The Battling Bluestocking (7 page)

“He works in one of my father’s mines, ma’am, and he is displeased with the conditions there. He accosted me here on the road in hopes of using me to convince my father to effect changes at the mine.” Her voice was cultured and gentle, but the sound of it seemed to exacerbate the miner’s temper.

He gave her a shake. “What’s between us is between us, missy, so you shut yer yap, and jest be lettin’ these folks move on by.”

Jessica stepped forward to interfere, her attention so focused upon the pair in the roadway that she quite failed to hear approaching hoofbeats. The sound of the quiet voice behind her arrested her midstep, however.

“Take nothing from that muff except your hand, my girl,” Sir Brian warned her sternly.

T
AKING A DEEP BREATH
to steady her nerves, Jessica turned to see that both Sir Brian and Andrew Liskeard had ridden up behind the coach. Sir Brian dismounted and handed his reins to his nephew without taking his eyes from Jessica.

“Good day to you, sir,” she said. “Our coach could not pass, so I got down to see if there was some difficulty, and discovered this fellow browbeating that young lady.”

“’Ere now,” protested the burly miner, “this b’ain’t no affair o’ yourn. Jest git on about yer business ’n leave me t’ mine.”

Jessica whirled on him. “You have no business to accost this lady, my good man. If you have a grievance, there are surely more proper ways by which you can make it known.”

“Now, lookee ’ere, me fine lady, ye’ve no right t’ go puttin’ yer nose inta other folks’ affairs, so unless—”

“Hayle, isn’t it?” interposed Sir Brian quietly.

The miner snapped around, lifting his fists. “Aye, ’n what if it is? Ye’d best keep yer nose clean, too, me fine gent, ’er I’ll gi’e ye pepper.”

Sir Brian stepped in front of Jessica. “I shouldn’t attempt it if I were you.” His voice was very soft, but whether it was as a result of his words or something in his attitude, the burly man dropped his fists and adopted a sulky expression. After a brief silence Sir Brian continued calmly, “I thought I’d recognized you. A good many of my men have a high regard for your judgment, Hayle. If there is a problem at St. Erth mines, I’m certain Sir Warren will listen to anything you have to say to the purpose, but not if you inconvenience his daughter.”

The calm tone had its effect, though the miner remained truculent. “Fac’ is, ’e don’t listen. Mine’s unsafe, ’n ’e knows it. Thought maybe Miss Janet ’ere could make ’im listen if she unnerstood the trouble. Didn’t mean t’ frighten t’ lass.”

Stepping forward impulsively, Jessica opened her mouth to protest that it had looked very much to her as though the man’s primary purpose had been to frighten the wits out of the girl, but Sir Brian’s firm hand upon her shoulder silenced her even before he spoke.

“I’m certain you had no such intention,” he said, still in that calm tone. “But you did frighten her, nevertheless. If you feel that you cannot get a fair hearing at St. Erth, come and talk to me. You’ll find me at Shaldon Park nearly any evening until I leave for London. If you can convince me that a problem truly exists, I will speak to Sir Warren for you.”

The miner regarded him searchingly for a long moment. Then he grunted, “Fair enow. I’ll come, right soon.” With that, to Jessica’s amazement, he turned on his heel and strode away.

Young Janet ran up to Sir Brian and took his hand, squeezing it. “Oh, thank you, sir. I cannot tell you how that man frightened me.”

“Then perhaps you might tell me how it comes about that you are wandering upon a public road unattended, Miss St. Erth.” His tone was stern now, and she looked up at him, her soft pink lips forming an O.

“I…I have been visiting a friend near Mousehole,” she said hesitantly. “My maid was to have come with me, but she had the toothache and was feeling poorly, so I left her at home. I do not ride, you see, but it is not a long walk. I never thought…” Her voice faded away entirely when Sir Brian’s expression did not soften. “Must you tell Papa?” she asked in a small voice, her eyes very wide. “He will be in such a taking, for he is very strict about that sort of thing, you know.”

Sir Brian appeared to consider the matter for a moment or two, while young Janet regarded him anxiously. At last the firm line of his lips softened. “I think you have learned a good lesson from this incident,” he said then, “so if you do not care to mention the incident to your father, I see no reason why I should do so.”

“Oh, no, I shall say nothing at all!”

“Excellent. Then my nephew and I shall see you safely home. You know Mr. Liskeard, I trust?”

She blushed rosily and cast a shy glance toward Andrew, still sitting astride Sailor. “Oh, yes,” she said.

“Good. Andrew, take her up before you and start toward St. Erth’s. I shall overtake you in a few moments.”

Andrew agreed with alacrity, and a few moments later Sir Brian drew Jessica a little away from the coach. “You are lucky I came along when I did,” he said quietly.

“Why?” she asked. “It must always be pleasant to see you, sir, but since I had my sister’s coachman and an armed guard with me, not to mention my pistol, I was scarcely in any danger. I daresay that amongst us all, we should have convinced that idiotish man to unhand Miss St. Erth without your assistance.”

“If you had been so foolish as to let that fellow see your pistol, you might have lived to be very sorry for it, my girl,” was the curt response. “I doubt he would have thought much of it, and then what would you have done? Would you have shot him down where he stood?”

Jessica had been enjoying herself. It had not occurred to her that she might have had any difficulty rescuing Janet St. Erth from the miner, but Sir Brian’s question gave her food for thought. It also made her a little uncomfortable. The truth was that she didn’t think she could have shot the miner. Certainly not while Miss St. Erth stood so close to him. She looked up at Sir Brian uncertainly, aware that her knees felt a little weak.

“There was still the guard, sir.”

“True, but the mistake you made was in challenging Hayle in the first place. You attacked him and his actions, instead of trying to discover why he was accosting Miss St. Erth. He was bound to react violently.”

“Well, I could scarcely pass by such a scene, even if they hadn’t been blocking the road.”

“Exactly why I said it was lucky Andrew and I came along.”

The regal arrogance was there again, in both his tone and stance, making Jessica long to slap him. But his nearness was having its usual effect upon her, as well, and the mixture of feelings was confusing. She glared at him.

“I don’t know what you accomplished,” she retorted, “except to delay whatever violence that man is capable of. I would not have let him hurt that poor girl, so you did nothing more in that respect than I’d have done myself. You just led him to believe you might be able to help him. He’ll be angrier than ever when he discovers you’re no more than another mine owner.”

“He knows who I am,” Sir Brian said.

“Well, then he must have seen that he was outnumbered, because I can’t believe he thinks he can get any help from another such as his own master.”

Sir Brian made no further attempt to convince her, merely giving her a straight look that added to her discomfiture before handing her back into the carriage. Then, pausing only long enough pay his respects to Lady Gordon, he mounted his horse and rode off after Andrew and Miss St. Erth. Jessica watched him go, then nearly snapped off poor Lady Gordon’s nose a moment later for remarking that Sir Brian’s arrival had been most timely.

It was not until some time later, when she was safely alone in her own bedchamber, that Jessica allowed herself to consider the episode more objectively. Very few moments of thought were necessary before she came to the conclusion that Sir Brian had indeed defused an explosive situation. Remembering how easily Hayle’s aggressive attitude had fired her own quick temper, she realized that at the very least an undignified shouting match would have arisen from their confrontation. At the worst there might well have been violence. Instead, Sir Brian had managed to effect a peaceful outcome. Of course, there might still be trouble if he could do nothing to help Hayle, but he had at least seen to it that Miss St. Erth would say nothing to her father about being accosted. That had been rather clever of him, she thought.

She had more than one reason to think about Sir Brian in the weeks ahead, for both he and his nephew became frequent visitors at Gordon Hall, and even accepted an occasional invitation to dine, a fact which gratified Lord and Lady Gordon rather more than it pleased Jessica. She had expected to find her first meeting with Sir Brian after the business with Hayle to be a trifle strained, but it was not. Sir Brian was perfectly affable, soon putting her at ease with his charming ways.

Miss Sutton-Drew was rapidly becoming convinced that Sir Brian had indeed determined to fix her interest in himself, and she was wary of him as a result. He certainly did not seem to be the sort of worshipful puppy she had met so often before, nor—which would have been much worse—was he a fool. Still, she had long since convinced herself that she was destined to be a spinster, and she tended to question the motives of anyone who appeared to encourage her in the pursuit of any other course. As a consequence she kept her distance as much as she was able to do so. Nonetheless, she was aware of Sir Brian no matter how many other people were in the room when he was present. He stirred something within her, and she seemed to have no defenses against whatever it was.

She heard nothing further about Miss St. Erth or the man Hayle, and finally, when her curiosity could bear it no longer, she asked Andrew if he knew anything about the matter. He had begun treating Gordon Hall nearly as a second home, just as though he had never had the temerity to hold up his lordship’s carriage, and that afternoon he had come alone, complaining that there was nothing to do at home because his uncle was busy with the assizes. Jessica bore him off to sit upon a stone bench on the windward side of the tall yew hedges, where they could watch the waves roll in on the beach far below, before she put her question to him.

“Oh, Uncle Brian took care of that business,” Andrew replied glibly. “Sir Warren’s got some devilish nipcheese notions, but everything is all right and tight now. I have seen Janet…that is, Miss St. Erth, a time or two since that day, you know, and she tells me Hayle sought her out, once matters were in hand, to apologize for his rudeness.”

“Goodness, that must have surprised her,” Jessica said, smiling vaguely but thinking of Sir Brian, wondering how he had managed to make a man like Sir Warren attend to the dangers of his mine.

“Well, I daresay,” Andrew went on, unaware of her wandering thoughts, “but she is so full of plans for her first Season in London, you know, that she really said very little about it. Isn’t it odd, Miss Sutton-Drew, how girls one once thought of as pests grow up to be rather dashing and pretty?”

“Miss St. Erth is certainly pretty,” Jessica agreed absently.

“Well, I should say so,” he returned with fervor. He then went on to read Jessica a catalog of the girl’s points, much as he might have done for a favorite horse, but she managed to keep her countenance and to pretend to listen with keen interest. It occurred to her that she might well be subjected to many such discussions until Lady St. Erth bore her charming daughter off to London, since Andrew had fallen into the habit of calling at Gordon Hall almost daily. However, within two days an event occurred that put Miss St. Erth straight out of the lad’s head.

Jessica was returning to the house from the stables, having ridden out with her groom for some well-needed exercise, when she heard the quick clatter of hooves on the drive. Turning, she beheld young Mr. Liskeard astride Sailor, balancing what appeared to be a pile of wet laundry across the saddle bow before him. As he drew to a halt beside her, the pile of laundry moved.

“Andrew, what on earth!”

The lad was frowning anxiously. “It’s a lady, Miss Sutton-Drew, a young lady. I discovered her, exhausted, lying all aheap on the beach near the south end of Mount’s Bay. She must have nearly drowned.”

“Merciful heavens. Who is she?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea. I can’t seem to make her understand a word I say to her, and she hasn’t spoken. Where shall I take her, Miss Sutton-Drew? I can’t take her home. We’re all men there. It wouldn’t be proper. I thought perhaps Lady Gordon—”

“Good gracious, Andrew, you should have taken the poor thing to the nearest inn. Bring her inside quickly. We’ve got to get her warmed up before she catches her death.”

With Andrew carrying the stranger, Jessica led the way into the house, directing the housekeeper to show young Mr. Liskeard to a bedchamber where he could deposit his burden and to cause a fire to be kindled there. “Also, you had better find the poor thing some dry clothes, Mrs. Borthwick, and some warm broth, perhaps.”

Just then the young woman stirred in Andrew’s arms and opened her eyes. They were brown, a few shades lighter than her damp hair. Her skin was darkly tanned, and she appeared to be quite slim, though rather full-bosomed. Her lips were full and well-shaped. As she looked around the entryway of Gordon Hall, her eyes seemed to widen with fear and her lips parted to emit a low cry.

“You’re safe,” Andrew said gently.

She gazed up at him, then stared at Jessica, then at plump Mrs. Borthwick, before she began to struggle weakly in Andrew’s arms.

“Be still,” he said. “You are safe.”

She did not seem to understand him at all, and a moment later, in a high-pitched, nearly wailing voice, she spoke rapidly. It was the others’ turn to stare, for the words pouring from her mouth were, to their ears, at any rate, complete gibberish.

Lady Gordon rushed into the hallway from the garden saloon. “What on earth…?” She looked first at Andrew’s burden and then at Jessica.

“I haven’t the faintest notion,” the latter replied. “Andrew found this young woman on the beach. She is wet and cold, so he brought her here, knowing we would help her. Unfortunately she does not appear to be English and does not seem to understand what we say to her.”