The Rake's Rebellious Lady (20 page)

‘You do not know that for sure, sir. Besides, it should be for me to decide whether or not I wish to be his wife. Did you tell him about the hereditary illness?’

‘There was no point. He isn’t the man for you. I shan’t have it, Caroline, and there’s an end to it.’

Caroline raised her head. Tears glittered in her eyes. ‘I should never wish to hurt you, sir, but I do not think it is
proper for you to decide. I believe my mama and Tom…’ She quailed as she saw the anger in his face. ‘I do not mean to be rude or disobedient, sir—nor to blame you for what happened so many years ago. But I cannot obey you in this. I love him…’

‘Stuff and nonsense. You don’t know what love is. Besides, in law I am your grandfather and the head of the family. You will obey me.’

‘You told me yourself that love cannot be denied,’ Caroline reminded him. ‘You married Angelica despite everything. Why should you deny us the happiness you found with her? I would be willing to take the risks she did to give my husband his heir. Forgive me, but I cannot obey you. I do not wish to disoblige you, Grandfather, but it would break my heart.’

He gave her a stern look. ‘If you disobey me, you will not get a penny from me, either when you marry or when I die.’

‘I have never expected anything other than the small portion my father left in trust for me,’ Caroline told him. ‘If you think that I care for such things, you do not know me, sir.’

‘Care for your brothers, don’t you?’ Bollingbrook growled. ‘Well, if you go against me in this, they won’t get a penny either!’

‘But that is unfair,’ Caroline gasped. ‘How could you hold such a wicked thing over my head?’

‘Didn’t you tell me there were others who asked for you?’ He glared at her. ‘Take one of them and I’ll keep my word to Tom—defy me and there’s an end to his hopes.’

‘You are very cruel, sir,’ Caroline said, stifling a sob. ‘I shall never forgive you…’ She turned and ran from the room before the tears could fall.

C
aroline had been lying on her bed, but sat up as her brother tapped at her door. Her tears had dried, but she knew that she must look dreadful and she asked Tom to wait. Leaving the bed, she went over to the washstand and bathed her face with cool water, then called out that he might enter.

‘Nicolas told me what happened,’ he said as he came in. ‘When you didn’t come down after dinner, I knew that I would find you crying. You must not upset yourself, Caroline. Grandfather has no real power to forbid you. I am the head of our family—the Holbrook family. I do not like to disoblige him, but in this I must think of your future. Besides, after the way he has behaved, I think he has no moral right to demand anything of us. He may decide to cut you out of his will—but you will be no worse off than before.’

‘I know that,’ Caroline said. ‘As for myself, I do not give a fig for his money, though I would have preferred his blessing. I have always cared for him—but I cannot…’ She shook her head, her voice catching. It was impossible to tell Tom what their grandfather had threatened.

‘Well, I think you must make up your own mind,’ Tom said. ‘If you love Sir Frederick and wish to marry him then you must. Do not allow anything Grandfather said to influence you.’

‘I must think about it,’ Caroline said and forced a smile. She was torn in two. If she chose to follow her heart, she might destroy Tom’s hopes of a future. She suspected that he liked Julia more than he let anyone see, but until his fortunes were settled he could not ask her to marry him. And there was the question of Freddie’s heir. She must tell him that it was possible she could never give him a son. ‘When are you going out to Jamaica, Tom?’

‘Next week. I have discussed it with Nicolas and we decided that it would be best for me to go soon. As for this other business, Nicolas will shortly be back with his unit and does not fear that anything untoward will happen to him. If you were married, the threat to your safety would be at an end…one way or the other.’

‘Yes, I see.’ Caroline felt a surge of indignation. ‘It would have been better if Grandfather had never changed his will in our favour, then we should not have this shadow hanging over us.’

‘I must admit that I am grateful to him for settling the most pressing of my debts. Father had made a mess of things, Caroline. I imagine he spent much of his money on his mistresses and gambling. Not that I care for that so much. I am capable of earning my own living, I dare say. If this business goes well in Jamaica, I might even stay there for a while, see if I can make my fortune out there. Nicolas may take care of things here.’

‘I do not precisely understand what it is you have to do in Jamaica, Tom?’

‘Grandfather says that the estate must be sold, and that I am to have what it yields.’

‘Oh…’ Caroline wondered what would happen if she defied her grandfather. ‘Supposing Grandfather changed his mind, Tom? Would you still wish to go?’

‘I have the deed for the property and his authority to sell it,’ Tom said. ‘What makes you think he might change his mind?’

‘Oh, no reason. I suppose he will not.’

‘It is but a small part of what he intends to leave us,’ Tom said as he saw her worried expression. ‘Just what did he say to you this evening?’

‘It does not matter,’ Caroline replied and shook her head.

‘You should have some supper,’ her brother said and looked at her anxiously. ‘Will you allow me to have something sent up for you?’

‘No, please do not. I shall ask my maid for a glass of hot milk. I really need nothing more.’

‘Very well,’ Tom acquiesced and gave her a look of encouragement. ‘I shall leave you now, but remember that Nicolas and I are on your side, Caroline. Do not let Grandfather make you unhappy.’

‘No, I shan’t,’ she said and raised her head proudly as he went out.

After he had gone, she sat down at her dressing table and picked up a hairbrush, beginning to smooth it over her long bright hair, which hung about her shoulders in a cloud of red-gold waves. The action soothed some of her distress, but it could not prevent her mind from going round and round in circles. What was she to do? If she defied her grandfather, he had the power to deny her brothers the money that might have given them better lives. Yet how could she let him destroy her
happiness? Would Sir Freddie even wish to marry her once he knew that she might carry a hereditary illness? If she had daughters, she might pass the curse on to them. It was a heavy burden her grandfather had laid on her shoulders.

At the very least, she must talk to Freddie and hear what he had to say on the matter. Even if he said it was not important, it would still not solve the problem of her brothers’ inheritance. She could do nothing for the moment. She needed to talk to the one person she felt able to confide in. Having made up her mind on that point, she went to bed, and, after some initial tossing and turning, fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Caroline did not take leave of her grandfather the next morning. When she inquired after him, Jenkins told her that he was out of sorts and did not wish to see anyone.

‘You will please give him my good wishes for his health,’ she said, her face pale and distressed.

‘Yes, miss,’ the valet said, looking at her sorrowfully. He was well aware of the dreadful ultimatum his master had delivered the previous evening, and had already tried to take the Marquis to task over it, for which he had had his head snapped off. ‘He will come about, miss. Never you fear.’

‘Yes, perhaps,’ Caroline agreed, though she had no hope of it. ‘I must not keep the horses waiting. Forgive me.’

‘Keep your chin up, miss,’ Jenkins said with the familiarity of a long-serving retainer. ‘I shall do my best for you.’

Caroline smiled, but made no reply. She went down the stairs, taking a warm farewell of Tom, who was not accompanying them to Bath.

‘If I do not see you before I leave, remember that you have my blessing, Caroline,’ he told her. ‘Grandfather will regret
his unkindness. I think he will come to see that he has been unfair to you.’

‘Thank you, dearest Tom,’ she said and kissed his cheek. ‘I love you. Take good care on your journey. You will write to us when you can?’

‘Yes, of course. Tell Sir Frederick to take care in this mad race of yours, but no doubt he will. I have more faith in his driving than Nicolas’s.’

Caroline smiled. The thought of the race lifted her spirits, for she liked nothing better than to be behind a bang-up pair of thoroughbreds, and Freddie’s blacks were some of the finest she had ever seen.

She went out to join her brother in the curricle, for he had sent his phaeton on ahead with his favourite horses, and they were to drive the best part of the way in Tom’s rig. A groom would stay with it when they left the Waverly Inn, and return it to the Bollingbrook estate the next day when the horses were rested.

Despite the shortcomings of his brother’s pair, of which Nicolas complained bitterly at the start, they made good time and arrived at the Waverly Inn just in time for nuncheon, which had been their intention. Sir Freddie had arrived earlier, and he came out to greet them, having already secured the use of the landlord’s private parlour.

He helped Caroline down, searching her strained face with a grim look of his own. ‘I see that you know what took place last evening, my love. We shall discuss it at another time, if you please. It would be foolish to let such a thing spoil our pleasure in the day, would it not?’

‘Yes, certainly,’ Caroline replied, all heart. She gave him a sparkling smile, for her spirits had lifted at the sight of him.
‘And I do not intend to do so. Tell me, Freddie—shall we put my brother to the blush?’

‘Would you wish to do so—if it were possible?’ he asked, a flicker of amusement in his dark eyes.

‘I have always wished to beat my brother at some sport,’ Caroline said, her face alight with mischief. ‘I dare say it would do him no harm to lose for once. He was always faster and better at everything than Tom.’

Freddie laughed softly in his throat. ‘Then we must see what we can do, must we not?’

The three of them had a pleasant lunch together. Caroline was amused to see that Nicolas drank only water, which was a sign of his respect for Freddie’s driving skills. He knew that he needed all his wits about him to stand a chance of beating him. Freddie had one glass of wine, which he merely tasted as a toast to her and the future. Neither of the gentlemen ate a great deal, though they laughed and talked as if it were merely a normal day and nothing at stake.

‘When are we going to start?’ Caroline asked because it seemed that she was the only one impatient to be on their way.

‘Patience, my love,’ Freddie said, a flicker of amusement on his lips. He raised his brows at Nicolas. ‘Well, shall we see what our grooms have been up to, Nicolas? It appears that at least one of us is in a hurry to be off.’

Leaving the inn parlour together, they saw that their grooms had been busy while they were dining, and had both phaetons ready to leave. Caroline looked at Freddie’s blacks, which looked in the peak of condition. Her brother’s greys were pawing the ground, seemingly anxious to be off, and she noticed that they were sweating slightly. Having driven with him behind them on several occasions, she knew them to be
spirited creatures and she thought that the teams were well matched. It would be a close-run thing and possibly down to the skill of the drivers.

Freddie smiled at her as he handed her up. ‘Are you ready, Caroline?’

‘Oh, yes,’ she said, her eyes bright. She had put all her problems to one side for the moment. ‘I think it will be the greatest of good fun.’

Seated on the driving box beside Freddie, she glanced across at her brother. She could see that he was on his mettle, anxious to be off, and she waved to him, blowing a kiss with her fingertips.

‘Good luck, Nicolas.’

He grinned at her and saluted as the grooms stood away from the horses’ heads and then they were off. Caroline saw that her brother set off in a hurry, flicking his long driving whip at his horses, clearly intending to reach the turning that led to Bath in the lead.

Freddie, on the other hand, allowed his horses to begin at their own pace, holding the reins lightly, his whip propped up in the box at his side, apparently unconcerned that Nicolas had taken an early lead.

Had she been driving, she knew that she would have been pushing her horses hard to catch up, but Freddie kept his hand lightly on the reins. She frowned a little, for she thought that Nicolas would get too far ahead of them, but then she sensed that the blacks were gathering speed little by little. Freddie had done nothing that she could see, and as yet he had not touched his whip. She looked at the horses, the rippling strength of their muscles, the shine of their glossy coats, and knew that so far they were only cruising.

Freddie had not asked anything of them, but they were moving with such ease and grace that their pace was increasing effortlessly. The road ahead was quite narrow for a stretch of more than a mile or so, hardly wide enough to allow for one vehicle to pass another. And, with some sharp bends hiding any oncoming traffic, it would have been impossible to pass Nicolas even if they had caught up with him.

After they had been driving for some minutes without seeing more than a glimpse of her brother, the road ahead of them began to widen slightly. Freddie took his whip and cracked it over the heads of his team and all at once she felt the surge of speed. She glanced at him, for he seemed so calm, so certain, and it made her wonder at his patience. However, after a few minutes she saw that they were only a short distance behind her brother. Because of the difficult road, he had been unable to put enough distance between them, and now Freddie had him in his sights.

‘You knew, didn’t you?’ she said. ‘You knew that there was nothing to be gained by setting out at a cracking pace.’

‘Nicolas will have found his horses hard to control on that stretch of the road at such a pace,’ Freddie said, and glanced at her. ‘He may have taken too much out of them at an early stage. We have some way to go yet, Caroline.’

Nicolas had clearly realised that they were behind. He was urging his horses on faster, and for the next twenty minutes or so he managed to increase his lead, the distance between them lengthening again. Freddie let him go, but then, after some fifteen minutes or so, he gave a little flick of his whip and the blacks responded gallantly. Caroline looked eagerly for some sign of her brother’s vehicle, and then, just as they were approaching a crossroads, she saw it ahead of them.

‘Oh, there he is,’ she cried. ‘We shall catch him again in a moment.’

Freddie smiled as he heard the excitement in her voice. He kept his horses steady as they approached the crossroads, which were clear on both sides, allowing both Nicolas and Freddie to maintain their speed. Ahead of them was a stretch of good clear road, with grassland to either side. Caroline felt the surge of speed as Freddie let his horses have their head, and she sensed that this was what he had been waiting for. Here at last was the space for the phaetons to race to their full potential.

She was on the edge of her seat with excitement as Freddie’s blacks ate up the distance between the two phaetons; gradually, inexorably, Nicolas was being hauled back. She could see that he was using his whip frequently now, trying to urge that extra bit of speed from his horses, but he had driven them hard for the past four miles and now they had no more to give. The blacks were fresher, having been spared for the better part of the way, and now Freddie cracked his whip over their heads and they responded willingly.

Caroline hung on tightly as the phaeton seemed to almost bound forwards, holding on to her bonnet with one hand and to the carriage rail with the other. They had caught Nicolas now, and then, with a slight flick of his wrist, Freddie edged his phaeton out slightly to perform one of the neatest overtaking manoeuvres that she had ever witnessed. She held her breath as for a moment the wheels of both vehicles were side by side. A false move now and they could all be overset, but Freddie judged it to a nicety and in another moment they were past. Freddie kept up his speed for long enough to gain the lead into the next stretch of road, which was too narrow to allow for Nicolas to pass them.