Francesca Shaw - The Unconventional Miss Dane Read online

  "I am reassured to hear it." His brow quirked with what Antonia had come to recognise as hidden amusement. "May I hope you will visit Brightshill? ! have a houseparty assembling soon--we may even muster enough couples to get up a dancing party, on occasion."

  "I should like that very much Antonia responded formally, although the thought of finding something in her wardrobe to match the London gowns of his guests was somewhat daunting. The light breeze suddenly stmmgth-ened and Antonia shivered in her light gown. " We should go in, Donna will be wondering what has becnxne of me. "

  Marcus took her hand to help her across the roof, but at the window ducked through it, before turning and holding up his arms.

  "I can-climb down~ by myself, thank you," she said, blushing at the thought of so close a contact.

  "Antonia, there are two ways of doing this; either I turn my back while you scramble down, doubtless tearing your gown in the process, or I lift you down--in the most respectful way, of course!" Laughter danced in his eyes. She knew he was laughing at her, but suddenly she did not care. She would be in his arms, however briefly, would feel his strength keeping her safe.

  Wordlessly she reached down to him and found herself swung effortlessly over the sill and into the attic. Marcus held her for a fraction longer than was needful, before setting her down on the dusty floor.

  "Tell me," he began, looking down at her.

  "Yes?" Antonia faltered, lifting her eyes to his, noticing a smudge of whitewash on his cheekbone, a cobweb caught in his unruly dark blond' hair and ruthlessly suppressing the urge to brush it away.

  "Have you retained the fishing rights?" He smiled, teeth white in the gloom.

  So, standing here so close to each other evoked the same memories in him, too. "No, I am convinced I would never make a good fisher woman no matter what," she said with a shaky laugh.

  "Practice is what you need, Antonia," he murmured, his eyes warm on hers. "You must come to Brightshill and let me teach you." He put up one hand as if to touch her face, but dropped it as heavy boots sounded on the floorboards outside. By the time William Hunt joined them, there was a clear five-foot space between them and Marcus was commenting on the state of the plaster work

  Marcus took his leave soon after and Antonia drifted back to the small salon, half-excited, half-irritated with herself. She had been out for several Seasons, had engaged in elegant flirtations with eligible men at balls and dinners: why did Marcus Arlington have this effect on her?

  Her heart told her she was in danger of falling deeply in love with him, yet her head told her it was impossible.

  She had been thrown into his company in the most extraordinary circumstances, hauled up before him as a common criminal. And their meetings since then had been characterised by an intimacy which was most unseemly. Antonia told herself firmly that it was this improper proximity that was fascinating her. And as for Lord Arlington, he no doubt flirted with any lady willing to indulge him, and her circumstances were perhaps unusual enough to have piqued his interest.

  By the time she rejoined her companion she had the satisfaction of having her unruly emotions firmly under control, or so she believed.

  Miss Donaldson, however, missed very little.

  "His lordship has gone?" she enquired, putting aside her needlework,

  "Some minutes ago," Antonia replied indifferently. "He and Hunt appear to have settled a most difficult question to do with the down spouts

  "Indeed. And that necessitated you romping all over the leads?"

  "Hardly romping." Antonia laughed lightly, flicking through the day's post. "The height is most disconcerting, although the view is wonderful."

  "So you spent the entire time up there discussing drainage and the view?"

  "Oh ... we spoke of our plans for the Dower House. And his lordship was kind enough to extend an invitation to Brightshill shortly--he is assembling a houseparty:'

  "Then I am not. entirely without hope," observed Miss Donaldson archly:

  "Hope?" Antonia turned to regard' her companion. "Of what?"

  "Of your moving in Society, of course, as is fitting." Miss Donaldson kept her countenance schooled, but Antonia had the distinct impression that that was not her meaning.

  Chapter Six

  "My dear Antonia!" Miss Donaldson exclaimed. "If, you cannot find any rational occupation within the house, then please go out and take the air--for I declare you are quite fraying at my nerves with this incessant fidgeting!"

  The uncharacteristic ~sharpness of her companion's tone startled Antonia. "Am I fidgeting? I am so sorry, I was not aware of it."

  "You have done little else the past two days," Donna replied more kindly. "You have embroidered two flowers on that scarf, only to pull both out again; the pages of that new volume of Shelley's poetry are still uncut; there are two letters awaiting reply from your cousin Augusta..."

  Antonia put up her hands to stem the flow. She knew Donna was right, but she felt she could not settle to anything now the workmen had left and the big house stood ready for its new tenant. Outside the windows, the trees were heavy with fresh greenery, the newly planted pleasure grounds were breaking with new growth and the very air was heavy with the promise of summer just around the corner.

  The UnconvenHonal Miss Dane

  "If only we knew what was happening--whether Sir Josiah has decided to take Rye End Hall! It is a week now since Mr. Blake's visit--I had expected to hear from him several days ago." She paced restlessly across the drugget protecting the newly aid carpet, then burst out,

  "Oh, Donna, what if Mr. Blake has failed to persuade his uncle! What shall we do then with all this money laid out and no way of repaying it?"

  Miss Donaldson came to put her arm around her young companion. Knowing Antonia as she did after nearly a decade together, she recognised the strain she was under. A surge of real anger shook her normally well-schooled emotions. This was all the fault of Sir Humphrey Dane and his son! How could Antonia's father and brother have been so feckless, so selfishly uncaring as to leave her the sole inheritor of debt and disarray!

  "It is only a week, dear," she began soothingly when the sound of hooves crunching on gravel caught their attention. "Ah! No doubt that is Lord Arlington come. to call. Now that I think of it, it must be a week since we last saw him. The diversion of a visitor will turn our minds from these worries." Miss Donaldson spoke brightly but was precisely aware of how long it had been since his lordship had been at the Hall, and had been feeling quite cast down at his. lack of attention to Antonia. She had entertained such hopes of the pair of them. :.

  "Mr. Blake, ma'am." Anna the housemaid was bobbing a curtsy in the open doorway.

  "Why, Mr. Blake! We had not looked to see you-in person--what an unexpected pleasure." All the relief Antonia felt--for surely he would not have come in person to give her an answer in the negative--was in Antonia's radiant smile as she offered him her hand.

  Jeremy Blake shook the proffered hand and bowed to Miss Donaldson, whilst reflecting that his arrival on business was not normally greeted with such warmth. His eyes. lingered on Miss Antonia Dane: her slender figure was enhanced by the simplicity of the muslin gown she was wearing. He could scarcely believe, for he was a modest young man, that it was his appearance that had prompted the sparkle in her dark eyes or the warm colour heightening her creamy complexion, but he was susceptible enough-to appreciate it none the less.

  "Do, please, take a seat, Mr. Blake. May we offer you some refreshment after your journey? Anna, bring the decanters." Antonia sank down gracefully on the sofa, prey to a sudden fear that he had bad news and was kind enough to bring it in person. "Have you ridden over from Berkhamsted this morning?"

  "No, ma'am. I have taken rooms at the Green Man in Tring. It is rather more conveniently situated for riding here daily, which I hope you ~411 permit me to do, for there are many practical. details to be settled,.."

  "Then Sir Josiah is minded to take Rye End Hall?" Antonia could hardly contain her
excitement and relief in order to speak calmly.

  "Indeed yes, Miss Dane. He was most happy with my account; both he and my aunt feel this will be the ideal country establishment for them."

  "You must feel very gratified that Sir Josiah and Lady Finch place so much trust in your judgement as to take the house unseen," Antonia responded warmly. "And I must thank you for your persuasions on our behalf. It is such a relief to know that Rye End Hall will be let to such a notable person as Sir Josiah and will regain its place amongst the estates of the area."

  Mr. Blake flushed slightly at the compliment. "I thank you, ma'am, but I assure you that once presented to him, the merits of the estate were such that Sir Josiah needed little persuasion by me. And it is you and Miss Donaldson who should be congratulated on the taste and propriety of the renovations."

  Setting his glass on one side, Mr. Blake removed some folded papers from his breast pocket and handed one, closed with a seal, to Antonia.

  "I act as messenger from your man of business whose letter you have there. Between us, we have drawn up a contract whie, h I mast you will find acceptable: may I hope you could give me an answer upon it if I return tomorrow?"

  "But surely we can close on this today!~ Antonia exclaimed. " If you will allow me an hour top erose it before luncheon, then, unless I have any questions, I can sign it and the deed is done. You will stay for luncheon, Mr. Blake? "

  "That would be most acceptable, ma'am, thank you:' Mr. Blake got to his feet. " With your permission, I will use the time until luncheon to ride around the estate: there are some notes Sir Josiah has charged me to make, and it is a most beautiful day. " He bowed to the ladies and left.

  Antonia seized Donna's hands and danced her round the room in a jig of joy and relief. "We've done it, we've done it, we've done it!"

  "Antonia, dear! What if Mr. Blake should see us!"

  "He has gone--and what if he does see us? I do not care! '

  "Antonia, please, I am quite breathless. And this is most indecorous!"

  But Donna was smiling.

  When Mr. Blake rejoined them for luncheon Antonia greeted him with the words, "I am most happy to sign this contract. My man of business recommends it to me, and l am more than happy to vacate the Hall by the date specified."

  Aiook of anxiety crossed Mr. Blake's pleasant features. "I had feared that a date only two weeks hence might be too precipitate for you. Are you quite certain it is convenient?"

  "Let us discuss it over luncheon." Antonia led the way through to the breakfast-room, which served them as a small dining-room. "Please sit here, Mr. Blake: will you carve the ham? I tell you truly, Miss Donaldson and I would be ready to move to the Dower House within the week. All the building work there is done: it only remains to hang the curtains, make up the beds andremove.our personal possessions."

  "I am most relieved to hear you say so, Miss Dane," he rejoined, passing a platter of carved ham to Donna as he spoke. "If I may, this afternoon I had hoped to ride over and see your tenant at the Home Farm. I will need to spend one or two days with him this week, and then there are numerous measurements Lady Finch has charged me to make in the house, if that will not be inconvenient to you."

  "Not at all," Antonia assured him warmly. "I will give you a note of introduction to Thomas Christmas at the farm, and as to the measurements; you are to make your-self quite at home and not stand on ceremony. Come and go as you please."

  The rest of the meal passed most pleasantly for the ladies as Mr. Blake proved to be an unexpected source of anecdotes about London Society.

  It was obvious he mixed freely with the Quality and Antonia could well imagine him gracing the floor 'at A! mack's. She felt he perhaps viewed life a little too seriously--a product of his profession, no doubt---but he was most agreeable company.

  "Are you frequently away from home upon Sir Josiah's business?" Miss Donaldson enquired. "I only ask because, for a young man such as yourself, absences must put a strain upon domestic harmony."

  Antonia flinched at what was, to her ears, an obvious attempt to discover whether he were married or not. Mr. Blake, however, showed no sign of discomfiture at the probing.

  ' Fortunately, ma'am, I have my own apartments

  Sir Josiahls London residence and come and go as I please with no inconvenience. "

  An expression, which Antonia recognised as the est Donna ever came to smugness, crossed her birdlike features, So, Mr. Blake was not married and was now being added to Donna' smental list of suitable suitors for Antonia.

  Jeremy Blake, mercifully unaware of his hostesses;~. thoughts, soon took his leave and a note for Thomas Chris~has from Miss :' the farmer's complete co-operation with his new landlord. ~

  Antonia stood on the sun warmed steps watching as he cantered off towards the Home Farm. Halfway down the driveway, he encountered another rider. Both doffed their hats as they passed one another and Antonia recognised Marcus's blond locks in the sunlight.

  He dismounted at the front door, tossing his reins to the groom who was riding at his heels. "Ten minutes, Saye," he ordered. "Keep them walking, this breeze is fresh. Good afternoon, Miss Dane." He bowed slightly to Antonia. "I trust I find you we!!?"

  "Very well-indeed, my lord. You find me on my way to the flower garden. Would you care to accompany me and protect me from Old Johnson, who refuses to believe any of his blooms are for cutting?"

  Marcus strolled alongside her, wondering what had occurred to put her in such high spirits. For, though Antonia's manner was controlled, her eyes were sparkling and her whole figure seemed animated with suppressed excitement.

  "Did I recognise that London clerk visiting again?" Antonia hid a smile at his apparently casual probing. It seemed Mr. Blake piqued his lordship's interest, which could only be flattering to herself.

  "Indeed, it was Mr. Blake. I see no reason why I cannot tell you now that his principal, Sir Josiah Finch, has decided to take Rye End Hall.

  I expect Sir Josiah and Lady Finch she is Mr. Blake's aunt, by-the by--will be in residence here within the fortnight."

  "I congratulate you!" Marcus pushed open the wicket gate into the garden and held it for Antonia to pass through. "You appear to have scored a veritable triumph with your ten anti a very notable nabob, indeed."

  Antonia scanned his face, looking for signs of sarcasm, but saw only genuine admiration for her business acuity. "You know Sir Josiah?"

  "No, but I have heard of him. I believe he has been returned to this country from the indies for almost a year, and the on dit is that he has amassed a great fortune in his years in the East. He and Lady Finch do not go much into Society, although she, of course, is widely connected with some of the best families. He, I believe, is a self-made man..."

  "And none the worse for that," Antonia exclaimed hotly.

  "I had intended no slur on your nabob. I am sure he is a most excellent man and will adorn our local society."

  Antonia was surprised. She had expected Sir Josiah's origins in trade---however exalted--would be despised by an aristocrat such as Lord Arlington, as they would certainly have been by her own father.

  "You do me, an injustice," Marcus continued evenly, 'if you believe I would condemn the man for such a reason. If he proves a bad landlord, I may revise my Opinion. "

  Antonia suspected there was a veiled hint about her 'poachers' in that last remark but, warmed as she was with her success and the admiration of Mr. Blake, she chose to ignore it, not wishing to provoke an argument.

  Old Johnson greeted them with a look of deep suspicion and a grunt.

  When Antonia asked him for a basket ~he produced one with bad grace.

  "And some scissors, please, Johnson," she requested firmly, knowing how the old man hated her to pick 'his' flowers.

  "Ain't got none," he muttered, but was foiled by Marcus producing a pocket knife.

  Marcus held the basket while Antonia snipped her selected blooms, wandering up and down the paths under the old man's hostile eye. "He app
ears to have taken a great dislike to me, as well as to your flower picking," Marcus observed.

  "Small wonder," Antonia responded crisply, 'as you are the cause of his son's present condition. " " I? And what condition might that be? "

  He looked down into her indignant eyes, noticing for the first time that in their hazel depths there were flecks of green.

  "He is languishing in Hertford gaol, sent there by you for poaching, and meanwhile his old father must support his family:!"

  'l remember him now---and I doubt his father is supporting his family, which consists of numerous by-blows scattered from here to Berkhamsted.

  The son is a ne'er-do-well who has never done an honest day's work in his life and who crowned a career of poaching, thievery and wenching by clubbing a keeper so savagely the man lost the sight of one eye. No, ma'am, save your Sympathy for those who better deserve it. "

  Antonia shivered at the chill in his voice and in his eyes. "I am sorry," she stammered. "I should not have spoken without knowing the full facts. Was the injured man one Of your keepers?"