The Kydd Inheritance - by Jan Jones

CHAPTER ONE

Kydd Court, Northamptonshire. September 1815

Nell stared at her uncle in shock. "I do not understand you, sir."
    Jasper Kydd continued to sort through his mail. "I fail to see how I could be plainer. Philip Belmont called this morning whilst you were in town to ask if he might pay his addresses. My felicitations."
    "But I do not wish to marry Philip."
    "Immaterial. Belmont is a young man in possession of a fine manor. His land marches with that of Kydd and he has known you long enough that your hoydenish disposition fails to excite in him any alarms. It seems an excellent arrangement."
    If her uncle had been looking at Nell, he would have seen the rapid rise and fall of her breast as she fought to control her temper. "Have you forgot that Mama and I are to go to London in the spring? Papa was adamant that I should not marry until I had had at least one London season."
    "If my brother's purse had matched his ideas you might have a hundred such seasons. As it is, his uncurbed expenditure means Kydd Court will be hard pressed to remain solvent this winter, let alone next spring."
    Nell's attempt to remain submissive exploded. Ever since her beloved father's death in a riding accident last year, Uncle Jasper had been abusing his memory. Papa might have been more given to penning philosophical essays than reckoning household accounts, but he had not been profligate. If anyone was to blame for the estate's present financial straits, it was Jasper Kydd himself with his ill-advised notions of land management!
    "But Papa laid by a considerable sum for my Season. I remember him discussing it with Kit." Her voice shook as she mentioned her older brother. Kit had to be alive, he just had to. "It is only because Papa broke his leg shortly after Kit went out to India that I was not presented eighteen months ago."
    Her uncle looked at her coldly. "You are arguing again, Helena. I have told you my views on ladies who argue."
    He had, and always using her detested full name. Not for the first time, Nell wished that she and her mother had not been so numb with grief at Papa's death that they failed to notice Jasper taking over the ordering of Kydd Court. With no opposition, he had convinced Papa's solicitor that in the absence of the heir, he himself should act as his nephew's agent. Now it seemed to Nell that he was as often here as he was at his own estate of Windown Park, and intent on imposing the same joyless regime in both places.
    Jasper selected a cream-coloured packet from amongst the correspondence and broke the wafer. His complexion darkened as he read the enclosure. "More problems with the town house. The agent reports that the kitchen is damp. Another bad investment by your father. Would that I could sell the place and be rid of it."
    Nell caught her breath. Her uncle had said I. Yet the Kydd estate was not his. Not yet. And if she could only trace Kit it never would be!
    Her incautious gasp drew Jasper's attention. He looked up, his lips thinning as he observed her clenched fists. "Enough of this folly. The subject is closed. Coming out in London without a sizeable dowry is an absurdity. Accept Belmont and be thankful. We dine there tonight. Be sure to wear something suitable."
    Nell dropped a seething curtsey. "As you wish, sir."

The conversation pounded in Nell's head as her maid dressed her in a particularly ugly mulberry satin evening gown. If by 'wear something suitable' her uncle meant 'attractive enough for a man to propose marriage', then he should have left the commissioning of her wardrobe to her. No one knew better than Nell that the fussy greys and mauves he had ordered so high-handedly from his wife's dressmaker did not become her, but put off Papa's mourning a day earlier than the full twelve months she would not, especially for such a reason as this.
    Marry Philip Belmont indeed. He was nice enough, but he cheerfully admitted that he'd never been much of a one for brains. Nell would be biting her tongue half the day for fear of making him unhappy. She couldn't imagine what had induced him to offer for her. It certainly wasn't love, only last week he had been asking enthusiastically whether she didn't think Charlotte Grainger's hair the exact colour of ripening corn. How Kit would roast her when he heard.
    Nell gnawed at her lip, wishing with all her heart that her brother was here now. Six years older than her, taller by a head and as well-formed as he was carelessly intelligent, Kit would rout their uncle from Kydd Court without drawing breath. His continued non-appearance to do that very thing, however, was beginning to be a source of worry. He had vanished eight months ago - on the very eve of his journey home from Bombay - and no explanation had been forthcoming.
    Not that they had known he was missing at the time. With the sea crossing taking four months or more, Nell had simply been counting the days and hanging on as best she could against his return. Protecting her mother, whose reason had deteriorated with the shock of Papa's death. Fighting her hated uncle's ill-judged schemes for Kydd Court.
    "How much do you suppose a Season costs, Annie?" she speculated aloud.
    Her maid's adroit fingers coaxed the ostentatious lace trim around the neckline to fall evenly. "We can figure it easy, miss. We know how much fabric a gown takes, and we know what cambric and silk and muslin are the yard..."
    "So we do," said Nell, turning an idea over in her mind. "And I'm sure if Mama has itemised the wardrobe she assembled for her first season once, she has done it a thousand times. But even if we sewed everything ourselves and came only to a tenth the sum other households expend, Uncle Jasper will still say the estate cannot bear it. I sometimes think he delights in our misfortune."
    All her life, Nell had been accustomed to debating issues with her father and his friends. It would never have occurred to her to treat conversations with her maid any differently. Annie, a brisk no-nonsense woman approaching her middle years, had been her confidante on many occasions. Every time her uncle accused Papa of having run up debts or ruined the estate, Nell came to Annie to vent her anger safely. Indeed, with Kit overseas and Mama withdrawn into her own private world, had Nell not had the servants to talk to, she would likely have run mad.
    Now Annie took up a silver-backed brush and attacked Nell's cloud of dark hair until it stood out like an aureole from her face. "He's like to know about the money though," she said, pinning up the back à la Grecque, "being as how he took over all the books when the master died."
    Nell's hazel eyes, more green than brown, met those of her maid in the mirror. "I cannot believe my coming-out money is all gone. I know Papa was more careful than that. I must see Mr Tweedie without my uncle's knowledge and find what is being done to locate Kit. The Caldwells are not going to London this year or I might go with them. Mama is in no fit condition to write to any of her other friends asking them to invite us. Could I bear the shame of begging the Graingers to take me? My uncle must be forbidding this out of spite. It is not even as if we would have to hire accommodation. The house in Half Moon Street is still empty."
    "I thought it was to be let?"
    "That is another thing I do not understand. It seems the kitchen is damp. The previous family who expressed an interest claimed the attics were haunted."
    "Mr Olivant," Annie stressed the butler's name with proper reverence as she twisted Nell's hair into ringlets at the front and anchored them with small sprays of silk violets, "disremembers any problems with the property."
    "No more do I. And it is not three years since we were there last." Nell clasped a simple gold chain round her neck, rose and surveyed her reflection. "Goodness, what a fright I look. The only consolation is that Philip cannot possibly be tempted into the folly of offering for me tonight. I will be amazed if I get so much as a partner for dinner."

When Nell, her mama and her uncle were shown into the saloon at Belmont House, they found the usual neighbourhood families assembled. Mrs Kydd, still in the unrelieved black of deep mourning, was steered solicitously to the fireside.
    About to follow, Nell was accosted by her host. She was relieved to see Philip not looking in the least lovelorn. He was talking to a tall, dark-haired stranger, and from his cheerful demeanor as he hailed her, she rather thought it had slipped his mind entirely that he had asked permission to address her only that morning.
    "Nell! I hoped you would come soon! May I present my friend Captain Hugo Derringer? Hugo, Miss Kydd. Kit's sister, you know. Hugo arrived today, Nell, is it not capital?"
    A new addition to their circle was always a matter of interest. Nell curtsied, but was brought up short by the astonishment on the newcomer's tanned face. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain Derringer," she said pointedly.
    He recollected himself and bowed. "Your servant, Miss Kydd. Forgive me, I was expecting a younger lady."
    Nell's eyes narrowed. Although she had joked about her appearance with Annie, it was beyond the bounds of civility for a stranger to intimate that she looked haggard! "I am eighteen, sir," she said in dulcet tones. "How much younger a bride would you expect your friend to seek?"
    She had the satisfaction of seeing Captain Derringer's heavy eyebrows snap together. His utterance, however, was unexpected. "Bride? How is this?"
    "Forgot to say," said Philip. "M'mother's idea." He looked hopefully at Nell. "She said I should get in quick now your mourning is nearly up. Does that mean you agree? I didn't think you would."
    Nell bit her lips at this artless speech. "No, dear Philip, I do not agree. We should never suit. I would tease you dreadfully."
    "Pity," said Philip. "I hadn't thought about you until m'mother suggested it, but it's a good idea. A fellow knows where he is with you."
    She patted his hand. "Not for long, I dare swear. But I thank you for your offer and shall always think kindly of you for making it."
    "It didn't appear to me that my friend had made you an offer," said Captain Derringer provocatively.
    "That is because you have not known Mr Belmont so long as I have." Nell didn't know why she was being sharp, unless it was that his smile as he met her eyes was unsettling. "It was perfectly clear to me, I assure you."
    Philip wrinkled his brow, looking from one to the other. "Yes he has, Nell. Known me for long, I mean. We were all at Eton."
    Nell studied the newcomer with more friendliness. "Eton? Then you must also know my brother Kit?"
    Confusion touched Hugo Derringer's countenance. "I do, yes. I was sorry to hear of his disappearance. I suppose everything possible is being done to - "
    "My dear, you are remiss." Her uncle's smooth tones issued from behind her. "You have not yet made your curtsey to Mrs Belmont."
    Instantly, Nell felt the temperature drop. Both young men stiffened. "I am coming directly, sir," she said. Her chin lifted as she met Captain Derringer's dark eyes. "Pray be easy. There is no cause for alarm over my brother. If you are acquainted with Kit at all, you will know he has been falling into scrapes since the day he was born. I am persuaded that had any harm truly come to him, I would be aware of it."
    Approval flickered in his expression. "Your sentiments do you credit."
    Her uncle cleared his throat. The unspoken remonstrance grated on her. "As my manners do not," she said lightly. "Allow me to present Captain Derringer, sir, a friend of Mr Belmont. Captain Derringer, my late father's brother, Mr Jasper Kydd."
    "Captain Derringer?" Her uncle's cold glance swept over the serviceable black cloth coat, cream waistcoat and buff pantaloons.
    "I was invalided home some little time ago." As Hugo Derringer turned, Nell realised that he held his left arm stiffly.
    "Indeed? And how do you find Northamptonshire, Captain Derringer?"
    "That I cannot tell. I was never in this part of the country before. Belmont tells me there is excellent shooting to be had."
    A commonplace dialogue but Nell sensed taut undercurrents, for all the world as if the two men were rival dogs circling a juicy bone. "I should pay my respects to your mother, Philip," she said. "I hope you enjoy your stay, Captain Derringer." As she moved away, she could feel his eyes following her.
    Her uncle accompanied her across the well-proportioned room, a stalking shadow at her shoulder. "Does Derringer remain with Belmont long?"
    Nell kept her voice indifferent. "I cannot say. We had but just been introduced."
    "Let us trust not for Belmont's sake. A half-pay officer with time on his hands will be the ruin of his coverts."
    Implicit in his disparaging words were that a half-pay officer with time on his hands would be equally ruinous to any young lady foolish enough to encourage him. Nell almost missed a step in astonishment. The juicy bone had been her?
    Though they were not placed close enough to converse at dinner and were at different tables for the card play that followed, Nell found her eyes several times drawn to Hugo Derringer's assured figure. He might dress plainly, but he did not give the impression of being an impoverished soldier bent on amusement. Rather, he had an air of self-reliance. On the occasions when she discovered his watchful gaze to be fixed on her, she lifted her chin and met his regard directly. She was not entirely surprised when it was he who tendered her merino shawl as the guests waited for carriages to be brought round at the end of the evening.
    "Thank you," she murmured as his hands brushed her shoulders. "I hope if your sport palls, you will give Mama and myself the pleasure of your calling at Kydd Court."
    "The pleasure, Miss Kydd, would be all mine. Are you like to be at home to visitors tomorrow?"
    Nell's eyes widened at his taking up her offer with such alacrity. "I believe so, but do not make an engagement you might not keep. I understand Philip's birds are rising particularly well this year."
    Mrs Kydd looked up from arranging her own shawl. "Where is Kit?" she said vaguely. "I wish you would tell him we are ready."
    Nell felt hot colour flood her cheeks. Their friends all made allowances for Mama, but Captain Derringer wouldn't understand how badly Papa's death had affected her. He had been the lodestone of her life, the axis on which her world turned. Barely able to grasp he had gone, the awful news of Kit's disappearance just when they were looking to see him home had caused Mrs Kydd's mind to withdraw even further into a place of her own devising.
     "Kit is not here tonight, Mama," she said, averting her eyes so she should not have to witness any pity on Captain Derringer's face.
    To her horror, her mother's mouth crumpled. "Oh no, I was forgetting." She laid a tremulous hand on the Captain's sleeve. "You'll go after him, won't you, sir. You'll bring my boy back."
    "Mama - " said Nell desperately, but Hugo Derringer intervened.
    He covered Mrs Kydd's hand with his own and said in a deep, comforting voice quite unlike the sparring tones he had used with Nell earlier, "I shall do everything in my power to help you, ma'am."
    "I knew you would. So kind, always."
    Nell was rigid with embarrassment as Hugo escorted them to the carriage. He must have sensed this, for he didn't linger. He had already returned to the house by the time her uncle joined them.

Despite having retired late, Nell rose at her usual early hour. Slipping down to the stables in a riding habit of dull olive cloth, she met her groom emerging with their mounts.
    "Knew you wouldn't be abed," said Seth complacently, hoisting her into Snowflake's saddle.
    Seth was part of the fabric of Nell's life. Not much older than her, and a natural with horses, she had declared him to be her groom at the age of two when he'd first helped her scramble onto Kit's outgrown pony. As Kit said, he'd taken her so literally he'd barely let her out of sight on horseback ever since. Now he swung his leg over the only one of Kit's horses to remain unsold after Jasper Kydd's bitterly-contested retrenchment campaign. They had only managed to hold on to Valiant because Seth needed a mount that could keep up with Nell in a gallop.
    It was a fine day, one of the few left this autumn if Nell had read the weather signs aright. The wind streamed past as she gave Snowflake her head along the lane that cut through to the fields. Times like this she understood Mama's recoil into her own world. For a few blessed minutes there was nothing on Nell's mind other than the necessity of avoiding ruts and rabbit holes at speed. It was a shock when her concentration was broken by the sight of a mounted figure by the Six-Mile Acre. No-one should be here except herself and Seth.
    "Captain Derringer!" She reined to a halt. Everything about him was ordered, from the dark locks under his brushed beaver to his gleaming top boots. Nell was uncomfortably conscious of her faded habit and escaping tendrils of windblown hair. "Whatever are you doing here?"
    "I might ask you the same thing!"
    "I am exercising my horse. You are trespassing."
    "Am I? Then I beg your pardon. I thought this was still Belmont ground."
    Seth came galloping up belligerently. "Who be this, Miss Nell? What's he doing on our land? Will I see him off?" Valiant snorted and rolled an eye as if in agreement.
    Nell felt her cheeks flame. Mama last night and Seth this morning. Was she to be forever embarrassed in front of this man? "This is Captain Derringer, Seth. A friend of Mr Belmont. He was at school with Master Kit."
    Seth relaxed. "That's primer then. Nice horse, Captain. Fast, is he?"
    Nell groaned, but Hugo Derringer took the groom's familiarity in his stride. "Conqueror will go eighteen miles an hour all day if need be. When I call at Kydd Court with Mr Belmont, perhaps you would be good enough to tend to him."
    "I will," said Seth with satisfaction. "Master Kit don't let no-one groom Valiant but me." He patted the black stallion's neck fondly.
    "He is fortunate that you remain to take care of his stable whilst he is away."
    Seth snorted. "What's left of it after Mr Jasper sold 'em all!"
    "Enough, Seth," said Nell.
    "But Miss Nell, you was mad as fire too when the hunters went. And the mares Master Kit was keeping for breeding. You said you'd like to - "
    "Yes, Seth! It is of no interest to Captain Derringer, however." She avoided looking at the betraying quiver around the Captain's mouth.
    Seth grumbled to himself. Valiant took advantage of his rider's inattention to snatch a few juicy mouthfuls from the field.
    "I must apologise," Nell said stiffly as she turned Snowflake to ride back. "Seth grew up on the estate with Kit and me. He forgets that other families view servants differently. I assure you Conqueror will be in safe hands."
    Nudging his own horse to keep pace, Hugo smiled at her. It quite transformed his expression, making him seem altogether more carefree. Nell's heart thudded in surprise. "I would be simple myself not to perceive that," he said. "You look delightfully this morning."
    His eyes were not black at all but a deep shade of green, much darker than her own. And his tan, once you were used to it, gave him a rugged, mature air. Nell coloured fierily, as much at being caught staring as at his words. "I am afraid you must think me disrespectful," she said in confusion. "My uncle's daughters rarely ride, so it did not occur to him to order me a black habit."
    "I am glad. Green suits you. You should always wear it."
    A most peculiar sensation stirred in Nell's breast. Was he flirting with her? "Always? But how singular I should look. And I cannot help thinking that I should become a trifle jaded with the colour after a while."
    Hugo Derringer's eyes danced in appreciation. "A jest this early in the morning settles the matter. You would be wasted on Belmont."
    "Indeed, I would be very bad for him." Nell sought for a way of changing the subject. Neither her tongue nor her body were behaving with the propriety she expected of them. "Tell me, what were you staring at so intently before I arrived?"
    His hands stilled for an instant on the reins, almost as if he was vexed at her query. He shrugged. "It seemed to me the south-east corner of the meadow was in standing water. I was pondering the breach of etiquette involved in a guest mentioning to his host that his land was like to become sour."
    Nell laughed. "Then you should be grateful to me for putting you right, for now you will not have to."
    "But I have told you and it is your land."
    "Kit's. And I already knew it. I have said to my uncle that he should be setting the men to clear the ditches but he claims they cannot be spared from their other work. When I argue that the returns will justify the outlay, he begs me desist from such talk as ladies cannot understand."
    What was she about, criticising her uncle to a stranger? But Captain Derringer gave no sign of regarding the impropriety, saying frowningly, "It does not seem to me a difficult concept."
    "You are a man. Females are notoriously deficient in comprehension. He will listen to nothing I suggest. Even when Old John supported me about replanting the hedgerow the bull broke, he would not agree - so the crops from both top fields are now spoiled due to the wind flattening them."
    Preoccupied amusement crossed Captain Derringer's face. "You will admit such farming wisdom is not usually to be found in the fairer sex?"
    Nell eyed him trenchantly. First he led her on, now he was laughing at her. "I have lived all my life at Kydd and was used to roam the estate with my brother. What he learnt, I learnt. Were I only of age to administer in his stead - " She broke off, not trusting herself to continue.
    They were passing a field in which heavy ears of corn rustled fatly, gilded by the morning sun. Hugo scanned the empty landscape, his forehead creased.
    Nell felt her temper bubble over. Was he doing this on purpose? "You are wondering where the harvesters are. I warned my uncle how it would be when he let half the heavy horses go from the Home Farm and the men with them. The result of his economy is that good crops stand rotting in the fields whilst too few workers salvage what they may from bad! It is ridiculous!"
    "I am sorry. Has your uncle no estate of his own to learn from?"
    "Indeed he has, and it puzzles me to know how it comes to be as snug as he claims if he runs Windown Park the same way he does Kydd Court! I cannot see that Northamptonshire and Wiltshire can be so different that the ill-judged methods he uses here work so well there!"
    "No, it is very strange."
    A flight of birds rising from a distant spinney recalled Nell's attention. "I beg your pardon," she said, colouring. "I cannot think why we should be discussing such things. You should not have let me run on in so wild a fashion."
    Captain Derringer raised his eyebrows. "There was a way of preventing you?"
    At this outrageous remark, Nell had to remind herself that one day's acquaintance was not long enough to answer him in kind. "It distresses me beyond measure to see the land my father loved mishandled," she said in a controlled voice. "Papa left Kydd in good standing for Kit. My uncle is likely to ruin it before ever my brother sets foot back on these shores." She reined to a halt and pointed along a track to the left. "Your road lies that way. It is muddy from last week's rain but not impassable. Beyond the spinney, you will find Belmont's East Wood. There is a fence between."
    "You do not go with me to see me off your property?"
    There was a teasing challenge in his tone. "I would, of course," she said. "but when my uncle is in residence, I do not care to be late for breakfast. Naturally, if any reports reach me of kindling gone missing or game startled, I shall know who to blame."
    Captain Derringer had been about to turn. Now he halted, deep green eyes sharply interested. "When he is in residence? Mr Kydd does not live here always?"
    Nell was unreasonably piqued at his ignoring her sally. "I should be even more cross-grained than I am, were he to do so. He comes mainly when he can meddle to the greatest effect." Harvest time, for instance. Would that he would go home and leave it to her!
    Captain Derringer held out his hand with a smile. "Goodbye then. Belmont and I may call on you later." He paused. Nell saw a gleam in his eyes. "If I knew you better I would beg you not to return by the dairy; I feel sure you would sour the milk."
    "If you knew me better, you would not dare do any such thing," she retorted. She hesitated before putting her gloved hand in his. What she was about to ask was truly embarrassing. "My uncle does not approve of my riding out this early. When you meet him next, I would appreciate your not mentioning our encounter."
    His eyebrows arched. "And lay myself open to a charge of trespass? From my observations of Mr Kydd last evening, I cannot imagine he would take my erroneous wanderings near so understandingly as you." He let go her hand, wheeled away and cantered towards the spinney.
    Nell watched him, conscious of an aroused interest in her breast. Was it just because he was unfamiliar, someone she had not grown up with since the cradle? They had certainly fallen into rapport with indecent speed. She had said things to him that she had previously only raged about in private to Annie. She frowned as she ran over their conversation. It only now occurred to her that for a stranger he had been asking some very odd questions. He rides well, she thought irrelevantly, then catching sight of the sun's position in the sky cursed her inattentiveness and touched her heels to her mare's flanks. She would have to make haste to be in the breakfast parlour before her uncle graced it with his presence.

End of Chapter 1

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