Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance (18 page)

Felicity could only be
sad, ‘And you must believe me Alex, when I say it is not possible.’ Alex stood
up beside her and drew her to him once more.  He knew that Felicity was not
indifferent to him, he could tell by her response to his kisses and he was
determined to get to the bottom of her refusal.  He kissed her once more on the
cheek. ‘We shall see Flick but I think you know already that I always get my
way.’  He drew her arm through his once more, ‘Come we had better get back to
the house. We have promised Richard an afternoons fishing and we would not want
to disappoint him and if you can find that annoying mutt we can take him along
as well.’

Felicity managed to
raise a smile at that and the two returned to the house.

After lunch, Richard
and Felicity jumped up into the gig.  Alex handed Tiber up to Felicity and the
little dog sat expectantly on her lap with his short ears twitching and his
little tail wagging vigorously.  As far as he was concerned, he was off on an
adventure to a land full of strange creeping shadows but most of all - rabbits! 
There was no room in the gig for Alex so he went down to the riverbank on
horseback.  Richard took the reins and they all made the short journey down to
the river.  Felicity would have preferred to walk but she knew that for Richard
it was out of the question, so she happily took her place in the gig beside
him. She looked at her brother who was heartily pleased to be out of doors and
thought to herself that a couple of hours in the fresh air would do him no
harm.  He had not been able to get his boot on but with a little ingenuity they
had secured his foot in a make shift cast and wrapped it up to keep it warm.

The party reached the riverbank
and Felicity jumped down from the gig with Tiber.  Richard climbed down
gingerly and Alex handed him his stick.  Alex had chosen a spot where large
boulders lined the riverbank, Richard was able to sit on the largest of them
with a stone positioned as a convenient footstool, and they had even brought a
cushion and a blanket for his comfort.  As Felicity approached the riverbank, Tiber
pranced around her feet and barked vociferously.  He remembered this place and
concluded that the river was decidedly not a friendly place and to be avoided
at all costs.  Felicity bent down to stroke the little dog, ‘Don’t worry Tiber;
we are not going for a swim in the big nasty river today.’  The little dog was
not to be deterred and did his level best to deter Felicity from going too
close to the river edge.  Felicity turned to the men. ‘I do not think Tiber is
going to settle, would you mind terribly if I took him for a little walk?’

Alex and Richard who
were attaching colourful fly’s to their rods looked up and Richard replied,
‘Just be careful Felicity, remember that you are not very familiar with this
place so do not get lost.’  Felicity pointed to a copse of woods across a
field. ‘I won’t go far; I will just explore that copse of trees over there.  I
will only be half an hour.’ At that, Felicity picked up a loose stick, throwing
it in the direction of the wood for Tiber to retrieve.  The little dog thought
this an excellent game and so the two of them walked off toward the wooded
corpse for a half hour of what Tiber, if he could speak, would have described
as unadulterated ecstasy.  The men cast their rods into the river and watched
Felicity as she ran across the field toward the trees.  Richard turned to Alex.
‘I am glad she has wandered off for a while, because I wanted to ask you how
you got on this morning.  Did you ask her? Because she has not mentioned anything
to me and I really thought she would.’

Alex looked rather
grim, ‘I did and she said no.  She told me not to enquire, but there were
reasons why she could not marry me.’ Richard stared at him in amazement and
eventually retorted, ‘Nonsense!  Did she say she could not or would not?

‘Oh definitely could
not,’ Alex supplied, ‘She seems to think that I do not know her properly and
that if I did I would not like her nearly so well. I am sure she is hiding
something and I intend to get to the bottom of it.’

Richard looked meaningfully
at his friend.  ‘I can assure you that despite her impetuosity, there are no skeletons
in Felicity’s cupboard.  No, I cannot think of anything so momentous that it would
inhibit a marriage between you.  There is not one single reason why she could
not marry you, unless of course, she found the idea of marriage to you
repellent and I can tell you this Alex, I have been watching her and I am sure
that she likes you well enough.  No I find her refusal and her reason for it a
bit of a mystery.’

Alex frowned, ‘Yes so
do I, for I can swear she is not indifferent to me.  No, she has a bee in her
bonnet about something.  Maybe she is just embarrassed about her accusations over
the necklace but I can assure you that I do not hold that against her.  Her
loyalty to Emily although misplaced is to be commended and a quality to be
highly valued. I have told her that I will not take no for...’ 

Alex had no time to say
more for Richard felt a sharp jerk on his rod and reacted quickly to maintain
control.  Richard stood up, hopping on his good foot and struggling to maintain
his balance.  Alex put his own rod down and came over to help as Richard
started to reel the fish in.  The fish was obviously a large one and it was not
easily going to give up the battle.  Richard fought hard to keep his balance
but after a few minutes and with effort the pair managed to haul in a large
trout. Minutes later, he caught another one and Alex followed through with a
couple of catches of his own. In fact, the river that morning was yielding it
contents quite handsomely and there was not time for further conversation.

Felicity had not
wandered far.  She had entered the copse and followed a well-established path. Tiber
was scrapping at her heels, willing her to throw the stick for what must have
been the fiftieth time.  She threw it again and had only gone a few yards when
she stood stock-still.  A beautiful stag with magnificent antlers was standing
between the trees grazing.  Tiber froze in his tracks then ran back to his
mistress dropping his stick, whimpering and hiding behind her skirts.  This
creature was strange to him and what was more it was much, much bigger than a
rabbit!  Felicity bent down to pat the little dog, ‘do not worry Tiber he will
be more afraid of you than you are of him,’ she whispered, ‘but oh what magnificent
antlers he has doesn’t he?’  For a moment, the stag looked calmly into her eyes
but startled by Tiber who had started to bark, it turned tail and bolted into
the forest. ‘Oh you beautiful thing.’ she whispered as she watched it disappear
into the depth of the foliage.  ‘Oh Tiber, shame on you, you have frightened him
away. Ah well,’ she sighed resignedly, ‘I doubt he would have stayed much
longer anyway.’  She picked up the stick that Tiber had dropped at her feet and
threw it up the path. Tiber now recovered, once again scuttled off to retrieve
it.

 Felicity did not get
much further when she heard a rustle in the trees.  She peered into the gloom
to see a man about five yards away, kneeling on the ground and setting what
appeared to be an animal trap.  He turned around when he heard them approach.
In her interminable reckless way, she stepped toward him and looked down at the
vicious implement.  It had two large serrated jaws with springs and had a round
trigger pan in the middle. ‘Oh my goodness whatever are you doing?’ she gasped
as she gazed at the man with revulsion.  She was thinking of the beautiful stag
she had seen just a few minutes ago and the thought of such a magnificent
creature caught in such a snare made her anger boil to the surface.  She called
Tiber quickly to her side and grabbed him by the scruff.  She could not have
him as this man’s next victim. ‘Oh how wicked,’ she stormed at him her eyes
blazing with fury. ‘Whatever do you think you are doing?’ she repeated when the
man had returned no answer.

The man looked
uncomfortable but quickly regained his composure. ‘None of your business,’ he
grunted, ‘now just be running along with you missy, if you know what is good
for you.’

‘I certainly will
not.’  She picked up Tiber’s stick and threw it at the trap, triggering it and
rendering it useless.  At least now, she could let Tiber go. ‘I do not know who
you are.’ she continued, ‘but I think I should inform you that you are
trespassing and I am quite sure that what you are doing is illegal.’

The man looked angry
and pointed at the trap. ‘Well that is where you would be wrong young miss, I
would have you know that I am the gamekeeper here and I am just carrying out the
landowner’s instructions.  You have no idea the damage animals cause to the
flora around here.’

She looked at him for a
long moment.  She had seen the Duke speaking with his gamekeeper just the other
day.  The gamekeeper was a large man with a bushy beard, a Scottish accent and
flaming red hair and this man was of medium height, slim and slightly balding. 
‘No, you are not the gamekeeper,’ she blurted out. ‘You are just a thieving
poacher.  What is more the Duke would never countenance such an atrocity.’  She
pointed to the trap, ‘this is inhumane, why a poor animal caught in such an
evil contraption could suffer for hours.  Have you set anymore of these heinous
things?’

The man sneered, ‘As if
I would be telling yer that.’ Felicity realised that she had no power over this
poacher but she was not to be undone. ‘No, I do not suppose you would but rest
assured I have the measure of you and his Grace will be hearing of it.’

Tiber knew from
experience that this man was no friend and the tone of his voice did nothing to
alleviate the little dogs’ aggression so he began to snap at the poachers
ankles.  The poacher kicked him away with some force but Tiber was not to be
deterred and renewed his attack.  The man got angry and pulled his gun off his
shoulder. ‘Call off your dog or I will shoot him,’ he hissed. ‘I thought I
threw that piece of vermin in the river days ago anyway.’  Felicity was surprised
at this confession and frightened for her pet, dragged him back to her side.  ‘Oh
so it was you who threw this poor little dog into the river, what a purely
wicked man you are.’ 

 She put Tiber down on
the path and pointed toward the river. ‘Tiber – Alex- Fetch!  she ordered.  The
intelligent little dog seemed to understand and went haring off toward the
river.  The stranger suddenly aware of what was happening aimed his gun and
shot at Tiber but the bullet landed far short and Tiber disappeared from the wood
and out into the open. Felicity turned back to the poacher. ‘I suggest you get
out of here and take that vile thing with you and any more you may have laid,
before the Marquis returns to catch you.’ The poacher hissed and took a
menacing step forward. ‘Why you interfering little busybody, what you need is a
good hiding.  Come here you meddling little wench and I’ll teach you a lesson.’

Alex and Richard had heard
the shot and turned round to see Tiber racing as fast as his little legs would
take him across the open grass.  Richard dropped his rod and stood up. ‘Flick!’
he cried, as he hobbled toward the gig.  Alex however, had already sprung up into
the saddle and was galloping off across the field meeting the dog half way.  Tiber
gave an urgent bark, turned back toward to copse and ran alongside the horse as
if to show him the way.  When Alex arrived at the scene, Felicity was
struggling valiantly with a man he certainly recognised.  The man clearly found
his quarry deceptively robust and not at all easy to overpower.  He had managed
to retrain her arms but she was kicking ferociously at his knees and shins inflicting
severe pain and generally making it difficult for him to contain her.

The poacher was so
intent on his purpose that Alex’s arrival took him quite by surprise.  He let
go of his quarry and made for his gun that he had left lying by the snare but
he was too late. Alex had jumped down from his saddle and got there before
him.  Felicity stood there quite relieved, pleased to see him.  She was
beginning to fight a losing battle and what is more she knew it.  Alex levelled
the gun at the poacher. ‘Stay exactly where you are,’ he demanded as he
beckoned Felicity to come and stand beside him.  Felicity speedily obeyed and
watched as Alex continued to address the poacher. ‘Well Mr Kensett perhaps you
can tell me why I find you here manhandling one of my guests.  I must inform
you that I am extremely displeased.’

Felicity gasped and
looked from the poacher to Alex. ‘Do you know him then?’

This Felicity is one of
our tenants, Mr Kensett.  My father hired out the cottage in the lower East
Lane to him about six months ago.’  Alex glanced at the trap and quickly took
measure of the nature of his tenant’s nefarious activities.  Everything made
sense, for it was about six months ago that the gamekeeper had first mentioned
to his father that he was having a problem with poachers. He had needed to
dismantle a number of cruel traps that he had found on the land.  Unfortunately,
the gamekeeper had not always found the traps empty and had to put a few
animals, mostly badgers, foxes and rabbits out of their misery.  The day he needed
to shoot a stag, he had been particularly despondent.  Despite all of their
efforts the poacher had proved elusive, so it was good to have him standing here
now caught completely red handed.

By this time, Richard
arrived.  He had been unable to drive the gig on the narrow path through the
copse and had made the rest of the way slowly on foot leaning heavily on his
stick.  Alex called Richard over and handed him the shotgun. ‘Cover him Richard
for I have something I must do.’  Alex walked over to the poacher, grabbed his
jacket and rendered him a powerful upper cut on the jaw.  The man fell like a
stone. ‘That is for assaulting a Lady,’ he stormed with some satisfaction. ‘And
that is not even taking into account your poaching activities.’  He dragged Mr Kensett
to his feet and turned to Richard.  ‘Richard can you take Felicity and collect
our things from the river bank.  I need to finish up here.’

At 6pm that evening,
the party gathered in the drawing room for dinner.  The Duke had returned from
Harrogate after a successful shopping trip with Lady Ellingham.  The Countess
had ordered a beautiful new pelisse of deep mauve kerseymere from the Dowagers
favourite modiste, and the seamstress had promised to have the garment ready
for her revered client within two days.  Felicity was the last to come down to
the drawing room and when she entered the room the Duke gave her a large
welcoming smile. ‘Alex tells me that I have a lot to thank you for Felicity.  I
hear you are responsible for catching my mysterious poacher red handed. I
cannot tell you how grateful I am.  Mr Kensett has been a constant source of
irritation to me for this last six months.’