Rakehell's Widow (12 page)

“Yes.”

“Then you must have passed her in the doorway, for she

was at the Royal Academy and asked especially after
you.”

Jillian went pale. “There is some mistake—”

“Yes, missy, and you’ve made it. I know
precisely
what
you were doing this morning and it certainly was not
calling upon Mrs. Haverstock. I saw you in Hyde Park
with Piers Castleton, as I suspect everyone else did too,
and I was appalled at your immodest and forward
conduct.”

Jillian was now visibly shaken. “I suppose you were spy
ing on me again,” she cried.

“I was not doing any such thing.”

“Hyde Park does not lie between this house and Great
Russell Street.”

“I decided to go for a drive, and it is just as well that I did, Jillian, for otherwise I would not have seen your in
credible folly. How
could
you behave like that? How could
you? Are you so contemptuous of your reputation?”

“I only rode with him,” Jillian said defensively, turning away then to bite her lip and try to hide how upset she was
becoming.

“Propriety demands more demureness than you seem
capable of, Jillian; you behaved more like a Cyprian than a
proper young lady. What would Father have thought had he witnessed your behavior? Well? You are impossible,
and you are making my task impossible too, for how can I
be expected to present you to society as a desirable bride
and excellent match when you lie and scheme to prove the
very opposite? Today you broke many rules, not least of
which was that if you are going to break a prior appoint
ment, you do not then do all in your power to be seen and
thus risk having your deceit reported. You agreed to
conduct yourself with more decorum. Well, if this is a
sample of your notion of decorum, then it is obvious that I dare not let you leave this house. I shall inform Sanderson
of my decision.”

Jillian was aghast. “You would humiliate me in front of the servants?”

“I know of no other way, Jillian, for you have shown yourself capable of lying in order to have your own way.”

“You cannot imprison me. I won’t permit it.”

“There is nothing you can do to stop me, for Father left me in sole charge of you—and that means in charge of
your good name and character, two items for which you
appear to have scant respect. And don’t think to resurrect
my past escapades, for it will avail you of nothing. I may
have played with fire, but I was singularly fortunate in not being burned. I am aware of my sins, Jillian, which makes
me doubly aware of yours. And if you stop to consider for
a moment, that is precisely why Father wanted me to look
after you, isn’t it?”

Jillian said nothing, but she looked very rebellious; two
specks of red stained her cheekbones and her blue eyes were bright indeed with unshed tears.

Alabeth’s mind was totally made up now. “I shall
inform Sanderson that you are to be confined to the house
until further notice, and I shall nip this undesirable affair
with Piers Castleton in the bud by paying that gentleman a
visit.”

Jillian was suddenly quite ashen. “You cannot mean
that—”

“I do mean it, for I simply cannot have any further misconduct like this, and he will have to be told. I don’t know what madness has got into you, Jillian, but I shall do my
utmost to combat it, that much I promise you.”

“Don’t go to him,” begged Jillian, tears shimmering on
her lashes. “Please don’t—”

“I have to; you’ve left me with no alternative.” But Alabeth was a little taken aback by the obvious horror with
which this statement was received.

“I’ve done nothing,” whispered Jillian, “nothing at
all—”

“You know that that is not the case. I trusted you, Jillian, and you deliberately broke faith. I should have known from that moment we encountered Piers and
Charles in Hyde Park that there was a great deal more to your ‘acquaintance’ with him than met the eye.”

Jillian’s breath caught on a gasp, her lips moved as if she
wanted to say something, and then she turned on her heel,
running from the drawing room and up the stairs toward
her own room. Alabeth heard the door slam and then there
was silence. She was trembling a little herself as she took a long breath to steady her nerves. She would have to be true
to her word; she would have to go face Piers and tell him that she expected him to stay away from Jillian from now on. It was her duty as Jillian’s guardian to do that, but it
would not be an easy task, not an easy one at all…
.

The footman stood aside and Alabeth stepped into the
vestibule of Piers Castleton’s elegant house in Cavendish Street. The walls were a pristine white and hung with oriental tapestries, the floor was of pink marble, and the
only pieces of furniture were two Indian sofas set in
recesses on either side of the fireplace. An elliptical staircase rose from the far end of the vestibule, vanishing be
tween immense columns which stretched up to the domed
roof far above.

“I will inform Sir Piers that you have called, my lady.” The footman bowed and left her.

She watched him mount the staircase. She felt a little less
sure of herself now that she was here, but she was deter
mined that she would put an end to Jillian’s liaison, how
ever much it took.

It seemed, that she stood there waiting for an
unconscionable length of time, but then at last the footman returned. “If you will come this way, my lady, Sir Piers will receive you in the green saloon.”

Her heart was thundering as she followed him up the staircase and along the wide passage to the pale green-and-
gold doors. He thrust the doors open and announced her.

The green saloon was done up in the style of ancient
Rome, the chairs and sofa looking very much as if they had
been plucked from a villa in that city. The wallpaper was
striped in shades of green, the woodwork was painted white, and the design on the octagonal carpet echoed the
beige, pink, and green of the elaborately decorated ceiling.
At the tall windows there were gold satin curtains with
green cords and tassels, and the breeze which crept into the
room moved the crystal droplets of the chandelier above
the circular mahogany table.

Piers stood by the huge mantelpiece, one boot resting on
the gleaming fender. He wore a dark-brown coat and fawn
breeches, and his full and complicated cravat spilled over his maroon waistcoat. He waited until the footman had
closed the doors again. “Good afternoon, Alabeth, and to
what do I owe this unexpected honor?”

“I think you know full well, sir.”

“Do I, indeed? I can see from your icy demeanor that
this is not a pleasant social call.”

“Your conduct is quite unforgivable, sir, and I have come to demand that you desist immediately.”

He straightened. “What conduct?”

“Your pursuit of my sister.”

“I am not pursuing her.”

“Last night you danced three times with her and encouraged her most lamentably, and this morning you rode
alone with her in Hyde Park, after she had broken
previous engagements by pleading illness, and you con
ducted yourself in a way which must have been obvious to
all and sundry.”

“I say again that I am not pursuing her,” he said, maintaining a level tone, although with some difficulty, “and while I admit that I may have been a little remiss—”

“Remiss?”
She was amazed. “Is that all you can say?”

“What else? I should have done more to discourage her,
and in that, and that alone, I have been at fault.”

“You have pursued my sister, sir, and your conduct is
certainly more serious than the word ‘remiss’ would seem
to suggest. I don’t profess to know what has gone on be
tween you since you met at Chatsworth last year, but—”

“Nothing has gone on,” he interrupted angrily. “And
I’m damned if I’m going to stand here and let you accuse
me of all manner of things of which I am innocent. Until that first time I met you and your sister in Hyde Park,
when I was with Charles Allister, I had only met Lady
Jillian once before—at Chatsworth, when I danced once
with her. I have since met her at Octavia Seaham’s ball and
again today, when I happened to encounter her in Hyde
Park when she was out riding. If that amounts to pursuing
her, then I am guilty.”

“Last night you danced an inexcusable three times with
her and thus allowed her to make a mistake from which
you, sir, could easily have saved her. You know full well that it is frowned upon for a young lady, especially at her first London ball, to be seen too much in the company of any one man. You chose to ignore that. Furthermore, you arranged an assignation with her this morning in Hyde Park, at which assignation she behaved with a familiarity which you did nothing to discourage. You are contemptible, sir, for you’ve casually and thoughtlessly allowed her
to compromise her reputation. I find that despicable.”

A nerve flickered at his temple, the only sign of his own
carefully controlled anger. “You seem to imagine,
madam, that it is always in the power of the gentleman to
guide the situation. Let me tell you that it is not, especially with a young lady as impetuous as your sister. She asked me—no, begged me—to dance again with her, and really, although I knew it was inadvisable, she was not prepared to be fobbed off with any lame excuse. I did
not
arrange to
meet her in Hyde Park; she knew I was going to be there,
having overheard me mention it, and she made certain that she came across me. We rode together for a while—”

“In a most intimate manner.”

“Dear God, woman, I find you exasperating at times,” he cried, “for I am attempting to explain what happened
and you are interrupting. I rode with your sister for a
while, and then she told me that she feared the girth of her saddle was a little loose and she was in danger of falling.
What would you have me do, Alabeth? Ignore her and
then leave her to fall? Instead, I decided it would be wiser to see if indeed the girth was loose, and that is what I did, although I confess that I did not suspect for one moment that she was going to reveal her ankles both to me and to the rest of the world. I expected her to dismount—she did
not. I say again that I have been a little remiss, for I knew that she was forming some sort of attachment for me and I did not do enough to discourage her, but then neither did I
encourage her.”

“You should have behaved more like a gentleman and less like a seducer of innocence,” she retorted.

His eyes flashed. “A seducer of innocence? By all that’s
holy, you begin to go too far—”

“I will go as far as is necessary to keep you away from
my sister.”

“Will you, by God? I wonder how far that is?”

“I trust that it will not be necessary to find out.”

His eyes were half-closed, resting almost speculatively on her pale, angry face. “Are you always this challenging,
Alabeth?”

She ignored him. “Will you refrain from any contact with my sister?”

“Yes.”

She stared at him. “You will?”

“Quite willingly. You see, although she is delightfully pretty and engaging, she is too young and undisciplined for me. I prefer my women to be a little more discreet and to
behave with more maturity.”

“I do not care how you prefer your women, sir, merely
that your preference does not include Jillian.” Satisfied that she had achieved her aim, she turned to leave him.

He took two strides which brought him to her before she
realized what was happening, and she could only gasp as his arm went around her waist and she was turned to face
him, his fingers cupping her chin and his lips only inches
from her. “Oh, my preference certainly does not include
your sister,” he murmured, smiling a little, “but you, my
dearest Alabeth, you are very much to my taste.”

He bent to kiss her, his lips moving slowly over hers as
he drew her even closer. She was too startled to move as his
skillful lips teased her, rendering her incapable of thinking
clearly and robbing her of any will to begin resisting. His
kiss stirred forgotten senses, caused her blood to flow more
warmly through her veins, and made every nerve seem alive only to him. For the headiest and most unbelievable of moments, she was on the brink of responding, wanting to cling to him, but then sanity returned and furiously she began to thrust away from him.

He gave a short laugh, releasing her and smiling scornfully into her angry eyes. “Perhaps that will teach you, madam, not to come here wagging your finger at me and
accusing me of evil intentions toward your sister. I’m tired of you, Lady Alabeth Manvers, tired of your constant dis
like and tired of being held to blame for everything that
has gone wrong in your life. I am no more guilty of
attempting to seduce your sister than I was of luring
Robert from the paths of righteousness. I assure you,
madam, that he fell by the wayside all by himself. This is positively your last chance, Alabeth, for I swear that if you
provoke me once more, then I shall tell you some home truths which are long overdue and which only honor has prevented me from saying before.”