The carriage turned onto a small lane and soon arrived at a large, impressive country manor. This must be Richmond, though what they planned to do with her here, she couldn’t guess. She had thought she would be released upon their arrival in London and left to fend for herself. Instead, some rich country lord with nothing better to do had offered to take her in. She wanted to scoff at the charity – all her life she’d fended for herself, she certainly didn’t need any help now! But there would be too many questions, and the people were so sincere in their good wishes that she’d been unable to refuse. So here she was, in the middle of nowhere, ready to go serve as a pet for some idle aristocrat.
Several servants came out to meet the new arrival. She found herself rushed into the house, given a few minutes to try to erase the effects of the long trip, and then brought into the hall to be presented to the master of the house.
Sir Percy Blakeney looked almost like a statue of some Greek god waiting for her at the end of the hall, his profile to her. His towering height was relaxed into a pose that almost seemed to signify boredom, and as she approached, his eyes looked at her through half-closed lids as a rebellious smile played at his lips.
“Well, m’dear, if you don’t mind me saying so, you look as though you’ve just spent a week at sea,” he began, eyes sparkling in an almost teasing manner. She smiled in spite of herself.
He made an elaborate bow and introduced himself, “Percy Blakeney, at your service.”
She made a quick inventory of all that she saw, as she always did. He was even taller than she would have originally guessed, well over six feet. He had blond hair and deep brown eyes, a well-defined mouth and the most perfect eyebrows she’d ever seen on a man. He was impeccably dressed and looked every inch the gentleman. In fact, he would have been undeniably handsome were it not for the somewhat vacuous expression he wore. A man like that filled with determination or passion would be almost irresistible.
As she finished her observations, she became aware that he was studying her as well. For some reason that bothered her, so she cut it short by curtseying and presenting herself properly. “I am Gabrielle Jolin. I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality.”
“Oh, thank God,” was his response. “You do speak English! I must confess, if you only spoke French, I’d be quite lost. It’s entirely beyond me how you all manage.”
“I’m glad not to lose you, Sir Percy,” she replied, both amused and slightly irritated by his irrelevance. “But as I was about to say, your invitation is both exceedingly generous, and entirely unnecessary. I have no desire to impose, so I will leave for London as soon as possible.”
“London! At this time of year! Quite out of the question. It rains constantly. All that moisture, you know, soaks into the fabric, and before you know it, you’ve nothing to wear. No, you’ll stay here, at least until the rain stops. Has Jessup brought in your bags?”
She sensed instinctively that any argument with this man would be utterly pointless. “I’m afraid I don’t have any bags. My departure from France was somewhat unexpected.”
“Of course, of course,” he agreed good-naturedly. “You’ll have to tell us all that story sometime. But now, you must be exhausted. Mary will take you to your room.”
And with that, one of the maids working nearby was summoned and led her up to a small suite of rooms. Boxes of women’s clothes were already laid out for her. She was overwhelmed by the generosity of her host, but couldn’t help being a little suspicious as well. No one in Paris would do such a thing without an ulterior motive. On the other hand, Sir Percy seemed so simple, she could scarcely believe he’d be capable of hiding anything.
But whatever the situation, she had to find a way to get to London. As lovely as Richmond was, she couldn’t see how staying there would get her any closer at all to the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel.