‘On what?’ asked Jacob. He couldn’t believe it– but maybe he could guess?
‘Your brother and I have agreed the outlines of a marriage settlement, pending your approval of course,’ said Lord Furness.
‘The financial arrangements are very favourable,’ said Arthur. ‘You’ll have no reason to complain.’
‘No reason to complain?’ This was going too far. Any humour he found in the situation vanished. His brother had done it again– driven him to distraction! His body went on high alert as his vision blurred with fury and pulse raced. He was going to explode like one of the gunpowder kegs Lord Furness manufactured.
‘You will find my daughter an asset to whatever career you decide to follow, Dr Sandys.’ Lord Furness turned and walked a few paces away, contemplating the delightful prospect of a link with the Sandys family as much as he did the view. ‘I have no doubt of that.’
The bushes by the lake rustled, though there was no breeze to cause the disturbance.
With a huge effort, Jacob reigned in his temper, screwing it down so he didn’t give either man reason to doubt his sanity as he descended into a rant. Oh, but it was tempting. How he would love to yell at them both! ‘This is all very interesting, but one vital piece of this arrangement is missing.’
‘Oh?’ enquired Furness.
‘My consent.’ He strode away from them, meaning to get the hell out of here but, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a rifle barrel poke from the bushes. ‘Get down!’ As he threw himself behind the parapet, Arthur bowled into the oblivious lord and brought him with him to the pavement. Simultaneously a crack of a rifle shot echoed across the garden and bounced back from the hill behind. Arthur cried out. A second shot rang out and stone dust flew. Jacob bellied to his brother and Lord Furness.
‘Is anyone hurt?’
Clutching his heart, Furness gaped at him. ‘Someone shot at us.’
‘Yes. Are you hit?’
Furness lifted his hand to show it was unsullied. ‘No.’
Jacob was already checking his brother. ‘Arthur?’
‘I…’ Arthur removed his hand from under his jacket and looked at his palm in disbelief. ‘I’ve been shot.’
ChapterTwenty-Six
Loughrigg Tarn
Dora sealed her letter which she’d addressed to Susan at their office in London. It was frustrating how long it would take to get a reply, from postbag to mail coach to London to a messenger and finally to the recipient four days later, but the step had to be taken if Moss didn’t have the answers. If Knotte had been in town when Leyburn was attacked, it still gave him time to get to the Lakes for the ball at Rydal Hall.
She paused over that thought. Had he attended the ball? No one had mentioned him. The maids had talked about the fair curly-haired fellow who diddled with a married woman in the summer house, but that had sounded most like Langhorne. They’d called him ‘the ram’, which might be a pun on his surname– ‘long horn’– and they’d giggled about him rutting with the guest with her bent over the marble bench. Now Dora thought more on the subject, it was unlikely Luke Knotte had suitable clothes to attend a society ball. He could well have left the area to avoid the embarrassment.
She wished now she’d had more time to question Barton on the movements of his friends.
As if the thought of the missing man summoned messengers, there came an urgent banging on the kitchen door. In a departure from country customs, she’d bolted the entrance to add a level of security while the men were away.
‘Who is it?’ called Ruby, going to open it. ‘Is that the delivery from the inn?’
‘Wait!’ Dora jumped up from the desk but didn’t reach the kitchen in time to stop her friend.
As Ruby opened the door, Hartley and Derwent rushed into the room.
‘Manners, boys!’ grumbled Ruby, brushing off the dirt she imagined they left on her skirts. It was true that they looked like they could do with a bath in the tarn.
‘Miss Fitz-Pennington, we saw him!’ said Hartley, eyes wide with excitement.
‘Saw who?’ asked Ruby. ‘With that level excitement, I hope it is at least Walter Scott, or Princess Charlotte.’
Dora gestured them to sit at the kitchen table and fetched a plate of biscuits from the pantry. ‘Take a breath and tell me all about it.’ She added two cups and a jug of water. Ruby helped herself to two biscuits, leaving only one apiece for the boys.
‘What?’ she said when she noticed their hostile looks. ‘I’m eating for two.’
‘There’s more in the pantry,’ said Dora, moving quickly to make peace between Ruby and the boys. ‘Tell me what you know.’
