“It is not fair,” Kate protested, turning away from him and gazing out over the rough, sparkling waves below.
“Plain and ugly wenches doubtless are in the habit of uttering exactly the same sentiments,” he said. “Life, Mrs. Mannering. Life. Shall we stroll back? If Jim is as talkative with the Evanses as he was with me earlier, poor Audrey has probably been milked dry of all conversation long since.”
Kate took his offered arm and they walked back in silence.
And now, Kate thought, flinging herself facedown across her bed and propping her chin on her hands, not even noticing any pain. Now. It was just too exciting to be thought of all at once. She must let it flow gradually into her mind.
Josh. Josh sitting on a fence at the back of the lodge, swinging his legs disconsolately, and not getting down or looking up even when she appeared around the side of the house and called his name. Josh looking up eventually with tearful eyes and pouting mouth.
Poor Josh. Knowing that something was very wrong. Knowing that they were going to have to leave, when he had spent all his life at the lodge of Barton Abbey and when his parents were far too old to seek employment elsewhere. And knowing that somehow it was all on account of him. Not that anyone had said so or blamed him. But there had been that bad man and the new man he had known long ago and must now call earl. And there was the knowledge, clear even to a mind not of the swiftest, that there was a link between events. He had tried to tell about the bad man and the young, pretty missus, but the bad man had said yes and gone on talking about another bad man. But Josh had not seen that one. They had said to go and then his father had said they must leave.
Josh rocking back and forth on the fence, crying finally, telling Kate that he could not go till Master Jonathan came. Master Jonathan would not know where to find him.
“Do you mean Master Nicholas?” she had asked gently.
No, Master Nick knew where to find him. Master Nick hadn’t told him he would come back.
“Did Master Jonathan tell you that, Josh?” she had asked.
Yes, Master Jonathan had said to wait, he would be back.
Kate crossed to the fence and rested a hand on Josh’s shoulder. “Did you not know that he cannot come back, Josh?” she asked. “He has gone forever. He would come if he could. I am sure he loved you. But you have other friends. Master Nicholas will come to see you when he returns. And he likes you a great deal. So do I.”
“Master Jonathan will come,” Josh said, looking up at her at last, anxiety in his eyes. “He’s not angry. Josh didn’t tell no one or show no one. Josh kept it safe for Master Jonathan.”
Kate went very still. “Did you, Josh?” she asked. “But of course you would. I know that you are to be trusted. And you have an excellent memory. Is it a package you have?”
Josh swallowed noticeably. “Josh not tell anyone,” he said. “Master Jonathan said not to tell no one.”
Kate smiled gently. “What a very loyal friend you are,” she said. “But you know, Josh, when someone goes forever, like Master Jonathan has done, someone else takes his place. Master Nicholas is his son, whom he would have loved dearly if he had known him. You like him. And you know he likes you. Will you let me send the package to him?”
Josh shook his head. “Josh don’t know nothing,” he said.
“If Master Nicholas comes here and asks you for it, Josh,” Kate said, “will you give it to him? He will be so happy to have something of his father’s, and he will be so pleased with you for guarding it loyally all these years. Will you?”
Josh looked frightened. “Master Nick?” he said. “He will come and ask me?”
Kate nodded.
“You go tell him now,” he said. “Josh wait.”
She smiled. “It will take a while,” she said. “I shall find him and tell him how carefully you have guarded his father’s package. In the meantime, Josh, you must guard it awhile longer. You are a good and loyal friend and I love you.” She stretched up and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
And with that conversation ringing in her ears she had had to walk back around the house and be sociable—or at least brightly insulting—to Sir Harry Tate. Even her new knowledge that she loved him had taken second place to her excitement.
The marriage papers. They must be the marriage papers. Did it not make sense that Viscount Stoughton would have left them at the lodge with someone he knew to be so fiercely loyal? Josh had certainly proved over the years that Nicholas’ father had made a wise choice.
And now she had enough to tell Nicholas Seyton to make him suffer guilt pangs about her for the rest of his life. Good! She only wished she could witness some of his embarrassment and remorse.
Kate buried her face in her arms and let excitement wash over her.
But soon enough her chin was on her hands again, a crease between her brows. How on earth was she to send Lord Lindstrom’s letter to Nicholas and tell him to come with all haste for Josh’s package when she did not know where in Shropshire he lived? It seemed incredible that no one knew, none of his old friends. The fact that he had left his address with none of them certainly seemed to prove that he really had given up, that he expected no further evidence about his legitimacy to be found.
There was only one thing to do. She must ask Mr. Dalrymple. He was a kindly man and he must be a good friend if Nicholas had written to him at the Abbey. It was not going to be easy to ask. How could she explain wanting the address of a man she was supposed never to have met? But she must think of something, and soon. The Pickerings were to leave at the end of the month. That gave them no more than ten days after her own departure. If Nicholas arrived back after they had left, he might find it difficult to locate them.
Anyway, Kate thought, there were the Pickerings to think of too. She had in truth been feeling dreadfully guilty about her part in bringing about their dismissal. Sir Harry’s scathing accusations had made her feel even worse. She knew that there was no chance whatsoever that they would find employment elsewhere. Yet Lord Barton had said nothing about a pension for them. If Nicholas could only come before the end of the month, and if those papers did indeed prove that his father and mother had been legally married, then they would not have to leave. Lord Barton would have no more power to dismiss them.
There were five more days until the ball, she thought. Six before she must leave. Now, of course, she had no more reason to stay. She had discovered what she had hoped to find. She could write her letter and leave. But no, of course she could not, she remembered with a sigh. She had to stay in order to accompany Lady Thelma on her elopement. Foolish girl!
