An English Lord's Love Affair

Chapter 22.4. Off To Grander Things

   The sky was overcast when the service ended. The cawing of crows in the distant fields greeted the congregants who filed outside. Charlotte's spirits had plummeted at Paulina's rather irrelevant observation, and the words echoed a disturbing refrain in her mind.

   'I expect he's off to grander things.'

   What grander things could Aleister be doing on a quiet day like this? Not helping Benedic to challenge Edward. Their encounter would occur in the dark, not on a peaceful Sabbath morning when practically the entire village was strolling benignly down the church footpath, past the lopsided crosses in the churchyard, to the line of parked carriages and carts.

   Aunt Penelope was still talking to anyone who would listen about the significance of her misplaced shoe.

   Charlotte's heart fluttered. How silly she was. Why was she allowing Paulina's thoughtless remark to upset her? Dominic would not stage his confrontation on a Sunday afternoon, when everyone could see or hear— Everyone was gathered here. No one could witness anything that went on at Strathmere Hall.

   She stared at the clusters of people assembled on the church porch, around the footpath. Servants and gentry, young and old.

   Sir Edward was not here.

   "It's happening right now," she said, gazing toward the main road. "While I stand here like a ninnyhammer listening to my aunt talk about her haunted shoe. They're together at this very moment."

   Her uncle was suddenly at her elbow, his face grave. "What is it?"

   "I—" She shook her head, her instincts struggling against the promise she had made. "I cannot tell you."

   "Tell me," he said. His voice was very low. "I know he is alive if that is what you are trying to hide from me."

   "What?" she whispered, her face turning gray.

   "I know Strathmere survived the attempt on his life, and I believe I know who wanted him dead. What I do not know is how you became involved with him, Charlotte. Your aunt watched all your comings and goings from the house like a hawk. How could you possibly have established a friendship with the man from your room?"

   Charlotte stared miserably at the row of uneven crosses in the churchyard. "It doesn't seem possible, does it?"

   "How?"

   "Well, he fell into the situation, so to speak."

   "Fell?"

  "Umm."

   "Into . . . the—"

   "The trunk of my underthings from London, all right? Now you know the sordid details. He did not plan it. I didn't plan it. In fact, I was sitting in my room, minding my own business, on the road to reform—"

   "Your room," Sir Humphrey said, hitting the heel of his hand on in forehead. "I should have guessed. It wasn't Damon, was it? It was Strathmere. You . . . oh, how could you, Charlotte?"

   "Are we going to stand here berating my behavior all day?" she demanded. "Benedic is with Edward right now."

   He took her arm. "No. I shall berate you on the way home."

   He watched her past Paulina and her friends, all of whom gave Charlotte a sympathetic smile. Charlotte could only assume that they assumed she had gotten into trouble again, and—

   "Why don't we take the carriage, Uncle Humphrey?"

   "Because your aunt will not walk a mile in her haunted shoe, that's why, and because I know a shortcut that is much faster."

   "Shouldn't we at least tell her that we are leaving?" Charlotte asked with an anxious glance over her shoulder.

   "And spoil her dramatic moment?" Sir Humphrey shook his head. "We'll leave word with the driver to bring her and Paulina home. Wait here."

   "But—"

   Charlotte stood alone on the footpath as he hurried off toward the line of waiting carriages. In the distance she could see the tips of the trees that encircled Strathmere Hall. Of course Benedic would have planned the details of his revenge down to the hour.

   He couldn't confront Edward at night, when the servants might hear a disturbance, or the sound of a pistol shot would carry in the silence. He had chosen instead a Sunday morning while everyone was at church.

   "All right," Sir Humphrey said, huffing a little for breath as he rejoined her. "We want to be gone before anyone asks to come with us.

   Charlotte fell into step with his brisk strides. "What are we going to do?"

   His mouth formed. "You are doing nothing, young lady. It seems to me you have done quite enough already. I shudder to think how I shall explain this to your aunt, let alone the rest of your family."

   A chill seeped into Charlotte's bones. "Do you really have to tell them?"

   "I'm afraid you have crossed the line this time, Charlotte. A kiss behind a parked carriage is one thing."

   "You might as well put a noose around my neck," she said glumly. "Or toss me on a ship to be transported to the colonies."

   "I doubt the colonies would know to do with you."

   "Uncle Humphrey," she said in despair, "I thought you understood. I did only what I had to do."

   He decimated a crop of toadstools with his walking stick. "You might have sought my help, Charlotte."

   "He wouldn't let me."

   "But he let you help him?"

   "He didn't want to do that either. But when I found out about Bernard—"

   "Bernard?"

   "Benedic believes that Edward had Bernard and Sebastian killed in Nepal because they found out he had betrayed the British army to the French. Edward planned the ambush."

   "Dear God."

   "He doesn't have a conscience, Uncle Humphrey."

   "Benedic, " he said, shaking his head in dismay. "On a first-name basis with a ghost now, are we?"

   "How did you find out he was still alive, Uncle Humphrey?"

   His gamekeeper Finni and I put our heads together. I had suspected for some time that Strathmere's death was not as simple as it appears. Finni and I both felt that more than a mere poacher was haunting the woods."

   "Haunting is the word."

   "After Finni and I talked, he did a little investigating inside the house late at night. He knew his master was alive but would not betray him for the world."

   "As his uncle did," she murmured.

   "Yes." He threw her an irate look. "Which does not excuse the fact or explain why you became involved with him."

   "It doesn't, does it?"

   Charlotte felt a little breathless by this time, from practically running through the tall grass, from defending her position, from trying to convince herself that Benedic was not fighting for his life while she and her uncle argued with each other.

   "I thought you and I understood each other, Charlotte. I thought you were on the path to reform."

   "I thought so, too, Uncle Humphrey."

   He grunted. "And hiding a man in tour room was supposed to help you in exactly what way?"