Mesalliance (30 page)

Harry shut his
eyes for a moment.

‘The stupid
little fool,’ he breathed. And then, ‘All right. I’ll go and fetch
her. Try not to worry. It’s not your fault. But it will be
interesting, won’t it, to see which bastard has taken her
there?’

And he was
gone.

*

Covent Garden
was a riot of light and noise and colour which Nell had at first
enjoyed. Now she sat very still and straight and watched the
proceedings outside the box degenerate from harmless vulgarity into
something that, to her sheltered eyes, seemed almost bacchanalian.
The food she had eaten lay like cement in her stomach and she
wanted more than anything to be able to go home.

In the seat
beside her, his arm resting negligently across the back of her
chair, Sir Jasper considered how best to make sure she was seen and
recognised. For, if her reputation were sufficiently damaged, it
was just possible that Rockliffe would bestow her hand on the only
man likely to ask for it – namely, himself. It was a long-shot. And
the tricky part was to arrange matters so that he did not end up
facing the Duke over a yard of steel – particularly as his Grace
was known to possess more than average skill in that area.

Sighing a
little, he removed his arm and said cajolingly, ‘My dear – will you
not come and dance?’

‘I’d rather
not, if you don’t mind. Indeed, I’d quite l-like to go home
now.’

‘Would you?
Then of course you shall. But – as a reward – just one dance before
we leave?’

The relief was
so great that she gave in without a second thought. Sir Jasper’s
smile grew. His goal was within sight … for less than four yards
from the parapet of their box, he could see two admirable
witnesses. One was Viscount Ansford, that lisping, peevish gossip;
and the other was Rockliffe’s former mistress, Carlotta Felucci.
All he had to do was to ensure that Nell lost her mask.

He manoeuvred
her towards Carlotta and the Viscount and then, at the optimum
moment, allowed his buttoned cuff to catch in her curls.

‘Ah – how
clumsy of me! But if you will be still, I’ll have you free in a
trice.’

It seemed only
sensible to do as he said. And then, as she waited, several things
happened at once.

Her mask
dropped neatly from her face; a familiar voice, unfamiliarly
furious, said, ‘I might have known it!’; and Sir Jasper lurched
inexplicably backwards to collide with the pink-clad Viscount
before ending in a heap on the floor.

‘And that,’
said Lord Harry, coolly adjusting his sleeve, ‘ought to be the end
of
that
.’

Nell stared at
him. ‘Harry?’

‘Who else?’ The
blue gaze was perfectly inimical. ‘Unless you want to be utterly
ruined, you’d better replace your mask so that we can leave. I’ve
several things to say to you – and, for once in your life, you’re
going to listen.’

By the time the
carriage drew up outside Wynstanton House, Nell was sobbing
heartbrokenly into her handkerchief. Ignoring this, his lordship
hauled her inside and, meeting Adeline in the hall, said, ‘I think
I’ve said everything necessary. The best thing now might be for her
to go to bed so that you and I can discuss how best to minimise the
damage. Though why anyone should bother to help such stupid,
ill-conditioned brat is entirely beyond me.’

It was the last
straw. Nell fled to her chamber.

‘Well done,’
said Adeline. ‘You seem to have made an impression at last. Come in
and let me pour you a glass of wine.’

‘Brandy would
be better.’

‘Then brandy it
shall be.’ She moved to the side-board and said calmly, ‘Do you
love her?’

‘Unfortunately
– yes. But that is strictly confidential.’

‘Naturally.’
She handed him the glass. ‘And you’ll marry her?’

‘Perhaps. If
she ever grows up.’ He frowned into the amber liquid. ‘It was
Jasper Brierley, of course. I hit him.’

‘That must have
been enjoyable.’

‘It was.’ He
looked up unsmilingly. ‘It should also help remind Lord Ansford to
keep his mouth shut – though, of course, I can’t guarantee it.’ A
pause, and then, ‘The thing is, Adeline – with your permission, I’d
like to try keeping this from Rock.’

Her heart sank.
More secrets. Everything in her recoiled from the thought and she
said protestingly, ‘We can’t. It wouldn’t be right. She’s his
sister
. And, anyway, he’d find out.’

‘Not
necessarily – and it’s a risk I’d like to take. If the worst
happens, I’ll take the blame and you can say you knew nothing about
it.’

‘Why
why
, Harry?’

‘Because if
he’s told, I suspect he’ll send her to Lucilla. And that would do
more harm than good.’ Setting down his glass, he reached out to
clasp her hand. ‘I know it’s a lot to ask but – if not for Nell’s
sake – do you think you could please do it for mine?’

She looked back
at him, a prey to conflicting emotions. Finally she said
reluctantly, ‘I can’t pretend to like it … but I suppose you may
have a point. Tracy isn’t … he isn’t in the best of moods right now
and Nell’s folly isn’t likely to improve that.’

He gave a long,
slow sigh of relief.

‘Thank you. And
if there’s ever anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask,’
he said, taking her hands. ‘Those aren’t just empty words, my dear.
I mean it. If you ever want an adopted brother, I’m your man.’ And,
leaning towards her, he kissed her cheek.

The door opened
and Rockliffe came in.

For a moment,
there was utter silence. Then, ‘Dear me,’ drawled his Grace. ‘I had
no notion that you were visiting us this evening, Harry. Never say
that I am interrupting something?’

‘No.’ Harry
released Adeline’s hands and looked at the Duke with no hint of
discomposure. ‘And you know better than to suppose it. I brought
Adeline back from Lady Crewe’s and was just bidding her
goodnight.’

‘I had
thought,’ remarked Rockliffe, his gaze dwelling reflectively on his
wife, ‘that you and Nell were sharing Isabel Vernon’s carriage this
evening. My lamentable memory, no doubt.’

‘Not at all.’
Adeline could feel her colour rising but managed to keep her voice
level. ‘Nell had a – she’d twisted her ankle so she couldn’t go …
and then the ball was so very dull that I decided to leave
early.’

‘And Harry was
most fortuitously on hand to escort you.’

‘Yes.’

‘I see.’ The
dark eyes took in Adeline’s blush and the half-full glass of brandy
before smiling at his lordship with deceptive blandness. ‘It seems
that I am in your debt.’

‘By no means.
The boot’s on the other foot, I fact,’ replied Harry, trying hard
to banish his sudden sense of unease. ‘I seem to recall losing some
three hundred guineas to you at basset earlier this evening.’

‘Ah yes. So you
did.’ Rockliffe continued to smile but the glint in his eyes was
far from reassuring. ‘One can’t have everything, after all. And
lucky at cards, unlucky in love - isn’t that what they say? So no
doubt the reverse also holds true.’

In all his
thirty-six years, the Duke of Rockliffe had never before had reason
to suppose himself a fool – but he was beginning to do so now.
Common sense told him that there was nothing save friendship
between Adeline and Harry; and yet finding them together had filled
him with a distressingly primitive desire to throw Harry bodily
from the house and then put an end, once and for all, to the
four-month-old charade between himself and Adeline. The first of
these impulses faded fast enough; the second didn’t … and, during
the course of the white night that followed, seemed only to grow
stronger. And that wasn’t merely worrying – it was a problem.

He had never
been a possessive lover nor known what it was to be jealous and
each of his
affaires
had been conducted with the lightest of
touches. But that was gone now – destroyed by the bitter-sweet
smile of a woman who might never care for him the way he cared for
her and to whom he had promised more patience.

Patience? When
he had just discovered himself prey to the same lack of control
he’d always deplored in others? Rockliffe stared up into the
darkness and swore gently. There was only one way that offered any
guarantee and it was the very last thing he wanted. Damn.

Damn, damn,
damn.

He debated the
matter carefully before finally reaching a decision that, in the
end, was mostly based on the possibility that, this time, she might
just miss him.

‘I am afraid,’
he announced calmly over breakfast, ‘that I have to go to
Paris.’

They were alone
– Nell, not surprisingly, having failed to put in an appearance.
Neither did Rockliffe miss her. All his attention was given to the
upsurge of hope produced by the stricken look in Adeline’s
eyes.

‘Paris?’ she
echoed faintly. ‘Why Paris?’

‘A trifling
matter of business concerning a property I have there,’ he replied
smoothly. ‘I should not be away much more than a week. Two, at
most.’

Exactly as he
had intended, Adeline recognised the lie and was scalded by it. She
forgot her first sickening jolt of fear that this sudden decision
of his had some connection with her mother and knew only that a
black band of pain was settling round her heart. She swallowed and,
assuming a mask of cool indifference, said carelessly, ‘I see. And
will you be leaving today?’

‘It seems
likely – unless, that is, you have some objection.’
Ask me not
to go. Be as oblique
as you like … but ask me not to go
.
‘Have you?’

‘None at all.
How should I?’
What would be the point? You’re only going in
order to get
away from me - and I can hardly blame you for
that
. ‘I shall be perfectly all right. So there is no need to
delay – or, equally, to return any sooner than you wish.’

The dark eyes
regarded her with an expression that defied interpretation and it
was a long time before he spoke. He wondered if she had any idea
how many ways she had of hurting him. Finally, in a voice as soft
as silk, he said, ‘Dear Adeline … always so beautifully direct. But
now that you have pointed out that my presence is entirely
dispensable, I need have no qualms. You offer me
carte
blanche
; and I, beloved, shall be delighted to accept it.’

And with the
slightest and most elegant of bows, he was gone.

*

It was early
afternoon before Nell came cautiously downstairs and, when she did,
she was still too woebegone to notice Adeline’s strained
pallor.

‘Wh-where’s
Rock?’ she asked nervously.

‘Gone to
Paris,’ came the flat reply. ‘And if you’re wondering whether or
not he knows, the answer is that he doesn’t. A fact for which you
have Harry to thank.’

Nell sank
weakly into the nearest chair and started to cry again.

Adeline stared
at her for a moment and then said irritably, ‘Oh – for God’s sake,
stop it! What good does it do? You’ve risked your reputation,
involved me in a web of deceit and utterly infuriated Harry – and
for what? A stupid, childish prank of the kind you ought to have
out-grown years ago.’

‘I know,’
sobbed Nell. ‘I know and I’m so s-sorry. It was a horrid evening
anyway and I d-don’t know why I agreed to go in the first p-place.
Rock was right about everything.’

‘He usually is.
You should know that by now. But it’s no use repining. The best you
can hope for is that it doesn’t become common knowledge … and for
that, once again, you’ll have to rely on Harry.’ Adeline paused and
took a long look at her young sister-in-law. ‘You don’t deserve
Harry, you know. He’s probably the best friend you’ll ever have –
and a better one than you seem to realise.’

This made Nell
dissolve afresh.

‘He – he’ll
never forgive me. I know he won’t. I d-didn’t know could
be
so angry.’

‘No? Well it’s
always seemed to me that there’s a lot you’ve never noticed about
him,’ responded Adeline, coming wearily to her feet. ‘And I still
don’t know what on earth you saw in Jasper Brierley.’

Nell shuddered
and then brightened a little.

‘Harry knocked
him down,’ she said wonderingly. ‘That was rather splendid of him,
wasn’t it?’

‘Yes. And it
will be even more splendid if he doesn’t end up fighting a duel as
a result of it.’

‘Oh!’ For once
in her life, Nell was struck by reality rather than romance. The
dark eyes became perfectly stark and she said oddly, ‘I didn’t
think of that.’

‘No.’ Adeline
gazed astringently back at her. ‘That’s your trouble, Nell. You
never think at all.’

*

The whispers
started three days later and Harry, with his ear firmly to the
ground, was the first one to hear them.

‘It’s not
Ansford’s doing,’ he said grimly to Adeline. ‘He was so frightened
I’d blame it on him that he was on my doorstep at virtually the
crack of dawn to swear his innocence. He says – and I believe him –
that we have Carlotta Felucci to thank.’

‘Who?’ she
asked blankly.

‘Carlotta
Felucci,’ He met her eyes squarely but with faint discomfort.
‘She’s a singer. She was also, once upon a time, Rock’s
mistress.’

‘Oh.’ Behind
her stiff taffeta bodice, Adeline’s insides lurched unpleasantly
and she had to work quite hard at not letting it show in her face.
Of course he’d had mistresses – probably quite a number of them.
What had she expected? How else had he learned how to make a woman
want him with no more than a look or make her bones melt with a
single kiss? She said colourlessly, ‘That would explain it, I
suppose. But what do we do now? Brazen it out?’

‘Yes. There’s
not much else we can do. And if we do it well enough and are really
lucky,’ said his lordship sourly, ‘we may even get away with it.
Enough, at any rate, for the gossip to die down before Rock gets
back from Paris.’ He paused, frowning a little. ‘What’s he gone
there for, anyway? Not that I’m not glad of it – because I am. But
why Paris?’