“Where is my coachman?” he asked, the very moment that the butler came into the room, a silver tray in his hand. “I must speak to him at once.”
The butler nodded, setting down the tray in front of Robert without a word before leaving the room just as silently as he had come in. Robert glanced at the letters with a disinterested eye, having no inclination towards reading any of them. Picking one up, he set it aside before turning the second over, seeing Lord Venables’ seal. The corner of his mouth lifted. His friend had not forgotten his promise to send Robert an invitation to his upcoming dinner party, and Robert had every intention of accepting.
“Mr. Hobart, my lord.”
The coachman, Robert noticed, was looking incredibly pale. The man’s eyes were bloodshot, his hands twisting his hat over and over in front of him as he kept his head low in deference. Robert’s eyes narrowed. Was the man feeling guilty about his actions last evening?
“What happened?” he asked, sharply. “I tried to waken you and….” Trailing off, he shrugged one shoulder, spreading his hands wide. “Well?”
Mr. Hobart shook his head.
“I don’t know, my Lord,” he said, his words so quiet that Robert struggled to hear him. “I was waiting for you to arrive, and a footman came out of White’s, offering me and your footman a drink.”
Robert’s frown deepened.
“A drink?” he repeated, unbelievably. “You mean to tell me that youandthe footman were offered a drink by a footman from White’s?” Seeing the coachman nod, he let out a snorted exclamation. “And where did such drinks come from? Who paid for them?”
“I don’t know, my Lord, but neither me nor Jenkins – that’s the footman – thought to ask. We just accepted them, as it was late and….” The man closed his eyes tightly. “The next thing I know, someone is slapping me awake and I hear that you have had some sort of accident.”
The butler cleared his throat gently, choosing to interrupt Robert’s conversation with his coachman – much to Robert’s astonishment.
“If I might, my Lord, I should give some credit to what Mr. Hobart has explained,” he said crisply, making Robert’s brows lift – not only in astonishment at being so interrupted, but also with the boldness with which his butler spoke. “Jenkins, the footman, has become very ill overnight. The doctor has come to see him and declares that he has taken something which has caused his stomach to roil and twist in a most painful fashion.”
“Butyoudo not have such difficulties?” Robert asked pointedly, only for the coachman to shake his head.
“I have risen from my bed to be summoned here, my Lord,” he replied, just as Robert noticed a sheen of sweat across the man’s forehead. “Jenkins was still unconscious for a long-time last night, my Lord. He has only just woken up.”
Robert ran one hand over his forehead, a little confused.
“If that is the case, then where was he?” he asked, as the footman and the butler exchanged looks. “I did not see him last evening when I came to waken you.”
Mr. Hobart pressed his lips together tightly, whitening them.
“He was in the carriage, my Lord,” he mumbled, clearly aware that to have a servant wait in the carriage itself was not something that he ought to have permitted. “It was not a particularly warm night and Jenkins is nothing more than skin and bone!”
This did not upset nor frustrate Robert, who merely shrugged one shoulder in response, given that he had a good deal more to think on.
“I see. So, he was still in the carriage when we returned home?”
Nodding, Mr. Hobart dropped his head even further, so that his chin practically rested on his chest.
“On the floor of the carriage, my Lord.”
“I see.” Given that he had been disinclined to believe Mr. Hobart from the beginning, Robert now began to recognize that it would be foolishness to force himself to believe that there was nothing more than drunkenness on the coachman’s part. It seemed that someone had been eager to make certain that Robert could not easily find his way home and that, in climbing into the driver’s seat as he had done, he had then been easily injured. Sighing, he lifted his chin and spread his hands. “It seems that you and Jenkins are absolved of any responsibility for last evening,” he said, firmly, all too aware of the relief which etched itself across the coachman’s features. “I am certain that there was someone eager to injure me, and that both yourself and Jenkins stood in their way. Therefore, the drinks were sent out to you by such a person and, no doubt, contained something which would render you both unconscious. When I came to the carriage, they knew that I would be forced to attempt to waken you and, in climbing up towards you, could then be pushed from it.” The coachman’s wide eyes caught his for a moment, horror held fast within them. “I do not know who such a person might be, nor do I need you to even attempt to guess,” Robert continued, waving a hand in dismissal. “I shall ask you, however – and you may pass this onto Jenkins also when he recovers – to be much more vigilant in the future.”
The coachman nodded, clearly relieved that he was not about to be dismissed from his position.
“But of course, my Lord. I am just glad that Lady Langdon and her companion were present to help.”
A cold sweat broke out across Robert’s forehead as he looked hard at the coachman, realizing now that the man knew precisely who it was who had come to Robert’s aid. He had not even thought to ask him and now, it seemed, he had to face the difficult truth that it had been none other than a young lady who already thought very little of him.
Robert fought the urge to throw back his head and groan, choosing instead to clear his throat rather abruptly, causing the coachman’s hands to tighten on his hat.
“Yes,” he murmured, “they were of great help. You are dismissed.”
He waved a hand in the man’s direction, with the butler already making his way to the door and the coachman soon following after. He waited until both men had left the room before he dropped his head into his hands, his elbows resting on the table.
Why had it been Lady Langdon and Miss Gregory? They already thought poorly of him - and the fact that now, no doubt, Miss Gregory would think all the worse of him was somewhat upsetting. Despite his apology to Miss Gregory, he had not managed to say a word to Lady Langdon and could not be certain that Miss Gregory herself had even accepted his words. Besides which, he had no idea himself, of who it could have been to put such a plan to injure him into place, nor of why they might have been so eager to do so. It simply did not make sense and yet, Robert had to admit, there was a twinge of fear in his heart now. He did not want to be continually afraid of going out into society, worried about what might happen to him should he, for example, accept a drink from the hand of another.