Dimpling at his impudence, she relinquished Robert Edward to his arms, then took a chair across from Ned and examined his face.
He seemed to have sobered in the past few weeks. Where before there had always been a restless sense of energy, she now saw the result of a lack of sleep. Even his impudence had been forced. He looked more anchored, though, as if this period of relative abstinence had removed some of the agitation from his veins.
He had the look of a man ready to settle down, if it had not been for the fact that the woman he loved had been denied him.
Louisa did not allow his attempts at joviality to fool her into thinking he had not been affected by Robert's charges. Ned might be adept at concealing his most painful emotions; but when he held Robert Edward on his knees and peered into his eyes, his mask fell away, betraying a rawness she could hardly bear to see.
With this evidence of his misery, Louisa could no longer be vexed at his foolishness. She put on a smile to cover an urge to cry.
Ned was unaware that Robert had informed her of their interview. Neither would he relish the knowledge that she was privy to his disgrace. Louisa had always displayed her faith in Ned, and she had taken pains to let him know that she regarded the worst of his escapades as nothing more than boyish pranks. As a result, Ned had confided in her more than he had in anyone else. With her, he was not so often inclined to exaggerate his wickedness.
She wished he would confide in her now, so that she might find a way to bring him back to Christina. She tried to draw him out.
“Robert tells me you have decided to leave us for a while?"
“Yes.” Ned bounced Robert Edward into the air and earned a gurgling laugh that softened his expression before the mask descended again. “I thought a jaunt into the country might be amusing. A bit of fishing and shooting, perhaps. I've got a new tiger. I need to take him up into Yorkshire to introduce him to my stable there. Train him a bit. That sort of thing."
“Isn't this rather sudden?"
“No, I've been needing a new groom ever since my last one took that fall."
“Oh.” Louisa felt frustrated by this clear signal that he refused to confide in her this time. She worked for a different opening. “Tell me about this boy,” she said. “Where did you find him?"
“At Tattersall's. He had sneaked inside and was sleeping in a stall. They didn't have a spot for him, so I took him on."
“That was good of you, Ned."
“Nonsense. Anybody knows that the best grooms are made of boys who love to be with horses. A pure piece of selfishness on my part.
“He is still a little young, but I have some hopes for him. He shows talent. His only fault seems to be a tendency to be distracted by every passing wench. But who am I to fault him for that?” Ned grinned and arched his brows, but his attempt to amuse her at his own expense lacked any genuine sense of fun.
Louisa gave an obligatory smile, before something so outrageous it shocked and delighted her at once leapt into her mind.
“I vow, you have made this boy sound so amusing, I should dearly love to see him,” she said.
“A new cause, Louisa?"
“Not at all, when he is in such good hands. I merely wondered whether he posed a danger to my maids. But I suppose you did not bring him today."
“Indeed I did. He is supposed to be out in the square, holding my horses’ heads. If you look out the window, you can judge him for yourself."
“Oh, that won't be necessary.” She laughed, but silently she vowed she would get a good look at the boy without Ned's being aware. “I daresay I'll glimpse him up behind you one day.
“How will you be going into Yorkshire?"
“In my curricle. I'll take the boy to accustom him to my ways."
Louisa clasped her hands together. “Your whole trip sounds absolutely delightful. I think you are smart to get away."
Her unwarranted enthusiasm made Ned regard her with a skeptical air, but a big hiccup from Robert Edward distracted him before he could question her.
Louisa rejoiced at the opportunity. She jumped to her feet, saying, “Poor dearest! He is so dreadfully prone to the hiccups. I shall just run and fetch him a bit of damson jam, for he cannot take the whole ones in his mouth."
“Can you not simply ring for a servant, Louisa?"
As she fled from the room, she threw an answer over her shoulder, not bothering to ensure that it made any sense. “Of course, I could, but I must have a talk."
Instead of heading for the kitchen, Louisa tiptoed to the front door. The footman, startled by her hushing gestures, quietly opened it for her. She did not go out, but instead, took a good look at the boy standing out in the street with the reins of Ned's horses in his hands.
With a silent thrill of satisfaction, she admitted that her audacious plan just might work.
She then made a trip to the kitchen, returning to the withdrawing room with a tiny spoon and a silver pot of jam.
Ned shook his head at her, a puzzled smile on his lips. “You needn't have rushed off so suddenly. His hiccups cleared themselves."
“They often do,” she said, laughing at herself, “but it is so distressing when the poor love's body is racked. Well, I shall put this aside in case we need it later."
As she set it on the table, Ned stood with the baby. His grave expression told her he was about to leave.
“Oh, must you go?"
“I must. I simply wanted to pay my respects. You will take care of Little Ned?” His tone informed her that he did not expect to see Robert Edward for some time.
“Of course, but we shall expect to see you the moment you return to London."
Ned made no response as he transferred the baby onto her lap.
“Shall I send any message to Christina for you?”
Although she had said this in her most casual voice, Ned's hands gave a jerk. “No—that is, yes, of course. You must send her my compliments and my—most earnest wishes for a successful completion of the season."
Louisa could not bear to probe any further. “I shall give her your regards. She will be so unhappy to have missed your visit, but Robert insisted she drive out with him this afternoon."
A hard, cold smile etched its way across his face. “What a pity,” he said.
“Isn't it?” For once, Louisa allowed all her sympathy to show. “I cannot help feeling that something has occurred to make Christina wretchedly unhappy, though she tries not to show it."
“You must not trouble yourself over it. She is young, and the young have foolish notions. She will get over it, whatever it is."
“I do not think so."
Ned's posture, which had been very stiff, softened for a moment. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. “Let it go, Louisa. This is for the best."
“The best for whom?” she insisted. “Robert? Lord Musgrove?"
But Ned refused to be drawn into a debate. He shook his head as if to rid himself of a worrisome pest. “Goodbye, Louisa. Be glad I have done something right for once."
He strode from the room without his customary goodbye for “Little Ned."
* * * *
When Christina returned from her drive with Robert, she found her sister-in-law alone in the drawing room, sitting on a low divan with a handkerchief pressed to her forehead.
“Louisa?"
At the sound of her solicitude, Louisa jumped and turned away. She gave the impression of wiping surreptitious tears from her face, before swiveling to greet Christina with a tremulous smile.
“There you are, my dear,” she said with an artificially perky air. “How was your outing?"
“Louisa, is something wrong?"
“No, no, dear. It is nothing.” Louisa craned her neck to look past her at the door. “Is Robert with you?"
“No, he set me down. He said he had some errands in St. James.” Christina pulled off her bonnet, while searching Louisa's face.
Her sister-in-law was plainly trying to hide distressed feelings. Sh
e refused to meet Christina's gaze, and all desire for speech seemed temporarily to have left her.
Christina moved to the divan to lower herself beside Louisa. “You must tell me what has made you so miserable,” she said, taking Louisa's hand to stroke. “It is not the baby?"
A startled sigh broke from her. “No, dearest, no, it is not the baby. If it were, I should tell you instantly."
“What is it, then?"
“It is something you cannot know."
“Robert? Do not tell me he has been a brute?"
A laugh, quickly smothered, escaped from Louisa's lips. She covered them with her handkerchief as if to tamp down hysteria. “No, no! You must never think such a thing of your brother!"
“If you do not tell me what it is, my imagination will do far worse."
Louisa turned wide, fearful eyes upon her. “Oh, dear. I fear you are right. Although there could not be much worse."
“Louisa, you are alarming me!"
Louisa patted the hand that held hers. “Yes, I'm afraid I am. But, you see, you caught me just after his visit, and I was not prepared."
“His? Not Ned's?” Alarm clogged Christina's throat. “He is not hurt?"
“No, but he will be soon! Oh, how I wish Robert had not so gravely misunderstood the situation between you two! It was purely innocent. And poor Ned has borne the blame for something he did not deserve. His self-regard has taken such a blow, I fear it will send him back to his old ways."
“Why should you fear that?” Now that she knew he had not been injured, Christina's pulse had quieted, but she was keen to know everything he had said.
Louisa slanted her a look full of guilt. “This is the part I should not tell you,” she said.
“But you must!” Afraid that she might have betrayed too much feeling, Christina modulated her speech. “That is, you must not be afraid of wounding my sensibilities. I am not so fragile as you think."
Louisa hesitated, then nodded. “I have often thought it wrong to keep girls too much in the dark. We keep them wrapped in lamb's wool and then send them out to be married, completely unprepared for what they have to face."
“Yes, yes, dearest.” Christina tried to hide her impatience, but she could not permit Louisa to become sidetracked by one of her causes. “But what did Ned say?"
“He said he was leaving London for a journey into Yorkshire. He did not know when he would return."
Although the knowledge that Ned was leaving caused a painful stab in her chest, Christina frowned. “This is what has you so overturned?"
“Yes! For you cannot imagine the wickedness he intends to get up to! It is always the same when he retreats into the country."
She lowered her voice. “Drunkenness and orgy! I have heard it whispered many a time. And Ned, although he tries to hide such things from me, betrays his guilt with his looks. He could scarcely meet my eye this afternoon."
“Oh.” Now, Christina was truly alarmed, but even more dismayed by the feeling of helplessness that assailed her.
“Yes, ‘oh.’ And I see nothing we can do to stop him. I can only hope one of his friend's might. I had such hopes for Ned after the changes in him this season. He had begun to look so sound. Now, because of a silly misunderstanding, all of that is lost."
“Do you think anyone will try to stop him?"
Louisa shook her head sadly. “I doubt he has the kind of friends who would. I tried to persuade himself myself to stay in London, but he insisted he must be gone. It's as if he is running away from something that frightens him here. And almost as if that something is himself."
A spark of excitement lit a fire in Christina's veins. What could Ned be running away from if not her? She had thought she'd seen the light of love in his eyes when he had held her in her room. Only her fear of being wrong and the pain that would result if she exposed herself foolishly had kept her from pressing for an answer. Ned's present behavior seemed to confirm her dearest hopes.
Hadn't she sensed that Ned felt his youth was over? And had he not done his level best to guard hers? From what she'd observed, he had seemed so sure he was not worthy of marriage or children, no matter how much he longed for the latter at least.
Had he removed himself from London to protect himself from her? Or her from him?
She could not let him go, if his going would confirm his worst notions about himself. That would only take him further away. If he could not respect himself enough now to believe himself worthy of even such a scapegrace as she, how would he feel when he debauched himself unpardonably?
But how to stop him?
Louisa had been searching her face, but she left off when Christina deliberately relaxed her frown.
“It is certainly too bad,” Christina said, reining in her feelings.
“Yes, isn't it? And just when Ned has shown how truly noble and generous he can be."
“Oh?"
“Yes, he was just telling me how he had saved a boy from the direst poverty by making him his new tiger. Of course, he was much more modest than I make him sound. But, whatever he said, I could tell he had truly exerted himself for a boy who had no claim upon him at all.
“And now I fear the poor boy will be corrupted, too!” Louisa buried her face in her handkerchief. Her shoulders shook.
Christina put an arm about her and hugged. “Is he going with Ned then?” She asked, but her mind was almost exclusively on Ned. She wondered what women he would be seeing and where he would come by them.
“Yes.” Louisa spoke clearly in spite of her handkerchief. “The boy will ride behind him on his curricle into Yorkshire.” She raised her head. “Oh, Christina, if you could have seen this boy. He is almost a man of course. But so innocent looking!
“He has rather long blond hair, although he wears a brown cap that hides most of it. I glimpsed him when I walked with Ned to the door. He looked so young in his rough black jacket and his baggy, black unmentionables, for he is scarcely taller than you, I think. He's just a boy, merely a boy.
“And to think,” Louisa continued on a wail, “that he will be riding all the way to Yorkshire alone with Ned, unaware of the ruin that will face him, but all too ready to grasp at the experience!"
“Oh?” Confusion made Christina frown again. “How can you know?"
Louisa sighed. “Ned said something about him before he left, which made me realize how particularly harmful an evil influence will be upon this boy just now. He said,” Louisa stressed, looking Christina squarely in the eye, “that the boy is easily distracted from his duties by women."
A wild idea gave birth in Christina's mind. “He is, you say?"
“Yes. Is it not deplorable?"
“Of course. But he is of that age, I suppose, and as you say, if he has had a neglectful upbringing ...."
“Precisely. It would not surprise me, if Ned were to come out of his house and find his horses gone one day.
“However"—surprising Christina, Louisa stood abruptly—"I have given both Ned and his tiger all the thought I can give without falling into despair. There is nothing more I can do. If Ned and his servant are to be saved from their own folly, it shall have to be at someone else's hands."
Christina had stayed seated while dangerous thoughts spun like a whirlwind in her brain. She scarcely heard Louisa as she made her way out of the room.
She could do something to stop Ned. She could disrupt his journey, if only long enough to give him time to reason himself into a better frame of mind. Ned would never desert her in order to pursue his own pleasure, and if she could shock him enough, he just might see that he was wrong to think so poorly of himself.
But that was more than she should wish for right now. It would be enough, she told herself, if she could simply prevent him from making himself even more unhappy than he already was.
Chapter Ten
Two o'clock on the following afternoon saw Christina, standing in front of Ned's house, clad in a rough black jacket and breeches, with her hair tucked up under a b
rown knit cap and the lower half of her face concealed by a coarse woolen stock. She held on for dear life to his spirited pair of bays as she waited for Ned to come outside.
It had taken all her many resources to act so quickly, but she was both practiced and adept at this sort of masquerade. All she had needed was her maid's cooperation to make it work. But in spite of her loyalty, Mary had taken some persuading before she had at last agreed to her part in the scheme.
Fortunately, Ned had never been so affected as to dress his groom in livery. Under the strictest vow of secrecy, Mary had purchased the serving clothes and cap, along with a stout pair of shoes, and had smuggled them into the house. Then she had dressed herself in one of Christina's gowns in order to lure Ned's groom away from his stable.
Christina had asked Louisa for permission to spend the afternoon with an old school friend. This granted, she and Mary had left the house on foot, with Mary's dress covered by a cloak and Christina's boy's togs carefully concealed beneath her pelisse.
It had taken Christina no longer than a few seconds to remove her pelisse and her stockings, which had been gartered at the knees, to roll her breeches down, and to substitute the shoes in Mary's parcel for her slippers. Her only concern had been for Mary's safety, but Mary had assured her, with a toss of her brown curls, that she had dealt with more wearisome men than this boy could possibly be. In any event, the timing had been so close, Christina had been forced to leave these concerns behind. She had only had a few seconds to slip into the stables before the call for Ned's horses had come from the house.
Now, she would have a good three hours at least before she would have to return home, which ought to give her plenty of time to accomplish her mission. She only need wait until Ned had passed the last house in London before revealing herself, at which moment she would do whatever she must to deter him from his present course of ruin.
She was counting on the traffic in the streets to occupy his attention, so that conversation between servant and master would be unlikely. Even if Ned discovered her before they left London, her appearance in these clothes would force him to be discreet. Either one way or the other, she would have a chance to talk some sense into his head.
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