‘My own pockets are sadly to let or I should offer to frank you.’ Captain John Marshall joined him in the sad perusal of their joint fate, having both put down too much of their blunt on a sure thing. ‘No, no, don’t poker up, Adam. Only meant pay our shot at the inn. You’d do the same for me.’
‘I can manage that,’ Adam replied ruefully. ‘Kept enough back for it, but I’d thought to return to London for a few weeks. However, my allowance for the month is shot and I refuse to borrow—so the country it must be.’
‘I shall avail myself of my uncle’s hospitality,’ John said. ‘He has been asking me to stay this age. Bores one to death with his stories, but he’s got a good heart. He’ll leave me a fortune one day, I dare say.’
‘Had I such a relative I should be delighted to stay with him.’ Adam laughed. ‘The cure for my dilemma is in my own hands, but I can’t seem to make up my mind to it.’
‘Know where you’re coming from.’ His friend tapped the side of his nose. ‘Heiresses are the very devil. If they’re ugly, it makes one want to run a mile—and if they’re beautiful, they look through one as if there was a bad smell under their pretty noses.’
Adam was forced into laughter. He sipped his wine, feeling the cloud of gloom lift slightly. The future looked exceedingly dark, but at the moment he was still free to enjoy his life as he would.
‘I’ve been invited to Mark Ravenscar’s wedding. I think I shall go down and stay. I’ve decided I shall give him one of my breeding mares as a gift. He has been after buying her for an age and I could hardly think of anything better—though I must give Lucy something for herself. A piece of my late mother’s jewellery, perhaps.’
‘Ladies can never have too many trinkets.’ John nodded wisely. ‘I plan to send them a silver tea-and-coffee service myself—we have about twenty of them at home.’
‘It’s what all the uncles and aunts give,’ Adam smiled in amusement. ‘Which is why I settled on the mare.’ He finished his wine and stood up. ‘Think I’ll go up. If I don’t see you in the morning, you’ll be at Mark’s wedding?’
‘Wouldn’t miss it for the world. There wasn’t one of us in the regiment that didn’t envy him Lucy Dawlish—a regular golden goddess fit for one beloved of the gods.’
‘Yes, Mark always has been a lucky devil,’ Adam replied with an odd smile. ‘Good night, old fellow.’
Leaving his friend to finish the bottle, Adam exited the private parlour and walked upstairs to his room. He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, still fully clothed. Dashed tired and dispirited, but he’d enjoyed meeting an old comrade. Now that his wounds had healed, Adam was considering whether he might do better to return to an army life. He would be an officer on half-pay during peace time, however, which meant he would find it difficult to manage. Perhaps it would be better to try to set his own small estate in order. He was unlikely to inherit anything but an ancient pile of stones and huge debts from his grandfather—debts that he could never pay unless he married a considerable heiress.
Back to the same old problem, he closed his eyes and was soon snoring gently as his mind drifted away and in his dreams he saw a woman’s look of disdain.
* * *
‘Well, Jenny, I’m sure I do not know why you wish to leave us,’ Mrs Hastings said as her niece came down dressed in a smart but plain green travelling gown. She sniffed her disapproval. ‘I think we’ve done our best to make you comfortable.’
‘Yes, Aunt Martha. You’ve both been kind—but I wished for a change. I am not certain what I would like to do with my life, but I intend to make up my own mind.’
‘I still cannot see why you dislike the marquis so much. You would have a prestigious title and he would settle money on you...’
‘I think I can manage for myself on what I have, Aunt. Papa may have lost some money, but I am not a pauper. I am not reduced to earning my living as a governess.’
‘No one would employ a girl as pretty as you for their governess.’ Mrs Hastings sniffed again. ‘Your uncle was only trying to protect you from the wrong kind of suitor.’
Jenny smiled and shook her head. ‘I must not keep the coachman waiting,’ she said. Although it would have been perfectly possible for her to travel by post-chaise, she had been unable to get out of using her uncle’s antiquated carriage. He was annoyed with her for visiting the lawyer without reference to him and Jenny had had to endure a homily from him on the ingratitude of younger folk today.
‘I did what I thought right in the circumstances, Jenny. Your father left me the task of guarding you and your funds until you are either one and twenty—or married. You had no need of a larger allowance whilst you lived under our roof.’
‘You are one of the trustees,’ Jenny gently reminded him. ‘Mr Nodgrass is the other and he saw fit to give me the monthly sum I requested.’
‘Yes, well, since you are removing yourself from my house I suppose you will need more. But you should learn economy, Jenny. Even had you a huge fortune, which to my mind, you have not, you may easily run through it if you spend too freely.’
Jenny had not answered. From what Mr Nodgrass had told her she had funds enough for her needs and she saw no point in the stringent economy her uncle thought right. However, her aunt and uncle had been kind enough in their way and she had no wish to quarrel with them.
A sigh of relief left her lips as she climbed into the carriage and the groom put up the steps. Her maid Megan was already sitting quietly in one corner, waiting for her. She smiled at her, feeling as if a heavy weight had been lifted. Her uncle and aunt were good people in their way, but they had made her feel beholden to them for all these months and there was no need for it, no need at all. Jenny could have remained in her father’s house had her uncle not sold the property together with so many other things that Jenny would have preferred to keep. Thankfully, Mr Nodgrass had refused to give up her mother’s jewels, keeping them safe for her in his strongroom.
Jenny had decided to leave the more valuable diamonds and rubies with him, because in that much her aunt was right. Such ostentation would not become a girl of her age and should be kept for marriage or some years in the future. Papa had bought the finest he could for his beloved wife, but Jenny loved best the trinkets she’d chosen for her own use, which had also been her mother’s favourites and worn more often than either the diamonds or the rubies.
‘Are you looking forward to your visit, miss?’
Jenny glanced at her maid and a little gurgle of laughter broke from her. ‘So much! It should be the greatest good fun—lots of dances, dinners and picnics. We have the summer before us and with the wedding next month everything will be so exciting. You’ll enjoy yourself in the country, Meg. You can make friends and go out for walks when I don’t need you.’
‘I was a country girl until your papa employed me to look after you,’ Meg replied. ‘We make our own fun in the country. I always loved the haymaking as a girl—and gathering in the May blossom.’
‘Tell me about your childhood,’ Jenny said. ‘We’ve never talked like this before and I should so much like to know all about your family and what you did as a young girl...’
* * *
His thumping head had almost cleared now. The fresh air was doing him a power of good and he was glad he’d decided to drive himself down in his phaeton. Alas, his favourite high-perch phaeton with the bright yellow wheels and the matched blacks he’d prized so much had had to be sold to pay his immediate debts. He now had more than five hundred guineas in his account, which meant he could stop worrying—at least for the time being.
Adam’s goal of having one of the best breeding stables in the country might have suffered a little from the loss of his blacks, but he still had the greys and the