by Mary Brendan
She knew it was better they appeared to have been strolling harmoniously rather than sneak out one by one. She let her fingers hover on his sleeve and took a peek from beneath her lashes at him. From the thrust of his mouth she saw he was frustrated by the interruption, but with a cool insouciance she could only admire he led her from the arbour into view.
Jack Valance still had Dawn on his arm. He raised a hand and immediately started towards them to introduce his companion to the Earl.
‘Miss Sanders has kindly agreed to take a drive with me in Hyde Park tomorrow.’ He glanced at his friend, then at Emma. ‘Perhaps Miss Waverley would like to come, too.’
‘Thank you, but I shall be occupied...my father has been unwell.’
Emma knew that Dawn was looking at her, trying to guess what had gone on to make her immediately decline such a nice offer. The Earl of Houndsmere had seemed on the point of agreeing to an outing for them all.
Meeting their friends had given Emma an opportunity to slip away from his side. Dawn let go of Jack’s arm and joined her in walking back to the house ahead of the gentlemen.
‘Are you ready to leave now?’ Emma asked quietly.
‘Of course...if you are. I told Papa I would not be back late in any case,’ Dawn said. She had immediately sensed her friend’s tension even though Emma had linked arms with her in a casual way.
‘You seem a little overset. Has the Earl said something horrible to you?’ Dawn asked sotto voce.
‘No...he is just a little...’
‘Intimidating?’ Dawn supplied.
‘Yes...though he’d say otherwise,’ Emma added ironically.
‘Gorgeous, too, though, isn’t he?’ Dawn giggled.
‘He’d agree with you on that,’ Emma murmured and urged Dawn to a quicker march.
* * *
‘I’ve a favour to ask,’ Jack hissed when the ladies were out of earshot.
‘You can borrow the landau,’ Lance said wryly, knowing his friend didn’t own a decent carriage to take a lady out in.
Jack gave his friend’s arm an appreciative thump. He followed it with a speculative look. ‘So...how well do you know Miss Waverley?’
‘Not as well as I’d like to,’ Lance said and strolled off to say hello to Bella and her beau, who were dawdling some way behind them all.
Out of earshot of Jack he cursed himself for handling it wrong. There was much he could have said, but hadn’t. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t other than to protect his pride taking a battering if still she rejected him after he bared his soul. And now it was too late to tell her he wanted to protect her and her family not just in return for her agreeing to lay with him, but because when he was with her he felt tenderness as well as desire. He arrowed a look over a shoulder just as she did...and quickly whipped her head around.
He smiled to himself. He was on her mind just as much as she was on his. And he wasn’t so conceited that he thought he could masterfully seduce a woman who really didn’t want to be seduced by him. So that was a start...
Chapter Ten
‘You were gone a long time, Emma.’ Mr Waverley greeted his daughter with a complaint rather than enquiring whether she’d had a nice time at Mrs Sweet’s. ‘Joshua Gresham called while you were out and said he was sorry to miss you.’
‘Well, I’m glad I missed him.’ Emma made sure to mutter that beneath her breath while loosening her bonnet strings. She never allowed her father to know too much about her ever-increasing antipathy towards Joshua in case he quizzed her over the reason for it.
As her papa approached, Emma noticed that his limp seemed worse and his cheeks flushed. She immediately dropped her gloves and bonnet on to the console table and took his arm, steering him towards the parlour. ‘Come, you must sit down and rest your leg.’ She guessed he’d been pacing for some time in the hallway, waiting for her to return.
‘I want to rest, but I cannot!’ He whirled a nervous hand. ‘Since you told me this girl Augusta wants to marry my son I’m in a tizz. I can think of nought else. I don’t know whether to be happy or sad to know my boy is involved with Houndsmere’s stepsister.’ He wriggled free of his daughter’s hold. ‘Oh, what’s to be done? He cannot remain a coalman; he is a gentleman’s son. You must take me to him, Emma, so I can talk to him myself and counsel him.’
‘You mustn’t go there, Papa. Robin will be angry. You are tired. Come and sit down.’ She again took his elbow, worried by the change in him. When she’d left the house he had seemed preoccupied, but well enough. He’d been in his study, writing paper in front of him, adding to his list of ideas to raise funds to help Robin. Something had started him fretting and she imagined it had been Joshua’s visit. The swine had probably again threatened to call in his loan, just for the fun of it.
‘I should speak to this Augusta,’ Bernard insisted querulously. ‘She might be able to persuade her stepbrother to be our saviour. Houndsmere would surely assist in settling things to our mutual satisfaction. He has a crucial reason to do so and would bear the cost of it all to spare the girl’s reputation. He’ll not have a coalman as a brother-in-law.’ Having rattled that off, Bernard took a breath and turned to his daughter. ‘The Earl has shown you nought but consideration so can’t be such a bad chap, can he?’
Emma couldn’t give an answer. Sometimes when she thought of Lance Harley she believed she hated him, but after what had passed between them this afternoon she knew that was far from the truth. And so was her father’s belief that the Earl had only noble intentions towards her.
‘What did Joshua want, Papa? Has he said something to upset you this afternoon?’ She changed the subject to distract her father from returning to his need to visit Robin.
‘It was the other way around, my dear.’ Her query had brightened up Bernard, making him chortle, ‘I was doing the upsetting for a change.’ He allowed his daughter to ease him into a chair in the parlour, patting her hand as she sank to the rug to sit beside him. ‘I thought Gresham might have come to talk business although he was limping almost as badly as I. He said he twisted his ankle on the kerb and didn’t seem to like my commiseration. Anyway, he was more interested in finding out where you were this afternoon.’ Bernard grimaced, flexing his knee as the leg ulcer pained him. ‘I swear if that fellow were not married he would propose to you again, he speaks of you so often.’
Emma gave her father a sharp look. ‘I’m glad he is married, then, for I dislike him. He is a deceitful individual. I haven’t forgotten how just after the duel he pretended to be sympathetic to us to gain our trust. He seemed to change into a Janus after I refused to marry him. He is out for himself, Papa.’
‘He has certainly tricked me into borrowing more from him than I ever intended to,’ her father admitted. ‘But tell me if he has said something bad to you and I will go after him. He might have lost his brother, but you were the innocent in it all. And I’ll remind him of it!’
‘No...it is nothing...just his attitude. There is no need to say anything to him, Papa,’ Emma quickly interjected. She didn’t want her father ever to know how disgustingly Joshua Gresham had behaved towards her. She feared what her father might do if he did find out. And he was too old and too frail to challenge a man almost half his years.
‘Well, we both have no fondness for him, but I can’t deny it might solve our problems if you did have a well-to-do husband, Emma.’ Bernard stroked his daughter’s glossy dark hair. ‘Don’t fret about him. His nose was out of joint because he’d spied you entering a mansion in Belgravia.’ Bernard chuckled. ‘He tried to make out he’d little interest in it, but I know he was ferreting for information. He was incensed to think we are favoured with such acquaintances when his wife has never received an invitation from a top hostess.’ He tutted. ‘In the end I told Joshua your friend was the chosen one just so he’d go away and leave me in peace. He seemed satisfied thinking Mrs Booth was the means of Dawn’s
new popularity.’
Her father’s final comment held no truth, but Emma wasn’t about to enlighten him. ‘Let me see that hand, Papa.’ While her father had been gesturing she had noticed blood on his fingers from rubbing his sore leg.
‘Blast!’ Bernard muttered, seeing the stains. ‘I must have knocked the wound. Little wonder it’s paining me so.’
Emma put the back of a hand to her father’s brow. He was flushed as much from a fever as his agitation. A fluttering of anxiety started up in her chest. Quickly, she inspected the place below his breeched knee, noticing that the dark material was tight over the swelling and damp to the touch. She scrambled to her feet. ‘I’ll go straight away and fetch the doctor.’
‘There’s no need,’ her father barked. Then admitted, shame-faced, ‘I have nothing to pay him with.’ He bitterly regretted having used his last sovereign gambling on the Faro pot earlier in the week. ‘I have an appointment at the bank in the morning and am quite confident the nice chap at Coutts will forward me something. I can offer collateral,’ he added reassuringly.
‘What collateral, Papa?’ Emma believed all their assets had been pledged by now.
‘They can have the deeds to this house...’
‘But Joshua told me he has them.’
‘He had no right saying that to you!’ Bernard struggled up from his chair. ‘When next he comes make sure you stay out of his way upstairs. I will not have him discuss my affairs with my daughter.’
Emma attempted to make him sit down again, but he fidgeted free. ‘I am a useless fellow,’ he cried self-pityingly. ‘I cannot do a thing right! Every gaming table is against me.’
‘You must sit down, Papa. Your leg is bleeding.’ Quite firmly, Emma took hold of his arm and forced him into the chair. ‘You should let a doctor attend you. I still have Mama’s locket. It is of some value...’
‘No! You will not sell it!’ Bernard again made to rise, but this time his daughter had no need to restrain him. He fell back with a groan against the tapestry upholstery as his leg buckled under him.
‘I can pawn it, Papa, and then get it back again when our fortunes improve...’ Her voice tailed off. When would that be? Some time...never...? Oh, there were times when she felt exasperated with her father almost as much as she did with Robin. How could he have got himself into such a parlous financial state? ‘A physician must examine your ulcer, Papa. Tomorrow, I will pawn the locket in Cheapside.’
Her father took her hand and squeezed weakly. ‘We’ll see about that. Perhaps tomorrow I might be on the mend. For now, a bathing with salt water might do the trick and I can attend to that myself. It is as good as any cure these charlatans will offer.’ He sighed, resting his head back against the cushions. ‘I’ll have an early supper...some bread and mutton will suffice, then off to bed for me. I do feel tired.’
‘I’ll ask Mrs O’Reilly to prepare it before she goes home.’ Their servant lived out and was usually gone by six o’clock in the evening, leaving their meal prepared on the cooking range.
‘I have spoken to Mrs O’Reilly. She will come in just thrice a week in future.’
‘But, how will we do without her when I cannot...?’ Emma didn’t finish what she’d been about to say regarding her lack of housekeeping skills. She’d have to learn to cook and clean, she bluntly told herself. Making a stew or wielding a broom and duster a few times a week wouldn’t hurt her. Needs must...and she’d rather they put Cathleen off than found they were unable to pay her. Their maid had other clients she went to and hopefully she’d be able to make up her lost wages doing extra work elsewhere.
‘I have been thinking, Papa, that I can find employment—’
‘No!’ he immediately interrupted. ‘You are a gentleman’s daughter and will not!’
They’d had this conversation before, just after Joshua Gresham had propositioned her and it had become obvious how dire was her father’s financial state. Her father had jumped down her throat when she’d mentioned finding a suitable position, insisting that he could soon bring everything right. But nothing was right. Just as her father had insisted that his son was too good to be a coalman, he thought his daughter was above being a governess, or a wealthy woman’s companion. But she wasn’t. And Emma would sooner have her self-respect and a job than be a rich man’s toy for a short while until he grew bored of her and threw her to the wolves.
* * *
Once her father had eaten his supper, Emma helped him upstairs. While he undressed himself she went to the kitchen and filled a basin with warm water, stirring in a generous amount of salt to dissolve before returning to his chamber with it. Unusually he allowed her to nurse him rather than insist on bathing it himself.
The wound was inflamed and obviously infected, but Emma managed to keep from him how greatly the sight of it distressed her as she gently wiped away the mess. She put on a fresh bandage and helped her father into bed. Then when he seemed settled she drew the curtains against the early evening light. ‘Goodnight, Papa. Sleep well,’ she whispered on closing the door.
She disposed of the dirty water and went to sit in the parlour, but she couldn’t concentrate on reading, or attending to the linens in the mending box. Her mind was jumbled with worries about her father’s health and Robin’s fate. She got to her feet and paced to and fro, hoping to banish from her head the memory of somebody else. He could wreak more havoc on her peace of mind than her selfish twin or her poor foolish papa put together. Lance Harley might even now have detectives looking for his stepsister and, in truth, she couldn’t blame him for wanting to find the girl to protect her. But when he found Augusta he’d find Robin, too. Then all hell would break loose, not the civilised alliance that her father was hoping for between their families.
Even if she acquiesced to his terms and sent word to him at Grosvenor Square, it might not be enough to save any of them from his wrath. How generous to her would he be on finding out what Robin had been up to with his stepsister? How sweet would be his kisses then?
Emma quit her pacing and went to the window, peeking round an edge of curtain into darkness. Her mind was made up. She didn’t want to leave her father tonight, of all nights, when he had a fever. He might wake and need her if his malaise worsened. But she knew she must warn her twin that Houndsmere was on to him and the net was closing fast. She’d also tell her brother that their father was ill. With any luck the news might stir in Robin some filial loyalty. Instead of being a burden on their father, he might realise he must sort things out for himself. Neither would she be a burden on her father. Whatever he said to the contrary it was high time she drew an income from somewhere to pay for her keep. There was a ladies’ employment agency that advertised in the Gazette. She would take a look in the paper tomorrow and note the address.
She went upstairs and listened at the door of her father’s chamber, straining her ears. There was not the slightest sound to hint at him being awake, or in pain. Dusk had fallen now and she knew she must leave at once or not at all. She’d no intention of being from home as long as she had been last time and wanted to return before midnight. She speedily went downstairs and taking her cloak from the peg left the house by the side door. Pulling the hood forward about her face she set off. When a good distance from Primrose Square and any neighbours’ prying eyes she hailed a cab.
‘You be wasting your time, m’dear. Young feller ain’t in up there.’
Emma had been ready to scoot up the stairs, but didn’t make it past the first creaking tread. With a startled gasp, she swung about to see a withered face with crafty eyes behind the glow of a candle. The crone’s gap-toothed simper did nothing to soothe Emma’s frayed nerves. ‘Oh...are you sure he is out?’ she stammered. It hadn’t occurred to her that making this risky trip again might be a squandered effort. ‘Will he be back soon?’
‘I’m sure he won’t be back.’ The woman snorted and straightened her mobcap. ‘I evicted him
. Ain’t paid me no rent in weeks, the villain.’
‘To whom are you referring?’ It was a vain hope, but a possibility that the landlady had another lodger owing her rent. Emma recalled that there were several rooms just along the landing from Robin’s.
‘I’m meaning the coalman. I spotted you with him once before, m’dear. Didn’t make meself known on that occasion, as you was embracing him on the landing,’ the landlady added slyly.
Emma’s spirits plummeted. If her brother had left here, how on earth would she quickly find him again to warn him that Houndsmere was on to him? ‘Do you know where he has gone?’
‘No, I don’t! To hell for all I care,’ the woman said nastily. ‘So who’s Charlie Perkins to you?’ She thrust forward the candle so it illuminated the visitor’s face.
The strong flame hurt Emma’s eyes, making her turn her head aside. It had taken her a second to remember her brother used an alias. She thanked the lord she’d not mentioned his real name, or her relationship to Robin. The harridan might expect a relative to pay her lodger’s debt and Emma had only enough in her purse for her ride home. She stepped quickly towards the exit with a nod and a murmured farewell.
The landlady wasn’t to be put off. She squeezed alongside Emma in the narrow corridor and eyed the slender brunette up and down. ‘You’re his fiancée, I reckon. The blonde’s too young for him, though she says she’s his wife. I told ’em I run a respectable place here so he bought her a brass ring to wear. But it don’t fool me.’ She patted Emma’s arm consolingly. ‘He’ll tire of her and come back to you, I expect.’
‘What?’ Emma breathed in confusion.
‘That girl he’s been living with. No better than she should be, her. But the swell wot come looking for Charlie didn’t mention her. I didn’t neither, ’cos I’ve got me reputation to think of.’
‘Swell?’ Emma had come to an abrupt halt. Had Houndsmere already caught up with her brother and Augusta, too?