A Matter of Duty (18 page)

Louisa felt utterly dreadful, but Kit seemed equal to the moment. He smiled at her, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her on the lips. ‘That will indeed be a happy announcement,’ he murmured.

A
s that first day at Highclare drew toward a close, they dined on the roof as the earl had promised. The gazebo beneath the cupola was light and airy, exquisitely decorated with pale-green Chinese silk and comfortable chairs, and had a circular mahogany table of particular elegance. The large French windows stood open onto the roof promenade, and a light evening breeze played over the small dinner party as they lingered in the fading light. Fruit and liqueurs were on the table, and Newton had just withdrawn after lighting the candles. The new flames shivered a little, moving shadows over the delicate silk on the walls, and the wisps of pale smoke were carried away, threading until they became invisible. Beyond the house the summer day had almost closed, and the setting sun was a stain of dull crimson on the skyline. The Solent gleamed like soft gray satin.

Louisa wore the lilac silk and plowman’s gauze evening gown she’d had on at the opera house, and there were pearls from the Highclare collection in her hair. There were more pearls at her throat, and over her arms she had a lacy shawl, its ends knotted to hang heavily to the floor.

Next to her the earl was very stylish in a black coat and white waistcoat, a voluminous neckcloth at his throat, and a black velvet ribbon tied in a precise knot to hold back his hair. Kit sat opposite, his fair hair shining in the candlelight, and he was putting himself out to be amusing. He was describing the performance of
Cosi Fan Tutte
, and he was doing so with such wit and humor that Louisa could again see quite clearly the scene in the opera house that night. She watched him as he lounged easily in his chair. How attractive he was, and how devastatingly charming when he chose to put himself out; surely there wasn’t another man in the world to compare with him. How she wished their marriage was founded on more than mere duty.

The conversation drifted on for a little longer, and the sun had almost completely set when the earl put down his glass and looked apologetically at her. ‘I’m afraid it’s time for me to toddle off to my bed. The state of my health has long dictated early retiring and early rising, and I do hope you won’t be offended if I leave you on this, your first night here.’

She smiled quickly. ‘No, of course not.’

‘Bless you. Besides, I’ve no doubt that you and Kit will prefer to be on your own.’ He got up, drawing her hand to his lips.

Kit escorted him to the staircase that descended into the house, and then returned. She’d left the table and was standing out on the roof, by the stone balustrade edging the promenade area. The park was shadowy far below, and the Solent was visible only as a faint silvery gleam to the north and west. The breeze toyed with the gauze on her gown, and she drew her shawl a little closer, turning as she heard Kit approaching.

‘I wish we weren’t deceiving your grandfather.’

‘Are we deceiving him?’

‘You know we are.’ She searched his face in the darkness. ‘Why can’t you be honest, Kit? You haven’t any intention of really making me your wife, because you’ve realized that I’m not the milksop creature you originally believed I was. I also think that now you’ve seen Lady Rowe again, you’re glad your anger with me has kept us apart, because now you have that most perfect of situations: a marriage that apparently satisfies your grandfather’s desire to see you honoring your family duty, but that in fact is conveniently open so that, should Lady Rowe choose to come to you, after all, you’ll be able to set me aside. You’re using me, Kit, and you’re also using my so-called indiscretions with Geoffrey Lawrence as an excuse to justify your own despicable conduct.’

For a long moment he met her accusing gaze. ‘Think that if you wish, Louisa; it’s your prerogative.’

Her chin rose defiantly. ‘Don’t let me keep you, sir, for no doubt her ladyship is waiting for you even now. I trust that you’ll able to make your peace with her and that she’s more trusting than you, for to be sure she’ll have a lot to swallow when you promise her faithfully that you haven’t consummated your shocking misalliance with Tom Cherington’s unlikely sister.’

Anger flashed into his eyes and abruptly he went back into the gazebo, extinguishing the candles. Then he turned to face her again. ‘You’re right, madam: she is waiting for me and I see no reason why I should dally pointlessly here with you when I could be with her.’

Without another word, she walked past him toward the staircase. There were tears in her eyes, but he didn’t see them. She’d provoked the argument without really knowing why – she just hadn’t been able to help herself – and now her worst fears were being realized: he was going to his beloved Thea.

The villa Rowe had had built some five years before stood in a leafy lane on the hillside overlooking Cowes. Small and elegant, it was set in beautiful gardens and was protected from the lane by a high wall and a screen of evergreen trees. It was approached through wroughtiron gates beside a little lodge, and this lodge was in darkness as Kit rode quietly along the lane. The absence of lights indicated that the lodgekeeper’s duties were at an end for the night, which could only mean that Thea had retired to her bed.

He rode past the lodge to where the wall veered away from the lane toward a thicket, then he dismounted and led the horse into the bushes where it wouldn’t be seen. He’d left it there many times in the past, gaining access to the villa grounds by climbing the huge oak tree next to the wall. As he tethered the horse, he paused. If he proceeded now, he’d be picking up the threads with Thea again. For a long moment he hesitated, then he went toward the oak tree.

There wasn’t a sound from the villa as he dropped down into the gardens. Open lawns stretched toward the house, where there weren’t any lights to be seen. Thea’s rooms opened on to an elegant balcony on the first floor and could be reached by climbing another tree, this time a mulberry growing against the house. He moved silently, slipping across the lawns and swinging himself up into the mulberry’s branches with only the minimum of sound.

The French windows were open, they always were when she was expecting him. He stepped into the dark room beyond. It was an elegant, feminine chamber, furnished in the Oriental style, with paleblue hand-painted silk on the walls and an immense four-poster bed draped extravagantly with the same costly material. He expected to see Thea lying there, but the bed was empty, the coverlet hadn’t even been turned back.

Her absence took him by surprise, for he’d been so certain she’d be there, but then she spoke behind him and he turned sharply to see her sitting in a chair by the fireplace.

‘I’m amazed you’ve come here, sir,’ she said, ‘for I imagined your new bride would occupy you on your first night on the island.’ She rose to her feet, her magnificent figure outlined very clearly, even in the darkness, by the low-cut, flimsy muslin robe she wore. Her hair was very golden, and a slight smile curved her lovely lips, for she was triumphant that he’d so swiftly deserted Louisa. ‘Why did you marry her, Kit? I’m all curiosity to know. Was it to spite me?’

‘Hardly.’

‘Then why take such a vapid little nonentity as your bride?’

‘Louisa isn’t vapid and she certainly isn’t a nonentity.’

It wasn’t a reply she cared for, and she turned petulantly away. ‘You’ll be telling me next that the rumors are true and it
is
a love match.’

‘Does it matter what it is? After all, you refused to leave Rowe and marry me, didn’t you? Or was I mistaken that night on board the
Spindrift
?’ He leaned back against one of the bedposts, folding his arms as he surveyed her.

‘You caught me unawares that night, Kit.’

‘And if you’d sensed what I was about to ask, would you have given me a different answer?’

She glanced at him. ‘We’ll never know now, will we?’ she murmured. ‘But you’re trying to change the subject, aren’t you? I asked you why you’d married the governess.’

‘Shall we agree not to inquire about each other’s marriages, Thea?’

It was another displeasing answer. ‘I’ll warrant you’d prefer not to answer my questions, for no doubt you’ve very swiftly realized how much a fool she’s made of you.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Oh, the usual malicious chitter-chatter, but from an unexpectedly trustworthy source.’

‘And what source might that be?’

‘Rowe.’

He gave a short laugh. ‘Since when has
he
been trustworthy?’

‘Oh, I admit that he has his faults and that the thought of his arrival in Cowes tomorrow doesn’t fill me with joy, but one of those faults doesn’t happen to be indulgence in idle gossip. That’s why I place great trust in what he tells me in the letter I received today.’ She glanced away, suddenly thoughtful. ‘It was an odd letter, actually, too loving by far. Rowe never writes loving letters; he sends curt notes.’

‘You were telling me what he said about Louisa,’ he prompted.

‘You already know that he and Captain Geoffrey Lawrence have become friendly, but I wonder if you know that the handsome captain has been regaling him with salacious tales of the goings-on at Lawrence Park? You’ve married a strumpet, Kit, a fortune-seeker for whom discretion appears to be an unknown quality. If you wish to be sure your heirs really are your heirs, I strongly suggest you lock her up, because Lawrence is accompanying Rowe to Cowes, and I rather gather that what the good captain enjoyed once before, he fully intends to enjoy again.’

‘You aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know, Thea.’

She was startled. ‘You – you know?’

‘Yes, and I don’t intend to discuss it – not with you or with anyone else. You forfeited any right to that side of my life when you turned me down.’

‘Then why have you come here tonight? If part of your life is now closed to me, why bother to come and see me like this?’

‘Because I thought I owed you at least that.’

The triumph she’d felt because he’d deserted Louisa on his first night back began to suddenly fade. She was no longer as sure of him as she had been when he’d entered. Something in him had changed since that night on the
Spindrift
, and now she bitterly regretted turning him down. If only she’d accepted and flown in the face of scandal, for by now the worst of the uproar would be over and she’d be anticipating divorce from Rowe and a future with this man she now wanted so very much. She wanted him now, and intended to do all in her power to win him back.

Quickly she went to him, linking her slender arms around his neck and drawing his mouth down to hers. She pressed against him, exercising all her many wiles, and she felt his arms begin to move to hold her close.

But as he did so, he suddenly saw Louisa, her lips parted with desire as she reached up to kiss Geoffrey Lawrence. The vision was so sharp and clear that he drew back abruptly.

Thea still clung to him. ‘Love me, Kit,’ she whispered urgently, ‘love me now.’ She kissed him again. She wouldn’t give him up to a creature like Louisa Cherington. She wouldn’t.

Before dawn a mist rose over the Solent, and the Cyclops was forced to lie at anchor in Cowes Roads, waiting for it to clear. A lookout kept watch on deck, but the rest of the crew was asleep. Down in the cabin, Rowe and Geoffrey had been up all night, and now two empty decanters of cognac stood on the table. Geoffrey was sprawled drunkenly on the only chair, while a much more sober Rowe lay on the narrow bunk, nursing his throbbing arm. Each day the pain seemed to worsen, and now was so bad that his physician had strongly advised against leaving London and had certainly instructed him not to take part in anything as strenuous as sailing; but William, Lord Rowe, wasn’t a man to bow to the advice of others, especially not when a burning thirst for revenge had to be slaked. Thea had to be brought to account for her infidelity, and Kit had to pay very dearly indeed for what he’d done. Rowe’s eyes glittered coldly as he lay on the bunk, and he was still icily clearheaded in spite of the amount of cognac he’d consumed.

Geoffrey, however, was very much the worse for wear, leaning unsteadily forward to pick up an empty decanter and shake it in a disgruntled way before attempting to put it back. He couldn’t balance it and so it fell over, rocking to and fro on the table to the gentle motion of the cutter.

Rowe’s attention was drawn to him. ‘God damn it, man! I thought you could hold your drink better than this.’

‘Nothing wrong with me.’ But Geoffrey’s voice was thick and slurred.

Rowe drew an irritated breath and said nothing more.

Geoffrey looked accusingly at him. ‘Why’d you tell your wife my plans for the governess, eh? Why’d you tell her?’

‘To gall Highclare, of course. Thea’s bound to mention it – she’s too much of a cat not to – and she’ll have been roused to a fury by his marriage.’

‘But he knows now,’ protested Geoffrey.

‘He knew already, you fool. He’d warned you off at the opera house, remember? Letting him know through Thea won’t make any difference, except that it’ll get under his skin.’ Rowe studied Geoffrey for a moment. ‘I trust you’re still of a mind to possess the lady.’

‘Yes.’

‘Good, because I’d hate her to escape. All three of them must suffer for their actions.’

‘Four.’

‘Four? What do you mean?’

‘My dear stepmama.’ Geoffrey raised his empty glass in mocking toast.

Rowe sighed irritatedly. Lady Lawrence wasn’t of any interest to him, she could go to perdition for all he cared.

Geoffrey despised her, though, and meant to have his full revenge for the business of the locket, which he now firmly believed to have been her work. He’d already put his reprisal into effect. ‘She’ll be rueing it by now, I promise you,’ he said with a satisfied, lopsided grin.

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because I’ve spiked her guns for her. She can’t do as she pleases and get away with it, not when she tries it with me. The atmosphere’ll be frosty at the parental home, frosty as hell.’

‘A contradiction in terms, if ever I heard one.’