A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting(83)

‘Best not, dear boy, I can smell the drink on you – and the smoke,’ Hinsley said. ‘Are you all right?’

‘I think so,’ Archie said uncertainly. ‘But I feel a fool. I do not think Selby is my friend after all.’

‘I am sorry, Archie,’ Kitty said, real regret in her voice. Archie looked at her.

‘But why did you come, Kitty?’ Archie asked. ‘I must say I do not think it at all proper.’

‘I had to come,’ she said simply. ‘Proper or not. Besides, with your brother left for Devonshire – who else was there to come after you?’

She smiled at him, warmly, and he felt a sense of foreboding in his chest. Blast, the girl was still in love with him. Awfully strange way to behave if that was the case, but the signs were clear as day. No other reason she would come haring after him, Archie could see that.

A few months ago, this revelation would have tickled Archie pink, but he was now coming to the uncomfortable realisation that he was not at all pleased. He didn’t really think they were all that suited, after all – why, she had held a gun at his friend! Yes, it was a friend who he now knew to be quite villainous, but still.

Not the thing, he thought darkly. Not at all what you’d want your wife to be doing, either – shooting at people, willy-nilly, or threatening to, which was not much better. But how, he thought with horror, was one to turn down such a lady – she’d probably try to shoot him! He lay back into the curricle, quite exhausted.





35


The return journey seemed shorter to Radcliffe, now that he was not plagued with anxiety, and it was not long before London’s lights were starting to shine through the little window of the carriage. He banged on the roof, waking Cecily with a start.

‘Take us to Wimpole Street first!’ he called out to Lawrence.

Not ten minutes later, though, there was a returning bang on the ceiling from the outside, and Lawrence’s voice calling back in.

‘My lord? I think you ought to come out.’

Opening the door onto the street, the cause for Lawrence’s words was immediately quite clear, for their path was blocked by a mud-stained curricle coming the other way, upon which sat Captain Hinsley, Archie, and Miss Talbot – all of whom looked very windswept.

‘Radcliffe!’ Hinsley called out in relief. ‘There you are!’

Sally and Cecily got out from the carriage behind Radcliffe as Kitty stared.

‘What’s going on?’ Radcliffe and Kitty said together, each glaring at the other.

‘Perhaps we ought to go inside,’ Hinsley said hastily. ‘Rather than hash it all out on the street.’

‘Hash all what out?’ Radcliffe said sharply.

‘Cecily, Sally, what is going on?’ Kitty had caught her sister’s arm and was tugging her into the house. ‘Come in, all of you.’

They fell into the house eagerly, all of them relieved to get out of the gusty air. The two stories were told quite haphazardly, over the top of one another, interspersed with exclamations of shock, as well as Radcliffe and Miss Talbot’s loud demands for explanations that there was no space to give. But little by little, much as one assembles a jigsaw, all present gathered a clear enough picture of how the other party had spent their evening.

‘Cecily!’ Kitty gasped, quite stricken. ‘How could you do such a thing?’

Her sister burst into tears and ran out of the room. Meanwhile Radcliffe had turned on Hinsley furiously.

‘By God, how could you let her do such a thing?’ There was real, fierce anger in his voice. ‘She could have been hurt.’

‘Let her?’ his friend expostulated, bridling in indignation. ‘Good God man, have you ever tried telling her what to do?’

‘It’s my fault,’ Archie confessed miserably. ‘I got quite caught up in it all, a-and Gerry and Ernie and Hinsley all tried to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen. It all got terribly out of hand.’ He looked very young, and very miserable. Radcliffe’s heart went out to him.

‘The fault is mine,’ he said roughly, reaching out to clasp Archie’s shoulder. ‘I should have noticed – I should have been there. And I don’t just mean this year.’

Archie’s face melted, and they embraced.

‘I’m sorry, Archie,’ Radcliffe said, slapping him on the back.

‘I suppose I ought to go home before Mama has a fit,’ Archie said gloomily as he stepped back.

‘Shall I drop him off?’ Hinsley offered, watching them with a smile.

‘No, I will,’ Radcliffe said. He clasped Hinsley’s arm next, gripping it tightly. ‘Thank you, Hinsley. I’ll call on you tomorrow.’

Theirs was a friendship of too long a standing to need more than these simple words. Hinsley squeezed his hand back.

‘Wait for me in the carriage, won’t you?’ Radcliffe said to Archie. ‘I’ll be just a moment.’

Archie and Hinsley left, Hinsley shooting Radcliffe a saucy wink that he studiously ignored. And then it was just Miss Talbot and Radcliffe – Kitty and James – left standing in the dimly lit parlour.

‘What you did tonight, for Archie – you didn’t have to do that,’ he said, as soon as they were alone.

‘Nor did you, for Cecily,’ she retorted hotly. ‘But now we have both embarrassed ourselves by doing things we ought not to have done, perhaps we can get on with the rest of our evenings.’