Inconvenient Affair

by Kruger, Mary

  “What? Oh, no! Then you have ruined everything!” Evadne cried. “I hate you! I do!”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Thea said, wryly. “But it appears we are stuck with each other, at least until Dover.”

  “Dover!” Evadne stared at her over her handkerchief. “We’re not going to Dover.”

  “But we are. At least, we’re headed that way.”

  “But—” For the first time, Evadne looked uncertain. “Can we get to Berkshire by way of Dover?”

  “Berkshire? Why Berkshire?”

  “That’s where I live.”

  “What?” Thea stared at her. “But, then—”

  “Why are we going to Dover? Mr. DeVilliers!” Evadne reached up and pounded on the roof. “Mr. DeVilliers! I demand you stop! There has to be some mistake,” she said to Thea, as the carriage came to a stop. “There must be.”

  The carriage door swung open and Roger stood there, the pistol held negligently in his hand. Thea couldn’t help it; she shrank back against the seat, remembering how blithely she had told Gillian to be brave in facing a fear. Hard words to live up to. “Ladies?” he said, impatiently. “Is there some problem?”

  “We’re going the wrong way, sir.”

  “Are we?” DeVilliers grinned. “I assure you, we’re going exactly where I want to go.”

  “But you promised you’d take me home!” Evadne wailed. “Oh, why are you doing this?”

  “Because I need money as much as Stanton does. I apologize for any discomfort you may suffer, Althea,” he said, bowing toward her, and his eyes raked over her in such a way that she wanted to shield herself, “but having you along might be interesting.”

  “I want to go home!” Evadne wailed, and the cat, hearing her voice, set up a long, mournful howl.

  “We will. Eventually. Enjoy the trip, ladies.” He slammed the door and walked away.

  “But—no!” Evadne sprang for the door and then fell back, just as Thea had, when the carriage started up again. “He can’t do this! He can’t!”

  Thea sat up straighter, recovering some of her spirits now that the gun was no longer in sight. “But he is. And unless Jeremy catches up with us, he’ll get away with it.”

  “No, he won’t.” Evadne’s eyes suddenly began to dance. “We’re two against one.”

  Thea stared at her. “But he has a gun.”

  “Oh, pooh! That little toy? I’ve shot better guns than that,” Evadne said, making Thea look at her with new respect. “We’ll have to distract him somehow. He’s only a man. Surely we can outwit him.”

  Thea laughed. This was a side of Evadne she had never seen before, and she rather liked it. “You aren’t at all what I expected, Miss Powell.”

  “Neither are you.” Evadne studied her. “When I first met you, I couldn’t think at all what Stanton saw in you. You looked so old!”

  “Why, thank you,” Thea murmured.

  “And I couldn’t imagine why he might prefer you to me, and I didn’t like that at all.”

  “If I had thought he were truly happy with you, I would have left him alone. I never was his mistress, you know,” Thea said quietly, and for the first time Evadne’s eyes met hers, with no pretense between them. “You don’t love him, do you?”

  “No.” Evadne glanced away. “I never did, and that’s partly why I said what I did to you, about being his mistress. But I suppose I’ll have to marry him, if he’ll still have me after this. I don’t know what else I can do.”

  “You could refuse.”

  “My mother wouldn’t let me.” Her voice was dull. “But you can have him, Mrs. Jameson. I might have to marry him, but you can have him. I don’t care, anymore.”

  Thea impulsively reached over and covered Evadne’s hands with her own. No longer did Evadne’s extraordinary offer repulse her, now that she knew what lay behind it. “I thought you were in love with my brother.”

  Evadne started, and withdrew her hands. “I’ve ruined that, too. I don’t think he’d have me now, either.”

  “He came to Moulton,” Thea pointed out.

  “Oh! Is that why he did? For me?” Evadne brightened, and then drooped. “But he’s leaving today.”

  “Perhaps.” Thea leaned back, studying her. “Things may yet work out.”

  “I don’t think so.” Evadne laid a hand on Fluffy’s traveling case. “No, I’ll have to marry Stanton, and the only one who will love me is my cat.”

  At another time, Thea might have laughed at such a statement, but not now. Evadne looked too woebegone. “Excuse me for saying this, but he is a most unusual pet for you to have.”

  “Because he’s ugly, you mean. I don’t mind, that’s what your brother said. But you aren’t ugly, are you, my little kitty cat?” she crooned to the box. “Fluffy loves me.”

  “Why do you have him?”

  “Because he was the smallest of the litter, and the ugliest, and he would have been drowned if I hadn’t taken him. And he loves me.”

  Thea stared at her. Heavens! The things one learned about people. “Well, he certainly isn’t the smallest now.”

  “No, but he’s still the ugliest,” Evadne said, and they laughed.

  “Yes, he looks like he’s been through the war.”

  “Oh, he’s a fighter,” Evadne said, and went very still. “Mrs. Jameson! I’ve had an idea!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The sun hid behind thickening clouds as the two riders pounded along the Dover road. “This had best not be one of Evadne’s tricks,” Jeremy growled, “else I’ll wring her neck.”

  “I say!” Francis stared at him. “A beautiful girl like that?”

  “Try living with her,” he tossed over his shoulder as he urged his horse forward. In the mood he was in, he had no desire to hear anyone sing Evadne’s praises. Becoming engaged to her was one of the worst mistakes he had ever made. Now it seemed there might be a way out. “If your sister hadn’t got involved I think I’d just let her go.”

  Francis’s mouth set in a straight line. “Just like that? You don’t know who she’s with.”

  “It would be one way of getting rid of her,” Jeremy muttered, and raised an eyebrow at the glare Francis gave him. “Don’t worry about Evadne. She’s stronger than you think.”

  “But not as strong as you think, Stanton. How do you think she feels, being married only for her money?”

  “She’s getting what she wants.”

  “No, she isn’t. I don’t think she’s ever got what she wants. My God, man, can’t you see? She acts the way she does just so someone will pay attention to her.”

  Jeremy, who had never put this construction on Evadne’s actions, was quiet a moment, thinking. It was possible. With a mother like Mrs. Powell, and a distant father, Evadne could very well have grown up feeling neglected and unloved. As he had. With some chagrin, he wondered why he hadn’t realized it earlier. “Thorne,” he said, his voice carefully casual, “you wouldn’t by chance have a tendre for her, would you?”

  “And if I did?” Francis retorted.

  “How could you support her?”

  Francis stared at him. “My God! You sound like a father.”

  “Never mind that. What kind of life could you give her, if she didn’t have any money?”

  “Not a good one,” Francis said, bitterly. “You must know we Thornes are always under the hatches. Except for Thea, of course, but I wouldn’t take money from her. Not anymore,” he added to himself.

  “What would you do with your life, if you could? I seem to remember you’re interested in politics.”

  “A lot of good that does me. You need money for that, too. And someone to sponsor you.”

  “Mm.” Jeremy fell silent, thinking.

  “I say,” Francis said, after a few moments, “are you sure we’re going the right way?”

  “Gillian said they were heading toward Dover.”

  “If he’s taking them to the continent—”

  “Wind’s in the wrong direction. There w
on’t be any ships leaving the harbor. We’ll get them,” he said, and Francis glanced over. What he heard in Jeremy’s voice must have reassured him, for he fell silent, leaving Jeremy to his thoughts. This was a damned nuisance. Had Evadne not gone off on this mad start he might have managed to work things out with her by now; he might even have become engaged to Thea. Instead, here he was, haring after them, trying to save Evadne from herself and putting his concern about Thea aside. Until he could find her and talk with her about last night, he would not rest easy.

  Letting his riding instinct and skill take over, he lost himself in memories of the night before. It had been special, like nothing he had ever known before, the first time he’d truly made love. Oh, he’d had women before, of course, but never had he felt toward one as he did toward Thea. Never had an encounter been so special, not even their first, far beyond mere pleasure. It had been an act of love, and he had lost himself in her, seeking and finding something he hadn’t even realized was missing from his life, a total acceptance, a total involvement that was new. It had left him dazed, disoriented, unable to tell where she left off and he began, and only this morning, waking to find himself alone, had he been able to separate himself from her. It was exhilarating, but it was also frightening. Perhaps she felt it too; at least, he hoped she did. Perhaps it was why she still wanted to leave.

  Jeremy frowned. Why did she wish to leave? Had it not been as shattering, as overwhelming, an experience for her as it had been for him? Had it not been as special? But that was impossible! There had been no mistaking her response to him, her little gasps and sighs of pleasure. No, it had been good for her, and a revelation, as well. Jameson had been a fool, not to avail himself of her warmth and passion, not to show her how special she was. But he would make it up to her, once he was free of Evadne.

  And if she weren’t hurt. He was not as easy in his mind about this situation as he had pretended to be with Francis. Who knew who the women were with, and what he might be capable of? He wasn’t worried about Evadne; she had, after all, got herself into this, and, in any event, like her cat she would always land on her feet. Thea, however, for all her appearance of strength, was far more vulnerable, and also likely to try to protect Evadne, to her own cost. It was a good thing he had thought to bring his pistols. Thea had been through enough.

  “What was Jameson like?” he asked abruptly.

  Francis looked over at him. “A bounder. You wouldn’t know it, looking at him. He was very pleasant, very bluff. But Thea had a hard time with him.”

  “Did he beat her?”

  “I don’t know.” Francis’s gaze was troubled. “I do know it really hurt her when he flaunted his mistresses. I was there once, when he did it. He said he had to have someone else, Thea was so ugly and skinny.”

  “Good God! Why the devil did she marry him?”

  “Don’t you know? Our father was under the hatches, as usual. Jameson offered to pay his debts, in return for Thea.”

  “God!” Jeremy exclaimed, and at that moment Francis pointed with his riding crop.

  “Look! Someone’s coming this way.” They stopped as a farmer, jogging along in his cart, came near, to ask him about the carriage carrying the ladies. Yes, he’d seen such a carriage, he said, being driven at a mad pace by a man with a scar. That made Jeremy and Francis look at each other blankly. “Who the devil?” Francis began, and Jeremy shook his head.

  “Thank you,” he called to the farmer, and urged his horse onward. “No need to let anyone else know about this.”

  “No, there’ll be enough scandal as it is if this gets out,” Francis agreed, drawing level with him. He glanced at Jeremy, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. “Sounds like he’s not too far ahead, whoever he is.”

  “Yes, we should catch up with him soon,” Jeremy agreed. And when they did, he would finally straighten out the mess he was in, and Thea would be his.

  “We’re stopping,” Evadne said.

  Thea raised her head and blinked at her. “I fell asleep,” she said in surprise.

  “Didn’t you sleep well last night?”

  Thea blushed. “No,” she said, her eyes not meeting Evadne’s. She didn’t mind being so sleepy, not when she thought of the reason. It had been a wonderful experience, though now, away from Jeremy, she felt doubts creeping in. Had it been as wonderful for him? It certainly couldn’t have been, for last night had been a revelation to her. She hadn’t known she could feel like that, that love could be like that between a man and a woman. She hadn’t known it was possible to feel so close to someone. She was irrevocably changed. After last night, her heart would forever be his. It hurt that his would never be hers.

  Evadne was craning her head at the window. “It looks like some kind of inn. Do you know it?”

  Thea leaned over to see. “No, I haven’t ridden this far afield. We’ve been on the road awhile.”

  “Nearly an hour.” Evadne absently stroked Fluffy, curled up on her lap. “I wonder why we’re stopping.”

  “Ladies.” Roger opened the door with a flourish. “We’ll stop here for a time.”

  “I’m surprised, sir,” Thea said coolly, hoping her voice wouldn’t shake and betray the fear the sight of the pistol in his hand inspired. “Aren’t you afraid of Stanton catching up with us?”

  Roger laughed. “Him? No. History won’t repeat itself this time. We’ll change carriages here. The innkeeper has been well-paid not to betray us.” He gestured with the pistol. “Come, now, we haven’t all day. Evadne, my dear?”

  “I’m not coming,” she said, her lower lip thrust out.

  “Come, come, my dear, turning reluctant so soon? You’ll soon be eager enough. Though, you know, I find you very interesting, Althea. Perhaps we could become better acquainted.” His gaze raked over her, and in spite of herself, Thea shrank back against the squabs, making him chuckle. “Come, ladies.”

  “Oh, very well.” Evadne sounded sulky as she rose. “But you take Fluffy,” she said, and thrust the cat at him.

  Roger recoiled; the cat, snarling with surprise as Evadne suddenly released him, clawed at empty air, and then at Roger. He threw his arms up to protect his face, but not before the cat had raked him with his claws.

  “Get this hellcat off me!” Roger shouted. Fluffy, having landed on his shoulders, now was clawing frantically at his head, where he perched, howling. Roger staggered, and the cat, dislodged from his precarious perch, slid off, taking with him a mat of hair that left Roger’s bald head shining in the sudden sunlight. Thea forgot to be frightened of the pistol, which flew from Roger’s wildly flailing hand, and giggled at the sight. The cat clawed at Roger’s face again and slipped, clutching first at Roger’s coat and then at his pantaloons, to the ground. Roger aimed a kick at him, but Fluffy was faster, running until he disappeared into a hedge, taking the hairpiece with him. Roger staggered again, and then regained his balance, coming upright and turning to face them—to see Evadne, standing very cool and calm, the pistol held steadily in her hands, pointed at him.

  It was too much. His carefully conceived plan had turned into farce, first with the cat and now with this mindless debutante actually pointing a gun at him. “Give that to me,” he said peremptorily, holding out his hand.

  “I think not.” Evadne took a step forward, and he retreated. “You tried to kick my cat.”

  “My God!” He lowered the handkerchief he had pressed against the worst of the scratches to stare at her. “Is that all you care about? A damned cat?”

  “Yes, Mr. DeVilliers. That, and returning to Moulton.”

  “Damn. All right, Evadne, you win. I’ll bring you back if you’ll give me the gun—”

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” Evadne advanced another pace. “I warn you, sir, I do know how to use this. At this range I’d hardly miss, would I?”

  Thea climbed carefully down and came to stand next to Evadne, her eyes avoiding the pistol. “Good lord, Evadne, it worked!”

  “Of course it did
. I only wish Fluffy had not run off.”

  “We’ll look for him afterwards. My, Mr. DeVilliers, those are nasty scratches.” Thea grinned at him and received a sour look in return. “Perhaps you should go inside and have them attended to.”

  “And don’t think to try anything, sir,” Evadne said, gesturing with the pistol. “After you.”

  “There it is!” Francis shouted, pointing with his riding crop, and set his horse to the gallop. Jeremy was close behind him, and they drew up next to the ramshackle carriage, standing before the long, low, rambling inn. Except for the carriage and the horses hitched to it, blowing and stamping, the inn yard was deserted.

  Jeremy frowned as Francis swung down from his horse and sprang for the open door of the carriage. Something was not right here. Why would the man they were chasing, whoever he was, stop so close to Moulton, and with the carriage in plain sight? “Careful!” he called sharply as Francis disappeared into the carriage. “We know not who we’re dealing with!”

  “They’re not there, but they were.” Francis jumped lightly down to the ground, a satchel in one hand and in the other a box that Jeremy recognized as Fluffy’s traveling case. He let out an oath as he dismounted.

  “Damn! We’ll have to find someone to take the horses. Travers!” he bellowed.

  “You know this place?”

  “Of course, it’s near to my property. Travers is honest enough, if he’s watched. At least, he usually is, but—”

  “Stanton. Look.”

  At the odd note in Francis’s voice, Jeremy turned, and what he saw made him blink in disbelief. Sitting under a hedge by the side of the road, unconcernedly grooming his face with a forepaw, was a huge, brindled cat. Beside him lay what appeared to be the remains of some field animal, though Jeremy couldn’t identify it. “Good God!”

  “Fluffy.” Francis dropped the bags and strode over to the cat, lifting him up. “Where are they, you mangy ball of fur?” he demanded.

  “My lord!” The innkeeper bustled out, wiping his hands on the towel tied at his waist. “Forgive me, Lord Stanton, but we’re at sixes and sevens today, with the other gentleman and the ladies—”