Secret Pleasures (19 page)

“Will Dr. Shipley be attending?
”
Darien stared hard at the earl, his question thrown like a dart.

“You know damn well Dr. Shipley has been our personal physician since your mother took ill.” The earl looked at Darien for the first time that evening
.
They locked gazes as if they were about to settle their long feud here and now
.
“The good doctor will indeed be attending the festivities
.
And I warn you, Darien, don’t harass the poor man about
the
painful chapter in our past.”

“Just a reminder, Father,” Lily said stiffly
.
“
She
is to be referred to as Miss Templeton, your son’s betrothed, and
he
, is to be
known
as Major Fitzgerald
.
And I beg you not to point at anyone with a fork.”

“You’re getting more like your mother every day.
”
The earl swung his grizzled gaze at Lily
.
“My apologies to Miss Templeton and
…
”
H
e stopped himself from swinging the fork
.
Instead, he stabbed a roasted potato from his nearly full plate
.
“Apologies to the major.”

The door open
ed
, admitting the butler, identified by his highly polished shoes, crisp white stockings and pressed black evening clothes
.
“Reverend Fitzgerald has arrived.”

Robert Fitzgerald strolled in, still ruffled from his travels but healthy and hale
.
He appeared to have put on a few pounds, and his thick brown hair had been neatly cut
.
His clothes appeared newly tailored
.
Ivy had to hold herself back from running to him
.
Robert had been a true friend during her self-imposed exile in Cornwall.

“Hello, everyone.
”
Robert paused and bowed to the earl
.

“Sit.
”
The earl pointed to the empty chair with his fork
.
A fierce look to his daughter proved that he would not stop waving his fork at inanimate objects
.
“We have a feast here.
”

Robert gave his father a curt nod, kissed his sister’s cheek, greeted his mother then came around the table to Ivy.

“You are a sight from heaven above,” she said near his ear
.
“Your family is rather intimidating.”

“I thought you might be glad to see me.”

He approached Darien and held out his hand but Darien embraced him instead
.
“Thought I might need a second, nephew
?
I promised to give up dueling for at least a month.
”
He tried to grin at Ivy, but the strain on his face never allowed the gesture to reach his troubled eyes.

“I shall make sure to hold you to your promise.
”
Robert straightened and nodded toward the earl
.
“But I will be rather busy performing my first wedding ceremony in the parish cathedral.”

“You can’t be serious.
”
Darien still stood, though Robert found his way to his seat on the other side of the table
.

Immediately a servant separated from the wallpaper and began to offer him dishes from the table.

“I’ve been appointed Bishop of Crediton.
”
Robert focused on taking heaping helpings of braised beef, oysters and squab
.
“Who else should perform the ceremony?
”

“We are so grateful for Father’s patronage,” Lily said.

“You agreed to marry him to a child.
”
Darien slammed his wine glass down, sloshing claret on the table.

“She’s not a child.
”
Robert’s harsh voice cracked
and
he began to deconstruct a squab with the wrong knife.

“Very well, a woman you claimed to be
—
”

“That’s enough, Darien,” Lily
scolded
.
“We are all finally under the same roof as mother wished
.
You even have Ivy by your side
.
Why must you spoil it?”

Not everyone’s here.
”
Darien gestured for a servant to take his plate and asked for a glass of Irish whiskey
.

“So
,
any news from London?” boomed Major Fitzgerald
.
“You know we enjoy something bawdy.”

“Nothing political, Robert.
”
Lily glanced nervously from her father to her husband.

“Please, Robby
.
”
Lea sat straighter in her chair
.
“Something about the actresses
.
Mum promised I might see a play on my first visit to London next year.”

Ivy usually detested gossip, especially since she had been the brunt of much of it
for years
.
At the moment however, she would be grateful for a distraction
.
She glanced at Darien who stared into his glass of whiskey
.

“I suppose no one wants to hear what they’re saying about Darien’s announcement at the ball
,
”
Robert said.

“Please spare us.
”
Ivy’s comment actually won a grin from Darien.

“There better not be too much talk
.
”
The earl’s gruff tone made Ivy stiffen, as it always did
.
“
I paid enough to keep that nonsense out of the papers
.
”

“Word of mouth, Grandfather,” Robert teased with a surprising amount of affection
.
“It was a rather large ball.”

Silence fell over them once more
.
Ivy watched the door for dessert but no white-wigged servant saved them
.
She glanced down at her nearly full plate
.
No one except Robert and Lea had had much of an appetite that evening
.
Ivy
felt the pull to
return to Melody
and leave this tension behind her
.

“There is something else,” Robert said suddenly
.
“Though the story is rather sad, it does involve a famous actress.
”
He turned to his sister with wide, exaggerated eyes as if he were about to tell her a ghost story.

“Go on
.
It can’t be any sadder than all these long faces,” encouraged Lily.

“Well, it seems the infamous Madam de Rachelle’s nude portrait was spotted in an East End pawn shop
.
Rumor has it that she
—
”
Robert ended his story abruptly
.
The earl clutched his glass and his face had turned beet red
. 
His mother glared at Robert
.
Ivy could only imagine her own expression
.
Horror
. 
Shock.

Ivy lowered her face but not before Darien grinned at her and winked
.
Dear God
.
Obviously he knew that Diana, Madam de
Rachelle
, songstress, famous beauty and sought after mistress, had been on retainer to the earl for many years
.
But he
obviously
didn’t know what news was coming next.

“Robert Fitzgerald, we don’t talk about such rubbish at the dinner table
.
Perhaps there has been some mistake in naming you bishop after all.
”
Lily fanned her face.

“I want to hear it,” boomed the earl quite loudly and quite clearly
.
“Rumor has it
…
.”

“She’s dead
,
is all.
”
Robert shrugged
.
“Someone paid to have her buried in a Catholic cemetery and now the priest is refusing
.
He did not realize her
—
”
Robert
paused, then
cleared his throat
before continuing
.
“
—
profession
.
He wants to have her dug up and moved to a pauper cemetery outside of London.”

The earl stared straight ahead
.
Ivy’s ears burned
.
She would send word to Samuel to persuade the priest by whatever means necessary to adhere to his Christian duty.

“Excuse me, please.
”
The earl stood suddenly and stumbled from the room.

“What have you done, Robert?
”
Lily stood while her father left the room
, then
collapsed in her chair and tossed her napkin on her plate in a very unladylike gesture
.
“Do you have any idea who Diana de Rachelle was?”

“Who?” said Lea
.
“I’ve never heard of her.”

“She was a famous something or other
.
”
Robert found his food suddenly fascinating
, avoiding everyone’s gazes.

“The story is too complicated,” Lily said abruptly
.
“Well, you could at least have had respect for Ivy
.
She does not want to hear such gossip
.
I’m sorry, dear
.
I’m sure you’d like to forget about your past.”

“I’m sure no one will let me, Lily, so no need to apologize.
”
Ivy had avoided her wine glass for most of the night
,
but decided she’d risk her nervous stomach’s displeasure and drained it.

“I didn’t mean it like that.
”
Lily clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture and did look both frazzled and sincere.

“Oh, hell
.
A man just wants to hear a good bit of gossip and all he gets is news of his own family
.
God love the English.
”
Major Rand Fitzgerald gave them all a toast and grabbed the bottle of wine from the servant who attempted to refill his glass.

“How did she die?” Darien said quietly
.
Ivy glanced at him and noticed he was as pale as his father before he
’d
stumbled from the room.

“Well, some say consumption but others say
…
opium overdose
,
”
Robert said.

“She was ill.
”
All eyes turned to Ivy and she wished she could take back her words
.
Protecting Melody’s identity was even more important than ever
.
She prayed Diana would forgive her for pretending she did not truly know her dear friend
.
“I had not seen her in some time
,
but she
had struggled with her health for the last few years.
”

“I had no idea.
”
Darien shook his head and stared into his plate.

“Perhaps we should be on our way
.
It has been a trying night for all of us.
”
Ivy stood, refusing to continue the conversation for another moment.

The earl’s reaction to Diana’s death troubled her as much as anything
.
Could he possibly suspect his former mistress had a child and wonder where that child might be at this very moment?

***

Melody’s wails greeted Ivy the moment she darted through Darien’s front door
.
She ran up the stairs and found a bleary-eyed Hannah pacing the perimeter of the small bedroom
.
“Oh, miss, I am so happy to see you
.
She has been fussy since the moment you left
.
Even spitting out the sheep’s milk though I knew she gobbles it up most times.”

“Is she feverish?
”
Ivy took the screaming child from Hannah
.
Melody had cried until her eyelids had nearly swollen shut
.
Ivy brought Melody’s forehead to her cheek
.
“She’s not hot.”