Beyond the Duke's Domain: Ducal Encounters Series 4 Book 4 Page 18

  ‘Yes, but the lack of maternal responsibility means that I can hand them back when they become fractious.’

  Petra smiled. ‘There is that, of course. Are you going to ride today?’

  Relieved because Petra appeared to have given up probing into Lucy’s feelings for Raphael Sanchez-Gomez, Lucy shook her head. ‘No. Cal told me he wouldn’t be available to go with me and I’m not sufficiently confident of my control to ride Fizz out alone quite yet. I shall call this afternoon to see Ariana and take a carrot—for Fizz obviously, not Ariana. I’ll ride tomorrow, I expect. But now I shall make a start on my notes of thanks for my lovely gifts.’

  ‘A good idea.’ Petra stood and kissed the top of Lucy’s head. ‘I will leave you in peace so you can get on and pop up to the nursery…’

  ‘Of course you will,’ Lucy replied, laughing and waving her on her way.

  She sat at the escritoire after Petra left her, tapping her quill against the surface of the desk but not pulling paper towards her. Instead, she thought about the exchange with her sister, and renewed guilt troubled her conscience. Petra was the best, the most understanding sister a girl could wish for, and Lucy was a shrew to have resented the attention she bestowed upon her children. But still, that was all behind her now. She was a grown woman of nineteen summers, well able to take care of herself without having to lean on anyone.

  The only area in which she had not been completely honest with Petra during their heart to heart was with regard to her feelings for Raphael Sanchez-Gomez—feelings that even she didn’t fully comprehend. It would be sheer insanity to develop any aspirations in that regard. Her head knew that very well, but her heart was having none of it. She had fallen asleep recalling the feel of his strong arms holding her close, probably too close, as they swirled around the duchess’s drawing room in a provocative dance that caused her nerve endings to tingle with sensory delight.

  She had awoken feeling renewed warmth trickling through her system as the memory of that dance lingered in her mind. She resolutely tamped it down. Raphael was out of her league. Besides, she reminded herself, she was not sure she was the maternal type, and was aware that Mr Sanchez-Gomez adored children. So did Lucy…as long as they belonged to someone else.

  She shook her head, reached for paper and dipped her quill in the inkwell.

  Ariana left the children to their painting and slipped from the nursery floor. She made her way to the orchard, where she had agreed to meet Lucy, having an urgent need to confide in someone she could trust not to scold her for interfering in men’s work. She huffed indignantly at the very idea of being excluded after all she had gone through. This was her fight and she would never know true peace of mind until she saw with her own eyes that Captain Cutler and Lord Basingstoke were made to pay for their wickedness.

  Perhaps she wouldn’t find peace even then, and the nightmares would still come, but at least other vulnerable young women would be saved from the fate that had so nearly befallen her and Martina.

  Lucy came scurrying towards her from the direction of the stables. Her friend looked fresh and vibrant in a simple gown of sprigged muslin and smiled as she reached Ariana’s position beneath the shade of an ancient pear tree.

  ‘Sorry, if I have kept you waiting,’ she said breathlessly, kissing Ariana’s cheek. ‘I stopped by to visit Fizz and give him a carrot. He is about to be turned out with the other geldings for the first time. Hopefully he will be accepted and there won’t be a fight for supremacy. You know how boys can be.’

  Ariana rolled her eyes. ‘All too well,’ she said.

  ‘I gave Fizz a lecture and made him promise to remember his manners,’ she said, linking her arm through Ariana’s as they wandered to the paddock rails and watched the horse snorting as he touched noses with another gelding. The two of them galloped the length of the paddock, kicking and bucking and generally testing one another. Fizz looked magnificent, his black coat gleaming in the afternoon sunshine, and Lucy felt a swell of pride as she watched him bonding with his fellow creatures.

  ‘He’s showing off,’ Lucy said, grinning. ‘I told him about that too.’

  After their little display of one-upmanship, the horses settled down to crop the grass.

  ‘Disaster averted, I think,’ Ariana said. ‘Fizz has been put in his place.’

  ‘So it would seem.’ They wandered into the orchard and sat on a bench beneath an apple tree in full leaf, the fruit that weighed the branches down still small and green.

  ‘You look fraught,’ Lucy said, frowning at her friend. ‘Are you unwell?’

  ‘No, not unwell. Just frustrated.’

  ‘Something has happened. Tell me?’

  Ariana took a moment to gather her thoughts, distracted by the birds hopping through the branches above their heads, chirping and pecking at the unripe fruit.

  ‘Raph told me of a meeting he had with the other gentlemen this morning. They have more information about Captain Cutler.’

  Lucy gasped as Ariana repeated everything her brother had told her in a flat and emotionless tone. Tamping down the memories she had worked so hard to bury but which now seemed determined to resurface was difficult. Swamped by a raft of conflicting emotions—the desire for revenge warring with the urge to bury her head until it all went away—was wearing on Ariana’s nerves.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Lucy said, squeezing Ariana’s hand. ‘I can only imagine how desperate you must be feeling.’

  ‘I avoided giving Raph my word that I wouldn’t visit any of the places that the girls might be taken to.’

  ‘What would that achieve?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Ariana threw up her hands, frustration clouding her judgement. ‘But it would at least feel as though I was doing something to fight back. You and I would be hard pressed to go into the back streets of Winchester—or Aldershot for that matter—and not stand out.’ She swivelled her head and growled. ‘It is so irksome being a woman.’

  ‘We would be more of a hindrance than a help if they were obliged to worry about our protection. It’s not as though we have the physical strength to fight off any burly individuals who attempt to ravish us.’

  Both girls laughed.

  ‘If I am to be ravished,’ Ariana said, ‘I would much prefer to choose who does the ravishing.’

  ‘Lord Amos, one assumes.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Ariana flapped a hand. ‘You are as bad as Raph.’

  ‘He has questioned you about your interest in your employer?’

  ‘Not in so many words. He is being…how do you say? Cagey, I think that is the word. His instinct is to be over-protective, yet he feels he has forfeited that right and blames himself for what happened to us.’

  ‘Does he want you to go back to Spain with him?’

  ‘I don’t know what his plans are.’ She spread her hands. ‘Probably. We haven’t really talked about it yet.’

  ‘And will you? Go back, I mean. If he asks you to.’

  ‘No.’ She paused. ‘Yes. Oh, I don’t know. There is nothing for me in Spain other than unpleasant memories. Besides, I am needed here. The children depend upon me and I have grown very fond of them.’

  Lucy touched Ariana’s hand. ‘You cannot spend your life worrying about someone else’s children. You deserve better than that, especially after everything you have been through, and I will not allow you to throw your life away. Unless, of course, ’she added speculatively, ‘you have other reasons for wanting to remain close to Lord Amos, and I for one would not blame you if you have. He is very…robust, and his tragic bearing probably brings out your nurturing instincts.’ Lucy giggled. ‘Well, instincts of one sort or another.’

  ‘You read too many novels.’ Ariana looked away, mainly because she couldn’t deny her attraction towards her handsome employer and was worried that her true feelings might be reflected in her expression. ‘I do not have any money of my own, so what choice do I have but to remain in service?’

  ‘Do you not? Have you ask
ed Raph about your assets in Spain?’

  ‘No.’ Ariana shook her head, sending a cascade of black curls dancing round her face. ‘Such a question would result in a discussion about our respective futures that I am not ready to enter into. I have been careful not to offer him any openings in that regard.’

  ‘Well, my advice, for what it’s worth, is to wait and see how matters play out. They have a way of resolving themselves, I find.’

  ‘We have strayed from the subject of Beauworth Hall,’ Ariana said.

  Lucy raised a brow. ‘Have we?’

  ‘It is the only other location to which the girls might be taken, and one that is within our reach. It was the first one that was suggested by Mr Nash’s contacts and I have a feeling…’

  ‘We could take a look at the village and the surrounding area on your afternoon off,’ Lucy said slowly, ‘but I’m not sure what that would achieve. It’s not as though we can ride up to the house and ask if anyone is planning to turn it into a gaming hell or a house of ill repute. And if we were seen…’ Lucy allowed her words to trail off.

  ‘It’s supposed to be half-derelict, with just one servant there to keep intruders out. If there’s been any activity, I suspect it would immediately become the talk of the village. The best place to pick up gossip would therefore be in the local tavern’s taproom.’ Ariana gave a frustrated sigh. ‘But once again, our sex works against us. We cannot possibly walk into that room and start asking questions. Even I wouldn’t be that bold.’

  ‘I’m sure we could come up with a plausible reason to go into the establishment—taking a private parlour, obviously—and cross-question the landlady,’ Lucy replied, doubtless sensing Ariana’s urgent need to be proactive. ‘Such people enjoy gossiping, so I am told. Besides,’ she added in a speculative tone. ‘I am thirsty for adventure.’

  ‘It’s not a game, Lucy. These are dangerous men.’

  ‘I don’t suppose they will be there.’

  ‘Most likely not,’ Ariana said, smiling mischievously.

  ‘How would we get there? I know you didn’t give your brother your word about not leaving the estate, but I doubt whether you will want him to know that you have done so and create friction between you so soon after being reunited. Besides, there’s the not inconsequential matter of your riding astride. It’s one thing doing it here on the estate…’

  ‘I borrow a gig sometimes if I need to drive into the village,’ Ariana replied, her smile widening. ‘Tomorrow just happens to be my afternoon off and I think Raph and Lord Amos are planning to spend that same afternoon looking at the Falkirk Tavern. So they will be none the wiser if we take ourselves out for a little jaunt.

  ‘I intend to ride Fizz in the morning so I could stay on, and that would work wonderfully well.’ Lucy grinned. ‘Why are you so determined to do this, though, when there is little likelihood of our making any difference?’

  ‘I keep thinking about the girls who are being brought in. They could be there already, and I know how wretched, how humiliated they will be feeling. Amos says—’

  ‘Amos?’ Lucy raised a brow.

  Ariana cursed her slip of the tongue. Amos had invited her to address him informally, but she never did so in anyone else’s hearing. ‘He says that the women will be rescued and the ringleaders finally brought to justice,’ she said, choosing against satisfying Lucy’s curiosity regarding her lapse, ‘but I cannot help thinking that might not happen. Lord Basingstoke always seems to remain one step ahead of capture. He obviously has eyes and ears everywhere, otherwise he wouldn’t have got away with what he does for so long.’

  ‘Even if the girls are there, they will be well guarded. We cannot release them ourselves—and even if we could, what would we do with them?’

  ‘Don’t you understand my need?’ Ariana shook her head, tears of frustration trickling down her cheeks. ‘No, of course you do not. How could you possibly? You have not lived through the ordeal that almost finished with Martina and me being forcibly and repeatedly raped.’

  ‘Tell me what you have in mind,’ Lucy said softly. ‘I will help you if I possibly can, but I need to know what I am getting myself into.’

  Ariana let out a long breath. ‘I want to face Cutler myself,’ she said, putting into words a need that had been growing ever since she heard that he was still operating, and perhaps even before that. ‘The gentlemen would never permit it, but they don’t understand my torment. I see his face in my nightmares. Every night he taunts me, and I will never be truly free of him until I face him down and have the satisfaction of knowing that I was partly responsible for his capture. I want to see him fail.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Does that make any sense?’

  ‘It is perfectly understandable that you should want your revenge, and I’m sure it would be that much sweeter if you were there to witness your captors’ downfall. It must still rankle with Cutler and Basingstoke that two supposedly helpless females escaped their clutches and threatened their business. Especially for Basingstoke, since he wanted you for himself and now sees you ensconced in the home of his nemesis, tantalisingly close yet safely beyond his reach.’

  ‘I had not thought of it in that light, but now you mention it…’

  ‘Don’t you dare do anything rash, like exposing yourself to Basingstoke!’ Lucy cried, a steely edge to her voice. ‘If I even suspect that is what you intend to do then I will break our confidence and tell the gentlemen myself.’

  ‘No.’ Ariana sighed. ‘I promise I won’t go quite that far.’

  ‘Very well.’ Lucy paused. ‘You might be better advised to explain your feelings to the gentlemen. Make them understand that you need to be there when the raid takes place.’

  Ariana shook her head. ‘They will never permit it.’

  ‘Lord Amos will—if you are persuasive enough,’ Lucy said with a wicked smile. ‘There is little he wouldn’t do for you and he will likely understand better than most, given that he still has his own demons to confront over Crista’s death.’

  ‘Hmm,’ Ariana drummed the fingers of one hand on her knee and stared off into the distance, wishing she knew more about the lady who still held a vicelike grip over Amos’s heart. ‘What was she like?’

  ‘Crista?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Very down to earth. She was a jeweller, but you already know that. Lord Amos saved her life, I am told, before they were married. She wasn’t nearly as pretty as you and the duchess, but she had an air about her. A certain dignity and joie de vivre that made her light up a room. She was kind and generous and funny and…well, a delight really. Her sudden passing was a terrible tragedy. But having said that,’ Lucy added with a significant look at Ariana, ‘she would be furious if Lord Amos were to spend the rest of his days blaming himself for her loss. He was not there and there is nothing he could have done even if he had been. I can hear her voice inside my head gently telling him that life is for living.’

  ‘I saw a miniature of her in Lord Amos’s rooms. He keeps it beside his bed.’

  ‘And what, may I ask, were you doing in Lord Amos’s bedchamber?’ Lucy’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

  Ariana waved the question aside. ‘Certainly not what you appear to think.’

  ‘Of course not. Sorry,’ Lucy added, not looking the least bit sorry and smiling broadly instead. ‘I become irritated when Petra quizzes me upon my marital intentions. She doesn’t believe that I am indifferent in that regard, especially as far as motherhood is concerned, and her questions become intrusive. I won’t do the same thing to you, and I think we should make a pact to remain silent regarding our romantic aspirations, or lack thereof.’

  Ariana smiled. ‘Will you come with me tomorrow and at least look at Beauworth Hall from the outside?’

  ‘Try stopping me,’ Lucy replied, grinning. ‘Someone has to keep you safe. Besides, I have never done anything half so reckless before. I told my sister just this morning that I am now an adult—well almost—and perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Sh
e can dedicate herself to her children and leave me to make my own way. Besides, it will be educational.’

  Ariana snorted. ‘Hardly that.’

  They stood and wandered through the orchard, in no particular hurry to part company. Ariana was hatless and her hair danced in the gentle breeze. Lucy complained about feeling too warm and snatched the bonnet from her head, swinging it from her hand by its ribbons.

  ‘You will freckle,’ Ariana warned.

  ‘I don’t especially care. I am not attempting to look my best for anyone.’

  ‘I suspect you can look forward to the pleasure of a call from Mr Cartwright in the near future,’ Ariana remarked after they had strolled for a while in companionable silence.

  ‘Oh Lord, I hope not. I shall not be at home if he does call. His motives could not have been plainer. It was insulting that he appeared to think I would welcome his attentions just because he has a tolerable countenance and went out of his way to make himself amusing.’ Lucy tossed her head disdainfully. ‘I am surprised that he didn’t ask me how much annual interest I earn on my invested fortune.’

  ‘At least I am spared such iniquities.’

  ‘A cause for celebration, I can assure you. Better to remain single than to be pursued for monetary reward.’

  ‘If my elderly relatives had been able to keep us with them, then I would have been married off at sixteen with no say in the matter.’

  ‘I can hardly imagine you sitting passively in a marriage of convenience to a man whom you did not love and who wasn’t kind to you.’

  They both laughed.

  ‘You think me too outspoken?’

  ‘Quite the reverse. Your willingness to stand up for yourself is refreshing. I only wish that it had not become necessary due to the terrible circumstances you endured.’

  Ariana flashed a rueful grin. ‘I think it had developed before tragedy struck. Mama was always chastising me for being too opinionated, even at the age of twelve. We Spanish girls are supposed to know our place and defer to our men folk, who naturally know better simply because they are men.’