Sebastian gave her a sharp glance but she schooled her face to complete impassivity.
It would never be appropriate for her to enter the home of Lady Georgiana Kendall. The period of deep mourning would end in a few months, and Isabel would be breaking it with the Brantstone Ball, but it served as a useful tool to escape an awkward situation.
Sebastian said, ‘May I call on you when you are settled, Isabel?’
She turned to look at him and smiled. ‘You will always be welcome, Sebastian.’
As the door closed behind her, she paused. She had so long anticipated the move to the dower house but, now the moment had come, she felt an unexpected sense of loss. Brantstone had been her home for ten years. There were memories here, so many, many unhappy memories that she had sought to escape but, since Sebastian Alder had come to Brantstone, the ghosts had begun to fade.
You are being ridiculous, she told herself.
Straightening her shoulders, she strode toward the stairs. There could be no looking back, no regrets. The time had come for her new life.
***
‘Very fine, if I say so myself.’ Pierce stood back from the mirror and looked admiringly at his handiwork. ‘Don’t you agree, Mr Bennet?’
‘He looks like a right toff,’ Mr Bennet agreed.
This was Sebastian’s first foray into full eveningwear and he ran a finger around the high stock that almost grazed his ear lobe.
‘It’s very tight,’ he complained.
‘Meant to be, my lord. Meant to be! And, might I say, my Lord, a very fine figure you cut. While his late Lordship cut a dash, er… He didn’t have the attributes you possess, my lord.’
Sebastian cast a fearful glance at his reflection in the mirror, in particular the tight white satin breeches, and hoped that the man referred to his shoulders and not other attributes.
‘A more slender gentleman, his late lordship,’ Pierce continued, happily expanding on his theme, ‘suited to an altogether different style to yourself, my lord. Now if I may venture so bold, my lord, your stance…’
Standing in the properly affected manner, all the better to show off his attributes, Sebastian allowed himself the luxury of a last long look in the mirror. His own mother would have difficulty recognising her generally scruffy and disorganised son in the elegant figure that he now presented.
The Reverend Alder would merely have shaken his head. ‘Vestis virum reddit,’ he would have said, quoting his favourite Roman writer, Quintilian.
Clothes maketh the man. We all wear uniforms, Sebastian thought.
In his Army days, his uniform had been scarlet with buff facings. Now it was a well-cut jacket and satin breeches.
‘When your lordship returns to London, we will be able to have some proper tailoring,’ Pierce said, still primping the cravat.
‘What’s wrong with these clothes?’
‘A quick job, my lord, hardly worthy of you.’
‘It looks fine to me,’ Sebastian said in a clipped voice that Bennet would have instantly recognised. Pierce had yet to learn the nuances of Sebastian’s tone and, at the mention of yellow stockings, Pierce suffered a rare explosion of frustration from his master.
Unbowed, Pierce retired to the chest of drawers and returned with a diamond pin that he affixed to the fine linen folds of the cravat before allowing his master to escape.
The driveway to Fairchild Hall, home of Lady Kendall, had been lit by flares and the front of the old house brightly illuminated with red silk lanterns. Sebastian thought only of his cousin’s last night on this earth. Had he ridden Pharaoh down this driveway, not knowing that the saddle had been compromised and that he was riding to his death?
Connie, leaning from the window, exclaimed on the show. Even Sebastian, alighting from the coach, had to admit that the effect had been carefully stage managed to give the visitors a sense of expectation.
They were met in the flagged front hall by a flunkey who took their cloaks and indicated the wide doors to the right from where the sound of music and laughter issued. Sebastian glanced down at his sister, dressed in a pretty pink gown, borrowed from Fanny. Her new pearl necklace graced her neckline and her dark blonde hair had been swept up into a sophisticated knot set off with pink ribbons and a white feather. If this was Fanny’s work then he owed the girl his thanks. Connie looked beautiful.
He offered her his arm and she accepted it, her face flushed and her eyes sparkling with excitement. Her fingers tightened on his arm for a moment and he patted the gloved hand.
‘Lord Somerton,’ the footman intoned. ‘Mr Alder and Miss Alder.’
A sudden hush fell on the gathering as all eyes turned to the door. Lady Kendall, dressed in a green satin gown with a matching turban topped by a green feather set in place with an emerald the size of a quail’s egg, disengaged herself from a group of guests and came forward.
Sebastian heard Connie whisper. ‘Oh, my!’
Lady Kendall extended her hand. ‘Lord Somerton. Welcome to my home.’
He bowed over the proffered hand, ‘Lady Kendall. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.’
As he presented Connie and Matt, he felt inordinately proud of his siblings. For two youngsters straight from a small cottage in rural Cheshire, the hard work of Isabel and the Lynch’s had paid off. Connie curtseyed and Matt, resplendent in clothes borrowed from Freddy, seemed completely confident as he bowed to Lady Kendall. Sebastian envied the ease with which his brother and sister had adapted to their new life. He wished he had their youth and easygoing nature.
Matt straightened and looked around at the gathered crowd. Fans were fluttering like a rabble of butterflies as his gaze scanned the room. Sebastian smiled and leaned in to whisper to his brother. ‘You seem to be quite a hit, little brother.’
Matt cast him a cheeky grin and, taking Connie’s arm, sallied forth. Lady Kendall tucked a small, gloved hand into Sebastian’s arm and led him into the room.
‘Your brother and sister are quite charming, Lord Somerton.’
‘Thank you,’ he replied. ‘It was kind of you to invite us.’
‘Oh not at all. I am sure you and your brother are everything the mothers of the county would wish.’
‘And what is that?’ Sebastian asked.
‘In your case, a title and no inconvenient wife,’ Lady Kendall replied, ‘and your brother has a handsome face and, it is hoped, a generous allowance from your lordship.’
Sebastian laughed. ‘The young rogue has to earn it first,’ he said. ‘I am packing him off to university.’
Lady Kendall raised a delicately arched eyebrow. ‘Really? Is that something he wishes to do?’
‘Yes. He has a talent for mathematics but I was never able to…’ He stopped, feeling the embarrassment rising to his face. He couldn’t bring himself to say‘ never able to afford’.
Lady Kendall took two glasses of champagne from a tray and handed one to Sebastian.
‘May I claim a few minutes of your time in private, my lord?’
Sebastian glanced around the room, wondering about the propriety of a private audience with Lady Kendall. He ran a finger around his stock, which had become uncomfortably tight.
Lady Kendall passed through the doors onto a terrace and he followed her into the night. She shivered in the cool, night air and Sebastian offered his jacket, which she declined.
‘I will not detain you long.’ She took a sip of champagne. ‘I like you, Lord Somerton, and I wouldn’t have you think ill of me. I do not wish you to be under a misapprehension about my relationship with your late cousin.’
Sebastian spluttered on his champagne. ‘My dear Lady Kendall, the details of your relationship with my cousin are of no interest to me,’ he said.
‘Yes, but it matters to me. I know what people say and, more painfully, I know what Lady Somerton believes. You are an honourable man and I would like to share a confidence with you.’
‘A confidence?’
She moved closer to him. Her
exotic perfume wafted towards him in an intoxicating cloud.
‘It suited both Anthony and I for our own reasons to be gossiped about in a certain fashion, but the truth was that we were not lovers. Our relationship was purely platonic.’
Somewhat taken aback by this revelation, Sebastian stared at the beautiful woman in front of him.
‘People do not speak kindly of Anthony or his treatment of Isabel. The truth is that Anthony was a deeply conflicted man,’ she paused. ‘His own nature did not incline him to the female sex.’
It should have come as more of a shock to learn that his cousin had a secret life. However, Bennet had shared the gossip and Lady Kendall’s revelation only confirmed the suspicion that the careful picture of a womanising, gambling rake Anthony had painted of himself was just an artifice.
It suited him to pretend ignorance. ‘What do you mean?’
Georgiana Kendall put her head back and laughed, a soft, tinkling sound swallowed up by the dark night. ‘Surely, Lord Somerton, you are a man of the world?’
‘I am the son of a parson. I was brought up in a vicarage in a small village. I am not a man of yours or Anthony’s world.’
‘But you have been a soldier,’ Lady Kendall said. ‘Surely you must have seen such relationships in your time?’
Sebastian considered for a moment. He had been aware of certain particular friendships within the army but as long as the parties had been discreet and it had not affected the morale of their company, it was something to which the senior officers, some of whom were similarly inclined, were prepared to turn a blind eye.
Lady Kendall drained her glass and stood for a moment looking into its empty depths as the sound of music, laughter and bright chatter spilled from the open windows of the house.
‘And you were happy to be complicit in maintaining this fiction? Even at a cost to your own reputation?’ Sebastian asked at last.
She laughed. ‘Oh, I know my reputation, Lord Somerton. In truth, I was being pursued by a man in whom I had no interest and it suited me to be known as Anthony’s mistress. The man concerned would not cross Lord Somerton, and Anthony…’ She shrugged. ‘At first, the artifice concealed his other life but, in more recent times, it can happen that men can lean in either direction and I believe Anthony had come to love his wife.’
Sebastian gave a derisory snort. ‘He had a strange way of showing it,’ he said.
‘I am not privy to the Somertons’ private affairs,’ she responded in a sharp tone. ‘I know only what Anthony confided in me, Lord Somerton, and trust me when I say I believe myself to be his closest confidante. Anthony had fathered a child with his wife, a child on whom he doted and, in the months following the child’s birth, he had grown to love his wife deeply, but he was not a man who knew how to demonstrate such affection. William’s death was a bitter blow and Isabel’s grief was so great that he felt himself inadequate to provide the solace she needed. His answer was to resume his former ways, but it masked a very different man and brought him no comfort.’
‘If what you are telling me is true then it is a sad story,’ Sebastian said. ‘I am certain, from what little she has told me, Lady Somerton had no idea of the depth of his feeling.’
‘And I am sure you are correct. I counselled him to confide all in her and I believed he was about to do so. I would tell her myself.’ Lady Kendall looked away and her shoulders stiffened. ‘Lady Somerton, quite rightly, shuns my company, which is a pity, because I would have greatly valued her friendship.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’ he asked.
She turned back to look at him and shook her head. ‘I think sometimes when a person has a dark secret, such as that Anthony concealed, it leaves them vulnerable.’
‘Do you think his death an accident?’ Sebastian ventured.
She shrugged. ‘He left here in high spirits. I have no reason to think it was anything more than just a tragic accident.’
But you haven’t seen the saddle, Sebastian thought.
Before he could speak again, she moved closer to him, her hand resting on his arm. Her cloying perfume enveloped him and he found himself unmoved by her advances, if that is what they were.
‘We’ve been gone long enough, Lady Kendall,’ he said.
She laughed. ‘Indeed, even for a woman with my dubious reputation.’
She took his arm and led him into the next room where card tables had been set up. As they entered, Sebastian heard Freddy’s braying laugh. Beside him, Lady Kendall stiffened.
‘When are you going to rid yourself of that odious man and his sister?’ she asked in a low voice.
‘As soon as I can, but it’s not that simple. Why do you ask?’
‘He is cheating at cards again.’
Sebastian frowned. Freddy sat at a table with three others. Nothing about his demeanour gave any indication that anything untoward was going on.
‘What do you mean?’ he asked.
‘Look at his sister,’ Georgiana whispered.
Fanny circled the table at a discreet distance. Again to Sebastian’s eye there seemed nothing odd about her.
Lady Kendall looked up at him and tapped her fan impatiently on his chest.
‘She is sending him signals. See, she has just touched her fan to her ear.’
He watched Fanny for a few more minutes. The signals were subtle and, to the passing eye, benign. Freddy didn’t seem to acknowledge them but his success at the hand he played indicated something untoward..
‘You’re right,’ Sebastian said.
‘Of course I am. It was Anthony who pointed their system out to me. Freddy’s clever. He doesn’t win every hand.’
‘Should I call him out?’ Sebastian said.
Georgiana shook her head and said with a laugh. ‘No! You can’t prove anything, any more than Anthony could. I have had ample opportunity in the past year to observe the Lynchs and I just wanted you to know what he was capable of. You can use it to your advantage when you need to. Now I see your delightful sister is looking for you.’
Connie and Matt joined them. Connie looked flushed and waved her fan in an indecorous way to cool her face. ‘I’ve been dancing,’ she said, unnecessarily.
‘Quite the sought after partner,’ Matt agreed. ‘Thank heavens for the dancing lessons.’
‘And what about you, Mr Alder?’ Lady Kendall said, fixing Matt with a winsome smile that would have made a stronger man weak at the knees.
Matt bowed. ‘I hope, Lady Kendall, that you would deign to dance with me, if not this evening then at the Brantstone Ball.’
She inclined her head. ‘It would be my pleasure.’ She turned to Sebastian. ‘Tell me, Lord Somerton, has your sister made her debut?’
‘Er, no,’ Sebastian said. ‘Is that something you’d want to do?’ He enquired of his normally sensible sister.
Connie’s bright eyes gave her answer. ‘I think, Bas, if I am to fit in to this new world, it would be expected. Would you not agree, Lady Kendall?’
Lady Kendall gave her a long appraising look. ‘When you come up to London for the season, I would be delighted to present you. I think, Miss Alder, you and I would enjoy a season in London.’
‘When? Surely you mean “if”. It was not my intention to go to London for the season,’ Sebastian said, just to see the crestfallen look on Connie’s face.
‘Your brother is jesting,’ Lady Kendall said, hitting Sebastian on the arm with her fan. ‘Come with me, Miss Alder, and allow me to introduce you to some ladies of your own age.’
Matt and Sebastian stood watching Lady Kendall propel Connie through the crowd.
‘I thought this was going to be a quiet little dinner party,’ Sebastian remarked, more to himself.
‘She’s extraordinary,’ Matt said, his face a picture of a moonstruck calf.
‘She’s not for the likes of you, so take that look off your face,’ Sebastian said.
‘Oh? Don’t think I didn’t see you sneaking off by yourself with her.’
His brother raised an eyebrow. ‘What business?’
It was on the tip of his tongue to confide in his brother, but Harry Dempster interrupted them.
‘Did I hear my sister inveigling you to London, Lord Somerton?’ Harry said.
Sebastian smiled. ‘Your sister is a difficult woman to resist, Dempster.’
‘As indeed is yours. You never told me that Miss Alder was such a beauty.’
Something in Harry’s tone and the raised eyebrows disquieted Sebastian. Even when they had served together, Harry had developed a reputation for womanising that was the scandal of the regiment.
‘I thought your taste was for married women, Dempster.’
Harry smiled. ‘Indeed, they tend to be far less trouble.’ He turned to Matt. ‘We haven’t met. Harry Dempster, an old comrade in arms to Lord Somerton. You must be Alder’s brother.’
‘Colonel Dempster?’ Matt cast Sebastian a quick glance for affirmation.
‘The same. My apologies for my absence. I had business in London, Alder. Anything of interest happen while I was gone?’
‘Just the arrival of my brother and sister,’ Sebastian smiled.
Matt drifted away to partner a pretty girl in a blue dress and the two men wandered back into the gaming room, where Freddy had now accumulated quite a purse.
‘Never play cards with Lynch,’ Harry said in a low voice.
‘So your sister has warned me.’
‘He’s clever enough not to win all the time but it looks like he has excelled himself tonight.’
‘Hopefully he is saving to leave Brantstone,’ Sebastian remarked drily.
‘If you’ll excuse me, I might join that other table,’ Harry said. ‘What about you?’
Sebastian shook his head. ‘I don’t gamble.’
‘I forgot. Something about your vicarage upbringing?’
‘No, more to do with years of not having the means, Dempster. The only opinion my stepfather ever voiced on the subject was to say, “don’t gamble with money you can’t afford to lose”.’
Lord Somerton’s Heir Page 18