Amanda Scott (18 page)

With an air of great dignity Lord North turned his attention to the removal of a tiny insect from the downy tip of one flight feather, and Adriana, seeing him thus occupied, forbore to burden him further with her problems and politely bade him good day. Descending to the gatehouse entrance, she decided to stroll through the rose garden while she continued her reflections, but when she emerged from the chilly passageway into the warmth of the quadrangle, the first person she laid eyes upon was the young footman, Jacob, striding rapidly in the direction of the marsh gate. The sight of him startled her, for the quadrangle had been deserted earlier and she had not expected to see anyone, and her surprise triggered an idea that flashed into her mind with such speed and force that she gasped at its brilliance.

“Jacob,” she called before further reflection might swerve her from her daring and thoroughly outrageous plan.

The young man stopped and turned. “M’lady? I didn’t see ye there in the passage. I’m sorry if—”

“Never mind that, Jacob. Come here. I want to discuss a matter with you, and I have no desire to shout it to the world.”

Flushing slightly, the lad hurried back to her. “Aye, m’lady. How may I serve ye?”

“I want you to talk to Wittersham for me, Jacob. I have decided to go to Brighton, and since these rumors have started … You know the ones I mean?” When he nodded, she went on quickly, “Well, since there is fear of meeting with violence on the roads, I wish to travel by water. Indeed, to put the matter with no bark on it, I have decided that it will suit me very well, if you or Wittersham can arrange it, to sail aboard a smuggler’s ship.”

Young Jacob was clearly appalled. “M’lady, I couldn’t and Mr. Wittersham wouldn’t! I don’t mean to be impertinent, ma’am, truly, but the men would never allow such a thing. Why, they don’t even travel by daylight.”

“All the better, for I am persuaded his lordship would mislike my traveling by such a means, so I shall have to leave by dark, while he is still sleeping.”

“Well, they won’t do it,” said Jacob. “It would be worth my life to ask ’em.”

“Nonsense, I am certain that you are very valuable to them and that Wittersham is even more valuable.” She paused, giving him a direct look. “Did you not tell me his lordship knows nothing of your activities, Jacob?”

“Aye, m’lady, that I did, and you promised you’d keep mum.”

“So I did,” Adriana said thoughtfully, “and I should be most reluctant to break my word to you, but I am determined upon this course, you see, so I fear that if you and the others were to prove intractable, I should be forced …” She let the pause speak for itself.

Jacob paled. “I could not assist you to defy the master, m’lady. I could not.”

“I am not asking you to do such a thing,” said Adriana firmly. “Not precisely, in any event. He has never said I may not arrange to visit Brighton on my own, you know. He has only given orders that I am not to leave the castle walls without an armed escort. Surely any escort I might have on a free trader’s vessel would be well-armed indeed. You wouldn’t wish to deny me an exciting adventure, and surely, Jacob, you don’t believe the Gentlemen would harm me, do you?” She regarded him anxiously.

“Our lads wouldn’t, but like as not,” Jacob said shrewdly, “if master approved, he’d send ye to Brighton on the
Sea Dragon.
”

Adriana had to exert firm control over her temper when more than anything she wanted to stamp her foot and shout at him. “Pray do not be provoking, Jacob,” she said with forced calm. “Have I not said time and again that I wish to learn as much as I can learn about the smugglers? I think it is wonderful the way they defy the customs officials. Why, if our foolish government had its say, none but the very rich might drink a simple cup of tea, but thanks to the bravery of you and your compatriots, tea, wine, silks, and laces are all available at a cost that many can afford. Don’t deny me the privilege of sharing a small part of your adventures. I know I would never be allowed to take part in the actual landing of smuggled goods on the transporta—”

“Gawd, no! Lady Chalford, please, ye mustn’t think such things. Not for a moment. Why, wi’ the Sandgate lot on the loose, ye might even be killed.”

Adriana sighed. “I know. So you see, Jacob, you must arrange this little adventure for me. Your friends may be trusted not to harm me and all they need do is to see me safely ashore at Brighton. If you have trouble with Wittersham, simply tell him that I shall find it necessary to report his activities to Lord Chalford if he does not accommodate me in this matter. No doubt you can all afford to live well on the proceeds of smuggling alone; however, if this new gang prevails, that income may prove unobtainable. And no doubt, Chalford, learning of your activities, will do no more than scold you as he did Captain Curry, but the possibility does exist, I’m afraid, that having already had his temper stirred by Curry, he may lose it altogether when he learns how many of you others are involved. And I have a very good idea how many you are, Jacob.”

The footman said reluctantly, “I’ll do what I can, m’lady. No tellin’ when the next opportunity will arise, however.”

“See that it arises soon, Jacob.”

Nodding miserably, he hurried on his way, and Adriana returned to the hall block, reasonably pleased with herself. It was a shame that she had had to threaten to expose the men’s illegal activities to Chalford, but she had seen no other course to follow. Now she hoped merely that they had not, in the short time afforded them, learned enough about her to know that she would never do such a shabby thing.

She did suffer some second thoughts after supper when Joshua, in an effort to make up to her for his failure that morning, invited her to ride with him along the beach. The day was still a magnificent one, and as she galloped beside him, she was exhilarated by the smell of the sea, the cries of the shags and kittiwakes overhead, and the sensation of the wind blowing in her face. When Joshua drew up and turned toward her, laughing, she grinned back, well-pleased with him for his thoughtfulness in arranging the outing.

“We can have a fine view of the sunset over the marsh from up there on that ridge if you are willing to wait fifteen minutes for the pleasure,” he said. “I’ve a blanket tied to my saddle, so we may be comfortable.”

She agreed, and leaving the horses on the shingle, they climbed the steep hillside. Soon they were tucked cozily against one large boulder while a second protected them from the breezes blowing off the water.

Chalford pulled her closer to him, and Adriana leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he said when a golden glow appeared in the sky above the western horizon, beneath the descending sun.

“Wonderful,” she agreed after a brief silence. “There have been clouds nearly every night since I arrived, you know, so I thought the brilliant sunsets were due to them. But there isn’t a cloud in the sky now, and yet there is such color. Look,” she added a moment later, “it’s nearly pink now.”

The sun dipped lower, and the colors above the horizon deepened, growing orange, then red with deep purple streaks slashing through. Adriana sighed with pleasure, watching until the last glow had disappeared, leaving gray sky in its wake.

“We’d best get back,” she said. “It will be dark soon.”

“We have time. The dusk lasts two hours this time of year.”

She glanced around, aware suddenly as she had not been before of their solitary location. “Are we safe here, Joshua? Do you have your pistol?”

“In my saddle holster,” he said. “You needn’t fret, sweetheart. No one will harm me. I’m too well-known hereabouts, and the trouble that would be stirred up afterward would make such a move unwise, no matter who was responsible. Besides, there will be a moon tonight, I believe. The men from Sandgate are no doubt sitting by their firesides, awaiting the darks.”

“The darks?”

“’Tis what they call nights suitable for their activities.”

“Well, if they are in Sandgate on a clear night, Joshua, surely they will be in Sandgate during the daytime, any day, and if you are safe, so must I be, so I do think it would be safe—”

“We have discussed that, Adriana,” he said, smiling as he rose and helped her to her feet. “I am sorry to restrict your activities, but you must let yourself be guided by me in this matter. As soon as it’s safe to do so, you may go riding again without having to depend upon me for an escort.”

“When will that be, Joshua?”

“When I know it is safe,” he repeated firmly.

Though she knew he meant well, the warmth she had been feeling toward him faded with these words. His protective attitude, rather than making her feel cared for, fretted her independent spirit more than jobations from her brother or father had done in the past. Thus it was that despite his continued kindnesses and the warmth she saw in his eyes whenever they came to rest upon her, not to mention the passion that he could stir within her with the lightest of caresses, Adriana’s mind was made up. She awaited Jacob’s summons impatiently. Each time she saw him, she hoped he would make some sign or other, but it was not until the following Tuesday afternoon that he did so.

She was curled up in a large chair in Chalford’s library, perusing an account in the
Times
of the match at the Lewes races between Mr. Boyce’s Bobtail and Mr. Mellish’s Lady Brough. The races had taken place the previous Friday and Saturday, but the paper was delivered a day late at Thunderhill.

Jacob entered the library, looked quickly around to assure himself that she was alone, and then, in hushed but nonetheless urgent tones, said quickly, “T’night, m’lady.”

Flinging the newspaper aside, she leaned forward excitedly. “What time? And where shall I meet the boat?”

“Wittersham says I’m to meet ye in the hall at three ’n’ bring ye to beach.” He eyed her skeptically. “He says ye’ll ha’ to climb the line—the ladder, that be—’cause ’twill be too dark to trust ye to come to no harm in a bosun’s chair.”

“I can do it,” she assured him. Then, bethinking herself of one small detail, she added more diffidently, “That is, I can if someone else will see to my bandboxes.”

“Aye, Wittersham said there’d be one or two, like as not, but he said to warn ye not to fill the boat wi’ baggage.”

She chuckled. “Never fear, Jacob. I am perhaps a trifle eccentric, but I am not a fool.”

Jacob looked nervously over his shoulder at some imagined sound. “M’lady, be you sure you want this? Master’s bound to find out, and like as not he’ll be fit to knock heads when he do. There’ll be the devil to pay then and no pitch hot.”

“Well, he won’t knock your head, Jacob, so you needn’t fear it, and he never gets angry with me. Since he won’t know for certain who helped me, all will be well if you just keep a blank look on your face if anyone asks questions. He can scarcely rail at the free traders, after all, if he doesn’t know them. I shall leave a message saying I have arranged transport to Brighton and tell him not to trouble his head about me. That should suffice.”

Jacob still looked skeptical, but it was not his place to argue with her, and when he had gone, Adriana had all she could do to contain her soul in patience through the rest of the day. She managed to pack two small bandboxes without arousing anyone’s curiosity, and though she regretted the fact that she could not take an assortment of her best gowns with her, she cheered at the thought that she could buy what she needed in Brighton. That reminded her, too, of the money in the carved box by her bed. Counting it, she decided she might have to hang on Sarah’s sleeve before her sojourn was done, but Sarah wouldn’t mind.

That evening, after the aunts had retired, she played cribbage with Joshua at a parquetry table in front of the fire in the library. When she pegged out ahead of him for the second time, he grinned at her. “Happy, sweetheart? You have been looking like a cat at a cream pot all evening.”

“Why, sir,” she said, meeting his look limpidly, “I am always happy when I win. You owe me two guineas now.”

“Must I pay at once or will you have another game?”

“What time is it?”

He drew his watch from its pocket and opened it. “Nearly eleven. I suppose we ought to go to bed.”

“It doesn’t really matter,” she assured him. “We can play another round or two if you like.”

He reached across the table to pull one of her curls. “You may play sluggard in the morning if you like, my lady. There is no particular reason for you to get up early. But I am master of this place and thus must arise with the birds. Come to bed.”

She had hoped to keep him up longer, for she knew she would do better to stay awake until it was time to leave than to try to waken herself at such an hour, but she had no wish to draw his scrutiny by behaving differently. Bad enough that he had thought her high spirits worthy of comment. She needn’t worry, however. There were other ways to see that he didn’t sleep too soon.

Indeed, it was nearly one before Joshua fell asleep, and Adriana herself was so relaxed by then that it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. At last, certain that if she remained in bed she would fall asleep, she got up and moved to sit by the window. Knowing from experience that Joshua slept deeply, she did not fear to waken him when she opened the window a crack to let in enough chilly night air to blow the drowsiness away or even when she tiptoed into her room and back, to fetch her watch. She was glad that the night was dark, that the stars and moon were hidden away behind a layer of clouds. Were there moonlight, Jacob had warned her the ship would not come. Surely it was dark enough. She could scarcely see the tiny hands on her watch.

At last, however, it was time to dress. Leaving her carefully written note on the chair and hurrying to her dressing room, she donned her traveling dress, Lady Adelaide’s hooded cloak, and Chalford’s cast-off boots. Then, pulling her bandboxes from under her bed, where they had been hidden from sight by the bed curtains, she carried them down the stairs, through the dining room, to the hall. The rooms through which she passed seemed larger and more mysterious in the dark, but she dared not light a candle. For one thing, she would have been hard-pressed to carry one without losing her boxes. For another, she feared, however nonsensically, to waken someone with the light.