Regency Pleasures and Sins Part 1
She and Arthur ate with Jenny and John around the kitchen table, too tired and drained to worry about changing clothes or using the dining room. When Arthur took himself off home Katherine helped Jenny in the kitchen and sent John to make sure Nicholas had everything he needed. She had no intention of causing her emotions further turmoil by going up herself.
The sanctuary of her bed did not bring the rest she needed. The worry about the debt sat like a brooding vulture on the bedpost, and the presence at the other end of the landing of a mysterious half-stranger who was refusing to do the sensible thing and annul their marriage threatened to completely overset her resolution to do the right thing.
Consequently it was a heavy-eyed and depressed Mrs Lydgate who breakfasted alone and then set herself to establish the true extent of her financial difficulties. She gathered her own careful account books and the small pile of tradesmen’s bills and went along to Philip’s study.
The final demand from the moneylenders was easy enough to find; it took longer to unearth all the other bills, dunning letters and scrawled vowels that littered the study or were jammed into drawers.
She had just drawn a line under a long and staggering list of figures when the door opened behind her and Nick said, ‘There you are.’
Katherine pushed back the chair and stood up, scanning him with anxious eyes. He looked well enough in John’s respectable jacket and breeches and the colour was back in his face. The edges of bandages showed under his cuffs and around his neck he had tied a loose spotted bandana.
He followed her eyes and said apologetically, ‘Not perhaps the clothes to be seen wearing in St James’s, but I can tell you the luxury of clean linen is priceless.’
‘Should you be up?’ Katherine asked. ‘You do look much better, I have to admit, although your eyes are still red. Your voice sounds awful.’
‘I slept like—I almost said the dead—like a log. Which is more, I think, than you did.’ One long stride brought him in front of her and he ran the ball of his thumb gently under her eyes. ‘You look tired.’
‘After yesterday’s excitements I found it hard to sleep.’ Katherine tried not to shiver at the light caress.
‘And what are you doing?’ Nick reached behind her and picked up the paper she had been using to list Philip’s debts. He let out a low whistle. ‘Your brother’s?’
‘Yes.’ Katherine took a deep breath. ‘I have decided I cannot deal with those, he will have to, if and when he returns. I have added up my own housekeeping accounts and I can pay those with what is left from the necklace money. I paid Arthur for the pawnbroker last night. That leaves … let me see … just over thirty pounds. That will feed us and pay the housekeeping for a while, but it is not going to help with the big debt.’
‘We need to leave town.’ Nick turned and went to lean on the mantelshelf, apparently engrossed in the dead embers in the fireplace. ‘If we go away, it will take them a while to find us, that’s all I need, to buy a little time.’
‘Where can we go?’
‘Home,’ he said simply. ‘I will take you home.’ Then he turned and Katherine saw the bitter frustration in his eyes before he dropped his gaze. When he looked at her again he had his expression under control.
‘You do not want to go,’ she stated, feeling miserably guilty.
Nick shrugged. ‘No, but it is time I faced up to my responsibilities, swallowed my pride and made peace, I know that. Coming to London was only a way of delaying the inevitable.’
‘Make peace with whom?’
‘My father, and my brother perhaps, although Robert would forgive me anything, I sometimes think.’
‘And where do they live?’
‘Northumberland.’
Katherine stared at him. Northumberland. Why, that was almost Scotland. ‘What will they say when you come home with a wife who isn’t a wife and a debt of such proportions?’
‘Robert will adore you. My father will be not in the least surprised at whatever I do. He and I have never seen eye to eye.’
‘Is that why you left all that time ago?’
‘Yes,’ he said shortly. She waited, but he did not add anything.
What to do? Travel hundreds of miles to a family she did not know who would have every reason to resent her and the debt she brought with her? They must be happy to know she had helped Nick escape death, but the thought that this might somehow cancel out the debt she had saddled him with or the fact he had married without his father’s blessing or approval was not one that sat comfortably with her. A life was not a commodity to be bought and sold.
‘Very well, on one condition.’ He raised an eyebrow and she added hastily, ‘I know, I should not be making conditions when you are trying to help me, but you must promise me that we will have this marriage annulled as soon as possible.’
The quizzical eyebrow stayed up. ‘Very well, if you still wish for an annulment by the time we have been in Northumberland for one month, then you shall have it.’
‘One month?’ Katherine regarded him, suspicious. ‘Why one month?’
‘To allow the charms of my family to grow upon you, perhaps.’ He smiled and her heart did a little flip. ‘Well?’
‘Yes, I agree. I suppose it will take that long to arrange an annulment anyway, do you not think?’
‘I should imagine so. It is not something I have any experience of.’ His voice was sounding painfully hoarse again and Katherine poured brandy from the decanter that always stood on the end of Philip’s desk.
‘Try sipping this. I wonder if drinking it hot with lemon would be soothing.’
‘This will be fine, thank you. Now, we must plan for the trip …’
‘No, you must stop talking and sit down and rest. I will plan and you can nod or shake your head.’
With a flash of white teeth he sank obediently into an armchair and sat watching her with such an expression of meek obedience that she laughed. ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake stop looking so conformable! I know perfectly well that you only do what I ask when it suits you.’
‘I am enjoying being ordered about,’ Nick rasped, his grin broadening. ‘Are you always so managing?’
‘Yes,’ Katherine said, somewhat shortly.
‘Do you enjoy it?’ He was steepling his fingers and regarding her over the joined fingertips. It made it hard to read his expression, but it drew her attention forcibly to how beautiful his hands were. Hastily she dropped her gaze to the desk and turned over the piece of paper she had been using for her sums.
‘Not particularly, but I found I had no choice.’ It sounded abrupt and rude, but she did not want to explain any more about the chaos her life would have been if she had not taken charge of the household.
‘Then you shall manage me, Kat, and I will look after you,’ Nick said amiably. ‘You make your lists for the journey and I will add anything that occurs to me.’
Half an hour later they had a plan. ‘So, tomorrow I pay off all the tradesmen’s debts and Jenny and I will pack. John will check over the carriage and harness and the horses and you will rest.’
‘I will buy some linen,’ Nick interjected. ‘Either that, or John and I between us will run through his stock of shirts within days.’
‘Very well, but you need not purchase neck cloths for Philip has left some. Then we set out on Friday and go by easy stages to rest the horses. How long do you think it will take us?’
‘It depends on the horses, but a week at least. We are going to have to balance the cost of rooms and food against the risk of pushing them too hard.’
‘And John. It is a long way to drive.’
Nick got to his feet and stretched. ‘Aah. It is so good to be able to do that.’ He rolled his shoulders luxuriously. ‘John and I can share the driving.’
‘No, you cannot!’ Katherine got to her feet too and marched over to stand toe to toe with him. ‘Have you no sense? You should be resting, not driving a coach for miles.’
Rather too late she realised just how close it brought her to him. He smiled down wickedly. ‘You do tempt me to show you how perfectly fit I feel, Kat. I have had my neck stretched for me a little, that is all. If I had been suffering from consumption or gaol fever, that would be quite another matter.’
Frustrated, Katherine fell back on another argument. ‘You cannot sit on the box and drive a coach. You are a gentleman.’
‘And I have been a common trooper for two years and a highwayman and felon for some weeks.’ He pinched her chin and turned away to the door before she could retaliate. ‘Now I really must go and lie down and rest or my managing wife will read me a lecture.’
‘Insufferable man!’ Katherine glared at the door as it closed behind him, then reluctantly smiled. Nicholas Lydgate was certainly proving difficult to manage. But it was intriguing to be matching her wits with a strong man and not a weak one.
She shivered. She was growing dangerously fond of him, she could recognise that fact only too well. What effect would being cooped up with him in a carriage for over a week have on her emotions?
It was rather too disturbing to think about. Katherine opened the door and walked briskly down the passage to the kitchen. ‘Jenny! We have a lot to do, and only a day to do it in. We are going to Northumberland.’
Chapter Nine
Katherine regarded the sleeping man opposite her in the carriage with mixed feelings. Part of her was relieved that, after stubbornly refusing to rest all the previous day, Nicholas was doing so now; part of her was frustrated that, having anticipated the long journey together with mixed trepidation and pleasure, she now had no opportunity to talk to him. Was it exhaustion, or an excellent defence against questions?
He sleeps like a cat, she brooded. Nicholas had no sooner sat down, made sure the two women were comfortable and exchanged a few words with John, than he had simply closed his eyes and fallen asleep. It did give her the chance to study him unobserved, for Jenny, agog at the adventure of a long journey, had twisted round to watch the passing scene from the window.
He was certainly an elegant sleeper; his lips were parted slightly and his breathing was heavy and regular, compared to Philip’s habitual slack-jawed snoring.
Katherine sighed inwardly and wondered where her brother was at that moment. Had he the sense to husband his resources and secure modest and respectable lodgings, or was he already seeking out whatever gambling and drinking dens the French coastal towns offered? Was he happy now there was no one to remind him of his obligations, no one to expect him to exercise self-control? Or was he lonely?
She blinked away a treacherous tear and resumed her study of her temporary husband. His colour was better, she decided, and he certainly looked very respectable now. His shopping trip the day before had produced not only a supply of shirts, but he had stopped at the barber and was sporting a positively fashionable Brutus cut.
So … she assessed the man in front of her. High cheekbones that gave him a slightly saturnine expression when he narrowed those dark eyes, a very decided chin, mobile and expressive lips and a straight nose. All very handsome, no doubt, although this perfection was disturbed somewhat by a scar that sliced across his right eyebrow, leaving a fine white line through the black hairs. He had been fortunate not to lose that eye.
Still, handsome looks were not so uncommon and doubtless she had seen men equally as good looking before now. Even some who combined looks with a fine physique. So why had none of them stirred any particular interest in her? Why did this one make her heart beat harder? And why, when he touched her or looked at her, did she feel that strange hollow ache inside?
Because you are not married to any of the others, the tart voice of common sense reminded her. You have not slept with any of them and none of them have kissed—
Nick’s eyes opened suddenly without any clue from his breathing that he was awake. Katherine found herself staring straight into them with an absolute conviction that her thoughts must be plainly written all over her face. The blush that swept over her seemed to reach from her crown to her toes, but she could not unlock her gaze from his.
‘I was just trying to decide whether you looked better,’ she said finally. ‘I think you do.’ Concern for his health was the only legitimate excuse for a young lady to stare so at a man. ‘You must be sleeping well.’
‘As you can see,’ Nicholas said with a smile. ‘I must apologise for being such poor company, but my time in the army taught me to sleep when I could.’
It was a statement, not an invitation to discuss his service as a trooper. Katherine bit back the string of questions she had on that topic and smiled brightly. ‘Very sensible. Jenny and I have been well entertained in watching the passing scene.’
‘Where are we?’ He leaned forward to look out of the window.
‘Stevenage,’ Jenny replied, having been the only one of the two young women who had actually been paying the slightest attention to the outside world.
‘I thought we should stop at Baldock, rest the horses and have some luncheon,’ Katherine suggested.
Nicholas nodded, settled himself more comfortably in his corner and slept again.
Four days later Katherine found herself sitting in exactly the same place and seething with suppressed indignation. The wretched man was purposely avoiding her, that she was certain of now. Not that it was not prudent to preserve a certain distance as they were soon to have their marriage annulled, but surely he could at least take the time to tell her about this unknown family she was about to be pitchforked into?
Nicholas had slept the first day and been politely distant and discreet at dinner time before he and John had departed for their bedchamber, leaving herself and Jenny to theirs.
The next day he had sat on the box with John and on the third he had taken the reins. Every evening had been as quiet as the one before and on every occasion Nicholas had been as uncommunicative. And again today the two men were up on the box sharing the driving as the Midlands of England slowly gave way to the unfamiliar northern counties.
Tonight they would lodge in York and Katherine was absolutely determined that she was going to achieve some communication with Nicholas if she had to lock herself in his bedroom to achieve it.
‘Are you all right, Miss Katherine?’ Jenny was sitting regarding her with some concern.
‘Yes, of course. Why do you ask?’
‘Because you’re scowling something dreadful,’ Jenny responded frankly. ‘You’ll end up with terrible lines on your forehead if you carry on so.’ She cocked her head on one side and waited patiently for her mistress to explain herself.
‘Well, I am a little concerned about things,’ Katherine began mildly enough. ‘And I would like to discuss them with Mr Lydgate—who appears to be going to some lengths to avoid talking to me.’ She felt her anger rising as she articulated what, up to then, she had only been brooding upon. ‘I have no idea what to expect when we reach his family home. He just whisked me away from London—all I know for certain is that he parted on very bad terms with his father …’
And you want to know all about his family and what his plans are,’ Jenny soothed. ‘Of course you do, Miss Katherine, ‘tis only natural.’ She fell silent, then suddenly remarked, ‘I believe I have a headache.’
‘There is some sal volatile in my reticule,’ Katherine offered. ‘Or we could bathe your temples with lavender water, if only I can recall where I packed it.’
‘No, thank you. I know what I need, fresh air.’ Jenny tugged the check string, and when the horses came to a halt jumped down without waiting for one of the men to open the door for her. ‘John,’ she called up, ‘I have a terrible headache, I think I would be much better if I could sit up on the box with you in the fresh air for a while. Would it be a terrible inconvenience for you to change places, sir?’
A few minutes later, in a flurry of skirts and with a wink to her mistress, Jenny was settled on the box and Nick was climbing into the carriage. ‘A decided young woman,’ he remarked.
‘Yes,’ Katherine agreed, uncertain whether that remark held an element of criticism. ‘She and John have both been wonderfully loyal to me since our situation became so bad. I have no idea how I would have managed without them, and half the time I was in arrears with their wages.’
‘Devoted servants are—’
There was a gunshot from outside, then another. The horses plunged to a halt, throwing Katherine across the coach to land in Nick’s arms. She scrambled back, only to find herself thrust firmly behind him on the seat when she tried to look out of the window.
‘What is it?’
‘Highwaymen—two, I think. Damnation, both pistols are on the box with John.’ There was shouting from outside, the sound of John’s voice raised in protest and another shot.
‘Jenny …’
‘Hopefully they’ll both have the sense to do as they are bid and won’t put up any resistance. Yes, they are both all right: they have just climbed down. Where’s the money?’
‘All over the place—some in my reticule, you have some, John the rest, I think. I never thought to hide it.’
Only minutes had passed since the first shot—it seemed like hours. ‘Well, we must just put a good face on it and hand it over,’ Nick began, then he grinned. ‘Perhaps not. Kat, take off your pelisse. Good, now, get rid of that fichu or whatever it is and tug down the front of your gown a little.’
‘What!’
‘No, more, like this.’ His fingers were warm on her skin. ‘Off with that bonnet, far too respectable; unpin your hair—no, I’ll do it. Good, now follow my lead.’
Katherine saw one of the highwaymen approaching the carriage door. The other had moved John and Jenny at gunpoint to the side of the road. She glanced down and was shocked at the amount of swelling bosom Nick’s cavalier treatment of her neckline had produced.
He threw open the door and jumped down before the man had a chance to reach it, then turned to swing Katherine down beside him, apparently unconcerned by the threatening long-nosed pistol being pointed at them.
‘Good day, mate.’ He grinned and Katherine realised with a shock that his voice had coarsened. ‘This is a turn up and no mistake, eh, Katy?’
‘What? Don’t you try no nonsense, just hand over the dibs.’ The man waved the pistol threateningly.
‘Now then, cullies.’ Nick raised his voice so it could be clearly heard by the second man. ‘This is no way to treat one of your own.’
The nearest man squinted at Nick. ‘What’yer mean? I don’t recognise you and I know all the lads on the bridle lay round here.’
‘Never heard of Black Jack Standon?’
Katherine stifled a gasp. Surely he couldn’t hope to get away with it?
‘Yeah, what of it? Everyone’s heard of him; these last few days since the news reached here no one’s talked of anything else in the taproom. Cut down from the gallows alive at Newgate, so they say. Don’t say why … Bloody hell!’
Nick dragged at his neck cloth and pulled open his shirt. The vicious ring around his neck had developed more colours since the hanging, and if it was now less swollen it was certainly no less dramatic.
‘You? You’re Black Jack? How did you get off, then?’
‘All due to my clever little Katy here.’ Nick put an arm around Katherine’s shoulders and pulled her to him.’ She found the clergyman who’d testified in court to my lifting his cash box and gave him a night to remember, didn’t you, sweetheart?’
Chucked under the chin, Katherine managed a smile she only hoped looked suitably saucy.
‘What, then he came over all soft hearted and told the court it was all a mistake?’ the taller man scoffed.
‘No.’ Nick grinned wickedly. ‘She told him she’d go into church and tell the entire congregation, including his wife and his patron all about it—right down to the birthmark on his left buttock. He couldn’t get in front of the magistrates fast enough after that.’
‘Gawd!’ The man regarded Katherine with awe mixed with an unsubtle appreciation of her well-displayed charms. ‘Left it a bit late, didn’t he?’
‘You could say so.’ Nick rubbed his throat cautiously. ‘Not an experience I would want to repeat.’
‘Too right.’ Both men stuffed their pistols in their waistbands and held out their hands to shake Nick’s. ‘Birthmark on the parson’s bum!’ The shorter one chortled. ‘Pleased to have met you and proud to shake you by the hand, Jack Standon. I’m Will Buckley, they call me Will the Fly and this here’s Long Harry Potts.’ He leered cheerfully at Katherine. ‘And if you want a change, sweetheart, you come asking for us at the White Horse.’
‘I might at that,’ she retorted, hoping her relief was not written plain across her face.
With a few more sallies at the unfortunate parson’s expense the two highwaymen mounted up and vanished into the scrubby woodland that fringed the road.
‘Jenny, John—are you all right?’ They both seemed safe enough, walking towards the coach with relieved smiles on their faces.
‘I’ve got a hole through my hat,’ John grumbled, wriggling a finger through the crown. ‘Still, a miss is as good as a mile. Bloody quick thinking, sir,’ he added. ‘I thought we were going to lose every farthing we’d got left.’
‘Oh, Nick!’ Katherine threw her arms round his neck and clung tightly. ‘You were wonderful.’ She had been far more frightened than she had realised while it was all happening, and certainly more so than when she had sought out Black Jack. Then nothing had mattered other than saving Nick; this time people she loved had been at risk for a few pounds.
With his arms full of warm, emotional and grateful young lady, Nick tightened his grip automatically. Something shot through him that blurred his vision and made the blood roar in his ears. It was like striking a spark on to tinder. He was scarcely aware of Jenny and John behind him climbing back on to the box in an undignified scramble to be tactful. All he was aware of was glorious curves pressed against him, the scent of femininity, the trembling of soft arms around his neck.
‘Hrrumph. Are you going to be getting into the carriage, sir?’
Startled, Nick realised exactly where he was. ‘Er, yes, John.’ He swept Kat into the coach, slammed the door and sank back on the battered squabs.
Kat settled herself opposite him, flushed and laughing, apparently with relief rather than any emotional lightning strike as a result of his embrace. Nick dragged air into his lungs and looked at her. Her hair was in disarray, tempting his fingers to rake through it, her face was charmingly pink with excitement and the swell of her breasts, exposed by the neckline he had so roughly pulled down, rose and fell with her laughter. His wife.
Chapter Ten
Nicholas found he could not take his eyes off the woman opposite him. She was enchanting, absolutely enchanting—and she was his wife. He must have been mad to promise her an annulment. If he could just get her to change her mind before they reached his home and she discovered what he had been avoiding for six years, surely she would forgive him for the deception afterwards?
Something of his thoughts must have shown on his face, for Kat stopped laughing and glanced down. ‘Oh, goodness, just look at this gown.’
‘I am.’
‘It is not funny.’ She was tugging up the neckline in a manner that was utterly feminine, which made him smile. ‘Please pass me my fichu. Thank you.’ She tucked and pinned and, finally satisfied, began to search for hairpins on the seat. ‘Goodness knows what those men thought.’