Ten Guineas on Love

by Claire Thornton

  “I found out two and a half weeks ago,” Charity said. She was looking pale and stressed, but she was quite calm.

  “You are very like your father,” said the Earl slowly.

  “How can you say you regret not knowing my father was dead?” Charity demanded, ignoring his comment. “Are you trying to suggest it would have made any difference? You have known for more than two weeks that neither Mama or I knew we would have to leave Hazelhurst by the end of this month, but you have done nothing to ease our distress. Your words are empty. You still wanted the pendant and you didn’t care how much suffering you caused as long as you got it!”

  The Earl winced.

  “Yes,” he said. “I wanted the pendant; I still do. But I wouldn’t have kept Hazelhurst as well. A couple of days and I would have had the jewel. Then perhaps an error would have been found in the agreement. Or perhaps I would have discovered that Mayfield had already repaid me and I hadn’t been informed because of an inefficient underling.” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t have kept Hazelhurst,” he said again.

  “Do you expect me to believe you?” Charity asked.

  “My dear, you can believe what you like,” he replied tartly. He’d finished abasing himself. “Would you care for some more tea?”

  “No, thank you.” Charity frowned slightly; she didn’t understand the Earl.

  Lord Ashbourne turned to Jack.

  “I was surprised to see you involved in this business, Riversleigh,” he said. “But I recall now, you have land in Sussex, have you not?”

  “Hazelhurst and Riversleigh share a common boundary,” Jack replied. “Naturally I’m delighted to assist Miss Mayfield in this matter in any way I can.”

  “Naturally.” The Earl smiled faintly. “I trust Ralph was equally gratified to renew his acquaintance with you?”

  “Not demonstrably,” Jack replied.

  “You surprise me. Where is he?”

  “In the custody of Sir Humphrey Leydon. He believes you’ll use your influence on his behalf.”

  “Does he?” The Earl’s expression was inscrutable. “I wonder why?”

  “To avoid a scandal,” Jack suggested.

  He was more relaxed now. They had already discovered most of what they wished to know, and there were only two more matters he wanted to raise. He had no interest in what the Earl decided to do about his nephew.

  “To avoid a scandal,” the Earl repeated. “In the circumstances, it seems an inadequate reason. It’s a pity you didn’t kill him, Riversleigh. Think how much trouble you would have saved everyone.”

  “How did you know they’d fought?” Charity demanded, suddenly re-entering the conversation.

  “I didn’t,” said the Earl calmly. “But in view of their last meeting…”

  “Of more interest to me,” said Jack, who had no desire to discuss the past, “is how the pendant came to be in the library in the first place. And how you found out about it.”

  “Yes, I imagine you would like to know that,” said Lord Ashbourne. “Is it beautiful, Riversleigh? Was it worth all that abortive trouble I took?”

  “It is beautiful,” said Jack quietly. “But I don’t think it’s worth the distress it’s caused. No inanimate object is worth so much pain.”

  There was an edge to his voice, and Charity looked up at him quickly—but Jack was looking at the Earl.

  “A predictable response,” said Lord Ashbourne. “I have no desire to waste my time describing how I discovered the existence of a jewel which I failed to obtain possession of. If you’re interested you can read its history for yourself in the Duke of Faversham’s diary.”

  He walked across the room and unlocked a bureau with a key he took from his waistcoat pocket. There were a number of papers in the desk, but he ignored these, taking up instead two leather-bound volumes, which he put on the table in front of Charity.

  “A present, my dear,” he said. “You may read all about the origins of the pendant and how it came to be in your family at your leisure. There is just one other matter.”

  He returned to the bureau and locked it carefully before turning back to look at both Jack and Charity.

  “The ownership of Hazelhurst,” he said. “You have the pendant, my dear. And, by catching my nephew, Riversleigh has dragged my family into a very unpleasant scandal. In the circumstances, I think it only fair that I should recoup some of my losses. After all, your father—or his heirs—still owe me twenty thousand pounds.”

  Charity gasped.

  “You said you didn’t want Hazelhurst!” she exclaimed.

  “I don’t,” said the Earl blandly. “I want the pendant. Of course, if you’d care to exchange possession of one for the other…but, failing that—” he’d seen the immediate refusal in Charity’s eyes—I’ll settle either for ownership of Hazelhurst or for twenty thousand pounds. I’m sure Riversleigh will have no trouble in raising such a sum.”

  “You are despicable!” Charity burst out, her first reaction simply one of horror as she realised that Lord Ashbourne meant to enforce the debt.

  Then she absorbed the implications of his last words and she began to feel angry instead. How dared he suggest that she would leave the management of her affairs in someone else’s hands—or allow someone else to pay the debt for her?

  “I am quite capable…” she began, and felt Jack put his hand on her shoulder “…of managing…” she continued.

  Jack tightened his grasp imperatively, and she knew he wanted her to remain silent. In fact, he was ordering her to remain silent! The arrogance of it outraged her; nevertheless, she obeyed his unspoken command. Partly because she didn’t want to quarrel with him in front of the Earl, and partly because she knew that, apart from righteous indignation, she herself had very little with which to counter the Earl’s ultimatum.

  Lord Ashbourne was looking at Jack and there was something curious, almost expectant in his expression.

  “It would be no trouble at all to raise such a sum,” said Jack pleasantly. “On the scale of things, twenty thousand pounds is hardly an enormous investment.”

  He dropped his hand from Charity’s shoulder and moved to one side so that he faced the Earl with no barrier between them. He was quite at his ease—he seemed almost amused.

  “I have often encountered men who will invest far more than that if they believe the returns will be high enough,” he continued conversationally. “Of course, some ventures are more risky than others. I heard only this morning that Mark Horwood and Adam Kaye have finally found a third investor for their East Indian venture. It must have been a great relief to my friend Horwood. They’ve been held up for weeks because Adam Kaye is so particular about who he’ll do business with. I hope nothing goes wrong for them this time. I’m sure you share my hope.”

  Jack smiled blandly at Lord Ashbourne, and the Earl looked back, an unreadable glint in his eye. Then he unlocked the bureau once more and took out one of the documents it contained.

  As Charity watched, quite bemused, he wrote quickly on the paper, dusted it with sand, and handed it to Jack.

  “Satisfied, my lord?” he asked softly.

  “I think so.” Jack scanned the paper quickly. “Yes, definitely.”

  He passed the document to Charity and she saw with bewilderment that the debt had been cancelled. For some reason which she didn’t understand, Lord Ashbourne had suddenly renounced all claim to both Hazelhurst and the twenty thousand pounds.

  “Well,” Jack turned back to the Earl, “that seems to settle things nicely. I don’t believe we need take up any more of your time, my lord. Thank you.”

  “It’s always a pleasure to do business with you,” Lord Ashbourne replied, inclining his head ironically.

  Jack smiled, and picked up the two volumes of the diary that Lord Ashbourne had given to Charity.

  “Shall we go?” he asked her quietly.

  * * *

  They completed the journey back to the Riversleighs’ house in almost complete silence. A grea
t deal had happened in a very short space of time, and Charity was still trying to make sense of it. She didn’t know what she had been expecting the Earl to be like, or what she had expected him to do, but nothing in her imaginings had prepared her for such an outcome to their meeting.

  Jack sensed her preoccupation and made no attempt to intrude upon it. Charity had been anticipating disaster for so long that he thought she probably needed time to come to terms with the fact that the whole unhappy business was finally finished with. Soon she would realise that Hazelhurst was hers once more, and then they would be able to get on with their lives. He still had one very important question to ask her.

  He took her into the drawing-room on their return, and Charity went immediately to sit by the fire, perched on the edge of her seat, her hands clasped tensely in her lap.

  Jack glanced at her, frowning slightly; he didn’t entirely understand her mood. He was about to speak to her, then thought better of it and opened the diaries Lord Ashbourne had given them instead. He meant to see if he could find the passage explaining the presence of the pendant so that he could read it to Charity.

  He flipped through a few pages in growing bewilderment then, as understanding dawned, he closed the book and started to laugh.

  “What is it?” Charity demanded, looking up at him with an almost hostile expression in her eyes.

  “Do you remember Gideon told us he’d found notes his uncle had made on the diary?” Jack asked, still obviously amused by something. “I should have remembered that. There was a reason—the diary itself is written in a sort of code. Quite unintelligible unless you know the key.”

  “What?” Charity leapt to her feet and went to look. “How can you laugh?” she exclaimed when she saw he was right. “It’s not funny.”

  “It is in a way,” said Jack. “The Earl isn’t the man to allow himself to be outmanoeuvred on every account.”

  “You like him, don’t you?” Charity demanded, her pent-up feelings finding an outlet in the accusation. “After everything he’s done, you like him! Perhaps you even admire him!”

  “No.” The humour had died out of Jack’s eyes. “I don’t like him, and I don’t admire him either—the Earl is not an admirable man. But I do respect him.”

  “Respect him! More than you respect me, it appears!” Charity’s eyes flashed indignantly. The anger she had been feeling ever since he had bidden her to silence in Lord Ashbourne’s house overflowed, and now she hardly stopped to consider what she was saying.

  “You certainly seemed quite happy to do business with him, regardless of my wishes on the matter,” she said hotly. “How dare you interfere in my affairs? How dare you pay my debts for me? You had no right!”

  “No right?” Jack tossed the diary down on to the table with a thud as he, too, finally lost his temper. “How dare you talk of rights to me?” he said, his voice throbbing with anger. He thought he’d been very patient, but now he was thoroughly roused by what he considered to be her unreasonableness.

  “In the past two days you’ve judged me and condemned me for actions which you don’t understand, and without once asking me to explain why I’ve done what I have,” he said, his anger no less terrible because it was tightly controlled. “I’ve been very patient—I know things have been hard for you—but after all my efforts on your behalf I’m damned if I’ll stand here and have my generosity flung back in my face! You’ve got Hazelhurst back. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? Whatever your feelings about me, you might have the grace to show a little gratitude.”

  “Why should I be grateful?” Charity blazed back, all the anger she had felt at her father and Lord Ashbourne finding an outlet in her quarrel with Jack. “I never asked for your help. I never asked for you to step forward in that lordly manner and take over as if you were some kind of king or god. Hazelhurst belonged to my family; it was ours to keep or lose. My father wouldn’t have wanted you to give it back to him in that charitably gracious manner—and nor do I!”

  Her heart was pounding and she was breathing very quickly, but she met Jack’s eyes squarely. Part of her was horrified at what she had done and afraid of Jack’s reaction—but on the whole she was too furious to care what he said.

  Whatever else he might or might not have done, he had had no right to take over the management of her affairs without even consulting her. It was obvious to Charity that he must have known even before they had arrived at Lord Ashbourne’s house how he would deal with the Earl’s threat to keep Hazelhurst, yet he hadn’t once mentioned the matter to her.

  “Hazelhurst is not yours to refuse,” said Jack coldly, though his eyes sparked dangerously. “It belongs to your mother. But there is certainly no reason why it should remain in your family if you don’t want it—you may transfer its ownership into my name. After all, the fact that I was not obliged to spend any money does not alter the fact that I was instrumental in wiping out the debt which preserved the property from Lord Ashbourne.”

  “Give it to you?” Charity gasped, paling.

  “Certainly.” The heat had gone out of Jack’s anger, but there was no softening in his expression as he met Charity’s eyes. “It would make a very useful addition to the Riversleigh estate,” he said. “And I hate to think I’d done anything to offend the obviously inordinate family pride of the Mayfields! No doubt it would be possible for you to have the tenancy of the place. Would you like to come into my study so that we can discuss the arrangements?” He began to move towards the door as he spoke.

  “I’m not going to be your tenant!” Charity was starting to feel confused and, in her bewilderment, she clung to her anger rather like a losing gambler clung to the cards that were failing him. “Is this the way you made your fortune?” she demanded, trying to turn the argument back on to Jack.

  “No,” he said, looking at her sardonically. “It’s not often I end the morning twenty thousand pounds richer than I began it in exchange for absolutely nothing—or for no more than the price of a little gossip. You accused me of being arrogant, Charity; I dare say you’re right, but in your own way so are you.”

  She stood quite still, staring at him almost as if she had been petrified. She tried to rekindle her anger, but it was gone. She was alone in the middle of the room. He was still standing there, still watching her, but he had gone beyond her reach. She had driven him away. She still didn’t understand him, but she had denied him the opportunity to explain before, and now she didn’t know if he ever would.

  He was looking at her coldly; there was no warmth in his eyes, no softening. There was so much she wanted to ask him—but it was too late.

  A servant came softly into the room and hesitated, sensing the tension.

  “Yes, James?” said Jack without turning his head.

  “Mr Sedgewick wishes to speak to you, sir,” said the servant respectfully. “He says it’s urgent.”

  “Tell him to wait,” said Jack curtly.

  “No, don’t,” said Charity. “I’m sure you should speak to him now.”

  She smiled uncertainly, but she was glad of the interruption; she was too confused, she needed more time to think.

  “Very well,” said Jack after a moment. “Where is he, James?”

  “In the book-room, sir.”

  “Thank you.” Jack glanced once more at Charity, then he left the drawing-room quickly, closing the door quietly behind him.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Charity let out her breath in a long, shaky sigh and sat down limply at the table, dropping her head into her hands. She couldn’t remember ever having felt more confused or more miserable in her whole life.

  She loved Jack. For two days she had been trying to pretend that she didn’t care, that everything she had felt when she was in his arms meant nothing—but she knew now that she had been deceiving herself. She loved him, whatever he’d done and whatever he was. To be at odds with him was the worst fate she could imagine—yet she still didn’t understand him.

  Less than five minute
s ago she had condemned him for his arrogance, but she knew that the real cause of her distress wasn’t his high-handedness—it was her underlying fear that in some strange way he shared Lord Ashbourne’s peculiar code of honour. She had once accused him of defending Lord Ashbourne and, although she was now certain that the two men were not friends, she still couldn’t blind herself to the fact that Jack had openly admitted to respecting the Earl.

  Was that all, or did he also emulate the Earl’s methods? She didn’t know exactly how Jack had persuaded Lord Ashbourne to give up Hazelhurst, but she knew no money had changed hands, and she was fairly sure that the Earl had been blackmailed in some way. Did Jack always use such methods? What kind of man had she fallen in love with?

  She lifted her head from her hands and, in a vain attempt to distract herself, she began randomly to turn over the unreadable pages of the Duke of Faversham’s diary. For a moment she almost thought of trying to decode it herself, but she didn’t really care what was in it. It wasn’t the past that interested her—it was the future.

  She stood up restlessly and took a turn about the room, wondering what she should do now. It was raining outside, a bleak February day, in tune with her mood. She wanted to go out, but there was nowhere to go. She had nothing to read and nothing to do.

  Then she heard voices in the hall outside, exclaiming against the damp, and in a moment or two Mrs Riversleigh came briskly into the room.

  “Miss Mayfield, back already!” Mrs Riversleigh exclaimed. “I hope you missed the worst of the rain. Fanny was caught out in it and got quite drenched. She’s had to go up and change.”

  “We were back before it started,” Charity said, smiling with something of an effort. “I hope your trip was successful.”

  Mrs Riversleigh and Fanny had been shopping.

  “I’m glad to say we got most of what we went for,” Mrs Riversleigh replied. “I do not enjoy shopping, particularly in February, but we both needed new gowns. What about you—has your morning been successful?”