Protected by the Major (9 page)

Hobbis stared at the seal, which had been broken, but could still be seen for what it was, then shook his head. ‘You must be the cove what my brother asked me to enquire after. The lady ain’t here, sir. She left yesterday afternoon, my brother and her maid with her.’

‘Where did she go?’ Hallam asked. ‘Was it to her father’s home?’

‘I wouldn’t rightly know about that, sir. My brother told me they was goin’ into the country, but he’d bring the chaise back and take his horse what he keeps here. He’ll know where they’re at when he returns, but it will be a few days yet, I reckon.’

Hallam cursed beneath his breath. ‘Are you certain you know nothing more? I assure you I only wish to help her.’

‘That’s what the other cove said what came askin’ after her. I told him she’d gone and no more—I’ve told you more, but I can’t tell you what I don’t know. My brother spoke of going to East Anglia, but that’s all I can tell you.’

‘The other person who came enquiring—what sort of a man was he?’

‘I don’t rightly know, sir. Spoke with a bit of an accent, he did. Might have been from the north, but he weren’t no gentleman, nor were he from London. Looked as if he were a servant to a gentleman, if you ask me.’

‘Thank you.’

Hallam frowned. Lethbridge was dead and his servants believed their mistress to be out of town. Who else might look for her? He could think of only one man who might try to trace her—the Marquis of Rochdale. If he’d been prepared to forgive a large debt at the card tables for a night with Lethbridge’s wife, he must want her almost to the point of obsession. Now that Lethbridge was dead, he could gain nothing by taking his wife.

It was unnatural for a man to be so obsessed and Hal wondered what could be behind his desire to pursue a woman who did not want him—or was that it? Was it simply that he believed she had snubbed him and was determined to make her suffer for her pride?

The man must be deranged, surely?

Or was there some other reason? If there were, Hal could not fathom it. Yet he believed that Rochdale must be the man who was making enquiries about Madeline’s whereabouts.

Yes, he would try to find her now that the count was dead, for he would think her vulnerable and alone. Hallam guessed that the marquis had sent one of his servants to look for Madeline—but how could he have known she was here? Had he had someone watching the house? Or agents searching for her?

If Rochdale was searching for her, it meant she was not as safe as Hallam had supposed. Somehow he had to find her before the evil marquis did.

‘If you hear anything, will you let me know, please?’ Hallam said and gave Hobbis a gold coin. ‘If your brother returns, please tell him that Major Ravenscar is searching for the countess—and warn him that a very unpleasant gentleman may also be looking for her. He is dangerous and not to be trusted if he comes here.’

‘Right you are, sir. I’ll send word to your lodgings as soon as I hear.’

Hallam thanked him and left the inn. He walked home deep in thought, unaware that he was being shadowed. Hobbis had seemed genuine, but was he hiding something? East Anglia was a large place with many isolated dwellings and he could search for months and not find Maddie.

Where could she have gone? For the moment he was lost, unable to think of anyone she knew in that part of the country.

His arm was hurting quite a bit and he needed food. He would return to his lodgings and enjoy the meal his landlady had promised. After that he would make a plan of campaign. He was too impatient to sit around waiting for Hobbis’s brother to return.

Perhaps if he wrote to her father and told him she might be in danger, he would provide a clue as to where she might have sought a refuge...yet that would take time and he was on fire to see her.

* * *

‘That is the house just ahead,’ Thomas said and steadied his horses. ‘Your friend will be expecting you, ma’am, for I took the liberty of sending a groom to warn her when we reached the inn last night.’

‘You sent a groom?’ Madeline said. His thoughtfulness overwhelmed her and she said, ‘You must keep an account of what you spend on my behalf, Thomas. I shall find the means to repay you.’

‘It cost me nought but a bit of time, for I cleaned the stables in his place and he was glad to do it.’

Madeline accepted his word, but she still felt indebted to him for he must have been tired after driving them for the past two days, and was not used to such a manual job. However, he wanted no thanks and, once again, she could only smile and think how fortunate she was to have such friends.

She was a little apprehensive as to what her former governess would think at having three guests thrust upon her, but as the chaise drew up in the yard, the front door of the large, rambling farmhouse flew open and a woman came running out.

‘Miss Maddie, is it truly you?’ she cried. ‘Oh, lord above, how good it is to see you. Come in, come in to the warm, my dove—and your friends with you. My Bert is at work, but he will be as pleased as can be for me to have you stay, for he says I never stop talking of you.’

‘Hattie,’ Madeline said and her eyes stung with tears. ‘I am so glad to be here. May I truly stay for a while—just until I can find some employment?’

‘Employment—what’s this?’ asked the good woman, who was a deal plumper than she had used to be. ‘You’ll do no such thing while I have breath in my body. You have a home with me—and your friends too, though they might prefer their own cottage?’

‘They are not yet married, though I believe it is what they both wish for,’ Madeline said and laughed. ‘We shall stay with you for a time, but then we must find a place we can manage ourselves—and perhaps I shall find some kind of work. I might take in sewing.’

‘We’ll talk of that another time,’ Hattie Jenkins said. ‘Come to the fire and warm yourselves for it is cold enough to freeze and I dare say we’ll have snow before long.’

Maddie laughed. She’d always been fond of her former governess and missed her company when she had left to marry. Their letters had been infrequent after she married for the count did not approve of her having a friend he considered below his wife in the social scale.

‘It is so good to see you,’ Madeline said and smiled. ‘I missed our conversations. Reading poetry together...’

‘I’ve had little time for poetry of late,’ Hattie said and laughed. ‘A farm kitchen is always busy and always dirty from muddy boots, my love, but I shall enjoy talking of it with you.’

Madeline followed her into the large kitchen. Furnished with a huge dresser, the shelves of which were crammed with china, glass and pans, also a long pine table and chairs, a black cooking range, several painted cupboards and chests of drawers, it was as clean as a new pin, the red tiles on the floor polished and gleaming.

‘Your kitchen is spotless,’ Madeline said. ‘You must work hard to keep it so clean.’

‘I have some help, but Bess is away at the moment. Her mother took sick and she asked me to let her go until the good lady recovers.’

‘I should be glad to stand in for her,’ Sally said at once. ‘I can scrub floors and wash dishes, Mrs Jenkins. I’ll be glad to earn my keep—and Thomas will help your husband in the yard, if he would be of use.’

‘Well, bless you, my love,’ the kind woman said. ‘I won’t say no to a bit of a hand now and then, Sally. I shan’t take advantage, but an offer of help now and then won’t be refused.’

‘I can help, too,’ Madeline said, but Hattie shook her head.

‘Now that you won’t, my dove—leastwise, not with the rough work. We don’t want to spoil your pretty hands. I might find you a bit of sewing, if you need employment. I never find the time for it and you always did set a neat stitch.’

‘That is why I thought I might earn my living with my needle,’ Madeline said. ‘I must do something after all.’

‘But why?’ Hattie asked, looking puzzled. ‘You’ve run away from your husband, I know, for the message your groom sent me told me so—but surely you have a little money of your own? Did neither the count nor your father settle anything on you when you married?’

‘You do not know what happened after you left us,’ Madeline said. ‘I did not tell you when I wrote for there was nothing anyone could do—Papa lost everything to Lethbridge at the card tables and I was forced to accept him. My father made no settlement himself, for he could not, and the money Grandfather left me went to Lethbridge. It was meant to be my pin money, but my husband gave me only a few guineas when he felt like it. I do not know what happened to the capital, though I think it was put in a trust in my name.’

‘Cry shame on him,’ Hattie said in high disgust. ‘How could he treat you so ill? It is no wonder that you left him.’

‘You do not know the half of it,’ Madeline said. ‘I shall tell you later when we have a little time to talk.’

‘I’ll take you up to your rooms,’ Hattie said. She looked at Sally. ‘You’ll be next to your mistress—and your man can sleep over the stables for the moment. If you would care for it, you’ll find the things for making tea on the dresser. We’ll be down again by the time you’ve boiled the kettle.’

She took Madeline by the arm and steered her from the welcoming kitchen up a wide staircase to the landing above and then led the way to the end of the right-hand passage. Opening the door, she ushered Madeline inside a neat, pretty room furnished in cool colours of blues and greens with a dash of white.

‘It isn’t quite what you’re used to, Maddie, but it will do until we can sort you out,’ she said. ‘So tell me why you decided to leave him. Something must have happened.’

‘Yes, it did,’ Madeline said and described the last scene with her husband.

Hattie listened in silence, saying nothing, but shaking her head sorrowfully from time to time. ‘I never heard such wickedness in my life,’ she said when Madeline had finished. ‘The man deserves to be flayed alive, so he does. Any decent man would take a horsewhip to him for his treatment of you. Well, if he comes looking for you, my Bert will see him off.’

‘I do not think he will know where to look. I never told him where you lived, but of course my father might do so, for he may guess where I have gone.’

‘Surely he would not? Knowing what that man did to you he could not wish you to return to him.’

‘I hope that he would not, but I would rather he did not know where I am, at least until I am ready to move on.’

‘Is there no one to help you, Maddie?’

She hesitated, then sighed. ‘I believed there was, but I wrote to him and he did not come. I fear he may have been wounded or killed...’ A tear ran down her cheek. ‘Otherwise...he would have come for me, I am sure.’

‘Well, perhaps he was prevented by some circumstance you know naught of,’ Hattie said in a practical tone. ‘Does he know where to find you?’

‘No, for we thought it best to tell no one. Thomas is to return his brother’s chaise in a few days and he will try once more to contact Major Ravenscar.’

Hattie stared at her for a moment, looking surprised. ‘Would that be the Honourable Mr William Ravenscar’s son by any chance? My Bertie speaks of Major Ravenscar highly. He says that if he’d been in England at the time, his father would never have got in with a bad crowd and lost his money at the tables.’

‘Oh!’ Madeline stared at her. ‘Does the family own an estate near here? I had not realised.’

‘It is not the family estate—for that is nearer Hampshire, so Bertie tells me—but the house and land in Fenstanton came to the major through his mother. It is not a large place, but a pleasant family house and some acres of land.’

‘I did not know.’ She bit her lip. ‘Does Hal come down often?’

‘He was here a few weeks back, just before his cousin Captain Miller was married. He was talking to my Bertie about the possibility of selling the place. His father’s estate is mortgaged to the hilt and he thought selling Highgroves Hall might help pay the debts.’

‘Oh, I see. Has it been sold yet?’

‘No, for my Bertie advised him against letting it go. He thinks the major would be better off selling his father’s property and settling here. It’s good fertile land and the house is sound. Only needs a spring clean to make it a lovely family home... It’s about the same size as this house and Bertie said he would buy it if he had a son, but we’ve no children yet and it looks as if we shall not.’

‘I am sorry to hear that,’ Madeline said. ‘I know what a sadness that is. I felt I could have borne my marriage more easily had I had a child.’

‘You are still young,’ Hattie said. ‘We married late, but Bertie has a nephew who will inherit this place. He is still considering buying Highgroves, but isn’t sure whether it would be of use to him, because it is a bit too far from us to make it viable. Besides, the major said he would consider taking Bertie’s advice and keeping it rather than his late father’s estate.’

‘Then perhaps he will come again soon,’ Madeline said, praying that he was still alive. If he came down to visit his mother’s estate, he might learn where she was staying and then surely he would call on her? Even if he no longer wished to marry her, he might know someone who would give her a position as a companion or a seamstress. She desperately wanted to see him again to know that he was alive and unharmed.

‘I’ll leave you to tidy yourself,’ Hattie said. ‘The kettle will be boiling so come down when you’re ready.’

‘Yes, of course.’

Left to tidy herself, Madeline sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the softness of a feather mattress. She could be quite content here for the rest of her life, she thought, if only she had enough money to pay her way. Perhaps she could find some work that would be sufficient to pay for her board and lodgings.

She went to the dressing mirror and patted her hair. She did not intend to waste her time moping. She was safe and free of both her husband and the marquis for the moment. Until she could make contact with Hal she must make the most of her circumstances...if only he were still alive.

* * *

It came to Hallam as he was on his way to the club to speak with Jack Mainwaring. The innkeeper had mentioned East Anglia. Madeline had told him something once about her former governess. A Mrs Hattie...what was the woman’s married name? He could not recall it or be certain that Madeline had ever used it in his hearing, but he did know that her husband had a farm somewhere in Cambridgeshire.