earlier in the week. Even had he wished to do so he could not at this juncture reveal Katherine’s true identity, but he experienced no reluctance whatsoever in revealing the depths of his feelings towards her.
‘Her similarity to my grandmother is in character, not looks. She is quite simply a breath of fresh air. Her mere presence under the roof has turned my house into a home. I could never be content if she remained away from Rosslair for any length of time.’
Unlike his daughter-in-law, who looked as though she had just received a sharp slap across the face, Sir Joshua positively beamed with delight. ‘Well, if that’s the way of it, my boy, I sincerely do look forward to meeting the girl!’ He then returned his attention to his unexpected guest, who was staring thoughtfully down into the contents of his glass, and asked him where he was putting up.
‘W-with the C-cranfords, sir,’ he answered with a start, as though he had been locked in a world of his own. ‘Set out y-yesterday evening. I-I’ve never been in this part of the world b-before, and wished to see s-something of the countryside. My c-cousin should be arriving any time now.’
‘Is Waverley coming down?’ Sir Joshua appeared mildly surprised. ‘I would have thought, with all this business flaring up again across the Channel, he would have remained in the capital.’ He frowned as he continued to stare across at his young visitor. ‘Isn’t your cousin connected in some way with the War Office? Or am I thinking of someone else?’
‘He w-was once, sir, I believe. So too was Viscount Davenham. And he intends to be at the party tonight. Sir Giles Osborne also means to attend, so I’ve heard.’
‘Good gad!’ Sir Joshua’s bushy, greying brows rose this time. ‘If that’s the case they can’t be taking recent events very seriously.’
‘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.’
