Deadly Engagement: A Georgian Historical Mystery (Alec Halsey Crimance)

by Lucinda Brant

  “Emily.”

  “How utterly sweet of her,” Lady Charlotte said with a twisted smile and pulled a petal from a white rose. “She’s always preferred you. That’s because you over-indulge her, just like Mamma.”

  “You know that isn’t true. It’s just that she and I are closer in age. I was still in the schoolroom when she was born and you were just married to Macara, so weren’t around to—”

  “Thank God I wasn’t! I couldn’t have stood to watch Mamma fawn over Madeleine’s bastard brat.” Lady Charlotte shuddered dramatically and almost at once collected herself. “Oliphant will need the services of your maid. You will of course oblige. We can’t stay here. Well, you won’t. You can wait in your sitting room. If he asks for me to remain I will have to agree.”

  “You can’t mean to go through with this! It’s monstrous.”

  “Stop blubbering and use your handkerchief! Of course it’s not monstrous, you stupid woman. It’s in her best interests. It will stop any scandal-mongering before it begins. Do you want people to think she isn’t a virgin on her wedding night? Do you want to be stared at every time you go to Almacks? To have the family name bandied about like a common thing? Show sense, Sybilla. It’s not as if this sort of thing isn’t done from time to time. I realize it is unpleasant to think we have to stoop to seeking Oliphant’s services in this way, but I assured Lord Delvin the man is terribly discreet.”

  “Delvin? You consulted him?”

  Lady Charlotte drew herself up. “Don’t look at me like that! If you must know he consulted me. And very proper of him, too!”

  Lady Sybilla gave an hysterical sob.

  “Be of some use and call your maid. Get her to find some towels and hot water and clean cloth. I suppose Oliphant requires all those things.” She tidied her hair in the looking glass that hung over the mantle. “And tell her to be quick about it!” she called out, even though Lady Sybilla had not moved. “He can’t be too much longer. How many dishes of tea can the man drink with Mamma?”

  A scratch on the door and at Lady Charlotte’s command a footman came in to announce Sir John Oliphant, a man of middle height and prone to fat, who wore a creaking corset and the latest style of wig a la pigeon. The richness of his frockcoat and breeches proclaimed the courtier rather than a learned man of medicine.

  His keen eyes sensed hostility in the Lady Sybilla, who greeted him with nothing more than a pinched-face look. He acknowledged her with a bow then focused all his attentions on the elder sister to whom he had spoken at length upon arriving at St. Neots House.

  “As you predicted, my lady, her Grace was not at all pleased to see me. However, I did leave her in a better mood. She has a weak heart, as you know, and a disturbance of so shocking a nature as you described can only have caused her much strain. I am pleased to say that she is in excellent health and bearing up well.”

  “That is good news, Sir John. I am relieved to hear you say so. Again I thank you for taking the time to come and see Mamma.”

  Sir John smiled. “My lady, please, it was the merest trifle of inconvenience. And it is always a pleasure to share a dish of the Duchess’s most excellent tea.”

  And half a dozen cream cakes too, thought Lady Charlotte. She said, “You did not mention…?”

  “Of course not, my lady,” he reassured her. “I agree with you wholeheartedly in the matter. The less her Grace is disturbed the better for her health.”

  Lady Sybilla twisted her handkerchief in a tight ball. “Mamma will be far more disturbed to be left ignorant of your intentions!”

  “Dear lady,” began Sir John and was interrupted by Lady Charlotte who lifted her hand.

  “Sybilla! Did I not ask you to give orders to your maid?”

  “It’s horrid! Horrid,” Lady Sybilla threw at them and rushed from the room with her lace handkerchief pressed to her mouth.

  “She’s very highly strung. Has been since a child,” Lady Charlotte said with a dismissive smile. “Won’t you be seated, Sir John? Emily will be here at any moment. Ah! Here she is now. Emily, dear, this is Sir John Oliphant come to pay you a visit.”

  Emily had come in without knocking. When she saw Lady Charlotte her first reaction was to go quietly out again, but she was seen. She knew Sir John as he had attended on her grandmother for several years. And just now, when she had wanted to speak to her, was told by Neave that Sir John was taking tea with the Duchess. Seeing the physician in Lady Sybilla’s rooms she immediately presumed her aunt to be unwell.

  “Is Aunt Sybilla feeling poorly?”

  “Where is your curtsy, child?” Lady Charlotte said lightly, propelling Emily by the shoulders to where Sir John stood by the window. “You must forgive her, Sir John. The events of the past day…”

  Emily shot her an angry look of embarrassment but dutifully curtsied and had her hand kissed. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, sir,” she said and wiped her wet hand across the small of her back, for which gesture her aunt could have slapped her face.

  “How old are you, child?” asked Sir John, lifting Emily’s chin to look in her gray eyes.

  “Eighteen. Why do you want to see me, Sir John? You came to see Grandmamma—”

  Sir John smiled. “I have seen her Grace and she is very well considering the strain she has been under of late. And now I am here to see you, my dear.”

  “Did Grandmamma ask for you to see me?”

  “Emily, darling, you should be grateful Sir John has found the time to call on you. He is a distinguished physician who is much sought after.”

  “You are too kind, my lady. Open your mouth, child, so that I may see your tongue.”

  “Emily, do as you’re bid!” Lady Charlotte snapped, her control at an end.

  “There—There is nothing the matter with my tongue,” Emily stammered, taking a step back, panic welling up within her.

  “Forgive her, Sir John. She has been under tremendous strain. What with her engagement and preparations for the Fireworks ball, not to mention last night…”

  Emily blushed. “Don’t remind me of-of that. It’s something I wish to forget.”

  “So do we all,” retorted Lady Charlotte. “But it is something that cannot be ignored. So, please do as you are asked. It will mean less fuss and be much easier for you—”

  “What-What do you want of me?” Emily asked, looking from her aunt to Sir John and back again.

  “To ask you a few questions, child,” Sir John said soothingly and again turned Emily’s chin toward him. He took out his gold pocket watch and with two fat fingers pressed to her neck studied its oyster shell face. Emily suffered this ministration but when the physician put his pocket watch away she stepped back from him. He gave a sigh and looked to Lady Charlotte. “You said something about a maid, my lady?” And to Emily, “My dear child, I am here to help you. You have suffered a brutal attack and thus need to be seen by a physician such as myself. Your aunt is only concerned for your wellbeing; as is your intended husband. I have met the Earl of Delvin and find him to be a young man of superior manners and address. You are very fortunate indeed to be so honored. Won’t you sit here and we shall talk a moment? Just we two.” He held out a chair and gave Lady Charlotte a knowing look that sent her in search of her sister.

  Emily hesitated then sat on the very edge of the chair. With her aunt gone she felt less settled but was relieved to see the sitting room door had been left ajar. Sir John went back to stand by the window, the light behind him leaving his face in shadow.

  “You know I am a physician, child. You know I attend on your grandmother. Amongst society I have many female patients. I have attended the Queen at one of her lying-ins. What I am trying to say is this: you needn’t fear me, or be embarrassed, or uncomfortable in my presence. I am here to help you, and what is said between us goes no further. Do you understand me, child?”

  “I am perfectly well, Sir John. I just wish to forget about last night.”

  “That is understandable. But tell me: Do
you have any bruising on your body?”

  Emily blinked.

  “Do you feel in any pain?”

  “My foot. I hit my foot on the curio cabinet.”

  “Anywhere else? The tops of your legs, perhaps?”

  “Tops of my legs? N-no.”

  “No pain between your thighs? No pain in your belly?”

  “Belly? He—he pushed down on me and his weight was uncomfortable but it wasn’t painful.”

  “Did he lift your petticoats?”

  Emily’s face burned brick red and she averted her eyes.

  “Did you feel his hands—”

  “His hands?”

  “Did he put his hands up your petticoats?”

  “Yes—No! He tried but I—”

  “My child, do you know how it is when a husband lays with his wife?”

  Emily blinked. Then she understood and blanched.

  Sir John took out his snuffbox. “Answer the question, my dear.”

  Emily stood on shaking legs. “That has nothing to do—to do with last night!”

  “My child, it has everything to do with it,” Sir John said calmly. “Girls of your birth and breeding are raised very carefully. It is only proper and natural you are kept ignorant of—er—certain facts until you are married. My dear child, you may have been raped and not know it. Believe me, it has happened before, and to girls younger than yourself.”

  “That did not happen to me, Sir John,” Emily answered on the verge of tears. “I—I may be—be ignorant, but I am not-not witless. If you must know, I’ve seen a horse mount a mare and it wasn’t like that!”

  “Emily,” gasped Lady Charlotte, catching the last of this halting speech as she swept back into the room, Lady Sybilla and her maid in tow.

  Sir John’s fat cheeks were a brilliant pink and he collected himself only by turning to the window.

  “Emily! How dare you talk in such a common fashion! You will most certainly give Sir John the wrong impression. Forgive her, Sir John. She is naturally high-spirited and has been known on occasion to say things just to shock and embarrass. A lamentable trait I fear she acquired associating with Mamma’s godson, a mere clerk in the Foreign Department whose habits are Continental in the worst way imaginable.”

  “I—I don’t know anything about his conduct on the Continent but Alec has always been kind and gentle and like a brother to me. I don’t—”

  “Be quiet!” demanded Lady Charlotte, and squeezed Emily’s wrist so hard she cried out. “You will do as you are told,” she whispered fiercely. “You are making a fool, not only of yourself, but of us. I won’t stand for it! How can you expect to act the part of a Countess when you can’t act like a well-bred young lady?”

  “I want to speak with Grandmamma,” Emily demanded, pulling free and rubbing her wrist. “I want to see Edward!”

  Lady Sybilla made a noise between a sob and a laugh. Lady Charlotte glared at her, then at Emily.

  “Listen to me, you little fool,” Lady Charlotte hissed, regaining possession of Emily’s reddened wrist. “Four hundred people are coming here tonight to celebrate your engagement with a magnificent fireworks ball. Everything is arranged. But if you don’t allow Sir John to examine you Lord Delvin may very well call the whole thing off! Do you understand me?”

  Emily did not understand at all. “Call what off? The—the ball? But why? He can’t think me so poorly—”

  Sir John coughed politely. “My lady, perhaps the child needs more time to—”

  “Nonsense. There isn’t time! Besides, it’s not her place to decide,” Lady Charlotte said haughtily. “She’s distraught. She may even have a fever. The shock of last night has addled her brain. She isn’t herself. Be patient with her and I know—”

  “I want to see Grandmamma!” Emily demanded, breaking free and trying the bedchamber door and finding it locked. When she made for the sitting room Lady Charlotte barred her way. “You can’t make me stay here! I want to see Edward! I want him to tell me this is what he wants.”

  Lady Charlotte slapped her face.

  “Excuse us a moment, Sir John,” she said politely, and while Emily was still in shock from the stinging blow to her cheek, dragged her into the sitting room. “How dare you humiliate me in this way, you little witch! Now be still and listen to me! Oh, do shut up, Sybilla! If you must cry, for God’s sake do it elsewhere.”

  “I won’t leave Emily,” sobbed her sister. “I won’t!”

  “Please, Aunt Sybilla, don’t cry,” Emily pleaded. She tried to pull away from Lady Charlotte. “Let go of me! You can’t make me!”

  “If you don’t go through with this it will be the end of your hopes of being Countess of Delvin. He expects a virgin on his wedding night and a virgin you will be! That’s why Sir John is here, you little fool. We can’t afford another family scandal, but if you refuse to allow Sir John to examine you it can only mean one thing: You permitted a man into your bed last night.”

  Tears spilled onto Emily’s flushed cheeks. “How can you accuse me of being so horridly wicked?”

  “Because that’s what others will think if you don’t allow Sir John to examine you! That’s what Lord Delvin will think!”

  Emily attempted a moment of bravado. “Edward would never believe me capable of such wanton behavior! He loves me.”

  “Loves you?” Lady Charlotte said with an hysterical laugh. “With thirty thousand pounds on your head I imagine any man could love you.”

  “Thirty thousand pounds?”

  “Your dowry, little idiot. Enough money to catch a respectable husband. Enough money to wipe away the stain of your birth.”

  “But Grandmamma permitted me to choose.”

  “With thirty thousand pounds Mamma wasn’t about to let you marry anything less than a title,” Lady Charlotte stated contemptuously. “Certainly not throw yourself away on Delvin’s nobody of a brother.”

  “Alec? He’s never once said he wanted to marry me.”

  Lady Charlotte laughed shrilly. “You little fool! Marry you? Of course he never meant to marry you. Men of his stamp don’t marry. But seduce you, ruin you, oh yes, that I can well believe!”

  Emily looked at the Lady Sybilla with wide curiosity. “Is Alec truly like that, Aunt Sybilla? Is he?”

  Before Sybilla could reply her sister said harshly, “Alec Halsey ruined Selina Jamison-Lewis’ chances of a happy marriage when he seduced her in the wood and, for all we know, it was he who forced himself on you last night!”

  Lady Sybilla burst into tears. “Charlotte! How can you make such vile accusations about a man who—”

  “Because Emily has a right to the truth about Alec Halsey, particularly when his own brother considers him a moral abomination.” Lady Charlotte pulled Emily to her and whispered in her face. “Your marriage to the Earl of Delvin means a great deal to Mamma. It will right all your mother’s wrongs. But if you want to break Mamma’s heart, just as your mother did before you, then I am only too willing to send Sir John back to London.” She pushed Emily off, an ugly twisted line to her white mouth. “It is your choice not to go through with the examination,” she stated in a bloodless voice. “No one will blame Lord Delvin when he steps back from this engagement. But where will that leave you? No one wants tainted milk. No one will want you. Mamma’s heart will break, but at least her eyes will be open to the horrible truth: that her beloved granddaughter is the image of her disgraced daughter. What a pity. And what a waste of Mamma’s careful nurturing.” She turned away in a swish of stiff silk petticoats. “Come, Sybilla. We must make our apologies to Sir John…”

  Emily opened her mouth to speak but not a word issued forth. She felt suddenly hot and close and yet at the same time cold and light-headed. Her head throbbed at the temples. She pressed her palms to her cheeks and shut her eyes because the room had begun to spin about her. She wished she knew what she should do. She wished her grandmother was with her. She wished she was anywhere but here. Suddenly, she felt her knees buckle and ever
ything went dark, as if she had closed her eyes, although she knew she was staring wide eyed at her sobbing aunt. Then, all at once, she crumpled to the floor in a heap of billowing petticoats, her ears ringing with Lady Sybilla’s screams.

  When Emily opened her eyes she was on Lady Sybilla’s bed. The pleated silk canopy above her began to spin again. She shut tight her eyes. She felt listless and miserable. She wanted nothing more than to curl up under the soft coverlet and hope the nightmare would pass. There were whispered voices on both sides of her. A cool hand touched her forehead, then her neck, and stayed there a moment longer than she considered necessary so she pushed it off. The scent of a familiar perfume made her nose twitch.

  “Drink this, dearest,” Lady Sybilla said soothingly, smoothing the damp blonde hair off the girl’s forehead. To someone across the bed she said, “You can see she isn’t well enough to—”

  “Sir John has been more than patient.”

  “Charlotte! You still can’t mean to go through with this! Please.”

  “Certainly. We must.”

  “Oh, no, Charlotte! No.”

  Emily clutched at Lady Sybilla’s hand. “It’s all right, Aunt Sybilla.”

  “You’re not well, dearest. You can’t know what they mean to do.”

  “Yes, I do know,” Emily answered lamely. “I’ve done nothing wrong. I’m not afraid.”

  “See, Sybilla. Emily is a sensible girl after all.”

  “Stay with me, Aunt Sybilla.”

  Lady Sybilla couldn’t look at her. “Charlotte would be better than I.”

  “I won’t have anyone but you.”

  “Do as she wants,” commanded Lady Charlotte and left the bed to consult with Sir John who was removing the lace bands at his wrists. “Thank you for being so patient. I hardly expected her to be this difficult.”