Ghost of Christmas Past (8 page)

Thea
swallowed and tried to absorb his words. Her uncle had been the
only person in her life who had ever given her any support. He had
battled with her parents to be allowed to see her when she had been
a young child and had been her stalwart supporter throughout her
recovery after the carriage accident. Thankfully, he was now her
guardian and since the death of her father, had done everything she
had ever asked of him. Although he resided at Ridings, his home in
London, and she lived in the countryside in Leicestershire, they
had remained close and corresponded often. To think that he was now
injured and all alone filled her with horror and brought back her
own personal trauma with sickening clarity.

“
I can be ready within the hour,” she whispered. She began to
mentally run through the list of things she would need to pack only
to stop and frown at him. “Can Tilly come with me? She is my
maid.”

“
Yes, if you want her to. I will have to ride my horse back
because he doesn’t like being tied to the back of carriages. Having
someone in the carriage to talk to will help to pass the time.” He
didn’t add that he also needed to be on horseback to be able to
double back and make sure that they weren’t either followed or
ambushed on their journey to Mayfair. “I need to go and fetch the
carriage but will be back within the hour. You will need to make
sure that there is enough food packed so that you can eat on the
way because I should like to only stop when we need to change
horses.”

She
nodded but barely registered his words. As soon as he pushed to his
feet, she rose to see him out but realised too late that her
movement brought them so close that they were almost touching. He
made no attempt to move back though, or release his hold on her
hand. He kept his eyes firmly locked upon hers and dipped his head
to place a gentle kiss on her fingers.

“
I will be back within the hour,” he murmured solemnly and
watched her nod her acceptance.

After a
quick bow, he took his leave and strode to the door with determined
strides. As he swept out of the house and mounted his horse he
sighed with relief at just how well their first meeting had gone.
He would of course have preferred to have been there to impart
better tidings but there was nothing he could do about that now. At
least she was back in his life. All he had to do now was keep
her.

CHAPTER
FIVE

As promised,
Rupert returned an hour later. Thea watched as the large carriage
drew to a stop directly outside the front door. Her bags had been
hastily thrown together and now stood in the hallway downstairs.
She knew that it would be at least a month before she was able to
return, longer if John was more seriously wounded than Rupert had
told her, and had spent much of the last hour issuing orders to
Agatha and Bertie. She threw one last look at her room before she
made her way downstairs.

Rupert
watched her descend the narrow steps and waited. Her long hair was
swept up into an elegant knot at the top of her head. Small curls
bobbed gaily around her pale cheeks. Her beautiful face had a
decidedly healthy glow that assured him that although she still
limped ever so slightly, she had made an excellent recovery over
the last four years.

He
realised that he was staring at her again and gave himself a mental
shake to get on with the job at hand. The coachman was busy loading
boxes and trunks into the back of the carriage and that left Rupert
free to hold a hand out to Thea so that he could escort her to the
carriage steps to where Agatha and Bertie were waiting to say
goodbye.

“
Is that everything, Thea?” He nodded to the housekeeper once
the hugs and last minute instructions were given, and helped her
into the luxurious confines of the carriage with great
tenderness.

Thea
settled onto the seat and took far too long smoothing her skirts
out, but she needed a moment to steady herself. Her hands trembled
slightly from the almost proprietary way Rupert had taken over. She
nudged aside the large baskets of food and froze in the process of
removing her gloves when she realised that he had followed her
inside. The interior of the carriage suddenly seemed incredibly
small and she found herself shrinking back against the squabs as
she eyed him warily.

“
I don’t mean to pry Thea, but I need to ask you something
important.”

Thea
felt her stomach tighten with nerves and nodded when words failed
her.

“
How uncomfortable are your legs? I mean, will we need to stop
at frequent intervals so that you can get out and walk around?”
While he spoke he studied her face closely for any sign of
reluctance to talk about her injuries but couldn’t see anything in
the beautiful blue orbs than quiet contemplation.

“
Do you know something? I don’t really know. I have only ever
travelled from Bainbridge to here. At the time I was still in
considerable pain so we had to stop many, many times so that I
could take laudanum to ease the discomfort. I haven’t really
travelled very far since, apart from to town and back of
course.”

Rupert
nodded and remembered John mentioning that he had invited Thea to
visit him many times but she had refused to leave Leicestershire.
“Then we will carry on until you wish to stop. I would like to
travel throughout the night if I may but that would mean you will
have to sleep in the carriage. Although there will be the need for
changes of horses, if we don’t stop then we will be in London in a
couple of days.”

“
That’s fine,” Thea assured him a little too loudly. “I really
want to get to my uncle. He needs me and I have to be there for
him.”

Rupert
nodded in understanding. “If you grow too uncomfortable, don’t
suffer through it. I don’t want you arriving in London tired and in
pain or your uncle will have more to worry about than he needs to.”
He gave in to the need to touch her and stroked the softness of one
cheek with the back of one finger and gave her a gentle smile
before he left the carriage and stood back to hand Tilly
in.

She
watched him mount his horse with effortless grace and almost sighed
as the carriage suddenly lurched into action and he disappeared
from sight. She barely had the opportunity to wave to Agatha and
Bertie before the house too disappeared from view and she had
little choice but to sit back against the seat with a sigh. Her
eyes met and held Tilly’s over the width of the carriage and she
smiled ruefully at the excitement her maid couldn’t
hide.

“
I would settle back if I were you because we are going to be
here for a long time.”

“
I am so excited mistress, I don’t mind telling you. I have
never been to London before.”

Thea
sighed and studied Rupert, who was trotting alongside the carriage.
She had been to London before; several times in fact but
unfortunately it had never filled her with the same innocent
enthusiasm that made Tilly positively wriggle in her seat. Although
she tried to tell herself that this time it was different; this
time she was the one in control of where she went and what she did,
it did little to quell her disquiet.

Two days
later, the carriage drew to a stop outside John’s Mayfair town
house, Ridings. Thea was stiff, sore and, for the last day and a
half, had wished with all of her might that she had opted to stop
overnight in a coaching inn. She was exhausted, dusty and so
thirsty that she was certain that she could drink a well dry. They
had stopped to change horses numerous times along the way and,
while Thea had taken the luxury of being able to step outside and
stretch her legs, it had done little to ease the gnawing ache the
continual rocking of the carriage had created in her legs, her back
and, well, every part of her.

Throughout it all, Rupert had ridden seemingly undeterred by
the long hours in the hard saddle and, on more than one occasion,
had disappeared from view completely only to reappear as soon as
the carriage had left the coaching inn yard with fresh horses.
Where he had been or what he had been doing she had not been able
to find out because she had barely had the opportunity to exchange
more than a few words with him since they had left Leicestershire.
Even then their conversations had been focused around her
discomfort, the pace they had managed to maintain, and the distance
they had yet to go. He always closed the carriage door on
reassurance that the journey would soon be over and, if she needed
anything, she was to signal to the coachman to stop. She knew that
they were hurrying because of her uncle’s poorly condition but
Rupert’s sense of urgency did nothing to quell the gnawing fear
that he hadn’t been entirely honest about just how ill her uncle
was.

Still,
they were here now. She had never actually seen Ridings because her
uncle had purchased it only a year or so before the carriage
accident and she had never been allowed to pay a visit. Although
she had read about the place her uncle called home from his many
letters, the detailing he had given her had done little to describe
the luxurious splendour of the huge town house that sat amidst a
long row of identical houses in an extremely expensive part of
London.

Thea was
studying the huge façade of the town house when Rupert appeared by
the carriage door. Apart from a thin layer of dust he looked fresh
faced and completely unperturbed by the long distance they had
travelled in such a short space of time. Thea, however, knew that
she must look as weary and bedraggled as she felt. Rupert didn’t
appear to notice though or, if he did, was too much of a gentleman
to say anything. Instead, he handed her down from the coach with
the same gentle consideration he had shown back in
Leicestershire.

Rupert
studied the dark shadows beneath her eyes and bit back a curse. He
wished now that they had stopped at a coaching inn overnight at
least once while they had been travelling. She looked exhausted,
with dark circles beneath her eyes and a wan complexion that was
vaguely alarming. She very fragile as she stepped out of the
carriage that he wanted to sweep her into his arms and carry her
inside. He could only hope that the news was good when they got
there.

He
glanced up and down the street as he escorted Thea up the freshly
swept steps toward the front door. The knocker was missing as he
had instructed, and he was pleased to note that the shutters on the
front face of the house were all closed. Only the gentle waft of
smoke from the chimney pots gave any hint that someone was at
home.

They
were half way up the stairs when Argus opened the door.

“
Good morning, Argus.” Rupert nodded to the efficient butler
as he swept Thea into house. From their position inside the cool
shadows of the entrance hall, he knew that even the most determined
gunman wouldn’t find her as a target and visibly relaxed now that
the first phase of his job was complete.

His eyes
met and held the butler’s in silent enquiry. In deference to Thea’s
presence, he didn’t ask the question in case the news was not good,
however Thea pre-empted him and asked anyway.

“
I am John’s niece, Theadora,” she declared quietly as she
removed her dusty gloves.

“
I am pleased to be able to welcome you to Ridings, Miss
Weatherby. I am your uncle’s butler, Argus.”

“
How is my uncle?” Thea glanced around the entrance hall but
saw very little of the plush splendour. The coachman and Tilly were
busy carrying the trunks and boxes into the hallway, but the noise
didn’t distract her from witnessing the unspoken exchange that
passed between Rupert and Argus.

“
He is doing as well as can be expected, ma’am. He is sleeping
right now but should wake up soon. I have prepared room for you if
you would like to rest and freshen up. I am sure that your uncle
will be delighted you are here.”

“
Oh, I should like to see him now. I don’t mind if he is
asleep, I just need to see him with my own eyes.” Relief washed
over her and she felt some of her initial fears start to ease.
However several doubts still lingered and they were doubts she knew
wouldn’t be assuaged until she actually saw him with her own
eyes.

Rupert
sensed an argument brewing when the butler opened his mouth to put
forward another suggestion, and decided to intervene.

“
Thea, I hate to say this because I know you are worried, but
you are tired and dusty and it is evident that the last couple of
days have been arduous. I promised your uncle that I would bring
you here, but he is going to be distressed if he sees you like you
are now. You need to get something to eat, at least take a short
nap and get rid of this layer of dust. Your uncle is alive and
resting. Please don’t distress him by letting him see you this
way.” He kept his voice low and quiet but the calm assurance
underlying his steady tone was enough to make her glance down and
take a good look at herself.

She
couldn’t argue with him. She looked a fright and, as if to support
Rupert’s argument, her wayward stomach took that moment to rumble
loudly. Colour immediately flooded her cheeks and she coughed
uncomfortably to hide her embarrassment. The male superiority in
the look Rupert gave her made her smile ruefully and turned to look
at Argus, whose face was just a little too blank.