CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

On Saturday, a note from Mr Longhope informed Lord Reculver that he had furnished Grimshaw’s man-of-law with his lordship’s own affidavit some days ago and had no excuse for continuing to withhold that of Mr William Grimshaw. He had warned William of this and advised him to remove to the lodgings in West Street immediately to spare himself and his mother the ensuing unpleasantness.

Regarding the case, the difficulty, as I am sure your lordship will appreciate, is achieving the correct balance between appearing intent on prosecution without actually doing it , he wrote. However, I am confident that the combination of both affidavits will be sufficient to have the desired effect.

‘Let us hope he is right about that,’ said Anna when Ruth was finally satisfied with her hair and left the room.

It was the evening of the dowager’s long-awaited dinner party so more than usual effort was required. Anna had chosen to wear her wedding gown for the first time since the day itself. Daniel was unaccustomedly elegant in a suit of bronze brocade which she had never seen before and which complemented the russet tones of his hair. As sometimes happened, he looked so handsome he stopped her breath for a moment.

She said, ‘You are very fine this evening. A new suit?’

‘No. Merely one I haven’t worn since I was last in London. And unless I’m mistaken, you haven’t had a new gown since that one – which is the one you wore on our wedding day. Am I right?’

‘Yes. But that makes it virtually new. And none of your mama’s guests have ever seen it, have they?’ she asked reasonably. ‘But if it makes you feel better, I’ll buy new clothes when we go to London in the spring for Rebecca’s come-out. Until then, I shan’t need them.’ She twitched the rose silk into the proper folds. ‘Shall we go down?’

‘In a little while. First, I’d like to rectify an omission.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yes. Something that’s three months overdue.’ He took a small leather box from his pocket and handed it to her. ‘For you. Open it.’

Startled and a little uncertain, Anna did so. Inside the box, a ring set with an oval-cut sapphire flanked by two small diamonds winked up at her. The breath left her and she looked up at him, not sure what best to say. He’d never given her a gift before. Finally, she managed, ‘It’s beautiful, Daniel – truly beautiful. Thank you. But I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve it.’

‘It’s a betrothal ring. And you’ve deserved it – if, indeed, that’s the right term – since the day you accepted my hand in marriage.’ Smiling at her, he took the ring from the box. ‘Give me your hand so we can find out if it fits.’ And when she did so, he slid the sapphire next to her wedding band. ‘Ah. It does. That’s a relief.’

Swallowing the tears that threatened, Anna looked at it, turning her hand this way and that so the stone caught the light. Then, she threw her arms about his neck and whispered, ‘Thank you. It – it’s a lovely surprise. But you didn’t need to do it, you know.’

‘Yes, I did.’

Daniel held her so she couldn’t see his face just in case there was anything there he’d prefer to stay hidden.

When he’d first realised that he had never given her anything , however small, he’d known a betrothal ring was the very least he owed her. Then he’d recognised the problem with that. Nothing he gave her would truly come from him if it was paid for with her money. And whatever little he’d had before their marriage was now completely swallowed up in the funds she’d transferred to him.

The answer, of course, was to sell something. But it had to be something he truly owned – and preferably something Anna would never miss. There wasn’t much choice. In fact, so far as he could see, there was only one. The gold pocket-watch his father had given him on his twenty-first birthday. Having a much less grand watch he’d bought whilst at Oxford, he rarely wore the gold one; so in all likelihood, the only time Anna had ever seen it was on their wedding day.

Aside from the embarrassment of selling it to Gloucester’s one good jeweller in order to buy the sapphire ring, he hadn’t minded its loss as much as he’d thought he might. And now, with her arms around him and his about her, he didn’t regret it at all. The way she was clinging to him made him wonder if she was shedding a tear of two and the possibility twisted something inside his chest. It was just a ring. Compared to what she had given him and his mother and would be giving Rebecca come the spring, it was nothing . And yet she …

Shutting down that train of thought, he cleared his throat and said awkwardly, ‘It’s not very much. But I’m glad you like it. And now I should probably let you go before your gown is completely crushed.’

She sniffed, stepped back from him and turned swiftly to check her face in the mirror. In something almost but not quite her usual tone, she said, ‘I think it was probably me holding on to you – but we won’t argue. Indeed, we’d better go down before guests start arriving and your mother sends someone to fetch us.’

Nodding, he offered his arm and, as they left the room, said, ‘I forgot to ask. Who has the dubious pleasure of sitting by Reggie Yates – he of the wandering hands?’

‘He has Mrs Ashworth on one side and me on the other.’

‘Well, being seventy if she’s a day, Mrs Ashworth should be safe enough. But if his hands stray to you, I want to know about it.’

Anna gave a gurgle of laughter.

‘You’ll know – and so will he.’

‘Ah. That sounds interesting. More so than the rest of the evening promises to be. But at least Mama has grasped the nettle and is entertaining again … so I suppose we have to start somewhere.’

In fact, the evening was surprisingly pleasant. The guests were all acquainted with each other and happy to gossip, first over sherry in the drawing-room and then over a more than usually elaborate but well-chosen dinner.

At some point during the main course of saddle of lamb, Mr Yates laid his hand on Lady Reculver’s thigh. Smiling sweetly at him, she stabbed it with her fork. He yelped and recoiled in a hurry. Looking enquiringly up from his conversation with Lady Holden, reading the situation at a glance and stifling a laugh, Lord Reculver said mildly, ‘What is it, Reggie? Been stung by something?’

‘Y-Yes,’ he managed, grasping the life-line. ‘Bee. Must have been.’

‘Or perhaps a wasp,’ suggested Anna solicitously, aware that Rebecca was trying to turn a giggle into a cough. ‘Although one doesn’t usually get either of those in October. How very strange.’

‘Yes,’ mumbled Mr Yates again, dabbing surreptitiously at his injured hand with a napkin. ‘Very.’

Later, while the gentlemen were enjoying their port, the dowager cornered Anna and whispered, ‘What was that all about? Bees and wasps, indeed!’

‘A mere misunderstanding,’ replied Anna calmly. ‘Nothing that need worry you.’

And later still, when the gentlemen rejoined the ladies and Rebecca had been persuaded to indulge the company with a little music and was playing Bach’s Italian Concerto with more enthusiasm than accuracy, Daniel asked the same question, albeit more directly. ‘What did you do?’

‘Stabbed him with my fork.’

‘Ah.’ He smothered a laugh. ‘How fortunate that he was sitting on your left rather than your right.’

‘Wasn’t it?’ She smiled up at him. ‘But the evening is going well. I think your mother is enjoying herself and that is all that really matters.’

Vaguely, Daniel supposed that it was. But it was Anna he found himself watching throughout the evening. Although still a little reserved, she was more relaxed in company than she’d been a few months ago. The art of making social small talk continued to elude her but she hid it by listening, smiling and not actually saying much at all. This worked well, thought Daniel cynically, because most people would rather talk than listen. And she looked good. When he’d first met her, he recalled thinking her nondescript in the extreme; but she wasn’t, was she? Not beautiful, perhaps … but neither ordinary nor mediocre. The warm, brown hair was as soft and shiny as silk. Her eyes were expressive and changed from blue to grey or grey to blue depending on her mood or the circumstance. As for her body, it had been designed to fit perfectly against his; and the pearly smoothness of her skin enchanted him.

It was when his thoughts arrived at the point of wondering how soon their guests would go home and leave him free to take his wife to bed that he realised he’d better call a halt to them before they got him in trouble. Summoning a smile, he sauntered over to Mr Yates and said sympathetically, ‘How’s the hand, Reggie?’

‘Fine. That is … a little sore. But fine, thank you.’

‘Are you sure? I notice you haven’t been using it since the … incident. Someone ought to look at it, for you. Shall I have my housekeeper find a salve?’

‘No, no.Please don’t trouble.’

‘It’s no trouble. These things can’t be ignored, you know – or there’s no saying what unpleasant complications may arise.’ Still smiling, Daniel held the other man’s eyes. ‘And we wouldn’t want that, would we?’

Mr Yates swallowed and said weakly, ‘No. Not at all.’

‘Excellent.’ He glanced across the room. ‘Ah, Mrs Ashworth and her nephew are preparing to leave. Excuse me, will you?’

***

As soon as they entered their bedchamber and just as Anna was about to ask what he’d said to Mr Yates, Daniel swung round, trapped her body between his and the door and swooped on her mouth. Minutes later and in between trailing kisses down her neck, he said, ‘I thought the Holdens and the vicar were never going to leave. And I’ve been thinking of this for the last hour.’

‘You have?’ Anna took the opportunity to free his hair from its ribbon and run her hands through it. ‘And there I was thinking you were being the perfect host.’

‘I can do two things at once.’

‘I know.’ And laughing a little as he drew her away from the door in order to begin undoing her laces whilst dipping his tongue into the hollow below her ear. ‘You don’t need to prove it.’

‘Yes. Right now, I do. Damn. I can’t move in this coat. Help me, will you?’

She eased the coat off his shoulders, drew it away and was about to lay it tidily over a chair but Daniel seized it, tossed it carelessly aside and returned to make short work of the laces of her gown.

When he’d reduced her to stays and shift, Anna batted his hands away, saying, ‘My turn.’ And set about unbuttoning his vest.

‘I could do that quicker,’ he grumbled.

‘That, she retorted, ‘is true of many things. But speed isn’t necessarily of – ’

‘It is right now.’

‘Oh. I … see.’

‘Good.’ The vest followed the coat, then her stays and his shirt. In between feverish kisses and his hands seeming to be everywhere at once, Anna fumbled with the buttons of his breeches. On something resembling a growl, he said, ‘Much more of that, my lady, and we may not make it to the bed.’

‘Oh! How – ?’

‘Another time.’

He picked her up, tossed her on to the bed and, faster than she’d have believed possible had she not been watching – which, of course, she was – stripped off what was left of his clothes. For perhaps ten seconds, he stood there looking at her out of hot, hungry eyes … then, lying down beside her, he took her in his arms and, with mouth, hands and body, proceeded to give them what they both wanted.

Later, as Anna was sliding into sleep, he lay propped on one elbow watching her and letting his mind drift whilst enjoying the satiny skin of her shoulder beneath his fingertips. Distantly, it occurred to him that there was nothing about Anna that he didn’t enjoy; not even her obstinacy and their occasional arguments. But this … when they came together physically … this wasn’t just sex. It was charged with emotions he’d never before experienced and which made his chest ache with something which, as yet, he was afraid to investigate.

***

The following day was one of clear skies, only a gentle breeze and some weak sunshine. Daniel, pursuing his campaign of gradually increasing their flock of sheep and hoping also to acquire an additional shepherd, rode into Gloucester to attend the monthly livestock auction. Knowing this would take the bulk of his day, Anna spent a pleasant hour at the school during the morning and took Rebecca with her to visit one or two of the tenant families after luncheon. The dowager waved them off saying she had letters to write and hoped to take a turn in the garden later if the weather remained pleasant.

It was Daniel who came home first. Whistling cheerfully, he turned Cicero’s head into the driveway, his mind occupied with the successes of his day and wondering if Anna was back yet so he could tell her about them. It was pure chance that his eye caught the splash of crimson that was his mother’s oldest and best-loved cloak glowing bright against the deep green of the rhododendrons. He smiled and raised his hand to wave. Then he realised she wasn’t alone. A dark-clad man was with her. A man who, even at this distance, Daniel recognised.

In one lithe move, he was out of the saddle and, leaving Cicero to make his own way to the stables, took off across the turf at a run, aware that Grimshaw was holding Mother’s wrist and talking fast. Somewhere at the back of Daniel’s mind was confusion that her expression was one of disgust rather than alarm.

‘Get your hands off her!’ he yelled. And, reaching them, grabbed Grimshaw’s shoulder and hurled him aside so violently that he stumbled.

‘Mama … has he hurt you?’

‘He tried,’ she replied, brushing off her arm where Grimshaw’s hand had been as if removing some filth.

Too furious to ask what she meant, Daniel swung round in time to see Grimshaw regaining his balance and, instead of taking to his heels as any sane man would do, compounding his peril by opening his mouth to say, ‘Her ladyship and I were just having a little chat. I expect you can guess –’

Daniel knocked him off his feet with one solid punch before he’d recognised either the intention or all the reasons he shouldn’t do it. Sickeningly, he belatedly realised three things. He couldn’t, with honour, knock seven bells out of a man twice his age; he certainly shouldn’t do it in front of his mother; and Grimshaw’s intrusion of his property could be used to his advantage if he kept his temper in check.

Watching Grimshaw get up, one hand cradling his jaw, he said through gritted teeth, ‘Go inside, Mama. Ask Flynn to send one of the footmen here to me immediately and send another to tell the village constable that we have an intruder who I’ll be holding until he can be placed under arrest.’

The dowager hesitated, ‘Daniel, perhaps it might be better – ’

‘Go, Mama,’ he repeated more gently. And, to Grimshaw as she walked away, ‘Don’t even think of running. You won’t make it. You will, however , give me the excuse I want to hit you again.’

In somewhat muffled accents and still clutching his jaw, Grimshaw told Daniel what he already knew. ‘That won’t help you now. Neither will having me arrested.’

‘Of course it will. A few days ago, you were inside my house – ’

‘Prove it.’

‘I don’t need to prove it – because here you are again . Repeated invasions of my property only strengthen my existing action for fraud and blackmail. And don’t hurl empty threats of telling the world what you know. You can’t do that without incriminating yourself still further.’

‘I meant, it won’t help with your mother. I told her. And that’s your fault.’

Ignoring a pang of nausea, Daniel said, ‘Told her what?’

‘Not everything,’ Grimshaw attempted a careless shrug. ‘But enough. The last thing your father wanted, of course … but, as I said, it’s your own fault. I don’t know how you got to my family but you shouldn’t have bribed them to lie about me.’

‘They haven’t lied and they needed no bribing. They offered . The people you call your family are about as fond of you as I am. The game’s up, Grimshaw. Face it. With their evidence as well as my own, you’ll go to prison. And I hope they throw away the key.’

Casting off his pretence of careless confidence, Grimshaw spat, ‘You’re making a big mistake if you think I won’t stand up in court and tell the world your father seduced my brother’s wife and – ’

‘Your brother’s widow ,’ cut in Daniel. ‘And that isn’t how she will tell it. So do your worst. All you’ll achieve is to deepen the hole you are already in.’

‘We’ll see. There’s a lot I can tell if I choose to. More than you know. But here come your footmen. Two of them. Your butler must think you wouldn’t be able to manage with only one.’

‘Wrong. My mother thought it might take more than one to stop me damaging you.’ Still somehow keeping a grip on his temper, Daniel turned to the footmen. ‘This person is our uninvited visitor of the other day. Take him to the stables and have Gregson lock him up somewhere. And check his pockets for the key he took from the dining-room door. Has Flynn sent word to the constable?’

‘Yes, my lord. He did it right away.’

‘Good.’ And, to Grimshaw, ‘This has been fun. I’ll look forward to seeing you in court.’

And without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and walked away.

He was almost at the house when the phaeton bearing Anna and Rebecca turned on to the drive. He waited until she caught up with him and gave the reins to the groom but took his own hand to help her climb down, saying, ‘This is good timing. Have you just got back?’

‘A short while ago.’

‘Who was that man I saw Jeffrey and Thomas taking to the stables?’ Rebecca asked while he was helping her down. ‘Our mystery trespasser?’

‘It would seem so. Mama knows he’s here. Tell her I’m having him detained until the constable arrives to arrest him.’

‘Good,’ she said, heading towards the house and already taking off her hat. ‘It will be nice not to have to bother locking doors all the time.’

Anna watched her walk away and then, in a whisper to Daniel, ‘ Grimshaw? ’

‘Yes. There’s no time to talk now. I found him in the garden with Mother. He said he’s told her so God knows what state she’s in. I have to – to ….’ He stopped.

‘Yes. Do you want me to come with you?’ You can say no if – ’

He folded his hand around hers and realised that he was shaking – mostly, he supposed distantly, with residual temper.

‘I need you with me. I’m not fit to handle it on my own. It’s taken every bit of self-control in me not to beat that bloody man to a pulp.’ He gave a tiny, derisive laugh. ‘Benedict would have been proud of me.’

‘ I’m proud of you,’ she said firmly. ‘We don’t have to go this second. Take a moment. Just breathe.’

He did so, then finally said, ‘I don’t know what to say to her and – and I’m scared I’ll make a mess of it.’

‘You won’t. Of course, you won’t. You managed not to thrash Grimshaw and you can manage this. But perhaps we should decide whether or not Rebecca ought to be told as well?’

He groaned. ‘Do you think she should?’

‘Yes. Better she hears it from you than from gossip. And, since we don’t know what Grimshaw will do next, we can’t be absolutely sure there won’t be any.’

Daniel nodded, drew another long breath and said, ‘True.’

‘Also, you shouldn’t have to go through it all more than once,’ added Anna. ‘So … when you’re ready, let’s go and get it over with.’

~**~**~