A Hazard of Hearts

by Barbara Cartland

  “To Serena? My cousin?”

  It was Nicholas who spoke now.

  “Yes, to Serena,” the Marchioness hissed and then sharply, “Out of my way! I wish to retire!”

  She pushed past Nicholas and went hurrying down the Orangery, swaying as she walked a little unsteadily so that Lord Gillingham cried,

  “She is about to have the vapours, I swear it. I will go with her and put her in charge of her maid.”

  He sped after the Marchioness, leaving Isabel and Nicholas standing as if petrified to the very floor they stood on.

  It was Nicholas who spoke first.

  “Isabel!”

  She rounded on him immediately, her eyes sparkling with anger, a patch of colour coming into both her cheeks.

  “Don’t Isabel me! This is pleasant news indeed, very pleasant! So Justin is married, and to your cousin. Doubtless you are relieved and delighted, no doubt you even contrived it, pretending to us that you had no knowledge of her movements, but all the time assisting her in her wild flight to be at his side. A pretty story, a very pretty one, and one that speaks unpleasantly of intrigue.”

  Isabel suddenly threw the fan that she held in her hand to the floor. Its ivory sticks smashed against the marble, but she did not even glance at the damage she had done.

  Instead she walked to the window facing the sea and stood looking down on the sharp rocks far below them.

  “Isabel, I beg of you,” Nicholas said quietly.

  His face had grown very pale while she attacked him.

  “Beg what of me?” Isabel asked. “Faugh! I am sick and tired of your begging, that I promise you. I at least thought you were honourable, you and Serena, and what do I get in return for my trust? The bite of a serpent! Serena pretended to be my friend. She knew I loved Justin, I told her so often enough and she vowed, yes vowed to me that she had no personal interest in him and was but bound to him by a debt of honour incurred by her father. So much for Serena! And you, you have – ” Isabel obviously sought for words, “you have bored me with your pleadings and your beggings with your continual whining of unrequited love while contriving with Serena to wed her to Justin. How foolish you have made me appear! Justin is married and there is naught that any of us can do about it save – ”

  Isabel paused and leaned a little further out of the window.

  “I have a mind,” she said wildly, “to throw myself from the window onto the rocks below. ’Twould be a fitting Wedding present for the returning bride and groom, the broken body of a woman who had presumed to love him too much.”

  “Isabel, I beg of you,” Nicholas said, moving forward apprehensively.

  “Beg of me! There you go again,” Isabel said and throwing back her head she laughed a little hysterically. “It’s funny, you beg of me and I beg of Justin, but in vain. ’Tis better that I should die than live without him for there are not two men like him in all the world.”

  Again she leaned dangerously out of the window and this time Nicholas moved forward and took her by the shoulders. He pulled her back into the Orangery, his face white, for he had been seriously frightened by her action.

  “Will you have a care for yourself?”

  Isabel struggled against his restraining hands.

  “Let me go!” she spat at him furiously, “how dare you touch me!”

  To her surprise Nicholas did not relinquish his hold.

  “I dare to save you from yourself,” he answered and his voice was unsteady.

  “Let me go,” she repeated. “I shall do what I desire to do.”

  “You will do nothing of the sort,” he replied and then suddenly the strength of his fingers increased. “Dammit, Isabel,” he exclaimed, “but you would try the patience of a Saint.”

  She laughed then, laughing a high hysterical laugh, and fought him once again.

  “Stop it!” Nicholas said. “Do you hear? Immediately!”

  He shook her, shook her as if she was a child, shook her so hard and so violently that Isabel’s breath was shaken from her and in her astonishment her mouth remained open a little stupidly.

  “Stop it!” Nicholas repeated, still shaking her, and then he lost complete control of his temper. “You idiotic stupid girl,” he stormed. “How dare you behave like this, frightening and disturbing people! Besides your love for Justin was nothing but a hum. It was never real, never anything but a wild desire to get your own way.”

  He paused for breath and then continued,

  “He did not love you, so you wanted him. You have no use for people who really care for you because they treat you with decency. Well, it is the outside of enough! I have finished with waiting on you. You have cast me into despondency for the last time, do you understand? But before I leave I will give you what you deserve, what you have deserved over-long.”

  He shook her once again, and then suddenly taking one of his hands from her shoulder, he slapped her hard across the face. Isabel gave a cry, a cry of shrill surprise. Her curls had become loosened and disarranged from the shaking Nicholas had given her and now from the sheer pain of his blow the tears started into her eyes.

  The marks of his fingers were crimson against her cheek and Nicholas still gripped her with his other hand.

  “That will teach you,” he said roughly, “to play with men as you have played with me. You have made a cursed fool of me one way and another and now I am free of you. I am leaving and you will never see me again!”

  He stared down at her, his eyes still dark with rage and then, as he noticed for the first time her confusion and dishevelment, he became aware of the loveliness of her eyes filled with tears and of the enticement of her red lips which were trembling.

  Without a word and in one swift movement he swept her into his arms.

  He held her so tightly that she was breathless and he kissed her, kissed her hard and brutally, his mouth pressed on hers until her lips were bruised.

  As unexpectedly as he had taken her he let her go.

  “Goodbye!”

  His voice was hoarse now, but not only with anger.

  He strode away down the Orangery, while Isabel breathing quickly steadied herself for a moment against a chair. Then even as Nicholas reached the door, as his hand was on the latch, he heard feet flying after him.

  “Nicholas! Oh, Nicholas!”

  Isabel’s voice seemed caught in her throat, but he heard her. He hesitated and half against his will turned and saw her coming towards him, her ribbons flying, her curls tumbling against her scarlet cheek.

  He waited grimly, his mouth set in a hard line, as Isabel reached him.

  “Oh, Nicholas,” she panted. “You cannot leave me like this. Oh, Nicholas, I did not understand. I-I did not know till now.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes swimming with tears. Suddenly and unexpectedly her arms were around his neck, she was pulling his head down to hers and her lips, parted and eager, were very near to his.

  “Oh, Nicholas!” she whispered and had no chance to say anything more.

  *

  Serena, travelling towards Mandrake in the coach, with Eudora beside her, was planning what she could say to Isabel about her hasty marriage. She felt that she owed her some explanation, but at the same time it was difficult to know how she would put it into words.

  She felt that Isabel would think that she had behaved if not treacherously at least with a complete lack of consideration and it hurt to think that she must offend someone who she had grown so fond of.

  She sighed and instantly Eudora asked,

  “You are fatigued, dearie?”

  Serena shook her head.

  “No, Eudora, only worried.”

  “But you should not be worried on your Wedding Day.”

  “No?” Serena asked listlessly, thinking of what a strange Wedding Day it was and how little she felt like a bride.

  As Justin had wished her a formal goodbye in the hall of Vulcan House, the thought had come to her that she would never see him again. She did not kno
w why such an idea should enter her head and yet it had been there. She had felt an almost sudden overwhelming desire to tell him that she had changed her mind and had no wish to return to Mandrake, but would go with him anywhere he suggested.

  Even the thought of being alone with him brought her such a strange sweet pain within her breast that it was with difficulty that she kept her fingers from holding tightly to his as he kissed her hand formally in farewell.

  “There are a few matters which require my attention,” he said in his usual voice of cynical indifference, “and then I shall have the pleasure of waiting upon your Ladyship at Mandrake.”

  “That will be delightful, my Lord,” Serena replied, knowing that the servants were listening.

  She dropped him a curtsey and stepped out towards the coach.

  As the footman closed the door, she bent forward. She half-hoped that Justin would be waiting to see her go, but there was only the butler and the attending lackeys in sight.

  ‘He is doubtless planning to visit La Flamme,’ she told herself jealously and the mere thought of that woman had the power to bring the colour to her cheeks and make her breath come quickly.

  Would La Flamme be perturbed by the news of Justin’s marriage? But why should she worry? Serena thought bitterly. It would make little difference to such a person whether her protector was married or not. Besides in the fashionable world most married men had ‘a ballet dancer’ or ‘a bit of muslin’ under their protection.

  She sighed again and Eudora put out her hand and touched hers.

  “You are going to be happy, Miss Serena,” she said softly. “I feel it in my bones and although I am no gipsy like that trashy Madame Roxana, I know what I know and it’s the truth.”

  “You are wrong this time!”

  Eudora looked bewildered.

  “Why, dearie, what has occurred between you and his Lordship? I was so sincerely glad this morning when you went off to be wed, and his Lordship’s valet told me in strictest confidence that his Lordship planned that you would spend the honeymoon at Staverley. My heart leapt at the news! I imagined you there, as handsome a pair as ever graced the place. And I thought as how we would make up the bed in the Rose bedchamber. ’Twas always your mother’s favourite room and – ”

  “Please, Eudora, don’t torture me,” Serena cried, turning her head away.

  “But I fail in understanding,” Eudora complained. “You marry a fine young blood like his Lordship and here you are travelling back to Mandrake with only silly old Eudora beside you.”

  Serena’s fingers tightened on Eudora’s hand and then in a voice shaken with tears, she said,

  “You are not – silly or old – and I am glad to be with you. I would rather be with you than with anyone else in the world, except – ”

  “ – Except his Lordship,” Eudora said. “There, there, my pretty dear. But how has this come about? What has happened?”

  Serena could contain herself no longer.

  “Nothing. Nothing has happened! Oh, I love him so! But – but, Eudora, he does not care for me. You think I don’t wish to be with him at Staverley – I would like it above all things – Yet – how could I endure it when – only yester eve – that – that woman was with him?”

  Eudora stiffened.

  “What woman?” she enquired.

  “La Flamme,” Serena sobbed. “She is lovely, Eudora, far lovelier than I could ever hope to be. No wonder she holds his heart.”

  “Fiddlesticks!” Eudora corrected her sharply. “Never have I heard such a pack of nonsense in the whole of my life. ’Tis indeed a pity that you did not relate all this rubbish an hour or so ago. If it was not for the thought that maybe his Lordship would have left and we would miss him, I would have the coach turned back this instant and return with you to Grosvenor Square.”

  “What do you – mean?” Serena asked.

  Eudora was speaking to her in exactly the same voice that she had used when as a child Serena had done something particularly naughty and Eudora had taken her to task.

  “All this talk of La Flamme,” Eudora snorted. “As though the like of her would count with his Lordship one way or another.”

  “But she did – and she does,” Serena said. “You don’t understand. Nicholas told me and Isabel. It’s true, Eudora!”

  “Mr Nicholas and her Ladyship ought to be ashamed of themselves,” Eudora said severely, “especially her Ladyship, who shouldn’t be speakin’ of such things. I am not sayin’, mark you, that his Lordship did not take a passin’ interest in the woman, but what does it signify when it was but a passin’ interest and before he had met you?”

  Serena sighed.

  “Poor Eudora, you are trying to console me, but I myself saw her at Grosvenor Square last night.”

  “Alone?” Eudora asked.

  “No, not alone,” Serena admitted. “There were other gentlemen there, several of them, to be truthful, but – ”

  “And Sir Peter Burley amongst them, I’ll be bound,” Eudora emphasised.

  Serena nodded.

  “Why, yes, I believe he was among the gentlemen. I could not be sure of them all – for I fainted – ”

  “And no wonder after such a ride,” Eudora interrupted, “but if that saucy piece was there in the place, it was Sir Peter who had brought her and you can be as sure of that as you can be sure that you are livin’ and breathin’ at this very moment.”

  “But what has Sir Peter got to do with – with La Flamme?” Serena asked in bewilderment.

  “Everythin’ for that matter,” Eudora said in a voice of triumph. “It was Sir Peter who took her off his Lordship’s hands, to put it with vulgar bluntness. I heard the whole story from his Lordship’s own man over two weeks ago when we happened to be speakin’ of such things. In fact his Lordship’s valet was remarkin’ how extremely fortunate it was for the woman, I would not soil my lips by callin’ her a lady, that such an arrangement had been made, for Sir Peter is exceedin’ wealthy and has provided her with a truly elegant house in the village of Chelsea and a carriage with two horses. Two, mark you, though ’tis seldom such a one as that gets more than one.”

  Serena drew in a very deep breath.

  “Sir Peter! Oh, Eudora, is that really true? Really?”

  “May I fall dead this minute at your feet if I am tellin’ you a falsehood,” Eudora said. “Oh, child, child, how can you have been so stupid as to believe the – ”

  “The evidence of my own eyes,” Serena said miserably. “She was sitting familiarly by his Lordship – her hand on his knee.”

  “What does it matter what she was doing?” Eudora said crossly. “For the likes of those there is no true elegance of behaviour. How should there be, poor creatures, when they know no better?”

  “But she is beautiful,” Serena said, still only half-convinced that Eudora was speaking the truth.

  “So are you, you stupid child,” Eudora said. “Have you not looked at yourself in the mirror? Did you not see the expression in his Lordship’s eyes when you came back from your Wedding today?”

  “I did not look at him.”

  “More’s the pity, for if ever I saw love in a man’s face it was there in his Lordship’s.”

  “Love!” Serena repeated the word in a whisper. “Do you really think – ?”

  “I don’t only think, I know,” Eudora snapped, “and here we are goin’ back to Mandrake when we might have been headin’ for Staverley.”

  “Oh, if only I could be sure,” Serena said, “and now he thinks – ”

  “What does he think?” Eudora enquired curiously. “That I am in love with somebody else.”

  There were tears in Serena’s eyes.

  “Was there ever such a coil!” Eudora exclaimed. “Lawks a’ mercy, but you would twist a straight road into a tangle!”

  “If I could believe you – ” Serena began, “but I was not certain, I – ”

  “Well, his Lordship won’t be far behind,” Eudora said. “You can sp
eak with him tonight, you can ask him if I have not told you the truth.”

  “Oh, I could not,” Serena said, her cheeks burning suddenly at the thought.

  “Why not?” Eudora asked. “It’s not difficult to speak of anythin’ to a man you are wed to.”

  “I wonder. I think it would be very difficult to speak of some things,” Serena answered more to herself than to Eudora.

  And then suddenly she was conscious of the singing within her heart, a feeling as if a dark shadow, which had pressed down upon her, was lifted and had gone.

  How silly she had been not to make sure! And yet, how could she have known?

  Seeing La Flamme there at Vulcan House, seeing her beside Justin and so obviously at her ease with him had seemed indisputable evidence and yet – if Eudora was to be believed –

  Suddenly, clearly and unmistakably, Serena knew that she was to be believed and knew that she had been crazy even for a moment to think that Justin would have taken her to the altar unless his reason for their marriage had been more than the wish to save her reputation.

  How blind she had been! How stupid! But now the journey was no longer tedious, no longer arduous.

  She was warm and radiant with her own thoughts, for soon she would be at Mandrake, and soon, perhaps in an hour or so, Justin would be with her again.

  She prayed that he would not be long delayed. His curricle would carry him more swiftly than they could travel even in this coach built for speed.

  The miles and hours went by as if they were on winged feet and Serena was surprised when Eudora broke into her reverie with the words,

  “We are approachin’ the Park gates. Will you tidy your bonnet for all eyes will be on you when you arrive?”

  “All eyes?” Serena asked, startled. “Why?”

  “Did you know that his Lordship has sent word to his mother that you were wed?” Eudora asked.

  “No,” Serena replied. “He did not speak of it to me.”

  “A groom was despatched some time before we left,” Eudora explained. “He will have arrived before us.”

  “Oh!”

  This was news to Serena and she digested it soberly. She had somehow forgotten, when there had been so much else to think of, that the news of Justin’s marriage would cause a commotion at Mandrake.