Page 57 of Lady Audacious
Two hours later, Sarah returned to her chamber, feeling vindicated and yet even more concerned.
‘Reuben seemed distracted when we took tea in the drawing room just now, but was civil and polite enough when I spoke to him,’ she admitted to Nelly. ‘The imposter has said nothing; I am absolutely sure of it.’
‘Very well. What do you intend to do now?’
‘Get rid of her, of course,’ Sarah replied breezily.
‘How do you intend to go about that? She is the owner of the house that borders this estate. Why would she leave?’
‘Oh, I am sure she will not, and I don’t mind if she stays, just so long as Reuben loses interest in her. And in order for him to do that, it will be necessary for him to see her in her true colours. Clearly, she is of very low moral character and gentlemen are sometimes slow to see what is obvious to the rest of us.’ Sarah crossed her arms and tapped the fingers of one hand on her opposite forearm. ‘The men working on her roof,’ she said in a speculative tone as a possibility occurred to her. ‘The young, handsome one I mentioned to you.’
‘Oh, Joe Wright, I take it you mean.’ Nelly’s plump cheeks flooded with colour. Even she, it seemed, was not impervious to his charms. ‘I’ve heard him described as the village Lothario, whatever that means. In actual fact his behaviour is more like that of the village tom cat, but perhaps they are one and the same thing.’
‘Right then. When you meet with Doris later, I have a proposition for her to put to him that’s right down his street and which I will make worth his while.’
‘You intend for his lordship to come upon them in a compromising position, I take it,’ Nelly said in a dubious tone.
‘Do you have a better idea?’ Sarah snapped.
‘Certainly I do, but you won’t listen to it. I think you should leave it be and wait for the attraction to run its course.’
Sarah knew that her maid was right, but she wasn’t willing to heed her advice. There was something about Reuben’s blind determination to be of service to his dowdy neighbour that she hadn’t seen in him before. It showed in his expression whenever her name was mentioned and Sarah would give ten years of her life to have that same reaction directed towards her.
It went by the name of desire.
Chapter Sixteen
Odile felt guilty for whiling the rest of the day away when there was still so much to be done. Miss Mackenzie did not approve of idleness and Odile was a product of her strict regime. She sent Miss Mackenzie a rebellious and defiant smile that she would never see but which Odile had always wanted to deliver, and retired to her now clean and comfortably furnished small parlour.
The sparkling windows, unimpeded by encroaching vines, the aroma of beeswax polish and the fragrance of the garden flowers that Odile herself had arranged in a jug on the small table lifted her spirits. She took a moment to appreciate her good fortune and to thank the mysterious benefactor who had provided her with this opportunity to escape from Miss Mackenzie’s clutches. The prospect of being stuck in an endless spiral of teaching inattentive girls for the rest of her days had been wearing her down. She had yearned for adventure, for something more challenging, more exciting, and her wish had been granted in a manner than even Odile at her most imaginative could not have conceived.
With just Willow for company and the door closed to ensure privacy, she fell to reflecting, the book open on her lap going largely ignored. The discovery in the cellar had given her a great deal to think about but was not what occupied her mind. Instead, she thought about Reuben’s kiss. She had been taken aback, unsure how to respond, and wondered if such casual behaviour was normal in his world. That was one vitally important aspect of her education that had been sadly neglected by the ordinarily diligent Miss Mackenzie.
She ran the tip of her tongue across her lips, wondering if she had done something to subconsciously encourage his attentions. Had he guessed that she was required to fight her instinctive attraction towards him; an attraction that grew stronger with every meeting? An attraction that he stoked with every significant look or intimate smile he bestowed upon her?
‘Not unless he’s a mind reader, since I will confess that I had begun to wonder how it might feel to be kissed by him—purely from an academic point of view, you understand,’ she told Willow, who was drowsing with her head resting on Odile’s feet. ‘I admire him very much and I am grateful for all the time he has devoted to my difficulties. I am still not sure why he has bothered with me. Be that as it may, I have absolutely no idea how I am supposed to respond to him as a man. Do I follow my instincts?’
She placed a hand over her mouth to contain a giggle, even though there was no one there to hear it escape or to chastise her for it. Miss Mackenzie most emphatically did not approve of giggling. She did not approve of most things, now Odile paused to consider the matter.
‘Best not. Follow my instincts, that is, or his low opinion of my morals might prove to be justified. I blame him for that, of course. He has no business stirring up whatever it is that he agitates within me when he looks at me in that way he has. It was better off left buried, if you ask me, which of course you did not. But still, I had best be more circumspect in my dealings with him in future, just in case I have inadvertently given him the wrong impression of my character.’
The kiss had been blissful, but had left her feeling cheated, desperate for more. Ignorance, she was now in a position to say with absolute certainty, had been bliss. What one has never had one cannot yearn for.
Odile tried to focus her thoughts upon their discoveries in the cellar but she could draw no obvious conclusions from them, unless Reuben could decipher the partial address they had discovered. Even if he could and it was close enough for them to visit, there was every possibility that it would prove a dead end. Odile wasn’t about to get her hopes up, only to have them dashed. Perhaps she would be better off not knowing what her parents had got mixed up in, but she knew she would never stop searching for an explanation. Her desire for any knowledge of them, no matter what they had become involved in, was herraison d’être. If there was the vaguest possibility of gaining fresh information, she wouldn’t be able to help chasing after it.
She had barely broken her fast the following morning and hadn’t decided how to occupy her time most effectively, thinking hard physical labour would probably be the best way to keep her mind away from Reuben’s anticipated arrival, when that gentleman put his head round the kitchen door. Willow jumped up and ran to greet him. Odile blushed and only just prevented herself from following her dog’s example.
‘Good morning, my lord,’ Mrs Blaine said. ‘You’re up with the lark. Come and sit yourself down. The tea’s just brewed.’
Odile, momentarily struck dumb by the sight of his imposing presence in her kitchen, was grateful to Mrs Blaine for making conversation. By the time Reuben had seated himself and Mrs Blaine had placed a steaming cup of tea and biscuits in front of him, Odile had recovered her composure.
‘You are early,’ she agreed. ‘Are we going somewhere?’
Mrs Blaine looked up, not attempting to hide her interest.
‘Being early is the prerogative of earls,’ he replied, making her grin. ‘And yes, we are indeed going somewhere, if you can spare the time. I think I know where our mysterious Mr Smythe took himself off to.’
‘In that case I am yours to command.’ Odile had dressed in one of her gowns in expectation of doing further sleuthing, so all that was required of her was to don her bonnet and collect her reticule.
