Page 28 of Masquerading with the Duke
‘Your grace. Ladies.’ Mrs Redrow looked pale as she took the chair that Frankie motioned her to. ‘I trust I find you all well. I hope you will pardon my unheralded call, but I am in a state of some worry. I spent the night before last visiting my friend in Southampton. I stayed overnight. It’s too far to travel there and back comfortably in one day. But imagine my surprise when I returned to discover that Martina had gone. The girls are bereft and cannot understand what made her decide to quit her post so abruptly. They are worried that they did something to offend her. They might not attend to the studies as diligently as I would like, but I cannot imagine them being deliberately rude. Indeed, they were very fond of Martina.’
Frankie glanced at Sara and Nia, not attempting to interrupt a monologue that sounded contrived; as though her visitor had been practising what to say on the journey over. She was flustered and worried—but not, Frankie sensed, for Martina’s wellbeing.
‘I do hope she is not unwell,’ Mrs Redrow continued, their combined silence appearing to fluster her even more. Remaining silent was a ploy that Zach often found effective and it was now standing Frankie in good stead. Mrs Redrow’s need to justify herself intensified her suspicions, but Frankie had yet to decide whether she actually knew what had driven Martina away. ‘Indeed, if she was, I am sure she would have come to me. I did everything I could to make her feel welcome and, as I say, the girls adored her. Mr Redrow and I are at a loss to understand why she took herself off.’
‘She is here, safe and well,’ Frankie said when her guest finally paused to draw breath.
Some of the rigidity left Mrs Redrow’s posture. ‘Thank goodness.’
Fresh tea was delivered and nothing more was said until Frankie had poured for them all and handed round the cups.
‘Has she said what made her leave so suddenly?’ Mrs Redrow asked, stirring her tea so vigorously that some of it slopped into the saucer. Her unease convinced Frankie that her visitor already knew, or at least suspected why Martina had fled. ‘If she is dissatisfied in any way, I am sure we can arrange things more to her liking.’
‘Mr Redrow is not in France?’ Sara asked. ‘He seems to travel so much. I have heard you complain before that you seldom see him.’
‘He is a slave to duty,’ Mrs Redrow replied, ‘but we have had the pleasure of his almost exclusive company these past few weeks.’
Sara and Frankie shared a look. ‘Was he there on the day that Martina took herself off?’ Frankie asked. ‘Perhaps he knows why she left.’
‘Could you not simply ask her, your grace?’ It was clear from her tone that Mrs Redrow was struggling not to sound assertive. If Martina had left for no good reason without giving notice then she had every right to feel aggrieved, but Frankie felt increasingly sure that Mrs Redrow knew why Martina had quit and was anxious to refute any accusations she might have made.
‘She will tell me when she is ready to,’ Frankie replied calmly. ‘But she will not be returning to your employ. I’m sorry if that inconveniences you, but the child has already been through so much. I won’t insist that she does something she would prefer not to.’
‘She is very fortunate to have found such an understanding patroness,’ Mrs Redrow replied stiffly.
‘I will have her things sent for, if you’d kindly arrange for them to be packed up.’
‘Naturally.’ Mrs Redrow took a deep breath that failed to hide her unmitigated relief. ‘I am glad there is no unpleasantness.’ She paused to glance at Sara’s lists, which she had covered over when Mrs Redrow was announced. The names of the guests were being kept confidential and much speculation abounded in that regard. Frankie sensed that Mrs Redrow would love to pretend to have inside knowledge, thereby implying a closeness between her and Frankie which did not in fact exist. ‘We are very much looking forward to the masquerade. If there is anything I can do to help with the preparations, you have but to ask. There will be many details that require attention at the last possible moment, I expect.’
‘Thank you, but we have in under control,’ Frankie said, thinking she would be a sorry excuse for a duchess if she was unable to organise a large party without outside help.
Conversation turned to costumes and masks but when the subject had been exhausted Mrs Redrow took her leave.
‘She suspects her husband,’ Sara said, scowling as the door closed behind Faraday, who’d been summoned to show her out.
‘And she’s mightily relieved that you don’t know,’ Nia added.
‘What shall you do about it?’ Sara asked.
Frankie spread her hands. ‘Unless…until Martina chooses to confide in me, there is nothing that I can do. And even then, it will be her word against his.’
‘You still sometimes forget the amount of power you wield,’ Nia said, shaking her head. ‘If you drop the couple then everyone else will. Mrs Redrow enjoys nothing more than to boast about her intimacy with you.’
‘Becoming socially unacceptable will have to be punishment enough, I suppose,’ Frankie said, shaking her head. ‘Anyway, ladies, let’s return to the subject of our preparations.’
Chapter Eight
Equinox was delivered, as agreed, the morning after Jared’s revealing encounter with Martina—revealing in all senses of the word, he thought with a rueful grin. She had definitely seen a great deal more of him that had been his intention, but had appeared to take the embarrassing episode in her stride. Even though the war had been over for a decade and she had still been a child when it came to an end, there had been rampaging and rebellions against the austere regime of the new king for a long time after that. Martina would have seen her share of degenerate behaviour before she and Ariana had been forced by circumstances to flee the land of their birth.
It had not been his intention of make her feel uncomfortable. It was him, in fact, with his strong physical reaction to her who had probably been the more discomposed of the two.
Jared had asked Harker, his newly-appointed steward, to engage a stable lad to help John. He had been surprised to find an obliging lad already hard at work mucking out when Equinox arrived. Jared watched as John and the lad settled Equinox into his new stall.
‘Shall you ride him today, sir?’ John asked, admiring the beast from a safe distance, mindful of his sharp teeth and readiness to snap at anything that came within range of them.
‘No, let’s give him a chance to become accustomed to his new home first. I’ll take him out tomorrow. Groom and feed him, then turn him out in the next paddock to the geldings.’
One of the geldings had been kept in, along with Harker’s horse. At a nod from Jared, both were saddled and he and Harker rode into Winchester. Jared had asked Harker to look out for a curricle for sale. He had not expected him to find one so quickly and was impressed by his desire to…well, impress.
