Gayle Buck (20 page)

Lady Hortense was not behind in her own attentions to her new great-niece. But none of the gentlemen met Jessica until Victoria brought her down for tea one afternoon.

The novelty of being allowed downstairs made Jessica quieter than usual, but when Victoria led her into the drawing room, the sight of the three strangers silenced her completely. Jessica clung to her mother’s hand and stared at the gentlemen, who had risen upon their entrance.

Miss Webster had come down with Victoria and her charge and now looked on with an eagle eye. She was very curious to see the gentlemen’s reaction to this new little heiress.

“Here they are now,” said Lady Hortense. She smiled at Jessica. “Do not be afraid, dear Jessica. See, here is Doro beside me and you have met Margaret once, I know.”

“Indeed. Doro was particularly insistent that I should,” said Margaret with a laugh. Privately she thought the importance placed on the little girl’s introduction at the tea was ridiculous, but she took care not to allow her boredom to be too evident. She had been astonished when even Lord Damion, who as a man of the world could be expected to share her impatience, had actually expressed eagerness to meet the child.

Lord Damion silently studied Jessica and decided that she was an exceptionally attractive child. Her fair hair was threaded with a blue riband that matched her large eyes and she wore a darker blue merino frock. He glanced at Lady Victoria’s face to satisfy himself that the child’s delicate features did indeed echo the mother’s fine bone structure. Charles March may have bequeathed his once-fair coloring to his daughter, but Lord Damion rather thought that as Jessica grew older she would resemble the mother more.

Miss Webster detached herself quietly to take a chair on the far side of Lady Hortense where she could be close to the fire. Victoria drew her daughter nearer the group. “Jessica, this is Sir Aubrey, who is your papa’s uncle. He remembers Papa as a boy just your age,” said Victoria.

Jessica’s eyes rounded. Her shyness was forgotten as she stared intently at Sir Aubrey. “You knew my papa?”

“To be sure I did,” Sir Aubrey said, nodding. “And a fine rascal he was.”

Victoria drew her daughter’s attention to the other two gentlemen. “This is Lord Damion and the gentleman standing by the mantel is Evelyn. They are your papa’s cousins. They are your cousins, too,” said Victoria.

“Hullo, Cousin Jessica,” Evelyn said with awkward friendliness. He wasn’t certain what he should say next to the three-year-old girl and stared at her.

Sensitive to Evelyn’s silence, Jessica drew a little closer to her mother, again feeling self-conscious. She knew she was the object of all eyes and she was uncertain of what was expected of her.

“Lady Victoria, pray allow me to serve you and our cousin Jessica a slice of cake,” Lord Damion said, gesturing to the tea board that had been set up a few minutes before by the butler and a footman. He glanced at Jessica. “I assure you, it is a very good cake.”

Lively interest showed in Jessica’s eyes and she stood on tiptoe to see the top of the table. Victoria almost laughed at her. “Thank you, my lord. We would be delighted.”

In very short order Victoria and Jessica were seated on the sofa opposite Doro and Lady Hortense. Jessica finished her cake with great satisfaction and she looked curiously around at the adults. Miss Webster was telling an anecdote to Lady Hortense and Sir Aubrey, while Margaret listened with a half smile. Dorothea and Victoria were laughing at Evelyn’s nonsense. Jessica discovered that only Lord Damion was watching her. She stared uncertainly at him.

Lord Damion smiled. “It was a good cake, don’t you think?” he asked quietly.

Jessica continued to stare at him. Suddenly she smiled. She slid off the sofa and went over to lean against his knee. “Mama says you are Papa’s cousin,” she said.

Lord Damion nodded. “I am also your cousin, Jessica.”

“I have many cousins,” she declared solemnly. She stared thoughtfully
at him. “Do you have a little girl?”

“No, Jessica. But if I ever do I should like her to be as pretty as you are,” said Lord Damion. He held out his hand and without hesitation she put her tiny fingers in his.

Jessica swung their clasped hands to and fro. “Do you like horses?” she inquired.

“Very much,” said Lord Damion. She nodded, satisfied.

Evelyn had observed their meeting and directed Victoria’s attention. “St. Claire’s charm wins over even the babes,” he said humorously.

Victoria was astonished to see that her shy daughter had climbed up beside Lord Damion in his chair. Lord Damion chanced to meet her gaze and he grinned. “Pray do not look so surprised, my lady. Jessica and I have discovered a mutual passion for horses. I have just been telling her about Starfire and the foals,” he said. “With your permission, I am engaged to take her to visit them this afternoon.”

“Jessica will enjoy such a treat. We will be most happy to accompany you, my lord,” said Victoria.

She was amazed not only by his efforts to please a little girl he had never seen before, but that he should apparently have a knack with her. Somehow Victoria had not expected a man of his reputation to care overmuch for children.

“I shall go along with you, St. Claire. I’ve not seen them yet,” said Evelyn.

Margaret laughed, thinking it ironic that she should now lose Lord Damion’s attention to a child. “To be sure, it will be quite the family outing,” she said.

Lord Damion glanced at her, suspecting that he heard a forlorn note in her voice. He thought that the entertainment offered thus far at the Crossing must be tedious to someone like Margaret, who regularly attended every social function in London. Perhaps as host he should show her a little more consideration. He set Jessica on her feet and rose from his chair.

The little girl dashed over to Victoria, her eyes alight. In a high clear voice, she said, “I am to see the horses, Mama!”

“So you are,
menina,”
said Victoria, laughing. She saw that Miss Webster was rising from her place on the settee near the fire. “Pray do not stir, Rebecca. I shall take her out, for I well know how you detest the cold.”

Miss Webster nodded to her as she settled back in comfort beside Lady Hortense. “Indeed, my lady. And my present company is too pleasant to leave willingly.” Her glance included both Lady Hortense and Sir Aubrey, who made a short bow to her from his chair.

Lord Damion approached Margaret. “You are naturally welcome to join the party, Margaret.”

She shook her head, giving him a demure glance. “Pray do excuse me from this particular outing, my lord. I shall be more in my element if I remain here with Doro.”

He lowered his voice. “As a favor to me, Margaret.”

Margaret looked up at him. There was a warmth in his eyes that she thought she understood. Her heart beat a little faster. “I must certainly honor your wishes, my lord,” she said huskily. He bowed and held out his hand to her and Margaret allowed herself to be drawn from her chair.

Doro sighed as they left. She would never say so, but she wished that she could participate so easily in whatever was proposed. However, she put on a cheerful face, not wanting to spoil anyone’s enjoyment or to make Evelyn anxious on her account.

The small party was quickly bundled in warm cloaks and on its way to the stables. The stable master was taken aback by the number of visitors but he watched calmly enough while the little girl was introduced to the foals and their dam. He wondered a bit at the beautiful woman who clung to his lordship’s arm. Her expression was polite but she did not seem particularly interested in the horses. He nodded, unsurprised when she stepped back hastily as one of the foals came too close to her skirt. She was obviously one of those females who had no business invading a man’s stable.

Margaret would not have argued with the stable master’s opinion. She was bored within five minutes of entering the stable and wondered that Lord Damion appeared to enjoy himself so thoroughly. She herself saw nothing entertaining in the spectacle of Lady Victoria, Evelyn, and the child squatting in the straw to pet the smelly animals. Margaret was relieved when they decided to return to the manor a half hour later.

The party used the small door into the manor once more and entered into the narrow passageway. Victoria and Evelyn walked ahead with Jessica, who kept up a steady stream of questions and exclamations about the foals. Evelyn was delighted to discover that sometime during the visit to the stables he had been elevated to the level of friend and Jessica turned to him with questions.

Lord Damion and Margaret brought up the rear. She deliberately kept their pace slow as she talked animatedly of London. When Margaret saw that Victoria and Evelyn had turned a corner and were no longer in sight, she pretended to stumble. “Oh!”

Lord Damion quickly put his arm about her. “Are you all right, Margaret?”

Margaret leaned against him, ostensibly to reach for her ankle. “I but turned my ankle, my lord. It will be better in a moment.” She looked up at him with a brave smile.

Lord Damion felt her soft curves against him. It was not an unpleasant sensation, and though he suspected that her turned ankle was a pretense, he was not unwilling to prolong the moment. He smiled down at her. “Margaret, I understand you too well for your own good.”

“Do you, my lord?” Margaret straightened and slipped her arms around his neck.

Lord Damion put his hands about her waist, preparing to push her away gently. “Margaret, this is not—” He was silenced when she reached up to press her lips urgently against his.

When Jessica had addressed a question to Lord Damion and did not receive an answer, she looked back curiously to find that the other couple had disappeared. “But where is he?” asked Jessica. Evelyn glanced at Victoria, his brow raised.

“Lord Damion and Mrs. Giddings will come along in their own time, Jessica,” said Victoria.

“But I wish to talk to him,” said Jessica. She pulled her hand loose and ran back the way they had come.

“Jessica!” Victoria hurried after her but did not catch up with her daughter until she turned the corner. Jessica stood stock-still in the middle of the hall, staring. Victoria looked up to see what had so captured Jessica’s interest. Margaret’s arms were wound tightly around Lord Damion’s neck and they were exchanging a passionate kiss. Victoria felt an irrational stab of fury.

Lord Damion sensed eyes on him and lifted his head. He met Victoria’s outraged eyes. At once he loosened Margaret’s arms and stepped back from her. “My lady—”

Victoria picked Jessica up and whisked back around the corner. She almost collided with Evelyn, who took one look at her face and fell into step with her silently.

“Mama, what are they doing?” Jessica asked innocently.

Victoria felt heat rise in her face. “Hush, Jessica!”

Evelyn tousled Jessica’s fair hair. He said easily, “His lordship and Mrs. Giddings were flirting, Jessica. That is a game for grown-up men and women.”

“Oh,” said Jessica, thinking about it. “When I am grown, I shall not play flirting. It doesn’t look fun at all,” she said finally.

Evelyn laughed and after a moment Victoria joined him. She gave her daughter a hard hug. “You are a darling,
menina!”

They returned to the drawing room without further incident and a few moments later Lord Damion and Margaret appeared. Margaret’s expression was complacent. She had not meant to have a witness to the interlude with Lord Damion, but nothing could have been more fortuitous than to have Lady Victoria chance upon them. She rather thought she had at last put Lady Victoria in her place.

Victoria had been sensitive before to the increased intimacy between Lord Damion and Margaret and her feelings had been curiously mixed. Lord Damion’s reputation and Margaret’s professed interest in him had made a liaison between them seem almost inevitable. But now that it appeared a fact, Victoria was furious. She did not examine her anger too closely, and knew only that she could hardly bear to be in the same room with them.

When Miss Webster remarked that it was past time for Jessica’s nap, it was taken by the others as a signal that tea was over. Victoria kissed her daughter and bade her go with Miss Webster. Jessica did not demur, being already half asleep. Doro decided that she would also lie down for an hour and Evelyn escorted her upstairs. Lady Hortense asked Margaret if she would help her to match some yarns. “For I know that I may rely perfectly on your color sense,” she said.

“You flatter me, Lady Hortense,” Margaret said, but she was happy to prove that her ladyship did not misplace her trust. The two ladies soon had their heads together over Lady Hortense’s sewing basket and were sorting the various yams.

Victoria seized the opportunity to escape from Lord Damion’s scrutiny. She rose, saying, “I have yet to finish a novel that 1 started. Pray excuse me.” She left the room, fully aware that Lord Damion’s eyes were on her.

Sir Aubrey, about to request a rubber of whist from his nephew, saw the direction of his frowning gaze. He decided to await further events and was not disappointed. Lord Damion left the drawing room.

Lord Damion found Victoria reading in the library. She had hardly settled herself before the fire when he entered. Victoria stiffened. “I hope that you do not mind my company, ma’am,” he said with a faint smile.

Victoria looked at him coolly. “Indeed, my lord, I would prefer to be alone just now.” She turned her gaze to the pages of her novel.

He ignored her snub and seated himself in the opposite wingchair. “My lady, I feel compelled to break etiquette with you and offer you an explanation. I realize that you were disgusted by the display you witnessed. I can only say that it was not all it seemed—”

“Pray do not go further, my lord. I do not ask for an explanation,” said Victoria. “Indeed, your private affairs are no concern of mine.”

Lord Damion raised a brow at the hard note in her voice. “Lady Victoria, I’m not making a confession. As you say, my private affairs are of my own concern. However—”

“Then pray leave off this topic, sir! I have no desire to discuss your alliance with Margaret Giddings,” exclaimed Victoria. She felt compelled to add, “Though
to flaunt
your relationship—”