Proposals in Regency Society: Make-Believe Wife / The Homeless Heiress

‘I am sorry to disturb you, Miss Roxanne, but Mr Higgins has asked if you will visit him at home.’

‘At home?’ Roxanne was puzzled. ‘Is he not in his office?’

‘It appears he had an accident, miss. Johnson will take you in the governess’s cart—if you wouldn’t mind travelling in such a way?’

‘Of course not. I shall get ready at once. Is it far?’

‘Not far, miss, but Johnson says he was instructed you wasn’t to walk there alone. He’s to take you and wait to bring you back.’

‘I shall fetch my pelisse at once.’

‘I took the liberty of sending for it. Tilly is waiting in the hall to help you with it, miss.’

Roxanne thanked her. Going into the hall, she put on her pelisse and bonnet and then went out to the courtyard at the back of the house, where the groom was waiting with the governess’s cart.

‘Is Mr Higgins badly hurt, Johnson?’ Roxanne asked as she was helped up into the little seat at the back.

‘He’s got some nasty cuts and bruises,’ the groom replied. ‘His wife made him lie on the sofa in the parlour and the doctor told him he should go to bed and rest for a few days, but he won’t until he’s seen you, miss.’

‘Please take me to him at once,’ Roxanne said. ‘I know this must be important or he would not otherwise have sent for me.’

She twisted her gloves in her hands, feeling a heavy weight of responsibility. Higgins had gone to the tower on her behalf and it was her fault if he had taken a tumble down the stairs. She was distressed because he was hurt and blamed herself.

The bailiff’s cottage was through the park, at the edge of the road that led to Harte Village. It would have taken her a good half an hour to walk here, but the drive was accomplished in a fraction of the time. The groom helped her down and, as she walked up the path of the neat garden, the front door opened and a plump, pleasant-looking woman opened the door to her.

‘I’ve been watching out for you, Miss Roxanne,’ she cried. ‘I am that grateful you’ve come. Higgins won’t go to bed until he has spoken to you—and the foolish man has refused to take his medicine for fear it sends him to sleep.’

‘I came as soon as I heard,’ Roxanne said. ‘I am so sorry, Mrs Higgins. I fear I am to blame for this.’

‘You, miss? I should say not—but come through to the parlour and let my man tell you himself.’

Roxanne followed her into a pleasant parlour with a sunny aspect at the back of the house. Mr Higgins was lying on a large comfortable sofa with his head on a pile of pillows and his eyes shut. He opened them as she approached and sat up, looking anxious.

‘Please do not disturb yourself, sir.’ Roxanne drew a parlour chair and sat close to him. ‘Did one of the steps give way beneath you? I am so sorry for sending you there. I do hope you are not badly hurt?’

‘It was not the steps, miss, though one or two are crumbling, but I didn’t go up the tower. The place we spoke of is below it. I went to look at the lock and found some signs that someone had tried unsuccessfully to open the door. I was about to leave and report it to Mr Tonkins when something hit me from behind. I went down like a light and it must have been some minutes before I came to myself enough to get up and stagger out. One of the gardeners saw me fall as I left and called for help.’

‘You were hit on the back of the head? That is terrible.’ Roxanne felt shivery all over. ‘So I was right—there was someone in the tower. I am so sorry you were hurt, Mr Higgins.’

‘Serves me right for going there alone, miss. I thought you had imagined the face and took a risk. In future I’ll be more careful and respectful of what you say. I gave instructions that a search should be made. Six of the men went to take a look in the tower after they brought me home—and I’ve since heard that someone has been camping out in the tower.’

‘Good gracious! How long has this been going on?’

‘A day or two at most the men think. It might have been a tramp, miss—or it might have been a thief, as you suggested. Whoever it was, he didn’t want to get caught.’

‘No, indeed, but this is serious, Mr Higgins. You must take great care and rest, as your doctor told you.’

‘I shall for a day or so, if only to appease Mrs Higgins—but you must promise me you will not attempt to visit that wing or the tower again, miss. His lordship would never forgive me if anything were to happen to you. One of us should have noticed something before you did, and that can’t be denied.’

‘I shall certainly not attempt to enter the tower,’ Roxanne assured him. ‘I have been wishing that I had not told you. I am so sorry you were hurt.’

‘It was my own fault for not taking anyone to guard my back. I didn’t give you credit, miss, and I should have known you’re not the sort to imagine things. I’ve given instructions that the grounds are to be patrolled at all times. If there are dangerous intruders about, we cannot be too careful.’

‘I thought I saw a man hiding in the shrubbery outside my room the first night I came here,’ Roxanne told him. ‘Lord Clarendon thought it must have been one of the keepers, but now… Why would anyone watch the house and then hide in the tower?’

‘There’s something he’s after,’ Higgins said and looked grave. ‘I don’t know what it is, Miss Roxanne. We’ve never had anything like it before—so why now?’

‘I do not know,’ she replied. ‘I promise I shall take great care when walking in the gardens—and you must rest, sir.’

‘I shall for a day or so, miss. It seems I’ve a tough skull for the blow did no more than knock me unconscious. I may have a headache for a while, but I’ll be as right as rain soon.’

‘I am relieved to hear it.’

‘Shall you tell the earl, miss?’

‘No, not unless he has heard something,’ Roxanne said. ‘As you know, his health is not good. I do not wish him to worry. I dare say the intruder has gone. With the increased security he is unlikely to return.’

‘I doubt he will risk it again—unless there is something he desperately wants to get his hands on. You cannot think what that might be, miss?’ The bailiff looked at her hard. ‘No idea what he’s after?’

‘No,’ Roxanne said. ‘I cannot tell you, for I do not know.’

Yet as she was driven back to the house some minutes later, Roxanne was thoughtful. Had the intruder been after her ruby? It would explain why the attempt on the strong room had happened now—but was the jewel valuable enough to bring whoever it was here? It had been in the strong room only one night, because Luke had taken it to London with him to be valued.

Besides, no one knew she had it. How could they? Sofia had kept it hidden for years and no one had tried to take it from them. Roxanne had wondered if Black Bob suspected she had something of value, but would he attempt to break into the earl’s strong room? It did not fit with what she knew of him. Petty thieving or cheating a traveller of his purse was the gypsy’s style, but not robbery on the scale that had been planned here. To break into an earl’s treasury would be a serious matter.

Yet if it was the Hartingdon heirlooms that were wanted, why had it happened now and not at some time in the past?

What was so special about the ruby that it had provoked an attempt to break into the earl’s strong room and an attack on his bailiff?

Why had it been in her hand when Sofia found her? She had been so determined to keep it, so adamant that it belonged to her. The earl was right when he said something did not fit with the rest. How could a girl of modest family come to own a jewel like that one?

Roxanne thought about the game they had played when she was recovering from her illness. Sofia was an intelligent lady. Had she suspected that the ruby had come from India? She might have invented the game to try to jog the memories in Roxanne’s mind. It was possible that as she lay delirious she had said something that made Sofia believe she had once lived there. Rather than try to force her to remember, Sofia had invented the game.

The face at the tower window had been dark and not English. Roxanne strained for a memory, anything that would make sense of what was happening, but nothing came to her. Yet there was something that warned her she might be in danger, some instinct that told her Mr Higgins had been set upon by someone who wanted that ruby.

The thoughts went round and round in her head like a trapped animal trying to escape from its cage. If she could remember what had occurred to frighten her when she ran from her home, she might be able to understand what was happening now.

‘What is this I hear about Higgins?’ the earl asked when Roxanne visited him that evening before going down to supper. ‘What on earth was the fool doing in the tower in the first place? He knows it is dangerous.’

She hesitated, then, ‘Do you truly wish to know the answer, sir? You might find it concerning.’

‘Damn it, I ain’t on me last legs yet. Tell me the truth, girl. All of it, for I shall know if you lie.’

‘I saw a face at the round window halfway up the tower earlier today. I told Higgins, because I knew the strong room was there somewhere. He went to investigate, found an unsuccessful attempt had been made to open the iron door—and someone knocked him unconscious. The tower has since been searched by some of the men and no one is there now.’

‘So the rogue has escaped. Is Higgins badly hurt?’

‘No. I think he has a sore head and is shocked—but the doctor said the blow was not severe enough to kill him. Perhaps whoever it was did not wish to murder him, merely to stun him while he made his escape.’