Minette’s heart sank. She was determined to remain Rochford’s mistress but, someday, quite soon, she would have to leave the Castle to her sister whose rightful domain it was. Would she ever be permitted to see Bella again?
Twenty-Two
Minette was seated in the morning room, enjoying a peaceful hour after breakfast. She was all alone for once. The elder ladies had driven out in the carriage to pay a visit to the cathedral at Canterbury, the wonders of which had been described to them by Mrs Forsythe, a keen amateur historian. The Marquise was confined to her bedchamber with a migraine, and the young people were hard at work rehearsing. Where the gentlemen might be she had no idea. Most probably, out somewhere on the estate in pursuit of some small animal. Minette hoped very much that all their shots would go amiss.
She was comfortably ensconced in an armchair by the fire, attired in a high-necked morning gown of bronze-green crepe, with a handsome shawl of Norwich silk wrapped around her against the chill. Her dusky ringlets, unbound, had been allowed to fall naturally to her waist and, for once, she wore no jewellery. Her feet rested upon a tapestry-covered footstool and, propped against her knees, was an open book, which she perused with rapt attention. The door opened, and Rochford stood upon the threshold, smiling at the pretty picture she presented. ‘Here you are!’
She returned the smile and held out a welcoming hand. He took it and bent to kiss her fingers. ‘Still struggling with that very boring book?’
A mischievous giggle answered him: ‘No, I purloined this one from your sister.’
He glanced down, and a short laugh escaped him. ‘The Monk?’
‘I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.’
‘And how do you like it?’
‘It is very exciting. I had no notion.’
‘Well, spare me a moment, and then I will allow you to return to it.’
She shook her head at him and closed the book. ‘I can spare you much more than a moment, my dear love.’ Her mouth was raised, inviting a kiss. He bent over her, one hand upon the back of her chair, the other cupping her cheek. His lips found hers in a long, searching kiss. When he lifted his head from hers, she sighed and said, ‘What did you want to see me about?’
‘It does not matter. I have forgotten.’ He kissed her again, more thoroughly, kneeling to take her in his arms. She nestled there very contentedly.
After a period of most enjoyable silence, Rochford released her and seated himself in the chair opposite hers. ‘I have had a very interesting conversation with young Edmund this morning. Can you guess what he wanted to talk to me about?’
She looked a little conscious and bit her lip. ‘Perhaps I can,’ she acknowledged. ‘Was it about Bella?’
‘Ah ha! Conspiracy and collusion in my own household. I might have guessed it. Why did you not tell me?’
‘It was not my secret. Do you mind very much?’
‘Mind? I had difficulty in refraining from falling upon his neck.’ He laughed at her astonished expression. ‘My love, I had been looking forward to at least four more years of guarding my enterprising sister from every half-pay officer and fortune hunter in Town. Instead, I am asked to bestow her upon a highly respectable, young curate. One who is, moreover, the son of my oldest friend. I could not be more delighted.’
‘So you gave them your blessing? I am glad.’
‘Not quite. They are very young, after all. I told him that, if they were each of the same mind, when he finishes at the University and is ordained, then I would consent to their marriage.’
‘And in the meantime?’
‘In the meantime, I have sanctioned both a correspondence between them and chaperoned meetings here or in Town. I do not think they are to be pitied. I only hope it is enough to keep Bella entertained.’
‘You do her an injustice, Philip. I do believe she is truly attached to Edmund.’
‘I take your word for it, my love, but must remind you that, but two short weeks ago, she seemed truly attached to my cousin Franklyn.’
‘Believe me, that is well and truly over. She is quite frightened of him, indeed.’
‘Frightened?’ He ceased from lounging and sat up straight in his chair, suddenly intent. ‘Why frightened?’
Minette chose her words carefully. ‘He made certain threats. Against you.’ She saw his lips tighten and added, ‘It is nothing we do not already know. Just that he would be master here soon and she would be glad to take him then. He was drunk, as well as amorous, and that, too, shocked her, I think.’
He gave a short laugh. ‘No wonder she turned to Edmund! I doubt if his passion has extended beyond a chaste kiss and respectful handclasp.’
‘You should be glad of that.’ She looked a little demure and added, ‘Besides, I think you misjudge poor Edmund, too. He is as good as good can be, but he is still a man, after all.’
‘And what do you know of men, my pretty Duchess?’
‘Only what you have taught me.’
‘Oh Lord! I have much to answer for.’
‘You have certainly spoiled me for any other man.’ She reached out a hand to him, and he took it in a strong clasp. ‘If anything should happen to you—to us—there would never be anyone else.’
‘What morbid thoughts, my love. Nothing will happen to me or to you. I prophesy that, forty years from now, we shall be seated here together at this very same hearth. I, no doubt, a martyr to gout and very tetchy. You, as serene and beautiful as you are at this moment.’
‘No! Do not tempt fate! Touch wood quickly!’
He laughed but obligingly rapped on the arm of his chair. ‘What a superstitious creature you are! This is of a piece with your psychic propensities.’
‘Psychic prop—?’
‘Your ghost, my love.’
She was indignant. ‘I know you do not believe I saw it—but I did! Twice!’
‘Then I daresay you will shortly see it again. These things go in threes, after all.’
She shuddered. ‘Do you really think so?’
He lifted her hand to his lips. ‘No, of course I do not. Put your ghost out of your mind. It was merely the consequence of stretched nerves, too much spiced wine and, very probably, indigestion.’
She was about to answer him in hot defence of her ghost; but, at that moment, the door opened, and Arabella bounded into the room. She ran to Rochford, threw her arms around his neck, half-strangling him, and kissed his cheek heartily.
‘Dearest, darlingest Philip! Thank you!’
He responded to her embraces like a man receiving the advances of an over affectionate puppy. ‘Yes, yes, I wish you both very happy.’ He patted her shoulder and gently disengaged her arms from around his neck. ‘Now, Bella, let me go. I cannot breathe.’
She released him, only to throw herself down in front of Minette in an ecstasy of gratitude. ‘Minette, Minette, this is your doing, I know.’
‘Not at all. I promise you I said nothing. Did I, Philip?’
‘You were as close, my love, as the proverbial oyster. Bella, you have no one to thank but Edmund himself; he put his case admirably. My dear child, did you really think I would play the stern guardian with you? All I have ever wanted is your happiness. I think that you have a very good chance of lasting contentment with him.’ He looked a little serious. ‘You do understand that you must wait until he is ordained?’
‘Oh yes, but I intend to employ my time in learning how to be a good clergyman’s wife. I shall study all about how to keep household and brew possets and care for babies and—and— everything!’
Rochford burst out laughing, but Minette frowned at him and said, ‘Of course, you will. And I will help you. Though, to be sure, I know nothing of possets or of babies myself.’
Rochford stepped to her side and placed a caressing hand against her neck. ‘That last, at least, I hoped will be remedied shortly,’ he murmured. She quickly turned her head and pressed her lips to that cool, firm hand.
‘So, too, do I.’
‘What is that you are saying?’ demanded Arabella, who had been staring dreamily into the fire.
‘Nothing. Listen Bella, it would be better if you and Edmund kept this news to yourselves for a little.’
She stared at him innocently. ‘But why?’
‘I should not like to expose Edmund to even the smallest risk. Our cousin is not going to be very pleased with this news, you know.’
‘Franklyn? Oh Philip, you do not think he would try to do Edmund an injury do you?’
‘I shall make quite sure he does not, I promise you. But it does no harm to take precautions. I would have Edmund well out of the way and back at Oxford before our cousin hears of your engagement.’
But when the whole company were united in the drawing room before dinner, it became obvious that the news had already permeated the house. Mrs Forsythe was in a joyful flutter, Edmund glowing with quiet happiness and Franklyn congratulating both with an unctuous smile upon his handsome countenance, which made Minette’s palm itch to slap it. She watched as Rochford strolled across the room to his cousin’s side and, leaning forward, said something into his ear in a low voice. Franklyn shot him a look of hatred but quickly changed his expression to one of unconcern when he saw Minette watching them.
‘What did you say to him,’ she asked quietly as they prepared to enter the dining room.
‘Merely that if anything, anything at all, happens to Edmund, even if it should appear to be the most obvious of accidents, I will break his neck.’
‘Do you think he believed you?’
‘I am quite sure he did.’
‘Perhaps he will go away now that his plans have come to nothing.’
‘Not so, my love. Bella’s seduction was always a secondary enterprise with him. Once he inherits my title and my estates, he will quickly find another, more willing heiress.’
‘He will never inherit them!’
He turned and studied her face eagerly. ‘Have you news for me?’
She was obliged to shake her head. ‘No, I have not.’
‘It is too soon. I am unreasonable.’
Her smile wavered, and she turned her face away with a murmured excuse. How could she tell him that, even if there were to be a child now growing within her, that child would never be heir to anything but scandal and ignominy?
Twenty-Three
Twelfth Night came at last, an event eagerly awaited in the County, for there was to be a dinner, followed by the masque and, then, a masquerade ball to conclude the festivities. There had been a spell of fine weather, the snow had melted, the ground was no longer sodden, and there was a near full moon. Not one of the Duke’s invited guests failed him, and Camer Castle was en fête!
After a busy morning supervising the arrangements for the evening, interspersed with last-minute rehearsals demanded by an increasingly nervous William, Minette made her way to her bedchamber to rest. Rochford, who had urged her to slip away for an hour or so to the cottage, had reluctantly agreed that she was more in need of repose than of his attentions and was allaying his frustrations by a furious gallop across the downs. But when she reached her bedchamber door, she was arrested by her grandmother’s voice calling imperiously to her.
‘Come here, child. I would speak to you.’
‘Certainly, Grandmère. I have a few moments to spare.’
The Marquise’s thin mouth twisted sourly, ‘Insolence!’ she muttered.
Minette politely waited until the old lady had seated herself by the fire and then sank gracefully to the ottoman opposite. ‘Well?’
‘I have had a letter from Eugénie.’
‘I hope she is well.’
‘She knows not to regale me with details of her inexcusable situation. I assume, since she makes no complaint, that all is progressing as it should.’ The gnarled hands gripped the arms of her chair. ‘I had written to tell her of your—your—wicked threat to usurp her place as Duchess.’
‘I see. And what does she have to say to that?’
‘She is furious. She insists that you desist from this illicit relationship with her husband.’
‘Oh, I see. Did you tell her that you encouraged, indeed commanded me, to embark upon it?’
‘That is beside the point. It has gone far enough. Bon Dieu, have you thought what will happen if the Duke plants a child in your belly? Eh?’
‘I am not dim-witted, Grandmère, whatever you may think. Of course, I have considered it.’ She clasped her hands around her knees and stared into the glowing coals in the hearth. ‘I hope he has already done so. What you do not understand, either of you, is that Philip loves me. Me, not Génie. He told me he began to care only when I arrived at Camer. So you see, he will have to be told the truth.’
‘The truth! You would betray your sister?’
‘No, he need not be told about the child. We can say that Génie was frightened of—that side—of marriage.’
‘And why did you take her place? You were not afraid, I take it?’
‘I will tell him the truth. That it was your scheme. He will believe me. Rochford is not a great admirer of yours, Madame.’
‘And then?’
‘When the child is born, Génie may return to Camer and resume her life as the Duchess. I do not care about that. But, I will not renounce Philip. I will be his mistress for as long as he wants me. He has other estates, other houses. I shall live on one of them, retired, perchance with our child or children. I can be happy with that. Eugénie may have the clothes and jewels and position. It is all she wants from him. All she ever wanted.’
The Marquise pursed her lips and regarded her granddaughter narrowly. ‘It might answer.’
‘It must answer.’
‘Are you so sure of your power over him? He will not cast you both off in disgust.’
Minette paled a little. ‘It is a chance I must take. I cannot—will not—let him be hurt again. He must not think he has been duped, made a game of—that what has passed between us was all false. Oh, he will be angry, of course—’ She sighed, and a reminiscent little smile curled her lips. ‘But he craves my love now, like a drug. As I do his. We will weather this and be happy.’
The old woman’s mouth worked for a moment as though she were swallowing a bitter pill. ‘Just like my sister, “all for love and the world well lost”,’ she said at last. ‘I do not know, perhaps you weak, foolish women have the right of it. Le Bon Dieu knows I have lived in this world for seventy years without knowing a tithe of the happiness I see in your eyes.’
When Minette at last lay down upon her bed to rest, she found herself thinking of Rochford and wishing that he was beside her and not working his horse into a lather some miles distant. But, of course, her bedchamber was the one place they could not be together. She fell asleep thinking of their last encounter, and her dreams brought him to her after all.
A state dinner at Camer Castle was never a speedy event. Minette and her guests ate their way through eight courses of exquisite fare, but she could not have told what they had been served. In addition to the natural nerves and excitement consequent upon the upcoming performance, she could not shake a feeling of foreboding. Several times she glanced at Franklyn, convinced that he was watching her, only to find him engaged with his dinner. Once she saw him cast Rochford a look that frightened her. Was he mad enough to strike tonight when the Castle was full as it could hold?
In addition, she was concerned for William. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes over-bright. Perhaps they should not have allowed this, yet how could they deny him what might be his only chance to garner the praise he craved and merited? She saw Lady Talgarth surreptitiously pour a little cordial into a glass of water and hand it to her son. He drank it and, after a few minutes, seemed calmer, his colour more normal.
At last the interminable meal was over, and the actors retired to their respective bedchambers to don their costumes and masks. Minette was divested of her cloth-of-silver gown and assisted into a diaphanous garment fashioned of finest Indian sari
silk in red and gold, brought back by Rochford from one of his visits to the East. He had told her such saris were wedding garments, and she could not help thinking that the warmth and vivid colour gave greater promise of passion than the cold and insipid muslins that Western brides wore.
She donned her red-feathered mask and went down, meeting Bella, very pretty in buttercup-yellow gauze, on the stairs.
Bella stared at the exotic vision. ‘Oh, dearest, you look wonderful!’
‘Fine feathers, my love,’ laughed Minette. ‘Literally, in this instance.’
At that moment, Rochford emerged from his room and walked down to join the two young women on the stairs.
‘Does not our dearest Minette look beautiful, Philip,’ demanded Bella, impulsively.
‘She does indeed. Most beautiful.’ There was a tone in his mellow voice that was quite unmistakable, and Minette felt an answering flame glow into life deep within her. He would take her tonight; the only question was where their tryst would take place. She would have let him use her like any wanton up against the wall in a darkened passageway if he were so inclined. Or in the stable under the startled gaze of Désirée and of Genghis Khan, his big bay gelding.
When he offered her his arm, she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and wished with all her heart that she dared nestle close as she was wont to do when they were alone. But decorous as their descent was, she noticed Franklyn watching them with an expression of dawning comprehension. She pinched Rochford’s hand and, when he glanced down, she whispered, ‘Watch Franklyn’s face! He knows!’
‘He suspects,’ he corrected her gently. ‘Stand fast, my darling. The time is coming soon when we can show the world how married lovers live. But not quite yet.’
She glanced up into his face, which in contrast to the ardent notes of his velvet voice, was harsh and stern. She lifted her head and flung back at him a look of dislike and defiance. ‘I love you,’ she murmured through lips set in a proud sneer.
‘Tell me again, later.’ He removed her small white hand from his arm and strode ahead to meet his guests.
Magical Masquerade: A Regency Masquerade Page 16