Working Man, Society Bride

‘Thank you.’ She did not want to continue with the conversation. Even if Edward was not being coerced, she felt as if she was, and, like Edward, she wanted to rebel. How could two people who had been pushed into a marriage expect it to be happy? She pointed at the men, who had stopped and dismounted a little way ahead. ‘Shall we join the gentlemen?’ She spurred her horse and this time he responded a little more enthusiastically.

Edward and Victor were standing on the highest point of the hill deep in conversation, but stopped when the ladies rode up. Lucy noticed they were standing with their backs to a large boulder, which was a shelter from the wind that blew across the moor, and were facing a second valley. Here, too, were white stakes, but they stopped short on the opposite slope. ‘More of the railway surveyors’ work?’ she queried.

‘Yes. They are down there, can you see?’ Edward said.

Her heart jumped into her mouth when she saw where he was pointing. The tall navvy and his two companions were pacing the ground, quite oblivious to the people who watched them from the opposite hill. ‘So I see.’ She tried to sound indifferent.

‘I want a word with that fellow,’ Edward said.

‘I must go back,’ Dorothea said. ‘My horse is tiring and I promised Mama I would visit Nanny this afternoon.’ To Lucy, she explained, ‘Nanny is our old nurse and lives in a little cottage in the village and Mama likes to keep an eye on her to see she wants for nothing.’

‘Would you like me to come with you?’

‘No, you enjoy the rest of your ride. Victor will keep me company, won’t you, Victor?’ The young man was addressed with heavy emphasis. He looked surprised for a moment, but a meaningful look from Dorothea stopped him protesting and he chuckled and remounted. ‘Delighted, my dear.’

Before Lucy could say a word, they had ridden off and she was left with Edward.

‘Not very subtle, are they?’ he commented. ‘But no matter, we will continue our ride. You will not mind if I stop and speak to those railway people, will you? You need not speak to them yourself, or even approach if you think it will be distasteful. I shan’t be above a minute or two.’ He did not sound like a man with marriage on his mind, though he undoubtedly realised why Dorothea had inveigled Victor away.

Lucy smiled. ‘I shall not mind in the least, Mr Gorridge. With you to protect me, what have I to fear?’

He looked sharply at her, but decided to take her words at face value and began the downward descent to where the men worked.

Myles heard the horses and looked up as they approached. ‘Hey up,’ he said to Joe. ‘Here’s our friend of last night.’

‘I said we hadn’t seen the last of him,’ Masters said. ‘And he’s got the Earl of Luffenham’s daughter with him.’

‘So he has,’ Myles said, as if he had only just seen the man’s companion, though she was the one he had noticed first.

‘Good afternoon, gentlemen,’ Edward greeted them and dismounted.

‘Good afternoon. My lady.’ Myles spoke guardedly.

‘You know Lady Lucinda?’ Edward queried.

Myles saw Lucy shaking her head behind her escort. ‘No, sir, I have not had the honour of being presented.’

‘Nor will you have,’ Edward said. ‘Lucy, my dear, take no notice of him. Wait a little way off. My business will not take long.’

Lucy had no intention of being dismissed in that fashion and she resented Mr Gorridge’s condescending attitude towards her. She dismounted and stood beside her horse. He started to nibble the grass, while both she and Myles waited to see what would happen next. He was looking at Edward, but he was all too aware of Lucy. She was wearing the same elegant habit she had worn before; it clung to her breasts and waist before flowing out around her feet. Her face was slightly flushed and her eyes were alight. With amusement? Mischief? He could not tell and wished the others could be made to disappear so that he could be alone with her. He might be able to explain many things he wanted her to know, but there was no chance of that, so he prepared to listen to whatever it was Gorridge had to say.

‘I believe I owe you the price of a barrel of ale,’ Edward said. ‘It has been left in cash with the publican at the Golden Lion. Let it not be said Edward Gorridge does not honour his debts.’

‘It is of no account. A barrel of ale was a small price to pay for an evening’s entertainment.’

‘No doubt.’ Edward’s voice was clipped. ‘But a debt is a debt. On the other hand, there was no call to extend it beyond the hostelry and humiliate me when I was too ill to protest.’

‘Ill?’ Myles smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. ‘I would have done the same for any man.’

‘No doubt you would, having no pretension to the manners of a gentleman.’

‘I say,’ Joe protested. ‘That was uncalled for.’

‘Hush, Joe,’ Myles said. ‘Mr Gorridge is right and I should apologise.’

It was more than Edward had expected. ‘Apology accepted. But that doesn’t mean the other matter is forgotten.’

‘Other matter?’

‘To shift twenty tons of rubble in a day.’

‘When the line goes through.’

‘When do you think that will be?’

‘As soon as the surveying is done and the rest of the finance raised. I believe Viscount Gorridge is one of the principals, so I do not envisage any problems. Except, of course, the Earl is holding back.’

‘He will come round. He and my father were discussing it only yesterday. I am sure, when the advantages are pointed out to him, he will let you have his piece of land. He might even be persuaded to invest some of his own money and you will need to look no further for your finance.’

‘That would certainly hurry things up.’

‘What are the advantages?’ Lucy asked, determined not to be left out of the discussion, though what she could contribute she did not know. It was simply that she did not like being ignored and she wanted the navvy to notice her.

‘Why, with our own railway station we can hop on a train any time we like, go wherever we like,’ Edward answered. ‘Once the line from London to York is completed, I can reach our house in Yorkshire inside a day.’