'Indecent, some of them,' one of the older ladies opined. 'I saw one which I was sure had been damped. Why, it was almost transparent. But I suppose you men like that?' she challenged.
Lord Clifford disclaimed any desire to look at dampened dresses, but the lady merely sniffed, looked disbelieving, and went on to complain at the licence accorded young girls now, far different to the behaviour of girls in her generation.
The older ladies present enjoyed enlarging on this topic, and Lord Clifford watched Elizabeth sitting outside the circle, quietly amused. He was paying no attention to the talk, but then saw Elizabeth's expression change, and become almost haunted.
He swiftly brought his attention back and heard Lady Markby demanding to know how her visitor had heard such news.
Heard what?
'Why, from Sir Percy himself. He was playing cards last night, and said it would be the last time for a while, as he was going away this morning, to settle in at the house he has hired, in Kent. Next to your estate at Markby Court, is it not?'
*
'Surely you won't be bothered by him, now he knows how you feel?' Lord Clifford said.
He had, on some excuse, drawn Elizabeth from the room before her distress could be noticed by the gossips within.
They were sitting in the library, and he was holding both her hands, chafing them. She was shivering.
'Elizabeth, my dear, surely his presence at a house near your home does not frighten you?'
She took a deep breath and told him of the brief encounter the previous night.
'I thought he had abandoned the notion of renting Corby Manor. I know he means some mischief, probably against me, but I am more afraid he has extended his dislike of me to the rest of my family. If he hurt Mama, or Henry, I would never forgive him, or myself.'
'I'll speak to him, threaten him. This is more than an angry reaction of a rejected suitor.'
'He's gone back to Kent, from what that woman said. And I fear he would simply laugh at you. What proof do I have of his intentions? No one but myself has heard him utter threats against me. It's not against the law to make a woman an offer of marriage. Not even to repeat it.'
They were silent, trying to find a way of countering Sir Percy's threats, when Dawson came into the room.
'My lord, this letter has just been delivered, by hand. I'm afraid I did not see the messenger.'
'Thank you, Dawson.'
Lord Clifford took the missive, which had been sealed with a clumsy blob of wax, and unfolded it.
He scanned it swiftly, gave a startled exclamation, read it again, and swore fluently.
'Crispin, what is it?' Elizabeth demanded.
He held it out to her.
'This is in Annamarie's hand. She says she has been kidnapped by Sir Percy Royle, and is being taken out of London. She does not know where. But he says she is to remain there, imprisoned, until he sends word again, with details of what sum he wants to release her, and how it is to be sent to him. If I do not wait for the next message, she fears she will be in danger of her life.'
*
Chapter 15
'He'll have taken her to Corby Manor,' Elizabeth said. 'Where else could he keep her? And how did he capture her? Wasn't she with Felix?'
'I'll go at once.'
'But it will be dark in less than an hour, and you do not know the way.'
'I can't leave her in his power until tomorrow!'
Elizabeth had recovered her courage, and she took Lord Clifford's hands in her own.
'Crispin, wrecking your carriage, or foundering a horse in the dark, will not aid Annamarie. He won't harm her yet. He wants money, he always has done, so he will see the necessity of returning her unharmed. Wait until morning, until it is light. I will come with you, to show you the way, and if necessary to give countenance to Annamarie. We'll ride, it will be faster, and I know some short cuts we cannot take in a carriage. He won't hurt her until he hears from you, and there is no indication in his letter of how he means you to reply, where to send a response.'
He looked at her blankly, then nodded.
'My sensible Elizabeth. Of course you are right. But we'll take a couple of grooms too. I'll give orders to start at first light.'
'It isn't so very far, we can be there and back in a day. Can Dawson make our excuses, so that Mama does not fret?'
'Yes, he'll tell them we are making some expedition.'
'One thing, I must borrow some breeches and boots from Henry. They will fit me. I will not ride side saddle all that distance. Annamarie can ride one of my horses from Markby Court to come back, or we can use one of our carriages.'
He smiled at her.
'You are an extremely competent young woman.'
How she wished he would use other words to describe her, than sensible and competent. But that was how she was, she supposed, and this was no time to be different.
'We can take her to Markby Court when we have rescued her. I know Corby Manor well, I can even get into it secretly if need be. I used to play with the children who lived there.'
Lord Clifford left her then to go and see Felix, to try and discover how it had happened that Sir Percy had been able to abduct Annamarie.
'I was too late, the man has left to join his ship to India, and it was sailing this afternoon,' he told Elizabeth when he found her alone in the drawing room just before dinner.
Somehow they managed to eat dinner and show no apprehension. Henry was absent, and soon afterwards Elizabeth pleaded weariness after the ball, and retired to bed. On the way she rifled through Henry's wardrobe and abstracted what she needed. When Meg came to undress her she confided her intentions to the girl, begging her not to tell anyone.
'But if necessary, cover for me if I don't get back in good time.'
'Oh, Miss Elizabeth, it's like one of those novels! How exciting!'
Elizabeth frowned. If this was what Meg thought, and she a sensible, level-headed girl, did Lord Clifford – she still could not easily think of him as Crispin, despite having, in her agitation, used his name – have a point about the influence of the novels on silly chits of girls?
She dismissed the notion. The novels served various purposes, such as entertainment, enjoyment, and at the same time often discussed serious issues in a simple, palatable manner.
She slept fitfully, and was awake long before dawn, when Meg brought her some breakfast and informed her that his lordship was already waiting downstairs.
'Joe, his valet, said he was preparing his pistols,' she reported, her eyes wide with excitement. 'Oh, Miss Elizabeth, I hope you don't get hurt!'
'So do I,' Elizabeth said grimly, clambering into Henry's breeches as she tried to eat some bread and butter and swallow coffee.
Despairing of tying a cravat, she simply wrapped the muslin round her neck and tucked the ends into her shirt. She pinned up her hair, then dragged on her own riding boots, finding Henry's too large for her, and picked up her gloves and her own hat. It would have to do.
Meg led her downstairs, making sure none of the household saw them, and she found his lordship in the hall, and Dawson waiting to hand him his hat and whip.
The horses were outside, two sturdy grooms in attendance. Lord Clifford, with just a smile, threw her into the saddle, and she had barely found the stirrups before they were off, heading for Westminster Bridge and the road to Kent.
The traffic on the road was mostly coming into London. There were drays and gigs, waggons and hand-drawn carts, bringing in food from the market gardens and orchards, to feed the thousands of Londoners. They were able to make good time, and decided to push on with the same horses rather than risk changing them for inferior nags.
'We can rest them at Markby Court,' Elizabeth said. 'Even if we have to remain overnight.'
'That, my dear, could ruin your reputation.'
'Only if people discover it. Sir Percy will not know where we are. We won't talk, neither will Annamarie, and I am sure you can persuade your grooms not to gossip
, on pain of dismissal!'
They spoke little after that, and soon Elizabeth led them away from the main Dover road into a maze of tiny lanes, as well as tracks through woodland and across fields. Four hours after they left London she drew rein in a small hamlet which was, she said, the nearest to Markby Court and Corby Manor.
It was an enchanting place, a huddle of cottages and other buildings round a large triangular village green. To one side was an ancient, squat-towered Norman church with an imposing Queen Anne rectory alongside. To another was a long, low inn, with benches outside, unoccupied today as the weather was cold and there had been flurries of rain during the morning. On the third side were a couple of larger houses, and several cottages. One of the houses, Elizabeth told him, belonged to the Odell sisters, and was where they ran her school. At each corner lanes led away from the village. Elizabeth pointed to the one between the inn and the church.
'That's the way to both the Court and Corby Manor. But first, let us discover what is known of new arrivals. This is the only way to get to Corby Manor without a very long detour, so if Sir Percy came this way someone will have seen him.'
'Shall I ask? Your clothes, you may be embarrassed, ' Lord Clifford said.
Elizabeth grinned.
'I have been seen riding in breeches before,' she told him. 'But do come in with me.'
Rather stiffly she dismounted and led the way into the tap room, where she nodded casually to a few old men seated round a rough-hewn table. The innkeeper, a tall, black-haired and black-browed man, came towards her, grinning.
'Miss Elizabeth! It's good to see you back. Are you to stay at the Court now?'
'Not just yet, Barty. I'm looking for someone who may have just arrived at Corby Manor.'
'Just arrived? Nay, they've been there a week or more now.'
'A week? Who?'
'Family by name of Rutley. Parents and two young lads, about six and seven, I'd guess.'
'Where did they come from? And is there anyone else staying?'
'They did mention coming from somewhere abroad, I can't remember where. Nowhere I've ever heard of. Might have been the West Indies, for they have a pair of native servants, black as coal, they are, and I've heard of that sort.'
'And no guests?'
'I'll ask Billy here.'
The innkeeper spoke loudly to one of the old men, who seemed rather deaf, but when he understood the question, he shook his head.
'None but the family and they servants,' he confirmed. 'I were there this morning, for they'd found summat wrong wi' chimneys, and ye know how they're all in a cluster in middle of house? Aye, well, I 'ad ter test each room, and I'd have seen signs of any guests.'
'Did – did you check the cellars?' Elizabeth asked.
'Cellars? Guests in cellars?' He chortled. 'Nay, lass, nowt but some broken chairs and a cask of Barty's ale.'
'I see. Well, thank you.'
Elizabeth turned a puzzled look towards Lord Clifford, and shrugged, then led the way out of the inn.
'I was wrong. Do you think he hasn't arrived yet?'
'But it appears he is not renting the Manor. Unless these people are his accomplices. But they seem unlikely, if they really do have young children and have just returned from the West Indies. Let us go and talk to them.'
For the first time Elizabeth felt embarrassed by her breeches.
'Let us go to Markby Court first, where we can eat, and I can change into some of my own clothes. Then we can take a carriage and pay a visit in style.'
*
The servants had returned from Brighton some weeks before, and though astonished at Elizabeth's arrival, soon produced ham and cheese and fruit for her and Lord Clifford, and took the grooms to feed them in the kitchen. Afterwards, refreshed, and clothed once more in a gown, Elizabeth drove a gig sedately down the drive, a half mile along a lane, and up the drive to Corby Manor.
Making it appear as much like a friendly neighbour's call as possible, Elizabeth introduced Lord Clifford and explained that her brother and mother were for the moment in London, and she was making a very brief visit to her home, escorted by an old family friend.
'But having heard you were now here, I could not resist calling to welcome you. My mother will call herself of course as soon as she is back at the Court.'
Within ten minutes it was obvious the Rutleys were exactly what Barty had said. They had no secrets, did not know Sir Percy Royle, looked blank when Elizabeth said she had heard he was the new tenant, and told her it was more than ten years since they had last been in England.
'And we arrived just ten days ago,' Mrs Rutley said. 'I had forgot how cold it can be.'
When they left, Lord Clifford said he intended to take a room at the inn, for he would not wish to damage Elizabeth's reputation.
'We have to think again,' he said. 'It's too late and the horses are too weary for us to ride back today.'
'No, we can hire a post chaise. Your grooms can bring back the horses tomorrow. We can reach town this evening, which will be better than having to explain why we spent a night away. And there may have been further developments, another note, giving instructions about the money. But I will pack Henry's clothes in a portmanteau to take back, or he will be for ever complaining about my use of them.'
One of the Court grooms was sent to hire a post chaise, and while they were waiting Elizabeth visited Miss Odell to ask her about the theft of the books.
'There was a strange gig on the green that day, drawn close to the hedge at the front of the house. You know there's a little gap there? It would be easy to take books through the gap into the gig,' the elder Miss Odell explained. 'We've asked about, and no one knows who was in it. It wasn't anyone visiting in the village, or at the inn.'
'And I suppose none of the neighbours saw anyone in the garden, at the bonfire?'
'Our garden's too secluded,' her sister said. 'We've thick hedges all round, as you know. Who could have done such a thing? Spiteful, it was, not only theft.'
'And how much would the sale of the stolen books bring? Why did they not take all of them, if they had a gig for transport?' Elizabeth asked.
'It was spite, as I said. They took the most valuable to sell, couldn't be bothered with the rest. I have the list of what they took somewhere here, Miss Markby. I'll just get it for you.'
'It won't happen again, we're having a man with a big dog patrol the garden whenever we are out, and at night. If we didn't, I'd not sleep quiet in my bed.'
'Let me know what it costs, I'll pay him.'
They were able to set off before it grew dark, and Elizabeth read the list of stolen books, agreeing with the Misses Odell that they were the most valuable.
'So it was someone who knew what they were about. But they would make little profit for a good deal of effort.'
To Elizabeth's relief, back in Berkeley Square, they discovered that the two older ladies had been invited to dinner and a card party with one of Lady Markby's friends. They had departed early, unconcerned at Elizabeth's long absence with Lord Clifford.
'I think Lady Markby was gloating somewhat,' Dawson explained, his eyes twinkling.
Elizabeth blushed. Although her mother had said nothing, she had caught Lady Markby giving her knowing looks occasionally, especially after Lord Clifford had danced with her at a ball, and she was well aware what was in that lady's mind. Failing Sir Percy, perhaps Elizabeth had an even more eligible suitor.
Henry, returning from Brindley Heath earlier, had gone out with friends, and Meg, with Dawson's help, had been able to pretend Annamarie was confined to her room with a sudden cold.
Dawson suggested that when they had refreshed themselves they could eat a belated dinner in the breakfast room, so half an hour later they sat down to a simple meal of soup, spring chicken, boned knuckle of veal with green peas, and a damson tart.
'What do we do now?' Elizabeth asked.
'I can discover where Sir Percy was staying, talk to his friends, and perhaps find a lead to whe
re he might have taken her. Do you know if he had estates elsewhere?'
'I believe he had to sell them, before – before he offered for me.'
'I can ask his friends.'
'It will all take so long,' Elizabeth fretted.
Lord Clifford was thoughtful.
'I'll start this evening, try the places he was known to frequent.'
Elizabeth, weary after her long ride, went upstairs to find Meg had prepared a bath. She sank gratefully into the warm water and tried to relax, but slept little that night. She was worried about what was happening to Annamarie, wondering if his lordship had discovered anything useful, and trying desperately to recall all she had ever known about Sir Percy, and had for the past eight years been trying to forget.
*
Lord Clifford, having been out for most of the night, forced himself to rise early after just a couple of hours in his bed. This was reminiscent of his time in the army, but then, he told himself, his bed had often been the bare ground, and he should be thankful for the mercy of a feather mattress.
Elizabeth was in the breakfast room before him, and wordlessly she poured him coffee. She had shadows under her eyes, and he cursed Sir Percy and Annamarie impartially for giving her this worry. Sir Percy was to blame, but he could scarcely have taken the girl against her will in any public place. She must somehow have allowed herself to be alone with him, in a carriage, or even in his rooms. He vowed that when he did recover her, this time she would be locked up, out of harm's way, unable to play more of her tricks and worry his Elizabeth.
They had almost finished when Dawson entered, carrying a letter.
'The man said it was urgent, my lord.'
Lord Clifford broke the seal and held the letter for Elizabeth to read.
My dear Crispin,
By the time you read this I will be half way down the English Channel, on the way to India with my dear Felix. I hope you didn't find Sir Percy and thrash him, or challenge him to a duel. It was the only way I could think of to stop you searching for me, until the ship had sailed and I would be out of your reach. Can you arrange for my allowance to be sent to Felix, through the East India Company, as soon as possible? He knows I have only a few hundred a year, but he does not care, he says we will become rich in India.
Lord Clifford's Dilemma Page 18
