CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY
We wandered for about an hour. Stretching our legs after the long carriage ride was a relief, and I was wrapped up in the excitement of it all. Well used to the hustle and bustle of London, I found Cambridge to be a charming blend of calm and chaos. It felt smaller, more intimate than my city, but there was an unmistakeable vibrant energy here, thanks to the huge number of students swarming the place. They were young, animated, chatting in groups, and among them were several women my own age. These clusters of students – even more than the beautiful buildings that loomed elegantly over the pavements – captured my attention. Harried-looking lecturers sporadically appeared too, hurrying down the street, their black robes billowing dramatically behind them.
And there were bicycles, so many of them – again, several ridden by women. I felt increasingly as though my heart was about to beat out of my chest. The glimpse that I caught of King’s College chapel from across the banks of the river was a tantalizing invitation.
Ash seemed happy to walk in silence as I absorbed this new environment. Once or twice, I caught him watching me with a smile, but he didn’t ask any questions, only occasionally pointing out some landmark or building I might find interesting. We stopped in briefly at the telegraph office so that I could send a message to Mrs Finch.
ATTEMPTED ABDUCTION BY L. ESCAPED WITH
A TO CAMB. WILL AWAIT INSTRUCTIONS. F
Ash included an address at the end where I could be contacted.
“This is where you’ll be staying,” Ash said when we reached it. We came to a stop in front of a tall, thin house of four storeys, which was part of a leafy terrace not too far from the centre of town. Stone steps led up to a front door painted a sober shade of blue. I gripped the iron handrail as we climbed the stairs, tipping back my head to take in the tidy appearance of the building, the tall Georgian windows, the neatly trimmed box hedges that lined the path.
In the relief of having a place to stay, I’d given alarmingly little thought to where this would be and with whom. I’d instinctively placed my trust in Ash, but now I found myself nervous.
“Who lives here?” I asked as he rang the brass bell that hung by the door.
“ Now you ask,” he teased, then seeing me scowl, he relented. “An old friend. She’s quite ferocious, but her bark is far worse than her bite.”
“That is not at all reassuring,” I said.
The door was finally answered by a shuffling man who must have been in his eighties (at least). He wore the stiff, old-fashioned uniform of a butler from fifty years ago and, despite his slightly stooped figure, his clothes were immaculate.
Looking out of rheumy blue eyes, he examined Ash and myself for a long moment.
“If it isn’t Baron Ely,” he said, his voice strong, tone mildly disapproving.
“Hello, Smythe,” Ash said cheerfully, resting his forearm against the edge of the door and leaning in that carelessly casual way of his, as if his own bones couldn’t support him. “Is she in?”
“Madam is about to host a dinner.” Smythe pursed his lips, the disapproval deepening.
“Well, I’ve brought someone for her to lecture at, so could you fetch her?” Ash said, and I felt my alarm at the situation grow.
Smythe only sniffed and disappeared back into the house. (The disappearing took quite a long time and was accompanied by some heavy wheezing.)
“This person can’t be expecting a house guest,” I said, twisting my fingers together. “I don’t know what I was thinking; this is extremely rude.”
“Oh, extremely,” Ash agreed cheerfully.
At that moment, a woman appeared in the doorway. I guessed she was in her early sixties, and though she was not much taller than me, she had a great deal of presence. Something in the snapping look of her dark eyes had me standing up straight, though Ash continued to sprawl about the place, grinning at her.
For a fraction of a second it was possible that those eyes softened, but it might have been a trick of the light because her thin lips remained pressed in a straight line as she looked us both over. When she spoke, her words were clipped and cool.
“So, Freddie,” she said. “What have you done now?”
“ Freddie? ” I whispered, temporarily diverted, and Ash scowled, peeling himself away from the door jamb.
“You know perfectly well it’s Ash, you old harridan,” he said, and far from looking upset by his words, those fine, dark eyes glinted back at him.
From inside the house, however, came a wheezing honk of outrage.
“I see the years have not improved your manners, boy,” the woman said. “Are you planning to introduce me to your friend ?” Her gaze swept over me once more.
“Tiff, this is Lady Felicity Vane.” Ash gestured to me. “Felicity, this is Tiff.”
“Um, nice to meet you,” I managed, wondering what sort of name Tiff was.
“Tiff here is one of those academics you’re so interested in.” Ash turned to me, mischief writ large on his face. “Though her expertise is in economics, which is – if you ask me – excessively dull.”
“You always were a poor student,” Tiff replied.
“Tiff,” I murmured, then gave a start. “But … you’re Laetitia Tiffins! You wrote The Economics of Capital ! I found your thoughts on the law of normal value to be extremely compelling.”
Laetitia blinked. “Well,” she said after a moment. “That is unexpected. How unlike your usual company.”
Ash’s grin only grew. “I feel certain there’s an insult directed at me in there,” he said. “But I’m not here to argue, Tiff. Felicity finds herself in a bit of bother and she needs a place to stay for a couple of days. She’s a rather brilliant mathematician. I told her you’d take her in.”
“O-only if it’s no trouble,” I stammered, mortified that I was meeting an eminent Cambridge lecturer, a woman I greatly admired, in a borrowed dress, covered in bruises, carrying no luggage, in the company of a shameless – if charming – rogue. It was not exactly as I had pictured it.
“Why not take her up to Ely Hall?” Laetitia sniffed.
“For God’s sake, Tiff. I’m halfway in love with the girl – would you wish that on her?”
I stiffened at this. He was always so playful, so casual with words, and I didn’t know how I was supposed to react to such a statement. His mouth curled into that lopsided smile and he leaned down towards me, his nose brushing against my hair as he whispered in my ear, “Breathe.”
Daring a glance at Laetitia, I saw that a small smile had settled on her lips. “Fine,” she said, though the smile hadn’t reached her voice, which remained clinically neutral. “She can stay.”
“I knew I could count on you,” Ash exclaimed, surprising me when he reached out and gathered the older woman in his arms, pressing a smacking kiss on her cheek.
When he released her, Laetitia Tiffins was pink and rumpled. It seemed no one was totally immune to Ash’s charms. She smacked him across the chest, but the small smile stayed in place.
“Get on with you now,” she said. “I can take care of your Felicity – though the ladies are here for dinner. It’s my turn to host.”
“Oh, I think my Felicity will believe herself to have died and gone to heaven,” Ash said. “I expect she’s heard all about the Ladies’ Dining Society.”
I felt all the blood leave my head. “The Ladies’ Dining Society.” The words came out a croak. “The private women’s discussion club that champions women’s education and campaigns to grant degrees at Cambridge?”
“We rarely use the full title,” Laetitia said dryly.
I only gaped at her, which I worried did little to convey my intelligence.
“I can see that I’m surplus to requirements,” Ash said, turning to me. “So I’ll leave you in Tiff’s capable hands.”
Giving myself a mental shake, I turned to face him and placed my hand on his arm. “Will you be all right?” I asked in a low voice.
“Worried about me?” Ash’s expression softened, as he covered my hand with his own, gently squeezing my fingers. “I’ve been dealing with that lot my whole life. They don’t scare me.” Despite his words, I knew that he was dreading the encounter with his parents and I wished desperately there was something I could do to help.
Something of the desire must have shown in my face because Ash made a sound low in his throat. It was a sound that went fizzing straight through my bloodstream.
“You growl much more than any gentleman I’ve ever met,” I said.
He dropped a kiss to my cheek, the lightest brush of his lips against my skin, and my breath hitched.
“How many times must I tell you, I am no gentleman.” Ash stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned away, walking back towards the carriage. “I’ll be back to call in the morning. Don’t let Smythe bully you.”
I watched him leave, before turning back to Laetitia, who was watching me carefully.
“So,” she said finally, stepping back and gesturing with her arm. “I suppose you’d better come in.”