Authors: Charlotte Russell
Claire was probably equally as enamored of Kensworth’s personality. He was jovial and affable, a man who liked to be around people as much as she, and even though he was new to the viscountcy, he now had an estate and a secure position in Parliament.
Whereas he, John, was the exact opposite in personality and had nothing to offer any woman—no estate, no title, not even a government position he could speak openly about.
He gave himself a shake in the saddle. The relationship of Claire and Kensworth was none of his concern. The prime minister’s life was. In the absence of David and Robert, now was the perfect time to interrogate the viscount. With a much defter hand than the verb indicated, of course.
As they passed out of Camden Town, John pulled up even with his companion. “Have you always known you were a Whig? Was your father one?”
Kensworth snorted. Or maybe it was the horse. Either way, the man looked disgusted. “My father was a member of the Gin Party. He was a drunkard and not much else.”
John let the comment pass. Apparently Kensworth wasn’t
always
good-humored. “My family have been Tories for ages so I expected to lean the same way. Perhaps if I had stayed in England and been influenced by my brother, I might be a solid Tory. But things look decidedly different from across the Channel.”
“It’s probably best that you left. Sometimes we need a new situation to gain perspective on an old one. When I first joined the Fifty-second, I found nothing unusual about the ways of our military and our country. But as I spent more time in the army I began to see things in a new light. It made no sense that men with money could buy high-ranking commissions without having a drop of experience. Sometimes the army was fortunate and such a man turned out to be an extraordinary officer, but when he didn’t, the men beneath him paid for it, many times with their lives.”
Kensworth thrust his shoulders back and glanced at John. “Perhaps you’ll think me cocksure, but I believe I could have served the Fifty-second well as a major. But I didn’t have ten pounds to my name. As it was, I only made captain because two of my fellow soldiers died on the battlefield. Even then I couldn’t afford a mount and had to trudge across the Peninsula just like those under my command. When I returned to England, I couldn’t vote either, let alone stand for Parliament, despite being the grandson of a peer.”
John heard the bitterness in his voice and saw, before Kensworth resolutely focused on the road, a shadow of shame in his eyes. He might be a viscount now, but Kensworth still had raw feelings about his past. John tried to imagine what might have brought his line of the family so low: a gambler, a spendthrift, poor investments? Not that he would inquire about something so personal.
Shifting in the saddle, Kensworth spoke into the silence. “I joined the local Hampden Club after the war, as did my brothers. We were, and are, eager to change certain aspects of the government. Men like us—pardon, men like we used to be—ought to be able to vote. At the time—this was almost two years ago—I had no inkling I could possibly inherit the viscountcy. The rest of the family had long ago stopped communicating with my father, and even after he died I never heard from any of them. My point is, participating in the Hampden Club was the only way I could hope to change things. To make life better for my brothers and my fellow soldiers.”
Kensworth fell silent again, and the sounds of chirping birds and clopping hooves filled the air as John contemplated his companion’s words.
He found it difficult to disagree with anything Kensworth said. Power in England lay decidedly in the hands of the landed and wealthy. True, it had once been so almost everywhere, but now they could look to America and even France, if one looked past the reality to the ideals, for a different model.
Before John could say anything, Kensworth smiled. “I apologize for prattling on. It’s an unfortunate habit of mine. Claire possesses it too. We often find ourselves talking over each other. You, however, are a fine listener and— There I go again!”
The comment about Claire nettled his jealous heart, but John ignored both the jab and the remark. “No need to apologize. I’m fascinated by your story. It was hard for me to imagine why a peer would be associated with the Hampden Clubs. Even Lord Stretton hasn’t gone that far, but now I understand better. Still, your continued participation seems dangerous, considering the way the political winds are blowing.”
Kensworth raised a blond eyebrow as they crested a small hill. “Sounds like you still possess a conservative heart. I’m finally in a position to better help the people who can further the causes I’ve held dear, and so I do. I can’t turn my back on them now just because I inherited a title. There is nothing to be gained by not taking chances.”
Devil take it; John wished Kensworth hadn’t said that. It sounded exactly like something a zealot and an assassin might say.
As the horses picked their way down the hill, he took note of something else Kensworth had said. “You speak as if ‘conservative’ is synonymous with ‘coward.’”
Kensworth laughed, a great booming sound that carried on the mild breeze. “Not at all. I would never call you a coward. Claire told me of your act of heroism all those years ago. A true gentleman, eh?”
John ground his jaw. He did not want to speak of Claire. Though, he supposed it was ridiculous to think he could avoid hearing of her on a journey with her fiancé.
He glanced up to find Kensworth staring at him. “We do what we must in extraordinary circumstances. You would have done the same,” he conceded. Little did Kensworth know that if he had it to do over again, he wouldn’t have left Claire. But it was too late, and he reverted back to their earlier, more relevant, topic. “I’m still uncertain why you risk the association with the Hampden Clubs. You have the power to promote change from within the House of Lords.”
“Of a certainty. I’m doing all I can to increase my influence there, but it’s not enough.” Kensworth turned in his saddle. “The government will not even think to put forth parliamentary reform if the people do not demand it. Did the colonists sit and wait for representation? Did the French bide their time until the king granted them equality?”
John’s stomach churned as if he’d eaten a bad oyster. Kensworth was more rational than this, wasn’t he? “Tell me you are not advocating open rebellion.”
Kensworth burst out laughing again. “Of course not. However, I do advocate taking risks. An idle man is not of much more value than a dead one.”
“However, your fiancée would no doubt prefer your head remain attached to your neck,” John muttered darkly. He admired Kensworth’s basic principles, and perhaps it was only because of his knowledge of the punitive state of mind of Sidmouth that John couldn’t help feeling the viscount was flying too close to the sun.
“Let us shake some of that caution from your shoulders,” Kensworth said, his green eyes twinkling in the emerging sunlight. In a flash, he urged his horse first into a trot and then into a full gallop.
John pressed his heels into his bay’s side and followed, more than keen to leave the subject of treasonous behavior. He soon overtook Kensworth, who wasn’t a bad rider, but who, to John’s eye, was an inexperienced one. However, as the viscount said, he liked to take chances, and with a few questionable choices Kensworth and his dun once again flew past John.
They continued to trade positions like that as they crossed into Hertfordshire, until Kensworth’s reckless riding nearly got him toppled from the saddle. They stopped and led the horses to a stream for a drink, where Kensworth recounted his near-accident with dramatic gestures.
From his perch on a rock, John smiled up at the burly blond man who was laughing at himself. He liked Kensworth; he liked the comfortable way they spoke with one another. He could have easily imagined they were friends instead of spy and treason suspect, but instead of finding pleasure in acquiring a new friend, a cold sense of dismay settled in his chest.
It seemed he was destined not to have a lasting friendship with Kensworth. Either the man was a treasonous conspirator, or he was the man who would marry the love of John’s life. Possibly both.
Kensworth didn’t seem to notice John’s declining mood. He spoke of Claire once more before they mounted their horses again, but John turned the subject to Kensworth’s estate. The viscount’s enthusiasm for his land didn’t run nearly as high as it did for politics and reform, but the subject got them another two miles closer.
Then Kensworth eased his horse closer to John’s. “Claire told me you kissed her.”
Chapter Seventeen
John nearly fell out of the saddle. Was Claire trying to get him killed? He might be able to best Kensworth in a duel—not that he wanted to—but it wouldn’t surprise him if the viscount’s reaction was a little less refined, involving fists rather than weapons.
“She did?” Somehow he managed not to choke on those words.
“Indeed.”
John glanced at Kensworth but couldn’t gauge the other man’s mood. He knew how he would feel, though, if he’d discovered someone else had been taking liberties with his fiancée. Outraged. Jealous.
Empathy, however, didn’t excuse his ignominious behavior. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Kensworth cut across him. The man’s jaw was tight and his gaze direct, but his expression wasn’t murderous.
“From all I’ve heard and seen, I don’t consider you a dishonorable man given to licentious behavior. I find it hard to imagine you going about ravishing women who are spoken for, which makes me wonder if there’s something particular about
my
fiancée that would cause you to put aside your scruples.”
Thank goodness Kensworth could see he wasn’t a disreputable man in general. Nevertheless, his actions had been despicable. “I apologize for my contemptible behavior. I vow it will not happen again.” It would be devilishly difficult, but if a gentleman couldn’t control his impulses, he wasn’t much of a gentleman. Love did not give anyone the right to act abominably.
Kensworth looked upon him for a long moment. “See that it doesn’t. I am willing to forgive your transgressions if you are willing to forget the past.”
Grateful the man didn’t despise him—at the moment anyway—John nodded. Eventually the viscount might have another reason to hate him, but for now…
Kensworth suddenly flashed one of his merry smiles. “Look! There is Wakebourne Hall.”
John peered into the distance, but without his spectacles he could only distinguish the house from the surrounding trees because one was yellowish-brown and the other green.
Kensworth gazed in the direction he’d indicated and shook his head. “You must have visited many times in the past, but I still cannot believe it is mine. Come, let us race.”
He whirled round and took off at a gallop, leaving John to stare after him in bemusement.
***
“Are you certain you want to do this, Claire? We can always head straight to Bellemere.”
How Claire had been able to convince Allerton to accompany her on such a mad journey, she did not know. If he had denied her, she would have been out of luck; it would have been unthinkable to ask Emily to travel while she was increasing. But Allerton had agreed, and rather quickly too. The two of them and her maid now rode in his carriage toward Stephen’s estate.
She closed the slim second volume of
Pride and Prejudice
and smoothed the skirts of her yellow poplin dress. “Yes, I am certain I want to stop at Wakebourne. I must speak with Kensworth.”
And John.
She had done what he’d asked.
Allerton threw an arm across the top of his cushioned seat and raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be making preparations and enjoying your time as the bride-to-be of the dashing Lord Kensworth?”
“I am in need of fresh air,” she declared, looking him right in the eye.
He knew she was lying; Claire could tell by his expression. She doubted he had any idea of what she was really about, though. What could she say, that she needed to protect her fiancé from his spying brother?
Despite her lie, Allerton, her dear brother-in-law, her guardian, had indulged her as he had done many times over the last few years. She had always appreciated him as the wonderful husband he was to her sister but never before as the extraordinary brother she had gained. “Thank you for bringing me. You are the best brother a girl could wish for.”
“I did always fancy a little sister, but alas, all I got was John.” He picked an invisible piece of lint from the green cushion. “Would that I could call you sister twice over.”
Claire shifted her gaze to the window and stared unseeingly at the multiple hues of green flashing past. She had always suspected Allerton hoped John would marry her—after a proper courtship, of course. But that wouldn’t happen, even if she wanted it to. Spies didn’t marry. Apparently they traveled the world ruining innocent people’s lives.
She gave herself a mental pinch. That wasn’t fair to John. He’d been discreet so far. If she hadn’t caught him sneaking back into the house she might never have guessed his secret.
Turning back to Allerton, she pasted a smile on her face. “Your brother made his choice in the past, and I have made mine now.” Of course, Allerton and everyone else would know soon enough that her choice was to break the engagement. But that had nothing to do with her and John. Well, nothing to do with her and John being wed.
She glimpsed the tan exterior of Wakebourne Hall. “We are almost there. Thank you again. I promise to have you home to Emily by the day after tomorrow.”
Allerton nodded. “It is never an inconvenience to visit Bellemere. You know how much I love being there.” His lips turned up wickedly. “Be warned, though. Four gentlemen do not usually hie off to the country in the hope of being interrupted by a fiancée and her guardian. We may not receive an enthusiastic welcome.”
“Pish! Kensworth is always hospitable.” Claire was counting on him being so. She sought an invitation to stay the afternoon and for dinner. Going to Bellemere was nothing more than a pretext; she needed to be at Wakebourne. She could only hope the news she had for John would deflect his interest from Stephen.