‘What…what are you doing here?’ she gasped.
‘Waiting to escort you to the Groves.’ Lord Redesmere gave her a calm smile. ‘Alicia is feeling indisposed.’
‘But I thought…’ Kate bit off what she had been about to say and substituted an excuse. ‘I…I don’t think I should go out if she is feeling unwell.’
‘A slight headache only. She specifically charged me with the task of ensuring that you did not sacrifice this lovely afternoon out of a mistaken sense of duty.’
Randal walked to the bottom of the stairs. ‘You are free to leave, Katharine. Let’s not waste any more time.’
Kate hesitated, fighting the surge of joy which battered her resolve to stand firm and refuse.
‘Come,’ he said firmly, holding out his arm to her and Kate found herself meekly obeying.
On their way out to the carriage Kate allowed her starved senses to drink in his immaculate appearance. He was wearing a dark green coat she hadn’t seen before and a very smart waistcoat in pale lemon. She wondered if he had been out in the sun, his wheat-blond hair had acquired lighter streaks and his face was bronzed.
He looked even more handsome than her memory had painted him and Kate’s heart twisted within her. She knew she was a fool, but she didn’t want him to think badly of her!
‘Tell me when you are you ready.’ Randal said, patiently steadying his pair while she unfurled her silk parasol to protect her complexion against the hot sun.
His thoughtfulness aroused a flicker of hope in Kate. Why was he being so nice to her? Indeed, why did he want to take her out driving at all? Was it possible he had forgiven her coldness?
‘I’m sorry I have not been to call on you,’ Randal said easily as they set off. ‘I’ve been lending a hand with haymaking.’
‘That explains your colour,’ Kate exclaimed unthinkingly.
Randal brushed off her hasty apology. ‘You should have seen me when I came home from Egypt,’ he joked. ‘I was as brown as a cobnut.’
Kate’s spirits bubbled upwards. Impossible as it seemed, he
was
extending an olive branch to her! Ignoring the warning voice of caution which screamed that nothing in their circumstances had changed, she smiled back at him, the last remnants of her constraint dissolving in a rush of happiness.
‘I do believe you are gammoning me again,’ she declared, instinctively abandoning her role as Kitty and slipping back into her own skin. ‘Why on earth should you wish to travel to Egypt of all places? No one goes there.’
Hearing her quicksilver laughter, Randal experienced an exultation that had nothing to do with the success of his scheme.
He had set out today determined to force her to accompany him. He hadn’t given her a chance to refuse his company and he wouldn’t have been surprised if she had reacted angrily. However, instead of resenting his highhandedness, she was treating him with all her old camaraderie. Had she repented of her abominable behaviour?
Ignoring the tiny voice which whispered in his mind that she might just be as pleased to see him as he had been to see her, he continued in the same bantering tone. ‘You may laugh, Miss Nixon, but I swear to you that I enjoyed my time there more than most countries I’ve visited, in spite of a French hussar who had an ambition to separate my head from my neck and came close to succeeding.’
‘You were there to fight Napoleon?’ Kate suddenly remembered he had been in the army.
He nodded, his gaze flicking away to survey the road. ‘My regiment was ordered to Egypt with Abercromby.’
The Egyptian campaign had taken place some ten years ago. Kate wasn’t sure how much Kitty might have heard of it, but she could recall how
The Cumberland Pacquet
and the other newssheets her father subscribed to had been full of stories about Sir Ralph Abercromby’s brave heroism and his successful attempt against all the odds to prevent Napoleon from adding Egypt to his conquests.
‘The General was killed at the Battle of Aboukir, was he not?’ she said cautiously, reckoning that Kitty might know this simple fact at least.
‘He died of his wounds. A very brave and able man.’ Randal’s expression was sombre as he recalled the fierce fighting that had taken place in that hot dry land. The casualties had been heavy. They had been badly outnumbered and had lacked siege guns, but the men had been determined to do their duty and show the world that the French were not invincible.
‘Under his successor, General Hely-Hutchinson we took Cairo,’ Randal continued. ‘That was at the end of June, but the French garrison in Alexandria managed to cling on until October. They were only saved by the signing of the Peace Treaty.’
A frown suddenly marred his features and Kate understood why. Her own father, although weary of war and like everyone else in the country longing for it to end, had fulminated against the Government for throwing away the fruits of recent victory in their haste to appease Napoleon’s threat of invasion. The Peace of Amiens had proved a false dawn and given the French eighteen months to rearm before the fighting had begun all over again.
Randal shrugged, his grim expression lightening. ‘Napoleon may have pulled off his bluff and frightened Addington and Hawkesbury witless, but, by God, Lord Hutchinson was made of sterner stuff! He absolutely refused to let the French keep any of the valuables they had looted during their stay in Egypt. He appointed Sir Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner to organise the transfer of everything except small personal items into our keeping. Knowing I was interested in antiquities, Turner requested my assistance.’
A grin split Randal’s tanned face. ‘I must confess that I had a wonderful time! The French tried every kind of trick to hide things from us. Old Menou was furious when we discovered where he had hidden the Rosetta Stone and snatched it back.’
Kate blinked at him, struggling to absorb this unexpected information. She hadn’t known he had scholarly interests. Kitty had never mentioned anything of the sort!
‘I remember hearing something about the Rosetta Stone,’ she murmured. ‘Papa was interested in the discoveries Napoleon’s scholars made. Some French soldiers found it, didn’t they?’
‘Aye, in the ruins of Fort St Julien, which stands on the mouth of the Nile near the town of Rosetta. It was a slab of black basalt, a damned—I mean dashed—heavy lump of a thing carved with three parallel inscriptions.’ Randal chuckled. ‘We had to take a detachment of artillerymen and a devil-cart to carry it off back to Turner’s house. Mind you, he had the decency to allow French scholars to make a cast before it was packed up to be sent home.’
Kate inclined her head to one side in thought. ‘But why was it so important?’ she asked. ‘I recall that scholars were very excited at its discovery, but I never really understood why.’
Randal glanced across at her. Her lovely face had taken on the glow of animation he remembered from the day they had visited the Castle.
‘It is important because one of the three inscriptions it bore was in Greek. It translates as a decree praising King Ptolemy V and we think that the other two inscriptions in the hieroglyphic and demotic of the ancient Egyptians say the same thing.’
‘I see! You hope that by comparing them with the Greek that you will be able to decipher them.’
‘Exactly!’ Randal threw her a glance of approbation before returning his attention to the road.
The busy traffic silenced their discourse for a few moments and then Randal said with a casualness he was far from feeling, ‘If you are interested, perhaps you would like to view the collection of oddities and small items of ancient art I amassed during my travels? It isn’t a splendid hoard, I can’t claim to have emulated Lord Elgin or my father in that respect, but you might find it worth viewing.’
‘I should love to see it!’ Kate’s eyes began to sparkle. He
must
have forgiven her!
‘Good.’ Randal smiled at her warmly. ‘We must arrange a date for you to visit the Hall one day next week.’
It would never had occurred to him to woo her with such bait, but her unexpected interest had brought him one step nearer to achieving his aim!
* * * *
For once Kate and Alicia were to enjoy a quiet dinner at home that evening and Kate decided to broach the subject of Randal’s invitation when the dessert had been set upon the table.
‘Lord Redesmere suggested I stay overnight so I shall require a chaperon,’ she concluded. ‘He thought next Monday, if that suits you, ma’am?’
‘I shall be happy to accompany you.’ Alicia gave her a delighted smile. ‘And not only for your sake, Kitty. I adore the Hall, it is such a wonderfully romantic house! There is even a ghost!’
Kate grinned. That was one problem solved at least. Not that she had expected Alicia to refuse. Her hostess had questioned her closely about her afternoon and made no secret of her satisfaction on hearing that the outing had been a success.
Mary’s reaction to the plan had also been predictable.
‘You are a damned fool if you go, Kate,’ she had said bluntly. ‘It’s too risky.’
Kate hadn’t needed to ask her to clarify this statement.
But she had tried being sensible and it hadn’t worked! For whatever reason of his own, Randal had ignored her attempt to rebuff him. Short of telling him she disliked him and didn’t want him near her, there was little else she could do. Such rudeness might backfire, she still needed his consent for Kitty to gain her fortune, and, besides, she didn’t think she could carry it off.
Lying in bed that night Kate knew the time had come to confront the truth of her feelings for Randal Crawford. She had tried telling herself that it was just a physical attraction, but it was more, much more than that.
Kate had sworn she would never fall in love again. Her heart had been so bruised by her experience with Francis that she was too scared to trust any man. Randal had broken down the barriers she had erected to cage in her emotions. When she was with him her whole being came alive.
She had only known him a few weeks and yet it felt as if they had been friends for years. They laughed at the same things and their minds were in tune.
What of his feelings? Did he care for her at all or was it merely desire that held him in thrall? Kate didn’t know. All she knew was that it was too late for her to wish she had never met him.
Mary thought she was a fool. And she was probably right. Nothing could come of it, but she
wanted
to go to the Hall.
It could be only a matter of days now before the situation came to a head. If Gerald Sullivan turned up and denounced her as an impostor, they would have to flee Chester in a hurry. If that happened, it was unlikely she would ever see Randal again.
This might be her last opportunity to spend a day with him. Surely, if she kept her emotions in check, there could be no harm in allowing herself to enjoy his company?
Chapter Seven
Everywhere Kate went in the next few days she encountered Lord Redesmere. At a picnic hosted by Mrs Egerton at her home on the banks of the Dee, she finally asked him if he had taken up residence in Chester.
‘In a manner of speaking, you could say I had.’ There was a gleam of amusement in Randal’s gaze. ‘I’ve been staying temporarily with Godwin, you see.’
Kate’s mouth formed a circle of surprise.
‘I shall, of course, be returning home tomorrow night in readiness for your visit,’ he reassured her with his most charming smile.
Kate vaguely noticed that he hadn’t mentioned why he was staying at his uncle’s house, but was distracted by him saying that his sister was expected home from her honeymoon.
‘Emma wrote to tell me that they would be arriving around four o’clock.’ Randal took out his gold verge watch and glanced at it. The Egertons lived near Shotwick, he would have to ride hard to return to Chester in time. ‘So I’m afraid I must leave in a moment.’
Kate hid her disappointment. ‘I understood Alicia to say that Lieutenant Lattimer’s family live in Cornwall,’ she remarked, fanning herself idly. It was another hot afternoon, although it felt a little cooler here by the river. ‘Is he going to take your sister to pay them a farewell visit before they leave England?’
Randal shook his fair head. ‘They said their goodbyes at the wedding.’
‘I suppose his parents are used to him being away. Alicia said he has been in the army since he was sixteen.’ Kate had heard all about Randal’s new in-law from Lady Edgeworth, who had attended Emma’s wedding and thought it a very good match. ‘However, I dare say you will miss your sister.’
Randal agreed. He was some fourteen years Emma’s senior, but they were close. ‘I had hoped that they would stay at the Hall for the rest of their leave, but Emma declined my offer. I think she wants to prove she is now an independent married woman. They are to put up at the White Lion until they take ship for Spain.’
Randal had been somewhat disappointed, but now realised that Emma’s decision to assert her new status afforded him a useful privacy.
Rising reluctantly to his feet, he said, ‘Shall I see you at Godwin’s party tomorrow?’
Kate stood up too. ‘Try keeping me away! I love strawberries!’
Randal grinned at her. ‘You had better wear an old dress then. Godwin takes his strawberrying very seriously!’
Kate chuckled. Alicia had told her that Godwin’s strawberry party was an annual event. ‘It is a very informal occasion. Everyone has the greatest fun,’ she’d enthused.
Randal raised Kate’s hand to his lips. ‘Don’t forget your sun bonnet,’ he murmured softly. ‘It would be a pity to spoil so perfect a complexion.’
Kate could still feel a tingle of excitement from his kiss even after she had returned to Abbey Square.
She went upstairs to remove her hat and when she came down she discovered that Alicia had ordered some orgeat to be served.
‘This came for you, Miss Kitty, while you was out.’ Susan set the tray holding the cooling beverage down on the ornate boulle-inlay table which decorated the morning room before presenting Kate with a letter.
Kate thanked her. ‘Is Lady Edgeworth still upstairs?’
‘I heard her say she was thinking of taking a bath, Miss. Ever so hot she looked.’