Mary Nichols - Talk of the Ton

He smiled. ‘She did not exactly apply to him, my lady. I am afraid I gave her no choice.’

‘Oh, dear, you are confusing me. I did not sleep last night and my brain must be a little fuddled. Do come into the drawing room and I will order refreshment and then you may tell me the whole. And do not keep anything back.’ She was leading the way into a large airy room that looked out on to the garden at the back, which was a riot of spring flowers. Livvy, so consumed by curiosity she ignored the fact that she was wearing riding boots and her habit was dragging on the carpet, followed them. ‘You see, I know my daughter very well and I know how headstrong she can be. Do sit down.’ She waved him to a sofa and he folded his long frame into it. ‘Livvy, don’t stand there gaping like a fish out of water, go and change. And before you do, please tell Mrs Jobson to bring coffee and cakes. Or would you rather have breakfast, Mr Melhurst? I can easily arrange it.’

‘Thank you, but I had breakfast at an inn in Sudbury before I came.’

‘Have you come straight from Belfont House?’

‘Yes, my lady. The Duke was most anxious you should be relieved of your anxiety, as was Miss Harley,’ he added, though why he should try to mitigate what she had done, he did not know.

‘And no doubt you have driven through the night. Oh, how grateful I am, but you must be fatigued—’

‘Not at all my lady. I was able to doze in my coach and I am accustomed to going without sleep. Think no more of it.’

A servant arrived with refreshments; though it was evident Lady Harley was anxious to have news of her daughter, politeness dictated that she must wait until he had been given refreshment. They were shortly joined by Livvy, now in a light silk dress the colour of the daffodils that bloomed so freely in the garden. She sat down next to her mother and leaned forward, agog to hear all about Beth’s adventures.

‘Mr Melhurst, please tell us everything,’ Harriet began. ‘I was about to send Mr Kendall to London to tell my brother what had happened and enlist his help in tracking her down. But it seems he knows already.’ She paused. ‘But you said you gave her no choice…’

‘No, my lady. I returned from India three—’ he stopped to correct himself ‘—no, four days ago now and met your daughter on the quayside. She was dressed somewhat…’ he paused ‘…unusually.’

‘I discovered that when I searched her room to find out what she was wearing.’

‘No doubt she thought it would give her a certain protection if people thought she was a young lad, but as a disguise it was lamentable.’

She managed a chuckle. ‘I realise that. But she was not entirely unfeeling. She left me a letter telling me what she meant to do, and, though I know she is confident and self-possessed, she has naturally never travelled alone and I feared for her.’

‘She has plenty of spirit, my lady, but when I spoke to Mr Kendall, he asked me to take her to her uncle.’

‘Mr Toby Kendall, I collect you mean. He is the son of my steward.’

‘Yes. He was most anxious about her, but the ship was about to sail and he was worried that if he left it to take her home, the Duke would be angry that he had not fulfilled his part of their bargain. And it would also compromise her reputation…’

‘He did not think it would be compromised by handing her over to you?’ she asked with a gentle smile.

‘I had a closed coach nearby, my lady, and could convey her without her being seen.’

‘Then I thank you.’

‘What did Uncle James say?’ Livvy asked. ‘I bet he was furious with Beth.’

‘Concerned, I should say,’ he said wryly. He turned back to Lady Harley. ‘He suggested that as your daughter was already in London, you should bring forward your visit and arrange to go to Belfont House as soon as possible. I believe he intends to keep Miss Harley indoors until you arrive.’

Livvy giggled. ‘He would have to, considering she has no luggage with her. He could hardly let her out dressed in Papa’s old clothes.’

‘Do not be foolish, Livvy,’ her mother chided her. ‘Your Aunt Sophie will have found something for her to wear. But I can see it would be easier if everyone thought we had arrived in London together. I think I can be ready by the day after tomorrow…’ She paused. ‘Mr Melhurst, you are welcome to stay and rest before returning.’

‘Oh, I am not returning, my lady, I am on my way home to Newmarket.’

‘Newmarket!’ Livvy exclaimed. ‘Do you, by chance, have any connection with horse racing?’

He smiled at the way her eyes lit up in much the same way as her sister’s had when talking about botany. ‘My grandfather, Lord Melhurst, has extensive stables and is well known in racing circles.’

‘Oh, I have heard of the Melhurst stud,’ she said. ‘There is Melhurst Sunburst and Melhurst Moonshine, both prime goers, and Pegasus, who is top of the trees over the jumps. Do you ride in the races, Mr Melhurst?’

‘I have been out of the country, Miss Olivia, but I sometimes did before I left seven years ago.’

‘Oh, how I should like to do that.’

He laughed. ‘Ride in a horse race, Miss Olivia?’

‘Yes, why not? I am a first-class rider…’

‘I do not doubt it, but there is more to it than being able to ride well and it would never be allowed.’

‘Of course not, Livvy,’ her mother put in. ‘What nonsense you talk sometimes.’

‘I do not see why a woman could not be as good as a man. She would be lighter, for a start.’

‘But would she be able to keep her seat if she was barged?’ Andrew put in. ‘It does go on, you know, and ladies’ saddles were never designed—’

‘Not side saddle, Mr Melhurst, that would put her at a disadvantage from the start. No, it would have to be astride—’

‘I think you have said enough on the subject, Livvy,’ her mother said. ‘Mr Melhurst will think the whole Harley family is eccentric.’

‘Not at all.’ He smiled. ‘But if you and your daughters were to find yourselves in the Newmarket area, I would be very pleased to show you round the stables at Heathlands.’

‘Oh, would you?’ Livvy enthused. ‘Then we must contrive to find ourselves in the area very soon.’

He was only being polite, he told himself, he did not, for a moment, think they would take him up on his offer, but then he realised that he was hoping they would, especially if Miss Harley was also of the party. He could see her in his mind’s eye, dressed conventionally, strolling with him along the gravel paths, admiring, not the horses, but the gardens. He had sent many unusual plants back to England from his travels in the Himalayas and the Far East, and, though a good many had died in transit or could not survive in the English climate, some had thrived. He would enjoy talking to her about them and finding out just how knowledgeable she was, exchanging plants perhaps.

‘I collect you are going to London for the Season, Miss Harley.’

‘So we are. But the Season ends in July…’

‘And by then you may have found other interests.’

She laughed. It was a light musical sound, lighter than her sister’s deep chuckle. ‘You mean I might have found a husband?’

He bowed to confirm this.

‘I am more likely to find one to suit me at Newmarket than in London, Mr Melhurst. Horses are my passion and my husband must share it.’

‘Poor man,’ Lady Harley said. ‘To have to compete with a horse must be the ultimate humiliation. Now I think we have detained Mr Melhurst long enough.’ She rose to her feet and Andrew quickly stood up and bowed over the hand she offered. ‘I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you brought us good news,’ she said. ‘Please visit us again.’ She smiled. ‘We shall be in London for the Season, but you will be welcome after that. Or are you, perhaps, going up to town yourself? You could call on us at Belfont House.’

‘I had no plans to return, my lady, but I thank you.’

He took his leave and was conducted to the door by a footman. He could hear the young lady’s voice as he went. ‘Mama, I would much rather go to Newmarket than London…’

He climbed back into his coach and settled himself in the corner to sleep the three hours it would take to convey him home to Heathlands. Tomorrow he would send his groom to take the hired horses back to Sudbury where he had last changed them and then go on and fetch his own horses from his first stop. It was not what he had planned. Before he met Miss Harley he had intended to drive leisurely behind the wagon with frequent stops and would not have needed to change horses. The extra expense of post chaise did not trouble him, but he was surprised that the Duke had not suggested compensating him. On the other hand, it had been the Duchess who had asked him to come to Sudbury and she would not have given it a thought. Money was of no consequence to her.

He wondered how well off Lady Harley was. What he had seen of the house and particularly the garden had been delightful, but he could not help noticing the frayed carpets, faded curtains and scuffed paintwork, things that would undoubtedly have been remedied if she had had the blunt to do it. He guessed they were reliant on the Duke to help support them. In that case his Grace would have the last word when it came to approving husbands for his nieces. He smiled to himself; he doubted if he would fit the bill. He was the heir to a baronetcy, but even if a baron was considered elevated enough, his past would catch up with him. There was bound to be someone on the London scene who remembered Lady Katherine Haysborough, as she was then, and would not be averse to reminding everyone.

He had made himself look no end of a fool over her. She had been married at the time and spoiling for an affair and he, enjoying his first Season in London after finishing at university, had been flattered and blind to the fact that she was using him. She professed to love him, had appeared at the same functions he did and, though he made every effort to be discreet, she had made no secret of her interest, until it had come to the ears of her husband who threatened publicly to call him out. The whole thing looked set to blow up into a scandal of monumental proportions and his grandfather had called him over the coals for it.

‘You silly young fool,’ he had said, his normally placid countenance red with anger. ‘She’s years older than you are and has had so many lovers you need more than your ten fingers to count them. Do you want to be one in a long line, all discarded when her husband threatens to divorce her? She doesn’t want a divorce; she simply wants the expensive presents her lovers give her to add to those her husband gives her when they are reconciled…’

‘I do not believe that. She has been ill used and—’

‘It is you who are ill used, my boy, believe me. And not only you, but me too. My success as a breeder of racehorses depends on the good will I have built up over the years. I am respected and trusted by those who have dealings with me and I will not have you undermining that with unsavoury scandal. If you must take a mistress, for goodness’ sake take one of your own age and be more discreet.’

The next time he had seen Kitty was at a ball and he had watched as she flirted outrageously with every man present, laughing at his discomfort. He had decided his grandfather was right; she was certainly not worth fighting a duel over and he had taken himself off to India, not so much for his own sake but his grandfather’s. He had become very wealthy in the process, besides older and wiser. Lord Haysborough had subsequently died and the not-so-grieving widow had married his cousin, Edward Melhurst, son of his father’s younger brother. He had been about to return home at the time, but decided to stay away because his arrival so soon after the new marriage might have revived the scandal and he did not want the family name sullied. It was only his grandfather’s failing health that had brought him home in the end.