A Fine Caprice - A Regency Romance (16 page)

‘Oh! Look at this. I think somebody has been into it.’

His lordship joined her. ‘Now then,’ he said softly, ‘what do we have here?’

‘It might be that they got water from it. I mean, it
is
a well.’

‘There’s a kitchen well in the back garden which is used to draw water. This looks rather like it’s been hidden way, wouldn’t you say?’

She would say, much as she didn’t want to. He was undoubtedly going to open it and then he would undoubtedly want to take a look inside. But of course he’d send
her
down because lords didn’t generally do the mucky stuff
themselves, not
when there was a servant around who would oblige.
And of course a stableboy might reasonably
be
considered both
nimble
and biddable, thereby making her
the perfect choice.

Caprice
was suddenly
back
to wishing she had slipped away that morning to resume a semblance of her old life with Angelique. She might be a most improper lady in a great many ways but
climbing into a well was not a task she was temperamentally inclined towards.

Together, they pushed the cover to one side and peered down into the blackness below.

‘We need a light,’ he decided, leaning forward far too precariously for Caprice’s liking
to stick his head and shoulders
into the shaft
. She had to resist the urge to grab the back of his
jacket,
fingers twitched with the effort to restrain
herself
.

‘Be careful!’

‘There is a ladder.’

Of course there was.
All the
better to terrify her with, for it would suddenly make it imperative that they investigate. ‘We haven’t got a light.’

‘True. Run back to the house and get a lantern.’

‘You won’t go down there until I get it, will you?’ Now that they had unearthed a possible entrance she was worried he’d go ahead and investigate alone.

He straightened and gave her a wicked grin. ‘Do I look like a fool?’

He looked
impossibly handsome, the slight br
eeze ruffling his dark
hair,
grey eyes alight with the wicked gleam of adventure.

‘I’ll go and get a lantern!’ she muttered, turning around abruptly and hurrying back to the house. She didn’t like to think that she was running away from
him
, for that would be ridiculous, not to mention awkward.
He doesn’t know you’re a woman, Caprice. And he must never know…
For she could just imagine how shocked he would be and she didn
’t want to incur his disapprobation
. Having spent one and twenty years not really giving a fig what others thought of her, Caprice suddenly found that she was reluctant
to be judged harshly by Lord
Cassius
Merridew. Best she spend a day or two helping him then be on her way. She sensed that spending time in Lord Merridew’s company would not be good for her emotional wellbeing.

No; she would need to keep her distance from this man, she decided. Keep her distance, wait a day or two and disappear
. Back to the predictable security of a lady’s life and the refuge it offered
. More and more, it
appeared
Caprice would be seeking
a refuge
and this time, it wasn’t just unpleasant suitors she would be hiding from.

This time, she might very well be hiding from herself.

Chapter Six

Hurrying around to the back door, s
he went to the kitchen and seized
a lantern from the
end of the kitchen
bench.
Opening the range, which was burning briskly now, she took the glass shade off and found a twig to light and ignited the wick. Replacing the shade and shutting the range up once more, s
he was halfway out the door when a cold, hard voice stopped her.

‘Who are you and where are you going with that?’

Caprice skated to a stop and turned around. A short man with a red face stood in the doorway, scowling at her
. Now who on earth is
this
?
‘Excuse me?’

‘That lantern; where are you taking it?’

His imperious tone made her bristle instinctively and she immediately took a dislike to that ruddy face with its supercilious expression. Her chin went up
, eyes narrowing as she regarded him
. ‘And you are, sir?’

‘I am Mr. Ravener’s valet,’ he snapped, ‘and I will abide no insolence from you, boy.’

Ah.
The
nefarious Mr. Ravener
’s servant
.
If he was a spy then it stood to reason his valet would be in on it too. She could well believe it for the man had a secretive air about him.
Although that could just be her imagination.
‘I am in the employ of Lord Merridew,’ she informed him stiffly.

‘Is that so? And why would Lord Merridew want a lantern?’

‘That is not for me say,’ she returned smartly before turning on her heel and heading back outdoors.
She might be
willing to be ordered about by his lordship – under the circumstances, that was unavoidable – but she would not be answerable to a pompous little toad of a man who clearly thought far too much of himself.

As she had feared would be the case, Lord Merridew had managed to get himself into the shaft of the well, although only half in as he was visible from the waist up. Her heart immediately jumped into her mouth and she ran the last twenty steps.

‘What are you
doing
?’

‘Testing the strength of this ladder.’ He went so far as to bounce up and down.

She gasped.
‘Don’t do that! What if it
’
s
unsafe?’

‘That is why I’m holding on to the
side,’ he pointed out
.

He might be holding on t
o the side but how
safe would that
be if that ladder decided to give way? Which it
very well
might.
Who could say how long it had been there? It was probably rusted through.
‘I brought the lantern. Perhaps you should come up now.
We can lower it on a piece of rope.’

‘We don’t need rope.’ He took the lantern off her and
descended a step
.

‘What are you doing?’ she squeaked.

‘Taking a look.’

‘But -’

‘I think there is some kind of entrance down here,’ he said, voice sounding a little hollow as he went deeper into the narrow shaft.

Caprice closed her eyes, took a deep breath and gathered herself together. Then she moved forward and peered over tentatively. ‘How far is it to the bottom?’

‘Not that far.
Perhaps twenty feet or so.
Do you know… there’s definitely something here.’ Caprice watched him rap his knuckles on something. The knocking sounded hollow and, despite her apprehension, she felt a tickle of excitement.

‘What is it?’

‘A door.
Wait a moment…’ Swapping the lantern into his left hand, he
fumbled with something and, after a moment, there came a grating sound
, wood on stone
. ‘It is a door. And a well us
ed one for these hinges have been
oiled. I’ll be damned.’

‘But why would anybody want to have a door in a well?’ Caprice demanded. ‘I mean, one can hardly smuggle brandy into a
well
.’ Apart from anything else, it would be extremely awkward.

‘This ladder keeps
going. I daresay they kept boxes
down below.’

‘In the water?’

‘There isn’t much water, I’d say. In fact, I can’t see any.’

‘Oh.’ Caprice wondered if that improved the current situation and decided that it did, rather. The idea of cold, dark water lying at the bottom of the shaft made her shudder. ‘How big is the door?’

‘Big enough for a man to crawl through without much effort and you’ll have no trouble. Down you come.’

Caprice paused, moistening her lips. She had rather hoped that, as he was already down the well, that he wouldn’t insist she join him. But it was not to be. Instead he wanted her to climb along a narrow tunnel. ‘Will the ladder hold us both?’ she asked, trying n
ot to sound too feeble. Most
young lad
s
would probably consider
this a wonderful adventure. They
’d be down that ladder in a flash.

‘
It’s
fine
.
Come along.
I need
an extra pair of hands.’

Did they really have to be
her
hands
? How unfortunate… Talking a gulp of air she sat on the side of the well and swung her legs around.
Before she set her feet on the rungs she
paused
for a moment, admiring the sunlight
, which suddenly seemed extraordinarily
attractive ten minutes earlier
. But that had been before she had realized she would have to perform feats of daring. Which could not be put off forever…
Caprice glanced down at the expectant, quizzical face below
– ev
en now, under such unfortunate
circumstances she had to admit it to be very appealing -
and wondered how in the world she was ever going to get her reluctant feet on to that ladder.
Just imagine that this isn’t a well
, she urged herself, turning around
and rev
ersing over the lip
cautiously
, boots looking for the second rung down. Just imagine that it belongs in that tree house you had when you were a child.
There was a ladder on that and you were up and down it
like a monkey without a care
in the world. And even in the tree house or when you were climbing heedlessly in the surrounding branches, you never once thought you would fall and hurtle to your doom.

But I was young and heedless back then. And it was a tree, not a ghastly well
…

A hand seized her ankle and she gave a peep of shock.

‘Steady on,’ he cautioned. ‘You
’
r
e
about to stand on my face.’

She came to a stop, turning to look down at him. ‘What am I supposed to do?’

‘Climb into that hole.’

Caprice turned her head and stared at the hole, which she had somehow missed
as she was descending,
being rather too focused on putting one foot beneath the other. ‘In
there
?’ she said doubtfully. It looked damp and dark and singularly uninviting, very much like the
well she was currently in, if somewhat smaller and less prepossessing.

‘Of course.
Don’t you want to see where it goes?’

Did she? Under the circumstances she thought that she would have preferred to learn about that uninviting tunnels destination over dinner one night as an amusing anecdote so popular with middle-aged men who liked to boast of imaginary exploits. This was all far too real.

She sighed, and stuck her head into the entrance. It was more than big enough for her. In fact, in would easily accommodate his lordship’s broad shouldered body and a small niggle of curiosity returned. The rounded walls had been neatly constructed of m
itred brick, each fitting expertly
to
ge
ther in a manner that suggested a skilful brick-layer had been employed. Somebody had gone to a great deal of trouble to gain acces
s into the well along with
providing a route into the garden should it be needed. It was a little intriguing, she had to admit.

Pulling herself into the tunnel was harder than it looked and she gave another startled squeak of surprise when a firm hand landed on her rump to boost her
forward
.
His unexpected assistance made her flush – for his hand had felt almost indecently warm through the material of her breeches – and she was glad that she was facing the other way.

‘Are you in? Yes? Then wriggle forward a bit and I’ll pass you the lantern.’

She obeyed, trying to regain her composure. There had been nothing improper about the casual help he had rendered, it was just that she was n
ot used to being touched so…
intimately. Strangely, she could still feel the imprint of his hand against her behind, a memory that lingered far longer than it should. Caprice took the lantern from him and wriggled even further back when it became obvious that he was joining her.