The Dangerous Lord Darrington(39)

'Ooh, miss, I feel so bad,' she complained. 'Me stomach's that sore and I daren't leave the room lest I disgrace meself.'

Beth took a cloth over to the jug of water on the washstand and damped it.

'Poor Tilly,' she said, putting the damp cloth on her forehead. 'Is it something you have eaten?'

'I don't know, miss, but with you and his lordship away Mrs Burley  don't do much cookin' so me and Fitton went out to the pie shop  yesterday morning, and I didn't finish all o' mine so I kept it to eat  last night. It did taste a bit funny, though.' She turned quickly and  retched into the chamber pot.

Beth went downstairs to find the earl dressed and waiting for her in  the breakfast room. He held out her chair for her. As she sat down he  put his hands on her shoulders and bent to kiss her cheek.

'You left me sleeping. I missed you.'

'I beg your pardon, my lord-'

He sat down beside her. 'So formal? Will you not call me Guy?'

She responded with a shy smile. 'Guy, then. I beg your pardon if I have  kept you waiting. My maid is not well. I think she has eaten some bad  meat and is now far too ill to be moved today.' She sighed. 'I do not  want to delay our journey a moment longer than necessary, so I shall  have to leave her enough money to buy her ticket-'                       
       
           



       

'There will be no need for that,' he interrupted her. 'Fitton will be  following with the baggage wagon, and Holt is going to take my curricle  on to Wylderbeck. One of them may wait behind for your maid to recover.'  A smile glinted in his eyes. 'Which one shall it be?'

Her lips twitched. 'I do believe Tilly is quite partial to Fitton's  company, my lord. If you do not object to his delaying his journey, I  think that would answer very well.'

'Then it shall be done. Would you like me to ask Mrs Burley to send one of her girls with you, to act as your maid?'

'That will not be necessary. I can manage to dress myself.'

'And I will manage to undress you,' he murmured, sending the heat  rushing through her veins again. He laughed. 'I beg your pardon! Now,  you must eat something before we set off, so what will you have?'

Realising the good sense of the earl's suggestion, Beth set herself to  breaking her fast, refusing to join the earl in drinking ale and instead  sipping at a glass of water.

'How long will it take us to get to Malpass?' she asked, pushing aside her plate.

'With good weather, and as long as you do not object to travelling in  the dark, we could reach the Priory by late tomorrow night.'

She rose and walked to the window. 'Will this incessant rain affect us, sir?'

'I hope not. We shall be keeping to the main road, which is in very  good order.' He came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. 'It  is only a little rain, Beth. It will not stop me getting you safely to  Malpass.'

She dropped her head to one side, rubbing her cheek against the back of  his hand. 'I am sure, sir, that if anyone can get me there it is you.'



The rain beat down steadily as they clattered out over the cobbles,  patterning the carriage windows with rivulets of water and obscuring the  view.

'On our way at last,' said Guy, reaching for her hand. 'Happy?'

'I shall be happier when Simon is free. And when I have spoken to Miles.'

'Ah, yes, Radworth. How will you explain to him that you set off for  Richmond to buy your wedding clothes, but instead you went to London?'

'Oh, pray do not joke about it,' she begged him. 'I shall, of course, have to lay the whole story before him.'

'Everything?'

She bit her lip. 'I shall tell him I … I can no longer return his affection.'

'And what will he do then, do you think?'

Beth freed her hand from the comfort of his grip and twisted her  fingers together. 'I think,' she said slowly, 'that he will insist upon  the marriage settlement being honoured. He will take the Priory.' Her  voice quivered. 'I very much fear that I will lose Malpass for ever. I  had hoped Miles would agree to make the Priory over to Simon, once he  knows he is a free man, but now … ' She gave a little shrug. 'I suppose it  seemed sensible for Papa to sign everything over to me, when he thought  Simon was drowned.'

'It also meant that the Crown could not take the estate, should Simon be found guilty of murder and or robbery.'

'True, but Papa did not know Simon had been accused. We made sure we kept that from him.'

'But Radworth knew.'

Beth blinked. 'What has that to say to anything?'

'It was entirely in Radworth's interest to make sure the estate came to you.'

'That's nonsense! Miles had never been to Yorkshire before he brought us news of Simon.'

'But perhaps, once he had seen Malpass, he decided to have it, at all costs.'

A heavy silence filled the coach.

'You think he proposed merely to gain the Priory?' she said coldly. 'That is not very complimentary to me, sir.'

'Do you think he loves you?'

She sat up very straight. 'Yes, I do.'

'Then why were you so loath to tell him that Simon was alive?' he said softly. When she did not answer he sat forwards. 'Beth-'

'No!' She flinched away from him and huddled herself in the corner.  'That is a despicable thing to say. I know no ill of Miles Radworth.'

'Praise indeed!'

She glared at him. 'I would stake my life that he knew nothing of the  Priory or the family when he came north to tell us about Simon. For nigh  on two years he has been on hand to support us, even neglecting his own  estates in the south and hiring a house in Fentonby. That is not the  action of a bad man.'

'It is certainly the action of a patient one,' returned the earl  mildly. 'Tell me, Beth-in all the time of your courtship, has he never  tried to take you to his bed?'                       
       
           



       

'He has tried to … to kiss me.'

'A veritable Lothario!'

Her cheeks flamed. 'Not everyone is as … as impetuous as you, my lord!'

'Imp-! Beth, no man who professed to love you could keep his hands off you for so long, believe me!'

'No,' she said, putting her hands over her ears. 'You are trying to  tell me that Miles is a fortune hunter and I will not believe it!' She  lifted her head, blinking away the tears. 'Is it not enough that I am  going to end our betrothal. Must you seek to vilify him, too?'

'I do not seek to do anything,' retorted Guy. 'I want you to be on your guard, Beth.'

'Thank you,' she replied stiffly, 'I am quite capable of making my own  mind up about Miles and I am sure there is no harm in him.'

Guy relapsed into silence. He applauded her loyalty, but his instinct  was to distrust Miles Radworth. Perhaps Beth was right and he was a good  man, perhaps it was jealousy that made him so uneasy, but he doubted  it, and if his suspicions were correct, then their arrival back at  Malpass could be fraught with danger.



There was little time to dwell on what the future might hold, for the  journey north proved to have dangers of its own. They had not been  travelling long before the coach slowed and the footman came to the door  to inform them that the road was flooded. It proved passable, but the  rain continued to cause problems and they made slow progress to  Godmanchester, where the floodwaters kept them at the inn for three  days.

Beth was anxious to get back to Malpass and show Madame de Beaune's  deposition to Simon. She was obliged to curb her impatience, for all the  reports coming in spoke of floodwater all around them, carriages swept  away and livestock drowned.

'We are best sitting it out,' Guy told her. 'We are safer here than trying to find a way through the floodwaters.'

Beth knew it was true, but the wait fretted her; the only time she  forgot her troubles was at night, when Guy would take her in his arms  and kiss away her cares. They grew so close, so comfortable together,  that she wondered how she had ever lived without him.



Eventually word came through that the road was passable and they set  off early the next morning to join a long procession of carts, wagons  and carriages crossing the medieval bridge at Huntingdon. Beth watched  horrified as they travelled all day through a landscape mired by the  floods. Uprooted trees littered the riverbanks, hedges and roads were  filmed with mud and buildings displayed the telltale brown watermarks,  sometimes as high as the upstairs windows, and the occupants had carried  their furniture and belongings into the sun to dry out.

As they moved farther north they left the floods behind them and gradually Beth's mind turned back to her own problems.

They had spent one more night on the road and after an other long and  tiring day's travel the earl's carriage drove into Thirsk as the autumn  sun was setting.

'Would you like me to hire a gig for you?' asked Guy as they slowed to  enter the town. 'You might want to avoid awkward questions and return to  the Priory alone.'

'And what would you do?'

'I will put up in Fentonby.'

She reached out her hand to him. 'Thank you, but no. I think it is time  I put an end to this pretence. Besides,' she said, smiling, 'I would  miss you too much.'