‘That I c-couldn’t say.’ Quickly finishing off his wine, Mr Gifford rose to his feet. ‘I’d b-better be getting back now, sir. Thought I’d just call to see you as I was in the area, and I l-look forward to seeing you again at the p-party tonight.’
‘Are you well acquainted with him, Uncle?’ Daniel asked, after Julia, still appearing rather shaken, accompanied Mr Gifford from the room.
Sir Joshua shook his head. ‘Met him only once before, when I travelled up to town with Cranford last month and we dined together at our club. Waverley was there. He introduced us.’
Daniel could not rid himself of the suspicion that he had seen the young man somewhere before, and began to experience a decidedly uneasy feeling. There was just something artificial about him. His stuttering speech made him appear nervy, and his fashionable attire slightly dandified, but there was no timidity about the directness of his gaze. ‘Was Sir Giles Osborne at the club that night, by any chance?’
‘Why, I do believe he was, yes! And Lord Davenham too. We all sat at the same table, playing cards. Are you acquainted with him?’
Daniel’s eyes narrowed speculatively. His uncle had travelled to London with Cranford round about the time he himself had set forth on his journey to France. Could it possibly have been that night at the club that Sir Giles had told his totally fabricated tale about Justine leaving certain documents in the hands of a lawyer? It was certainly a possibility, and if he had, then it was reasonable to assume that he suspected someone seated at that table of being the traitor.
Cranford and Sir Joshua were certainly out of the reckoning. Sir Joshua had never had any connection with the War Office. Furthermore, Sir Giles would never have selected Daniel himself to aid him if he had suspected for a moment that Sir Joshua was a traitor. Their relationship was just too close. Gifford at twenty-three, or four at most, was too young to be the traitor, although he could well be in league now with the man Sir Giles was determined to unearth. So that just left Davenham and Waverley, both of whom had had some connection with the War Office, and both of whom had been at White’s on that particular night. More disturbing still was that both men were to be among the guests at the Cranfords’ party that evening.
‘I’m not acquainted with either Davenham or Waverley,’ Daniel admitted. ‘But I do know Sir Giles.’
‘Ah, yes. Now you mention it, I do believe Osborne remarked upon the fact,’ Sir Joshua disclosed, before his frown returned. ‘Deuced odd that young Gifford should put himself to the trouble of paying me a visit on so brief an acquaintance, especially as he didn’t seem inclined to remain very long after we’d returned, don’t you agree?’
‘Perhaps he didn’t wish to outstay his welcome,’ Daniel responded, staring intently at an imaginary spot on the carpet. Or maybe he discovered what he came here to find out, he added silently to himself.
That evening, while she busied herself getting ready for the party, Katherine succeeded in maintaining a flow of light-hearted conversation with Janet who, showing no little expertise, was arranging those striking auburn locks in a more elaborate style for the occasion. Yet beneath the carefree exterior Katherine felt as if she were being ripped in two. She knew her stay at Rosslair was rapidly drawing to an end, and she found the mere thought of leaving excruciating, while at the same time she knew it was for the best, for she was not made of iron, and sooner or later she would buckle under the strain of striving to keep her feelings towards the master of the house well hidden.
She was under no illusions that this evening would prove to be the greatest trial of all, for not only must she continue behaving like some fond sister towards Daniel, she must also adopt the role which Sir Giles expected her to play: a double burden, but one she refused to attempt to postpone. So, after taking one last look at her overall appearance in the full length mirror, she picked up her shawl, and left the room.
She discovered Daniel awaiting her in the hall. Although he possessed some fine clothes, he hadn’t taken the trouble to acquire any fashionable evening apparel since his return to England the previous year. Consequently he had chosen to don, of all things, the Rifleman-green dress uniform he had worn on the occasion of her cousin’s engagement party, which she found a faintly poignant coincidence, for she had chosen to wear none other than the gown she had worn on that particular occasion.
Daniel turned as he detected her light footfall on the stairs, and smiled wryly as he cast appreciative eyes over her faultless appearance. ‘I have seen you wearing some charming dresses during these past days, Kate, but I think that particular gown will always retain a very special place in my memory long after it has been consigned to the rag box.’
She didn’t pretend to misunderstand. ‘Yes, it is somewhat ironic, is it not, that we should have chosen to dress in these particular garments this evening?’ She came to stand before him, her eyes gently teasing as she stared up at those ruggedly attractive features. ‘I hope it isn’t an omen and we end the evening by being at outs with each other.’
She had intended the remark as a joke, but it was clear that he wasn’t amused. ‘You do not have to go through with this, Kate. It isn’t too late to change your mind. No one would think any less of you if you did cry off.’
One would have needed to be deaf not to have detected the note of deep concern in his voice, and blind not to see the worry etched in each rugged contour of that beloved face, which would remain imprinted in her memory until her last breath.
He had been in a strangely subdued mood since he arrived home early in the afternoon, after his visit to the market town. He had openly admitted to enjoying the visit, and yet something had occurred to trouble him during his absence from home. ‘I should,’ she countered softly. ‘I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t a little apprehensive. But you know that Mr Ashcroft assured us both that I will be guarded throughout the entire evening.’
The troubled expression remained. Clearly he was unconvinced, but Katherine had more faith. ‘Sir Giles has done everything humanly possible to ensure my safety thus far, Daniel,’ she reminded him. ‘He could not have provided me with a better protector than you. If our roles were reversed, I know that you would see this thing through to the end.’
He didn’t attempt to deny it, and yet she sensed that he was suppressing the strong desire to sweep her up in his arms, carry her back up the stairs and lock her in her room. He was more than capable of doing it, too! Surprisingly, though, all he did was merely raise his hands and take a gentle hold of her upper arms. ‘Then I would ask only one thing. At the risk of receiving a second rebuff, my precious virago, will you dance with me this evening?’
For several moments Katherine was obliged to grasp her bottom lip between her teeth to stop it from trembling, as a surge of conflicting emotions, not least of which was a searing sense of shame, came perilously close to crushing the praiseworthy self-control she had managed to exert over herself during these past days. Only the tenuous thread of determination she still managed to retain enabled her to meet the tender gaze of the man she had once so naively held in such foolish contempt.
Raising her own hands, she placed them on the shoulders of the black-braided dark green jacket that suited him so well. ‘I would be so very honoured to stand up with you tonight … my grasshopper.’
For one heart-stopping moment she thought he might kiss her, and feared she could never summon up enough will to resist if he tried. Fortunately her reserves of resolve were not further depleted, for McGann, forcing them to part, came striding into the hall to inform them that the carriage was ready and waiting at the door.
‘I wish you’d let me come with you, sir,’ he remarked with a hopeful glance in his master’s direction.
‘No, McGann.’ Daniel’s voice brooked no argument. ‘Those two bodyguards Sir Giles sent have proved reliable. They will provide sufficient protection for the journey. Besides, I want you to keep watch here, to look after Janet, just in case we should receive an unwanted visitor.’
Mention of the housekeeper thankfully enabled Katherine to turn her thoughts in a new direction, as it brought