The Love Child (39 page)

In Mulberry Gardens! Carlotta had betrayed the truth to me. During those days when I had been confined to my room, they had been meeting!

I do not know how I lived through that evening. I tried to hide my fears. I tried to be as merry as they were, and all the time I was endeavouring to discover how much they had seen of each other, how far this acquaintance had progressed.

If only we had not come to London!

It was late when we returned home. He put us into our carriage, kissed our hands with grace and charm, and as we made the short journey from his house to ours, my thoughts were in turmoil.

When we stepped out of the carriage and went into the house, Carlotta slipped her arm through mine.

“How is the ankle?” she asked.

I had forgotten it. I could think of nothing but this fearful thing which was looming up over me.

“I scarcely feel it,” I answered.

“I thought it must be painful. You were so quiet this evening.”

“Well, perhaps I felt a little …shutout.”

“Shut out! What do you mean?”

“You have apparently been seeing a great deal of that man while I have been incapacitated.”

“Oh, we have met once or twice. He always seemed to be where we were.”

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“By arrangement?” I asked.

She flushed a little.

“Oh, come,” I said, “he knew we were going to be at the theatre this evening.”

“I told him we were going. Why shouldn’t I? It was no secret.”

“You seem to be on very good terms with him.”

“Why not? He is so kind. And is he not amusing? I think he is the handsomest man I ever saw.”

“You mean among the old men of your acquaintance?”

“Old? Oh, one never thinks of age in connection with Beau.”

Oh, God help me, I prayed, it has gone further than I thought.

“He is so much more interesting than young men,” said Carlotta. “He has the experience of the world which they lack.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“Why have you taken against him! He was so kind to you in the Exchange. I think you’re rather ungrateful.”

“So you have seen him more than once or twice when you have been out with Harriet?”

“Yes … a few times …”

“And have you ever seen him when you have been alone?”

She turned to me almost angrily. “When have I been allowed out alone? You all seem to think I’m a baby. Well, I’m not. And I don’t intend to be treated like one.”

I felt desperately uneasy. It was worse than I had thought.

I had to see him alone. I had to discover what he was planning, for that he was planning something seemed obvious to me.

Carlotta! Could it really be that he was leading her into seduction? What had he said? He had a passion for young virgins. He was cynical in the extreme, I knew.

Oh, yes, he was planning something. I could sense that. There was an air of triumph about him when he looked at me. He would be remembering that night when he had forced me to submit to his will, when he had humiliated me beyond endurance. If there had not been so much at stake I should never have agreed to such a bargain.

I imagined that his life had been full of adventures such as that. He would revel in this. It was his nature to wish to subdue people mentally and physically. He was proud, arrogant, vain and cruel. He saw himself as the only person of any importance in the whole world. His desires must be granted and if he had to contrive to achieve that end, he was only too pleased to do so. Intrigue was the 249

breath of life to him. There had been one time when he had lost and he bore the scars to remind him.

Oh, God help me, I prayed. If he attempts to ruin Carlotta’s life there will be a second time. I will do anything … anything rather than that shall happen.

I thought I would first speak to Harriet and see what she had to say. She was a woman of the world. She must have some idea of his intentions.

It was midmorning. She was not yet up but was in bed sipping a dish of chocolate which one of the maids had brought to her.

“Priscilla!” she cried. “So early! And skipping around like a young lamb. That’s a good sign, I’ll warrant. The ankle is behaving in that seemly manner which all good ankles should.”

She was clearly in a good mood and was just about to launch into a comment on the Wycherley play when I said: “I’m worried about Carlotta.”

“Worried. Why, the child is having a wonderful time. And what a little beauty, eh?”

“It’s this man … Beaumont Granville.”

“What a charmer! He has englightened the days, I’ll admit.”

“How much has he been seeing of Carlotta?”

“Oh, it is Carlotta, is it?”

“Harriet, you don’t seem to understand what sort of man we are dealing with. Yet you know what happened in Venice.”

“My dear Priscilla, as I have said before, that was all those years ago. Most of us have adventures hi our youth which might be considered shocking. We grow out of them and if we are wise we forget them.”

“Carlotta is still in the schoolroom. I don’t want her to see this man. He is old … old in years and old in iniquity. I want her removed from hun.”

“She adores him. It is amusing the way in which her eyes light up at the sight of him.”

“It doesn’t amuse me.”

“Of late it has become increasingly hard to amuse you. Don’t grow old before your time, Priscilla.”

“I’m worried about Carlotta and that man. I want to go back home. She is my daughter and I want you to help me as you did before.”

“Of course I’ll help you. But really, Priscilla, you are like one of those fearsome Puritans. It’s good for Carlotta to have this little flutter. It is preparing her for life.”

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“I don’t want that man to have a hand in the preparations. He’s dangerous. I don’t like him.”

“You’ve made that obvious.”

“I thought you wanted her to have Benjie.”

“Of course, she’s going to have Benjie, but she has to grow up a little more. Stop fretting, Priscilla. Everything will be all right.”

I could see that I should get little help from Harriet, but something would have to be done. What?

An impulse came to me. I had to discover what his plans regarding Carlotta were, and I had an idea that he might tell me, out of bravado. He was so sure of himself and already he was weaning her from me. I had always been impulsive, and no sooner had the idea occurred to me that I must talk to him than I began making my preparations to do so.

I left Harriet, and within an hour had put on my cloak and hood and was walking the short distance between our houses.

I was admitted by one of the servants I had seen the previous night. He showed no surprise at the sight of me. I supposed he was accustomed to women calling on his master.

I was shown into a small room leading from the hall and asked to wait.

He came almost immediately-exquisitely dressed as ever-his square-cut, mulberry-coloured velvet coat open to show his very fine waistcoat; his knee-length breeches were of the same shade of mulberry; his shoes had high red heels, which made him taller than he actually was; and he carried a jewelled snuffbox in his hand. I don’t know why I should have noticed his clothes at such a time, but the manner in which he wore them always made one notice. He was one of the leaders of fashion and well known for it throughout Court circles.

He bowed, holding the snuffbox in his left hand, and taking my hand in his right, kissed it. I shrank visibly.

“What a pleasure!” he murmured. “Once you came to visit me hi Dorchester. Now you come to London … of your own ardent wish in both cases.”

“I have come to talk to you,” I said.

“Dear lady, I had not the temerity to imagine that you had come for any other reason this time.”

“What is your object hi making yourself so agreeable to my family?”

“I am always agreeable,” he answered, “and my object is to extract as much enjoyment from life as it will offer.”

“And what does this particular enjoyment involve?”

I

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“Pray be seated.” He laid the snuffbox on the table, and brought out a gilded chair for me. He sat on another close to the table. “It is a very interesting situation,”

he went on. “It is all very clear to me. So the delightful Carlotta is the result of that peccadillo of yours. A most delightful result, I must say. And her father was Jocelyn Frinton. That is most interesting. Poor fellow, came to a bad end through that low-born monster, Titus Gates. But not before he gave us this delightful creature.”

“Us?” I said.

It was then I realized the extreme cruelty in htm. He knew how tormented I had been and he gloated on it… just as he had on my shame and humiliation on that other occasion.

“You will not be allowed to be greedy, dear lady, and keep all that sweetness to yourself.”

“Please explain.”

“I find her enchanting.”

“She is a child.”

“Some of us love children.”

“Depraved people like yourself, you mean.”

“You could say that, I suppose.”

“Then you must turn your eyes elsewhere.”

“My dear Priscilla … I always loved the name. It sounds so prim. Remember I told you that during that ecstatic night we spent together. You haven’t forgotten? I never did. I often wanted to remind you of it. You are not really in a position, are you, to tell me what I should do about your daughter? I have a charming picture of you.

You didn’t see it completed, did you? You must come to Dorchester sometime. It is the kind of picture only a lover could produce. Now listen to me. I have a great fondness for your daughter. My intentions are absolutely honourable.”

“Good heavens! You mean you want to marry her! This is too foolish for words.”

“By no means foolish. It is very sensible. The whole of London is talking about the Frinton fortune. Our delightful, beautiful, desirable Carlotta is not only a beauty, she is a considerable heiress.”

“You’re monstrous.”

“I enjoy revealing myself to you as I did on that night … that memorable night.

I kept my word, did I not? Were you not surprised? What a gamble you took! You should be grateful to me really. But for me your father would have been long since dead.

To seduce a woman is a venial sin, but to save a life is a great virtue.

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For what I did that night, surely I will have a place in heaven.”

“I would be ready to gamble on the fact that it will be hell for you.”

“Where all the interesting people will be, so they tell me. But we stray from the point. It is not the hereafter that you are concerned with; it is the present.”

“Will you leave my daughter alone?”

“No,” he replied firmly, “I am fond of her. You yourself said I should marry and so I always intended to when I met the lady who had all the necessary qualifications.”

“And Carlotta’s fortune puts her into that category.”

“Exactly. I appear to you to be rich. So I am in a way. I have the credit of the whole of London, but bills do have to be paid in time. There are a great many of them and my life-style is expensive. You see, everyone looks to me to lead the fashion.

My tailor’s bills are so long that it takes half a day to read them. I need money.

I need that fortune badly. And the Fates have given me a very pleasant way of acquiring it.”

“She is not fifteen years old yet.”

“A delectable age. Moreover she is mature for her age. She is a warmhearted child, longing for love.”

“When I tell her of your cynical proposition what do you think she will say?”

“She will never believe you. She will think you are jealous.”

“She is not so foolish as that. What will happen when I tell her certain things about you?”

“She will tell you that she knows I am a man of experience. That is what she admires.

A man who has known many women and selects her for his wife. What greater compliment could there be?”

“The compliment might not be so great if she knew it was her fortune that made her so sought after.”

“I will convince her that I am in no need of a fortune and that the sordid suggestion comes from those who are jealous of youth and happiness.”

He took a pinch of snuff from the box and held it in between his well-manicured finger and thumb. He smiled at me as he took it.

I stood up.

“So,” he said, rising, “our little tete-a-tSte is over.”

“This shall never come to pass,” I declared. “I will do anything … anything to prevent it.”

“My dear Priscilla, you are being most unworldly. Let the child be happy. After all, how old were you when you had your first fling?”

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“How dare you…”

“I dare much, my dear mother-in-law-to-be. Is that not amazing? You … my mother-in-law.

All I ask you, who at the age of fifteen -Carlotta’s age-slipped secretly into Venice to give birth to your bastard child, not to hold up your hands in horror at a man who has had a few adventures which an enlightened society would call normal for the times.”

“For the last time I ask you. Will you go away? Will you promise not to see my daughter again?”

“I will promise you two things. I shall not go away and I shall see your daughter again.”

I faced him and said: “If you attempt to put this evil plan into practice, I will stop at nothing to prevent you. I would kill you.”

The slow smile spread across his face.

“What an intriguing situation,” he said.

I turned away and walked out of the house.

I walked through the streets without seeing anyone or anything. I went straight up to my room and all the time I was asking myself what I could do now.

To whom could I go for advice? Harriet did not understand the horror of the situation.

How could she? She did not know what had happened that night in Dorchester. The escapade hi Venice she dismissed as a youthful frolic. That was something Harriet could understand.

Gregory was kind; he would do anything he could to help, but he was not the most resourceful of men and I felt this would be a situation he would not be able to grasp.