“What made you decide to go?”
“I didn’t think Charley would dye his hair.” He gave her a half grin. “I couldn’t tell him no after he made that sacrifice.”
So it was Charley’s idea, not his? Odd that Monty would give in on this when he usually ignored Charley’s preferences. And they’d come to Dawton Manor to hide far away from London.
They moved to the front of the line of coaches to wait until everyone had boarded. Out of the shade of the house, she noticed the slight bruise on his cheek. She hadn’t seen it last night possibly because the candelabras on the dining table had limited her view of him, but it was apparent now in the sunshine.
“Fell out of bed, did you?” she teased, pointing at his cheek.
“No, your Scots guard was annoyed with me.” She gasped and stared beyond him at the MacCabe brothers, both already mounted and waiting for the coaches to depart. “They wouldn’t hit you!”
“No, they probably wouldn’t,” he agreed. “But Donnan was annoyed enough not to help me when I dealt with the three remaining men who escaped the fight yesterday.”
Her eyes widened. “So you confirmed that those men are Charley’s enemies?”
“Yes, I found them in town asking questions about him, well, their interpreter was. They’d hired an Englishman to speak for them. But he didn’t understand their native tongue, either. Your Scot said they used pantomime to communicate to him the questions they wanted him to ask. But he ran off as soon as the scuffle started, yelling, “They didn’t pay me to fight for them!”
“I assume you won against the two and they are now in jail?”
“No, I left them unconscious. I’d rather they waste their time searching all over Cheshire, and if there are more of them in England, these two can get word to them about where Charley has gone into hiding. They and their cohorts will know with certainty that we aren’t in London, so chances of any of them looking there again are next to none.”
Well, she obviously wasn’t going to hear, “And I couldn’t bear to part from you,” so she said no more. And Kathleen finally came out of the house. She did not have to board her coach to find out that Vanessa wasn’t in it with the twins when Snow caught her eye.
With a cringe, Vanessa wondered if her mother was going to walk over to her and insist she travel inside the vehicle as a lady ought to. It would be a long walk for Kathleen to reach her with both Blackburn coaches harnessed with four horses for greater speed. Kathleen did neither, but Vanessa didn’t doubt she’d hear about it later when they stopped for lunch. If they stopped. This was going to be a very hurried trip. After all, they had an important ball to attend in a week’s time.
Chapter Twenty-nine
VANESSA STOOD AT THEparlor window waiting for the horses to be brought around so she and her sisters could go riding in Hyde Park. Kathleen was on the sofa behind her, going through all the invitations that had already come in. Her mother seemed so happy, so vibrant now that she was back in London.
Suddenly the very proper, punctilious butler entered and, trying his best to hide his annoyance, said, “Lord Bates has requested that yet another armoire be brought up to his bedroom. Would that be acceptable, Lady Blackburn?”
Kathleen didn’t even glance up from the invitations in her lap to say, “Of course, he can have the one in the empty bedroom on the third floor.”
Vanessa smiled, amused that Charley and Arlo hadn’t yet finished unpacking Charley’s wardrobe even though they’d all arrived yesterday. Mr. Rickles looked aggrieved, had likely hoped for a different answer, but then he wasn’t at all pleased with their houseguests after Monty had called him Pickles yesterday instead of Rickles, and Vanessa, at least, was sure Monty had done so deliberately because he couldn’t resist ribbing the stiff, stuffy butler.
Kathleen rose a few minutes later to join Vanessa at the window and remarked, “There are so many social events to attend, we’re all going to have a lovely time!” But then her expression turned aghast. “You cannotride that beast in the park!”
Vanessa raised a brow at her mother, but Kathleen was still staring out the parlor window that faced the street where the horses had just been led. The twins hadn’t come downstairs yet to join them, which meant they could both, for the moment, speak their minds.
“Yes, I can,” Vanessa stated simply.
Kathleen swung about, her expression rife with anger. “It’s a draft horse!”
“This fine riding habit I’m wearing will suggest otherwise. And he’s a magnificent beauty. I won’t be surprised if I get a number of offers for him. He makes a fine placard for the breeding farm I intend to open one day.”
Kathleen humphed. “The Rathbans will never allow something that common. You will need to undertake more genteel hobbies.”
That wasnotwhat Vanessa wanted to hear! She was giving up everything else for this marriage, she wouldn’t give up the stable she wanted, too. “Then I may have to do some bargaining with Albert Rathban myself. As a wedding gift, he can promise me that I’ll have a place on his estate to further Snow’s line.”
“You’re going to make that ridiculous demand and risk losing his agreement to allow your father to return home?”
Kathleen almost looked panicked, so Vanessa assured her, “You misunderstand. I would never make it an ultimatum, Mother, or risk your bargain. I would merely make the suggestion, and only after the engagement is secure. But if it will relieve your mind, I suppose I could wait until after the marriage to mention it.”
Mollified, but still staring at Snow, Kathleen mentioned, “We have other, more suitable, horses.”
“But I love that one, have raised him from birth.”
Vanessa didn’t add that she’d helped with that birth, which would appall her mother. But she resented that Kathleen was treating her like a child she could control and was so insistent on curtailing yet another of her freedoms.
