Sweet Savage Eden (10 page)

The family was awaiting them there.

At least she assumed they were the “family”—a group of richly dressed women and one man. He was in light silk breeches and a matching doublet with fine silk hose and buckled shoes. She gasped when she saw him, for she had always considered her coloring to be her mother’s, but this man was very much like her, except for being taller and very broad about the shoulders. But his eyes were the same shade of blue; his hair, worn to his collar, was every bit as blond, and though his features were broader and heavier and very masculine, there was no mistaking the fact that they were related. And two of the women behind him were golden blondes, one the same height as she, and one taller and very slim.

The world seemed to churn and simmer. Blackness rushed upon her. She was certain that both Jamie and Robert stepped far out of the way, and that they left her alone there, like a lamb to the lions. They stared at her—the man, the blond women, and the pretty, dark-haired woman who stepped forward curiously, slipping her arm through the man’s.

“Jamie! Robert! How wonderful to see you both! Henry, what is the matter with you? Lenore, Elizabeth?” She stepped forward, smiled broadly, and hugged Jamie Cameron with true, uninhibited affection, then kissed Robert on the cheek. “And who is this young lady?” she inquired sweetly.

“Jane, this is Jasmine Dupré.”

“Dupré!”

The sound came out in an explosion of horror. Jane turned around and spoke sharply. “Lenore, where are
your manners! Your papa would be shocked. Miss Dupré, please, you must come in and join us. Shall you have some wine? Or would you prefer ale?”

She wouldn’t prefer anything. She could not talk, and she could not move, and she hated Jamie Cameron with an ever greater passion.

Suddenly the man, Henry Somerfield, stepped forward with long strides. Beneath the foyer chandelier, he grabbed and lifted Jassy’s chin and stared deeply into her eyes, inspecting her. She found life at last. She stepped back and slapped his hand away. “How dare you!”

He spun around on his heels and stared at Jamie. “What is the meaning of this? I demand to know.”

“Careful, Henry,” Jamie said softly. “I do not much care for demands. If you care to step into the study, perhaps you and I shall discuss it.”

“Why bother stepping into the study?” Jane Somerfield inquired flatly. “She knows who she is, and we all know who she is. Why not discuss it openly?”

“She is a bastard!” one of the blond women hissed.

“Lenore, I will not have it!” Jane said.

“You are not my mother—”

“I am the duchess, your brother’s wife, and lady of this house. You will obey me.”

“Henry—”

“You will obey Jane!” he snapped. He was still watching Jamie, and Jamie was watching him. Henry smiled slowly. “Where did you discover this little gutter wench? Is this some grand joke upon me, Jamie? What is going on?”

“I stumbled upon her the other night. She is your sister, isn’t she, Henry. How can I ask such a thing? I had not realized until I saw your father’s ring, but now that you are together, the resemblance is uncanny. And she is no gutter wench, Henry. She is more of an abused child.”

“I am no child—”

“Jassy, shut up and stay out of this. I found her in extremely unfortunate circumstances—”

“You were the unfortunate circumstance!”

“Jassy, shut up. Your father recognized her, Henry. Your father recognized her, and your mother is gone now. There is no one left to be hurt—no one but this girl.”

“This … bastard!” the taller blond girl hissed again.

“Lenore!” Jamie snapped this time.

“Lenore, please—” Robert repeated.

“For God’s sake!” Jassy exploded. “Will you please quit speaking about me as if I were not here? Lenore, your manners are the worst I have ever seen.”

“I’m not about to split a copper farthing of my inheritance with you, you little fortune digger!”

“I want nothing from you!” Jassy cried.

“I will gladly share with you!” the smaller blonde claimed suddenly. She cut through everyone and came up to Jassy and reached for her hand. She blushed. “Well, actually, I’m the youngest, and I haven’t much of an inheritance. Just a dowry. But I’m very happy that you’re here. We knew about you, of course. Poor Mama hated the very thought of you and your mother. I think, though, that my papa loved you very much, and I’m glad that you’re here.”

The kindness was what Jassy could not bear. She had expected the insults; she had expected to be reviled, to be hated. She had not expected this gamine creature with her soft, radiant smile and shy touch.

Tears instantly welled behind her eyes. She blinked furiously to keep from shedding them.

“Thank you,” she could barely whisper. Then she found her strength and backed away. “I did not wish to come here.” She cast an acidic glance Jamie’s way. “Lord Cameron insisted.”

Henry stared at Jamie, and Jamie laughed. “Well, I could hardly take her home with me!”

“I think I’ll have some wine,” Jane said. “Let’s do please quit gawking in the entryway like common folk. Oh. I am sorry. I didn’t mean—oh, never mind. Lydon, wine for me, please. Girls? Henry, Robert? Jamie, a drink?”

“I’ll have Scots whiskey—five fingers, please,” Henry
said. He was still staring at Jassy. She had walked into the room with them. She did not sit; she longed to run, but she would not do so. She would not so entertain her brother Henry or her sister Lenore, nor so please them.

“She can have the maid’s room off mine,” Elizabeth said.

“She’ll have to. Lord, Jamie, I can’t bring a bastard into this house and try to pawn her off as legal issue! I can see that she is fed and clean—”

“Oh, she is quite clean,” Jamie said, interrupting. Jassy longed to slap him. Just once. Solidly across his bronze cheek.

Jane spoke up softly. “Neither can you turn her out on the streets, Henry. She is your blood.”

“And she would rather not be,” Jassy said coolly.

Henry stared at her, then he laughed. “She certainly has some of Papa in her, hasn’t she?”

“She has, indeed,” Jassy murmured. “Her teeth are very good, you see, and her hooves are quite sound.”

“We are discussing her as we might a horse,” Elizabeth said.

“Lydon, the drinks, please,” Jane reminded their servant.

“No dowry. I cannot afford it. She may have the room off Elizabeth’s, and if she cares to help with the domestic chores, then she may stay. When there is no company, she may dine with the family.”

They were still discussing her as if she were not among them. She wanted to scream and she wanted to cry, and most of all she wanted to escape. Robert Maxwell was still among them, listening to it all with amusement. He gave her a kindly smile, but her heart sank at the things he had to hear. She was coming to care so greatly for him. He was a still a dream that she coveted deep inside her breast.

“Where did you find her, Jamie? In a brothel?”

“Lenore, I do believe that I could be tempted to drag you out to the stables with a switch myself,” Jamie said coolly. Lenore flushed, and opened and closed her mouth. But she didn’t dispute him. “I found her at her
mother’s funeral, having labored for many years to keep the woman alive.”

“Oh, dear!” Jane said softly. “Well, we can keep you from that fate at the very least! Isn’t that true, Henry?”

“I have already said that she should stay.”

“Well,” Jassy spoke up, “I do not care to stay, thank you!” She turned, hoping to make a graceful exit. She did not manage it, for her legs gave out beneath her. She wavered and then fell. Her head struck the mantel and she cried out. She fell and fell and fell in a strange darkness, and still she did not reach the floor. She was caught in strong arms and lifted high. “Jassy!”

She could not answer. The darkness caught hold of her.

She woke up upon something very soft, and the light that gently glowed around her seemed to come from a single candle. She had never known such sweet comfort. She was clad in a clean white gown, and she lay upon clean white sheets, and the softest wool blanket she could imagine lay over her.

It took her a few minutes to discover these things, for they were hazy at first. Instinctively she touched her temple where it still throbbed, but there was a bandage there now.

The face of a woman wearing a bed cap hovered over her. It, too, was hazy, then it cleared. It was her sister, Elizabeth.

“Hello,” Elizabeth said very softly. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a very good sign,” Elizabeth said gravely. “Is it?” She had to smile. “Where am I? How did I get here?”

Elizabeth sat back on the side of the bed and extended both her hands. “This is the small maid’s room off my own.” She frowned. “We’ve better rooms in the house, of course, but well, I suppose that they can’t really give you the status of a legitimate child. Oh, I don’t mean that cruelly. Do you understand?”

Jassy nodded. Her head was beginning to pound. “Really, I didn’t want to come here. I will leave—”

“Oh, no! Please don’t leave! I wondered about you for years and years. Papa and Mama had horrible rows about you. You are just wonderful. Please, stay. Jane is a darling, but then she and Henry are the duke and duchess. And Lenore, well, you’ve met Lenore. I have no one.”

“But surely you’ve friends!” Jassy tried to sit up. It was very difficult to do, and her head began to pound all over again.

“Shush, and be careful! You’ve quite a gash upon your head. I’m afraid I haven’t really friends, not as you think. Father preferred to go to London alone, I was never allowed to play with the servants, and Jane and Jamie were our nearest neighbors. Lenore is not as bad as she sounds, honestly, but still … please, say that you will stay awhile.”

She couldn’t say it. She wasn’t certain that she could stay in this house very long, not when there was so much hostility directed against her.

“The room is lovely. It is by far the grandest that I have ever known,” she assured Elizabeth. It was a beautiful room. It contained the wonderfully soft bed she lay upon and the fresh clean sheets and the warm wool blanket. There were drapes at the window and small, elegant tapestries on the walls. There was a trunk at the foot of the bed and a heavy oak dressing table. “How did I come here?”

“Jamie brought you up.”

“Oh,” she murmured, and she tried to hide her disappointment. She had hoped it had been Robert. She lowered her lashes swiftly.

Elizabeth giggled. “Take care if you’ve set your mind on Lord Robert Maxwell, for Lenore is taken with him. Ah, well, she is in love with Jamie, too, but he can be so very exasperating.”

“That he can.”

“Lenore is so demanding, and of course, no one shall ever demand things of Jamie. He barely stays within the realms of courtesy as it is. She gets so very angry with
him. Then he leaves and she cries and frets for nights, and then it all happens again.”

“Really.” Jassy couldn’t imagine caring in the least if Jamie Cameron determined to stay away forever. But Robert Maxwell was another matter. It seemed horrible to her that a woman like her sister Lenore might very well marry Robert—while she could not. Even now she would remain a poor relation. The sister from the wrong side of the sheets. It was foolish to be bitter. Molly had always told her so. It was a waste of time. But she was bitter, and she could not help it.

Elizabeth was staring at her with grave concern. They really did not look so much alike, after all, Jassy decided. Oh, the resemblance was there, but Elizabeth had a rounder face, a turned-up nose, and far more innocent eyes. She smiled, studying her sister. She had never expected to find someone like her.

“And what about you, Elizabeth? Who shall you marry?”

“Oh, no one!” she cried. “Unless, of course, Henry forces me. He shan’t, I’m certain. Jane is a dear, and she will not let him force me into a marriage. I had thought for a while that I would join with the sisters of St. Francis, but I discovered that I did not have the vocation, after all.”

“Then perhaps you will fall in love.”

“No, I don’t think so. I’m too shy. Oh, I have known Jamie all my life, and Robert is so sweet and funny. But I am no good with strangers. I love this house, but I hate it, too, for it has also been my prison. It can become a prison, you shall see! But now, tell me about your life. I am so anxious to hear.”

Jassy felt a new rush of tears come to her eyes as she finished telling her story and turned her head into her pillow.
Mother
, she cried silently as she buried her face within the bedding,
I loved you. I would do anything to have you back. I still cannot believe that you are gone, that I will wake and you will not be with me
.

Elizabeth was there beside her, and it was all right that she saw Jassy’s tears. They hugged each other and
rocked back and forth, and Jassy tried to explain. “You buried her this morning!” Elizabeth said, shocked. “You poor, poor dear. Oh, Jassy, you must stay! They’ll give you a hard time, but you must stay. The world will treat you cruelly if you do not! It will break you, as it broke your mother! The pain fades, Jassy, and in time you remember what was good and what was sweet. I promise.”

The next morning Jassy was summoned by the Duke of Somerfield. When she entered his office, he was sitting behind his desk. He rose but did not invite Jassy to sit. He walked around her, observing her carefully. Then he backed away. She stared at him, not speaking, for she had not been spoken to. He was many years older than she, she determined, but was still a young man. He was elegantly dressed in wide breeches and a heavily embroidered doubtlet with wide, fashionable sleeves.

“You’ve no humility,” he said at last. “None at all. You need some, you know.”

She lowered her eyes and her head, remembering that she had decided she did want to stay at Somerfield Hall. For a time, at least—until she could fathom a way to reach her own destiny, to acquire her own wealth. A dream perhaps, but a dream that sustained her.

“You are not a legitimate member of this household!” he said sharply.

“No,” she agreed softly.

“And I will not treat you like legitimate issue.”