The Pretenders (10 page)

“Hello, Deborah,” he said in a strangled voice. ”I did not expect to see you here.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I felt Reeve step close and then his arm came around my shoulders.

“Steady, Deb,” he said.

His words and his presence did steady me. I inhaled air deeply into my lungs, trying to overcome the sick feeling in my stomach.

Charlotte said in a bewildered voice, “What is going on, Richard?”

He replied in the same strangled voice in which he had spoken earlier, “Deborah is my half sister.”

“Good God,” Geoffrey said.

“I thought it was time you two met,” said Lady Sophia. She was watching us with bright, curious eyes. “I don’t like the idea of my nephew marrying a girl who is an outcast from her family.”

Reeve had not dropped his arm from my shoulders, and now he turned to look at his aunt. “You have gone too far, Aunt Sophia,” he said coldly. “This was neither the time nor the place for such an introduction. Now that we are here, however, I suggest we move inside, where we can be private.” He glared at his aunt. “You can stay out here.”

She looked furious. “I will not.”

“Oh yes you will.” He looked very grim. He sounded absolutely furious. He was so intimidating, in fact, that Lady Sophia actually gave way.

“You are overreacting to this, Reeve,” she said huffily. “It was necessary that they meet.”

“Not like this,” Reeve said implacably. He made a shooing motion. ”Come along, Lynly. And you, too Charlotte. We had better talk this out before we face the others.”

“I would like to know what is going on here also,” said Lord Swale in a measured tone of voice.

I shut my eyes.

Reeve’s arm tightened around my shoulders. “You will know, sir, but for the moment I think it is necessary for Deb and Lynly to talk privately.”

Lady Swale said, “Come along with me and have something to eat, Max. We will hear all about this in due time, I’m sure.”

Thank God
, I thought. I did not need people staring at me, trying to decipher what I was feeling. “What about Mama?” I said to Reeve.

He looked at Geoffrey. “That is Mrs. Woodly over there, in the blue dress. Will you ask her to join Deb and me in the drawing room, Geoff?”

“Of course,” Geoff said soberly, and went off to do Reeve’s bidding.

Without speaking, the four of us went into the house and entered the white-and-gold drawing room. No one sat. For the first time I really looked at my brother.

He was several inches over six feet, like Reeve, but he was thinner. His hair was a soft brown brushed in the latest mode, and his eyes were hazel. He looked at me, and said, “I had no idea you were engaged to Cambridge, Deborah.”

For some reason the sound of my name on his lips was like a blow to my stomach.

He has no right to say my name
, I thought to myself furiously.

My voice, when I replied, was even. “Why should you? You have never concerned yourself with us, have you?”

The faintest flush came into his pale cheeks. “Over the years your mother has made it perfectly plain that neither of you wanted anything to do with
me
.”

“You have no right to say that, just because we would not condescend to beg.” I said hotly.

He looked confused. “Beg? What do you mean? Why should you need to beg?”

My laugh was not pleasant.

My brother looked at Reeve. “What is going on here, Cambridge?”

Reeve replied promptly, “Deb is talking about the fact that for the last eighteen years, she and her mother have been left to live in poverty.”

Either my brother hadn’t known this, or he was a consummate actor. Probably the latter. “That can’t be true,” he said. He looked back at me. “My uncle has always seen to your welfare.”

“Is that what he told you?” I asked scornfully. ”Well let me tell you, my lord, a cottage and fifty pounds a year to live on hardly constitutes what I consider a decent living.”

His hazel eyes widened in shock. “He gave you more than that!”

Reeve said grimly. “No he did not”

At this moment, the door to the drawing room opened and Mama came in. “Did you want to see me, darling?” she said, coming forward to join me.

I took her hand in mine and held it tightly.

“Yes, I did, Mama. I wish to introduce you to your stepson, Richard Woodly, Lord Lynly.”

Mama’s eyes flew to the tall young man standing next to Charlotte. Bright color flushed into her cheeks. “Is it true?” she asked. ”Is this really Richard?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He was looking at her with a strange mixture of hurt and longing. He said a little wistfully. ”You look just like I remember you.”

Mama gave him her sweetest smile. “And you look just like your father.”

“So people tell me,” he said.

Charlotte said in a bewildered voice, “I don’t understand any of this, Richard. Will you explain?”

Richard hesitated, seeming not to understand everything himself.

With Mama’s hand still in mine, I said in a harsh voice, “I will be very happy to explain, Lady Charlotte. My mother was Richard’s father’s second wife and Richard’s stepmother. I was born when Richard was five, but my father neglected to provide for my mother and me in his will. My father died when I was three, and Richard’s trustee, my uncle, evicted us from Lynly Manor. We were allotted a small cottage near Cambridge with a pittance to live upon, and that is how we have been existing ever since.” I gave my brother a hard, unfriendly look. “This is the first time Richard and I have met since we were very young children.”

Charlotte looked horrified.

Richard looked appalled.

Mama said, “I am sure that Richard did not know how straitened were our circumstances, Deborah.”

I said, “Well he certainly never bothered to check on us, did he?”

By now Richard was starting to look angry, too. “You might have let me know how you were faring! I’m not a mind reader, after all!”

“No, you’re just a self-involved, miserly bastard!” I said hotly.

“Deborah!” Mother said in horror.

“Really, Miss Woodly!” Lady Charlotte said in outrage.

“Good for you, Deb.” Reeve said in stout support.

At this moment, the door opened and Lord Bradford came into the room.

“Several new guests have arrived whom I’d like Mrs. and Miss Woodly to meet.” he said.

Mama smiled at him. “Deborah and I will join you in the garden in just one moment, Lord Bradford.”

He gave her a shrewd look, and then his eyes swung to me. I was sure my cheeks were flushed with anger.

Lord Bradford didn’t say anything, however, he just nodded and left.

Mama said to me, “Deborah, we must return to the party.”

I met her clear blue eyes. I drew in one deep breath and then another. My stomach was still in a knot. I nodded, and said tightly, “All right.”

I started toward the door with Reeve behind me.

“Cambridge,” I heard my brother say. ”Will you stay for a moment? I have a few questions I would like to ask you.”

“I have a few things I would like to say to you as well,” Reeve replied grimly.

I walked out the door and followed Mama back to the garden.

Later that night, when everyone had gone home, and the last of summer’s light was lingering in the sky, Reeve and I went for a walk.

“What an afternoon,” he said feelingly. ”I had no idea that Charlotte’s fiancée was your brother. It’s true they were both in London during this past Season, but our paths never crossed. Apparently Lynly isn’t much of a gambling man.”

“He probably doesn’t want to spend his money,” I said scornfully.

Reeve was silent. The sound of water tumbling in the fountain came softly to our ears, and I could smell both the summer flowers and the salt from the sea. Two nightingales were singing in the woods.

Reeve said, “According to Geoff, Lynly seems to be a good sort. In fact, the family were very pleased with Charlotte’s engagement—and not just because Lynly has money, either.”

“Obviously they don’t know him very well,” I said contemptuously.

“Come and sit for a minute,” he said.

I followed him to one of two stone garden benches that flanked the yew arch into the woods. We sat down.

Reeve said, “Lynly wanted me to remain in the drawing room so he could ask me about what your life had been like since your father died. I told him about it. In detail.”

I smoothed the soft muslin fabric that covered my lap. “And what did he say?”

“He was truly horrified, Deb. You see, his uncle had told him that it was your mother’s decision to leave Lynly Manor. Mr. Woodly told Lynly that he had bought a comfortable establishment for your mother and was making her a substantial yearly allowance. He told Lynly that it was your mother’s wish not to be disturbed by any member of the Woodly family. That was why Lynly never tried to get in touch with you.”

I looked up into his face in disbelief. “How could he believe such a fairy tale? Why on earth would Mama do such a peculiar thing as that?”

We were sitting so close that I could feel the warmth of his skin. He said, “You have to remember that Lynly was only eight when your father died, Deb, and his uncle was his guardian and his trustee.”

I was finding all of this hard to accept. I had hated my brother for so long. It was not easy to let such angry feelings go.

I said stubbornly, “He should have looked for us anyway.”

“He should have,” Reeve agreed. ”But by the time he came of age, a stepmother and a half sister from his distant past probably didn’t seem that important to him. Not when he thought you were taken care of.”

“But didn’t he look at his account books?” I demanded. ”Didn’t he see that we weren’t getting any money?”

Reeve said dryly, “I gather that Uncle John still keeps the books.”

“Oh God, Reeve,” I said. I punched the fist of one hand into the palm of the other. ”Oh God.”

“Lynly was right,” he said soberly. ”Your mother should have gotten in contact with him when he turned twenty-one. He would have done something about the injustice his uncle had perpetrated.”

I said fiercely, “Mama wouldn’t stoop to that”

“She should have,” Reeve said.

“He probably wouldn’t have done a thing,” I said. ”He was probably saying all of this just to impress Charlotte.”

“Listen to me, Deb,” Reeve said. ”I know it’s hard to let go of a grudge, but sometimes it just has to be done.” He put his hands on my shoulders and made me turn to face him. ”For both your sakes, I think you’re going to have to forgive Lynly for his neglect“

“I do not have to,” I said. I added with angry honesty, ”I don’t
want
to.”

“I know you don’t.” He bent his head and rested his lips on the top of my head. He said gently, “But it will be best for everyone if you do.”

I was very close to him. I had been close to him many times before, but for some reason this time it felt different. The night, the scent of the flowers and the sea, the sound of the fountain, the call of the nightingales. The touch of his lips on my hair.

I had the oddest feeling that I wanted to lean against him, to feel the strength of his body pressed against mine.

I frowned and tried to straighten away from him.

His hands remained on my shoulders, holding me where I was. “What do you say?” he asked.

I said curtly, “I will never forgive him, but I suppose I can be civil to him for the duration of this visit.”

“That’s my girl,” he said. He released my shoulders and tipped my chin up and kissed my forehead. His lips lingered for a minute on my skin and made me feel very strange.

What is the matter with me
? I thought.