An Escapade and an Engagement (7 page)

Even if she hadn’t already been in love with someone else,
she’d already let him know, in no uncertain terms, that he held no appeal for
her whatsoever. That he was, in short, a
cross old
stick.

He turned from her abruptly, using the excuse of placing his
empty glass down on the stone coping to conceal any of the feelings that, heaven
forbid, might be revealed in his expression. Nor did he particularly want to
watch her light up when he told her what steps he had already taken in
accordance with the promise he’d made her.

‘I have taken a box at Drury Lane. I shall be inviting you to
join a party I shall get up next Tuesday. Be sure to attend.’

Lady Jayne glowered at him. The ingrate! After all she had
done, the lengths she was prepared to go to be of help to him and Milly, all he
could do was bark further orders at her.

He got to his feet.

‘The waltz has finished and we must make our way back to Lady
Penrose,’ he said.

It was so insulting for him to attempt to escape her presence
the moment the last strains of music died away that she remained right where she
was. And it struck her that this was another reason why she’d always agreed to
see Harry. He actually
wanted
to be with her. She
wasn’t a responsibility who’d been thrust on him. And whenever the time came for
them to part he always pleaded for just a few more moments.

‘Have you not forgotten something?’

‘No.’

‘Well, then, may I make a suggestion that if the need should
arise,’ she said, getting to her feet in her own good time, ‘you may send a note
via Josie, my maid. You can rely on her discretion.’

‘Smuggled letters?’ He looked at her, aghast. ‘I am beginning
to feel as if I have walked into some kind of badly written play.’

The entire situation was getting out of hand. He’d correctly
deduced that Lady Jayne could be a bit of a handful, but she was far more than
that. She was like a force of nature. He had only asked her to give Milly a few
hints about what a truly elegant lady would wear, and all of a sudden they were
best friends—going out and buying ices at Gunters, and now this!

‘Not such a great strategist, are you, if even
I
can see that we might need to contact one another
before Tuesday? I can foresee any number of circumstances arising which might
require
me
to contact
you.
And there will be no way for me to do so openly. Lady Penrose
would never let me have private communication with a young man.’ She shot his
scarred face one scathing glance. ‘A relatively young man,’ she corrected
herself, ‘without close supervision. Do not be deceived by the fact she allowed
us to sit outdoors for the duration of this dance. Normally she guards me far
more closely.’

‘I am not a bit surprised,’ he snapped, stung by the way she’d
once again pointed out that he was far too old and battered for a fresh young
beauty like her to give him a second glance. ‘If I were in charge of you I would
post guards on your door at night.’

‘It would not do you a bit of good if you did,’ she replied
waspishly, ‘since I always go out by the window when I do not wish anyone to
know where I am going.’

She could not believe he had goaded her into saying that when
it was completely untrue. She had only crept out that way once since coming to
London, and the outcome had been so appalling she had vowed never to do so
again. She could not believe, either, the power he had to wound her when she
scarcely knew him. Or that he could make her so cross that she could not stop
herself from lashing out in a completely irrational manner.

His shocked gasp did, at least, give her a moment’s
satisfaction. But only until she took her seat beside Lady Penrose and watched
him walk stiffly away—when she realized she would have much rather heard him
praise her for her resourcefulness and thank her for being so helpful.

And how likely was that?

* * *

Lady Jayne had never looked forward to a trip to the
theatre so much. She couldn’t wait to see Lord Ledbury’s face when he saw she’d
prevailed upon Lady Penrose to take Milly along as one of their party. Lady
Penrose had not minded in the least. It was not as if she’d begged to have Milly
admitted to a
ton
event. Why, anyone could go to the
theatre.

And one morning in Milly’s company had convinced her that Lord
Ledbury was being as ridiculous as her own grandfather had been. There was no
sensible reason why he should not marry Milly. She was just as bright and far
more pleasant than any well-born lady he was ever likely to meet.

Besides, the way he’d criticised her at the Cardingtons’ still
rankled. She was determined to show him that not only could she teach Milly how
to dress well, but she could turn her into the kind of woman he could take
anywhere.

Lord Ledbury was waiting for them in the doorway to the box
he’d acquired. He greeted Lady Penrose before turning to her.

‘This is Miss Amelia Brigstock,’ she said, the second he
noticed who was standing beside her. ‘I do hope you don’t mind me bringing her
along? Only she is such a very good friend of mine.’

The smile of welcome stayed on his lips, but to her surprise it
died from his eyes and the muscles in his jaw twitched as though he was grinding
his teeth.

She watched in mounting bewilderment at the total lack of any
perceptible sign of softening from Lord Ledbury as Milly curtsied, and offered
her hand, and blushed prettily, exactly as any young lady just presented to such
an imposing aristocrat might have done.

Having been as short with Milly as politeness would allow, he
then turned his attention back to her.

‘Permit me to introduce you to the other members of my party,’
he said.

She felt very uncomfortable as she took his arm and allowed him
to lead her into the box. She couldn’t understand what she had done wrong. Why
had he not seemed pleased to see how well Milly could behave in polite company
after only a few lessons in etiquette? There had been a kind of suppressed
excitement about her, but she did not think anyone who did not know the whole
story would have been able to detect anything untoward in her demeanour. Why was
he not bursting with pride at her accomplishment?

And then she wondered if she had been terribly insensitive. He
looked as though he was just barely keeping the lid on a seething cauldron of
various hurts and resentments at a time when he was still, to judge by the
pallor of his complexion, very far from well. The poor man had no idea that she
was trying to prove to him, and the world, that Milly could easily take her
place at his side, given a little instruction. Having her thrust under his nose
like this, when he clearly still believed he could never marry her, looked very
much as though she had twisted the knife in the wound, which was the very last
thing she’d wished to do.

‘You already know Beresford and his sister,’ he said as they
acknowledged her.

Lucy was not behaving half so well as Milly. She was so excited
to be one of such a select party that it looked as though her brother was only
just preventing her from prostrating herself at Lord Ledbury’s feet.

‘And now I must introduce you to one of the few military men
still fortunate enough to be stationed in London,’ he said, ignoring the adoring
way Lucy was gazing at him. ‘Lieutenant Kendell.’

Then Harry, who had been hovering in the shadows cast by the
pillars holding up the tiers of boxes, stepped forward, bowed smartly, and said,
‘Honoured to make your acquaintance.’

Her stomach lurched. She found herself hoping, as she curtsied
and held out her own hand, that she was managing to conceal her reactions half
so well as Milly had just done, when Harry took her hand, tucked it into the
crook of his arm, and tugged her away from Lord Ledbury.

‘Allow me to help you to your seat,’ he said aloud. In her ear,
he murmured, ‘This is intolerable. He pursued me to the barracks. Now the devil
has me on such a short leash there is no way I can escape him. He will ruin me
if I step out of line.’

Lord Ledbury clenched his fists as he saw Kendell bend down to
whisper in Lady Jayne’s ear. The system that sent good men off to die while
no-goods like this Kendell remained behind to prey on vulnerable heiresses was
monstrously unfair. Not that the boy would be much good on the battlefield, he
sneered. He wouldn’t want that handsome face bashed about, or his uniform
sullied.

He indulged himself with a vision of striding across the box
and planting Kendell a facer to stop the man taking the chair next to Lady
Jayne’s. The fool! Could he not see that not only was he drawing attention to
them by behaving in such an obvious manner, but he was also making her
uncomfortable?

Well, he couldn’t rearrange the man’s face, but he could spare
Lady Jayne’s blushes by distracting his other guests from what was going on.

Turning his back on them, he devoted himself to doing just
that.

‘My darling,’ Harry murmured, ‘we cannot go on like this. It is
such torment.’

‘Oh, Harry,’ she said, gazing mournfully into his ardent
face.

She dreaded having to tell him it was all over. But it was
wrong to keep him dangling like this, in a mix of agony and hope. The longer she
put off the moment of parting, the worse it would be for him.

‘Come to me where we met before,’ he begged her. ‘This time I
shall have a carriage waiting, so that we can escape from them all.
Forever.’

‘No!’ Oh, this was dreadful. He was still thinking in terms of
making a runaway match, while she was looking for an opportunity to sever the
connection entirely.

‘You need not be afraid,’ he said cajolingly. ‘I understand how
badly Lord Ledbury frightened you, coming upon us like that and uttering all
those threats, but I swear I shall never let him hurt you. Once we are married I
can protect you from him, and all those like him. My treasure…’

‘It is not that,’ she snapped. There were so many things wrong
with that statement she did not know where to start. She was not afraid of Lord
Ledbury. And she did not need Harry to protect her from him or anyone. And how
dare he accuse her of being too timid to run away with him? If he thought her so
lacking in nerve then he did not know her at all! If she had really loved him
nothing would have made her hesitate. Nothing!

She glanced round at the other occupants of the box. Lord
Ledbury was standing next to Milly, including her in a conversation that also
encompassed his other guests. Whilst also managing to distract Lady Penrose from
the fact that she and Harry were standing far too close, and whispering…

‘Then what is it?’

She would scarcely get a better chance than this, whilst
everyone else was busy exchanging greetings and deciding which chair to take.
Now was the time to tell Harry it was over.

Time to stop making excuses for herself. Time to grow up and
shoulder responsibility for her actions, not feebly hope somebody else would
sort out the mess she’d made. She should never have taken up with Harry when he
came to London searching for her, no matter how wonderful it had felt to have
him persist in his pursuit of her in the face of her grandfather’s
objections.

She took a deep breath, looked him straight in the eye…and
pictured the aftermath. Harry would be devastated when she told him it was over.
Nor would he be able to disguise his hurt, or the fact that she had caused it.
He was not made of such stern stuff as Lord Ledbury. Nobody, to look at
him,
would ever be able to guess he was experiencing
such deep emotional as well as physical pain.

In fact at that moment she
did
look
at him, and it struck her that now she had owned up to not being even slightly
in love with Harry that Lord Ledbury cast him completely in the shade. The very
perfection of Harry’s features, when compared with Lord Ledbury’s battle-scarred
visage, made him look…well, like a pretty youth play-acting at being a soldier.
While Lord Ledbury was the real thing.

‘Oh, Harry.’ She sighed again, shaking her head. She could not
do it. Not here. It would be downright cruel of her to dash all his hopes in
front of these theatregoers. ‘I…I just want to talk to you, that is all.
Alone.’

She needed to tell him it was over in a private place, where
his grief would not expose him to any loss of dignity. And if that meant
breaking her pact with Lord Ledbury, to see him only where he could watch over
them, then so be it. She owed Harry that much.

‘I don’t suppose…’ She caught her lower lip between her teeth
as a plan began to take shape in her mind. ‘Can you get an invitation to Lord
Lambourne’s masquerade ball next week?’

‘I dare say I could. And everyone will be in costume anyway, so
the hosts won’t know if I’m someone they’ve invited or not if I tag on to
another party. It will be perfect. You are a clever girl…’

Lady Jayne cringed. Harry was the only man who had ever given
her such unstinting praise. How she wished she could return his regard.

Seeing her pained look, he became all solicitude. ‘It will be
difficult for you, though, escaping from your dragon of a chaperone, will it
not?’

Actually, she did not think it would be as hard as all that.
They had already discussed the event at some length. They both knew that her
grandfather would never approve of her attending such an event. But Lady Penrose
had admitted that she thought it was a pity, since it was just the sort of thing
for a girl of her age.

‘I shall contrive something,’ she said, biting back her impulse
to defend Lady Penrose from the slur on her character. ‘Don’t I always?’ To her
shame. She really had to stop going behind her chaperone’s back.

And she would!

Once she had freed herself from Harry.