Sir Ashley's Mettlesome Match

by Mary Nichols

  Pippa knew she would be in for a quizzing as soon as they were on their way, but that was only fair, so as the carriage took them the short ride to Piccadilly, she told William and Eleanor what had had happened in the past. ‘I have come to look on it as a blessing,’ she ended. ‘I had no idea that Lord and Lady Cadogan bore me so much ill will.’

  ‘We heard that an engagement had been broken, but not the name of the young man, nor the reason behind it,’ Eleanor said. ‘You have been ill served.’

  ‘Now I must find Nat without Sir Ashley’s help,’ Pippa went on. ‘Then we must go back to Narbeach and take up our lives again as they were before the Sally Ann arrived.’ She did not tell them about Sir Felix’s blackmail. That was something she would have to deal with on her own. The prospect of marrying him filled her with revulsion.

  ‘Do you know where he is?’ Eleanor asked.

  ‘No.’ She thought of telling them that the Sally Ann was docked in London, but decided against it. They would never let her visit it.

  ‘I would help you try to find him,’ William said. ‘But it is a question of the law. I am part of his Majesty’s government and must stand apart.’

  ‘I know, William, and I thank you for even having me in your home. I will not burden you with my presence any longer than I can help. When I visited my publisher the other day, he told me how to go about making enquiries. I shall ask him for his assistance.’ She said it more to reassure him than because she meant to do it.

  The carriage drew up at Trentham House and any further questions were postponed as they went into the house and repaired to their rooms to rest before dressing for dinner.

  Luckily there had been no guests and it was easy to plead fatigue and retire early soon after the meal finished. Instead of going to bed, she changed into Nat’s clothes and crept from the house by a back door. She was shaking with nerves and wishing she had the cool strength of Sir Ashley at her elbow. It was all very well to don the clothes of a man and pretend independence, but she was only too aware of her vulnerability. She found a chair for hire and was conveyed to the berth where the Sally Ann had been docked. It had already sailed. Was Nat on board?

  She stood looking about her, as if trying to conjure her brother up from the air. It was a cloudy night and the moon appeared only fitfully. She could make nothing out except the looming buildings of the warehouses that lined the shore and the masts of hundreds of ships lying at anchor in the river. She heard scuffling and squeaking close at hand and recognised the sound. There were rats everywhere. She put her hand to her mouth to stop herself shrieking, and took a step or two towards the sound of laughter and singing in a nearby tavern and then changed her mind; she might be safer with the rats. Which way had Ash taken her to find a hackney? She turned to try to find it.

  A man appeared out of the gloom and strode towards her. She took to her heels and ran. He pursued her. She had no idea where she was going and was afraid she was running round in circles. A few moments later a large hand fell on her shoulder and she shuddered to a halt. ‘I had no idea you were so athletic, Miss Kingslake. You can certainly run.’

  She twisted round to see Captain Carstairs smiling down at her. She let out her breath in a huge sigh of relief. ‘What are you doing here? How did you know it was me?’

  ‘Your attire was described to me very accurately, so I had no trouble identifying you. Shall we go? I am sure you do not wish to stay here.’ He kept his hand on her shoulder as he spoke, admitting of no discussion. ‘I have a hackney waiting nearby.’

  ‘Who knew I was here and what I would be wearing?’ she asked. ‘Was it Lord Trentham?’

  ‘Surely he did not know what you intended? I cannot imagine he would have allowed it.’

  ‘No, no one knew.’ She paused. ‘Oh. It was Sir Ashley.’

  ‘Yes, Miss Kingslake. He sent me to intercept you.’

  ‘Supposing I had not been here?’

  He chuckled. ‘Then I would have returned and reported my failure and he would have been obliged to admit he did not know you as well as he thought he did and I would have been the richer by ten guineas.’

  They had left the river and were in one of the noisome streets behind the docks. He stopped beside a hackney, opened the door and ushered her in before ordering the driver to take them to Pall Mall and getting in beside her.

  ‘Pall Mall,’ she echoed, as they began to move.

  ‘Yes, Ash wants to speak to you and as it is dark and you are dressed in male attire, no one will think anything of it.’

  There did not seem to be any answer to that and she fell silent. She knew if she were seen and recognised, her reputation, already shaky, would be gone for ever. But what did it matter? She would soon be back in Narbeach where the gossip of the capital hardly reached the inhabitants’ ears. And she did have a bone to pick with Sir Ashley Saunders.

  The carriage drew up and Alex opened the door, but did not offer his hand; a man would never help another out of a vehicle unless he was drunk. ‘Pretend to be a little foxed,’ he said. Obligingly she staggered and he grabbed hold of her and they rolled unsteadily towards the door and were admitted by Mortimer, who manfully concealed his disapproval as he conducted them upstairs. There was no sign of any other servants.

  Mortimer threw open the door of the room Pippa had been in earlier in the day. ‘Captain Carstairs and a…’ he paused ‘…a young gentleman, Sir Ashley,’ he announced.

  ‘Good,’ Ash said. ‘You may retire, I shall not need you again tonight.’

  ‘But, sir…’

  ‘Go to bed.’

  Reluctantly he left and Pippa advanced into the room, followed by Captain Carstairs. Ash was still lying on his daybed, wearing a dressing gown, his legs covered with a rug. He was pale, but he was smiling. ‘Alex, you owe me ten guineas.’

  The Captain piled ten coins neatly on the table beside the invalid and stepped back. ‘I’ll leave you. Shout when Miss Kingslake is ready to be taken home.’ And he too left.

  ‘He has left us alone,’ Pippa said in consternation.

  ‘So he has.’ He indicated a stool beside the bed. ‘Sit down. I find it uncomfortable craning my neck to look up at you.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘But nothing. If it were not for this troublesome back, I would dust those elegant breeches of yours. You knew I did not want you wandering about town on your own and yet you still went.’

  ‘I am sorry about your back,’ she said, sitting down. It surprised her how close they were, so close she could see could see the lines of pain around his eyes. She resisted the temptation to reach out and stroke his brow and give herself away. He must not know how much she ached for him; it would be too humiliating. ‘Is it very painful?’

  ‘I can bear it, especially when you are here to take my mind off it.’

  ‘I should not be. It is very improper.’

  He laughed and then winced as pain shot through him. ‘You are surely not concerned with what is proper or you would not go about looking like that.’ He eyed her up and down, smiling. ‘Someone less like a young gentleman would be hard to imagine.’

  She felt herself blush. ‘I could not go out alone dressed in a gown, could I?’

  ‘You should not have gone out alone in any guise. You were lucky not to be attacked and robbed. Raped, even.’

  She would not tell him she had been terrified. ‘How did you know I would be there?’

  ‘I am incapacitated, not brainless, and am perfectly capable of adding two and two,’ he said. ‘I reasoned that you would think you had to go on with the investigation without me and, knowing you as I do, it was not difficult to surmise you would begin with the Sally Ann.’

  ‘She has sailed.’

  ‘Has she? Do you know where?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘No matter, Captain Carstairs will find out for us.’

  ‘You have confided all to him?’

  ‘Not quite all,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘That would be ungentlemanly
of me.’

  ‘Oh.’ She was thoughtful and then decided to have it out with him while she had the chance. ‘Do you look upon me as a replacement for Mrs Thornley, Sir Ashley?’

  ‘Good God, no! Whatever gave you that idea?’

  ‘Lord Cadogan.’

  ‘He is a scoundrel and if I were not laid up I would make him eat those words. When I look for a mistress I do not look among the ranks of respectable single ladies. It would be the worst of bad ton. There are plenty of demi-reps, those on the periphery of society from whom to choose, women on the lookout for protectors, usually widows looking for a little dalliance to liven up their lives, or married women tired of their husbands. In no way could you be considered one of them.’ He paused to smile reassuringly. ‘You are perfectly safe. I will not fall on you with my ardour.’

  A wicked imp inside her was not sure whether to be glad or sorry about that. To have him fall on her with his ardour would, she was sure, be a very pleasurable experience. ‘You must think me very ignorant,’ she said.

  ‘On that score I am glad you are,’ he said, suppressing his own wicked imp. ‘I hope I have set your mind at rest.’

  ‘Yes, thank you.’

  ‘Then let us talk about our search for your brother.’

  ‘But we are no further forwards.’

  ‘We are a little. I returned to the Sally Ann myself the evening before last.’

  ‘You did?’ She leaned forwards eagerly. ‘Why didn’t you say?’

  ‘I was waiting until we were alone, but we have not been alone, which is why I decided to have you kidnapped and brought here.’ He smiled. ‘Very wicked of me, I know, but I am glad I did if it has cleared any misunderstanding between us.’

  She ignored that. ‘Tell me what you discovered.’

  ‘I am afraid it is not good news. I was told your brother was indeed on board the Sally Ann and employed by Sir Felix to negotiate for cargoes. He was given money to pay for them—’

  ‘Legitimate cargoes,’ she said. ‘I am sure he would not have anything to do with contraband.’

  ‘Let us hope you are right,’ he said, unwilling to shatter her faith in her errant brother.

  ‘Do you know where he is now?’

  ‘On board the Sally Ann, I imagine. We will perhaps discover the truth when we go back to Norfolk.’

  ‘But you are not fit to travel.’

  ‘Unfortunately no, but if, as I suspect, the Sally Ann has gone to Amsterdam, then it will not return for a week or so and by that time I hope to be on my feet again.’

  ‘Why did you not tell me you were Edward’s cousin?’ she demanded suddenly.

  ‘Was there any reason why I should? Until a few days ago, I knew nothing of what had happened. And I certainly did not expect to become the Cadogan heir.’ He decided not say anything about Ben’s and her aunt’s earlier confidences, which would have been humiliating for her. ‘I would have told you when a suitable moment presented itself, but as things turned out, I had no chance.’ He paused. ‘My footman told me what Lord Cadogan said to you and I am truly sorry that he should have been so venomous. I would not have had it happen for the world.’

  ‘I thought it was all over and done with,’ she said. ‘How could he blame me for his son’s death? I was not the one to break off the engagement. If Edward went abroad, it was because he was ashamed…’

  ‘Did you love him very much?’ he asked softly.

  ‘I thought I did, but I realise I was wrong. It was no more than a youthful infatuation, which would not have lasted. We had so little in common. I was not the wife for him.’

  ‘No, I can see that,’ he said, feeling his spirits rise, even though nothing had been solved. ‘So you are not pining for a lost love?’

  ‘No,’ she said firmly. She might not be pining for Edward, but that did not mean she was not yearning for another lost love, for lost it was. ‘Nor have I any designs on the Cadogan estates. Heaven knows where Lord Cadogan got that idea.’

  ‘I do not know that, either.’

  Their words seemed to confirm the hopelessness of their situation and yet they were bound together with ties neither could break. He reached out and took her hand. She let it rest in his and thus they remained in companionable silence for several minutes.

  ‘It will soon be dawn,’ he murmured at last. ‘You must go back to Trentham House before you are missed. Captain Carstairs will see you safely indoors. If you would be so good as to go onto the landing and call him.’

  She rose and did as she was asked. Alex was lounging in a chair in the hall and bounded up the stairs when she called him. Goodbyes were said and in no time at all she was on her way back to the world of Eleanor and William and the social round and gossip.

  Eleanor would not hear of her returning to Narbeach so soon after the accident, when Pippa suggested it. ‘You may not have been badly hurt,’ she said, ‘but you have sustained several bruises and I cannot believe you have not been considerably shaken by the ordeal. Stay a few more days. Besides,’ she added, ‘how can you think of leaving when Sir Ashley is lying prostrate on account of saving you? It would be hard-hearted to abandon him. We can visit him again and take some sweetmeats.’

  ‘I thought you disapproved of him.’

  ‘Oh, I have quite changed my mind. He is the hero of the hour. And he has broken off his liaison with Mrs Thornley, which is a good thing. I am persuaded he is going to become the very essence of a respectable gentleman, especially as he is now Lord Cadogan’s heir. Mark my words, in a little while he will be looking for a wife and settling down.’

  ‘I expect he will.’

  ‘He likes you, you know. If you were to make a little push, you could attract his attention.’

  ‘I have already attracted his attention, Eleanor, and for all the wrong reasons. If you plan to matchmake, you will fail. I am not in the marriage market, nor do I wish to be.’

  ‘If you are referring to that business with Lord Cadogan’s son and the disgraceful way his lordship spoke to you yesterday, I should put it out of your mind. I doubt Sir Ashley will allow himself to be browbeaten.’

  ‘I am sure he will not, but you are in error if you think he will marry me simply to defy his uncle. He is not that foolish. And nor am I—but you are right, it would be uncivil to leave town while Sir Ashley is so ill.’

  They visited Ash each afternoon during the following week and watched his strength gradually returning. His doctor said his recovery was a miracle, but bade him take care not to walk about too much and bring on a relapse. Pippa did what she could to help him, running errands, fetching and carrying, bringing him books which they discussed in some detail. They were always chaperoned by Eleanor and sometimes other people arrived too and made up a lively party round his daybed. The conversation was light-hearted and impersonal.

  ‘The sawbones has said I am fit to travel,’ he told them on the eighth day. Only Pippa and Eleanor were present. ‘I plan to go to Fairfields to recuperate. I have had enough of London for the moment. I will not be much use as an escort, but it would please me, Miss Kingslake, if you and your maid would consent to travel with me. I am sure you wish to see your aunt and cousin. You can go from there to Narbeach and perhaps you will find your brother there waiting for you.’

  Pippa had only been waiting for him to be back on his feet before leaving, but she was doubtful about the wisdom of travelling with him. It was not so much the impropriety of it, but the realisation that if she were alone in his company for any length of time, she would give herself away. If she were wise, she would decline and make her own way home, but she was not wise where he was concerned; she was weak as water. ‘How will you travel?’ she asked. ‘You cannot possibly go by public coach.’

  ‘No, and neither can you. You are more knocked up than you realise. I have sent for my carriage, we can travel in comfort in that.’ He turned to Eleanor. ‘Lady Trentham, what do you think?’

  Eleanor smiled. Although she knew she ought to disapprove, she f
elt Ash and Pippa were made for each other and if there was any way she could make them realise it, she would take it. ‘I can see no harm in it,’ she said, pretending to consider the matter. ‘After all, Pippa, you are not a giddy miss just out of school and you will have Teresa for a chaperone. And I am sure Sir Ashley can be trusted.’

  And so Pippa agreed to be ready by eight o’clock the following morning.

  That night Ash had another visitor. ‘There is a rough-looking cove downstairs asking for Thomas Smith,’ Mortimer said. ‘I told him there was no one here of that name, but he would not leave.’

  ‘For God’s sake, man, send him up,’ Ash interrupted him. ‘And see we are not disturbed.’

  Mortimer went away grumbling and was soon back with the visitor. Ash stared at him. He was younger than Pippa, but uncannily like her. And he had a mop of curly red hair. No wonder the seaman had thought Pippa looked like him. Far from cowed, he bounced into the room and swept Ash a bow. ‘Am I addressing Mr Thomas Smith?’

  ‘For the purposes of this interview, you are. And you, I conclude, are Mr Nathaniel Kingslake. You do not need to deny it. I am acquainted with your sister.’

  ‘I imagined you were,’ he said. ‘Josh Stone said my brother was looking for me and described the fellow so carefully I knew it had to be Pip. Up to every rig, she is. How did she meet up with you?’

  ‘In Narbeach when I was staying with Sir Felix.’

  ‘So you know that rogue, too. Friend of yours, is he?’

  ‘I am acquainted with the gentleman,’ Ash said, deliberately vague.

  ‘You told my friend you were betrothed to my sister. If that is true, it is bound to put Sir Felix in a temper.’

  ‘I care nothing for Sir Felix’s temper, but I imagine you do.’

  ‘Not at all. I wish you good luck.’

  ‘Where have you been? Pippa has been beside herself with worry.’

  ‘I am sorry for that, but it could not be helped.’ He paused. ‘Josh said Ben had been arrested.’