‘No, of course not!’ Nell said. ‘But – where did you go to, Mr Allandale?’
‘I was guilty of practising deception,’ he said heavily. ‘I need not, I hope, assure you that such a course was of the utmost repugnance to me. To deceive one so dear to me, and one who, moreover, placed the most implicit trust in my integrity, was more painful than I can describe. But when I found that no words of mine could avail to persuade my darling to return to her home, when I saw her in such agony of grief and despair –’
‘Yes, I’ve seen Letty in hysterics,’ said Cardross. ‘You have no need to describe the scene to me! I pity you sincerely. What, in fact, did you do?’
‘Fearing that if I compelled her to return to this house she might put a period to her existence, I agreed to fly with her to the Border,’ said Mr Allandale. ‘She believed that we were on our way north, but it was not so. I did not carry her to Gretna Green, but to Wimbledon.’
There was a moment’s astonished silence. ‘To Wimbledon!’ said Cardross, in a voice that shook. ‘I expect you had an excellent reason for your choice.’
‘Why, to be sure he had!’ exclaimed Nell, bestowing a warm smile upon Mr Allandale. ‘You mean you took her to your mother’s house! How very wise of you!’
He bowed. ‘It seemed to me, ma’am, the only course open to me. In my mother’s judgement I could repose complete confidence, for her understanding is superior, her mind of an elevated order, and her firm yet tender command over my sisters such as encouraged me to hope that over my darling also her influence would prevail.’
‘And we perceive that it did!’ said Cardross. ‘My dear Allandale, why have I never been privileged to meet your mother?’
‘I would like to kill you!’ choked Letty.
‘My mother, sir, seldom goes into society,’ said Mr Allandale stiffly.
‘But I hope she may be persuaded to receive me, nevertheless.’
‘I am at a loss to understand your lordship,’ said Mr Allandale, more stiffly yet. ‘I apprehend, however, that you are in funning humour!’
‘No, I am not funning,’ Cardross replied. ‘Oblige me by telling me, in all frankness, whether or not my sister’s want of conduct, her excessive sensibility, and the unscrupulous means she does not hesitate to use to attain her ends have convinced you that she is totally unfitted to be your wife?’
‘Giles, don’t!’ begged Nell, as Letty broke into renewed weeping.
‘Sir,’ said Mr Allandale, very pale, but steadily meeting Cardross’s eyes, ‘I do not attempt to condone her faults, though I can perceive excuses for them, but I love her, and must always do so, whatever she is, or whatever she does.’
Letty looked up, her tears arrested, awe in her face. ‘Jeremy!’ she said. ‘Oh, Jeremy!’
Cardross turned his head. ‘You are not worthy of that, Letty.’
‘No,’ she said forlornly. ‘I know I am not, but – oh, I wish I were!’
He smiled wryly. ‘Well, I daresay there may be hope for you. You had better marry her, Allandale.’
It seemed for several moments as though neither of the interested parties could believe that they had heard him correctly. It was Letty who found her voice first. ‘Giles – do you mean now? Before he sails?’
‘Yes, that’s what I mean.’
‘Oh, my dearest brother, how kind you are!’ cried Letty, flying up off the sofa and casting herself upon his chest. ‘Pray forgive me for saying horrid things to you! I didn’t mean them! Oh, how happy I am! Oh, Jeremy, I promise I will never do anything you don’t like!’
‘Sir,’ said Mr Allandale, ‘I do not know how to convey to you my sense of your generosity, my gratitude, the –’
‘Then don’t try!’ said Cardross. ‘You are a very estimable young man, but I should like you so much more if you would refrain from addressing me in flowing periods! I am going to send you away now, but you may come to see me tomorrow, at noon, if that should be convenient to you, when I will arrange the marriage settlements with you. You may escort him to the front door, Letty, and after you have bidden him good-night, you had better go to bed.’
‘Bed at ten o’clock!’ she said, by no means pleased.
‘Yes, bed at ten o’clock. If you are not exhausted after a day of unbridled passion, you should be! Don’t argue with me! My patience won’t stand it.’
‘Indeed, you should go, love!’ Nell urged her. ‘You are quite worn out. I will come up to you, and –’
‘No, you will not,’ Cardross interrupted.
Overawed by this display of cool and sweeping authority the young lovers withdrew circumspectly. Nell showed her husband a laughing countenance. ‘Well, really, Giles!’ she expostulated.
He caught her up from the sofa, and held her a little away from him, looking down into her face with bright, smiling eyes. ‘Yes, really, Giles!’ he retorted. ‘How much longer did you think I would wait to get you to myself?’
She did not answer him, but blushed a little, meeting his gaze shyly but very openly.
‘There’s so much to say to you, Nell – and, God forgive me, so much to unsay! My darling, I wish I had cut my tongue out before –’
‘No, there is nothing to unsay, because you didn’t say those things to me,’ she intervened. ‘They hurt me only a very little – not as much as I deserved, perhaps! For I am afraid I have been extravagant, and – and deceitful, and very foolish!’
‘And above all very foolish,’ he agreed, turning her words into a caress. ‘It seems I have been a great deal too easy with you, Madam Wife! That will not happen again! So you thought I offered for you because I wanted a wife, and saw nothing in you to disgust me, did you? Nell, how could you be such a goose?’
The blush deepened; she hung her head. ‘Mama said – that you were disposed to be fond of me, and considerate, and she warned me not to hang on you, or – or appear to notice it if – perhaps – you had Another Interest.’
‘I am obliged to Mama! And did it seem to you that I had Another Interest?’
‘No. But I knew,’ she said simply. ‘The first time we met Letty said that I was prettier than your mistress.’
‘She was right. I wish I could think that Allandale would beat her regularly every week, but I fear he won’t. The lady with whom I enjoyed an agreeable connection for several years need never have troubled you. We parted without regret or ill-will, and when we meet in company today it is with the indifferent pleasure of old acquaintances. From the moment I saw you, Nell, you have had all my heart. That is the truth.’
‘Dysart said that. He said that everyone knew it, too.’
‘I infinitely prefer your brother to my sister. But why, my foolish little love, did you then keep me at an even greater distance?’
She looked up again. ‘You see, I owed Lavalle more than three hundred pounds, so how could I do anything else, until that dreadful debt was paid? With that on my conscience I couldn’t tell you that I had been agonizingly in love with you from the very beginning; and if you had discovered the debt you would never have believed me. But I was, Giles.’
Farley, quietly entering the room at that moment, beheld his mistress locked in a crushing embrace, and with instant presence of mind stepped noiselessly back into the hall. There he remained for some few minutes, after which, with a little fumbling with the door-handle, he entered the book-room for the second time. My lord, before the mirror above the fireplace, was pensively absorbed in some delicate adjustment to the folds of his cravat; my lady, a trifle dishevelled, but otherwise a model of fashionable decorum, was seated in a large armchair. ‘I don’t know how it comes about, my lord,’ she said, in a light, languid voice, ‘but we do not increase our covers for guests tonight.’
‘But why, my love, did you not inform me of this circumstance earlier?’ enquired my lord reproachfully. ‘I should th
en have used my best endeavours to have persuaded your brother and his amiable friend to have given us the pleasure of their company.’
‘Yes, indeed! How – how stupid of me!’ said my lady, with very creditable command over her voice.
‘And Allandale,’ pursued my lord ruthlessly, ‘in case the conversation should have flagged.’
Pained to see such a want of chivalry in my lord, Farley came to the rescue of his sorely-tried mistress, and, in a few dignified and well-chosen words, put an end to this scene. ‘Supper, my lady, is served!’ he announced.
About the Author
Author of over fifty books, Georgette Heyer is one of the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, making the Regency period her own. Her first novel, The Black Moth, published in 1921, was written at the age of seventeen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. Although most famous for her historical novels, she also wrote twelve detective stories. Georgette Heyer died in 1974 at the age of seventy-one.
Georgette Heyer Regency Romance now available from Sourcebooks
Arabella
Armed with beauty, virtue, and a benevolent godmother, Arabella Tallant’s first London season is sure to be a success—until she allows Robert Beaumaris to provoke her into a deceitful charade that might have unexpected consequences.
The Foundling
The shy young Duke of Sale decides to play hooky from his suffocating and sheltered world and finds himself plunged into a frenzy of intrigue, kidnapping, adventures, and surprises at every turn.
These Old Shades
On a whim, the notorious Duke of Avon rescues a red-haired urchin and makes him his page. But Léon turns out to be the enchanting Léonie, and the cold-hearted Duke is not prepared for the tender emotions she awakens in him.
Devil’s Cub
One of Heyer’s most famous and memorable novels, Devil’s Cub features the son of the Duke of Avon and Léonie—Dominic Alistair, a dashing and devilish young nobleman who finally meets his match in a gently bred young lady.
The Black Moth
In Georgette Heyer’s famous first novel, Jack Carstares, the disgraced Earl of Wyndam, sacrifices his honor for that of his brother but returns to England in time to rescue the beautiful Diana Beauleigh from a notorious highwayman at sword’s point.
The Masqueraders
In danger for their connections to the Jacobite rebellion, Prudence Tremaine and her brother Robin each pose as members of the opposite sex. But when they both fall in love, how can they unmask without losing their lives?
Beauvallet
Sir Nicholas Beauvallet is one of Queen Elizabeth’s most dashing buccaneers and never resists a challenge. When he captures a galleon and falls in love with a lovely Spanish lady, he will dare anything to claim her as his bride.
Powder and Patch
Country girl Cleone Charteris convinces her plainspoken suitor Philip Jettan he needs some town polish, but when he returns with powder, patches, and all the manners of a seasoned rake, Cleone realizes she may have made a terrible mistake.
The Convenient Marriage
When her sister doesn’t wish to accept the Earl of Rule’s proposal of marriage, Horatia Winwood saves the family fortunes by offering herself instead. But the Earl’s archenemy, Sir Robert, is determined to ruin the young wife’s reputation.
The Talisman Ring
The impetuous Eustacie, the fugitive Ludovic, the resourceful Miss Thane, and the clear-thinking Sir Tristram Shield join forces to recover the missing talisman ring that will clear Ludovic’s name.
The Nonesuch
Confirmed bachelor Sir Waldo Hawkridge comes to the aid of the intrepid Ancilla Trent to save the reputation of her tempestuous young charge Tiffany, who seems determined to cause a scandal.
Cousin Kate
A Gothic tale, as Publishers Weekly says, “complete with a remote and forbidding country house, screams in the night, dark hints of something best left unmentioned… nicely leavened with wit and romance.”
The Corinthian
Just when Sir Richard Wyndham could use an escape from the most momentous decision of his life, he encounters lovely young fugitive Penelope Creed, dressed in boy’s clothing, determined to make her own escape.
The Grand Sophy
Sophy Stanton-Lacy descends on her cousins’ household just in time to untangle everyone’s problems but her own, and the Hon. Charles Rivenhall’s life will never be the same.
Faro’s Daughter
Mistress of her aunt’s elegant gambling house, beautiful Deborah Grantham is outraged when the insufferable Max Ravenscar tries to bribe her not to marry his puppyish nephew.
Regency Buck
Miss Judith Taverner and her brother Peregrine are shocked to find their new guardian is not much older than they are and would be glad to be rid of them. But soon Lord Worth cannot help but entangle himself with his adventuresome wards.
Charity Girl
To avoid scandal the chivalrous Viscount Desford brings a lovely young runaway to his quiet friend Henrietta for help, and the hilarious confusions begin.
The Reluctant Widow
A fateful mistake brings Elinor Rochdale to the estate of a dissipated young man on the verge of death, where by morning she finds herself a rich widow—but the mysterious Mr. Ned Carlyon won’t let her leave.
Frederica
Lovely, competent, and refreshingly straightforward, Frederica brings her younger siblings to London determined to secure a brilliant marriage for her beautiful sister. She seeks the help of the cynical Lord Alverstoke, who soon finds himself dangerously embroiled.
Cotillion
Young Kitty Charing has no intention of allowing her eccentric guardian to force her into marrying one his great-nephews, so she daringly forms a sham betrothal with the least likely of them, her innocuous cousin Freddy—who may turn out to have hidden depths.
False Colours
When the Honourable Christopher “Kit” Fancot impersonates his missing twin brother, more than just the family fortunes are riding on his ability to hoodwink a quick-minded heiress and her formidable grandmother.
Friday’s Child
Spurned by the girl he adores, the impetuous Lord Sherington marries penniless Miss Hero Wantage instead and whisks her off to London, where he soon discovers there is no end to the scrapes his young bride can get into.
Lady of Quality
When spirited Annis Wychwood embroils herself in the affairs of a pretty runaway heiress, she also must deal with the wayward girl’s uncivil and high-handed guardian, Mr. Oliver Carleton, who arouses conflicting emotions in the independent Miss Wychwood.
Black Sheep
Respectable Abigail Wendover turns to the provoking and scandalous Miles Calverleigh for help in preventing her high-spirited niece from becoming attached to a fortune-hunter of shocking reputation.
Venetia
Intelligent and beautiful Venetia and rakish Lord Damerel are clearly soul mates. She is daring and brilliant in her solution to overcoming the barriers society puts in their path, as well as his doubts. As gorgeous a love match as Darcy and Elizabeth.
The Unknown Ajax
When a country cousin inherits the noble Darracott fortune, he pretends to be the bumpkin they’re all expecting. Then a family crisis makes Hugo an unlikely savior, and the farce unravels. But not before his beautiful cousin Anthea discovers she’s met her match.
The Quiet Gentleman
Upon returning from war, Gervase Frant happens upon the young woman his half brother has his eye on. When romance blossoms, his family goes from unfriendly to murderous. Are these “accidents,” or has Gervase’s family decided to rid themselves of his presence permanently?
The Toll-Gate
C
aptain John Staple takes an invigorating ride and happens upon a toll-gate where the gatekeeper has mysteriously disappeared. In an adventure more thrilling than his days battling Napoleon, he must bring the villains to justice and rescue the charming Lady Nell.
Sylvester
Sylvester, Duke of Salford, falls in love with a feisty young lady who wants nothing to do with him and aspires to be a writer—in fact she has written a scandalous novel that portrays him as the villain.
Bath Tangle
Lady Serena Carlow’s father left her guardianship to Ivo, the Marquis of Rotherham—the man she jilted. Serena is displeased to say the least. But if they can control their fiery dispositions, they might get a second chance at love.
A Civil Contract
Adam Deveril, Viscount Lynton, returns from war to find his family in financial ruin. He gives up the girl he adores and marries plain Jenny Chawleigh, whose father is a wealthy businessman. Can their arranged marriage blossom into love and acceptance across the class divide?
Georgette Heyer Historical Fiction now available from Sourcebooks
Simon the Coldheart
In the early 15th century, the time of real knights in armor, Simon rose from obscurity to become friend to Prince Henry and a bold warrior against France. Known for his silence and uncompromising principles, Simon “the Coldheart” nonetheless had a complex personality and earned the fierce loyalty and admiration of soldiers, kings, and children alike. When Simon was sent to lay siege to Belremy, he engaged the Lady Margaret in a battle of wits and words until she not only surrendered to the English but became his bride. Brilliant period language and Heyer’s perfect grasp of the details of daily life make for a fascinating and blood-stirring read.
The Conqueror
The Conqueror tells the story of William the Conqueror and his queen Matilda—who at first spurned his base blood but was eventually won over by his strength and resolve. The stirring tale begins with William’s ignoble birth, then follows his ascension to and continual defense of the Dukedom of Normandy, his wooing of the woman he was determined to win, and culminates in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, where William’s fortitude, courage and innovation won him his kingdom.
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