The Indomitable Miss Harris (2 page)

Gillian could not repress a slight gasp of dismay. To be barred from the assembly rooms at Almack’s would cause her social ruin! Then, striving to regain her crumbling composure, she lifted her chin again. “You are perfectly right to be angry, my lord,” she said. “I should not have gone to the masque. I see that now. But I thought it would be quite safe and that no one would recognize me, especially since I was not with Avery.”

His hazel eyes hardened. “A matter that I shall presently discuss with your brother,” he said dangerously. “You were recognized, Miss Harris, and in circumstances which do not enhance your credit. Lord Petersham recognized you and informed me of your presence at the gardens when we chanced to meet later at White’s. He professed to have been greatly amused by your behavior, said he had observed you flirting outrageously with all manner of questionable persons and also mentioned that you were unattended by so much as an abigail, let alone a proper chaperone.”

She dared to interrupt him, a note of near indignation tingeing her words. “I had an escort, sir.”

“Ah yes. Petersham mentioned Lord Darrow.” The touch of sarcasm in his tone brought flame to her cheeks. “According to Petersham, your so-called escort appeared only when one object of your flirtations allowed himself to be carried away by your charms. I collect that Lord Darrow interrupted his own dalliance long enough to draw the fellow’s cork for him. For you to have been part of such a scene is beyond the line of what is pleasing, I assure you. Now,” he finished sternly, “I should like an explanation, if you have one.”

Gillian regarded him with innocent amazement. “But, sir, I have already agreed that I should not have gone to the masque, and in London no lady is ever required to explain or apologize for her behavior!”

“Who the devil told you that?” he demanded.

“Mr. Brummell, my lord.”

It was Landover’s turn to be amazed. “I beg your pardon?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied staunchly. “He said a true lady of Quality should never have to apologize for her actions.” She lowered her eyes to the floor in order to avoid meeting the wrathful expression she expected and thereby missed the glint of appreciation that crept into his eyes. Had she seen it, it would have surprised her, for no one had thought to mention that he might have a sense of humor.

His voice remained stern, however. “I doubt George meant you to take such a meaning from his words, Miss Harris. Whether he did or not, however, hardly signifies. He does not hold your purse strings. I do. And, by God, you shall favor me with an explanation of your conduct whenever I require one or suffer the consequences. Now, I should like to hear how you came to attend a public masque at Vauxhall Gardens as well as your own version of what transpired there.” When Gillian eyed him speculatively, wondering how little she could tell him, he added firmly, “I want a round tale, if you please. It may help your memory to know that I have also sent for Lord Darrow.”

Her mouth dropped open and her head snapped up. “You did not,” she whispered, truly horrified.

“I did.”

“Oh, my lord, I only wanted some adventure!” She clasped her hands together to keep them from clutching at each other as words suddenly began to tumble from her mouth. “I never thought to cause such a fuss. I have been used to a good deal of freedom in Sussex, even this past year, and the rules here seem absolutely cloisterish by comparison. Mrs. Periwinkle told me I was not to go to Vauxhall, and she can be so stuffy sometimes that I thought it must be an exciting place. I wanted to go so much, and the masque seemed the perfect opportunity, for I was certain I should not be recognized. Avery would not take me, so I teased Lord Darrow until he agreed to be my escort.” A guilty frown fluttered across her brow, and she looked down at the floor again, muttering, “I told him you would not care what I did, that he needn’t be afraid of you. He said I was absurd to think he feared you, but I think he had every intention of refusing my request before I said that. Anyway,” she continued hastily, looking up at him again, “after we arrived, I began having such an exciting time that I didn’t realize I had become separated from him until that odious man pulled off my mask and tried to kiss me.” She blushed at the memory. “Lord Darrow came then and knocked him down. He took me home right after that … Lord Darrow, I mean.” Her voice seemed to die away at the last words, and her throat felt uncomfortably tight.

“So that tale was true.” He sighed, leaning back against the fireplace again and regarding her quizzically for some moments. “What about the so-called exploratory rambles I’ve heard you enjoy so much—without the company of either a footman or maid?”

That was easier. “Only until Avery said I truly must not,” she answered. “I was used to taking long walks at home, and none of the servants here seems to enjoy the exercise. But I truly did stop when Avery said it was not the thing.” She eyed him more hopefully.

“I see. So your brother does have his moments of sense. And the episode at the Bedford House ball with young Featherstonhaugh?”

She wrinkled her brow. “Do you mean when he kissed me?”

“Indeed. In a private room.”

“Well, since it
was
in a private room, I do not know how it came to your attention, sir, but it was a small thing, believe me.” She was feeling more sure of herself now. “He had obliged me by pinning up a torn flounce on my dress, so when he asked if he could have one kiss, I could see no reason not to oblige him in return. He is very nice.”

Landover was unimpressed by her naiveté. “So nice, in fact, that he boasted later of his conquest to several of his friends.” She regarded him in dismay, and he continued more gently, “Are you in the habit of bestowing kisses upon all the nice young men of your acquaintance?”

“Of course not!”

“You’ve no notion how that relieves my mind. But that brings us to the matter of your dress. I myself noted at Almack’s that you had damped your petticoats.”

“Why, ’tis the fashion to do so, my lord!”

“It is an unhealthy and indecent fashion that is thankfully on its way out, and I utterly forbid you to indulge in it further.” He seemed to reflect for a moment.

“Is that all, my lord?”

Landover straightened himself again. “No, Miss Harris, that is not all, as you know very well, but it is certainly enough.” He moved to the desk again. “Sit down.” The tone was peremptory, and this time she obeyed him. He took the chair behind his desk and regarded her grimly. “I see now that I have been not only remiss in my duties but grossly negligent. It was clearly foolish of me to believe I could trust you and Sir Avery to conduct yourselves properly with only Amelia Periwinkle to guide you. She is able to exert no authority over your brother, and I’ve come to believe that neither of them exerts much over you.”

She leaned forward in her chair to protest. “Cousin Amelia has been very kind to us, sir. Avery and I hold her in the greatest affection.”

“So great is your affection for her,” he retorted, “that you deliberately disobeyed her, risking a social reputation that she has taken pains to help you achieve. Consider also the fact that you have chosen, on various occasions, to disport yourself with young men in a way that would put her to the blush at the very least, and that you have insisted upon following a fashion of which I’m sure she disapproves, and then dare to repeat that you hold any affection for her!”

Gulping down a sob, Gillian raised a gloved hand to her breast and twitched at her gold locket. “But we do care for her! We do! Please do not send her away!”

He grimaced. “I have no intention of sending her away. She is a woman of Quality. Her connections here are excellent, and she is a very proper person to act as your chaperone. However, it is evident to the dimmest intellect that she cannot control your behavior. Therefore, distasteful as it is to me, I must shoulder that responsibility myself.” He breathed a long sigh and fiddled with a quill pen on the desk, watching her closely the while. She struggled to hide her resentment under a seemingly relaxed attitude, but his next words brought her upright with a wholly involuntary jerk. “My secretary has orders to see to the closing of your house. I have decided to remove you and your brother from Curzon Street at once and to install you here in Berkeley Square.”

She gasped in disbelief. “Oh, no! You cannot be that cruel! I should be utterly humiliated, my lord, for people to think I cannot behave myself without you standing guard over me. And Avery is my guardian, not you,” she added accusingly. “You cannot do this!”

“Sir Avery may certainly call your tune if he chooses to do so, Miss Harris, but I pay the piper for both of you. I most certainly can do this, and I might add that your brother’s probable annoyance is a matter of the supremest indifference to me.”

It was not a matter of indifference to Gillian. Much though she loved her brother, she had learned over the years to fear his infrequent rages. “He will be furious.” She ended on a sob, as tears spilled down her face.

“It appears to me,” Landover said gravely, “that you might have done better to think of that before you went to Vauxhall.” She opened her mouth to protest further, but a gesture silenced her. “I have no intention of debating my decision with you, Miss Harris. You have no choice but to obey me in this matter. Now, you have not come alone this morning, I trust.”

Gillian shook her head silently. She was struggling to compose herself again.

“You left your maid in the hall?”

“Yes, sir.” Her voice was very low.

“Good,” he approved. “Then you shall send her to Curzon Street to deliver messages from me to Mrs. Periwinkle and Sir Avery. She can collect whatever you will need for the next few days as well. You shall remain here, for you are in no fit state to go anywhere at the moment.”

And, indeed, she was not. The tears were still flowing despite her efforts to curtail them, but she made one last effort through barely stifled sobs. “Please, my lord, I will do as you wish—” She hiccoughed. “But could you not reconsider about Avery? Could you not allow him to remain in Curzon Street? None of this has been his fault!”

Extracting two sheets of his notepaper from a desk drawer, he answered harshly, “Compose yourself, if you please. I abhor being subjected to Drury Lane dramatics in my study. That house will be closed. I have already ordered my secretary to see to it at once. He will also arrange for the rest of your belongings to be transported here. As for your brother,” he added in uncompromising accents, “he has been conducting himself little better than you have! I have good reason to believe he has contracted debts he will be unable to pay without diminishing his principal, and I know he associates with persons of questionable repute. It is high time both of you were brought to heel!” He watched to see if she would reply, but she had been shocked into silence. She had had no idea what her brother’s activities included. She knew he hated “doing the fancy,” as he called it, and preferred going about with his own friends to attending balls and such, but that was all she knew. Landover finished writing and sealed the two notes. Then he stood and pulled the bell. MacElroy reappeared with commendable promptitude, bestowing a speculative glance upon the unhappy girl before he spoke. “M’lord?”

“MacElroy, take Miss Harris to her abigail. When she has delivered such instructions as she deems necessary, take her to Mrs. Trueworthy, who will provide her with suitable quarters—the front blue bedchamber, I think. Miss Harris will be remaining with us for a time. Oh,” he added as an afterthought, “you may also tell Mrs. Trueworthy that Miss Harris’s brother, Sir Avery, and Mrs. Periwinkle will be joining us as well, later in the day.”

“Very good, m’lord.” MacElroy’s face was properly blank as he ushered the now stiffly erect Gillian from the study. The abigail took one look at her mistress and jumped up from the settle, running to comfort her. The butler waited patiently while Gillian, firmly stifling her emotions and speaking with forced calm, gave young Ellen instructions regarding the notes, the clothes she would need, and apologies from herself to Mrs. Periwinkle and Sir Avery. Murmuring words of solace as well as a few choice epithets directed against those persons who decided without notice to take a domineering attitude toward poor lambs, Ellen fled to the carriage, and MacElroy was able to deliver his charge into the housekeeper’s care.

That estimable dame, hearing that she was to show miss to a bedchamber, took one look at Gillian’s tear-streaked countenance and raised an eyebrow toward the butler. Receiving some sort of answer to her unspoken question in the unbutlerlike shrug of his shoulders, she placed a plump arm around Gillian’s waist.

“There, there, child. You come with me,” she said soothingly, leading Gillian back into the hall and up the grand staircase to the gallery. Then, turning to her right, through a hallway leading to another stairway, and up this to the second floor, she opened a door onto a long carpeted corridor and continued to speak words of comfort until they had entered a charming bedchamber decorated in various shades of blue with flowered wallpaper and white hangings looped back around the spiral-posted bed. At any other time, Gillian would have been delighted. As it was, she took little notice of her surroundings.

M
RS. TRUEWORTHY GUIDED HER
to a blue silk-upholstered dressing chair and pushed her gently down. “Sit you here, miss. There’s lavender water just yonder on the dressing table. I’ll get it, and we’ll bathe your forehead.” Moving away, she added, “Mustn’t let his lordship’s tempers overset you. They are quick over, as you’ll see. Now,” she went on, liberally spilling lavender water onto her own large handkerchief, “just you blow your nose and compose yourself. He’ll be expecting you down to a bit o’ nuncheon, and though it’s more than an hour off yet, still it wouldn’t do to present yourself in this state, so you have a nice rest now. There’s cold water in the jug on the nightstand and towels in the lower drawer of that chest. I’ll send Bet—she’s the chambermaid—in plenty of time.” She paused briefly. “Will you be all right if I leave you now?”