They stared at each other for a long moment.
“Mr. Jacobs?” Delia said, her gaze still locked with her sister’s. Cassie heard Jacobs hurry to Delia’s side. “Yes, my lady?”
“Would it be a terrible imposition if I were to ask you to take the other men from the room for a few minutes? I have something quite urgent I need to discuss with my sister, and I would be grateful for a bit of privacy.”
“At once, my lady.” Jacobs barked directions to the workmen, and the room emptied immediately.
“Cassie,” Delia said slowly, “what on earth is the matter?”
“I…he…” Cassie drew a deep breath. “I don’t know how to say it. I don’t think I can say it.”
“What is it?” Delia’s gaze searched hers. “I saw Lady Bellingham and her daughter leaving as I arrived. Does this have anything to do with them?”
“She said he’s going to marry her.” Cassie could barely get the words out.
“Miss Bellingham?” Confusion drew Delia’s brows together. “Who’s going to marry her?” She sucked in a sharp breath. “Not Leo?”
“Reggie.” The moment Cassie said the word it became real, and despair ripped into her with a vengeance. It was difficult to breathe and harder yet to speak. “Reggie. She said she’s going to marry Reggie.”
“Oh, but surely—”
“She said he’s made his intentions clear. She said he and she…” Cassie struggled to catch her breath.
“She said they were well suited and…” She fought to take a breath and could do nothing more than gasp. “Delia, what’s happening to me, I can’t breathe.”
“Calm, Cassie, calm.” Delia grabbed her sister and frantically looked around the room. “There’s no place to sit in here!”
“No furniture.” What was happening to her? “Not back yet.” The harder she tried to breathe, the worse it got. “Help me.” She clutched at her sister, and they sank down onto the floor.
“Cassie.” Delia’s voice was sharp. “This happened once before when we were very young. Something upset you, I can’t remember what. I don’t recall what Mother did…. Cassie,” Delia snapped. “Cup your hands over your mouth and nose. Do it!”
Cassie did as directed. Delia covered her sister’s hands with her own.
“Now, breathe deeply. Try to be calm.” Delia’s voice was soothing and reassuring. “Gently, Cassie. Everything will be fine.”
Within a few moments Cassie’s breathing returned to a semblance of normal.
“Are you feeling better?”
Cassie nodded, and Delia removed her hands.
“I’m fine.” Cassie swallowed hard and met her sister’s concerned gaze. “No, I’m very far from fine.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “Reggie’s going to marry Miss Bellingham!”
“I don’t believe it.”
“I didn’t either at first.” Tears tumbled down Cassie’s cheeks. “But her mother certainly believes it. She’s planning a wedding. One’s mother doesn’t plan a wedding on speculation alone.”
“I suppose that’s true enough.” Delia’s brow furrowed. “Even if, for whatever reason, Miss Bellingham is misleading you, Lady Bellingham does not strike me as the kind of woman who could effectively carry off a lie of this magnitude.”
“They did spend a great deal of time together in the country, whereas I scarcely had a moment alone with him from the first day until I came to his room. All kinds of things could have passed between them. He told her things, Delia, that she wouldn’t know otherwise. I don’t want to believe it, but…”
“But he made promises to you.”
“No. Not really.” Cassie shook her head. “He said he’d be willing to reform, but he never said that he loved me. He never mentioned marriage. He certainly didn’t turn me from his bed, but a man like that…” She stared at her sister with growing realization. “I’ve been such a fool.”
“You most certainly have not. You simply fell in love with the man.”
“That’s what makes me a fool. I was right from the beginning that a man of his reputation could not be trusted. He lulled me into believing he was not at all what I’d heard he was. He was so blasted nice and charming and thoughtful, and he made me feel…wonderful.” Cassie sobbed and threw herself into her sister’s arms.
“He fooled me too, dear heart, and Tony as well, although I can’t see how,” Delia murmured. “Berkley has obviously hidden his true nature for years. The man is a far more clever beast than anyone ever imagined.”
“I should have known when he was so delighted to learn I would never force a man into marriage to avoid scandal.”
“That is rather incriminating. Still, I was certain he cared for you.” Delia sighed. “Perhaps you should speak to him.”
“No! Never!” Cassie jerked her head up. “I shall not add humiliation to everything else. I never want to see him again.” She choked back a sob. “I should have realized from the…” A thought stuck, and she drew her brows together. “Do you think he planned this all along?”
“Surely not. Why, that would make him—”
“Infamous.” A horrid suspicion took hold in Cassie’s mind. “Do you think I was something of a challenge for him? The first day we met, I said I had no interest in him. I said we would not suit.” Her eyes widened with realization. “And he agreed with me!”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean—”
“It means this was his intention from the very beginning. The infamous Lord Berkley couldn’t possibly understand how a woman, any woman, would not be the least bit interested in him.” She scrambled to her feet. “He obviously set out to do exactly what he did. And I helped him! I practically seduced him. Oh, he’s clever all right, the way he manipulated me. Now, he’s had his fun and he’ll marry Miss Wonderful and leave me ruined!”
She reached down a hand and helped her sister to her feet.
“At least you can avoid a scandal,” Delia said helpfully. “After all, no one knows what passed between the two of you.”
“Oh, but I want them to know.” Cassie whirled around and stalked across the room. “I want everyone to know. I want to cause the biggest scandal England has ever seen.” She turned and glared at her twin. “I want the entire world to know what a fiend he is!”
“I can certainly understand that, but,” Delia grimaced, “such a scandal will do you irreparable damage and only add to his reputation.”
“And he’d probably love that!” Cassie huffed. “Do you know, every time I’d confront him with one of his sins he’d actually seem pleased?”
“You’ve mentioned that before.” Delia shook her head. “This really makes no sense at all.”
“You’re right, though.” Cassie paced the room. “A scandal of immense proportions would only destroy me and make him even more smug than he already is. No, that’s not the way to achieve my revenge.”
“Revenge?” Delia’s eyes widened. “You plan on seeking revenge?”
“Most definitely. I would kill him with my bare hands given that opportunity, but that would be too swift. I want to make him pay for his…his…pleasure. No, I wish to make him miserable, but I’m not entirely certain how I can accomplish that.” She narrowed her gaze. “He’s broken my heart and I shall not let him get away with it unscathed.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Yet.” Cassie clasped her hands behind her back and stalked back and forth across the floor, avoiding buckets and tools and the various and assorted debris that always littered a room at this stage. “It should be something fitting his crime. Or, rather, crimes, I should say, as no doubt he has done this to other women.”
Delia studied her sister. “I must say, you’re a tiny bit frightening at the moment.”
“I want to be more than a tiny bit frightening. I want to be terrifying.” It was rather amazing how anger and wicked determination had quite replaced her anguish, although Cassie suspected it would return with a vengeance the moment she stopped moving. “Now, help me think of something appropriate for the infamous Lord Berkley.”
“I have no idea. I’m not at all good at this sort of thing.” Delia thought for a moment. “I suppose you could cease work in here. It’s scarcely halfway finished and devoid of furniture at the moment.”
“Oh, I have no intention of finishing the work in here for the new Lady Berkley.” Cassie wrinkled her nose and ignored the sharp stab of pain brought on by the realization of just who the new Lady Berkley would be. “And I shall send him a bill for my services to this point as well. As always, I arranged to have a line of credit provided to pay for workers and materials. Quite extensive, really, as cost was not a particular concern to the viscount. I was given a great deal of freedom, both in terms of expenditures and design. Indeed, I could have done nearly anything I wished.”
“You have gained an excellent and well-deserved reputation.” Pride sparked in Delia’s eye. “Anyone you accept as a client knows full well you will do a brilliant job. Tasteful and classic and elegant.”
“What if,” Cassie caught her sister’s gaze, “I didn’t?”
Delia scoffed. “I can’t imagine—”
“What if I did dreadful work?”
“What do you mean by dreadful?”
“I don’t know exactly.” Cassie considered the room thoughtfully. “Dreadful is relative, I should think. I mean what one person considers horrid someone else might view as outstanding.”
Delia studied her sister, then smiled slowly. “Cassandra Effington, what do you have in mind?”
“Well, I originally agreed to refurbish this room ultimately for a new Lady Berkley. However Reg—
Lord Berkley is in truth my client. I do try to design a room with its owner in mind, you know, from the very first room I did for you.”
“And what kind of room would suit Lord Berkley?”
“A dungeon is my first thought, complete with implements of torture, but that’s not nearly subtle enough.”
Delia raised a brow. “I didn’t think subtle was a possibility.”
“It’s not.” At once the answer struck her, and it was indeed brilliant. “No, subtle is most definitely not in order. But I may well know what is.” She started for the door. “Come along, Delia. I need to speak to Mr. Jacobs about the change in plans for this room, and then we have a number of purchases to make. There are shops I know of, importers of exotic goods and the like, who can provide me with exactly what I want.”
“I am afraid to ask, but,” Delia grinned, “this does sound like great fun. Something of an adventure, even.”
Adventure, excitement, and passion.
Cassie pushed aside the sound of Reggie’s voice echoing in her head. From the very beginning, he obviously hadn’t meant anything he had said.
“Delia.” Cassie paused and gazed at her sister. “I was wrong once again, you know.”
Sympathy shone in Delia’s eye. “Berkley deceived you. Even I was taken in by him.”
“Not about that, although I was indeed wrong about the man I thought he was. But I was wrong when I said I could bear the consequences of being with him. Of loving him.” Cassie blew a long breath. “It’s not the potential scandal or the fact that I am now a fallen woman. I can indeed cope with that. But it hurts, Delia, it hurts dreadfully. I never imagined how much it would hurt.”
“I know, dear heart.” Delia took her sister’s hand. “It will get better with time, I promise. And quite frankly, keeping yourself busy should help a great deal.”
“Oh, this shall keep me very busy.” Cassie glanced around the room and narrowed her gaze. “I shall create the perfect setting for the infamous Lord Berkley. The man broke my heart.
“And it shall cost him a small fortune.”
Sixteen
Nothing is as delightful as a woman who admits she’s wrong. Nor is anything so rare.
Thomas, Marquess of Helmsley
“G ood afternoon, Higgins. Grand day, isn’t it? Thursday has always been a particular favorite of mine.”
Reggie handed the butler his hat and gloves with unconcealed enthusiasm. “Is Miss Effington here?”
“She had an errand, my lord. We expect her back any minute.” Higgins paused. “We did not, however, expect you until tomorrow.”
“I know.” Reggie lowered his voice confidentially. “I wish to surprise Miss Effington.”
“Oh, I have no doubt she will indeed be surprised,” Higgins murmured. “Is Lady Berkley with you?”
“She and Lucy are arriving shortly, I believe. With the others.”
“Others, my lord?”
“Ah, yes. I meant to send you a note about that. No matter. Suffice it to say we shall have a small number of guests, about a dozen, I think, in a little under an hour. I’m running a bit late.” Reggie grinned. “We’re going to have a wedding, Higgins.”
“My congratulations, sir,” the butler said smoothly. “I’m certain you and Miss Bellingham will be most happy.”
“Miss Bellingham?” Reggie drew his brows together. “I have no intentions of being happy with Miss Bellingham.”
“I have heard that about marriage, sir.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Reggie shook his head. “I mean I’m not marrying Miss Bellingham. I’m marrying Miss Effington.”
“Oh dear.” A faint twitch that might have passed for surprise crossed the butler’s face. “That puts things in an entirely different light, my lord.”
“What things? Higgins.” Reggie studied the butler. “Do you know something I should know?”
“I’m certain of it, sir.”