Kitty sucked in a breath at that jibe. ‘Oh!’
She glared up at him, striving to project every single ounce of her outrage into that one look, then whirled around and marched to the stairs, battening down the swell of hurt his remark had provoked. A low blow, as Robert would describe it. How could she ever have imagined herself at risk of falling in love again with him? He was nothing but a boor and she hoped she never set eyes on him again. On that thought, she slammed to a halt and spun to face him.
‘I thought, Lord Kelridge, you were to return to Hertfordshire this morning. Another lie?’
Proud at the icy tone she achieved and the fact her voice did not quiver, Kitty turned and hurried down the stairs to street level, where she could see Charis and Lady Datchworth at the far end of the Change, examining the wares displayed on one of the stalls set up outside the shops. Of Sampford there was no sign. She slowed her pace, relief flooding her at the sight of Her Ladyship.
‘I enjoyed watching you flounce, Kitty.’
Her pulse rocketed as the low voice sounded in her ear and his warm breath raised the little hairs at her nape. Kitty halted.
‘I do not flounce, my lord. And, if I did, it would be for neither your benefit nor your entertainment.’
Somehow, she knew not how, he manoeuvred her arm through his and they were again walking towards Lady Datchworth and Charis.
‘You do not wish to give Her Ladyship the suspicion we have been squabbling, I hope?’
Put like that…no, she did not, so she accepted his escort with as good grace as she could muster.
‘And, in answer to your…um—accusation might best describe your tone of voice—I am leaving for Hertfordshire later today. It is only a short journey and the evenings are light enough. I had a matter or two to tie up before leaving town and I wished to say my goodbyes to the few people I can regard as friends. Including Robert, of course.’
Oh, no! Robert wanted to speak to Adam…
‘Have you seen Robert yet?’
‘No. He was unavailable, unfortunately. May I impose on your good nature—you note I do not say goodwill as you appear to have a scant quantity of that towards myself—to pass on my good wishes and my farewell?’
‘You may.’
‘I thank you.’
Kitty breathed a little easier on learning Robert had not yet spoken to Adam about this new wing for the Hall. She would persuade him to consult a different architect, although she still couldn’t fathom why he had suddenly formed this desire to refurbish the Hall. Unless…could he be contemplating matrimony? She frowned, racking her brains, but she could not recall him paying particular attention to any young lady during the Season—other than the Marquess of Patterdale’s sister, Lady Phoebe Crawshaw. But Kitty could not believe Robert’s attention to the Incomparable—as the gentlemen had dubbed Lady Phoebe, as they clustered around her like wasps around a ripe plum—was anything more than Robert following the latest fashion. Kitty prayed he had more sense than to view such a female as a suitable marriage prospect for, although the gentlemen were universally captivated by her beauty and her spirit, the ladies of the ton were divided upon the subject of Lady Phoebe. The younger ladies thought her fast but fascinating, the older matrons thought her fast and vulgar. Kitty’s opinion lay somewhere between the two, but she had found the other woman intriguing as she observed her, drawing upon her antics and mannerisms for Minerva, a character in her novel and the flighty, avaricious betrothed of Arthur’s villainous Uncle Sidney.
Kitty and Adam joined the others—Lady Datchworth’s sharp gaze switching from Adam to Kitty and back again as Charis sent Kitty a look that managed to be both guilty and apologetic at the same time.
‘I followed the keeper down here because I needed to ask him something.’
The rush of her stepdaughter’s words did nothing to quell either Kitty’s suspicions or her concern.
‘And did you find out what you wished to know?’
‘I… I could not catch him.’
‘And you then met Lord Sampford, did you not, my dear,’ said Lady Datchworth, ‘which is why you did not immediately return to your stepmother.’
A blush lit Charis’s cheeks. ‘I did not wish to be thought unmannerly by not speaking to him.’
‘Well, I thank you both for ensuring Charis’s safety and for informing me of her whereabouts,’ said Kitty, fighting to keep the disapproval and worry from her countenance. ‘Charis, come. It is time we returned home.’
She would not discuss this with Charis in front of others, but she would have plenty to say to her on the journey home. She prayed poor Charis’s heart was not engaged if that had been a clandestine plan to meet Lord Sampford because—following Robert’s revelations about the man—Kitty had no doubt Charis deserved far better than a husband like him. He was utterly unsuitable and had proved he could not be trusted and was no gentleman by encouraging Charis to go downstairs with him, away from her chaperon. Thank goodness Lady Datchworth happened to be there at the right time. Charis was so young…only seventeen…far too young to fall in love.
Kitty sucked in a breath at the significance of Charis’s age. Seventeen…the same age she had been when she had fallen in love with Adam. Not that she had truly been in love with him, of course. Infatuation. That was what it had been. He had been right, of course. She shot a glance at Adam and it collided with his knowing gaze. His lips twitched and a gleam lit his blue eyes, drat the man. It was as though he knew precisely what she was thinking—and it was no doubt the cause of his earlier comment about young girls.
‘Lord Kelridge.’ Lady Datchworth’s crisp command brought both Kitty’s and Adam’s attention back to her. ‘I desire a private word with Lady Fenton. Would you be so good as to escort Miss Mayfield to peruse the wares on that stall over there?’ She waved her arm in the general direction of a stall displaying silver-plated trinkets such as snuff boxes and vinaigrettes.
Kitty frowned at Her Ladyship’s blatant attempt to throw Adam and Charis together, in no mood to allow the Marchioness to interfere in Charis’s future. As soon as Adam and Charis were out of earshot, she said, ‘I intend to be straight with you, Lady Datchworth.’
‘Oh. Please do.’ A smile flickered on Her Ladyship’s mouth. ‘But, before you speak, allow me to explain that I overheard Sampford last night persuading your Charis to meet him here today, and I thought it my duty to circumvent any trouble.’
‘You knew about their tryst? But why not just tell me last night? Why go through this charade?’
‘Charade?’ Her Ladyship’s eyebrows shot skyward. ‘Allow me to remind you that I have vastly more experience of life than you, my dear. Had you banned their meeting, all you would end up doing is cause resentment and a determination to be even more secretive. This way, Charis is both embarrassed and ashamed—and the lesson has been learned that she will be found out. Besides, it gave me an opportunity to throw her and Kelridge together.’
‘Well, I wish you had not involved Kelridge. I told you before. I do not believe that would be a good match.’
‘But you have still not furnished me with a good reason for your objection.’
Kitty’s teeth ground together. ‘I do not need to discuss my objections with you, ma’am. Suffice it to say that Lord Fenton would disapprove as well and that should be an end to it.’
Her Ladyship shrugged. ‘Very well. If you do not wish my assistance, I shall say no more. Never let it be said that I interfere in others’ lives even though, as I said, my experience does furnish me with a unique insight into my friends’ well-being.’
Kitty swallowed down any further hot words as Lady Datchworth beckoned imperiously at Adam, who nodded and returned with Charis on his arm.
‘It is time to return home, Charis.’
‘Very well, Stepmama.’
Charis looked suitably chastened and Kitty allowed herself to imagine what her attitude might have been had Kitty been aware of her rendezvous with Sampford and flatly refused to come here today. Irritatingly, she realised Lady Datchworth might have a point about the best way to deal with Charis’s clandestine meeting. She summoned up a smile for Her Ladyship even as she prayed Charis had not developed a tendre for Sampford, especially in light of Robert’s revelations. She was aware it was impossible to protect Charis against heartache, but knowing she was powerless did not stop Kitty from wanting to do her utmost to protect her precious stepdaughter against any and every sorrow.
‘I am grateful for your sage advice, ma’am.’
Lady Datchworth’s lips stretched into an answering smile. ‘You are most welcome, my dear.’
Adam bowed. ‘Good afternoon, Lady Fenton, Miss Mayfield. It’s been a pleasure to meet you both again.’
‘Likewise, sir.’ Kitty inclined her head as Charis curtsied. ‘Good afternoon, Lady Datchworth, my lord.’
As they walked away she heard Lady Datchworth’s peremptory tones float after them.
‘How the devil did you contrive to provoke her this time, Kelridge?’
Kitty increased her pace to prevent any prospect of overhearing his reply.
* * *
‘Hi! Adam!’
Adam paused with one booted foot on the carriage step as his cousin, Tolly, sprinted up the street, a valise in one hand. He waved and increased his pace. Adam lowered his foot and waited. That valise presented a strong clue that Tolly had decided to travel to Kelridge Place with him after all, although he had declined the offer last evening, when Adam had met him at Brooks’s after he had escorted Lady Datchworth home from Almack’s.
‘Much obliged, Coz.’
Tolly dropped his case and bent forward, hands on knees, panting. Adam waited patiently.
‘Thought I’d missed you!’
‘Changed your mind?’
‘I have.’ Tolly straightened, his face red. He hauled in a breath and blew it out again. ‘Phew! Not used to runnin’. Bit of a rush, by the time I got home and packed.’ He picked up his valise. ‘Given my man the day off, too. Never was much of a one for plannin’ and so forth.’
Adam was surprised how pleased he was to have Tolly’s company. If nothing else, it would stop him brooding about Kitty and obsessing over his ungentlemanly jibe at the Change. He had meant his comment about headstrong young girls to be humorous, but had realised his error as soon as it left his lips. And Kitty’s reaction confirmed she had not found it amusing. He had no wish to squabble with her every time they met. Rather, he longed for the chance to question her properly, driven not only by the urge to understand why she had married Fenton, but also by this new burden of guilt over his refusal to listen to her explanation as to why she had been desperate to leave her father’s home.
Somehow, he must find a way to have that conversation with her and he now regretted his impulsive announcement that he was leaving Town, admitting—if only to himself—that the heaviness currently weighing on his soul was entirely due to the fact he would not see Kitty again for the foreseeable future.
There was the consolation, however, that when she returned to Hertfordshire it would surely prove easier to find privacy there than in London. Until then, he must try to be patient. But that would be hard, especially since their meeting that afternoon. Her guard had slipped and he had glimpsed very real emotion in her eyes as they had sparred with one another. And that glimpse had given him hope that, maybe, they could work through the events of the past and reach a better understanding. And then…who knew?
He was still unsure exactly what he hoped for with regard to Kitty, but he did know he would rather be someone she trusted than someone she eyed with caution.
‘Barlow—load Mr Trewin’s luggage on the rack if you please.’ The groom on the box jumped down and did as he was bid. ‘In you get, then, Tolly, and you can tell me why the change of plans.’
Once the carriage was in motion, Tolly said, ‘I just realised you might appreciate a friendly face there, to help ease you into your new role.
He stopped speaking, his chest still heaving with the effort of his sprint.
Adam leaned back, stretching his legs out and folding his arms across his chest as he settled down for the journey.
‘Well, I admit I shall be glad of both your company and your support. Plus, the journey will finally give you the chance to tell me all about my father.’
Adam had questioned Tolly about his father a few times since their first meeting, but Tolly had always fobbed him off—easily done when there had always been other people around. But now it was just the two of them and Adam burned to why his mother had run away from the man, depriving Adam of his father, and her husband of his son and heir.
‘Ah. Yes.’ A frown slashed between Tolly’s eyebrows. ‘It is…awkward.’
‘As are so many things about this situation. Look… Tolly…my father was who he was. Telling me the truth about him will change nothing. I didn’t know the man, so you will not be shattering dreams…’ His mother had already destroyed those, when she admitted the soldier hero he had thought was his father was naught but a figment of her imagination. ‘I just want to understand what he was like.’
And to know if he was really such a monster that his wife chose the life of a housekeeper rather than remain as his Countess.
‘Well…if you put it like that, I can tell you he was quick-tempered and free with his fists, too. Your mother had already left him by the time my parents wed, but my mother did know yours and she told me she didn’t blame Esther for running away, even though it created a huge scandal and most of society were unforgiving. Including my own father, I’m sorry to say.’ He shook his head. ‘Family loyalty, I suppose. I’ve even heard people say that a wife belongs to her husband and, if he has to beat her, then it’s her own fault and she should mend her ways.’
Anger stirred at the thought of anyone beating his mother and Adam clenched his fists on his knees. No wonder she had always been quick to stop any signs of temper in her son. He stared down at his clenched fists and forced them to relax. He might be quick to anger, but he had never come close to hitting anyone.
‘Did you know him? What did you make of him?’
‘We saw very little of him when I was young as my mother disliked him but, after her death, Father sold his commission and moved back to Kelridge. I was in the cavalry myself by then, but I would visit him there whenever I had leave and I got to know Uncle Gerald better.’ Tolly leaned forward, propping his forearms along his thighs. ‘I saw more than I wished to: maidservants with black eyes and bruised faces. Staff didn’t stay for long and the Place had fallen into disrepair, but my father gradually began to put things to rights.’ He looked round at Adam. ‘One of the estate men once told me your father used to make you drink brandy, as a punishment.’
‘Brandy? But… I was only two years old when we left.’
‘Quite.’ Tolly sighed again and sat up. ‘He wasn’t punishing you…it was to punish your mother, if she dared to stand up to him. I tell you, Coz…you were better off brought up as a housekeeper’s son than if your mother had stayed with that devil.’
Adam leaned his head back against the squabs and closed his eyes, regret coursing through him at his anger with Ma and that they did not part on better terms.
‘Did your mother not tell you anything about your father?’
‘Not a thing. She said she did not want to burden me with her view of my father. That I should discover the truth from people who knew him better than she did. She thought he might have changed in the years since she left.’
Tolly huffed a laugh. ‘No. he didn’t change. Your mother, though…she could have chosen to fill your head with poison about your father, but she has allowed you to make up your own mind. She sounds a fair-minded woman.’
‘She is. And she has been a good mother to me.’
And I miss her.
Adam felt even more guilty at his misjudgement. He had been too hasty to apportion blame…jumping to conclusions even though Ma had never given him cause to think her a vindictive woman who would keep father and son apart without good reason. That was a lesson he would do well to remember.
* * *
A few hours after leaving London, Adam recognised the turning that led to Fenton Hall, Kitty’s home, although the house could not be seen from the road, shielded as it was by a belt of trees.
Half an hour later, the carriage turned on to a quiet, leafy lane and slowed.
‘We are getting close now.’ Tolly pointed between the trees at a distant Palladian mansion standing proud on the crest of a rise.
As the carriage bowled along the driveway, Adam took in the healthy cattle and sheep grazing the lush pastures. He had a lot to learn about this way of life and he hoped it would prove easier to establish a rapport with the estate workers than with the household staff, most of whom had travelled back to Kelridge that morning to prepare for his arrival. When the house came into view, Adam’s first thought was how stark it looked…no wings to soften or extend the outline, just a solid block of a house with a central temple-like portico rising the height of the building. The severe lines were softened only by twin flights of steps rising to the entrance. It didn’t look much like a home, but the windows sparkled and the forecourt was neatly raked.
‘My uncle had done a good job in maintaining the house and park,’ Adam remarked to Tolly. ‘Everything looks in good repair.’
‘It is. Your father enjoyed the high life and failed to invest much in the estate before he fell ill but, when my father took over, he made sure any neglect was made good. The rents provide a healthy living. You are a fortunate man, Coz.’
There was no edge to his voice, but Adam still found it hard to credit that Tolly did not feel even a little cheated by his reappearance.
‘Are you certain you do not resent my turning up again, Tolly, when all this might have been yours one day?’
‘Not I. My mother left me funds so I am quite comfortable, and all without the responsibility of running an estate this size. You are welcome to it, Coz.’
Tolly’s comment was too breezily dismissive for Adam to believe him wholeheartedly but he kept his doubts to himself. If there were any bad feelings there, they would show themselves in time.
The carriage halted, and both men jumped down before the groom could let down the steps. Adam turned in a slow circle, taking everything in. He’d never felt more lonely and out of his depth in his life, and he was grateful Tolly had decided to accompany him.
‘Come on. Let’s find the old man and I’ll introduce you.’ Tolly bounded up the left-hand flight of steps to the door, which remained closed. He paused before opening it. ‘Don’t expect the fatted calf, Adam. M’father…as I said earlier…he’s become accustomed to having the income from the estate at his disposal and he wouldn’t be human if he didn’t feel some bitterness towards you. He won’t like having to return to his former, restricted way of life.’
His comment echoed the doubts Adam had just been having, but about Tolly. He didn’t reply as Green opened the front door and bowed.
‘Welcome to Kelridge Place, my lord.’
Inside, a soberly dressed man of around fifty was descending the stairs.
‘Mr Bartholomew, sir. It’s a pleasure to see you.’ The man bowed.
‘Thank you, Corbett. This is Lord Kelridge. Adam, Corbett is my father’s valet. Is Father about?’
Corbett bowed to Adam. ‘Welcome, milord.’ He didn’t quite meet Adam’s eye before he turned to Tolly. ‘Mr Trewin has just this minute gone up to change for dinner. Shall I have hot water sent up for you both? I dare say you will wish to refresh yourselves after the journey.’
The valet only spoke directly to Adam when he had no choice. ‘The master’s bedchamber is ready for you, milord, and Mr Bartholomew’s chamber is always kept aired in case of a visit.’
‘Thank you, Corbett. And, yes, please send up hot water. I shall meet my uncle later.’