Nicola Cornick (17 page)

When she looked back it was to see that another figure had come upon the groom, paused for a few
words, then set off towards her. It was impossible to distinguish the horseman from this distance, but Annabella had a sudden and unwelcome conviction that it was Sir William Weston. She watched for a moment as he galloped towards her, setting a killing pace on the black hunter. Then she deliberately turned her horse’s head and set it at the high brushwood hedge which blocked her access to the next field. They scrambled over, but only just. The horse pecked on landing and almost threw Annabella, but she managed to stay in the saddle, urging the mare onwards with a speed that almost seemed borne of panic. There was the thunder of hooves behind her and her reins were caught in an iron grip.

‘A moment, Mrs St Auby!’ Sir William Weston said, very politely.

Annabella swung round defiantly. ‘Yes, sir?’

‘This is my land, and—’

‘And you would rather I did not trespass?’ Annabella said sweetly. ‘I beg your pardon, sir! I shall be on my way directly!’

Sir William did not scruple to hide his exasperation. ‘I was about to say that there is a treacherous bog up ahead. I was concerned that your headlong flight might lead you into it unawares.’ He ran a hand through his disordered tawny hair. ‘Damnation, why must you be so—?’ He broke off, the lines of his mouth tightening in irritation.

The hot colour flooded into Annabella’s face. ‘I beg your pardon, sir,’ she said with reserve. ‘I thought you were about to ring a peal over me!’

‘For your reckless riding?’ Sir William laughed shortly. ‘Well I might, Mrs St Auby! You gave the
impression of someone anxious to break her neck!’ He paused and looked at her consideringly. ‘However, you ride magnificently. Not one in ten riders would have recovered the way you did after that jump.’

He pulled his horse alongside hers, and they continued at a more decorous pace. Annabella was surprised that he sought her company at all. Surely his behaviour previously had only served to underline to her the dislike in which he must hold her. She found that she was nervous.

‘From what were you trying to escape, Mrs St Auby?’ Sir William asked now, the searching blue eyes scanning her face. ‘Speed such as that is usually indicative of a need to evade something unwelcome!’

Annabella jumped. Damn him, he was too astute! She could hardly say that she wanted some time on her own away from Oxenham, for that would appear too ungracious after the welcome accorded her there. As for admitting to a need to avoid her thoughts of him—well, that was impossible. She hesitated, whilst he watched her pensively.

‘Such reticence, Mrs St Auby!’ Sir William’s smile was mocking now. ‘It is not what I have come to expect from you!’

‘No, sir, for you are forever trying to provoke me!’ Annabella snapped. ‘Let us talk of other matters, or we shall only argue! How did Mrs Weston enjoy herself last evening?’

‘I believe she liked it very well,’ Sir William said carelessly. ‘I have not seen her this morning, but on the journey home she was forever talking of your sister’s warmth and kindness, and what good company we had. I think it would please her if you felt able to
call at Challen Court, Mrs St Auby. Though Amy has the children for company, I fear she must be lonely sometimes.’

‘I imagine it must be horrid for her,’ Annabella said sincerely, ‘having lost her husband but recently, travelling alone to a foreign land and being amongst strangers! I shall be happy to visit her—if you should not mind, sir.’

‘I?’ Will still sounded careless. ‘Not at all, Mrs St Auby!’

Annabella began to feel rather cast down. It was indubitably better to be thoroughly disliked by Sir William Weston rather than be the recipient of such indifference. At least it meant that she had some effect on him! Unseen by Annabella, Will smiled slightly.

‘Of course,’ he continued in the same offhand tone, ‘if you are contemplating matrimony with Sir Dunstan, you may have little time to spare for Amy!’

‘Marriage with Sir Dunstan!’ Annabella had risen to this before she thought about it.

‘Sir Dunstan Groat,’ Will said, as though further clarification were required. ‘He is very rich, you know, and though he has buried three wives already, you might be considering him as a potential way out of your difficulties!’

‘Difficulties?’ Annabella’s green eyes were flashing with anger now. ‘I do not understand you, sir!’

‘Oh, surely…’ Will sounded vague. ‘You said yourself—you cannot be Alicia’s pensioner forever!’

‘And what business is it of yours, sir?’ Annabella returned furiously. ‘It may interest you to know that I have inherited a small competence from my father’s
estate, and have every intention of going into business!’

‘The circulating library?’ Will murmured. He looked so cool, so detached, so elegant in the severe style he favoured, that Annabella suddenly wanted to slap him. She forgot that she had resolved to behave with circumspection whenever she met him. He really was the most infuriating man!

‘A confectioner’s!’ Annabella said wildly, making it up as she went along. ‘Alicia has promised to invest in my enterprise!’

‘Ah.’ Sir William smiled pleasantly. ‘Your knowledge of sugar cane will come in useful there, Mrs St Auby! How providential! And what an imagination you have, ma’am! I commend you!’

Annabella ground her teeth.

‘Of course,’ Will continued, as though struck by a sudden thought, ‘I was forgetting that you are now rumoured to be your grandmother’s heiress! That should alter your prospects considerably! But Sir Dunstan need not marry for money, though he has always wanted Larkswood land. It completes a corner of his own estate, you see! So perhaps he has an eye on your little legacy when he is paying you those lavish compliments!’

‘I had not thought that you had noticed his attentions, sir!’ Annabella said sweetly.

A rueful smile touched Sir William’s mouth. ‘Ah, you have me there, ma’am! I noticed it very well!’

There was a silence as blue eyes and green met and held for a long moment. Then Sir William raised his whip in a mocking salute, dug his heels into the
hunter’s sides, and galloped off across the fields without a backward glance.

Larkswood was at last ready for habitation again.

‘Stuff and nonsense!’ Lady Stansfield declared strongly, when she heard that Annabella intended to move there forthwith. ‘You should be settled here until you marry, miss! In my day no young gel would set up home where and when she pleased! Quite unsuitable!’ She settled in her armchair and fixed her younger grand-daughter with her piercing glare.

‘You forget, Grandmama, that I am a widow, not some debutante,’ Annabella said indulgently, for she had seen the twinkle her grandmother had been unable to banish and she refused to be bullied. ‘If Alicia could do such a thing before she married James, I fail to see why it should be different for me!’

Lady Stansfield snorted. ‘Oh, do you! Your sister, miss, was another such, always thinking she knew best! Aye, and a fine mess she made of matters too!’

‘Now, Grandmama, that is too harsh!’ Alicia caught Annabella’s eye and tried not to laugh. ‘Besides, Annabella will have a footman and a gardener to help her keep Larkswood in order, as well as several maids! And she will only be situated down the road. It is all most convenient!’

Lady Stansfield made a rude and dismissive noise. ‘No good will come of it, you mark my words! Young gels! In my day…’

Both sisters sighed, knowing full well that they were about to be treated to another diatribe on the shortcomings of the current generation. Both also knew that Lady Stansfield had actually been ac
counted quite wild in her youth, in the days when eighteenth-century society had been a lot more rumbustious than at present.

‘Grandmama, tell me again how you disguised yourself as a boy in order to go alone to the races,’ Alicia said sweetly, to be rewarded by a scowl from Lady Stansfield.

‘Pshaw! I can see your tricks, miss! To think that I should be so beset by disobedient grandchildren—’

‘In your own image, Grandmama,’ Annabella murmured, leaning across to tickle Thomas’s tummy where he lay gurgling on the rug.

‘Well, well,’ Lady Stansfield said gruffly, ‘if you have that henwit, Emmeline Frensham, with you, I suppose it will be accounted quite respectable! Though Emmeline is not the woman she was—not after that incident at Bathampton!’

‘No,’ Alicia agreed regretfully, ‘Emmy’s nerves have never been strong since she was abandoned at that inn the time I was abducted! But she should do very well for Annabella—she is quite excited at the prospect of a change of scene, you know, for she has lived quite retired since my marriage!’

‘Should have taken Will Weston when he offered,’ Lady Stansfield said suddenly, with her famed lack of tact. She ignored Annabella’s blush and added astringently, ‘There’s a man for you! He’d have known how to keep you in order, miss!’

‘Grandmama—’ Alicia began, but Annabella cut in,

‘In point of fact, Sir William has never asked me to marry him, ma’am!’

‘Well, why not?’ Lady Stansfield looked offended. ‘If you’d played your cards aright, miss, you could
have whistled him up! Young people today! Always fiddle-faddling around, never getting to the point! You would do better to take Will Weston as a lover—’

‘Grandmama!’ Annabella besought, at the same time as Alicia said,

‘Not again, Grandmama! I seem to remember you offering me similar advice about James…’

‘Well, then!’ Lady Stansfield looked triumphant, as though Alicia had just proved her point. ‘You mark my words, no good will come of this business of living alone, Annabella! No good at all!’

J
ames Mullineaux and Will Weston, having spent the afternoon sizing up a horse which James had eventually decided not to buy, were sitting in the library at Challen Court and were talking over a glass of excellent brandy. Amy had brought Charlotte and Peter in to say goodnight to their uncle, and James had watched with indulgent amusement as the little girl had clambered on to Will’s knee and planted sticky kisses on his face.

‘Thinking of setting up your own nursery soon, Will?’ James asked slyly, taking a chair opposite the fireplace, where the portrait of Sir Charles looked benevolently down.

Will gave him a straight look. ‘I may be. I’m sure you’ll be amongst the first to know, James! You’ve put a lot of work into Larkswood,’ he added, as a logical extension to his train of thought.

James grinned, immediately perceiving what was troubling his friend. ‘You can pay me back one day,’ he said coolly, ‘when you take possession of the house again!’

Will laughed reluctantly. ‘You’ll be waiting a while for your money! Your little sister-in-law has given me to understand that she won’t sell to me and I doubt she’ll succumb to sweeter persuasion! She don’t trust me!’

‘Thought the boot was on the other foot,’ James said lazily. ‘Annabella certainly believes you don’t like her much!’

Will shifted a little uncomfortably. ‘You of all people should know, James, that you can dislike someone and still find them damnably attractive!’

‘None better!’ James agreed cheerfully. ‘So that’s why you keep avoiding Annabella! Thought you just couldn’t stand to spend any time with her!’

Will smiled reluctantly. ‘No, you didn’t, James! You know I like her too well, not too little!’

James raised his eyebrows, not denying it. ‘Then why put so much effort into avoiding her? I think you’re being a little unfair to Annabella, Will.’ Their eyes met for a moment and he added, ‘She’s very unhappy, you know. I’m sure you’d agree that there was fault on both sides in your original quarrel, and as for those ridiculous rumours—well, Annabella never truly believed them!’

Will shrugged. ‘Maybe not. I don’t know…Devil take it, I thought those stories had all died. That’s the hell of it, James—gossip is as difficult to pin down as air, but as damaging as a stab in the back, and it’s never possible to trace and destroy it. When Annabella repeated the tales to me, I was so furious to hear them from her I suppose I just overreacted. If it had been anyone else I wouldn’t have cared so much. But she just stood there, looking so sweet and so desirable,
and repeating such debasing tales…’ Will looked away, his face strained. ‘I had been hoping against hope that there was still a chance for me, but there was the complication of Amy’s arrival and our quarrel, and her refusal to see me—damn it, she has the pride of the devil!’

‘Alicia once told me hell would freeze over before she accepted my hand in marriage,’ James said cheerfully. ‘It’s the Stansfield temper, I’m afraid! But you don’t strike me as the faint-hearted type, Will! Why don’t you put your fate to the touch—if you still
want
to?’

There was silence.

‘Annabella certainly seems to have healed the breach with her sister and Lady Stansfield,’ Will said, turning the conversation. ‘You must be pleased for Alicia’s sake.’

James nodded, willing to allow the subject to change. ‘Oh, Alicia’s thrilled, and the old lady dotes on Annabella!’ He laughed. ‘And I must admit I like my little sister-in-law! I didn’t really expect to, but she’s not like any of us anticipated. Proud to the point of obstinacy, perhaps, and I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of that!’ He shrugged. ‘Milk-and-water misses are more to some men’s taste, I know, but…’

Will grinned, reaching across to refill the brandy glasses. ‘But there are those of us who prefer beauty and wit! Well, you may wish me luck then, James! I think you have persuaded me to try…but she’ll probably tell me to go to the devil!’

The new moon was sharp and clear in a sky of black as Annabella lay in bed at Larkswood that night.
She had soon discovered that living in the country on her own was a very different prospect from living as a member of the family in a large country house where there was constant company and entertainment. Although she still had visitors and, indeed, had the use of a pony and trap to convey her to civilisation, when the blue twilight of evening fell over the hills, she was, to all intents and purposes, alone. Miss Frensham, with her endless needlework, never seemed to lack occupation. Annabella, on the other hand, had already taken to reading with far greater fervour than she had previously shown, and was even contemplating gardening. She reflected ruefully that she had few friends with whom to maintain a correspondence, and she was going to need to find new resources for solitude if life at Larkswood was not to leave her lonely and dull. Still, there were always her ideas for going into business, which might bear further investigation were she to become too bored.

She found that she missed Alicia in particular over the days that had followed her move, and her grandmother to a scarcely lesser degree. As she had got to know Alicia at Oxenham, they had begun to exchange childhood memories and experiences in a way Annabella had been unable to do with anyone else. Both had been treated harshly by their father and both found solace in the other’s company. From the start, Alicia had made it clear that she would not ask Annabella any difficult questions about her marriage, but Annabella needed to confide and feel that one person at least knew the entire story.

Then there was Lady Stansfield, ancient now, the
relic of a previous generation, but the most marvellous raconteur of society stories from the previous century, and fiercely protective of the family she had left. She made no secret of her delight in seeing Alicia settled so well, and her desire to see Annabella suitably married before she died. When Annabella had tried to explain haltingly about her estrangement from Alicia, Lady Stansfield had cut her off with a brief gesture.

‘Bertram Broseley—out-and-out bounder!’ she had declared roundly. ‘As for the St Auby family, nothing for them to be proud of! No need to apologise for anything that’s happened, my girl!’ Her green eyes were bright. ‘You’re a Stansfield, remember, and you’re a good girl for all your contrary ways!’ And she had given Annabella a hug and a kiss that had made her feel much better.

Annabella sighed now, turning over in her bed. For some reason she felt particularly restless that evening. Normally she had no difficulty sleeping, but tonight she found that Will Weston was invading her thoughts with the same relentlessness that had dogged her when first she came to Larkswood from Taunton. It was tiresome and rather depressing that she could not dismiss him. He was not for her—fate and her own pride had seen to that. Unfortunately, her emotions could not relinquish him so easily.

She slipped out of bed and sat on the window seat for a while, listening to the sounds of the night, the wind in the trees and the scuttering of little creatures in the undergrowth. Everything sounded magnified by the quiet of the house and the stillness outside. The tiny sickle moon rode high in the cold sky, and Annabella shivered. There was something curiously com
pelling about the shadowy night. Without conscious thought she got dressed and slipped down the stairs.

The old house cast its silhouette over the cobbles of the courtyard as Annabella slipped past. She heard Owen’s cows bumping gently against each other in the barn, and the rustle of the mice in the hay. The track to Lambourn lay bright and white in the moonlight, but Annabella turned aside from the road, slipping along the field path that edged Larkswood garden. She passed the still pond that was all that was left of the old millhouse, and paused in the shelter of the hedge to consider the empty landscape. The breeze off the hills was cool and she shivered deep within her cloak. Well, a breath of fresh air should at least help her to sleep…

Without warning, there was a rustle of leaves beside her and a man stepped out directly onto the path. Annabella drew breath on a scream, but before it reached her lips, strong arms seized her from behind and a hand came down over her mouth as she was dragged backwards against a hard, male body.

‘Be still and keep quiet!’

Annabella went still with shock at the sound of Will’s voice. When he realised she was not about to scream he took his hand away, but only to scoop her up into his arms. Annabella had the confused impression of someone stepping past them, then Will had strode off down the path, to put her back on her feet only when they had gained the shadow of the hawthorn hedge. They stared at each other in the fitful moonlight.

‘What the
hell
are you doing here?’

This time, Annabella thought inconsequentially,
Will did not sound particularly angry with her, only exasperated. She smoothed her cloak with fingers that were still shaking a little. Her whole body was tingling from the contact with his, her blood racing with a mixture of fright and excitement.

‘I might ask you the same, sir! Whatever are you about? Do you go creeping around in the night often?’

‘I asked you first,’ Will said pleasantly. He took her arm, guiding her deeper into the shadows. ‘What are you up to, Annabella?’

‘I couldn’t sleep,’ Annabella said sulkily. ‘There is no mystery! I thought to take a breath of fresh air—’

‘It is past two o’clock! Scarcely an hour for a young lady to be out for a stroll! Not one woman in a hundred would go out for a walk in the middle of the night if she could not sleep! A cup of warm milk, perhaps, a book to induce sleepiness—’

Annabella shook his hand off her arm, annoyed by his attitude. ‘A dose of laudanum?’ she said crossly. ‘Perhaps you would approve of that instead? I am sorry if my behaviour offends you, but I did not expect to find the countryside so crowded! As I said, sir, I was unable to sleep and stepped outside for a little. I imagine my purpose is less sinister than yours!’

Will sighed. ‘I am out after a poacher, that is all. The man you saw with me is my gamekeeper! We had been following the fellow for several miles and knew he had taken a hare or two, but suspected he was after bigger game. We were about to catch him snaring a deer when you appeared out of nowhere and he made a run for it. A night’s work wasted!’

Annabella was not about to apologise for taking a
walk on her own land. ‘I suppose it does not matter that you gave me a monstrous shock!’ she complained. ‘Was it really necessary to grab me like that?’

She saw Will smile. ‘Probably not, but it was rather enjoyable! And I did deserve some recompense for you spoiling the evening!’ He heard Annabella let her breath out on an angry sigh. ‘Come, let us call a truce! If it is any compensation, you gave me a hell of a fright too!’

They were walking slowly up the path towards the house.

‘Your language, sir,’ Annabella said primly, ‘is not that of a gentleman to a lady!’

Will sketched a mocking bow. ‘Your pardon, ma’am! But if you choose to wander about at night, you have to deal with what you find! You should be more careful, perhaps.’

‘Perhaps so!’ Annabella looked at him. There was an undertone in his voice which suggested that she was not, perhaps, as safe as she might have imagined. It was a disturbing thought, and not in an entirely unpleasurable way. Will kicked aside a fallen branch to clear her path, and she struggled to keep a grip on her practicality. It would do no good to allow her susceptibility to him to distract her.

‘Those are strange sentiments from a man who has been out on the dangerous enterprise of catching a poacher!’ she said, with deliberate lightness. ‘But I shall be more careful on my next moonlight stroll, and will carry a pistol with me!’

She saw Will grin in the moonlight. ‘Can you shoot?’ he enquired. ‘It would be an advantage!’

‘Strangely enough, I can,’ Annabella said de
murely. ‘My father considered it a useful accomplishment, which no doubt says a great deal about him! I forgot to mention that when Miss Hurst quizzed me on my achievements! Lord, it would have been worth it to see her face!’

They had reached the door of Larkswood, and Will stood back to let Annabella go inside. ‘You do not intend to invite me in?’ he enquired, when she made to say goodbye. This time there was no innuendo in his voice, but somehow Annabella wondered at his meaning.

‘Certainly not!’ she said primly. ‘That would be a most unorthodox thing for a young lady to do at two of the clock!’

And she shut the door firmly in his face.

Amy Weston called the following day, bringing little Charlotte with her, but not the baby, Peter, who was still a little too young to travel. Charlotte was full of excitement over the kite her uncle had taught her to fly on Weathercock Hill nearby, and Annabella was forced to endure both Amy and Charlotte praising Will Weston extravagantly. It was not that she grudged others their good opinion of him, but just to hear his name repeated and his virtues rehearsed was difficult for her when her emotions were so deeply engaged. She was constantly afraid that she would give her feelings away.

Amy was also warm in her admiration of Larkswood, which gave Annabella a pang as she remembered that Will had intended Amy to have the house. Then, fortunately, Mrs Weston put it all right.

‘It is a lovely house and a beautiful situation,’ Amy
said, as they sat down for tea on the lawn, ‘but do you not find it rather isolated here, Mrs St Auby? I assure you, I could not live miles from anywhere, with only the farm for neighbours! Surely you must be lonely!’ Her anxious brown eyes took in the empty expanse of cornfields and the sweep of the hills.