by Amanda Quick
She pushed her spectacles higher on her nose and glared at him. “That is unfair, my lord. I am attempting to explain this extremely upsetting situation to Lord Thornbridge. He has every right to know how we come to be in his wife’s bedroom.”
“By all means,” Sebastian replied, his golden eyes brilliant with devilish laughter. “Explain it to him.”
Annoyance flared in her as she realized he was not going to help her out at all. Damn the man, he was amusing himself again, this time at her expense. Considering the fact that they were in this situation because of his actions and that she was merely attempting to save his wretched neck, the least he could do was assist her in the task. Prudence turned back to Thornbridge.
“The thing is, my lord, this is all a terrible misunderstanding,” she said earnestly.
Thornbridge cut her off with a flick of his hand. Now that he was no longer obliged to play the outraged husband, he had apparently decided to assume another role, that of the outraged host. He drew himself up and gave Sebastian a narrow-eyed look.
“Do not trouble yourself, Miss Merryweather. The facts speak for themselves. You are alone up here in a bedchamber with one of the most notorious men of the ton. No further explanations are necessary.”
Prudence hesitated as she began to sense the new direction in which this was all going. She cautiously cleared her throat. “Sir, I believe you are under a very serious misapprehension.”
Thornbridge paid her no heed. He was still glowering self-righteously at Sebastian. “Well, sir? Do you intend to do the proper thing by this young woman?”
Still standing with one shoulder propped against the wardrobe, Sebastian inclined his bead with mocking gallantry. “As it happens, Thornbridge, Miss Merryweather and I are in this bedchamber because we were seeking some privacy in which to discuss our future. I have decided it is time I married. For her part, Miss Merryweather has wisely concluded that she is not likely to get a better offer due to her advanced years. We have therefore reached an agreement.”
“Angelstone,” Prudence got out in a strangled voice.
Sebastian did not even hesitate. “Allow me to present my fiancée, sir. Miss Merryweather and I are engaged.”
Five
am sorry to haveto say this, my lord, but the disaster in which we find ourselves is entirely your fault,” Prudence announced as Sebastian turned the sleek black phaeton into the crowded park.
“You are far too generous, my dear.” Sebastian guided the two beautifully matched black horses into the stream of traffic. “I believe we can give you most of the credit for last night’s proceedings.”
Prudence retreated beneath the brim of her plain chip straw bonnet. She twitched her slate-colored bombazine skirts over her sturdy half boots and sought for a way to defend herself. “I was only trying to help.”
“Were you, indeed?”
“If you had allowed me to make the explanations to Lord Thornbridge, everything would have been satisfactorily resolved.” Prudence gazed straight ahead, acutely aware of the stares she and Sebastian were receiving from passing carriages.
It had been like this since last night when Thornbridge had accompanied them back to the ballroom and announced the news of the Fallen Angel’s engagement.
The Thornbridges’ guests had been first stunned and then titillated and finally deeply intrigued. This was far and away the most entertaining event of the Season. The notion of the Fallen Angel marrying the amusing Original was obviously more than most members of the ton could bring themselves to believe.
Society’s reaction was nothing compared to that of Hester and Trevor. They had been shocked speechless. Sebastian had warned Prudence not to attempt to explain the situation to either of them, as it would only make things more complicated. Prudence was forced to agree with him on that score.
Surprisingly, it was Hester who had recovered first from the stunning announcement. Once she had digested the news, her eyes had turned oddly speculative.
“Not quite what I expected” Hester had mused. “But then, the Fallen Angel rarely does what one expects. And it follows that he would choose someone out of the ordinary for his future countess.”
“He’s playing another one of his bloody games,” Trevor had snarled.
“I’m not so certain of that,” Hester had said. “An engagement is an honorable commitment. Whatever else one can say about Angelstone, he has never been known to break his word. In any event, there’s nothing to be done about it now. Prue is engaged to the Fallen Angel and that’s a simple fact. We shall have to go on as if everything were quite normal”
The engagement was definitely not a normal event as far as polite society was concerned. All of London was agog. Sebastian had decreed the drive in the park this afternoon, saying it was better to make a bold show than to try to hide from the unwanted attention. Prudence was not entirely certain that his reasoning was correct.
“Pray, do not take offense, Prue,” he now said. “The truth is that your explanations to Thornbridge were doing more harm than good.”
Prudence glared at him. “I do not see how they could have done any more harm than your ridiculous explanations, my lord. And I do not recall giving you leave to call me by my first name.”
Sebastian’s mouth curved faintly. “I didn’t think you would mind. We are engaged, after all.”
“Not by my doing.”
“No?” Sebastian’s black brow arched mockingly. “What did you think was going to happen when you leaped out of that wardrobe?”
Prudence clutched her large, practical reticule very tightly. “I was attempting to save your life, sir. In case you had not noticed, you were in a somewhat untenable position at the time.”
“Yes, I was, wasn’t I?” Sebastian looked unconcerned about the matter. “But you jumped to my rescue and I was saved.”
“I am glad you appreciate that much, at least.” She was stung by his amused sarcasm. “Under the terms of the bargain we made, I was in your debt. I was merely attempting to discharge my obligation to you.”
“Ah, yes, our bargain.”
“I thought I could repay you by saving you from Lord Thornbridge.”
“I see.”
Prudence subsided back into the guilt-ridden gloom she had been nursing since last night. “I collect you must be very angry, my lord.”
Sebastian shrugged. “Not particularly.”
Baffled, Prudence slanted him a sidelong glance. “Why ever not?”
“I don’t think that our engagement will be a problem.”
Prudence brightened. “You have a plan for dealing with our predicament?”
“I suppose one could say that I have.”
Prudence gazed at him in growing respect and relief. “My lord, that is excellent news. What, precisely, do you intend to do?”
Sebastian smiled at her, but his gaze was unreadable. “It’s a very simple plan, my dear. I intend to enjoy to the fullest the benefits of being an engaged man.”
Prudence’s mouth fell open. “I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me.” Sebastian inclined his head with chilling civility to an elderly lady in a passing carriage who was staring at the black phaeton. The woman looked away quickly.
“You intend to let our engagement stand?” Prudence demanded in disbelief. “Why on earth would you want to do that?”
“I don’t see that we have much choice in the matter, do you? If we announce to the world that our engagement is a hoax, your reputation will be in shreds.”
“That would not matter a great deal, my lord. I shall simply retire to the country somewhat ahead of schedule. Society will soon forget about me.”
“What about me, Prue?” Sebastian asked gently. “The ton will not forget my role in all this very quickly, I assure you. Thornbridge, for one, will undoubtedly decide that his initial suspicions concerning my presence in his wife’s bedchamber were correct. He will very likely come after me again with his pistol.”
Prudence ca
ught her lower lip between her teeth and peered at Sebastian. “Do you really believe he would do that?”
“I would say it is highly probable.”
“I had not thought about that. What are we going to do, my lord?”
“Finish the Season as an engaged couple,” Sebastian said calmly. “When June arrives, you may return to Dorset and I shall continue on about my affairs. The gossips will gradually lose interest.”
“I take your point,” Prudence said, thinking it through carefully. “Sometime during the summer I shall quietly announce that I am crying off. By fall everyone will have forgotten about the matter.”
“Very likely.”
“Yes, it just might work.” Prudence frowned in thought. “It means that for the next two and a half months we shall both be obliged to carry out the pretense of being engaged.”
“Do you think you can act the part of a happily engaged lady that long, Prue?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I have never tried my hand at amateur theatrics.”
“I am certain that with a little practice, you will soon get the hang of it.”
“Do you think so?” Prudence tilted her head to one side and gave him a shrewd glance. “What about you, my lord?”
Sebastian’s mouth curved faintly. “There is no need to concern yourself, my dear. I assure you that I can handle my role. A talent for playacting is in my blood.”
“Yes, that’s right, it is, is it not? You are extremely fortunate that your mother was an accomplished actress.” Prudence sighed. “I am really very sorry about all this.”
“Look on the bright side,” Sebastian suggested. “Perhaps now your pest of a brother will stop issuing a challenge every time I dance with you.”
“There is that, I suppose.” Prudence cleared her throat discreetly. “There is just one small point concerning last night’s events that I wish to have clarified before we go forward with this pretense of an engagement.”
Sebastian smiled. “Allow me to guess what that small point is. You probably want to know precisely what I was doing in Lady Thornbridge’s bedchamber.”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I would like an explanation. I do not believe for one moment that you had an assignation with her. I have observed you closely of late, my lord, and last night was not the first time that I’ve seen you mysteriously disappear for a while from a ballroom. As far as I could determine, you were not meeting anyone on those occasions.”
Sebastian glanced at her with an expression of cool admiration. “You’ve been very observant. But I cannot say I’m surprised. You are a most amazing female.”
“I am not at all certain that is a compliment. Now, are you going to tell me what was going on last night?”
Sebastian’s amber eyes gleamed briefly as he considered the question. “Did you really believe I had become a cracksman?”
Prudence narrowed her gaze behind the lenses of her spectacles. “It occurred to me, my lord, that in a misguided attempt to alleviate your ennui, you might have resorted to a somewhat unfortunate hobby.”
“In other words, you thought I might have turned into a jewel thief. I am crushed to learn that you hold me in such low esteem.”
“Well, I wasn’t altogether certain that was what you were about,” Prudence said quickly. “After all, it is not as if you need the money. Everyone says you are as rich as Croesus. So what were you doing in Lady Thornbridge’s bedchamber?”
“You were partially correct in your initial assumption. As I tried to tell you, I was looking for a necklace. A very particular necklace.”
“What?” Prudence gazed at him in astonishment. “I do not believe it.”
“It’s quite true. The necklace did not belong to Lady Thornbridge, however.”
Prudence was immediately intrigued. “Whose necklace was it?”
“It belongs to a certain lady of the ton who gave it to Lady Thornbridge.”
“Why did she give it to her?” Prudence asked.
“She had hoped to purchase Lady Thornbridge’s silence,” Sebastian said softly.
“Her silence?” Prudence leaped to the obvious conclusion. “Lady Thornbridge was blackmailing this woman?”
“Precisely. When Lady Thornbridge demanded another piece of jewelry in exchange for further silence, however, the victim realized there would be no end to the demands. She decided to see if anything could be done to stop Lady Thornbridge.”
Prudence frowned. “The victim came to you about this matter?”
“No, she consulted a Bow Street Runner named Whistlecroft. Whistlecroft decided to contact me. He and I have worked out an arrangement, you see. He has instructions to bring some of his more interesting cases to me.”
Prudence was enthralled now. “And he came to you with this case?”
“Yes.”
“How exciting,” Prudence breathed. “Did you find the necklace last night?”
Sebastian’s arrogant smile contained more than a trace of smug satisfaction. “Yes, as it happens, I did.”
“Where is it? What have you done with it?”
“It was returned to its rightful owner this morning. Whistlecroft handled that end of the business. I prefer to remain anonymous in such matters. No one else except you, Whistlecroft, and a friend of mine named Garrick Sutton knows about my little hobby.”
“I see. I can understand why you wish to keep your hobby a secret. But what about Lady Thornbridge? Won’t she make good on her blackmail threats once she realizes her victim is no longer cooperating?”
“I doubt it.”
“Why not?”
“Because before I was so rudely interrupted by you and Thornbridge, I had time to leave a note in Lady Thorn-bridge’s safe, in place of the necklace. She will discover it soon enough.”
“A note?” Prudence asked. “What did it say?”
“Merely that an anonymous party was aware that Lady Thornbridge’s pedigree was not quite what Society and Lord Thornbridge believed it to be. To put it bluntly, Prue, Lady Thornbridge came from the gutters and she would be ruined in Society if that fact were ever revealed.”
“The gutters?”
“She is an exceedingly clever, ambitious little creature who has fought her way up in the world. I do not fault her in the least for creating a respectable facade that has fooled the ton and landed her a wealthy husband.”
Prudence chuckled. “In other words, she worked hard for what she’s got and you respect her for it, but you cannot countenance her falling back into her old ways, is that it?”
“Not when she chooses a victim who has also fought her way out of the stews and into Society. Lady Thornbridge has everything she wants now, so there is no need to resort to blackmailing another lady of the ton who has a background similar to her own.”
“Quite right.” Prudence nodded briskly in agreement. “You told her that in your note?”
“Yes.”
“But how did you learn Lady Thornbridge’s secrets?” Prudence asked.
“I have my methods of investigation, just as you have yours.”
Prudence recalled his recent disappearances from various ballrooms. “Your methods must be clever, indeed, my lord. Lady Thornbridge has succeeded in fooling the entire ton, yet you found her out. Brilliant, Angelstone. Absolutely brilliant.”
“I had a feeling you would appreciate my efforts.”
“I most certainly do.” Prudence laughed in delight. “You handled the whole thing very well, my lord.”
“Thank you.”
“But won’t Lady Thornbridge guess that it was you who left her the note?”
“I doubt it. Even if Thornbridge tells her that it was her bedchamber in which he discovered us, she probably won’t connect me to the note shell eventually find in her safe.”
“Why not?”
“For one thing, it may be several days before she discovers the note. She won’t have any way of knowing when it was left. For another, even if she does think about the
fact that I was found in her bedchamber, she’ll recall that you were with me,” Sebastian said.
Prudence tilted her head to one side and studied him from under the brim of her bonnet. “I don’t understand.”
“Like everyone else, she’ll think that we disappeared upstairs so that I could seduce you in the first available bedchamber I found.”
“My lord” Prudence was shocked, in spite of herself. She could feel her cheeks turning violently pink.
“A charming picture, is it not?”
“I suppose that is what everyone is thinking today,” Prudence said morosely.
“No doubt.”
Prudence was silent for a moment as she contemplated what Sebastian had just told her. “This information explains everything, of course. You have found yourself a most interesting, if rather dangerous hobby, my lord.”
“I enjoy it from time to time,” Sebastian admitted.
“It is not unlike my own little hobby.”
“I am aware of that.” Sebastian flicked the reins lightly over the horses’ rumps. “It gives us something in common, don’t you think?”
“Yes. Yes, it does.” Prudence turned to him, bubbling over with sudden enthusiasm. “Sir, it occurs to me that we could combine our interests.”
Sebastian slanted her a wary glance. “What the devil are you talking about?”
“I do not see why we could not conduct investigations together, my lord. Between the two of us, we would make an excellent team.”
“The way we did last night?” Sebastian asked bluntly. “May I remind you that I very nearly got shot by a jealous husband because of your helpful assistance?”
“That is very unfair, my lord. What would you have done without me?”
“Hidden in the wardrobe myself and avoided Thorn-bridge,” Sebastian said succinctly. “He would never have seen me.”
“Oh.” Prudence sought for a successful counterargument with which to demolish his reasoning but could find none. She decided to try a different tactic. “I urge you to think of how very interesting it would be for us to work together, sir. Only consider the fascinating conversations we shall have.”