The Deception

by Joan Wolf

  I thought briefly about trying to escape out the back way, but then I heard Chalmers rattling the latch. I decided that safety lay in numbers, and raced up the hallway to the playing room.

  As I entered on one side of the room, the door on the opposite side was opening to admit a new patron. Please God, I prayed, let it be Harry.

  The new patron had fair hair like Harry, but he was considerably larger.

  It was Adrian.

  Jem, the huge, toothless doorkeeper, took one look at him, growled, “Not tonight, my lord,” and stepped into his path. Adrian pushed him aside as if he weighed no more than little Ned. Across the smelly, crowded room, his eyes had found me.

  “It’s Greystone!”

  The name flew around the tables, and even the hands of the dealers stilled. Every eye watched as Adrian strode across that polluted room like the Archangel Michael blazing through the legions of hell. From close behind me I heard a sharp intake of breath, and then the sound of feet hastily retreating in the opposite direction. The worm had wisely chosen to make himself scarce.

  Adrian stopped in front of me and said softly, “What the bloody hell are you doing here?”

  His nostrils were white. His gray eyes were glittering. He was furious, and I couldn’t say I blamed him.

  “I’m ready to leave,” I said.

  “You’re damn right you’re ready to leave,” he said.

  He never swore in front of me. He had to be absolutely livid.

  “Come on,” he said. His voice; was still too soft to be heard by anyone but me, but he seemed to be talking through his teeth. “And pull up that bloody hood!”

  I pulled the hood up hastily, and he grabbed my hand, put it on his arm, and held it there, as if he was afraid I was going to escape. Then he strode back toward the door, forgetting to moderate his stride to mine. I half ran, half skipped beside him, trying to keep up.

  Jem was waiting beside the door. He opened it, and as Adrian dragged me out into the street, I distinctly heard him chuckle.

  There was a cab waiting for us outside. Adrian opened the door, practically threw me in, and gave our address to the driver. Then he followed me, closing the cab door firmly behind him. The driver clucked to his horse, and the cab began to move.

  I was alone with my furious husband.

  I desperately tried to think of some reason to account for my presence at the hell that would not involve Harry. I am usually inventive, but at the moment I couldn’t think of a thing.

  The best defense is a good offense, Papa had always said. I took his advice and launched the first shot, demanding, “How did you know I was there?”

  “Bonds saw you getting into a cab with Chalmers outside of Drury Lane.” He was still talking through his teeth in that ominous fashion. “He came to White’s to tell me. Thought I should know that my wife was getting into bad company.”

  I had met Mr. Bonds. He was an old friend of Adrian’s from Eton.

  “I had my hood up,” I said suspiciously. “How did he know it was I?”

  “He knew you were my wife, just as all the men in that bloody hell knew you were my wife!”

  I was infuriated. “They didn’t know until you came charging in there tike an enraged lion and dragged me out! I had my hood up the whole time I was there!”

  “You didn’t have your hood up when I saw you!”

  I remembered how that had come about. “That Chalmers is a very nasty man, Adrian,” I said. “You won’t believe what he said to me.”

  “Oh, yes, I would.”

  “No, listen to this.” I leaned toward him earnestly. “I lost all my money in the first half hour I was there, you see, and so I told him I couldn’t play any more. He offered to loan me money if I wanted to continue to bet.”

  He said grimly, “Kate, that is the oldest trick in the book.”

  “I know that! I had no intention of taking his money. I told him I couldn’t, that I had no way of paying him back. And then he said that I could lose as much money as I wanted, so long as I was kind to him. Can you believe that, Adrian? The disgusting worm wanted me to sleep with him!”

  Just remembering that interview made me indignant. “He has teeth just like a shark,” I added.

  There was a short silence. It was too dark inside the cab for me to see his face, so I didn’t know how he was taking this revelation.

  “And what did you do after he made this disgusting proposition?” he asked finally. I thought his voice sounded slightly less grim than it had before. Still, I thought it would be wise to omit the part about Chalmers trying to kiss me.

  “I ran away,” I said. “I had just come back into the gaming room, when you arrived.” I made my voice as conciliating as possible. “I must say, my lord, that I was extremely glad to see you.”

  Silence.

  “I’ll never go there again,” I said. “It was a horrible place.”

  He grunted.

  “Do you think the despicable Chalmers has made that proposition to other women?” I asked.

  “I have no doubt that he has. And been accepted, too.”

  I shuddered.

  His anger appeared to have abated somewhat, and we finished the drive in silence. The night footman opened the door for us, and I was beginning to hope that perhaps Adrian was satisfied that I was properly repentant and would not pursue the matter further, when he said, “Come into the library, Kate. I want to talk to you.”

  My heart sank.

  I trailed behind him down the corridor to the teak-paneled library, where a fire was burning and the lamps were lit. He gestured me to one of the comfortable old green velvet chairs in front of the fireplace, and as I sat down he went to pour a glass of wine for himself. I looked at the decanter a little wistfully. I could have used a little wine myself.

  “Would you like tea?” Adrian asked me courteously.

  I shook my head. It was probably better to get this over with as quickly as possible.

  He came to sit in the other chair, took a sip of his wine, and regarded me out of hooded eyes. “What you have not told me, Kate,” he said, “is why you went to that hell in the first place.”

  I bit my lip and nervously smoothed my taffeta skirt. I still couldn’t think of a reason that wouldn’t involve Harry.

  Adrian went on, “You told me you were going to the theater with Harry and instead you met Chalmers and went with him to a gambling hell. You obviously had an assignation with him. Was it the excitement of going somewhere illicit that drew you, Kate? Or were you so eager to gamble that you had to go to a place where you thought I would not hear about it?”

  His words cut me to the heart. It wasn’t fair to let him think that he was married to a woman who had so little regard for his name; a woman who was nothing but a reckless gamester, a sensation-seeker. He had been so good to me; he didn’t deserve that. I was going to have to sacrifice Harry.

  I bent my head, drew a deep breath, and told him what had happened.

  When I finished the only sounds in the room were the crackling of the fire and the beating of my heart. When Adrian spoke at last, his voice was ominously quiet: “So Harry let you go alone to that hell with Chalmers.”

  I flew to poor Harry’s defense. “It was only for an hour, Adrian! Harry said I would probably win, because that’s what they do to lure new pigeons into continuing to play once they start to lose. It was only because I lost all my money so quickly that I got cozened into being alone with Chalmers.” A thought struck me, and I frowned. “Do you think he fixed it so that I would lose?”

  “Of course he fixed it, Kate.” The grim note was back in his voice. “He couldn’t wait to get his hands on you.”

  “Well, Harry wasn’t to know that,” I said hastily. “And I got away from Chalmers and would have waited safely in the gaming room for Harry to arrive. It all would have gone perfectly smoothly if that wretched Mr. Bonds had not seen me and come tattling to you!”

  He got up and went over to the decanter to pour hi
mself another glass of wine. I said to his back, “Adrian, Harry only went along with my scheme because he was so anxious to keep the tale of his stupidity from you.”

  “I did not think I was such an ogre,” my husband said.

  “No!” I jumped to my feet. ‘;You don’t understand, Adrian! It is precisely because he loves you so much, and admires you so much, that he did not want to look small in your eyes. Don’t you see? Can’t you understand what it must be like to have you for an older brother?”

  “If he loves me so much, then he should have trusted me not to think badly of him.” Adrian turned to look at me, his face very somber. “And he should never, never have let you go to that hell.”

  He didn’t understand.

  Suddenly the door opened, and Harry was there on the threshold. His hair was ruffled, his neckcloth was disordered, and there was dirt on the knees of his beige breeches. His eyes flew to me. “Kate, are you all right?”

  I tried to smile, but it was not very successful. “I am fine, Harry.”

  His eyes moved slowly to his brother. I could see him brace himself. “You brought her home, Adrian?”

  “Bonds saw her getting into the cab with Chalmers and came to tell me,” Adrian said.

  Harry closed the door and stepped forward into the lamplight. He was very pale.

  “Did you get your vowels?” Adrian asked.

  Harry swallowed. “Yes.” His eyes flicked briefly to me and then back to his brother.

  I said, “I’m tired. I’m going up to bed.”

  Neither man said a word as I walked to the door. I felt absolutely wretched. I had only been trying to help, but my clever scheme had made all of us miserable.

  I lay awake for most of the night, but Adrian never came.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I saw Harry the following morning at breakfast, he was very subdued. I tried to apologize for having peached on him to Adrian, but he just shook his head and said that I had been right to do as I did.

  He looked so miserable that I tried to cheer him up. “Well, at least you got your vowels back,” I said brightly. “The evening wasn’t a complete loss.”

  He drank some coffee, gave me a pale smile, and agreed.

  Breakfast was always set out on the sideboard so that people could help themselves, and I took a muffin and a cup of coffee and went to sit across the table from Harry. “If it wasn’t for that nosey parker Bonds, everything would have gone perfectly,” I said.

  “No.” He shook his head. “Adrian was right, Kate. I should never have allowed you to be alone with Chalmers. I don’t know what I was thinking of.”

  I was beginning to get annoyed. “The two of you act as if I were a helpless child! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Harry.”

  “Adrian told me that Chalmers wanted you to sleep with him,” Harry said bluntly.

  “Well, it’s not as if I was going to do it!”

  “I know that. But it can’t have been pleasant for you, Kate.”

  It hadn’t been, but I had survived. I sighed and looked with some distaste at my coffee and muffin. The smell of the food was making me feel faintly nauseated.

  I said, “I was only trying to help you, Harry, and instead I’ve made the situation between you and Adrian worse. I am so sorry. Was he very angry with you?”

  “He wasn’t angry. Considering the circumstances, he was quite restrained.” Harry’s voice held a note that I couldn’t immediately identify. “He told me that in the future, if I came up against something I couldn’t deal with, that I was to come to him; that he would help me and I wasn’t to worry about him making judgments about my competency.”

  I placed the note now. It was bitterness.

  “Oh dear,” I said.

  “He was very understanding,” Harry said.

  Damn.

  “If you’ll excuse me now,” Harry said, “I have an appointment.” Men always had an appointment when they didn’t want to talk to you anymore.

  I watched him leave the breakfast room and thought grimly that if Adrian kept on being this; understanding he was going to drive Harry into doing something dangerous.

  I was tired and depressed and in no mood for a garden party, but that was what was on the afternoon’s agenda for me and Caroline. Every year the Marchioness of Silchester had a garden party at her home on the Thames, and all the most fashionable people in the ton attended. Since the Countess of Greystone must always be counted as one of the most fashionable people, I had been invited. After Harry had gone out I thought briefly about crying off, but since my own company promised to be pretty dismal, I decided it would be better if I kept myself occupied. I went.

  Silchester House was only a few miles outside of London, but the atmosphere was distinctly countryish. Fortunately the day was warm and sunny, so we were able to be outdoors on the Irish-green lawn that had been landscaped into three distinct terraces, the last one reaching right to the river’s edge. There was even boating available if one so desired.

  Caroline and I were escorted by Edward, and at the last minute Louisa decided to accompany us, as Paddy was spending the day at the Tattersall horse sales. Adrian was supposed to have come as well, but he left word with Walters that something unexpected had come up and we would have to go to the garden party without him.

  Another of those convenient appointments, I thought mournfully.

  We alighted from the carriage at the front of the house, then walked through to the drawing room where the French doors were standing open. The Marchioness was receiving her guests out on the stone terrace.

  “I always have a beautiful day for my garden party,” the Marchioness said smugly as she greeted us. “It is part of the Silchester tradition.”

  We smiled, and murmured polite compliments, and walked across the flower-banked terrace and down the stone stairs to join the people on the first stretch of lawn. It wasn’t long before Edward had found someone to talk to about cows, and Caroline someone to trade baby stories with, and Louisa and I drifted along together, nodding vaguely to people we knew and not saying much.

  I was wearing a bonnet, but the sun soon began to give me a headache. I said as much to Louisa.

  “You don’t look well, Kate,” she replied sympathetically. “There is a rose garden at the side of the house. Why don’t we go and sit under a tree?”

  I agreed. It was true that I hadn’t slept well, but this was not the first morning that I had woken up feeling unusually lethargic. I had actually taken a nap the previous afternoon before venturing out to the gaming hell. I hadn’t napped since I was two!

  “Was Paddy looking to buy something today, Louisa?” I asked idly as we took seats on a pretty but not very comfortable stone bench that was placed beneath the shade of a spreading beech tree. The small garden was filled with all different varieties of rosebushes, and their scent perfumed the air.

  “No,” my cousin returned. “He merely wanted to get an idea of the prices that Tattersall was getting at his auctions.”

  I nodded, picked up a single pale pink petal that had been lying on the gravel at my feet, and smoothed it between my fingers.

  “It’s important that Paddy keep abreast of the market so that he knows what to ask for his own horses.” Louisa sounded very knowledgeable. “He can’t expect to get as much as Tattersall’s does, of course, but on the other hand, he doesn’t want to give his horses away.”

  I said with amused affection, “You have got it down wonderfully, Louisa.”

  Her cheeks flushed the same pretty pink color as the rose petal in my hand. “I... well, I have grown quite fond of Paddy, Kate,” she said. “I know most people would consider him socially beneath me, but I really think he is the most ... solid ... man I have ever met.”

  “He’s a wonderful man,” I said. ‘He’s loyal and affectionate and honest and kind ...” I was running out of adjectives. “I have always considered him part of my family.” I shot her a look. “I can see that he is very fond of you, Lou
isa.”

  I thought she would be pleased, but instead she looked downcast. “I think he is, too, Kate. But I am afraid that nothing will ever come of it. He says his way of life is not suitable for a lady like myself.”

  “Well, it probably isn’t,” I said honestly.

  “I would like it a lot better than spending the rest of my life drudging away for my sister-in-law!” Louisa said spiritedly.

  She certainly had a point there.

  I opened my mouth to tell her about Adrian’s offer, but then closed it again. He was so disappointed with me that he might not want people as closely connected to me as Louisa and Paddy living at Lambourn. I contented myself with saying merely, “I will talk to Adrian. If we can arrange some place permanent for Paddy to base his business, would you marry him?”

  “Yes,” Louisa said. She glowed.

  I smoothed the rose petal between my fingers and repeated, “I will talk to Adrian.”

  * * * *

  We sat in the rose garden for another hour, and a great number of people stopped and talked to us as they drifted in and out. Finally I had to bestir myself to go to the house to use the ladies’ withdrawing room. I was on my way into the house through the French doors when I ran into my uncle. He was coming out.

  He saw me, and stopped as suddenly as if he had run into glass. “You,” he said.

  There didn’t seem to be any appropriate reply to this, so I just nodded and asked rather feebly, “How are you, Uncle Martin?”

  He came all the way out onto the terrace and stood beside me next to a great stone pot that was filled with azaleas. He said, “Is Greystone here with you?”

  I sent up a brief prayer of thanks for Adrian’s appointment. “No.”

  Charlwood’s crystalline eyes glittered. “Is Caroline here?” he demanded next.

  It took me but a split second to make up my mind about how I should answer him. “Yes,” I said, “she is.”

  He turned away without another word, crossed the terrace to the stairs, and stood there, his eyes searching the people spread out below him, his auburn hair blazing in the bright sun. Then he ran down the stairs, disappearing from my view. Slowly I crossed the terrace to the stairs and looked below myself.