"It took me a little time to pluck up the courage and by then Mr Dit ton had already found us. Oh, dear! Lord Henry will think that I do not trust him--" " Indeed, my dear, and it is of the utmost importance that he is made to understand! " Lady Belling ham said energetically.
"Lord Henry loves you so very much that I imagine you have occasioned him a great deal of pain through this false engagement! If you do not act quickly he may not forgive you!"
"I did try," Polly said dispiritedly, "but I did not have enough time--" "And no doubt he wasted some of it in berating you!" Lady Belling ham shook her head sadly.
"Gentlemen are so predictable, but I have high hopes of Lord Henry"s intelligence and perception. Surely he can see that you are being blackmailed?"
"Yes, but I did not have the chance to explain--" Polly broke off.
"How on earth did you know that, Lady B.?"
"Oh, my dear..." Lady Belling ham gestured widely "how could you possibly have agreed to marry that horrid little man otherwise? For a while I could not imagine what hold he had over you, then I realised that it could be nothing to do with you personally--" "You cannot know--" " No," Lady Belling ham said serenely, "I do not know the precise truth. All I know is that you are protecting someone else for the best of motives."
She took Polly"s hands.
"But I do urge you, my dear, to reconsider. You may find that what you have been told is very far from the truth..."
Polly stared.
"I wish I could believe you, ma"am," she said sadly, "but all the details fit the case. You do not think that I would have agreed to the betrothal otherwise? Oh, I do not know what to do--" The door opened and a young lady peered in a little dubiously. Lady Belling ham took Polly"s arm and steered her out into the corridor.
"Come, we must see if we can find Lord Henry for you. I cannot deny that I am consumed with curiosity to know the truth, but Lord Henry should be the first to hear! You must tell him, and at once. If necessary, I shall occupy that repellent Mr Dit ton by telling him exactly what I think of him.
That should distract his attention! In fact, I think I shall do that anyway!"
Lady Belling ham"s plan was destined to be dashed, however. Neither Lord Henry March night nor Tristan Dit ton could be found when they re-entered the ballroom.
Looking about, Polly thought that the company seemed to be thinning rapidly.
The officers of the 21st Light Dragoons seemed to be vanishing from before her eyes.
"Oh, this a.s.sembly is so tediously dull!" Miss Dit- ton yawned.
"Mama, let us retire! Where can Tristan have got to?" She looked about her, vexed.
"I.
hope he will not mind if we take the carriage! It is so thoughtless of him to disappear just as we require his escort! " As far as Polly was concerned, Dit ton could not be far enough away. She endured Miss Dit ton"s pretence at an affectionate farewell embrace, winced as she was addressed as "Sister", and retreated thankfully to Lucille"s side. She had already decided that she would seek a private audience with her sister-in-law as soon as they reached Dilling ham Court. She could carry the secret of Hetty"s disgrace no longer.
The journey home was almost as dreadful as the one to the a.s.sembly.
Lucille, Polly and Nicholas sat in silence whilst Polly ached to burst out with the truth. Other melancholy thoughts also occupied her mind.
A few moments more and she would have told Henry everything, but now he would think that she did not trust him enough to confide. And it had been true. doubt had kept her silent until it was too late.
Polly took no notice as the carriage lurched along the dark lanes from Wood bridge to Dilling ham. It was only when they came to an abrupt halt in the middle of nowhere that she looked up in surprise. Nicholas opened the window and stuck his head out. A cold mist was blowing in from the sea, wreathing around the trees, creeping into the carriage.
Polly shivered.
She was uncertain of their precise location as she had not been paying attention, but the night was cold and as desolate as only the empty Suffolk nights could be.
"John? What the devil"s going on?" Nicholas demanded.
"There"s a barricade across the road, my lord," the coachman responded.
"Army business, apparently, though here"s one can tell you what"s going on--" " What"s happening. Lieutenant? " Nicholas Sea- grave demanded of someone beyond Polly"s vision. " Why have we stopped? " There was a murmur of conversation and then the soldier stepped around the side of the carriage, his red coat vivid in the misty darkness. His broad smile dispelled some of the tension gathering inside, where Lucille and Polly were just starting to worry.
"Oh it"s you, my lord! Please accept my apologies for stopping the coaches--a precaution only--but there has been some trouble down on the mud flats..." He grinned suddenly, dropping all formality.
"You"ll be glad to know, sir, that the operation has been a success and both parties taken as we planned--" " Nicholas? What is happening? "
The Dowager Countess"s voice reached them imperiously from the door of the carriage she was sharing with the others. " Why have we stopped in this G.o.dforsaken place? " The young Lieutenant turned hastily to apologise. "In just a moment we should be able to allow your journey to proceed, ma"am..."
"Did you take the ship as well?" Nicholas asked.
"We did, sir! The Laribee was hanging about outside port for the best part of the day, but she showed the revenue cutter a clean pair of heels when they went after her! When darkness fell she came in close again and put a boat out at the mouth of the creek, but we were waiting for them before they got to the rendezvous! The crew swore blind that they were innocent, but we found a tidy stock of brandy in the hold. It was to be an exchange, a man out and the cargo in, only the men on the beach started to quarrel and under cover of the noise and darkness--"
He broke off at the sound of marching footsteps on the road. Polly, leaning forward to peer into the darkness, drew back with an exclamation as a posse of soldiers, mud stained and filthy, marched past the carriages with two prisoners under escort in chains. One was utterly unknown to her, but the other-- " Tristan Dit ton! " The Dowager Countess"s astounded tones cut the air.
"You have Tristan Dit ton there under arrest! What on earth is going on--" " Do close the carriage door. Mama," Nicholas said hastily.
"We may progress now. Questions must wait until we are back in the warm, I think."
And he drew back into the coach. They started to move again, but not until Polly"s astonished gaze had taken in every detail of Mr Dit ton"s extraordinary appearance. Gone was the dandified, exquisite simpering over his shirt- points, and in his place was a snarling monster, straining helplessly against the chains that held him. For a moment his furious gaze picked her out and pinned her with his anger before he was dragged past.
Polly shivered violently and, as the carriage picked up speed, she burrowed as far under the rugs as she could in a vain effort to get warm.
"Tristan Dit ton!" The Dowager Countess was still expostulating loudly as they all entered the hall at Dilling ham Court.
"If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I doubt I should have believed it!
And you---" she swung around accusingly on her elder son "--you appear to know all about it!"
Nicholas Sea grave was grinning broadly.
"Oh no, this is Harry March night"s show, not mine! I merely offered my help when he asked! You will have to ask Harry for the explanation!"
"Harry March night!" The Dowager Countess was beginning to resemble a parrot in her repeti ton.
"What in the name of all that"s holy can Harry March night have to do with this? Why, I like Harry above all people, he is the most charming of men and he did us a great good turn in London, but--" She stopped suddenly.
"And you, Polly! What do you know of all this? The betrothal to Tristan Dit- ton--" Polly had not been listening to her mother"s exclamations. She had suddenly realised with a feeling of sick horror and indignation that her brother had known of Dit ton"s criminality and yet had said nothing, had done nothing to rescue her from the travesty of her engagement to him. Worse, only a night ago, Henry March night had sworn to tell her the truth and had done so, but had neglected the most important part--that Tristan Dit ton was the real villain.
"How dare you?" Her words cut across whatever Lucille had been saying to the Dowager Countess. She glared at Nicholas.
"How dare you and Henry March night play your games and think it entertaining? You could have saved me--one word from you and I would have known--" Her voice broke and she started to sob.
"You must see that I could not, Polly." Nicholas had come across to her and tried to put an arm around her, but Polly pushed him away furiously.
"The situation was so fraught with danger that, if Dit ton had had any hint that all was not well, he might have run before we could trap him--" Polly did not want to hear him. She turned away and stumbled up the stairs to her room where, for a second time, she locked herself in and cried as though her heart were breaking.
Chapter Sixteen.