Nicola Cornick - Miss Verey’s Proposal

‘Jane?’

She had neither sensed nor heard Alex’s approach and now she jumped, rubbing her cheeks dry with a hasty hand. In the gathering dusk he looked tall and a little unapproachable and as always, Jane’s heart gave a little skip upon seeing him. He looked tired, she thought, which was no great surprise. He took a seat beside her on the stone bench, half-turned towards her with his arm along the back of the seat. For some reason his presence suddenly made feel Jane shy.

‘I am glad that you are well,’ she said softly. ‘I have been worrying…’

‘Have you, Jane?’ Alex gave her a searching look from those very dark eyes. ‘I confess I am a little fatigued, but nothing that will not mend. And Samways is taken. You need have no more concern over him.’

‘I was more concerned over the danger to yourself than any threat to me,’ Jane said, honesty overcoming her reticence. ‘You are the one he sought to kill, after all! I confess it reassures me to think him locked away and unable to do you any more harm!’

‘You should not seek to minimise the danger to yourself,’ Alex said heavily. ‘Did he speak to you of his clubs, Jane? Did he tell you about the brothels he owns and the girls he ruins for his own profit? Did he say that if Simon had refused his ransom you would find yourself at the bottom of the Thames? And did you think of any of those things when you went rushing off to Spitalfields on your mission to unite Thérèse with Simon?’ There was a note of warm anger in his voice now. ‘I can scarce believe, after all I told you of the dangers of that particular neighbourhood, that you chose to go there alone!’

No one had yet reproached Jane on her conduct, for they had all been too relieved that she was safe to blame her for her foolishness. Alex, however, did not seem inclined to let the matter go easily and Jane felt the tears prickling her eyes again.

‘I was only thinking of how I might help Simon-’ she began defensively, only to be interrupted.

‘I can well believe that you thought of nothing else! Nothing of the danger and the difficulties you caused everyone else and the fear of your mother-’

‘Oh, do not!’ Jane’s composure was fading fast. ‘I know I have been foolish! Pray do not remind me! And I am sorry for all the trouble I have caused, but I do believe that Samways would have found another way to reach you if it had not been through me! He had his own quarrel with you and I was only the means he tried to use to gain revenge!’

There was a little silence. The water splashed softly. ‘Did he tell you the nature of his grudge against me?’ Alex asked, at length.

‘A little.’ Jane looked away, to where a thin sickle moon was rising above the rooftops. ‘That is, he told me some tale of Lady Eleanor Fane, which I took to be all a hum! It did not seen in character at all for Lady Eleanor to be taken in by such a man!’

Alex shifted on the seat. ‘Part of what he told you is true enough,’ he said soberly. ‘I would like to tell you the tale if I may, Jane. Peter Samways was the son of a clergyman who held a living from my father. My father even paid for his education on the understanding that Samways would also go into holy orders. When he declared himself temperamentally unsuited to the priesthood my father found him a position in the household of a friend and later, when Lady Eleanor was widowed, he became her secretary. I do believe that there developed between them an affection that flourished despite the disparities of age and position.’

Alex sighed, trailing his fingers in the shallow pool. ‘Who can say what might have happened? Certainly Samways believed that the match was his for the making! And Lady Eleanor’s wealth with it! I had no doubts that he was a fortune-hunter,’ Alex said ruefully, ‘but I would never have intervened had I thought she was happy. You must believe that, Jane!’

‘I do believe it!’ Jane was taken aback by his vehemence. ‘Besides, it would have been no wonder had you objected to so unequal a match-’

Alex made a slight gesture. ‘Oh, there are many who would not have thought twice about putting an end to his pretensions! And I confess I was uneasy. Yet I would not have interfered. But then Lady Eleanor came to me in some distress, reporting that some small items had gone missing from her household-small sums of money, items of jewellery, including a locket with a picture of her late husband. We suspected one of the servants and we set a trap.’ He sighed. ‘Samways was caught red-handed. I had to turn him off.’

‘He bears a heavy grudge against you for it,’ Jane said thoughtfully. ‘What happened to him after he left Lady Eleanor’s service?’

‘I believe that he made a bid to fix her interest despite what had happened,’ Alex said. ‘No doubt he thought to gamble on Lady Eleanor’s affection for him. His failure to win her no doubt added to his bitterness. He took a post as clerk in chambers in Holborn and I heard that he had been dismissed for fraud. I imagine his downward spiral continued from then onwards. Samways dropped out of my sight for many years and I thought of him no more. Then one day a little above a year ago, he sought me out to ask a favour. On the strength of the fondness my father had had for him, he asked for my help in finding gainful employment. Against my better judgement I agreed to help-only to find that he had never intended to pursue an honest career. His intention was to defraud his employer in short order and I was left with the embarrassment of explaining away my lack of discretion to those I had counted my friends. It was profoundly difficult.’

A bird sang close at hand, its golden liquid notes falling on the still air. The lights of the house were growing brighter now. Alex shifted a little, his face in shadow.

‘I had thought that I had seen the back of him, but it seemed that was not so. A few months later he contacted me again with an unsavoury proposition. He implied that there had been some improper relationship between himself and Lady Eleanor all those years ago but promised to hold his peace on receipt of ten thousand pounds. I told him to spread his gossip and be damned. I did not believe it could hurt her-she is too respected and it was a long time ago. Anyway, Samways took his dismissal badly. I do believe that he holds me to blame in some manner for all his bad luck and that was when his resentment was fuelled into a rage strong enough to seek my life.’

Jane shivered. ‘When I saw him at Vauxhall-’

‘Yes, I think that he would have tried to kill me that night had you not intervened. It was a perfect opportunity-he would never have been caught. And I had already had one “accident” whilst out shooting, when a stray bullet had grazed my arm and the man who had fired it was never found. I began to ask some questions about Samways-with my connections it was not difficult-and I found out about the brothels and the blackmail and all the other unpleasant activities that he has dabbled in.’

Jane shivered again. ‘And Lady Eleanor? Does she know anything of this?’

‘I am glad to say that she does not. Nor does anyone else except Simon and Harry Marchnight. To them and to yourself I have told the whole truth, but everyone else believes that your kidnap was just the work of an opportunistic criminal.’

‘Then I will never tell,’ Jane said stoutly. ‘As you said before, the escapade reflects no credit on me. The least said, the better!’

‘You have kept many secrets for me,’ Alex said and there was a smile in his voice now. ‘I must thank you for that, Jane! You have been the soul of discretion and I am sorry that I was so angry before. It is simply that when I heard that Samways had you in his power I was so very afraid for you.’ He took her hand and the warmth sent little shock waves through her. Absorbed in the tale he had to tell, she had almost forgotten the physical impact he had on her.