Regency Rumours/A Scandalous Mistress/Dishonour And Desire (27 page)

Mr Killigrew bowed and disappeared.

‘Please do sit down, my lord, and tell me what happened. Did Tam have an explanation to offer?’

‘I’m afraid our definitions of that word are very much at odds. He offered the
excuse
that all his friends take laudanum, he’s been taking it for over a year, apparently; he didn’t think it would do Miss Chester any harm, and so on. He seems to have no conception of the damage it can do to young people, females in particular. He’s the most irresponsible niff-naff I’ve ever come across. I suppose there has to be at least one in every family, but personally I think he should be made to wear a warning round his neck.’ He sat down at last, flipping up the tails of his grey coat and crossing his long, strong legs with a grace that was quite unstudied. His hands drooped over the rounded chair-arms while, with his middle finger, he caressed the grooves in the carved wood. ‘And before you ask,’ he continued, ‘I’ve packed him off home to his father, who ought never to have foisted him upon Dorna in the first place. He agreed to send him away for a while, but he didn’t tell me it was to be with my sister. Dorna has enough to do with two children of her own.’

‘So you don’t believe Tam set out to harm Caterina, to get back at Seton?’

‘That kind of revenge would be beyond young Elwick. He doesn’t have the brains to think along those lines.’

‘Stephen thinks so.’

‘He doesn’t know the lad as I do. Anyway, that’s a father’s reaction. I would probably kill any man who harmed a child of mine.’

‘Would you, my lord?’

‘Certainly I would. Don’t forget that Chester’s been through something similar before when his brother died in his arms. In the circumstances, I think he showed great restraint towards Tam. More than Seton did.’

‘What did Stephen say to him?’

‘Quite a lot. If Dorna and Hannah had not been there, he would probably have said much more.’

‘So has Hannah gone back home with her brother?’

‘No, she refused. The problem was not hers.’

Amelie blinked in surprise. ‘She’ll want to stay with the children.’

‘Ye … es,’ said Lord Elyot, unconvinced. ‘I suppose so. So why
did
you come to Bath? To escape?’ From beneath lowered brows, his look was severe, but not enough to daunt Amelie.

‘Last night you were determined to think so, despite my telling you about Caterina’s singing engagement. Following the maestro to Bath was the obvious thing to do, but if you prefer to think we came for some other purpose, don’t let me deter you. After all, we can both rush off whenever we feel like it without a word of explanation, can we not? Guessing each other’s whereabouts is so interesting.’

‘Amelie, you were
asleep
. I was not going to wake you when I’d hardly allowed you to sleep all night.’

She blushed, but would not let it go. ‘Ah, I see. So you didn’t know you were going until that moment. And you could not have left a note.’

‘Something came up at the ball. Unexpected.’

‘Yes, I saw them. They were unexpected for me, too. Did you enjoy yourselves in London?’

‘I didn’t go for enjoyment, I went to see my parents as a matter of some urgency. No one else. After that night we spent together, how could you
possibly
think otherwise? Have I made you feel so insecure, Amelie?’

Something trembled in her chest, catching at her lungs as a word fell out, headlong. ‘Yes.’ She shook, waiting for her
breathing to catch up. ‘And don’t try to put me in the wrong, my lord. What am I
supposed
to think when there is so much unsaid between us? We cannot go on like this.’

Leaning forward, he touched her hand with one forefinger. ‘I went to make some enquiries into your background,’ he said, softly. ‘That’s all.’

She leapt to her feet as if she had been scalded. ‘Hurst!’ she said, going to stand behind her chair. ‘You saw his letter, didn’t you? Your brother … he …?’

‘Yes, he brought news of it to me in London, but my investigations had nothing to do with Hurst’s letter. I didn’t even go to see him. If we leave him alone, he’ll have enough rope to hang himself eventually, and I have more important matters to attend to than the silly ravings of that lunatic. Did you think I’d swallow it, sweetheart?’

‘Your brother probably did.’

‘Well, I’ve explained it to him, and now he understands.’

‘So you don’t believe what the letter said?’

‘Sit down.’ He led her back to her chair, easing her into it. ‘Of course I didn’t. I know full well he’s never been your lover.’

‘
How
do you know that?’

Passing a hand over his eyes, he groaned. ‘Heaven help me, woman. Give me
some
credit, I beg you.’

‘What?’

‘There are ways of telling.’

‘What ways?’

‘Another time. Tell me why your brother-in-law came to Bath.’

‘Didn’t you ask him?’

‘I did, but he told me to mind my own business. I suspect he’d been waiting for the chance to say that.’

‘Then I don’t see how I can tell you either. I shall suggest returning to Richmond with him and Caterina either tomorrow or the day after.’

‘You’ll do no such thing.’

‘She can’t stay in Bath with Lord Rayne here. That would be too unkind. And I’m not sending them away on their own.’

‘Nor would you wish to sacrifice Mr Chester’s company by sending him back to Derbshire after his long gallop to see you. No, I can quite understand that. There must be an alternative.’

The impending argument was curtailed by the arrival of Mr Killigrew and a tray of refreshments, the distribution of which gave them time to cool down while they munched hot muffins and caught dripping butter off their chins like ravenous children.

Lord Elyot spoke with his mouth full. ‘In fact, there is a perfectly good alternative. Seton wants to talk to her. He believes, as I do, that it would be best to explain matters to her. She’s a woman, and she deserves to be treated like one. Seton will soon be joining his regiment and he may be away for years. He would still like them to be friends, but—’

‘But she’s too young for him and not his type. Wouldn’t the truth do just as well?’

Wiping his mouth with the napkin, he took issue with her unhelpful sarcasm. ‘Amelie, would you prefer it if Seton just went back home without a word, or allowed
her
to go? Would you not give her the chance to see him, alone, to make her own decision? Or are you so set on making
all
the Chesters’ decisions for them?’

‘Making …? What on earth do you mean by that, pray? Stephen put Caterina in my charge with that intention. He’s not complained about my decision-making, has he?’

‘Not to me. But now he’s here, by some marvellous coincidence,
so you can safely leave it to him, can’t you? And he believes that Seton should be allowed to speak to her, too. May I have some more tea, please?’

‘I don’t want him to upset her.’

‘He won’t. And even if she is upset, she still has a right to know.’

‘The right to know. Yes. Then perhaps you could tell me about the investigations into my background you made in London, if you please.’ She was unable to tell from his infuriating calmness whether he’d been about to refuse or tell her, for as she handed him a second cup of tea, the door opened to admit Mr Stephen Chester looking more wind-blown than ever and trying to smooth the wayward strands of hair.

Amelie caught Mr Killigrew’s enquiring eye and nodded. ‘Stephen! You’ll take some tea and muffins, won’t you? Good.’

Having been a widower for several years and somewhat out of the habit of consulting anyone about anything much, least of all on topics of conversation, Stephen Chester launched into a detailed account of the toils and tribulations of the last two days, showing them both quite clearly that his plumage had been considerably ruffled by more than the gale outside. He was today more petulant than Amelie had ever seen him.

There was more to it than he was saying. For one thing, he had not expected Lord Elyot to be so conspicuously and unfairly good looking, or younger than him, or so outspoken in his claim to Amelie. That had come as something of a shock. Nor had he been prepared for the concern shown to himself and Caterina by Lord Elyot and his brother, or for the fury at young Tam Elwick’s behaviour. He would have preferred to find Caterina himself, after all his efforts, and now
he felt redundant and unwanted even by Amelie, whom he had
not
expected to find eating muffins and cosily chatting to one of the most notorious rakes in the country.

As if that was not enough, Lord Rayne was now asking to speak with his daughter, forcing Stephen to see her for the first time as an intelligent and sensitive young woman rather than as a silly mixed-up girl, as he had been doing. It was a pity, he thought, that the young blade didn’t want to make an offer for her.

But it was Lady Dorna Elwick who surprised Amelie most by her flimsy excuses for not being available to help in the search for Caterina. She had been out all day with a friend, Stephen told her, filling in the gaps left open by Lord Elyot. Dorna had remained silent about which friend and where, but had left Tam and Hannah in charge of the house and told Tam not to leave it for any reason. He had obeyed her to the letter, knowing that if he did not, he would be back where he started. Dorna had known that Amelie and Caterina would be unavailable all day, so it was not until she arrived home at dinner time that she was told of Caterina’s disappearance, by which time she was sure she would have turned up. It apparently did not occur to her to send to Lansdown Crescent to find out.

‘Imagine her astonishment,’ Stephen told Amelie, ‘when she found her two brothers and a total stranger in her breakfast room this morning with faces like thunder.’

Amelie was thinking of another face she had seen beside Dorna, coming out of the abbey and walking away quickly without a word of explanation. Was he the mysterious companion of yesterday, too?

Hoping perhaps to redeem herself, Dorna had sent an invitation
for them to join her at Sydney Place for dinner tomorrow before the concert at the Assembly Rooms.

‘Tomorrow?’ said Amelie, turning a pained look upon Lord Elyot. ‘Why didn’t you say?’

‘How much notice do you need to dress for dinner?’ he replied.

This Stephen thought discourteous and could not for the life of him understand why Amelie accepted it so meekly. Obviously, the man had a very strong hold over her or she would not be behaving as if they were already married. He would like to have known exactly what it was.

Amelie would rather have continued her private discussion with Lord Elyot, but Stephen’s woes had put a damper on the conversation that had crackled and sparked so provocatively before his arrival. It was the kind of discourse she had never experienced with Josiah, part-scolding, part-loving, like a duel where losing was as enjoyable as winning. The thought that she would have to live the rest of her life without him clutched at her heart like the icy hand of winter. What
had
he discovered about her background? And why, if he had found it out, was he still insisting on making her his wife?

The meeting between Caterina and Lord Rayne took place later that morning while both were sitting on the piano stool, but with no music to ease the gentle flow of words. Caterina remembered nothing of her rescue, nor did Seton tell her how he and his brother had carried her home in their arms, which would have embarrassed her greatly. But exactly what passed between them remained private, and afterwards he took her on his arm into the town to be seen in the Pump Room and on South Parade, calling at Sally Lunn’s bake shop like comfortable old friends.

What pain the young lady held in her heart, however, was not hidden from Amelie that same day when they drove in the phaeton, at Caterina’s request, up to the top of Lansdown Hill. Then, while Caterina vowed she would never weep for a man again, her eyes welled as she told how kind and courteous Lord Rayne had been, not in the least censorious, but insisting that the fault lay entirely with him for allowing her to hope for something that could never be. More details she did not give, nor did Amelie press her, but Caterina’s dread of some future date, when he would appear with a lovelier older woman on his arm, was the hardest to bear. All the more so for its resemblance to Amelie’s very similar fear.

Meanwhile, Caterina begged to be allowed to stay in Bath for a few more days, having no wish to martyr herself by dashing off home as if she could not bear his company. Her voice was quiet, low and heavy with emotion, her bearing more like a swan than a cygnet, though when they removed their bonnets and let the wind comb through their hair, she became a young goddess with the world at her feet and a small wound in her heart.

It was Aunt Amelie, however, who received the censure for driving her phaeton up the very steep hill and down again with only Riley on the back. ‘What in hell’s name could
he
do?’ Lord Elyot barked at her. ‘He couldn’t have held it if it had rolled back, and nor could either of you. S’truth, woman! Do you have a death wish?’

‘Oh, don’t be so
dramatic
!’ she yelped, brushing past him. ‘I’ve been driving my phaeton up hills steeper than that all my life without the slightest mishap. What’s the fuss about?’

‘Really, my lord,’ said Stephen. ‘That’s no way to speak to Lady Chester. I
do
think—’

‘Good for you,’ snapped Lord Elyot, following Amelie upstairs two at a time. ‘Keep it up.’ Steering her quite forcibly into her workroom, he closed the door.

Prepared for more scolding, she tried to get her word in first, but was stopped by his hard embrace and the determined pressure of his mouth over hers; by the time he had drunk deeply from her lips, her words had been stolen. It was some time before either of them spoke, their need for each other having almost reached desperation, and it was clear to Amelie that his rebuke about the phaeton was no more than an excuse to haul her off and relieve his craving.

‘You are like a drug, woman,’ he whispered, lapping softly at the side of her throat. ‘The more I have of you, the more I want. How are we going to get rid of him? Eh?’