Deborah Goes to Dover (6 page)

‘Why, here,’ said William, looking around. ‘Bags of room.’

‘Oh.’ Deborah pleated the skirt of her gown with nervous fingers. Everything was changing so quickly. And there was not much to divert William. The hunting season was over. She could not let him sit and brood about this Clarissa or he would rush off to London and propose to her on the spot and then Clarissa would be the lady of Downs Abbey, prattling about the rooms, boring the very air with her inane remarks. She must think up something to amuse her brother so that he would forget the existence of Miss Carruthers.

‘I like that Miss Pym,’ said Deborah. ‘What a character. I swear that adventures must follow her around. I like hearing her stories. Curst flat here, ain’t it?’

‘You’d best stop talking like that, Deb,’ said William severely. ‘Won’t do for a lady’s
drawing-room.’

‘Oh, as you will,’ said Deborah hurriedly. ‘Tell you what, we’ve never travelled on the stage. Why don’t we pack bags and go down to the Crown and have supper, stay the night and take the stage to Dover in the morning?’

William looked doubtful. ‘You can’t really call on your Clarissa until next week,’ pursued Deborah. ‘I mean you’ll need to warn Aunt Jill of your arrival.’

His face cleared. ‘Capital idea, but just one thing.’

‘What?’

‘Dress like a woman, would you?’

Deborah was about to shout at him that she would dress any way she pleased, but that might mean he would not go and William must be diverted at all costs, lest the terrible Clarissa would soon be in residence.

The Earl of Ashton felt strangely depressed. Usually he was perfectly happy in the evenings with his own company. He found he had a desire to ride back to Downs Abbey but could not think up a logical reason for doing so. He remembered a neighbour, Sir Paul Langford, had house guests and that he had promised he might, just might, call in later, although he had refused an invitation to supper. There would be company, for the Langfords liked to entertain, and noise and music.

On impulse, he ordered his carriage and told his
valet to lay out his evening clothes. Soon he was changed and travelling on his way to the Langfords’.

Sir Paul had a comfortable mansion which was lit from top to bottom when the earl arrived. He hesitated for a moment, suddenly regretting his impulse, but the grooms were already holding his horses’ heads and the butler was standing on the steps to receive him. He could hardly turn about and drive off.

Supper was over and the company were assembled in the music room listening to a lady carolling popular ballads.

He smiled across at Sir Paul and took a chair at the back of the room.

He became aware that a lady close by was studying him. He glanced at her. She caught his eye and smiled slowly, a seductive smile, and he felt his senses quicken. She was of mature years, but quite striking with her large eyes and oiled brown hair dressed in one of the latest Roman fashions. She had an excellent white bosom, most of which was bared, showing half of each nipple, which had been rouged. He wondered who she was and then thought this saucy lady who was throwing him such inviting glances might be the very thing to take the taste of that bewitching kiss from Lady Deborah out of his mouth and out of his mind.

When the concert was over, the guests started to stroll about the rooms. Sir Paul came up to him, and at the same time, there was the lady of the rouged nipples, fanning herself slowly and obviously waiting for an introduction.

‘May I present the Earl of Ashton … Lady Carsey,’ said Sir Paul.

Now where, thought the earl, have I heard that name before?

He bowed over her hand. ‘Did you go to the prize-fight, Ashton?’ asked Sir Paul.

‘Yes,’ said the earl, ‘but we must not discuss prize-fights in front of the ladies.’

‘On the contrary,’ said Lady Carsey. ‘I believe it was quite an event. The famous Randall beaten by an unknown.’

‘A strange fellow,’ said Sir Paul with a laugh. ‘Name of Benjamin Stubbs. Could have made himself a fortune as a fighter, but after he had won he returned like a lamb to his duties as footman to some spinster who is travelling on the stage to Rochester.’

Just as Lady Carsey went very still and her eyes sharpened, the earl realized where he had heard her name before. This then was the dangerous Lady Carsey who had nearly had Benjamin killed.

‘They will all be in Dover by now, I think,’ he said lightly. ‘I mean, the fighter and his mistress.’

‘Oh, no,’ said Sir Paul jovially. ‘Stage was up at Limmers’ for repairs. Leaves in the morning.’

The earl bowed to Lady Carsey and then walked off, nodding to a few acquaintances before he was able to politely take his leave. He must warn Miss Pym that Benjamin’s old tormentor was not only in the vicinity but knew of his whereabouts.

4

Hannah was polishing the furniture in her inn bedchamber as a way of relaxing before going down to supper when there came a knock at the door. She guiltily thrust the duster in her trunk, knowing that a visitor would think it strange in the extreme that any lady would perform a job that inn servants were paid to do – with the exception of Benjamin, who would nonetheless give her a lecture on what a lady should do and should not do.

She opened the door. Abigail Conningham stood there, looking at her nervously. ‘May I beg a word in private with you, Miss Pym?’

Hannah nodded, her eyes gleaming green with curiosity. They sat in chairs on either side of the fireplace. ‘Captain Beltravers suggested I should talk to you,’ said Abigail earnestly to the corner of the mantelshelf.

‘Ah!’

‘You see, I am being taken to my uncle’s in Dover so that I may wed a friend of his, a Mr Clegg.’

‘So I have heard,’ said Hannah, and waited for more.

‘I have been very miserable about it – am
miserable.
But I comforted myself nonetheless by thinking I was doing my duty. Uncle Henry has promised to give Mama money for our upkeep if I wed Mr Clegg. But now we are so very nearly at Dover, I feel quite desperate. I confided as much to Captain Beltravers and he suggested I should talk to you about the matter.’

‘Very proper.’ Hannah folded her hands in her lap. ‘First tell me: is your family in very straitened circumstances?’

‘I believe so, although since Papa died, which was two years ago, Mama has handled the purse-strings. I have eight brothers and sisters, all younger than I. There is Jane, of course. She is nineteen and very beautiful and would not have minded in the slightest had Uncle Henry chosen her for Mr Clegg. She says she longs for an establishment of her own, for she has to share a bedchamber with me and that she does not like. I have tried to talk to Mama about this, but when I do, she cries and calls me selfish and ungrateful. I
am sure I am, for many of my friends have married without a murmur those chosen for them by their parents.’

‘It is kind of Captain Beltravers to interest himself in your predicament,’ said Hannah. ‘He is a fine man.’

‘Oh, yes.’ Abigail’s eyes glowed. ‘I pride myself that I was able to be of help to him.’

‘How so?’

‘He told you of the death of his wife and child?’ Hannah nodded. ‘So I was able to make him realize that he no longer likes being a soldier and should sell out.’

‘He may not be able to,’ said Hannah cautiously.

‘The captain said he was not short of money.’

‘Then why is he only a captain at his age?’ demanded Hannah. ‘In this perfidious age, the higher ranks are there for the buying.’

‘I believe it takes influence as well as money,’ said Abigail wisely. ‘Oh, but much as I long to see the captain happy, I can really only think of myself. What am I to do?’

‘I think,’ said Hannah, ‘that the best thing is for me to call on your uncle when we reach Dover and point out to him that you have a prettier and more willing younger sister. Would that answer?’

Abigail shook her head dismally. ‘I have not seen him for four years or more, but I remember him as being choleric and made even more so if his will is crossed.’

‘I will think of something,’ said Hannah bracingly. ‘I, Hannah Pym, do swear this. You will not have to marry Mr Clegg if I have any say in the matter. Now,
I suggest you should keep as much as possible in the company of Captain Beltravers. The company of a good man is always a useful education for a young girl. Leave it all to me.’

Abigail rose and shyly leaned over and kissed Hannah on the cheek. ‘Thank you,’ she said simply.

Benjamin came into the room just after Abigail had left. ‘We have a difficult task, Benjamin,’ said Hannah when they were alone. ‘By the way, did you pay that gambling debt I heard you had incurred?’

‘Of course, modom. What is this task?’

Hannah succinctly outlined Abigail’s problem.

Benjamin sank into a chair and stretched out his long legs. Hannah frowned. Benjamin, like the good footman he ought to be, should never sit down in her presence, but as he was obviously thinking hard, she decided to ignore the social lapse.

‘Why,’ said Benjamin finally, ‘if I were you, modom, I’d find out the address in London of Miss Abigail and send sister Jane money for the stage to Dover, saying as how she’d be a better wife for old Clegg. If she’s as beautiful as all that, this Clegg should be delighted.’

‘You are a genius,’ cried Hannah. ‘Get me pen and ink and paper. There is an up mail coach due any moment now and I can send it off.’

She busied herself writing, enclosed some paper money, sanded the letter, sealed it and handed it to Benjamin, who ran off with it to catch the mail. Hannah felt a glow of satisfaction. It seemed a long time since she had taken any decisive action.

Hannah went down to supper. The others were already there, Abigail looking suspiciously red about the eyes again and Mrs Conningham sitting between her daughter and the captain and occasionally darting sharp little looks at each.

Before the first course was served, Deborah and William arrived, cheerfully sure of a welcome, and sat down, Deborah saying they had decided it would be no end of a lark to go with the stage to Dover in the morning.

The idea of travelling in such exalted company took Mrs Conningham’s mind away from the captain and her daughter. A loud cheer from outside the inn heralded the arrival of Benjamin. He was very much a hero in the town.

‘What made you decide to go to Dover?’ asked Hannah.

‘We were bored,’ replied William, ‘and besides, I am sure if we stayed, Puritan Ashton would be round to give us a jaw-me-dead.’

‘Lord Ashton did not appear a Puritan to me,’ said Hannah. ‘A Puritan would not encourage a young lady to match him in a horserace, nor would he kiss her.’

‘That was just Ashton’s irritating way of trying to teach Deb a lesson,’ pointed out William, and his sister glowered.

‘Why! Here is the very gentleman,’ said Hannah, looking across the dining-room to see the arrival of the earl. He was dauntingly resplendent in a
single-breasted
coat of black velvet with a ruffled shirt worn
under a richly embroidered satin waistcoat. His knee breeches, also of black velvet, were fastened with gold buckles, as were his shoes, and he wore a dress sword, a large ruby gleaming on the hilt.

He sat down next to Hannah and refused any supper. ‘I came here to warn you,’ he said. Deborah looked disappointed. She had been sure he had come to see her again. ‘Warn us about what?’ asked William.

The earl sighed heavily. ‘Not you. I did not even know you were here. It is to Miss Pym and her servant that I bring my warning. This evening, I visited friends, the Langfords, and there met a certain Lady Carsey.’

‘But you did not tell her I was here!’ cried Hannah.

‘Thanks to Benjamin’s well-talked-about exploits in the prize-ring, I am afraid she knows.’

Benjamin closed his eyes and prayed fervently to the God in whom he only half believed to spare him from that dreadful woman.

‘We cannot go to Dover now,’ said Hannah. ‘She will hire thugs to stop the coach. She will do
something
.’

‘You cannot be frightened of a mere
woman
,’ said William.

‘I am not suggesting Lady Carsey herself is the danger,’ said the earl, ‘but the villains she may hire.’

‘Then instead of going to Dover, we had better go back to London,’ said Hannah.

The earl frowned. ‘You leave a further difficulty. If the coach is attacked, the coachman and guard will be
left alone but not the passengers. Villains are
notorious
fools and may decide that the captain here is Benjamin in disguise and that Mrs Conningham is you, Miss Pym.’ Mrs Conningham let out a faint shriek.

‘So,’ went on the earl, ‘would there be any problem in you all residing with me for a few days until she loses the scent?’

Mrs Conningham forgot about her waiting
brother-in-law,
not to mention her daughter’s suitor. To stay with an earl in his home!

‘I could send an express to Uncle Henry,’ she said eagerly, ‘and tell him of our delay.’

‘And what of you, Captain?’ asked the earl.

‘I was returning to my regiment before I was due,’ said the captain. ‘A few more days will not make any difference to me.’

Abigail was sitting with her hands clasped and her eyes shining, looking as if she had just been reprieved from the scaffold. Hannah was glad that Mrs
Conningham
was obviously too excited and honoured by the earl’s invitation to notice the happiness in her daughter’s face.

‘Well, William and I don’t want to stay with you,’ said Deborah.

The earl smiled at her sweetly. ‘You were not even asked.’

William thought furiously. He felt he was being left out of an adventure. He was disappointed not to be going to Dover after all, for he had just remembered the name and address of an old friend who resided
there. And then he had a marvellous idea and his eyes began to dance. While the earl was talking to the others and saying he would go home and send carriages for them, he whispered to his sister, ‘Get Miss Pym’s tickets for the coach before you leave.’

‘Why?’

‘I have a great plan,’ muttered William. ‘Do it and I promise you the adventure of a lifetime.’

Deborah grinned and the earl looked at the twins suspiciously.

The earl then left to make the arrangements. ‘We had all best go to the booking-office and cancel our tickets,’ said Hannah. William pressed Deborah’s foot with his own under the table. ‘My brother and I have a mind to go to Dover, Miss Pym,’ said Deborah. ‘I will be glad to pay you for your tickets.’

‘My dear Lady Deborah,’ said Hannah, aghast, ‘what if that monstrous woman has hired someone to hold up the coach?’

‘They won’t be looking for us,’ said Deborah with a laugh. ‘After all, does my brother look like a servant?’

‘No. But nonetheless …’

‘Oh, please do, Miss Pym,’ said William, ‘for we are determined to go.’

‘Very well.’ Hannah opened her reticule and took out two tickets. ‘You will need to change Benjamin’s,’ she pointed out. ‘It is an outside ticket. I meant to change it to an inside one, for the lad got a cruel soaking travelling on the roof.’

‘We shall change it.’ Deborah took the tickets and handed them to William.

‘And none of you tell Ashton where we have gone,’ warned Deborah. ‘He is nothing to do with us.’

The captain shrugged in a way that indicated he did not care what they did and gave his promise, followed by Abigail and then her mother, who was only interested in getting to the earl’s home. Hannah demurred for a bit but was overcome by the twins’ protestations that they would be careful.

‘Now what was that all about?’ asked Deborah as she and her brother made their way home.

‘Don’t you see? It’ll be a prime lark.’ William’s eyes glowed in the light from the carriage lamps. ‘You dress in something plain and spinsterish and I will borrow a livery from one of our footmen. Lady Carsey’ll think we’re Miss Pym and Benjamin. We’ll give her such a fright.’

‘But the general opinion appears to be that Lady Carsey will not attack the coach in person,’ said Deborah doubtfully.

‘So?’ demanded William. ‘Two villains? Three? And with us both armed?’

For the first time in her life Deborah began to feel weak and womanly. She had followed William over hill and style and hedge since she could toddle. She had ridden with him on the hunting field, shot with him and shared his every exploit. And yet something in her quailed at the thought of confronting two, possibly three, armed men. But she could not bring herself to say so, for here was the ideal opportunity to help William forget that odious Clarissa. Clarissa would never dream of having adventures. Clarissa
would scream and faint. So she fought down her misgivings and joined in the plans William was making.

The earl’s guests had all retired for the night, but not one of them was asleep. Captain Beltravers stretched out in his comfortable bed and looked idly round at the rich if antique furnishings of the room. The bed in which he lay was a Jacobean one, ornately carved. The fireplace had a huge stone overmantel and pillars of knights in armour. The sheets were of the finest linen and scented with lavender. A brisk fire was setting shadows dancing around the room and
sparking
golden light from the brass-bound jugs of water which stood on a toilet-table, also laden with the finest pomades and soaps. The great house was hushed. Only the rich could afford that pleasant and tranquil quiet.

The captain reflected bitterly that he himself could have purchased a small but neat manor and could have lived in relative comfort if he had chosen to do so. His notoriously tight-fisted father had died shortly after the death of the captain’s wife and child. The captain had promptly sold his childhood home, where he had never been happy, and the lands that went with it. He found himself possessed of a small fortune, but with no will to do anything with it. The death of his wife and beloved child had left him a shell of a man. But he had cried at last over their passing and with those tears had come calm relief. He was deeply grateful to Abigail Conningham.