Everything returned to Bryony with a rush then, the whistles, the cloaked figure running away, Sebastian’s voice as he leaned over her! With a gasp she struggled to sit up, but the pain shafted blindingly through her head again, forcing her to lie back again, her face ashen.
Delphine sat forward anxiously, “Are you all right? Should I send for the doctor again?”
“No, I’m all right, it’s just ...”
“Yes?”
“I’ve remembered what really happened now. Someone deliberately set that dog on my horse, Delphine. It was no accident.”
Delphine’s eyes widened. “Surely not ...”
“Someone whistled before the dog appeared, and then whistled again to call it off, and I saw a figure in a cloak running away into the woods, the dog at its heels. I’ve seen that figure before, when Petra’s letter was left in my reticule in Falmouth.” She looked at Delphine. “There’s no mistake, I remember it too clearly.”
“It cannot be true,” whispered Delphine, shocked, “for it’s too horrible.”
“She knew we would be riding that way.”
“Yes, but surely she would not go so far in her efforts to halt the marriage! Bryony, you’d have to be very sure of your facts before saying anything, you’d have to be able to
prove
she was responsible. It’s one thing to write false letters and substitute miniatures, it’s quite another to do something like—”
“I can’t prove it,” interrupted Bryony, “I can’t prove anything!”
“No, and that is partly my fault, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t mean that.”
“Besides, how can you be certain that the attack was made upon you in particular?”
“What do you mean?”
“The groom who accompanied you has upset a number of local farmers by exercising Polwithiel horses over their land, riding over crops and through flocks.
He
could have been the intended victim, not you.”
Bryony fell silent. What Delphine said could be true, but the cloaked figure had been the same one she had seen in her rooms at Falmouth; she would have taken an oath upon it. But as Delphine pointed out, she couldn’t prove anything, she just had her own conviction that Petra was behind it all.
Delphine got up then. “Rest now. I’ll send a man to tell the doctor you’ve woken up at last.”
Bryony lay there after Delphine had gone. Petra had been responsible for the so-called accident, and she had employed the same man to do her work for her. Having so far failed to induce the prospective bridegroom to withdraw from the match, she was now attempting to frighten the bride into doing it instead. Suddenly the prospect of marrying Sebastian seemed almost too daunting. How could she possibly marry him if his mistress was prepared to go to such lengths? Tears suddenly filled her eyes and she felt very vulnerable and alone. And so very far from home.
Felix came so quietly into her apartment that she did not know he was there. He stood in the bedroom doorway for a moment, just beyond the arc of candlelight, and then he went to her, sitting on the bed and gathering her into his arms. She did not resist, although she knew that she should, but she was too unhappy and in need of the comfort that he alone was offering.
She hid her face against his shoulder, glad of the strength and warmth of his arms around her. It was Sebastian that she loved, but it was Felix who was with her now. She did not question his sincerity as he stroked her hair and whispered her name, for in that moment she did not remember his cruelty or his falseness.
Delphine entered the drawing room next door and he moved quickly away from the bed, pressing back against the wall by the door, where the shadows were darkest. When Delphine came in with the measure of laudanum the doctor had prescribed, she did not see him slip out behind her or hear him close the door.
Bryony closed her eyes, regret already sweeping through her. She should not have allowed him to hold her, she should have remembered all that she knew of him. She would have to be more on her guard in her dealings with him.
Two days passed and she was much improved, although still confined to her bed by an overcautious doctor. Her head was inclined to ache a great deal and so she wore her hair loose in ringlets again, but the dressing still pressed against her forehead like a tight band.
The first time Felix returned to her rooms was when both Delphine and Sally were present. There was no opportunity for him to speak to her alone, but she knew by the light in his eyes that he did not intend their last meeting to be forgotten. He murmured all the usual pleasantries, giving no hint of anything to the others present, but when he took his leave of her, raising her hand to his lips, his thumb had secretly caressed her palm. She snatched her hand away, her cheeks reddening. The moment of madness in which she had clung to him had been a very fleeting thing; now she could see him clearly again and she was determined not to repeat her mistake.
She found unexpected assistance in her determination to avoid Felix, for the doctor’s excessive diligence meant that she was not left alone, either Delphine or Sally being always with her. She knew that Felix was displeased with the arrangement, even going so far once as to try to dismiss Sally from the room, but Bryony had not allowed the maid to be sent out, and in the end it had been Felix who had withdrawn, and not without some show of irritation.
The unfortunate doctor had a great deal to do during his visits to Polwithiel, attending not only Bryony but also the duchess, whose cantankerousness increased each day. She was an extremely difficult and uncooperative patient, and being confined to a wheelchair did not improve her temper in the slightest. Her voice could be heard continually ringing through the house, and her maid was frequently seen in tears.
Sebastian had sent Bryony red carnations and had called at Polwithiel each day since the accident, but each time Bryony made an excuse not to see him. She wanted to see him, but she could not bring herself to do so. She had thought a great deal about everything since the “accident” and had decided that in spite of all that Petra had done, the marriage must still go ahead—she must still try to save Liskillen. But although she had arrived at this decision, she still found the thought of seeing Sebastian too painful. She needed a little time, time during which she hoped to steel herself against loving him.
The moment of meeting could not be indefinitely postponed, however, and on the fourth day after the fall she found it being forced upon her. It would have been bad enough had he been alone when he called, but on this occasion he brought Petra with him.
Delphine managed to delay them a little, hurrying on ahead to break the news to Bryony, who sat up disbelievingly in her bed, her eyes flashing with sudden anger.
“She’s
here? I won’t see her! I won’t!”
Delphine thought a moment. “There is only one way you may be free of her, and that is to declare off. And that’s what I advise you to do, Bryony. You must end the contract now and allow her the victory.”
Bryony slowly shook her head. “No, I’ve decided that the marriage must still go ahead. I must put Liskillen first and that is the end of it.”
Delphine stared disbelievingly at her. “You cannot mean it!”
“I’m in earnest, Delphine.”
“Please forget the match, Bryony, it’s madness to proceed!”
Felix’s voice suddenly interrupted them from the doorway. “Is it any of your concern, sis?”
Delphine whirled guiltily around. “I didn’t know you were there!”
“That much is obvious,” he replied. He was smiling with his lips but not with his eyes, and Bryony knew that he was angry with his sister.
Delphine got up and faced him. “It
is
my concern, Felix.”
“I think not.”
“But—”
“I said, I think not,” he repeated coolly. “Now run along and tell dear Sebastian that his bride will receive him now.”
“I’m not a servant that you may order me on such an errand!”
“Very well, let me put it another way. Will you
please
be so obliging as to inform Sebastian?”
Delphine glared at him, but then gathered her skirts to hurry out. Bryony was anxious not to be left alone with him. “Delphine? Will you send Anderson in?” she called after her.
Felix’s dark eyes became angry. “Bryony—”
“Please, don’t say anything, sir,” she said quickly.
“But I must speak with you.”
““No, I don’t want to hear.”
“The other night—”
“I want to forget all about it, sir,” she replied firmly, smiling gladly as Sally came in. “Will you quickly comb my hair?” she asked.
“Yes, Miss Bryony.” The maid came to the bedside, and Felix moved angrily away, standing with his back to them as he gazed out of the window.
In the few moments before Sebastian and Petra came in, Bryony strove to compose herself. She must reveal nothing to Petra, and she must not let Sebastian see into her heart for even the most fleeting of moments. She heard them in the gallery and she took a deep breath, drawing her shawl around her shoulders.
Petra hurried toward her, her rust-colored riding habit looking as impeccable as if it had been pressed but a moment before. A little black hat rested on her head, and she carried a riding crop with a jeweled handle. She looked the picture of style and elegance, a vision from Hyde Park at the fashionable hour, not the depths of Cornwall on an undistinguished morning in late July. She was also the personification of friendly concern as she sat on the end of the bed.
“Oh, my
dear
Miss St. Charles,” she said, “we’ve been so terribly worried about you. Haven’t we, Sebastian?”
He came toward Bryony, raising her hand to his lips. His touch was like fire running through her, and she had to force herself to look up into his eyes. He smiled. “I trust you are feeling greatly improved, Miss St. Charles.”
“I am. Thank you, I’m sorry to have caused you concern.”
“You have no need to apologize, for I am sure you did not fall deliberately.”
She couldn’t help glancing coldly at Petra. “No, the
fall
was not deliberate.”
Petra gave a light laugh. “Why, what a thing to say, for I cannot imagine that such a dreadful fall could ever be anything but accidental. I see that you are wearing a dressing on your forehead. Is your poor head very sore still?”
“It improves each day, my lady.”
“Oh, please call me Petra, for I do so loathe being formal, especially when you are to be dear Sebastian’s wife.”
In spite of her resolution to be calm and give nothing away, Bryony found her loathing for this woman too much to bear. Her eyes flickered. “I could not call you by your first name, my lady, for I hardly know you,”
There was a sudden silence and Petra seemed quite nonplussed by this very deliberate snub. Sebastian looked sharply at Bryony, while Felix turned with interest from contemplating the view from the window.
Petra broke the silence with an embarrassed laugh. “Forgive me, Miss St. Charles, for I did not mean to appear unduly forward.”
Bryony did not deign to reply, thus delivering a second snub. She simply couldn’t help herself, but at least it was a little revenge for all that she had suffered at this scheming woman’s hands.
Petra seemed quite upset now, but Sebastian quickly put a hand on her shoulder. “You weren’t at all forward,” he said quietly, holding Bryony’s gaze. “I think rather that Miss St. Charles is charmingly reticent.”
If he had expected this to elicit the necessary response, he was disappointed, for Bryony merely returned his gaze, remaining silent.
Petra got up a little nervously. “I ... I think we should return to Tremont, Sebastian, for those wretched fellows from that firm in Bond Street could be clambering all over my best flowerbeds in their efforts to set up the assembly-night fireworks.” She glanced uncertainly at Bryony and then hurried on out.
Sebastian remained by the bed, turning deliberately to Felix. “I know that you loathe obliging me in any way, cousin, but would you be so good as to leave me alone with Miss St. Charles for a moment?”
Felix gave a cool nod of his head and withdrew.
Sebastian looked down at Bryony then, and his eyes were frosty. “I shall make allowances for your accident, madam, but in future I shall expect more of you than the lamentable display to which you have just treated us. If that was your notion of how to go on in polite society, then I suggest you have immediate recourse to a book of manners, any number of which you will find in my aunt’s library. Good day to you.”
With barely two days to go to the assembly, the doctor at last pronounced Bryony fit enough to leave her bed. Apart from the graze on her forehead, she was feeling and looking well. The doctor still erred on the side of caution, not wishing her to go outside, even to sit in the summerhouse with Delphine, but when pressed on the point he at last gave way, his resistance having already been somewhat blunted by a lengthy and tiring confrontation with the duchess, whose wrath at being forced to use the wheelchair all the time was very considerable indeed
When he had departed from Polwithiel, Bryony and Delphine decided to adjourn immediately to the summerhouse, Delphine to do her tambour work and Bryony to read a little more of
The Romance of the Forest.
Having lain in bed for so long, she felt quite strange wearing a dress again, but it was even more strange to look at her reflection in the cheval glass and see a ghost from the past.
Her hair was still brushed free, hanging in the ringlets she had always worn before leaving Liskillen, and by chance she had chosen to wear the same primrose muslin dress she had had on the day her father had first told her about the Sheringham match. The old Bryony St. Charles stared out at her from the glass, reminding her of how happy she had been before. Would she ever be as lighthearted again? Picking up her shawl and the book, she left her apartment.
Delphine was already seated with her tambour frame in the summerhouse. She looked very pretty and fresh in apricot silk, matching ribbons twined through her lace day cap, and as she talked about the assembly and the people Bryony would meet there, her little tambour hook flashed busily in and out of the mauve evening gown she was to wear for the occasion. Tambour work was all the rage with ladies of fashion, it being considered the thing to decorate one’s own clothes, and Delphine was particularly skilled at the art, working an intricate floral pattern around the hem of the gown.