She met his gaze. “There are different ways to make it work. You don’t have to be married to fall in love.”
His gaze hardened to polished steel. “You’re giving me permission to take a mistress?”
“In the circumstances I hardly think my permission is required.”
She felt the tension that ran through him. “Are you saying you want to take a lover?”
“No! That’s the last thing—I’m trying to find a way to give you the life I took away.”
“It’s too late for that, Suzette. It was too late the moment we married. Maybe the moment we met.”
His words bit her in the throat. “If—”
“Save your energies for more important battles.” His gaze flickered over her face. “Don’t get any ideas about disappearing.”
“I’m not. That is”—something compelled her to scrupulous honesty—“I thought about it, but I couldn’t leave the children, and I couldn’t take them away from you.”
“Well then. It comes back to the children, and what we owe them.”
He was offering her more than she would have dreamed possible a few hours before. She should be grateful. Much of her life, after all, had been making do with the cards she was dealt. The ache of loss would ease and she would stop feeling torn in two. “Every time you open your mouth you’re going to wonder what I’ll do with the information.”
“Probably. It will make for some strained conversations for a time.”
“You won’t be able to leave the room without locking your dispatch box.”
“Yes, well, I do finally learn my lessons.”
A host of losses ran through her head. Laughing over a draft of one of his speeches in exhausted delirium. Passing pages of the
Morning Chronicle
back and forth with the toast and coffee. Marking up the draft of a dispatch, fingers smeared with ink. “We won’t—”
She saw a flash of the same sense of loss in his own gaze. “No.”
“Then what—”
“The children. Some of the things we believe in. The investigations that always seem to find us.” He looked down at her for a moment. “When Dewhurst fired his pistol, I knew that whatever our life together may hold, I infinitely prefer it to life without you.”
“We’ve been through a crisis. We haven’t resolved anything.”
He took her face between his hands. She could feel the warmth of his breath. For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. But Malcolm had always been too honest to seek escape in passion or romance. Or perhaps he couldn’t bring himself to kiss her. “Let’s just take it a day at a time and see what happens.”
“You don’t know—”
“When we both put our minds to something we’re usually rather successful.”
EPILOGUE
The smell of citrus shaving soap wafted through the close air in the space behind the screen in the tea shop. Laura swallowed, tasting stewed tea and self-disgust.
“Well?” His voice, low and even, came through the shadows.
“Mr. and Mrs. Rannoch and Lord Caruthers are trying to trace the descendants of Eleanor Harleton and Francis Woolright and to build a case against Lord Dewhurst.”
“And Dewhurst, I understand, has taken himself off to the country. I shall be interested to see the next move.”
“You don’t mean to come to his rescue?” She should stay out of it, but she couldn’t resist asking. It would be even worse, somehow, to work for someone who came to Dewhurst’s aid.
He snorted. “This is the second occasion on which Dewhurst has shown appallingly bad judgment. And he broke our one inviolate rule.”
“Turning against fellow members of the League?”
“Quite.” His shoes creaked as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “What about the Rannochs?”
She hesitated, partly because it stuck in her throat more and more to disclose details about her employers, partly because she wasn’t sure of the answer. “They seem easier with each other.”
“But?”
Sometimes when Malcolm Rannoch looked at his wife, Laura had the oddest notion he was looking at a memory. And yet at other moments, it was more as if he was regarding a stranger. But to say so would sound absurdly fanciful and in any case she had no intention of sharing so much. “The constraint is still there.”
“Interesting.” The shadows shifted and she heard him drawing on his gloves. “I shall be eager for your next report, Laura. It will be intriguing to watch this play out.”
Laura’s fingers clenched on the folds of her pelisse. She said nothing, for there was nothing she could say.
Hamlet,
like most Shakespearean tragedies, ended with a stage strewn with corpses. By contrast, most of Shakespeare’s comedies ended with some sort of group celebration. Not, Malcolm thought, looking round the group gathered in the Berkeley Square drawing room, that this was a comedy. Or an ending. But it was a welcome interlude, a few moments of respite from the questions that still swirled about Dewhurst. And between Malcolm and his wife.
Suzanne was across the room before the fireplace, kneeling beside Jessica, who was examining her new pearls with great interest (she seemed fonder of holding them than wearing them). The firelight cast a warm glow over mother and daughter, and Malcolm found himself smiling, even though he knew domestic security was nine-tenths illusion.
Colin, the Davenport and Caret girls, and the children of the other guests were investigating Jessica’s other birthday gifts (though it was a small party, the carpet was strewn with boxes, paper, and toys). Aline and Geoffrey seemed to be helping them build something, while Berowne, amazingly comfortable with so much company, jumped from box to box. Paul and Juliette were talking to Crispin and Manon, who sat on the sofa, Crispin’s arm tight round his betrothed. More surprisingly, Malcolm noted, glancing across the room, Addison had his arm round Blanca as well. They were talking to Laura Dudley and Simon, who had a way of relaxing social conventions. David stood with his sister Isobel and her husband, Oliver, Rupert and Bertrand, and Gabrielle Caruthers and her friend (lover?) Nick Gordon. Amazing how much more comfortable Rupert and Gabrielle appeared with each other than they had two and a half years ago, with so many secrets still between them.
Cordelia’s infectious laughter cut the air. She was by the windows with Strathdon, Lady Frances, Archibald Davenport, and Raoul O’Roarke. Malcolm could still see the surprise in Suzanne’s gaze when he’d suggested they invite O’Roarke. He’d wondered at himself even as he made the suggestion, yet as he looked at O’Roarke now, it seemed like the right decision, though Malcolm himself could not articulate the reasons why.
“Congratulations.” Harry appeared at Malcolm’s side and handed him a glass of champagne. “As the father of a recently turned one-year-old, I can say it’s quite an accomplishment for the parents as well as the child.”
Malcolm smiled and took a sip of champagne. Trust Harry to know when he needed a drink even if his friend couldn’t understand all the reasons. “Hard to believe it’s been a year.” And hard to believe how much had changed in that year.
Harry glanced at Rupert. “Any news of Dewhurst?”
Malcolm shook his head. “We’re still poring through parish records looking for Francis Woolright and Eleanor Harleton’s descendants. Even if we can find them, it will be damnably difficult to prove anything.”
“Dewhurst’s lost any shred of position he had left.”
“Quite. But as Rupert says, it’s a poor substitute for justice.”
“And you?”
“You mean do I feel a burning need to revenge myself on Alistair’s killer? No, I confess I’m a less dutiful son than Hamlet.”
“Or a more clear-sighted man who knows to look to the future.”
“And yet I don’t think we’ve heard the last of the past. Certainly not of the Elsinore League.”
“We still don’t know who else may be members.”
“No. I think Carfax was hoping the manuscript would somehow be the key to decoding the names, but that’s one secret it doesn’t seem to contain.”
“Malcolm . . .” Harry hesitated a moment. “Things do get back to normal eventually, you know. Difficult as it may be to imagine it at times.”
Malcolm met his friend’s gaze and managed a smile. “Define ‘normal.’ ”
Harry gave a wry laugh that smoothed over the undertones Malcolm was sure his friend was as aware of as he himself.
Across the room, Suzanne got to her feet, Jessica in her arms, and moved towards Malcolm and Harry. The pendant of blue topaz and aquamarine that he’d given her for their anniversary sparkled at her throat. He’d been afraid it would be a reminder of a past they would never recapture. But it just possibly might be a promise of the future.
Suzanne’s gaze seemed to hold the faintest of questions, as it often did these days, but she gave a bright smile. “The princess seems to be getting a second wind. Shall we bring in the cake?”
“Sounds like a good plan.” Malcolm held out a finger for Jessica to grasp hold of. Jessica lifted her head from Suzanne’s shoulder and smiled at him. She had run about with glee at the start of the party and then had taken a nap in Suzanne’s arms.
Harry lifted his glass. “Here’s to Jessica.”
Malcolm took a drink of champagne and lifted his glass to Suzanne so she could take a sip. The sort of simple interaction that for a time it had seemed they never would recapture. Her eyes widened for a moment, then she smiled, a quick, seemingly casual smile that, like a line from Shakespeare, held layers of meaning.
Malcolm returned the smile and put an arm round his wife and daughter. “And to another year of adventures.”
H
ISTORICAL
N
OTES
The
Hamlet
manuscript referred to in this book is fictional (as are Francis Woolright and Eleanor Harleton), but there are three different versions of
Hamlet
that we know of: the First and Second Quartos and the First Folio. The First Quarto version of the play wasn’t rediscovered until 1823, which is why Malcolm only mentions two versions. As Malcolm also says, there are mentions of an earlier play that was a source for
Hamlet,
perhaps by Thomas Kyd, perhaps even by Shakespeare himself.
The Dunboyne affair is fictional, but the events of the United Irish Uprising within which it is set are very real. The Elsinore League and their involvement in the affair of the queen’s necklace are also fictional, but Jeanne de la Motte did seek refuge in England after she was released from prison and the necklace is thought to have been taken to Britain.
S
ELECTED
B
IBLIOGRAPH
Y
Creevey, Thomas.
The Creevey Papers: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of Thomas Creevey, M.P.
Edited by Sir Herbert Maxwell. London: Murray, 1904.
Foreman, Amanda.
Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire
. New York: Modern Library, 2001.
Gleeson, Janet.
Privilege and Scandal: The Remarkable Life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of Georgiana
. New York: Crown, 2006.
Granville, Harriet.
Letters of Harriet Countess Granville 1810–1845,
vol. 1. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1894.
Gronow, Rees Howell.
Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow,
vol. 1. London: John C. Nimmo.
Lever, Tresham.
The Letters of Lady Palmerston: Selected and Edited from the Originals at Broadlands and Elsewhere
. London: John Murray, 1957.
Shakespeare, William.
Hamlet
. Ashland: Blackstone Audio, 2011.
Shapiro, James.
A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599
. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006.
Tillyard, Stella.
Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, 1740–1832
. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1994.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
THE BERKELEY SQUARE AFFAIR
Teresa Grant
About This Guide
The suggested questions are included
to enhance your group’s reading of
Teresa Grant’s
The Berkeley Square Affair.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1.
Compare and contrast the relationships Malcolm, Harry, Crispin, Rupert, and David have with their fathers and surrogate fathers.
2.
The loss of a father figures prominently in this book as in
Hamlet
. What other issues and themes in
Hamlet
have parallels in the book?
3.
How might Malcolm’s reaction to the revelation of Suzanne’s secrets have been different if Suzanne had told him instead of him working it out for himself?
4.
Did you guess who was behind the deaths of Lord Harleton and Alistair Rannoch? Why or why not?
5.
What do you think lies ahead for Crispin and Manon?
6.
How do you think a grown-up Colin and Jessica might react if they learned the truth about their mother?
7.
Which of Malcolm and Suzanne’s friends do you think would have the hardest time accepting the truth about Suzanne? Which do you think would be the most understanding?
8.
How do you think Malcolm and Suzanne’s relationship will play out in the next few weeks?
9.
Francis Woolright turned his back on his heritage. Which other characters in the book do that?
10.
Whom do you think Laura Dudley was reporting to?
11.
Suzanne and Manon say Malcolm and Crispin can never entirely escape the mind-set of being British gentlemen. Do you think that’s true?
12.
How are the decisions Malcolm and Suzanne make shaped by the fact that they are parents? How do you think they would have dealt with the revelation of Suzanne’s secrets if they didn’t have Colin and Jessica?
13.
Hamlet sees the ghost of his father. What metaphorical ghosts haunt the characters in the book?
14.
Raoul O’Roarke played a huge role in both Malcolm’s and Suzanne’s lives, and as he himself says, many of the things he’s done could be considered unforgivable. How did you feel about him by the end of the story? What do you think lies ahead for his relationship to both the Rannochs?
15.
What role does solving mysteries together play in Malcolm and Suzanne’s relationship?