by Beverley, Jo
“The nightingale,” Amelia said. “We only have a few here. Lovely, isn’t it?”
“Delightful,” Lucy said, smiling over a nighttime visit to her bedroom.
If she were a braver woman, she’d climb the path to the Crag and invade his bedchamber, but she had no need of foolhardiness. All was settled now and she merely had to be patient to progress in a normal manner to her happy end.
Chapter 34
David heard the nightingale through the open window of his parlor. He was going over plans on his desk, but his mind wandered too often to Lucy in the valley below.
His beloved, his treasure, his goddess, thought she had all the pieces, but he’d neglected to provide one. The threat posed by her father. Perhaps he should have told her; perhaps he would still have to. But he couldn’t help hoping that she would never have to know, that he could foil Potter in some way.
For instance, with luck, Potter wouldn’t ever know she’d left, and she could return home for the wedding without problem. Perhaps when faced with her happiness and resolution, Potter would give up his opposition.
However, Lucy assumed he’d return with her to get her father’s blessing, which would be oil on the fire. Heaven help them both! Better by far to return already married, but she wanted banns and a wedding with friends and family around her, and she deserved it all.
He threw down his quill and went to stare out at the moonless night. A thousand stars, and none with an answer.
Lucy was a resolute woman. Could she convince her father of their love?
Daniel Potter struck David as a man who believed his way was always right. The kind of man who would think the more it seemed she loved, the more she was demented by it. And then he would strive all the harder to prevent the marriage.
David didn’t see the way, and going round and round it wasn’t helping. He forced his mind back to the matter in hand: the run of gin and snuff tomorrow night. Despite Lloyd’s alertness, it could be done as long as the Taurus was elsewhere. Previously the navy and the excise service had kept a distance, because the navy saw itself as superior. Now that Lloyd and the captain of the Taurus were working together everything was more difficult. The two had to be separated.
David had offered the Blackstock Gang a percentage of the profits to set up a dummy run tomorrow night and make sure Lloyd knew. If Lloyd knew, the Taurus would know. Finally, this evening, the Taurus had taken the bait and sailed west. He’d sent men to act as lookouts for miles along the cliffs, to report if she turned back.
It was time to send the message to the Guernsey ship that all was set for tomorrow. He’d delayed because of Lucy’s arrival. Her knowing he was Captain Drake didn’t make things better. She wouldn’t be in danger—she’d be fast asleep at two in the morning, along with all the family at the manor—but it felt wrong. That showed how wrong it would be when they were married and he had to leave their bed to continue doing this.
“Ah, hell,” he muttered, and went to send Aaron out in his lugger to carry the message to the Marianne and set the whole thing in motion.
* * *
Daniel Potter unwound the message his pigeon keeper had brought him. Tiny writing on thin paper, but clear.
Yr dgt passed today en route to CW. FTR soon.
Lucy had somehow traveled to Devon, and there was to be a Freetrade run soon.
How the devil! His first impulse was to go to Lady Caldross’s house to prove that Lucy was safely there, but that could create alarm where there clearly was none now. Thomas Forbes was one of his best men, sent to find ammunition and to report back anything of interest. Forbes had been able to take only two pigeons and keep them concealed, but he’d known this was crucial news.
Wyvern was behind this. He’d appeared to bow to force, but he’d known all along that Lucy was in his pocket, along with her dowry, and would go to him when summoned. He regretted increasing her dowry now, and giving her free control of it when she came of age. He’d been fooled by her apparent good sense, and so had Alice, for she’d been in favor of it. But they both should have remembered how infatuation could scramble a person’s mind.
If they’d obtained a license, Lucy and Wyvern could already be married. If so he’d deal with that later. Now he had to act as if there was time to prevent a wedding, for that was the best hope.
FTR soon. A run soon, was there? Not surprising. Captain Drake had been away and all had been quiet. The smugglers would want action, and action would help him. In the middle of that, he could capture Lucy and bring her safely home.
He looked up at Alice’s smiling face, so like their beloved daughter’s. “She’s addled at the moment, love, but never fear. I’ll keep her safe.”
He tossed the scrap of paper on the fire and left his house to call on his bride-to-be.
She met him at her door with pleased surprise. “Come in, Daniel.”
Once in her simple parlor he said, “I have to go on a short business trip, my dear.”
“So close to the wedding?”
“Because it’s so close to the wedding. A minor business tangle, but if I don’t untangle it now, it could interfere with our honeymoon, and we don’t want that.”
“No, of course not.”
He took her hand. “I know it will be an inconvenience to you, but you have all the wedding arrangements so well in hand that I know I can rely on you.”
She blushed with pleasure. “Of course you can, dear, so be on about your business and Godspeed.”
He kissed her cheek. “Don’t fear I’ll linger overlong.”
He returned to his house, giving thanks that Charlotte was a sensible woman. He packed the essentials himself, took money from his safe, left simple instructions for his clerks and managers, and departed to hire the fastest possible post chaise for Devon.
Chapter 35
Lucy awoke early to an excess of birdsong. She wouldn’t have imagined that there could be an excess of song, but it was as if every bird in England had come to surround the house and compete. She shook her head, considering the fact that if the birds were chorusing the dawn, it could not be much after four in the morning. In Mayfair people would be rolling home to bed.
To her surprise, despite the hectic excitement of the past two days she’d slept well. Perhaps because of it, and from having her problems cleared away.
She sat up, arms around her knees, smiling over memories of yesterday and with pure anticipation of today. She might not manage much time alone with David, but he was to show her around the area, which would soon be her home. They would be together, perhaps all day long.
She slipped happily out of bed, but then winced as parts of her legs complained. Simply from walking up to his house! There was a challenge she’d never expected, but an easy one to defeat. She’d become a Devonshire woman in no time.
She considered her three gowns, wondering which to wear for church. It would have to be the traveling gown again. After church she’d be exploring the area, which meant rough paths, more slopes, and even wild vegetation. Remembering feeling stones through the soles of her shoes, she resolved to have some sturdy boots made as soon as possible.
Perhaps everyone else was accustomed to the birds, for when she left the room, the house seemed quiet. She’d like to go outside, so she went downstairs, where she found the front door unlocked. London houses were always locked at night, and the lower windows generally had grilles over them. Was the countryside truly so much safer?
When she stepped outside, the birds were still singing and the air was astonishingly fresh. She’d always found morning light brighter, but here it sparkled. She wasn’t entirely reconciled to the lack of city conveniences, but she could understand how a more populous place might seem dirty and stale.
Was it safe to walk away from the house? The unlocked door said yes, but Lucy thought about unpredictable smugglers and circled the house to revisit the orchard.
As she passed beneath the honeysuckle arch she set to thinking about how to have an orc
hard and a flower garden up near the Crag. By the time she was startled by a gardener pushing a wheelbarrow, she’d dreamed time away going over past pleasures and anticipating a lifetime of them. The young man bobbed his head and gave her good morning before hurrying on his way with a barrow of what looked and smelled like manure. Not everything in a garden was sweet.
Did his appearance mean the family might be up? She was quite hungry.
She walked back to the house and followed the path round to the front. Before she got there, a back door opened and a young maid called, “Would you like to come this way, miss? It’s quicker to the breakfast parlor.”
Lucy entered a large, aromatic kitchen. An elderly cook smiled. “Good morning, miss! What do you like for your breakfast, then? Sir Nathaniel likes his beef and Mister Henry his ham, but the ladies have bread and eggs. And chocolate.”
“Just bread, thank you. And coffee, if that’s possible.”
“Course it is, dearie. Off you go.”
Chuckling at having clearly been added to the family, Lucy let the young maid direct her to the breakfast parlor. She’d never pined for a large family, but now she saw how lovely it could be.
* * *
David woke to the day with foreboding. There was nothing eerie about that. He wasn’t at ease about the run tonight, but the Horde had been inactive for too long and he knew many muttered that he was too cautious. Even the Taurus sailing by and firing blanks at them hadn’t driven home how much more dangerous the trade was now. He didn’t care what they thought of him, but he didn’t want them taking mad risks again.
Then there was Lucy.
So much was better now she knew the truth about him, but she didn’t know that her father opposed the match and might take strong measures to prevent it. Or that Potter might cut all connection if she defied him.
Devil take it. Had he held that information back for fear that she’d choose her father over him?
She’d be better off if they’d never met, but he couldn’t want that. The thought of life without her was intolerable, but he truly was a bastard for letting control slip and taking away all choice.
He realized something else.
If anything happened to him before they wed and she was with child, she’d be completely ruined. Or more likely forced into a hasty marriage with whoever would take her. No, his Lucy wouldn’t do that. So it would be ruin.
“You really are a bastard,” he muttered at himself as he got out of bed.
Death was rare during a run, but that was because most runs went off smoothly. When one had gone awry, John Clyst had died. And if Lloyd learned of the plan and turned up, he and his men would fire. Anything could happen in the dark. If that damned ship returned, it might put balls in its guns once it was sure it had an illegal target.
License.
But even if he could persuade Lucy to marry that way, it couldn’t happen before tomorrow. They could marry on a Sunday, but only between nine and noon. There was no way to get a license that quickly.
So he must keep as safe as possible.
He couldn’t put command of tonight’s run in anyone else’s hands, so he could only do his best to keep out of any danger. He’d keep to his watching station on the cliff top, apart from the action down on the beach, which would be the target of any attack.
And he had the luxury of spending most of today with Lucy.
He washed and dressed, and then breakfasted with Fred, dealing with the essential business of the earldom. They also discussed the run. He’d not meant to involve Fred, but his weeks away had made that necessary. And now Fred wouldn’t be left out entirely.
“You’re not to get directly involved,” David said. “You’re to keep a monitoring station here, with Ada up the top to watch for distant signals, and with a few lads ready to run messages.”
“You’ll risk them and not me?”
“It’s in their blood and they can run this area in the dark. They do it for fun sometimes”
“I’m learning the skill.”
“You stay here and dispatch messengers if Lloyd is anywhere in the area, or if the Taurus is spotted sailing this way.”
“We’re hoping no one will spot the Marianne coming in, so how do your watchers keep track of the Taurus?”
“Every one of them has young, sharp eyes, plus the Marianne will hoist dark sails and the navy ship will have white. Even starlight will show white sails.” David rose. “I’m off to the manor to go to church with the family.”
Fred smiled. “You’re a lucky man.”
David didn’t smile back. “Pray my luck holds.”
He walked down to the manor, greeted all the way by people bright-eyed at the prospect of some action at last. Profit, yes, but action, too. He felt it in himself. His sensible side lingered on danger and safety, but there was nothing like the time just before a run—except the knife-edged excitement during one.
But then he saw the woman he loved, bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine, smiling a welcome, anticipating their day, and that was finer than all. She was wearing the brown gown and dull bonnet she’d arrived in. He’d seen her in much finer clothing, but she’d never looked so beautiful. From beneath the bonnet, her hair curled loose around her face, a perfect frame for her sparkling eyes and smiling lips. She was a goddess, and he was proud as a peacock about escorting her to church and parading her around his villages, his for all to see.
* * *
Lucy knew she was showing every bit of her love and delight, but there were no secrets between them anymore, especially not that.
They linked arms as they walked with his family and their servants toward the church’s summoning bell. The path took them through the manor’s gardens and then down a footpath between cottage gardens, some better tended than others.
As they entered the mellow churchyard she asked, “How old is the church?”
“Only a bit over a hundred. The old one fell down. Inadequate foundations.”
“I could wish someone had been as careless with Crag Wyvern.”
He smiled. “There is the possibility that the sea will wash away the cliff from under it in time.”
Not in time for us, Lucy thought.
Even though the church was newer than the one she attended in London, the service felt deeply traditional to her. Probably most of the congregation had roots here that went back many centuries, perhaps even to before the conquest. She’d read that there were stone quarries nearby that had been used by the Romans.
After the service, they walked out into the sunshine, and as usual people dallied, chatting. She was introduced to the doctor and his family. He hoped to attract some of the sea-bathing trade to the area. Lucy was all in favor of more business, but she silently wondered how it would blend with smuggling.
Eventually, people went off to their homes. She and David lingered and he showed her around the graves. There was the usual collection of small and large headstones from many centuries.
“Are your family buried here?” she asked. When he nodded, she realized that one day she would rest here, too. It was an odd thought, but not unpleasant.
“The Clysts are scattered around, but this is the Kerslake area.”
A classic plinth had KERSLAKE carved on each side, but it was surrounded by unpretentious stones. Lucy read the names of Kerslakes going back to the fifteen hundreds. The baronetcy came in the late seventeenth century, and the names Nathaniel and Henry seemed to alternate from then on. Many graves held families, but one small headstone recorded only one name.
JOSEPH KERSLAKE, BORN AND DIED, FEBRUARY 1790
SON OF MELCHISADECK CLYST AND ISABELLE KERSLAKE
“I see they didn’t try to hide the irregularity.”
“What point? No one knew then why Mel and Belle didn’t marry, but they were treated as husband and wife. Some people thought her wanton, but she was always faithful to Mel. She made a poor first choice, but had the courage to break free and claim her right to happiness.”
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Lucy studied him. “You admire her.”
“I admire strong women. I think you might understand one another very well.”
“Perhaps, but I would never neglect my children.”
“We’ll never know what she might have done if she hadn’t been able to give us into the manor’s care. I doubt she would have abandoned us to the parish, and if she’d thought of it, Mel would never have allowed it. However, I can’t imagine her a loving mother. I spent time with Mel, but if I encountered her, I might as well have been any other village lad. I’m deeply grateful to have had Aunt Miriam instead.”
“Your Kerslake family is lovely. As you said, the sort of good people who hold communities together.” They strolled along a path around the church, and she decided to share an uneasy thought. No secrets, she remembered.
“I was always happy at home, but now I wonder what it would have been like with brothers and sisters. Better? Perhaps, but I suspect my father would not have been quite so keen to conduct much of his business from home.”
“You’re probably right. I remember times when the four of us were hurtling around up to mischief with Aunt Miriam and Uncle Nathaniel yelling at us to be quiet. Unless the weather was atrocious, we were just shooed outside. We were all happy to explore like wild things, rolling home as the light went, scraped, bruised, muddy, and contentedly tired.”
Lucy thought of the girl with the kite. She would enjoy such a life. “No school for you, either?” she asked.
“Of course. The vicar tutored us all when young; then Henry and I went off to school in Honiton. Amelia and Susan both spent a little time at a girls’ school there, but neither enjoyed it, so they were allowed to return home.”
“But you weren’t.”
“No, and I needed a good education. I’d my way to make. I refused to go to university, however, and learned land management from my uncle and others.”
“Yet you bought a book on drainage.”
“On new systems. There’s always improvement these days, isn’t there?”
