Mesalliance (25 page)

‘It will be a
very small party,’ explained Lady Isabel in her gentle way. ‘Just
Philip and myself and Harry and Jack, I thought. It’s so pleasant,
sometimes, to simply relax amongst friends.’

Lord Philip
emerged at his wife’s side looking faintly sheepish.

‘I’m afraid
your party has grown, my love. Charles Fox and March want to
come.’

‘Do they
indeed?’ asked Isabel, not without humour. ‘Well, unless I can find
two more ladies to balance the party, they can’t.’

‘One more,’
grinned his lordship. ‘Jack has already suggested – ever so
casually! – that we include one of her Grace’s cousins.’

‘I wish,’ said
her Grace absently, ‘that you would call me Adeline.’ And then,
‘Which cousin?’

‘The quiet one.
Althea, is it? Though personally I don’t see how we can ask one
without the other.’

‘Why not? Since
Diana would happily go without Thea, there’s no reason why it
shouldn’t work the other way about,’ responded Adeline. ‘And, quite
frankly, it would do Thea good.’

‘Then that’s
settled,’ said Isabel. ‘We’ll invite Mistress Althea to please Jack
… and I’ll ask Lady Delahaye to spare us Cassandra.’

‘To please Mr
Fox?’ grinned Adeline. ‘Or Lord March?’

‘Neither.’
Isabel smiled mischievously back. ‘They are both coming to flirt
with you. I thought you realised.’

Naturally
pleased at the prospect of visiting Ranelagh, Nell said less than
might have been expected on the subject of Lord Harry’s inclusion
in the party and, instead, threw herself with gusto into the
absorbing matter of what to wear. What she
thought
was
therefore less apparent than usual … and Adeline, caught up in her
own private whirlpool, was too pre-occupied to enquire.

They were to
travel to Chelsea in cavalcade – Harry having elected to join the
Vernons and Jack to ride with Lord March and Mr Fox. Adeline, who
had volunteered to bring Cassie and Thea but had no desire to meet
her aunt or Diana, solved the problem by despatching Jeanne in the
carriage to collect both young ladies. Then, her party complete and
filled with varying degrees of
joie-de-vivre
, they set off
for the pleasure gardens.

The girls,
reflected Adeline idly, made a pretty trio. Nell had chosen a white
ruffled gown and a domino of her favourite rose-pink; brown-haired
Cassie wore topaz taffeta over primrose and Althea was pale but
excited in lavender and blue. Since the only person who mattered
would not be there to see it, Adeline spared little thought for her
own pale apricot ball-gown and domino of cream watered-silk – but
she supposed she looked well enough.

Certainly, on
arrival at Ranelagh, it seemed that March and Mr Fox thought so for
they both immediately offered their arms to her and showed every
sign of allowing no one to proceed until one of them had ousted the
other. It was, of course, all perfectly amicable and Adeline let
them hone their wits for a moment before saying kindly, ‘Don’t
squabble, gentlemen. I am not a bone to be picked.’ And then, with
an oblique, provoking smile, she offered her hand to Lord
Harry.’

‘Such style,’
sighed Cassie. ‘I wish
I
had it.’

Nell, her eyes
dwelling with dawning resentment on his lordship’s oblivious back,
vouchsafed no answer. And Althea, smiling shyly into Jack’s grey
eyes, did not even hear. Cassie shrugged, accepted Mr Fox’s arm
with complete good-nature and left Nell to follow with Lord
March.

The gardens
were lit by a myriad of coloured lanterns, cunningly concealed
amidst trees and shrubs. There were numerous tiny kiosks, grottos
and bowers - ornamental ponds, fountains and cascades; and strains
of music drifted out from the elegant pavilion where dancing was
already in progress. Ignoring all of it, Harry Caversham laughingly
informed Adeline that she was a minx.

‘I don’t know
what Rock’s about to leave you to your own devices this way.
Where’s he gone, anyway?’

‘To the
country. He didn’t say where,’ she replied tranquilly. And then,
‘You’ve got a whole evening in which to make Nell see you in a new
light. Do you think you can do it?’

‘The question
is – do I want to?’ The blue eyes were seraphic but his voice was
not. ‘One gets tired, I find, of being repeatedly kicked. I think
I’ll further my acquaintance with Cassie.’

They supped in
one of the booths in the Great Rotunda in an atmosphere of
increasing conviviality. Nell wished that she had stayed at home.
It wasn’t that she minded Charles Fox and March flirting in that
absurd way with Adeline … though by the time she’d been subjected
to it throughout supper and for a full half hour afterwards, she
was beginning to find it tedious. And of course it was entirely
beneath her to resent the trouble everyone was taking to set Thea
at her ease when she knew – who better? – that this was exactly
what the poor girl needed. But she
did
think it was a bit
much for Harry to ignore her in that rude way and for Cassie to
encourage his nonsense quite so blatantly. Not, she told herself
firmly, that she was in the least bit jealous of Cassie – who was,
after all, her very dearest friend; but she
did
wish that
someone would take some notice of
her
for a change … just so
that she wouldn’t feel so miserably left out.

Pride and a
solid grounding in good manners pinned a smile on her face but
beneath it lay a well of confusion. She ought not to mind Lord
Harry’s defection since she herself had ordered it. But somehow,
now it no longer seemed that he’d been pursuing her with Rock’s
connivance, the triumph of successfully repudiating him had lost a
lot of its savour. And the worst of it was that she did not know
why.

‘
Nell
!’

She dragged
herself reluctantly from her thoughts to meet Isabel Vernon’s
mildly exasperated gaze.

‘I’m sorry,
Isabel. Did you say something?’

‘Not above
three times. Indeed, I’d not have persevered but for the fact that
I’d like you to tell me if the gentleman in salmon brocade who is
approaching us is Althea’s uncle.’

‘Probably,’
replied Nell carelessly. And then, ‘Yes. It is. Why do you
ask?’

‘Because I’ve
let her slip away with Jack – and Cassie and Harry too, of course.
There seemed no harm in it. But her uncle may enquire and it seems
unfair to let Adeline bear the brunt.’

‘Oh.’
Depression lodged like a lead weight in Nell’s chest. She said
tightly, ‘I wouldn’t worry about it. I doubt he’ll care a fig.’

Adeline,
responding coolly to Mr Horton’s overly-elaborate bow, was thinking
much the same thing. It therefore came as a slight surprise when he
said chidingly, ‘You must forgive me, my dear, if I observe that
your care of Althea leaves something to be desired. I have just
seen her in the pavilion, dancing with Mr Ingram – and apparently
unchaperoned. I do not, you will notice, count the presence of
Mistress Delahaye.’

‘Most
understandable,’ said a composed voice at his elbow. ‘But – as
Mistress Althea’s hostess – I’m afraid that these strictures should
more properly be addressed to me.’

Turning
sharply, Mr Horton found himself meeting a pair of soft but
surprisingly direct pansy-brown eyes.

‘I hope you’ll
pardon my intrusion, Adeline,’ continued Isabel pleasantly, ‘but I
couldn’t help overhearing – so it seemed only right that I trouble
you to present me.’

To the mild
liking Adeline already felt for Isabel Vernon was added respect.
She smiled, took up her cue and watched her uncle losing the
initiative beneath her ladyship’s gentle flow of apology.

‘And now,’
concluded Isabel at length, ‘it might be best if I recovered my
charges from the pavilion – if, that is, my husband has not already
done so. March … your arm, if you please.’ And with the briefest of
gleaming glances for Adeline, she walked away.

Mr Fox, who was
not averse to making the most of Lord March’s absence and did not,
in any case, care for Mr Horton, drew Nell’s hand through one arm
and offered the other to Adeline.

‘Though one
cannot, of course, imagine dear Jack doing anything in the least
clandestine,’ he remarked languidly, ‘doubtless we are all equally
agog to find out.’

More interested
in finding Cassie and Harry, Nell merely nodded.

Adeline,
however, delayed to say sweetly, ‘I trust that your mind is now
sufficiently relieved, Uncle?’

‘Not entirely.
I believe I would be grateful for a moment of your time,’ he
replied. ‘I daresay Mr Fox will be pleased to escort Lady Elinor to
the pavilion in order to allow us a moment’s privacy.’

‘I doubt it,’
observed Adeline dryly. ‘And really – having just taken me to task
for being an indifferent chaperone – I’m surprised at you for
suggesting it.’

Something
flickered in Richard Horton’s eyes and his mouth tightened. Then
the cat-like smile re-appeared and he said, ‘You mistake me, my
dear. I meant only that they precede us. Her ladyship need never be
out of your sight.’ He offered her his arm. ‘Shall we?’

The old Adeline
would simply have refused and cared nothing for the consequences.
The new one was irritably aware that he had made it impossible for
her to do so without being blatantly rude in front of Charles Fox.
Then, as she hesitated, Nell said abruptly, ‘It’s all right,
Adeline. Mr Fox will take me to Isabel and you can join us
presently.’ And without giving her startled escort time to demur,
she hauled him off along the Azalea Walk.

‘How
delightful,’ purred Mr Horton. ‘Tact is such a rare quality in the
young that I am quite
bouleversé
.’

Ignoring both
this and his proffered arm, Adeline started to follow in Nell’s
wake, saying crisply, ‘Come to the point. I don’t intend to let you
ruin my entire evening.’

‘Don’t you?
That remains to be seen.’ He fell into step with her and abandoned
his smile. ‘I asked a favour of you, Adeline – and you failed
me.’

So it was that.
She had suspected as much. The aquamarine eyes filled with
sympathetic mockery and she said, ‘So you haven’t been elected to
White’s, after all? What a shame. But you only have yourself to
blame, you know. Rockliffe doesn’t like being fleeced at
cards.’

The blood
rushed to Mr Horton’s head and, beneath the paint, his face
burned.

‘Are you
suggesting that
I
have done so?’

‘Yes. Did you
think he wouldn’t notice? If so, the experience should be a
valuable lesson to you. And instead of bemoaning the fact that he
probably saw to it that you were black-balled, you should be hoping
that he hasn’t also exposed you for the cheat you are.’

Richard Horton
swung her round to face him.

‘Hold your
tongue and listen, my clever little bitch. Your high-and-mighty
husband won’t expose me. Of course he won’t. And do you know why?
It’s because he has the misfortune to be married to my niece – and
he won’t have scandal attached to his family. He can’t touch me,
Adeline. He daren’t.’

‘I suspect
you’ll find,’ came the calm retort, ‘that he’ll dare anything –
when it suits him. The world isn’t going to point a censorious
finger at Rockliffe, Uncle. And, even if it did, he has more than
enough character to carry it off.’

‘Does he?’ His
hand dropped away from her and he was breathing rather fast. ‘And
what if someone … myself, for example … were to tell him that his
wife is a bastard? What then, do you suppose?’

For a moment,
Adeline simply stared at him. Then, with a shrug and a tiny,
derisive laugh, she said, ‘He’d probably say – as I do – that it’s
pot calling kettle. With the possible exception of Diana, you are
the biggest bastard I know.’

His mouth
curled unpleasantly.

‘You
misunderstand, my dear. I am not insulting you. I am stating a
literal fact.’

Something in
his expression reached her and her scalp prickled. The words still
had no meaning but she found that she was standing very still, as
though any movement might send her hurtling over the precipice.
With careful detachment, she said, ‘What, in plain language, are
you trying to tell me?’

‘Why, just that
you are a by-blow, dear heart. A base-born, misbegotten,
illegitimate so-called love-child. Your mother was a slut, Tom
Kendrick was a cuckold and you –
Duchess
– are a true
bastard in every sense of the word. Is that plain enough for
you?’

The ugly words
dropped like stones into her mind, drowning out the music and
laughter of Ranelagh. Finally, she said distantly, ‘I don’t believe
you. If it were so, Aunt Miriam would have told me years ago.’

‘Would she?
Think about it. Have you never wondered why none of us spoke of
your mother – or why you were never taken to visit her grave? Of
course you have. And now you have the answer – or part of it.’ He
paused, enjoying the moment. ‘Now … shall I tell you the rest, I
wonder? Or shall I take my story straight to Rockliffe? How
difficult it is to decide.’

Adeline’s brain
seemed paralysed. Something didn’t make sense but she couldn’t
think what it was. She said, ‘Don’t trouble yourself. I’ll ask my
aunt.’

‘By all means –
if you think you can trust her to tell you the truth. She doesn’t
like you, Adeline. She never has. But now you’re a duchess, she’s
rather anxious to secure your goodwill … so for Diana’s sake,
she’ll say exactly what appears to be necessary.’ He smiled and
smoothed a crease from his salmon-pink sleeve. ‘Sleep on it, my
dear. One should never be hasty. I’ll give you twenty-four hours
before I seek out Rockliffe. And that is generous of me … for I
should so enjoy humbling him.’

With
difficulty, she said, ‘The person who could do that hasn’t been
born yet.’

‘You think so?
Well, we shall see. And in the meantime, should you decide to send
for me, I’d advise you to assemble sufficient resources to …
incline me in your favour.’ He stepped back and made her a
flourishing bow. ‘The choice is yours, dear Adeline. I trust you’ll
use it wisely.’