Sir Ashley's Mettlesome Match

by Mary Nichols

‘Then shall we ask her?’ Sir Felix turned to Augusta. ‘Mrs Whitehouse, can she not come down for a short time?’

  Ash looked meaningfully at Augusta, who seemed to be hesitating, unused to going against Sir Felix. ‘I am afraid not,’ she said, understanding him. ‘Doctor Witherspoon said she must have complete rest.’

  Thwarted in their intention of seeing Pippa, the visitors reluctantly took their leave, promising to return as soon as Miss Kingslake was well enough to receive them.

  ‘I do not know how much longer we can hold that man off,’ Augusta said, after they had gone. ‘Did you see anything of Nathaniel last night?’

  ‘Unfortunately, no. I had hoped…’ He stopped, unable to explain why he had put so much faith in Nathaniel Kingslake, faith he feared had been misplaced.

  ‘Oh, I nearly forgot. A letter came for you while you were out.’ She fetched it from behind the clock on the mantel.

  He broke the seal and began to read. He read it twice while she waited, his expression dropping as he did so. ‘Not bad news, I hope?’ she queried.

  ‘Yes, I am afraid it is. My uncle Cadogan has died. I must go to London at once.’

  ‘Oh, dear, my condolences. Of course you must go.’

  ‘I am worried about Pippa if I leave.’

  ‘I shall look after her, Sir Ashley,’ She paused and hurriedly corrected herself. ‘I mean, my lord. She shall not stir from the house without me.’

  ‘Is she really in bed?’

  ‘No, resting in a chair.’

  ‘I must speak to her.’ He bounded up the stairs, knocked on Pippa’s door and entered without waiting for an answer. She was at her desk writing, but put her pen down and turned towards him. ‘Have they gone?’

  ‘Yes, Mrs Whitehouse told them you had been advised by Dr Witherspoon to rest and could not have visitors.’ He dropped to his knees beside her chair and took her hands. ‘Pippa, I have some bad news. Lord Cadogan has died.’

  ‘Died?’ she repeated.

  ‘Yes. He had a seizure. I have had a letter from Mr Davison, the family lawyer. I must go to London at once.’

  She suppressed her dismay. Ash was now Lord Cadogan, further from her reach than ever. She felt as if her whole world was collapsing about her. The last tiny flicker of hope she had had the night before, when he kissed her, died inside her. ‘Of course you must. I am sorry for your loss.’

  ‘I am worried about leaving you. Sir Felix will not give up and there is no sign of your brother. I fear if he meant to land last night, he was put off doing so by the pistol shot and everyone scattering.’

  ‘Yes, I am sure that was the reason.’ She spoke flatly. ‘He will find another way. Please do not worry about us.’ She attempted a smile. ‘After all, we managed before you came. We will manage again.’

  ‘Oh, my brave and beautiful girl, I do not want to leave you here. It will seem as if I am abandoning you. Sir Felix is up to something and I fear for you. Will you consent to stay at Fairfields with your aunt and cousin until I have concluded my business in London? I can take you there on the way.’

  ‘But you are Lord Cadogan now.’

  ‘What difference does that make? Sir Ashley Saunders, Lord Cadogan or just plain Ash, I am still the same man. I did not ask for the elevation, nor do I particularly welcome it, since it has such unhappy memories for you, but I must do my duty and go to London.’

  ‘I understand.’

  ‘So will you come to Fairfields? It would set my mind at rest. We can leave a message for your brother with Mrs Sadler and Joe, so that he knows where to find you, if he should come. But we will tell no one else.’

  She thought about living in Narbeach without him. She thought about Sir Felix and his determination to have her one way or another. She thought about her recalcitrant brother and all the men who had broken the law, for whom she seemed able to do nothing, and found herself agreeing. ‘If my aunt consents.’

  Mrs Whitehouse was overjoyed at the thought and rushed about giving instructions for an early meal and packing and exhortations that no one was to say where they had gone, while Ash saw to his own preparations. They left in the middle of the afternoon.

  The journey was a silent one and they arrived in time for a hastily prepared dinner. As soon as they had eaten it, Ash left again. ‘I will be back as soon as I can,’ he told Pippa. ‘And then we will have a long talk. I have things to tell you, things to explain.’ He took her hand and kissed the back of it and then turned it over and kissed the palm, which sent shivers down her whole body. ‘Cheer up, sweetheart. We shall contrive a happy ending, you’ll see.’

  He left the servants to put the house into mourning and to conjecture about what it might mean to them. Sir Ashley, now Lord Cadogan, had inherited considerable estates, far grander than Fairfields and they wondered if he would keep it going.

  Pippa and Augusta sat and talked well into the night. They relived every single minute of their lives since Ash had come into them and what he meant to them. Pippa was in tears and confessed how she felt about him, which did not surprise her aunt at all. Augusta was equally convinced that Sir Ashley—she found it hard to think of him as his lordship—entertained the same feelings towards Pippa. But Pippa would not be comforted.

  ‘He is a lord, far above my touch even without his connection to Edward,’ she said. That was the cruellest blow of all. Old Lord Cadogan might be dead, but his widow was alive and well and she was a strong-minded woman. Pippa feared she would never see Ash again or if she did it would be under far different circumstances. There would be no more gentle kisses, no more risky adventures, no more hearing his soft voice calling her Pippa. He would be the grand gentleman, even wealthier than he had been, able to take his pick of brides and one would be chosen to fit his new rank.

  ‘If that were so,’ her aunt said. ‘Why did he take the trouble to bring you here?’

  ‘To keep me out of Sir Felix’s clutches because he does not trust him. That is what he told me. He promised to explain when he came back.’

  ‘There you are, then!’ Augusta said triumphantly. ‘All we have to do is wait.’

  To which there was no answer and, being exhausted, both mentally and physically, they went to bed.

  Ash, with mourning ribbons on his coat sleeve and hat, called at Cadogan House in Hanover Square as soon as he arrived in town. There were black ribbons on the knocker and the curtains were closed. He was admitted by a long-faced footman and conducted to his aunt. Dressed from head to foot in black, she seemed tinier than ever. She held out her hand to him and he took it and bowed over it. ‘Aunt Gertrude, I am so sorry. My uncle will be sorely missed.’

  ‘It was so sudden,’ she said. ‘We had no idea there was anything wrong with him. He went to the Lords in the morning for a debate and in the afternoon he was telling me about it and just fell down dead.’ She gulped and dabbed her eyes with a lace handkerchief. ‘I cannot believe he has gone. I am in such a state I cannot think. There is so much to do. You must call on Mr Davison. He is arranging everything.’

  ‘I will do so. Is there anything I can do for you in the mean time?’

  ‘You can make sure the servants are about their work. They will need to provide refreshments for after the funeral. I really cannot bring myself to talk about it.’ She waved him away with her handkerchief.

  He went to talk to the servants, who were creeping about in stockinged feet and talking in whispers, then took himself off to Mr Davison’s chambers. There were no real surprises. Lord Cadogan’s affairs were in order, though his will had been made before the death of his son and he had not altered it. ‘I advised him to make a new will as soon as we heard the bad news,’ the lawyer said. ‘But he said there was plenty of time.’

  ‘Does that make any difference?’

  ‘To your inheritance? No, my lord. There is no dispute you are next in line. The stipulation that his son was not to marry Miss Philippa Kingslake does not relate to you.’

  Ash was curious enough to ask, ‘
What would have happened if Edward had defied him?’

  ‘He would have become Lord Cadogan, nothing could have changed that, but he would have forfeited the Holbeach estate and all its income. It would then have been sold and, after provision for his widow, including the deeds to the Hanover Square house, the remainder would have been distributed piecemeal to all his relatives, however distant.’ He gave a weak smile. ‘Your share would only have been a few thousand.’

  In spite of the solemnity of the occasion, Ash could not help smiling. ‘Since I have every intention of marrying Miss Kingslake myself and the stipulation would undoubtedly have applied to me, if my uncle had made a new will, you had better follow those instructions.’

  ‘But, my lord, you will be forfeiting a fortune and there is no legal necessity for it.’

  ‘No matter. Do it, please. You do not need to say anything to Lady Cadogan until after the funeral.’

  ‘Very well.’ It was said with a reluctant sigh. ‘I will notify all those with a claim.’

  Thus it was that Lord Cadogan’s funeral was attended by aunts, uncles, cousins and cousin’s children, all milling about making wild guesses about the extent of the fortune to be divided up. ‘I don’t know why they are all here,’ Lady Cadogan complained as they sat about drinking tea and gobbling up the refreshments. ‘They never bothered about him when he was alive.’

  She was soon to discover and her fury overcame her mourning. She called Ash an ungrateful cur and worse, but he simply smiled and said he was content to help others who needed the blunt more than he did.

  He left the so-called mourners talking excitedly among themselves and went home to Pall Mall where he dined.

  Later, Ash went to Trentham House for a meeting of the Piccadilly Gentlemen’s Club.

  ‘We did not expect you,’ James told him. ‘Our condolences on your loss and congratulations on your elevation.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘How goes the lovely redhead?’ Alex asked him with a grin. ‘Been into any more scrapes, has she?’

  ‘Yes, the situation in Narbeach is serious. I think I may need help to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.’

  ‘Are you not more concerned about seeing to your new estate?’ Jonathan asked. ‘I had heard Lord Cadogan had not lived at Holbeach for some years and the place is run down.’

  ‘It is to be sold and the proceeds distributed among the family,’ Ash said. ‘I inherited little more than the title.’

  ‘I am sorry for that,’ Harry said. ‘It is always a great shame when estates are broken up.’

  ‘It was my wish,’ Ash said. ‘Let us not talk about that. There are more important matters to discuss.’

  ‘Go on,’ James said quietly. ‘We are listening.’

  So he told them everything from the beginning: his involvement with Pippa, though not his feelings for her; Nat Kingslake’s disappearance; the strange behaviour of Sir Felix and, at the end, Nat’s visit and his accusations against Sir Felix. ‘Unfortunately, he had no proof, though he said he would get it. I begin to wonder if he has perished in the attempt,’ he said. ‘And how else are we to obtain it?’

  ‘Sir Felix Markham is a respected magistrate,’ James said. ‘Are you sure you can believe your informant?’

  ‘I think so. I also know Sir Felix was worried about my presence in Narbeach. Someone told him I belonged to the Piccadilly Gentlemen and he set two men to murder me. I heard them talking about it.’

  ‘That is evidence enough to have him taken up.’

  ‘No, for they are so frightened of him, they refused to give evidence and mine alone will not stand.’

  They were silent for a moment, a silence broken by the arrival of Lord Trentham. ‘Gentlemen, I have a visitor,’ he told them. ‘A young relative. I think you should hear what he has to say.’ He turned and beckoned to someone in the corridor and Nat came into the room.

  He swept them a bow. ‘Gentlemen, your servant.’

  ‘Kingslake!’ Ash exclaimed. ‘Where the devil have you been?’

  ‘Trying to evade Customs and Excise,’ he said with a grin. ‘I could not get ashore at Narbeach and was carried off on the Sally Ann again. We docked in London this morning. I believed you to be in Narbeach and so I decided the next best thing was to speak to Lord Trentham, seeing as he is a relative by marriage.’

  ‘So what have you to tell us?’ James asked.

  ‘What do you know already?’

  ‘I have explained everything to them,’ Ash said.

  ‘About the murders, too?’

  ‘Yes, but are you sure that is not your fancy?’ This from James, who was still reluctant to believe.

  ‘Not my fancy, no. I have proof or I would have if you could persuade a certain Joseph Fletcher to tell what he knows.’

  ‘Fletcher is in custody,’ Ash told him. ‘Sir Felix had him and John Bristow arrested for smuggling. The Customs found contraband on their premises. I am, however, convinced it was done because Sir Felix had employed them to murder me and they had failed to do so.’ He stopped suddenly, remembering the conversation he had overheard. ‘I heard them talking and Bristow asked Fletcher if he had ever killed before, and he said no, but he had seen someone else do it.’

  ‘So he had,’ Nat told him. ‘Sir Felix killed his first wife by bludgeoning her to death with a hammer in a fit of temper and it was made to look as if it had been done by an intruder. He did not know Fletcher had seen him at the time, but later, when Fletcher was taken up for smuggling, he told Sir Felix what he knew and Sir Felix dismissed his case. The second wife simply disappeared. Her body was found two years later when it was impossible to say how she had died. Fletcher knew, though, because Sir Felix fetched him to help dispose of the body.’

  ‘This is incredible,’ James said.

  ‘It is true. Fletcher told me himself when he was maudlin drunk and afterwards denied it. He is afraid of being taken up as an accessory and his wife and children left to starve. You need a way to get him talking. And there is the second Lady Markham’s maid, Jane Patterson. She was sent away to Lincolnshire, but I tracked her down. She told me Sir Felix often beat his wife black and blue and she had been fearful that one day he would go too far and kill her. Her mistress was convinced that was how his first wife had died. And when she disappeared, Jane was sent away at once. Sir Felix was afraid she would talk.’

  ‘Will she talk now?’ Harry asked.

  ‘I believe she can be persuaded as long as she can be sure Sir Felix will not be free to take his revenge—the same for Fletcher, of course.’

  ‘And he wants Pippa for wife number three,’ Ash said. ‘Thank God, she is safe at Fairfields.’

  ‘We must do something about this,’ James said.

  ‘You need to be quick,’ Nat told them. ‘If Sir Felix gets wind of your intentions, Fletcher won’t last long.’

  ‘Right,’ James said. ‘Alex and Harry, go to Narbeach and stay at the local hostelry. Let it be known you are there because you have heard you can purchase an anker or two of brandy, but keep an eye on our man so that he does not disappear or harm our witnesses. Jonathan, you go and charm Miss Patterson into giving evidence and bring her to London. Can you accommodate her until she is needed?’

  ‘Yes, of course. Louise will make her welcome.’

  ‘Will you go with him, Mr Kingslake? She knows you.’

  ‘With pleasure, so long as I know my sister is safe.’

  ‘What about me?’ Ash asked. ‘You do not think you can leave me out, do you?’

  ‘It would be best if you stayed out of it, my friend,’ James said. ‘Sir Felix knows you and he knows you are a member of the Society. If cornered, there is no telling what he is capable of. And are you not busy with Cadogan business?’

  ‘No, that is being dealt with by the lawyer, nothing to do with me. And my aunt is angry with me and forbidden me the house.’

  ‘Then I suggest you go to the Thetford and warn the judiciary to expect Mr Fletcher at the Assi
zes and to handle him carefully until he is needed to turn King’s evidence.’ He smiled, knowing Ash’s impatience. ‘Then go to Fairfields and wait. I am sure you can find a way to pass the time until you hear that you are needed.’

  ‘I think I will warn the Lord Chief Justice,’ William said. ‘This is going to cause quite a stir.’

  The meeting broke up and the men went to make their preparations. Ash dashed back to Pall Mall and instructed Mortimer to pack again. ‘We are going back to Fairfields,’ he said.

  ‘Tonight, my lord?’

  ‘Yes. Tonight. We can cover a few miles before it becomes too dark to see, then rack up somewhere and go on by way of Thetford in the morning.’

  Mortimer went off grumbling that he never knew what his master was going to do next and it was about time he stopped racketing around and behaved like the lord he was. Ash was in far too good a mood to scold him and in an hour they were on their way.

  Pippa loved being at Fairfields. The house was comfortable and the servants anxious to please. She and Augusta took walks in the countryside and talked to the villagers from whom they learned that everyone respected Sir Ashley and were pleased for his good fortune, but expressed the hope that he would not abandon Fairfields for Holbeach Hall. Sometimes they took sketching pads out into the gardens to draw some of the unusual plants growing there. Sometimes they sat on the terrace reading or sewing. It was an idyll that Pippa knew could not last.

  It was shattered in the worst way possible about a week later when Pippa was walking along the lane that led to the village, carrying a basket of eggs which the housekeeper had given her to take to the rectory. The dreadful early summer seemed to be behind them at last and the day was warm. She was wearing a gingham round gown, with three-quarter sleeves and a light gauze scarf about her shoulders. She wore no hat, but carried a parasol to shield her face from the sun. The lovely weather lifted her spirits, though her worry about Nat and her disappointment over Ash would not go away.

  She heard a carriage behind her and stepped to one side to allow it to pass. Instead of passing, it stopped. The door opened and Sir Felix jumped down in the road beside her. ‘My dear, you should not be walking in the sun,’ he said, taking her arm. ‘You will be overcome with the heat. Allow me to take you back in my carriage.’