SLIGHTLY WICKED

by Mary Balogh

  Rannulf had spent the whole of his first day at Grandmaison in his grandmother’s company, talking with her, strolling with her in the formal gardens, where she refused the support of his arm, telling her more about the recent activities of his brothers and sisters, sharing his first impressions of Eve, Lady Aidan, his new sister-in-law, answering all her questions.

  He noticed that she was slower than she had been, that she seemed tired much of the time, but that pride and dignity held her upright and active so that she did not once complain or accept his suggestion that she retire to rest.

  He dressed with care for the visit to Harewood Grange, allowing his valet to heft him into his tightest, most fashionable blue coat with its large brass buttons, and to create one of his elaborately folded neckcloths. He wore his buff, form-fitting pantaloons and his white-topped Hessian boots. Since his hair was too long for a fashionable Brutus or any other style currently in vogue, he had it tied back at the nape of his neck with a narrow black ribbon, ignoring his valet’s pained comment that he looked like something escaped out of a family portrait from two generations ago.

  He was going courting. He winced at the mental admission. He was going to view his prospective bride. And he did not see how he was going to get out of it this time. He had promised his grandmother. She was definitely ill—it was no trick she was playing on him. Besides, she had asked him to promise only that he would consider the girl, not that he would marry her. She had been as fair to him as she could be.

  But he knew he was trapped. Trapped by his own sense of honor and his love for her. He would give her the sun and moon if she wanted them, he had told her. But all she wanted was to see him eligibly married before she died, perhaps with a child in his wife’s womb or even in the cradle. He would not be looking at the girl just to see if she might suit him. He would be courting her. Marrying her before the summer was out if she would have him. There was not much doubt in his mind that she would. He had no illusions about his eligibility, especially to the daughter of a mere baronet of impeccable lineage and sizable fortune.

  He rode in an open barouche to Harewood Grange beside his grandmother, wishing for once in his life that she had not passed over Aidan as her heir simply because Aidan had had a well-established career in the cavalry. But the main problem, he knew, was that he loved her. And she was dying.

  And to think that he had almost delayed his arrival here by a week or more. If Claire Campbell had not deserted him, he would be in York with her now, indulging in a hot affair with her, while his grandmother waited, every day bringing her closer to the end. He still could not think of Claire without anger and humiliation and guilt. How could he not have noticed...

  But he turned his thoughts firmly away from her. She had been part of a very slight incident in his past. And as it had turned out, she had done him a favor by running away as she had.

  “Here we are,” his grandmother said as the barouche drew free of dark trees overhanging a long, winding driveway. “You will like her, Rannulf. I promise you you will.”

  He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips. “I fully expect to do so, Grandmama,” he said. “I am already half in love with her merely because you recommend her.”

  “Foolish boy!” she said briskly.

  A few minutes later they had entered a spacious, marbled hall, had climbed an elegant, winding staircase, and were being announced at the drawing room doors by a stiff, sour-faced butler.

  There were five people in the room, but it was not at all difficult to pick out the only one who really mattered. While Rannulf bowed and murmured politely to Sir George and Lady Effingham and to Mrs. Law, Lady Effingham’s mother, he noted with some relief that the only young lady present, to whom he was introduced last, was indeed exquisitely lovely. She was tiny—he doubted the top of her head reached even to his shoulder—and slender, blond, blue-eyed, and rosy-complexioned. She smiled and curtsied when her mother presented her, and Rannulf bowed and looked fully and appreciatively at her.

  It was a strange feeling to know with some certainty that he was looking at his future bride—and not too far in the future either.

  Damn it. Damn it all!

  There followed a flurry of laughter and bright conversation, during the course of which Mrs. Law presented both him and his grandmother to her companion, whom he had not even noticed until she did so—Miss Law, presumably a relative, a plump, shapeless woman of indeterminate age, who hung her head and repositioned her chair slightly behind that of the old lady when they all sat down.

  Mrs. Law invited Lady Beamish to sit near her on a sofa so that they could indulge in a comfortable coze together, as she phrased it, and Rannulf was offered the seat beside his grandmother. Miss Effingham took her place strategically close on an adjacent love seat, the tea tray was carried in, and the visit began in earnest. Lady Effingham did most of the talking, but whenever she invited her daughter to tell Lord Rannulf about some event she had attended in London during the Season, the girl obliged, her manner neither too forward nor too shrinking. She spoke fluently in a low, sweet voice, her smile always at the ready.

  She was quite agreeable to having him, Rannulf could see before ten minutes had passed. So was the mother. He must represent the catch of a lifetime to them, of course. He smiled and conversed amiably and felt the shackle close about his leg. Effingham, he noticed, made almost no contribution to the conversation.

  The tea tray had been set on a table close to where Rannulf sat. The plate of dainty cucumber sandwiches had been passed around once as had the plate of cakes. Second cups of tea had been poured, after which the maid had been dismissed with a nod from Lady Effingham. But Mrs. Law’s appetite had not been satisfied, it seemed. Her silk dress rustled about her plump form and the jewels in her necklace and earrings and on her rings and bracelets sparkled in the sunlight as she half turned to the woman behind her.

  “Judith, my love,” she said, “would you be so obliging as to bring the cakes again? They are particularly good today.”

  The drab, shapeless companion got to her feet and came behind the sofa on which Rannulf sat and picked up the plate. His attention was on a list of expected houseguests Mrs. Effingham was reciting for his edification.

  “Oh, do pass them around, my love, if you will,” the old lady said as the companion began her return path behind the sofa. “Lady Beamish did not take one the last time. But you have all the exertion of the journey home to face, Sarah.”

  “We are expecting my stepson too,” Lady Effingham was saying to Rannulf, “though one can never be quite certain with Horace. He is a charming young man and is in constant demand at all the summer house parties.”

  “No, thank you, Miss Law,” his grandmother said softly, waving away the cake plate. “I really have eaten enough.”

  Rannulf lifted his hand to make the same gesture of refusal as the woman moved in front of him and offered the plate, her head bowed so low that the brim of her cap hid her face from his view. Not that he looked up into it anyway. He did not afterward know what it was that made him suddenly pause. She was simply one of the invisible female creatures with which the households of the wealthy tended to abound. One simply did not notice them.

  However it was, he did pause, and she lifted her head just a fraction. Enough that their eyes met. And then she lowered her head hastily again and moved on even before he could complete his dismissive gesture.

  Green eyes. A nose very lightly dusted with freckles.

  Law. Miss Law. Judith. Judith Law.

  For a moment he felt completely disoriented.

  Claire Campbell.

  “Er, I beg your pardon?” he said to Lady Effingham. “No. No, I do not believe I have the pleasure of his acquaintance, ma’am. Horace Effingham. No, indeed. But I may well know him by sight.”

  She had set down the plate, moved behind him again— this time he felt her as she passed—and resumed her seat, though first she moved it even farther behind the old lady’s.

&
nbsp; He dared not even glance at her, though he felt no doubt whatsoever that he had not mistaken. It was not as if he had been searching for green eyes and freckled noses wherever he went after all. He had not. He had not wanted to see her again, had not expected to do so. Besides, he had been firmly convinced that she was in York.

  Even so, the evidence of his senses had presented him with too bizarre a truth.

  There was no such person as Claire Campbell, actress, then? Even that had been a clever deception? She was Judith Law, some relative of the family. A poor relation by all appearances. Hence her empty purse when she had traveled— and hence too the stagecoach as her mode of travel. She had allowed herself a sensual fling with him when it had offered itself. She had recklessly sacrificed her virtue and her virginity and risked all the dire consequences.

  The consequences.

  Rannulf did not know what was said to him or what he replied during the five minutes that passed before his grandmother got to her feet to take her leave. He rose too, somehow said all that was proper to the occasion, and found himself in five minutes more back in the barouche, having handed in his grandmother ahead of him. He set back his head and closed his eyes, but only for a brief moment. He was not alone.

  “Well?” she asked as the carriage rocked into motion.

  “Well, Grandmama,” he said, “she is indeed remarkably pretty. Even prettier than you led me to believe.”

  “And quite prettily behaved too,” she said. “If there is any excess, it is mere youthful folly and will soon mature under the demands of matrimony and motherhood and the patience of a good husband. She will be a good match for you, Ralf. Not brilliant, perhaps, but I believe even Bewcastle will not protest too loudly.”

  “It was never understood,” he said, “that Wulf would choose my bride, Grandmama.”

  She chuckled. “But I would be willing to wager on it,” she said, “that he was near to having an apoplexy when he discovered that Aidan had married a coal miner’s daughter.”

  “After that shock,” he said, “I am confident that he will approve of someone as eligible as Miss Effingham.”

  “You will seriously court her, then?” she asked, setting one hand on his sleeve. He noticed how the skin stretched thin and pale over the bones, and covered it with his own hand.

  “I agreed to go back tomorrow for dinner, after the house-guests have arrived, did I not?” he reminded her.

  “You did.” She sighed. “I expected you to be far more difficult. You will not be sorry, I promise you. Bedwyn men have always been reluctant to marry, but they have invariably made marriages that turned into love matches, you know. Your poor dear mama never did recover her health after Morgan’s birth and died far sooner than she ought, but she was very, very happy with your papa, Rannulf, and he doted on her.”

  “I know,” he said, patting her hand. “I know, Grand-mama.”

  But his head was pounding with thoughts about Judith Law, alias Claire Campbell. How the devil were they going to avoid each other during the coming weeks? At least now he could understand why she had fled. He had wanted to go with her so that he could see her act, not realizing that everything he had seen of her from the first moment on had been nothing but an act.

  He was no less furious with her now. She had deceived him. For all the excesses of his life, he would never have dreamed of seducing a gently nurtured woman. And that was exactly what he felt like—a seducer of innocence. A damned lecherous villain.

  Life had certainly taken several turns for the worse since his grandmother’s letter had reached him in London.

  He is so very large, mama,“ Julianne said, nevertheless clasping her hands to her bosom as if in ecstasy.

  Uncle George had gone downstairs to see Lady Beamish and Lord Rannulf Bedwyn on their way and had not returned to the drawing room.

  “But a fine figure of a man,” Aunt Effingham said. “There is no padding in his clothes, I declare, nor does there need to be.”

  “He is not at all handsome, though, is he?” Julianne said. “He has such a big nose.”

  “But he has blue eyes and good teeth,” her mama said. “And all the Bedwyns have that nose, Julianne, my dearest. It is what is known as an aristocratic nose. Very distinguished.”

  “His hair!” Julianne said. “It is long, Mama. He had it tied back.”

  “That is a little strange, I must confess,” Aunt Effingham said. “But hair can always be cut, dearest, especially when a lady for whom he cares requests it. At least he is not bald.”

  She and Julianne tittered merrily.

  “In my day, Julianne,” Grandmama said, “long hair on men was still all the rage, though many of them shaved their heads and wore wigs. Not your grandpapa, though. His hair was all his own. Long hair is very appealing, in my opinion.”

  “Ugh!” was Julianne’s comment. “What did you think of Lord Rannulf Bedwyn, Judith? Do you think he is handsome? Shall I have him?”

  Judith had had more than half an hour in which to compose herself. She had thought she would surely faint when he first came into the room. It could not be, it just could not be, she had thought for the merest moment. Her eyes and her mind must be playing tricks on her. But it was unmistakable and indisputable—Ralph Bedard and Lord Rannulf Bedwyn were one and the same. All the blood had drained out of her head, leaving it cold and clammy, dimming sounds and making everything before her eyes sway and swim in a strange unreality.

  Ralph—Rannulf. Bedard—Bedwyn. Close, but different enough to keep his true identity from a potentially demanding and ambitious actress. And different enough that she had not even noticed the similarity before being confronted by the man himself. She had fought not to swoon and thus draw unwelcome attention to herself. But she still felt unsteady enough to faint if she allowed herself.

  “Handsome?” she said. “No, I don’t think so, Julianne. But he is, as Aunt Louisa says, distinguished looking.”

  Julianne laughed, jumped to her feet, and pirouetted as she had done in Grandmama’s dressing room earlier.

  “He was very attentive, was he not?” she said. “He listened to every word I spoke and did not look superior or bored as so many gentlemen do when one speaks. Shall I have him, Mama? Shall I, Grandmama? Do you not wish you were in my place, Judith?”

  “He will have to make Papa an offer first,” Aunt Effingham said, getting to her feet. “But he was clearly very taken with you, dearest, and it is clear too that Lady Beamish fully intends to promote the match. She must have considerable influence over him. I believe we can be optimistic.”

  “Judith, my love,” Grandmama said, “would you be so good as to help me to my feet? I do not know why I am so sluggish these days. We will have to have the physician again, Louisa. He must give me more medicine. We will go upstairs and you must summon Tillie for me, Judith, if you will. I believe I will lie down for an hour.”

  “Ah, then you will be free, Judith,” Aunt Effingham said. “You will join me in the library in a few minutes’ time. There are place cards to be written for dinner tomorrow and numerous other little tasks to be accomplished. You must not remain idle. I am sure your papa has told you about the devil finding work for idle hands.”

  “I will come down as soon as I have seen Grandmama settled,” Judith promised.

  “Julianne, dearest,” her mother said, “you must go and rest and not overexert yourself. You need to be looking your prettiest tomorrow.”

  Judith’s mind was still whirling. He was Lord Rannulf Bedwyn, and he had come here to court and to marry Julianne. At least, that was what her aunt and cousin believed. She would surely see him every day for the next two weeks. She would see them together.

  Did he know? Had he recognized her? Why, oh why, had she looked up when his hand had lifted to refuse a cake and then paused? Why had she not simply anticipated his gesture and moved on? Their eyes had met. She had lowered her head again before she had seen any recognition in his eyes, but she had sensed it.

  He
had recognized her? The humiliation of being seen thus, of being known for who and what she was, was just too much to bear. But if he had not recognized her this afternoon, then surely he would sometime during the next two weeks. She could not hide from him for all that time. She had overheard Grandmama arranging to call on Lady Beamish tomorrow afternoon while all the houseguests were arriving at Harewood. Would she, Judith, be required to go too? Would he be there?

  She had thought life could not possibly get worse. But she had been wrong. She felt raw with pain. Dreams and reality were not supposed to mingle. Why had this dream— the most glorious one of her life—come crashing into her present reality? Perhaps because it had not been a dream at all?

  “I’ll take your arm, Judith, if it is not too much trouble,” Grandmama said, leaning heavily on it. “Did you notice how Louisa forgot to introduce you to Lady Beamish and Lord Rannulf? I saw you hang your head in mortification and was indignant on your behalf, I do not mind telling you. You are her own niece, after all, and Julianne’s first cousin. But that is the way of people who have set themselves to climbing the social ladder, never looking back at those who are on lower rungs lest they be dragged downward themselves by association. Louisa was always foolish in that way. Have you lost weight since you came here, my love? Your dress is hanging on you today and not showing your lovely figure at all to advantage. We must ask Tillie if she can take in the seams, and I must watch to see that you eat properly. Look, my feet have swelled after all. Perhaps the medicine you mixed this morning was not strong enough.”

  “You have had a busy afternoon, Grandmama,” Judith said soothingly. “You will feel better after lying down and putting your feet up for a while.”

  She could not bear what had just happened, she thought. She simply could not bear it.