Chapter 5 #2
Alfie looked startled by the offer and then, to Aubrey’s surprise, he blushed.
The young man ducked his head and took a drink to avoid his embarrassment, but Aubrey had seen it, not that he understood the cause.
He’d looked ridiculously young in that moment, innocent as a lamb, which Aubrey was coming to suspect was far from the case.
Like his sister, he was a riddle, a puzzle of contradictions and unanswered questions, and the more Aubrey was confronted with dead ends, the more he wished to find out what was being hidden from him.
Aubrey waited for him to speak again, not wanting to press when the fellow was out of sorts, which he clearly was.
“That’s decent of you,” Alfie said at last. “Not while it’s so perishing cold, though,” he added, trying to smile whilst fiddling anxiously with a loose thread on his coat sleeve.
“Lord, no. Perhaps in March. I’ll have to ask Hawk to remind me where the best fishing spots are. It’s been too long since we larked about around here as lads.”
“You came here often with your cousin?”
Aubrey noted the wistful quality to his question with interest.
“When we were boys, yes. Hawk, and Nathaniel too. He’s the fellow who got married recently.”
Alfie gazed down into what remained of his drink, turning it back and forth on the scarred tabletop. “You must have had a lot of fun.”
“We did, causing havoc, playing idiotic games and getting into scrapes, fishing and swimming and enacting battles on the beach or in the woods. Playing at pirates.” He grinned then, remembering such carefree days, but watching Alfie carefully.
A sense of sadness, of regret, seemed to have settled upon the young man’s shoulders, and whilst it was none of Aubrey’s doing, a heavy sensation sat uneasily in his chest at having quashed the young fellow’s enthusiasm.
He might want answers, but he did not wish to make anyone unhappy or shove his own privileged circumstances under the nose of one whose fortunes had been rather more turbulent—if Aubrey guessed correctly.
“A pity I wasn’t here then. I’d give that guinea to see you dressed as a pirate,” the fellow quipped, winking over his pint, though Aubrey felt his heart wasn’t in it.
“As much as that? My, you are eager to see me act the fool,” Aubrey replied, wondering why the words made him uneasy. Is that what Alfie wanted? Was he playing games, trying to make a fool of him? Was that what nagged at him so?
“Not a bit of it. I just think you’d look fiendishly handsome with an earring. The ladies would love it. Adds an air of danger.”
Aubrey did laugh this time, putting aside all his suspicions and anxieties. No doubt he was jumping at shadows. This young man was probably exactly as he appeared to be, a fun-loving youth with a ready wit and the devil’s own luck with cards. Probably.
Little Valentine, 17th January 1816
“Drat the man.”
Alice ducked into the cheese shop just in time to avoid Mr Seymour, who was strolling along the seafront.
She supposed she could not blame him. It was a beautiful morning, the sun glinting on a sea of stunning blue.
The sunset had even enticed Alice out of bed, padding over the cold floorboards to stare at a swathe of glorious orange and gold.
“What’ll it be, miss?”
Alice looked up as Mrs Muddle appeared behind the counter. “I’ll take half a pound of that nice cheddar, please, Mrs Muddle.”
The lady smiled and set about cutting the cheese and wrapping it in brown paper. “Anything else, Miss?”
Alice glanced out of the window, frustrated to see Mr Seymour still standing by the rail, gazing out to sea.
This was going to cost a fortune if he didn’t leave.
She took her time, perusing the selection on offer with a considering gaze as she waited for the wretched man to go about his business. Mrs Muddle cleared her throat.
“And the goat cheese there,” Alice said reluctantly, aware the lady was becoming impatient.
Mrs Muddle nodded and picked up a small round of goat's cheese, wrapping it carefully as Alice kept an eye on Mr Seymour. Finally, he turned and walked away, heading for The Mermaid. Alice kept her eyes on him until he went inside. Thank goodness.
“Miss?”
Alice turned back to Mrs Muddle, not having realised she was being addressed.
“I asked if there was aught else?” the woman said, regarding Alice with annoyance now.
“No, thank you. That’s all.”
Alice paid for her purchases and hurried out of the shop, not turning to look towards The Mermaid until she reached her front door. Still no sign. Closing the door behind her, she let out a breath.
You’re being ridiculous, she told herself.
Yet ever since the night she had played cards with Aubrey Seymour, she had felt uneasy.
He suspected something. She doubted he knew himself what it was, but the way he looked at her, at Alfie, like there was a puzzle before him and he was determined to understand it, well, it was unnerving.
So unnerving that Alice had decided Alfie needed to keep his head down and Alice would be best served by avoiding the man.
She headed for the kitchen, comforted by the warmth and the scent of baking that enveloped her as she entered Lill’s sanctuary. Her friend was never happier than when she was up to her elbows in flour.
“Back already? I thought you were going to call upon Miss Izzy?”
“I was,” Alice said in frustration, placing her parcels on the table.
“What you got there?” Lill asked, setting the kettle on the stove.
“Cheese.”
“But I bought cheese yesterday,” Lill said, frowning at her.
“I know.”
“Oh.”
Lill shook her head, understanding that it had been a necessary evil, but forbore to say anything.
She didn’t need to. Alice had been a reckless fool.
She knew Alfie ought not to have played cards with Aubrey.
Ought not to have revealed his skill. Aubrey was curious about them both, and he knew they had a connection to the stolen diamonds.
What if he suspected their connection was rather less innocent than they had said?
“Well, cheese on toast it is, then,” Lill remarked, cutting slices of bread with considerable vigour, every word heavy with reproach.
Alice shot her an impatient look. “I like cheese on toast.”
“Good job, I’d say,” Lill replied tartly. “This came for Alfie while you were out.” She wiped her hands on her apron and tossed a sealed envelope onto the kitchen table.
Alice looked at the writing with a frown before breaking the seal, scanning the words with increasing dismay. “It’s from Repton.”
Mr Repton was butler to Jasper King, the man who had until recently been considered the king of the rookeries, a hardened criminal and a man best treated with kid gloves. Newly married to the proprietress of The Mermaid, he had chosen to go straight and settle in Little Valentine with his wife.
“I thought King was in Italy, on his honeymoon?” Lill said, slicing cheese as she waited for the bread to toast.
“He is, but it seems King has been buying up half of Europe on his travels. Repton came home early to supervise transporting the cargo he’s sending back. He says he needs to see me.”
“You ain’t going to London, my girl,” Lill said at once, wagging the knife she held at Alice. “There’s still a price on your head, you remember?”
“I remember, though the price is on Alfie’s head, but Repton is going to meet me. He’s in Dover.”
“What’s he want then?” Lill set the knife down, anxiety tugging her eyebrows together.
Alice tried to dismiss her own jangling nerves. Not wishing to worry Lill, she kept her voice light. “I don’t know, but he says it’s urgent. Repton wouldn’t get me haring off on a fool’s errand. It was him who told King to warn me to stay out of town, remember.”
Lill nodded, but the colour had drained from her cheeks. Alice put the letter down, rounding the table to put her arm about her friend. “Don’t fret. It’ll be fine.”
Lill snorted. “I’ve heard that one before. When are you off?”
“After cheese on toast,” Alice said with a smile.
“Alfie is going, I take it?”
Alice nodded. “Can’t have respectable Miss Marwick hanging about on the docks now, can we?” she said in disgust.
“I should think not,” Lill said crossly, and set about making their meal.
The Mermaid, Little Valentine, 17th January 1816
Aubrey sat by the window in The Mermaid’s elegant dining room, admiring the sun glinting on the sea.
Whilst he had been shown to this seat by Mrs Fairway, he had to admit it served him well, for he could also see the parade of shops and the houses, which must include the one where Alfie and Alice lived.
Not that he was spying on them, he assured himself, feeling uneasy at the idea.
He hadn’t been purposely looking for Alice and had only chanced to see her hurrying home.
He looked up as Mrs Fairway set his meal before him.
Hawkney had arrived at the Hall this morning to check up on the dowager, and Aubrey had decided he’d be best off keeping out of the house in case he got drawn into any pointless arguments.
Why the two of them were always rubbing each other up the wrong way when they clearly adored each other was a mystery, but Gee-Gee would never back down and could not resist a clever remark if one presented itself to her, no matter the consequences.
Still, now that he knew Alice was home, he’d pay a call on her.
He’d wanted to do so for some time but had always stopped himself for reasons he was uncertain of.
Obviously, Hawkney would deplore the connection, but he was not craven enough to let his cousin’s opinion have a bearing on who he spent time with.
Having finished his meal, movement caught his eye, and he looked out in time to see Alfie emerge from the house. Which meant Alice was alone. Perfect. Perhaps she would be a bit more forthcoming about her brother than he was about her.
Aubrey paid for his meal and hurried outside.
By the time he got to the door he had seen Alfie exit from, he had to acknowledge the fact that his heart was thudding, and not because he’d run from The Mermaid to her front door.
He was eager to see her he realised, too eager.
He’d better get a grip on himself, for the lady posed too many unanswered questions for his peace of mind.
The door opened, revealing a comely blonde in a pristine white apron. To his surprise, she looked at him with deep suspicion.
“Sir?”
“Good day,” Aubrey said, handing her his card. “Is Miss Marwick at home?”
The young woman, who Aubrey guessed to be Lill, frowned at his card. “No.”
This abrupt response rather astonished Aubrey, who knew very well that she was.
“Ought you not check with your mistress?” he suggested gently.
“Well, and how am I supposed to do that when she ain’t at home?” she replied tartly, and shut the door in his face.
Aubrey stared at the shiny green paint on the front door with a jolt of shock.
No one had ever shut the door in his face before.
He had half a mind to knock again and demand the pert creature tell Miss Marwick who wished to see her.
But then it occurred to him, perhaps she was at home and had instructed her maid to deny him.
But why?
Increasingly troubled, Aubrey walked away from the cottage and back into the town. Perhaps Alfie could shed some light upon the situation. Surely, he had not offended Miss Marwick. No, he knew he had not.
The strange sense of something being off with Mr and Miss Marwick nagged at him. If he had not offended her, why would she deny him? Either she wished to avoid him for reasons that only increased his curiosity about the siblings, or the housekeeper had been correct, and she wasn’t there.
Something nagged at the edge of his mind, but he could not grasp it.
Picking up his pace, he determined to have a few frank words with Alfie and see if he could get some sense out of the slippery young fellow. At worst, the lad would tell Aubrey to bugger off and mind his own business, which he’d be quite entitled to do.
Aubrey made his way up the main high street, peering in shop windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of his quarry, when a little pony and cart appeared out of a side street ahead of him. Alfie Marwick was driving it.
“Blast,” Aubrey remarked, frustrated that his plan had been thwarted so quickly.
No, dammit, this time he would play spy.
He could no longer deny his suspicion that there was something shady about Alfie Marwick, and his sister giving up a priceless diamond brooch without a murmur of reproach was just too implausible.
If he hurried back to the Hall and saddled his horse, he’d be able to catch Alfie on the way out of town with no problem, for Ramses was a deal faster and more powerful than the workaday pony that Alfie was driving.
Though guilt nagged at him for being so very sceptical of a young man who had been nothing but friendly towards him, Aubrey knew he’d go mad if he didn’t reassure himself the fellow was on the level.
If today’s little jaunt proved to be a waste of time, he’d put his suspicions to bed and give himself a sound talking to. For now, he must catch his quarry.