Annie Burrows - Four Regency Rogues

‘I never said I did.’

‘No, but you were not surprised to see me. It was as if you had been on the lookout for me, and you gave up your own errand without a moment’s hesitation. I have learned the hard way how to detect a dissembler, my lord.’

He gave a rueful smile. ‘I should hate to be thought a dissembler, which is only one step above a liar. I went to Mandeville to call on you and found a distraught Lady Ratcliffe. She is not used to your ways, you know, and was quite convinced you would fall into a bumblebath of one kind or another.’

‘So the knight errant set out to rescue a damsel who did not need rescuing.’ She paused. ‘Why did you go to Mandeville? There is nothing wrong with Tommy, is there?’

‘No, I left him having his lesson. I went because I had something to say to you.’

‘Then say it. You will never have a better opportunity.’

‘Browhill…’

‘What about it?’

‘If it is causing you problems…’

‘Now, where did you get that idea, my lord? I have no problems with Browhill. The seam is being worked and producing barytes at an acceptable rate.’ Barytes was a heavy white mineral used mainly in the manufacture of paint and fetched a good price on the open market.

‘Nothing has changed, then,’ he said, leaning back in his seat. She was still as prickly as ever about that mine. He did not feel disposed to appear to capitulate. A man had his pride after all.

‘No,’ she said, unwilling to let him see how disappointed she was. That damned mine stood between them, like the rock in which it was worked. The past could not be wiped out, any more than she could wipe out the memory of his callous words six years before. And what did it matter anyway? They might work together for the good of the village, but they would never be more than neighbours.

They fell into silence and a few minutes later turned into the drive of Geoffrey’s house and drew up outside the door. Talbot dismounted and beat a tattoo on the door, while Roland handed Charlotte down and, putting his hand beneath her elbow, guided her towards the entrance. In next to no time she was being introduced to Mr Geoffrey Temple and his charming wife, Elizabeth, in the elegant drawing room.

‘We are at your mercy,’ Roland told them. ‘Miss Cartwright’s business took longer than she thought it would and it is too late to start back to Amerleigh tonight…’

‘Of course it is,’ Elizabeth said, a little taken aback by Charlotte’s grey skirt and military style jacket. ‘Do please stay here. Roland is always welcome and any friend of his is welcome too. We are about to have supper. If you excuse me, I will go and alert Cook that we have guests and have a room made ready for Miss Cartwright. Roland was here last night and we thought he might return so his bed is still made up.’ She bustled away.

‘Oh, dear,’ Charlotte said to Geoffrey. ‘I fear I am imposing. After all, I am a stranger you never heard of before now.’

‘Oh, but we have heard of you. Roland spoke of you last night.’

She looked sharply at Roland, who covered his embarrassment with a chuckle. ‘Nothing bad, I do assure you,’ he said. ‘I was telling Geoffrey about Tommy and our plans for a school for deaf children.’

‘Yes, tell me more,’ Geoffrey said. ‘I might be able to interest others.’

While they waited for supper to be served and over the meal itself, Charlotte, who had not expected to be dining out and had therefore been unable to change, explained that she had come to take an interest in Tommy because his older sisters worked at her mill. From there, with gentle prompting from Geoffrey, she talked about the mill and the Fair Charlie and her fears that it might be lost.

‘The Fair Charlie ,’ he said. ‘I have heard of her. A good ship with a very good captain. I am sure he will bring her safely to port.’

‘I hope so for everyone’s sake. Captain Scott has a family who are very worried about him and I have hundreds of workers waiting for her cargo.’

‘She used to be a slaver, I believe.’

‘Yes, but my father gave up the trade years ago.’

‘Do you still own slaves?’

‘No, sir, I do not.’ It was said very firmly. ‘The workers on my plantation are free men and women working for wages. I do not believe any man or woman should be the chattel of another.’

Roland, who had been listening to this exchange without interrupting, turned to her in surprise. ‘I did not know that.’

‘You do not know everything about me, my lord.’

‘Evidently not. What next? I wonder.’

‘I must say, I admire you,’ Elizabeth put in. In order not to embarrass her guest, she had not changed from her day dress, a simple act of courtesy that Charlotte appreciated. ‘To have so much responsibility at such a young age must be daunting.’

‘I have been brought up to it, Mrs Temple.’

‘You must have people around to advise and help you.’

‘Of course. My father used to say the secret of good business was being able to trust the people around you and I have certainly found it so. But the final decisions are mine.’

‘You have never married?’

‘No.’

‘A husband would surely take the weight from your shoulders.’

Charlotte laughed. ‘He would take all of it and me with it.’

‘Miss Cartwright enjoys her independence,’ Roland said. He had learned more about her in the last two hours than he had the whole of the time he had been back from the war, and he wondered why she found it so easy to talk to his cousin and not to him. Why, when he accused her of owning slaves, had she not corrected him? Why did they strike sparks off each other? Why, when he wanted to make a concession, did she block it by saying something to stop him? Why, when she showed herself to be a compassionate and caring employer, did he have to goad her into proving otherwise? Why, when all he wanted to do was help her, did she disdain him?

‘Independence can be an impediment if taken to extremes,’ Geoffrey said thoughtfully. ‘It prevents you from accepting help when offered.’

‘Mr Temple, I hope you do not think I am ungrateful for your hospitality, because I assure you that is not the case at all…’

‘Good heavens, ma’am, I never meant that. I was about to say I may be able to help you over the matter of the cotton. I am well known among the merchants of Liverpool and indeed further afield, and while my own expertise is in wool, I do have connections in the cotton trade.’

‘If you can help, sir, I will most certainly accept it with gratitude.’

‘How much do you need and how much are you prepared to pay for it?’

Charlotte became more animated, as if a weight had indeed been lifted from her shoulders. Roland watched as she answered his cousin, explaining the types of cotton yarn she needed to fulfil her most pressing orders, the amount and quality of each, and he marvelled. She was knowledgeable and astute—made that way by a father she did not always agree with—but, even in that strange garb, every inch a woman, young and beautiful and very desirable. He found himself suddenly wanting to tell her so.

The meal ended and the ladies retired to the drawing room, leaving the men to their port.

‘An extraordinary woman,’ Geoffrey said, handing Roland the bottle from which he filled his glass.

‘Yes,’ he said, giving the bottle back.

‘Entirely unmarriageable, of course.’

‘Do you think so?’

‘Oh, no doubt of it. No husband worth his salt would put up with her ways.’

‘Surely that depends on the husband,’ Roland said thoughtfully.

‘He would have to be a jackstraw, prepared to subjugate himself for an easy living.’