Mesalliance (4 page)

The question
was a depressing one and he finally followed his usual habit of
postponing a decision. There was, after all, nothing to be done in
the immediate future and therefore the matter could wait until next
month or next season or next year. The only pity was that it could
not wait forever.

‘Rock?’ Nell’s
voice cut across his thoughts. ‘Rock – we’re here. Look!’

He looked.
Brick-built in the compact Dutch style of the previous century, the
Franklin home held an appearance of unostentatious comfort that
immediately banished at least one of his Grace’s private fears. At
the foot of the shallow flight of steps which led to the door, a
liveried footman waited to let down the carriage steps while, in
front of the door itself, the butler stood ready to welcome them.
And then the picture changed as a pair of identically-gowned,
identical blondes emerged quickly through the portal to skim,
hand-in-hand, down to the chaise.

‘Gemini!’
murmured the Duke softly. ‘It’s the stomach disorder.’

Fortunately,
Nell did not hear him. Almost before the steps were down she
tumbled laughing and talking into the twins’ arms, leaving
Rockliffe to follow with a languor bordering on reluctance.

‘Oh Di – Thea -
it’s so good to see you. It’s been
weeks
and I’ve so much to
tell you! Truly, I thought we’d never get here – for nothing will
persuade Rock to be jolted about in the chaise and – oh, this
is
Rock, by the way!’ She turned, drawing him forward and
continued buoyantly, ‘It’ll be days before you can tell them apart,
of course. However … this is Diana and this is Althea – my very
dearest friends.’

His Grace
smiled lazily into two pairs of wide, blue eyes and made his
bow.

‘How pleasant
to discover that not quite all of Nell’s descriptions spring from
her imagination.’

Rising from her
curtsy, Diana Franklin dimpled and said archly, ‘Oh? And how is
that, sir?’

‘Merely,’ came
the adroit reply, ‘that it will indeed be a challenge to tell you
apart.’

Diana,
annoyingly aware that the expected compliment had somehow eluded
her, took immediate steps to mend matters. Laying one hand lightly
on the Duke’s sleeve and catching Nell’s fingers affectionately in
the other, she drew them towards the house, talking all the
time.

‘But how
foolish to be standing here! Do please come in – Mama will be
wondering what can be keeping us. Thea – run in and tell them that
we’ll be with them directly. Nell, dearest – where did you get that
hat? It’s quite ravishing and I’m green with envy for I’ve nothing
one half so elegant.’ And then, with a slanting smile up at the
Duke, ‘I suppose it was shockingly expensive?’

‘Shockingly,’
agreed Rockliffe. ‘As were the other dozen. Also, the gowns and
cloaks, ribbons, laces and feathers. Not to mention the sh --’

‘I think,’ Nell
choked, ‘that Di has the general idea.’

‘Shoes,’ he
finished mildly. ‘What did you think I was going to say?’

The salon into
which Diana ushered them appeared to be full of people and,
surprisingly, the Duke recognised one of them as a friend. However,
he acknowledged this unexpected pleasure with no more than a lifted
brow and gave his attention to his hostess. Lady Miriam, cool of
manner and still bearing traces of the golden beauty she had
bequeathed to her daughters, chided Diana for causing their guests
to make so informal an entry – but was plainly not displeased by
it. Ambitious, thought his Grace as he bowed and uttered suave
commonplaces; ambitious and calculating. Sir Roland, by contrast,
was the complete epitome of a country squire, being rotund,
determinedly affable and somehow a trifle out of place. Rockliffe
was not without sympathy. He felt somewhat out of place
himself.

‘And this,’
announced Lady Miriam complacently, ‘is my first-born, Andrew.’

Andrew, tall,
loose-limbed and sulky, achieved a graceless bow and then found
himself cornered by Nell’s smile.

‘How do you do?
I’m so pleased to meet you at last for I understand you’ve a
pure-bred Arab mare that you’ve trained to do all manner of clever
things. It is true she can dance the minuet?’

The sulkiness
evaporated into a reluctant grin.

‘You’ve been
talking to Althea,’ he said. And then, ‘Yes, it’s true enough.’

‘You’ll have to
put Rozalea through her paces for Lady Elinor,’ instructed his
mother, pleasantly, ‘I’m sure that she would find it most
entertaining. But you will have to wait a little longer before
putting your heads together – as I’ve no doubt you are both eager
to do – until she has met your uncle and Lord Harry.’

Nell blinked,
somewhat taken aback by this assumption. His Grace, who understood
it perfectly, hid a smile and moved on to exchange courtesies with
the over-dressed, foppish gentleman, complete with rouge and
patches, who it appeared was her ladyship’s brother. Then, without
waiting for an introduction, he turned to that gentlemen’s nearest
companion and said, ‘Well, Harry … and how was Paris?’

Lord Harry
Caversham grinned cheerfully.

‘So-so. It all
depends on whether one likes rushing from one engagement to the
next like a demented ferret and braving the crush at Versailles to
get the merest glimpse of Marie Antoinette. For myself, the best I
can say of it is that the company was fair and the wine better.’ He
turned to Nell and bowed with mischievous formality over her hand.
‘Hello, Nell. Have you forgiven me yet for removing you from the
Overbury masquerade last Christmas?’

Her colour
deepened but she said with creditable aplomb, ‘I’d forgotten all
about it. But, since you ask, I still don’t see what business it is
of yours
what
parties I attend.’

‘None at all,
of course,’ he replied promptly. ‘It’s just that it’s usual to have
an invitation.’

At least two
people laughed. One of them was Diana.

‘
Pique,
repique
and
capot
,’ drawled Rockliffe. ‘And you, Nell,
would do well to hold your peace before Lady Miriam realises just
how undesirable is the company her daughters are keeping.’

This time the
laughter was more general and, into it, her ladyship remarked that,
reprehensible though it undoubtedly was, such pranks were merely
the result of girlish high-spirits and did no lasting harm.

The Duke, who
knew they could do a great deal of harm, said dryly, ‘That is a
matter of opinion. But I should have realised that we could rely on
your ladyship giving poor Nell the benefit of the doubt.’

Effectively
silenced, her ladyship smiled uncertainly and Harry Caversham found
himself obliged to study the richly patterned carpet beneath his
feet. The stage was therefore left free for Diana who surged gaily
forward with the observation that, excepting only her little
brother, Tom – who had had gone off goodness only knew where as
usual and would doubtless reappear in his own good time – his Grace
and Nell had now met everyone.

‘They haven’t,
Di,’ came Althea’s timid whisper. ‘There’s still Addie. She’s over
there.’

Diana drew an
impatient breath and glanced irritably at her twin. Then, gesturing
carelessly to the slight, motionless figure waiting in the shadows,
she said, ‘Oh yes. How could I possibly have forgotten that? Your
Grace, Nell dearest … allow me to present Mama’s companion – our
cousin, Adeline.’

The indigent
female of uncertain age, deduced Rockliffe; plain, middle-aged and
down-trodden. And, largely because he was beginning to feel that
Mistress Diana needed a lesson in manners, he smiled pleasantly
into the gloom and executed the same bow he would have accorded a
countess.

It was only
then, as he straightened, that the figure moved unhurriedly out
into the light and, in a cool, husky voice that stopped his breath,
said, ‘We’ve met. But your Grace wouldn’t remember that, I
daresay.’

Meeting
long-lashed aquamarine eyes filled with detached irony and set
beneath narrow, winged brows, his first thought was that she was
changed beyond recognition … and his second, that he would have
known her anywhere. The eyes and the voice were the same; it was
only the suggestion of frosted bitterness that was new. And if the
dark brown hair was now neatly – if unbecomingly – arranged, the
wide mouth was instantly familiar; too generous for so fine-boned a
face and too vulnerable for the new poise she had apparently
acquired.

He became aware
that the air was alive with curiosity and said carefully, ‘Then you
malign me, Mistress Kendrick. And flatter me, too – for it must be
all of seven years ago and you were little more than a child, as I
recall.’

‘Eight,’ she
corrected. ‘And I was sixteen.’

Frowning, Lady
Miriam said coldly, ‘I was not aware of this, Adeline. Why did you
not mention it?’

‘Because I
didn’t think it important,’ came the laconic reply. And then, with
the merest hint of malicious amusement, ‘But if I was mistaken, I
beg your pardon.’

The
discreetly-veiled jibe found its mark.

‘That will do,
Miss! I find your secrecy incomprehensible and your timing lacking
in taste. For the rest, do not over-rate yourself.’

The blue-green
eyes opened guilelessly wide.

‘I don’t, Aunt.
That’s what I said.’

Her
extraordinary self-possession contrasted sharply with Rockliffe’s
own sense of shock and he resented it. She must, of course, have
known that he was coming – but that was neither a satisfactory
explanation nor a balm; and it was already more than enough that
she should manage to set him at a disadvantage like this without
the addition of her unnecessarily ingenuous remarks.

He smiled at
her with what at least two persons present recognised as dangerous
benevolence and said gently, ‘Perhaps you did indeed have just
cause for doubting my ability to place you. After all, I’m
compelled to acknowledge that I find you considerably changed.’ He
paused and conducted a leisurely head to foot appraisal. ‘You
appear, for example, to have discovered the benefits of wearing
shoes – an achievement on which I can only congratulate you.’

And watched her
pallor vanish beneath a tide of colour as the silence dissolved
into a light ripple of laughter.

*

Later, while
his valet helped him into the claret velvet coat he had selected to
wear for dinner, he wondered why having to explain that he’d once
spent an enforced furlough in Northumberland should cause the past
to close up like a telescope when there was so little to recall. He
had stayed in Redesdale for roughly two weeks and had met Adeline
Kendrick no more than half a dozen times – always seemingly by
accident. That was all there was to it; a handful of random, almost
other-worldly conversations. And now the simple truth was that the
feelings he’d been unable to understand eight years ago and rarely
thought of since, were no more than dust. His memories had been of
a wild creature … unspoilt, sensitive and fragile. All that
remained was a cold-eyed woman with a barbed tongue – a fact that
left him feeling faintly cheated until he remembered that painful
flush, swiftly followed by flight. And then resentment gave way,
unwillingly, to shame; and anger with himself for being betrayed
into a lack of manners.

There was a tap
at the door, succeeded almost immediately by a rustling vision in
rose taffeta. Rockliffe sighed, dismissed his valet and gave his
attention to the serious business of choosing a snuff-box from the
impressive array in front of him.

‘Rock?’ said
Nell, realising the need to distract him from this occupation. ‘You
don’t mind if I come in?’

‘The question
seems a trifle redundant, don’t you think?’ he murmured, frowning
with a dissatisfied air at the enamelled box in his hand. ‘How
provoking. I ordered this coat in the belief that it was a perfect
match for this box, but it isn’t. In fact, it clashes quite
horribly. I must be slipping.’

‘Take the
silver one, then,’ she said carelessly.

He eyed her
incredulously. ‘With gold lacing? I hardly think so.’

‘Then change
your coat. I don’t know why you have to go through this performance
all the time. You don’t even
take
snuff – you just
pretend.’

A flicker of
humour appeared.

‘You must allow
me my little affectations, Nell. No one might notice me
otherwise.’

Nell narrowly
avoided pointing out that no one – particularly females - could
help
noticing him. Even she, his sister, had to admit that
he was exceptionally good-looking. His height, his bearing … the
long, thickly-powdered hair, tonight tied back with black ribands …
his dark, often mocking, eyes and the tailored planes of his face …
well, she wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that London was
littered with girls who dreamed of him at night. But it would
never, never do to say so; and
those
girls, of course, had
no idea of how utterly infuriating he could be when he chose.

Attempting to
fulfil her purpose in seeking him out in private, she said, ‘I
didn’t come to talk about snuff-boxes. I came to see what you think
of - of the family.’

‘My dear, I can
scarcely admit to having thought of them at all.’ Rockliffe laid
the box down and picked up another. ‘I suppose it will have to be
this one … but I’ve never been entirely happy with the tracery. A
little too florid, don’t you think?’

‘No.’ She sat
down on a rosewood chair, her expression determined. ‘I expect you
were glad to find Ha – Lord Harry here, weren’t you?’

‘More so than
you, I imagine.’

‘Yes. Well … I
think he’s insufferably rude and interfering but I don’t intend to
let him annoy me,’ she said handsomely. And then, ‘Fancy you
knowing Di’s cousin – and recognising her, too. They’re all agog
with curiosity.’