Lord Perfect (46 page)

"He can't mean through me,"
Bathsheba said. "He would never acknowledge me as a member of
his family. He
loathes
me."

"The prospect of becoming connected to the
Carsingtons has effected a change of heart," said Lord Hargate.
"Perhaps he relishes the idea of thumbing his nose at Lord
Fosbury. I cannot be sure. All I know is that he eagerly joined in
our conspiracy to make you respectable."

"I told you it was a plot," Benedict said.

Light dawned in her blue eyes. "Olivia's treasure,"
she said.

"There is nothing like a thumping great fortune to
make a girl respectable," Benedict said.

"The treasure," she said. "It isn't
Edmund DeLucey's."

'Technically, it is DeLucey treasure, for the most
part," said his father. "Mandeville had a number of old
coins bearing King George II's likeness, which I bought from him. We
knew those too-clever children would instantly recognize modern
coins. He and Northwick contributed other items from the family
collection, and I put in the jewelry my wife and mother had donated.
In all, it does not amount to a great deal. But it looks like
treasure, and nearly all the servants saw the chest being opened."

"I should have guessed," Bathsheba said. She
closed her eyes. "I can see it now. Sunlight flashing on coins
and jewels. A crowd gathered about the children. I did not look up,
but I don't doubt the servants were glued to the windows." She
opened her eyes. "The servants."

"Servants will talk," Benedict said, "as
you pointed out to me some days ago."

"More important, they will embroider and
exaggerate," said Lord Hargate. "By the time word reaches
London, Edmund DeLucey's treasure chest will be overflowing with
rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds. People will say that Mrs.
Wingate is worth twenty or fifty or one hundred thousand pounds. And
that, as everyone knows, changes everything."

BENEDICT'S FATHER LEFT soon thereafter, to continue his
perambulation round the lake. He would be composing letters to his
other relatives, Benedict knew.

"Well," he said once the lump in his throat
subsided, "I am very glad I did not throttle him, after all."

"I can hardly believe it," Bathsheba said.
"When I woke up this morning I was notorious. Now I am
respectable. All it wanted was a fortune—just as Olivia
believed. It did not even have to be a real fortune."

He took her hand. "You will have to marry me now,"
he said. "And we shall have to live in England. No running away
to the Continent and living like gypsies. No dismal set of rooms in
the shabby part of town. No outrunning the bailiffs. It will be
fearfully dull for you."

She scowled at him. "That is the most uninspiring
proposal I have ever heard of. And you an experienced politician. You
can do better than that, Rathbourne."

He laughed and scooped her up in his arms. "Is that
better?"

"It is a slight improvement," she said.

"I am taking you to the New Lodge," he said.
"There I shall make passionate love to you, repeatedly, until
you say 'Yes, Benedict, I shall marry you.'"

"And if I do not?"

"You will," he said.

She did.

Epilogue

THE LETTER, WRITTEN THREE MONTHS EARlier, reached
Peregrine in June 1822.

My Lord,

Thank you for your letter, which
was vastly
interesting,
and
for the little Egyptian Man, whom I am happy to report arrived safely
and not all in pieces as you had Feared. It was most kind of you to
think of me. I am truly happy
—
and
Mama is truly happy, which is
most
important—
and yet I should have so
liked to go to Egypt with you and Uncle Rupert and Aunt Daphne. I
still do not understand why Lord Rathbourne and Mama were so adamant
about SEPARATING US. It is not as though anything
Terrible
happened on our Quest to
Bristol. We did not commit any Crimes
—
no
Capital Offenses, at any rate. In fact, we performed a
Noble
Deed,
in bringing Mama and your
Uncle together
.

Still, I am sure you are the one
who
deserved
the
Treat, and you will make better use of it than I. Aunt Daphne was
very clever to think of it
—
and
in the nick of time, too, because I did believe your father and Lord
Rathbourne were

on the brink of EXCHANGING BLOWS.
This would have been Exciting. The trouble is, there would have been
a good deal of
screaming
by the Women, and as Mama told me later, it was not good for your
Mama to become so Overset in her
Condition.

You have got a Brother, by the way. He came five days
ago. He is very red and wrinkled and he looks like a Monkey, but Miss
Velkel said that is how Babies look when they are New. I think it
must be on account of their being squashed in ladies' corsets. I know
it is shocking of your parents, at their age, but one must look on
the Bright Side. The more other children, the less notice they will
take of us. Yes, I include myself, as I suspect Mama is in a
Condition now.

But as to Egypt
—
I
pretend, as Aunt Daphne told your parents, that you are merely away
at School, except that this time, you have found the
perfect school
in the
perfect place,
and they can be sure that
this time you will not get chucked out of it. (I know Uncle Rupert
was only joking about Throwing You To The Crocodiles.) You shall
travel up the Nile and discover Great Wonders in between your lessons
with Aunt Daphne
.

Meanwhile I take my lessons with
Miss Velkel. She is German and very strict. But I have resolved to
learn, because I am Lord Rathbourne's stepdaughter, and it is
essential that I
Learn to Comport
Myself In a Manner Befitting My Station.
It is not all Dull Propriety, though. Once a week I visit the DOWAGER
LADY HARGATE, and we play whist with some of her friends. They know
all the best Gossip and they never miss a
Trick
. I have learnt a great deal from
them. At the moment, their main topic is Uncle Darius and
WHAT IS TO BE DONE ABOUT HIM
. I don't
know what needs doing, as I have seen very little of him. I think of
him as the Elusive Uncle, for he's never about. But then, he is a
Bachelor, and they lead
unsettled
lives.

I look forward to the day when I
become a Bachelor. I should like to live an
unsettled life
. I have thought about the
future a great deal, and have several Ideas
.

But here comes Mama to make me put out the candle.
Best of luck with your studies, and may you discover many Great
Marvels. I shall write again soon.

Yours Most Sincerely,

Olivia Wingate-Carsington

Read on for a special preview of

Captives of the Night

by Loretta Chase

Available in May 2006 from Berkley Sensation!

THE COMTE D'ESMOND WAS THE MOST BEAUTIful man Leila had
ever seen. In real life, that is. She'd encountered his like in
paintings, but even Botticelli would have wept to behold such a
model.

Greetings were exchanged over her head, whose internal
mechanisms had temporarily ceased functioning.

"Madame."

Francis' nudge brought her back to the moment. Leila
numbly offered her hand. "Monsieur."

The count bowed low over her hand. His lips just brushed
her knuckles.

His hair was pale, silken gold, a fraction longer than
fashion decreed.

He also held her hand rather longer than etiquette
decreed—long enough to draw her gaze to his and rivet all her
consciousness there.

His eyes were deep sapphire blue, burningly intense. He
released her hand, but not her gaze. "This is the greatest of
honors, Madame Beaumont. I saw your work in Russia—a portrait
of the Princess Lieven's cousin. I tried to purchase it, but the
owner knew what he had, and would not sell.