A Desirable Husband

by Mary Nichols

  ‘I cannot let him go, Banny, I just cannot. You could not tell me what desire was like and Rosemary wouldn’t, but I think I have found out for myself. I do not want any of those silly young men Rosemary has paraded before me, I want him, and him alone.’

  ‘Mr Ashbury?’ Miss Bannister queried in surprise.

  ‘No, of course not. You know perfectly well I meant Lord Pendlebury.’

  ‘If you are planning to make him jealous, you might find yourself hoist on your own petard.’

  ‘It’s worth a try and I’ve got to do something. A little rouge, I think, and some kohl on my eyes.’

  ‘No, Esme! I positively forbid that. Besides, his lordship would not like it. He will be disgusted with you.’

  ‘He likes it on Ma’amselle Lefavre.’

  ‘She is French. And how do you know he does?’

  ‘He goes out and about with her.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean he would like to see you done up like a strumpet. If you put any of that on your face, I shall most definitely not let you go.’

  Esme grinned, knowing her strategy had worked. She had no intention of painting her face, but it had diverted Banny from the main issue and she had more or less agreed to accompany her, which was just as well; she would never have dared go without her.

  Both were ready when a footman came to tell them that Mr Ashbury had arrived. Esme threw her shawl about her shoulders and picked up her fan and, with Miss Bannister behind her, went to join her escort, who had hired a carriage to convey them to the theatre. He was obviously very pleased with himself and bowed and smiled and paid her compliment after compliment until she told him rather sharply to desist.

  ‘I am coming with you to help you recover the affections of Ma’amselle Lefavre,’ she said, ‘nothing more, so there is no need to fawn all over me.’

  Deflated, he handed her into the carriage. The journey to the Strand did not take many minutes, but by the time they drew up outside the theatre, Esme’s heart was beating so fast she could hardly breathe. She knew perfectly well that what she was doing went beyond the bounds of acceptable behaviour and could well result in her being sent home to Luffenham in disgrace. She might have asked Mr Ashbury to take her back to Trent House if she hadn’t, at that moment, seen Felix escorting the Frenchwoman into the theatre ahead of them. It renewed her determination. Felix must be prevented from making a terrible mistake.

  Felix was already seated next to Juliette when they arrived in the box. He looked up as Victor entered. ‘You are late, the curtain is about to go up,’ he said. ‘Where have you been?’

  ‘Calling for my companion for the evening.’ He stood aside to allow Esme and Miss Bannister to enter the box.

  ‘Lady Esme!’ Felix’s face was a picture of shock and incredulity as he rose to his feet. ‘What are you doing here?’

  It was difficult, but she managed a confident smile. ‘Come to see the play. Mr Ashbury was kind enough to invite me. Do sit down again. The curtain is rising.’ And with that, she took a chair next to his and allowed her shawl to slip a little off her shoulders.

  He subsided beside her. ‘Just what do you think you are playing at?’ he hissed, noticing the bare flesh above the neck of the gown. It excited his senses at the same time as it shocked him to the core. How could she? How could that sweet, innocent girl whom he loved to distraction behave so brazenly?

  ‘I am not playing at anything,’ she whispered back, and waved her fan at the stage. ‘They are.’

  ‘Where is Lady Trent? I cannot believe she allowed this.’

  ‘Why not? I am chaperoned and I have known Mr Ashbury since I was a little girl.’

  He turned to look at Miss Bannister, who had taken a seat immediately behind them. She shrugged her shoulders in a gesture of helplessness.

  ‘Felix, do pay attention.’ Juliette leaned towards him and tapped his arm with her fan. ‘There will be time for conversation during the interval.’

  He turned his attention to the stage, leaving Esme to study his profile. It was a strong profile, she had noticed that before, but now there was an angry twitch to the muscle in his jaw and his lips were clamped tightly together as if he were trying to stop himself saying something scathing. There was no doubt he was very angry and she wished with all her heart she had never embarked on this escapade. She would ask Mr Ashbury to take them home in the interval.

  The play was a burlesque, but it did not raise a smile in either of them, though Mr Ashbury laughed uproariously. Juliette, Esme noticed, was not amused and kept leaning towards Felix and whispering. Not for a minute did he relax and when the curtain came down for the interval, he rose and took Esme’s arm. ‘Now, miss, you are going home.’

  She wrenched herself away and remained seated. ‘How dare you speak to me like that? You have no jurisdiction over what I do.’

  ‘No, more’s the pity, or I would put you over my knee and spank you.’

  ‘Hold hard,’ Victor put in. ‘The lady is with me. She does not wish to go home. The play is only half done. Besides, I have ordered supper for us all at Rules for after the performance.’

  ‘Oh, do sit down again, Felix,’ Juliette added. ‘Let us see the play in peace. Lady Esme is here now, so we might as well stay and see it through.’

  Short of making a public scene, which was the last thing he wanted, he could not force her out of the box. He sat down again.

  Esme was glad the lighting was not good or they would all have seen her tears. She had made a terrible mistake in coming and had been almost ready to let Felix take her home when Mr Ashbury had intervened. Now she must sit miserably through an indifferent play and pretend to enjoy it. Felix did not speak to her again.

  The entertainment ended at last and they all rose to go. Esme longed for her bed, but Victor was intent on taking them all to supper. ‘We cannot go,’ Miss Bannister whispered to her as they walked side by side along the corridor to the stairs. Felix was talking in low tones to Victor and apparently ignoring her, ignoring Juliette, too. ‘Do ask Mr Ashbury to take us home.’

  They made their way out to the street where a line of cabs waited for hire. Felix hailed one. ‘Juliette, my dear,’ he said to her. ‘You go on with Victor. I will join you later. I must see Lady Esme and her companion safely home.’

  ‘Victor brought her, let him take her home.’ Juliette was decidedly put out.

  ‘I booked a table for supper,’ Victor said. ‘And I’m devilishly hungry.’

  ‘Then go!’ Felix, whom Esme had never heard raise his voice, was almost shouting. ‘Enjoy your supper and leave me to set your foolishness to rights.’

  ‘Oh, very well. Come, Juliette, you will eat with me, won’t you?’

  Juliette gave Felix a look of pure venom and allowed Victor to usher her into the cab. He climbed in beside her, leaving Esme, Miss Bannister and Felix standing on the pavement.

  Felix put his hand under Esme’s elbow and almost frog-marched her to the carriage and horses he had hired that had, at that moment, drawn up at the curb. ‘In with you,’ he said grimly.

  Meekly, Esme obeyed. She was followed by Miss Bannister and then Felix gave his driver the direction and settled himself on the opposite seat. He did not speak for fully a minute after they set off, and then he sighed heavily. ‘Just what were you thinking of, my lady? What did you hope to achieve?’ He did not sound angry now, simply puzzled and hurt.

  ‘It worked,’ she said lightly, determined to make him smile again.

  ‘What worked?’

  ‘Why, sending Mr Ashbury off with Ma’amselle Lefavre. He was so unhappy that she had abandoned him for you. Now they are together again and will make up their quarrel, whatever it was, and be happy together again.’

  He tilted his head back and laughed aloud. ‘And what, in your scheme, was I supposed to do? Stand by and do nothing?’

  ‘Why, see the error of your ways and go back to being what you were before.’

  ‘What was I before?’ He was genuinely puzzled
.

  ‘A fine gentleman, someone society accepted. Even my sister was coming round to the idea that just because you own a manufactory doesn’t mean you are not a gentleman in her sense of the word. Since ma’amselle came on the scene, you have abandoned your old friends.’ It was the nearest she dared come to telling him the truth.

  ‘I do believe you are a little jealous.’

  ‘I am not!’

  He smiled. ‘There is no need, you know. I could tell you—’ He stopped suddenly. ‘No, best not.’

  ‘Tell me what?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Oh, you are infuriating.’

  He turned and addressed himself to Miss Bannister. ‘I am surprised at you, ma’am.’ Her eyes were closed and her chest was rising and falling rhythmically. He smiled wryly. ‘She is not much use as watchdog, is she?’

  ‘You must not talk about Banny like that. She is paid to do as she is told. And refusing to come with me would not have changed my mind. I cannot see what all the fuss is about. It isn’t as if I was out alone. I had an escort and a chaperon, all very proper.’

  ‘Proper!’ His voice, though a whisper, was scathing. ‘You call that proper?’ He waved his hand at her gown. She realised the shawl had fallen off and she was revealing too much of what Miss Bannister had delicately called her chest. Hastily, she pulled the shawl back into place. ‘You are asking to be molested and the molester would excuse himself by saying you invited it.’

  ‘Just let him try.’

  Before she could do more than make a squeak of protest, he had dragged her across to sit beside him and pulled her round to kiss her savagely. She struggled for a moment, then gave in. What he was doing to her was having the most extraordinary effect. A trickling sensation ran down her throat and into her stomach where it spread across her hips and thighs and into her groin. It felt like a kind of opening out, like a bud opens into full flower and reveals the stamens and sweet nectar within, ready for the exploring bee. The pressure of his lips on hers increased as he gently eased open her mouth. It was exquisite torture.

  She was not the only one to think it was torture. Felix was so roused, he hardly knew what he was doing. He had been wanting to kiss her for a long time, almost since their first meeting, but not like this, not brutally and in anger. The fact that the anger was directed against himself did not help. She should have been struggling, beating against him with her fists, crying out for help, biting him, anything to make him stop. If she had done that he would instantly have stopped and apologised, but she was compliant, her lips soft against his, and his anger evaporated. Did she understand what she was doing to him, what she was capable of doing to any man who called himself a man? It made him afraid for her. And for himself. He was lost.

  A grunt from the other corner of the carriage brought him to his senses and he released her. It was a moment before she recovered sufficiently to return to her seat. Miss Bannister slept on. ‘Are you saying I invited that?’ she hissed.

  ‘You said, as I recall, “Let him try.”’

  ‘You did not have to take me at my word.’

  ‘Why not? Do you never mean what you say?’

  ‘I hate you.’

  There was no answer to that and they drew up outside Trent House without speaking again when the sudden cessation of movement woke Miss Bannister with a start.

  He opened the carriage door and jumped down to help both ladies alight. ‘Will your sister be at home?’

  ‘No, there is no need for you to wait,’ Esme told him. ‘You must be anxious to rejoin your friends. I am sorry to have put you to so much inconvenience.’ And before he could say another word, she had turned and made for the front door, which was opened by a footman as she approached. Miss Bannister, with a smile of sympathy for him, followed.

  He got back in the vehicle and directed his coachman to Bruton Street. Rejoining Victor and Juliette was the last thing on his mind.

  Chapter Five

  ‘Esme, I need to speak to you urgently,’ Rosemary said, coming upon her sister sitting on a bench in the garden with a book in her lap, though she wasn’t reading it. She was dreaming of Felix, reliving that kiss and wondering if it would ever be repeated. Why had she said she hated him? She did not hate him, she loved him. She had done some foolish things in the past, not the least of which was making a spectacle of herself by accepting a challenge to go up in a balloon, but last night’s folly had gone beyond that. No wonder he had treated her like a strumpet. That was the word Banny had used, wasn’t it? She was glad they had arrived home before Rosemary; by the time her sister came in, she was in bed and pretending to be asleep.

  Now she looked up to see her advancing across the lawn towards her and her heart sank. ‘What about?’

  ‘I have just come from meeting Mrs Ashbury in Mudie’s library. I was shocked, shocked to the core, by what she told me. She got it from her son and I cannot think why he would invent such a tale.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘You might well say “oh.” I don’t know what could have got into you. You know perfectly well I declined Mr Ashbury’s invitation on your behalf. I do not, and have never thought, he was a suitable escort for you and I was right. No right-thinking gentleman would take you to a burlesque….’

  ‘I did not know it was a burlesque.’ Esme sighed. ‘I did not enjoy it very much.’

  ‘Why did you go? And how did it happen that Mr Ashbury did not bring you home?’

  ‘He went to have supper with Ma’amoiselle Lefavre. It worked out well in the end, because he only asked me to make her jealous. He thought she was spending too much time with Lord Pendlebury.’

  ‘And that is another gentleman you should be steering clear of.’

  ‘It was he who brought me home, Rosie.’

  ‘So I gather. I wonder he was able to tear himself away from his paramour. I trust he behaved himself….’

  She felt herself colouring, but answered swiftly before her usual honesty made her tell the truth. ‘Of course he did. Miss Bannister was with us.’

  ‘Much use she is. If I had my way, I would have pensioned her off years ago. I am surprised at Papa keeping her on, but I suppose Mama felt sorry for her.’

  ‘She may have done, but Papa lets Banny stay because she does not cost wages, only her keep and a little pin money. She is happy with that because Luffenham is her home and she has nowhere else to go.’

  ‘That may be, but you are wandering from the point. I am responsible for you, and if you cannot conform, then I must inform Papa.’

  ‘Oh, please don’t do that. Papa will make me go home and surely that will cause more of a scandal? I will be good, I promise. I won’t stir from the house unless you are by my side.’

  ‘I blame Lord Pendlebury, filling your head with nonsense. You would never have dreamed up such an escapade on your own.’

  ‘It was not his lordship’s fault, he had nothing to do with it. But for him, I think I might have been in a real scrape.’

  ‘Be that as it may, I was obliged to tell Mrs Ashbury I had agreed you could go.’

  ‘Thank you, Rosie.’

  ‘The trouble is that now she is preening herself that I consider her odious son a suitable escort for you. It is up to you to discourage him.’

  ‘Oh, I shall enjoy doing that. He thinks more of his stomach than his duty as an escort.’

  ‘And the same goes for Lord Pendlebury.’

  ‘Oh, no, for he was not in the least concerned about missing his supper. You should thank him for bringing me home.’

  ‘Rowan has undertaken to do so.’

  Rowan’s idea of thanking Felix was to give him a very public dressing-down. Felix was enjoying a quiet drink and a perusal of a newspaper in Brooks’s, when Viscount Trent approached him. ‘Pendlebury I want a word with you.’

  ‘Certainly, my lord. Take a seat. A glass of something?’

  ‘No. I will not drink with you. I simply wish to let you know that I consider your behaviour and that of
Mr Ashbury reprehensible.’

  ‘In what connection?’

  ‘You know very well in what connection. You may have a title and call yourself a gentleman, but no gentleman that I know of would lure a young and innocent girl away from the protection of her family and—’

  ‘And what, my lord?’ Felix’s voice was deceptively quiet.

  ‘Prey on her ignorance. She did not know that the entertainment offered by the Adelphi is not such as a well-nurtured young lady should see.’

  ‘It is a perfectly respectable theatre.’

  ‘I do not think she should be going to a theatre at all. The opera, perhaps, or Shakespeare, not common burlesque.’

  ‘I agree, my lord, I did not take her there, I certainly did not lure her there.’

  ‘You will keep away from her, do you hear? I do not like the company you keep and I do not want her associating with them through you. Do I make myself clear?’

  Felix assumed he meant Juliette; the man had a morbid suspicion of all foreigners. ‘Perfectly clear.’

  Having established that, Viscount Trent turned on his heel and left him. Felix finished his drink, folded the newspaper and put it on the table in front of him and walked out of the building. It was done calmly and deliberately for the benefit of others in the club who had heard the exchange. He would not let them see how put out he had been.

  He walked home and climbed the stairs to the top of the house where an attic room had been made into a studio. Here he picked up a series of sketches he had made of Esme. There were several drawn at different angles, front, back and sides. It was from this he would make a three-dimensional model. He sat down and studied them. They were not perfect, but he knew he would be given no opportunity to improve the sketches from life, and perhaps it was time he made himself scarce for a short while. He had learned nothing of any insurrection from Juliette and he doubted if she knew anything. He would suggest to the Duke that he might learn more talking to some of the people in the industrial towns of the north, and then could go home and work on his model of Esme.