Annie Burrows - Four Regency Rogues

The trouble was that whenever that idea came into his head, he found himself thinking of the woman who stood beside him. He could not banish her from his mind. She invaded every aspect of his life, every decision he made, almost every word he uttered. She was with him every hour of the day and, worst of all, through the lonely watches of the night. Who she was, what she did, the life she led, made her entirely ineligible as a wife for him. That gabble-grinder, Gilford, was right, damn him!

When the last shower had drifted to earth and there was silence, someone called for three cheers for Miss Cartwright and the hills echoed to the sound. And then old John Bennett, bowed with a lifetime of working in the gardens at Amerleigh Hall, called for three cheers for his lordship and again the hills echoed. Roland wondered if they could be heard at Gilford House.

After standing about for several minutes, reluctant to call it a night, everyone slowly drifted away, many with a rolling gait that betrayed the amount of good ale they had consumed. Roland stood beside Charlotte, watching them go, as reluctant as they were to go home. If only everyone could always be as happy and cheerful as they had been this night, there would be no dissent, no quarrels, no need to resort to war. Or litigation.

‘I have my curricle at the mill,’ she said, as they reached the road. ‘I can take you back to Gilford House, if you wish. It is not out of my way.’

‘I am not going back there.’

‘Then allow me to take you home to Amerleigh Hall.’

He laughed. ‘When I suggested escorting you the other night, you disdained my offer.’

‘But you did it anyway.’

‘Oh.’

‘Did you think I did not know you were behind me?’ She was laughing up at him, enjoying his discomfiture.

‘It must have been someone else.’

‘Of course. Someone else, how silly of me.’

They had arrived back at the mill. The lights had all been extinguished except the lamp over the gates, which illuminated the horse and curricle being held in readiness by the night watchman. ‘Now, do you come with me or do you walk home by yourself? The people might give you three hearty cheers, but your watch and fob might be too great a temptation if one or two of them met you alone in the dark.’

‘Thank you.’ He helped her up and climbed up beside her, taking the reins from her fingers. He’d be damned if he’d allow himself to be driven by a woman, however capable.

They set off at a walk. He was in no hurry to part from her. The air was balmy, the black velvet of the night sky was pierced with a myriad of diamond-like stars and, above the copse of trees on the slope of the hills, a new moon hung motionless. A faint shushing sound drifted on the air and he looked up to see a few red and green sparks flying skywards. They were passing Gilford House.

Charlotte laughed suddenly. ‘Not up to mine, are they?’ she said.

He knew she was referring to the fireworks. ‘No, they are altogether more genteel.’

‘Are you sure you do not want to go back?’

‘Positive. At the moment I would not be anywhere else in the world.’

‘Ah, I see you know how to frame a compliment.’ He did not answer and she went on, ‘What happened? Why did you leave the ball?’

‘It was deadly dull and the efforts of the mamas and their daughters too obvious for words. I felt I was walking on eggs not to give offence.’

‘But you will have to choose one of them and that will offend all the rest.’

‘I do not have to choose at all.’ He turned to look at her, sitting beside him so composed, so cool, so in command of herself, he found himself wondering what it would take to rouse her. The only emotion she had shown him was anger, cool politeness and a willingness to bandy words, though she was soft enough with Tommy and the Biggs’s baby. ‘What about you? Do you not wish for a husband?’

‘No, for I doubt I could find anyone to put up with me. I am too used to running my own life and doing as I choose, I should drive a husband to distraction.’

‘You must have had offers?’

‘From milksops after my wealth. They do not see me as a wife, but as the provider of an easy life. They do not stay about long.’

‘Then we are both at an impasse. You have too much money and I have too much rank to find true love. What a pity!’

She was not sure whether he was bamming her or not, but decided not to comment. They rode on in silence until he turned into the gates of the Hall and trotted up the drive to the front door, where he stopped. Should he ask her in? The absence of a chaperon seemed not to have occurred to her, but then she went about on her own all the time. He had never seen anything remotely like a companion or even a maid with her, though he supposed she had one. And if she did go in with him, what could he offer her in the way of refreshment?

He jumped down and was about to hand the reins to her, when the front door opened and Travers came down the steps, having arrived back half an hour earlier. ‘Shall I look after the curricle, Major?’

Roland turned back to Charlotte to find her standing beside him. He could hardly tell her to climb back in and go home. ‘Yes, Corporal, if you please, and do you think you can find us some refreshment? I am sure Mrs Fields has gone to bed.’

‘Yes, Major, she has, but she left something out for you. I’ll bring it to the drawing room directly.’

He led the pony away and Roland put his hand under Charlotte’s elbow and ushered her into the house.

It was only curiosity that made her leave the curricle, Charlotte told herself. She had not been in the house since that fateful night six years before and by all accounts it was very different now. It would be good to see how far the Temples had fallen since then, but it was difficult to convince herself they deserved it, when the man beside her bore no resemblance whatever to the stripling who had disdained her. If it had not been for hearing that rejection and knowing of her father’s unmitigated hatred of the old Earl, who had so blatantly cheated him, she might have come to like and admire the present owner of Amerleigh Hall, might even have fallen in love with him. Fallen in love! What did she know of that? Nothing, nor ever would. Better not to think of it. But there was inside her an empty feeling, as if there should be something there that was absent.

She looked about her as they entered the inner hall. There were rugs on the marble-tiled floor. A table stood to one side and chairs were placed between the doors to the rooms. A solid oak staircase led up from the middle and divided on a half-landing before the two branches went up again to the first floor. There were no ornaments, no pictures.

He led the way into the drawing room. This was carpeted and properly furnished with tables and chairs and two sofas. The pale green paint on the walls was new and the curtains, drawn against the night, were of a rich ruby-red damask. A hand-painted screen stood before the empty hearth. Again there were no pictures or ornaments.

‘As you see, we have not finished refurbishing,’ he told her. ‘My mother is seeing to the interior while I look after the outside. It will take some time, I think.’

‘But it is lovely house, so full of history. It seems to have an atmosphere of its own.’

‘Yes, some of it goes back to Tudor times, but there have been additions over the years. It is something of a rabbit warren, but it has always been my home and I am very attached to it.’

‘You would do anything to keep it?’ she asked curiously.

‘I suppose I would. Within bounds, of course.’

‘Even to marrying one of those daughters of the wealthy whom you pretend to disdain?’

‘I hope it never comes to that. I am not entirely without means.’ His little nest egg was fast disappearing, but he would not admit that.