Bedford Square (19 page)

However, there were certain advantages to high birth and the passage of time. When Vespasia chose to break the rules no one complained, except those who would like to have done so themselves but did not dare to, and they made their comments very quietly—and if overheard, denied them.

Fortunately, this was not an “at home” day. Mrs. White was without company, and a somewhat startled maid took Vespasia’s card and returned a few moments later to say that Mrs. White would receive them.

Charlotte was too concerned about the issues which had brought them there to take anything but the slightest notice of the house or its furnishings. She had a fleeting impression of heavy, gold-framed pictures, rather a lot of carved oak and curtains with fringes.

In the withdrawing room, Marguerite White stood near a chaise longue covered with cushions, rather as if she had just
risen from it. She was slender and pale, with a mass of dark hair. Her eyes were hollow, heavy lidded, her brows delicate. She was a beautiful woman, but Charlotte’s most powerful impression was that she was not strong and the slightest exertion would tire her. She was dressed in a dark muslin gown, which was obviously not what she would have chosen had she expected callers.

A greater surprise was that her husband was standing behind her. He was only a little taller than she, a trifle portly now, and broad shouldered. But in spite of his ample frame and genial features, he looked as if he, too, had been ill. There was no color in his skin, and the shadows under his eyes were dark.

“Vespasia! How charming of you to call.” He made an effort to be courteous, and a genuine good nature was unmistakable in his voice. Nevertheless, he could not entirely conceal that he was puzzled to see her, and of course he was unacquainted with Charlotte.

Vespasia greeted him with warmth and made the appropriate introductions. All the usual remarks were made about health and weather, and tea was offered, although no one expected it to be accepted at this hour.

“Thank you,” Vespasia said with a smile, sitting down on the wide sofa and arranging her skirts with the merest flick of her hand, indicating that she fully intended to stay.

Marguerite looked startled, but there was nothing she could do about it short of extreme rudeness, and it had been apparent from her first response to Vespasia that she was fond of her, and perhaps a little in awe.

Charlotte sat down nervously. What could she possibly say in this absurd but desperately important situation? Something flattering but innocuous. She glanced out of the window.

“What a delightful garden you have, Mrs. White.”

Marguerite looked relieved. It must be a subject that gave her pleasure. Her face eased of some of its tension; her eyes brightened.

“Do you like it?” she asked eagerly. “I wish it were larger, but we do what we can to give the illusion of space.”

“You succeed admirably.” Charlotte was able to say it with sincerity. “I should love to have such a skill, or perhaps I should say an art?
I
doubt it is something which can be learned.”

“Would you like to see it more closely?” Marguerite offered.

It was precisely what Vespasia had most hoped for and intended to bring about were she able. Charlotte had accomplished it within the first few minutes of their visit.

Charlotte turned to her. Enquiring if it were acceptable was a necessary courtesy.

Vespasia smiled, but casually, as if it were of no importance.

“By all means, my dear. I should go while the sun is out and you can enjoy it to its very best advantage. I am sure Mrs. White will be willing to allow you to look at it closely enough to see the delicacy of the details.”

“Of course,” Marguerite agreed. “It is one virtue most gardeners possess: we all love to show off, but we seldom mind sharing our ideas.” She turned to her husband. “You will excuse us, won’t you? I seldom have anyone here whose interest is more than an indulgence of my passion. I am so tired of polite nothings.”

“Of course, my dear,” he said gently, and his regard for Charlotte changed in that moment. It was clear in his expression, the way his shoulders relaxed as he moved to open the French doors for them both, that she had in that one gesture become a friend.

When they were gone—two graceful figures across the small strip of green lawn, outlined by the background of trees, urns of pale flowers reflecting the sunlight, white petunias dramatic against the dark flames of cypress—he closed the doors and came back across the room to Vespasia.

“You look tired, Dunraithe,” she said gently.

He remained standing, half turned away from her.

“I was awake a little last night. It is nothing. It happens to all of us now and again.”

She must not waste precious time while Marguerite was
occupied outside. He would certainly not tell her anything once his wife returned. He had always done everything in his power to protect her from distress of any kind. And yet if Vespasia were precipitate he would regard it as intrusive and be offended. Not only would she not have helped but she would also have damaged a friendship which she valued.

“It does,” she agreed with a self-deprecatory little shrug. Then an idea came to her. There was no time to weigh its merits. The garden was small, and Charlotte could keep Marguerite outside only a given length of time. “I have lost some sleep myself recently.”

He wished to be courteous, but his attention was only half upon her, and in spite of his efforts, she was aware of it. Theloneus was right, Dunraithe White was deeply worried about something.

“Oh … I’m sorry,” he said with an absentminded smile. It did not occur to him to enquire as to what the cause might be. She was going to have to be far more blunt than she had wished.

“It is the curse of an imagination,” she responded.

That was something to which he could not easily think of a casual reply.

“Of an imagination?” His attention was real at last. “Are you afraid of something, Vespasia?”

“Not for myself,” she answered, meeting his eyes. “For my friends, which I suppose in the end is the same thing. We are given pain or happiness through those we care for.”

“Of course.” He said it with sudden intensity. “It is the core of what we are. Without the ability to love we would be half alive … less. And what we have would be of no value … no joy.”

“And no pain,” she added.

His eyes clouded, and there was a fierce tenderness in his face. Suddenly his emotions were raw. She had always known he loved Marguerite, but in that moment she saw something of the depth of it, and the vulnerability. She could not help wondering if Marguerite White was really as fragile as he believed. But it was a judgment only he had the right to make.

“Yes, of course,” he said in little more than a whisper. “The two are inseparable.”

She waited, but he did not go on. Either he was too absorbed in his own feelings or he believed that asking her about herself would be intrusive.

She took a deep breath and let it out silently.

“One cannot see a true friend suffer, perhaps even be ruined, without attempting to help.” She watched him as she spoke.

His head jerked up, his body became rigid. It was as if she had struck him. The quiet room, sunlit from the garden beyond, was permeated with fear. Still he said nothing.

She would not let it go, she could not. “Dunraithe, I need your advice. That is really why I have come at this very inappropriate hour. I do know better than to call unannounced at three in the afternoon.”

A flash of painful humor crossed his face and vanished.

“You, of all people, do not need to apologize. How can I help you?”

At last!

“Someone I know and care for,” she answered, “and for reasons which will be obvious to you, I should prefer not to name him, is being blackmailed.” She stopped. The expression on his face did not change in the slightest; indeed, it was unnaturally frozen. But the blood rushed into his cheeks, and then fled, leaving him ashen. If she had ever doubted that he, too, was a victim, she could not possibly do so now.

Had he any idea how his color had betrayed him? Did he feel the heat in his skin, and then the faintness? She looked into his eyes and still was not certain. She continued because the only alternative was to retreat.

“Over something which, in fact, he did not do.” She gave a tiny smile. “But he cannot prove it. It was all many years ago, and rests now on the word of people whose memories are dulled or whose testimony may not be sufficient.” She gave the minutest shrug. “Anyway, I daresay you are as aware as I that a whisper can be enough to cause irreparable damage, whether it is true or not. Many of the people one would like to
admire actually have very little charity when it comes to the chance to cause a stir with a piece of gossip. One has not far to look to know that is true.”

He started to say something, then swallowed convulsively.

“Do sit down, Dunraithe,” she said softly.” You look as if you are quite ill. A stiff brandy might help, but I think a word of friendship might do more. You also are carrying a great burden of some sort. One does not need the eye of a friend to see that. I have shared my concern with you, and feel better for it, even if you are not able to give me any practical advice. And I admit, I cannot think what such advice might be. What can one do against blackmail?”

He avoided her eyes, looking down at the roses in the Aubusson carpet beneath his feet.

“I don’t know,” he answered, his voice husky. “If you pay, then you only dig yourself in the more deeply. You have created a precedent, and shown the blackguard that you are afraid of him and will yield.”

“That is part of the trouble.” She watched him intently. “You see, he has not asked for anything.”

“Not … asked for anything?” His words were stilted, his face drained of color.

“Not yet.” She kept her own voice level. “It is most unpleasant, and of course my friend fears that in time he will. The question is what will it be?”

“Money?” There was a lift of hope in him now, as if a demand for money would have been almost a relief.

“I imagine so,” she answered. “If not, then it may be something far uglier. He is a man of influence. The worst possibility is that he may be asked to do something corrupt … to misuse his power ….”

He closed his eyes, and for a moment she was afraid he was actually going to faint.

“Why do you tell me this, Vespasia?” he whispered. “What do you know of it?”

“Only what I have told you,” she replied. “And that I fear he may not be the only victim. Dunraithe … I am very much afraid there may be a far larger conspiracy involved than
merely the misery of one man, or even two. One cannot keep one’s reputation, however justly earned, by committing an act of dishonor, possibly even greater than that with which one is falsely accused.”

Suddenly he looked at her very directly, anger and desperation in his face. “I cannot tell how much you know, even if that is why you are here, and what of your friend is mythical, what true.” His voice was rough, almost angry. “But I confess I also am being blackmailed for something of which I am totally innocent. But I will not risk having it said … by anyone! I shall pay him whatever he asks, but I will keep him silent.” He was shaking. He looked so ill as to be on the point of collapse.

“My friend is as real as you are.” It mattered to her that he did not think she had lied, no matter for what reason. “I did not know you were also a victim, but your distress caused me to wonder. I am profoundly sorry. It is the filthiest of crimes.” She spoke more fervently. “But we must fight him. We must do it together, if necessary. We must believe in one another. My friend was accused of cowardice in the face of the enemy … a sin which would be anathema to him, a shame he could not live with.”

“I’m sorry.” The words were wrung from him. She could not doubt he meant them passionately. It was in his face, the angle of his body, the clenched shoulders. “But to allow what I am accused of to be said aloud would be a torment Marguerite could not live with. And that I will not allow … whatever he does to me. There is no use arguing with me, Vespasia. I will do anything on earth before I permit her to be hurt. And she would be devastated.”

This was no time for tactful evasions. Charlotte and Marguerite would return at any moment. Charlotte had already kept the conversation on gardening alive miraculously long.

“What are you accused of?” Vespasia asked.

He was pale to the lips. Again, the answer seemed forced from him. “Suit for the paternity of the child of one of my closest friends.” He struggled for breath. “The husband passed away recently. He cannot even deny that he contemplated such
a thing.” His voice rose. “Of course he did not! The child was his, and he never could have thought otherwise. But even a whisper of doubt would ruin the mother’s reputation, and mine, the more so since we were friends … and even call into question the son’s inheritance, both of his father’s title and his considerable wealth.”

His face crumpled and his voice trembled now.

“To have anyone think that I could have behaved in such a way would kill Marguerite. She is … very frail. You know that. She has never ever been strong, and of late she has suffered … I simply will not allow it!”

“But you have done nothing wrong,” she pointed out. “There is nothing for you or Marguerite to be shamed by.”

His lip curled. The bright sunlight streaming through the windows showed the contempt in his face. “And do you imagine people will believe that … all people? There will be whispers, glances.” He laughed derisively. “Some well-meaning busybody will be sure to tell Marguerite what is being said, probably in the guise of forewarning her, perhaps in simple malice.”

“And so you will do what he asks of you,” Vespasia said. “The first time, and the second … and maybe the third? By which time you will truly have done something to be ashamed of, and his hold upon you will be real!” She leaned forward a little. “How far will you go? You are a judge, Dunraithe. Justice must be your first loyalty.”

“Marguerite is my first loyalty!” His voice was raw, his fists clenched. “I have loved her nearly all my life, and I will do anything to protect her.”