VIscount Besieged (19 page)

‘
What
in the world have they been at?’ she demanded of Harriet in an
under voice. ‘Mama has not the slightest interest in what is served
for dinner.’

‘
I
know it,’ Harriet said, and put out a tentative hand. ‘You will not
get up on your high ropes, will you, Dora?’

‘
Not
if you tell me what is in the wind.’

Harriet bit her
lip, fidgeting with her sprigged muslin gown. ‘It seems to me that
they are hedging their bets.’

Isadora frowned.
‘On what?’

‘
On
which of the two gentlemen may show more of a disposition to wish
to marry you.’

‘
I
knew it!’

‘
Now,
Dora, you promised.’

Isadora drew a
breath. ‘Yes, very well. But this is the outside of enough. As it
chances, I thought of this last night by their manner to Mr
Syderstone, but I had forgot it after what he said about
Roborough.’

‘
They
are certainly assiduous in their attentions,’ Harriet mused. ‘For
my part, I believe they would do much better to concentrate on the
viscount.’

‘
Harriet!’

‘
But
I suspect,’ she went on, paying no attention to the interjection,
‘since you have shown yourself to be so against him, they are
hoping you might prove more amenable to Syderstone.’

‘
Well, I shan’t. Great heavens, what is the matter with them?
What is the matter with all of you? Does no one hear me when I
speak?’

‘
Hush! But if you are so against it, why did you agree to
perform for the man?’

‘
What
would you have me do? I cannot drag him from the room and demand
that he give me the information I seek. Better that he believes me
complaisant. I may find an opportunity to question him the more
readily.’

But the moment
she set her mind to going over her various pieces to decide which
of them she might display to advantage everything else went out of
her head. Not least because over luncheon—for which Harriet
accepted an invitation to remain—the family insisted on involving
themselves in the decision once it had been settled that Isadora
should prepare herself to perform after dinner that
evening.

‘
You
are not going to drag us into it, I hope,’ Fanny said with
misgiving.

‘
Can
I be the headsman again?’ asked Rowland excitedly, which was
productive of an outbreak of groaning protest.

‘
Rowland, be quiet!’

‘
Not
Lady Jane!’

‘
Oh
no, Dora, pray—’

‘
But,
my love, it is you that Mr Syderstone wishes to see,’ Mrs Alvescot
said, coming in under the hubbub. ‘Lady Jane is very enjoyable,
but—’

‘
Have
I said anything at all about Lady Jane?’ demanded Isadora, justly
annoyed. ‘It was Fanny who mentioned it, not I. But,’ she added,
with a minatory look at Fanny, ‘it may be that I shall need you to
read in lines for me.’

‘
Oh,
Dora,’ moaned Fanny. ‘Why can you not do one of your
monologues?’

‘
Do
Juliet,’ suggested Harriet.

‘
Juliet?’ After the way Roborough had criticised it? ‘No,
indeed. I cannot possibly perform Juliet in public at the present
time.’

‘
For
my part, any of your Shakespearian pieces will give uniform
satisfaction,’ said Cousin Matty pacifically.

But Isadora had
a sudden recollection of what the viscount had said to her this
morning. At the time, she had not really taken it in. She had been
too much moved by her emotions. But now it came back to her like a
warning bell. Syderstone would remember her performing. Great
heavens, she must not let him see her in action! But she had
agreed. If she cried off now, the whole family would make an issue
of the matter, and how could she explain? An idea occurred to her,
and she rushed impulsively into speech.

‘
I am
not in the mood for tragedy,’ she announced. ‘I shall do Sheridan.
I have quite made up my mind.’

Only Fanny
groaned on hearing that she had chosen
The School for
Scandal,
for it meant that she must read in the words of Sir
Peter Teazle. Everyone else was perfectly satisfied, Harriet in
particular saying as she left, ‘An excellent choice, Dora. I wish I
might remain only to see Roborough’s reaction to it.’

‘
For
heaven’s sake, Dora, I am not performing for him
.
In any
event, I dare say he will dine out again.’

She was
mistaken. The viscount was not only present at dinner, but he had
brought Mr Thornbury with him. As the youngsters had been permitted
to dine with the adults, Fanny insisting that it was the least
reward she might expect for helping Isadora with her performance,
it was a lively assembly who met that evening in the drawing-room.
If it had not been for the black silk evening gowns, their mourning
state might have been forgotten.

Roborough, on
hearing earlier of the proposed entertainment, had maintained all
his usual outward calm and pleasantness in the face of the most
unexpected shaft of envy. Because Syderstone, meeting him in his
way to his chamber to change, had playfully rallied him on the
matter.

‘
Now,
my dear fellow, I think you must admit that you are amply repaid
for your perfidy of yesterday. Miss Alvescot is to render a
performance purely for my benefit. Is that not a
triumph?’

For a moment the
viscount had been unable to speak. Isadora was to act for
Syderstone? A rush of emotion had very nearly choked him and he had
felt as if his chest must burst. Thoughts had chased one another
through his head. Good God, he was feeling precisely as
Syderstone’s raillery was meant to make him feel. Except that it
should have been a mock-sensation. Why should he care? The little
monster had probably done it just to score off him. Perform for
Syderstone? What a petty revenge. But, he was obliged to admit that
it had worked.

‘
Oh
yes?’ he had managed coolly. ‘A triumph indeed. I wonder what arts
you employed to achieve it?’

Syderstone had
laughed. ‘To say truth, none at all. I am bound to confess that the
whole suggestion came from her mama and the effusive
cousin.’

The relief had
been stupendous. Yet Isadora had agreed to it. Had she been forced
by politeness? No, that would not weigh with Isadora. Had she so
easily dismissed what he had to say about her acting career—that
idiotic ambition she had? Chasing moonbeams, silly little devil. Or
was it some form of revenge for his refusal to entertain the
notion, a determination to show him she meant it?

He sighed
inwardly. Who could hope to fathom Isadora’s mind? Not he,
certainly.

But she had
seriously ruffled his sensibilities, he discovered. For he found
himself childishly ignoring her throughout the meal, giving his
attention rather to Fanny and Rowland, whom he kept in a ripple of
amusement with a series of joking remarks. He could not have said
whether Isadora even noticed. Or cared. Why should she? Had she not
specifically stated her feelings towards him?

But when they
were all settled in the drawing-room, and Fanny and Isadora began
the little scene—an amusing pastiche of early married life that he
had seen performed by far more experienced players—the viscount
found himself riveted.

She was superb.
He had been taken enough by that unofficial sight of her Juliet.
Now, seeing her tackle comedy, with a sureness of touch, a
lightness that had nothing to do with her ability to call forth the
depths of her emotions, he was quite lost in admiration. She did
live in her parts, just as she had tried to explain. She
was
Lady Teazle—the young wife running rings around her elderly
husband. And what was so astonishing was that the character could
not have been further from Isadora’s own personality.

Something
swelled in his chest. A sensation he could not recall experiencing
before. Pride? No, something more than that. Then, as Isadora
turned to deliver a line, her brown eyes bright with the mischief
of it, the feeling swamped his very attempt to identify it. She was
enchanting!

An insinuating
voice interrupted his pleasure, destroying it at a blow.

‘
Yes,
she is enchanting when she is acting,’ said Cousin Matty soulfully,
her tone low enough that only he might hear. ‘If only we could find
her a husband…’

Chapter Seven

Roborough
started, jerking round. The woman had changed her seat for one next
to him on the small sofa, and she was looking at him with
expectancy in her face under the black velvet turban. It threw him
off balance. Had he spoken aloud? She must have seen his reaction
in his countenance and made something of it. Or was he
mistaken?

‘
She
is very good, isn’t she?’ Cousin Matty said innocently.

‘
Very,’ he agreed quietly. ‘But hush!’

Obediently,
Cousin Matty waited for the end of the little piece, much to his
relief. Perhaps he had imagined the insinuation. Nevertheless, he
found himself unable to concentrate on the performance, too much
aware of the female at his side and what she might say.

He hoped, as the
piece ended, that she would move on. But under cover of the general
applause, and Syderstone’s extravagant congratulations, she resumed
her remarks.

‘
You
do think she looks attractive when she is acting, Cousin
Roborough?’

He smiled, but
his eyes were wary as he turned to her. He was ready for her now.
He kept his tone polite, but distant.

‘
Or
at any time.’

‘
I
knew you must think so,’ said Cousin Matty in a smug voice,
apparently unaware of his reserve. ‘You must know, Cousin
Roborough, we have all been wondering what you intend to do for
poor Dora.’

His raised his
brows. ‘Have you?’

Poor Dora? She
was more capable than the rest of them put together.

‘
Dear
Ellen is most concerned for her,’ pursued the woman. ‘You know that
she is nearly one and twenty, and that she has no dowry at
all?’

‘
Yes,
I am quite aware of that.’

‘
You
must be, such care as you have taken to discover all our needs,’
simpered Cousin Matty. ‘And you will have taken especial notice of
her circumstances, being yourself unwed.’

Roborough froze.
Then he had not been mistaken. Had they all of them some idea that
he might marry Isadora? Good God, what next? And had they put this
fantastic notion to Isadora herself? What in the name of all the
gods had she said to that? He dared swear he might guess. But this
must be nipped in the bud. He was going to be manoeuvred neither
into promise nor compromise. Yes, he was unwed, thanks to his
expert depression of the pretensions of matchmaking mamas. Or, if
it came to that, matchmaking cousins.

‘
Naturally that has been a consideration,’ he agreed smilingly.
‘A bachelor guardian always gives rise to comment. But as Mrs
Alvescot—or my own mother— will always be present in any house
where I might find myself in company with Isadora, I cannot think
that we need fear any daunting consequences.’

Seeing the
expectancy fading into disappointment on the lady’s countenance, he
lost no time in driving home the message, adding cheerfully, ‘Of
course, it is my belief that we need not concern ourselves unduly.
It is unlikely that Isadora will remain single for very
long.’

‘
Oh,
do you think so?’ said Cousin Matty, hope creeping back into her
features.

This one was not
easy to snub. He would have to hit harder. He waved a hand to where
Syderstone was still engaged in expressing his enjoyment of
Isadora’s performance.

‘
You
have only to use your eyes, Mrs Dotterell. My friend had not been
inside the house for more than a day or so before his attentions
became decidedly marked.’

‘
Is
he eligible?’

‘
Eminently,’ said Roborough, conscious of a touch of malice in
his tone. Well, good God, she had asked for it. ‘And if not him,
then some other. We are not all of us hardened
bachelors.’

Cousin Matty’s
gaze flicked back to his face, questions all over her own.
‘Hardened? But Cousin Roborough, you will have to beget an
heir.’

His lip curled.
‘I have one. My father had a brother, you know. The succession is
in no danger.’

He saw by the
crushed look in her eyes that he had succeeded in convincing her of
his utter lack of interest in Isadora. Would he might as easily
convince himself. Not that he was precisely interested in her in
that way. Heaven forbid! She would drive insane any fellow who was
fool enough to take her to wife. She was a fascinating female in
some ways, but the last he should think of in terms of marriage.
Besides, she hated him.

Ignoring the
hollow feeling this thought opened up in his chest, he made an
excuse to leave Cousin Matty and went over to engage in a low-toned
conversation with Thornbury.

Had he but known
it, Isadora was far more conscious of his presence than she either
expected or wished to be. Discovering him to be of the party had
thrown her into confusion. Why was she doing this performance? Only
so that she might get Syderstone to discuss further his situation
with the viscount. But how could she do so when the subject himself
was present?