The Portrait (15 page)

"I must tell you, Ned, the tabbies lost no time in drawing
conclusions at your joint disappearance and declared you to
have eloped."

"Then they are destined for disappointment, are they not?"

"Is there no chance of a reconciliation between you?"

"None whatsoever!"

When they entered the drawing room a short while later,
Hawley came immediately to his feet, crossing the distance between them to stand accusingly before the earl, his mean
countenance flushed with anger.

"Where's Jennifer?" he demanded. "Don't try to fob me off
with excuses, Sinclair. I know you've been in her company. Oh,
it may not have been an elopement-I am well aware of the
facts-but you've squired her to God knows where"

"To Buxton, to be precise," replied the earl calmly.

Hawley appeared incredulous. "Freddie's fled to Rutledge?"

"Exactly."

"And where are they now?"

"Rutledge has taken them to my sister in Essex"

"I suppose you will expect me to believe that your association with my sister was quite innocent. That you were in her
company the whole while and behaved with absolute propriety?" sneered Hawley.

"If you believe our association to have been anything other
than that of the highest moral standing, then it would prove
how little you know of your sister and our relationship."

"Whatever the truth of your relationship, you must know
that, in the eyes of the world, you have ruined her."

The earl sat on a corner of his desk, negligently swinging
one booted foot. Despite a valiant effort to maintain his equilibrium, he nonetheless eyed Hawley with complete distaste,
saying, "Then, as her brother, it's in your interest to offer support and help allay the gossip. If it's seen that you endorse our
explanation and declare her visit to Flora genuine, who would
dare proclaim it a lie?"

"I don't like it. I don't like it by half," said Hawley, sitting
heavily in a chair. "When you state it so plainly, it seems too
simple. By all that's right, you should be bound in honor to
marry her."

"She would not have me," stated Sinclair coldly.

"You made her an offer?" asked Hawley, incredulous.

"I did, and she refused."

Hawley came quickly to his feet. "Then we shall see what
she has to say on the subject when I speak to her. I will not allow her to relinquish such an opportunity."

Perry was taken aback by the hardness that came over his
brother's countenance, the like of which he had never before
witnessed.

"You will not coerce her into marriage with me or any other
of your choosing," seethed Sinclair, also rising and taking a
step toward his antagonist. "And if it's made known that you
make life difficult for her, I can assure you, you will not find
her without support "

"Yourself?" scoffed Hawley.

"Precisely!"

"Then you are a bigger fool than I gave you credit for, Sinclair. You champion a lost cause"

Involuntarily the earl's hand shot out, seizing Hawley's
neck-cloth, snatching him forward until he was but inches
from his face, his toes teetering on the floor. Perry took a quick
step toward them but at a warning look from Sinclair fell back,
feeling naught but an onlooker at the scene being enacted before him.

Tightening his hold until Hawley clawed at his neck for air,
Sinclair gave a hard laugh. "You have no liking for intimidation, do you, Hawley?" he mocked. "It seems more your style
to be dispensing it to defenseless females. Not so keen when
you are the recipient, are you?"

In response, Hawley gave a spluttered reply, but his words
were lost in his need for air as he struggled to keep his balance.

Sinclair issued a harsh oath and, relinquishing his hold,
thrust him roughly away. Perry came to stand at his side, but
the earl appeared oblivious to his presence. Watching Hawley's attempt to regain his composure, it was a moment before
he again spoke.

"I trust that when next we meet, I need not remind you of
caution toward your sister," he warned as Hawley edged his
way to the door. "I would not wish it to be necessary to repeat
my admonition."

Having no desire to prolong the interview, red-faced and
seething, Hawley made good his escape. Roundly cursing Jen nifer for the stupidity he perceived to be the cause of his humiliation, he consoled himself with the promise that he would
repay Sinclair for his treatment at the first opportunity.

"Never knew you could be so ruthless, Ned," breathed Perry,
as, going to a side table, the earl poured himself a glass of
brandy and tossed back its contents.

"Then take care that I don't turn my anger against you and
your idiotic friend," snapped Sinclair, finding it difficult to relinquish his mood. "If you'd applied more common sense to
the situation, none of this would have come about"

Perry had the grace to bow his head. This was a side to his
brother he had never before seen, and it was alien to him. "I'm
sorry, Ned," he said penitently. "I tried to resolve it myselfbelieve me, I did-but ..." Words failed him.

Full of contrition, the earl came to lay his arm about his
brother's shoulders. "I, too, am sorry," he said. "I shouldn't
take my frustration out on you. Indeed, it is unpardonable of
me. I thought I'd come to terms with my life and planned the
way forward. I was not prepared for the confusion that would
be left to rule."

"I don't understand your meaning," said Perry, much
perplexed.

Sinclair grimaced. "It's as well that you don't. There's too
much at issue, and it would be unforgivable of me to burden
you with it."

"Am I to go to Ravensby alone, Ned, or will you accompany me?"

"You must go alone. I need remain here for a while. There's
a matter I need attend to before I join you there, though how it
will be resolved, I don't know."

"Can you confide it to me? Perhaps I could help," said
Perry hopefully.

"I wish that you could, but I've lost something that belongs
to me and don't know how to retrieve it."

"Is it valuable?"

"To me, yes, very."

"What is it, Ned?"

"Something that's very difficult to define. A talisman, an
amulet, a charm. Some would say a lifesaver. Call it what you
will, but it's something I've carried with me for some time, and
while it's of very little monetary value, to me it's priceless."

Still no wiser, Perry decided it would be prudent to let the
matter rest.

As the earl had predicted, Flora eagerly welcomed Jennifer
and Freddie to her home and, when the story was told, stated
herself more than willing to help. Phillip, although aware that
pressing matters awaited him in Buxton-at Carlton's invitation, which had been merely issued out of politeness-stayed
on at Ravensby. He received no encouragement whatsoever
from Jennifer, but, being now confirmed that her prior betrothal was indeed at an end, he was as determined as ever to
press his own cause.

"I declare, you and Edward thoroughly mystify me," stated
Flora when she and Jenny sat alone in the morning room at
Ravensby. "There always appears some issue between you, and
yet you profess no attachment. I am thoroughly confused."

"Then you needn't be," said Jenny with a little twisted
smile. "Edward remains protective toward me, that is all."

"And you toward him?"

"Oh, he's a good friend," she replied nonchalantly, "and he
has proved he would go to any lengths, however distasteful, to
shield me. When the impropriety of his having accompanied
me to Buxton was pointed out to him, his immediate reaction
was to offer me the protection of his name"

Flora appeared much taken aback. "You say he offered for
you? I am bewildered. He's frequently assured me that he's
determined not to renew the engagement and has taken great
pains to declare his intention of never marrying. Am I not to
believe a word he utters? For I tell you, none would be more
delighted than Ito see the two of you make a match of it."

"Then I'm afraid you will be sadly disappointed. He thought
only to save me from the scandalmongers, and I would not al low him to make such a sacrifice on my behalf. I'm sure you
can see that I couldn't allow it. No thoughts of marriage had
crossed his mind until Judith and Phillip Rutledge found it
necessary to comment on the impropriety of our journey. Until
that point we had been quite comfortable in each other's company. Indeed, I was saddened that our expedition had reached
its conclusion, as, I believed, was Ned."

"Could you not have found it in your heart to accept him,
my dear?" asked Flora, laying her hand over Jenny's and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"My heart has nothing whatsoever to do with it," stated
Jenny, rising hastily and declaring her intention of seeking out
Freddie.

"That is where you are very wrong, my dear," whispered
Flora to the empty room. "So very wrong"

Later that evening, when Flora and Carlton sat cozily ensconced in her boudoir, she sighed and confided in him, "Even
though she tries so hard to disguise it, I'm sure the chit is in
love with Edward. I do believe she has even managed to fool
herself into believing she's indifferent to him."

"Whatever the right of it, you must allow them to take their
own course," replied Carlton, becoming somewhat bored with
the topic and endeavoring to channel his wife's thoughts in
his own direction. "You know I hold your brother in the highest esteem, but I believe he is quite capable of ordering his
own life, and I'm certain he would not welcome your meddling in his affairs. Couldn't you confine your energies to
more immediate tasks? Am I forever to vie with him for your
attention?"

"Fie on you, my love. You know my thoughts are always of
you." She chuckled, patting his cheek.

"Then I would appreciate proof of that fact," he replied,
taking her into his arms.

The news that the Earl of Sinclair had returned to Londonalone-permeated society, and the inevitable comments were made. Those who claimed to know him well endorsed the belief that he had indeed been out of town on an expedition to
the races. However, a tenacious few still refused to believe
that as fact and clung to the conviction that his absence was
most definitely connected to the disappearance of the heiress,
even though her brother stated that she was at that very moment visiting Lady Flora Carlton in Essex. So convinced remained certain individuals that they actually dared accost
Sinclair with their theory, but with a great effort he managed
to retain his composure and brush their questions aside in a
most convincing manner. Lord Melville, being one of their
numbers, showed a great relief at the explanation that Jennifer
was at present staying with Lady Carlton and eagerly promised to quell any further rumors when the affair was mentioned in his presence.

As several days passed, the earl became aware of an almost
overwhelming desire to go to Ravensby as he'd promised, but
as there had been no signs of the portrait being restored to
him, he dared not leave London, should he, in his absence,
miss its return.

Arriving home at noon after a morning spent at Horse
Guards, the earl was informed by the footman that Sgt. Randall
had called and, finding Sinclair not at home, had stated his intention of returning later in the day. The earl searched his memory but could call no sergeant of that name to mind. Indeed, he
could remember no one of that name in his company, so it was
with some perplexity that he awaited his arrival.

He didn't have long to wait. No sooner had he risen from a
light luncheon and repaired to the library than he was informed
of Randall's arrival. Almost immediately a small, wiry individual was issued into his presence. Marching smartly up to
the earl's desk, he saluted, his actions appearing incongruous,
dressed as he was in the garb of a dandy. Looking up from the
papers he had been examining, the earl came quickly to his
feet, seeing before him the face from the inn.

"Sergeant Anthony Randall of the Twenty-ninth Regiment
of Foot, sir," said the dandy, maintaining the salute.

"We are no longer in the military, Randall. There's no
need to salute me," said the earl, resuming his seat and indicating that his visitor should take the chair facing the desk.
Then, coming immediately to the point, he asked, "Do I take
it that your arrival has some connection to the portrait I have
mislaid?"

"It has, sir," said Randall, reaching into his pocket to retrieve the very object that had been the cause of such great
concern and laying it on the desk before him.

Resisting the impulse to immediately snatch it up, the earl
leaned back in his chair. "I am exceedingly grateful to you for
its return. Your face is vaguely familiar to me and yet not your
name. Should I know you?" he asked with some perplexity.

Randall studied a point above the earl's head, appearing to
bring the memory to mind. "We've met on two previous occasions, though I hardly think you will remember, sir. The first
occasion I will never forget-it was when we fought the
French at Albuera. There was a lot of smoke on the battlefield,
our cannon and their cannon blasting powder and shot by the
ton. It was blinding. The French came out of the smoke in a
column and marched toward us, their kettledrums pounding.
My men fired volley after volley, but still they came, but my
boys held until they smashed into our lines like a hammer and
we thought all was lost. Suddenly, out of the smoke, rode
Marchant's Cavalry, and I saw you lead your men in the attack.

"You were a sight to behold that day, sir. No one could have
burst through that smoke with more fury than you. Not even
Old Nick himself. Your men followed hard on your heels. You
had two horses taken from under you during the battle, and
still you fought like a demon...

"You spoke of a second meeting," interrupted the earl
coldly, obviously having no liking for the recollection.