The Diabolical Baron (36 page)

“Are you sure, Caroline? You must be badly shaken.
There will be time enough tomorrow.”

She shook her head. “No, it must be done now. It is
bad enough I am jilting Jason. I would at least spare him the humiliation of having personally announced
the marriage to all his friends and relatives.”

When her stepmother still looked dubious, she said,
“If you will not summon him, I will walk out there and
get him myself. If anyone asks what happened, I shall tell them the exact truth.”

Louisa shook her head in admiration. “You have
grown a great deal, child. Will that captain of yours
make you happy?”

“Yes, Mama.”

“By the way, the money you thought you had—your
inheritance from your mother—has been lost through
poor investments.”

Caroline looked mildly surprised. “I wasn’t think
ing of that—you had said it was not enough to signify.
The money I meant is from a music publisher in Lon
don who bought some of my compositions. You needn’t
worry,” she added hastily, “they will not have my
name on them.”

Lady Hanscombe looked more impressed than
upset. “You mean someone actually gave you money
for your tunes? Perhaps music does have some value. Best not tell your father, though. It would just make
him angrier.”

She sighed, then said,, “Try not to think too harshly
of your father. He has not done well by you, but he is
not an evil man. He just... does not concern himself
with other people.”

“I do not hate him.”

Louisa found herself uncomfortable in the face of
the pity in the deep blue eyes. After all, she had chosen
Alfred Hanscombe freely, knowing his faults. Why
should this chit be sorry for her? She gave Caroline an
awkward pat and turned to the door. “I will find Lord Radford and bring him to you.”

* * * *

Jason saw Reginald Davenport’s entrance from
across the ballroom. His brows knit in a slight frown;
then he shrugged philosophically. Davenport was
going to be his neighbor soon, so they might as well
learn to be civil to each other. He was wearing evening
dress but had a faint air of dishevelment that probably meant he had been drinking. Quantities of alcohol that
would lay most men under the table made Reggie
quarrelsome and very, very dangerous; all of his noto
rious deeds had come when he was under the influ
ence. Still, he didn’t make a habit of causing trouble in
respectable society, so Jason decided to give him the
benefit of the doubt.

He intercepted his uninvited guest near the door,
saying pleasantly, “Good evening, Davenport. I hadn’t
realized you were in the neighborhood or I would
have had a card sent. How have you been keeping?”

“Well  enough,” Reggie shrugged. “The estate
should be settled by the end of the year, but waiting is
a confounded nuisance.”

“Have you thought any more about the disposition
of the main property?”

Reggie’s mouth twisted in a slight sneer. “Playing carrion crow, Radford? I warn you, there will be no
bargains. I’ve more than half a mind to keep the place
and run it myself.”

Jason stiffened but with effort resisted the bait. A host’s duties should not include fighting with guests,
even uninvited ones. Instead he said, “No doubt it
would be a good discipline for you; you have always
shown a singular lack of that.”

Reggie’s eyes narrowed but he did not reply in kind,
perhaps remembering he was nominally a gentleman. “I understand congratulations are in order. I met your
bride-to-be. She is very lovely.”

“Yes, she is. I am a fortunate man.”

Reggie’s eyes raked the ballroom, stopping when
they reached Jessica. Her shining auburn beauty was
the focus of a group of admirers. “Who is the red
headed Incomparable? I would surely have remem
bered her if we had met.”

Jason clamped down his automatic surge of jeal
ousy; besides the fact he had no right, he was sure Jess
was more than capable of fending off unwelcome ad
vances. “That is my fiancée’s aunt, Mrs. Sterling. Her husband died several years ago and she has not gone
much into society.”

Reggie raised his eyebrows approvingly. “A fine
family to marry into. Perhaps I’ll make a play for the
widow. Or does Miss Hanscombe have any younger
sisters?”

“None out of the schoolroom,” was the dry reply.
“Have you a yen to set up a nursery?”

“But of course! The succession, you know.”

“It sounds like becoming a man of property will
change you all out of recognition.”

Reggie flashed a sudden genuine smile. “And high
time, as you are so carefully not saying.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Lady Hanscombe. After a low-voiced exchange, Jason
turned to Reggie and said, “If you will excuse me, I must leave. I’m sure you are acquainted with most of
the other guests.” Then he turned and followed her
through the crowd.

He stepped through the music-room door, then
stopped in shock. “Caroline! What has happened?”

She had stood at his entrance, raising her eyes to his. “I had a discussion with my father.”

Jason’s voice was low and hard. “If he did that, you
will be an orphan before the night is over.”

Caroline raised one hand quickly. “Truly, it is of no
importance. Indeed, you may feel like duplicating his
action before I am done.”

He lifted one eyebrow forbiddingly and said in a
chilly tone, “Oh? What do you wish to discuss?”

She hesitated, groping for the words she needed. He
was in so many ways a stranger to her, his darkly
handsome face cool and remote. This man had effec
tively bought and paid for her; would he accept her
desire to rescind the bargain?

The calm she felt after
confronting her father started to shred away. She
turned her back on Jason and sat at the pianoforte, her
right hand stroking the keys.

What flowed from her fingers was the theme of the
sonata to Richard. As the calm crystalline notes sur
rounded her, she felt once more the sense of peace she
found only with him. As she played, Jason circled the
instrument and was standing opposite her. As the last notes faded into silence, he said quietly, “What is it,
Caroline?”

She lifted her head and looked directly into his dark
eyes. “I do not wish to marry you. And”—she drew a
steadying breath—”I do not think you truly wish to
marry me.”

His face was so still that she felt a sudden thread of alarm, yet all he said was, “Why not?”

“I am in love with someone else.”

An odd light came into his eyes and his voice was laced with veiled excitement as he said, “That is the
whole reason? It is not because of anything I have
done?”

She was puzzled. “What have you done but treat me
with honor and generosity? It is a poor return I make, but I would not condemn us both to a loveless exis
tence.”

She was half-fearful of giving him the opportunity
to declare a passion, but he made no attempt to do so. Instead, he said formally, “I must of course accede to
your wishes. And,” he said, a broad smile breaking
out, “I wish you very happy.”

She was a little disconcerted by how very well he
was taking the news. She looked at him with narrowed
eyes, then gave a sudden gasp of shock as pieces fell
into place. The strange tension between Jason and Jes
sica, her aunt’s abrupt desire to leave Wildehaven, the
early love affair Jess had once alluded to
...
“I know
why you don’t wish to be my husband,” she ex
claimed. “You want to become my
uncle!
”

He laughed, suddenly looking years younger 
she had ever seen him. “You have the right of it. I fell
in love with your maddening aunt fourteen years ago, and never recovered.”

Caroline drummed her fingers on the piano bench
as she thought. “But she knew I was not in love with
you. Indeed, she kept me from going into a decline
when you offered for me.”

Jason looked amused. “What a blow to my
amour
propre
! Was the prospect so very terrible?”

She had the grace to blush. “It was not you, but my
own foolishness. You have a
...
forceful personality,
and the prospect of marrying you was an alarming
one.”

She shook her head in wonder; that frightened
weeping child seemed half a lifetime behind her. “She
should have known that I would be delighted to step
aside in her behalf.”

“Well, there was the settlement money that your
family needed.” As Caroline’s eyes darkened, he
waved one hand negligently. “I am sure your father has spent what was already transferred, but he need
not return it. Had I not engaged myself to you, I
should never have found my glorious vixen again.
And apart from the money, your aunt had the idea you
had fallen in love with me.”

As Caroline stared in blank astonishment, he added,
“Something about hearing you sing love songs one
night. She said you could not have sounded thus were
you not in love.”

“Ah-h-h,” she said, enlightened. “But you were not
the one I sang them for.”

“So it seems. Tell me,” he said curiously, “who is the
lucky man?”

She answered with a dreamy smile, “Richard Dal
ton.”

“Indeed! It becomes clear that much transpired in
my absence. He seems a good fellow, but can he sup
port you?”

She laughed. “You are sounding like an uncle al
ready! I am sure he can, but I would go with him if he
were a tinker with no more than a wagon.”

He shook his head in wonder. “George was right— women are romantics. I sincerely hope Dalton can do
better than that. I feel some responsibility for you, and will talk with him. I think your father has forfeited the
right,” he added, with a pointed glare at her bruised
face.

She had been weighing whether to ask a question
that had nagged at her, and now she plunged in. “Tell
me, Jason. Why did you offer for me?”

He hesitated, reluctant to tell her she had been the
subject of a tasteless wager. A gently bred girl was un
likely to take kindly to the idea.

“The truth, now,” she prompted.

“George and I had a wager,” he said, deciding hon
esty was the order of the day. “I bet him I could persuade a randomly chosen girl to marry me within six months.” As she stared at him in disbelief, he added,
“Your name was drawn out of the several dozen
judged suitable.”

His worry over her reaction ended when she dis
solved into laughter. Shaking with mirth, she said, “I once told Jessica I thought you must have drawn my name out of a hat, but I never dreamed I was so close to the truth!”

“Actually, it was a nut bowl.”

His literal-mindedness set her off again, and after a
moment he joined her.

When they had sobered up, he said thoughtfully,
“Do you know, I think we might not have done so very
badly together had there been no one else in the pic
ture.”

She gave him an enchanting smile and offered him
her hand. “I think perhaps you are right. But I know
we shall both be happiest as things stand now.”

He squeezed her hand very gently and smiled. “Yes.
Now you must want to see your soon-to-be-intended.”
He thought for a moment, then said, “You will want more privacy than this room affords. Indeed, we are
fortunate no one has yet invaded with tonight’s con
quest. Go out this door and left down the corridor. The
stair at the end will take you to the armor room. That should be quiet tonight.

“But I warn you,” he said firmly, “I shall allow you
only a few minutes alone before I bring your aunt.
Your credit will have quite enough to contend with
over jilting me.”

She looked suddenly anxious. “I am sorry it might
reflect badly on you, when you have been so very kind to me.”

He made a magnanimous gesture. “I have been remarkably well-behaved lately; it is time I did some
thing for the gabble-mongers. I will find your captain
now and send him up to you.”

She rose and went to him, standing on her toes to plant a feather-light kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,”
she whispered, then slipped out the back door.