Deadly Peril (11 page)

“Let me take a look,” the Duchess stated, and turned Selina this way then that, critically inspecting the half-finished undergarment as the
corsetière
explained what had been done, and what still needed doing to fulfill the Duchess’s unusual request.

Madame
Corsetière
began in her halting English but when the Duchess asked her a question about the quilting of the fabric in French, Madame continued in her native tongue. She explained that the two front halves of the jumps would secure over Selina’s breasts using metal hook and eye closures. An extra layer of quilting had been placed between the cotton lining and the chinchilla fur, and it was here, just as the Duchess had requested, small pockets had been sewn and were concealed so that only Selina would be aware of their existence. Madame did not have the bad manners to ask what these hidden pockets were to contain, but stressed that the comfortableness of the undergarment would be determined by the weight of the pockets’ contents.

The Duchess was delighted with Madame’s work but brushed aside her difficulties in having the garment finished in two days’ time by doubling Madame’s fee. With Selina divested of the garment, the
corsetière
and her assistant departed, breathless at the sum they were to be paid and the task ahead.

“I wonder if they know you mean to stuff those little pockets with jewelry?” Selina asked, slipping a silk banyan over her chemise and petticoats with the help of Peeble, her aunt’s lady’s maid.

“It matters not. What matters is if you are perfectly reconciled to my request,” said the Duchess, a jerk of her powdered hair towards the sitting room door—signal for Peeble to leave them alone. “I’ve no idea how many days you’ll have to wear those stays, but I foresee at least three weeks. That’s a long time to be burdened with such a responsibility. You won’t be able to take them off, only to bathe, and you can never let them out of your sight even then.”

“I’ll wear them for ten months if it will help free Cosmo and Emily. Though I don’t understand why you want to keep this a secret from Alec. Concealing jewelry in this way is inspired.”

“Thank you, my dear. I do have the odd moment of brilliance,” the Duchess replied with a quick smile and then was serious. “I don’t want him to know for the same reasons I don’t want him to know you’re traveling with me until we reach Harwich. You are the most precious thing in the world to him. So do you think him likely to sanction you carrying a king’s ransom concealed in your bodice, at any time, least of all in a foreign country at war? Never! Nor would I, under any circumstances except these. It weighs heavily on my conscience to have to use you in this way, but if there was an alternative to securing Emily’s release, I would gladly use it. You do understand that, do you not, my child?”

“Of course, Aunt,” Selina instantly reassured her with a smile. “I fully expect Alec to be displeased when he realizes I am accompanying you and Mr. Halsey to Holland. But he won’t blink an eye in opposition because he will see that it is the right thing to do. You cannot go alone, even if you have Mr. Halsey for support. But once we reach Dutch waters, how are we to persuade Alec to agree to taking me with him, and not to leave me behind with you?”

“He won’t have a choice. Your name is inked on the letters of introduction. Thus you are an official member of the English legation.”

Selina was unable to hide her amazement. “How did you manage to get Cobham to agree to it? ”

The Duchess’s eyes lit up and her smile was conspiratorial.

“I didn’t,” she cooed. “I summonsed the chief clerk of the Northern Department, a Mr. Larpent, to visit me. I told him a fib. I said this silly old woman had spilled her coffee across the original document, and that I would be forever obliged to him if he would write up a separate letter of introduction. And to please not tell Cobham of my mishap. That we would keep it between the two of us, and Cobham not be the wiser, or he would be very angry with me! Of course a toady such as Larpent could not whip out his quill and ink fast enough to oblige me. I then had a Privy Councilor put his signature to the document. The Earl of Salt Hendon to be precise. His grandmother and my mother were first cousins. What? Surely you cannot be shocked by my tactics,” she retorted when Selina gasped and then giggled behind her fan. She shrugged and pouted. “There isn’t a level low enough to which I will not stoop to secure Emily’s freedom. And Cobham and I are in accord on one thing at least. That the Margrave will be sympathetic to a kinswoman being given access to Emily. Of course, your brother had no idea that I would choose you as that kinswoman, or he quite rightly would have refused. Your safety—”

“Oh, it’s not my safety he cares about,” Selina interrupted flippantly. “Though, that is not strictly true. What I should have said is that he cares more for the Vesey name than he does my personal safety, or my happiness. But I am not afraid,” she assured the Duchess, took the hand held out to her, and sat beside her aunt on the chaise longue. “Once I am reunited with Emily I am determined we will not be parted. They’ll have to wrench me from her!”

The Duchess teared up at such ardent sincerity and gently brushed a stray sprung curl from Selina’s flushed cheek. Her niece had all the appearance of a fragile ethereal beauty with her delicate cheekbones, white skin and apricot-red hair. But beneath the waiflike exterior she knew her to possess a natural resilience for survival, born of an arranged marriage to a violent brute. She also knew that at her core Selina was an unashamed romantic who was fiercely loyal to those she loved.

“Thank you, dearest. I do feel better knowing you are going to her,” the Duchess said. “And I care very much for your safety, so it is imperative you tell no one about the jewelry. The British consul’s letter may demand a ransom, but it does not stipulate its kind, and my jewels are only to be used as a final recourse. Cobham has suggested, and I agree with him, that the Margrave be offered a goodwill gesture from one monarch to another. So I am sending my most prized possession: The mechanical gaming table by the Roentgen brothers.”

“The one where the leaves turn like the pages of a book?” Selina asked, and when the Duchess nodded, recalled, “I teased Cosmo for using that wondrous table as a lure to attract females. He had discovered the hidden latch that allowed for the box containing the backgammon board to spring up from table’s center as if by magic. He publically challenged anyone to discover its whereabouts. And do you know, not fifteen minutes later and completely unaware of his challenge, Alec strolled up with Emily and not only demonstrated the mechanism, but showed her where to find the latch. The look of defeat on poor Cosmo’s face had us in stitches of laughter!”

“Yes, I remember it well,” the Duchess said with sigh. “I’ve never seen Alec with a bigger grin, and Cosmo so dog-faced!”

“Forgive me. I did not mean to upset you,” Selina apologized, as the Duchess quickly dabbed her eyes dry with the corner of a lace handkerchief. “Offering the table as a goodwill gesture is an excellent notion. Even if soldiers ransack the baggage looking for jewels and coin, they won’t be interested in a table, no matter how inventive, or dare take it, if it’s for their ruler.” She turned at the sound of porcelain cups and plates rattling and watched Peeble cross the room with a tray.

“Put the tea things here, and then you may ready my gown for dinner. And send word to Evans to have Mrs. Jamison-Lewis’s gown readied, too. You don’t mind staying here with me, do you?” the Duchess continued, as she made them both a cup of tea, Peeble gone on a curtsy.

“Not at all. In fact, it gives me a place to live until we are off on our nautical adventure.”

The Duchess passed her niece a cup of milky tea. “So you have finally decided to sell the house you shared with J-L?”

Selina shook her head. “Not sell. Lease it out. Alec wants me to sell Hanover Square but Cleveley advised against it. He says I need to keep some form of independence. Then again, he also advised me not to marry Alec.”

“What?” The Duchess was so dismayed she almost overset her teacup. “He gave no such advice!” When Selina nodded, she sat up tall and said, “How dare he! Hypocrite. Fatherhood should’ve mellowed him, particularly at his age, or at the very least, marriage to Miranda should’ve done so. He has no right interfering in your happiness.”

“Oh, he has mellowed. Do not think otherwise. He’s besotted with her, and his newborn son.”

“Is the baby—
well looking
?”

Selina smiled. “By that do you mean does he look more like his beautiful mamma than his papa? You may rest easy. Baby Thomas does have a great look of Miranda. Which surprises me.”

“That he should look like his mother?”

“No. That I could see that he does. I’ve never held a newborn before… They are so tiny… I see now why parents fall instantly in love with their offspring…”

The Duchess caught the note of wistfulness and tried to keep her voice neutral. “I would have thought the fact Alec is now a marquess reason enough for Cleveley to give you his blessing.”

“Yes. But he says as Alec is now a peer he must marry a female who can give him a son; an heir. Everyone knows I was unable to give J-L a child, and we were married for six years.”

The Duchess snorted her contempt.

“What utter porridge! What would Cleveley—a male, and who is not your physician—know about your fecundity? Arrogant presumption! To be truthful—and I can say this now without fear of upsetting you—I was relieved your marriage remained childless.” She shuddered. “J-L was a monster. That you had to endure such violence was appalling enough! To bring a child into that household… For him to witness his father mistreat his mother—
never
.”

Selina swallowed and said quietly, “May I confide in you, something I have never told another? Of course, Evans knows—no one else.”

“My dear, you may tell me anything and it will go no further; that I promise.”

Selina nodded. “Yes. I know that. I’m just afraid—afraid you will think less of me for what I—”

“Now it is you who are talking porridge! Tell me or no, but let me be the judge.”

“Very well… I realize I must forever live with the consequences, but I am reconciled to it, and for the reasons you stated. I did not want to bring a child into such a horrible world, so I used a number of-of—
methods
—to ensure conception did not occur.”

“But I thought… Didn’t you suffer several miscarriages whilst married to J-L?” the Duchess blurted out in surprise, then added quickly, because she had broken the confidence of another, “Your sister-in-law told me in the strictest of confidences.”

Selina shook her head. Try as she might she could not stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks.

“I lied to J-L, and to others, and more than once, that I was pregnant. In truth I was not. I needed the-the
respite
from his loathsome attentions. I’m not proud of myself, but nor am I sorry my hateful marriage remained childless.” She quickly dabbed at her cheeks, sniffed, stole a glance up at her aunt through her lashes, and confessed all. “It was only a little over a month after J-L’s death that Alec and I were—
reconciled
. That we—that he and I—”

“Reconciled is one way of putting it,” the Duchess interrupted flatly. “Go on.”

“And then, just after Emily, Cosmo and I arrived in Paris I discovered I
was
pregnant. To tell you a truth, I was terrified the baby might be J-L’s. And so when I miscarried, my overriding emotion was one of relief—that I was rid of that monster’s child. And then I was overcome with the most appalling thought: What if I had not lost J-L’s child at all, but Alec’s? And then the physician who attended on me gave it as his professional opinion that because I used methods of prevention during my marriage, I may now never carry a baby to term. So you see now why I can’t marry Alec, and why I am—I am so
utterly
miserable!”

At that confession, Selina fell all to pieces. With a trembling hand she shoved her teacup onto the low table to be gathered up by the Duchess and held until the sobs subsided. When she was finally quiet and still, the Duchess sat her up, brushed the silken red locks from Selina’s flushed face, gently kissed her forehead, and finally held her face between her hands and looked into her niece’s dark eyes.

“Oh, my dear sweet girl, you are to stop punishing yourself this instant,” the Duchess stated. “I don’t give the snap of two fingers for a Parisian physician’s opinion! You will have children, of that I am convinced.” She sat back and clasped her hands in the lap of her petticoats. “And if you want the truth, you will be plagued by more miscarriages. It is a sad fact of life which we females must accept. Why I had three miscarriages before I gave Romney his firstborn son. And we went on to have ten live children as you know. Not that I wish a cricket team on you, my darling, but it does underscore that what you suffered in Paris is nothing unique and should be put behind you.”

“But what if—”

“No! I won’t allow you to wallow in what-ifs! Nor will Alec, when he knows your ridiculous reason for having refused to marry him. You finally have a chance for a good life, a happy life, and with Alec, and you will not refuse him a second time. Do you hear me?”

Selina nodded obediently but she was anything but optimistic. She sighed forlornly. “He may not ask me again. I tried to speak with him at Bath, to explain why I could not bring myself to tell him about the miscarriage I had in Paris, but he would not listen. If you had but seen the anguish in his eyes, you’d know he—”

“—was upset
for
you,” the Duchess reasoned. “No doubt that was the first he’d heard you were pregnant…” When Selina bit her lower lip and confirmed her statement with a nod, she smiled in understanding. “Don’t you see? He discovered all in the same breath, and in public, you were pregnant, then miscarried, and that you had kept both from him. And you wonder why he is upset?”

“I should have told him when—”

“—you spent that week together in Paris in
reconciliation
?” When Selina dropped her gaze to the wet handkerchief scrunched in her lap the Duchess smiled crookedly, and said, tongue firmly in cheek, “When your physician prescribed you keep to your bed after your miscarriage, I’m sure he meant bed
rest
.”