Sally James (19 page)

Miranda remained at her mother’s lodging for three days, in a constant state of apprehension, while her mother made arrangements for their flight. Judith could discover no more, apart from an admission from Miranda that Sir Henry meant to ruin them all. Having said so much, Miranda had firmly closed her mouth and refused to amplify on this. Impatiently Judith awaited Denzil’s return.

At last the arrangements were completed, and very early one morning Miranda and her mother set out on the stage to Dover, where they would spend the night before sailing on the morning packet to France.

* * * *

That same morning Denzil, having slept that night at Brentford, arrived back in town, but he did not go to Judith. Instead he and his two companions went immediately to Curzon Street and were closeted for several hours with Sir Henry. It was midday before Denzil drove to Green Street, and was received at the door by a distraught Judith who did not at first realise that he had a companion.

“My dear, what is it?” Denzil asked in quick concern.

“Oh, Denzil, how glad I am to see you! Now perhaps you can sort out this nonsense!”

“I trust so. But Judith, I have brought a guest whom I know you will make welcome for a few days until he is strong enough to travel back home.”

He went to help an exceedingly old, frail man down from the chaise, and then supported him up the steps and into the library at the back of the house. Judith, seeing how tired the old man was, sent for wine, and helped Denzil settle him comfortably beside the fire.

‘Judith, this is the Reverend Ashridge. He had been living in the village near the Carstairs’ home. Although he is nearly eighty, when I told him of the injustice that was being done, he insisted on accompanying me to London to see Sir Henry. Where is Miranda? I think she ought to hear this too.”

“Denzil, she has gone to stay with her mother. She will not tell me what troubles her, but at the ball the other night Sir Henry spoke with her, and afterwards she persuaded Richard Fellowes to take her to her mother! I cannot induce her to confide in me!”

“What could the devil have said? He did not admit to anything just now!”

“You have seen him? When? Oh, tell me!”

“Sir Henry was too confident! He knew he could depend on bullying Miss Brockton to support whatever story he chose to tell, for she depended for her home on him. But he had forgotten Mr Ashridge. Possibly he thought he was no longer alive, having been very old at the time he married Sir Henry and Miranda’s mother.”

“Then you have proof?” Judith exclaimed, turning to the old man eagerly.

“Yes, dear lady. I remembered the event only too well, for there was some mystery surrounding it. But I have the records safe. Soon afterwards I became very ill, and had to resign the living. I went to live with my sister in Bath, and doubtless Sir Henry thought I had died long since. But I recovered, and though not strong, have survived these many years.”

“It was good of you to undertake such a journey,” Judith smiled at him. “But what has happened, Denzil?”

“Sir Henry realised his game was up. We could prove he was married to Miranda’s mother, and therefore she is his heir. It makes his marriage to Lady Carstairs invalid, and if this were known his parliamentary career would be ruined. We were able to reach a compromise. We agreed to maintain silence, provided he made an adequate allowance to Mademoiselle le Brun during her lifetime, and left the Carstairs estate to Miranda. Lady Carstairs has a fortune of her own, indeed he married her for it, and she will be well provided for from that. She need never know the truth. When Miss Brockton saw that Sir Henry could not force her compliance any longer, she agreed to support us, and she has been with us to see him. He has provided her with a pension, and she has left to go to a sister who lives in the north. Now he dare not try to ruin Miranda, for we can prove she is his daughter, and reveal how he treated her and his wife.”

“Oh, this is famous! Mr Ashridge, we are deeply in your debt! Now we can relieve Miranda’s mind of whatever it is that worries her, and she can come back here.”

“Until she accepts one of her numerous suitors,” Denzil commented woodenly. “Sir Henry will give her a dowry, and though we must tell Tom, or whoever she decides to accept, the truth, it need go no further.”

Judith clenched her fists in a most unladylike manner. “She does not love any of them,” she stated as calmly as she could, but before she could continue, there was an altercation outside and Parsons, looking ruffled, came into the room.

“My lady, I beg your pardon, but there is a person outside, most insistent he must see Sir Denzil. I do apologise, my lady, but he will not be denied.”

“If you stop me seein’ Sir Denzil, it’ll be bellows to mend with you, you corkbrained bladder of lard!” came a truculent voice from behind him, and Denzil’s eyes widened.

“Judith, it may be important. I will see him,” he said swiftly, and Judith nodded.

“Show him in here, Parsons,” she said calmly, and attempting to retain his dignity, the butler ushered in a diminutive individual who gave him a triumphantly mocking bow as he entered.

Denzil grinned. “Jeremiah, you rascal! Why have you come to me here? Jeremiah is the man who helped me by making enquiries about Mademoiselle le Brun,” he explained to Judith.

Jeremiah snorted. “Aye, and it’s about her I’ve come ‘ere to see yer,” he said. “I’ve been keeping me gimlets on that place, and my gal there says that this ‘ere Mamzelle is leaving for Paris today. And, what’s more, I went to see whether it were true, and she had with ‘er on the stage the young miss what’s been staying ‘ere.”

“What?” Denzil leapt to his feet, and listened intently while Jeremiah told him all he could.

“George is outside with the chaise. Tell him to take it round to Mount Street and get my curricle ready immediately. Then get me a hackney to follow as soon as possible,” he ordered swiftly. He turned to Judith as the little man ran from the room. “I must follow her, Judith. May I leave Mr Ashridge in your care? Forgive me, sir, for departing so abruptly. If I can reach Dover before the packet sails I will be home tomorrow or the next day, but I will follow them to Paris if needs be!”

He was gone, and Judith, recovering from her astonishment, smiled to herself.

“It is plain your brother is much in love with this young lady,” Mr Ashridge commented. “I hope she is worthy of such devotion.”

“He has had foolish scruples about declaring himself. Let us hope that if he thinks he has lost her, he will come to his senses!” Judith replied crisply.

“I am putting you to a deal of trouble,” Mr Ashridge apologised, but Judith reassured him, and realising he was exhausted from the journey he had undertaken, soon persuaded him to retire to bed and rest.

* * * *

Denzil had lost no time, and with George seated beside him, was driving recklessly out of London and along the Dover road. There were the inevitable delays, but they were frustrating rather than serious, and he was only a few miles from Dover as darkness fell, so the last stage of the journey was the only difficult one as they made their way cautiously along the road in the darkness. At last they reached the town, and while George saw to the stabling of the horses Denzil set off on a round of the inns to discover where Miranda and her mother were staying. At last he heard of them at a modest hostelry, where the landlord told him they had retired to their room.

“No matter. I must have speech with them. Have you a private room I can hire? Then pray take my card up to them, and request that they are kind enough to see me.”

The landlord showed him into a small room, apologising that it was the only private parlour he had, and not much in demand by the quality of custom he had. Then he took Denzil’s card and his message to the ladies, while Denzil paced the small room anxiously.

Mademoiselle le Brun entered first, followed by Miranda, and they stood just inside the room regarding him nervously.

Swiftly he crossed to them, and smiling briefly at Mademoiselle, caught Miranda’s hands in his.

“Why are you fleeing? Did that devil make threats to you? What in the world happened?”

“You should not have come!” was all the response Miranda vouchsafed, in so low a voice he had to stoop to catch the words.

“He cannot hurt you now. We have proof of his wickedness, and he will remain silent to protect himself. Why did you leave London?”

Miranda cast him a piteous look. “He threatened you, to harm you through me. That I could not allow, and so it seemed best to disappear, so that his plans were foiled.”

“How could he harm me?”

She was reluctant to disclose this, but gently, firmly, he drew it from her.

“Would you so hate to marry me?” he asked quietly, and she glanced up at him, then swiftly lowered her gaze, but not before he had read the answer to his question in her eyes.

“He cannot force either of us to do anything,” he said then, and told them what he had himself been doing. “You will have an allowance, Mademoiselle le Brun, and not have to work to keep yourself. If you really do prefer to return to Paris, I will see that you get it there, but I hope you will remain in England.”

She was incredulous, and he had to repeat what he had told her before she would accept that Sir Henry was cornered, and unable to harm either her or Miranda, then she was full of gratitude towards Denzil.

“You are so very kind, and have taken so much trouble on our behalf, and cared so well for my precious daughter. She was named Marie after me, but I have become accustomed to calling her Miranda, and like it. Thank you for restoring her to me!”

“Then I will hire a chaise and escort you back to town tomorrow. I wonder if the landlord here has a spare bedchamber that I could hire?”

He looked across at Mademoiselle, and smiled, and she, smiling conspiratorily back at him, immediately offered to go and see about ordering a room for him.

He crossed the room to open the door for her, and they exchanged another smile, then Denzil turned back towards Miranda, to find her standing before the fire with her back towards him.

“Are you so averse to the idea of marriage with me?” he asked, going to her and turning her so that she faced him. “I have no intention of being forced into any action, my love. Sir Henry was not aware, I think, of my wishes when he tried to make me comply with his. I had to get rid of the compulsion before I could ask you to be my wife. I have been a fool not to ask you long since, but – you knew so little of the world!”

Miranda buried her face in his chest. “You are going to marry Araminta,” she said in a muffled voice.

“The gossips would have had us wed long ago,” he answered, a laugh in his voice. “But what makes you so certain?”

“Araminta – well, she hinted you had an understanding, and she has been talking of bride clothes!”

“But no announcement has been made in the
Gazette,
and she does not wear my ring, and never will. Araminta was ever prone to imagining she could obtain whatever she desired. But when I am to be wed, there will not be a secret understanding, for I will only choose a girl I can declare from the rooftops with pride that she is mine! Now let us be done with her! My sweetest Miranda, I have adored you since I first saw you on waking to what I thought was a dream. I have only prevented myself from asking you to marry me many a time by exercising the utmost restraint. That I can do no longer! If you truly do not want Tom Devoran or Richard Fellowes, or any of the others of the court you have collected, will you have me?”

At last she raised her head and looked at him, and smiled tremulously. He caught her in a fierce embrace that left them both breathless. But when he released her, she still had reservations.

“But she expects it! I know she does! And you have paid her marked attentions!”

“Though it sounds like boasting, she has tried every trick to make me propose this last year, but I have not. If she cast out hints to you it was because, quite rightly, she feared you! She was trying to warn you away, and hoped you would settle for someone else. As for my attentions, a mere flirtation with no love involved. I was waiting for you, my darling, as I have waited for many years for my perfect adorable one to come to me, though when I found you I dared not, for your sake, claim you. The time for that foolishness is past, though I am still chary of persuading you unfairly. Shall I wait a while?”

A quick “No!” escaped her, and he laughed and forced her to raise her head again.

“Then, my dearest one, is it yes?”

“Oh, Denzil, I did not think you cared for me! I would have married you that first day on the island! I lost my heart to you then, only I thought it was all part of the dream!”

“It is real enough, I swear!” he said, kissing her gently. “I had to give you the opportunity of meeting others, despite the risk of losing you. If you had married me and then met someone else your life would have been ruined. And you have already missed so much!”

Miranda reached up and placed her fingers across his mouth. “Hush, my darling! That is all past, and I now have a mother as well as you. It has been worth waiting for, this happiness. There is no one else I could even think of marrying when you existed.”

“Then let us waste no more time! I will drive you back to town tomorrow, and you and your mother shall stay with Judith while the arrangements are completed. But I shall be impatient, my beloved! I want to claim you as mine as soon as possible! I hope you do not need months to prepare your bride clothes?”

She laughed. “I once trusted myself to you with just a small bundle! What need have I for a vast array of gowns? My love, they are unimportant!”

He pulled her to him, and she came gladly into his arms. They were so absorbed they did not hear the door open, and Mademoiselle le Brun enter the room. She smiled at them, tears in her eyes, and then spoke gently.

“I do not suppose you will ask Sir Henry’s permission, Sir Denzil, and so I will give mine instead!”

He swung round to her, and a laugh escaped him. “Madame, my apologies! I have been a laggard until now, and was making certain I had Miranda’s consent. Will you wish us happy as well as give your consent?”