Regency High Society Vol 1: A Hasty Betrothal / A Scandalous Marriage / The Count's Charade / The Rake and the Rebel

‘Oh, yes, my pretty, I did that. I crept round to the gardens and gave her the shock of her life, I can tell you! But she was real glad to see me and wanting to hear all my news. We even had some laughs over old times but, as you’ve said, she wasn’t herself although she did tell me much of the tale. Apparently Middleton got hold of your note and had the stagecoach lists checked at both the Lincoln and Grantham offices and your mama was mighty worried until she saw the announcement of your betrothal in the Post because she knew then that you were quite safe—and, although it was no easy matter for her to write a letter for me to deliver—here I am, at your service, as you might say. And I also have to tell you that my Martha is a-waiting in your housekeeper’s room—fretting herself to bits, no doubt!’

Lady Caroline stood up and motioned to Harriet to remain seated.

‘I must go and acquaint his lordship with this news. Robert is with him and I can as easily tell both together. You will want to have more conversation with your old comrades -in-arms. You may use the small parlour—I will instruct Rothman to have some luncheon sent up. Now, pray, excuse me.’

She swept out of the room with a smile for Harriet and a kindly nod to the old soldier.

‘A real lady, that one, Miss Harry,’ said Osborne in approving admiration after the countess had departed.

As a mere innkeeper and one-time soldier, he was well aware of his status in this sort of Society. Nevertheless, he had a justifiable pride in himself and his achievements. He had served with Harriet’s father from the beginning, having been the young Sir Jonathan’s groom and then his batman throughout the action in Iberia and he had seen Harriet grow from babyhood into girlhood. He had taught her to ride her first pony, had rescued her from many a childhood scrape and, along with her constant attendant, Martha, had contributed more than a little to Harriet’s life and happiness during her unusual upbringing. When his part in the fighting was over he had finally persuaded the worthy Martha to marry him and try for a more settled way of life in their later years.

Harriet understood him well and took his meaning perfectly.

‘A real lady, indeed. She has been so extremely kind to me. I wonder if Mama realises that the earl and countess were very well acquainted with her parents and that her ladyship would likely have been Mama’s godmother if my grandmother had lived?’

She rose from her seat and, despite his protests, hugged him again. ‘You have no idea how glad I am to see you again, Ozzy,’ she said, unable to hide the tremor in her voice. ‘Now we must go and fetch Martha and then we can all get comfortable—oh, Heavens! I have not yet read the note you brought me!’ and, having peeled off the wafer, she began to peruse the missive, alternately shaking her head and frowning in consternation at the hastily scribbled contents.

‘I clearly cannot reply,’ she sighed, ‘for it is unlikely that Mama would ever receive my letter and you will not want to be forever posting up and down the country as a messenger. I hope that Sir Chester has not discovered where I am—but it is a problem what to do. I cannot remain here much longer and there is no knowing how long it will take my grandfather to get here! I have no funds and I do so dislike being a charge on her ladyship.’

She folded the note and placed it in her reticule and, lifting her eyes to Osborne’s while forcing a smile, she said, with as much cheerfulness as she could muster, ‘Come, let us find Martha.’

Later, as they sat together in the small salon, she related the misadventures that had brought her to Beldale and confessed the deception in which she had become involved. Martha expressed concern and disapproval that Harriet should have become so embroiled in such subterfuge, although she commended the underlying reasons for the duplicity, saying that ‘Miss Harry should think herself lucky that it was such a gentleman who had rescued her!’

Privately, Harriet was becoming rather weary of being told how lucky she was and she quickly went on to describe the incident at the lake, which curious event caused both of her old comrades to eye one another in dismay.

Osborne rose to his feet and started pacing the floor.

‘Can’t have that, miss,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘That’s downright suspicious, if you ask me. Maybe that Middleton has already discovered your whereabouts—and you say his lordship didn’t believe your story?’

He stopped suddenly and turned to face his wife. ‘What about taking Miss Harriet back with us, Martha? W wouldn’t allow anybody to go pushing her into lakes in Ringwood, that’s for sure.’

Harriet jumped up and clapped her hands as Martha nodded her agreement.

‘Oh, would you? That would be the very thing! Then I needn’t pretend to be engaged to Sandford any longer! You can’t know what a joy it would be to be able to tell him that!’

She spun round guiltily as the door opened behind her and the viscount entered, his face impassive. Flushing, she wondered if he had heard her remarks but, if so, he gave no indication, merely striding forward to grip Osborne by the hand.

‘Good to see you again, Sergeant,’ he said. ‘Glad to hear of your success. Tiptree will be wanting to swap yarns with you. You’ll be staying at the Fox, I imagine? He’ll be down to join you later, I’ll be bound.’

Taking up his stance at the fireplace, he smiled at Martha in cheerful recognition and cautiously allowed his eyes to travel to Harriet’s bright cheeks. Although he hadn’t actually caught her remarks it was fairly obvious to him that he had been the subject of them. He sighed inwardly.

‘My lord?’ Osborne was addressing him nervously. ‘Mrs Osborne and I were thinking that maybe it would be best if Miss Harry—Harriet—was to return to Ringwood with us, sir—seeing as how she knows us so well and she’d be quite safe …’

He stopped as the viscount put up his hand and shook his head emphatically.

‘Oh, I think not, old chap,’ he said, experiencing a fleeting moment of self-reproach as he witnessed Harriet’s look of stunned incredulity. ‘I’m sure Sir Jonathan would have preferred that Miss Cordell remain at Beldale. It’s very good of you—and Mrs Osborne, of course—’ he bowed to Martha

‘—but I really feel that it will be more suitable for her to stay here, at least until her grandfather arrives.’

It was not in Osborne’s nature to give up without a fight. ‘Miss Harriet has had a fright, your lordship,’ he said stoutly. ‘And it’s not right for you to go doubting her word.’

‘Miss Harry couldn’t lie to save her life!’ cut in Martha bravely, determined to say her piece.

Sandford held up both hands to silence them.

‘I am aware of that,’ he said calmly. ‘The matter is being dealt with, I assure you.’ He turned to Osborne. ‘Tiptree will fill you in on the details if you care to consult him. Miss Cordell is perfectly safe here, you have my personal guarantee. Now, if you will excuse me.’ Without another word he turned on his heel and left the room.

Martha looked anxiously at her husband.

‘I hope he hasn’t taken offence, Jerry,’ she said. ‘Maybe we shouldn’t have tried to interfere?’

Harriet’s brain was in a turmoil of conflicting emotions. She was convinced that Sandford had heard her shameful outburst. He had dismissed Ozzy’s suggestion just to punish her, she decided indignantly and yet—it appeared that he had believed her after all and had actually been trying to clear up the mystery all this time while she—she had been treating him with such disdain! What must he think of her? All of a sudden she felt deeply ashamed and looked up to find both Osborne and Martha regarding her with frowning disapproval.

Osborne cleared his throat. ‘Seems as if you’ve done his lordship a disservice, Miss Harry. I’d say he was doing his best for you and, from what I know about him, I’d have been surprised at anything else!’

‘And, if you ask me,’ Martha scolded, ‘it’s time you grew out of that impetuous behaviour of yours, miss. I sometimes wonder if we didn’t all spoil and pet you too much when

you were a little lass. However, you must try to remember that you’re a young English lady now and act accordingly!’

‘Oh, Martha, please don’t be cross with me,’ gulped Harriet. ‘Everything is so mixed up. I hate living this beastly lie. Lady Caroline has been so kind to me and the earl and I deal extremely well together. It’s just Sandford—he seems to be set on finding fault with everything I do and I did admire him so when I was a girl!’

She choked back a sob and Martha, relenting, folded her arms around her one-time charge and held her to her ample bosom.

‘There, there, my precious,’ she crooned. ‘It won’t be for long now. Your grandpapa will come and carry you back to his Scottish castle and, no doubt, you will meet some handsome young laird who will sweep you off your feet and you’ll all live happy ever after!’

Harriet sniffed and shook her head with vehemence.

‘No, I am determined I shall never marry,’ she said sorrowfully. ‘I shall devote my life to my grandfather’s comfort. I intend to be his constant companion and the indispensable helpmeet in the evening of his life.’

‘Oh, deary me, Miss Harry!’ laughed Martha. ‘Then I trust he has a strong constitution.’ And gathering up her belongings at a signal from her husband, she said bracingly, ‘Now we must be off, so give me a kiss and promise to be a good girl!’

Waving her handkerchief frantically until their hired postchaise was out of sight, Harriet wondered glumly whether she would ever see these two staunch allies again.

Chapter Five

Sandford, meanwhile, had returned to the Dower House in the pursuance of his earlier inquiries. He found that his cousin had, in fact, made some useful progress during his absence.

Ridgeway had eventually tracked down the boy, Billy Tatler who, along with several of his disreputable friends, was discovered attempting to ride some ewes bareback. The terrified sheep had been herded into a corner of a field and Billy was issuing orders to his cronies as to the best way to mount these animals. Needless to say, their efforts were meeting with little success and, at the sight of their master’s angry countenance, the urchins scattered and endeavoured to make themselves scarce.

Ridgeway, leaping nimbly from his horse, had managed to grab Billy by the seat of his breeches as the boy tried to scramble through the hedge and, hauling him upright, he had frogmarched him to a nearby barn to question him.

This cross-examination, accompanied by dire threats of the awful punishments and penalties that would be incurred if any lies or omissions were discovered, took both time and patience but, eventually, Ridgeway had managed to extract what he took to be the bones of a very odd tale.

It transpired that Billy and his friend Nick often spent their days larking around the Beldale lake, hopeful of catching a trout or two and, on the day in question, had been splashing about in the water by the boathouse when ‘this cove’ had appeared and collared them both before they could escape. He had, firstly, threatened to haul them up to the ‘big house’ then, at their pleas for mercy, he had persuaded them to play a ‘little trick’ on the young lady who was presently making her way around the lake path. Billy was to pretend he had fallen into the water and, when the young lady leaned forward to help him out, Nick was instructed to give her a sharp push from behind. This was, apparently, to teach the young lady a lesson for some ‘bad thing’ she had done to ‘Lady ‘Genie'. Both boys knew that the water was quite shallow on this side of the lake and Billy, when tickling trout, had often knelt upon a large flat stone just below the surface a few yards away from where they had been standing. The ‘cove’ had then directed Nick to conceal himself in the bushes and Billy had slithered to his place on the stone. They were told they would be being watched by the ‘geezer’ from behind the boathouse and that he, of course, would go to the young lady’s assistance if she got into any real difficulties and, if they carried out the ‘job’ to his satisfaction, he had promised them a shilling each!

‘In the event, Nick got cold feet and scarpered, leaving Billy to do the deed on his own and when he climbed out of the lake and saw Miss Cordell standing up in the water, he didn’t think much harm had been done and, when he saw you riding along the path, he made off before the ‘'cove” could grab him again!’

‘But did he say who this ‘'geezer” was?’ Sandford demanded of his cousin, at the end of the recital. ‘You asked him, surely?’