The Duke's Dilemma (10 page)

The lovely garment was placed in the closet
where it might be better if it remained. She had escaped unscathed this time
but she didn’t think she would be so lucky if she was foolhardy enough to
appear dressed in a gown that was obviously an invitation to a man like him.

Before she got into bed she decided to check on
the snowmen they’d built outside on the lawn. Taking the candlestick she pulled
aside the curtain and opened the shutter a little to look out. The hair on her
forearms stood up, her mouth went dry. Across the park in the woods lights were
floating, some high some low; they appeared one moment and the next they’d
gone. She slammed the shutter, dropped the curtain and sped back across the
carpet to scramble into bed.

She was shaking from cold and fear and the
candle was snuffed and the room dark. The fire banked up for the night threw
little light into the room and she was too scared to climb out and rekindle her
candle. She wriggled down, pulling the comforter over her head in an effort to
block out the memory of the ghostly lights.

Gradually her pulse returned to normal and as
her terror abated common sense returned. Hadn’t her cousin told her the area
was used by free traders? Yes. That was what she’d witnessed, nothing demonic
about it, merely smugglers returning from the coast with illegal goods.

Forcing herself to relax she turned her
thoughts to pleasanter things. She wasn’t sure how she felt about her first
experience of intimacy. Ralph had intended to kiss her and she was certain his
actions were wrong and that he was treating her with disrespect. The fact she
had wanted him to, was neither here nor there - he was a gentleman; he must
restrain himself.

 
Just
because they were being thrown into each other’s company didn’t mean he could
take liberties with her person. She might be an innocent but even she knew only
betrothed couples at that were allowed to indulge in such intimacies. She
shuddered. He might be ready to give up his freedom but she was not. She smiled
drowsily. If she was thinking of matrimony the last person she would choose
would be Cousin Ralph. He was far too controlling.

*

Halfway down his second decanter of cognac
Ralph felt he was ready to sleep. Not bothering to stagger upstairs as Robin
would have taken to his bed long ago and not be there to assist him, he removed
his evening jacket he tossed it carelessly on the desk. Stretching out on the
mat in front of the fire he yawned; his only concession to comfort was a
cushion he’d snatched from one of the leather armchairs.

The fire was high, the carpet far more
comfortable than many places he’d rested his head over the years. He slept
soundly for the first time since he’d arrived at Neddingfield; the alcohol he’d
consumed helping with his slumbers. His dreams were disturbed by a furious
banging but he ignored it. Then someone was shaking his shoulder and he was
rudely jerked awake.

‘Your grace, dreadful news, please, you must
come at once.’

Instantly alert, in spite of the quantities of
claret and cognac he’d drunk the night before, he sprung to his feet, shocked
by the expression on Robin’s face.

‘What is it, man? Tell me.’

‘It’s James, your grace. He never reached town,
at least we don’t think he did, his horse staggered into the yard just now half
dead with cold.’

‘Damn and blast! Let’s assume he’s had a fall and
not imagine the worst. Give me five minutes; I can hardly come dressed as I
am.’ He heard Robin thundering up the stairs behind him and was glad his man
had thought to follow. It would be far quicker to disrobe and put on his
breeches and boots if he had assistance. Ten minutes later he was in the
kitchen draining a cup of coffee. Snatching a chunk of newly baked bread he
pulled on his heavy riding coat, jammed his beaver on his head and ran outside.

In the stable Tom and one of the local men were
doing their best for the horse, but after a cursory glance he thought the
animal was unlikely to survive. Finally bred animals couldn’t withstand the
cold and this poor beast had obviously been up to his belly in snow most of the
night. It would be kinder to shoot it now but he didn’t have time for that.

‘Where’s the tack? I want to see the saddle and
bridle; it’s possible I can discover something you missed.’

These were fetched and he took them outside
into the early morning light to get a closer look. His jaw clenched in anger.
The grooms had missed a vital clue in their desperation to get the horse warm;
there was a smear of blood across the pommel. As the horse had not been injured
this could only mean one thing.

 
‘This
isn’t good, Robin, in fact it’s bloody bad. The boy must have met with an
accident. Pray he hasn’t frozen to death overnight.’

Chapter Ten

‘It should be easy enough to follow the tracks
of the horse back into the wood, your grace. Shall I arm the men and saddle the
horses?’

‘Not yet, Robin. Five
more minutes isn’t going to make much difference either way.’ James was one of
Hester’s men, had been with him for several years and she would be devastated
if anything untoward had happened. He was tempted to go inside and explain but
decided against it. Knowing her she would insist on coming with them and her
health was not robust enough to be outside on horseback.

He was reduced to two armed men, plus half a
dozen outdoor servants who could at a push, wield a cudgel. He had a horrible
suspicion his men were being removed one by one; if he wasn’t careful he would
be isolated. He stared at that at the grey clouds rapidly approaching from the
coast. Within an hour or two it would be snowing; he must get moving and not
stand around procrastinating.

Decision made he strode back into the stable to
find Robin waiting at the heads of the two horses he’d chosen. If the situation
hadn’t been so dire he would have smiled. These were not hunters but
workhorses, ones that pulled a farm wagon.

‘I thought these would do better in the snow,
your grace. We’ve probably lost one, I don’t want to lose any more.’

Ralph turned to the four men, sacks tied round
their legs with string, inadequate coats buttoned across their chests and
stringy mufflers around their necks. All wore caps dragged down to cover their
ears. He couldn’t in all conscience allow them to come out in a possible
blizzard. ‘You four, I no longer wish you to accompany me. Get shovels and
clear the walkways, if further snow falls this area will be extremely
dangerous.’

 
The
largest touched his forelock and grinned. ‘A bit of snow won’t ’
urt
us,
yer
grace. We’re ‘
appy
enough to follow you, if you think it’d ’
elp
.’

‘No, I thank you, I shall go with my man. We’re
both armed and better dressed to brave the elements.’

One of the four jumped forward, to push open
the arched doors and Ralph trotted out. The wind wasn’t as icy as before but it
didn’t herald a change in the weather, unfortunately.

He directed his sturdy mount to the trail the
returning horse had left. At times the snow was up to its chest but it didn’t
seem to bother the beast, it just poked its nose forward and ploughed on. Ralph
patted the animal’s neck.

The trail led them into a clearing just in
front of the five barred gate that marked the end of the wood and then stopped
abruptly. No hoof prints the other side of the gate, nothing to show that
anyone apart from James and his mount had been there. The young man would have
had to jump the gate or dismount to open it. At this point he would have had
his mind on other things.

‘This could be where he was taken.’ Ralph
looked over his shoulder, searching the undergrowth and surroundings for signs
of an ambush. There were none and his instincts told him they were quite alone
in this desolate place. If someone had been here they were long gone. He looked
around for evidence but saw nothing.

‘Dismount, Robin, and search properly. I’m
certain we’re at the spot he was taken, but from up here I can see nothing
suspicious. If I was inclined to be superstitious I’d say something unnatural
has occurred here. This is the second man to have vanished without trace with
no evidence of human intervention.’

He waited for Robin to laugh but the man turned
away unsmiling. Ralph had not mistaken the look of fear on his companion’s
face. They had fought side by side throughout many bloody campaigns and this
was the first time he’d seen him unsettled.

He lowered himself to the ground, not wishing
to fill his boots with snow. There was no necessity to tether his mount as it
seemed content to stand. The animal, a nondescript brown gelding, lowered his
massive head and blew clouds of warmth down the back of his neck. He reached up
and rubbed the hairy muzzle.

‘Good fellow, you stand here. I promise we’ll
not keep you waiting long and then you shall return and have a large bucket of
oats for your trouble.’

They quartered the area the way they had done
when serving soldiers but found nothing: no blood, no helpful threads of red
coat, nothing to say that James had been there at all. He straightened, shaking
his head in disappointment.

‘We’re going to find nothing here, Robin. At
least I can tell Miss Frobisher he appears to have been taken, not killed. That
will be some consolation.’ But by whom, or what, he wasn’t sure. He saw Robin’s
apprehension and realized his choice of words had been inopportune, merely
reinforcing the man’s suspicion that unworldly forces were at work.

 
A flurry
of white brushed across his cheek and he looked up dismayed to see the clouds
had arrived quicker than he’d anticipated. ‘We’d better hurry and or we’ll be
stuck out here in a blizzard.’

He vaulted into the saddle, digging his heels
into the horses’ hairy flanks, then rammed his feet into the irons. Neither
animal needed encouragement to return and they clattered back into the if
cobbled yard in good time; they had been riding blind for the last mile. Their
arrival was heard and the doors swung open and he walked straight in.

‘Thank God, I thought you’d left it too late,
your grace. The weather’s turned right nasty out there.’ Tom’s tone reflected
his concern.

‘We’d not be back at all if it hadn’t been for
these two nags. They knew their way home and all we had to do was keep our
heads down and hang on.’

 
Ralph
dropped to the floor sending a cloud of snow over the men standing closest. He
looked round at their expectant faces. ‘We found nothing and in some ways
that’s good news. James has been abducted, taken somewhere else, but at least
he’s not dead.’ One man stepped forward and led away his horse. ‘Give both
horses a bucket of oats, they deserve it.’

*

Hester joined Birdie in her comfortable rooms
above the kitchen. She told her friend what had transpired the previous night
and how she had managed to extricate herself from a potentially damaging
situation. She wasn’t sure if Birdie was impressed or scandalized.

‘Look, it’s snowing again. The girl who brought
us the tray said that Cousin Ralph and his man haven’t returned. Whatever possessed
him go out in this weather?’

‘I’ve no idea, but no doubt he’ll explain it
all to you when he returns. Remember, my dear, he’s a veteran and well used to
dealing with weather far worse than this.’

Hester had to be satisfied with this answer but
she was restless all morning, unable to settle to anything. She had begun to
feel uneasy at Neddingfield; for some strange reason she felt trapped within
its walls. She returned to her seat beside the fire and munched quietly on the
feather-light biscuits Cook had sent up to accompany their mid-morning
refreshment. She couldn’t sit up here doing nothing; she would go out to the
stables and see what was going on.

‘Thank you for the coffee and conversation but
I must return to my chambers to see how the alterations are progressing. It
will be delightful to have another gown to wear during the day, for this is the
third day I’ve been obliged to wear this one.’

‘My dear, it’s a good thing it suits you so well.
Cook is coming up with today’s menu in a moment so I should have had to ask you
to leave.’

Hester’s eyebrows rose. Ask her to leave? Her
companion was usually docility itself and wouldn’t dream of suggesting her
employer leave, whatever the reason. Smiling to herself she clattered back down
the stairs and out into the corridor that led to the kitchen, aware that these
unusual circumstances seemed to be making them all behave out of character.

 
She
would need to return to her apartment to put on outdoor clothing before she
could venture to the stables. She hesitated - there were cloaks and clogs
hanging next to the boot room, should she borrow those? Deciding it would save
valuable time if she used a servant’s cloak she pushed open the door. As she did
so the back door opened and a blast of icy snow enveloped her and she found
herself face-to-face with a giant snowman.

For second she was taken aback. ‘Good heavens,
I’m relieved to see you back. I was about to come out the stables to enquire
after you.’

‘Then I’m glad you didn’t, it’s abominable out
there. Go back to the study, my dear, we have things to talk about and it’s far
too cold to stand around here dressed as you are.’

Obediently she turned back. He was right, she
was already chilled, her dress was of heavy stuff but it was not suited to the
extreme conditions they were experiencing.

In the warmth of the study she paced, wondering
how long it would take him to remove his outer garments, clean his boots and
brush down his breeches. After twenty minutes her curiosity was replaced by
annoyance. She didn’t like to be left standing, even by a duke! Whatever could
be keeping him? If she could change her clothes in less than ten minutes,
surely a man could do the same? How typical of him to disregard her feelings in
this way.

There were footsteps approaching and she sat,
straight-backed, behind the desk. Placing the bulk of this between them made
her feel less vulnerable. The door swung open and he marched in, no apology,
his face grim. She feared what was coming would be bad news.

 
‘Sit
down. Take the chair closest to the fire. You must be frozen after venturing
out this morning.’ She was pleased her voice sounded even and glad he couldn’t
see her clenched hands.

He nodded and sat down, moving the chair sideways,
away from the fire so that he was facing her. ‘I’m afraid I’ve bad news for
you: James has been abducted.’

‘James? What do you mean? Why should anyone
wish to kidnap James? How do you know this?’ Her voice was shrill. This was too
much coming as it did after her scare last night.

‘His horse returned this morning without him
half dead with cold. I went out to look but we found no sign. He’s vanished.
His tracks ended by the gate that leads into the lane and we didn’t find
evidence of other horses, but I’m still sure he was ambushed.’

Her eyes filled. First Aunt Agatha then James -
what was happening? She was being dragged into a nightmare. ‘Do you think they
took him to prevent him bringing extra staff here to help us?’

‘I can think of no other explanation but I’m
almost sure he’s still alive.’

Hester brushed her tears away. ‘I should hope
so, indeed. I’m uneasy about these strange disappearances. Don’t you think it’s
odd?’ She remembered what she’d seen the night before and felt nauseous. ‘Last
night I saw lights in the woods. I thought they were smugglers, but after what
happened to James I’m beginning to have grave doubts.’

‘Doubts? Surely
you’re
not considering the supernatural? I thought you were made of
sterner stuff.’ He shrugged, smiling at her and stood before strolling across
the room. She forgot her worries, forgot everything apart from the man who was
moving in her direction. Even the desk didn’t seem big enough to protect her.

‘Please, Cousin, sit down. You are overlarge to
be looming over a person like this.’ Her words halted him and the fierce gleam
in his eyes vanished to be replaced by a bland smile.

‘I apologize, my dear. Shall I sit here by the
desk or will you join me by the fire? I promise not to alarm you further by
looming
.’

‘I’m quite content where I am. But you would do
better by the fire.’

The
humour
left his
face and she regretted her sharp tongue. Hastily she tried to deflect his ire.
‘I have come to the conclusion Polly might possibly hold the key to this. If we
can fathom out why she was attacked when the others were left unmolested then
we might be closer to an answer.’

‘Then fetch the girl and let me question her.’

He turned to stare into the fire, rudely
turning his back. Hester remained where she was determined not to be sent
running on an errand like a child. For a few minutes the only sound was the
fire and the wind rattling the window frames.

Without turning he spoke again. ‘I believe I
asked you to fetch your maid. I don’t wish to repeat my request.’

His threat was veiled, but it would be foolish
to disobey. He was being despicable and overbearing today. She slammed back her
chair and without a word stalked across the study and out into the icy
corridor. A gentleman would not have suggested she fetch Polly, but would have
rung for a servant or even gone himself.

She scampered up the main stairs and ran
pell-mell along the corridor and burst into her
parlour
.
‘Polly, are you in there? The duke and I would like you to come downstairs; we
have some questions to ask you.’

The girl jumped up spilling her sewing onto the
carpet. ‘Miss Frobisher, I hope I haven’t offended in any way?’

‘No, of course you haven’t. I’m delighted with
you, in fact I’m not in going to let you go. You do realize I’m going to insist
that you accompany me back to
Draycot
Manor?’