My Lord Deceived (19 page)

“Kat, I
wondered where you had got to. Neither your mother or brother
seemed to know,” Harrison drawled silkily.

“I have been
reading to Lord Marchester, Lord Dentham’s uncle,” Kat replied. She
crossed her arms and stared dispassionately at one of the Excise
men as he poked through the vegetables on the table-top. “Bruise
that fruit and you will pay for it,” she snapped and tried
valiantly to ignore Jonathan, who had moved to stand beside
her.

“Harrison? Up
to your old tricks again?”

“He is always
up to his old tricks. Despite the fact that he arrives to search
our house, practically daily, and leaves empty-handed, he still
thinks that he is going to find things on us that we shouldn’t
have. He doesn’t seem prepared to accept that we have nothing to
hide.” Kat said a mental prayer for forgiveness at her outright
lie. She felt Billy shift uncomfortably behind her and wondered if
he was going to say something but, thankfully, he kept quiet.

“I am merely
doing my job.”

“Then I suggest
you go and do it and rather than keep checking on innocent people
who are going about our daily lives, I think you had better start
to focus on people who really do have something to hide,” Kat
snapped. She glared pointedly at Harrison and felt Jonathan’s gaze
search her face. She wasn’t sure why he had waded into the fray but
she was glad that he was beside her. However, she wasn’t sure what
she was going to do if any one of them went behind the table. The
baskets were only lightly covered with cloths and a smattering of
vegetables. Luckily, it was still fairly early in the day and there
was still enough stock available to cover the baskets. However,
from the look of the amount of fruit and vegetables that had been
sold, that situation wasn’t likely to continue for much longer.

She glanced to
one side and saw one of her regular customers a few stalls away.
She sighed and closed her eyes briefly when the customer turned
around and scurried away when she caught sight of the Excise men.
For some reason, she just knew that the woman wouldn’t return to
purchase her goods today, and Kat couldn’t help but wonder whether
she would come back at all.

“What do you
want this time Harrison? Do you want a bushel of vegetables, or to
throw the goods around the market like you usually do? Whatever it
is, get on with it because you are scaring our customers away.
Unless you are prepared to compensate us for the loss of business,
I suggest that you go and pester someone else.”

“What is your
reason for harassing these people?” Jonathan demanded as he drew
himself up to his full height. He was aware of the wary looks from
the other stall holders and knew from their exchanged glances that
this wasn’t the first time Harrison had searched the stalls. Did he
know something, or did he just want to throw his weight around and
make his presence felt just in case someone was involved in
something illegal? Whatever it was, Jonathan wasn’t prepared to
stand back and allow the man to harass innocent people.

He saw the fear
on Billy’s face and felt a wave of sympathy sweep over him. The
young boy was just helping his mother. He didn’t deserve to be
scared like this.

“Well, man? Out
with it? What reason do you have to believe that Kat or any of the
other market traders today, have something to hide?” Jonathan
stared at the arrogant dismissal clearly written on the man’s face
and heaved a mental sigh. The pompous official merely wanted to
throw his weight around and, judging from the mutinous look on his
face, wasn’t going to allow Jonathan to stand in his way. “I
strongly recommend that you stick to the smugglers in the area and
leave these people to go about their business.” Jonathan sidled
closer and lowered his voice to a dark whisper that held a hint of
menace. “I have connections in the war office that will ensure that
you spend the rest of your days at a desk if you seriously think
that you can stomp about on my patch making a fool of yourself, and
frighten my villagers without undue cause.” His eyes were cold and
dispassionate as he stared at Harrison and each of the Excise men
in turn. He turned toward the man who sidled toward Agnes. The man
clearly intended to shove her out of the way so he could inspect
the nearly empty cart that stood a few feet away. The man took one
look at Jonathan’s hard stare and froze.

“I have reason
to believe that smuggling is rife in the area. I am merely doing my
job and you would do well to stay out of it,” Harrison snarled
dismissively. “I suggest you return to the bright lights of London,
and leave us officials to get on with our jobs.”

Jonathan fought
the urge to grab the man by the throat and squeeze tight. He
couldn’t exactly tell the man about his own battles with smugglers
and French spies, and heaved a sigh at the mulish look on
Harrison’s face.

“I am warning
you now that as a Lord, and a notable figure in the war office, you
are to cease your activities with immediate effect. Harassing
innocent people is not in your mandate. I demand to see what
documentation you have as evidence to support your activities and I
expect to see it today.” Jonathan stared intently at the man when
he took a breath to object. “If I don’t see you in my office by
five o’clock sharp, I shall send Hamilton-Smythe to arrest you for
being in breach of your duties. I warn you now that I shall also
send a request to my good friend, Sir Hugo Dunnicliffe, to
investigate your conduct with a view to removing your authority
with immediate effect.”

Jonathan knew
that the man had something to hide from the look of horror on
Harrison’s face at the mention of Hugo’s name. Hugo was an
indomitable figure of honour and fairness, and was someone who had
the weight of the War Office at his beck and call; for Harrison to
be scared of the man proved to Jonathan that he had something to
hide. Jonathan felt an expectant thrill of anticipation sweep
through him. He always felt this way when he embarked on a new
adventure with the Star Elite. He knew he was on to something; that
Harrison had secrets and he suspected it had to do with the
continual urge to find smuggled cargo.

He made a
mental note to go to the Excise House the next time Harrison was
out of the area and speak to the man about getting a copy of the
seizure inventories from Harrison’s last find; assuming the man had
ever found any smuggled cargo in the area.

“I am just
doing my job. You cannot threaten me.”

“Try me,”
Jonathan countered. “Five o’clock sharp man. Don’t be late.” He
clicked his fingers at the Excise man who stood beside the table
and waved him away. He adopted his aristocratic look of arrogance,
glared down his patrician nose at the underling and waited until
the man dutifully moved to stand beside his boss. “For your own
sake Harrison, you had better not have anything to hide. I am going
to be looking into all of your activities and you will feel the
long arm of the law if I find anything untoward in your conduct.”
Jonathan’s voice was deadly. He watched Harrison’s mouth open and
then snap shut. Without a word the man turned on his heel and
stalked away.

Kat wanted to
cheer, and fought to keep the smile of delight off her face. In
spite of her delight, she had seen the look of anger on Harrison’s
flushed face and wondered whether Jonathan had just made matters
considerably worse for all of them. Everything in the market
remained still for several moments until the Excise men disappeared
out of sight then, as though someone had given an all clear
whistle, the noise levels returned to normal and people continued
with their activities.

“Thank you,”
Agnes whispered. She leaned her hips against the table and crossed
her arms in an attempt to hide the fact that they shook
uncontrollably. She drew Billy to her side, although whether she
was trying to comfort him, or herself, she wasn’t quite sure.
Still, she had to hold on to something and, if it wasn’t Billy, it
would have to be Jonathan, and that would never do.

“How long as
this man been bothering you?” Jonathan sighed. His question drew
Kat’s attention away from the spot where she had last seen
Harrison. The blank look on her face warned him that she hadn’t
heard his last question and he heaved a sigh of impatience.

He was tired,
hungry and more than a little fed up. Last night he had received a
tip-off from his contact in Dadington, who had informed him that he
had caught sight of Beaulieu’s associate, Rousseau. Unfortunately,
by the time Jonathan had got there he could not find his contact
and there was no sight of Rousseau. He wondered if he had just been
sent on a merry goose chase and now, as a result of a sleepless
night waiting for someone who didn’t appear, he was exhausted, far
beyond the end of his patience, and thoroughly fed up that he
hadn’t had the chance to meet with Kat at Dentham Hall like he had
wanted to.

He had also not
had the time to visit Brian Meldrew. When they had turned up
yesterday afternoon, Brian wasn’t around and nobody knew where to
find him. Since then either he, or Harper, had been too busy to
make a return visit and that grated on Jonathan’s nerves. He wanted
one matter tied up, so he could get on with other, more important
issues.

He saw the
worry and fear on her face and turned toward her. “You don’t have
to worry, Kat, he won’t bother you anymore.”

“It isn’t just
me though,” Kat sighed. She felt such a tremendous weight of guilt
sweep over her that she wanted to lay her head on his broad
shoulder and rest for a while. “He continues to persecute the
entire village.”

“Does he have
any reason to suspect that there is something untoward going
on?”

“In Bentney on
Sea?” Kat struggled to put an innocent look on her face. She
daren’t look at her mother, or Billy.

“I will speak
to him because I do believe that he himself is up to something.
Until I find out what, I cannot countenance him simply stalking
people through the market place like this.” He wanted to cup her
cheek and promise her that everything would be alright but, given
that they were being watched by at least fifty people, he daren’t
draw any closer to her than he was at the moment. He glanced over
her shoulder at a clearly shaken Agnes. “Why don’t you take a
break? I can help Kat for a while.” He tried to stifle a yawn that
broke free anyway but made no apology for it.

Kat glanced at
her mother who merely shook her head. “We are alright. It won’t be
long before our goods are gone and then hopefully we can go home
early.” She studied the dark shadows beneath his eyes and wondered
what he had been doing that had kept him up all night. She was
fairly certain that shadows of the kind he had beneath his eyes
weren’t earned through just a rough night’s sleep. He had been up
all night. The surge of jealousy that swept through her stoked her
disgust and she took a breath to steady herself. She hated the fact
that she knew so little about him.

He was a grown
man of the world. It was perfectly normal for him to have needs of
the flesh and seek out the comfort of a woman who was willing and
able to satisfy those needs. It really was none of her business who
that woman was, where she was, and why he had felt the need to
indulge in the needs of his flesh right under her very nose. In a
desperate attempt to put him at some distance, she pasted an
impassive look on her face and stared at him as though he was just
a customer.

“Thank you for
your assistance today, it is much appreciated.” She turned toward
the stall and made her way behind it. A quick glance down at her
knees confirmed that Billy and her mother had done a good job. All
of the small packets were covered from view, but she would still
feel more comfortable when they were gone altogether.

Jonathan felt
her dismissal as abruptly as a smack in the face and he wondered
what he had done or said that had offended her. He had only been
trying to help and had been completely honest with her about
Harrison. Did she resent his intrusion? If she did it was just bad
luck on her half because he had every right to put a stop to anyone
in officialdom who harassed his innocent villagers and, whether Kat
liked it or not, that included her. He would be no lord of the
realm if he just sat back and allowed it to happen.

“Are you going
to work tonight?” Jonathan asked. He interrupted the transaction
she was making with a customer who wanted a large bunch of
carrots.

“Yes, I am, but
Mr Peat is going to for a drink tonight and has said that he will
accompany me,” she replied. She refused to look at him. In reality,
Mr Peat had done no such thing but she didn’t want Jonathan to know
that. She glanced warningly at Agnes, who had heard her lie and
frowned in warning.

“I will say
goodbye then,” Jonathan muttered. He nodded politely to Agnes and
Billy and turned back to Kat for one last word. “I will drop by
before the tavern closes, to escort you home.” It wasn’t a request,
it was a statement and he turned away before she had the
opportunity to object. She clearly didn’t want him to escort her
home but that was tough. Was it because she didn’t want him to kiss
her? If that was the case then it was just hard luck as well
because he would do whatever it took to further his cause with her.
So far, the only time she had let him close was at night was during
their walk home and it was just the two of them.

He had to
continue to further his relationship with her. It would be deuced
tricky because of his need to try to locate the Frenchmen in the
area, especially now that he had Harrison and Brian Meldrew to deal
with, but he was made of stern stuff. He had faced worse
adversaries than Harrison and a village rife with strange activity.
His ultimate goal was to get Kat to become his wife, and persuade
her to move into Dentham Hall before he had to leave for his next
mission. He knew that the clock was ticking. If he wanted to secure
his future, he had to do it quickly.