That was a lie, since Joseph wasn’t due for at least fifteen minutes.
‘Very well,’ said the man. ‘But I’m going to be in the library for a while, so if you have to wait too long, do find me in there. I have a carriage and driver at my disposal and I’d be pleased to offer you a lift.’
She thanked him again, a little overwhelmed. Someone was actually beingkindto her? That certainly made a change. She sighed and resigned herself to her wait.
She had made no friends here. She had been utterly foolish not to realise that the Earl would be a much-admired figure in Brighton, and anyone who made an enemy of him was in danger of being ostracized by all of Society. Joseph turned up at last with Rupert and the gig, and during the brief journey, just one question preyed on her mind.
Could she continue to live at Clematis Villa, if she was to be universally shunned?
When Kate got home, she helped Harriet to bottle the raspberry jam, which they would, she suspected, be eating every day for the next six months. The rain continued and Harriet loathed it, but Kate was glad because it meant no noisy parties in the Earl’s garden. The next day though, the fine weather returned and in the afternoon, Joseph told her that he’d caught sight of two of the Earl’s guests on her land again. That night she couldn’t sleep, and the next morning she drove herself into Brighton to call at a lawyer’s office.
‘I have a neighbour,’ she explained to the lawyer sitting behind his desk, ‘whose guests, I suspect, frequently stray onto my property. Can anything be done?’
He pursed his lips. ‘That rather depends. Can you tell me the location of your property? And the name of your neighbour?’
As soon as Kate mentioned the Earl’s name, his reaction was instant. He told her, in a few blunt phrases, that she was being oversensitive and that the legal costs of opposing the Earl over such a trivial matter could be enormous. Kate said no more but bade him a curt goodbye and went out into the street again, her thoughts in tumult. It was not fair that one man should have such power, purely because of his title and wealth!
But that was how the world worked, and anyway, it wasn’t just his power that disturbed her, it was him. She just couldn’t stop the quickening of her pulse whenever she thought of him, which was far too often. She walked slowly down to Marine Parade and gazed at the bathing cabins lined up on the beach, telling herself that a good dunking in the ocean would banish her foolish thoughts. She would like to see the Earl thrown in too, as punishment for his arrogance—but wait! Perhaps she shouldavoid that thought, because it might remind her of seeing him emerge from the lake with those wet breeches clinging wickedly to his slim hips…
Too late. She was already picturing him far too vividly, and now she was all hot and bothered again. She hurried along Marine Parade without really looking where she was going, and as a result, she bumped straight into a group of around twenty people, holding up placards declaring,Save Our Town from the Idle Rich!
Forced to a halt, she realised the men and women in the group were chanting, ‘Protect Brighton! Protect our heritage!’ One of them, a respectably dressed man, came towards her. ‘Ma’am, may I offer you one of our leaflets? My colleagues and I—’ he indicated the others ‘—are weary of the London rich buying up our houses and treating our neighbourhood as their private playground.’
Kate’s eyes had widened. ‘You mean men like the Earl of Rivington?’
‘Exactly! He is a prime example of the way our peaceful countryside is being ruined, with his huge new house on the hillside!’
At last, here were possible allies. Kate clutched at the leaflet as if her life depended on it. ‘May I join you here, Mr…?’
‘My name is Melling. George Melling. And yes, please join us by all means!’
So she stood with the others, between two middle-aged ladies, who nodded and smiled, and she too handed out leaflets while joining in the chorus of ‘Save our town!’
But nearly everyone passing by on the Parade rejected the leaflets, either shaking their heads or muttering something rude, and Kate felt more and more uncomfortable, especially when she noticed that some rough-looking men were pointing and jeering at them. Her colleagues, though, weren’t deterred. ‘Stopthe London rich!’ they kept calling. ‘Stop them seizing land they have no right to!’
Mr Melling called to Kate above the din. ‘You mentioned the Earl. I gather you’ve come across him?’
Kate spoke loudly back. ‘I’ve encountered him, yes.’
‘He’s one of the worst culprits! He must have bribed the Town Commissioners to get permission for that house of his—that’s what men like him do.’
‘Bribery?’ Kate was appalled. ‘Do you mean it, sir?’ But already he was joining in the shouts again—‘Save our town!’
More people had stopped to watch them, many looking hostile. Some screwed up the leaflets they’d been given and tossed them aside. A group of labourers came over from a nearby building site and shouted, ‘You leave the rich Londoners alone! They’ve brought lots of work here for folk like us, so shut your mouths!’
Rain started to fall, but the street didn’t empty, and instead the unfriendly members of the crowd were now outnumbering the demonstrators. Kate was soaked and anxious, but Melling put his hand on her shoulder, saying, ‘You’re doing well. Stand your ground, because I’m going to get help.’ He turned to the others. ‘All of you, let everyone know we have justice on our side!’
Then he disappeared into the throng. Insults were being hurled freely now with a few punches being thrown, and when some of the men jostled against Kate she managed to stay upright, but it was with relief that she saw some constables pushing their way into themelee.
‘Thank goodness you’re here,’ she exclaimed to the nearest one. ‘I’m so glad you’ve come to our aid!’
But the constable ignored her. Waving his baton, he called out to the demonstrators, ‘Right, you lot. You’re the ones whostarted all this, so it’s time for you to clear off, before we start making arrests.’
Arrests?‘But it’s not our fault!’ Kate cried out. ‘And I did not think we were breaking the law!’
‘Then think again, missy.’ His tone was scornful. ‘This town is a nice, peaceful place. We can do without your lot causing trouble.’
She looked around for Mr Melling, but there was no sign of him. Then she was almost knocked off her feet by a sudden violent surging of the crowd and for a moment, the old fear overwhelmed her of being in danger and unable to run. That was the moment when she heard a sardonic male voice she recognised all too well.
