Lady Vixen (60 page)

They
were able to return without undue incident to Cavendish Square. Nicole's
unusually obedient manner nettled Christopher, and somewhat exasperatedly, the
moment they were alone he said, "Will you please let off with these
die-away airs! They don't become you, I can tell you that!"

Wrenched
abruptly from her unpleasant musings, Nicole sent him a lowering look. "If
you don't like it, you can leave!" she shot back.

His
mouth tightened angrily, but he said nothing further on the subject; instead he
asked, "Where are my grandfather and the ladies?"

And
with a shock Nicole remembered the exciting news that Twickham had imparted
earlier. Her constraint vanishing, for a moment the topaz eyes suddenly
sparkled with mischief and she said almost happily, "Oh, Christopher, I
did not tell you! Your grandfather and Mrs. Eggleston are to be married! This
Sunday!"

If
Nicole had thought to startle him she was disappointed, for he displayed
neither astonishment nor surprise. "I wondered when he would get around to
it!" Christopher replied lightly.

"You
expected it!" Nicole returned almost accusingly.

Smiling
sardonically, he merely remarked, "Of course I did—anyone who knew either
of them would have been aware it was just a matter of time until Simon
proposed. And there was never any doubt that Mrs. Eggleston would accept him.
Even
I
could see that!"

Hunching
a shoulder in displeasure, Nicole said sulkily, "Well, you don't have to
be so conceited about it.
I
am prodigiously pleased with the news, and I
won't let your cynicism spoil it for me!"

Dryly,
his eyes hard and disbelieving, he retorted, "Could I spoil
any
thing
for you, Nicole?"

With
something like horror she heard herself saying in a tortured tone, "You
know you can, Christopher! You've known it all along."

Christopher
froze; his eyes were like golden daggers slashing across Nicole's quickly
averted features. The very air in the room seemed to crackle with electrifying
suspense as Christopher digested those impetuous words, unwilling to trust what
they hinted at. And Nicole, unable to bear the intensity of his narrowed gaze,
terrified he would tear out the secret in her heart, muttered distractedly,
"I don't like to be always at odds with you— especially since I am living
with your grandfather and I owe so much to you. I wish that we could be
friends, that we could put aside the past and treat one anther with courtesy
and the fondness that one has for those who are dear acquaintances."

"Dear
acquaintances!" he snarled. The crazy mad longing to read something vital
and revealing in her statement died instantly like a snowflake under the desert
sun. Crossing the room with lithe strides, he grasped her arm in a painful grip
and with one long-fingered hand turned her face brutally up to his.
"Friends!" he spat. "There can never be friendship between us!
Forget that you owe me anything, Nick! Remember that, will you, the next time
your sordid little conscience pricks you!"

With
a contemptuous movement he released her, and walking over to the door, he said
in a sarcastic tone of voice, "Now that you have expressed your gratitude
and I have calmed your fears of a marriage between us, I think it is time for
me to leave. Give my congratulations to the newly engaged pair when they
reappear, will you?"

He
slammed out of the room, intending to put the length of London between himself
and Nicole, only to be brought up short by Regina's entry into the house.

"Oh,
Christopher, there you are. Have you heard the news? Isn't it thrilling?"
Regina babbled, wondering with one part of her mind why his face wore such a
scowling black frown.

Stiffly
Christopher replied. "Yes. I have heard. As a matter of fact Nicole just
told me."

Ignoring
the fact that he obviously had been on the point of leaving, delighted that he
had apparently come to call on Nicole, Regina rushed on, "Do stay a bit
longer, won't you? I am full of plans for the wedding, and as you are his
grandson, I would like to discuss them with you."

Almost
rudely Christopher retorted, "I'm quite certain Simon can manage his own
wedding, and what he can't, you, my dearest aunt, will be more than capable of
handling. If you will excuse me?"

Regarding
him with exasperation, Regina snapped, "Really, you are the most boorish young
man of my acquaintance! It is too bad Robert didn't let a little more of your
hot, bad-tempered blood!"

Christopher
bowed with insulting politeness. "Madame, shall I seek him out and request
that he rectify his oversight?"

"Oh,
don't be silly! You know I didn't mean what I said," Regina returned
peevishly. "Really, Christopher, you are enough to drive a saint to the
devil. Tell me, how is your arm?"

"Very
well, thank you. It was only a scratch you know." And his gaze suddenly
sharpening, his attention caught by something she had said, he added,
"Perhaps I shall stay. There is something I would like to ask
Nicole."

Very
pleased with the change about-face, Regina said graciously, "Well, do
rejoin her and I shall be with you both in just a moment. I simply have to rid
myself of my cloak and to have a word with the cook about tonight's
dinner."

Christopher
reentered the blue sitting room so abruptly that Nicole gave a decided start.
Still slightly stunned by the unexpectedly ruthless manner in which he had received
her frail attempt at mending the past differences between them, she eyed him
suspiciously as he shut the door and approached her. And it wasn't so
unreasonable of her to put the protection of one of the low damask-covered
sofas between herself and Christopher as he walked toward her.

With
a derisive smile curling his lips, he murmured, "Don't run away, brat! I
want a word with you and we haven't much time." He added enlighteningly,
"Regina is home and will be joining us."

Her
jaw clenched with anger at his careless tone and the arrogance of his actions,
and Nicole replied tightly, "I think you and I have said enough
today!"

"Mmmm,
that may be, but unless you want an unholy row breaking over your head, you had
better listen to me!"

Mistrustfully
Nicole asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Simply
this: I think it advisable not to mention what Robert told you." At her
expression of doubt he said reasonably, "Regina made that up on the spur
of the moment, of that I am certain, and to bring it out in the open will only
cause complications I think we can both do without." With disarming candor
he admitted, "I don't relish telling her, or my grandfather for that
matter, that they are both living a fool's paradise if they think they can
arrange a match between us. Especially since it all may be nothing more than a
fond wish on Regina's part —one she unfortunately expounded on to Robert. To
save all of us an awkward time of it, it is best for the time being to ignore
the rumor, because, believe me, that is all it is!"

After
a moment's hesitation Nicole nodded her head. "Very well, I shall say
nothing," she agreed listlessly, wishing only for the privacy of her room,
for the time to refocus her thoughts, to come to terms with all that she had
learned this traumatic afternoon. But Christopher now seemed in no hurry to
depart, and when she glanced inquiringly at him, he said, "There is one
more thing I want to discuss with you. Tell me, precisely which night was it
that Robert found out about this supposed engagement between you and me. Can
you remember exactly?"

Her
forehead wrinkled in a frown of puzzlement, and she queried, "Why do you
want to know that?"

"Because,"
he answered curtly, "I think it will explain something that has been
baffling me for the past fortnight or so. Do you recall when it was?"

For
a second longer Nicole stared at him, trying to discover why the date was
important to him. And then with appalling clarity she connected two apparently
unrelated events with one another. Her heart lurched sickeningly in her breast,
the topaz eyes widened with ugly realization, and she whispered, "The
night before your accident. It was the night before you were wounded."

Christopher
smiled grimly. "Thank you, my dear, that explains a great deal."

"Oh,
Christopher! He didn't! He wouldn't have done it deliberately, would he?"
It was a cry for reassurance, but Nicole, with Robert's earlier base action
burning in her brain, didn't really expect Christopher to answer any
differently than he did.

The
gold eyes cold and impenetrable, he drawled, "Now that remains to be seen,
doesn't it?"

Having
discovered what he wanted, Christopher would have preferred to depart from
Cavendish Square immediately. But he had committed himself, and reconciling
himself to the inescapable, he gained a queer sense of enjoyment from the
afternoon, even going so far as to accept Regina's invitation for dinner that
night. It was the least he could do—tonight's dinner would be a celebration,
and it would have been churlish to refuse. For a brief while he was able to
forget that tempting memorandum that lay just out of his reach.

It
had been because of the memorandum that he had returned so unexpectedly to his
rooms. Wary of approaching Buckley too soon after last night's indiscreet
conversation, he had avoided his usual haunts, but finding no place in which to
do some hard thinking, he had returned to Ryder Street, intending to plot a
course of action. Nicole's untimely presence had put an end to that, and once
he had connected Robert's attack on him with Nicole's news of the alleged
marriage arrangement, he knew he couldn't leave Cavendish Square without
discovering if his deduction had been correct.

Watching
Regina at dinner that night, he wondered wryly if she had any inkling of what
her deliberately mendacious remarks to Robert had caused, or that it was her
careless inquiry after his wound that had led him to connect the two events. As
it was, he hadn't really needed Nicole's confirmation of the date to convince
himself of the devils that had driven Robert to attack him. He briefly toyed
with the idea of letting Robert know that Regina had lied to warn him off, but
then he discarded it; unfortunately he was incorrigible enough to leave Robert
with that mistaken information. It gave him wicked amusement to think of the
heart burnings Robert must be suffering.

Dinner
was a pleasant affair; Christopher and Robert were the only additional guests
at Cavendish Square. Robert took the news of his father's approaching marriage
with careless indifference and murmured all the appropriate offers of
congratulations in a tone that did little to conceal his disinterest.
Christopher, on the other hand, was quite sincere and unstinting in his
approval of the match. He was also guiltily aware that Simon's marriage fitted
in very nicely with his own plans—with Letitia as his bride Simon wasn't going
to miss his departing grandson a great deal, and that thought soothed
Christopher's uneasy conscience.

If
Robert was disinterested in the news of Simon's second foray into the married
state, he certainly displayed no such disinterest in Nicole. Delighted by the
invitation to dine at Cavendish Square, Robert spent the entire evening trying
to fix his interest with Nicole, but Nicole was singularly elusive and unreceptive.
Frowning, he regarded her across the room, as for the second time this evening
she had escaped his attempt to have a private word with her. Not unnaturally he
wondered if her sudden and obvious distaste for his company had anything to do
with this morning's conversation. She had been so positive and vehement in her
denial of any agreement between her and Christopher that he was more than a
little puzzled by her actions. Did the agreement perhaps exist, and had his
aunt and his father brought enough pressure to bear that she had given in to
their demands? It was an unsettling thought, but after a moment's reflection he
dismissed it. So why did she avoid him? Why did her eyes not meet his? Why was
there more than a hint of reserve in her manner with him—almost as if she found
his company distasteful?

Glancing
suspiciously at Christopher, he caught the gleam of knowing amusement that
flickered in the gold eyes and felt a shaft of rage whip through his body. It
was obvious that Christopher knew the answer to Nicole's strange behavior, and
Robert experienced again that blind rage of hatred against his nephew. Someday,
he promised fiercely, someday I will be rid of you, just as I rid myself of
your father! And soon, Christopher, it will be soon, have no doubt of that.

Almost
as if he could read Robert's mind, Christopher smiled at him grimly and lifted
his glass of wine in a mocking toast.

Armed
with her new knowledge of Robert, Nicole could barely stand the sight of him.
The thought that she had once considered marrying him filled her with
revulsion. Watching the two men from under lowered lashes, she wondered how
Christopher could act so nonchalantly, how he could smile so coolly into
Robert's face without giving way to fury.

That
ability came from many years of concealing true emotions, of mastering the
wild, dark hatred that ate at his soul like some foul cancer. Christopher had
lived with Robert's betrayal a long time, and like a hunting tiger, he could
wait. There was no doubt in his mind that in time Robert would be his, and he
would have no mercy. And so Christopher smiled at his uncle, and after the last
toast to the newly engaged pair had been drunk, he prepared to depart,
promising that he would attend the wedding on Sunday.