Gayle Buck (25 page)

Lady Caroline turned back to Lord Hathaway, her smile keeping well hidden the hurt she felt at the inexplicable desertion of her friends. “I shall be delighted, Lord Hathaway.”

For Lady Caroline, the evening was suddenly interminable. Wrapped in her own thoughts, she paid but half an ear to Lord Hathaway’s monotonous conversation. She did not realize that he was attempting to justify himself to her yet again, but merely felt his unending monologue to be much in the same class as the irritation of a persistent fly.

Momentarily emerging from her thoughts, she said impatiently, “Yes, yes, my lord.”

She would have been appalled if she had been told that she had agreed to reconsider him as her most devoted admirer.

Lord Hathaway felt that Lady Caroline’s response lacked some measure of enthusiasm, but after a moment’s reflection he was persuaded to the notion that more could not be expected of a lady of proud and whimsical character. Thereafter he was content enough to abandon polite conversation and fully enjoy the several excellent dishes served up by the Walmesley cook.

As for Lady Caroline, she had little appetite and merely picked at her plate. Her mind was wholly absorbed by the horrid and growing suspicion that something had gone very wrong with the Earl of Walmesley’s little plot.

She had greeted the gentlemen who were known to her with the familiarity of an old acquaintance. Viscount Weemswood was as he had always been, but she had been surprised and made uneasy by the odd reserve she felt in Mr. Underwood’s and Lord Heatherton’s manner toward her.

Lady Caroline could not shake the dread feeling that worse was yet to come of the evening.

Chapter Twenty-six

Dinner was concluded and coffee was being served in the drawing room when Lady Caroline succeeded in buttonholing Lord Heatherton. “Nana, I wish to know what is wrong. Why have I become of a sudden such a pariah?”

Lord Heatherton gave a warning shake of his head. He glanced meaningfully around the crowded room as he said, “Miles wouldn’t like it if I were to say anything, my lady, especially in light of the wager. No, nor would I, if it comes to that. I have too much respect for you to do so, Lady Caroline.” He bowed and hastily retreated, feeling that even by association he might say more than he thought.

Lady Caroline allowed Lord Heatherton to go. She felt quite ill.

A wager!

Slowly her eyes roved the room, her glance touching on the grandduchess, Mrs. Burlington, Lord Heatherton, Mr. Underwood and Viscount Weemswood. However it had happened, they had all in one fashion or another been made privy to the false engagement.

That alone was scarcely to be borne, but to discover that some sort of wager rested upon it was not to be endured.

Lady Caroline’s stricken eyes fastened at last on the Earl of Walmesley. His head was tilted attentively as he conversed with Lord and Lady Eddington, and he appeared oblivious of all but enjoyment of the gathering.

Her fingers clenched of their own volition.

Without giving a thought to how it might be construed, Lady Caroline swept down on the trio and requested a private word with the earl.

Lord Eddington looked at his sister in troubled astonishment. Her eyes were dark with emotion, while her breast rose and fell in witness to some distress. “Caroline?”

She spared her brother a scarce glance. “It is quite all right, Ned. I merely have a matter that I wish to discuss privately with Lord Trilby.”

Lord Trilby regarded Lady Caroline with equal surprise. “Of course, my lady.’’ He excused himself to Lord and Lady Eddington and drew Lady Caroline with him.

Lord Eddington frowned after them. Lady Eddington, always quick to discern his lordship’s moods, shook her head at him. “You must not perturb yourself, my lord. I am quite certain that whatever has transpired will quickly be found to be of little moment.” He glanced down, his expression at once lightening, and agreed.

Lord Trilby showed Lady Caroline into a small sitting room near the drawing room. He closed the door quietly and crossed over to her as she turned to face him.

“My dear Caro, you are trembling. What has happened?” he asked, beginning to feel alarm.

The earl attempted to catch her hands.

She warded him off, stepping back a pace. “Do not ‘dear Caro’ me! I am so furious and humiliated that I can scarcely speak! How could you. Miles? How
could
you tell your friends, and mine, about this stupid masquerade? And then, having done so, you thought so little of me that you
wa-wagered
on the outcome!”

“How the devil did you hear of that?” Lord Trilby saw from the flash of her eyes that that was not the most salutary opening and he said hastily, “Never mind that now. Caro, you must believe me. I had no choice but to confide in the others. The wager simply cropped up. Believe me, it has nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing to do . . . ! Forgive me, my lord, but I cannot conceive how it might be otherwise.’’

Lord Trilby shook his head. “Caroline, please listen for one moment. The wager was put to me that within a fortnight my great-aunt would discover that our understanding was a hoax. Of course I disagreed. Can you not see? It in no wise reflects upon you.”

Her eyes glittering, Lady Caroline snapped her fingers at him.
“That
for your protestation, my lord!” She gave a furious laugh. “Lord, what an utter fool I have allowed you to make of me. A wager! When I imagine what Carey and Sinjin and, yes, even dear sweet Nana, must think of me, I am quite sunk with mortification.”

Lord Trilby held fast to his composure. “You must see that I had to take them into my confidence, Caro. It was imperative that they be forewarned. I could not chance an inadvertent word from Mrs. Burlington.”

“Why did you not consult with me, my lord?
I
had persuaded my aunt to say nothing!”

Her outraged words left silence in their wake.

Lord Trilby and Lady Caroline stared at one another.

Suddenly the earl laughed. “Oh, Caro! The shifts to which we have been put.’’

Lady Caroline’s eyes still glittered, but now with tears. “I do not think it in the least amusing.” She turned away hurriedly.

Lord Trilby sobered instantly, at once regretting his ill-timed sense of irony. “No. No, of course it is not.” He gently placed his hands on the outside of her shoulders and was not surprised when he felt her stiffen. “My apologies, Caroline. I should never have asked it of you.”

His voice was curiously tender.

He knew her so very well, and yet in some ways not at all. Since they had embarked upon this mad plot, he had several times thought he caught sight of a certain expression in her eyes. When he had glanced at her more fully, the expression had vanished or, if it had even existed, seemed to have been but a trick of the light.

Through her fury and her misery, Lady Caroline felt her traitorous heart bump uncomfortably against her ribs. She said with feeling, “Damn your eyes, Miles.”

He tightened his fingers briefly, then forced his hands to drop away. It was perhaps one of the most difficult things he had ever required of himself. “I should return to the drawing room before anyone begins to wonder at our continued absence.”

He hesitated. “Will you be quite all right alone, my lady?”

A hollow laugh came from her. She did not turn around to look at him. Her voice carried an uncharacteristic bitter note. “Of course I shall. How could it be otherwise?”

It was an odd thing for her to say. There was something just beneath the surface of her words that he intuitively sensed.

Again Lord Trilby hesitated.

As he looked down on her bowed head, he felt the most extraordinary compulsion to gather her up into his arms and kiss her thoroughly.

Suppressing the impulse ruthlessly, afraid that if he remained he would do something that he would later regret, he turned quickly and exited the sitting room.

With a sigh, Caroline sank down into a chair.

She was staring meditatively into the fire when the door to the sitting room opened. She turned her head quickly, thinking that the earl had returned. She was dismayed when she met Fräulein Gutenberg’s contemplative gaze.

“Fräulein! You startled me. I am sorry, were you seeking a bit of privacy? I... I was on the point of leaving.’’ Lady Caroline had risen to her feet as she spoke, and now she moved toward the door.

“No. Stay a moment, Lady Caroline. I came in to speak with you,” Fräulein Gutenberg said. She closed the door. Walking gracefully to a chair and sinking into it, she gestured for Lady Caroline to resume her own seat.

Lady Caroline remained standing, regarding the Fräulein with puzzled surprise. “I do not understand.”

“Please, Lady Caroline. Pray be seated.”

Reluctantly Lady Caroline did as she was bidden. She was curious despite her wariness. Fräulein Gutenberg had deigned to take only as much notice of her as she had been compelled to by circumstances, yet now the Fräulein had actually sought her out. “Very well, Fräulein. What is it you wish to say to me?”

Fräulein Gutenberg glanced at the flames, and back at Lady Caroline. “You do not care overmuch for me, my lady, nor I for you. So it always is when two beautiful women become rivals over the gentlemen.” She paused a heartbeat. “I shall marry one of your Englishmen, my lady. I shall marry Lord Trilby if I so desire. That is what I wish to say to you, my lady.”

“You saw that I left the drawing room in the earl’s company and you followed us. Your jealousy ill becomes you, Fräulein,” Lady Caroline said evenly. She started to rise from the chair.

“The understanding that lies between you and his lordship is not of importance to me, Lady Caroline.”

Lady Caroline stared in consternation at the Fräulein’s calm expression. Slowly she sank back onto the chair. “How knew you of that, Fräulein?” A flush rose to her face. “Perhaps from the grandduchess?”

Fräulein Gutenberg gave a low amused laugh. “Madam confides in me only what she wishes me to know, my lady. I do not think that particular piece of information was meant for my ears. No, your good aunt was very kind and quite sympathetic of my position.” She laughed again. “Mrs. Burlington does not wish me to harbor false hopes over Lord Trilby.”

“Amaris,” Lady Caroline breathed, recalling how her aunt had warned her earlier against the Fräulein. She had not paid particular attention, and now wished bitterly that she had.

The corners of Fräulein Gutenberg’s mouth lifted in another lovely smile. “Pray do not think too harshly of Mrs. Burlington, Lady Caroline. She, at least, has your interests at heart. I have only myself to rely upon.”

Lady Caroline’s anger was checked by the curious inflection in the Fräulein’s voice. “But you have a formidable sponsor in the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits, surely?”

The Fräulein lifted slim shoulders. “For the moment, perhaps, it suits her grace to take an interest in me. The grandduchess’s sponsorship is very like a child’s sand castle. It appears strong and solid, but the wind and the waves always make quick work of it in the end. No, I am not so foolish as to place my future blindly into the grandduchess’s hands. I shall marry one of your Englishmen instead.”

“But do you not care, then, whom you wed?” Lady Caroline asked, fascinated despite herself.

Again came the lift of the Fräulein’s shoulders. “One man is much like any other. Two arms, two legs. Any significant difference is determined by the depth of his pocketbook.”

“My word, I have never heard such a cold-blooded thing,’’ Lady Caroline said, repelled. “Have you never taken into account love or even simple liking? I cannot imagine the sort of match you contemplate, Fräulein.”

“Can you not? Then I shall tell you how to imagine it, my lady. Imagine that you are the fifth of twelve daughters. Imagine that you have observed how each of your elder sisters has chosen her husband, not by birth alone, nor by wealth, nor again by this love you speak of. Instead, each has chosen out of necessity to contract a marriage that will weld strong political ties for her family.”

Fräulein Gutenberg gestured with her slender hand. “It is an illustrious family, to be sure, but one impoverished and in exile, its survival dependent upon the whims of those in power. Now the family is politically secure, but still the remaining daughters are urged to barter themselves, and in return they will receive the discontent that became their sisters’ lot.”

After a moment Lady Caroline gestured eloquently. “I am sorry, Fräulein. I did not realize.”

“Do not pity me, Lady Caroline, for I am the fortunate one. The Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits has made possible my escape. I shall not return to be displayed like a freshly trimmed joint of beef to the innumerable petty princes of St. Petersburg. I shall marry an Englishman, one wealthy enough to provide me with all that I could ever desire.”

At last there was a passionate note in Fräulein Gutenberg’s voice, and in the firelight her eyes flashed with the radiance of jewels. Lady Caroline regarded her in amazement.

The Fräulein abruptly became aware of her wide-eyed scrutiny, for she caught herself up, and the mask of calm indifference once more shadowed her beautiful face.

“I shall marry an Englishman, Lady Caroline, and it may well be that my choice shall fall upon Lord Trilby.”

Without another word, Fräulein Gutenberg rose from her chair, walked to the door, and let herself out.

Lady Caroline stared after the young woman, feeling more pity than she would ever have believed possible for the woman who had declared that she intended to marry the Earl of Walmesley.

When the horrid evening had at last come to an end and Lady Caroline was able to take her leave with the rest of her party, she discovered that the phantom headache that she had suggested to her aunt had become a pounding reality. Her discomfort was not eased in the least by the sharp and garrulous discourse that Mrs. Burlington sustained the whole of the drive back to Berwicke Keep. Upon entering the house, Lady Caroline excused herself immediately, pleading the headache and fatigue, and retired to her bed.