Love and the Loathsome Leopard (12 page)

“Nickolls!”

The man’s response was instantaneous, the quick alertness of a soldier used to danger.

“Sir?”

“We have to leave immediately, Nickolls! Get dressed, pack our things, and wait for me in my room.”

“Very good, sir.”

He might have been giving an order with nothing unusual about it.

It was typical of the manner in which Lord Cheriton had been served by the men who campaigned with him that they asked no questions but were ready to spring into action immediately, simply because he required it of them.

He went along the landing until he reached Wivina’s room.

Again, he entered without knocking, and now there was the fragrance of roses and lilies, which brought back vividly the memory of his mother.

He saw that the curtains were drawn back over one of the windows and by the faint light from the stars, he could see the shadowy outline of the great bed with the curtains falling from its high corona.

Lord Cheriton walked towards it and now he knew that Wivina was asleep.

He sat down on the side of the bed and put out his hand to touch hers where it lay on top of the sheet.

She awoke with a little cry.

“It’s all right, my darling,” he said softly.

“It is – you!”

Her fingers tightened on his and her voice was a little sleepy, but he could hear the love in it.

“Listen, my precious,” Lord Cheriton said. “I have to leave you.”

“Why? Are you in danger?”

She was wide awake now and she pushed herself up against the pillows, holding onto his hand with both of hers.

“I have to leave,” Lord Cheriton said, choosing his words with care, “but only for a very short time. When I return the day after tomorrow, if it is possible, I will take Richard and you away with me to safety.”

“Oh, leopard, can you do that?”

“I can and I will!” Lord Cheriton said firmly. “But, my sweet, whatever happens, you must not show that you are upset at my leaving.”

He thought for a moment, then he said,

“I will write you a conventional note thanking you for your hospitality. If Farlow thinks he has driven me away, that should please him and keep him quiet for the moment.”

“But – you will – come back?”

 “Need you ask such a foolish question?”

“I shall be – afraid without you – and I shall – miss you.”

“As I shall miss you,” Lord Cheriton answered, “but I promise you, my lovely one, it will not be for long.”

He bent forward as he spoke, his lips seeking hers, and as he did so, her arms went round his neck.

He kissed her and once again there was the rapture and wonder that they had felt before.

Yet now there was an urgency and an agony in knowing that they must part, even if it was only for a short while.

Lord Cheriton held her close and kissed her eyes, her cheeks, her ears, then the softness of her neck. He felt her move against him and knew that he thrilled her.

“I love you! I love you until it is almost unbearable to leave you!”

“Why can I not – come with you?” Wivina whispered.

“Not tonight, my darling.”

“Then it
is
dangerous! You are leaving because you are –
in danger
!”

“I am leaving because for the moment it would be more dangerous for me to stay,” Lord Cheriton replied, “and when I come back I shall bring help. I have to ensure that you and Richard can escape with me.”

“You don’t know – what they are – like,” Wivina murmured beneath her breath.

Lord Cheriton thought he knew only too well, but he had no intention of telling Wivina what had been planned, and aloud he said,

“You promised you would trust me and I want you to show the courage your father showed. Remember that you have a leopard to look after you, a leopard who can defeat the most formidable and ferocious enemy.”

“I believe that,” Wivina said. “Promise me that you will take care of yourself. If anything should – happen to you, I would – die too.”

There was a note in her voice that made Lord Cheriton kiss her fiercely, almost violently.

With an effort he laid her back against the pillows and rose.

“Goodbye, my darling,” he said. “Pray as you prayed before for yourself and also for me.”

“You know I will be doing that,” Wivina answered, “and I think because God and perhaps Papa sent you to me, we shall be – allowed to be happy together.”

“I am sure of that,” Lord Cheriton answered.

As he spoke, he moved away from the bed towards the door.

Only as he reached it did Wivina say,

“I love you! You will not forget I love you?”

“I shall remember it every second I am away from you,” he answered and went out, closing the door behind him.

When he reached his own room, it was to find that Nickolls had nearly finished packing his things in the rolled-up blankets they attached to their saddles.

Lord Cheriton did not speak, but went to the desk and wrote a note.

Rising, he made a gesture with his head that told Nickolls to follow him, and picking up his hat and riding gloves from the chair where they lay, he started down the corridor without looking back.

Nickolls blew out the candles, then carrying a rolled blanket under each arm he followed his Master along the passage to the window through which Lord Cheriton had entered the house from the garden.

He looked out, but there was nothing to be seen except for the kitchen-garden below them and Lord Cheriton thought it extremely unlikely that anyone would be watching the first floor windows from there.

He climbed out onto the flat roof which creaked ominously beneath his weight and from there onto the ground.

It was easy to move through the gardens and in the shadows of the wall to reach the stables.

There was always the chance that Farlow had thought that the horses were worth watching and once again Lord Cheriton’s boyhood memories were of use.

There was a way into the stables from the field behind, and once they were inside the building it was merely a long walk through the empty stalls and under roofs through which they could see the sky until they found where their horses had been stabled.

Lord Cheriton knew that, unlike the days when the grooms slept in the stables and Pender had a house in the yard, the place was now empty.

It took him and Nickolls very little time to saddle their horses and only when they were ready were they both aware that it was going to be difficult to move without being seen.

It was most important, Lord Cheriton knew, not to alert Farlow’s men and he had no idea how many might be watching.

He knew there was at least one and the sound of a horse galloping or even trotting at this time of night would alert them as clearly as a clarion call.

Accordingly, they left the stable by the back, and with Lord Cheriton leading Samson, followed by Nickolls leading his horse, they walked across the first three fields, keeping close to the hedges.

Only when they were some distance from the house and away from the village did Lord Cheriton spring into the saddle.

Without haste, still avoiding the centre of any field and keeping to the hedgerows, they were some miles North of Larkswell when the first fingers of the dawn appeared in the East.

Chapter Five

Wivina awoke with a feeling of happiness, then remembered suddenly what had happened.

For a moment she thought the grey darkness was in herself, then she realised that there was a sea mist outside, and as she had left the windows open last night it was swirling into the room, making everything damp.

She hastily got out of bed to close the casements. Looking out, she saw that it was impossible to see more than a few yards in front of her and the lake and the Park were completely obscured.

Instinctively she wondered if it was dangerous for the man she loved, then she knew that if he was still in the vicinity, which she doubted, it would be a protection against those who were watching for him.

She dressed and when she opened her door she found the note that Lord Cheriton had told her he would leave outside.

She picked it up, feeling a thrill because she was touching something he had written, even though she knew it would merely be a formal letter, intended for her to show in particular to Jeffrey Farlow.

She decided she would not demean herself by showing him the letter herself, but would leave it in the hall where she was quite certain that if he entered the house he would read it.

She knew his prying and suspicious nature only too well and as she opened the note she saw that Lord Cheriton had written,

“Dear Miss Compton,

May I thank you for your kindness in giving my servant and me accommodation for the night. We have been most comfortable and are sincerely grateful.

Would you be kind enough to give the enclosed guineas to your cook and to Pender, who has looked after my horses.

Again, my most sincere thanks for your hospitality and with all best wishes to you and your brother,

I remain,

Yours gratefully, Stuart Bradleigh.”

Wivina read it through, thinking not of what Lord Cheriton had written but all that he had said to her last night.

If she shut her eyes she could still feel his lips on hers and hear his deep voice telling her that he loved her.

It seemed impossible that it could have happened so swiftly and yet she knew it was what her mother had always said would occur when she met the man who was meant for her – the man to whom she belonged.

‘I love him!’ she whispered beneath her breath.

Then, taking the coins from the envelope, she went down to the kitchen with them in her hand.

“A guinea, Miss Wivina!” Mrs. Briggs exclaimed in astonishment. “Well, I never! Who’d have thought that the gentleman would be so generous? Especially after he had provided his own dinner!”

“It was certainly very kind of him,” Wivina said.

“It were indeed, and I’m sorry I didn’t meet the gentleman, and a real gentleman he was. That man of his spoke very well of him.”

Wivina smiled.

“As I hope you would speak well of me, Mrs. Briggs.”

“Is it likely as I'd do anything else?” Mrs. Briggs replied hotly, then realised that Wivina was teasing her.

“Get along with you!” she said. “You know what I feels about you and Master Richard. Where would I be without you, I often thinks.”

Wivina smiled and then she asked,

“Is breakfast ready? I must call Master Richard. You know as well as I do that if he starts reading while he is dressing he will be late for his lessons.”

“He’ll wear his eyes out, that’s what I tells him,” Mrs. Briggs said sharply. “If he likes his eggs cold, you don’t, Miss Wivina, so hurry!”

“I will,” Wivina replied.

She ran up the stairs, thinking, as she did so, that, while she was worried and apprehensive about Lord Cheriton, she could not repress the springing joy she felt in her heart because she loved and was loved.

Richard was, as she expected, half-dressed but sitting on his bed reading as he pulled on his stockings.

Wivina bent forward and slapped the book shut.

“Hurry, Richard,” she said. “Breakfast is ready and the delicious eggs you bought from the farm will be spoilt.”

“I do not want to miss those!” Richard said. “And there will be a turkey coming today or tomorrow.”

“A turkey!” Wivina exclaimed in surprise.

“I paid for it with the money Captain Bradleigh gave me yesterday. He told me to spend the lot, and I did! There will also be some more chickens and a leg of lamb when you want them.”

“Richard, you did not tell me!” Wivina said. “I thought that the chickens you brought yesterday, besides the eggs and cream, were all he had bought.”

“You can buy a lot with two sovereigns,” Richard said, tying his tie.

Wivina drew in her breath to expostulate, then she told herself it was part of the leopard’s consideration for her and she loved him for it.

“Shall we have the turkey today for luncheon or for dinner?” Richard enquired.

“We can hardly eat it all by ourselves,” Wivina replied.

“Do you mean he has gone?”

Richard’s voice sounded unnaturally loud.

“Yes,” Wivina answered. “He has gone.”

“Then I will not get my ride,” Richard said disgustedly. “I thought he was too brave to run away just because Farlow told him to get out.”

“He is brave,” Wivina said, “and he has not run away.”

“Then why has he left?” Richard asked truculently.

Wivina was just about to say that Captain Bradleigh was coming back to take her and Richard to safety, but her instinct told her that it would be unwise.

Richard was often indiscreet and over-impulsive in what he said, and she was well aware that if he was questioned by Jeffrey Farlow or fell into an argument with him he might say something which would prove dangerous.

“I expect Captain Bradleigh thought discretion was the better part of valour,” she said, and went from the room, but not before she had heard Richard say in a carping voice,

“He is a soldier. He ought to be able to stand up to that swine Farlow.”

As she walked down the passage, Wivina told herself that he would stand up to him, she was sure of it in her heart.

At the same time, she was desperately, agonisingly afraid.

She knew only too well how ruthless the smugglers could be. They pursued, tortured, and murdered their victims in a way that made her tremble to think of it.

Every month there was some new tale of horror circulating in the village, and, try as she would to avoid it, sooner or later it reached her ears.

‘Oh, God, help us!’ she prayed in her heart.

She went into the dining room to find a dish of eggs standing on the side table where Mrs. Briggs had put them.

She helped herself and a few minutes later Richard joined her.

He was sulking because he had lost the chance of having a ride and, while Wivina longed to comfort him, she knew it would be unwise.

They ate in silence and then dragging his leg, Richard left the room without saying goodbye.

When he was in one of these moods Wivina knew it was best to leave him alone.