The Fat Badger Society (Drusilla Davanish Mysteries Book 2) Page 17

  I breakfasted early and was buttering my second piece of toast when Mr. Hamerton walked into the room, greeting me in his usual cheerful manner. I asked if he’d slept well and he assured me he had. ‘Nine hours, without stirring. And I feel greatly refreshed by it. Sea air is very tiring, although we didn’t spend as much time at sea as I’d hoped.’

  I looked up at him and smiled. ‘Why was that?’

  ‘Well, progress was so slow on the first day,’ he said, filling his plate with substantial portions of ham and eggs, ‘we set off really early the next morning. But there was so little wind we eventually put into Shoreham, hired horses and rode to Windsor. Which I’m glad we did as my business took three days to settle. Still it’s finished with now,’ he ended happily.

  ‘You must be eager to move into your new house.’

  ‘I am, ma’am. But I am also most grateful for the warm welcome I’ve received at Westfleet. You have all been very kind.’ Cutting into a slice of ham, he asked how things had gone on in his absence, speaking as if he did not expect much to have changed. When I told him of the highwaymen, he gazed at me in disbelief. ‘Highwaymen? Here on the Island?’

  ‘I’m afraid so.’ He listened in horror as I related the tale. ‘My aunt suffered a nasty cut on the head, but otherwise we escaped unhurt.’

  He sat there, his breakfast untouched, shaking his head from side to side as if unable to believe what he was hearing. I explained about the body disappearing, which again seemed to stagger him. ‘There must have been an accomplice waiting in the woods.’

  ‘Indeed. I’m going back to take another look. We couldn’t see anything last night.’

  ‘Is that wise, ma’am?’ When I said, wise or not, I was going, he offered to accompany me.

  ‘Thank you, but it’s not necessary. I shall have Mudd with me. But you could explain to my aunt and uncle where I’ve gone, if you would be so good.’

  On reaching the place where we had been held up, we looped the reins of our horses round suitable branches, and began to search the area. I soon found what I was looking for. In a clearing about forty yards from the road, there were some fresh footprints and hoof marks intermingled in the soft ground. But despite a thorough search of the area, there wasn’t a single clear cut footprint that could be used as evidence.

  We were just about to leave when I saw the stocky, ginger-haired local constable hurrying up the hill to make his own search. ‘Good morning, Roach,’ I said, and lost no time in telling him exactly what had happened last night. ‘The man had a scar running from the top of his right cheek down to his chin. Do you know anyone on the Island with a scar like that?’

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Roach took off his hat and scratched his head in thought. ‘No, my lady, I don’t. And I wouldn’t forget a scar like that.’ I had difficulty in hiding my disappointment, having expected Roach to know the man’s identity. ‘He must have come over from the mainland.’

  ‘Very likely,’ I sighed.

  When I arrived home Mr. Hamerton was in the garden reading, but I did not disturb him. Instead I went into the drawing room, to find Mr. Reevers and Mr. East with my uncle. They, I soon learned, had called on their way to church to reassure themselves we were all safe.

  ‘That is kind of you,’ I said. Sitting near my uncle I asked him how my aunt was this morning.

  ‘Feeling a little better, but I’ve persuaded her to rest quietly today. Perhaps you would be kind enough to accompany me to morning service, Drusilla?’ I agreed at once, to please my uncle, for he was the kindest of men and would do anything for me.

  Mr. Reevers said, ‘I hear Mudd shot one of the highwaymen.’

  ‘Who told you that?’ I exclaimed in surprise.

  ‘It’s all round the village.’

  My uncle said, ‘Well, the village has got it wrong. It was Drusilla.’

  ‘You shot him, Lady Drusilla?’ Mr. East queried, his eyebrows shooting up.

  ‘I did. It seemed the best thing to do at the time.’

  That made him chuckle. ‘It’s a pity you don’t speak French, ma’am, we could do with you in France.’

  ‘I like my comforts too much I fear, Mr. East. Besides a woman of my height would be easily remembered.’

  ‘You wouldn’t care to stoop a little, I suppose?’

  I couldn’t help laughing. ‘A tall hunch-backed woman might be even more noticeable.’ And before he could think of a suitable answer, I glanced at the clock and said, ‘You will have to excuse me, I’m afraid. If I’m going to church I must change at once.’

  Mr. Hamerton joined us for the short walk to the church, and it being a hot day I took a parasol. After the service, with the news of the highwaymen on everyone’s lips, my uncle was surrounded by people inquiring after my aunt.

  Julia stopped to talk to Mr East, while Richard and Mr. Hamerton were soon in animated conversation, enabling Mr. Reevers to draw me a little apart from the others. The sun having gone in, I did not open my parasol.

  ‘Tell me exactly what happened last night,’ he urged. I did so, including the fact that the scar-faced man had said I was the one they wanted. He drew in his breath sharply. ‘If I’d known I was putting you in that much danger I would never have suggested to Pitt that-----’

  ‘I would still have tried to find out who killed Jeffel and Septimus.’

  A faint smile touched his lips. ‘Yes, I believe you would.’

  ‘The other man was definitely Mr. Silver.’

  People were beginning to come within earshot and he said, ‘We can’t talk here. Tell me instead what you thought of Mr. Upton’s sermon.’ The disquiet was still in his eyes, but the slight twitch at the corner of his lips told me his own opinion. To find a man who shared my enjoyment of the absurd was an absolute joy.

  ‘If you wish,’ I said, nodding to a passing acquaintance. Mr. Upton’s overlong sermon was a lecture on the need to show consideration for others, and included a snide remark about not calling on decent God-fearing people after they had retired for the night. Referring to this, I said, ‘Frankly, if he considered my feelings, he would never call on me ever again.’

  His eyes were brimming with laughter, and I went on, ‘As for giving thanks for Howe’s great victory over the French fleet, I am exceedingly happy to do so, but I do wish Mr. Upton didn’t make it sound as if he had personally arranged it with the Almighty.’

  ‘Perhaps he thinks he did.’

  I gave a gurgle of approval. ‘He seems to think God is always on our side. What will he say if France gains a victory?’

  ‘He will think of something,’ he murmured.

  ‘Pompous little man.’

  Glancing over my head, he murmured, ‘Pompous or not, he’s heading this way.’ I cursed under my breath and saw Mr Reevers press his lips firmly together.

  Turning to face the parson, I civilly apologised again for the inconvenience I had caused him only a few hours earlier. He nodded in a manner that suggested he’d expected nothing less, and began speaking as if he was still in the pulpit. ‘Nevertheless, I fear it is my duty to advise you there is a lot of talk in the village about your conduct last night.’

  I took a very deep breath. ‘I am not interested in tittle-tattle, Mr Upton. And if, as you say, the whole village is talking about the highwaymen, then I know who to blame. I told no-one except you and Mrs. Upton.’

  This neither embarrassed nor stopped him. ‘You can’t keep that sort of thing quiet, ma’am.’

  ‘Not if the parsonage knows of it,’ I retorted.

  But I should have saved my breath, for he carried on as if I had not spoken. ‘It was most unwise of you to go gallivanting about the countryside at midnight without a chaperone.’

  Mr Reevers choked, which I ignored. ‘Mr. Upton,’ I hissed between my teeth. ‘What I do is no concern of yours and if----’

  ‘Please let me finish, ma’am. Mudd is to be commended for shooting that highwayman, but as for yourself, the rules of propriety must be observed
at all times. A lady should never concern herself with the removal of a dead body. ‘

  ‘For your information Mr. Upton, Mudd did not shoot the highwayman. I did.’

  His prim brows rose in utter disbelief. ‘No lady could bring herself to do such a thing. Mudd is obviously responsible,’ he announced in the manner of a man who always knows best. ‘Everyone says so.’

  ‘Indeed,’ I retorted in a quelling voice, unconsciously tapping my closed parasol against the side of my shoe. ‘You would be well advised not to listen to gossip, Mr Upton. There is rarely any truth in it. And none at all in this instance.’ Swinging round on my heel, I walked off down the path, leaving him standing.

  Mr Reevers followed me, murmuring under his breath, ‘Masterly. I thought you were going to hit him over the head with your parasol.’

  ‘Serve him right if I had,’ I fumed, as we stopped outside the gate to wait for my uncle. ‘Insufferable man.’

  ‘Well, that’s taught me one thing,’ he commented in a colourless tone.

  I eyed him with suspicion. ‘What might that be?’

  ‘Never to make you angry when you’re carrying a blunt instrument.’

  I struggled with myself for several seconds, but the sheer merriment in his eyes soon had me laughing. Calming down, my conscience began to bother me a little. ‘My father would not have approved of my behaviour. He taught me to be polite to people of inferior status.’

  ‘I shouldn’t worry on that score. Mr Upton does not consider himself to be inferior to anyone. Except perhaps to the Lord himself, and I wouldn’t be too sure of that.’ Smiling I shook my head at him and he casually inquired, ‘Are you acquainted with anyone high up in the church?’

  ‘Why?’ I asked, full of misgiving, having observed the muscle twitching in his cheek.

  ‘If you were, you could have Mr Upton moved to some obscure parish in the wilds of Northumberland.’

  ‘Don’t tempt me.’

  Mrs Upton came gushing up then, eager to introduce Mr. Reevers to an acquaintance. Whereupon Mr. Sims claimed my attention. ‘My uncle told me what happened last night, ma’am. It must have been most frightening.’ The words he used were appropriate, but concern for my well-being was quite absent from his voice.

  ‘It was not pleasant,’ I agreed. ‘I trust I didn’t wake you when I knocked on the parsonage door last night.’

  ‘Not at all, ma’am.’

  ‘No doubt you are a deep sleeper,’ I said, wishing my uncle would hurry up so that we could go home.

  ‘It’s not that, ma’am. The fact is I had gone out for a walk, to look at the stars. But this business with the highwayman’s body is most odd. What can have happened to it?’

  ‘Someone took it away, Mr. Sims. Someone who was out late.’ And I asked, ‘I don’t suppose you saw anyone when you were studying the stars?’

  He shook his head. ‘Regrettably I did not, ma’am.’ It was only later that I remembered high cloud had covered most of the sky, and that it hadn’t been possible to see the stars.

  The highwayman’s body was never found and I did not expect that it ever would be. Mr. Brown had removed the body before it could be identified, because it would lead us to him and all the Fat Badgers.

  It wasn’t until Wednesday that my uncle decided Aunt Thirza had recovered sufficiently from her ordeal to benefit from a drive in the sunshine. When she came into the drawing room dressed in her favourite dove grey, I observed, ‘You’re looking very fetching, Aunt.’

  My uncle grinned. ‘That’s what I said. It seems,’ he admitted, winking at me, ‘I should have realised the gown was new.’

  Laughing, I shook my head at him, for he loved to tease my aunt, but she knew him too well to rise to the bait. Instead she turned to me and said, ‘I trust the carriage has been thoroughly cleaned since that dreadful incident the other night.’ Calmly I assured her it had, and she demanded, ‘Who is to drive us? Not that spotty youth we had last time. I----’

  ‘No. Ware will drive.’

  She sniffed. ‘He’s a slowcoach.’

  As I drew in my breath, my uncle intervened. ‘Ware seems eminently suitable to me, my dear.’

  He spoke firmly, and she rarely argued with him, accepting his decisions in a way she would never accept mine. ‘Very well, Charles. If you say so.’

  ‘I do.’

  Luffe came in to say the carriage was at the door, and that Mr. East had called to see me. I directed Luffe to show him in, and my aunt and uncle stayed to greet him. He asked if I’d care to go for a ride, and when I accepted my aunt ordered in her peremptory way, ‘You will take Mudd with you, Drusilla.’

  ‘Of course,’ I said, humouring her.

  Half an hour later Mr. East and I, correctly accompanied by Mudd, were enjoying a good long gallop across the Downs. ‘By heavens, ma’am,’ he said, when we eventually stopped, ‘I have never seen a lady ride as well as you do.’

  I laughed. ‘Flatterer. I feel sure you would prefer to be riding with Miss Adams.’

  Grinning, he didn’t deny it. ‘Actually, if you don’t consider it an imposition, I should value your advice. About Miss Adams I mean.’

  A bee buzzing round Orlando made him shake his head and I ran my hand down his neck, murmuring a few calming words, before asking casually, ‘What kind of advice?’

  ‘Well, the thing is, I’ll probably be sent back to France once we’ve caught these wretched Fat Badgers, and I---’

  ‘You believe we will catch them?’

  ‘I do, ma’am. Even if we can’t pin Hamerton down before he moves to his new house, we will once he’s living there. No doubt he chose it because it offers the perfect meeting place for his gang of murderers, but keeping watch on an isolated house is very easy. When they are in gaol and I’m ordered back to France.......’ He hesitated briefly, then the words tumbled out in a rush of embarrassment, bringing a faint flush to his cheeks. ‘In short ma’am, ought I to make Miss Adams an offer under those circumstances?’

  I didn’t answer at once and he said, ‘Forgive me if I am being a little impertinent, but I suspect you may soon be faced with the same difficulty ----’ I dismissed that with a wave of the hand, but he only grinned at me. ‘Your view, as a woman, might help me decide. You see, if we married and then I went back to France ---- well, the thought of causing her so much anguish---- you understand, I’m sure.’ He brushed a stray hair from his eyes. ‘Yet, if I don’t speak, I may lose her altogether. She’s not short of suitors.’

  Miss Adams, I thought, was a very lucky woman. Not every man would show such concern for a wife’s feelings. I said, ‘I believe in living for the day, Mr. East. Julia says the same. If Miss Adams returns your feelings, not being married won’t stop her worrying.’

  He gazed at me for some seconds, as if he hadn’t considered that. ‘Yes, I see what you mean. I’m very much obliged to you, ma’am.’

  I smiled at him. ‘I hope I shall soon be wishing you happy.’

  ‘So do I,’ he declared ardently.

  We were still riding at a walking pace when we saw two riders crossing our path some distance ahead, and he muttered, ‘Why does Mr. Sims spend so much time with a rascal like Mr. Young? ‘

  ‘Rascal, Mr. East?’ I teased. ‘Mr. Young is a respected member of the community.’

  ‘So I’m told, ma’am. Nevertheless, Mr. Upton would be horrified if he knew.’

  ‘Undoubtedly. But I have no intention of telling him.’

  ‘Very wise,’ he agreed. ‘Still I trust Mr. Sims knows what he’s doing. Young is not a man I would like to cross. Or be in debt to.’

  ‘No, indeed. It’s to be hoped Mr. Sims has more sense.’

  Mr. East’s veiled suggestion that I might soon be in a similar situation to Miss Adams came into my mind the following morning when I saw Mr. Reevers riding up to the house. Colour rushed into my cheeks, but luckily my uncle, who was reading the newspaper while waiting for my aunt to change before they went for a walk, didn’t notice. Thankfully
it had subsided by the time Luffe showed Mr. Reevers into the drawing room. After chatting for a few minutes my uncle said, ‘Would you excuse me while I see what’s keeping my dear wife.’

  He shut the door carefully behind him and Mr. Reevers chuckled softly. ‘Do you think he realised he was leaving you without a chaperone?’

  ‘You could have warned him,’ I suggested, unconcerned.

  He got up and sitting beside me on the sofa, murmured in a caressing tone, ‘From my point of view that seems rather foolish.’

  I raised my eyes to his and what I saw left me decidedly breathless. Which was why, I told myself later, I behaved like an innocent girl just out of the schoolroom, whispering, ‘Why is that?’

  He took my left hand and held it between his own hands. ‘You must know there is nothing I want more than to be alone with you.’ I did know it, and in that moment, it was what I wanted too. If I said the right words now, he would make me an offer of marriage. But I hesitated, and he murmured, ‘What is it, Drusilla? What bothers you? You cannot be unaware of my feelings. And I thought that you-----’

  ‘The thing is,’ I broke in quickly, ‘I’m not sure I want to be married.’

  He looked at me from under raised brows, a faint smile twisting his lips. ‘My dearest love, there can be no other option.’

  That made me gasp. Glancing up at him, I saw his eyes were alight with laughter and I instantly admonished, ‘You know perfectly well I didn’t mean---’

  ‘I should hope not,’ he said, affecting a prim tone. ‘For one thing, your aunt would never allow it.’

  A vision of Aunt Thirza’s outrage, should she be informed of such a situation, set me chuckling, dispelling any awkwardness I felt. Even so, I had spoken the absolute truth. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be married. And I was just about to explain my reasons, when Luffe came in and announced, ‘Mrs Tanfield, my lady.’

  Julia took one look at us and insisted light-heartedly, ‘Tell me at once if I should go away.’