She opened her eyes and attempted to sit, but found that her arms would not move. Through her blurred vision she could see that her right arm was bound to her body by a leather strap. Panicked, she looked to her left arm. It too was bound, but someone had hold of her left hand and was busy stitching it.
“It is alright, Caro, you are safe,” said Francis. Her brother appeared beside the bed. He bent down and gave a tender kiss to her forehead.
“What happened?” she replied.
“You cut your hand badly out on the road. Something quite sharp, by the depth of the cut.”
She turned to where the unfamiliar voice had spoken, and found herself staring up into a pair of pale grey eyes. They held a kindness which went straight to her heart.
Lord Newhall smiled back at her. “We had to bind your arms while you were unconscious, just in case you came to and struggled while I had the needle deep in your hand.”
“I remember reaching the castle, and your servant opening the door. I’m not sure what happened after that,” she replied.
“You fainted. It was fortunate you did not have to walk too much farther to find help. You could have easily bled to death outside in the dark,” he said.
She looked at her hand, watching as he continued to stitch the skin together. Her stomach turned at the sight. Memories of the coach accident and her fall on the dark road flooded back into her mind. “What about Master Cook, the groomsman—is he alright? He looked to have a very nasty cut on his face,” she said.
“The castle steward is looking after Master Cook. He did indeed take a nasty blow to the face and needed quite a few stitches. His nose is broken and several of his teeth are still out on the roadway, but he will survive. Help arrived just in time, thanks to you,” said Francis.
Caroline lay back in the bed as her mind cleared. She flinched in pain as the needle went back into the soft flesh of her hand. A bottle of laudanum would have been most welcome. “I remember now. The road was deadly with ice and I fell. The lantern broke and I cut my hand on the glass when I tried to get back to my feet.”
What a night. It was not how she had intended to arrive at the house party. With the host seated beside her bed, holding her hand while he tended to her wound, she had missed the opportunity to make the understated arrival which she had intended. No doubt the other guests would be sitting downstairs talking about her. Caroline Saunders had once again stolen the attention of the party.
“Did the other guests arrive unscathed?” she asked.
Lord Newhall reached over and picked up a pair of embroidery scissors. He tied off the silk thread in a knot then cut off the loose end. She noted that he avoided her question but put it down to his concentrating on the task at hand.
“I’m sorry, I am having to use silk rather than catgut as my steward used the last of it on the young lad from the coach. If you keep the wound bandaged and clean, the stitches should hold. I will send someone into Burton-on-Trent hopefully in the morning to secure some more catgut. I can re-stitch your hand if necessary,” he said.
It took a little while longer to bandage her hand. It was only as Lord Newhall began to pack up his small surgeon’s field kit that Caroline was able to think about trying to get some sleep.
A footman brought up a large hot toddy, which she downed with relish. Anything to take the edge off the pain.
“I would offer you laudanum, but you did bang your head rather hard on the floor when you fell. A nip of whisky is enough for your brain to handle, rather than strong opiates,” said Lord Newhall.
After Lord Newhall and Francis left, a maid helped Caroline into a clean nightgown and comfortably back into bed. As the strong whisky worked its magic on her, she drifted off into a deep sleep.
“Would you like to get settled into your rooms and then join me downstairs for a spot of supper?” asked Julian.
Francis and James both nodded.
“Excellent idea. I expect we might have already missed supper with the rest of the guests,” replied James.
“Yes,” said Julian.
When Julian left the room, he immediately went in search of Lady Margaret. She was waiting for him in the main drawing room. As soon as he opened the door, she got to her feet. She looked over his shoulder and, seeing he was alone, gave voice to the question that had been sitting at the forefront of Julian’s mind for the past hour.
“We didn’t invite them, did we?” she whispered.
“No. But my darling mama knows how little Caroline Saunders and I think of one another, so I expect this was another of her sweet little parting gifts. She probably thought it most amusing to send Caroline to the party and not tell us,” he replied.
Lady Margaret picked up her diary and took out the piece of paper that the countess had given her. She ran her finger down the list of names, but none of the recent arrivals were on it.
“At least the Saunders party is a half day early. I still have time to add them to all the lists for the dinners, balls, and games. I suggest we say nothing to them over the issue of invitations. They obviously were invited by your mother, and it would be deeply embarrassing for all concerned if they discovered the truth,” she said.
Julian stood and listened, but he was not paying full attention. The sudden arrival of Caroline Saunders and her kin on his doorstep should, by rights, have put him in a filthy temper. Once more his mother had tried to get the better of him. Yet, he found himself to be oddly calm about the whole situation.
He was genuinely surprised at Caroline’s heroic effort to find help for her travelling party. The Caroline he thought he knew would have remained in the warmth and dry of the travel coach, refusing to step out into the storm. Yet the girl whose hand he had stitched together had bravely ventured alone into the dark and dangerous night. He admired her pluck.
“We will need to find some supper for Francis and James. I gave Caroline a country-sized hot toddy, so I do not expect to see her again until the morning. In the meantime, we shall simply tell them that they have arrived a day early, which is the truth. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, the house will be full of guests and we won’t have to make mention that some of our guests were not actually expected,” he replied.
Lady Margaret nodded, and tucked the guest list back into her diary.
“Caroline Saunders will soon be lost in the crowd, and I doubt you will have much more to do with her after tonight.”
“Exactly.”
Chapter Eighteen
By mid-morning the following day, Julian had begun to worry. The weather had improved somewhat during the night and the road had been cleared of the damaged Strathmore travel coach. Yet no other carriages or coaches had arrived at Newhall Castle.
He was headed back toward the castle proper when Francis Saunders came out from the stables.
He wore a pensive look on his face. “A word, if you wouldn’t mind, Newhall? Something is a little out of sorts. It’s a delicate matter, so I would appreciate a light touch, if you would indulge me?”
“Yes?” replied Julian.
Francis scratched his head, then looked back toward the stables. He was clearly ill at ease. “I spoke to the stable hands this morning and they couldn’t find which stall had been reserved for our horses. I thought to check on them this morning and I pressed your head stableman for the list of where all the horses and carriages were to be housed.”
Julian quietly formulated a polite response that would not have Francis Saunders take offence on behalf of his sister. “Ah yes, we seem to have had a slight mix-up with the invitations. Lady Margaret confessed to me last night that she and my mother had somehow managed to get the guest list out of kilter. A little embarrassing, but no harm done.”
“I see. So, what you are telling me is that we were not expected. Do I have the right of it?” replied Francis.
Julian puffed out his cheeks. If he got his response wrong, the whole week-long party could end before it began. The other guests would surely hear about it. “As I sa
id, my mother and Lady Margaret missed some names off the final list. You and the others are of course part of the house party. I am looking forward to your company over the duration of your stay.”
Francis looked at the ground, managing to find a small stone to kick around. When he finally met Julian’s gaze, he showed no emotion. “Thank you, Newhall, I appreciate your discretion. Let us agree that we say nothing of this to Caroline. Considering how the two of you have behaved toward one another, she was genuinely surprised to receive the invitation from your mother. My sister has been under some strain of late, and we undertook this trip in order to give her a respite. It would not help her in that regard if she was to discover that she was not on your list.”
Julian nodded, relieved that Francis Saunders was an understanding man. For all Caroline’s faults, she did not deserve to be shamed in public. It would not do for her to be leaving the estate as the other guests arrived.
“Good morning. I hope you managed to get some sleep last night.”
Caroline had just reached the bottom of the main castle staircase and was pleased to see Lord Newhall as he stepped in the front door. She had had time in which to consider how she should approach him. A thank you was first on her list, followed by an apology.
She nodded. “Yes, a maid brought up a second large glass of whisky in the early hours and after that, I didn’t know a thing until I woke a little while ago.”
His gaze fell to her heavily bandaged hand.
She held it up. “You did a marvelous job in repairing it. Mind you, it still aches like the world, but the bleeding has stopped.”
“Have you eaten?” he asked.
“I will go and seek some breakfast shortly, but I wanted to find you first. I must thank you for ministering to me last night. I made an awful mess of the tiles in the castle front entrance and then had the audacity to pass out on them. So please, accept my heartfelt gratitude for being such a generous host,” she said. A small smile came to her lips as she saw Lord Newhall look away. It was comforting to see that he too felt ill at ease. These were the first kind words to one another they had ever exchanged.
“It was my pleasure. I hope that when the hand heals you regain full function of it. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that it will not scar. My stitches are, at best, that of a battle surgeon,” he replied.
She sucked in a deep breath and readied herself to make a formal apology for the way she had treated him in the past.
James appeared, and Caroline took a step back. Her apology would have to wait until she could secure another private conversation with Lord Newhall.
“I say, Newhall, your cook is a godsend. I miss hearty country cooking so much. My father is always having to entertain dignitaries at Fulham Palace and so the fare at our table is very rich. With the amount of cream laden food, I eat, I expect to have gout, like my father, before I am forty. It might be called the king’s disease, but bishops are not immune.” He reached out and, taking Caroline gently by the arm, looked down at her heavily bandaged hand. “And how are you, dear cousin? Did you get some sleep? You gave that large hot toddy a swift taking so I hope it brought you rest. Not like the last time you found yourself tucking into the whisky, eh?”
Caroline softly chuckled and turned to Lord Newhall. “James, here, is being a little naughty. When I was ten, I found our uncle Ewan’s whisky barrel in the Strathmore Castle kitchens. I helped myself to a number of glasses. Suffice to say, I was rather ill.”
All these years later, she still felt nauseous at the memory of her mother holding her hair while she knelt in the snow and cast up the contents of her stomach. The resultant hangover was a lesson she did not ever wish to repeat. The previous night had been the first time she had touched whisky since that dreadful day.
“Oh dear, that must have been terrible for such a young girl. I hope everyone else has forgotten about it,” replied Lord Newhall.
She softly laughed. “You clearly don’t know my family. I give his grace a bottle of whisky every Christmas in penance for my crime. He and everyone else enjoy a hearty laugh at my expense when he offers me a glass, and I shudder as I decline.”
Julian stood staring at Caroline, unsure of what to say next. Could it be that the famed Ice Queen actually had a sense of humor? A feather could have knocked him down at the notion.
“I’m sorry, Newhall; we tend to be a tad less formal around family members. For a moment, I forgot we were guests. We do promise to behave when everyone else arrives. Speaking of which, I have not seen any other carriages yet. When are you expecting everyone to be here?” said James.
“Sometime today,” replied Julian.
It was odd no other guests had yet arrived. He consoled himself with the likely explanation that his other guests had stayed overnight at either Leicester or one of the other villages en route. Travelling at night was a dangerous occupation, let alone in a snow storm. Julian had instructed his steward to send riders out to check that no one else had been caught in the storm of the previous night.
“Well I shall go and have a quick word with Francis, and let him know you are up and about, Caroline. He went off earlier to check on the coach driver and Master Cook. I had better call in and give them my best regards as well,” said James.
Caroline and Julian were left alone. The uneasy air settled between them once more.
Caroline cleared her throat. “I feel I owe you an apology.”
For the second time in a matter of minutes, Julian found himself wrong footed by Caroline. First, she had thanked him, now she was offering an apology.
“Lord Newhall, I was rude to you the night we first met. I was angry, but you were trying to be a gentleman and resolve an argument. I was then rude to you a second time at the ball. You were right to treat me the way you did. I apologize for my behavior toward you,” she said.
He knew he should have felt a sense of satisfaction over having managed to secure an apology from Caroline, but instead he felt regret. There was a spark about her which disappeared the instant she became formal with him. That spark had intrigued him.
“And I owe you two apologies. One for your foot, which I deliberately stepped on. And two, for my disgraceful behavior at the Serpentine. I could have and should have saved you from falling. To my utter disgust, I did not. I am deeply ashamed of myself and offer you my unreserved apology,” he replied.
They stood in silence for a time, neither looking at the other. Finally, Julian mustered up the courage to offer a way forward. “If you are agreeable, then let us put our past behind us. I hope you and the others enjoy your stay here at Newhall Castle. We have many activities and entertainments planned; I am sure you will find something that appeals to you.”
He was genuine in his wishes for Caroline to enjoy herself. She would not be someone he would ever consider as a candidate for his future bride, but still there was something about her he found appealing.
She was truly a beauty. Her blond hair verily shone in the morning light. His gaze settled briefly on the bodice of her deep-blue gown. She wore her clothes a little tighter than other women, which he secretly liked. His gaze was afforded an easy and appreciative show of the outline of her ample breasts and slender waist.
He swallowed as he fought the unexpected attraction to the woman he was supposed to thoroughly dislike.
“So, Lord Newhall, we shall attempt to be friends?” she replied.
He smiled. “Yes, but only if you call me, Julian.”
The smile she gave him in return lit up her whole face. Her emerald-green eyes sparkled with warmth and humor. Julian was certain that in that instant his heart missed a beat.
“Very well. In the spirit of friendship, I would also ask that you call me Caroline. Friends are permitted those small indulgences,” she replied.
Julian stood in the front entrance of the castle after Caroline left to follow James and enquire as to the health of the injured servant. That simple act, coupled with her apology, had him wondering what other
surprises she would spring on him over the next week.
The Caroline who had arrived on his doorstep in the middle of a storm was not the same woman who had berated him at a ball a matter of days ago. And her family certainly did not treat her with anything other than familial warmth and concern. Francis and James had both dashed upstairs upon hearing that Caroline had been injured.
He shook his head, refusing the tempting thought that he had figured her all wrong. “Don’t be a fool, Newhall. This is how these women get you to do their bidding. A soft batting of the eyelids, a simple smile, and then they have you,” he muttered.
He would choose his countess from the other ladies present at the house party. Caroline Saunders would not figure in the decision of his future life partner. He would not make the same mistake his father had.
Chapter Nineteen
By mid-afternoon, Julian was seriously worried. The riders from the estate had gone out earlier and returned with news that the road leading back to Midway was empty of all traffic. While the roads were wet and muddy, they were still passable. Yet no other guests had arrived.
A welcome supper had been arranged for the first night. It was set out as an opportunity for the guests to mingle informally after their long journey from London. The castle kitchen had been as busy as a beehive since the early hours, baking small pies and cakes for the expected arrivals.
He puffed out his cheeks. His reluctance over hosting the house party had been replaced by a burning desire for it to be an outstanding success. Sourcing a bride from the guest list was part of his motivation for agreeing to have the party; the other was to establish new friendships.
He lacked real friends among the members of the ton, something he had felt keenly since returning to England. As an only child, without a mother to actively support the development of his social connections, he had grown up with few friends. Most people he knew were merely acquaintances.
The Ice Queen Page 7
