The Regency (111 page)

He did not look at Mathilde as he spoke, but she and
Héloïse both knew where the remark tended. Her cheeks grew
pink, and she lowered her eyes, and did not raise them when
a moment later Skelwith addressed her in a gentle voice,
saying, 'Is your shilling on Ingot too, Miss Nordubois, or
have you some other preference? You, I am sure, might not be
constrained in your choice by your relationship to Morland
Place. You may choose freely, I'm persuaded, wherever your
fancy directs you.’

Mathilde's heart was beating so rapidly that it was making
her hands damp. She could hardly believe what she was
hearing; but there was no mistaking his meaning. He wanted
to know if there was any hope for him; telling her that his
inclination was still towards her.

She had to say something, but hardly knew what. She did not know whether Edward had heard his words, or if he had
heard, would understand their import. Héloïse, with the
greatest of tact, had turned her head away from them, and was
talking to the baby on her lap, playing pat-a-cake with it, to
give them privacy.

‘
I — I hardly know, sir,' she managed at last. 'Certainly I
am free to choose where I will, but I do not know which horse
to prefer.'

‘
If you would permit me, I could guide your choice,' he
said. 'Sometimes an outsider may see more clearly where your
best advantage lies.’

She looked up and met his eyes, and read in them the old tenderness unabated. Thoughts followed each other in rapid
succession through her mind. He was five months widowed,
too short a time actively to pursue another woman; but in
three or four months' time, there would be nothing to prevent
a quiet courtship and betrothal. He had married Patience, but
had always loved her. His mother would never countenance
it. He was wealthy, kind,
young.
Oh Edward! Yet she liked
him, she had always liked him. If she loved Edward so
entirely, could she feel such a fluttering at Skelwith's words?
She was lucky — more lucky than she deserved — to have a
renewal of his interest, to be approached a second time. She
was twenty-five, and portionless. But his mother hated her.
And how could she break Edward's heart?
Skelwith continued to look at her tenderly, waiting for her
answer. He had been thinking of her increasingly over the last
few weeks. He had never ceased to love her, and the fact that
she had remained single gave him encouragement to think
that she might not be averse from a renewal of his suit. Even
if she did not love him, even if her feelings were no more than
friendly towards him, he could offer her the sort of establish
ment any women in her position must welcome; and he felt
confident enough that, if they did marry, he could win her
love, warm her feelings into something more than mere
liking.

‘
Won't you tell me, Miss Nordubois, if you have chosen
elsewhere?' he prompted her gently. 'A word will suffice — I
will not plague you. But if your fancy is still free, may I not
try to direct your choice?’

She wet her dry lips. 'I think — sir — I am not unwilling to
listen to your advice — but I fear your mother may be wanting
you. I should not like to be the cause of upsetting her.’

He understood her. 'You are not to be worrying about my
mother, Miss Nordubois,' he said firmly. 'She is my responsi
bility, and mine alone.' He smiled at her. 'I must go to her
now — but may I return later and mark your card for you?’

She hesitated, and then nodded. She saw him draw a deep
breath, and thought for one dreadful moment he was going to
kiss her; but he controlled his elation, and only murmured,
‘God bless you!' before bowing a little wildly in the general
direction of everyone, and taking his leave.

Héloïse turned back to Mathilde and said unemphatically,
‘What a pleasant young man he is — so steady. Mathilde,
ma
chére,
don't you find this box a little airless? Why don't you
take a little walk. I see the Miss Greys over there, and Miss Micklethwaite. I'm sure you would like to speak to them.'

‘
Thank you, Madame,' Mathilde said gratefully, and made
her escape. Dear Madame, who knew that she simply could
not sit still, but needed both movement and privacy to settle
her disordered thoughts!

*

James barely controlled himself when Hawker strolled up to
the box to pay his compliments. Only the awareness that any
altercation would only draw public attention to what he
wished above all to keep private, enabled him to bite his tongue and return Hawker's greeting with a nod. Hawker
spoke to Fanny, using a form which was perfectly respectful and polite, but with a warmth of tone which Fanny returned,
and which made James start up from his seat.

‘
Mr Hawker,' he said, 'would you oblige me by stepping
aside for a few words?’

Hawker looked at Fanny with a raised brow, and she
nodded briefly, which caused a lazy smile to curve his lips.
‘Most certainly, sir,' he said to James. 'I am completely at
your service. I will attend you at the box door.’

Damn his impudence, James thought, excusing himself to
the company. Hawker met him in the passageway that ran
behind the boxes, and gave him a curiously sympathetic look.

‘
Mr Morland,' he said, as soon as James appeared. 'I know
your dearest wish at the moment must be to mill me down,
but might I suggest,
not here?'

‘
You damned scoundrel!' James exclaimed, but in a low
voice.

‘
If we step across the road, sir, to the Hare and Heather,
we might make use of a private parlour, and have our talk
undisturbed,' Hawker went on. James could see the sense of
it, though he hated Hawker the more for being undismayed
at the prospect of what he was about to hear. Such self-
confidence was positively insulting.

In the Hare and Heather, James made use of the landlord's
privilege to take over one of the private rooms, curtly rejecting
all offers of food and drink. As soon as they were alone,
Hawker said genially, 'Now, sir, you may rant at me as you
wish.'

‘
You unmitigated scoundrel! How dare you speak to me
like that? Have you no shame?'

‘
Very little, I'm afraid,' Hawker said, seating himself on
the edge of the table and folding his arms. 'I've never been
able to afford it. You are aware, I am sure, of my financial circumstances.'

‘
I'm aware of all your circumstances. I may tell you that
I have had a full report on your doings in Brighton and
in London, and I cannot conceive how you ever had the
effrontery to come anywhere near my daughter. But if you
think you have the slightest chance of marrying her, and
laying your hands on her fortune, you are very far astray, I
can assure you!'

‘
Has Fanny spoken to you on the subject?' Hawker
enquired evenly.

James felt his blood rising. 'What my daughter says to me is
no concern of yours. And you will not use her name in that
fashion, or I shall break your neck here and now.'

‘
I beg your pardon, sir! I meant no disrespect to Miss
Morland. Indeed, I hold her in the greatest possible esteem.'

‘
You hold her in nothing! You are to have nothing further
to do with her, do you hear? You will not speak to her, or see
her, or — or write to her —'

‘
I beg your pardon, Mr Morland, but I cannot comply with
your request.'

‘It wasn't a request, damn you!'

‘
Miss Morland must have told you by now that she wishes
to marry me, a prospect so wholly delightful to me that I
could not by any means be brought to disappoint her.' James
was speechless with rage, and Hawker took the opportunity to
continue, eyeing the older man with that same odd sympathy. 'Let us be frank, sir! I can fully understand your feelings as a
father. I am not the husband you would have wished for your daughter. In your place, I should be as loath as you must be to
countenance the match: but the fact remains that I am
Fanny's — Miss Morland's choice. She loves me, and I love
her —'

‘
You damned unspeakable rascal! You want her fortune,
that's all you love!’

Hawker frowned. 'You must think so, of course. And I
confess that the money would be more than convenient to me —it is a necessity, if I am not to go under. But I do wish you to understand that I love Fanny sincerely.'

‘
If you use her name again, I shall knock you down!' James
cried out. Hawker was six inches taller than he, and almost
twenty years younger, but there was nothing ridiculous in the
threat at that moment. 'You love no-one and nothing but
yourself, and if you think I will stand by and see my daughter
ruined by an adventurer like you —’

Hawker sat in silence and let him rage, and when James had run out of words and breath, he said quietly, 'There is
nothing you can do, sir. Miss Morland and I will be wed, for it
is her choice. She must have told you so. If you try to prevent
her, she will force your hand.’

James trembled all over, staring at Hawker with a sense of
sick frustration. 'What is it you want, Hawker? Yes, I know very well! Well, I will pay you to go away and leave Fanny
alone. I will settle your debts here, and give you a sum of
money to set yourself up somewhere — anywhere — abroad.'
Hawker shook his head silently. 'If you think you can get
more by holding out, you are very mistaken. Fanny does not
come into her estate until she is twenty-one, and by then you
will be languishing in gaol. You had better take what's offered
and get out while you can. I would not stoop to offer you
money, but that I wish you to leave quickly, for Fanny's sake.
Your debts settled, and a thousand pounds. That, I think you
will agree, is handsome.'

‘
More than handsome,' Hawker said, and for a moment
James's heart lifted. 'But I fear you have misunderstood me.
It is not only the money — if it were, I would accept your
generous offer with alacrity. But the fact is — and I deplore it
myself — that I love Fanny, and I am as determined to marry
her as she is to marry me. It is not a situation that I like. It
makes me vulnerable, and I dislike to feel vulnerable. Come,
sir, you must accept my word for it. Would I have stayed on
here in York, risking arrest, in daily dread of the bailiffs, on
the slender chance of marrying an heiress who is two years
from inheriting?'