Midnight Scandals Read online

  “No,” John heard himself say. “I’ve never known her. Not at all.”

  She didn’t grimace at that disavowal. Her expression remained china-doll smooth.

  “Mary, dear, if you could move the Japanese partition…” That from Lady Patsworth.

  Mary set the fan and parasol on the table and brushed past John. He caught a hint of something like sweet citrus as she passed, and those same old urges welled up in him—to lick her, despite everything. Then she crossed to the other side of the terrace and fiddled with a folding screen constructed from cherrywood and delicate paper. The so-called Japanese screen, John supposed; the paintings on its side were no doubt intended to recall the Far East to men and women who had never traveled farther than Birmingham.

  She adjusted the screen to allow a few more inches of shade to fall on Lady Patsworth’s side of the table.

  Mary’s scent hadn’t changed, but her eyes had. Once, they’d sparkled. Now, they looked flat. All that hidden mirth that he’d seen in her—it was as if it had been wiped clean and replaced with stark gray slate.

  Well. He’d not expected her to smile when she was caught. As methodically as she’d gone, she returned, seating herself at the table next to Lady Patsworth.

  She’d not said a word in greeting to him.

  “What does the fashion column have to say?” she asked, her low tones directed to the lady near her.

  Lady Patsworth lifted a monocle and peered at the paper. “It describes a day gown with well-fitted sleeves of sarcenet, embellished at the wrists with cord of silk.” Lady Patsworth frowned. “Cord of silk. I have never been fond of cord of silk, and at the wrists?”

  “Indeed,” Mary said. “It is too shiny.”

  Too shiny?

  John glanced over at Mr. Beauregard, but apparently he found nothing strange in this exchange. He’d gone back to talking fields and drainage with Sir Walter, as soon as the introductions had been made.

  John made appropriate noises at what he hoped were appropriate times. But apparently, he’d done a poor job of hiding his true interest, because when Beauregard left to ready their horses for their next visit, Sir Walter caught his eye.

  “Mr. Mason,” he said stiffly. The other man looked him up and down, from head to toe. “By the looks of you, you spend much of your time out of doors.”

  John gave him a curt nod.

  “I hear you’re staying at Oak Cottage.” Sir Walter’s mouth compressed into a thin, squashed line. “That’s not even half a mile distant.”

  Beauregard had offered the tiny outbuilding as a potential shelter rather half-heartedly; John had accepted it with gratitude.

  “Mm,” John said.

  “Beauregard implied you were a gentleman.” Sir Walter looked dubious. “You’ll excuse me, then, for speaking so directly. You’ll understand that a gentleman must protect his own.” He paused again and licked his lips. “The ladies of this household are entirely under my protection.”

  John swallowed. This conversation must have been audible to the women, but neither one so much as glanced in their direction. It was disorienting—as if perhaps this wasn’t really happening.

  Perhaps he had been looking at Mary over much. She was still beautiful, no matter what he thought of her character.

  “I won’t hold with any insult to them,” Sir Walter continued. “That’s why God made milkmaids.”

  Neither Mary nor Lady Patsworth blinked at this assertion. It was as if their ears were incapable of hearing the men’s speech. And perhaps it was just as well, because Sir Walter had not only implied that John was one step from pillaging and raping his way through the household, he’d suggested that he pillage and rape his way through the dairy instead.

  No doubt men said odd things at uncomfortable times, without intending all the implications.

  “Never you worry,” John said gruffly. “I have no interest in ladies.”

  That got Mary’s attention for the first time since she’d returned. Her head jerked up and her eyes met his in shock.

  “No interest in—!” Sir Walter repeated. “I—I’ll not have such things spoken of in this household.”

  “Women, yes. Ladies, on the other hand…” John spread his hands and examined his fingernails. “They’re like mistletoe—pretty enough, if you like pale berries and useless greenery. But just let it take hold, and it will choke the entire tree.”

  Mary looked away again.

  But Sir Walter did not quibble with John’s description. He didn’t even protest it. Instead, he merely chuckled. “You have an extremely dim view of our ladies. I do allow the expense can be considerable. But I find them quite worthwhile, assuming you can afford to protect them.”

  “Perhaps,” John shrugged. “Or perhaps not. I have no tolerance for parasites.”

  Sir Walter clasped John’s hand. “Then I’ll keep my ladies, and you can stay with your milkmaids.”

  “You do that,” John said. He extricated his hand, and hoped that Sir Walter had not noticed his failure to accept the milkmaids.

  Aside from that one glance, Mary hadn’t so much as looked at him. Her attention was directed far off, her gaze fixed on the purple silhouette of a hill on the horizon.

  “A word of warning,” John said. “As a farmer, I pull out mistletoe the instant it takes root. And I won’t rest until I’ve cleared it away.”

  She didn’t react to that. But she didn’t need to. Mary had always been quick. She had no doubt known she was doomed from the moment she saw him.

  Chapter Three

  MARY HAD KNOWN SHE WAS doomed from the moment she saw him.

  Somewhere, someone was laughing at the horrid trick of destiny that had brought John Mason, of all people, to Doyle’s Grange. She could almost hear the laughter echoing through the back garden. Sir Walter stood on the terrace, watching John to be sure that he left. Mary stayed, frozen to her chair by a deep despair.

  I have no tolerance for parasites.

  It was not even as if she could contradict him. She had no defense—certainly not against his hatred, and probably not against any accusation he might level. Lying, thieving, fleeing the scene of a crime… He could have made quite a list of her crimes, and he didn’t even know the half of them. The only ray of hope that she had—and it wasn’t much—was that he hadn’t come with a constable in tow and a warrant for her arrest.

  Yet.

  Sir Walter frowned and turned back to her. His gaze flicked from Mary to his wife, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  “You are to have nothing to do with him,” he said to Mary after a moment. “You are to see that Lady Patsworth does not, as well.”

  Normally, she resented his edicts. This one, she welcomed with open arms. “He seems a great brute of a man.”

  “I dislike his staying at Oak Cottage. So close.” He glanced at his wife who sat, arms folded, head bowed over the paper, as if she could not hear the conversation. “Who knows what might happen?”

  He spoke as if his wife might accidentally run into Mr. Mason, might just as accidentally have an affair with him—and all that, as easily as she might accidentally stumble and take a fall. If there had ever been any trust in Sir Walter, there was no evidence of it now.

  “From what Beauregard says, he’ll be here for weeks. If I hear that either of you have spoken with him, have even looked at him in passing…”

  “I won’t,” Mary promised. But deep inside, she wanted to shriek.

  He was going to be here for weeks? She was going to have to leave. The only question was how she was to manage such a thing. She had few enough possessions, and Lady Patsworth could do very well without her. The bigger problem was more mundane: She had no money. Without enough to pay for transport and lodging until she could find more work, she’d end up even worse off than she was.

  Don’t exaggerate, she scolded herself. You have funds aplenty. You just have to get at them.

  Sir Walter looked murderous. “You stay away from him,” he repeated. �
��In fact, your afternoon walks…”

  “I’ll walk toward Northword Hill,” Mary said swiftly, before he could take that privilege away, too. “Between the two hedges—he’ll have no reason to encounter me there.”

  He considered this. “Very well,” he finally said. “For now. But we must think of your safety.”

  She was beginning to hate that word. That was all she and Lady Patsworth ever heard—of his concern for their safety, their wellbeing, their dignity. It was on those grounds that he barred her from speaking to the other women in the neighborhood when church services were over. He spoke of his wife’s delicate health when he refused to allow her brother to visit. To hear him speak, it was always about his solicitude for the two of them—and never about his own twisted jealousies.

  “One thing, Sir Walter.” Her heart kicked up a beat. “You recall that you’d agreed to hold last year’s wages for safekeeping.” She swallowed and looked down. “Would it be possible to request that I receive a portion of those funds?”

  Sir Walter’s frown deepened. “Whatever for?”

  “It’s so hot these days. I should like to make a summer gown.”

  He contemplated this. “Peter will be happy to take any orders you have to the store. I’ll deduct the necessary funds from your account.”

  A bolt of linen, obtained by their groom, wouldn’t do her any good. “Nonetheless,” Mary persisted. “I should like to purchase it myself.”

  Going into the shops was not allowed. Having money was not allowed.

  He sighed and shook his head. “Miss Chartley. When I said I would hold your wages for safekeeping, I took that charge quite seriously. You are in my employ, and you are therefore my responsibility. If I gave you your wages outright, you might squander it on all sorts of fripperies. Trust me, my dear, and allow me to refuse this request. You’ll thank me later, when the principal is still intact years from now.”

  She needed to run. She was desperate to run. How could she do so, without a penny to her name? “But—”

  “I think we’ve had enough of this discussion in front of Lady Patsworth,” Sir Walter said, reaching over and giving her a pat on her hand. “She is not well and certainly doesn’t need to be bombarded with conversation about such vulgar matters. We’ll continue this later, if you please.” He set his serviette on the table next to his fork and walked inside the house.

  Etiquette. Safety. Responsibility. They sounded like such admirable virtues, until Sir Walter got his hands on them.

  He didn’t look like a monster. He didn’t act like one. Mary hadn’t even realized he was one for months. He’d taken away her money, her freedom, her friends, and it wasn’t until she was well and truly leashed, without a penny in her possession, that she’d realized what he’d done. He mouthed all the right words of concern. But the instant Mary’s wants diverged from his, he gently, politely quashed all her hopes.

  The question of her salary was one of those things. He simply refused to pay her. He would advance funds on her account for gloves or other necessary purchases. He even occasionally gave her a few shillings when they traveled, so she could handle the necessary vails. But he expected her to account for every half-penny, and he always—gently, politely—took them back.

  What he was doing was illegal. But what could she do about it when she didn’t even have the money to take a cart to the nearest solicitor, fifteen miles away? How could she prosecute him, when she herself might be brought up on charges?

  When she’d left Southampton eighteen months ago, she’d known her life had changed. Sir Walter had taught her what that meant. She’d lost all control over her future. She was dependent on the goodwill of the men around her. And if she was to have any say at all over what happened to her…

  She couldn’t stay, not with John in the vicinity. Yet she couldn’t run. Without any money at all, she’d only end up worse off than she was now. She might confide her troubles in Sir Walter, but giving the man an extra weapon to use against her didn’t sit well. She wanted to scream. She was helpless, pinned to this house by the slowly shortening leash of her penury.

  But then, so was Lady Patsworth. The woman had pointedly ignored Mary’s exchange with her husband. She sat, her spine ramrod straight, on the terrace, and studiously read the London paper.

  “Lady Patsworth,” Mary tried.

  “Cord of silk,” the woman responded. “Do you think that cord of silk might do, after all?”

  “Lady Patsworth, please. Do you think you could ask your husband to pay me my wages?”

  Lady Patsworth did not look up from the paper. She did not acknowledge those words, not with so much as a blink of her eye. “Perhaps,” she mused, “not in white. A black, or perhaps a gold—that would give it a military look. Very sharp, I think.”

  Lady Patsworth was not simple, no matter how she acted. She’d simply learned that it was best if she didn’t attend to the unpleasant parts of life. As so much of her life was unpleasant, she scarcely attended to anything.

  “Or, perhaps, you might be willing to advance me my wages from your own funds.”

  Lady Patsworth set down her paper. She didn’t look at Mary, but she angled her spoon so that the bowl caught the sun, twisting it so it sent bright flashes into the leaves of the trees. “He reads my letters before they are sent,” she said quietly. “He hires my servants. He does not let me leave this property. Do you really imagine that he allows me any pin-money? If he did, I would have found some way to get a message to my brother.”

  Mary swallowed.

  “Lady Northword used to make her home here,” Lady Patsworth continued. “I once found what I believe to be a piece of her jewelry, hidden between the floorboards. He won’t even let me call on her to return it. And when she came by to pay a call, he told her I was indisposed. The most I can hope for is what you just saw—that I might be allowed to sit silent and unresponsive when a neighbor comes to call.”

  “Surely there is something that can be done.”

  “No,” Lady Patsworth said. “There isn’t.”

  There was no yelling in Sir Walter’s household. There was no dramatic posturing, no screaming, no fighting. There was only Sir Walter’s indomitable hold.

  The worst part was, Mary couldn’t even figure out how to voice a complaint. It would not sound so awful, if she told someone about it. He never hit his wife; he’d never touched Mary, and she’d seen enough of the world to be thankful for that. But it would almost have been better if he had struck out. At least then she would have had tangible proof of his character.

  She had to leave. She couldn’t go. These two facts butted heads with one another, but neither came out the victor.

  “Is there not something you can do?” Mary asked in desperation.

  But Lady Patsworth had already picked up the paper, folding it back to the fashion page. And that was answer enough.

  Mary could do only what Lady Patsworth did: She could endure, and pretend that none of this was happening.

  MARY’S AFTERNOON WALK WAS NOT, it seemed, to be a dash for freedom today—just an amble around the boundaries of her cage. Her absence was strictly timed, and the stable grooms were always positioned—Sir Walter said—to prevent her from accidentally intruding on the neighbors’ properties and incurring their wrath. Besides, he didn’t trust the laborers at Beauregard’s farm to treat her with the respect that a well-bred lady deserved. For her own good, she had to be confined.

  The end result was the same. She had only a few fields to explore, a small slice of land squeezed between the neighbors’ hedges. Her terrain stretched down the hill north of Doyle’s Grange, terminating at the creek in back. Forty-five minutes of leisure multiplied by the months that they’d been in residence meant that she knew every inch of that space. She would have no escape today, just a temporary change of prison. Still, she tore out of the house and down the hill, wanting only to get away.

  Late summer was the worst season to wander. The path between the hedges had g
rown over. By now, the thistles were tall enough to scratch her calves under her skirts. As for the nettles… Her arms were bare, and the nettles had grown waist-high. All that rain last May had gone straight into producing tall prickly stalks and stingers, all determined to thwart her temporary flight for freedom—or at least solitude. Her pace slowed to a walk, and then to a few steps at a time.

  There was a trick to stinging nettles. If one walked right through them, one would end up red and itching all over. But only the bottoms of the leaves stung. If one were careful, one could take hold of the plant by pushing down on the tops of the leaves, and then very carefully moving it to the side…

  “So,” a voice said behind her. “I’ve found you.”

  The man spoke just as she held the offending plant at maximum distance from herself. Mary let go in surprise; it sprang back into place, slapping its stingers against her bare arm. It felt as if she had been attacked by a half-dozen ants all at once.

  She bit her lip and muffled an oath, slapping her gloved hand over her smarting flesh.

  “John,” she gasped, and then, when she took in his folded arms and disapproving stance, remembered that her actions the last eighteen months had erased any claim she had to intimacy. “Mr. Mason,” she corrected herself. “What ever are you doing here?”

  He was wearing a long coat and thick, dirt-stained gloves. “I’m walking parallel to the creek,” he said. “Seeing how the water drains off the hill.” He gave her a pointed glance from head to toe; his gaze lingered impolitely on the exposed expanse of her lower arms. It felt just as rude when he turned his head sharply the other way. “Unlike some,” he said, with a disdainful emphasis on that latter word, “I’ve dressed for the terrain.”

  If she took her coat on a warm summer day, Sir Walter would wonder if she planned a longer journey, and he’d insist on relieving her of her burden. For her health, of course. Always for her health.

  She looked up at the clear, blue sky pointedly and then looked back at him. “Really. You’re seeing how water drains, when there’s not a cloud in sight.”