Passion (28 page)

“Jules. And I do, though likely more refined
than yours.”

“Undoubtedly. Sailors and soldiers excel at
genuine wit. Much more than the bores and asses you associate
with.”

“Such snobbery, Brother.” Jules drawled
dryly.

Blaise grunted, but was grinning dryly as
they were served coffee.

After a bit, whilst they drank the coffee,
Jules told him of his visit with Raith, and told him what they had
talked about, about Stratton, Suzette, and Gabriella.

Blaise murmured, “How do you know the Duke of
Coulborne will have this ball?”

“Because that’s what we do when scandal
threatens. We carry on as if nothing occurred.” Jules informed him.
“Lady Caroline and I have had that end covered, whilst his Grace
had Gabriella in the country. And you know, of course, that Raith
has been with father.”

“Lady Caroline?”

Jules went on to explain her bloodlines, her
reputation, thinking nothing of describing the assets that society
so revered her ladyship for, and those traits Bordwyc had reason to
be proud of.

“I have known her for years, so it merely
confirms or at least implies what the ton already assumes when she
and I are seen together. With the ton’s short attention span, any
on-dit gets their notice. And there’s nothing like smelling a
potential match to do the trick.”

Blaise grimaced behind his cup. “She sounds
perfect for you, Stoneleigh. Two paragons of virtue. Should be a
long and if not happy—at least flawless, marriage.”

“I have not formally asked for her.”

“Sounded to me, as if her father has given
his blessing, in every way that matters. Do not be modest, now. You
know very well half the father’s in London would cut off their arms
to have you for a son in law.”

Jules grunted. However, he could not deny it.
“In any event, I should like you to attend the ball, with myself,
father, and Raith. Ry too.”

“I wouldn’t miss it. I gather it is as good
as an announcement of your betrothal. Although, don’t expect me to
dance with the bride to be.”

Jules laughed but partly in discomfort,
because he realized his brother’s summation was correct. Many would
expect it. The Duke, certainly.

Blaise murmured more quietly, “Now tell me,
what was that err…problem you were wrestling with?”

“I’d rather not.”

“But you will. You are asking me to show up
at a society gathering, not just any gathering, but one at the Duke
of Coulborn’s. Where your intended, this paragon, Lady Caroline
will be. In case you have forgotten, I am blind. I’m giving you
warning right now though, if one guest starts to fawn on me with
pity—I don’t care if it’s the Duke himself, I’ll—“

“You don’t carry yourself as blind. But some
sympathy may be genuine, brother, so get used to it, and get that
chip off your shoulder.” Jules set his cup down and stood. He went
over to the window and looked down. After a bit, he murmured, “I
was being blackmailed.”

“Bloody hell.” Blaise turned his face toward
him.

Jules grunted. “Yes. For something…that
occurred in university.”

“Hmm. I cannot imagine what you would
consider scandal. Caught cheating on your exams? No. I suspect you
knew them forwards and backwa—“

“It involved something more intimate.
Something that is… a crime…”

Blaise obviously waited.

Jules simply said, “I paid him. I paid him
off finally, after I discovered who it was.”

A frown ripped Blaise’s brow. “How could you
not know—“

“I was foxed. More than that…I was
drugged.”

“Bloody—" Blaise began, but pushed himself up
and out of the chair. “You should have just called him out and shot
the bloke. For all you are the brain of the litter, brother, I know
you to be an expert shot.”

“That too, would have been scandal.”

“You’re bloody joking me? You’d rather—"

Jules cut him off, “It’s over. I paid him a
sum this morning.”

“How much?” Blaise went over to get a
cheroot. He lit it. When Jules told him, he coughed on the smoke.
“The bloody sod!”

Jules grunted. “I would rather you not use
that particular expression.”

Blaise snorted with laughter.

Jules endeavored not to be offended. He
helped himself to a cheroot, careful to place everything back in
its order.

Soon they were both leaning by the
window.

In a musing tone, Blaise offered, “I am
relieved to hear it was something serious, in one sense. Some of
the things your sort consider scandal, is ludicrous, in my opinion.
If you think like that, you’ll be paying out for the rest of your
bloody life, just because of some mishap or normal human
weakness.”

“I do draw the line.” Jules tried humor, but
then muttered, “I’d just as soon not have gone through it.”

“No. I’d say not.”

After a bit Jules asked, “Can you see?”

“Only blurred edges. Like the outer rim of a
circle. But I’ll take that much.”

Jules looked at him as he smoked. His brother
was a strong and swarthy man. A handsome one, in his own commanding
way. “You would have made bloody admiral.”

“I would have.” Blaise agreed and they
chuckled quietly.

After a time, Blaise, intoned, “You’d best
warn your intended and the Duke that I’m coming. Ry, with his one
eye will be a shock. A fully blind man…”

“He knows of you. As for Caroline, she’s
nothing if not polite and she’ll—“

“—
Yes, I know. She’ll
pretend I’m fully sighted or faint.”

“She won’t faint.”

“Let’s hope not. How much does she weigh?
Just in case she falls on me?”

“Caroline is …she’s attractive and well
formed, in a delicate sense.”

“Scrawny, eh.” Blaise jested.

“No. But speaking of Lady Caroline. I must
go. We are to the theater tonight.

After he put out the cheroot, Blaise walked
with him out and down to the foyer. Ry was snoring in the sitting
room still.

Having his coat and hat on, Jules asked,
“Have you something formal to wear?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Very well. It would not hurt if you went to
see father and Raith before then. Perhaps have dinner with them,
you, and Ry.”

Standing in the doorway, before Jules got in
his coach, Blaise said dryly, “I’ll consider that. I suggest you
choose Raith to stand up for you at your wedding….”

“Nothing is—“

“Yes, yes, I know. Formalities.” Blaise
grunted and waved him off.

Jules sat back as the coach pulled out. He
really must do some thinking before he collected Caroline.

She and Harry were friends. He and Harry
were…

He muttered a curse and checked his pocket
watch. He had little time to spare. Damn it all. He had gotten one
problem taken care of. This, one was a bit more complicated. Of
course, he had no clue for the first time in a long time, exactly
how he intended to solve it.

Five days later

Gabriella and Lady Caroline were making the
rounds in the shopping districts. Gabriella had dressed in subdued
pewter hues, her wide hat having a fluttering veil. It was
impossible for her not to draw some stares, because of her full
figure, and the long spirals of her richly hued hair tumbling down
her back. Not to mention everyone knew Caroline, and seemed to be
making a point of waving and nodding, curious about the pair of
them.

Caroline complimented her perfectly in a
blue/green suit and velvet hat perched on her strawberry curls. She
was only half attending what was going on around her. Yes.
Gabriella did notice Caroline’s preoccupation. She was making too
much effort to be chatty and upbeat, yet she seemed to keep losing
track of what she was “chatty” about...

When they were having tea, between shopping,
Gabriella sat back, listening to her talk about some play, having
repeated the same thing three times, and watching her look around
whilst doing so.

“What is wrong, Caroline?”

Those blue eyes turned to her. “Whatever do
you mean?”

“I mean, something is troubling you.”
Gabriella reached her gloved hand over and touched her hand. “You
know much about my life. I’ve no pretenses, and don’t intend to
foster any—above what will keep scandal from you and father. You
can tell me anything. I’m not easy to shock.”

Caroline dropped her wide-eyed smile, and
looked down at her cup a moment, sighing. When she glanced up,
Gabriella saw a completely different woman, a more serious, anxious
expression in those eyes.

She murmured, “I hardly know where to begin.
The short of it is, I am living a duel life. Me, Lady Caroline
Bordwyc, the immaculate deb of the ton. It is about to end. And
not, in a way that I want it to. Although, I don’t have a clue how
to survive any other way than this.” Her hand swept around. “I
can’t displease my father, can I? Everyone knows me, or thinks they
do. Everyone thinks I am biddable and perfect and….maybe I was,
until I met him.”

“Him?” Gabriella was trying to follow her
ramble.

“My Captain. My…”

Staring at her Gabriella said, “Although I
haven’t met Raith’s brother, the Earl, formally, I’ve known of him.
Everyone does. I know Stoneleigh has been escorting you everywhere.
Is that what you mean?”

“Yes. We are perfect for each other. Everyone
says so. I used to say so. My father thinks so, and up until I met
the man I…God. It is such a tangle. I cannot even think of how
to…or what… I can do.”

“Does Stoneleigh care for you?”

Caroline’s brow went up. “I’ve no idea beyond
the roles we play. It would be considered vulgar by society if he
showed any…passion, for me in public. We are always under the eye
of the ton. And even when we are not, Stoneleigh is nothing if not
aloof and cool.”

“How long have you known him?”

“Since I was about 13 years of age. Our
father began bringing me out now and then, to society parties and
country gatherings.”

“And this Captain?”

“It just—happened.” Caroline bit her lip, her
eyes full of emotions. “I met him, ran into him actually—and it
changed everything, me, how I thought of life, my future. Which I
had always known was planned for me. I had no objection, because
I’d never met him…”

Caroline cradled the cup. “I haven’t been
able to see him thanks to this hectic schedule. I don’t know what
he thinks of my sudden absence in his life.” She sighed. “I haven’t
told him who I am. I do not know much of him either, beyond what he
makes me feel. What we feel, together. I do not….didn’t—want him to
know who I am. The fact that I am wealthy, that I am a Duke’s
daughter. I did not want that to influence… anything. My whole
life, my world, is filled with people who care for nothing but
that. This is different.”

“I can see that.” Gabriella could. “It is
obvious to me you care for him a great deal. I understand the world
you live in, even if I have not been in it. I know, because
your—our—father spoke of you, the image and reputation you have. I
had no idea it made you this unhappy.”

“It didn’t, so long as my heart and soul were
mine,” Caroline confessed softly. “It didn’t take a moment, just a
look at him, and it was as if I’d met the other half of me that I
didn’t know I was missing.”

There was a silence between them. Then,
making a decision, Gabriella murmured, “I have certainly been
shopping for myself for many years. I can manage quite well to
finish, If you’d like to go to him now.…”

Putting the cup down with a click, Caroline
reached for her hand this time. “Could you? Oh, Gabriella…I have
been so frantic, so sick and worried. I…cannot survive this other
life…if I don’t have….”

“—
Of course. Go. I will take
my time. Be back before the shops all close.” She smiled. “And
Caroline?”

“Yes.”

“If he loves you, it won’t matter who you
are.”

However, Caroline stood. Her eyes filled with
cynical sadness. “I would hope not, too. However, I am afraid to
find out. The illusion…perhaps, that is all I will ever have. It is
better than anything else in my future. Thank you for this,
Gabriella, it may be the last time I see him, ever.”

After she had gone, Gabriella sat there
pondering Caroline’s confession. It was certainly enlightening. It
certainly made her seem more…human.

Eventually Gabriella went back to the shops.
She ordered a ball gown, a very special one for her father’s
birthday. He had assured her there would be a very rare chance, she
would be recognized as her former self. Although she did not care
for her own sake, Gabriella did have a care for his. She could
imagine how everyone would stare at her dusky skin and obvious
exotic looks, and though they would be polite for his Grace’s sake,
she was skeptical that anyone would believe she was a cousin. Yes,
someone intimate with David would see a hint of him in her.
However, Gabriella intended to give her father and Caroline the
limelight. She would attend for him, but she would be
inconspicuous.

As to Caroline—although now she was worried
about her half-sister, they might not be extremely close yet, but
she could feel Caroline’s struggle and understood it. Caroline was
expected to marry well. Stoneleigh was the prize. It was the way of
their world. She did not envy anyone that kind of union or
life.

The ball gown Gabriella had done was in deep
multi hues, sewed with gold and silver thread. A straight taffeta
sheath, with a fuller outer skirt of solid rippling wine silk,
decorated with beaded birds. Her gloves would have the same theme
embroidered. It was a private, personal, celebration of her
mother’s life, in a sense—a marking of her own freedom too, from
ghosts of the past.

The rest of her wardrobe, the walking
dresses, gowns and habits, more leisure carriage coats and capes,
were still done all in rich jewel tones. Cut to flatter her fully
curved figure. Gabriella had her own dash and flair and it was
apparent that the dressmakers agreed. From stockings to chemises
and hats, they eagerly designed to flatter her.