The Second Lady Southvale (15 page)

Rosalind could hear the voices in the drawing-room before she could see through the doorway.

Lady Eleanor was the first to speak. ‘Ah, there you are at long last, Philip.’

‘Good evening, Great-aunt Eleanor. Katherine. Gerald.’

Gerald murmured the usual reply, but Katherine gave a glad cry, and Rosalind heard the rustle of her turquoise taffeta skirts as she ran to greet her brother. ‘Philip! Wherever have you been?’

‘Greys.’

Katherine gave a disbelieving gasp. ‘But I sent a message there, and Mrs Simmons—’

‘I instructed her to say I wasn’t there.’

‘But why? Philip, what has been going on?’

Lady Eleanor made a concurring sound. ‘Yes, Philip, what has been going on?’

‘I had something of immense importance on my mind.’

‘So important that you couldn’t be bothered with the
courtesy
and consideration we usually merit?’ inquired the old lady a little tartly, for she was very displeased with her great-nephew for behaving in such a cavalier fashion.

Philip knew he deserved to be on the receiving end of this displeasure. ‘You must forgive me, Great-aunt, but I really did need to be on my own for a while.’

Rosalind had reached the floor below now, and she moved hesitantly toward the drawing-room doors. She could see the little group quite clearly, and Celia’s portrait, watching over them as if paying attention to every word they uttered. Rosalind paused just beyond the pool of light by the doorway, where the softer glow of the Chinese lanterns by the staircase lost the battle to the brightness of the chandeliers in the drawing-room.

Lady Eleanor was surveying her great-nephew rather severely. ‘Yes, Philip, I’m quite sure you do have something to think deeply about, for matters of marriage aren’t to be lightly brushed aside.’

Philip was very still for a moment. ‘Matters of marriage?’ he replied slowly.

‘Yes. Come, now, sir, let’s not beat about the bush, for all of us here present know what’s behind all this.’

‘You do?’ His glance moved briefly to Celia’s portrait and then away again.

‘Yes, and we rather feel we’re due an explanation. It really isn’t good enough for you to leave us in the dark like this. It’s all come as a dreadful shock, you know.’

He gave a dry laugh. ‘Oh, I know that, Great-aunt, I know it only too well.’

‘Don’t you think you should have given us some intimation of what had happened? As it was, we simply had the lady in question turn up at the door.’

He stiffened, his piercing blue eyes resting urgently on the old lady. ‘She’s here already?’

‘Yes, of course she is. How else do you imagine we’ve found out about it?’

‘I just presumed …’ Philip looked at Gerald for a moment.‘I presumed wrongly, it seems,’ he finished, his voice little above a murmur.

Gerald met his gaze and then looked at the fire.

Katherine, who still stood next to her brother, having hurried to hug him on his arrival, now looked at him, a little perplexed.
‘Philip, you don’t seem exactly pleased to know she’s here in London.’

He smiled a little wryly. ‘Are you pleased, Katherine?’ he asked softly.

‘Of course I am, for she’s everything that is pleasing and kind.’ Katherine couldn’t hide her indignation. ‘Why do you think I’d be
dis
pleased?’

‘I may have been blind in the past, Katherine, but I’ve worked a few things out for myself since then.’

She stared at him. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

‘I’m talking about you and …’ He suddenly broke off, whirling about as if some sixth sense told him Rosalind was there. He stared at her as if he’d seen a ghost, and his face, already pale, became more pale still. ‘What in God’s name are you doing here?’ he breathed.

Rosalind’s heart faltered and she couldn’t reply. There was no welcome in his eyes and no kindness in his voice.

He came slowly toward her, halting a few feet away. ‘You shouldn’t have come, Rosalind, for there’s nothing here for you, and the sooner you go back where you belong, the better.’

Had he physically struck her, she wouldn’t have known more pain than she did in those few shattering seconds. She’d prayed for a happy reunion, and she’d feared a rejection, but she’d never dreamed that that rejection could be as cruel as this. ‘Philip, I …’

‘We need to talk in private, madam,’ he interrupted, glancing back at the astonished trio behind him. ‘I’ll await you in the library.’ He strode past her, walking along the landing to another doorway on the other side of the staircase. The room beyond seemed to be in darkness, but he went inside and closed the door behind him.

Lady Eleanor and Katherine seemed to be rooted to the spot with shock and dismay, for nothing could have been more embarrassing than what had just happened.

It was Gerald who seemed to recover first. He came quickly
over to Rosalind, closing the drawing-room doors so that he and she were alone outside. He took her hands. ‘Don’t forget that I’m here if you need me,’ he said quickly.

She hardly heard him, for she was still too overcome with misery at the way Philip had behaved.

‘Look at me, Miss Carberry.’

His urgency penetrated and she did as he bade, but her green eyes were accusing. ‘You know why he’s changed toward me, don’t you?’

‘I’ll be here if you need me,’ he said again.

‘It’s Philip I need, sir,’ she replied, noting that he’d evaded her question.

‘But Philip now appears to be beyond your reach, Miss Carberry, whereas I am most definitely here.’

It was a blatant declaration, and her breath caught in
astonishment
. ‘What are you saying?’ she whispered.

‘I think my meaning is clear enough,’ he said, holding her gaze. ‘Philip may no longer want you, Miss Carberry, but I most definitely do.’

With a gasp, she pulled away from him, gathering her skirts to hurry toward the library door.

As she went inside, she saw Philip holding a candle to the fire. Shielding the new flame with his hand, he went to a table, lighting a candelabrum that stood there. The new light wavered softly over bookshevles and damson velvet curtains, and she was aware of the comfortable smell of leather from the armchair and the bindings of the books.

He faced her. ‘Why did you come here, Rosalind?’

‘I mistakenly believed you loved me, sir,’ she replied, her voice shaking a little.

A nerve flickered at his temple and he looked away for a moment. ‘You left Washington before you were due to, I take it?’

‘That much is obvious, sir.’

‘If you’d done as we’d agreed, you’d have received a letter
from me. I wrote it in time to catch the
Queen of Falmouth
packet.’

‘The
Queen of Falmouth
is believed to have been lost at sea, and anyway I’d probably left before she was due to arrive. What did you say in the letter, Philip?’

He drew a long breath, returning to the fireplace and leaning a hand on the mantelpiece, his back toward her. ‘It wasn’t a very explanatory letter; in fact, it was little more than a note. I wrote in complete detail a few days ago.’

It was like talking to a stranger. This wasn’t the Philip de Grey who’d laid such sweet siege to her in Washington; it was someone she didn’t know at all.

He glanced at her again. ‘Why did you leave early?’

‘Several reasons. My mother became unwell and my father decided that the wedding would have to be put off well beyond Christmas, and then the political situation worsened so much that it really did seem as if war would break out at any moment. I decided I couldn’t risk the possibility of being parted from you for what might prove to be a very long time, so I left secretly and alone to join you here.’

He turned quickly. ‘You’re here alone?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh, Rosalind …’

‘I realize now that I’m a complete gull, but I had no idea that you’d changed so much toward me. After all, when last we spoke, you did beg me to join you, and I was rather under the impression that you wished me to be your wife. Evidently I was wrong.’

He met her gaze for a moment and then turned back to the fire. ‘This is the very last thing I wished to have happen, Rosalind. Please believe me.’

‘I no longer know what to believe, sir,’ she replied. ‘You did ask me to marry you, didn’t you? I begin to wonder if I dreamed it all.’

‘You have my ring to prove it wasn’t a dream,’ he said,
glancing
at her left hand.

‘Well, that can obviously soon be rectified.’ She removed the ring and placed it on the table by the candelabrum.

He gazed at the gleaming gold and said nothing.

‘Philip, aren’t you at least going to give me an explanation?’ she asked.

He nodded. ‘Yes, I’ll tell you what’s happened, but before I do, I want you to know that I meant everything I said to you in Washington.’

‘Yes, I think you probably did, Philip, but that was before you came back here to her, isn’t it?’ She spoke quietly, but every word was clear. This was all because of Celia, so why not be open about it?

He looked at her. ‘Do you mean Celia?’

‘Has there ever really been anyone else?’

‘Oh, yes, Rosalind, there’s you.’

Tears pricked her eyes. ‘But you don’t want me, do you, Philip? You’ve made that very plain, just as you’ve made it equally plain that you still love Celia.’

His blue eyes searched her face. ‘And how have I done that?’ he asked softly.

‘You’ve moved her portrait back to the drawing-room.’

He pressed his lips together almost ruefully. ‘Yes, I suppose I did do that.’

‘And you didn’t tell anyone here of my existence, did you? Would you mind telling me why?’

‘To protect you.’

She stared at him. ‘Protect me?’

‘Maybe it was a foolish notion on my part, for the whole of Washington knows about our betrothal, but I still thought it better for you if I said nothing on this side of the Atlantic. My second letter explains it all …’

‘Which is more than you’re doing right now, my lord,’ she interrupted softly. ‘I fail to see how you can be protecting me at all, because no matter what, sir, my ruin is now assured. I’ve
thrown caution to the winds, and with it I cast aside my
reputation
.’

He put a hand out toward her and then let it fall away again. ‘I’m sorry, Rosalind, but I really have no choice. You see, on my return to London, I discovered that Celia is still alive and that she’ll soon be returning to me.’

Thunderstruck, Rosalind could only gaze at him. Whatever else she’d expected, it hadn’t been this. She felt the color drain from her cheeks and had to reach out to the table to steady herself.

‘That’s why I said there was nothing here for you,’ he went on, ‘and why I think it would be best if you returned to Washington, where you belong. My first thought was of
shielding
you as much as possible from the shame that’s bound to attach to you because of this, and all I could think of as
preventing
you from leaving Washington.’

Tears shone in her eyes. ‘Nothing can shield me, my lord, for I’ve committed the sin of running away after a married man.’ She gave a slightly bitter laugh. ‘John was right, wasn’t he? He said that you weren’t over your wife, but he didn’t know how very accurate he was.’

‘Please, Rosalind …’

‘I’m sorry to have embarrassed you by coming here, Lord Southvale, and will remove myself as soon as possible.’

‘Rosalind …’

‘Will tomorrow be soon enough, or would you prefer me to go tonight?’

‘You know there’s no need to leave tonight,’ he said quietly.

‘Do I? I’m afraid I no longer know anything at all where you’re concerned, my lord. Good night.’ Striving to cling to her dignity and composure, she turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

For a moment he didn’t move, but then he went to the table to pick up the signet ring. His fingers closed convulsively over it, and with a stifled cry he turned to hurl it into the heart of the fire.

Rosalind was blinded by tears as she ran toward the staircase, intending to go directly to her room, but she found Gerald barring her way.

He caught her by the arm. ‘What’s happened, Rosalind?’

He used her first name, but she barely noticed it. ‘Please, let me go …’

‘I need to know what he said, Rosalind.’ He glanced toward the drawing-room doors, knowing that Lady Eleanor and Katherine might emerge at any moment.

Even in her distraught state, Rosalind at last realized that he’d again addressed her by her first name. She stiffened,
fighting
back the tears in order to look coldly at him. ‘I gave you no leave to be so informal with me, sir.’

‘Rosalind, just tell me what’s been said.’

‘Unhand me.’

Her green eyes were chilly and imperious, and he released her.

‘Mr Beaufort, I rather suspect that you already know what he told me. Your sister is still alive and is about to come back to him.’

He didn’t deny it. ‘What does he intend to do?’

‘Discard me. What else?’ Her gaze was frosty. ‘So much for your professed wish to be my friend, sirrah.’

‘I do, believe me. In fact, you must know by now that I wish to be far more than just a friend to you.’

‘A friend would have told me the truth, Mr Beaufort, and would have spared me the humiliation of tonight. But you let me go on hoping for the best, didn’t you? I’ll never forgive you, sir, and as for ever needing you, well, I wouldn’t turn to you if you were the last man on earth.’

‘You’re very upset at the moment, I realize that, but—’

She cut him off in midsentence by hurrying away up the staircase. The tears were stinging her eyes again and all she wanted was to hide away in the sanctuary of the pagoda room.

Annie was still there and turned in dismay when she saw how
upset her new mistress was. ‘Oh, Miss Carberry …’

Rosalind closed the door and then leaned wretchedly back against it. ‘Well, at least the truth is known at last,’ she said quietly.

‘Truth, madam?’

‘I’m not going to be the next Lady Southvale, because there is still a holder of the title.’