasure and satisfaction working for him. He only hoped that his mistress would finally see sense and make the correct decision. If she did not, servant or not, he would have something to say to her Ladyship about the matter.
*****
When Lord Lyndhurst arrived at Daniel’s home he was not there, but Leah, his wife came out to meet him. She was rather in awe of having an Earl standing on her doorstep and made a curtsy. ‘Welcome to my home your Lordship,’ she said nervously as she ushered him inside.
Lord Lyndhurst removed his hat and gave his hostess an encouraging smile. ‘There is no need to stand on ceremony on account of me, Mrs Harvey. I am indeed indebted to you for allowing Lady Winterbourne to stay until I can arrange to have her taken to a place of safety. You have my utmost gratitude.’
The Earl had an easy and friendly manner and Leah relaxed a little. ‘It is no trouble your Lordship, Miss Penny is a friend and we will do anything for her. If you care to come this way, I will take you to her now.’
Lord Lyndhurst followed Mrs Harvey into a comfortable kitchen, come living area that was not unlike Rosies, but smaller. It had a large hearth with a comforting fire, a small table with four chairs, and a large sofa adjacent to the fireplace where Penelope sat. The baby lay in silent and blissful slumber, in a wicker basket, on a stand beside Penelope.
The atmosphere was charged with lightning when Penelope greeted the Earl. Leah looked from one to the other and decided that the best course of action was diplomacy. ‘I need to go and feed the chickens,’ she said as she tactfully withdrew. ‘I will leave you both to discuss things, but could you give me a call if the baby wakes? I would hate Miss Penny to get hurt picking Zoe up, what with her arm all bandaged up as it is.’
The Earl gave his hostess an appreciative smile. ‘You are very gracious Mrs Harvey, rest assured we will call for you if necessary.’ He walked over to the child who lay blissfully ignorant of the honoured guests and glanced down at her. ‘A fine child, she looks so peaceful,’ he remarked kindly.
Leah beamed proudly. ‘Aye, she is at that, your Lordship, but you may not be saying so if she chooses to wake up,’ she quipped mischievously. ‘I will leave you now.’
Leah left and Lord Lyndhurst turned to Penelope who was attempting to get up off the sofa. He stepped forward to prevent her and gently pushed her back down again. ‘No Penelope, stay where you are, you need to save your strength for the journey,’ he ordered brusquely.
Penelope was so pleased to see him, and her heart had leaped when he entered the room, but she bristled at his assumption that she was going anywhere, and his highhanded tone exasperated her. It was he who had ordered her to be brought here and she was not entirely pleased. The infuriating man could be so autocratic. ‘The journey? What journey?’ she asked with irritation.
‘I have sent to Croxdale for my carriage to convey you to my home to recuperate. You will be much more comfortable there. My mother is in residence, so you cannot have any objections, but even so I will brook no argument in this matter.’
Penelope opened her mouth to argue, but Lord Lyndhurst interrupted before she could say a word. ‘Now Penelope, you cannot expect to wait here until Captain Monaghan returns with a doctor who will not be bribed, and demands to see that wound. Neither can you remain the guest of these good people forever.’
Penelope bit her lip. He was right, but she was not ready to admit it. ‘Of course not,’ she blustered, ‘but I have just received news that Charlotte Square is to be sold. I can use the proceeds to set up a modest home of my own, at least until my trust comes through.’
‘I have a better idea,’ he replied persuasively. ‘Marry me and you need never worry about money again.’ He gently took her hand and kissed it tenderly. ‘I love you. I think I have loved you since that day at the White Swan in York, when you were parading about as Mr. Penistone, and I saved you from the wild attentions of that ridiculous youth. What do you say Penelope? I think we could be very happy together.’
Penelope wanted to shout out yes, but she hesitated. Marrying Lord Lyndhurst would mean returning to a society she abhorred. She had made friends here, friends who had proved trustworthy and loyal. Friends who had stuck by her and made her welcome when she had no one to turn to. It was true that Lord Lyndhurst had also proved a reliable friend and despite all her intentions, she had learned to love and trust him, but would that be enough. Her behaviour these last few months had broken every rule of polite society and still Lord Lyndhurst loved her, but what about his family, they might not accept her so easily. Her very life style these last few months, would shock the very core of the haute ton.
She did not readily reply. She did not want to refuse him, but she could not accept either. She felt that she belonged nowhere, and a tear trickled down her cheek as she came to the realization. She looked into his earnest blue eyes as he awaited her reply. ‘Xavier, I would dearly love to marry you. You know my past and you have accepted me for who I am, but we live in a censorious world, and your family and friends will not be so tolerant. My life and behaviour these last few months have gone far beyond the bounds of what is acceptable in polite society, and I am afraid it will stand in the way of our happiness.’
Lord Lyndhurst squeezed her hand ‘You are wrong Penelope. I accept that your experiences have been poor, but it is unfair of you to label everyone the same. Not everyone is like the disapproving Lady Crompton’s of this world. Yes, Nat told me all about Lady Crompton and her cronies. I know it all. I have told my mother everything about you. She knows about Mr. Penistone, she knows about your activities here, and she is still anxious to meet you. Trust me Penelope, I have good friends, who will love you for who you are, just as I do. As for the rest of society, they need never know about the time you have spent here, an
d as for me, I do not care what they think.’
Penelope reached out her hand and stroked the bristled line of his chiselled jaw. It had become a dear face, the face of a man she could depend upon implicitly. ‘Yes, I believe you Xavier. I thought I never would, after that day you left me on Bruton Street and did not return. Why did you not tell me that you were involved in my annulment case and I would have understood?’
‘I did not want you to feel indebted,’ he replied. He tilted his head curiously. ‘Who told you about that, anyway? Not that it matters now I suppose.’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘Why, Captain Blackmore of course. He was intent on retaliation for the scar you inflicted on his cheek, and I was intent on inflicting a similar scar on the other cheek, if only the blackguard had not resorted to his pistol. It was only at my meeting with him when he revealed your involvement, that I realised you had not let me down.’
Lord Lyndhurst laughed at the vision of Captain Blackmore with symmetrical scars. ‘Good Lord Penelope, I think you and I will deal very well together. Just think, I could teach you to be the best female fencer in the whole of the Kingdom. Penelope, you must marry me, if only for that!’ He hesitated for a moment. ‘Well there is that, but also you cannot let Nat down either.’
Penelope puckered her brow in bewilderment. ‘Nat? What has Nat to say in the matter?’ she asked curiously.
‘Oh, believe me Penelope, I offered him the job of my estate manager, and he said he would only accept if you do. So you must say yes, or you will be doing Nat and Hannah a great disservice.’
Penelope laughed. ‘Shame on you, Xavier. It would appear that you are not ashamed to resort to deception and emotional blackmail. You put a girl in a very difficult position. How could I possibly disappoint Nat and pass up the offer of fencing lessons. I suppose I will just have to marry you now,’ she added humorously and with a mischievous smile.
Lord Lyndhurst pulled her gently to him and feathered kisses across her brow. ‘You will not regret it Penelope. From now on, your life is going to be so much the richer. I will do my utmost to ensure it.’
Penelope looked up at him and as she did so, he caught his lips on hers. He kissed her with an intensity she could not have imagined, stoking a fire in her veins that had been slowly smouldering these last few weeks. She loved this man and she could no longer fight it. As his kiss deepened, she reached up and ran her fingers through his soft dark hair and along the strong contours of his broad shoulders. Her own shoulder hurt as she did so, but she did not care, finally she had found someone she could trust and who could truly make her happy. Someone she hoped she could make happy in return. She felt that she had come home.
Xavier broke his kiss to push her gently back on the sofa, trailing his lips along the soft, sensuous skin of her neck, and smoothing his hands over the soft curve of her waist and hips, his body demanding more, but the moment was shattered by the small whimper of the baby as Zoe stirred in her basket. Penelope sat up gently pushing him away. ‘No,’ she whispered. ‘The baby is waking up and Leah could return at any moment.’
Xavier regretfully sat up, and straightening his cravat, gave a rueful smile. ‘The sooner we are married the better,’ he said softly. ‘We have wasted enough time.’
*****
Late that afternoon the Croxdale carriage came to collect Penelope. It pulled up at the Swan Inn where Penelope was to meet it. With the exception of Mattie and Bart, who had embarked on yet another sea trip, the whole gang arrived at the Inn to wave her off. Andy, Sam, Ashe, and Daniel hugged her as she said goodbye to each one of them. John, Pat and Lisette were also there. Pat seemed taller than normal and Penelope curiously looked down to examine her shoes. They had a stylish high heel and were made of pink, blue and purple satin, with a paisley pattern, and had enormous bows on the heels. Penelope laughed. ‘Really Pat, no wonder you keep those excise men guessing. You did not buy those locally.’ Pat laughed mischievously. ‘Mattie brought them back from Holland. Ah well, one has to have one’s little pleasures you know.’ She became serious. ‘You will come back to visit, won’t you Penelope?’
‘Off course I will Pat,’ she confirmed. ‘We will have to come to one of your musical evenings. I did enjoy the last one so much.’
Penelope turned to her groom. Nathanial and Hannah were to follow a week later with the barouche and her black stallions, so their farewell was not quite so emotional.
Penelope instructed Nat to keep out of trouble until he could join her again. Her relationship with Nat had changed over these last few weeks and she was pleased that he was to assume duties as trainee estate manager on the Croxdale Estate. To return to life as her groom after all they had been through together would have been difficult.
At last, it was time to say goodbye to Rosie. She hugged her affectionately. ‘Thank you for everything Rosie, and do remember to come and visit us regularly. We are only thirty miles away.’
Rosie wiped a tear from her eye. ‘I do not think so, Miss Penny. You and I live worlds apart, but I will come to the gatehouse to visit Nat and Hannah, and I may just pop my head around the servant’s entrance now and then and ask for you.’
Penelope looked shocked. ‘Indeed, you shall not! You are welcome in my drawing room any time, Rosie, and I beg you not to forget it!’ She looked around at the company. ‘In fact, you are all welcome. I am not that high in the instep that I will forget you all. You shall always remain my friends.’
Lord Lyndhurst stepped forward and took Penelope’s hand. ‘It is time to go,’ he insisted. ‘I do not particularly wish to hang around waiting for Captain Monaghan to turn up.’
He assisted her up into his carriage. It was well sprung and spacious and his crest was emblazoned on the door. It was obviously designed for comfort so that Penelope’s injury should trouble her very little on her thirty-mile journey. Lord Croxdale climbed up behind her and sat on the rich, green, upholstered seat at her side. He took her hand and he gave her a lopsided smile. ‘I have you to myself at last,’ he declared triumphantly. Accepting his hand, she squeezed it and smiled back, and then leaning out of the window, she waved one final goodbye as the coachman moved off, heading for Croxdale and a new life.
Epilogue
They were in the middle of their tenth halcyon summer. Penelope sat with her stitching on the tended lawn in front of the large Elizabethan house on the Croxdale Estate, and her husband sat beside her reading the Newcastle Courant.
The sultry peace of the quiet summer afternoon and the idyllic sound of bird song were shattered by the squeals of two noisy children playing on the spacious lawn. Penelope looked up with pride. Her twins were nearly nine years old now. Rosalind resembled her mother with the same wavy auburn hair and clear green eyes, and although Andrew had the same green eyes, he favoured his father with his dark hair and a determined chin.
‘I know,’ Rosalind squealed in delight. ‘We shall pretend to be smugglers. I will be the leader of Aunt Rosie’s smuggling ring and you can be the wicked Captain Blackmore.’
As Captain Blackmore was hung on Newcastle’s Town Moor in the spring of 1801, Andrew looked at his sister in total disgust. ‘Please! I have no desire to be a thatchgallow,’ he retorted with vehemence.
‘Well, you can be an excise man then,’ she replied, not caring one way or the other.
Andrew picked up the discarded foil he had left lying on the lawn and swiped it vigorously through the air. ‘I would rather be a pirate, thank you very much,’ he replied with conviction, not ready to dance to his sister’s attendance.
Lord Lyndhurst looked up from his newspaper and raised his black brows. ‘How many times do I have to tell you Rosalind, not to take notice of Aunt Rosie’s tall stories?’
Rosalind stared at her father with her wide, expressive green eyes. ‘But Papa, Aunt Rosie swears it is all true.’
Lord Lyndhurst sighed in defeat. He could not argue with that. Despite Rosie’s original reservations, she was a regular visitor at the Croxdale Esta
te, and she was quite the twin’s most favourite person. She came, of course, to visit Nathanial and Hannah in the gate house, but spent many hours with the children regaling them with stories of the old days. Rosie had settled down now and taken a back seat, but her free trading still prospered under the leadership of Andy, and she never came to Croxdale empty handed. She always had a keg for Lord Lyndhurst, some fine Holland lace for Penelope, and toys for each of the children.
Rosalind picked up her own foil and charged at her brother. ‘Take that, and that, and that,’ she cried, repeatedly lunging at him. Andrew stopped short and growled. ‘You took me by surprise. I am not going to play with you if you are going to cheat.’ He called over to his mother. ‘Mama, tell Rosie to stop cheating.’
Penelope set down her stitching and walked over to Rosalind. ‘Rosie,’ she sighed. ‘Fencing requires discipline and concentration. If you wish to be a fine fencer you need to exercise both.’ She took the foil from her hand. ‘You cannot just lunge at your brother. At first, you must salute. Here, let me show you,’ she said, placing her feet at right angles in the correct stance. ‘And then you must bend your knees, just so, to prepare for the advance.’ Penelope proceeded to give Rosalind a quick lesson.
Andrew stood by the side and stuck his tongue out at his sister. ‘You see Rosie. You can practise for one hundred years and you will never be as good as mama.’
‘Maybe not,’ she replied, ‘but I will always be able to thrash you.’ she retorted, thrusting a pretend foil in the air.
Their father smiled secretly to himself and called to the children over. ‘That is enough for today, it is getting late. Run along to the kitchens and ask cook to give you a nice glass of lemonade.’
Lady Winterbourne's Entanglement: A Romantic Regency Adventure Page 21
