Lady Star (3 page)

Star braced herself as she reached the main
courtyard, nimbly jumped off and made her way to the back of the
inn. She found there a stone courtyard, only dimly lit with one
torch.
Perfect
, she thought. The more I stay to the shadows,
the better my chance of doing the deed with no one the wiser.

 She tethered her horse to the hitching
post and looked around. The livery boys worked the front courtyard
and for the time being, she had gone undetected.
Zounds!
She
thought,
so far Vern, it appears, that we are safe.

She stood beneath the shelter of the wide
roofed portico, the door latch in her hand and took a long gulp of
air when a sound at her back startled her and she turned to find a
grinning and grimy urchin looking up at her.

“Did ye not hear me, sir? Would ye be wanting
yer horse stabled then?”

“No, thank you,” she said in the deepest
voice she could manage as she threw him a coin she could ill afford
to part with. “I’ll be but a moment and would like to keep him
here…right here.”

“Aye then,” the lad said pleased enough to
have the coin he held up to the light.

Star swallowed again and entered the busy inn
from its back entrance and stood unsure where to go next.

This is dreadful
, she thought. She
looked around and saw that the corridor led toward many rooms with
wide archways. She could hear from the raucous laughter and the
squeals of some of the barmaids that everyone was already having a
very good time.

This was no place for her, but curiosity
nipped at her. Disguised as a lad, she could take a look and see
just what went on in the middle of the night at such a place.

She peeked into the first galley. In spite of
the fact that she had heard tales of what went on late at night in
such establishments, she had never witnessed it first hand. She
watched as a large gruff man grabbed a buxom lady and sat her on
his lap. They laughed, threw down their drinks and kissed with
vigor.

Star couldn’t take her eyes off the young
couple. When the man stuffed his large hand into the bodice of the
woman’s gown, Star was struck by the sure stirring she experienced.
In spite of the fact that she told herself this was all very
wickedly outrageous and that she must not watch such things, she
was all too fascinated to do anything but watch. She simply
couldn’t tear her eyes away from them as they engaged in what she
and her friends always talked about in secret—
lusty
romance.

“You are too young for that and too young to
be here,” said a deep male voice at her back.

Startled she spun around before she could
think better of it and thanked providence that her hood was pulled
low over her wool capped head. She stared into a pair of bright,
slightly amused eyes and decided the only thing she could do was
say nothing, so she shrugged and did just that.

“What are you doing here, lad?” the tall,
very good looking man asked her.

“
Edward…by Jove…
it
is
you! I
thought it was,” said a man Star knew very well, very well
indeed.

“Jules!” exclaimed the man Jules had called
Edward, as he turned and found himself heartily embraced and then
slapped on the shoulder.

Star made her escape and breathed a sigh of
relief that Jules Stamford had not noticed her. Her disguise would
not have held up to
his
scrutiny, of that she was sure.

She poked her head into another chamber and
found a room full with men seated at round tables, some playing
cards while others were deep in conversation.

How was she going to pick out Farley? Yes, to
be sure, Vern had said he had a very distinctive scar across his
nose.

 “Well, come on in then, lad,” chirped a
young barmaid as she sauntered past him and into the wide galley.
She had a touch of an Irish brogue in her voice and an interesting
sway as she moved. Star watched her, interested because all the men
seemed to find her beautiful and called out affectionate terms to
her as she passed.

The Irish girl stopped and turned back to her
and said, “Well, ain’t ye coming, then?”

Star again used as low and as gruff a voice
as she could muster and asked, “Aye then, can you tell me if Farley
is here?”

The serving girl put a hand to her hip and
said, “Don’t ye have eyes in yer head? He is sitting right there,
he is.” She indicated a large gruff man with a shock of graying
dark hair seated at a round table with four other men. She turned
away and Star breathed a sigh of relief, as she once again
bolstered herself and took a step toward her objective. She could
see by the cold glint in his eyes that Farley was every bit the
hard man she had imagined.

Determined, Star made her way toward him,
keeping her head low but taking in every detail of Farley and the
men around him. She noted they were all dressed similarly, in what
were once white shirts with billowing sleeves, leather vests, wide
belts and long wool pants. The four men with Farley wore their wool
caps low over their forehead. Farley sported an uncovered head of
hair and a toothless smile as his gaze came up from the table and
found her.

“Well, well, what do we have here, a young
gapeseed?” Farley said with a smile that was neither warm nor
inviting. In fact, Star rather felt hit by the warning in the style
of the man’s curved lips.

This was a man who would just as soon kill
her, as speak with her and she had the immediate urge to turn and
run. She cast her eyes around the table and saw that his men looked
toward her calculatingly and with the sure hint of an implied
threat.

She would have to stand her ground and do
what she had come to do. She simply had no choice. This was for
Vern.

Luckily the light in the room was dim. She
stayed in the shadows. She could see Farley was in no mood to wait
while she got up her courage so she dove right into the heart of
the matter. Her voice was similar to her brothers and if she could
just maintain the lowered gruff voice she had been using, perhaps
all would be well.

“I’m here on behalf of m’cousin Vern, the
Lord of Berkley Grange,” she said and thought she had imitated a
male’s voice tolerably well. She had only detected the smidgeon of
a tremble behind the words.

“Are ye now, moonling?” Farley eyed his men,
“Look lively, we have a young guest,” he said and pulled out a
chair. With his toothless smile, he indicated he wanted her to
sit.

“I won’t be staying long, as I shouldn’t be
here…but his lordship asked me to deliver a message. He said…you
would need to know and that you would understand. I don’t
understand it myself, but his lordship says that I don’t need
to.”

 “Eh, whot’s this?” Farley was no longer
smiling. “Whot message?”

“About your plans for the evening, which I
already advised you, I don’t know anything about, other than my
cousin says, you must be told,” Star said quietly.

“Hell and fire, lad!” Farley was on his feet.
“Whot is that ye say?”

“My cousin says he has information that they
will be waiting for you and you must cancel your plans. Somehow
they got wind of it and that you can’t go forward.”

Farley’s eyes narrowed, “And he knows this as
a fact, does he?”

“Aye, but he wouldn’t tell me more…just what
I already told you,” Star answered thinking if she lowered her
voice any further, it wouldn’t sound real.

“It is a good thing ye don’t know any more
than ye do. See—it wouldn’t be healthy for ye even to remember this
much. Do ye get m’drift, lad?”

“Right, I’ll be going then.”

“No, ye won’t…not just yet,” Farley said as
he reached out and grabbed Star’s wrist.

* * *

Sir Edward and Jules Stamford were friends of
long standing. They had attended school together and had discovered
kindred spirits in one another. They weren’t quite alike in tastes
and aspirations, but in spite of this, found that they had many
things in common. Besides that, they genuinely liked one
another.

In addition to this, they were both
considered to be the very pink of the
haute ton,
and on
every hostess’s list. They both enjoyed Beau Brummell’s fashion
which urged gentlemen to adopt coats of darker colors, strictly
tailored in style, and cravats intricately tied. However, unlike
many of their friends, they chose a Corinthian way of life and were
both very much engaged in sports of one kind or another. Sir Edward
was relieved to find his old friend, for Jules was certainly one he
could trust to hear his tale of woe.

As neither one had ever been romantically
involved to the point of wishing to saddle themselves with a wife,
he knew he would shock Jules with his story. Thus, he was quite
taken aback to discover that Jules had suffered a similar
heartache.

They heard each other’s story in a rather
short span of time and decided that it was a good thing they had
found one another and thus, decided there was only one thing to do
and that was to drink—and drink deep.

At length, Jules put down his glass and
remarked, “I was sure…but in the end, she wouldn’t have me, you
know. She wanted another.”

“Who?” Sir Edward asked intrigued. “Who did
she choose over you?”

“She took Ombersly.”

“Upon my soul!” Sir Edward exclaimed much
astounded by this. “
That old fidget
? Why he has twenty-five
years on her. She will be lucky if he lasts the year.”

“Aye, she told me that she was hoping she
would not have to tolerate him more than a year and then she would
be widowed and rich. She said I should call on her then…or sooner,
if it took my fancy to do so,” Jules shrugged. “Never wanted to
share the spoils of another…not the sort of road I travel.”

Sir Edward’s brows rose. “Well, I didn’t
realize she was such a heartless woman. I am glad you don’t mean to
take her up on her offer. No good can come from someone as
mercenary as that.” Sir Edward leaned onto his elbows and added
grimly, “Know what, Jules? You are better off, I say.”

“I suppose…”

“I am still surprised, for I knew Mary at a
time when…but who would have thought Mary Prendergast and Ombersly?
I never would have thought she would end up quite so cynical,”
Edward said and shook his head.

“I know, Edward. I thought I was…that she
was…”

Edward patted his friend on the shoulder,
“Aye, but I never thought you and she were suited. However, I am
surprised that she led you on like she did. I suppose she wanted
you in the wings in case Ombersly didn’t come up to scratch. Damn,
but they are the most mysterious creatures…” He stared at his
friend, “Never mind all that, tell me what you are doing
rusticating in Rye?” Edward looked at him penetratingly, “Much
better to drown your sorrows in Brighton where the season is lively
enough to force you out of your sorrows.”

“What?” He shook his head, “No, not with the
world ready to point and laugh at me. Made a cake of myself over
the chit. Need to rusticate, so I came here. Have that little place
I inherited some years back. It lies just outside the village. In
fact, I think you and I were there when m’uncle was still alive.
Remember when we were both sent down because we got hold of that
monkey and set it on the headmaster?” Jules chuckled. “We came here
because m’father was visiting with his brother,” He sighed. “Good
times then. You didn’t want to go home and face your father, so you
came here with me. Papa was ever a good-hearted chap,” He sighed
and eyed Sir Edward and grinned.

Edward laughed, “I remember!”

Jules beamed over the memory, “Fond days, but
Edward, what brings you to Rye? You haven’t anyone here…other than
me and you didn’t know I was here.”

“Not for anyone else’s ears ‘ole man. Not
sure I even want to tell
you
,” Edward grimaced.

“You know what? Let’s just be off…go finish
getting bosky at my place, in private.” He looked around. “I’ll go
settle up…be right back and then you can tell me everything, how is
that?”

“Fine, yes.” Sir Edward felt the glumness
again hit him as he watched his friend walk off and then he saw
that young lad he had encountered earlier. He didn’t know what made
him get up and walk toward the lad. Perhaps it was because of the
way the boy carried himself, as though he was…what?
Terrified
? Indeed, that was it. The lad seemed frightened.
Why then was he here alone?

He reached the corridor only to find the boy
no longer there. He shrugged and turned around only to receive a
forceful blow to his middle as that very lad barreled into him. He
put out his hands to steady the boy and wondered again what a young
and obviously innocent lad was doing in such a place. “Ho there,
young sir…” Sir Edward said as a pair of dark eyes flashed at him.
It was absurd but he was immediately struck by the fact that those
eyes were very large, thickly lashed and opened wide with a mixed
expression of irritation and fear.

“Excuse me, so sorry, I went into the wrong
room…looking for the way out you see,” the lad said and broke free
of Edward’s hold.

Thinking that this was the prettiest boy he
had ever seen swaggering about in a heathen smuggler’s inn, Sir
Edward was more interested than he normally would have been. His
gaze moved to the stray hairs of white gold peeping out from the
hat over the boy’s forehead and his mind began racing for now he
was sure this boy though tall for a twelve year old, couldn’t be
more than that.

Apparently the lad immediately noticed his
scrutiny and hurriedly pulled his cap lower over his forehead. A
reluctant grin curved Sir Edward’s lips.
Well, well, the
youth
was out on a lark, no doubt and doesn’t wish to be
recognized
. He couldn’t resist a tease, and stood in the lad’s
path, “Ah, but it is
you
again. Well met, for I had a
question or two I should like to put to you. First, why now are you
in such a hurry? Have you seen enough to satisfy a young man’s
fancy?”