A Fine Caprice - A Regency Romance (19 page)

‘Yes, but… there is only the three of us.’ Maria laughed, a tinkling sound th
at reminded Caprice
of silver bells.
It was remarkable how such a delightful sound could set one’s teeth on edge.
‘
And we have my servant and my dear Ravener’s Bessant.
We can manage
, surely
.’

‘Do you know, I don’t think I want to manage?’ Lord Merridew shook his head
regretfully
. ‘I fear I’ve become far too accustomed to regular meals and a clean environment.’ He glanced
around the kitchen
. ‘I
t
seems it
has been quite some time since Abbey Cross has experienced anything of the kind. One or two servants will not serve
for this place
. I will need an army!’

‘But surely you a
re not staying on,’ Ravener protested
. ‘What’s the point of such an undertaking if nobody is living here?’

‘What’s the point?’ his lordship repeated, surprised. ‘The point is that the place is my responsibility and I intend to have it brought into a fit state
of repair
. I daresay I might start com
ing down here sometimes and
John mentioned that he might be interested i
n using it for a base as well
.’

‘Why should he want to do that?’ Ravener demanded pettishly. ‘What business could your brother possibly have around here?’

‘Oh, the usual,’ Lord Merride
w said vaguely. ‘He’s already got a brood of four and I hear tell Caroline is breeding again
.
Charnwood is a little cramped for them and they might like to take this place on out of Season.
However it goes, I will not have it left in this condition. I’ll simply have to see that it is brought into order before I return home.’

From the look on the face of Mr. Ravener, this information was far from welcome. For wha
tever reason, he was not at all keen on having Abbey Cross made presentable. Not keen on having a host of servants wandering around the place, Caprice guessed. Which made her wonder what, exactly, the man was after.

A girl came into the room, one that Caprice had yet to meet. Her rather severe dark brown dress did not suit her sallow skin at all and nor did the austere way her thick dark hair was pulled back, emphasizing the prominent bones in her face. Her dark eyes immediately travelled to the Grand Duchess who glanced at her absently.

‘Ah, Anna.
Go and find Minouche. I do not want him falling into some silly rabbit hole.’

‘Yes, m’lady,’ she murmured and quickly hurried out the door. She’d only said two words but her accent was unmistakable. Caprice watch
ed her go
. Unless she was much mistaken, Maria’s maid was
Italian.

It wasn’t until they had set out fifteen minutes later that
Caprice felt she could
speak freely
. ‘They didn’t seem best pleased about you hiring staff.’

‘No. I wonder why that is? Usually my cousin would be suggesting that very thing himself.
In fact, he would be complaining about his lack of comforts so loudly we would all be deaf from it.
Making do are two words that are not in his vocabulary.’

‘He doesn’t wan
t extra people around the place. Worried they will stop him from hunting about?
’

‘My thoughts exactly.
What the devil are they looking for?’

‘What are you looking for?’ Caprice
countered
.

She was a little behind his lordship, holding Ulysses back for he was the kind of horse that liked to take the lead
and her current position dictated that Ulysses not be given his usual
assumption of rank
. His lordship had looked at the horse appreciatively as she’d saddled him.

‘He’s magnificent.’

‘He is, isn’t he?’

‘Your father must have been very fond of you to have given you such a gift.’

Ulysses turned his big head to try and nibble at her ear and she’d pushed him away good-humouredly. ‘That thought has been of great comfort to me,’ she
agreed gravely
.
It was, after all, true so she was not actually lying. Papa
was
very fond of her.

Riding behind his lordship
now, she was in a position to admire how he sat on his own mount, as comfortable on horseback as he was on his own two feet. With the sunlight f
alling on his dark, curling hair and the easy way his long body moved with the rhythm of his horse, Caprice felt that tickle of attraction that had been teasing her grow into a definite tug of desire.
Of all the times to start to feel amorous towards a man.
Her
timing was quite shocking for she was hardly at her best, being a grubby stableboy and all. But even so, there was no harm in a little admiration, now was there?

I wonder if he’s married. He might very well be, for he was hardly in the first flush of youth. How old was he, exactly?
Six and twenty?
Older?
Could a stableboy ask such questions? I can’t remember any of the boys at home being that familiar…

‘The problem is that I don’t know what I’m looking for,’ he allowed,
bringing her back to reality, happily
unaware that his companion was having the most improper thoughts about him. ‘Much as I’d like to find
some evidence of what Uncle Abel
was
up to, with the state everything
is in it hardly seems likely.’

‘Well they don’t seem to have any clearer idea
than you do
if they’re searching the place as well.’

‘True enough.
I’ve been trying to decide if that is odd or not
. I would have thought that if they were both spies for France they’d have known what they were about.
’ Turning his head, he grinned at her. ‘I’m going to hire a league of servants to turn that place out. Let’s see what we can raise, eh?’

‘D
ust, I should imagine. It’s all
a
dreadful
mess. Did
n’t
you say that your uncle had a servant?’

‘He had more than one but they
apparently abandoned the place some time ago. Even P
riss, who has been with my uncle for over thirty year
s, ha
s
disappeared
.’

‘Perhaps he’s st
ill there.’

‘
What do you mean?’

Caprice was silent for a moment, thinking about it. ‘Well, he could be couldn’t he? It’s
big enough and there must be
a hundred places to hide. And he’d know them all.
Who’s to say he’s not still there?
’

‘But why should he hide himself away?’

‘Well h
e might if he’s m
ixed up in smuggling
, might he not?
People or
brandy.
Or both.
’ Now that she thought about it, it made perfect sense. His lordship seemed to find it extraordinary that the man wasn’t there but there was no real reason to think he had gone, just because they couldn’t find him. The idea of someone hiding somewhere in Abbey Cross was an unpleasant one and she shivered a little. ‘I’m probably wrong.’
She
hoped
she was wrong.

‘Even if you’re right, we still have
the problem of finding him. If P
riss really is at Abbey Cross he would know the place far to
o
well to be caught.’ What a cheery thought! Caprice was thinking about it when he spoke again, a little irritably this time. ‘Why the devil are you riding back there? I’m straining my neck trying to have a conversation. Get up here, boy.’

She blinked, but nudged Ulysses forward until they were riding abreast. ‘I’m sorry,’ she almost stuttered, ‘but it’s not my place -’

‘Don’
t try that on me,’ he gave her an assessing look. ‘It’s perfectly apparent that you’re used to dealing with the gentry so don’t try and bamboozle me. It’s going to be difficult for you, going to a household where you have to mind your place. I wonder if your father thought of
that
when he was bringing you up.’

‘He probably thought he was going to be able to take care of me himself,’ Caprice countered. ‘So it didn’t matter.’

‘Your father sounds like he was a very short sighted man.’ He gave her a sympathetic look. ‘It’s going to be a hard road ahead for you.’

‘Because I won’t remember to mind my place?’

‘Because you’ll
have
to remember to mind your place,’ he returned dryly.

‘I’ll be sure to watch
what I say,’ she murmured, grateful that she had come up with a story that adequately explained why she was such a sorry excuse for a stableboy. He was right, of course. She was too much of a product of her situation in life to ever act the part of a real stableboy and Lord Merridew was far too intelligent to have been fooled by any kind of pretence for long. The only way she had gotten away with it so far was that she had had little to do with people.

He shook his head. ‘I foresee a few thick ears ahead.’

‘Well there’s no need to sound so happy about it!’

He chuckled. ‘I
f you find yourself too miserable
I daresay I could find you a position here. You’re damned good with horses, that much is obvious. How old are you?’

‘Sixteen?’ she hadn’t meant to make it sound like a question but she had been mulling over just how old she looked in her current guise
, trying to select the most plausible age.
It had to be young enough to avoid facial hair and her rather lightweight tones. She had a moderate pitch for a female, but nothing that
could reasonably be described as masculine.

‘You’ve had an unusual start to your life, young Jem,’ he said kindly, ‘and as such, you might find yourself struggling a little. I meant what I said. If you find your new position too difficult you have a place at Abbey Cross. I could do with a bright young lad like you.’

Caprice felt a warm glow at this generous offer. Lord Merridew, she decided, was very much the gentleman! Why couldn’t men like this have turned up at the endless assemblies she had attended
for so many years
? She c
ould have set her parent’s minds at rest by doing everything in her power
to snare such a man
! She gave him a shy smile. ‘Thank you. You really are very kind.’

‘Rubbish,’ he turned back to the road ahead. ‘Stealing another man’s servant is hardly kind, especially when that servant has the promise of being an excellent worker. I am grateful for your help. This situation is… delicate.’

The morning had turned into a very pleasant autumn day, the rain from the night before having entirely disappeared. They rode at a steady pace, not hurrying so that
they could take in their surroundings. Abbey Cross was situated only half a mile from the coastline and the wind held the refreshing tang of salt.
It was, Caprice realized, a rather lovely part of the world. The town or Fleet lay not three miles from Abbey Cross, in the opposite direction to the one she had travelled the day before. It was substantial enough to offer all manner of things, including no less than four hostelries and it was to one of these that they repaired as soon as they arrived.

‘Breakfast, while being much appreciated, was not as substantial as it could have been. I think we need further nourishment before we proceed, don’t you?’

As Caprice was actually exceedingly hungry – the excitement of the morning having give
n her quite the appetite –
she wholeheartedly agreed
with this suggestion
and they enjoyed a sizeable breakfast in the dining room
. When the landlord brought out
the dishes
of sausages and kidneys
,
bacon and sliced ham,
Lord Merridew quizzed him about the availability of staff in the area.

The man considered his lordship for a moment, brown eyes so
dark as to be black
. ‘You’d be from Abbey Cross then, sir?’

‘I am indeed. As you probably know, my uncle recently passed away and the place has come
back to me. I’m after quite a
few people.
Everybody from a cook to a scullery maid.
Can you suggest where I might find such a crowd?’

The man nodded thoughtfully, wiping his hands on the apron that covered his substantial belly, more out of habit t
han necessity it seemed
. ‘I can probably help you out there. My good lady has a sister that has just come down from London
a few
weeks ago
. Was a housekeeper to some lady up there but old girl took ill and died. She’s looking for a new
situation. And then there’s
my niece
Mai
sie… good girl, would do for a
maid I daresay. And I suppose that Mary Best would
be suitable
for the scullery, her being
-’