Caroline's ComeUppance

by Tess Quinn

  Sir John continued: “Mr Darcy is a serious sort and displayed disdain for the entire social ‘hunt’, even as he fulfilled his obligations to it in grudging manner. That very fact convinced you that you had good chance to succeed with him. Your access to him through your brother assured you of his company, if not his attentions immediately. And to your delight, he was also a young man and worthy in his own right, having lost his father early in his majority.”

  Sir John smiled at Caroline’s obvious astonishment. “Yes -- I can see you wondering -- I do know him somewhat, or rather we have met on several occasions. He is a fine man, one of the finest of his station; but he is not for you, Caroline, he never was. He is much too forthright and admirable in his attentions to his estate and the people under his care to live a lifestyle you would find amiable. And now that he has married – your brother’s new sister if I am not mistaken – you find yourself starting over to make a match.”

  Caroline had been sitting dumbfounded as Sir John opened her life up before her, but this was too much for her. “If you know so much of me, sir, then perhaps you will know that this story of yours is ended. You mistake me to believe I will thank you for the memories or your construal of my motives. I will hear no more.” Caroline began to rise, but Sir John stalled her with a hand on her arm. She glared at him and said, “Your insistence on degrading me will not win my heart or my hand!”

  “Very well, fair enough. I will depart the subject; I have no desire to humiliate you. But I related this history with a purpose of my own, as it relates as well to who I am. For if we are ever to wed, Caroline, you must know that I will never prevaricate with you. I am a man of many talents, and I use them in service to a cause. I may lie, and do it well, in that pursuit; I may practice artifice to collect information. We are not so different in that, you and I. We use much the same strategies, but towards dissimilar ends. But for a marriage, I would have something different. For that, I want a partner who complements me in every way. I wish – I demand – honesty. If I would ask that of you, I must offer it myself. And to that end, I disclose my scrutiny of you, and the basis of my opinions.”

  “Sir, you claim honesty; yet you tell me outright that you will not reveal details about yourself. How do you reconcile this?”

  “Ha! You have me on point, madam. You see what a good match we can make? But I swear to you that, once having accepted me, those facts will no longer be unknown to you. And I may choose not to answer a particular question, but will never do so with a lie.” Sir John quietly watched for reaction from Caroline before saying, “Now, shall I continue or no?”

  “If you do but go on to assail my character, then I would have you stop. But if you begin your own tale at last, I will give you hearing.” She added, “But only if I finally learn something of you!”

  “As it will be,” said Sir John; and he sat back once more into his chair to begin his confession.

  ~~~~~~

  Sara waited for some time to hear the bell, but a half hour and more passed without her being called to attend her mistress. She decided to take Miss Caroline’s dress to the laundry below stairs for cleaning. She was likely to be held up still for some time. May as well do something useful while she waited.

  While she carefully picked at and rubbed the spots from the soiled dress, Sara reflected on this evening’s surprises. She had never known Miss Caroline to take any actions which would bring scorn upon her from her set, and they could be vicious concerning any deviation of behaviour from the standards they themselves established. And yet here was Miss Caroline, with an apparent double life. Perhaps the lady felt the loss of Mr Darcy’s attentions far more than she had let on, and this display of unlikely behaviour had its start in her rejection by that gentleman?

  For Miss Caroline had mentioned a discussion of ‘business’ with her current caller, but what business could possibly warrant being conducted in secrecy and at this hour of the night? And how did it tie into the evidence of last night’s intrigues so clearly spoken of by the plane tree? No, thought Sara, this could only be some business of the heart. And was I not just thinking yesterday that someone must have captured Miss Caroline’s attentions?

  Sara moved on to consider the gentleman she had encountered tonight. Lord, but he was someone to excite interest, was he not? Though Sara had always had a soft spot for the dark and well formed Mr Darcy, this fair gentleman could give him a run for her affections. Perhaps not as handsome – for Sara dearly loved the refinement of Mr Darcy’s features, and his startling blue eyes, and that rich, fluid voice.

  Ahh, she thought, at least with Mr Darcy marrying Mrs Bingley’s sister, there is still the chance that I might encounter him again on family visits. And she admitted to enormous curiosity about the new Mrs Darcy. Mrs Bingley was ever so beautiful; and to have captured Mr Darcy’s heart, Sara imagined her sister must have similar charms, though all accounts of her were that she differed markedly from Mrs Jane. How Sara wished that Miss Caroline had chosen to accompany Mr and Mrs Bingley to Netherfield, for she surmised that she might find occasion there to see Mrs Darcy. She had somehow managed to never glimpse the lady on the one prior occasion Sara knew her to have stayed at Netherfield, before either marriage had been established.

  But if they had travelled to Hertfordshire, Sara reflected, she never would have come upon tonight’s intrigue; and this thought brought her back around to considering the mystery gentleman in the library. Yes, he was a man to catch your eye! Miss Caroline had called the gentleman “Sir John,” so Allen would think of him as such while he remained in her thoughts.

  Though less refined than Mr Darcy’s and opposite in many respects, his features were arresting. He was a large man who carried it well, very imposing looking. His face, mostly squared in shape but with a chin that descended to a blunted point – a sculptor could not have chiselled it better – sported a long nose, no whiskers (Sara did prefer her men clean shaven) and a finely shaped mouth tending towards being wide. But those assets were near overtaken by his eyes. They were fascinating. Bronze to gold in colour, slightly hooded and intensely focused, they put Sara in mind of nothing so much as a hawk. But how she would not mind being that bird’s prey! A very striking man he was. Miss Caroline could do far worse…

  She reached a particular spot on the dress, and Sara had to give it all her attention, so she left off thinking of the gentleman upstairs for a moment. But as soon as the bark slivers had been carefully extracted from the fine fabric – Sara was proud of having pulled them without also pulling threads noticeably – she resumed her conjectures of Sir John. Wherever did she meet him? Sara wondered. He is obviously a man of means.

  Surely if Miss Caroline had encountered Sir John at one her social engagements, a ball or dinner, she would not have so singularly failed to mention him. It had become a habit for Miss Caroline to prattle on about all the bounders and bores she met at these events as Sara undressed her of a night. It helped the lady to quiet herself after an evening out before retiring; and Sara made herself particularly invisible so that Miss Caroline would not especially notice that her ramblings had an audience.

  The maid could not believe that Miss Caroline would have failed to remember Sir John among the usual set she complained of all the time. That slight rasp in his voice might echo in a lady’s ears for some time. His handsome appearance aside, he had a direct way of appraising you as he looked at you that you would be at pains to forget as well. And the look he had turned on Miss Caroline this evening in the hallway spoke of much, but not of business.

  I do believe he is quite smitten with my lady, she mused; and from her flustered countenance, I would say Miss Caroline is smitten in return, in spite of herself. No bore or bounder, this one! Sara hung the dress on the back of the laundry door for pressing in the morning, and made her way up to her attic room again, thinking, Well, this circumstance bears watching! I do so love a good secret – and I would learn more of this gentleman!

  ~~~~~~

  The gen
tleman in question, now faced at last with talking of himself, felt a strange reticence at the idea. He had lived in the shadows for so long, fiercely guarding his identity for good reason, that secrecy was ingrained in him. Was he risking every thing by revealing himself to Caroline? Had he misjudged her to a point of jeopardizing not only himself, but the work of many months?

  He drew breath and exhaled slowly. Caroline sat quietly, looking at him earnestly, though her half-smile and intent gaze still challenged him to go on. Well, he had made his choice when he took her on his mission last night. He would see it through to the end now.

  “Let me begin by telling you yet another story of yet another woman.” At this, Caroline raised her chin and cocked her head slightly with chagrin. Before she could object, however, he went on. “It is pertinent, I swear to you.” She nodded, but crossed her arms signalling that her patience was limited.

  “There was a man once, a very wealthy man from an old and titled family. He was a hard man, yet he married twice in his life. To all outward appearance he was respectable. His first wife came to him willingly, not knowing his character, and things began well. She gave him a son soon after their marriage, an heir he desperately wanted. And he doted on the boy; but his wife, once having produced the child, ceased to interest him and his neglect devastated her, she being of a sensitive nature.

  The man gave his personal attention to the rearing of his son in his own image, and he succeeded all too well. It was not more than a few years before even the child dismissed its own mother. When he was ten, she died, most say of a broken heart. She was little missed. The boy grew, flourished under his father’s attentions, though little developing any sense of feeling… but helping his father to amass yet an even vaster estate.”

  Sir John noted by her expression that Caroline was becoming drawn in to his narrative; and now that he had begun it, he found it rolled easily from his tongue.

  “When the boy was fourteen, his father became enamoured of a young beauty, the third daughter of a local knight. He arranged a marriage for himself, the young lady being forced by her own father to the match for its obvious connections. Sadly for her, she was a dutiful daughter. She became little more than a maid to the father and son, except when the father’s desires turned his attentions to her.” Sir John noted that Caroline blushed and looked away at this.

  “After two years of miserable existence, the lady produced a daughter, a fine healthy babe by all accounts. Within a week and before it could be christened, it had died. The lady was inconsolable. She made accusations to her father that her husband had smothered the child, so little use had he for a daughter who would only sap his son’s inheritance. Though nothing came of the accusations, the talk of it survived the area for years. Was it true? Only one person could know for certain.”

  Caroline could not contain her interest now. “What happened to her?”

  “The lady’s public acrimony for her husband yielded her an even more miserable existence, made virtually a prisoner in her manor house. She was barred from seeing outsiders, barred even from her father and sisters and they, for their fear of her husband, made themselves a party to her despair with their neglect. Three years later, the lady once more gave birth, this time to a boy. Why this child was allowed to live is uncertain, but most likely, the man could not risk another charge of murder while his daughter’s fate was still bandied about the public. So the child lived. But after only a few days, his mother – battered, bruised and weakened from her unconscionable life and the strain of childbirth – left this world.”

  Sir John stopped at this point to avail himself of brandy, his mouth having gone dry in the telling of this horrid tale. His eyes glazed over for a moment, as if he was seeing some void in his mind. Caroline felt distinctly uncomfortable both for the gentleman and herself, and after a moment, she whispered, “Why did you tell me this story?”

  Sir John was recalled to the present, and he said softly, “The lady was my mother.”

  Chapter Eighteen:

  A Rogue's Life

  S

  ara Allen had just reached her dormer room when the bell rang for her. She hurriedly replaced her apron with a clean one, and bustled to her lady’s room. She found Miss Caroline pacing from window to door, lost in concentration. Sara cleared her throat a few times before Miss Caroline noticed her arrival, then she curtseyed to her lady.

  “Allen, good,” said Miss Caroline. “Come in, girl. I want to change from this gown.”

  The maid went to take Miss Caroline’s nightclothes from the closet, but the lady stopped her. “No, I am not retiring yet. I simply wish to don something less formal, a morning gown.” Sara could not help but glance at her mistress in surprise, and was more surprised when Caroline answered her unspoken question. “The gentleman is still below, Allen. I have left him to consider some things, and wish to change from my evening clothes to something more suitable to comfort. I will rejoin him when we are finished here. When I am dressed, you may go to your own bed. I suspect I will remain in the library through much of the night.”

  This speech filled Sara with wonder on so many accounts. Miss Caroline never explained herself to her maid or to any of the domestics; that she was doing so now was unthinkable to Sara. And the gentleman was still in the house as well. Most unusual. Still, she had best not waste time thinking about it now, for her mistress was already tense and obviously wanting to return to her attendance upon Sir John.

  Sara extracted a simple day dress in pale yellow muslin that buttoned in front and which Miss Caroline would find comfortable. Another surprise when the lady accepted it with no comment – usually when she was in agitated spirits, Caroline found some defect with Sara’s selections. She quickly had Miss Caroline out of her persimmon gown, and then tended her hair, taking it from its upsweep so that it fell softly around her shoulders. She pulled back the sides, securing them with pins, but left the remaining hair to hang loose. That will stir the man’s blood, thought Sara, though I doubt it needs more stirring.

  Miss Caroline, deep in thought, seemed to remain oblivious to her maid’s ministrations. Finally, Sara helped her mistress slip on her day dress and retrieved suitable slippers for her. Immediately, Miss Caroline headed towards the door to depart. Near the opening, however, she remembered herself.

  “Allen!” she called. “…the gentleman in the library will depart before the household rises in the morning.”

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “For all purposes, Allen – he was never here. Do you take my meaning? I am trusting to your discretion.”

  “Yes, Miss. Of course, Miss.” Sara curtseyed her agreement as well, looking down at Miss Caroline’s feet to avoid her gaze, to elude disclosing the small thrill she felt at being party to an intrigue.

  “One more thing before you retire. There is a young man, an associate of Sir J-- … of my… of the gentleman in the library… standing at the street opposite the house. He answers to the name of Joss. Bring him into the kitchen, will you, and let him stoke the fire and sit there to keep warm. This night may prove long to him in his wait for his master. Then you may retire.”

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “And, Allen?” The maid stopped in her progress toward the door yet again, and looked to her mistress, unsure what new admonition might be coming. Caroline continued hesitantly, as if the words did not come easily to her. “Thank you.” Sara felt as embarrassed as her lady at this, and quickly she curtseyed and slipped out of the room past her mistress.

  ~~~~~~

  Well, and are there not surprises around every corner? thought Sara Allen, as she headed to the front door to find Mr Joss. Miss Caroline saying thank you, of all things! She felt a pang of shame at the thought, as she really had no argument to make against her employment by Miss Caroline. But though her lady was not unkind as long as Allen did her considerable bidding, she had seldom spoken any direct word of thanks to staff before. Sara felt both gratified and nonplussed at this new turn, and she determined to
ensure that Miss Caroline’s trust in her was not misplaced, involuntarily as it was given.

  Sara pulled her shawl around her as she stepped out into the night air. The moon was about a quarter, and had that pulsing glow about its outer edge that chilled nights seemed to impart to it. She stood on the steps for a moment, looking out across the road, but saw no one. Leaving the door ajar slightly, she descended the steps and went out to the walk, still unable to espy anyone beyond the street. Hesitantly, she called, “Mr Joss?” No reply. She stood a few seconds more, listening for sounds of life, but could detect none but her own breathing.

  Deciding that the man, if he had been there at all, had by now deserted his employer, Sara turned to go back into the house. She was startled, therefore, to turn into the body of a young man standing just behind her, and she gasped as he reached out to touch her arm.

  “Beggin’ your pardon Miss, I did not mean to startle you. I heard you call my name.”

  Once she had regained her heart to its proper location, Sara asked, “Are you Mr Joss?”

  “Just Joss, Miss, that will do. Do you have a message for me from my master?”

  “Yes. That is, er, no… but from my mistress rather.”

  “Miss Caroline?”

  Sara noted that he knew her mistress by name, and tucked the thought away to consider later. “She says to tell you that your master – Sir John – will be yet a while in converse with her. I am to take you into the kitchen to keep yourself warm, as you could be waiting for some time.”

  “That’s very kind, miss, I am sure.”

  Yes, thought Sara, it is very kind; and then unkindly thought that perhaps the idea of it had come from this man’s master after all. She brushed away the thought, as she led the young man indoors to the kitchen.

  Once established in the kitchen, Sara went to stir up the low-banked fire and add a log. Joss bent to help her and, once the flames had caught hold and the blaze was radiating some warmth into the room, she took a moment to look up at the man standing next to her. And as quickly looked away.