The Devil You Know

by Sophia Holloway

  This marked the conclusion of the evening, and the earl, tripping only over the last stair up to his bedchamber, had decided to inform his lady how he had sprung to her defence. However, when he went to the connecting door in the little dressing room between their chambers he had found it locked. This had perplexed him, since he had not locked it. It then annoyed him, because he realised the key was missing and that his bride was denying him access to her person. He thumped upon the door, but that made his head spin, and so, in an aggrieved frame of mind, he had returned to his room, slumped upon the bed, and scrabbled to ring for his valet to get him to bed.

  He sighed, though it was half a groan, and reached for the bell pull. He would have things to say to his countess once he had shaved, and felt more human again.

  Whicham entered softly.

  ‘Good morning, my lord.’

  ‘Possibly. Is it still morning, Whicham?’

  ‘Just, my lord.’

  ‘Send for some coffee, will you, please.’

  ‘I took the liberty of doing so as soon as you rang my lord, since you had a… late night.’

  ‘I was damnably jug-bitten. Thank you for your services at whatever time it was. Did I drag you from your bed?’

  ‘I was waiting up, my lord, but most comfortably. Now, will you be riding after taking refreshment?’

  ‘Yes, no… Where is her ladyship?’

  ‘She has herself gone to the stables I believe, my lord, to speak with Coates.’

  ‘Has she indeed. Then I will definitely be riding, but other than the coffee I will not bother with food.’ He rubbed a palm across his stubbled chin. ‘A wash and shave will make me feel more the thing.’

  ‘Certainly, my lord.’

  *

  The stables at Melling Hall were not, decided Kitty, in any need of refurbishment. From natural inclination she would have investigated them earlier, but she had been so busy with the house, and her lord had spent as much time as possible with his horses just to get away from her. She had judged that today she could safely visit before noon without fear of him turning up. It was clear where Lord Ledbury lavished his money. Not only were the buildings extensive and well kept, there was also a large staff. Jem Coates, the earl’s head groom, was alerted by a stable boy that his new mistress was in the yard, and emerged from a stall, wiping his hands down the side of his breeches.

  ‘Good morning to you, my lady.’

  ‘Good morning. Coates, is it not?’

  ‘Yes, my lady.’

  She smiled.

  ‘I am come to see what stabling is available for my horses. I have sent into Huntingdonshire for them, two hunters, and my old hack. Unless every stall is full, it looks as if there will be no trouble in accommodating them.’

  ‘We have his lordship’s hunters, and a hack, and those that my lords Inglesham and Chertsey, and Sir Jasper Cowleigh have brought with them, and then there are the carriage horses. The yard is pretty full, ma’am, but another three, yes, there is room for those.’

  ‘My own groom will be joining this establishment. I take it there is also room for him too?’

  ‘Yes, yes. Though that will mean nearly a full complement in the yard.’

  ‘Would you be so kind as to show me round, Coates. I have been casting an eye over the house to see what needs repair but it is clear that nothing will be needed here.’

  ‘Oh no, my lady,’ declared Coates, with pride. ‘His lordship never stints on anything to do with his horses either here or those he has in training for the races. You’ll never find anything of his that is short in wind or forever throwing out a splint. Prime ’uns, them’s his lordship’s cattle, to ride or drive.’

  ‘I am glad to hear it. I do not think my mounts will disgrace you either.’

  Coates’ pride in his master’s horseflesh was well founded, decided Kitty. Intelligent heads looked out into the yard from several loose boxes which housed the most illustrious of his animals. She asked to see one brought out. A big bay stallion was led out by a diminutive lad, who whispered blandishments, and soothed him.

  ‘This is Volcanic, my lady. Best be careful with him, for he is none too friendly with strangers.’

  ‘Ah, but this stranger knows the way to his heart, don’t I, you handsome fellow?’ Kitty reached into the pocket of her aged pelisse and withdrew an apple, which she broke into halves with an expert twist which drew an admiring glance from the stable boy. Breaking it once more, she proffered her offering to the horse, who was watching her with interest. Accepting the apple as suitable sacrifice to his magnificence, he proceeded to nuzzle her pocket for further largesse. She laughed.

  ‘How typical of the male.’

  *

  Lord Ledbury stepped into the stable yard to hear the sound of female laughter, and to the vision of his wife on apparently excellent terms with his most mettlesome beast. He had never heard her laugh, nor seen her smiling and at ease. She was wearing a slightly faded olive pelisse, a lock of hair had escaped from the confines of her bonnet, but she had not previously looked so alive as at this moment. He frowned in amazement, but Coates, seeing his employer’s knit brow, assumed it indicated displeasure.

  ‘My lord. I would not let her ladyship be at risk. Looks like he,’ and he indicated the stallion, ‘has taken quite a shine to his new mistress.’

  Kitty turned, and the laugh died. She did not apologise for her action, however.

  ‘He is a fine animal, my lord. Surely you ought to breed.’

  ‘The thought has occurred to me,’ he murmured, his eyes still on his wife. After a moment she reddened, and he looked down, remembering their first night and its disappointment.

  ‘I think Volcanic could stand at stud, and if we purchased a handful of high quality mares of our own, to show off what he can sire, I could see him becoming very popular. There may be a good enough return to fund much of your stable.’

  ‘We?’

  Glad that at least he was no longer looking at her in that way which made her feel instantly breathless, she raised her chin.

  ‘Well, it is of course your money, my lord, but courtesy of our marriage. I can even provide a mare myself. Artemis came out of Ireland, and I have hunted with her four seasons. I came to arrange for her stabling, since she and my other two mounts will arrive within a day or so. I was hoping to join you and the…’ she paused, recalling the embarrassment of the previous evening, ‘…the gentlemen, when you go out on Saturday. Cassius will have been rested enough by then.’

  ‘I see. You seem to have it all planned out, my lady.’ The earl smiled, half in earnest, but with a guarded look in his eyes. ‘Have you decided upon alterations to my stables as you have to the house?’

  ‘Of course not. These are in perfect condition, unlike the quarters in which you expect your guests to sleep. Perhaps you secretly prefer horses to people, sir?’

  ‘Oh, I make no secret of that, do I Coates?’

  Coates chuckled dutifully.

  ‘Will you be riding today, my lord?’ The groom had taken in his garb.

  ‘I had intended to do so, Coates, but…’ The earl turned to his wife. ‘How quickly could you change into your habit?’

  ‘I would need twenty minutes to get back to the Hall, change and return, but as I said, my horses…’

  ‘What about Calico, my lord?’ offered Coates.

  ‘I was thinking that too.’

  ‘But, my lord, we have guests. For us both to disappear would be most irregular.’ Kitty was flustered.

  ‘They do not need nannying. Besides, most will keep to their rooms another hour or so at the least.’

  ‘Well, one has not, my lord. Look.’

  The two men turned to see a figure coming towards them. It was Lord Duddon. He made his bow to Kitty, and coloured as he addressed his host.

  ‘Came to seek you out, Ledbury. Last night, unforgivable. I cannot tell you how put out I was. I never knew Curdworth ever come down to dinner befuddled. I can only assume he had been
drinking to alleviate the discomfort of this deafness in his ear. Not nice, earache. Had it myself I recall, as a lad. Nurse always recommended a roasted onion but… where was I? Oh yes. Well, his behaviour was the outside of enough, and I do not blame you in the slightest, my dear fellow, for threatening to draw his cork. However, best thing I can do is take him off. My fault he came anyway. I just thought another chap to take your mind off…’ Duddon’s voice trailed to nothing, and he gulped several times.

  ‘To take my mind off the appalling form of my racehorses at the end of last season? Oh, I assure you that is all forgotten months ago. Such things happen in racing,’ the earl lied smoothly.

  Kitty assumed he did so to spare Duddon.

  ‘Er, yes. Exactly so.’

  ‘My lord, your contrition does you credit, but you could not have known how things would be.’ Kitty offered him her hand. ‘If you care to stay…’ she cast a sidelong look at Ledbury, ‘I am sure I could remove to the dower house, or keep to the north wing whilst you gentlemen, um, carry on as normal. My presence is the constriction and real embarrassment.’

  ‘No you can’t, or rather, will not.’ Ledbury interjected, before Duddon could reply. He looked at the viscount, and his voice lost the bark. ‘Much obliged to you, Duddon. Curdworth needs to see a physician, and his remaining here after… take him away, my dear fellow, and I will be most grateful.’

  ‘Consider it done. We will be away this afternoon. Not sure Curdworth will be up and about until then. I will make sure my horses are ready to be put to a little after two.’ Lord Duddon made a much more confident bow, and turned to call for his man.

  ‘You will not run away and hide, madam,’ murmured Ledbury in Kitty’s ear, ‘nor will you lock me out and deny me my rights.’ He took her arm and guided her into an empty stall. He stood very close in the gloomy light.

  ‘Your rights?’ She gave a low, derisive laugh. ‘Ah yes, you have rights, but as your wife so do I. I should at least have the right not to be grossly insulted in my own home, and this is now the only home I have. I should also have the right not to be… molested… by a man smelling of brandy and too “befuddled”, as Duddon put it, to know what he is doing. I heard you ranting at the door. It woke me.’

  ‘Of course I knew what I was doing, and it was intended to do so.’

  ‘And it proves I was right to take the key. Had you retained any ability to think, you would have realised that you had but to leave your chamber, stagger some fifteen feet to the right along the corridor and there is the main door to my room. Either you did not think, or you were incapable of getting that far, sir. Had you reached my bed…’ She shuddered.

  He was angry, mostly because he saw the truth in what she said and disliked it, but the shudder of revulsion was too much. He took her by the shoulders, his long fingers gripping uncomfortably tight.

  ‘You are my wife. You will not hold me at arm’s length even if you cannot bear the thought of me near you.’

  ‘It would not have been you, my lord, but some insensate, alcohol-inspired animal,’ she replied, her voice choking. ‘If it is only in such a state that you can forget how much you despise me, then I suppose I must do my duty, and submit to the insult, for the sake of your line, but you cannot, cannot believe I should welcome it.’ He felt the ‘fight’ go out of her. She sagged a little in his grasp.

  He did not feel victorious. He felt ashamed, and Inglesham’s reading of her situation came back to him. He had been a stranger to her on their wedding night and was as much a stranger now, worse, a monster. He had not even considered how he had treated her since; he had just done as he wished to pretend she was not part of his life. Well, he was a fool, because, like it or not, she was. His hold upon her changed, subtly, from restraint to support.

  ‘Kitty,’ he whispered. ‘Give me back the key. I will have another made. Promise me you will use it only if you know I will not be at all sober upon retiring, and I give you the right to lock it. We can deal better together than this, can’t we? It has not been an auspicious start, but… you know, it is not at all the thing to knock down one’s guests, but I came damnably close last night, and would have done so if Curdworth had not become indisposed at that moment. I would not have you insulted, by him, nor by me either.’

  In the half-darkness he lifted her chin, and placed a single kiss upon her lips. There was no love in it, nor yet real affection. It was a kiss of peace, and to him the sealing of a promise to try harder.

  ‘Will you ride with me?’

  ‘I am truly sorry, my lord. I am too discomposed. I could not ride just now, for I would unsettle any mount.’

  ‘Then I will walk you back to the house. But we have an assignation for tomorrow morning, and I will hold you to it.’

  ‘If there is a ladies’ saddle to hand, my lord, that fits.’

  ‘Ah. We must have Coates find out. There used to be…’ He halted. There had been side-saddles when he was a small boy, but after his mother had her accident, perhaps they had been got rid of, not just hidden in the depths of the tack room. ‘Coates will send up to us with news of what he finds.’

  6

  Kitty took time changing before luncheon. Her head was in a whirl, and even her insides felt disordered. She had felt more married in the five minutes it had taken to stroll from stable to house, than in the ten days since she had signed the marriage register. He had spoken with her, genuinely, and if the first question was posed a little stiffly, thereafter it had been quite natural, and she had told him about her horses and they had even laughed together. When they had parted at the bottom of the staircase, he had smiled at her, a simple smile that said he had enjoyed their conversation, and she had felt a huge weight lifting from her.

  She looked at her image in the mirror, as Wootton fussed over tidying her hair. There was nothing that would fire a man with passion, no glossy raven locks, no porcelain complexion over faultless bone structure. Her nose was just a straight nose, her mouth just a mouth, and a little wide, rather than like some ‘rosebud’, which was an analogy she had never understood. Her beauty would never attract him, but she wondered, for the first time, if they might find an affection based upon friendship. It was very appealing, but a voice in her head told her that she had also taken further fatal steps down the slippery slope to handing him her heart to crush.

  *

  For his own part, Lord Ledbury did not analyse. He had said that he would try harder, and so had made an effort to bring her out. It was not what he was used to with women, since most of those whom he had known well were much inclined to talk about themselves all the time. Inviting his wife to talk about herself would have been met with silence, but he had gleaned a surprising amount about her from her conversation about her horses. When animated, her voice was warm, and whilst he had seen her eyes flash with anger, he had not seen them sparkle before. Inglesham had described her as ‘no antidote’ and he was right. She was not ugly, it was just that she was the sort of woman one could easily forget, and so he had availed himself of that opportunity and pretended she was not there. It was a foolish delusion. The woman he had married did exist, and she was not some heartless piece whose only passion was anger. He ought to be able to rouse her passions. He had misread the first night, but he would try again.

  *

  It was a little before dinner when Kitty discovered a very obvious reason for feeling strangely out of sorts. With all that had happened these last few weeks she had forgotten the passage of days. She sighed, and then groaned. Ledbury had asked for the return of the key, and was in a mood to make an effort with her. He would surely be expecting to visit her tonight and… She blushed furiously. With a trembling hand she reached into the drawer where she had concealed it. She had to give it back, but how to tell him he could not…

  She did not ring for Wootton, and listened for his tread as he went to his chamber. As soon as she did so she gripped the key tightly, went to the connecting door, and unlocked it. The sound seemed very loud to her ea
rs. She traversed the little room and then tapped the door. A moment later it was opened. He stood there, clearly having been on the point of changing his neckcloth, for it was half undone. He smiled, but the smile froze, and his eyes narrowed.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I… I have brought back the key as you requested, sir, and willingly, but must ask that you do not… I do not mean to… it is not my fault…’ She bit her lip.

  ‘You are making no sense.’

  ‘You must keep the door shut.’ The words tumbled out. ‘You cannot enter.’

  He misread her meaning. It was irritating, but he would show patience. He took her hands in his own, finding the key clasped tightly in her right hand, and spoke gently.

  ‘There is no cause for this distempered freak, my dear. I am sorry if what happened frightened you. In retrospect I can see that it must have been a shock, but I promise you there is nothing to worry about. I will be gentle and…’

  ‘No, no, you do not understand. You cannot, you simply cannot…’ Her fingers trembled in his hold and her eyes were full of panic.

  ‘You must be calm.’ His voice had command in it now.

  In response, Kitty burst into tears.

  ‘I am sorry,’ she sobbed. ‘It is not something within my control. Just for a few days, my lord…’

  Realisation hit him. It was not something he ever thought about, of course, but over the years he had learned that when the incomprehensibility of women reached its heights it presaged their being out of bounds. The nascent spark of anger in him was doused. It was a disappointment, but only a temporary delay. He disengaged one hand and put his arm about her shoulder.

  ‘No, it is not within your control, and I comprehend. You will not be fit to ride tomorrow, I take it, though Coates found a saddle that fitted?’

  She was looking down, and shook her head. What was surprising was that he sounded truly disappointed.

  ‘Look at me, Kitty.’ She obeyed. ‘I doubt I will be a good husband. I am not even sure as yet how to “be” a husband. It is certainly not easy. I act upon impulse, I have a temper, and I am damnably selfish, but I am not totally unreasonable. I am not angry with you about this. Of course I am not. If you are better in a day or so, we will ride together then, and as for… I will get a new key made, and wait.’ He placed a kiss on her cheek. ‘Now go and wash away the tears and regain your composure before dinner.’