‘Well, I must say, my lady, you looks a picture and no mistake.’
Alice stepped back to admire her handwork, a satisfied smile on her face. Standing before the long mirror, Eloise had to admit that the costume supplied by Sir Ronald appeared most authentic. From the brocade shoes with their leather-covered heels to the fontange headdress perched atop her golden curls she looked every inch a king’s mistress. A whore. Eloise shivered. A green-and-gold mask had been supplied to hide her identity, but she allowed Alice to apply a coating of powder and rouge to her face to complete the disguise and the result was reassuring: Eloise did not expect to see any of her acquaintances at a public ball, but she would defy even as close a friend as Alex Mortimer to recognise her now.
‘Your carriage is at the door, madam.’ Alice interrupted her reverie by placing her cloak around her shoulders. ‘I shall wait up for you, my lady, and won’t rest easy until you are safely returned.’
With a nod and a brief, strained smile, Eloise hurried down the stairs and was soon on her way to Lanchester House.
She had never attended a public ball before and as she walked into the large echoing entrance hall her first instinct was to turn and run back to the safety of her carriage. Not that she could find fault with the bewigged and powdered footmen on duty at the door. Their livery was as fine as any she had seen, but the shrieks and unbridled laughter coming from the masked and disguised guests was very far from the genteel murmur of a ton party. Uncultured, nasal voices clashed with the over-refined accents of females whom she suspected to be the wives of wealthy tradesmen, dressed as fine as duchesses and gazing about them in surprise and disapproval at the free and easy manners of some of the revellers.
Eloise wanted to clutch her cloak about her but an insistent footman blocked her way and it was quite clear that she would have to give it up. As she moved to the stairs she put her hand up to her mask to check that the strings were secure, then, squaring her shoulders, she moved up the sweeping staircase towards the huge ballroom, where the strains of a boulanger could just be heard above the noise of the crowd.
In the ballroom she looked about her, dismay in her heart when she observed so many strangers, all attired in gaudy costume. She wondered if Jack was present. Perhaps he was one of the figures disguised head to foot beneath an enveloping domino. A waiter approached and offered her a glass of wine. She waved him away: she needed to keep a clear head tonight. She moved to the side of the room and turned to watch the dancing. It was not yet midnight but already the crowd was very wild. A Harlequin skipped passed and grabbed at her, trying to pull her on to the dance floor. Eloise dragged her hand free and stepped back even further, until she was standing at the edge of a small, shadowed alcove.
‘Not inclined to dance tonight?’
Jack’s low murmur drew a gasp from her and he added quickly, ‘Do not turn. Keep your eyes on the dancers.’
She began to fan herself, holding the sticks high to cover her mouth as she replied,
‘How long have you been here?’
‘Not long. I saw you come in.’
‘I am glad you are here. I did not expect it to be quite so…raucous.’
‘Do not be afraid. I will let no one accost you.’
‘Let me see you.’ She wanted desperately to look at him. ‘How shall I find you?’
She heard him chuckle.
‘There are many black dominos here tonight. Best to let me find you.’
‘Oh, but—’ A laughing couple cannoned into her and she was knocked back against the wall. They ran on, heedless, and by the time she had recovered and turned to peer into the alcove, it was empty.
Eloise wandered around the room. Her low-cut gown was attracting attention and she studiously ignored the many invitations from gentlemen to dance or to join them for supper. It was a comfort to know that Jack was nearby, although she could not see him. Her eyes sought out anyone wearing a black domino. There were several, but most were far too short to be Jack. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she did not notice the gentleman in an old-fashioned coat and large black periwig until he spoke to her.
‘So you came, Lady Allyngham.’
She stiffened immediately, but knew an irrational desire to laugh when she looked at the speaker.
‘I had no choice.’ Her lip curled. ‘You see yourself as the merry monarch, Sir Ronald?’
He bowed.
‘It seemed appropriate, since you are Nell Gwyn. Allow me to say how well you look in that costume, my dear.’
She waved her hand impatiently.
‘Say what you have to say and let me leave this place.’
‘I want your answer. Will you be my wife?’
‘I have not yet decided.’
He placed a hand under her elbow and guided her, none too gently, to the far end of the room, where a series of pillars supported a minstrels’ gallery. The area beneath the gallery was not lit, and the heavy columns cast deep shadows across the space. At first Eloise thought the area was deserted, but as her eyes grew accustomed to the gloom she could see that there were couples in each of the shadowy corners, their bodies writhing against the walls. She averted her eyes.
Sir Ronald turned to face her.
‘My patience is running low, madam. I have given you time enough to make a decision. You know the consequences of refusing me. Are you prepared to suffer that? Your name disgraced, Mortimer branded a criminal.’
She snapped open her fan and began to wave it angrily.
‘I am well aware of the risks, but what you ask…’
His lips parted in an evil grin. She took a step back and found a cold, unyielding pillar behind her.
‘Would you rather I traded the journal page by page?’ he said, leaning so close that she could feel his breath on her face. She averted her gaze and he continued softly, ‘I could do that, you know.’ He trailed one finger across the low scoop of her bodice. ‘I would give you a sheet from the journal for each night you spend in my bed. As long as you pleased me, of course.’ His lips brushed her neck and she froze, gritting her teeth to suppress the shudder of revulsion. He laughed softly. ‘You do not like that plan, so I will be generous and honour my original offer: marry me and you shall have the journal immediately.’ He grasped her jaw, forcing her to look at him. ‘And do not think that you can ask Major Clifton to help you.’ He took her arm and turned her towards the room again. ‘Oh, yes, I know he is here, thinking he can protect you. Look—’ his voice grated in her ear ‘—that is your precious major over there, is it not? In the black domino. But you see the two rustics on his right, and the piratical figure behind him? They are all my men. I realised at Renwick Hall that Clifton was likely to be a threat so I had him followed. I only have to give the word and they will cut him down like a dog.’ Eloise gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Deforge hissed, ‘You have alarmed him. You had best signal to him not to approach. And quickly!’
The tall figure in the black domino had taken a few steps towards her. Behind him a huge bearded man in a pirate’s costume was reaching for the gleaming, evil-looking blade in his belt. Frightened, she shook her head. Jack stopped and with a struggle she summoned up a reassuring smile.
Behind her, Sir Ronald murmured, ‘Well done. You have averted a tragedy.’
‘You would commit murder to achieve your ends?’
‘Not I, my lady. It would have been a drunken brawl. No one could connect it to me.’
‘You are an out-and-out villain!’
‘No, I am merely protecting my interests. You have only to agree to marry me and Clifton will be safe.’
She shook her head and looked at him, bewildered.
‘What happiness can there be with a wife that hates you?’
His thick lips parted into a leer and his grip tightened on her arm, the fingers digging into the flesh.
‘Schooling you will be part of the enjoyment. And you must not forget that you bring with you the Allyngham fortune. So, madam. Your answer,
now, if you please.’ She swallowed nervously. A net was closing around her, cutting off every means of escape. At last she said in a low voice, ‘You leave me no choice.’
‘Then you will marry me. Say it.’
‘Yes.’ Eloise lifted her head. ‘I will marry you.’
His triumphant look made her shudder. She watched him raise his hand, an innocuous gesture but immediately the shepherds and the pirate hovering behind the black domino melted away into the crowd.
‘I shall send a notice to the newspapers in the morning, announcing that the wedding will take place on Friday next.’ He held out his arm to her. ‘My lady?’
She stepped away from him.
‘If that is all you have to say to me I shall leave now.’ She fixed her eyes upon his face. ‘But be warned, sir. If anything happens to Major Clifton I promise you I shall cry off, do what you will with the journal!’
His hateful smile appeared.
‘My dear, I think you care for the major even more than your good name. But have you told him what is in that journal? No, I thought not.’ He leaned closer. ‘Do you suppose the honourable Major Clifton will want any connection with the Allyngham family once he knows the truth?’
‘That is none of your concern. I merely want your word that you will not harm him.’
‘As long as you stick to our bargain the major is safe, but his continued well-being depends upon you.’ He ran a finger down her arm. ‘Be a good wife to me and there is no reason why Major Clifton should not enjoy a long and peaceful existence.’ He gripped her arm and added, ‘If you prove troublesome, however, I will make sure that your precious major meets a very slow and painful death. There are ways, you see; methods that would have even Jack Clifton begging for it to end. Do you understand me, my lady?’
Eloise shook off his hand. She said in a low voice, ‘I understand you.’
‘Then everyone is happy.’ The smug note in his voice angered her but she said nothing and he continued. ‘I must hold a party, to celebrate our betrothal. It is short notice, but I believe the ton will come, if only out of curiosity. What think you?’
She shrugged.
‘Do as you please.’
‘Oh, I will. It shall be next Tuesday, at my house in Wardle Street, and I expect you to be at my side. I shall be the envy of the ton, shall I not? The man who won the Glorious Allyngham.’
Eloise turned away. She felt slightly sick. Sir Ronald made no attempt to detain her and she hurried out of the ballroom. She was aware of the black domino shadowing her but she ignored him. She did not want to talk to anyone, least of all Jack. She retrieved her cloak and waited impatiently for her carriage to arrive at the door. The black domino had disappeared and her drooping spirits sank even lower. Did he think that now she was leaving she no longer needed his protection? Perhaps he considered his duty done, and had returned to the ballroom to while away the rest of the night with some pretty woman who made no demands upon him.
‘Your carriage, m’lady.’
The servant’s sonorous tones recalled her wandering thoughts and she went out into the busy street. Her own footman held open the carriage door and she climbed in, closing her eyes with relief as she fell back against the thickly padded seat.
‘Thank heaven you are out of there.’
Eloise screamed and opened her eyes. Jack Clifton was sitting in the far corner of the carriage, his black domino merging with the shadows to make him all but invisible.
‘I beg your pardon. I did not mean to startle you.’
‘How did you get in here?’ she demanded.
‘I jumped in,’ he said. ‘From the street side. I want to know what Deforge said to you.’
‘Sir Ronald knew you were present,’ she replied cautiously. ‘His people have been following you.’
‘I thought as much.’
‘You knew?’
She saw a brief flash of white as he grinned.
‘That big oaf dressed as Blackbeard has been tailing me for days. His bulk makes him far too easy to spot.’
‘But tonight there were others, I saw them.’
‘The rustics? I saw them too—I had to throw them off my track before I climbed into your carriage.’ He untied the strings of his domino and shrugged it off. ‘They need not worry you, my dear.’
‘But they might have killed you!’
‘Not they! Trust me, they were never a threat to me. Only once have I been taken unawares, and that was by a beautiful woman on Hampstead Heath.’
There was a laugh in his voice but it awoke no response in her. He was far too reckless. If he would not protect himself then she must do so, even if it meant she would never see him again.
‘But enough of that,’ he said. ‘Tell me about Deforge. I didn’t like the way he kept leering at you.’
‘He is growing impatient,’ she responded quietly.
‘And?’
Eloise hesitated. Sir Ronald’s threats echoed uncomfortably in her head. At last she said, ‘He wants my decision soon.’
‘Hmm. Word is that he is rolled up and his creditors are pressing for payment. I thought he might have demanded you marry him at once.’
She forced herself to keep her eyes upon Jack. It was very dark in the carriage, but she would take no chances that he would catch her out in the lie.
‘No. Not yet.’
‘Not ever!’ he growled. ‘We will find some way out of this coil that does not involve you giving yourself to that fiend, or marrying Mortimer.’
She blinked.
‘M-marrying Alex? How could you ever think I would do that?’
‘You said so, at Parham House.’
Eloise was silent. She had only the haziest recollection of what had happened after Jack had rescued her from Lord Berrow. She was afraid she had given herself away and admitted her true feelings: now it appeared that Jack had misunderstood her. He continued harshly, ‘If you must marry anyone for expediency, then you will marry me!’
‘M-marry you?’ she gasped, surprised. ‘What, what reason can you have for w-wanting to marry me?’
‘Reason!’ He gave a crack of laughter. ‘If you want reasons—’ He raised his hand and counted them off on his fingers. ‘Well, for one thing it would foil Deforge, and for another Tony was a good comrade: I owe him my life.’
‘That is very chivalrous, sir, but—’
He crossed the carriage to sit beside her. ‘Not chivalrous at all, my dear. I have my own plans for you.’
She did not pretend to misunderstand. She swallowed, trying to clear the sudden constriction in her throat. His arm was around her and she allowed herself to lean against him.
‘I thought you disapproved of me,’ she murmured
He took her hand in his.
‘I disapprove of the fact that you will not trust me with your secrets.’
‘They are not my secrets to share.’
‘Then I will not force them from you, but you must know that I am yours to command, now and always.’ He put a hand under her chin and tilted her face up. ‘I want you for my wife, Elle. My land isn’t in such good heart as Mortimer’s but with careful management and a little investment I know we can turn it around.’
We? The word made her heart give a little lurch. If only that were possible.
‘I could want nothing better,’ she whispered, sighing.
Jack kissed her and she clung to him, returning his kiss with such a passion that when he broke away they were both breathing heavily.
‘I have only the one estate, now, plus a few acres at Brighton where I plan to build houses. Little enough to bring you, I know—’
‘Do you think I care how wealthy you are?’ Her fingers crept up to touch his cheek. ‘Let us not talk of it now.’
He reached up and trapped her hand with his own.
‘No,’ he said thickly, ‘Let’s not talk.’
He slid his mouth over hers again and instantly she responded, her lips parting as his kiss deepened and she felt hersel
f surrendering. She drove her hands through his thick hair, strong as silk between her gloved fingers. He unfastened her cloak and pushed it away, running his hands over her shoulders, his thumbs caressing her collar bones. Her skin was on fire beneath his touch. Her body remembered the delights of his lovemaking and she was overcome with an urgent need to repeat the experience. He planted a trail of feather-light kisses over her neck and she said, her voice not quite steady, ‘When we reach Dover Street, will…will you come in and take a glass of Madeira with me, Major Clifton?’
He lifted his head to look at her. Even in the darkness she could see the gleam of desire in his eyes. He replied solemnly, ‘I would be delighted, my lady.’
She stifled the voice in her head that urged caution. Tomorrow the announcement would be in all the newspapers, everyone would know that she was going to marry Deforge, but tonight—she closed her eyes. Tonight she would enjoy one last night with Jack before he was lost to her for ever.
Chapter Fifteen
Sitting in the darkened carriage with Eloise in his arms, a quiet, joyous elation swept over Jack. She was his, every instinct told him so. Whatever hold Deforge might have on her they would fight it together. When the carriage pulled up in Dover Street he jumped down and handed her out of the carriage. It was as much as he could do not to sweep her up as if she was a new bride and carry her into the house, but instead he must walk quietly beside her, exchanging idle chit-chat while they handed their cloaks to the butler and she requested refreshments to be fetched. Jack prowled around the drawing room while they waited for the butler to return, knowing that if he came within arms’ reach of Eloise he would have to kiss her. He was almost painfully aroused, his body ached to hold her but he must go slowly, he must remember that she had little experience of love, despite her reputation. He watched her as she stood before the fire, pulling off her gloves. There was a solemn, almost melancholy cast to her countenance.
‘If you want me to leave—’
She glanced up and gave him a fleeting smile.
‘No, truly, I want you here.’ She turned away as Noyes came in and placed a heavy silver tray upon a table.
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