Fenella J Miller (20 page)

‘I gather Monsieur Ducray has
finally repaired the air balloon and it will be on show for the garden party.
You will be able to take a ride, Aunt Lucy, if the weather is calm.’

Her aunt shuddered dramatically.
‘After your experience, my dear, I shall watch from the terrace and be quite
content to do so.’

‘James, are you intending to take
a flight?’

‘No, Mama, like Lady Dalrymple I
shall remain firmly on the ground. Ned has asked me to do the pretty with his
tenants, so I shall be fully occupied with that.’

Penny was surprised at his
announcement. ‘I’m certain you will do an excellent job, Mr Weston. Are you
acting as yourself or impersonating your cousin?’

‘I can assure you, Miss Coombs,
it’s something I do on a regular basis. When he’s abroad I sometimes stand in
for him and no one is any the wiser.’

 
‘I see; how convenient for Lord Weston to be
able to abdicate his responsibilities so easily.’ She stood up. ‘Pray excuse
me, Mrs Weston, Aunt Lucy, Mr Weston, but I have an appointment with the
housekeeper and must go inside.’

She hurried across the lawn, her
emotions in turmoil. Did Ned see his cousin as a substitute for himself? Is
that why he had asked him to stand in for him so often? She didn’t know how she
felt any more; no sooner had she decided she was in love with him, she received
another dent to her confidence. It wasn’t poor Mr Weston’s fault - she laid the
blame, as usual, squarely on the shoulders of her beloved.

‘I’m not just another part of his
property,’ she fumed, ‘and I shall not be parcelled out to another at his
convenience.’ Determined to have the matter out with him she sailed into the
house, her eyes sparkling with indignation and marched directly to his study. A
sharp rap on the door elicited no response. Perhaps he was out and about –
emboldened by the continued silence she tentatively turned the handle and
stepped in.

The room was empty but the desk
was strewn with papers, the chair pushed back anyhow. She frowned at the sign
of disarray. He had obviously left in a hurry. Curiously she approached the
desk and glanced at the nearest document. Her heart shot into her mouth as she
read what was written there.

Weston,

The items you are anticipating have
been traced and they will be arriving in your neighbourhood on Tuesday.

 
Yours

Andover.

Chapter
Twenty-one

Penny clutched the edge of the
desk for support. Ned was searching for the gold that was to be smuggled out of
the country and taken to Bonaparte’s supporters. He could be killed or wounded,
and she hadn’t told him how much she loved him. At that moment all her doubts
and worries about her impending marriage vanished. The thought of him in danger
was insupportable. All she could do now was pray he returned safely to her
because this time he had allowed himself to become distracted and his head
might not be as focused on his mission as it should be.

 
She would write him a note, tell him how she
felt, beg him to take care; she wouldn’t risk seeing him face to face. She was
determined to stick to her vow and arrive on her wedding day an innocent
.

She left the letter on his desk
where he would see it when he returned. The mantel clock struck four. Too early
to go upstairs and change for dinner. She had to find something to occupy her
mind or she would go mad with worry.

A brisk walk around the
ornamental lake would serve the purpose. She had no need to return to her room
to collect her spencer and she was already wearing her kid half-boots. She had
ruined two pairs of slippers by taking them outside.

She was leaving by the French
doors in the drawing-room when she saw Count Everex strolling round from the
direction of the stables looking decidedly pleased with
himself
.
Hastily she hid herself behind a curtain and waited for him to pass. Why was
this man still at large? Did it mean Ned had been unsuccessful? Perhaps the
Frenchman had hidden the gold in the barn amongst the paraphernalia of the
balloonists.

Without a second thought she
slipped from the room and walked briskly towards the stables. The barn was no
more than fifty yards behind this block and she intended to creep in, if she
could, and make a search. Ned was going to be delighted if he had returned
empty-handed only to discover she had found the gold hidden at Headingly Court.

‘Andover, I was relieved to
receive your note. I was beginning to fear that somehow these bastards had
managed to slip through the net.’

‘As you know, we’ve been watching
Sir Reginald Masterson for months waiting to catch him red-handed. The man I’d
placed in his household as a groom alerted me yesterday to unusual activity by
the river. We should have realized they might use water transport.’

Ned turned to speak to his four
men who were standing close behind holding the horses. ‘Perkins, you and
Reynolds remain here and keep watch. If you see any activity down at the
boathouse one of you get word to me immediately, the other follow the wagon. We
will rendezvous on the shore.’

‘They’ll need a wagon to get it
to the beach. As soon as one appears down there Reynolds can let you know, my
lord.’

‘I have messages to send to
London; they can start arresting the other contributors to this fund. With any
luck, by tomorrow night we shall have all of them under lock and key.’ Andover
replaced his spyglass in a pocket in his riding coat. ‘There’s nothing more we
can do here; I suggest you return to
Headingly
. It
would be a disaster if the count was alerted at this juncture.’

Ned, like his fellow government
operative, backed stealthily through the undergrowth until safe for him to
stand without being visible to any watchers at Lufkin Manor. Whilst brushing
down his jacket he nodded at his companion. ‘I take it we don’t wish the
militia to be involved tonight?’

‘The government doesn’t want the
general public to know how close we came to letting a group of traitors escape
justice. We cannot guarantee every man in the troupe will remain silent. How
many men do you have for this enterprise, Weston?’

‘I have six, seven if you include
myself
. They are all highly trained and have
accompanied me on all my missions. As long as we’re not expected, it will be
more than enough to finish the job.’

He held out his hand and Reynolds
handed him his reins. ‘Do you want prisoners?’ His voice was matter-of-fact,
unbothered either way.

‘They want the Frenchman back in
London, but dispose of the rest. There must be no witnesses to blab about what
happens.’

‘I doubt if we can take the boat
or its crew without attracting attention. But I can assure you there will be
no-one else left to carry tales in England.’

‘Good luck, my friend. Don’t be
careless tonight. I know of two men who were lost on their final mission.
After so long, it’s easy to become complacent and make mistakes.’
Andover’s face reflected his concern.

‘I’ve no intention of kicking the
bucket. Remember, I’m getting married next week. I shall do nothing to
jeopardise my safety, I’ve far too much to live for.’

He urged his horse into a canter,
leaving two men to watch the house whilst the other two accompanied him. He was
glad this whole escapade was to be over tonight. Andover was right to warn him;
he knew only too well that his attention wasn’t fully on the job in hand. When
he should be thinking about his next move far too often his mind drifted to
thoughts of Penny.

This would not happen again. He
wouldn’t go down to dinner, but retire to his chambers pleading a return of the
ague he had caught whilst in Spain a few years back. This was a ruse he had
used on several occasions over the years when he wished to vanish for a few
days without arousing suspicion. In fact, he had only suffered two bouts of the
sweating sickness and neither of those had been life-threatening.

His manservant was an accomplice
and an expert at keeping his secrets. He smiled, imagining Penny rushing to his
bedside, wishing to be his nurse. Simpson must tell her he preferred to be left
alone until the fever broke and that she would be sent for as soon as he was
well enough. That would, God willing, be tomorrow morning. He arrived in the
lane that led to the rear of the stables just in time to see her vanish into
the barn.

It had been far easier than she
anticipated
to creep
past the busy stable yard and
along the track that led to the barn. She was certain she hadn’t been seen so
far by any of the grooms or stable lads; she paused outside the heavy double
doors, delighted to see there was a small gap between them, just large enough
for her to slide through.

She pressed her ear against the
wood, not wishing to go in if there was anyone inside. Monsieur Ducray had
taken his air balloon and the wagon out for a test flight before his
demonstration at the garden party next week. The interior was quiet, no voices,
no
movement. It would be quite safe to go in and
complete a search.

Inside the huge edifice was
almost dark; there were no windows to let in the sunlight. The only
illumination came through the occasional gaps in the heavy black boards that
made up the structure. She closed her eyes for a few moments and opened them
again, yes; she could make out the shrouded shapes of interesting objects along
the back wall.

On tiptoes she crossed the floor,
holding up her hem to avoid it becoming mired in the dirt. On reaching out to
pull aside a tarpaulin she was snatched from her feet by an unseen assailant.
Terrified she opened her mouth to scream for help but was prevented from doing
so by the hand across her face.

She kicked backwards and was
overjoyed when her heels connected with the man’s knees.

‘Stow it, my girl, or it’ll be
the worse for you.’ The harsh voice hissed in her ear and she went limp with
horror. Why hadn’t she listened to Ned when he’d told her not to interfere? She
would be brave, not give in to her fear. Whatever happened he would be proud of
her.

Her captor dropped her so
suddenly her knees buckled and she fell heavily on her bottom.

‘What the blazes are you doing in
here? Have you taken leave of your senses?’

Her head shot up. ‘Ned, you scared
me half to death. I thought you were one of the smugglers and I would never see
you again.’

He reached down and yanked her to
her feet. ‘Good. I hope you’ve learnt a valuable lesson, my girl. Don’t meddle
in things that aren’t your concern.’

‘I learned something else as
well. I saw the count returning from the stables and he was almost skipping
with glee. I’m sure he has received that letter from London telling him the
gold is here and he’s now a rich man.’

‘And I suppose you came here to
find the gold?
Noble sentiments, sweetheart, but decidedly
foolhardy.’
He hustled her towards the door where there was more light.
‘Let me brush you down; you can’t go out covered in straw and other debris.’ He
proceeded to bang the rear of her gown, none too gently.

 
‘That hurts - let me do it, if you please.’

‘I’m sorely tempted to add a few
well deserved slaps to that area.’

She giggled. ‘You’re a man of
your word, Lord Weston. I’m sure I’m in no danger of such punishment at your
hands.’ She peered over her shoulder to check she was free of dirt. ‘I’m ready
to return to the house. Shall I leave first? It would never do people to think
we were having a clandestine meeting in here.’

‘There’s something I need to do
before you leave, my dear.’

She was enveloped in a fierce
embrace and her face tilted to accommodate his kiss. When he released her, her
head was swimming and her cheeks flushed. Before she had time to protest she
was ruthlessly ejected from the barn and the door closed behind her. She had no
option but to walk away as if nothing untoward had happened.

When she strolled past the
stable-yard she saw Perkins talking to her own grooms. They carefully avoided
looking in her direction but they were well aware who had been with her in the
barn. She straightened her back and stalked the remaining distance to the side
entrance. Luckily she was able to slip inside without meeting any of the
guests.

She selected a simple dinner gown
that evening; it had a demure neckline and no train. ‘I shan’t need you to help
me disrobe tonight so why don’t you take the evening off?’

Her maid beamed. ‘Thank you,
miss. I’ll leave out your night rail and wrapper. Shall I have a supper tray
sent up?’

‘No, dinner is so late here
there’s no need. I love the colour of this dress; when the mantua maker showed
me the green silk I knew it would be perfect for me.’

Penny hurried from the room, she
didn’t wish Aunt Lucy to negotiate the stairs without assistance and if she
wasn’t waiting in the corridor, her elderly relative would continue on her own.

‘My dear, I was about to leave
without you,’ her aunt said tartly. ‘Your timekeeping is becoming slipshod.
When you are a countess, more will be expected of you, I hope you realize
that?’

‘Of course I do; but I don’t
believe it’s I who am late, but you who are early.’

Chatting amiably together they
joined the assembled company in the Grand Salon. A lady greeted them. ‘My dear,
I have just heard that Lord Weston is indisposed. It appears he has frequent
attacks of the ague. He will not be joining us tonight.’

Penny schooled her face in order
to look suitably worried by this unexpected news. This was a sham; he had been
in the pink of health when she’d left him barely two hours ago. ‘What a shame!
However, it will do none of us any harm to retire early for once. I vow I am
quite exhausted by all the excitement of the past three weeks.’

She smiled warmly at her guests
as she circulated the room reassuring everyone that Ned would be recovered from
his fever in ample time to participate in their wedding, which was now less
than a week away.

Riley, one of
the men who had accompanied Ned to his meeting with Andover, waited until he
was close enough to speak without being overheard. ‘Lord Weston, did you tell
Miss Coombs that you
was
feeling poorly? She’ll be a
mite surprised when you don’t come down to dinner because of having an attack
of the ague.’

‘God’s teeth!
I completely forgot.’ He slapped his man on the shoulder. ‘Miss Coombs knows
all about this business. She’ll draw her own conclusions and keep them to
herself. It’s a good thing this is my last mission, I’m finding it difficult to
keep my mind on the task in hand.’

‘I’ll have the horses ready as
soon as it gets dark. I’ve told Billy and the other
Nettleford
groom to keep an eye out for the
Frenchy
. They’ll tag
along behind him when he sets off.’

He had decided to take Penny’s
grooms into his confidence; after all when this matter was completed it would
make no difference who knew he had once been employed in secret activities for
the British government.

‘Good work. I’ll be down at ten
o’clock. Make sure you have your rifles and ammunition ready. We’re going to
need them tonight.’

He entered the house through his
private door and met his manservant in his sitting room. Simpson bowed. ‘My
lord, I’ve everything ready as you requested. Shall you
be
wanting
your black cape and hat tonight?’

He nodded. ‘The moon is almost
full, without it I should be too conspicuous. Are my pistols primed and ready
and my sword sharpened?’

 
‘They are, my lord. If you would care to
retire to your bed chamber I’ll let Foster know you are indisposed and won’t be
joining your guests this evening. If Mr Weston comes to enquire after your
health I shall tell him you’re in bed and not receiving visitors.’

‘I left papers on the desk in my
study that need
to be put in the safe.’