Elizabeth Rolls - Regency High Society Vol 3 - Beloved Virago / Lord Trenchard's Choice / The Unruly Chaperon / Colonel Ancroft's Love

Katherine couldn’t help admiring his superb sense of direction. Even at night he never seemed to get himself lost. He was immensely capable, equal to any challenge. Why, not only had he managed to acquire horses, but saddles and bridles too!

When he apologised for not having been able to provide her with a side-saddle, Katherine dismissed it with a wave of her hand. ‘Don’t give it another thought,’ she urged him, easily mounting without assistance. ‘I frequently rode astride as a girl, and much preferred it. Unfortunately, when I reached a certain age Mama objected, and I was obliged thereafter to ride like a lady. Believe me, I shall enjoy the experience again.’

It took Daniel a few minutes only to appreciate her skill in the saddle. She was an extremely accomplished horsewoman who handled her mount with ease. ‘Your father taught you well, Katherine,’ he remarked, not reticent to voice his admiration, but could not resist adding, ‘His only fault, I strongly suspect, was a reluctance to beat you often enough.’

Katherine wasn’t slow to detect the provocative gleam in dark eyes. ‘It might surprise you to know, Major Ross, that my father never once laid a violent hand on me. It might also surprise you to know he never felt that he needed to.’ Her smile faded. ‘He had a certain way of looking at me whenever I had displeased him, which always made me feel so guilty that I promised never to do it again.’

Anyone of the meanest intelligence couldn’t have failed to appreciate how deeply she had cared for her father. But was a desire to avenge his death the only reason why she had agreed to involve herself in Sir Giles Osborne’s machinations? Daniel couldn’t resist asking.

‘Good heavens, no! I did it as much for myself as anything else, I suppose,’ she was honest enough to admit. ‘I have become increasingly disenchanted with the life I have been leading in Bath. I am feeling increasingly restrained … suffocated, almost.’

Katherine released her breath in a resentful sigh, which matched quite beautifully the fleeting glance she cast him. ‘It’s all very well for you men. You can come and go as you please, but for a female it is quite different. I have inherited a companion who’s a dear person, but faintly scatty, and on occasions something of a trial. And then, of course, there’s Bridie, who will insist on treating me just as though I were still a child.’

Although he was smiling, he betrayed genuine sympathy as he said, ‘There’s one course of action which will enable you to sever those restraining ties. You could wed. Married women enjoy far more freedom.’

‘True,’ she agreed, ‘but I do not consider a desire for freedom reason enough to take the matrimonial plunge, at least not in my case. Besides which,’ she added, suddenly remembering her determination to put his mind at rest, ‘I am resolved never to marry. Remember, I’m a curse, Daniel. I could never reconcile it with my conscience if I were to shorten any man’s life.’

If she had expected this declaration to reassure him, and bring about a return of the wonderful camaraderie that had been surprisingly increasing between them, she was swiftly to discover her mistake.

‘Don’t talk such rubbish, girl!’ he snapped, his expression no less harsh than his tone. ‘You’re no more a curse than I am. Your parents’ deaths were tragic, but had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with you. And how you can suppose you were responsible for your grandfather’s heart attack when you were in Bath at the time beggars belief. And as for your aunt Augusta,’ he went on, without granting her the opportunity to edge in a word, ‘she was an elderly spinster who died of old age, and would have done so had you lived in the house or not. It is much more likely that you made her last years much happier with your presence.’

His expression, if anything, darkened. ‘So I want to hear no more of such foolishness, understand? Otherwise I shan’t hesitate to shake some sense into you!’

Stunned by the vehemence of the outburst, it was as much as Katherine could do to watch him steer a path through the last few yards of woodland towards the open countryside. By the time she had gathered her scattered wits together sufficiently to formulate a response, he was already some distance ahead.

She quickly discovered that, although her own mount was both healthy and strong, the gelding possessed a decidedly stubborn streak and was determined to progress at his own pace. Consequently she found herself always trailing those few yards behind, a circumstance which didn’t appear to bother Daniel to any great extent, for apart from taking the trouble to inform her that they would stop somewhere for luncheon, and would risk putting up for the night at a village inn, he continued to ride on ahead, and remained in an unusually quiet mood for the remainder of the day.

The following morning, after the sheer joy of sleeping on a horsehair mattress, Katherine awoke feeling wonderfully refreshed. As she swung her feet to the floor, and padded across to the washstand, she couldn’t help smiling to herself as she recalled the expressions on the faces of the landlord and landlady when she and Daniel had walked into their inn the previous evening, without an item of baggage between them, and looking travel-stained and altogether dishevelled, just like a couple of vagrants.

Daniel, once again proving himself equal to any situation, and improvising quite beautifully, had explained that they had been set upon by rogues who had deprived them of all their belongings, except for several items of jewellery which his sister had cunningly hidden in the lining of her cloak, and which they had subsequently been forced to sell to purchase mounts in order to get home. From that moment the landlord and landlady’s attitudes had changed dramatically and they simply couldn’t do enough for the poor, unfortunate siblings.

Katherine would have been the first to admit that she had grown increasingly impatient of her dear Bridie’s incessant cosseting in recent months, but she had to own that she had been immensely grateful for the landlady’s thoughtful attentions. Not only had the kindly woman provided her with a few basic necessities, including the loan of a night-gown, but she had also taken the trouble to wash and dry all Katherine’s clothes. It felt wonderful being attired in freshly laundered garments once more, and no less satisfying being able to brush and arrange one’s hair.

Once Katherine had completed this task to her satisfaction, she went downstairs to join Daniel for breakfast. She hadn’t seen him since he had accompanied her upstairs as far as her bedchamber door the evening before, where he had informed her, prior to disappearing into the chamber opposite, that he had arranged for her dinner to be brought up on a tray. Just why he had taken it upon himself to organise this she had no way of knowing. Nor had she any idea how he had spent the evening. None the less, one glance was sufficient to convince her that he too had received the landlady’s kindly attentions. His linen had been laundered, his coat had been sponged and pressed, and he had made excellent use of mine host’s razor. The only thing that hadn’t improved, she swiftly discovered, was his morose state of mind, for although he rose to his feet as she joined him at the table, and did not fail to ask if she had slept well, he displayed yet again a marked disinclination to indulge in small talk.

Throughout breakfast and later, after they had set off on the last leg of their journey to Normandy, Katherine racked her brains, trying to think of what might have brought about Daniel’s strangely subdued state. She would have been the first to admit that there was much she still had to learn about him, but she wouldn’t have thought that he was a man prone to brood unnecessarily. So she could only imagine that he was concerned that there might still be pursuers hot on their trail. It would be foolish to advise him not to worry. Besides which, she clearly recalled her mother saying once that gentlemen would share their troubles only if they wished to do so; if not, they were best left alone to resolve their concerns in their own way, for eventually they would return to normal.