Veiled in Blue (17 page)

Connie surprised Eve by offering her hand. “I believe we are to be related in a short amount of time.”

Eve cleared her throat. “Yes.” She took Connie’s hand. “Mr. Vernon didn’t tell me he was related to the Emperors of London until last night. I thought he was a businessman.”

“Well, he is. We all are,” Connie replied affably, but her eyes narrowed and she shot Eve a glance that spoke of curiosity, or speculation. “Before my marriage I was a country widow, living quietly in Cumbria.”

That came as a surprise to Eve. “So you met Lord Ripley by chance?”

Connie laughed, a merry ripple of sound. “You could say that. We met at my godfather’s house, and Alex wouldn’t leave me alone. Not that I wanted him to.” She paused and glanced away. “A few weeks later we met again in London, and the die was cast. Would you like some tea, coffee, or chocolate?”

The aromas of the beverages mingled with the mouthwatering scents of freshly prepared bacon, eggs, and kidneys. “I would love some tea.” Eve smoothed her hand over the front of her gown. “I understand this comes from you. I am deeply grateful. I only had my evening gown.” Which, after she had rolled it in the dirt last night, was probably ruined. “I will return it when my own clothes arrive.”

“Pray do not bother,” her ladyship said. “It looks much better on you than it does on me. Besides, I shall prevail on Alex to buy me a new one. At the moment he can deny me nothing, so I might as well take advantage of it.”

The son, of course. “Congratulations on the birth.”

“Thank you. It was a little fraught at the time, mostly because Alex was so worried and wouldn’t leave off pacing in the room below, but the midwife assured me it was a good birthing. We came here because it is not too far from Bath, and he could send for medical help if I needed it, but of course he did not tell me until I had recovered.” She laughed. “Not that I had not worked it out for myself.”

A love match indeed. Like her own, except Julius had not told her he loved her. A niggle of doubt remained at the back of her mind.

“I shall not inflict my child on you unless you should wish it,” Connie said. “Nursing other people’s children is of all things tedious. He is a healthy boy with a lusty set of lungs that he uses to great effect several times a day. I expect he will be as robust as his father. And as difficult to handle.”

Lord Ripley was tall, dark, and built like a bull. Handling was not on Eve’s mind when she looked at him. But Julius, despite his fair coloring, could stand next to him and appear to advantage. They did not look in the least like relatives. Eve tried to recall what she’d read about the Emperors of London. A family of one son and five—or was it six?—daughters, they had vowed to name their children after great emperors of the past. The head of the family was a duke. At the back of her mind Eve recalled one, after marrying a peer, for her second marriage chose a Cit, a businessman from the City of London. Perhaps that was where Julius fit in. She had never paid much attention to the gossip, not taking an interest in such matters, but one could hardly pick up a newspaper without one or other of them popping up.

If Julius was a child of the marriage to the Cit, that meant he was cousin to earls, viscounts, and marquesses. Eve could never hold her head up in such company. What did she know of such matters?

A footman entered the room and glided over to his mistress, offering her a note on a salver. It was not sealed, merely folded over. Eve applied herself to her breakfast while Connie read the note.

“Bother.”

“My lady?” Eve’s mother enquired. “I hope it is not bad news?”

“In a way.” Connie put down the note, giving Eve a glimpse of handwriting she knew. “It says the magistrate is outside with the constable.” She addressed the footman. “Pray take this to his lordship.”

Eve laid her knife and fork neatly side by side on the plate, her appetite entirely gone. Slowly, she got to her feet, trying to remember to be poised and graceful. She wouldn’t get through the ordeal any other way.

“You could let my husband handle all this.”

Eve shook her head. “They will want to interview me. I did the deed, after all. But I will not see them on my own.”

Connie nodded. “Very wise.”

Eve sat still until the message summoning her to the study appeared, borne by the same footman who had brought the original note.

Recalling all her deportment lessons, keeping her hands folded before her, Eve followed the footman, feeling like a condemned woman. Although everyone had insisted she would not face prosecution, Eve wasn’t so sure. If Julius had made an enemy of Sir Henry, this meeting would spell out her fate.

The study was a cheerful room, with books in glass-fronted cases and a sturdy yet fashionable desk gracing the space. Alex had taken his station behind it, and before the desk sat Sir Henry. Behind his chair the local constable stood.

The men got to their feet when she entered the room, and Alex walked around the solid walnut desk to greet her. He smiled briefly. “Do let me show you to a seat.”

Eve took her time spreading her skirts and then presented Sir Henry with a nod of greeting.

Sir Henry harrumphed and sat once more, making a fuss of pushing his coat skirts out of the way. A glass of sherry stood on the table, and the squire took a sip before breaking the silence nobody seemed too eager to spoil. “Miss Merton, in my capacity as magistrate, I must ask you some questions pertaining to the events of last night. Lord Ripley has already informed us you were the instigator of the incident.”

“No I did not,” Alex said softly, yet commanding the attention of everyone present. “The man we thought was a highwayman started it.”

Another heavy throat-clearing followed. “Miss Merton, would you tell us what happened, in your own words?”

What other words would she use but her own? Eve obligingly did so, from the time they left the ball to the time they arrived at this house. From time to time she had to stop, but the men waited until she was ready to speak again. “We had no idea the robber was Mr. King until Mr. Vernon stripped the mask from his face.” A small distortion of the truth.

Sir Henry was on his second glass of sherry by the time he was ready to announce his verdict. “There will have to be an inquest, of course, but I see no reason to detain you. If Mr. King had thought to play a jape, it was in exceedingly bad taste, and he deserved what he got. If he truly intended to rob you, that is doubly true.” He totally ignored the poor constable, who had remained standing, but at least the man would serve as witness. “I will outline the matter and inform the court of my decision. As far as I can see, you acted with commendable promptness.”

Relief swept through Eve, easing her tension and bringing her frozen mind back into play.

Sir Henry put his empty glass back on the table, but shook his head when Alex proffered the decanter. “Now we have dealt with the main business, I would like a few words with Miss Merton in private on a different matter.”

Here it came. She nodded her permission to Alex, and he took the constable out of the room. “No more than ten minutes,” he said, as if he were a practiced chaperone.

His edict relieved Eve. She did not want to have the conversation she guessed was coming, but she must. Sir Henry had considered her as good as won, but in a dizzying short passage of time, everything had changed.

Sir Henry got straight to the point as soon as the others had left. “Lord Ripley told me you are firm in your decision to marry Mr. Vernon.”

Eve schooled her features into impassivity. “I am, sir.”

“May I ask you why?”

She frowned. “No, you may not.”

His face reddened at her small defiance. He should have spoken to her first privately and then proceeded with the business of Mr. King. That was a tactical mistake, because he could not go back on his word now. He could have threatened her with a court appearance.

“Really, madam! You are not unaware of my intentions towards you, I am sure. I had intended to use the ball last night to announce our betrothal. Mr. Vernon was both importunate and inappropriate. He mauled you. We could overlook that small transgression. I am sure I can persuade people they saw nothing, or I rescued you from a marauder.”

“You did not, sir, and I will not say that.” She folded her hands neatly in her lap, her signal to herself she should remain on her best behavior.

“Why not? We have had an understanding for some time, Eve. I allowed you your little jaunt to Bath, but you must have realized you could not sustain the position of governess.”

She tilted her head to one side. He
allowed
it? “I appreciate your kindness.” Or his avariciousness.

In a flash of intuition, she saw what he had done. Nothing. If he was telling the truth, he had set his sights on her some time ago, but waited for her to catch up with him. He had done nothing to prevent her making an idiot of herself in Bath, trying to fit into a profession she thought was her only option, and then watched her live in that little house, once her father’s transgressions became known. “Sir, are you saying your regard for me was of long standing?”

He flashed a look of dislike at her, his mouth straight, the lines either side deeply grooved. “Naturally, but I considered you needed a little time to learn what the alternatives to our union would be.”

She wouldn’t marry him now for all the tea in China. Even if Julius proved false, she wouldn’t do it. How could he watch her struggle all this time and do nothing to help? “Sir Henry, I fear you were outdone by a more decisive candidate. I accepted Mr. Vernon’s offer because I wanted to. No other reason. He has gone to organize the event. I remain determined to continue my course.” Remaining in the same room as this man sickened her. If he had proposed after her father’s death, even before that, she would almost certainly have accepted him and been spared the ordeal in between. “Why did you not ask me before?”

“You needed to be brought to your senses, Eve.”

Brought to her knees, more like.

“That way you would settle to the life I can offer you. I could never be sure you wouldn’t take some notion into your head to behave otherwise than you should. Your foolish efforts at independence were always doomed to failure, but you needed to learn it.”

Eve got to her feet. She did not try to control the tremble in her voice. Sir Henry should see something of her rage. “I have learned, Sir Henry, a person who cares for another would not allow her to go through the agony that has been my lot in the past few years. I did not relish the only career open to me, and it hurt me to see my mother immured in that cottage with the mice and the spiders. You should have tried to save me from that. You have better houses in your gift you could have offered us.” Recalling Sir Henry’s position as magistrate, she held her tongue except for a stiff, “Good day, sir,” before she swept out of the room in what she hoped was a dignified manner.

The man was a dolt.

Back in London, after a journey when two of the hired horses dropped shoes and one was a complete slug, Julius found some consolation in coming home. He’d left the house open and fully staffed to receive his brother Augustus, but unfortunately Augustus had not yet arrived from Rome. That came as a blow, because Julius had wanted to speak with him. He might have to delay his journey, because Augustus had information Julius was eager to obtain.

In the end he had relented and taken Lamaire with him. The valet gave a cry of delight when he walked into the bedroom and immediately chivvied the maids to launder the clothes Julius had used in the country. Julius suspected that, if he were left to himself, Lamaire would have dropped the offending articles in the nearest waste-heap, but he instructed the man to prepare them for his return.

“But surely that is of no consequence now, my lord!”

“I am returning within the week with the clothes I brought with me. You may, however, pack some of my usual garments and have others shipped to my parents’ house. I will be taking my bride there after the ceremony. You are to speak to no one about that part, you understand? The penalty is instant dismissal. I will not have town gossip about me or the woman I have chosen to marry.”

If his parents heard of Julius’s plans before he’d accomplished them, they would do everything in their power to prevent them, especially his mother. If that happened, Lamaire would take the blame unless he heard otherwise. That should keep his valet in train.

The dapper man moved about Julius’s room while he sat at his dressing table idly polishing his nails. A couple had broken recently, and his hands were certainly not as soft and white as fashion dictated.

He did not give one jot.

He could get his business in town over within a day or two and head back to the country. Accordingly, he gave his valet conniptions by snapping out orders. “I’m going to Doctors’ Commons and then the club. Clothes, please. The hyacinth-blue ribbed silk and the white waistcoat with roses.”

A long wail came from the dressing room, but Julius ignored it. “The green will do,” he called through and waited for the inevitable result. A long moan. Lamaire was definitely the most amusing valet he had ever had.

Lamaire chuntered his way through dressing his master, but at the end of the process, Julius felt like himself again. The snowy wig, carefully curled and set, not a hair out of place, the gold-braided cocked hat, the coat—the blue, as Julius had known it would be—and the waistcoat, together with a pristine carefully tied neckcloth made for the perfect image of the man about town. Sliding the long sapphire pin into the folds of his neckcloth and a carved emerald signet ring gave him a sense of rightness, that he had replaced something missing.

Julius settled his small sword about his waist, glanced in the mirror, and took his handkerchief, quizzing-glass, and snuffbox. Lastly, he tilted his chin in the arrogant pose most recognized in him. He was back to himself again, and he felt much better for it. Simple garb was interesting, but he had missed Lamaire. He must be sadly spoiled, but he had done his best to atone for that by taking an interest in current affairs, particularly the affair of the Jacobites. A shame that did not make him feel any better, but there it was. That was not why he did it.