Parfit Knight (29 page)

Philip frowned
at her. ‘Isabel – what is all this about? That I fought Amberley
has little enough to do with Robert.’

Isabel shook
her head and took a couple of uncertain steps towards him.

‘It has
everything to do with Robert. It was precipitated, in the end, by
whatever happened at Vauxhall the other night – and, later on, I
think Rosalind should tell you precisely what that was. But your
dislike of the Marquis has always stemmed from your belief that he
won three thousand guineas from Robert at dice.’

‘Hardly a
belief,’ commented Philip dryly. ‘I saw him do it.’

‘No. You saw
him
win
. You didn’t see him accept his winnings – and, in
fact, he never did so. He returned Robert’s notes for nothing … and
your three thousand guineas paid for a curricle and pair.’

Rosalind leaned
back in her chair and closed her eyes. There was no place for
relief since she had never believed the Marquis guilty of dishonour
… and, instead, she found herself thinking of something Rockliffe
had said and wondering how much of this he had either known or
guessed.

It was a long
time before Philip spoke and, when he did so, it was to Robert.

‘Is it
true?’

Badly
frightened, Robert slumped into a chair and floundered in a
quagmire of unintelligible extenuations.

‘
Is it
true
?’ repeated Philip, his voice like gun-fire.

‘Yes,’ muttered
Robert. ‘God damn you,
yes
! But I – ‘

‘Don’t say
anything else.’ His lordship’s voice was restrained again but far
from reassuring. ‘If you do, I may not be able to keep my hands
from your throat. I could forgive you the money – but not the
deceit. Isabel is right. You are beneath contempt.’

‘I’m glad you
think that,’ remarked Isabel sturdily, ‘because I haven’t finished
yet. Not unless you are prepared to present your apologies to the
Marquis and agree to his marrying Rosalind.’

Rosalind’s eyes
flew open and she sat up.

‘I shall
apologise for misjudging him, naturally,’ said Philip stiffly. ‘But
as for the rest – I don’t know yet. There are other
considerations.’

‘I don’t
understand,’ said Rosalind unevenly. ‘He hasn’t asked me to marry
him. He – he didn’t even come yesterday.’

Isabel raised
enquiring brows at Lord Philip and, when he said nothing, turned
back to his sister. ‘He would have come,’ she said simply, ‘but
that he thought you would not receive him. Philip called on him
yesterday morning and told him that you knew of his part in your
accident.’

‘Philip?’ The
violet eyes were wide and dark. ‘
Why
?’

His lordship
flushed, suddenly ashamed. ‘I thought … it seemed to be for the
best.’

‘For whom?’
Rosalind stood up. ‘Not for me – or only if he really
was
trifling with me. Was he?’

Again, Isabel
waited for Philip to speak before saying, ‘No. He wants to marry
you. But because Philip believed him capable of every conceivable
villainy, he used the only weapon he had and …
implied
…
that you blamed Amberley for your blindness.’

Rosalind did
not know whether to laugh or cry. Shivering a little, she stretched
out a groping hand to Isabel and felt it taken in a warm,
comforting clasp.

‘I don’t
understand. How could he possibly think I would blame him?’

Isabel suddenly
discovered that she felt very tired – as if all the life had
drained out of her. She said, ‘I think you had best ask him that
question yourself. I must go. I never meant to stay so long.’

‘No.’ Rosalind
smiled mistily. ‘But I’m so very glad that you did. There is still
a lot I need to understand … but you don’t know what you’ve done
for me.’

‘Oh I think I
do,’ replied Isabel dryly. And thought,
I’ve betrayed my brother
and
disgraced myself in the eyes of yours. I only hope it
was worth it
. Releasing Rosalind’s hand, she stooped to pick up
her mask and fan and then, when it was no longer possible to evade
Philip’s eyes, she looked up and said flatly, ‘I’m sorry if you’re
angry but I had to tell her – and I’m far guiltier than you for I
should have told you the rest of it a long time ago.’ She glanced
fleetingly at her brother and added, ‘Don’t forget to ask Rosalind
about Vauxhall. Goodnight.’ And, with a small curtsy, she walked
towards the door.

‘No – wait.’
Philip stepped impulsively after her. He did not know what to say –
only that he must say something. ‘I’ve got to talk to you.’

‘Yes.’ Wearily,
she turned round. ‘But not now, if you don’t mind. I’m tired and I
want to go home but I can’t because I’ve got to back to the Anstey
ball. I’m sorry – but I don’t think I can cope with you as well.
Come, Robert.’

Philip flinched
as though she had slapped him and said nothing more. He managed a
slight bow, avoided looking at the Honourable Robert and a minute
later, they had gone. For a long time, he remained where he was,
staring at the closed door and then he turned abruptly away to lean
his hands on the mantel. The seconds ticked by in silence as he
tried to master his hurt and come to terms with the shock of
Isabel’s disclosures. Finally, he said curtly, ‘I seem to have made
an utter fool of myself.’

‘Yes,’ agreed
Rosalind, completely without rancour. ‘But it wasn’t entirely your
fault and, for the most part, you acted in good faith. And it can
be put right. Fortunately.’

Philip frowned
down into the fire, thinking how close he had come to making it
horribly and irreparably wrong.

‘You really do
love him, don’t you?’

‘Yes. I really
do.’

‘So much that
nothing else matters?’

‘That much and
more.’

‘I see. He is
to be envied.’ His hands fell to his sides and he turned to face
her. ‘I’ll visit him tomorrow and do what I can to set matters
right. The rest will be up to him.’ He grinned crookedly. ‘Do you
suppose he’ll kick me down the steps or fall on my neck?’

‘Neither,’
smiled Rosalind. ‘He’s much more likely to make a joke of it. You
know he can’t help it – even when he’s bleeding like a pig.’

*

There is
nothing very funny about having to admit all your mistakes and
follies to the man you have insulted in every conceivable way and
Philip was not looking forward to his interview with the Marquis.
He could remember with distressing clarity all the unjust
accusations he had hurled at Amberley’s head and there was no
reason, he thought gloomily, to suppose that Amberley would not
remember them too. He had lied, not openly, but by implication,
about Rosalind’s feelings and would now have to admit it. And
yesterday, adding injury to insult, he’d put a bullet through the
fellow’s arm.

It did not
augur well for their future relationship and Philip would not have
been human if he had not wished that his sister had chosen to
bestow her heart elsewhere. But since there was no help for it,
since he owed both Rosalind and her Marquis some reparation and had
only just come, at last, to understand how they felt, he duly left
Jermyn Street on the stroke of eleven the following morning and set
off to do his endeavour in Hanover Square.

His resolution
was wasted for the Marquis was not at home. He had left early that
morning for Surrey, said his butler, and was not expected to return
before the end of the week. Unable to decide if he was glad or
sorry, Philip went reluctantly home to tell his sister.

Under all the
vicissitudes of the previous evening, Rosalind had remained
reasonable and understanding. Today, she was neither. She demanded
to be taken instantly to Surrey.

Philip stared
at her. ‘Don’t be an idiot, Rose. I can’t go chasing the man all
over the countryside – and neither can you. It isn’t sensible.’

‘
I
won’t
be sensible if I have to wait for three whole days or maybe more,’
she retorted flatly. ‘And it isn’t all over the countryside. He’ll
have gone to Richmond. It can’t take more than an hour.’

‘That isn’t the
point. I’ve made a big enough idiot of myself as it is without
charging about like a damned lunatic. He may be in Richmond – or he
may not. You don’t know – ‘

‘Yes, I do.
He’ll be at Mallory Place in Richmond. It’s where – ’

‘That’s as
maybe. But we can’t just go barging uninvited into a complete
stranger’s – ‘

‘Why not? It’s
his mother’s house and I shouldn’t think she’d mind.’

‘Oh wonderful!’
said Philip. ‘As if it’s not bad enough having to face Amberley,
you want me to call on his mother and explain how I came to shoot
her son. No thank you!’

Rosalind
swallowed an infelicitous reply and tried what coaxing would
do.

‘Please, Phil,’
she begged. ‘It’s such a
little
thing to ask.’

‘That’s all
very well for you to say. Your part is easy.’

‘Not
necessarily,’ she replied dryly. ‘And don’t you – ‘

‘No! God knows
I’ll be lucky to come out of this with any dignity at all – and I
certainly don’t intend to squander what little I do have by running
after him like a damned tyro. I’ll leave a letter in Hanover Square
asking him to receive me when he comes back to town – but that’s
all I will do. And if,’ he concluded wisely, scanning her flushed,
stubborn countenance, ‘you’re going to fly into a temper, you can
do it on your own. I’m off to see Isabel.’

*

As soon as he
turned into Clarges Street he realised that all was not well in the
Linton household. The door of the house stood wide open and through
it, to the evident delight of the small group of urchins,
maidservants and passers-by gathered on the pavement, came the
loud, blustering tones of the Viscount demanding that some person
or persons should immediately vacate his house.

‘Oh Lord!’
thought Philip irritably, as he pushed his way through to the
steps. ‘
What now
?’

The scene in
the hall was one of noisy confusion. Facing the Viscount and all
talking at once were some seven or eight soberly-dressed
individuals all clutching sheets of paper which they brandished
militantly in his lordship’s alarmingly suffused face. And, behind
his father – pale, shaking and striving not to be noticed – stood
the Honourable Robert. The situation, thought Philip savagely, was
suddenly crystal clear.

‘Stop this
infernal din!’ he shouted in a voice any soldier would have
recognised.

It had its
effect. The hall fell abruptly silent and every eye swung round to
stare at him. Philip nodded curtly to the Viscount and fixed a
derisive blue stare on his son.

‘Your
creditors, I presume?’

Robert fidgeted
and turned away.

‘Yes, young sir
– we
are
his creditors!’ volunteered a portly gentleman in
brown. ‘And we are here to – ‘

‘I asked you to
be quiet,’ rapped Philip. ‘It doesn’t take a genius to see why
you’re here – or that you are wasting your time. I take it,’ he
said, looking at Lord Linton, ‘that, as usual, your son is unable
to meet his obligations?’

‘Of course he
can’t meet ‘em!’ snorted the Viscount. ‘And
I’ll
not settle
‘em. Couldn’t even if I wanted to – which I don’t!’

‘I see.’ Philip
smiled coldly at Robert. ‘Then it looks as though you are about to
take up residence in the Fleet, doesn’t it?’

A murmur of
dissatisfaction rippled through the ranks of the assembled
tradesmen.

‘Much good
that’ll do us,’ grumbled one.

‘And that’s if
the young puppy don’t skip off to Foreign Parts,’ added
another.

Lord Linton
eyed Philip speculatively.

‘Don’t suppose
you’d think of helping the boy out, would you?’

‘I already
have,’ replied Philip. ‘Frequently.’

‘Ah.’ The
Viscount rocked back and forth, nodding wisely at the floor. ‘But
just once more? For Bella? Poor girl won’t like to see her brother
clapped up, I daresay.’

‘But then she
won’t see it, will she?’ objected Philip pleasantly. He was
deriving a certain grim enjoyment from repaying Robert for some of
the trouble he had caused. ‘You could hardly expect Isabel to visit
the debtor’s ward, after all. And I wouldn’t be surprised if she
wasn’t rather glad to have Robert safely out of harm’s way.’

This aspect of
the matter had not previously occurred to Lord Linton and he
appeared to consider it. Then he shook his head and said, a shade
regretfully, ‘No. Too much scandal. Got the name to think of,
y’know. And it’s Bella’s name too.’

‘It won’t be
when she is married to me,’ Philip pointed out. And then, tiring of
the game, ‘But I might be willing to help … under certain
conditions.’

His lordship
brightened. ‘Ha! Anything you like, dear boy. Only have to name
it.’

The prospect of
a reprieve put new life into Robert.

‘Don’t you
think,’ he asked sullenly, ‘that we should discuss this in
private?’

The sapphire
gaze travelled along the row of silently hopeful spectators and
eventually came to rest on Robert.

‘Oh no,’ said
Lord Philip sweetly. ‘These gentlemen have a vested interest and I
… I am anxious to avoid knocking your teeth down your throat. So
here and now will do very well indeed. Do I have your undivided
attention?’

Robert coloured
and toyed nervously with his quizzing-glass.

‘Yes. Get on
with it.’

Philip nodded.
‘Very well. I have no intention of putting money in your hands
because we both know what that will lead to. But if these gentlemen
will present their accounts to me, I will discharge them – along
with any others you may have. I shall also purchase you a
commission in any regiment I can find that will take you out of
England for the foreseeable future – and after that I shall never
do anything for you again. Those are my terms. Take them or leave
them. Well?’