by Amanda Quick
“Ivybridge,” Adam said with deceptive ease. “Thought I saw you earlier.”
Ivybridge swallowed hard and tore his shocked gaze away from Caroline. “Hardesty.” He appeared momentarily distracted by Adam’s face. “I say, did you walk into a door, sir?”
“Nothing quite that simple.” Adam’s smile could have frozen the fires of hell. He glanced at Caroline. “My dear, allow me to present Mr. Ivybridge. The family has some property in a little village called Chillingham, I believe. You may have heard of it. Quite near Bath. Ivybridge, this is my very good friend, Mrs. Fordyce. She is an author who crafts the most astonishing sensation novels. You have no doubt heard of her.”
Caroline watched Ivybridge’s eyes tighten at the corners.
“Mr. Ivybridge,” she said, trying for the same cold, aloof tone that Adam had used.
It was obvious that Ivybridge had been blindsided by the introduction. Uncertain how to respond, he took the safe way out and acknowledged Caroline with a curt inclination of his head.
“Mrs. Fordyce,” he mumbled.
“Come, my dear, we must be off.” Adam tightened his grip on her arm. “I believe I see my sister at the door of the buffet room. She seems to be signaling us.”
He whisked her away through the crowd so quickly that neither she nor Ivybridge was obliged to make their farewells.
“What on earth did you hope to accomplish with that maneuver?” she whispered to Adam.
“When I engage the enemy, I prefer to do so on grounds of my own choosing, not his.”
“Another one of your rules?”
“Yes.”
“Adam, I don’t know what you’re planning but I am very worried,” she said, her anxiety growing with every passing second. “You do not know the enormity of the scandal that hangs over my head.”
“I’m sure I shall find out soon enough. Events always happen quite rapidly in a sensation novel, I have discovered. One never gets bored.”
He brought her to a stop in front of Julia, who stood with a small group of guests.
“There you are, Adam.” Julia beamed at Caroline. “The two of you made such an attractive couple on the dance floor.”
“I am going to leave Caroline with you for a while, if you don’t mind,” Adam said. “I have some business to attend to in the library.”
“Business? Tonight?” Julia gave him a reproachful look. “Really, Adam, surely you could put it off until tomorrow.”
“I’m afraid this is an extremely pressing matter.” He raised Caroline’s hand to his mouth and kissed it lightly. “See to it that Wilson dances with my very good friend, will you?”
Julia seemed to comprehend immediately that something was amiss. She did not question him further.
“I’m sure Uncle Wilson will be delighted to dance with her.”
Caroline cleared her throat. “I appreciate your consideration, but I am not actually in a mood to dance at the moment.”
“Pity.” Wilson materialized at her side. “I was so looking forward to a waltz. I hope you will relent.”
“But—”
It was too late. He had already taken her arm and was guiding her back through the crowd to the dance floor.
“I do not know what the three of you think that you are doing,” she said in low tones as Wilson put his arm very formally around her waist. “But I can promise you that you are only making matters worse.”
“I admit I have no notion of what is going on and I can see that Julia does not, either,” Wilson said, unperturbed. “But Adam is obviously in command of the situation.”
“He certainly appears to think he is. The problem is that he doesn’t know what is going on, either, at least not all of it.” She realized that she was becoming breathless trying to keep up with Wilson’s surprisingly energetic dancing. “I assure you, there is another great scandal brewing.”
“Indeed? It will be interesting to see if it can top the current one.”
“But Adam told me that he has a rule against becoming involved in public sensations.”
“Adam has a long list of rules,” Wilson said. “But evidently he has not told you about the most important one of all.”
“What is that?”
“Why, that there is an exception to every rule.”
THIRTY-THREE
“Regret to be the messenger who brings the bad news, old chap,” Ivybridge said. He settled comfortably into one of the leather-upholstered wingback chairs and gave Adam a man-to-man look. “But we are members of the same club and all that sort of thing. It would be remiss of me not to pass along a word or two of advice concerning your association with the woman who calls herself Mrs. Fordyce.”
Adam leaned back in his chair and contemplated his visitor. When he had returned to the library, he had sent Filby away to another room along with a bottle of claret and some sandwiches ordered up from the buffet. Then he had sat down to wait for Ivybridge. His intuition had told him he would not be obliged to wait long. He had been right.
“You know the traditional fate of the messenger,” Adam said without inflection.
Ivybridge blinked, frowning a little at that. Then he relaxed into a chuckle. “You’ll thank me for this news, Hardesty.”
“Will I?”
“Indeed. No man likes to be cast in the role of fool.”
“I can see you are very eager to impart your gossip.”
“It’s not gossip, sir. What I am about to tell you are facts. For starters, the lady’s name isn’t Mrs. Fordyce.” Ivybridge glanced expectantly at the brandy decanter. “Caroline Connor is her real name. I suspect she invented the alias of Mrs. Fordyce to conceal her past.”
Adam ignored the unsubtle hint concerning the brandy. He had no intention of serving his excellent spirits to the likes of Ivybridge.
“I assume you are going to tell me why she would wish to hide certain facts,” he said.
“I will not bore you with all of the details but I can assure you that Miss Connor was involved in a great scandal that left her reputation entirely in ruins.”
“I see.”
“I must say, I am astonished to learn that she somehow managed to resurrect herself under a new name. But then she did strike me as a rather clever woman.”
Adam steepled his fingers. “I have found her to be very intelligent and resourceful.”
“Well, those are necessary qualities in a successful adventuress, are they not?” Ivybridge laughed. “I admit that she is an interesting creature, assuming one is in the mood for a taste of something out of the ordinary. But hardly a model of proper female behavior, eh?”
Adam pondered the various methods he could employ to dispatch Ivybridge. Unfortunately, most of them involved creating a considerable mess on the carpet.
“Not your sort?” he said instead.
“Alas, I fear that given the unfortunate circumstances in Chillingham, she has become a woman whose reputation is such that no gentleman would even think of introducing her to his family.” Ivybridge winked knowingly. “I’m sure you take my meaning.”
“I do, indeed,” Adam said. He allowed himself to contemplate briefly the temptations offered by the extremely sharp point of the silver letter opener. “I suggest we return to the subject of dead messengers.”
Ivybridge scowled in confusion. “Beg your pardon?”
The door crashed open without warning and with such force that it banged against the wall. Caroline swept into the room, jewel-red skirts flaring out behind her. Wilson followed in her wake. He appeared highly amused.
“My dear.” Adam got to his feet. “What an unexpected pleasure.”
She ignored him. “There you are, Ivybridge.” She came to a halt in the center of the carpet. “I saw you leave the ballroom and I knew exactly what you intended. You could not wait to give Mr. Hardesty your version of the events in Chillingham, could you?”
Ivybridge surveyed her with a derisive glance, not bothering to rise. Then he looked at Adam. “As I was sayi
ng, hardly a model of womanly behavior.”
Adam paid no attention to the remark. “Please be seated, my dear.”
Either she did not hear him or else she was not of a mind to sit down. She continued to fix Ivybridge with a glare that was a mix of fury and disdain.
Adam looked at Wilson.
“Sorry,” Wilson said cheerfully, not looking the least bit regretful. “Couldn’t stop her. Once she realized that Ivybridge had left the ballroom, she was off like a hound after a fox.”
He should have known better, Adam thought. Wilson was enjoying himself enormously. So much for maintaining control over the situation.
He walked deliberately around to the front of the desk and propped himself against it. Bracing his hands on either side of his thighs, he studied his small audience.
“I will admit that I am quite curious about the events that took place in Chillingham,” he said mildly.
“They caused a great deal of nasty gossip, I can tell you that,” Ivybridge said darkly.
Caroline whirled to face Adam. “I will tell you exactly what happened.”
The door opened again before she could continue. Julia and Richard walked into the room.
“Lady Southwood.” Ivybridge sprang to his feet with a great show of deference and bowed deeply to Julia. “Madam, might I suggest that you take your leave? I’m sure you will not want to listen to this extremely unpleasant conversation. Your delicate female nerves—”
“Do not concern yourself with my nerves, Mr. Ivybridge,” Julia said coldly.
“I assure you, my wife has very steady nerves, Ivybridge.” Richard raised a brow at Adam. “What the devil is going on here?”
“Caroline was just about to tell us the details of a great scandal in which she was involved three years ago,” Adam said.
“How thrilling.” Julia took a seat and assumed an attentive expression.
“Nothing like a good scandal,” Richard agreed. He took up a position near the mantel.
The door was flung open yet again. This time Emma and Milly stormed into the library. Their expressions changed from anxious alarm to outrage when they caught sight of Ivybridge.
“What is that bastard doing here?” Milly asked.
“Such language.” Ivybridge looked deeply pained. “I did try to warn you, Hardesty.” He settled himself back into his chair. “The entire family lacks any sense of propriety.”
Emma looked at him with utter loathing. “You have come here to try to ruin Caroline again, haven’t you?”
“Mrs. Fordyce was just about to tell us the entire tale.” Richard gave Caroline an inviting look. “Please continue.”
Ivybridge’s mouth thinned with annoyance. “I do not know what you hope to gain by embarrassing yourself in this extraordinary fashion, Miss Connor. You will only make things worse.”
Julia was immediately intrigued. “Is that your real name? Connor?”
“Yes,” Caroline said.
“Go on,” Adam said to Caroline.
“I shall try to keep my version of events as brief as possible,” she said. “Mr. Ivybridge has a large estate outside the village. His family has held land in the neighborhood for some time.”
“Six generations, to be exact,” Ivybridge said with the arrogance of a man who knows that he occupies one of the higher rungs of the social ladder.
“Three years ago Ivybridge decided to marry,” Caroline continued. “It was no secret in the village that his goal was to find a wife who could bring him some additional property in the vicinity of Chillingham. So he hunted for a wife among the local gentry. For a brief time, he paid court to Miss Aurora Kent, the daughter of another well-established family in the area. But for reasons of his own, he chose not to make an offer.”
Ivybridge tut-tutted. “Family finances proved not to be as represented,” he explained in a confidential tone to Wilson and Adam.
“In other words, the lady’s inheritance was not rich enough to suit you,” Caroline said icily. “You withdrew from that quarter and fixed your interests in a different direction.”
“My lovely Helen,” Ivybridge agreed, his satisfaction plain. “It proved to be an excellent match.”
“She was not only quite pretty, she came with a handsome property that bordered the Ivybridge estate,” Caroline said. “But there was a small problem with Miss Aurora Kent, who did not take kindly to being cast aside.”
Ivybridge grimaced. “My change of plans evidently affected the lady’s nerves in a rather peculiar fashion. She began acting decidedly odd. Actually showed up at my house on two occasions, unescorted during both instances, I might add. Demanded to know whom I had chosen to take her place. There was a dreadful scene in the course of the second visit. Threats were made.”
Adam’s stomach clenched. “Aurora Kent was mentally unbalanced?”
“Afraid so.” Ivybridge shuddered. “I had a very close call, I can tell you. When I think of how close I came to marrying that woman, well, it still sends shivers through me.”
“Ivybridge perceived, quite rightly, that Aurora Kent was not entirely sane,” Caroline said. “When he withdrew his offer, she became a woman obsessed. He concluded that it would be most unwise to give her the name of his real intended.”
“I feared she might do some harm to Helen,” Ivybridge said, once again looking to the men in the room for understanding and approval. “Obviously I had a duty to protect my future wife from a madwoman.”
“So he gave Aurora Kent my name instead.” Caroline’s gloved hands tightened into small fists at her side. “He told that poor, demented woman that he intended to marry me. And he never even had the courtesy to let me know what he had done.”
Ivybridge’s face pinched in rage. “How dare you accuse me of putting you in harm’s way?”
“That is precisely what you did,” Caroline said. “You wanted revenge.”
“Nonsense,” Ivybridge said swiftly. “You are inventing more fiction here.”
Caroline’s gaze was unwavering. “You were infuriated because I had repulsed your lecherous advances. When you saw an opportunity to punish me for turning down your despicable offer to make me your mistress, you seized upon it.”
“How dare you accuse me of making unwanted advances?” Ivybridge glanced nervously at Adam and then just as quickly looked away. “You invited my attentions with your unconventional behavior. Always wandering about the countryside on your own without a respectable chaperone—what did you expect a gentleman to think?”
All of the oxygen seemed to have been sucked out of Adam’s lungs. He dared not move. He knew that if he did not control himself utterly at this moment, he would surely kill Ivybridge.
“It is true that I was in the habit of going off on long walks to think through my plots and ideas,” Caroline said. Her mouth tightened. “Things are different in the country. Manners are more relaxed. No one in the village took any notice of me except you. And you were furious that day when I refused your advances. Later, when Aurora Kent showed signs of becoming quite dangerous, you pointed her in my direction.”
“What happened?” Julia asked.
“Aurora followed me one afternoon,” Caroline said. “I swear, she stalked me as if she was a hunter and I was the quarry.”
“Dear heaven,” Julia whispered.
Ivybridge rolled his eyes. “Such a melodramatic imagination. No wonder Miss Connor became a sensation novelist.”
Caroline looked at Adam. “Aurora came upon me while I was sitting beneath a tree, making some notes. I saw at once that something was terribly wrong. She was dressed in only a nightgown and a pair of shoes. I spoke to her, asking her if she was ill. She did not seem to hear my question. She just kept repeating the same words over and over again.”
Adam could not abide the cloudy veil of old terror gathering in her eyes. He straightened and crossed to where she stood in the center of the room. He put his hands gently on her bare shoulders.
No one moved or spoke. Even Ivyb
ridge seemed suddenly bespelled.
“What did she say?” Adam asked Caroline, speaking to her as if they were alone.
“She said, You have to go away. Don’t you see? He will come back to me if you go away.”
When she repeated Aurora’s words, her voice changed subtly, sliding into an eerie singsong. She was falling back into the memory, he realized, reliving a nightmare. Beneath his hands, her skin had gone cold. He could feel the shivers arcing through her. Very carefully, he tightened his fingers, forcing her to take notice of him.
“What happened next?” he asked into the crystalline silence.
Caroline watched him as if she were trapped in a whirlpool and he held the rope that she could use to pull herself to safety. “She had been clutching a carving knife behind her back. She brought it out, raised it high and rushed at me. She tried to kill me, Adam.”
He pulled her close against him, wrapped his arms around her and tried to warm her with the heat of his own body.
“You lived,” he said into her ear, rocking her gently. “You lived. You are all right, Caroline. It is over.”
“I turned to run,” she whispered into his coat. “But my skirts got tangled around my ankles, tripping me. I fell. She was right there, almost on top of me. She went for my throat with the blade of the knife. I managed to roll to the side and scramble to my feet. I ran.”
“Caroline.” Emma started forward, one arm outstretched.
Out of the corner of his eye, Adam saw Milly wrap her hand around Emma’s shoulders, silently halting her.
Ivybridge gave another disgusted snort. “For the information of everyone present, no knife was ever found. I fear it was but another figment of Miss Connor’s overheated imagination.”
“I picked up my skirts and fled toward the river,” Caroline said numbly. “She was right behind me every step of the way. So close. I knew that I could not outpace her for long in my heavy dress. I reached the river and started across the footbridge. But she was almost upon me.”
Caroline was as tense as though she were still in the act of fleeing for her life, Adam thought.