Chapter 10
Ten
Hugh re-read the words. Then he crumpled the note in his palm and tossed it into the fire with a nod at Maisie.
The rest of the party didn’t even notice as it flared briefly.
Another dance was in progress and Catherine looked like a practised society matron while Christopher looked positively statesmanlike compared with his former self.
So did Hugh, who pushed back his shoulders and said, “Exactly what is asked of us.”
“But… but Hugh, it’s too dangerous—”
“It’s too dangerous not to,” he said, but he was smiling and Charlotte saw why, for they had garnered the interest of the others who glanced behind them.
However this was to ensure that Charlotte and Hugh were sufficiently impressed by what was occurring on the dance floor.
For the moment Charlotte widened her eyes with apparent admiration, nodding at Mrs Glendenning, they appeared satisfied, turning back to the performance.
Charlotte sagged with short-lived relief.
“How am I to entertain Mr Barton for the next hour?” she whispered.
“The dancing will go on for perhaps another twenty minutes. Mr Barton mentioned earlier that he had work to do this evening and that he regretted he’d be gone before eleven.
” She put her hand to her chest to still her beating heart, adding, “And you? How are you to slip away for an hour and not be missed? The note says you are to go to the Cock and Bull and keep occupied the gentlemen meeting there. Those are the very gentlemen in whose interests it would be to assist Mr Barton to apprehend anyone involved in the smuggling activities of Swain Cove.”
Hugh shrugged. “Clearly the smugglers plan to move the contraband later tonight and we are to play our parts in detaining the excisemen and the gentlemen who are in the government’s pockets?”
“But… it’s the smugglers who are in the wrong, Hugh,” Charlotte whispered, drawing back.
“Aye, they are in the wrong, but you know, also, that they could not put food on the table and bring up their families if they did not supplement their poorly paid labour with what they can earn on a night like tonight.” He smiled.
“You’ve been sheltered from all that, Charlotte.
Not sheltered from life’s difficulties. I’m not saying that.
But you’re born into education. Impoverished, genteel ladies will generally be afforded a roof over their heads, even if their lives are somewhat joyless, as you’ve intimated.
But working folk live from hand to mouth and their masters will exploit them.
” He glanced over his shoulder at Mr Barton.
“Take heart, Charlotte,” he said, putting his hand briefly on her shoulder, causing a wave of feeling to wash over her.
“I’m sorry it has come to this. I didn’t think we’d be called to account, but we have, and now we must make the best of it. ”
“And it’s all because of me,” she whispered. She’d tried to deny it. Her foolish curiosity and recklessness had endangered them both.
“We’re doing our part to sustain the livelihood of Swain Cove.
” His smile was wry. “I grew up here, but I’ve avoided any risk, any taint.
I’m merely doing my duty.” He indicated the direction in which he’d tossed the note.
“But you, Charlotte, must use those beautiful eyes of yours to keep Mr Barton here until the clock strikes eleven, while I keep the gentlemen currently meeting at the Cock and Bull away from the shoreline, for I’m sure that it’s because the smugglers need an hour to transport the goods from the caves to conveyances that will remove them from Swain Cove, that we’ve been tasked with this.
” He moved away, glanced at the occupied group, then said, “If my absence is noted—” He stopped.
“When my absence is noted, tell them I was called on an urgent errand to help Granny Smith who has fallen out of bed. She doesn’t live far from here and it’s known she’s poorly and that she was always good to me as a boy.
Say that I didn’t expect to be gone before the two sets were over, but that my sense of duty overrode all else. ”
Charlotte sent a panicked look at the company as Hugh slipped out of the room.
How long would he be gone, and would he come back?
She felt ill. So, tonight was the night big things were happening in Swain Cove, and she and Hugh were required to keep at bay anyone with a vested interest in shutting down the smuggling trade.
She wrapped her arms about herself and took a deep breath at the very same time that she glanced up and caught Mr Barton’s warm glance.
Pinching herself, she forced herself to return his smile. Yes, had it not been for the note and what she was required to do—not just for her and Hugh but for everyone—she’d have made a point of indicating to Mr Barton her lack of interest.
But what choice did she have but to smile coyly at him before turning her attention back to the dancers?
When he broke away from his companions and, perhaps perceiving Hugh was not the competition he might have thought him, Charlotte felt her skin burn with shame and embarrassment.
Shame because she was forced to act out a role as a seductress –or that’s how it felt—and embarrassment because this was not how she would ever conduct herself under normal circumstances.
Well, she had no one but herself to blame.
“Miss Stanbridge, you must be proud of Miss Catherine.” Mr Barton’s breath was not as sweet as Hugh’s, and she had to clench her fists to prevent herself from putting her hands to her mouth or nose and offending him.
“Just as I am sure she is very attached to you.” His smile broadened.
He was trying to compliment her, and Charlotte felt repulsed.
“How long will you be in Swain Cove, Mr Barton?” she asked.
“Long enough to make more than just your acquaintance, I hope, Miss Stanbridge,” he replied. His teeth had a yellowish tinge, she observed in the guttering firelight, but it was the light in his eyes that was most dismaying. It was interested. Speculative.
And dangerous.
She pressed her lips together, and when she didn’t speak, he chuckled. “Your coyness does you credit. You are a sweet thing, aren’t you?”
It might have been a harmless remark if it had not been uttered in such a sly tone.
The music ended, Charlotte clapped obediently together with everyone else, and then Mr and Mrs Glendenning and the other guests were strolling back to join Charlotte.
“Catherine is a credit to you, Miss Stanbridge,” said Reverend Snell. “She will be a credit to her parents when she has her come-out later this year. Will you accompany her?”
She felt everyone’s eyes on her. How could she respond? She’d not yet given Mr Ravensby her answer, yet Mr Glendenning and his wife knew she intended to accept him.
However, she needed to give Mr Barton a reason to remain an interested party—if only until 11pm.
“My employers may have a chaperone in mind,” she said cautiously, receiving an approving nod from her mistress. They obviously knew she could not make public what was not yet known to her prospective bride groom, Mr Ravensby.
“You have made yourself indispensable, my dear,” said Mrs Glendenning warmly. “Why, it was always my hope you would chaperone young Tabitha, too, when that time came.”
“Alas, that may not come to pass,” Charlotte murmured, and Mr Dunlop interjected, “Who can predict the future so many years in advance? Why, a month ago, when I first visited Swain Cove, I had not thought to be stationed in such a charming and idyllic village and now I feel like it is home to me, the way in which I have been welcomed with such warmth.”
Warmth? Charlotte wondered where he’d got that impression.
But now his eyes were again on Charlotte and, again, she forced herself to smile though her skin crawled. This was anathema and it brought into sharp relief the feelings she felt for Hugh.
Suddenly, she wanted him near her with an intensity that made her feel faint.
Yet she’d just told him it was impossible. She had been the one to sever their ties with an act that was as irreversible as it was agonising.
Her mother would have been the first to counsel that she had no right to interfere in the future prospects of a young man who had the world at his feet.
A young man who was so above her in every respect.
She could bring nothing to the union. Not only was she penniless, she was thoughtless and impetuous. Her mother’s words.
Oh, why had Charlotte tampered with the brandy barrel?
She’d imperilled both of them. If Hugh was to pay the highest price for he was out in the dark—or would be at the Cock and Bull by now—and if his ruse was detected, who knew the consequences?
She nodded slightly at Mr Barton. “I’m glad to hear it,” she whispered. She had to play her part, if only to protect Hugh.
Mrs Glendenning clapped her hands. “Charlotte! Let us hear you play something on the pianoforte, for it is not only Catherine who is accomplished.”
In other circumstances, Charlotte would have cringed with embarrassment, but now she felt only relief for here was her chance to move out of Mr Dunlop’s orbit yet require him to remain.
“Of course, Mrs Glendenning,” she said obediently, glancing at the clock, dismayed to see that only 20 minutes had passed since Hugh had left the room. He would only just have got to the Cock and Bull before he had to carry out his orders.
Who knew what time he would return?
What would she say to Sir Pennyworth’s wife who, she was relieved to note, appeared not yet to have missed him? She would, after all, be expecting him to accompany them home.
Taking her time, Charlotte moved to the pianoforte, then spent a couple of minutes rifling through her music, addressing her mistress on the ideal piece and wasting as much time as she could.
When she finally settled on what to play, she chose the longest piece she had recently practised.
But her playing was good, she knew. Her audience would remain interested a while longer.
It was half past ten o’clock by the time the last notes drifted away and the smattering of applause was interrupted by Lady Pennyworth glancing about and saying with surprise, “I have not seen Mr Kernick for some time. Where has that young man gone for we must soon leave?
Charlotte pinched herself. She had to if she were to galvanise her inner resources to trip out the lie she had to utter for his protection.
Glancing up from above her music, she took a deep breath. “A message came that Granny Smith had fallen out of bed and a sturdy pair of arms was required to assist.” She tried to say it as if it were the most normal occurrence in the world. She smiled at her mistress, who looked enquiring.
Charlotte went on. “You know that Granny Smith is like a grandmother to him, and as her cottage is so close, he rushed off, promising to be back before the set was over.” She smiled at the rest of them. “I’m sure he will be back soon. Shall I play again?”
“You shall accompany me if there are no objections to my striking a tune.” Mr Barton was at her side; a little too close for comfort as he added, “I am known, where I grew up, for my fine baritone.”
The way he gazed into her eyes was terrifying. There was a smugness there, as if he truly felt entitled to brush against her as he took up position upon the endorsement of the other guests.
Charlotte couldn’t believe his arrogance, though she didn’t let it show. Mr Barton could sing like a canary and it would make no difference to her. All that mattered was that she keep him occupied so that Hugh could stay safe.