‘Lord Dalmorren, ma’am.
Mrs Ancrum looked up from her book. ‘It is a little late in the day for a morning call. I was about to go in to dinner.’
‘I beg your pardon ma’am, this cannot wait,’ he said bluntly. ‘It concerns Miss Fairchild.’
‘Natalya?’ She was suddenly alert, her gaze piercing. ‘What has happened to her? The Pridhams were not at church on Sunday and when I called at Sydney Place to enquire, they told me she was unwell.’
‘She was abducted, ma’am. On the night of her birthday.’
‘Mercy me!’
Briefly Tristan explained what had happened.
‘I returned her to Sydney Place earlier today and she is safe enough, for the moment, but I need you to tell me everything you know about her.’
Those shrewd old eyes regarded him in silence for a moment longer. Then, ‘Have you dined?’
‘Not yet.’
‘Very well. Eat with me and we can talk over dinner.’ She rang the bell. ‘I will have another place set.’
Tristan glanced down at his travel-stained coat. ‘I am not dressed for dinner, ma’am, and I would rather talk now.’
‘Nonsense, you need to eat and it won’t take a moment to arrange. Your dress don’t worry me—besides, it is better than having my food spoiled by the delay.’
Tristan ground his teeth with impatience, but the old lady was right. Barely five minutes later they were seated at the dining table with the first of the dishes before them.
‘Now…’ Mrs Ancrum waved the servants away ‘…before I tell you about Natalya, you must tell me why you are interested in her.’
‘Good God, madam, she was abducted. Is that not reason enough?’
She gave him a hard look from beneath her brows. ‘I thought perhaps you were interested in her for more…personal reasons.’
‘I intend to marry her, if that is what you mean.’
The frown vanished and the old lady cackled in triumph.
‘I knew it!’
‘But that is for the future. I do not believe the abduction was a random attempt to extort money from the Pridhams, which is the tale they gave to me. I think it has something to do with Natalya’s history and I want to know why that should be.’ He waited while Mrs Ancrum chewed her way through a few choice slices of chicken before asking bluntly, ‘Who are her parents, ma’am?’
Another pause while the lady picked up a crumb and popped it in her mouth.
‘Very well, my lord, I will tell you what I believe is the truth.’
Mrs Ancrum pushed her plate away and Tristan listened intently as she related her story.
‘A common enough tale,’ she ended. ‘A young woman cast off in disgrace and abandoned by her lover. My only regret is that I did not make more effort to find Elizabeth earlier. I might then have been able to help her.’
‘But you did make enquiries at the time?’
‘I did indeed, but I could not find her, nor could I discover that a marriage had taken place. I admit I was hampered because I did not know the identity of her lover. All I could discover from Elizabeth’s family was that she had died in childbirth. There was no word of the babe and I thought it most likely she had perished, too. Until I saw Natalya in Bath.’
‘You befriended her.’
‘Yes. I had no proof she was Elizabeth’s daughter, but the more I saw, the more I was convinced of it. I made up my mind that if I saw any sign that Natalya was ill treated, I would step in.’ She spread her hands. ‘But how could I? She was given every luxury and, as far as I could tell, she had wanted for nothing during her childhood. I had always thought the Faringdons abandoned the child, but they must have thought better of it, placed her with the Pridhams and paid for her upbringing.’
‘And you have never said a word of this to Natalya?’
‘Not until her birthday. She came to me, distressed that the Pridhams had again refused to give her any information about her parents. I told her what I have just told you, but I explained that I could not be sure, that I had no proof.’ She sat forward. ‘Surely, my lord, you do not think the family could be behind the abduction? What purpose would it serve?’
‘That is what I have been asking myself. Are you in touch with the Faringdons, Mrs Ancrum?’
‘No, and nor do I wish to be, after the way they treated Elizabeth. The scandal had been forgotten by the time they brought out her stepsisters and they managed to find husbands for them both. They all live in deepest Lincolnshire now.’ The old lady’s mouth turned down. ‘The embodiment of genteel respectability. I cannot think they would wish for any connection with Natalya, especially after all this time.’
Tristan asked several more questions, but there was nothing more to be learned here.
* * *
As soon as they had finished their meal, he took his leave.
‘What you have told me is very useful, ma’am,’ he told her, bowing over her hand. ‘Added to what my secretary has gleaned.’
‘And is she Elizabeth’s daughter?’ He said nothing and her thin, beringed fingers clung to him. ‘Damn you, Tristan, you know something more and you will not tell me!’
He smiled. ‘Alas, ma’am, I will not, because at present it is nothing more than conjecture. I must leave for town at dawn, where I hope I shall now be able to solve the mystery.’
‘And you will tell me? You owe me that, I think.’
He nodded. ‘If Miss Fairchild permits. She is my first consideration. I shall be leaving too early in the morning to see Natalya before I go, so I will leave a note for her. However, I am sure she would appreciate a visit from you, ma’am. To remind her that she has friends here.’
He walked to the door, but as he opened it she called him back.
‘Whatever Natalya’s origins may be, I have made her my heir, although she does not yet know it.’
‘Are you telling me that to make her a more attractive proposition?’ He smiled. ‘Tell her she is an heiress, by all means, but I pray you will also make it plain that I will marry her whatever her birth and even if she comes to me without a rag to her back!’
* * *
Natalya had no objection to keeping to her room. She needed time to think. She also wanted to give Tristan time to reflect upon his rash proposal before she saw him again. She whiled away the days with her sketchpad and her books, or with the newspapers that Aggie brought up, once Mr Pridham had finished reading them.
However, by Saturday she was so tired of her own company that she begged she might join her aunt and uncle for dinner, where a chance comment from her aunt caught Natalya’s attention.
‘Lord Dalmorren has left Bath?’
‘Yes.’ There was no mistaking the angry look Mr Pridham threw at his wife. ‘He sent me a note on Wednesday, advising me of the fact.’
Wednesday! Natalya’s brain reeled. The day after returning her to Sydney Place.
‘Never mind that,’ put in Mrs Pridham, trying to redeem the situation. ‘Mrs Ancrum has called almost every day to ask after you. She sends her regards and is so sorry you are not well enough to see her.’
Natalya frowned. ‘I did not know she had called or I would have come downstairs.’
‘We thought it best you were thoroughly rested before having any visitors,’ said her uncle.
‘And as a matter of fact, it is quite fortunate you did not see her,’ Mrs Pridham chattered on. ‘I saw Colonel Yatton in Milsom Street this morning and he told me the poor lady has succumbed to a slight chill. But I am sure she will call again when she is better.’
‘That is very kind of her.’
Natalya answered mechanically, her spirits faltering as she thought of Tristan. While she had believed him to be in Bath she had felt strong. Now, suddenly, she felt very much alone. Perhaps he had been lured to London after all. The newspapers were full of reports of all the entertainments arranged for the Allied Sovereigns, including, at the end of this week, a visit to Ascot, for the racing. As a sportsman, surely Tristan would not wish to miss that.
Natalya thought of the Grishams and hoped they were enjoying their visit. They might not be invited to attend the grand reception at Carlton House or Tsar Alexander’s levee at the Duke of Cumberland’s residence, but there were plenty of other diversions to be enjoyed throughout the summer: balls, routs and even fireworks in Hyde Park. No, she could not blame Tristan if he had been lured away to town, although it was dispiriting to think he could forget her so easily.
She turned back to her uncle. ‘Did Lord Dalmorren leave no message for me?’
‘None.’
‘And does he mean to return?’
‘He did not say.’
‘He promised to send someone every day, to enquire after me. Do they come?’
Perhaps Tristan’s servant could convey a message from her.
‘You would do well to forget him, Natalya. He is not for you.’
His dismissive tone flicked her on the raw. She put up her chin. ‘And why should he not be? Am I so unsuitable?’
Mrs Pridham disclaimed in a fluttering voice, only to be interrupted by her husband.
‘It would be a most ineligible match!’
‘Oh, why?’ He did not respond and Natalya’s hands clutched at her napkin. She said boldly, ‘I demand you tell me what you mean.’
‘Natalya, my dear!’
Mr Pridham waved his hand to silence his wife. He glared at Natalya.
‘You demand? Ungrateful girl! We have given you every indulgence, every advantage and this is how you repay us?’
‘I wish only to know who I am. Who are my parents?’
She kept her head up, her eyes on his face, determined not to give in.
‘Mr Pridham?’ Her aunt whispered the name. ‘Perhaps we should tell her.’
‘I am awaiting a letter,’ he replied, goaded.
‘A letter?’ Natalya echoed. ‘From whom?’
He ignored her question.
‘It should arrive any day now, with instructions on how we proceed. You must be patient a little longer, Natalya. I hope I shall be able to answer all your questions very soon.’
‘But I do not see why you cannot tell me now!’ She pushed back her chair and rose. ‘I am one-and-twenty. You cannot keep me here. If you will not tell me, then I shall have no choice but to leave this house.’
‘You are quite free to leave whenever you wish, but where will you go? You have no money, save the pin money we allow you. Will you throw yourself on the mercy of your friends? Mrs Ancrum, perhaps?’ His brows rose and he said coldly, ‘What will you tell her—that we have abused you, treated you harshly? No one would believe you and think how it would look! All will be revealed shortly, I promise you.’
Mrs Pridham touched her hand. ‘My dear, pray do not be too hasty. Believe me, it will be very much to your advantage to be patient a little longer.’
She wavered.
Her uncle said, more gently, ‘Your aunt is right, Natalya. We know what is best. Pray bear with us. You will thank us, once you know everything.’
Natalya looked at him suspiciously. ‘And when you have told me everything, will I still be free to leave here?’
‘Your future will be out of my hands.’
‘But will it be in mine?’
‘What nonsense is this?’ exclaimed Mrs Pridham. ‘No one wishes you to be unhappy, Natalya. Now, if you have finished eating, shall we withdraw? Perhaps you would like to play for me, while Mr Pridham enjoys a glass of port here.’
‘No, thank you.’ Natalya struggled to keep calm. ‘I think I will retire, if you will excuse me.’
* * *
When Aggie had helped her into bed, Natalya begged her to leave the curtains pulled back and she lay alone in the darkness, wondering what she would do. Her uncle had said she was free to leave, if she so wished, but where would she go? The thought of leaving the only home, the only family she had ever known was quite terrifying and even Tristan was no longer in Bath to support her. She might fly to Mrs Ancrum, seek refuge with her, but her uncle was right, that would only give rise to the worst sort of speculation, and what had Mr and Mrs Pridham done to deserve the ignominy of being the subject of such gossip?
There were no physical walls to her cage, but she was trapped, all the same.
* * *
By morning Natalya was no closer to finding a solution to her problems, but after a good night’s sleep her fears and anxieties seemed foolish. After all, they were not living in the Dark Ages. Perhaps, after all, there was a reasonable explanation to everything.
She was just finishing her breakfast when Mrs Pridham came into her bedchamber to invite her to join her at the Abbey for the morning service.
‘I should be delighted to attend,’ replied Natalya, suddenly feeling more cheerful at the prospect of leaving the house. ‘I will need time to change my gown.’
‘Excellent!’ Mrs Pridham beamed at her. ‘I will meet you in the hall in, say, half an hour. And bring a wrap, my dear. You know the sermons can be very long and I wouldn’t have you get chilled.’ She bustled away.
* * *
Thirty minutes later Natalya was almost ready to go out. She went to the linen press to fetch a shawl. A colourful array of woollen and silk wraps were folded and stacked on the shelf. Her fingers hovered over the pink shawl which Aggie had washed and placed on the top of the pile, then she pulled out the plain green cashmere beneath it. She did not want to think of Tristan today. He had left and she must not rely upon his returning.
* * *
Once they were settled in the carriage for the short drive to the Abbey, Natalya said, ‘Perhaps, afterwards, we might call upon Mrs Ancrum. I should so like to enquire after her, as she has done for me this past week.’
‘I think not, my dear. Your uncle does not want you to overexert yourself. We shall return directly to the house.’
Natalya hesitated, wondering if she should argue, but in the end she decided against it. If her elderly friend was not well, she needed to rest.
‘Very well. Perhaps I can take Aggie with me in the morning and I will leave a note for her.’
‘Yes. Perhaps. Now, Natalya, when we reach the Abbey we shall go inside directly,’ said Mrs Pridham. ‘There is a chill wind today and dawdling out of doors could well set back your recovery.
Natalya laughed at that. ‘It is not as though I have really been unwell, Aunt!’
‘Pray guard your tongue, Natalya,’ she muttered. ‘We have been most careful to keep your disappearance a secret from everyone. We must depend upon Lord Dalmorren’s discretion, but he is a gentleman, and as long as he stays silent, no one need know the true facts.’
Natalya stared at her. ‘But when you found I was not in the house, surely you made some enquiries of our neighbours and friends?’
Mrs Pridham looked flustered.
‘It…it was not necessary. Your uncle suspected from the start that a ransom would be demanded for your safe return.’
‘So you did nothing.’
‘We…um…we sent an express to—to Bow Street.’
‘Bow Street? London!’ Natalya was shocked. ‘Good heavens, I could have been spirited out of the country before help came from that quarter!’
Mrs Pridham cried out at that, her distress so uncharacteristic that it only added to the wild speculation that raced through Natalya’s mind and would not be silenced. She continued to dwell upon it throughout the service and even afterwards, when they left the Abbey and she greeted acquaintances with calm complaisance and assured them that she was quite recovered from her malady.
Aunt Pridham refused to say anything more, even in the privacy of the carriage, but Natalya was not to be deterred. When she saw her uncle at dinner that night, she asked him about engaging a Bow Street Runner, only for him to deny it and claim his wife had quite mistook the matter.
‘I would have taken measures, only Lord Dalmorren’s note arrived, telling me you were safe.’
‘But that would have been some time after I was taken,’ Natalya argued. ‘You mean you did nothing to find me?’
He said shortly, ‘I contacted those I thought might know.’
‘Oh? Who might that be?’
‘Everything will be made clear to you very soon.’
‘But you cannot tell me now.’
‘I cannot.’ He glared across the table at her. ‘Eat your dinner, madam, and pray ask me no more.’
‘But, sir—’
With an oath he tore his napkin from his neck and threw it down.
‘Damnation, madam, will you be quiet? If you cannot desist from these interminable questions, you can go to your room and I will have your meal sent up. I will not be hounded like this at my own dinner table!’
‘Very well.’ Natalya rose. ‘But you need not send anything up to me, I am not hungry.’
She was shaking with fury but she managed to walk out of the dining room and up the stairs to her bedchamber, where she collapsed on to the bed in tears of rage and frustration.
* * *
Natalya tossed and turned in her bed, her mind shifting between Tristan’s sudden departure from Bath and the Pridhams’ strange behaviour regarding her abduction.
Her uncle had said previously he was waiting for instructions before he could disclose anything about her birth, but from whom and why? Was it the same person he thought might know about her abduction?
At school, a passion for Gothic romances had fuelled Natalya’s imagination and the idea of being the baseborn child of a rich and unscrupulous villain had been exciting. Now that she suspected she might indeed have such a parent, it was more than a little alarming.
‘Oh, you are being ridiculously fanciful!’ she scolded herself, turning her pillow and thumping it back into shape. ‘There is probably nothing more sinister than a legal complication to do with wills and inheritance that has to be resolved.’
Yet her thoughts refused to behave and she continued to conjure ever more outrageous scenarios for her fate until at last she fell into a sleep of sheer exhaustion.
* * *
‘Wake up, Miss Fairchild. Wake up now.’
Natalya shrugged off the maid’s hand on her shoulder and opened one bleary eye. Outside her window, the sky was the clear grey of a very early dawn.
‘What is the matter, Aggie? It cannot be time to get up yet.’
‘No, miss, but the master has told me to have you dressed and downstairs as soon as possible!’
This time there was no mistaking the urgency in the maid’s voice. Natalya shook off her sleepiness and quickly jumped out of bed.
* * *
Twenty minutes later she entered the drawing room. Mrs Pridham, a silk wrap fastened over her nightgown, was sitting on the sofa and looking very tired. Her husband stood before the fireplace in his banyan, slippered feet apart and hands behind his back. His countenance was as grave as ever.
‘Come in, Natalya, and shut the door.’
‘Good heavens, sir,’ she exclaimed, regarding them in alarm. ‘What has happened, what is the matter?’
‘I told you yesterday I was awaiting a letter regarding you,’ he said. ‘It arrived yesterday afternoon, but I thought it best not to apprise you of it then. I deemed it better to let you get a good night’s rest.’
‘As it happens, sir, I slept very badly,’ she retorted. ‘From whom is the letter?’
‘A person most nearly concerned with your welfare.’
‘M-my father?’ she stammered. ‘Or even, perhaps…could it be that my m-mother is alive?’
‘I am afraid not,’ her uncle replied, his tone clipped. ‘Neither of your parents is alive.’
Natalya knew that. Of course she did. No one had ever told her anything different, yet she realised that she had always nurtured a tiny flame of hope. Now that flame flickered and died. Grief ripped through her, tearing at her heart. She wanted to be alone, to collapse in tears, to wail and cry and mourn for the parents she had never known.
Her uncle was speaking again, saying in a matter-of-fact voice, ‘You are to be ready to leave at six o’clock. Mrs Pridham has instructed breakfast to be served in the dining room immediately and I have already instructed your maid to pack a trunk—’
‘Leave? I am going out of Bath?’ She glanced down at her skirts. Suddenly the relevance of Aggie selecting her dove-blue walking dress was clear.
‘What if I refuse?’ She ran her tongue over her lips. ‘I am of age now, sir, you cannot make me go.’
‘We would never force you to do anything you did not wish to do, Natalya, but our responsibility for you ends today. When you leave this house you have a choice: go your own way in the world, or you travel to meet your benefactor.’
Mrs Pridham rose and stood beside her husband. ‘You have always wanted to know your history, Natalya, this letter comes from someone in a position to answer your questions.’
‘Perhaps it is the same person who had me abducted!’
‘For heaven’s sake, girl. This is the man who has provided so generously for your upbringing all these years. Without him you would most likely have ended in the Foundling Hospital!’
His words hit Natalya like a blow.
‘You were paid to look after me. I was a…a commission.’
‘You must not think that we have not enjoyed having you with us these past four years,’ said Mrs Pridham, twisting her hands together. ‘We could not have hoped for a better behaved or more biddable charge.’
The shock was receding. Natalya said bitterly, ‘You were appointed to complete my education, I suppose. To see to it that I attained all the accomplishments necessary. Will you receive a dividend for the satisfactory completion of the contract?’
Mr Pridham regarded her coldly. ‘We have always done our best for you, Natalya. I hope you believe that.’
‘Your best!’ She shook her head. ‘I thought perhaps there was some family link, or at least that you had known one or other of my parents and were doing this for their sake, if not for mine. That, at least, was how I explained your lack of affection. I thought you would not tell me about my past because it was too painful.’
Mrs Pridham bit back a little cry. ‘We were expressly forbidden to do so.’
‘Leaving me to think the very worst.’
Natalya gathered her thoughts and her pride, coming to terms with the fact that she had no parents. No relations at all, not even the two people standing before her. For four years she had lived with the Pridhams. They had been her guardians, she had looked up to them, been guided by them. She had forgiven their coldness, believing they had always had her best interests at heart. Now they seemed diminished, somehow.
She said, ‘I am obliged to you, then, for looking after me. For giving me every advantage money can buy. Now, if you will excuse me, I shall go and see if Aggie has finished packing my things.’
‘Will you not take breakfast with me?’ asked Mrs Pridham, surprised. ‘You will need something to eat before your journey.’
Natalya was already walking to the door, but she stopped. She was tempted to reply that in all her time at Sydney Place she had never been invited to take breakfast with them, but that seemed petty.
She said, ‘It is already gone five and I must prepare for my journey. I will send Aggie to fetch up a little bread and butter for me to eat as I pack.’
* * *
The hall clock was chiming the hour when Natalya walked out to the waiting carriage. She was reassured by the fact that Aggie was to accompany her. The maid was in a dither of excitement, but Natalya felt remarkably calm. In truth, there had been no time for grief or histrionics.
She had no expectation of returning to Sydney Place, or of seeing the Pridhams again. Apart from the clothes which Aggie had already packed, Natalya had had to decide very quickly which of her belongings she would take with her into her unknown future. It had not been difficult. A few treasured keepsakes from her schooldays, her presents from Mrs Ancrum and her mother’s pearls. And the pale rose-pink shawl that she threw around her shoulders.
The travelling chaise looked new and expensive with liveried postilions and four glossy horses to pull it. A footman was sitting on the leather bench at the back, while a second stood by the open door, waiting to hand Natalya into the sumptuous interior.
It is not too late, Natalya. Refuse to go. Throw yourself on Mrs Ancrum’s mercy until you can contact Tristan.
She glanced back to where Mr and Mrs Pridham were standing on the steps. There had been no exchange of kisses, no warm hugs and words of regret expressed at her leaving, but they had done their duty and looked after her for the past four years with kindness, if not love. She could not believe they wished her harm.
And Tristan? Her heart contracted. It was almost a week since she had seen him and there had been no word, but she was convinced he had not abandoned her. It was a misunderstanding, something that she might be able to resolve at some later date. But until she knew about her past, she could not make promises for the future.
Resolutely, she stepped into the carriage.