Bath Tangle (28 page)

These flaming words not unnaturally left both the persons to whom they were addressed speechless and shaken. Gerard was red to the roots of his hair, Emily paper-white, and almost cowering in her chair. Mr Goring rose, and went to her, laying a hand on her shoulder. Over her head he spoke to Serena. ‘No more, ma’am, I beg of you! You have said enough! She has indeed behaved ill, but you forget what you yourself have said! – She is the merest child: one, moreover, who is timid, and has felt herself to be alone, and has never known the sympathy and support which girls more fortunately circumstanced than herself enjoy!’

‘Yes!’ burst in Gerard. ‘But when I rescue her, and try to protect her –’

‘If you have the slightest regard for your skin, be silent!’ interrupted Mr Goring, his voice losing some of its deliberate calm. ‘No man who wishes to
protect
an ignorant girl persuades her into taking a step that must expose her to the censure and the contempt of the world!’

The storm vanished from Serena’s face, and she gave an involuntary laugh. ‘You set us all to rights, Mr Goring! There is really no more to be said, and if we are to be in Bath again by dinner-time we should set forward immediately. You need not look so scared, Emily! I shan’t scold you any more – and I hope you will not, because I once lost my temper with you, imagine me to be an ogress!’

‘Oh, no, no!’ Emily stammered. ‘How
could
I? I never meant – I didn’t think –’

‘But you have turned Rotherham into an ogre, have you not?’ Serena said, arching her brows. ‘Come! I think you would do well to wait until you have seen him again before you decide to jilt him, my dear. It may be, you know, that you will find that the picture you have painted is a false one. If he still seems terrible to you, why, then, tell him you wish to cry off!’ She held out her hand, but spoke to Mr Goring. ‘Do you come with us, sir?’

‘I shall ride behind the chaise, ma’am.’

‘Emily!’ exclaimed Gerard. ‘Will you permit yourself to be dragged from my side?’

‘I am so very sorry!’ she said, trembling. ‘Pray forgive me! I didn’t mean to behave so wickedly!’

‘My dear Gerard, if you wish to remain at Emily’s side, you have only to hire a horse!’ said Serena. ‘Then, when Rotherham comes to Bath, you may confront him together.’

‘No, no!’ cried Emily, clutching her arm. ‘Oh, don’t let him! Lord Rotherham and Mama would know what I did, and I couldn’t
bear
it!’

‘If my love means so little to you, go!’ said Gerard nobly. ‘I see that the coronet has won!’

When Major Kirkby rode over the Bridge into Laura Place shortly before three o’clock, he was surprised not to see Fobbing waiting there with Serena’s phaeton, and still more surprised to be informed by Lybster that the Lady Serena had gone off on a picnic expedition. Lady Spenborough, added Lybster, was in the drawing-room, and had desired him to show the Major upstairs. He observed that the Major had hitched his horse’s bridle over the railings, and said that he would send my lady’s footman to take charge of the animal.

He then led the Major upstairs, announced him, and went away, shaking his head. In his view, there was something smoky going on, some undergame of which he could not approve.

Fanny jumped up from the sofa, as the door shut behind Lybster, and moved impulsively towards the Major, exclaiming: ‘Oh, Hector, I am so glad you have come! I am in the most dreadful worry!’

‘My dear, what is it?’ he asked quickly, catching her hands. ‘Fanny, you are trembling! My darling – !’

She gave a gasp, and disengaged her hands, casting an imploring look up at him. ‘Hector – no! You must not – I should not have – ! Oh, my love, –
remember
!’

He walked away to the window, and stood staring out. ‘Yes, I beg your pardon! What has happened to distress you, my dear?’

She blew her nose, and said rather huskily: ‘It’s Serena. She has quite taken leave of her senses, Hector!’

He turned his head. ‘Good heavens, what has she done? Where is she?’

‘That,’ said Fanny distractedly, ‘is what is so agitating, for I don’t know! I mean,
anything
might have happened to her, and if she has not been murdered by footpads, or kidnapped by Mr Goring – for what, after all, do we know of him? she may be halfway to Wolverhampton by this time!’

‘Halfway to
Wolverhampton
?’ he repeated, startled. ‘Fanny, for heaven’s sake – ! Why should Serena go to Wolverhampton? Who is Mr Goring?’

‘Oh, he is Mrs Floore’s godson, or some such thing! I daresay a very worthy young man, but so
very
dull and respectable!’

He could not help laughing. ‘Well, if he is dull and respectable, he will hardly have kidnapped Serena!’

‘No, I don’t suppose it is as bad as that, but what if she
doesn’t
catch them before they reach Gloucester? She can’t ride all night, and there she will be, miles and miles from Bath, and no luggage, but only Mr Goring, and her reputation quite lost! You had better read her letter!’

‘Indeed, I think I had!’ he said.

She dragged it from her reticule, and gave it to him. ‘She says I am to tell you what has happened, so you may as well see just what she says. Hector, I am quite
vexed
with Serena!’

He had unfolded the sheet of paper, and was rapidly running his eyes down it. ‘Emily – Gerard – Gretna Green! Good God! What’s this? Oh, I see! Monksleigh hired the chaise to take him to Wolverhampton. My dear, Serena doesn’t say
she
means to go there!’

‘She is equal to anything!’ said Fanny despairingly.

He went on reading the letter, frowning a little. When he reached the end of it, he folded it, and gave it back to Fanny without a word.

‘What am I to do?’ she asked. ‘What
can
I do?’

‘I don’t think either of us can do anything,’ he replied. ‘If I thought it would be of the least use, I would ride after her, but either she is already on her way back, or she must be far beyond my reach. Fanny, does she
often
do things like this?’

‘Oh, thank goodness, no! In fact, I’ve never before known her to ride off with a strange man – well, the merest acquaintance, at all events! and not even take Fobbing with her! Of course, it is very wrong of Gerard and Emily to elope, but it is not Serena’s business to take care of Emily! And, I must say, if the wretched girl fears that her odious mother will push her into marrying Lord Rotherham unless she runs away with Gerard, I cannot wholly blame her! How Serena can believe that Emily could ever be happy with such a man as Rotherham is something that quite baffles me, Hector!’

‘Do you think that Serena is greatly concerned with Emily’s happiness?’ he asked slowly. ‘It seems to me that it is
Rotherham’s
happiness which interests her.’ He took the letter out of her hand, and unfolded it again. ‘
I can’t and I won’t allow them to serve Ivo such a trick! It is unthinkable that he should be twice jilted, and this time for such a Bartholomew baby as Gerard – a silly boy that is half flash and half foolish, and his own ward besides!
’ He lowered the paper, and looked at Fanny. ‘If you ask me, my love, Emily might have eloped with Serena’s blessing had Rotherham not been in question! Lord, what a tangle!’

She stared up at him. ‘But, Hector, it isn’t possible! She told me months before she met you again that she had only once cared for anyone, and that it was you! And when you met – oh, Hector, you cannot doubt that she was in love with you again on that instant!’

He said ruefully: ‘I did not doubt it any more than I doubted my own feelings, Fanny.’

‘Hector, I am persuaded you are mistaken! She
could
not love Rotherham! As for him, I have never seen a sign that he regretted the breaking of the engagement: indeed, far otherwise! He doesn’t care the snap of his fingers for her – well, has he not shown that he doesn’t, if we had needed showing? He has no tenderness for her, not even solicitude! He –’

‘Do you think that Serena desires to be treated with solicitude, Fanny?’ he asked. ‘It has sometimes seemed to me that nothing vexes her more.’

‘Oh, no, no!’ she protested. ‘Not
vexes
her! She doesn’t like one to
cosset
her, but –’ She stopped uncertainly. ‘Well, perhaps – But Rotherham does not even admire her beauty! Do you recall what he said when he dined here, and she was looking quite ravishing? He said she looked like a magpie and that is precisely the sort of thing he always does say to her! Indeed, I am sure you are refining too much upon what she has written in that letter! Though she does not regret it, I believe she thinks that she didn’t use him well, which is why she must feel it so particularly, now that it seems as though he will be jilted a second time. For, of course, it
was
quite shocking to have cried off almost at the last moment. I can’t think how she had the courage to do it!’

‘She doesn’t lack courage, Fanny,’ he replied. He glanced at Serena’s letter again, and then laid it down on the table at Fanny’s elbow. ‘I suppose she will bring that foolish girl back. If they outwit her – I wonder? But they won’t! To own the truth, I can’t imagine her being outwitted by anyone!’ He sighed faintly, but said with determined cheerfulness: ‘There is nothing to be done, my dear. We can only trust to this man, Goring, to take care of her. I had better leave you. If she returns in time for dinner, as she promises, will you send me word by your footman? If she does not –’

‘If she does not,’ said Fanny resolutely, ‘I shall set out myself!’

‘Fanny, Fanny!’ he said, half laughing. ‘No, my darling, you will not!’

‘I must!’ said Fanny tragically. ‘It is my duty, Hector! I know I shan’t find Serena, but as long as I am not in this house, I can
prevaricate
, and say I was with her! And I beg of you, Hector, don’t leave me here alone! I
know
Lord Rotherham will come here, and even when there is
nothing
on my conscience he puts me in a flutter! He will fix his eyes on my face, and ask me the most stabbing questions, and I shall betray all!’

‘But, Fanny – !’

‘Don’t –
don’t
, I implore you, say that I have only to decide what I shall tell him!’ Fanny begged. ‘You must know that I am not at all clever, and when Rotherham bends that
look
upon me I become utterly bird-witted! Hector, I cannot be your wife, but I shall be your mother-in-law, and you
cannot
leave me to Rotherham’s mercy!’

He dropped on his knees beside her chair, gathering her hands in his, and kissing them again and again. ‘Fanny, Fanny, don’t!’ he said unsteadily. ‘If you look at me like that, how can I – ? Dearest, most foolish Fanny, there is no reason to think Rotherham will come to Bath today! I ought not to remain! Besides, I can’t keep your footman walking my horse up and down outside for the rest of the day!’

‘Tell John to take him back to the stables!’ she urged him. ‘Pray, love, don’t take away your support! If I must remain alone here, wondering what has become of Serena, and thinking every knock on the door to be Rotherham’s, my senses will become wholly disordered!’

He was not proof against such an appeal. He thought it not very likely that Rotherham would arrive in Bath that day, but he remained with Fanny, with a backgammon-board as chaperon.

And Fanny was quite right. Not very long after five o’clock, Lybster opened the drawing room door, and announced Lord Rotherham.

Fanny was taken by surprise, neither she nor the Major having heard a knock on the street-door. She had just lifted a pile of backgammon pieces, and she gave such a violent start that she dropped them, and they went rolling over the floor in several directions. The Major met her agonized look with a reassuring smile, and was near to bursting into laughter, so comical was her expression of dismay.

Rotherham, pausing halfway across the room, glanced keenly from one to the other of them, bent to pick up a piece that had come to rest against his foot, and said: ‘How do you do? I am afraid I have startled you, Lady Spenborough!’

‘No – oh, no!’ Fanny said, blushing, and rising to her feet. ‘That is, yes! I wasn’t expecting to see you! Oh, pray don’t trouble about those stupid pieces!’

He dropped three of them on to the board, and shook hands. ‘I understand Serena is out,’ he said, turning to offer his hand to the Major. ‘When does she return?’

The look Fanny cast at the Major was eloquent.
I told you so!
said her eyes. He came at once to the rescue. ‘It would be a bold man who would dare to prophesy!’ he said smilingly. ‘She has gone off on an expedition, with a party of her friends, and there’s no saying when they will get back to Bath.’

‘Where has she gone to?’

To Fanny’s deep admiration, the Major replied without hesitation: ‘I believe there was some notion of trying to get as far as to the Wookey Hole.’

‘I wonder you let her.’

This remark, though it sounded more of a comment than a criticism, shook the Major slightly. Fanny sprang loyally into the breach. ‘She will be sorry to have missed you. What a pity you did not advise us of your coming to Bath!’

‘Oh, she won’t miss me!’ said Rotherham. ‘I’ll wait for her – if I shall not be in your way?’

‘No, no, not at all!’ said Fanny, in a hollow voice. ‘Pray, won’t you sit down?’

‘Thank you.’ He chose a chair opposite to the sofa. ‘Don’t let me interrupt your game!’

‘We had just finished. Do you – do you make a long stay in Bath?’

‘I can’t tell. Has Miss Laleham also gone to the Wookey Hole?’

‘I don’t know – that is, I forget whether – Oh, I expect she has!’ said Fanny, feeling herself being driven into a corner. She knew that that unnerving gaze was fixed on her, and began with slightly trembling hands to put the backgammon pieces into their box.

‘By the by, has my eldest ward been seen in Bath?’ asked Rotherham abruptly.

The Major was just in time to catch one of the pieces which, slipping from between Fanny’s fingers, rolled across the board to the edge. ‘Oh, thank you! So clumsy! G-Gerard, Lord Rotherham?
I
haven’t seen him. Did you expect to find him here?’

‘I wasn’t sure. That’s why I asked you.’

Fanny found herself obliged to look up, and was lost. The compelling eyes held hers, but they were not frowning, she noticed. A rather mocking smile lurked in them. ‘I accept without question that you haven’t seen him, Lady Spenborough. Has anyone?’

‘Are you talking of a boy called Monksleigh?’ interposed the Major. ‘Yes, I’ve seen him. Serena introduced him to me. He said he was staying with friends outside the town.’

‘He lied, then. Has he too gone to the Wookey Hole?’

‘No, indeed he hasn’t!’ Fanny said quickly. ‘He – he has left Bath, I believe!’

‘Oh, my God, why did I never thrust some jumping powder down his throat while there was still time to cure him of cowheartedness?’ exclaimed Rotherham, in accents of extreme exasperation. He got up abruptly. ‘He heard I was coming, and fled, did he? I wish you will stop fencing with me, Lady Spenborough! Sooner or later I am bound to discover what has been going on here, and I’d as lief it was sooner! I’ve already been refused admittance in Beaufort Square, where I learned that Miss Laleham will not be in until late this evening, that Mrs Floore is out, visiting friends, and that Lady Laleham is expected in Bath this afternoon. Now I find that Serena too is not expected back until late, and that that ward of mine has taken himself off in a hurry, which makes nonsense of the whole! Having had the spirit to come here, why the devil couldn’t he –’ He stopped suddenly, his brows snapping together: ‘Good God, did she send him packing?’

Fanny cast another of her imploring looks at the Major, but he too had risen, and his eyes were on Rotherham’s face. ‘Am I to understand that you knew young Monksleigh to be in love with Miss Laleham?’ he asked bluntly.

‘Knew it?’ Rotherham gave a short laugh, and strode over to the window. ‘What can one
know
of a bag of wind? He enacted me a ranting tragedy, but as to discovering whether there is one grain of sincerity amongst the fustian, you might as well try to milk a pigeon! Just playing off his tricks, was he?’ He shrugged. ‘I should have guessed it!’

‘No,’ said the Major deliberately. ‘Far from it!’

‘
Hector!
’ The cry was startled out of Fanny.

Rotherham swung round. One swift glance at Fanny’s horrified face, and his eyes went to the Major’s, in a hard, questioning stare. ‘Well? Out with it!’

Fanny sprang up, with a rustle of silken skirts, and clasped her hands about the Major’s arm. ‘Hector, you must not! Oh, pray – !’