The Diabolical Baron (10 page)

“Sit down and calm yourself, Caroline. Here is my
handkerchief.” She gave the girl a few moments to collect herself before saying, “You have formed no other
attachment, have you?”

Her sobs subsiding somewhat, Caroline shook her head and made a muffled noise that must have been
“No.”

“Why is it such a surprise to you that Lord Radford
has declared himself? I’m told that in the clubs they
have been betting on the outcome for weeks.”

At this Caroline raised her head in pure shock, say
ing, “How could they?” in a dazed tone.

Realizing that it was a mistake to mention the matter,
Lady Hanscombe said hurriedly, “His attentions have been of the most flattering. Admittedly there is some
thing of an age difference, but he is a very well-looking
man, and what is of particular importance, a very
wealthy one.”

Here she paused, wondering how best to phrase the nub of the argument.
“I have always attempted to shield my children from
unpleasantness, but it is an unfortunate fact that our financial situation is very difficult. In fact, I do not scru
ple to tell you it is desperate. Surely you must have
wondered why only you and Gina came to London
while the children remained in Great Chisbury?”

Her unwilling attention caught, Caroline said, “You
talked about their educational needs being more impor
tant ...”

“The real reason was to reduce our costs. Every
penny we had went into making it possible for you and
your sister to be presented creditably. It is essential that
one or both of you make very good marriages. Your
younger brothers and sisters are depending on that
fact.”

“Isn’t there money to come to me from my mother? I
am of age now. I do not mind giving it to help them.”

“It is not enough to signify,” Louisa said quickly. Far
better to leave that stone unturned!

“Gina is making a good marriage. Everyone says so. Can’t I be released from this one?”

Ignoring the girl’s pleading blue eyes, Lady
Hanscombe said, “It is a respectable alliance, but of little
use at present. Gideon will eventually have a good
property and income, but his parents are still alive,
healthy, and relatively young. He does not have the per
sonal fortune to help his wife’s family. The best we can hope for is that he accept Gina without a portion, as in
deed he has done. And”—playing her trump card—
“were it not that Lord Radford’s offer was imminent,
we would have been forced to refuse young Fallswor
thy’s suit. You remember Sir Wilbur Hatchett? He was
willing to make a very good offer for your sister, and
could still be brought up to scratch should we indicate
that she is available. I am reluctant to do that. The man
is in Trade, and personally unattractive as well. Cer
tainly Gina showed no partiality for him.”

Caroline could only blink at the understatement.
Gina detested the man and referred to him as “the toad”
when her mother was not around.

“Lord Radford has offered a generous settlement,
very generous indeed. If you persist in refusing him, we
will have to force your sister to cry off from the engage
ment. Unlike you, she is not yet of age and must do as
her parents bid her.” Even though Louisa was sure the headstrong chit would have her Gideon in the face of
any opposition, she did not hesitate to play on Caro
line’s affection to gain her cooperation.

Caroline bowed her head in defeat. She remembered
her sister’s joyful proclamation of her marriage, and Gideon’s tender adoration whenever he was near his
beloved. How could she make the two of them so un
happy, as well as blighting the chances of the younger
children? There was no way out.

“Very well, then,” she
said in a dead voice. “I will accept him.”

Lady Hanscombe nodded her head approvingly. “I
was sure you would know your duty.” She paused,
then added awkwardly, “Do not be unhappy. Radford is
a fine man with an impeccable reputation. I am sure he
will treat you with all kindness and consideration. S
oon you will look back at these megrims and laugh.”

There was no way under the heavens Caroline could
have explained why the prospect of marriage to his lordship was so distressing. She didn’t even try; her
temples throbbing with pain, she whispered huskily,
“May I go now, Mama?” Without waiting for an answer,
she stood and went blindly to the door. Her stepmother
made no attempt to stop her.

* * * *

It was late that evening when Jessica entered the
Adam Street town house, drawn by Gina’s hastily scrib
bled note:
Please come at once. Caroline needs you.

As the footman took her cloak, Gina hastened down
the stairs, motioning her into the small ground-floor
salon with gestures to keep silence. The door safely
closed behind them, Jessica demanded, “What is going
? What is wrong with Caroline?”

Gina shook her head, her round face drawn and wor
ried. “It has been the most dreadful day!
Lord Radford offered for Caroline. There was terrible
yelling from my father’s study, then Caro went to her
room and cried for hours. I asked what was wrong, but
she would only say she is to marry Radford. Why
would she accept him if it makes her so miserable? She
has only to say no, after all. She hasn’t talked or eaten all
day. I’ve never seen her like this. Usually if she is un
happy she just wanders off or plays the piano or some
such. This time she looks like she is under sentence of death. Please, Jessica, see if you can do something for
her!”

Jessica’s lips tightened; she had suspected something
of the sort. Much better than Gina, she could understand how Caroline could be forced against her will.
“I’ll go up to her room immediately.”

She tapped softly on her niece’s door, then entered
without waiting for an answer. In the low light of a single lamp, the crumpled child-size figure lay unmoving.

“Caro, are you all right?” She walked quietly across the
room and sat on the edge of the bed. Her lips parted in
silent shock; Gina had not exaggerated. Caroline looked
barely alive, her blue-white lips contrasting sharply
with the swollen red eyes, the skin drawn tight to the
bone, and her eyes staring blankly.

A bowl of water and
a cloth sat on the bedside table; Jessica picked up the
cloth and wrung it out, smelling lavender as she did so. She carefully spread the cloth over her niece’s forehead
and asked, “Can you hear me?”

Caroline blinked and stared at her aunt, slowly bringing her into focus. “Jess.” She half-rolled into her aunt’s
lap, wrapping her arms around her as if there were no
other security in the world. Jessica stroked her hair.
“Gina told me you are to marry Lord Radford. Why have you consented if it
distresses you so? You know you can come to me if you
are forced to leave your parents’ house.” No matter how
much trouble would be caused in the family and in
Wiltshire, Jessica was prepared to stand by her word.

Caroline replied in a flat, lifeless voice, “
Money is the problem. Lord Radford is will
ing to pay a ridiculously high price for me. If I refuse
him, Gina will be forbidden to marry Gideon.”

Jessica swore softly to herself. She had never had
much opinion of her brother-in-law’s judgment, but she
had had no idea matters were in such bad case. They
had found the perfect emotional blackmail to persuade
Caroline.

Her niece added after a moment, “Apparently he will
help the younger children as it becomes necessary. He is
certainly getting a poor bargain for his money!” She
ended with a half-hysterical bubble of laughter.

Continuing the gentle massage from her niece’s head down to the neck and shoulders, Jessica asked, “Since you have decided to marry him, we must find why you
dislike him so. What has he done to you?”

There was a long silence before Caroline answered,
“He has not really done anything to me. I would not
dislike him if I did not have to marry him.”

Probing gently, her aunt continued, “Then what is the
problem?”

There was a long, long pause, then the painful words,
“He ... reminds me of my father.”

What Jessica had heard about the elegant, sardonic
lord sounded very unlike Sir Alfred, but there had to be
a reason for the reply. “In what way is he like your fa
ther?”

“He ... frightens me. I always feel there is anger just behind those black eyes.”

“That is how your father seems to
you?”

“You know how Papa was never much
around? I was always glad
...
I think he dislikes me as much as I dislike him. When I was little, sometimes he
would want to play, but one could never tell when he
would lose his temper. He would scream at me
...
hit
me ... and I never knew what it was that would cause
him to behave as he did. I never knew!” She ended on a shuddering sob, close to breaking down entirely.

Under Jessica’s hands, she struggled to regain con
trol, then said more calmly, “I do not mean he was al
ways beating me. Indeed, he was more violent with the
boys. Gina would yell back at him—she had so much
more courage than I. What made it so hard for me
was ... never knowing. The constant uncertainty and
fear.

“All my life I have kept as far from him as possible.
If he came in a room, I would drift out the other door. I
was waiting only until I could leave, to live with you if I
could, but if necessary to find any kind of job that
would support me. I know I could teach music. I never
thought I would have to spend the rest of my life living
with that kind of fear, constantly wondering if I had
done something wrong, never knowing when light
ning would strike . . . and living without love.” She
started to tremble uncontrollably.

Jessica held her until the shaking stopped, then said
carefully, “I understand why the idea is abhorrent to
you. But are you sure it is anger you feel in Radford? It
might be just that he is intense. I knew a man rather like
that once. He lived life as if two hundred years would not be enough to do all he wished.”

She thought a moment. “Everyone is
angry sometimes. A quickly passing irritation is very different from being a child at the mercy of an adult.
When you are sure he loves you, a burst of temper
won’t bother you anything like so much as your memories do now.”

“Do you really think that is true, Jess?”

“I know it is true, just as I know that our fears are almost always worse than reality.”

“I
...
I think you must be right. When I was little, it
was the fear, the unknowing, that was hardest to bear.”

“If the reality is as bad as your imaginings, you
can come to me. You will not have to spend your life liv
ing with a man you hate, Caroline. I promise you that.”

Caroline looked directly at her aunt for the first time.
“You would take me in? Even as a disgrace, a failed
married woman?”

“Yes, anywhere, anytime. But in return, you must
promise me you will try as hard as you can with Lord
Radford. Look at him as he is, not overlaid with your fa
ther’s shadow. You may truly come to love him; the
closeness and sharing of married life are stronger bonds
than you can imagine. Will you try to love him? For me,
if not for yourself?”

“Oh, Jess, of course I will! What would I ever do with
out you?” Caroline laughed shakily, than raised herself up on the bed. “I must look like an absolute fright!”

“You do.”

Caroline looked slightly affronted, then gave a wa
tery giggle. “If I am worrying about how I look, I guess
the patient is on the mend. Thank you, Jess. I don’t
know how I can possible repay you.”