The Captain's Mysterious Lady (7 page)

‘Thank you.' He jumped down, threw his reins to the groom and followed her indoors.

They found the Misses Hardwick in a small parlour where one was sewing and the other reading. They rose to greet him, bade him take a seat and ordered refreshments to be brought.

‘Did you enjoy your ride, Captain?' Matilda asked him.

‘Yes, indeed. We have explored the village, looked upon the fen, investigated the church and talked of how people
about here make their living, including…' He paused to turn to Amy. ‘What was the wise woman's name?'

‘Widow Twitch,' she said.

‘Oh, she is harmless enough,' Harriet said as the refreshments arrived and she set about making tea and handing out little almond and cherry cakes. ‘There are some who believe every word she says, but it is my contention she fabricates most of it. Every young girl would like to believe a rich handsome man is coming to carry her away and every young man dreams of finding a pot of gold. It is nonsense, of course.'

He smiled and looked at Amy, who flushed a becoming pink. ‘We came to the same conclusion, did we not, Mrs Macdonald?'

‘Yes,' she agreed, looking from Harriet to Matilda, who was shaking her head imperceptibly. It was Aunt Matilda who had suggested calling on the old lady and Amy supposed she did not want to be scolded for it.

‘I wonder if you can tell me if there is a house to let hereabouts,' James said, addressing Miss Hardwick. ‘You see, I think my business may take longer than I thought and it would be more convenient to have my own establishment. It need not be very large, I do not intend to entertain on a grand scale and I have only one servant at present.' How much of this idea was a conviction that the answer to the riddle lay in Highbeck and how much to a reluctance to go back to his own empty home, he was not prepared to speculate.

‘One cannot run a house with one servant,' Miss Matilda put in.

He acknowledged this with a slight bow. ‘I shall take on more as necessary.'

Matilda looked at Harriet. ‘Harriet, what about the Lodge?'

Her sister looked thoughtful for a moment, then brightened. ‘Do you know, I think that is a capital notion. If it is occupied, it might keep Cousin Gerald off our backs.' She turned to James. ‘Our cousin has been trying to persuade us to move out of here into the Lodge. He calls it the dower house.'

‘He may call it what he likes,' Matilda said hotly. ‘We are not dowagers and he cannot treat us as if we were. He has no right to dictate to us. The Manor is ours unentailed, whatever he might think or say.'

‘Now, now, Tilly,' her sister admonished. ‘The Captain does not want to hear of our troubles.'

That they had troubles was news to Amy. She had met Sir Gerald Hardwick once, soon after the accident. He called to see how she did, which she thought very civil of him, but he had had no patience with her loss of memory and thought browbeating her would restore it in no time. Aunt Harriet had sent him on his way, saying, ‘Amy will make a full recovery, no doubt of it, so you may take your rapacious self back to Ely.' Amy had thought that was somewhat harsh, but her aunt said he deserved it, a statement she had been obliged to accept, knowing nothing of what had gone before.

James bowed. ‘I would not wish to cause dissent between you and your relation,' he said. ‘I can look else where.'

‘Indeed you will not,' Harriet told him. ‘You will be doing us a good turn if you move into the house.'

‘Then I accept your kind offer. If there is anything I can do to be of assistance, then please tell me.' He looked from one to the other, wondering if they might satisfy his curiosity, but all the reply he received was a chorused, ‘Thank you.'

‘You should see the house first,' Matilda said. ‘It may
not be to your liking. Amy will take you, it is but a stone's throw away.'

‘Of course,' Amy said. ‘Shall we go now? Your horse will be looked after until we return.'

He agreed and waited while she hurried up to her room to change out of her habit into something more suitable for walking.

‘I collect you have not told Amy the real reason for your visit?' Harriet said, as soon as she was out of earshot.

‘No, she has accepted me as a friend of the family. I do not want to spoil that. If you think I should…'

‘No, no,' Harriet said quickly. ‘You must work in your own way. I only asked so that we might know how to go on. It is important that we are in accord.' She paused before going on. ‘Have you learned anything today?'

‘Very little. She is, I believe, coming to remember her child hood here and that is a start, but any questions about her life in London draw a blank. I think something must have happened there before she ever boarded that coach.'

‘Our view exactly,' Matilda said. ‘But we are fearful of what might happen if she were to return there. We have discouraged her from attempting it.'

‘I think you are right. Until we know the truth of it ourselves, she is best here being looked after by your good selves.'

‘How are we to find out? We never travel to London.'

‘I shall send my man back to the capital to fetch things I need. We rode here, not expecting to stay above a day or two, and I have but one change of clothes. I shall instruct him, while he is there, to try and find out who this Mr Billings was and what happened at the house. And if there is any news of Mr Macdonald.'

‘He is trustworthy?'

‘I would trust him with my life, madam. And he knows how to keep his tongue between his teeth. You need have no fear.'

‘Good.' She paused as foot steps sounded on the stairs. ‘Here comes Amy. I think we will not say anything about your man for the moment.'

‘Very well.'

He rose to his feet as Amy came into the room, dressed in a cool muslin gown with a light shawl thrown about her shoulders. Her cottager hat was tied on with a ribbon beneath her chin. ‘I am ready,' she said.

They set off on foot, crossing the draw bridge and turning away from the drive and the main entrance to go across a green sward and taking a path through a small copse. ‘The trees were planted by one of my ancestors to protect the Manor from the prevailing east wind,' she told him. ‘It can go right through you in the winter.'

‘That I can imagine,' he said with a laugh. ‘There is very little between here and the Arctic to stop it.'

‘Perhaps that is why fen folk are so hardy,' she said. ‘This path leads to a back entrance to the grounds, which is where the Lodge stands. See, there it is.' They had come out of the trees and she pointed to a squat red-brick house, two storeys high, with a door in the centre of the façade and windows either side. It was neatly thatched. Beyond it were tall gates set in the wall surrounding the estate, on the other side of which was a lane. ‘It guards the Manor, just as the tower guards it on the other side. I am sure it was intended to with stand a siege.'

‘Has there ever been a siege?' he asked.

‘I do not know. Perhaps in the past there might have been, perhaps in the struggle between King Charles and Parliament.'

‘This was strong Cromwell country, I believe.'

‘Yes, but I have been told the Hardwicks were loyal to the king.' She took the key Harriet had given her from her pocket and unlocked the front door.

‘Ah, then they would need strong defences.'

They stepped inside and looked about them. They were in a small hall with doors to right and left and an oak staircase going up from the middle. ‘It is the first time I have been in here since the accident,' she said. ‘It smells musty from being shut up and no one living here. If we open the windows, I am sure it will clear it.'

‘How long has it been standing empty?'

‘I do not know, nor why. Shall we explore?'

They wandered from room to room, flinging open windows just like a young couple looking for a first home, Amy thought, and smiled at her fancies. She was married and had a home, even if she could remember neither husband nor house. How did Duncan compare with the man who walked beside her? Was he as hand some, as for bearing, as amiable? Did he make her laugh? Realising her escort was speaking, she shook her foolish thoughts from her. ‘I beg your pardon, I was daydreaming.'

‘Remembering?'

‘No, wishing I could. What was it you said?'

‘I was saying I would need furniture. There is very little here.'

‘Yes, I had not realised that. No doubt my aunts thought it unwise to leave sofas and soft furnishings in place for fear of them going mouldy. I am sure it can be remedied.'

‘Of course. A visit to the shops to buy what I need will soon have it comfortable.'

What hard furniture there was, like a few tables and chairs, cup boards and shelves, was in good condition, though thick with dust. ‘I think a cleaning woman must be your first concern,' she said, running her finger along
the banister as they made their way upstairs. ‘I have no doubt Aunt Harriet will know of someone.'

There were five rooms on the upper floor, all half-furnished. They looked in each and he decided which one he would take and which Sam could have. ‘I shall need a cook-house keeper to live in,' he said. ‘But cleaning and laundry women can come in daily.'

She went to the window of the main bedroom and flung it open. ‘Come and see,' she said. ‘The view from here is better than I imagined it would be.'

The window was not large and they stood very close together, so close she could feel his warmth. It gave her a feeling of being protected, as if he would always stand at her side and keep her safe. It was a strange sensation and she came to the conclusion she was remembering that bareback ride cradled in his arms. Until that moment, she had been feeling cold and alone. Now, how did she know that? Was she truly remembering or simply making things up to suit herself?

‘I can see the lane leading to the Manor, and a glimpse of the chimneys above the trees,' he said. ‘And the tower on the far side. I suppose, given a siege, it would be possible to signal from here to there.'

‘But we are not preparing for a siege, are we?' she said, laughing to cover her embarrassment. He had put his hand on the wall on the other side of her in order to lean out and she was very conscious that it was only inches from her shoulders. He had only to drop his arm casually and he would have her in his embrace and that was followed by the thought that she might enjoy it. She shook herself. She was a married woman and should not be indulging in such fancies.

He was suddenly conscious of how close they were and straightened up. ‘No, thank goodness. Shall we go down
stairs again? I should like to look at the kitchen offices and the out buildings.'

These proved adequate, but not luxurious, but he was quick to tell her he had known worse. ‘Shipboard life is very basic,' he said. ‘You learn not to mind.'

‘That must have been hard, considering you came from an illustrious family.'

‘One can become used to anything in time,' he said, as they went round shutting the windows again. ‘And the common sailors had by far the worst of it.'

‘Had they been pressed?'

‘Some of them. I do not agree with taking a man by force, but sometimes it is necessary. Some are ill suited to the life, but they soon become inured.'

She locked the door again and they set off back the way they had come. ‘I recollect you said you had left the service.'

‘Yes. I meant to settle down…'

‘Instead you embarked on a life of travel of a different kind.'

‘Yes,' he said, remembering Caroline and his quest for her killers. He ought to have found them long before now, but they were hardened criminals and knew how to go to ground when the pursuit became too close for comfort. He would have them in the end, even if he had to remain a thief taker for the rest of his days. In the meantime, having taken on this commission, he would see it through.

Alerted by his sudden withdrawal, Amy turned towards him. He was looking sombre, his jaw rigid, making her wonder what it was that could change his expression so quickly. ‘I am sorry,' she said. ‘I did not mean to pry. It is my in satiable need to know all about everyone I meet that makes me like that. Please forgive me.'

‘There is nothing to forgive,' he said, without satisfying
her curiosity, and then con founded her by adding, ‘But I think I may stay here for a while. The area suits me and so does the house.'

‘Then we shall be neighbours.'

‘Yes. I shall like that.'

‘And so shall I and my aunts. They have taken a liking to you, Captain, and that is rare for them. They are usually re strained by shyness.'

‘Miss Hardwick does not strike me as shy.'

‘Perhaps not. Perhaps it is more of a reticence, a wariness of strangers. But you are not a stranger, are you? You are known to Lord Trentham, who thinks highly of you. It is enough for the aunts. If they approve then I do, too.'

‘Thank you for that. Do you know his lordship?'

‘I do not remember him, but I am told he once courted my mother, though nothing came of it and she married my father instead. She thought a sea captain, even one with a title, would be away from home more than she would like, and so she turned him down. I have all this from my aunts, you understand. It is the result of my quizzing them from morning to night in order to try to remember.'

‘Do you remember your father?' he asked.

‘No. He lives abroad and, according to the aunts, has done so this last four years. They could not tell me why, but suppose he and my mother did not deal well together. She is an opera singer.'

‘Not used to domesticity then,' he said, mentally noting that a little over four years before the man they called Bonnie Prince Charlie was on English soil, not that many miles to the north of where they were, and causing mayhem in his bid to regain the throne for his father. Many of his English sympathisers had been forced to flee the country when the rebellion failed. Was Charron one of their number?