Sweet Hoyden (2 page)

'I do not doubt you would deem it so, my dear." he answered without
looking at her, and his tone gave her no reassurance
at all.

It seemed to Pandora that he was very angry indeed, and although she feared
his wrath, she would have welcomed a more open display of ire. "I caught
sight of you in the card room a while ago," she ventured meekly. "I
do trust that you won at cards."

'I did," he answered, his tone still icy.

'Then you are free to stand up with me for the country dance after supper. I
have left it free for you." When he did not reply, she went on breathlessly,
"Have you seen Fanny Courdon's gown? How hideous it is. I cannot conceive
what possessed her to wear it."

'No, I have not seen Fanny Courdon's gown, Pandora, but I have seen the
Duchess of Melway."

Pandora cast him a fearful look. "What did Her Grace want with you? To impart some criticism of me, no doubt."

'You are very astute. She believes you owe her a call."

Pandora bit her lip. "I do intend to call upon her… on the morrow.
Indeed, I have had it in mind all week, I assure you."

He cast her a disbelieving look as they reached the
house, but instead of escorting her into the supper room, he led her into the
hall, where several guests cast them curious looks.

'Where are we going?" she asked in bewilderment. "This is not the
way to the supper room."

He did not reply. Instead the earl addressed one of the footmen on duty.
"Have my carriage brought round immediately," he ordered, "and
her ladyship's cloak."

Pandora gasped as the lackey went to do his bid-in ding. She turned on her
heel and looked at him directly at last. "Are we to leave,
Asheville
?"

'Yes," he answered, nodding smilingly at someone who passed.

'We cannot leave; the evening isn't half over." For a moment he
surveyed her dispassionately before replying, "For you it is over."

'Why?" she asked in a desperate whisper. "I am amazed you should
ask. If you truly require to know, it is because your
behavior is deplorable. I believe that is reason enough."

'You mistook what you saw. When I accepted Sir Aldan's invitation to take
some air in the garden, I had no notion he would try to kiss me."

'It appeared to me that he did considerably more than try; he succeeded. His
lamentable behavior does not excuse you."

Her eyes narrowed. "Oh, you do not intend to call Sir Aldan out over
this, do you?"

The earl's lips curved into a mirthless smile. "That
poltroon? Certainly not. He is only good for
behaving like a mooncalf with married ladies. A duel can only give satisfaction
if both parties stand a sporting chance. Sir Aldan would probably make for the
first packet boat leaving
Dover
before I had a chance to appoint my seconds."

As their carriage clattered into the forecourt, Pandora became angry.
"You are making far too much of this,
Asheville
."

'I think not."

'I am of the opinion that this 'punishment' has more to do with my not
returning Her Grace's visit than Sir Aldan's brief embrace," she declared,
throwing her head back proudly.

'Think what you will, Pandora," her husband answered wearily. "It
makes no odds to me."

Her fox-lined cloak was put around her shoulders, and before she could
protest any further, the earl had ushered her into the carriage, which immediately
set off at a spanking pace.

Pandora's eyes filled with tears when she thought of all she was going to
miss. "What will the tattle-baskets make of this,
I wonder?" she asked in a broken voice.

'It surprises me that you even care, Pandora. I have never noted this trait
in you before. Mayhap in future it will cause you to be a mite more circumspect
in your behavior."

'You sound just like the prosy old clergyman who used to preach to us when I
was a child. He was forever reading us dire lessons from the pulpit, but that
didn't stop him patronizing the village doxy as soon as church was
finished."

She turned away from him in disgust and frustration. In truth she was very
much alarmed by what had happened. In their three months of marriage she had
never seen him other than amiable and indulgent toward her, so that this cold
anger, which was entirely new to her, was frightening. She had always possessed
the ability to manipulate gentlemen to do her bidding, from her adoring father
to the beaux who laid siege to her house during her one and only Season as a
debutante, and she fully expected to be able to continue in this manner with
the man who had become her hus-band. Now she was at a loss as to how to make
amends for that momentary lapse in propriety. It did not occur to her that a
humble apology was likely to have the desired effect.

The carriage rattled into

As he followed her, he said, "Tomorrow you can send a note to the
duchess explaining your early departure."

'How do you suppose I can do that?" Pandora demanded, her breath coming
quickly.

'Why not say quite simply that you felt unwell?" he suggested, and then
began to climb the curving staircase.

'Are you mad?" she retorted. Her earlier guilt was quickly turning to anger.

Halfway up the stairs he paused to turn and look at her again. "Mayhap
you would prefer to tell her your husband is heartily weary of seeing you behave
at best like a hoyden and at worst a wanton."

'How dare you say that of me?" she fumed in the face of his cold anger.

'Do not forget, Pandora, I have the evidence of my own eyes. If it concerns
you what the tattle-baskets say, I suggest you take up my earlier advice and
write to tell Her Grace that you had an attack of the vapors or some such
thing. It is not unknown among ladies, I understand."

'If I write to the duchess telling her I felt ill, within a day the
tattle-baskets will have it that I am increasing." His eyes opened wide
with surprise, which afforded her some small comfort, and before he could
recover himself, she said pleadingly, "You are making far too much of
this,
Asheville
.
It was nothing, I assure you. Nothing at all."

Far from easing the situation, it seemed she had made it worse, for an
implacable look came over his face. "Yes, I know that, Pandora. It cannot
have meant anything to you because you care only for yourself."

He turned on his heel and continued up the stairs. This time she did nothing
to stop him, but she waited until he had reached the top before running up the
stairs herself and into her room, slamming the door behind her with a great
deal of force.

Lord Asheville entered his wife's bedchamber, to find her having her hair
brushed by her maid. A fire burned low in the hearth, and the room was filled
with flickering light. Pandora saw him enter the room, but deliberately kept
her head averted.

The earl appeared to have become somewhat conciliatory as he glanced across
at her, but Pandora's anger had increased since their return home. The thought
of having to explain her sudden departure from the ball angered her greatly.
Whatever excuse she made, she would look a fool and cause unfavorable gossip.
Pandora Asheville was not accustomed to that, and she would not forgive him
easily.

Her maid,
Nan
, had helped her into a silk
bed gown, over which Pandora was wearing a matching peignoir trimmed with
swansdown. Her hair was now falling loose to her shoulders, and she was aware
how fetching she appeared. So many gentlemen of the ton had told her so.
However, at that moment she had no wish to appear anything but angry.

The earl was now wearing a damask dressing gown that was frogged with silk
braid. He glanced meaningfully at
Nan
, and
Pandora quickly dismissed her. However, the maid was obliged to remain a few
moments longer in order to remove the warming pan from the bed. When the maid
had gone at last, Pandora picked up one of her silver-backed brushes and
continued to brush her hair.

As the earl sat down on the daybed, she asked, "Have you come to give
me another set-down?"

'Pandora," he said softly, "I may have acted with undue haste this
evening, but that is only because I wish you to behave with more decorum, now
you are my wife."

'By that I suppose you to mean you would like me to behave more like the
Duchess of Repton or Lady Curtsworth and other cronies of your mother's close
acquaintance."

The earl's lips twitched slightly. "I cannot exactly envisage you
resorting to such an extreme as that, but it would be more in keeping with your
position if you were less of a hoyden."

She paused to cast him an icy glance. "Or a wanton?"

He got to his feet and began to pace round the room. Pandora could see that
his mood of reconciliation was fast disappearing. "I am fully aware that
you do not deliberately wish to cause gossip or to behave improperly, but you
must see you are no longer a child, a child who has been greatly indulged all
her life."

Pandora threw down the hairbrush at last. "So that's how you see
yourself; a stern father to me in place of the one who was far too indulgent."

'Too often I am called upon to make excuses for you, Pandora. It will not
do."

'Why should I not enjoy myself? You enjoy your horse racing, mills, gaming,
and your doxies, too, I do not doubt."

His indulgence toward her was almost exhausted now. "Pandora," he
said warningly, "recall who was caught acting improperly. With Buckley, of all people."

Pandora smiled mirthlessly. "Mayhap you will supply me with a list of
who is approved for such a purpose if Sir Aldan is not."

The earl's face grew dark. "Damnation take it!
I am out of patience with you. Give a thought to what might have transpired had
it been someone else who saw you with Buckley."

Pandora jumped to her feet. "Nothing would have happened! Is it so
unusual for a gentleman to kiss a lady?"

'When the lady is my wife, it is intolerable."

'That is something I cannot begin to comprehend."

When he came closer to her, she moved away from him. He followed her across
the room and put his hands on her shoulders, which caused her to stiffen.
"I don't wish to be angry with you," he said softly, but she remained
unyielding to his touch.

'Let us attempt to put this unfortunate evening behind us. There will be
many others to enjoy in the future."

Pandora pulled away from him. "I cannot forget what has ensued this
evening, for it has a bearing on the future. How can I enjoy any diversion when
you evidently disapprove of my every movement?"

'That is untrue and unjust."

Ignoring him, she went on, "Am I to fear being taken home early like a
badly behaved infant if I so much as smile at a gentleman?"

'You did more than smile at Buck Buckley," he pointed out.

'Your reaction was, nevertheless, outside of enough. I have been roundly
humiliated this evening, and I cannot easily forget that."

'I see," he said, stepping back a few paces and making no further
attempt to touch her. "It appears that the only embrace you are able to
welcome is that bestowed upon you by Sir Aldan Buckley." Before Pandora
could protest, he began to walk back toward his own room. "It seems to me
that you need to learn how to behave in a proper manner, and accordingly on the
morrow, Pandora, you will leave
London
for Brocklesby Hall."

Pandora's brow furrowed into a frown. "I don't
understand…"

Implacably he continued, "Then, let me explain, my dear. A spell of
rustication might, help to concentrate your mind on how the Countess of Asheville
should conduct her life."

Momentarily Pandora was stunned. "Brocklesby Hall?
I am to go to Brocklesby Hall?"

'Exactly. On the morrow, before you have a further
opportunity to bring disrepute upon my name."

'
Asheville
!
You cannot mean this."

He paused by the connecting door. "Oh, indeed, I do."

'But I cannot go to the country; the Season is scarce begun. What will
everyone say?"

'I have no notion and certainly no care."

Furious and full of panic, she accused, "I see it now! You are so foxed, you have no notion what you are about."

He didn't trouble to answer her, but as he continued to stare at her
unflinchingly, she knew he was sober, and some of her defiance faded as she
faced the awful possibility that he actually meant what he had said.
"Gareth, this is outside of enough. What would you have me do? Beg your
forgiveness on my knees?"

The very notion made him laugh. "Oh, no, my dear.
I would not wish the proud Pandora Asheville to demean herself in that
manner." Abruptly his amusement faded. "Well, at least not yet."

She stamped her foot angrily on the floor. "Well, I shall not go, so be
warned."

'This is one matter in which you have no say. I have decided that you will
go to the country, and go you shall."

'No!" she cried, her eyes wide. "I have
too many engagements. 'Tis impossible."

'I think not. You'll be obliged to cry off, naturally, but I don't see that
as an insurmountable obstacle. I will make all the necessary arrangements for
your journey before I retire."

'Oh, how cruel you can be," she accused. "I'd as lief be
horsewhipped as be obliged to rusticate!"

'I am sorely tempted," he answered, and because she detected a slight
thaw in his manner, she affected her most wheedling smile and ingratiating
air.

'My dear, do you not think you are being a mite too extreme?"