Bingham showed Carlton into the small parlour of his lodgings. Going straight for the decanter resting on a spindly table he poured out two full measures of brandy. He handed one to his friend before promptly downing his, then refilled his glass and flopped down on one of the two couches.
“Damn that Arlington woman!” Lord Bingham suddenly burst out, unable to contain himself any longer. “Did I not warn her that my Patience had the devil of a voice? Not to worry she said, she’ll be fast asleep and won’t utter more than a gentle snore. Ha!”
Lord Carlton slammed down his glass on the armrest of his couch.
“You’re getting to be a regular jaw-me-dead! Going over that again isn’t going to make a mite of difference, as well you know. I say we just grab the chit and be done with it. Now that we have the licence, there is nothing to stop us.”
Lord Bingham sneered. “I suppose you think either of us can approach her after all this, and she will follow us willingly? Trust me, she will be on her guard and will not come within our reach if she knows we are in the vicinity. And we can forget about grabbing her off the street in front of everyone. Rutherford would be onto us before we could get to the church door. You saw how he looked at us today. He suspects we are up to something. If we make a mull of it this time, I doubt we will get another chance. No, we must do this properly.”
“What do you suggest then?”
Lord Bingham twirled the remaining liquid in his glass and stared at it in silence as he gathered his thoughts. After a moment he said, “I propose to meet with my sister and find out what outings Patience intends to attend. What we need is some kind of outdoor activity, somewhere where we can sneak her away unnoticed, preferably without Rutherford nearby.”
“Better act soon. We don’t have much time left.”
“I know that better than anyone,” snapped Lord Bingham before drowning his glass. “I will pay my sister a visit immediately. You may wait for me here. I shall be back shortly.”
Lord Bingham was fortunate enough to find his sister at home and alone. Patience, he was informed, had gone on a visit to the museum with a group of young people.
“I am glad to see she is settling so well into Society. I must say, I had not thought it would be so. With her temperament, one never quite knows what to expect.”
“I, for one, had no worry on that head,” Lady Westbury said. “She is such a charming girl. Everyone she meets takes an instant liking to her. We are positively inundated with invitations. Why, we cannot possibly attend half the functions to which we are being invited.”
“I hope,” Lord Bingham said in what he hoped to be a fatherly voice, “she is not getting worn out with all the excitement.”
“Certainly not! I would never let her become so. Although, I have never seen a girl with such a constitution. I swear she could stay out all night seven days a week and not be the worse for wear!”
“Yes, but appearances can be deceiving. You must remember that Patience is above all a country girl and as such needs plenty of fresh air. This city air cannot be good for her.”
“Oh, not to worry. There are plenty of outdoor outings planned for her entertainment. Why, just tomorrow we will be attending a luncheon picnic in Richmond Park. I believe the air is much better there.”
“Will it be a large party?”
“As to that, there will be a number of young people present.” Lady Westbury went on to enumerate a long list of names, many of which were unknown to him. But one name in particular caught his attention. Once he felt he had gathered as much information as would be useful, he made his excuses.
Lord Bingham hurried back to his lodgings. By the time he got there, he had already formulated a plan, and a brilliant one, if he dared say so himself.
Lord Bingham found Sir Rupert exactly where he had left him. The only change he could detect was in the much-depleted brandy. He did not begrudge him the fact, however. They would soon be rich enough to afford their own distillery.
“Well, how did it go?” Carlton asked as soon as his friend had crossed the threshold.
“Better than I had anticipated!”
“Stop gloating, man, and spit it out!”
“Patience is due to attend a luncheon picnic in Richmond Park tomorrow. My sister let drop that a certain young man by the name of Williams would also be attending.”
“And?”
Lord Carlton sat up straighter. “And how is he to help us exactly?”
“His role will be to separate Patience from the group by inviting her for a stroll and bring her to our waiting carriage. All to be performed in a most discreet fashion.”
“She is bound to be missed soon enough. What is to stop Rutherford from coming after us?”
“Nothing, in fact I wish he may try!” Bingham burst out laughing at Carlton’s confused look. “You see we will endeavour to set him off in quite the wrong direction. By the time he realizes his mistake, you and Patience will be long married.”
“And much richer!”
“Quite!”
In honour of their new plan, they drank what little remained of the brandy before finalizing the outstanding details and settling on an appropriate meeting place and time for the morrow. Lord Bingham saw his friend off then sat at his desk to compose a letter. When he had completed the task, he sealed it carefully and set off once more to arrange for its delivery before going to meet with the Honourable Richard Williams followed by two much less honourable characters.
“Looks like you’ll be having a perfect day for your outing Miss. Why, there’s not a cloud in sight!” The maid pushed back the blinds to let in the morning sun.
Patience got out of bed and went to see for herself. As her bedchamber was at the back of the house, she had a nice view of the small garden below. She was glad it was not raining. She was looking forward to spending the day outdoors. Having been raised in the country, she was starting to miss large open spaces. Even though London was very exciting, and as much as she had looked forward to her first season, she now longed to go back home to Peters and his wife and even old Mrs. Gibbs. A depressing thought crossed her mind as she realized that she would not be going back. She could not picture herself living under the same roof as her father with all that had happened in the last few weeks. Of course once she was married she could always go for a visit. Not that she expected Peters and his wife to remain in her father’s country house for long once she was able to provide them with a pension. And Julius had a beautiful home in the country. Hopefully he spent part of the year there. She would have to ask him. Assuming they ever got married.
She still had to bring up the subject of the will but she was confident she would be able to do so today. She also intended to enjoy this outing fully in his company. Would he attempt to steer her to a secluded spot away from the party, she wondered?
“If you intend to be ready on time, Miss Patty, I suggest you get away from that window and start getting dressed.”
Patience gladly obeyed and was soon arrayed in a pale green dress. She hurried downstairs to the breakfast parlour and found her aunt already there.
“Good morning, dear! What a wonderful day to be having a picnic outing. We could not have asked for better weather.”
Patience agreed as she poured them each a cup of coffee.
“I hope you will not be disappointed, but I received a note from the Earl barely half an hour ago saying that he had to excuse himself from the party.”
The joy and anticipation that had filled Patience but a moment ago evaporated into thin air. “I hope he is
not unwell?”
“No, nothing of the sort. He says he has received a missive from his steward and must go at once to Hawkridge Manor to attend to some urgent matter. Happily, Lady Rutherford will still accompany us. Oh, he said we might also expect a surprise!”
“Really? I wonder what he can mean,” Patience said, her mood lifting a little.
This was soon revealed when Lady Westbury’s open barouche stopped in front of the Earl’s townhouse to pick up Lady Rutherford. Upon their arrival, Lady Rutherford exited the house on the arm of a well-groomed and freshly-scrubbed Jessup.
“This is a surprise indeed!” exclaimed Patience. “How come you to accompany us? I thought you would have gone with Lord Rutherford to visit your family.”
“The Earl said he would not take me back until he was sure I could refrain from getting into mischief. He also said I am to make sure you have everything you need.”
“Oh, but I am certain that such a well-looking boy like you would never get into any sort of trouble!” said Lady Westbury.
“I think it is on account of me letting the bull out of Farmer Tom’s pen and it destroying a good deal of his cabbage crop. He was chasing me, you understand, the bull I mean, and to get to safety, I had to run across the cabbage patch.”
Patience could not refrain from laughing. “That is too bad of you, Jessup. But I can quite see that you had no choice but to run across the cabbage patch since I am sure the nearest place to safety happened to be that way.”
“Exactly!” agreed Jessup, obviously glad to have his side of the matter understood so well.
Lady Rutherford prayed Jessup to sit up front with the driver while she was assisted into the barouche by a footman.
“I am glad you do not seem to mind the intrusion,” said Lady Rutherford in a low voice. “I would not have thought this of Julius, but he seems to have become quite attached to the boy even though he is only the son of one of our tenants. Julius asked me to bring him along as he thought he could really use an outing but did not dare allow him anywhere near that poor Farmer Tom. He deemed it must still be too fresh in the man’s mind as it happened just before you left for London.”
“Of course not,” said Lady Westbury.
Patience, who could tell the story of the bull seemed to have daunted her aunt as much as Lady Rutherford, tried to reassure both ladies. “I will enjoy keeping an eye on Jessup. He and I are on very good terms.”
“Julius thought that the boy could make himself useful by assisting the servants with the laying out of the picnic.” Lady Rutherford’s doubts were mirrored in her companions’ eyes and all three ladies burst out laughing.
“I think it has been too long since Julius was a lad himself. He seems to have forgotten what it is like to be one,” continued Lady Rutherford. “We had better hope there are no bulls in the park or any other creature of the kind to catch Jessup’s interest.”
The drive to Richmond was soon accomplished. Several persons from their party had already arrived. Blankets had been spread on the ground but for now most preferred to stroll about the grounds.
Philip approached Patience, a sheepish look on his face. As he saw her take an involuntary step backward he made haste to reassure her. “Please do not be alarmed. I only wish to apologize. I know you must be vexed with me, but I hope you will believe me when I say that I am fully aware of my stupidity and selfishness in the matter.”
“I am most glad to hear it! Does that mean you will not attempt to molest me anymore?” Patience could not help asking. She hid her smile when he blushed to the roots of his blond hair.
“Certainly not! As you may have guessed by now, my heart has always belonged to Miss Arlington. Although that lady was not impartial to me, she had many doubts about my suitability as a husband. And correctly so, unfortunately! When she settled on Julius I was mad with jealousy. Then you came onto the scene, and I thought my way was clear. But it was not to be that easy. Miss Arlington had no more faith in my character than before. I recklessly decided to make her jealous by attempting to win your heart. It may have succeeded in making her jealous, but not in making her see my suitability, I’m afraid.”
“What if I had accepted your offer of marriage?”
“Oh, I was certain you would refuse. Your feelings for Julius are quite obvious, you know. You may pretend to fight like cats and dogs, but from the first I could see plainly how the land lies. I must confess I took a certain pleasure in making Julius jealous. It was a sort of payback for what I had to endure when watching him and Miss Arlington making up to each other when both were quite aware of my feelings. But now that I am in a fair way to winning Miss Arlington’s heart, I am quite in charity with him.”
Patience impulsively held out her hands to him. “I am so glad to hear you say these words. I know your cousin has been made very unhappy with the situation. I am sure he is looking forward to renewing the close bond that existed between you before Miss Arlington or I ever came onto the scene.”
“As to that, we will have to wait and see. Where is the old dog?”
“He has gone to Hawkridge. Some urgent matter awaited him apparently.” Patience was suddenly aware of someone at her elbow. “Jessup? Do you want something?”
“No, Miss Patty. Just wondering if you might be needing my assistance.”
Philip chuckled. “Julius does not let you go out unattended anymore! I will leave you then. I see that Miss Arlington has arrived. I was hoping for a word with her as well.”
Philip bowed before heading toward the new arrivals. Patience noticed the flush on Miss Arlington’s face as Philip kissed her hand. She was heartily glad for that new turn of events. It would give the both of them something better to think about than trying to break up her betrothal.
Patience soon found that she could not take two steps without bumping into Jessup. “You know, there really isn’t any need for you to be following me about like this.”A suspicion suddenly crossed her mind. “Did Lord Rutherford ask you to keep an eye on me?”
Jessup looked down at the toes of his now slightly-muddied shoes. “He wants me to make sure no one sets off with you, Miss Patty.”
“In broad daylight and surrounded by my friends? Surely the Earl is overreacting?”
“Just following orders, Miss Patty.”
Another thought occurred to her. “Did he say why he thought someone might try to set off with me?”
Jessup shook his head. “I did not think to ask.”
Why was Julius concerned, she wondered? Did he know more than he had let on? Had he found out about the will and her father’s mad scheme? At least her father was nowhere in sight today. If she had learned anything so far it was that he did not like to strike in broad daylight. Hopefully he had come to his senses since his last effort and would not renew the attempt, especially here while Julius was too far away to be of any help. A chill suddenly assailed her making goose bumps appear on her arms.
“I see the food has been laid out. You must be hungry. Let us see if we can get you some food from the servants’ blankets over there.”
Jessup heartily agreed to this and they set off for the blankets.
Chapter Eighteen
Patience settled down next to her aunt and soon forgot her earlier misgivings as she partook of the numerous cold dishes and joined in the joyous banter floating all around her. After the meal, some of the more adventurous gentlemen set up an impromptu game of cricket while the others sat back and encouraged the players with their cheers. A young gentleman decided to brave Jessup’s hard stare as the boy stood guard a little away from her blanket and came to speak to her.
“I hope you do not mind if I join you, Miss Bingham? My name is Richard Williams. I am the grandson of General Williams.”
“Please sit down. I believe I met your grandfather at my engagement ball. How is he faring?”
“He is doing very well, especially since you gave him that herbal recipe for his gout. He has asked me to thank you should I come upon y
ou today.”
“How kind of him. Please give him my regards.”
“I hope you will not find me bold, but I was wondering if you knew of any herbal remedies for the migraine. It is for my mother. She often suffers from such an ailment.”
“I am always glad to help.” Patience embarked on a lengthy discussion concerning the of merits various herbs to soothe headaches. During this discourse, Jessup had settled back against a tree trunk. His eyes grew heavy and he could soon be heard to snore gently.
After they had discussed the subject at length, Mr. Williams said, “I find I am not used to sitting on the ground for so long. I need to stretch my legs. Would you care to accompany me for a stroll, Miss Bingham?”
“I would love to but…” She glanced at Jessup uncertainly.
“Do not worry. The lad won’t come to any harm in our short absence.”
“I am more worried that he should cause harm to someone else! He is such an unpredictable boy.”
“With the amount of food he has ingested at lunch, I would be surprised if he did not sleep the rest of the afternoon away.”
“I think you have a point! Then let us be off.” Patience took Mr. Williams proffered arm and they set off toward the pond.
They had not been walking for more than a few minutes when someone suddenly jumped from behind a bush, blocking their way. The individual had a scarf around his face, a low-brimmed hat shielding his eyes, and a pistol in one hand. With the other, he motioned them forward.
“Hand over the lady and be quick about it.”
Patience, realizing that this was not one of Jessup’s pranks, looked quickly about her to seek a possible source of help. But they were conveniently hidden from the others by a grove of trees.
“I will not go with you! Now let us go this instant!”
“Quiet, girl, and do as I say!” the man hissed. “Would you like to see your young swain here lying in his own blood?”
Patience was immediately silenced. It was one thing for her to stand up to this rascal, but quite another to put someone else’s life in danger.