A Companion Of Quality

Lewis raised one eyebrow in a disbelieving grimace. “I thank you, but I do not look to take a wife! Not until I find a woman who can match my last ship!”

“The Dauntless?” Richard laughed. “What were her qualities then, old fellow? I thought she was a leaky old tub that no one else would dare put to sea in!”

“Nonsense!” Lewis grinned mockingly. “She was a beautiful ship! She was elegant and courageous and she would risk all to gain all!” His smile faded. “And until I find a woman to rival her, Richard, I shall stay single!”

Miss Caroline Whiston put her leather-bound book of Shakespearean sonnets to one side with a sigh. No one had ever compared her to a summer’s day, and if they had she would probably have boxed their ears, knowing their intentions could not be honourable. She knew of too many governesses who had made the mistake of believing in romance and had lived to regret it. Even so it would have been pleasant for once—just once—to meet a man who was neither a rake nor a worthy.

Ever since she had become a governess companion some ten years previously, Caroline had secretly classified all the men that she met into these two groups. The rakes predominated. They could be the fathers, brothers, relatives and friends of her youthful charges and they generally considered themselves irresistible, believing that Caroline should feel the same way. These she dealt with using a mixture of severity and hauteur, resorting very occasionally to physical violence to deter their advances. None of them ever persisted. Caroline was not pretty enough to make it worth their while, and she made sure that she concealed rather than accentuated those features that did give her distinction. Her beautiful chestnut hair was ruthlessly drawn back and confined into a bun. She wore drab, shapeless clothing. Her manner instilled respect into both her pupils and their parents alike.

“I say,” the elder brother of her previous charges had complained with feeling, “Miss Whiston has a dashed cutting way with her! I’d sooner kiss a snake than try for some sport there!”

Then there were the worthies. These were not as dangerous as the rakes but had to be deterred all the same. They might include a tutor or curate who would imagine that Caroline would make a suitable helpmeet. To these she was kind but firm. She had no intention of exchanging the drudgery of an upper servant for that of unpaid maid of all work in a vicarage, not even for the respectability of a wedding ring.

Caroline sighed again. She was growing cold, for the November mornings had turned frosty recently and not even the thickness of her winter cloak was proof against the chill that seeped up through her boots and was currently spreading through all her limbs. Her scarlet velvet dress, a most impractical present from the kind-hearted mother of one of her charges, was more for show than warmth. Caroline knew it was an affectation to wear an evening gown when she was out walking in the forest in the dawn, but after all, there was no one to see and it was the only time she could indulge in a little luxury. Still, she should be getting back. She shivered. It was cold, and she would be late, and then Julia would be as sharp and scratchy as only she could be.

Caroline tucked the book into her pocket, picked up her basket and started to pick her way through the undergrowth towards the path. The frosty twigs crunched under her boots. Spiders’ webs whitened with ice shone like spun silver in the sun. It was very quiet. These early mornings were the only solitude that Caroline could find at present, for she was at Julia Chessford’s beck and call all day long and even at night, if Mrs Chessford were suddenly struck down with insomnia. Caroline, who had at first interpreted Julia’s invitation to stay at Hewly as a request from a friend, had been quick to realise that she was in fact nothing more than a servant. The days when the two of them had been schoolgirls together were long gone.

Then there was Admiral Brabant, who required constant nursing and whose illness cast a shadow like a pall over Hewly Manor. His latest attack had occurred some three months previously, before Caroline had come to Hewly, and had left him incapable of running the estate any longer. The servants whispered that the Admiral would not outlast the winter snows and their gloomy predictions added to the general air of misery. Hewly Manor was not a cheerful place.

Life for Caroline might have been very different. She and Julia Chessford had studied together not fifteen minutes’ walk away, at the Guarding Academy in Steep Abbot. In those days, Julia had been Admiral Brabant’s god-daughter and ward, and Caroline had been the daughter of a baronet. A spendthrift baronet, as it had turned out. Caroline could only be grateful that he had staved off his ruin until she was old enough to earn her own living. He had died when she was seventeen, the title had devolved on a distant cousin, and the estate had had to be sold to pay his debts.

Caroline stepped out of the trees and on to the path, and almost immediately heard the sound of horse’s hooves striking against the frosty earth. Whoever was approaching was riding quickly. It sounded like a single horseman coming from the west rather than from the Northampton road to the east. Caroline hesitated. She had no wish to be found alone and loitering in the middle of the wood, and fortunately there was a woodcutter’s tumbledown hut set a little way back from the track. She hurried to take cover there. She did not fear poachers or highwaymen—that would have been foolish imagination—but there was no sense in courting danger by making herself obvious.

As the horseman came around the corner of the path he slowed his mount to a walk, affording Caroline the chance to get a good look at him. She peeked through the broken doorway of the hut and heaved a silent sigh of relief. Here was no rake, she was sure. He looked far more like a worthy, with his fair, fine-drawn looks and air of abstraction. He was neatly but plainly attired in a black coat and buff breeches, and his boots were scuffed from hard riding. No London rake, then, but a sober country gentleman. Medium height, medium build, altogether unremarkable. Perhaps he was a poet enjoying the morning air just as she had been. Caroline kept quite still and waited for him to pass by.

It seemed, however, that the gentleman was in no hurry. She watched as he sprang down from the saddle and pulled the horse’s reins over its head. It was a fine animal, a high-stepping grey with intelligent eyes, and she saw the man stroke its nose and speak quietly to it as he led it along the path towards her. The horse was limping a little and had obviously gone lame. Caroline held her breath and hoped that its rider would not decide to stop for a rest.

It was the mouse that was her undoing. She considered herself an indomitable female, but ever since Julia had put a dead mouse in her bed at school, Caroline had had a fear of tiny furry mammals. This one ran across her foot and she made an involuntary movement, sending the dead leaves swirling through the doorway of the hut and frightening a pheasant that was scratching around outside. The bird flew off giving its harsh cry and the horse, no doubt still unsettled by the incident that had turned it lame, reared up and almost knocked the gentleman to the ground.

Caroline drew back hastily into the shadows but she knew she was too late. Her abrupt movement had revealed a flash of scarlet velvet and it was useless to just stand there pretending that she was invisible. As she hesitated, the gentleman regained his balance and turned sharply towards the hut. For a long moment he stared straight at her, then he dropped the horse’s reins and took a step towards her.

Caroline’s heart was racing suddenly. She knew that the sensible course of action would be to step forward and apologise, but even as she thought this, she was turning to scramble through a gap in the back wall and stumble down amongst the leaves and brambles on the other side.

Her legs were shaking as she tried to steady herself and tear her cloak from the grip of the rough masonry that snagged at the material. She heard the scrape of loose stone behind her and was filled with a heady panic. Surely he was not following her! He had looked so harmless, so very worthy…

It was at that moment that Caroline discovered the extent of her mistake. A hand caught hold of her wrist and pulled her round to face him with a force that almost knocked the breath from her body. The hood of her cloak fell back and her hair tumbled all about her shoulders. She grasped instinctively at his arm for support, and felt the hard muscle beneath her fingers, the indisputable evidence of a man in excellent physical condition. So much for her thoughts of a dreamy poet with more interest in pursuits of the intellect than those of the body! Caroline raised her gaze to his face and discovered that the far-seeing eyes that she had imagined were dwelling on some piece of verse were a hard blue, cold as a stormy sea. For a long moment they stared at each other, and then Caroline saw a hint of laughter lighten his face and for some reason she felt her legs tremble again.

“Well…” There was lazy amusement in the man’s voice. “Not the poacher I’d expected, but I cannot find it in me to be sorry! Hold still, sweetheart—” He had felt her struggle and held on to her with insulting ease. “You owe me something at least for frightening my horse!”

Not a worthy but a rake, Caroline found herself thinking, as she felt him shift his grip a little so that he could pull her into his arms. This had to be the first time that she had made such an error of judgement, and she was not the only one.

“You are making a mistake—” Her words were lost as she found herself being thoroughly kissed. The roughness of his cheek brushed hers; he smelled of leather and fresh air and lemon cologne. It was delicious and she was utterly shocked with herself for even thinking so.

“You were saying?”

The gentleman had let her go sufficiently to look down into her face. Caroline saw his eyes sweep appreciatively over her chestnut curls and linger on the red evening gown. And no wonder. It was cut low and she could feel the sting of the cold air against her bare skin. Drawing her cloak closely about her, Caroline glared at him.

“I was trying to tell you that you were making a mistake…” The words came out with considerably less than her usual authoritative ring. She cleared her throat and frowned slightly. He was watching her with the same lazy mockery that she had heard in his voice and it distracted her.

“What I mean is…You should not…I am not—”

“I would hate you to think that I had kissed you by mistake, ma’am,” the gentleman said politely, and it seemed to Caroline that he was wilfully misunderstanding her. “I cannot possibly let you go under such a misapprehension. Allow me…”

Caroline gave a little squeak of dismay as he pulled her close again. This was a deeper kiss. Her lips parted under the skilful pressure of his. He tasted cold. Sensation swept through Caroline and left her shivering. She could not believe what was happening to her and could not begin to understand why she was letting it happen. With a supreme effort of will she tried to free herself again, and he let her go immediately.

“Listen to me.” She put a hand out as though to ward him off, although he had made no further move towards her. “I am trying to explain to you that you are making a serious error, sir! I am not what you think me, and you, sir—” She broke off, unusually lost for words as she considered his face.

She had been wrong to think his looks fine-drawn. On a woman, the high cheekbones and chiselled features might have appeared delicate, but there was too much authority and determination in his face to give any hint of weakness. Those blue eyes held a disconcerting look of appraisal and the thick fair hair that Caroline had wanted to touch…She cleared her throat self-consciously, aware that he was still watching her.

“I believe that you must be Captain Brabant,” she said, with as much composure as she could muster. “I am Caroline Whiston. I am staying at the Manor.”

A frown had come into the gentleman’s eyes, replacing the look of appreciative amusement that had lingered there. This time when his gaze considered her it held no warmth. Caroline drew herself up a little. She dared not think what she looked like, her hair all tousled and her lips rosy from his kisses.

“I beg your pardon, ma’am,” he said slowly, “but are we acquainted? Or do you include clairvoyance in your gifts, that you already know my name?”

It was on the tip of Caroline’s tongue to say that she felt he had treated her as rather more than an acquaintance already, but she knew that there was no point in provoking further trouble. There was no doubt that this could only be Lewis Brabant and she cursed herself that she had not recognised him from the start. His resemblance to his sister was sufficiently strong that she should have guessed his identity straight away, rather than realising only when he was at close quarters. Very close quarters, she amended. And now she was well and truly in the suds, since this man was heir to Hewly Manor and, more to the point, Julia’s former fiancé…

She realised that Captain Brabant was still awaiting her response and dropped a slight curtsey.

“No, sir, we have not met,” she said, with tolerable composure, “but you have a great look of your sister about you so it is small wonder that I recognised you. The household has been expecting you home this se’ennight and more.”

“I see,” Captain Brabant said, and Caroline had the disconcerting feeling that he saw more than was comfortable. She reflected ruefully that she felt much as the cabin boy must have done when Captain Brabant was inspecting his crew on the quarterdeck. Those blue eyes were disturbingly perceptive.

“Forgive me, Miss Whiston,” he said, “but when you said that you were a guest at the Manor—”

Caroline felt a blush rising. “You misunderstand me, sir,” she said hastily. “I am not a guest of your father’s but companion to your cousin…to Mrs Chessford.”

“Julia’s companion? You?” Captain Brabant took a step towards her and Caroline backed away from him instinctively. One brow arched in ironic amusement as he saw her withdraw. “My dear Miss Whiston, pray do not be alarmed! You have nothing to fear from me! But—a companion! How very inappropriate!”

“I do not know how you could be a judge of such matters, sir!” Caroline snapped, forgetting that he was to all intents and purposes her host, and giving in to her indignation. “Upon my word, you have a strange concept of appropriate behaviour! What is appropriate about accosting respectable ladies as they take a walk in the woods? I believe that you must have been away at sea so long that you forget your manners!”

She saw him grin. It seemed an unacceptable response to her annoyance.

“Maybe that accounts for it,” he murmured. “Deprived of the improving company of the fair sex…Indeed, ma’am, I think you must be right!”

“Fustian, sir!” Caroline retorted, the colour flaring in her face. “I do not believe that you have been deprived of female companionship! Such freedom of manner argues that the reverse is true—” She broke off, realising that this exasperating man had driven her to express views that should have remained private. Severe Miss Whiston never normally allowed herself a vulgar display of opinion. It was not at all proper for a governess companion.

She bit back her words, trying to ignore the Captain’s infuriating smile. “Well, that is nothing to the purpose!” she finished sharply. “Good day, sir! I shall leave you to complete your journey alone.”

“That seems rather pointless when we are both travelling in the same direction,” the Captain said politely. “Permit me to escort you back, Miss Whiston! We may become better acquainted!”

Caroline gritted her teeth. That was the last thing she wanted, and if Julia should witness Captain Brabant’s arrival at the Manor with her in attendance…Well, it did not really bear thinking about.

“No, indeed—”

“Perhaps you could explain why you were running away from me,” the Captain continued affably, as though she had not spoken. “After all, it was your own behaviour that sparked the whole incident!”

Caroline blushed. She knew that he was right, but felt it was not gallant of him to remind her. “I apologise, sir,” she said tightly. “I fear I was nervous. You must think it quite odd in me—”