Patricia Wynn (20 page)

Vigor, who had entered during the scuffle and watched silently for a moment, cleared his throat and made them a bow. “If you please, madam,” he said to Susan. “Lady Mewhinny told me to ask you and Mr. Petworthy to join her in the drawing room.” His face was impassive. For all he gave away he could as easily have been witnessing a conversation taking place between a groom and her ladyship’s nephew on the finer points of a horse.

Tom had recovered his temper by now and released Mr. Petworthy without ceremony. That gentleman—relieved to have been saved from worse treatment—made sure he was out of reach of Tom’s powerful arms before straightening his frock coat and cravat. “You shall answer for your impudence!” he tossed back over his shoulder. “My aunt shall hear of this imposture!”

Tom moved to Susan’s side and took her arm to lead her into the house, but she shook herself free. Vigor, although waiting for her, did not appear to be listening. “No, my lord,” she told Tom in an angry whisper. “She did not ask for you. This is my doing and I shall go alone.”

He started to protest, but she silenced him. She had pled with him enough; now it was time to be firm. “No. Please. It will be much worse for me—I promise—if we are both exposed in front of the others. Let me do what I can to help Lady Mewhinny. I am afraid it is too late for anything else.” Then, seeing that her anger had wounded him, she gave him a wistful smile and lifted her skirts to step through the straw. Anxiously, he watched her join Vigor and disappear through the door.

With a heavy heart Susan followed Mr. Petworthy into the drawing room. Now that he was out of sight of Lord Harleston, the villain felt quite safe in resuming an air of righteous indignation. He tossed her a look of triumph as he crossed the threshold. Inside the rest of the company was assembled.

Lady Mewhinny, who was seated by the fire doing her needlework, greeted them with her customary serenity. “Ah, there you are, my dear,” she said to Susan. “And Augustus! It might interest you to know what’s been going on during your absence.”

Susan saw the grim look on Mr. Phillips’s face and she feared the worst. Holding back tears, she made one final effort to save her friend. “Mr. Phillips, please,” she begged, abandoning her false accent in her sincerity. “You must not listen to these men. They are doing her ladyship a terrible injustice. It was all planned!”

Much to her surprise, he smiled. “You need have no fears for her ladyship, Mrs. Faringdon. I can assure you she was fully aware of their conspiracy. That was why she sent Vigor to fetch me, you see. She has been expecting something like this any time this past year.”

Susan looked round and finally saw Mr. Sodporth. He was cowering on a chair in the corner, looking as if all the stuffing had been knocked out of him.  “Then you are not going to sign the commitment papers?” she asked Mr. Phillips.

“No, he is not, my dear,” Lady Mewhinny said calmly. “Augustus, I have ‘rumbled your lay,’ as you would undoubtedly put it yourself when you are mixing with your usual company. We shall see just who gets packing and to where!”

Mr. Petworthy had turned deathly pale. “But, Auntie!” he protested. “I cannot think what you mean! I have acted with the purest of motives. Why, I was just coming to inform you of the grossest deception going on right beneath your own roof. It concerns this Mrs. Faringdon and-—
my lord”
He spoke the last two words in a withering manner that made Susan cringe with guilt.

Lady Mewhinny quickly intervened. “If you mean
Lord Tom,”
she said tranquilly, “I know all about him. And I would rather not hear another word on the subject, thank you. You should know by now, Augustus, that little goes on ‘beneath my roof,’ as you put it, that I do not know. I have been very grateful for Susan’s company while I was waiting for Mr. Phillips to arrive. She has been good protection for me from you and your accomplice. Although naturally, my dear,” she said, turning once again to Susan, “I would not have kept you here against your will just for that.”

Susan was speechless with shock. Lady Mewhinny knew all about Lord Harleston? And yet she had said nothing about it? Then she must have known about her own misdoings as well. The thought filled Susan with shame for her deception and gratitude for her ladyship’s forbearance. She had cut her nephew off and refused to hear him on the subject.

Mr. Petworthy was similarly surprised, although he had not done with his blustering. He continued to protest his innocence, divorcing himself from the actions of his friend and insisting that if Sodporth were mistaken in his diagnosis no one would be more relieved than he. Finally, Mr. Phillips judged it was time to step in.

“Nonsense!” he said, to put an end to the business. “You have schemed to do away with your aunt and to obtain her fortune. I have had you followed these many months, Petworthy, and it is clear that you have been trading on expectations of these events for some time. It is known throughout the city that you are all done up. You have massive debts and, it is reasonably assumed, were involved in a recent scandal in which a widow was cheated out of her fortune. You had best give up the sham, Petworthy, if you do not wish to have the full story disclosed before a court.”

The result of this speech was that Petworthy, who had turned first red with indignation, then rather greenish, was left without a word. He fell back onto a chair and placed his head in his hands.

Lady Mewhinny glanced briefly at him without lifting her head from her work. Then, resuming it, she said in a tolerant voice, “You always did remind me of my sister-in-law, Augustus. And she never could be relied upon to tell the truth. There was bad blood in the Mewhinnys. What a mercy Sir William was spared it.”

Then she went on, “But I hope you do not think I will allow a nephew of Sir William’s to languish in a prison cell, no matter how well he deserves it. Mr. Phillips has arranged to pay back whatever of your debts are owed to honourable persons, particularly the widow, Augustus.” Here her voice was almost stern. “The remainder I shall leave unpaid to teach them not to do business with you again. And,” she added forcibly, “to keep you ever in their minds should you try to reenter the country.”

Mr. Petworthy looked up at this with a degree of hope. “You will assist me in leaving the country?”

Her ladyship nodded. “It is more than you deserve, of course, and a great burden to be placing on the French, despite their excesses. But I cannot have you lurking about England, for I make no mistake you would murder me in my bed if you could.” This was all said quite calmly, and she added a particular after-note to Susan, “I hope you will forgive me for sending him there, dear.”

Her remark puzzled Susan. Why should Lady Mewhinny apologize to Susan for sending her nephew to France if she already knew Susan was not French? But it was no time to ask for enlightenment. She was pleased to see that Lady Mewhinny did not think her beneath reproach for her own deception. Mr. Phillips then made the suggestion that Susan should be allowed to retire while the others discussed the arrangements to be made. This included Mr. Petworthy’s signature on a document, which had already been prepared, renouncing all further claim to his uncle’s estate after the death of his aunt. Susan left the room and went up to her chamber.

Now she knew it was time to leave. They had been discovered. Susan had only to find out what action Mr. Phillips or Lady Mewhinny planned to take with respect to her misdeeds. With a perverse calm, she packed her bags and sent word to the stables that they would leave on the morrow. She thought it would be best not to face Lord Harleston until then. For herself, she was resigned to whatever was in store for her. But the problem of Lord Harleston’s stubbornness remained. How could she convince him to abandon her to her fate? She spent the remainder of the day trying to form an argument that would serve.

Uncertain of the reception she would receive, she nevertheless went down to dinner at the appropriate time. She found Lady Mewhinny and Mr. Phillips seated comfortably. They greeted her as if nothing untowards had happened. They explained that the other gentlemen had departed, but nothing further was said on the subject until Lady Mewhinny and she rose from the table and made their way into the drawing room.

Once they were alone together, Lady Mewhinny gave Susan some startling news. “Dear Susan, I must tell you that your maid has also departed.”

Susan looked at her in blank astonishment. “Peg?” she asked, thoroughly dumbfounded. She had forgotten all about her.

“Yes, my dear,” Lady Mewhinny said, only mildly apologetic. “Perhaps I ought to have consulted you, but I really did it for the best. You see, when I saw that she was forming an attachment to my nephew Augustus’s manservant, I thought it could be an answer to a dilemma. The man is not a good sort, but I truly believe he had nothing to do with Augustus’s plans, and considering this, I gave him a few coins and dropped a word in his ear. He was most anxious to take himself off before there could be any trouble. And I do not think he was loath to take the girl with him.”

“But why, Lady Mewhinny?” Susan asked, still confused. “I admit I will not miss the girl at all, but why did you think it needed to be done?”

Lady Mewhinny positively giggled and gave her a sly look, “Why, my dear, let us just say I did not approve of her behaviour and thought you would do better with another maid. Before Augustus’s man came, you know, she was forever making eyes at your groom.”

Susan blushed to the roots of her hair. The implication was unmistakable. Now that the subject had been broached, however, she felt she must make an apology.

“Oh, Kitty,” she said earnestly. “I hope you will forgive me. Indeed, it was all my doing and I was fully conscious of the injustice to you in the deception. So conscious that I was eager to be off in spite of the kindness you have shown me. I will never forget it,” she said, a catch in her throat. “But we felt we had to stay on to do something to stop Mr. Petworthy from harming you. And Lord—Lord Tom, that is,” she amended, hoping to keep his name at least out of their discussion, “he was only doing it to assist me.”

“I know it, my dear,” Lady Mewhinny said, dismissing the rest with a wave of her hand. “And believe me, I am most grateful. And I, in turn, shall apologize for Mr. Phillips’s questioning you. He told me he thought he should assure himself of your good intentions. But I expect you will wish to be getting on with your journey.”

Susan could only nod in silence, but as Mr. Phillips chose that moment to join them, she excused herself with the notion of packing and went up to her room. As she lay awake that night, looking up at the nymphs on the ceiling, she could only wonder at her ladyship’s perspicacity, that she should have found them all out without the least trouble at all.

Susan tried not to think about her final meeting with Tom on the morrow. It appeared that she had been spared by Lady Mewhinny’s great sense of mercy, but she had nearly led Tom to his ruin. Tomorrow she would have to send him away from her for good. But in spite of her firm resolution, she spent the better part of the night dreading what was to come.

* * * *

The next morning, bright and early, Susan prepared to leave. The coach was at the door, Tom standing beside it at attention. As the light from the sun struck the golden highlights in his hair, Susan felt a dull pain rise in her throat, but she steeled her resolution and went  into  the  drawing  room to bid Lady Mewhinny goodbye.

Her ladyship was alone, and as Susan entered she beckoned her to take the chair beside her.

“There is just one more thing I wish to say to you before you go, dearest Susan,” she said. “And I hope you will not be offended to hear it from me.”

Susan hastened to reassure her. “Of course not! How could I be, Kitty, after your kindness to me! What is it?”

Her ladyship smiled at her wisely and patted her hand. “Just this, dear. I would advise you to use a little more discretion when having an affair with your groom. If Augustus, silly and stupid as he is, could discover you, there will surely be others who will do so. And they might not be so easily silenced.” She delivered this statement with the greatest of calm.

“An affair with my groom?” Susan could do nothing more than repeat the words in bewilderment.

Lady Mewhinny patted her hand again. “Of course, my dear. Did you not hear me say I knew all about it? But I would not let Augustus expose you publicly, cad that he is! And you must not fear that I disapprove of you. No, no! It is not that. Why, I took Vigor to my bed not long after Sir William’s death, so I understand perfectly, but it is easier to be discreet in one’s own house than in strange surroundings. I just thought I should drop a word in your ear.”

“You took Vigor to your—” Susan stopped herself before her astonishment could give her away. Lady Mewhinny had not discovered the imposture after all. Susan remembered that Mr. Petworthy had not actually used Lord Harleston’s name in the drawing room. When he had referred so scathingly to “my lord,” Lady Mewhinny must have thought he was referring to her groom’s nickname.

A wave of relief rushed through Susan as she thanked Providence that she had not used his name herself, and that her ladyship’s deafness to her accent had made her oblivious to its absence.

Blushing furiously, Susan gulped and thanked Lady Mewhinny for her advice.

“And there is one more thing, my dear,” her ladyship said. “I understand that your fortune is not entirely in your hands, but I would so like you to become a member of our society. I would gladly enter your name as an honorary member, if you have no objection. There are so many ways you might be helpful to us, and I feel your gentle heart is worth more to our cause than any donation.”

Susan thanked her warmly and accepted the honour, giving her governess’s address as her own. Then she stood and did her best to conceal her agitation while they made their affectionate farewells, after which she walked in a daze to the carriage.

In another minute she and Tom were bowling down the road at an eager pace, leaving the last bit of Sussex behind them. Susan was hardly recovered from her shock when the carriage pulled over to the side of the road and came to an abrupt halt. In another second, Lord Harleston had opened the door and joined her inside.