A Marquess, a Miss and a Mystery Page 8

  ‘It is of paramount importance to preen on a regular basis. How can any rake worth his salt be assured of cutting a swathe through the female half of the population if he cannot be absolutely sure he has not dripped gravy down his cravat?’

  ‘I...’ She pressed her lips together once again, though this time it looked as though it was a giggle she was attempting to suppress, rather than a pithy retort. The triumph was a small one, but a triumph none the less. She needed to smile more often, did Miss Carmichael. All that frowning and scowling made her look far less appealing than she did right at this moment.

  ‘But what am I thinking,’ he said, ‘to drag you outside on this expedition without even giving you time to run and fetch a bonnet to protect your complexion?’

  ‘Don’t worry about that,’ she said, linking her arm through his so that they could set out, side by side, across the courtyard, the governesses having rounded up the children and formed them into a line behind them. ‘I don’t care all that much about my complexion.’

  ‘Well, you should.’ Her skin was pale as milk, tinged with rose-petal pink along her cheekbones. ‘You have the kind of complexion most females spend a fortune on cosmetics to achieve.’

  She gave an inelegant snort. And then peered up at him with a wry smile. ‘Ah, I see. This is an example of the way you speak to ladies you are attempting to seduce, isn’t it? Well, there is really no need to bother with all that flummery. I know what I look like, thank you very much.’

  ‘You look...’ He paused as she stiffened, as though hearing any sort of compliment would make her uncomfortable. And he did not want to make her uncomfortable. He wanted her to be able to keep talking to him in her open, frank manner. If he stopped her from feeling she could do that, he saw, he would be losing something rather precious.

  ‘Very well, no flummery,’ he conceded. ‘We shall just discuss sensible things. Like the weather.’

  ‘Now you are being absurd. We need to discuss what we are going to do about...you know what.’

  ‘Yes. But not until we reach the stream and all those little ones are so busy playing there is no risk of any of them hearing anything unpleasant.’

  ‘Absolutely,’ she said, glancing over her shoulder at the procession of little people who were struggling not to overtake them. Even though they had little idea of where he meant to take them.

  ‘Ah, just one moment,’ he said, relinquishing her arm. ‘I see you had the foresight to equip yourself with several parasols,’ he said to one of the governesses bringing up the rear of the procession. ‘Would you be so good...?’ He smiled and held out his hand. As soon as the governess handed one over, he unfurled it, and held it over Miss Carmichael’s head.

  ‘There,’ he said. ‘Now I look the very picture of an adoring swain, shielding my fair damsel from the elements.’

  ‘Oh, stuff,’ she said gruffly. ‘Though I suppose you must keep up the act. To convince everyone you are in earnest about pursuing me for nefarious reasons.’

  ‘Exactly,’ he said. Although, it hadn’t been an act. He really did want to protect Miss Carmichael, since there was nobody left now to do so but him.

  Chapter Nine

  The time it took to walk through the Duke’s formal gardens to the rising ground topped by woods, in which was the stream Lord Devizes was leading them to, felt interminable to Horatia because, since various other guests were wandering about, taking the air, he wouldn’t discuss anything but trifling things, like the weather, or the flowers in the borders, or even, at one point, the waistcoat he planned to wear at the Duke’s wedding.

  She knew it was all in keeping with the persona he wanted everyone to believe was the real him, but now she’d caught a glimpse of another version of him, it was irksome having to pretend the fribble was all there was.

  At last they left the main path, which wound its way through the woods and which was clearly used by horse riders on a regular basis, and plunged into what looked like a tangle of undergrowth but which turned out to be fairly easy to push through. It didn’t take long to reach a small clearing through which a stream chuckled its way over a bed of sand and gravel. The grass on its banks had been nibbled short by rabbits all the way back to the trees, making a natural lawn upon which the governesses, and any children who didn’t wish to paddle in the stream, could sit.

  ‘What a lovely spot,’ said Horatia, gazing round admiringly.

  ‘I remember it being bigger. The banks steeper,’ said Lord Devizes with a slight frown. ‘I suppose it is because I haven’t actually been here since I was about the size of those two,’ he mused, pointing to a pair of little boys who were tugging off their boots and slithering down the banks, shrieking as their toes plunged into the cold water.

  ‘But I thought...oh, yes, that’s right, you mentioned having to leave when your brother returned. And now I come to think of it, Herbert told me there was some rift in your family, which meant you and your mother got sent to live on one of the lesser Theakstone estates while your half-brother grew up here.’

  He stilled. ‘Herbert talked about me a lot?’

  ‘I wouldn’t say a lot. Although...’

  ‘Yes,’ he said grimly. ‘He told me a deal more about you than I suspect you would like, too.’

  While she was pondering what that might mean, she noticed the governesses making a great play of laying out blankets under the trees while turning their backs to the boys, indicating that since Lord Devizes had brought them down here, it was up to him to supervise.

  ‘Um, you did promise you wouldn’t let any of them drown,’ Horatia pointed out, as one of the bigger boys pushed one of the smaller ones so hard he sat down in the stream bed with a splash and a wail.

  ‘Yes, I’d better give them something to do, since they seem not to have the brains to think of anything beyond fighting,’ he said disparagingly, then began stripping off his coat. ‘Here,’ he said, spreading it on the grass. ‘You may as well make use of it while I’m teaching the next generation of Norringtons how to dam a stream.’

  Horatia gasped. ‘But...rabbits!’ Not only had they nibbled the grass short, they’d also left plenty of other evidence of their presence. ‘Your coat will be ruined.’

  He shrugged and sat down on the jacket himself. ‘I have plenty of others. In fact,’ he added airily, as he removed his shoes, ‘I was never truly happy with the buttonholes on this one.’

  In that moment, she knew that in spite of all the money he appeared to spend on them, he didn’t really care tuppence for any of his clothes. He couldn’t be rolling down his stockings with such...nonchalance, if he was truly a dandy. And those legs... She cocked her head to one side as he exposed them to her view. His feet might be slender and elegant, with long toes that matched the fingers of his hands, but his shins and calves were so hairy! For some reason, the very hairiness of them convinced her that the glimpses she’d seen of a different man proved there was more to him, much more than the elegant façade he created with all his fashionable clothes and cutting wit.

  ‘I shall return in a few moments,’ he said, getting to his feet. ‘As soon as I have given them a direction for their energies.’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. Although, from the way his face started to alter, she suspected he was anticipating splashing about in the stream for his own sake, too. A suspicion which proved correct, when he proceeded to organise all the children who cared to get in the water, tasking them with fetching rocks and piling them up, so that they’d create a pool and a miniature waterfall.

  She tucked her knees to one side as she sat down to watch him. Twirled the parasol he’d handed her, deciding that he was not pretending anything at the moment. He was simply enjoying himself. He laughed whenever the children splashed sandy deposits on to his waistcoat. Delved about for rocks with such enthusiasm that his shirtsleeves became so wet they started sticking to his upper arms—revealing a set of sharply d
elineated muscles.

  By the time he’d returned, she couldn’t imagine why she’d ever believed he was nothing but a fribble. He smiled at her in a friendly, almost boyish way when he sat down beside her on his jacket, leaned back on his elbows and stretched out his legs in the sun to dry.

  ‘So,’ he murmured, half-turning to her and gracing her with a more sensual sort of smile, which she could tell now was completely fake. ‘Now that the children are all occupied and the governesses are far enough away that they cannot hear a word we say, let us discuss our strategy.’

  She glanced round the clearing. Some of the girls had joined the boys in the stream now and the nursery maid was busy making a daisy chain for her little charge, who was lying on her back with her thumb in her mouth, apparently fascinated by the way the sun shone through the leaves of the tree above her head.

  ‘I am going to tell everyone,’ he murmured in what could only be described as a caressing tone of voice, ‘that we will need to spend all day tomorrow going all over the house finding good places to hide treasure, along a route that is suitable for even the tiniest ones, as well as thinking up clues that they can solve without too much difficulty.’

  ‘We should probably only have five or six stages,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, I’ve already decided on five of them. The music room, library, hallway, portrait gallery and that vile yellow salon,’ he said, making her wonder, if he’d already made up his mind about them, why he was bothering to discuss it with her at all. ‘They all contain, believe me, items that stick in the minds of children, so at least one of them will be bound to have noticed them.’

  ‘And prizes?’ She rather thought Miss Underwood would be able to get her cook to bake some small biscuits or something children would like. She was just about to say so, but he got in first.

  ‘We shall send footmen into the village to buy sweets and toys, of course,’ he said, tucking his hands behind his head and half-closing his eyes against the glare of the sun. And before she could voice any objection, added, ‘It will mean even fewer servants about watching what we will be getting up to.’

  Drat the man, he’d thought of everything. Or had he?

  ‘Do you really think the Duke is going to permit us to commandeer his staff? For a children’s game?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ he replied with a cynical smile. ‘Rumour has it that the Duke will do just about anything for that girl of his, even marrying a woman with no dowry, as long as she appears capable of accepting his by-blow.’

  ‘I think it is a bit more than that,’ Horatia said, sitting up a bit straighter. ‘Have you not seen the way they look at each other?’

  He waved his hand as though her argument was irrelevant. ‘The point is, everyone believes that he dotes on the child to the extent he will look favourably upon anyone who acknowledges her. Why else do you suppose so many people have brought their children to what is, really, an adult house party?’

  ‘Well, I...’ She looked around the clearing and the band of children who were splashing about in the water with the Duke’s illegitimate daughter.

  ‘You cannot suppose that so many people have suddenly developed such fondness for their offspring that they cannot bear to part with them, even for a week? It’s ambition, Miss Carmichael, and their children are merely pawns in the game they are playing with the Duke.’

  ‘That’s a really cynical thing to say.’

  ‘Nevertheless, it is true. You, and Herbert, had the advantage of being orphaned before your parents could use you in this way. I was not so fortunate.’

  He rolled on to his side, lifted his quizzing glass and examined her through it, his expression challenging.

  ‘Nothing to say?’

  Not about something as personal as his horrid childhood. Or hers. But there was something she rather ought to mention.

  ‘Yes. I do wish you will be careful with that thing.’

  ‘What thing?’

  ‘Your quizzing glass. I was thinking about ways to amuse boy children earlier, before you came up to the schoolroom, and I remembered how much Herbert had enjoyed holding a magnifying glass to a sheet of paper to see if he could set it on fire. And I have a horrid suspicion those boys would enjoy doing the same. And if one of them should discover they could do so with your quizzing glass, or anyone else’s, and chanced to set the house on fire, I would feel it was my fault.’

  For a moment he just stared at her. Then he threw back his head and laughed.

  ‘Miss Carmichael, you are a treasure,’ he said, tucking his quizzing glass into a pocket of his waistcoat. ‘No wonder Herbert was so fond of you.’

  Her cheeks heated. ‘I thought I made it plain that I do not want you to talk flummery to me.’

  ‘It is not flummery. You are...’ A frown flitted across his face. ‘You are very easy to converse with. In that, you remind me of Herbert. I could say anything to him and admit to anything and never feel...oh, I don’t suppose you would understand.’

  ‘I think I could,’ she said sadly. ‘Because that was exactly how I felt about him. He was the most easy-going, understanding person I’ve ever met. No matter how badly I behaved at one of those stupid society things he kept dragging me to, he never...gave up on me. Oh, he gave up trying to make me fit in with his sort of people. But he never liked me any less because I couldn’t be like everyone else.’

  ‘That’s it in a nutshell,’ said Lord Devizes. ‘He was the one person who accepted me exactly as I am. And remained loyal. And made me laugh at myself.’ He reached out and took her hand. ‘And we are not going to give up on him. Whatever it takes...’

  ‘Whatever it takes,’ she vowed, squeezing his hand in agreement.

  But before either of them could say anything else to the purpose, one of the governesses got to her feet and clapped her hands.

  ‘Time to return to the house, children.’ She gave Horatia and Lord Devizes a steady look. ‘Routine is important. Their tea will be served in the schoolroom very shortly.’

  ‘Ah, yes,’ said Lord Devizes, reaching for his stockings and shoes. And then, in a lower voice meant only for her ears, ‘And your virtue has been saved, to boot.’

  ‘What? What do you mean?’

  ‘I think that woman suspected I was about to kiss you. Kiss your hand, that is,’ he said.

  Which was what he’d intended the woman to think.

  Horatia got to her feet with a feeling that a shadow had passed across the sun, rendering the little glade gloomy and dank. Because even though he’d been saying such lovely things, he’d still had an eye out for the impression he was making upon everyone else.

  Whereas she had forgotten everything but the pressure of his hand and the determined look in his eyes.

  Chapter Ten

  Getting back to the house took far longer than the walk to the stream, because the children, this time, were dawdling. Yet Horatia felt as if the afternoon had flown by. She certainly found it hard to believe that the clock hanging on the wall in the servants’ corridor could be telling the correct time.

  My word, if she didn’t hurry up, she was going to be late for dinner. She flew along the corridor and up the stairs, and flung open the door to the rooms she was sharing with Lady Elizabeth, reaching for the fastenings at the back of her gown. Connie, Lady Elizabeth’s maid, came bustling over.

  ‘You let me help you with that,’ she said firmly, taking her by the shoulders with her big, work-worn hands, and turning her round. ‘I’ve laid out your second-best dinner dress on your bed,’ she said as she efficiently undid the hooks, ‘and there’s hot water in the ewer, or at least it was. It should probably still be fairly warm.’

  Horatia really did need to get a move on. If Connie was actually helping her to change, then she must already have finished with Lady Elizabeth. Sure enough, just as she was stepping out of her grass-stained, rabbit-soiled gown, Lady Eliz
abeth emerged from her bedroom in a stunningly expensive-looking creation in blue.

  ‘My goodness, you must have been having an exciting time of it in the schoolroom,’ said Lady Elizabeth. ‘Though,’ she added when Horatia started stuttering a series of explanations without actually managing to form a single comprehensible word, ‘Lord Devizes would have the same effect upon any single woman, I dare say.’ She pretended to fan herself. ‘You simply must tell me everything.’

  Everything? Out of the question. But Lady Elizabeth was following her into her room and, as Horatia poured water into her basin to take the wash she felt so sorely in need of, her friend sat on the bed, an expectant expression on her face.

  ‘So, did he flirt with you? Or was it simply being with him all this time that has resulted in that flushed face and shining eyes?’

  Were her eyes really shining? She peered into the mirror on the dressing table next to the washstand. And noted mainly that her hair was escaping its pins, which made her look a bit of a mess.

  ‘Jan...’ She pulled herself up short. She must not refer to Lord Devizes by his code name. In fact, she’d better stop thinking of him by it, too, or heaven knew who she would blurt it out in front of. ‘That is, Lord Devizes led the entire nursery party out to the woods. And if my face is flushed, it is because we lost track of the time while building a dam in a stream and I ran all the way up the stairs so I wouldn’t be late, or make you late, for dinner,’ she said, removing her glasses, tossing them on to the dresser top, then splashing her face with water that was nowhere near cool enough to have any effect on her heated cheeks.

  ‘Well, that accounts for the flushed face, yes. But what about the sparkle in your eyes?’

  Horatia buried her face in a towel for a moment or two while thinking what sort of an explanation she could give. It was probably down to the fact that Lord Devizes was going to help her find Herbert’s killer after all. Or, to be more accurate, he was going to let her help him. Not that she could tell Lady Elizabeth that.