Lady Vixen (65 page)

On
the surface Robert had taken Nicole's withdrawal without any sign of anger, but
underneath he was seething with jealousy. He had attempted to lure more
information out of Jennings-Smythe about this Captain Saber, but he always
turned aside with a laughing comment, mocking himself for his mistake. He
learned a little more from casual inquiries, but nothing that would connect
Christopher with the American privateer Captain Saber. Robert finally decided
that the hiring of an inquiry agent was his only option, and in the middle of
the second week of September he did precisely that.

On
the twenty-fourth of September Simon and Letitia arrived in Brighton, both
looking incredibly happy. With their return the house on Kings Road suddenly
seemed to wake and shake off its slumbering air and resounded now with lively
laughter and gaiety as various friends and acquaintances came to call, offering
their congratulations and welcoming them to Brighton.

The
air of passiveness that had overtaken Nicole vanished with their return, and
she found she could bear with equanimity Edward's persistent and increasingly
annoying suit and that she could even occasionally smile at Robert Saxon. She
told herself firmly that this new vigor, this bubble of excitement in her
breast was because Lord Saxon and his wife were once again part of the
household, but it was only her unruly heart that acknowledged the feeling might
have something to do with the fact that in less than a week she would see
Christopher again.

Simon
and Letitia had both noticed instantly that Robert was no longer greeted with
the same degree of warmth and cordiality he had been in the past, and both were
more than a little curious as to why Nicole had changed her attitude toward
him. Simon, thinking it some work of Regina's, had taken her to task for it the
first moment they were alone.

Glaring
at his sister, he demanded, "Now, Gina, what is going on here? What have
you said to Nicole to make her avoid Robert so? I told you to let the gel be,
that if she wanted Robert, I wouldn't throw a rub in her way. And I meant it! I
don't want her to marry Robert, but I've learned my lesson and I'll not be a
party to forcing them apart."

Regina
drew herself up stiffly. "You wrong me, Simon! I do not know what you are
talking about! Certainly I have said nothing to Nicole to give her a distaste
for Robert. I haven't had to! She had been disenchanted with your son since
before the wedding had you cared to notice!"

"Just
so you haven't been meddling!" he barked after a moment.

Somewhat
huffily Regina replied, "Meddling! Why I would never do such a
thing!"

Simon
grunted disgustedly. "Now don't give me that! You are an unscrupulous
woman, Gina! And you are perfectly capable of telling an outright lie if it
suits you!" Seeing his sister was becoming highly incensed, he added
somewhat hastily, "Well, that is enough of that! Perhaps Letty can find
out why the chit had taken such an obvious aversion to Robert."

Letitia
was indeed able to find out what had happened when Nicole unburdened herself.
Regina had gone to visit her close friend Lady Unton, and Simon was closeted
with his man of business, leaving Letitia and Nicole to their own devices, and
they were seated under the spreading leaves of an elm tree at the side of the
house, enjoying a glass of lemonade, when Nicole haltingly told Letitia what
she had learned from Higgins.

She
hadn't meant to tell anyone, but Letitia's gentle probing about Robert loosened
her tongue and the story came tumbling out. All of it.

Letitia,
the faded blue eyes round with astonishment and dismay, listened in silence,
her only comment when Nicole halted, "Oh my! How dreadful!"

"Yes,
it is. It's been rather beastly too, knowing that my mother was such a depraved
creature." Her face averted, Nicole said in a choked voice, "I've
tried to make excuses for her, tried to remember her as I thought she was, but
I just can't! All I can think of is that not only was Robert her lover, but
Christopher as well!" Her eyes were anguished as she looked into Letitia's
compassionate features and cried, "How could she! How could Robert share
her with Christopher! Oh, I know it was to distract my father, but you would
have thought if Robert were in love with her, he wouldn't have wanted to share
her that way."

Letitia
looked away and said very carefully, "Perhaps Robert didn't know."

Nicole
stared at her. Finally she asked in a dull tone, "You mean, mother also
betrayed Robert? That he thought those meetings were innocuous, arranged solely
for the look of the thing?"

"Yes,
my dear, I'm afraid that is precisely what I mean." Letitia clasped
Nicole's hand. "My dear, listen to me! Your mother was like a spoiled
child. I knew her from a babe, and she absolutely
had
to have the
adoration of any man, young or old, whom she met. I don't believe she ever
really loved anyone, but that didn't make her entirely wicked! Oh, dear, what I
am trying to say is that she wasn't malicious, she just did these things."
Sadly she continued, "Christopher was so obviously suffering from a
terrible case of calf love that I think it was beyond her to resist seducing
him! She and Robert probably meant to use him as a blind, but her vanity drove
her to make the lies she told her husband reality."

"Mrs.
Eggleston!" Nicole burst out, so shocked she had neglected her new title.
"How can you say that! Are you excusing what they meant to do?"

Flustered,
Letitia twisted her hands together, "Oh, no! What I am trying to say, is
that your mother was selfish and thoughtless and that she used people, but in
the way that a child uses people. She didn't think what she was doing to
Christopher. She and Robert needed a scapegoat and he was available. She saw
things only as they affected
her!
Can you understand what I mean?"

Frowning,
Nicole gazed off into the distance. "I think so. But it doesn't lessen
what she did."

"Oh,
no, I never meant it did! I was only trying to explain how Annabelle would have
looked at things. It probably never even occurred to her that she was being
unfair to your father by being unfaithful, or that she was betraying Robert by
taking Christopher as her lover. She simply never
thought."

"And
Robert?" Nicole inquired tiredly.

"Oh,
my!" Letitia murmured unhappily. "I don't wish to be brutal, my dear,
but Robert would never have done for you. He was jealous and spiteful as a
child, and I must admit that I never liked him. From what you have told me, I
blame him for what happened. It was probably his idea to use Christopher, and
certainly it was his doing that sent Christopher from England. And I cannot say
in this case that it was something done without a lot of thinking and planning.
Robert meant for Christopher to die, and I'm certain he wanted Christopher
disgraced more than—" she broke off suddenly, as though she had gone too
far.

Nicole
smiled sadly. "But we can hardly say this to your husband."

"Oh
my, no! Robert has caused Simon enough grief as it is. It is over with and
finished; there is nothing any of us can do to change it. All we can do is to
forget it and go forward." Her eyes misty with tears, she leaned forward
and said earnestly, "My dear, do not let it destroy you! Put it from your
mind and forget it."

Nicole
gave her that sad smile. "I think I will now that I have talked to you. I feel
more at ease about it, less confused and angry. Perhaps in time I shall view it
more objectively."

"Yes,
that's it, my love!
Do
try!" Lady Saxon urged her affectionately.

Nicole
discovered that she had spoken the truth; it was as if the conversation with
Lady Saxon had lessened the hurt.

But
if Nicole's pain had been lessened by that conversation, Lady Saxon was in
agony. The sight of Robert Saxon filled her with wrath, and without even being
aware of it, she glowered at him every time he even looked at Nicole. She was
tormented by what she learned, and could not bear the thought of the horrors
Robert had inflicted on those she loved.

By
the night after her conversation with Nicole Lady Saxon's distress was so acute
that even sleep would not come to her. It suddenly seemed clear to her that she
must do something to confront Robert with her knowledge, but she had no idea
what she could do that would not somehow involve Simon.

She
shifted miserably in her bed, trying not to disturb her sleeping husband. She
almost jumped out of bed when his voice pierced the darkness. "Letty! What
is it? You've been fidgeting for hours!"

"It's
nothing, Simon. I've had the most dreadful headache all night and cannot sleep.
I had hoped I would not disturb you." Her voice quavered slightly.

Simon
heard that quaver and reached out to enfold her in his arms. "What is it,
my dear, what is distressing you?"

Determined
to keep the truth from him, she made some light comment, but Simon would have
none of it. With paralyzing intuitiveness, he asked, "Is it Robert? I
noticed that you have been somewhat strained in his company since
yesterday."

Letitia
went rigid, and instantly aware of it, Simon said sharply, "Tell me what
he has done! And, Letty, don't fob me off with some feeble excuse about a
headache! I know you too well and it is obvious that Robert has done something
to upset you. Now tell me what it is and no nonsense."

For
a moment Letitia still hesitated, but then Simon kissed her gently on the cheek
and said in a pleading tone, "Please, love, tell me."

What
could she do except tell him after that?

When
she finished Simon said nothing for several seconds, and Letitia's heart ached
for him. He set her from him gently with a heavy sigh. "I feared all along
that it was something like that," he said in a sad tone. "I suspected
it, but I didn't want to believe it. Why? Why, Letty, is Robert this way? I
have always tried to treat him fairly, and God knows I have always loved him
and protected him. To treat a boy that way! His one nephew! To sell him into
certain death!" Agonized, he burst out, "I tell you, Letty, I don't
think I can bear the sight of him anymore. This time I cannot forgive
him."

"Simon,
Simon. Do not distress yourself. Please try to sleep. Remember it happened so
long ago."

Absently
he rearranged the tangled bed clothes, his movements slow and painful, and
Letitia was filled with pity for him. Now it was she who cradled him, her arms
enfolding him, her lips pressing tenderly against his temple. "Simon,
don't let it eat at you. Robert is what he is and you cannot blame yourself.
Know in your heart that you have done the best you could, and put the rest
aside. He is a man full grown, and he was a man full grown when he and
Annabelle planned their charade and when he sold Christopher to that press-gang.
It is not your fault; you taught him what you could, and if he chose not to
learn, there is nothing you can do about it, Put it from you," she
pleaded.

"I
shall try, Letty. I shall try. But I doubt I can be as forgiving as you—or as
Christopher appears to be."

Letitia
stirred uneasily. "I don't think Christopher has forgiven him, Simon.
Sometimes I think he is merely waiting like a tiger does for his prey to make a
mistake."

In
London, Christopher did resemble a tiger—a caged tiger. Waiting was not easy
for him, and the thought that Jennings-Smythe could bring about disaster
anytime he cared to open his mouth, did nothing to improve his temper.

Anticipating
his departure, Christopher had already let it be known that he was leaving
London and traveling to Brighton. He left his plans deliberately vague,
alluding carelessly to travels on the continent.

He
had paid his debts, informed his landlord of his date of departure, and
completed his packing. The memorandum itself was in a thin leather pouch
strapped around Christopher's waist. He was ready.

The
days of September had lagged. He had still not come to any firm decision
concerning what he would tell his grandfather, and it knifed him with
increasing and painful frequency. He was not ashamed of what he had done, but
would Simon, if he knew, understand? More than ever Christopher was aware of
his invidious position, but his worst moment came on the morning of the
twenty-eighth of September.

He
had risen late, after having spent the previous evening drinking and whoring
with Captain Buckley and Lieutenant Kettlescope as a sort of farewell to
London. His head was aching, and his mouth tasted like the floor of a stable.
He had just finished his fourth cup of very strong coffee when Higgins entered
and thrust the
London Times
under his nose. "They've burned
Washington!"

With
a feeling of incredulity, Christopher read the bold black headlines, Washington
Burned! His face white, he swiftly devoured the article.

Captain
Harry Smith had just returned from America in a phenomenally short amount of
time—twenty-one days—and with him came the dispatches reporting the capture and
burning of Washington. During the week of August 19, the British had fought
back the American lines and driven them from the capital city. British troops
had then poured into the city, looting and sacking at will. Major General
Robert Ross had personally ordered the destruction of the White House, the
Capitol, the Treasury, the War Office, and the National Archives.