A Christmas Courtship (21 page)

‘Have you any idea at all where he might have gone?’

‘Well, until your arrival, I confess I’d presumed he’d gone to
see Miss Jennings, that being the way of it with engaged couples. As things stand now, however, I fear I have no idea at all. His sister certainly doesn’t know where he is, for she came here…’ The colonel broke off, suddenly remembering that Deborah and Roderick Neville weren’t the only couple he’d believed to be engaged. ‘I say, aren’t you and she…?’

‘We were, sir, but not any longer.’

‘I see.’ The colonel cleared his throat. ‘Well, it was of Neville himself that we were talking, was it not?’

‘Yes. I wish to enlist your help in the business of his arrest.’

‘Enlist my help? But he’ll be back on duty in the morning, and he’ll walk straight into our arms.’

‘I fear it isn’t quite as simple as that. He still believes that a dinner party to which he has been invited is to be held at Amberley Court this evening. Events have moved so swiftly over the past few hours that the fact that it is no longer to take place hasn’t been made known to him. We don’t know where he is today, and so have to presume that he will come to Amberley Court this evening as planned originally. Might I suggest that he should be arrested then?’

The colonel nodded. ‘You’re right, for he’ll be off like a bullet if he gets a whiff of anything’s being up. What do you suggest?’

‘That you and a contingent of men lie in wait for him at the house. If a careful enough trap is laid, we’ll be upon him before he knows it.’

‘Very well. What time do you suggest I put in an appearance?’

‘His invitation stipulated half past seven for eight.’

‘I’ll be there at half past six, to be certain of not encountering him on the way. He’s not renowned for his punctuality, but we don’t want to take any unnecessary chances, do we?’

‘I’ll expect you then, Colonel.’ Sir Edmund turned to the others. ‘There is nothing more to be done here, so I suggest we drive back to Amberley St Mary.’

Jonathan looked quickly at him. ‘Actually, sir, Deborah and I wish to send for a chaise to drive to Eastington House to see her parents. She is anxious that they should know what’s happened. We’ve discussed it, and mean to travel with the blinds down, as we did coming here. If the Jennings carriage could be sent home,
we could then use it to return to Amberley St Mary in time for tonight.’

‘In time for tonight? Do I take it that both you and Miss Jennings intend to be present?’

‘Yes, sir, with your permission.’

‘I hardly think it appropriate for a young lady to be there,
lieutenant
. Coming here in broad daylight is one thing, but not when it’s dark and a trap is being laid for a man’s capture.’

Deborah got up and went to him. ‘Sir Edmund, please let me come,’ she begged. ‘After all that Mr Neville has done to me and to my family, I wish to see his arrest. Please.’ She turned to the colonel. ‘Please, sir, I beg of you, allow me to be there.’

Blanche rose to her feet as well. ‘I would also like to be there,’ she said firmly.

The colonel cleared his throat disapprovingly. ‘Ladies, this will not be a picnic, and it would ill become Sir Edmund and me if we….’

‘Please, sir,’ pleaded Deborah. ‘Miss Amberley and I will do as we’re told, we promise we will.’

The colonel shifted awkwardly. ‘I don’t like the notion of young ladies being present at such a time, but I have to concede that I understand the request. What do you think, Sir Edmund? Should we allow them to be there?’

Sir Edmund hesitated, but then nodded. ‘Yes, Colonel, for their wish is understandable.’

The colonel eyed Blanche and Deborah sternly. ‘Very well, ladies, but you must promise to keep well out of the way.’

The blinds remained lowered as the carriage drove out of the barracks again. The streets of Cheltenham were soon left behind, and Richards brought the team up to a smart pace on the
hard-packed
snow of the road to Gloucester.

Blanche held the blind aside a little, looking out at the snowy countryside. Where was Roderick Neville now? Was it possible that somehow he’d realized he’d been found out and had already fled?

She looked at Sir Edmund. ‘Where do you think he is?’

‘Neville? I have no idea.’

She suddenly thought of seeing Athena’s carriage in the yard of the New Inn. ‘Do you think he could be with Lady Hetherington?’

He seemed to find that vaguely amusing. ‘I doubt that very much.’

‘But her carriage was at the New Inn, and….’

‘And nothing, Blanche. You may take my word for it that Athena’s presence at the New Inn has nothing whatsoever to do with her brother.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘I just know.’

She said nothing more, for his tone was very discouraging. She lowered her gaze, wondering exactly what had happened between him and Athena.

The tower of Gloucester cathedral appeared ahead, rising serenely above the city rooftops, and Sir Edmund looked around the blind at it for a long moment before suddenly speaking to
Blanche again. ‘Blanche, may I ask you a rather personal
question
?’

‘Personal?’

‘Concering your affair with Mortimer.’

She looked away. ‘I’d rather not talk about it.’

‘I know it has nothing to do with me, but I would still like to know exactly why you and Mortimer parted.’

‘It’s in the past, Sir Edmund.’

‘Please, Blanche.’

She hesitated, and then nodded reluctantly. ‘Very well, I’ll tell you. My betrothal to Antony was dependent upon his father’s consent, and if that consent were to be withdrawn, then Antony would either have to relinquish me or be disinherited. It became clear that he had no intention of ever being disinherited, his love wasn’t anywhere near strong enough for that, because the moment the scandal concerning Jonathan began to circulate and his father heard about it, Antony came to me with the ultimatum that either my father and I disowned Jonathan completely, or the betrothal was off. I told Antony that under no circumstances would my father and I spurn Jonathan, and that therefore I considered our affair to be at an end.’ She flushed a little as she remembered the awfulness of that interview. ‘There were
obviously
other things said, Sir Edmund, but that is the bare outline of what happened.’

He was outraged at what he’d learned. ‘Mortimer actually demanded such a thing of you? Has the man any redeeming features at all?’

‘I was blind to his faults, Sir Edmund, and deaf to all the warnings of those around me, including you. I see him clearly enough now, however, more clearly than ever since I heard Deborah’s story today.’

‘Ah, yes, there is that side to him as well, isn’t there?’ murmured Sir Edmund thoughtfully. ‘He and his father have a great deal to answer for, don’t they?’

Blanche hardly heard, for she was looking out of the window again, at the snow and sunshine, at a donkey cart laden with holly to sell in Gloucester, and at a flock of geese being driven toward the yuletide market. ‘Antony and I were hoping to
become betrothed on Christmas Day,’ she said softly,
remembering
the joy she’d experienced in the coachhouse at the Saracen’s Head.

A few minutes later they were driving through the streets of Gloucester, and as they passed the New Inn, Blanche saw around the blind that Athena’s carriage had gone. Glancing swiftly at Sir Edmund, she saw that he wasn’t even looking in that direction. It was as if Athena’s activities were of no concern to him in the slightest.

Once again there was a crush of traffic at the crossroads, and Richards had to rein in. Sir Edmund raised the blind slightly, looking toward the Mortimer residence, and as he did so Antony himself emerged, looking very smart and dashing in a brick-red coat, beige breeches, brown brocade waistcoat, and superbly polished Hessian boots. His top hat was tilted rakishly back on his brown curls, and he was laughing and smiling at the young lady in blue leaning so attentively on his arm. There was
nothing
of the disappointed lover in him, no suggestion of
heartbreak
at the ending of his affair with Blanche; on the contrary, he was the personification of the dashing rakehell, the charming seducer without a care in the world.

‘Well, well,’ murmured Sir Edmund coldly, ‘if it isn’t the fickle-hearted fellow I wish to see.’

The carriage began to move again, and Blanche tore her eyes away from Antony to look at Sir Edmund. ‘Please let it be, Sir Edmund, for….’

‘I have important business with Mr Mortimer, Blanche, very important business indeed.’ He stretched up to rap his knuckles on the roof of the carriage.

It was a signal that Richards knew to mean that he wished the carriage to halt, and a moment later the team had been drawn up at the curbside, a few yards down the street past the crossroads.

Sir Edmund alighted quickly, and Blanche leaned anxiously out. ‘Please, Sir Edmund, I beg of you!’

He turned, his white-gloved hand enclosing hers for a moment. ‘Something has to be done about the nest of Mortimer vipers, and now is as good a time as any.’

He released her and left the carriage, walking swiftly back the
way they’d come to where Antony was standing on the corner with the admiring young lady. Blanche drew back a little, aware that several people she knew had noticed her in Sir Edmund’s carriage, but she was intent upon what was happening at the crossroads.

Sir Edmund approached Antony, who broke off in
mid-sentence
to look at him in surprise. The smile that immediately leapt to his lips faded abruptly at Sir Edmund’s ice-cold manner, and the young lady drew back, her eyes wide and her hands pressed to her cherry lips. Antony shook his head, but Sir Edmund spoke again, indicating the carriage in a gesture that obviously implied his insistence that Antony accompany him. Antony’s face had grown pale, but there was something in Sir Edmund’s manner that warned him it would be wiser to do as requested rather than think of resisting. Without a word to the young lady, who turned and fled back toward the Mortimer house, Antony nodded at Sir Edmund and walked with him toward the waiting carriage.

Blanche drew back inside, feeling very uneasy. What did Sir Edmund have in mind? She didn’t want to speak to Antony, she didn’t even want to see him, but it seemed she was going to have to do both.

The two men reached the carriage, and Sir Edmund indicated the inside. ‘After you, Mortimer.’

Antony saw Blanche, and gave a start. ‘Sir Edmund, I’d prefer….’

‘Plague take your preferences, sir. Get in before I throw you in.’

Without further ado, Antony almost scrambled in, sitting down in the furthest corner he could from Blanche, who kept her eyes averted.

Sir Edmund turned to Richards. ‘Drive on slowly, Richards, and wait for my signal to stop.’

‘Yes, Sir Edmund.’

As Sir Edmund resumed his seat, the carriage pulled away at walking pace. Blanche looked unwillingly toward Antony, wondering if he had known something about Roderick Neville’s scheming against Jonathan after all. Deborah had been sure that
he hadn’t, but all the same … Doubts milled in her head, and she looked away from him again. How could she ever have been so foolish as to think she loved him?

Antony’s unease was almost palpable as he looked
expectantly
at Sir Edmund. ‘What’s all this about, sir?’

‘Your dealings with Miss Amberley have left a lot to be desired, Mortimer, but I’m setting that aside briefly to speak instead about your dealings with Mr Jennings of Eastington House.’

Antony stared at him. ‘Jennings?’

‘I see the name conveys something to you.’

‘He’s a bank customer.’

‘Poor unfortunate that he is.’ Sir Edmund sat forward, his eyes cold and menacing. ‘You and your father have been up to no good, Mortimer, lending your mean assistance to a creature like Neville, and all because your father deludes himself that the Duke of Norfolk will think him a grand choice for parliament.’

Antony said nothing.

Sir Edmund gave a thin smile. ‘Neville was a very costly anchoring ground to choose, Mortimer, as you and your dear papa are about to discover. How much do you know about Neville’s activities?’

‘Know? Nothing.’

‘Come now, sir, don’t be reticent. What do you know?’

Antony swallowed. ‘We-we thought he was after Jennings’s daughter, that’s all.’

Blanche lowered her eyes sadly. There had been a time, so very recently, when she’d have fiercely defended Antony Mortimer against anyone who accused him of such dishonorable conduct.

Sir Edmund looked contemptuously at Antony. ‘So, poor Miss Jennings was to be sacrificed in the furtherance of your father’s political ambitions?’

‘
Poor
Miss Jennings?’ cried Antony incredulously. ‘She’s betrothed to him now, set for a match into money and a title, and she’s upholding him in all this Amberley business! The world and his wife knows that she and Neville are very much together, so I can’t and won’t accept that our actions have harmed her in
any way – in fact, I believe we’ve actually done her a great favor!’

A nerve flickered at Sir Edmund’s temple. ‘Do you, indeed?’ he breathed. ‘The fact that she was forced into that betrothal, forced into aiding and abetting Neville in his lies against the man she really loved, and forced to face a future she dreaded is of no consequence in this?’

Antony stared at him. ‘Forced?’ he repeated hesitantly.

‘Miss Jennings has come out with the truth, Mortimer,
including
your family’s part in it.’

Antony still stared at him. ‘Are-are you telling me that Jonathan Amberley is innocent, and that the whole thing has been concocted against him?’

‘I am, and it was made possible for Neville to do it because you and your despicable father were prepared to be his
creatures
. Without the pressure from you concerning her father’s debts, Miss Jennings would never have fallen into his clutches, and would never have been coerced into turning upon Jonathan Amberley.’

Antony’s lips parted, but he couldn’t speak.

‘Have you nothing more to say, sirrah?’ murmured Sir Edmund.

At last Antony looked at Blanche. ‘You have to believe me, Blanche, I really didn’t know!’

Sir Edmund’s hand closed over his wrist like a vise. ‘Mortimer, you forfeited all right to address Miss Amberley so familiarly when you put your father’s wishes first. Don’t presume to return to that familiarity now.’

Antony’s face was ashen, and he looked at Blanche again. ‘Please, Miss Amberley, believe me when I swear I didn’t know all this. I thought Jonathan was guilty, for I believed all the evidence I’d heard whispered against him.’

‘Don’t say anything more, sir,’ she said coldly, ‘for I despise you enough already, and any word you utter now would only increase that lothing. I bitterly regret knowing you, and hope with all my heart that I will soon completely forget you.’

‘I will never forget you,’ he replied, his eyes urgent.

‘No? Why, sir, was that a ghost I saw draped over your arm a
few minutes ago? A very adoring ghost, from all appearances. Don’t try to fool me yet again, sir, for I know you to be all that is shallow and base.’

He fell silent, a flush of guilt staining his good-looking face.

Sir Edmund sat back. ‘To business, then, Mr Mortimer.’

‘Business?’

‘Why yes, you surely do not imagine that that is the end of it, do you? A rap over the knuckles from me, and off you toddle? I fear that that is not my intention at all, for there are things to be settled.’

‘What things?’

‘Mr Jennings’s debts, to begin with.’

Antony became guarded. ‘That’s my father’s concern, not mine.’

‘Indeed? I’m rather afraid that I’m making it your concern.’

‘Sir Edmund, I can’t….’

‘You’re going to have to, dear boy. You can inform your dear father that unless he wishes the bank’s activities to be broadcast over the entire land, with the subsequent rush of customers to withdraw, he is to wipe Mr Jennings’s slate absolutely clean.’

‘Write debts off?’ gasped Antony, as if he was talking about cutting off a limb.

‘How sharp you are, Mortimer,’ said Sir Edmund softly.

‘It’s out of the question! My father will never….’

‘I think he will, sir, when he reflects upon the consequences of refusing. You see, not only can I see to it that the bank almost certainly has to close, but I can also destroy his parliamentary hopes forever. Believe me, I know all the necessary people to see to it that the name of Mortimer stays in the gutter for a very long time indeed.’

Antony’s tongue passed nervously over his lower lip. ‘Very well, Sir Edmund, I will do what I can.’

‘You’ll do more than that, sir – you’ll succeed. If I don’t hear within a day or so that Mr Jennings has had a Christmas gift beyond his wildest dreams, courtesy of Mortimer’s bank, I will carry out my threat. You and your sire won’t enjoy a happy or prosperous new year, I promise you.’

‘You’ve made your point, sir.’

‘I’ve made one of them,’ replied Sir Edmund, sitting forward again, his blue eyes like ice. ‘Now we come to the matter of your detestable conduct toward Miss Amberley. She requires an abject apology.’

Blanche felt very uncomfortable. ‘Sir Edmund, I’d prefer….’

‘You may be sweet enough to wish to let this maggot off the proverbial hook, but I’m not ready to just yet,’ said Sir Edmund, his gaze still upon Antony. ‘Your apology, sir.’

Antony ran a trembling finger around the stiffened collar of his impeccable shirt. ‘I’m very sorry, Miss Amberley,’ he said.

Sir Edmund gave a weary sigh. ‘Is that the best you can do?’ he asked with mock regret, reaching up to rap his knuckles on the carriage roof again.

Antony’s nervous glance followed his hand, and then moved to his eyes again. ‘I’ve apologized, just as you asked, Sir Edmund.’