‘I hope I am not so foolish to disagree with you for the sake of disagreement, sir. In this case I believe that you are right.’ Without waiting for his reply, she spurred her horse ahead to ride alongside Louise.
They were almost at their destination, and in the distance they could see the well-known vantage point which had been chosen as their picnic site. The snowy cloths were already laid upon the ground, with rugs beside them. As they watched, the grooms began to unpack the hampers.
‘No tables or chairs?’ Amy exclaimed. ‘I confess, I feel deprived. All that is offered is food and wine, and none too much of that.’
These facetious remarks were treated with the contempt which they deserved. The grooms withdrew to a respectful distance, leaving the rest of the party to enjoy their meal.
As a picnic it went far towards restoring the status of alfresco dining. Guided by Miss Langrishe, her chef had taken the comfort of the assembled party much to heart. Devilled legs of chicken were surrounded by paper collars to avoid the danger of greasy fingers. Tiny pastry cases held an assortment of delicious fillings. Paper-thin slices of fine York ham were rolled around asparagus spears and stout containers held salads of every kind.
‘May I?’ Rushmore advanced towards Perdita, bearing a bottle of the finest Burgundy.
‘Take care, my lord! On the return journey I have no wish to fall from my horse.’ Perdita smiled at him as she held out her glass.
‘Fall? Not you!’ Rushmore served the rest of the company and then he returned to stretch out on the grass beside her with a sigh of satisfaction.
‘Well, sir, do you still tell me that you have no time for picnics?’ Perdita said in a rallying tone.
‘Allow me to assure you, ma’am, that this is not in the least like a bivouac in the Peninsula.’
‘Tell me about Spain,’ she said suddenly. ‘Was it very dreadful?’
‘It is always hard to lose one’s friends,’ he told her slowly. ‘You will have heard of the famous battles— butchery for the most part…but there were other trials for our Commander. His allies let him down…promised supplies of both materials and men did not arrive…’ Rushmore lapsed into silence. When he spoke again it was with admiration in his voice. ‘We were fortunate in the Duke. He is a consummate diplomat.’
‘Amy would love to hear you say so,’ Perdita told him. ‘He can not have a more fervent admirer.’
‘There are those who would disagree with you,’ he told her with a smile. Then he looked about him. ‘Dear me!’ he said. ‘We are deserted once again. It must be our venture into politics, Miss Wentworth. The subject is inclined to cause the eyes of most young people to glaze. Where are they going, do you suppose?’ His eyes rested briefly on the departing figures in the distance.
‘I think they intend to climb to the top of yonder hill. Do you care to join them, sir?’
‘Not in the least, my dear. I can imagine nothing more comfortable than to be exactly where I am at this particular moment.’
Perdita blushed. He had made his meaning all too clear. She stole a glance at his face and froze. His expression had changed completely.
‘What is it?’ she asked.
When he spoke his words seemed to come with difficulty.
‘Stay where you are!’ he ordered in a low voice. ‘Don’t move a muscle!’
Perdita gazed at him in astonishment. ‘What on earth…?’ she began. Then her eyes followed the direction of his gaze and the words died in her throat. An adder was sliding through the heathland within inches of her foot. There was no mistaking the distinctive pattern on its skin. Sheer terror held her rooted to the spot. Her heart was pounding in her breast and her mouth was dry.
Then Rushmore’s hand closed about his riding crop. He struck just once and killed the snake outright.
‘I…I…’ Perdita swayed. Then she found herself in Rushmore’s arms, clutching his coat and shaking uncontrollably.
‘There!’ he soothed as he stroked her hair. ‘You are quite unharmed, my dear.’
Perdita found that she was babbling. ‘I thought it was going to strike! I was never so frightened in my life. Oh, let us go away from here…there may be more of the creatures in the undergrowth!’ For the moment it had escaped her notice that she was gathered to his lordship’s brawny chest, and in spite of his reassurances he had shown no disposition to release her.
Instead he shook her gently. ‘The snake would not have killed you,’ he observed mildly. ‘You are a healthy young woman and well able to survive a bite. Besides, for all we know, it could have been a grass snake.’
‘It was not, and well you know it, sir. I can recognise an adder when I see one, and they are venomous.’
She heard a chuckle. ‘You are well informed, Perdita. Now where, I wonder, have you seen such a reptile before? Are they to be found at Almack’s?’
‘No!’ she retorted sharply as she began to recover her composure. ‘The only snakes at Almack’s walk about on their own two feet.’ She managed a wavering smile. ‘If you must know it, I have seen an adder at the zoo.’ She shuddered. ‘I had to turn away. The mere sight of the creature reduced me to a jelly. It was so…so silent and so slithering.’
‘It hadn’t any option but to crawl, my dear.’ Rushmore rested his head against her hair. ‘Adders have no legs. Now tell me, how many people do you know who have died of snakebite?’ Purposefully, he kept his tone light, but in truth he was keeping his own emotions on a tight rein.
He hadn’t lied to Perdita. It was unlikely that an adder bite would have killed her, but certainly it would have made her very ill. He dared not think of those few heart-stopping moments when she had been in serious danger. He could only be thankful that she had obeyed his order to keep still. That had taken courage of a high order. If she had screamed and run towards him or fainted upon the spot the reptile, feeling itself threatened, must certainly have struck. His blood ran cold at the thought of it and his arms tightened about her.
Perdita made no attempt to release herself for a moment or two. She was still trembling, and it was a comfort to be held so closely to his lordship’s breast. No harm could come to her within that strong embrace. Then distant voices recalled her to the impropriety of her situation. She looked up to see the rest of the party returning from the summit of the hill, and Amy, in particular, looked dumbfounded to find her sister in Rushmore’s arms once more.
Perdita struggled to free herself, and began to offer a halting explanation when the Earl forestalled her. He gave a brief account of the incident in the most casual of tones, sending the three young men in search of the snake, which he had tossed into a nearby patch of scrub. They could not wait to see it.
‘Oh, Mr Wentworth, pray take care!’ Louise begged faintly. ‘The creature may not be dead.’
‘No doubt about it,’ Thomas cried in triumph. He found a stick and lifted the lifeless snake on to the path. ‘I ain’t seen one so close before. I didn’t know they were so small. Look at the markings! The thing is beautiful in its own way.’
‘You are right!’ Amy had joined him and was regarding the snake with interest. ‘I wonder if there are any more around this place?”
This artless question was enough to bring a low cry from Louise, who had grown pale. Even Perdita glanced about her nervously. It was enough to bring a sharp remark from Rushmore.
‘Thomas, you are frightening the ladies,’ he reproved. With a lifted arm he signalled to the grooms. ‘Let us mount up and be on our way. The men will follow us, but I’ll send Dent ahead to the nearest inn to bespeak a private parlour.’
‘Oh, do we need…?’ Thomas caught his lordship’s eye and lapsed into silence. It had not occurred to him that the female members of the party might wish to attend to their toilettes and to use certain other facilities which only an inn might offer.
Rushmore’s thoughtfulness was not lost upon Perdita. What a spectacle she must present, she thought ruefully. The fashionable shako which matched her dark-green ridi
ng habit was still lying upon the ground. She had removed it before the picnic. Fashionable it might be, but the day was over-warm to be wearing a hat for hours.
Now she regretted removing it. Her hair had become disarranged in the Earl’s embrace, and her clothing was sadly crushed. She looked across at him and saw that he had read her mind.
‘I am in like case,’ he whispered. ‘My lapels have suffered…’
Perdita flushed with mortification as she examined the ruined coat. In her terror she had clung to the Earl with such force that she had almost destroyed the loving efforts of his fashionable tailor.
‘Don’t worry!’ he chuckled. ‘I have another coat, and consider that I lost this one in a good cause.’
‘You are too kind!” she said stiffly. The warmth in his voice was raising eyebrows, and Amy, in particular, was giving her a look that was full of meaning. Perdita ignored it, but when she was in the saddle again she took care to remove herself as far as possible from Rushmore’s side, leaving him to ride with Thomas and Louise.
‘Come on, Dita, you ain’t given your mount his head today!’ Henry and Crispin were ready to offer her a challenge, but she shook her head. ‘Amy will go with you,’ she said.
‘No, I won’t! Off you go!’ Amy waved her cousins on ahead. Then she turned to her sister. ‘Did you arrange that encounter with the snake on purpose?’ she demanded mischievously.
‘Of course not!’ Perdita did not pretend to misunderstand her meaning. ‘I…I did not mean to…er…find myself in his lordship’s arms, but I was frightened. You would have felt the same yourself.’
‘I doubt if I’d have clung to him as if my very life depended on it,’ Amy replied drily. ‘He’d killed the adder by then. There was no further danger… I can only think that you enjoyed it. After all, you must by now be getting accustomed to his embrace.’
‘Now you are being stupid!’ Perdita did not trouble to hide her annoyance, which was all the sharper because it was dangerously close to the truth.
‘Am I? You have no tendre for him, then?’
‘Amy, you know my feelings about the Earl. We are allies for the moment, but only to help Louise. Beyond that we do not have a single thing in common.’
‘I doubt if his lordship would agree with you. Are you blind, Perdita? Did you not see his face when you were in his arms? When we came up to you I thought he must have made you an offer upon the spot!’
‘That proves how little you know about him,’ Perdita said sharply. ‘He thought me a fool to be so frightened, and he laughed about it.’
‘It did not prevent him taking you in his arms…unless, of course, you hurled yourself at him?’
‘I don’t know why I listen to you, Amy. I had forgotten that you are just a silly schoolgirl with a vivid imagination.’ Perdita spurred her mount into a fast trot. Then she allowed him to lengthen his stride until she was galloping fast towards her cousins in the distance.
Amy was about to follow when she realised that Rushmore had come up beside her. His eyes were fixed upon Perdita’s disappearing figure, and he was chuckling.
‘Well, Amy, what have you said to send her off riding like the very Devil?’ he asked.
‘Oh, did you not overhear our conversation, sir? How did you know that she was cross?’
‘Intuition, my dear, and a certain familiarity with the set of her head when she finds herself in a serious disagreement.’
‘You are growing to know my sister well, my lord.’ Amy smiled at him, but she did not answer his question.
‘I hope so, Amy.’ Rushmore gave his companion a steady look, and she could not mistake his meaning.
Greatly daring, she ventured a little further. ‘You think highly of her, sir, I believe.’
A smile touched the corners of his mouth. ‘Is it so obvious? I had thought to have kept my feelings hidden for the time being. It is too soon…and I have no wish to drive Perdita away.’
‘She has not noticed, I assure you.’ Amy grinned at him. ‘Whenever I broach the subject, she flies into alt.’
‘I see. She feels that you are giving rein to your imagination?’
‘That’s it!’ Amy told him candidly. ‘But I see more than she does. No one takes much notice of a schoolgirl.’
‘A formidable schoolgirl, if I may say so, Miss Amy. Have you nothing more to tell me?’
‘Well, yes, I have, my lord. Have you noticed that we are being followed?’
‘The gentleman silhouetted against the skyline? Yes, I spotted him some time ago.’
‘And do you recognise him?’
‘No, but I can make a guess that Mr Verreker has returned to Bath.’
‘Then why does not he come up to us and make himself known to you?’
‘That is a mystery we have yet to solve. Perhaps he fancies himself invisible. He cannot be a military man. He would make a perfect target for a sniper, out in the open and without cover.’
‘Are you tempted?’ she asked slyly.
‘Strongly tempted, you minx! Unfortunately, I am unarmed. Ah, I see that we are coming to the inn. I wonder if the gentleman will join us?’
‘I thought we were to have a private parlour?’
‘That’s true. It need not stop him sending up his name.’
The mysterious stranger did not satisfy their curiosity, but later they saw him in the stable-yard chatting to the ostlers. A glance at Louise told Amy all she needed to know. Her friend went red and white by turns. She seemed about to stop as she passed the man, but he turned aside and walked into the inn without a sign of recognition.
Amy eyed him closely. Then she nudged Perdita. ‘That is Matthew Verreker, I’m sure of it,’ she whispered. ‘If you doubt me, look at Louise.’
Their friend was having difficulty in controlling her emotions. The tears welled up as she followed Matthew with a despairing glance.
Amy seized her hand. ‘That’s Matthew, isn’t it?’ she said without hesitation. ‘Louise, you can’t go on like this. He must speak to your guardian.’
‘Of course…I know it…and he will do so…but this is neither the time nor the place. I know that well enough.’
Perdita made her way to Rushmore’s side. She was having the utmost difficulty in hiding her disgust. ‘When will he come into the open, my lord? To put Louise in this position is the outside of enough.’
‘We shall not have long to wait, I think,’ he told her quietly. ‘Louise is a gentle soul, but even she is beginning to see that matters have gone far enough. She must get in touch with Verreker and insist upon his meeting me.’
‘I shall tell her so without delay.’ Perdita was incensed. It was one thing to offer to help Louise, but another to support her in what appeared to be blind folly.
Whatever was said, it served to stiffen Louise’s resolve. She was quieter than ever as the party returned to Bath.
On the following evening a message was brought up to Rushmore’s apartments at the York House.
‘A gentleman, you say?’ Rushmore paused in the act of tying his stock.
‘Well, sir, I do not know him, but he claims to have business with you.’
Rushmore smiled. Trust a servant to place his unexpected visitor at his true place in society. ‘You had best send him up,’ he said as he put the final touches to the arrangement of his neckcloth. Then he allowed his valet to help him into his coat, dismissing the man with the assurance that he must not wait up. His lordship might be late to retire that evening.
Now he eyed his visitor with interest. At the inn on the previous day a single glance had told him much of what he needed to know. Clearly, Matthew Verreker’s looks were his stock-in-trade. Tall and fair, his features were cast in a classic mode. Dark blue eyes showed to advantage against his tanned skin, as did his perfect teeth, glimpsed when the generous mouth curved into a smile.
He was smiling now, as he held out a hand to Rushmore.
His lordship’s eyesight seemed to be failing. For some reason, he appeared not t
o see the proffered hand.
‘I beg you will sit down, Mr Verreker,’ he said with the utmost courtesy. ‘What may I do for you?’
‘You may grant me my heart’s desire!’ the gentleman cried in ringing tones. ‘My life is in your hands, my lord.’
‘Quite a responsibility!’ the Earl observed mildly. ‘Tell me…upon what does your survival depend?’
Verreker gave him a wounded look. ‘Pray, sir, do not torture me. Louise…Miss Bryant…must have told you of our strong attachment. She promised that she would do so.’
‘She kept her word. And now…?’
Verreker was nonplussed. He had been dreading this interview with Louise’s guardian, but his lordship’s manner was unexpected. He knew of Rushmore’s reputation. He had made it his business to find out, and had expected a stormy scene, and invitation to a duel, or, at the very least, to be refused admittance to the Earl’s presence. On the contrary, this quiet gentleman seemed prepared to be reasonable. True, he had refused an offer to shake hands, but that might be the way of these haughty aristocrats.
Possibly Louise was right in thinking that Rushmore would welcome the opportunity to be rid of all responsibility for her. He’d doubted her, of course. In his experience, no sane person would refuse control of a handsome fortune, especially if its owner was little more than a child. He gave the Earl a solemn look.
‘Now, sir, I am come to beg for your indulgence. Give me leave to pay my addresses to your ward.’
Rushmore leaned back in his chair and regarded Verreker with half-closed eyes. ‘I thought you had already done so.’
There was a hint of menace behind the quiet words and his companion picked it up at once. He hung his head, but when he looked up at last his blue eyes were filled with guileless innocence.
‘That was ill done of me,’ he admitted simply. ‘But if I might explain the circumstances? When I met your ward she was alone, bereft of friends, and visibly distressed. I felt obliged to offer her my help.’
‘Quite the Good Samaritan, in fact! Naturally, you had no idea who she was?’
The Rebellious Debutante Page 14
