VIscount Besieged (11 page)

She was
blushing, poor Harriet, but she was not long disconcerted. With a
brief, ‘You must excuse me,’ to the man, she turned to her friend.
‘I must be going, Dora. Joseph—’ she threw a sugar-sweet smile at
Syderstone ‘—my betrothed, you must know, is expecting me to
accompany him out this afternoon.’

The shaft went
home. The light in the visitor’s eyes was quenched, and he bowed.
‘You must not let me detain you, ma’am.’

Isadora tucked
her hand in Harriet’s arm. ‘I will come with you to the front
door.’

They were no
sooner outside the drawing-room than she added on a laugh, ‘That
was superbly done, Harriet.’

Harriet
shuddered. ‘What a dreadful man. I cannot think how Lord Roborough
comes to have such a friend.’

‘
Oh,
he’s not a friend,’ Isadora said positively.

‘
How
do you know?’

‘
Did
you not see how Roborough looked at him?’ She pulled at her
friend’s arm. ‘But come. We must not stand here gossiping. They
will come out at any moment.’

‘
Dora, what are you talking of?’ demanded Harriet as she was
hustled along the corridor to the end of the stairs.

‘
I am
talking of the Errant Heir and this man, of course. If I don’t miss
my guess, the viscount is furious at his coming and will certainly
demand an explanation before he sits down with him to luncheon.
Which he must do, for Mama is bound to invite him.’

‘
But
how can you have an idea of anything of the kind?’ Harriet asked in
a bewildered tone as she hurried after Isadora down the
stairs.

‘
Because I have my eyes and ears on what is important,
Harriet,’ Isadora told her drily, ‘rather than being bowled over by
the quite unimportant fact that Roborough is single.’

She instantly
regretted having reminded Harriet of this piece of news, for that
young lady took it up at once.

‘
Oh
yes, isn’t that fortunate?’

‘
Fortunate!’

Harriet halted
at the front door, turning determinedly on her friend. ‘Now, Dora,
you must—’

‘
Harriet, don’t,’ begged Isadora, opening the door and stepping
outside.

‘
But—’

‘
You
are wasting your time. Why in the world should you suppose
Roborough has any notion of marrying me when you know very well he
is set on marrying me off to someone else?’

‘
Dora!’ exclaimed Harriet. ‘I had not thought. Perhaps he was
asking Thornbury about you because he has taken a fancy to you and
he wished to know if you were heart free.’

‘
Ingenious, Harriet, but hardly credible.’

‘
Why
not? After all, you wanted to know if he was
unattached.’

‘
I?’
gasped Isadora. ‘The question never occurred to me!’

‘
Well, it ought to have done. Why,
attractive
does not
begin to describe him. I have always thought how well red hair
becomes a man.’

‘
Red?’ echoed Isadora, unaccountably put out. ‘It is not
red.’

‘
Oh
well, russet, then,’ conceded Harriet.

Isadora frowned.
‘Like autumn, you mean.’

Her memory
dwelled a moment on the image of Roborough’s head and an odd
sensation stirred in her chest. Yes, like autumn. Warm and
friendly. Without realising it, she nodded.

‘
Chestnut, that is it. Just like Titian’s coat. Though it did
go a kind of bronze in the sun, I recall.’

‘
I
wonder if you will produce red-headed children?’ mused
Harriet.

The agreeable
vision splintered instantly, and Isadora exploded. ‘That is
precisely the kind of remark I do not wish to hear on your lips.
Great heavens, Harriet, you must have taken leave of your senses!
What am I, a brood mare?’

‘
But
only think, Dora,’ pleaded Harriet, quite unrepentant. ‘What
better solution could there be to all your difficulties? You may be
sure Mrs Dotterell and your mama will have thought of
that.’

‘
Yes,
thanks to you,’ said Isadora bitterly. ‘Now they will nag me from
morning to night.’

‘
Never mind it,’ Harriet said soothingly. ‘We may all of us
wish for it, but nothing will come of the idea if Roborough does
not wish it himself.’

‘
Which he quite clearly does
not,
thank
heaven.’

‘
No,
unless you will make an effort to change his mind.’

‘
Which I will not. You forget, Harriet, I am going to become an
actress.’

‘
Not that again,’ her friend groaned. ‘You may
just
as well cease this silly daydreaming, Dora, because
there can be no doubt that Roborough will forbid you.’

‘
Undoubtedly, were I to ask for his permission. But I shall do
nothing of the sort.’

Harriet eyed her
suspiciously. ‘What do you mean to do?’

‘
I
don’t know yet. But you may believe I shall think of
something.’

‘
For
goodness’ sake,’ cried Harriet, exasperated. ‘You would be far
better employed in thinking how you might attach Roborough than
doing the very thing likeliest to incur his enmity.’

Which remark so
much annoyed Isadora that she parted from her friend on the curtest
of terms and stalked back into the house, only to be brought up
short by the sight of the three gentlemen entering the
library.

All thought of
Harriet’s stupid notion vanished immediately. Here at last was the
possibility of a clue. The viscount would give nothing away. But
why should she not learn something in spite of him?

She did not, it
was true, feel altogether comfortable about a deliberate attempt to
overhear a conversation to which she was not meant to be party. The
earlier occasion had been rather different, she admitted. She had
heard something on passing the door. She need not, she was
persuaded, altogether reproach herself for that time.

This, however,
presented a temptingly fresh opportunity. Yet she shrank from the
task. It would be putting herself on a level with Fanny, whom she
had condemned for listening at keyholes.

As she hovered
uncertainly in the hallway, the matter was decided for her. The
library door opened and Mr Thornbury came out. Catching sight of
Isadora, he halted, his hand still on the handle of the closed
door. His eyebrows rose.

‘
Miss
Alvescot?’

Isadora
beckoned, backing away to the bottom of the stairs. The lawyer
followed her, throwing a brief glance at the library
door.

‘
Mr
Thornbury,’ said Isadora in a commanding whisper. ‘Now you may tell
me exactly what Roborough is planning. He means to sell the estate,
does he not?’

Thornbury
frowned. ‘You have not, by any chance, been guilty of eavesdropping
on a private conversation, Miss Alvescot?’

Isadora could
not prevent a giggle from escaping her lips. ‘Well, yes. But only
accidentally.’

‘
Indeed? I am to infer, then, that this little display of
hesitation betokens another accident?’

Isadora had to
laugh. ‘Very well, then, I confess I was thinking of it, but I
could not quite bring myself to the sticking point.’

‘
I am
glad to hear it,’ the lawyer smiled, relenting a little.

‘
Dear
Mr Thornbury,’ said Isadora, tucking a friendly hand in his arm and
urging him up the stairs, ‘you know I would only do so in
circumstances of the direst need. Which these are
.
It is so
very important to me to know what is going to happen.’

Thornbury
tutted. ‘Cajolery, Miss Alvescot, is wasted upon a hardened lawyer.
Particularly from an accomplished thespian. And no,’ he added
firmly as she opened her mouth to respond, ‘I will not repeat my
conversation with his lordship. I will say, however, that neither
you nor the family need fear for your future.’

‘
Only
for our home,’ Isadora said bitterly.

‘
Would it distress you so much to leave it?’ asked the lawyer
gently, pausing at the top of the stairs.

Isadora looked
at him. So Roborough did intend to sell. But the question, put in
that kindly way, pierced through her anger to the core of her
hidden vulnerability.

‘
It
is not the h-house,’ she said, a catch in her voice. ‘Only that
Papa—’

She could not go
on. Even had speech not failed her, she did not know how she could
have explained. Papa’s presence, though she did not mean it in a
supernatural way, seemed to pervade the place. Without it, she must
lose all she had left of him.

But it seemed as
if Mr Thornbury did not need the explanation. She found that an
avuncular arm was about her shoulders, giving her a hug. The
lawyer’s voice, however, was bracingly matter-of-fact.

‘
You
will have to let him go some time, Miss Alvescot. And it is not the
house. Everything you need is in yourself. Your memories will serve
you just as well, if not better.’

Isadora, the
mistiness receding from her eyes, looked gratefully up at him. ‘You
do understand.’

He smiled. ‘I
was very much attached to your father. And you, Miss Alvescot,
remind me of him every day. It is sometimes as if I hear him
talking, you are so much alike.’

Isadora
grimaced. ‘It is not a resemblance remarked upon by the rest of the
family.’

As if he felt
her return to normality, Thornbury removed his arm from about her
shoulders. ‘They are too used to you to see it.’ He laughed. ‘Even
Lord Roborough immediately supposed that you must have your
character from that source.’

Oh, he did, did
he? Evidently she had been much under discussion. Well, two might
play that game. Perhaps it could prove worth her while to cultivate
this Mr Syderstone.

***

‘
You
will allow me to point out,’ said the viscount in curt tones, ‘that
your visit here is neither well-judged nor necessary.’

‘
Oh,
come, come, my dear fellow,’ protested Syderstone. ‘You will
scarcely deny that the matter is of some moment.’

‘
To
you, yes.’

‘
And
should be to you,’ came the silky response. ‘A debt of honour, I
may remind you, Roborough, is sacred.’

‘
I am
not likely to forget.’

Aware that he
was allowing his bitterness to show, Roborough dragged his emotions
under tight control. A welcome interruption came in a knock at the
door. Ah, the butler. Thornbury had rung for him before he had left
the two of them alone. He ordered suitable refreshment, reflecting
that the imminent luncheon would give him time to recover his
sangfroid.

‘
Tell
me how you left everything in town,’ he said, summoning a friendly
tone.

Syderstone’s
lips smiled, but his eyes showed his understanding. Nevertheless,
there was an undercurrent of warning in his tone, as if to say
that he would not long be deflected from the subject nearest his
interest.

‘
You
have been too long out of public life, my friend. The season has
long been over. I have not come from town but from
Kent.’

‘
Your
estates, of course,’ the viscount said, dredging up a light laugh.
‘Silly of me. I’m afraid the business of taking over from my father
has put me out of touch with time.’

‘
No
doubt.’ Syderstone coughed with mock-delicacy. ‘Speaking of your
father…’

Roborough held
up a hand. ‘Excuse me on that head, if you please.’

The other man
frowned. ‘All very well, Roborough, for you to be so nice, but I
must speak of him.’

‘
Pray
don’t. In fact, there is no need to discuss the matter at all. I
have all the facts as you gave them in your letter, and there was
really no necessity for this journey. Did you suppose I should not
pay you?’

Syderstone
spread his hands. ‘My dear fellow, perish the thought. My fear is
rather than you cannot pay me.’

The viscount
fought down his instant ire. Damn the man. Of course, he was right.
Where was he to find the half of such a sum in the wasted
inheritance into which he had fallen? But that did not mean that
his creditors should come hounding him in this way.

‘
Not
at the present moment, no,’ he conceded frankly.

‘
I
thought not.’ Syderstone suddenly beamed at him. ‘Then I heard of
your second inheritance.’

‘
Did
you indeed?’

‘
I
did, my dear fellow. And I thought, how excellent well young
Roborough has done for himself. He will not, I feel sure, fail to
remember his obligations. And you see, I was right.’

‘
If
you mean that you supposed I should sell this estate merely to pay
off a debt to you, Syderstone, then you are wide of the mark. I
have other calls on my purse to consider besides yours.’

The visitor’s
urbanity did not desert him. He smiled. ‘But none, I would guess,
quite as immediately heavy.’