Passion's Song (A Georgian Historical Romance) (33 page)

She smiled foolishly at Bridget. “They are perfect,
aren’t they?” She held out her hands to take the other, disguising
a wince of pain when holding her son hurt her. She played with them
for nearly an hour until she could no longer convince Bridget she
wasn’t being taxed by lifting them so often. She kissed each one on
the head, then watched as they were taken out of the room by the
wet nurse. It would not be too soon before she could take her sons
and leave.

She had no way of knowing it was solely the doctor’s
advice that she should be left alone that kept Alexander from
insisting she see him.

Isobel refused to believe Bridget’s ridiculous story
about the time her husband had spent nursing her back to health.
“He only wants me to get well enough to leave!” she snapped, tired
of hearing Bridget repeat the ludicrous tale. She had had her heart
crushed once too often by that man, and nothing—absolutely
nothing—would convince her he cared for anyone but himself. She
might still love him, but she had at last recognized her
foolishness for what it was. She might be many things, but she was
not so mentally unbalanced as to subject herself to the pain of his
presence.

“
Why would he want you to leave,
Lady Hartforde?” Bridget exclaimed. “Why, any fool can see he’s in
love with you. And I know you love him.”

“
He thinks I betrayed him with
another man! I could not leave here fast enough to please him.”
Isobel looked at Bridget as though she expected her words to
silence her at last.

“
I don’t believe it,” she
protested.

“
No doubt he’s been hoping I’d die
and save him the trouble of the divorce.”

“
Oh! Surely you don’t think
that?”

“
Believe me, my Lord Hartforde
made his feelings for me perfectly clear. Now, I won’t listen to
any more of your silly chatter about a man whom I
loathe!”

IV

Isobel sat in her room staring out the window where
she had a view of the fields stretching out past the stable,
watching a lone rider head out to the north. She recognized
Alexander’s broad shoulders even from such a distance. As she
watched him, it struck her he had yet to send word about how soon
he expected her to leave. She saw no reason to wait until he threw
her out. He might rule her heart, but he did not rule her mind. She
knew he was going to a hunt at Squire Walters’s and he wouldn’t be
back until quite late. She jumped up from her chair, quickly packed
a valise, and found Bridget to tell her she was going for a walk.
She didn’t want her to go into one of her speeches about Alexander;
it was easier to tell her the small untruth. She went to the
nursery and found the wet nurse sitting with the twins. She was a
young girl whose own child had died not long after its birth.

“
Lady Hartforde.” She
nodded.

Isobel picked up one of the twins; he gurgled
happily and waved two perfect little fists in the air. “What is
your name?” she asked the wet nurse.

“
Molly Westlake,
milady.”

“
Are you up to a trip to London,
Molly?”

“
Of course, milady.”

“
I’ll have the carriage brought
round in half an hour. Will you be ready to go?”

“
Yes, milady!”

In half an hour they were on their way to London. It
began to rain the second day out, but before it had rained hard
enough to slow them down, they had reached the better roads closer
to London. Eight days later, they arrived in London. Isobel took
rooms at a small inn and immediately went to sleep, exhausted by
the trip. It was two days before she finally felt well enough to go
out, and the first thing she did was pay a visit to Julia.

Julia’s face lit up with pleasure when she saw her
sister-in-law. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” She threw
her arms around Isobel and hugged her tightly.

“
Well, Lady Burke, how have you
been? Have you forgiven me for missing your wedding?”

“
Never mind me! Tell me how you’ve
been. How are the twins? Hartforde writes us that the boys are two
little angels. When are you bringing them to London?”

“
They are angels,” Isobel said,
but Julia wondered at the hint of sadness she saw in her smile. “I
brought them with me.”

“
Isobel, whatever happened between
you two?” Julia asked. “Why did he leave you for so
long?”

“
What does it matter, Julia?
Things are no different now. I’m sure he’s waiting impatiently for
our divorce to be granted.” Isobel felt the corners of her mouth
pulling downward as she tried to hold back her tears.

“
Divorce? That’s
nonsense!”

“
The only reason he came to
Hartfordeshire was to tell me he was petitioning for divorce. When
he got there in December, he ordered me to leave Hartforde Hall,
and if I hadn’t had an accident, I’d have been in London at
Christmas! And I was still with child then”—she was sobbing
now—“and he was throwing me out! He wouldn’t listen to one word I
had to say. The truth meant nothing to him! He was so anxious to
have me gone. He doesn’t love me and I could not stand to be near
him one more day!”

“
What accident?”

“
I had an accident a few weeks
ago. ’Twas nothing serious. I was abed a few days, that’s all.”
Isobel shrugged.

“
Is that why you’re so thin?” She
wondered how it could have been nothing when she was reduced to
nearly skin and bones. “I don’t believe Hartforde is going to
divorce you. He does love you—I know it!”

“
He doesn’t, Julia. Don’t you
think he would have told me if he did? And, anyway, if he doesn’t
divorce me, I shall divorce him. If he wants so badly to believe I
betrayed him with the duke of Mallentrye, then so be
it!”

“
Mallentrye? What about
him?”

“
It was at the duke’s concert. Do
you remember all those pamphlets attacking the King? And the rumors
that Alexander was responsible for them? You know if there was any
proof, the King would have exiled him. Well, the duke had a
letter—forged, of course—that would have implicated Alexander.
Never mind how I found out about it. I stole the letter and the
duke caught me coming out of his study, and then when Alexander
came along, all he saw was the duke holding me.”

“
And he could only think of
Sarah.” Julia was beginning to become very angry with her brother.
“But surely if you explained it to him—”

“
He would not listen to me! Don’t
you think he would have if he loved me even a little? I love him
with all my heart, Julia, but I want nothing more to do with
him!”

V

A day or so after Isobel visited Julia, she made a
trip to Alexander’s solicitor. She sat waiting in an uncomfortable
chair until Mr. Avery came into the room and apologized for keeping
her waiting for even the briefest moment.

He bent over her hand. “What may I do to help you,
Lady Hartforde?”

“
No doubt you know, Mr. Avery,
that Lord Hartforde intends to divorce me. In fact, it is my
understanding the process has already begun. It is quite impossible
for my children and me to stay at Albemarle Street, as I’m sure you
can well comprehend. My request is really quite simple, and it is
that you advance me a sum sufficient to allow us to stay in London
until such time as my lord has obtained the divorce.”

“
Lady Hartforde, Lord Hartforde
has said nothing to me about a divorce!”

Isobel paused. “Well,” she said at last, “you may
take my word that it is imminent. I imagine he will be in London
shortly to discuss it with you. And, if by some comedy of errors,
he forgets to bring it up, you may be assured I intend to divorce
him!”

“
I am not at all convinced of the
case, Lady Hartforde. However, I see no reason not to accommodate
you for the moment. Perhaps it would be more convenient simply to
have your bills sent to me? Your husband has been exceedingly
generous in giving you a monthly allowance of five hundred pounds.
I see no difficulty in having his banker disburse that amount to
you immediately. I might add, Lady Hartforde, that Lord Chessingham
was also exceedingly generous.” He looked down at Isobel as he
spoke. “If it is true you will divorce, you would be well advised
to secure your own counsel.”

“
I think, Mr. Avery, that five
hundred pounds will be perfectly adequate.” Isobel waited patiently
while he wrote out the name and direction of Alexander’s banker,
and instructions on how to locate his office. “How much did you say
my father gave him for me?”

“
I didn’t. But as you ask, your
jointure amounts to one hundred thousand pounds.”

The next afternoon Isobel moved to rooms at the St.
James’s Hotel in Jermyn Street and had soon hired a maid and
purchased a fortepiano.

She used up nearly one hundred pounds for the
fortepiano and the cost of delivering it to the hotel, but she was
mightily pleased when at last it was settled in the second of the
three rooms she had taken. As soon as she was divorced she intended
to move into a house, but until then she thought she would be quite
happy at the St. James’s. As soon as she was up to it, she would
call on Faircourt, but she wasn’t ready for that just yet.

When she sat down at the fortepiano, she was
dismayed to find that she played badly. After an hour she gave up
and sat staring at the keys. The depression she thought she’d left
behind engulfed her, paralyzing not only her fingers, but her heart
as well.

I

Alexander’s heart wasn’t in the hunt and twice he
considered giving it up and going back to Hartforde Hall. But later
he was persuaded to take some port with Squire Walters and the
other huntsmen before heading home. He was chagrined to find when
he was ready to leave that the night was pitch-black. A thick fog
obscured the moon, so it was impossible to attempt the ride home,
and he found himself forced to spend the night at Squire Walters’s.
He was oblivious to the blatant looks the chambermaid cast his way,
and when he slept he dreamed of Isobel. He rose at half past six
and waited impatiently for his horse to be brought around. He left
his thanks for the hospitality and his regrets for leaving so early
and was on his way by seven o’clock.

He had been at Hartforde Hall for only two or three
hours before a flustered Bridget was ushered into his rooms. He
took one look at her anxious face and felt his stomach tighten. “Is
Lady Hartforde all right?” he asked.

“
I don’t know, milord!”

“
What do you mean, you don’t
know?”

“
She’s gone, milord! She left
yesterday and took the boys with her!”

II

Alexander did not reach Albemarle Street until early
in the morning some twelve days later. It had rained almost every
day and the roads had very nearly been impassable. He was delayed
two days when his carriage lost a wheel, but one day was saved
when, on what proved to be his last night on the road, the rain
cleared and a full moon enabled him to travel all night. For some
reason he had expected to find Isobel at Albemarle Street, and he
was disappointed she was not there. It was far too early to ask
after her anywhere else, or he would have left immediately to look
for her. He ate a quick breakfast while trying to decide where to
begin his search. At half past nine, he decided he’d be dashed if
he could wait until ten, and he walked to Redruth, where he was
forced to wait half an hour before Chessingham would see him.

“
Good morning, Hartforde.” The
earl gave him a look that told him he had better state his business
and be on his way.

“
Has Isobel been here?” he
asked.

“
If she had, I’d have turned her
away. You know that.” Though Chessingham had no intention of
forgiving her, he was having a time forgetting how much he had come
to care about her.

“
Do you know she damned near died
after taking a bullet meant for me? And that she’s made you a
grandfather twice over?”

Chessingham flushed. Whether it was with anger at
Alexander’s hard words or from the effect of the news they
imparted, it was impossible to tell. “Well,” he said after a pause,
“why the devil has she left you? She’s married now, and her place
is with her husband.”

“
We had a…misunderstanding. ’Tis
my fault she’s gone – just as ‘tis my fault she got with
child.”

“
No, ’tis a man’s nature to try
and a woman’s duty to resist until the act is sanctioned by the
Church of England!” He turned away and looked engrossed in the
fire.

Alexander recoiled from the bitterness behind the
earl’s words. “Yet, sir, I’d wager you’ve had mistresses in your
time and never gave a thought to their souls, nor your own, either.
I take your leave”—he bowed to Chessingham’s back—“and I pray both
your heart and your mind are opened before it is too late.” He was
striding out of the room when the earl’s soft question stopped
him.

“
Is she all right,
Hartforde?”

He turned around. “No, she is not.”

As soon as he got back to Hartforde House, he
ordered the carriage and set out for Berkeley Square.

III

“
Yes, she was here, a day or so
ago,” Julia told him. “Hartforde, I do not think she is well, and
she was completely distraught! She told me you had ordered her out
and that you are suing for divorce. I said I did not believe her.”
Julia’s voice rose in outrage at her brother. “It isn’t true, is
it?”