A Little Deception (25 page)

Despite her aversion, Rose had no choice but to accept his
offer, and several minutes later Geoffrey led her on to the floor as the
orchestra began to play. Almost at once she noticed her husband on the other
side of the room. She had not expected him at Lady Jeffrey’s ball. She faltered
and immediately Geoffrey was all solicitousness.

‘Are you well, Lady Rampton?’ he asked, pausing while she
regained her balance and her composure.

He would think she had had too much to drink.

But she had not had enough. Certainly not enough to dull the
pain of the memory of parting from Rampton the previous night on such poor
terms. He’d not been at breakfast this morning and when they’d crossed paths
earlier this afternoon he’d told her, curtly, he’d be dining at his club.

She’d tried to tell him she was sorry for clashing with him
but he’d simply bowed and said he was sorrier that she believed she’d married
such an unreasonable man.

Now her misery, which she’d been unable to chase away with
champagne, was made all the more excruciating as she watched him lead another
woman on to the dance floor.

When she saw who the woman was she averted her head quickly,
and in the process gripped Geoffrey a little more tightly than she meant to.
She had no desire to meet Lady Barbery face to face.

‘It’s all right, I’ll hold you,’ Geoffrey murmured. ‘I know
how quickly the bubbles in champagne go to one’s head.’ The words sounded
frighteningly intimate as his breath tickled her ear. Rose tried to pull away,
apologizing as she trod on his foot.

‘Relax, my dear Lady Rampton, and I’ll steer you in the
right direction.’

Again Rose tried to push him away but the champagne must
have made greater inroads into her coordination than she had thought. She
stumbled again and this time he had to clasp her tightly to him to prevent her
from sprawling across the floor.

She gasped and flushed as he laughed, ‘I beg your pardon,
madam. Pray, I am not trying to take liberties, I assure you.’

‘No – of course not … I’m being very foolish, I
realize,’ she managed to say as he executed a few more surprisingly graceful
turns with her around the room.

‘Not at all,’ he murmured, reassuringly.

She found that if she just relaxed and let him hold her then
she was coordinated enough not to make too much of a fool of herself and thus
become the focus of critical attention.

Soon Geoffrey was leading her off the dance floor, his arm
about her waist.

He murmured in her ear, ‘Lady Rampton, permit me to escort
you home.’

Rose pulled away from him, but he clasped her all the more
tightly as Helena swept up to them, saying, ‘You must go with him, Rose.
There’s no need to worry about appearances. He’s your neighbour and Rampton’s
friend.’ She tucked a straggling curl behind Rose’s ear. ‘I think you should go
with Geoffrey now … unless you wish to continue making a fool of yourself.’

‘I think I should see my husband,’ she protested weakly, but
Helena merely steered her, with Geoffrey, towards the door saying, ‘You are
hardly in a fit state to speak to your husband – believe me.’

***

With Rose taken care of for the meantime, Helena was ready
to tackle Charles, fixing a smile upon her face as she turned at the sound of
his concerned voice, and reassuring him, ‘My dear, Rose is in perfectly good
hands. You know that Rampton and Mr Albright are neighbours and boyhood
friends. It’s hardly as if Rose will be accused of cuckolding her husband
within a month of snatching London’s more desirable catch from beneath the
noses of every designing debutante.’

She leaned into him, skimming his cheek with a fleeting
caress before gaily suggesting he might lead her onto the dance floor.

Charles’s concerns evaporated upon the instant, as she knew
they would. Charles was so very easy to manage. And so was Oswald, she decided,
smiling across at the scowling boy she condescendingly called her little
step-brother. Oh yes, he was mad for her but he’d do her bidding. All she had
to do was crook her little finger.

It was Rose who posed the greatest problem, Helena decided
as she pondered her means of achieving the happiness she deserved. She forced
herself to sink deeper into Charles’s embrace on the dance floor. He could
refuse her nothing – and would refrain from asking difficult questions
– if she was sweet and plaint with him.

Yes, all Helena wanted was the same degree of happiness Rose
had gained through Helena’s machinations. And, later, as she twined herself in
Geoffrey’s arms while he rained passionate kisses upon her in a small
antechamber they’d discovered once he’d returned, Helena was even more
determined upon it.

***

With a headache fit to split like an overripe melon Rose was
in no mood for Helena’s excessive good cheer the following morning.

Nor for her suggestion for riding in Rotten Row.

‘Arabella is very keen to be seen, you know, and she has
made an assignation with her young man.’ She looked at Rose meaningfully. ‘You
don’t want to be accused of nipping that little romance in the bud. It would be
a fine catch.’

At that moment Arabella appeared on the threshold looking
exceptionally modish in a rust-coloured riding-habit and a dashing hat adorned
with a single curling feather.

‘I’ve no intention of nipping any little romance in the bud,
but don’t expect me to accompany you,’ said Rose, cradling her head in her arms
with eyes closed as she sagged into the corner of the chaise longue.

‘Oh Rose, darling Rose, does that mean you’ll agree…? I
mean, that you’ll make sure Charles will agree?’ With a whoop of joy Arabella
swooped upon her sister and began showering her with childish kisses. ‘Why, he
was so cast down telling me that he was sure it was no good even offering,
because of some silly argument he and Rampton once had—’ She broke off,
blushing at the realization they were no longer alone.

‘Helena and I were just leaving,’ she said, hurriedly, as
they went out through the door Rampton had just entered.

‘I have the most ghastly head, Rampton,’ Rose muttered,
feeling at a distinct disadvantage as she found herself staring once more at
the stern face of her husband. His look was inscrutable. One thing was for
certain; his mood was not any gentler than it had been when they’d last parted.
Rose’s dulled wits tried reassemble themselves. Eventually she gave up. It was
painful even to focus. She closed her eyes and asked, ‘Sorry, Rampton –
did you ask a question?’

Rampton sighed and looked disapproving as he folded his arms
and leaned against the mantelpiece. ‘My dear, I have no objection to you
enjoying yourself. However, would it be too much to ask that you comport
yourself with the decorum your position demands?’

He was still smarting at the image of his lovely wife in the
arms of no less a vagabond than his erstwhile schoolfellow Geoffrey Albright.
If he had not had Catherine whining in his ear as he’d watched Geoffrey lead
his wife outside, presumably to escort her home in her carriage, he would have
flung down the gauntlet. Of course there was nothing scandalous, nor even
improper in his wife being alone with their close neighbour. But Rampton did
not like it one bit.

Rose glared at him. How dare he speak to her like that? ‘I
had one glass of champagne too many,’ she said, in clipped tones, adding with
heavy sarcasm, ‘Pray forgive me.’

Ignoring her, he asked, ‘And what is it that Arabella fears
I may not agree to? The moment she realized I might have overheard her she
scuttled out of the room like a frightened rabbit. It was most unlike her.’

Rose twiddled with the tassel on the cushion. She had been
unsure how Rampton would take the news and realized she had been somewhat
compromised by her sister this morning. Her wits had not been responding as
sharply as they should.

‘Arabella is very much in love, and apparently the object of
her affections approached her last night to ask if she would object if he
applied to Charles for her hand.’

Rampton raised his eyebrows superciliously and Rose’s heart
sank. She could tell he already suspected who it was and that he was not happy.

‘So Yarrowby has come back, just as I predicted, now that
there’s a handsome dowry in the offing?’

‘Apparently his uncle was very ill and he had no time to
leave a message, and then his cousin from France was over and he was required
to dance attendance on her …’ Rose realized that she didn’t sound very
convincing. She finished angrily, ‘Rampton, you have given me no good reason to
warn her off Yarrowby. You say he’s a brute but you’ve hardly behaved like a
gentleman in this matter, either. Arabella is very much in love. It will break
her heart—’

‘He’ll do worse than that.’

Rose sat up straight and glared at him. ‘You’re so
unforgiving! What happened between you was years ago. Why, it’s a great
opportunity for Arabella … and Arabella’s sweet nature will tame him, if that’s
your concern. Besides, it’s not for you to give or withhold your consent.’ She
took a deep breath, ready to field his anger.
 

Instead, he looked at her strangely. ‘My dear, I had not
realized quite how ambitious you really were.’

‘A fine marriage for Arabella will set her up for life.’

‘And bring her untold misery for the rest of it. Do you wish
that for her?’

‘You don’t know that!’

Quietly Rampton set down the tinder box he had been toying
with and looked at his wife through narrowed eyes. ‘Yarrowby is an inveterate
philanderer. He only wants Arabella because she’s an ingenuous debutante with a
pretty face who won’t make a scene when he strays – and who now suddenly
has a respectable fortune to tide him over when the cards don’t go his way.’

Rose closed her eyes, haunted by the image of Arabella
pleading with her to say a good word to Charles on Yarrowby’s behalf. Rampton
called him a philanderer but her investigations suggested that Rampton had had
more mistresses than Yarrowby.

‘Do you think he’d offer if she had nothing in the way of
dowry?’ Rampton went on.

Rose bridled. ‘So now you’re suggesting that if Lord
Yarrowby’s suit is accepted I’ll be responsible for delivering my own sister to
the wolves, since I’m the one providing the dowry.’

‘In effect, yes.’

‘Yarrowby’s quarrel with you was a long time ago. I’m sure
he’s changed … grown up.’ Rose persisted with her argument, more out of pique
at her husband’s dogged disapproval than anything else.

‘Men such as Yarrowby don’t change just because they marry a
good woman … or because they’ve grown up.’ Rampton put down the box and took a
few steps. ‘You’ll be doing Arabella no favours if you allow this match to go
ahead.’

Rose sighed. She wished her head would stop throbbing so
that she could form coherent thought and discuss this properly with Rampton.
All she was conscious of just now was that he was being unreasonably obstinate
and taking the matter personally.

‘Rose.’ The tone of his voice made her raise her head to
look at him. His beautiful blue eyes kindled with anger. ‘For once, just trust
me.’ He paused. ‘It will be a marriage made in hell. Believe me, I know what
I’m talking about.’

Rose opened her mouth to speak but Rampton shook his head.
‘If you trust me, Rose, you’ll make sure this marriage does not go ahead.’

When Arabella rushed into her bedchamber later that day,
dragging aside the thick curtains and letting in the offensive summer glare
whilst declaring in effervescent tones, ‘Oh, Rose, I had the most marvellous
morning,’ Rose had not the heart to check her high spirits.

‘I’m so pleased to hear it, dearest,’ she said, dragging
herself up to rest against the pillows. Her headache should have long since
abated but her exchange with Rampton had done nothing to hasten her recovery.
The image of his smouldering eyes and his warning regarding the purgatory of an
unhappy marriage were not the sort of thing to send one into an easy sleep.

Now Arabella was babbling on about Yarrowby and how he
intended to call on Charles the following morning, and had Rose had a chance to
speak to their brother?

‘Not yet.’

‘You don’t think there’ll be any difficulty, do you?’
Arabella settled herself on the end of the bed, her look so troubled that Rose
couldn’t help but say reassuringly, ‘No, dear,’ before adding dutifully, ‘but
we do want to make sure that Lord Yarrowby is the kind of man who would make
you happy. I mean …’ She hesitated, before adding, ‘I mean, he has only become
so attached of late since … since—’

‘Oh Rose, you’re not going to suggest he’s a fortune hunter
are you?’ Arabella’s laugh was light with relief. ‘Why, Yarrowby was afraid
that others might accuse him so. But that’s not the reason he’s returned, at
all. You remember how attentive he was at the beginning of the season? And then
his uncle was so ill and he thought his sister had delivered his letter,
only—’

‘Yes, yes, I know,’ Rose interrupted. She ran the back of
her hand across her eyes, swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood
rather shakily. ‘I’m sure you’re right, dear. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll just
call Beth to help me ready myself for this evening.’