His Shadowed Heart ((Books We Love Regency Romance)) (16 page)

“Then there is no reason why we should not resume our friendship.”

“There is every reason,” he replied once more through clenched teeth as turning to face her he was unable to disguise the hurt and frustration he felt so intensely. “My lady cannot be seen to befriend a servant, it is not seemly.”

“Peter—” she began, but at that moment, the earl entered the room, throwing aside his hat and hunting whip onto a chair and completely ignoring the air of tension that pervaded the room.

“Is the lesson concluded?” he asked, as he drew off his riding gloves.

Peter rose abruptly and casting a look of intense dislike at his employer, flung from the room.

“You handled that well, my love,” approved the earl, as he came to stand behind his wife and place reassuring hands upon her shoulders.

“You heard?” she asked in some surprise, turning quickly in her seat to face him.

“I suspect not all, but enough to understand the situation. It is as I feared, and I am sure you will understand when I insist that he no longer comes to the house?”

“You are perfectly right, Richard. No further encouragement will be given. I have no wish to perpetuate any hopes he might have. You must know that it had not been my intention to evoke such feelings.”

“Your sentiments do you credit sweetheart,” he replied bending to place a kiss on her brow, “but you must understand that young men of that age are very susceptible to thinking themselves in love and it will be hard for him to convince himself otherwise.”

“Did you think yourself in love at his age?” she asked curiously.

“I did, and with a hoydenish young miss whose brother shared a room with me at Oxford,” he chuckled, “but my passion lasted no more than a sennight.”

“Then I hope Peter’s infatuation lasts no longer. I would not wish him pain for all it is not desired.”

“He will come about,” assured the earl. “There is nothing more resilient than youth. I will see to it that Bradshaw keeps him well-occupied and he will have no opportunity to dwell on the matter. However, I must warn you Caro that should he persist in his obsession, I will be compelled to find him employment away from the estate.”

“I quite understand,” she said quietly, dropping her gaze. “If I had not pleaded his cause, the situation would not have arisen. It is all my fault, but I believed I was acting for the best. I should have foreseen the
state of affairs. I have no desire that he should foster false hopes.”

“Your motives were for the best, my love, and you should not reproach yourself,” assured the earl, seeing her unease. Wishing nothing more than to divert from the subject, he took her into his arms and smiling said in rallying tones, “Now if that matter is settled and you have no objection, I have need of my wife’s company, and I will not have it that she should neglect me.”

Chapter Nine

Bradshaw stood uncertainly in the earl’s office. He had requested an interview with his employer, and he waited nervously for his arrival.

His Lordship
came quickly into the room and took the seat behind his desk. “You wish to see me, Bradshaw,” he said. “Is something amiss that you make this request? What is it that will not wait? Were we not to have had a meeting on the morrow?

“Aye, my lord, but I thought you would wish to hear my news immediately.”

“Then no doubt you will reveal all to me in your own good time,” replied the earl, leaning back in his chair.

“The boy, Peter, is gone, sir, even the dog. His cottage is empty and no one has seen him this week past. At first I thought he had been visiting the house, with
my lady as before, but he seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth.”

The earl considered the information for a moment. “I had half expected it,” he said thoughtfully. “The boy must not be pursued. If he is to return, it must be of his own accord. We must wait and see.”

“There is a problem then, sir?” asked Bradshaw hesitantly.

“Not one that you need be made aware of,” stated the earl. “You must continue as before his arrival, nothing has changed.”

*****

“Your protégé has disappeared, Caro,” informed His Lordship, after going in search of his wife and finding her with Julia in the nursery. “Bradshaw informs me that he has been missing this week or more.”

“Then we must try to find him,” cried Caroline with great concern, hastily putting Julia from her knee and rising to face her husband. “He has nowhere else to go, and I can’t believe that he would return to his former life, I won’t allow it.”

“Whether you allow it or not, my love, there will be no search made for the boy. He is free to make his own decisions, and if it is his desire to leave the estate, then so be it. He probably acts for the best. Surely you must understand his reasoning and desire to be elsewhere at this time?”

Caroline resumed her seat
, automatically accepting the toy Julia brought for her approval and drew her into her arms. “I feel responsible for his present state of mind, Richard,” she said quietly, as she looked up at her husband. “This whole situation is attributable to me, and I should have perceived the dangers and sought to avoid them.”

“It’s not always possible to be wise. Circumstances arise and one acts as one sees fit at the time, with no thought to consequences. I am confident this state of affairs will resolve itself, there is no need for self-reproach.”

“Even so, I am concerned for his welfare. Couldn’t some search be made for him? I hate to think of him living rough again, and the weather turns so cold.”

“Very well, I will tell the men to keep a look out for him, but be aware that even if he is found, he may have no desire to return, in which case you must accept his going. It really is for the best.”

Reluctantly, seeing the sense of her husband’s words, Caroline attempted to divert her thoughts from Peter’s plight, but they would not be dismissed and she found herself ever watchful whenever she rode out with her husband or drove the governess cart with Julia.

However, a few days later a strange occurrence pushed Peter to the back of her mind.

Waking to the earl’s angry tones outside their bedchamber door, she pulled herself up on her pillows, listening to his raised voice.

“Hell’s breath,” he swore forcibly, and then in more urgent undertones, “have it removed before my wife should see it. I will not have her distressed. Remove it.”

Rising hastily from the bed and throwing her wrap about her shoulders, Caroline ran to the door, flinging it wide to see the cause of the commotion, but the earl immediately pressed her back, determined that she should not see.

“Go back inside Caro,” he commanded. “You would not wish to see this,” and he followed her into the room, closing the door firmly behind him.

“Whatever is wrong, Richard,” she demanded attempting to reach round him to open the door, desiring to witness what had disturbed him so.

“You must not see, my dear,” he said in a quieter tone. “It will only upset you. Though how it appears in the house I know not.”

“What has appeared? Why were you shouting? You must let me see,” she cried. “Is it so terrible?”

“If you would but sit down, I will tell you.”

She sat on the edge of the hearthside chair as she was bid and he came to stand before her, his face showing a great perplexity. “Now I will tell you,” he said, confirmed that now she was seated, she would not try to open the door. “As you were sleeping, I did not wish to disturb you, but as I left the room I found that someone has laid the mutilated carcass of a fox across our threshold.”

Caroline gave a startled cry, taking her hands to her mouth. “Who would do such a thing?” she asked with great concern.

“More importantly, how did they gain access to perform the deed?” said the earl. “The house is well-secured at night. I am certain of that, and I would not suspect any of the staff of such a foul deed, so how comes it to be there?”

“But why should they do such a thing, Richard? Of what purpose is it? Why should it be brought to our bedchamber, of what significance could it be?”

“I have no idea, my love,” he said, laying a calming hand on her shoulder, “but I can assure you, questions will be asked, enquiries made. I will not rest until the matter is explained.”

“Perhaps it is naught but a vulgar prank.”

“Who is there to play such a prank Caro, when there is only the three of us at Lordings? Who would you suggest?”

At that moment there came a knock at the door and when the earl bade her enter the nursery maid appeared much agitated, her countenance ashen.

“My lord, such a disturbing thing has happened,” she cried, wringing her hands nervously before her. “I opened the nursery door and there was a brace of dead crows hanging on the latch.”

“Julia did not see them?” demanded the earl starting forward.

“No, sir. I removed them directly and threw them out of the window.”

“Well done,” approved
His Lordship. “Now you must return to Julia immediately. She is not to be left alone for one moment, not one moment, do you hear? I will not have the child frightened. If necessary, employ one of the kitchen maids to share your duties with you until I can get to the bottom of this.”

Even more startled by
His Lordship’s urgency, the girl bobbed a curtsey and left the room to return at once to her charge.

“What shall we do,” cried Caroline, rising once more to her feet.

“You, my love, will get dressed whilst I check the house,” replied the earl with an evenness he was far from feeling. “We might yet find the solution.”

*****

“Everything is as it should be,” stated the earl when he joined his wife in the nursery some while later. They spoke in hushed voices so as not to alarm Julia who, unaware of the tensions within the house, was happily chalking on her slate. “We have checked from attic to cellars and nothing can be found. No forced lock or window can account for our perpetrator’s entrance. One would almost suspect him of having spirited himself into the house. However, I have arranged for the servants to keep vigil with me tonight. We will each take a room, and if our man should return, then we shall have him.”

“Then I will keep the child with me tonight if you have no objections,” said Caroline. “I would feel so much more at ease if we were together.”

“An excellent idea,” approved the earl. “Even though our intruder must have gained entry on the ground floor, I will post a man at your door. Should he once more find his way to the upper rooms, your safety will be assured.”

*****

“There is no need for you to agitate yourself, my love,” stated the earl as he dropped a kiss on his wife’s brow later that evening while preparing to leave her safely ensconced in their bedchamber. Julia was already installed in the large canopied bed and appeared peeping mischievously from beneath the covers. “I can see by the look on that little imp’s face that you won’t have much sleep this night,” he chuckled, attempting to divert her thoughts.

Catching his hand to her cheek, she smiled. “I will certainly not have much sleep if you’re not with me. I beg of you
—should the intruder present himself, don’t take risks. I cannot be easy knowing you may be involved in some kind of confrontation.”

“There is no risk involved,” he assured. “From all appearances, I seem to have a small army with me. You may be perfectly easy on my account. Now I will leave you, but promise me that if you should hear anything, anything at all, you will remain in your room until I come for you.”

“I will,” she assured. “If you in your turn will promise to take care.”

“That promise is easily made,” he said, smiling, before once more kissing her brow and leaving the room.

*****

The house was in darkness, all candles had been extinguished and the only sound was that of the earl’s boots as he strode across the marble tiles of the hall, going from room to room to ascertain that each held a retainer armed with a weapon. Finally, he installed himself in the
garden room, which with its open aspect, he felt to be the most vulnerable. The whole house remained quiet with only the occasional chiming of a clock invading its apparent peace. A sharp frost descended on the surrounding grounds, the cloudless sky making the moon seem even brighter, casting its light through the large casements to illuminate the room. The earl rose from the chair he had placed near the casement to overlook the grounds, but nothing untoward was to be seen. For a moment, but only a moment, he thought he saw a shadow cross the paved walk outside the window, but throwing wide the casement and stepping out it revealed to be nothing more than the ivy, which grew so vigorously, bending over the path. He took a moment to look around him and then returned once more to his vigil.

Dawn arrived with no further aberrations and the earl was about to relinquish his post when a young housemaid ran hysterically into the room.