The sweetness of the memory engulfed her and, aware that nothing could have been further from the truth, Victoria said, ‘I would be lying if I said I was. But it was foolish to behave that way in a public place.’ She cast an uncertain glance towards the departing pair. ‘Our embrace may have been witnessed.’
‘By those two?’ Alistair shook his head. ‘They were too caught up in each other to notice anything going on around them. But there’s something you’re not telling me. Something that’s still troubling you.’
Victoria shook her head. This wasn’t the time to alarm him over her fears about Signy. Not when she still had to tell him the truth about Valentine Lawe. ‘It’s nothing. Other than my concern over Miss Chermonde’s reaction. She did not take kindly to my asking her to leave.’
‘She is used to being the one other people bow to. But tonight she crossed a line and she had to be told. Collins, too.’
‘Will he be angry that you asked him to leave?’
‘I really don’t care,’ Alistair said. ‘He should have known better than to bring his mistress here, given Lady Drake’s feelings about such things, but it was clear they had both been drinking. I’m sure by the morning this will all have been forgotten.’
Victoria wasn’t so sure. While she hoped Signy would forget everything the moment she fell into Lord Collins’s arms, it was hard to forget the look of resentment in her eyes. Signy had wanted to come to the masquerade. She had enjoyed playing the part of the fine lady and had likely played it very well. Victoria doubted anyone who had seen the beautiful woman on Lord Collins’s arm suspected her of being an actress and his newest mistress. Why would they? Bringing a woman like that one to one of Lady Drake’s gatherings simply wasn’t done.
But tonight it had been done and they had been caught in the act. Alistair might have been the one to tell Signy she wasn’t a lady, but it was Victoria’s asking her to leave that the actress had taken exception to. And as they headed back into the ballroom, Victoria couldn’t help but feel that this wasn’t the last she had heard of it.
* * *
The news broke four days later.
Victoria was in her bedroom when it did, recovering from a wretched cold that had come upon her the morning after the masquerade. It had kept her to her bed and so prevented her from speaking to Alistair as she had planned. Even now, on her first day out of bed, she still found herself drifting in and out of sleep. The maid had to knock twice before Victoria heard it and when she finally opened the door, it was to learn that her father wished to see her at once.
Upon descending to the drawing room, she found both her uncle and her father waiting for her. The fact her mother and Aunt Tandy were not present said a great deal, but it was only when Victoria looked at her father’s face that she began to fear the worst. ‘What’s wrong?’
The brothers shared a glance, but it was her father who spoke. ‘I’m afraid there’s no easy way to say this, my dear, so I’ll just come right out and say it. I have been informed that there are rumours circulating about you.’
Victoria swallowed hard. ‘What kind of rumours?’
‘Rumours that you are...Valentine Lawe.’
Victoria abruptly sat down. ‘Who started them?’
‘We don’t know—’
‘Tell the girl the truth, John,’ Theo interrupted impatiently. ‘She deserves to know what she’s up against.’
There was a brief moment of silence before her father sighed and said, ‘Yes, I suppose she does. But I hate having to be the bearer of bad news.’
‘It’s all right, Papa, you’re not,’ Victoria said slowly. ‘This doesn’t come as a complete surprise.’ She turned to look at her uncle. ‘Signy Chermonde told Lord Collins I was Valentine Lawe, didn’t she? And his lordship did the rest.’
Her uncle’s eyes caught and held hers. ‘How do you know that?’
‘Because I happened to encounter Signy at Lady Drake’s masquerade.’
‘Lady Drake’s musicale? What in blazes was Signy doing there?’ Theo demanded. ‘The countess isn’t the type to invite actresses to her gatherings.’
‘Signy wasn’t invited,’ Victoria said unhappily. ‘She was there...with Lord Collins.’
‘Collins?’ Her uncle’s shock yielded quickly to anger. ‘He took his mistress to such a gathering? That little fool! He should have known better!’
‘Yes, but he did not, and Signy took exception to my asking her to leave,’ Victoria said. ‘She accused me of...playing a part I wasn’t brave enough to own up to. I suspect she informed Lord Collins of her suspicions that night. It was too much to hope that he would keep silent about it.’
‘For your sake, he should have!’ her father snapped, his usual complacency gone. ‘If he believed there was any truth to the story, he must have realised there was a good reason why you weren’t publishing the plays under your own name.’
‘I know, Papa, but it doesn’t matter any more. If Lord Collins hadn’t been the one to expose me, someone else would. Signy wanted to humiliate me. She resented my interfering in her evening and this is how she is repaying me.’ Victoria got up and walked slowly across the room. Her head was pounding and her nose was so stuffed she could hardly breathe, but she had to stay and hear it all. ‘How widespread are the rumours?’
‘I don’t know,’ her father said honestly. ‘Theo heard it at his club. Said someone asked him outright if it was true.’
Victoria glanced at her uncle. ‘What did you say?’
‘That it was a lie, of course, and that he should have known better than to listen to such gossip.’
‘But it isn’t gossip,’ Victoria said. ‘It’s the truth.’
‘That doesn’t mean we have to acknowledge it as such. We can fight this, Victoria,’ her uncle said. ‘No one outside the family knows you’re Valentine Lawe, so no one outside the family is in a position to confirm or deny the rumour.’
‘Some of the servants here know,’ Victoria reminded him.
‘True, but those who do have been sworn to secrecy and I pay them well enough to guarantee their loyalty. And when it becomes known that an actress started this rumour, I guarantee it will lose all credibility.’
‘Unfortunately, a rumour doesn’t have to be true to do damage,’ her father pointed out. ‘It is enough that it exists. By the time anyone bothers to find out how and where it started, the harm to Victoria’s reputation will have been done.’
‘Perhaps, but if we stand firm in our denials, it may die a faster death,’ Theo said. ‘I’m quite prepared to call Signy a liar. She doesn’t know for certain that Victoria is Valentine Lawe, and unless someone in this family let it slip, there’s no way anyone outside this house can confirm it.’ He turned to Victoria. ‘This may seem like an insensitive question, my dear, but is there any chance Winifred might have said something?’
‘Absolutely not. She and Mama live in fear of this very thing happening,’ Victoria said. ‘She would never expose me for fear of what it would do to her reputation. And I know Laurence wouldn’t say anything.’
‘So this is purely speculation and mischief-making on Signy’s part.’ Theo sighed. ‘Pity. I shall have to dismiss her. I will not tolerate this kind of conduct in my troupe.’
‘But you can’t let her go!’ Victoria cried. ‘She is your finest actress. You need her.’
‘I won’t disagree that she is talented, but I’ve no time for petty jealousies and I will not have someone I cannot trust in my company.’
‘But she hasn’t violated your trust. I am Valentine Lawe,’ Victoria said unhappily. ‘What she told Lord Collins was the truth.’
‘If only Collins had had the decency to keep it to himself,’ her father muttered.
‘Yes, well, as it turns out he did not, and I still say we have no choice but to present a united front,’ Theo s
aid. ‘Deny it at every turn. Make it sound as laughable as it is unbelievable. Unless you’ve had a change of heart, Victoria, and don’t care that people know you’re Valentine Lawe.’
Victoria’s first thoughts were for her mother and sister, who would never forgive her for exposing them in such a way. Her next were for Alistair and for entirely different reasons. She had to talk to him as soon as possible. If he hadn’t already heard the rumours, he must hear about it from her. ‘No. For the sake of the family, I think we must continue to deny it,’ Victoria said with a heavy heart. ‘I never wanted this to happen. I never thought it would happen. But now that it has, I have to deal with the consequences. Mama and Winifred will be furious, of course, but I think for now, we must do as Uncle Theo suggests.’
‘Can you do that, Victoria?’ Theo walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. ‘Can you convince the world that you don’t care what they’re saying about you and that it is all a lie?’
‘I have to try,’ Victoria said. ‘For the sake of everyone involved, I really have no choice.’
Chapter Eleven
Unfortunately for Victoria, Alistair did hear about the rumour and in the worst possible manner. He was standing with Lord Mortimer and Sir Nigel Gunstock, two of society’s most malicious gossips, along with the rest of his family at the Bentley-Hydes’ ball, when Lady Sarah Millingham came running up to them, positively bursting with the news. ‘Have you heard the rumour about Miss Victoria Bretton?’
Alistair stiffened, but Isabelle was already asking the question. ‘What rumour?’
‘Shame on you, Isabelle,’ Lady Kempton said. ‘A lady does not encourage gossip.’
‘But you will hear it spoken of before the night is over,’ Lady Sarah said. ‘There are those who are saying Miss Victoria Bretton is actually Valentine Lawe! I heard it this afternoon at the milliner’s and it was causing ever such a stir.’
Alistair was so astonished that for a moment he could think of nothing to say. Victoria Bretton the celebrated playwright? Impossible! She would never pretend to be someone she was not. And she would never wilfully mislead him. ‘I’m afraid someone’s been having sport with you, Lady Sarah,’ he said. ‘Miss Bretton is not the type to masquerade as someone else, and certainly not as a playwright.’
The young lady quailed slightly under his gaze. ‘I cannot swear it is the truth, Mr Devlin, but the source was said to be very reliable.’
‘And who is the source?’ Lord Kempton demanded.
‘Lord Collins.’
Alistair hissed, ‘Bertie?’
‘Really,’ the Archdeacon said, raising an eyebrow. ‘I wonder where he came upon the knowledge.’
‘I understand he has been spending a lot of time at the Gryphon of late,’ Lord Mortimer commented with a smirk. ‘Perhaps he heard it from someone there.’
Sir Nigel chuckled, but Alistair did not find it in the least humorous. ‘That doesn’t explain why Miss Bretton would pretend to be someone she was not. Or why she would write plays under an assumed name.’
‘I can think of several reasons why she would do that,’ Sir Nigel said. ‘Her mother is dead set against the theatre and everything to do with it. Apparently, her father was one of those fire-and-brimstone ministers who lived by the word of God and refused to allow any member of his family to indulge in such wickedness. No doubt Mrs Bretton raised her children in the same way and it galls her to no end that her brother-in-law owns a theatre and that both he and his wife were once actors. So if her daughter wished to write plays, it would have to be under an assumed name.’
‘Not only that, Lawe has a particularly cutting wit and has made fun of society in more than one of his plays,’ Lord Mortimer observed. ‘Do you really think a young lady of good birth would wish people to know she was making fun of them? It certainly wouldn’t help her marital aspirations.’
‘If she has any,’ Sir Nigel said. ‘For all her beauty, Miss Bretton doesn’t seem all that inclined towards marriage.’
‘Still, it is not the thing for a young woman of good birth to be so closely associated with the theatre,’ the Archdeacon said. ‘I remember the first time I met her. She took leave to tell me what she thought of the calibre of the performers. I was astonished by her temerity.’
‘There is nothing wrong with a woman being knowledgeable about the performing arts,’ Alistair said as patiently as he could. ‘Miss Bretton is exceptionally well read and her appreciation for the theatre would naturally be strengthened by her relationship with her uncle.’
‘And I like her very much!’ Isabelle said fiercely. ‘She is admirable in every way, and while I am disappointed that Valentine Lawe is not the dashing playwright I imagined him to be, it doesn’t bother me in the least to know that Miss Bretton is the brilliant author behind his works. I only wish I were so talented!’
‘Hold your tongue, Isabelle!’ Lord Kempton admonished. ‘I will not hear you say such things in my presence. It does not please me to hear you defend a woman who has obviously been lying to all who know her. It speaks very poorly of her character, and of her family’s.’
‘Indeed, they must have known what she was about,’ the Archdeacon said, ‘so they are all party to the deception.’
‘In which case,’ Lord Mortimer said, laughing openly, ‘who knows what other manner of skeletons are likely to fall out of the closet. Best not open that door at all.’
Alistair didn’t stay to hear any more. It was more than he could bear to hear Victoria made a laughing-stock in society. He refused to believe that she had lied to him. What he knew of her character would allow for no error in that direction. It was impossible to think that the woman he’d held in his arms and kissed with such passion would ever deceive him.
No, far more likely Collins had made a mistake. Or that Signy Chermonde, incensed by Victoria’s taking her to task, had decided to exact her own kind of revenge. Either way, he would resolve the matter before the night was out. No matter where he had to go or who he had to track down, he would find out what he needed to know. And he intended to make damn sure the guilty party was at Victoria’s house tomorrow morning, offering her the apology he knew without question she was due.
* * *
The search for Lord Collins took Alistair to Bertie’s favourite hell, a club on Bennett Street that while not as disreputable as some, still had a reputation for high-stakes gambling and the fleecing of young aristocrats too naïve to know any better.
Collins was in one of the upstairs rooms, watching a game of faro. It was evident from his heightened
colour that he had been drinking. Upon seeing his good friend standing in the doorway, he got up and staggered across the room. ‘Dev, old man!’ He threw an arm about Alistair’s shoulders, his lopsided grin showing no signs of remorse. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’
‘I doubt you’ll find it a pleasure when I tell you why I’m here,’ Alistair muttered, shrugging off the man’s arm. ‘I need to speak to you in private.’
‘Ah. Well, you won’t find much of that in here,’ Collins said, glancing at the crowded tables close by.
‘Fine. Then we’ll step out into the corridor.’
Alistair led the way, making sure to close the door behind them. He could still hear the sound of laughter from within and so proceeded down the hall until he could not. Finally, he turned to face Collins, whose expression was still blissfully ignorant of any wrongdoing. ‘What’s the matter, Dev? You seem a little upset.’
‘I’m a damn sight more than a little upset,’ Alistair snapped. ‘Is it true you started this ridiculous rumour about Victoria Bretton being Valentine Lawe?’
‘Of course not!’ Collins blustered, though his face went as red as a beetroot. ‘Whoever said that was lying.’
‘Why would they lie?’
‘I don’t know. Why would you a
ccuse me of making up a rumour about Miss Bretton being Valentine Lawe?’
‘Because your mistress is Signy Chermonde,’ Alistair said in a silken voice. ‘And we both know she resented Miss Bretton’s telling her to leave the masquerade the other evening. Now she is seeking revenge by making up this ridiculous story and she told you because she knew you would put it about in society.’
The remark had the effect of banishing the grin from Collins’s face, leaving him looking somewhat confused. ‘Ah. Well, now that you mention it, Signy did make reference to something of that nature the other night. And in fact, I may have let something slip at Jackson’s the other morning,’ he admitted sheepishly. ‘But I swore them all to secrecy and they assured me they wouldn’t breathe a word of it to anyone.’
‘Then I suggest you find more trustworthy friends,’ Alistair ground out. ‘Why did you say anything, Bertie? You must have known it was all a hoax.’
‘Signy doesn’t seem to think so. In fact, she’s convinced Victoria Bretton is Valentine Lawe.’
‘That’s ridiculous!’
‘Is it? The facts would indicate otherwise.’
‘What facts?’
‘Apparently, Miss Bretton is often to be found at the theatre during rehearsals, but only when one of Valentine Lawe’s plays is being staged. And Signy says she’s heard Templeton talking to Miss Bretton about Lawe’s plays on a number of occasions,’ Collins said. ‘Consulting with her as to how a character should be portrayed or a particular line spoken.’
‘So, the lady has an eye for that sort of thing,’ Alistair said, unwillingly recalled to Victoria’s emerging from the theatre at half past ten in the morning. ‘That doesn’t mean she’s Valentine Lawe.’
‘But it doesn’t mean she isn’t, either,’ Collins pointed out. ‘Besides, when you think about it, why couldn’t she be Lawe? No one’s ever seen the fellow. Keeps himself hidden away like a bloody monk, and to what purpose? His plays draw sold-out crowds. The critics love his work, so why go to all the trouble of keeping his identity secret?’
No Occupation for a Lady Page 15