A Marquess, a Miss and a Mystery Page 7

  ‘No, no, Lady Elizabeth,’ said Horatia, giving her arm a gentle squeeze. ‘Let the insult go. He cannot help it, I don’t suppose.’

  ‘Precisely,’ said Lord Devizes. ‘And I can think of no better way of making atonement for my many grievous affronts than standing at her side as she tackles the task of entertaining these...’ he waved a languid arm round the occupants of the room ‘...brats.’

  Miss Underwood’s jaw dropped. Lady Elizabeth made a rather rude sound, part way between a laugh and a snort.

  ‘I should have thought you, of all people,’ he said to Lady Elizabeth, ‘would approve. You made your feelings about my treatment of your friend perfectly clear after chapel this morning.’

  ‘Don’t quarrel,’ said Horatia. ‘Please.’

  ‘Pas devant les enfants,’ said Lord Devizes, in the kind of superior tone which was starting to make her want to slap him. Even though he was backing her up.

  ‘Well, if you really...that is,’ said Miss Underwood, gazing round the stilled room in a mixture of awe and appreciation. ‘I do think we can leave Miss Carmichael and Lord Devizes to, um, sort things out, however they wish. Yes, thank you. Thank you both,’ she said, hastily tugging Lady Elizabeth from the room before she could say anything else to antagonise anyone.

  ‘Not up to snuff,’ Lord Devizes observed, as the door shut upon a flurry of skirts. Livvy gave him a resentful glare before going over to a window seat and curling up on it, her back to the room as she gazed out over what was probably a splendid view of the estate.

  And then, before Horatia could say anything in her hostess’s defence, he added, ‘Not used to living in such a grand house, or organising so many guests, from what I hear. Not brought up to it.’

  ‘Well, nor am I, come to that,’ said Horatia hotly in Miss Underwood’s defence.

  ‘Ah, but you have not set your sights on becoming a duchess, have you? You are far too sensible a person to attempt a task for which you are not qualified.’

  She gaped at him. Although she’d heard no hint of sarcasm in his voice, he couldn’t really have meant that he thought she was sensible, could he?

  ‘I can think,’ she therefore retorted, ‘of no two people less qualified to entertain children than you and I, Lord Devizes.’

  ‘Stuff,’ he said. ‘You have a keen mind and I have a way with children, as you have seen,’ he said, sweeping an arm in the direction of his two little nephews, who had now taken the glue pot from the little girl by the bookcase and were using it to try to mend the doll they’d previously torn to bits. With the result that now it was a different girl who was crying.

  He gave one of the governesses a look. She dropped a curtsy, went to the crying girl and set about drying her tears.

  Golly. Miss Underwood had been correct. All the battling governesses needed was an umpire. So long as that umpire had an air of command, Horatia reflected. She didn’t suppose she would have been able to achieve the same result with just one look.

  ‘So,’ she said, deciding she might as well take the bull by the horns, ‘why have you really come up here?’

  He grinned at her. ‘That’s one of the things I like about you. The agility of your mind.’

  ‘Um. Thank you?’

  ‘You should thank me. Because, after giving the matter careful consideration, I have decided that you could be of some assistance in my pursuit of Herbert’s nemesis.’ He leaned closer. ‘For one thing, you are the only person as keen to discover who that may be as I am. I will never have to question either your loyalty or your commitment.’

  ‘No. Well, precisely,’ she said, pressing her hand to her heart, which was beating rather erratically all of a sudden because he’d finally agreed to let her work with him. Even if it was only on this one occasion. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was so close she could feel his breath fanning her cheek and smell the scent of clean linen and shaving soap.

  ‘Now, to business,’ he said, in a firmer voice, straightening up and glancing round the room. ‘I am going to suggest, to both of them at once,’ he said, indicating the governesses, who were both now doing their utmost to prove their superiority over each other by tidying up the wreckage and indiscriminately clipping their charges round the ears, ‘that we—you and I—take the entire nursery party out into the grounds to play.’

  ‘Outside?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘No. I mean, just a minute ago, Miss Underwood was pointing out all the reasons why the children ought not to go outside.’

  ‘Which were?’ He folded his arms across his chest and raised one eyebrow, as if preparing to demolish whatever argument she might put forward.

  ‘Well, firstly, the dangers of letting them run around—’

  ‘We shall not be letting them run around. We shall be taking them, at a sedate pace, down to the Crinchley Beck.’

  ‘The what?’

  ‘It’s a stream that flows into the boating lake.’

  ‘We cannot possibly take them anywhere near the lake. Miss Underwood said she’d never forgive herself if any of those children drowned.’

  ‘Not even my nephews? Never mind. Let me assure you we shall not be taking any of them anywhere near the lake. We shall be going to a spot on the stream which flows through the woods, where they can splash about in a stretch of water no more than a couple of inches deep.’

  ‘I...I don’t think the governesses will permit it,’ she said dubiously.

  ‘Miss Underwood did say we could sort this out however we wished,’ he reminded her. ‘Besides, we are not going to give the governesses the chance to object. We shall just inform the children we are going to take them outside, then open the door. The governesses will not be able to stop a single one of them from making a dash for freedom.’

  ‘Oh, dear,’ she said, chewing her lower lip. ‘You’re about to incite a rebellion. I don’t think this is quite what Miss Underwood envisaged when she left us in charge...’

  He grinned at her. ‘It is all in a good cause, though, isn’t it?’

  ‘Is it?’

  ‘You know it is,’ he said. ‘For once we have successfully arranged one such event, we will have the perfect excuse for spending more time together, ostensibly coming up with more activities to amuse the infantry.’

  ‘Whereas, we will actually be...’

  ‘Comparing notes,’ he said with a decisive nod. ‘Because each of us will no doubt have information the other does not.’

  Goodness. She blinked up at him owlishly through her spectacles. Not only was he nowhere near as stupid as he looked, to have come up with a plan in the short time between stalking away from her in the yellow salon and arriving in the nursery, but he was also acting as if he trusted her. Something lightened inside. She blinked again, though this time it was to dispel the tears that were welling in her eyes.

  ‘What is the matter? What have I said to upset you?’ He frowned down at her. ‘I thought this was what you wanted?’

  ‘It is! I am just...’ She reached out and squeezed his hand. ‘Thank you,’ she breathed. ‘From the bottom of my heart.’

  He snatched his hand away. Took a step back.

  Gratitude was clearly the last thing he wanted from her. No, he wanted a cool, clear-headed woman who could be sensible. She ducked her head and delved into her reticule for a handkerchief. If it was what he wanted, if that was what it took to be a part of his plan to discover the traitor and Herbert’s killer, then she could be sensible, she vowed, blowing her nose. In a sensible manner.

  Chapter Eight

  Just as he’d predicted, the moment he announced an outing to a stream and opened the schoolroom door, there was nothing that could have stopped the children stampeding from the room. Even the poor little nurse leaped to her feet, her infant tucked under her arm, and made a bid for freedom.

  He could see Horatia biting b
ack some pithy retort about him being a bad influence as she stepped out on to the landing. She was too grateful that he was going to give her what she wanted to voice any objections.

  Which meant now was probably the best time to tell her just what working with him was going to entail.

  He tucked her arm in the crook of his as they began to descend the staircase in the wake of the nursery party.

  ‘There’s just one thing—no, actually two, which I should mention before we go any further,’ he said.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘And one of them is crucial to the success of our operation,’ he added, causing her to look at him sharply. ‘This,’ he said, waving his free arm at the backs of the escaping children, ‘is out of character for me. People are bound to remark upon it. So I need to provide them with a convincing motive for taking an interest in children for the first time in my life.’

  ‘Of course you do,’ she said, with a sincerity that made him suspect she’d now consider coming up with one herself. She was clever enough to do so. Clever enough, probably, to come up with a better one than the one he’d already thought of. So he had to tell her what he’d decided before she had time to put her mind to the problem.

  ‘And believe it or not,’ he said, pausing on a half-landing to tidy his hair by his reflection in the window, ‘it was the Duke who gave me the idea.’ He tugged at his neckcloth. ‘You may not like it, but I know that you will be sensible about it.’ He adjusted the set of his cuffs. ‘Because you are committed to finding Herbert’s killer.’

  ‘Go on,’ she said, with a touch of wariness.

  ‘I am going to attempt to seduce you.’

  To his surprise, the wariness vanished, to be replaced by a look of sheer disbelief.

  ‘Nobody in their right mind is going to believe you would do that, any more than that you’d suddenly become interested in children.’

  ‘Oh, yes, they would,’ he retorted. ‘Haven’t I said? The Duke already suspects me of being capable of toying with you for my amusement. He said so, at nuncheon, don’t you remember?’

  The frown returned. ‘No, he...’

  ‘Very well, if you must be pedantic about it, he warned me that I had better not attempt to compromise you. But if he sees me doing just that, then he’ll assume I have taken it into my head to defy him and ruin his wedding party at the same time by creating a scandal. That is a motive that everyone will believe.’

  ‘You really think they will believe you capable of such dishonourable behaviour?’

  She looked utterly taken aback. As though the thought of him misbehaving had never crossed her mind. It made him want to kiss her. Right there on the staircase.

  No, not kiss her. Hug her. The way he’d sometimes hugged her brother. Like a friend.

  She had many of the same qualities he’d valued in Herbert, he suddenly saw. She was fiercely loyal, would stop at nothing to avenge the death of her brother, not even the prospect of agreeing to a fake seduction. Which reminded him.

  ‘The other thing I need to say, before we go any further, is thank you.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘For persisting. For not giving up until you’d made me take action. Herbert was the best of fellows. I owe it to him to find out who killed him and make them pay.’

  Before she could demand to know why he hadn’t done so before, he let go of her arm.

  ‘Excuse me, but I have just noticed that the entire nursery party has reached the lower floor and are heading in the direction of the corridor that leads to the back of the house and the door to the outside world. Stop right there,’ he shouted, running down the rest of the stairs two at a time. ‘From here,’ he informed the children in his sternest voice, planting his fists on his hips for good measure, ‘you will all walk behind me and Miss Carmichael.’ He held out his arm to her as she reached the ground floor. ‘And anyone who steps out of line before we get there will be sent straight back to the house. One of the governesses will be only too happy to escort you,’ he added, crooking one eyebrow at the two disgruntled women who had finally reached the top of the last flight of stairs, having paused to collect an assortment of rugs, parasols and other paraphernalia, as well as strapping severe bonnets to their heads. They both nodded. But then, as he’d already deduced, neither of them really wanted to venture outside in the first place. And the children, sensing the very real danger that their outing might be cancelled before it had even started, settled down. A bit.

  ‘And if any of you misbehave while we are out there...’ he pointed to the corridor to freedom ‘...I shall change my mind about concocting a treasure hunt for you next.’

  ‘A treasure hunt?’ One of his nieces, the one whose doll the boys had been tearing limb from limb, gazed up at him in awe.

  ‘With real treasure?’ The nephew who’d been the instigator of the dismembering, if he knew anything about it, was looking up at him with a touch of the cynicism that so often marred his mother’s pretty face. The cynicism that was so conspicuously lacking from Miss Carmichael’s expression. She might look fierce, or angry, or determined, but never, not once in all the years since he’d first met her, had he ever caught her looking petulant, or spiteful, or jaded.

  ‘Plenty of treasure,’ he assured the boy. Who, while still not looking totally convinced by anything an adult promised him, still appeared to be considering whether it was worth reining in the worst of his impulses, just in case.

  ‘For worthy children only,’ Nick added. ‘We don’t want anyone taking part who cannot be trusted with the Duke’s breakables.’

  ‘We can be good, Uncle Nick,’ said the larger, yet strangely more docile of his nephews.

  ‘Well, we shall discover whether that is true this afternoon, won’t we,’ he said, darting a wink at the governesses.

  Having done what he could to ensure their compliance, he took Miss Carmichael’s hand, tucked it back into the crook of his arm, and set off along the corridor.

  ‘A treasure hunt?’ She darted him a look that held almost as much suspicion as that of his nephew.

  ‘Yes. You do know what a treasure hunt is, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course I do,’ she retorted.

  ‘Only, the way you repeated the phrase sounded to me as though you’d never heard of one before.’

  ‘Nothing of the sort! You just took me by surprise, that is all. I never thought...’

  ‘That arranging a treasure hunt could be a way of convincing everyone I am doing my utmost to seduce you?’

  ‘No.’ She blushed. ‘That is, I was just amazed that you came up with the notion so quickly. Not that I don’t think you are intelligent,’ she added, going even pinker in the face.

  ‘I know, I look far too elegant to be capable of having a single thought in my head, don’t I?’

  ‘I never said that.’

  She’d thought it, though. A lot of people did. And that assumption served him well. He smiled his most affable, not to say vacuous, smile at her as he led her through the door which led to the kitchens.

  ‘Oh,’ she said, glancing along the long stone-flagged passage that led past the kitchens, butler’s pantry, housekeeper’s sitting room and staff dining room. ‘You, um, seem to know your way around this house very well.’

  ‘I do. I spent the first few years of my life here. Until the true heir returned, that is. Nevertheless,’ he added, before she could ask him exactly why he’d had to leave the minute his older brother had come back, ‘telling everyone I am planning a treasure hunt will give us carte blanche to wander all over the house. No matter where anyone may catch us, we can tell them we are trying to ascertain whether it will be a suitable place to hide some treasure.’

  ‘Brilliant.’

  He eyed her warily. ‘Exactly what do you mean by that?’

  ‘Exactly what I said,’ she said. ‘You have come up with a brillian
t plan that will enable us to work together. To hunt all over the house for the...’ She pulled her lips together as though with an effort to bite back the words he’d warned her she must never utter aloud. ‘I suspected you would do something of the sort when you first suggested I go to the nursery. I was sure there must be some good reason behind it and I am most impressed with what you have thought up in such a short span of time.’

  He paused, since they’d reached the end of the corridor, and leaned forward to open the door that led into the kitchen courtyard. ‘No caveat? No adding, Impressed, considering? Or Brilliant for the likes of you?’

  ‘Goodness,’ she replied. ‘That sounds almost as if you are not used to receiving compliments.’

  ‘Well, I’m not. Not from you, at least.’

  ‘For which I apologise,’ she said stiffly. ‘Herbert always did insist you had a brilliant mind. I just never truly believed it, until now. I...’ She flushed. ‘I suppose I have been guilty of only looking upon the image you have deliberately created. The...’ She waved her hand about his midsection, which made him pull in his stomach muscles, just as if she’d stroked him there. ‘The perfectly cut coat, the quality of the satin from which your waistcoat is made. All that shiny gloss you apply to dazzle the beholder.’

  ‘And do I dazzle you?’ he leaned down to murmur into her ear as the children went streaming past, apparently forgetting their promise to follow behind in the excitement of seeing the light of day.

  Her blush turned a deeper shade of pink. She lifted her chin. ‘Absolutely not. Not now that I know it is a deliberate attempt to make people believe you are nothing more than a fribble. Not that it ever did,’ she added hastily.

  ‘A...fribble?’ he muttered, after allowing the door to close after the exit of the last governess. ‘I will have you know, Miss Carmichael, that I have never attempted to make anyone think of me as anything less than a dangerous rake.’

  ‘Surely most rakes do not spend quite so much time preening themselves? You did not even get halfway down one flight of stairs just now before checking your appearance by the reflection you could see in the window.’