Page 19 of Masquerading with the Duke
‘This is Compton.’
They walked the horses down a main street every bit as prosperous as its equivalent in Shawford. Everyone they passed doffed their caps and raised hands at Lord Amos. He acknowledged them all, occasionally pausing to exchange a word or two; always addressing those he spoke to by name.
‘Makes you feel like royalty,’ he said, smiling at Jared after the latest interruption. ‘Right, this is the Ploughman.’ They turned their horses into the mews, where grooms ran forward to take them. ‘A tankard of ale?’
‘That would be most welcome.’
They strode into the taproom, pausing only for Lord Amos to introduce Jared to the landlord, a man by the name of Clark.
‘Right pleased I am to welcome you to the area, sir. We heard there was hiring going on at Musgrove Manor, but no one knew who’d taken it, like.’
‘It was no secret, Clark,’ Jared assured him, even though he had kept his name out of things for fear of Romsey learning of his plans before he had an opportunity to resign from the diplomatic service. ‘And I will be taking on tenant farmers just as soon as the cottages have been made habitable.’
‘You won’t have to search far for good, honest, hardworking men, sir, and that’s a fact. Now, let me serve you with some refreshing ale. You’ll find it slips down a sight more easily than that watered-down gnats piss they serve in the Crown.’
Jared chuckled as Clark moved away to serve another customer, smiling at the buxom barmaid who sent him a sultry look. ‘I take your point about the rivalry,’ he said, as the two men moved to a vacant table close to the open window, where the slight breeze coming through it compensated for the stagnant air and noxious aromas wafting in from the baking hot village street. ‘But Clark has a point about his ale. It’s excellent.’
‘No better and no worse than what’s served at the Crown,’ Lord Amos told him. ‘But you’d never get Clark to make that admission; nor Jeggins, who has the Crown, either. They are the worst offenders, the two landlords, when it comes to keeping the feud alive.’
‘Probably good for business.’
Lord Amos nodded. ‘Very likely.’
The two men savoured their ale for a few moments in comfortable silence. Thor flopped down beside them, having partaken of a noisy drink of water at the trough in the mews. Jared felt less suspicious of Lord Amos’s motives now that he knew him better, and had taken a liking to the man. Even if Lord Romsey had asked him to probe into Jared’s reasons for leaving the service, it seemed clear that Lord Amos wasn’t one to jump to erroneous conclusions based on nothing more than rumour and speculation.
Or the sins of previous generations.
He decided to broach the awkward subject, if only to clear the air between them. It mattered to Jared more than he had anticipated that the duke and his family did not look upon him as anything other than a man dedicated to his country’s interests.
‘You must know of the rumours surrounding my father’s involvement with Brooke,’ he said calmly, aware of a momentary flash of anguish passing through Lord Amos’s expression at the mention of his late wife’s father. ‘I have no desire to raise painful or embarrassing subjects, Lord Amos, but I think it’s important that you know where I stand on the matter, given that we are neighbours and, I hope, also destined to be friends.’
‘No need to apologise. In fact, I am glad it is you who raised the matter. I was trying to think of a tactful way to do so myself.’
Jared motioned to the barmaid for refills. She delivered them quickly and found reasons to linger at their table, until Lord Amos pointed out to her that she had thirsty customers waiting to be served. She sashayed off with a wiggle of her wide hips and a saucy smile over her shoulder for Jared.
‘You won’t be short of company should you wish to indulge,’ Lord Amos said, chuckling.
‘I am a little more selective. Her charms are obvious, but she seems a little too free with her favours for my taste.’ Jared took a long sup of his fresh ale. ‘However, as to what we were discussing, I want to make it abundantly clear that I had no part in my father’s less than savoury connections with Brooke. I have no idea what exactly he was up to. I was still in education at the time and seldom at home, but I have heard the rumours. I’ve heard it suggested that the pater traded on Brooke’s reputation to sell the pieces he made at inflated prices, and used the profits to bolster Napoleon’s coffers.’
‘A disquieting thought,’ Lord Amos said, sympathy in his tone. ‘No man wants to consider his own father as disloyal to king and country.’
‘Quite.’ Jared rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger. ‘I have absolutely no idea if it’s true, but I can assure you that I myself have never been anything other than patriotic.’ He waved a hand to prevent Lord Amos interrupting him, surprised to find just how much he wanted this most personable of men to believe him. ‘I have learned to ignore the raised eyebrows and the implied condemnation—especially now that I am wealthy in my own right. It’s easier for some members of the aristocracy to assume that I earned my blunt by disreputable means rather than through my own endeavours, and it gives them something to talk about during their interminable dinner parties.’ An edge of bitterness had crept into Jared’s voice. ‘Frankly, I have given up attempting to justify myself; nor do I care what is said about me.’
‘Like father, like son is undoubtedly the party line,’ Lord Amos observed with apparent sympathy.
‘Precisely—and as it happens that assumption is not far from the mark when it comes to my brother. He and the pater were cut from the same cloth, but I am very much my own man.’
Jared sat back, giving Lord Amos a moment to absorb his revelation.
‘You suspect your brother of disloyalty?’
Jared lifted one shoulder. ‘I have no proof. We don’t get on, and I see little of him. I do know that he’s constantly in dun territory but always finds a way out of it; or has done up until now. Makes you wonder. Shouldn’t say it about my own flesh and blood, I suppose, but I want to make it clear that I am more or less estranged from my family and that I don’t want to be judged by their behaviour.’
‘I admire your forthrightness,’ Lord Amos said. ‘And for the record, I depend upon my instincts to judge a man, not gossip.’
Jared inclined his head. ‘Thank you—in anticipation of passing muster.’
‘It cannot have been easy for you to live under a cloud of suspicion. Is that why you agreed to work for Clarence? You had a point to prove? A question of family honour.’
