Rescued by the Earl's Vows

by Ann Lethbridge

  ‘And if the lady does not want to be helped?’

  He gazed down at her. ‘Lady Tess, it is obvious to me you are in some sort of difficulty when you go sneaking around without your family’s knowledge.’

  ‘I do not go sneaking around.’

  He raised a brow.

  Her face heated. Dash it, she had been a little underhanded. And the last thing she wanted was him going to Phin. While Sandford had promised to keep her confidence, he was a man and they had their own stupid code which did not stretch to keeping their promises to females. He might see it as his duty, his manly honour, to bring the matter to her cousin’s attention when it was nobody’s business what she did with her own property. ‘I believe my cousin intends the item to be included in my marriage settlements. It will be awkward if I do not have it.’

  His face remained impassive, but she sensed a tension in his shoulders that had not been there before. ‘It must be an extremely valuable item then.’

  She sighed. She was going to have to tell him. ‘It is a diamond bracelet.’

  He frowned. ‘Well, if you need to locate someone, the best place to start is where they were seen last.’

  Her jaw dropped. ‘You really will help me?’

  He hesitated and she held her breath. ‘A man should always pay his debts.’ Though he sounded utterly bored, an accusation ran through his words.

  ‘Grey would never intentionally let me down.’

  His lips tightened in disapproval. She tried to ignore it. ‘The last place I saw him was at my father’s estate, Ingram Manor. I left there a few weeks after my father died. The new Earl prefers his own house in Sussex.’ She sighed. She missed the old place. ‘I cannot blame him. The estate is in a sad state of disrepair.’ Her father having gambled away every scrap of income... ‘I thought Grey might have made contact with Freeps. They were friends of a sort.’ The bailiff had been kind to Grey, taken him under his wing during Papa’s frequent absences.

  ‘And this bracelet,’ Sandford went on, ‘is it your personal property? Not part of the estate?’

  She glared at him. ‘Do you think I am some sort of thief?’

  ‘Lady Tess,’ he said gently. ‘I assume nothing. I am merely gathering all the facts.’

  ‘The bracelet was my mother’s and was left to me.’

  ‘Very well. I will visit Kent tomorrow, to see what I can discover about your...friend.’

  His offer seemed too good to be true. Did he have some sort of ulterior motive? And would he impart the information he discovered to her or to Phin? ‘I will meet you there.’

  His jaw dropped.

  She steeled herself for an argument.

  Chapter Five

  What the devil was he doing? He’d met the lady to give her what news he had and then wash his hand of the whole business and here he was offering to help her further out of some sort of misplaced sympathy. Who would not feel sympathy for a woman required to marry the social-climbing Stedman?

  The idea that she would arrange yet another assignation with him however was unacceptable. ‘My dear Lady Tess, I assure you, that will not be necessary.’

  ‘I am not your dear,’ she snapped.

  He recoiled at her waspish tone. Lord knew she wasn’t his dear and never could be. He couldn’t imagine how such an endearment had slipped out. ‘I beg your pardon. Merely a figure of speech, you understand, however the answer remains the same.’

  ‘Without me you are unlikely to garner any information. Country people never talk to strangers.’

  She had something there, but he had no intention of being alone with her again. He found her just too tempting. ‘I have my methods, Lady Tess. I am no neophyte at the business of eliciting information from people. Besides, your cousin is hardly likely to agree to our meeting at so remote a location.’

  She waved a dismissive hand. ‘Oh, I don’t plan to tell him about meeting you. I have quite another reason for travelling to Kent. I need to collect some items left behind.’

  ‘Surely Rowan would send a servant on such an errand.’

  ‘They are personal items. I will bring my maid, so you have no need for concern. We can meet quite by chance.’

  He didn’t like it.

  She lifted her chin. ‘I am going first thing tomorrow morning whether you agree or not.’

  He could go today and spike her guns, but, dammit, she was right, her presence might well make it easier to gather information. As long as she had her maid with her and had her cousin’s permission to be there...and there would be a coachman and a footman, too... ‘Very well, Lady Tess. We will meet in Farningham, which I understand is the nearest village to Ingram Manor. You will offer to show me your home, but we will not be alone for a single moment.’

  ‘Perfect.’ A smile broke out on her face.

  She went from irritated to lovely in a heartbeat and an odd sort of softening sensation happened in his chest. A feeling he couldn’t recall ever having felt before, not even for Hester. She’d always left him feeling worried, yet intrigued, ready for some new adventure.

  This sensation left him with nothing to say, as if his brain had turned to porridge.

  And while he fumbled around for yet another reason she should not go, she waved an airy hand. ‘I will see you tomorrow, Lord Sandford.’ With that, she set off down the path.

  He contemplated hurrying after her, arguing and offering his escort, but to be seen chasing after her would only attract more attention and that he did not want. He meandered slowly towards Horse Guards Parade instead. What on earth would his papa have advised in such a situation? He racked his brain. Unfortunately, not only could he not recall any advice from his father that would fit this particular situation, but thoughts of Lady Tess’s distress, which she had tried to so hard to hide, kept pushing his father into the background.

  There was something about this Grey Hammond that did not ring true. Perhaps Growler could shed a little more light on the chap.

  His thoughts went back to the intensity of her relief when he had offered his help. Her relief and her beautiful smile. Surely he wasn’t falling for her female wiles? He didn’t even like her. Well, it wasn’t that he disliked her, it was simply that he didn’t approve of the things she did.

  But he did feel a sneaking sense of admiration for her.

  Not a good thing at all.

  He picked up his pace, striding swiftly through the streets until he reached his Lincoln’s Inn chambers, where he found Growler reading The Times. Something he did every morning before he started his day.

  ‘Growler, a word,’ Jaimie said, hanging up his hat.

  ‘Yes, me lord.’ He lumbered into Jaimie’s office a few moments later. After a quick glance at Jaimie’s face, he closed the door.

  Jaimie smiled. Growler was one of those few people who could tell with a glance what was required. ‘Sit down.’

  Growler perched his bulk on the edge of the chair where Tess had sat only a few days before.

  ‘Tell me about Greydon Hammond.’

  Growler scratched at his chin with a surprisingly well-manicured though misshapen finger. ‘Grew up as part of the old Earl’s household. A cousin of a cousin. Bit of a rackety lad when he got older according to the landlord. The new Earl threw him out. Told him he could work in the stables and earn his bread.’

  Hmmm, a little harsh to treat a blood relative like that. He wondered what had really caused Rowan to throw out the boy.

  ‘He and Lady Tess?’

  ‘Thick as thieves up to the old lord’s passing. The old man treated him like a son, it was said. He left a few days before she came home from Bath from a visit to a relative. They say she was nigh on prostrate after her father died.’

  ‘He was definitely some sort of cousin, you say?’

  ‘Landlord at the Flying Frog said that was what he had h
eard, but he hasn’t been there long. Bought out the old landlord.’

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘No, me lord. When I tried talking to some of the customers they got proper quiet like.’ He shook his head. ‘Most unfriendly, even after I bought them a pint. Seemed to be hiding something.’

  Damnation, everyone seemed to be hiding something. Including Tess.

  ‘I’m going down there tomorrow. To visit the house.’

  ‘Won’t find much there, except an old deaf caretaker. All the servants were turned off not long after Lady Tess moved into her cousin’s household.’

  ‘I see.’

  The trouble was, so far he saw absolutely nothing.

  * * *

  The village of Farningham was just as Tess remembered. Her life had changed so much over the past year or so, happiness welled inside her chest at the old sights and sounds of the beloved village with its river running through the centre and the houses crowded along its edge. Thank heavens some things never changed. She sniffed and surreptitiously wiped away a tear.

  ‘You might well weep, missy,’ Mims said from her corner. ‘Your pa must be turning over in his grave.’

  Mims, who labelled herself a Maid of Kent, had been her mother’s maid and, if the elderly lady was to be believed, her grandmother’s before that. Old and crotchety and very dear, she could scarce see to thread a needle now, but she was Tess’s last link to this place and to her beloved family.

  ‘If Papa hadn’t gambled...’

  ‘Your pa was never the same after your mother died.’ The woman pressed her wrinkled lips together. They had had this conversation before, but in Tess’s eyes nothing could excuse her father’s behaviour.

  The coach pulled up at the Flying Frog and the footman let down the steps and helped Tess down.

  She looked about her for Sandford. Dratted man was nowhere to be seen. No doubt he’d thought better of his offer. And she was glad of it, too. A night of reflection had her thinking that telling him anything had been a mistake. The excuse to come and collect her bracelet because she needed it for her marriage settlements had been inspired. What need did she have for Lord Sandford when she could do her own questioning, likely with better results?

  ‘Mims, please go in and order lunch for Coachy as well as Rob and yourself. I am going to take a little walk.’

  ‘You’ll be needing to eat, too, my lady,’ Mims said with a stern frown.

  ‘Oh, indeed, yes. Order for me, too. I won’t be long. I need to stretch my legs.’

  ‘Going up to the house, are you? I ought to be a-going with you.’ Mims hobbled a few steps. The poor dear had terrible trouble with her feet.

  ‘No, Mims. I am not in need of a chaperon here. Papa never insisted upon it.’

  Mims winced, but nodded. ‘Your Pa was a sensible man.’ Her hazel eyes twinkled. ‘Up to a point. Off you go then, but be more than an hour and I’ll be sending a searching party.’

  ‘Oh, I shan’t be gone so long, I promise.’

  Mims turned about and hobbled into the inn. Tess began the mile walk to Ingram Manor. As she strode along the road, several people dipped curtsies or lifted their hats, bidding her good day with real pleasure.

  Her heart beat faster in anticipation and worry at the thought of seeing her old home. Might this be the last time she would ever set eyes on it? Certainly Cousin Phin had no use for the place and intended to sell it when the entailment expired. The thought of her home passing out of the family hurt. For all his faults, Papa would have hated the idea.

  A gentleman leaning against the bridge’s parapet straightened and walked towards her. A handsome, tall, rakish-looking gentleman. Lord Sandford! He had kept his word after all. Her heart gave an erratic little hop. Surely she wasn’t that glad to see him? But she was. Her whole self had lit up with pleasure. Nor could she contain her smile as he sauntered towards her in his usual loose-limbed graceful manner.

  ‘Lady Tess.’ He doffed his hat and bowed.

  ‘Lord Sandford, what a surprise.’

  His expression was not in the least pleased. Indeed, it was most disapproving. ‘Where is your maid?’

  Oh, that. What a fusspot he was about the proprieties. ‘She is in the inn, ordering lunch. I thought I would take a stroll. You have no need to worry for my safety. I am well known here.’

  ‘Indeed.’ If anything, his frown seemed to deepen.

  ‘Shall we go up to the house?’ she said before he could start another of his lectures. ‘Grey might have left a message with one of the servants.’

  Sandford shook his head. ‘There is only a caretaker up there, according to Growler.’

  ‘Growler?’

  ‘My associate. You met him at my chambers.’

  ‘Oh, him. What an odd name to be sure. While I can quite see why he might be called that, with that roughened voice of his, I do not believe it can be his real name.’

  ‘It is the name he goes by.’

  ‘Oh, like a nom de plume.’ She frowned. ‘There must be other servants at the house. I know it is closed, but there must be a maid or two. The gardener.’

  ‘Growler said not.’

  Could things have really got so bad? She picked up her pace. If no one was caring for the house...

  They entered the gate beyond the village and walked down the drive between the line of elms. Such pretty trees. But the long grass on the lawn and the weeds growing amid the gravel was not a good sign. And then, there it was. Ingram Manor, a Tudor house with a moat running all the way around the outside of the crenellated walls.

  The formal garden was also full of weeds and the house had a forlorn air of abandonment. She glanced up at Sandford, expecting to see an I-told-you-so expression on his face, but he looked unhappy, too.

  ‘I don’t understand why my cousin would let it go to rack and ruin like this,’ she said sadly.

  ‘It is a shame. It is an extraordinary place.’

  They crossed the drawbridge, which was really just part of the drive, the old mechanism having been done away with more than a hundred years before, and entered the courtyard. The house seemed to fold its arms around her as it always had when she was a child, making her feel safe and protected. The tension in her shoulders fell away and she beamed up at the mullioned windows. Home. It still felt like home.

  Sandford strode to the front door and rapped on it with the head of his cane.

  ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘There is a bell.’ She turned the handle. By way of a series of pulleys that worked the string attached to the handle, it rang a bell in the kitchen.

  A few moments later the sound of shuffling feet grew closer and the door swung back.

  A bent elderly man with wisps of hair clinging to his bald pate peered out at them. ‘There ain’t no one home and, no, you can’t look round the house neither.’

  ‘Excuse me, this is my house.’ She could not keep the indignation from her voice.

  ‘No ’tain’t. Belongs to Lord Rowan and you ain’t him,’ the man said, narrowing his eyes on Sandford.

  ‘This,’ Lord Sandford said loftily, ‘is Lady Tess Ingram. She was born in this house, fellow. And I am Lord Sandford. Stand aside and let her in.’

  Tess wanted to kiss him. If he hadn’t looked quite so haughty at that moment, she might have done so, too.

  The fellow stepped back, if not exactly welcoming them inside, then at least letting them pass.

  ‘What is your name?’ Sandford asked.

  ‘Leggat, my lord. I been here for nigh on a year. Caretaker.’

  ‘Leggat? Husband to Mrs Leggat the housekeeper?’ Tess asked.

  The man peered at her again. ‘Jenny’s my daughter, my lady. When the new Earl said there was no work for her here, she convinced him to hire me to look after the place while she went off to work at the vicarage. Much in demand was my Jenny. No
t that there’s much I can do here except scare off the village children when they come around. And keep the nosey parkers outside. So you’re Lady Tess. Jenny told me about you. Said you’d come back sooner or later. Are you going to buy the old place? Fix it up?’

  She gasped. ‘It is for sale already? What about the entail...?’

  ‘Sale or rent, though there’s been no interest as far as I know. A buyer would have to wait a bit for the entail to end, I suppose.’

  Tess’s head spun. She had known this might happen, but deep in her heart she hoped it would not. And for it to be happening so soon... ‘Ingram Manor has been in our family for more than two hundred years.’

  ‘And you’re the last of them.’

  She sank on to the nearest chair, the hard wooden one used by the porter in the old days.

  ‘There used to be a young gentleman living here, a Mr Hammond, Leggat,’ Sandford said. ‘Did you ever hear tell of him?’

  Leggat scratched an ear, then his nose. ‘I heard my daughter talk of him. A distant relative. Randy young gentleman always after the maids.’

  Tess winced. ‘It was just a phase. Papa said all young men go through it. He never...’ Oh, this was not something she should be speaking of and it was a phase that had not lasted long after Papa took Grey to task over it. The unfortunate part of it being that Tess had seen him in a corner with a maid and had asked Papa what they could possibly have been doing together.

  Sandford had wandered farther along the black-and-white-diamond-patterned tiled floor of the great hall, and stopped to look up at the arching hammer beams holding up the roof.

  ‘Have you or your daughter heard from my cousin, Grey, at all?’ Tess asked Leggat quietly.

  ‘Not a word,’ Leggat said. ‘Jenny was surprised. She’d taken the lad to her heart... Felt sorry for the little bastard.’ He coughed and shuffled his feet. ‘Beggin’ your pardon, my lady,’ he mumbled.

  Sandford had moved on to the fireplace. He gave them a sharp look and strode back, ‘What is wrong?’

  The old fellow shrugged. ‘Servants’ gossip, my lord. Should not have repeated it.’