Dangerous Dalliance (21 page)

“He came while you and Fairfield left me tied up in the loft.”

Snoad looked up at me through his lashes. An angry smile quirked at his lips. “That was a vile stunt, Heather, letting me think I had killed you.”

“Much you would care! Will you please take your bird out of here? I want to have my bath.”

He picked Caesar up and held him under one arm, as if he were a book, or a ball. “I’m leaving. I have to send a reply to this message. And afterwards—what shall we tell Mrs. Lovatt?”

“The truth. Now go.”

He seemed much inclined to stay. I shooed him out and closed the door. I had convinced Snoad. Now it was up to him to convince Lord Castlereagh that I was not fodder for the gallows. Before I saw anyone else, I must remove the soil of this night’s misadventures.

The reflection in the mirror showed me a woman who looked as if she had been crawling through mud. My face and pelisse were streaked with grime, and my hair all tumbled loose. One had to wonder why this wreck of humanity was smiling.

I removed my clothes and slid into the tub. The warm water closed over me, but my feet and wrists’ stung where the skin was broken. Soap was a torment to them. I made a hasty bath, and as I toweled myself dry, I chose my gown. I had not the least idea what Snoad had done with the black gown I had been wearing. What hung in my closet were colored gowns, and as I must breach the proprieties, I chose the most attractive of them. A pale rose with rutched skirt and pale green ribbons always elicited praise.

A duke’s son had to be impressed by my toilette when I went belowstairs. Auntie would forgive everything when she learned Snoad’s true identity. And still I did not know his real name, but I was glad it was not Snoad. I did not want to go through life as Mrs. Snoad. Perhaps I would be Lady Kerwood, depending on Snoad’s position in the hierarchy of the Duke of Prescott’s sons.

The sun rose while I had my bath. I had not had my head on a pillow all night, but I was not at all sleepy.

Chapter Eighteen

I was just putting the finishing touches on my coiffure when Auntie burst into my room. “Heather! Is it true?” she demanded. “Snoad is the Duke of Prescott’s son?”

“Oh, he told you. Yes, it is true.”

That was the feature of the whole affair that rode uppermost in her mind. Never mind that I had been embroiled in a wretched affair with a traitor, and nearly lost my life. Never mind that Gracefield was playing an integral part in winning the war. We had been entertaining an eligible peer unawares, and an angel could not have been more welcome.

“I knew from the way he handled the cards that he was no commoner. Did I not say that he was very gentlemanly in his behavior? And to think, we have stuck him up in the attic these two years! I have told Mrs. Gibbons to have the Gold Suite turned out.”

“Fairfield is in the Gold Suite. We cannot chuck him out.”

“Bother! Then it must be the Green Room, but as soon as Fairfield leaves, we shall remove Snoad— Lord Maitland—into the Gold Suite. The eldest son, a marquess,” she added. “He will inherit the dukedom and half a dozen estates. I could not like to quiz him, but surely the Prescotts are top of the trees.”

I was as thrilled as Aunt Lovatt, but not quite so voluble. A maiden dare not crow until she had had an offer. “I would marry you if I were the king of England,” he had said. Surely that was a sort of offer?

“My dear!” she exclaimed as she examined me for fitness to entertain a marquess. “You cannot wear a pink dress. We are in mourning, and Lord Castlereagh is coming. Fairfield has gone to fetch him. Something to do with a message to be sent to Spain. So very exciting. Do you think a green goose for dinner, or would braised hens be better for the fowl dish? No, Cook’s green goose is unexceptionable.”

“My black gown is—torn,” I said. I did not know how much Snoad—I would go on thinking of him as Snoad—had told her, but I doubted she was privy to the entire affair.

“I’ll lend you my black cashmere shawl. I daresay Lord Castlereagh will not even meet you. I have had Smythe’s truckle bed taken out of your father’s study. The gentlemen can have their meeting there. Lord Maitland assures me Lord Castlereagh will not be staying to dinner.” —Auntie had little trouble switching to the preferred name
.
— “Perhaps luncheon, he said. I must rush down to Mrs. Gibbons. Was there ever such a day! And to think I had despaired of getting you bounced off satisfactorily, when Fairfield turned out to be such a disappointment.” Fairfield was now permitted to be the simpleton he was.

She turned and dashed to the door, then turned back. “It all has to do with the pigeons, you see,” she informed me. “Something about war messages sent abroad, but it is a great secret. Not a word to anyone, even the servants. Imagine, those stupid birds being such a blessing in disguise.” An echo of delighted laughter hung on the air after she left.

I soon followed her downstairs. I felt self-conscious, and shy of meeting Snoad. I wondered how he would behave. I need not have worried. He wasn’t there. Bunny was. Mrs. Gibbons had endeavored to make him presentable. He told me that Snoad had ridden out to meet Lord Castlereagh.

“I lent him my mount,” he explained. “Mean to say, since our lives depend on him. I thought it best to butter him up any way I could. Seemed very civil, considering.”

“I believe I have convinced him of the truth, Bunny.”

“He believes you.
You’re
a woman. He half suspects I was in league with Depew. Told him about the prince’s buttons. Said Depew had to turn ‘em in. Either stole someone else’s, or had a set forged. I noticed he didn’t dare wear ‘em but the once, to fool us. What was a man to think? Prince’s own buttons.”

“Where is Depew?”

“Arrested yesterday in Atherton. Followed Snoad and Fairfield. Explains why he didn’t want my escort. Hid behind a tree and took a couple of shots at ‘em. Fairfield winged him. They caught him, and turned him in. He fed Snoad a load of rubbish that we was in on the whole thing. Spiteful wretch! Been thinking—you remember how excited Depew was at Brighton when he heard your father’s body came from London? He must have figured the Horse Guards did it. Was worried they’d learn something.”

“Yes, and we know now why he did not want us listening at doors, too—in case we learned the truth.”

“Can’t count on Depew to back us up. There’s always America. I ought to go home and pack, just in case.”

“I’m sure it will be all right.”

“I’m not. Not by a jugful. Soon as Snoad brings back my mount, I’ll scramble off home. You’ll let me know how it turns out? A note in the blasted pine ...” he added, with a wan smile at our folly. “It was a nice adventure, wasn’t it, Heather?”

“A lovely adventure.”

We discussed it a little longer, until we heard the sound of a carriage heralding Lord Castlereagh’s arrival. Bunny went and hid in the cellar, in case he might be arrested. I felt Kerwood had gone to meet Castlereagh to save us that gentleman’s ill humor when the truth was revealed. I could only assume he had done his job uncommonly well.

Lord Castlereagh was charm personified. Instead of menaces and manacles, he came in with smiles and compliments. The likenesses I had seen of him did not begin to do the man justice. He had such an air of dignity, and such well-tailored jackets, that he quite bowled Auntie over. And such names as dropped from his lips! “The Prince Regent was saying t’other night,” and “As Liverpool mentioned to me in cabinet” were impressive, but it was his non
chalant mention of Princess Caroline and Lady Jersey that put us ladies on the edge of our seats. From his conversation, I cannot think he knew a single commoner. It was all royalty and nobility that he spoke of.

Just before he retired to Papa’s study with Kerwood and Fairfield, he grasped my hand and shook it. “Young Maitland tells me it was you who secured the message from Caesar, Miss Hume. Well done! You have performed an invaluable service for your country.”

“Thank you, milord,” I said in a breathless voice. My eyes flew to Kerwood, standing behind Lord Castlereagh. He smiled and shrugged, as if to say, “All in a day’s work.”

“Mr. Smythe was also helpful,” Kerwood said. “Where is Mr. Smythe, Heather?”

“He—had to step out. He will be back presently.”

I sent off to the cellar to tell him the coast was clear. He was very much relieved to hear the news. “Any chance of that baronetcy?” he asked, flying from despair to foolish optimism.

“For that, you will have to volunteer your continuing services.”

“Believe I’ll pass. A nice little adventure, but I wouldn’t care for a steady diet of being tied up and beaten.”

Lord Castlereagh honored us by remaining for luncheon, and praising everything on the table to the skies. Yet I was not disappointed when he said he was afraid he would have to eat and run. Urgent matters awaited him at Whitehall. He got me aside again and said, “I do not like to impose on your good nature
,
Miss Hume, but would it be possible to continue using Gracefleld as a relay point until Maitland can arrange another spot?”

It took me a moment to realize that Maitland was Snoad. And he was planning to leave! “You are welcome to use it as long as necessary, milord,” I assured him. “Indeed I cannot imagine why you would want to change relay points, when everything is in operation here.”

“I own that was what I hoped you would say,” he replied, with a triumphant look in Kerwood’s direction. “Your father, I feel, would want it so. A brave man. His death was a tragedy that was strongly felt at Whitehall. He would be proud of you.”

Then he bowed, and went to say a few parting words to Mrs. Lovatt and Bunny. Fairfield was to follow him to London. Kerwood accompanied them out to their carriages. When he returned, he said he had business to attend to in the loft. His eyes moved to mine. I read, or imagined, that he wished me to accompany him.

“I’ll be toddling along,” Bunny said. “Mama will want to hear all about Lord Castlereagh. Is it all right to mention he was here? I know the rest of it is a great secret.”

Kerwood accompanied him to the door, talking intently as they went. I assumed he was warning Bunny that he could not betray a word of what he had witnessed. Whether the servants would be similarly mute was another matter. There had been no bones about calling Lord Castlereagh by an assumed name, or pretending he was just a passing friend or relative.

“Would you care to join me for a few moments in the loft, Heather?” Kerwood asked when he returned.

No frown creased my chaperone’s brow. Her face was wreathed in encouraging smiles.

“Yes indeed,” I said at once. “I shall take more interest in Papa’s work in future. Perhaps I can lend you a hand with the pigeons from time to time.”

Kerwood offered his arm, and we moved to the staircase. While we were still within Auntie’s earshot, he spoke most discreetly. “That would be very kind of you. There are times when I would welcome a little break.”

As we mounted higher, the words took a more indecorous turn. “Or even a little company. It is lonesome up there, alone in the clouds. I cannot think of anyone whose company I would enjoy more.”

“We shall assign you whatever help you require. Another footman could easily be spared.”

“A footman is not what I meant, wretch,” he said, pinching my arm.

We reached the loft, and he held the door for me. “Alone at last!” he said. As soon as the door was closed, he pulled me into his arms. “I thought Castlereagh would hang on forever.”

His lips found mine and we embraced, up in the clouds, with the pigeons cooing in approval. I had feared that the embrace would have lost some of its charm, now that Snoad was Maitland, and perfectly respectable. That thrill of the forbidden would be gone, is what I mean. That particular aura was indeed missing, but the relief of knowing it was my future husband who assaulted my lips more than compensated for it. Thrills and danger were still there in plentiful supply.

“Let us go out on the bartizan,” I said. It was a more romantic spot.

The ocean gleamed like tarnished silver in the distance, and the breeze carried the tang of the sea. We took one look at the view, then came together again. As naturally as breathing, his arms enfolded me, and I put my arms around him. It seemed both natural and miraculous all at once, that I should be there with Snoad.

“What’s your name?” I asked, and laughed at the absurdity of not knowing.

“Kerwood. I knew Fairfield would blurt it out, so decided to call myself Kerwood, as I had never been called by any Christian name here. Fairfield had been at Branksome Hall a few times. He knew I was working here, but was unaware of the alias I had assumed. I didn’t want him to reveal the truth.”

“So that is why you rushed in to establish that you were posing as a servant from Branksome Hall. I thought it uncommonly encroaching of you. Is Kerwood Snoad your name?”

“Milverton is my family name.”

“Kerwood Milverton. Why did you choose a horrid name like Snoad?”

He looked at the scratches on my wrists, and shook his head. Then he lifted my hands and kissed the scratches. “You ought to put something on them,” he said, before answering my question. “Why was I called Snoad? It seemed to suit the person I had to become. Once I met you, I regretted I had chosen such a lowly disguise. I might have been a gentleman scholar instead. It was really up to me. I wanted to be able to correspond with Mama without much difficulty, so I pretended I had worked for her, and that made me a servant.”

“Why not come as yourself?”

“The powers that be feared my presence might elicit curiosity, and gossip. It is well known in some places that my mother and I breed famous homing pigeons. That is why Branksome Hall was considered ineligible as a relay point. A sharp marksman could pick the pigeons out of the sky as they neared home. Your father bred racers, easily converted to homing pigeons without anyone being the wiser. We made a point to continue racing some birds. If Lord Maitland had suddenly moved in, however, it would not have been long before the real reason for my being here seeped out.”