Mesalliance (35 page)

Adeline stared
at him and discovered that she felt rather sick. She said with
difficulty, ‘What troubles? I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Don’t you, my
sweet? Then let me remind you. I’ll admit that – but for this
business over Nell – I wouldn’t have remarked on it. But perhaps
you’d like to explain why you found yourself so ill-provided-for
that it was necessary to ask Matthew to advance you five hundred
guineas?’

She stood very
still while a raging, black desolation filled every corner of her
soul. It was, of course, her cue to tell him everything … and she’d
actually hoped that, this time, she’d bring herself to do it. But
the timing was inescapably wrong. She could not do it … and, if not
now, probably not ever.

Despair tinged
her gaze with acid and put an edge in her voice.

‘Can’t you
guess? I lost it at cards. And if I’d realised it was so important,
I’d naturally have made my confession the instant I laid eyes on
you. But you will doubtless be relieved to learn that the rest of
my bills are paid – and that I can, if you wish it, account for
every penny you’ve given me.’

‘You know
perfectly well that I don’t give a tinker’s curse what you do with
your allowance,’ snapped Rockliffe, his temper beginning to rise in
earnest. ‘I do, however, very much resent being relegated to the
edges of your life and given no more of your confidence than you’d
accord a stranger. You never ask for my help, you won’t accept my
affection – you don’t even appear to care for my company. In fact,
it’s beginning to seem that the only things you
do
want from
me are my title and my money. And
that
, my dear, is
something I never thought to hear myself say.’

Silence,
inimical and catastrophic, yawned about them while stricken
aquamarine eyes met shuttered black ones.

Somewhere at
the back of her mind, Adeline was aware that she ought to say
something … but did not know what.

Rockliffe
recognised that he had hurt her but repressed the urge to
apologise.

‘You don’t deny
it, I see,’ he said, at length.

She drew a long
painful breath and managed the merest suggestion of a shrug.

‘Where’s the
point? Simply telling you that you’re wrong isn’t going to do
anything to convince you, is it?’

His anger
ebbing, Rockliffe stared back at her and – just as he had done five
months ago in Lady Miriam’s garden – tried to decide whether he
most wanted to shake her or kiss her. Then, in the distance, he
heard the pealing of the door-bell.

‘Hell,’ he
sighed, ‘and damnation. I am in no mood for morning callers.’

‘It’s
Harry.’

‘
What
?’
Suddenly the dark gaze was no longer hooded.

‘Harry,’
Adeline repeated, concentrating hard on keeping her voice steady.
‘He seemed to feel he ought to explain things to you himself, so I
-- ’

‘Are you
telling me,’ interrupted Rockliffe with dangerous calm, ‘that you
even discussed with Harry when and what I should be told?’

Her throat
closed up and she nodded mutely.

‘I see. Then
you’d better go and give him a detailed account of our
conversation, hadn’t you?’

Adeline
swallowed hard. ‘Tracy … I -- ’

‘No. Don’t say
any more. I think I’ve heard enough. And though I can’t pretend
that this morning hasn’t been a revelation to me … you can rest
assured that you’ve made yourself perfectly clear.’

‘But – please –
won’t you see Harry for a moment?’

‘I think not.’
Sheer temper flared suddenly in his eyes. ‘
You
see Harry.
After all, why break a habit?
I
am going to see Nell.’

*

Under the
circumstances and all things considered, Adeline would also have
preferred not to see Harry … but since the alternatives were either
to leave him kicking his heels in the red salon or tell Symonds to
evict him, it did not appear that she had much choice in the
matter. Neither, as it turned out, was his lordship’s attitude
particularly helpful.

‘
Won’t see
me
?’ he exclaimed when she had finished. ‘I never heard
anything so bloody silly in my life! Oh – I beg your pardon,
Adeline … but it is, isn’t it? What good does he think that will
do?’

Adeline sat
down and leaned her brow against one slender palm.

‘Leave it,
Harry. Tracy won’t see you – and even if he did, there’s nothing
you can say that would make it any better. He’s right and we’re not
- and there’s an end of it. So the best thing you can do is just go
away.’

‘Damned if I
will!’ Harry also sat down and crossed one satin-clad leg over the
other. ‘I want to know what he’s saying to Nell - and I’ll sit here
all day if necessary.’

‘Oh don’t be so
stupid!’ Lifting her head, she stared at him in exasperation.
‘Can’t you see that you’re only making everything worse?’

Harry blinked
and then appeared to regain his sense of proportion. He said
meditatively, ‘You must have made a shocking poor job of it. Not
that I’m surprised. I always thought making a
completely
clean breast of it was a bad idea.’

‘Very likely.
And now you’ve said that, will you please leave?’

‘I suppose I’ll
have to.’ He rose, strolled towards the door and then turned back
as if struck by a sudden thought, ‘My God! You don’t suppose he’s
jealous
, do you? Because if he is, it’s the most -- ’

‘
Go
!’
Adeline surged to her feet, goaded beyond endurance. ‘Just go away!
Or I swear I’ll not be responsible!’

Harry opened
his mouth and then reluctantly closed it again. Knowing a last word
but having the sense not to say it, he went.

*

While Rockliffe
was asking his sister to explain her stupidity and Adeline was
trying to get rid of Lord Harry, Jack Ingram paid a formal call on
Lady Miriam and received gracious permission to pay his addresses
to Mistress Althea.

Since, in
typical fashion, Jack had done the thing properly and made sure
that her ladyship was expecting him, his request came as no
surprise; and, because it did not, Lady Miriam had taken the
sensible precaution of sending Diana to be fitted for the new gown
she’d insisted on ordering for the Queensberry Ball. Thus it was
that Althea – robed in pink tiffany and hovering between doubt and
delight – found herself summoned in due course to the parlour. And
there, under her mama’s eagle eye, Mr Ingram took her hand and,
with the sweetest of smiles, asked if he might keep it.

Thea blushed
but did not avoid his eyes.

‘Oh
yes
,
sir – if you please. Th-that is to say, I would be very happy.’

‘And I,’ vowed
Jack, raising her fingers to his lips, ‘consider myself
undeservedly fortunate.’

‘Very prettily
said,’ approved Lady Miriam. And then, ‘I daresay you would like to
be alone with your treasure … and I am not so insensitive as to
stand in your way – for I am sure I may rely on your sense of
propriety, sir.’

‘Certainly,
your ladyship.’

‘Very well,
then. I will leave you.’ She sighed sentimentally and patted
Althea’s cheek. ‘No more than ten minutes, mind! It would never do
for Mr Ingram to think I do not know what is proper.’

Mr Ingram
watched her go and repressed a sigh of relief only to have Althea
do it for him. He laughed and, capturing both of her hands, said,
‘Yes. It
is
pleasant to be left alone, isn’t it?’

She nodded
shyly and her eyes held such a glow of wonderment that Jack’s
amusement faded and his fingers tightened on hers.

‘I love you,
you know,’ he said simply. ‘The only reason I’ve not said so before
is that I was determined to demonstrate my respect by doing
everything correctly. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care – for I
do. Very much.’

Blushing even
harder, Althea’s gaze fluttered down to his cream silk vest.

‘S-so do
I.’

‘Do you?’ asked
Jack with careful restraint. ‘Oh – I know you
like
me. But
that’s not enough for marriage. And … I hope you haven’t accepted
me because your mama wished you to do so.’

‘No – of course
not!’ The blue eyes flew back to meet his. ‘How could you think it?
Surely you know that I … that I …’

‘That you
what?’

‘That I’ve
b-been in love with you for weeks,’ finished Thea bravely. ‘Only I
never thought you’d want to marry me.’

‘No?’ Joy
transformed Mr Ingram’s pleasant but usually unremarkable
countenance. ‘Then why did you suppose I’ve been dancing attendance
on you quite so assiduously? I’ve scarcely set foot in my club for
a month. Oh Thea – my little love!’

Finding herself
swept almost literally off her feet into an embrace that deprived
her of breath, Althea did the only thing possible. She flung her
arms round his neck and kissed him back.

*

Half an hour
after Jack had taken his leave, Diana bounced in upon her mother
and sister with an armful of parcels.

‘What a morning
I’ve had! I’ve worn myself to the bone searching for just the right
shade of ribbons to replace those on my satin-straw and
still
haven’t found them. But I did see the most delicious
bonnet in Madame Tissot’s and couldn’t resist buying it; and I got
a new pair of shoes so they can be dyed to match my new gown.’
Sitting down with her booty scattered around her feet, she looked
pettishly at her mother and added, ‘But I do wish you’d permitted
me to go to Phanie, as I asked. Her gowns are by far the most
stylish – and no one who is anyone goes to that stupid Miss
Wood.’

‘As I have
pointed out on numerous occasions,’ replied her ladyship
repressively, ‘our resources are limited. It is a case of one gown
from Phanie or three from Miss Wood. Now Diana – I wish you will
cease fidgeting for there is something I must tell you’

‘Oh?’ Engaged
in trying on her new shoes, Diana sounded less than interested.
‘What?’

‘Mr Ingram has
this morning asked for Thea’s hand and I have given my consent to
it. In short, they are betrothed.’

Diana’s head
jerked up. ‘
What
? I don’t believe it!’

‘Then you had
better try. It will be announced in the
Morning Chronicle
the day after tomorrow.’

Uniquely, Diana
was dumbstruck for several seconds. Then, two bright spots of
colour burning in her cheeks, she said fiercely, ‘
No
! I
won’t have it, do you hear? I won’t have it!’

‘You have
nothing to say in the matter.’

‘I don’t care.’
Diana came abruptly to her feet and, finding she had on only one
shoe, wrenched it off and sent it hurtling across the room. ‘I
won’t have Thea betrothed before me.
I won’t
!’

‘On present
showing,’ replied her mother acidly, ‘if we wait for you, we’ll
wait forever.’

‘That’s not
fair. I
will
get a husband – you see if I don’t!’

‘And who,
precisely, did you have in mind? You let Rockliffe slip through
your fingers and, since coming to London, have signally failed to
attract any gentleman of consequence.’ Lady Miriam’s gaze was icy.
‘Althea, on the other hand, has succeeded in making a very
satisfactory match. Not brilliant, perhaps – but certainly more
than respectable. And I have no intention whatsoever of allowing
you to spoil it, Diana.’

‘Then put a
stop to it,’ snapped Diana, mercilessly shredding her handkerchief.
‘They can be betrothed later – at the end of the season, perhaps. I
don’t care. But I don’t want it announced yet. It
shouldn’t
be announced yet. Mine ought to come first.’

‘But why does
it matter?’ asked Althea timidly.

‘It doesn’t,’
said Lady Miriam. ‘And it will be a relief to me to see at least
one
of my daughters creditably established.’

‘You call this
creditable?’ Diana’s voice started to rise. ‘If I couldn’t do
better than a mere Honourable, I’d as soon cut my throat.’

‘Di – dearest!’
begged Althea. ‘We all know you can do better than me. Of course we
do. And there’s no hurry now, is there? For, if you wish to wait
for exactly the right offer, you will be able to come and stay with
Jack and me. And I‘m sure you’ll find a husband in no time.’

Had it been
uttered by anyone else, the implications of this speech might have
been dubious. As it was, Althea meant well; it was not her fault
that, to her twin, it was the last straw.

‘How dare you?’
spat Diana. ‘How
dare
you patronise me, you mealy-mouthed
little bore? Do you think I need your help – or the help of that
dull, pompous fellow you’ve managed to catch?’

‘He’s
not
dull!’ Stung, Althea leapt to her feet in defence of her
Jack. ‘He’s a dear, kind man and I love him!’

‘Fiddlesticks!
You’re just grateful. And so you should be. But
I
wouldn’t
have had him if he’d been the last man on earth. And I could have,
you know. Just like that.’

‘No, Di. You
couldn’t.’ For the first time in her life, Althea faced her sister
without fear. ‘The truth is that Jack doesn’t like you very much
and never has. So it’s probably just as well that you won’t want
our help … because I daresay he’d rather not have you in his
house.’

And, so saying,
she walked calmly to the door and went out.

For perhaps a
minute there was utter silence. Then, rising to fix her erstwhile
favourite with a basilisk stare, Lady Miriam said flatly, ‘You
asked for that. If you’ve shown this side of your nature to the
gentlemen, it’s no wonder you’ve received no offers. Your temper is
quite deplorable. And, if you’re not careful, it will be your
undoing one of these days.’

Then, following
in Althea’s wake, she too left the room.

There is no
point in having hysterics without an audience and the scream Diana
had been preparing died in her throat. Staring unseeingly down at
the litter of shopping, she thought numbly, ‘
Thea is betrothed.
Poor, timid Thea who’s always been my shadow – is betrothed
.
How Cecy Garfield will laugh
!’ It was not to be borne.
Something would have to be done … and there was only one
possibility. Very slowly, she sat down and began assessing her
chances of bringing Harry Caversham to the point.