Deadly Engagement: A Georgian Historical Mystery (Alec Halsey Crimance) (21 page)

“How old are you, child?” asked Sir John, lifting Emily’s chin to look in her gray eyes.

“Eighteen. Why do you want to see me, Sir John? You came to see Grandmamma—”

Sir John smiled. “I have seen her Grace and she is very well considering the strain she has been under of late. And now I am here to see you, my dear.”

“Did Grandmamma ask for you to see me?”

“Emily, darling, you should be grateful Sir John has found the time to call on you. He is a distinguished physician who is much sought after.”

“You are too kind, my lady. Open your mouth, child, so that I may see your tongue.”

“Emily, do as you’re bid!” Lady Charlotte snapped, her control at an end.

“There—There is nothing the matter with my tongue,” Emily stammered, taking a step back, panic welling up within her.

“Forgive her, Sir John. She has been under tremendous strain. What with her engagement and preparations for the Fireworks ball, not to mention last night...”

Emily blushed. “Don’t remind me of-of
that
. It’s something I wish to forget.”

“So do we all,” retorted Lady Charlotte. “But it is something that cannot be ignored. So, please do as you are asked. It will mean less fuss and be much easier for you—”

“What-What do you want of me?” Emily asked, looking from her aunt to Sir John and back again.

“To ask you a few questions, child,” Sir John said soothingly and again turned Emily’s chin toward him. He took out his gold pocket watch and with two fat fingers pressed to her neck studied its oyster shell face. Emily suffered this ministration but when the physician put his pocket watch away she stepped back from him. He gave a sigh and looked to Lady Charlotte. “You said something about a maid, my lady?” And to Emily, “My dear child, I am here to help you. You have suffered a brutal attack and thus need to be seen by a physician such as myself. Your aunt is only concerned for your wellbeing; as is your intended husband. I have met the Earl of Delvin and find him to be a young man of superior manners and address. You are very fortunate indeed to be so honored. Won’t you sit here and we shall talk a moment? Just we two.” He held out a chair and gave Lady Charlotte a knowing look that sent her in search of her sister.

Emily hesitated then sat on the very edge of the chair. With her aunt gone she felt less settled but was relieved to see the sitting room door had been left ajar. Sir John went back to stand by the window, the light behind him leaving his face in shadow.

“You know I am a physician, child. You know I attend on your grandmother. Amongst society I have many female patients. I have attended the Queen at one of her lying-ins. What I am trying to say is this: you needn’t fear me, or be embarrassed, or uncomfortable in my presence. I am here to help you, and what is said between us goes no further. Do you understand me, child?”

“I am perfectly well, Sir John. I just wish to forget about last night.”

“That is understandable. But tell me: Do you have any bruising on your body?”

Emily blinked.

“Do you feel in any pain?”

“My foot. I hit my foot on the curio cabinet.”

“Anywhere else? The tops of your legs, perhaps?”

“Tops of my legs? N-no.”

“No pain between your thighs? No pain in your belly?”

“Belly? He—he pushed down on me and his weight was uncomfortable but it wasn’t painful.”

“Did he lift your petticoats?”

Emily’s face burned brick red and she averted her eyes.

“Did you feel his hands—”

“His hands?”

“Did he put his hands up your petticoats?”

“Yes—No! He tried but I—”

“My child, do you know how it is when a husband lays with his wife?”

Emily blinked. Then she understood and blanched.

Sir John took out his snuffbox. “Answer the question, my dear.”

Emily stood on shaking legs. “That has nothing to do—to do with last night!”

“My child, it has everything to do with it,” Sir John said calmly. “Girls of your birth and breeding are raised very carefully. It is only proper and natural you are kept ignorant of—er—certain facts until you are married. My dear child, you may have been raped and not know it. Believe me, it has happened before, and to girls younger than yourself.”

“That did not happen to me, Sir John,” Emily answered on the verge of tears. “I—I may be—be ignorant, but I am not-not
witless
. If you must know, I’ve seen a horse mount a mare and it wasn’t like that!”

“Emily,” gasped Lady Charlotte, catching the last of this halting speech as she swept back into the room, Lady Sybilla and her maid in tow.

Sir John’s fat cheeks were a brilliant pink and he collected himself only by turning to the window.

“Emily! How dare you talk in such a common fashion! You will most certainly give Sir John the wrong impression. Forgive her, Sir John. She is naturally high-spirited and has been known on occasion to say things just to shock and embarrass. A lamentable trait I fear she acquired associating with Mamma’s godson, a mere clerk in the Foreign Department whose habits are Continental in the worst way imaginable.”

“I—I don’t know anything about his conduct on the Continent but Alec has always been kind and gentle and like a brother to me. I don’t—”

“Be quiet!” demanded Lady Charlotte, and squeezed Emily’s wrist so hard she cried out. “You will do as you are told,” she whispered fiercely. “You are making a fool, not only of yourself, but of
us
. I won’t stand for it! How can you expect to act the part of a Countess when you can’t act like a well-bred young lady?”

“I want to speak with Grandmamma,” Emily demanded, pulling free and rubbing her wrist. “I want to see Edward!”

Lady Sybilla made a noise between a sob and a laugh. Lady Charlotte glared at her, then at Emily.

“Listen to me, you little fool,” Lady Charlotte hissed, regaining possession of Emily’s reddened wrist. “Four hundred people are coming here tonight to celebrate your engagement with a magnificent fireworks ball. Everything is arranged. But if you don’t allow Sir John to examine you Lord Delvin may very well call the whole thing off! Do you understand me?”

Emily did not understand at all. “Call what off? The—
the ball
? But why? He can’t think me so poorly—”

Sir John coughed politely. “My lady, perhaps the child needs more time to—”

“Nonsense. There isn’t time! Besides, it’s not her place to decide,” Lady Charlotte said haughtily. “She’s distraught. She may even have a fever. The shock of last night has addled her brain. She isn’t herself. Be patient with her and I know—”

“I want to see Grandmamma!” Emily demanded, breaking free and trying the bedchamber door and finding it locked. When she made for the sitting room Lady Charlotte barred her way. “You can’t make me stay here! I want to see Edward! I want him to tell me this is what
he
wants.”

Lady Charlotte slapped her face.

“Excuse us a moment, Sir John,” she said politely, and while Emily was still in shock from the stinging blow to her cheek, dragged her into the sitting room. “How
dare
you humiliate me in this way, you little witch! Now be still and listen to me! Oh, do shut up, Sybilla! If you must cry, for God’s sake do it elsewhere.”

“I won’t leave Emily,” sobbed her sister. “I won’t!”

“Please, Aunt Sybilla, don’t cry,” Emily pleaded. She tried to pull away from Lady Charlotte. “Let go of me! You can’t make me!”

“If you don’t go through with this it will be the end of your hopes of being Countess of Delvin. He expects a virgin on his wedding night and a virgin you will be! That’s why Sir John is here, you little fool. We can’t afford another family scandal, but if you refuse to allow Sir John to examine you it can only mean one thing: You permitted a man into your bed last night.”

Tears spilled onto Emily’s flushed cheeks. “How can you accuse me of being so horridly wicked?”

“Because that’s what others will think if you don’t allow Sir John to examine you! That’s what Lord Delvin will think!”

Emily attempted a moment of bravado. “Edward would never believe me capable of such wanton behavior! He loves me.”

“Loves you?” Lady Charlotte said with an hysterical laugh. “With thirty thousand pounds on your head I imagine any man could love you.”

“Thirty thousand pounds?”

“Your dowry, little idiot. Enough money to catch a respectable husband. Enough money to wipe away the stain of your birth.”

“But Grandmamma permitted me to choose.”

“With thirty thousand pounds Mamma wasn’t about to let you marry anything less than a title,” Lady Charlotte stated contemptuously. “Certainly not throw yourself away on Delvin’s nobody of a brother.”

“Alec? He’s never once said he wanted to marry me.”

Lady Charlotte laughed shrilly. “You little fool!
Marry you
? Of course he never meant to marry you. Men of his stamp don’t marry. But seduce you, ruin you, oh yes, that I can well believe!”

Emily looked at the Lady Sybilla with wide curiosity. “Is Alec truly like that, Aunt Sybilla? Is he?”

Before Sybilla could reply her sister said harshly, “Alec Halsey ruined Selina Jamison-Lewis’ chances of a happy marriage when he seduced her in the wood and, for all we know, it was he who forced himself on you last night!”

Lady Sybilla burst into tears. “Charlotte! How can you make such vile accusations about a man who—”

“Because Emily has a right to the truth about Alec Halsey, particularly when his own brother considers him a moral abomination.” Lady Charlotte pulled Emily to her and whispered in her face. “Your marriage to the Earl of Delvin means a great deal to Mamma. It will right all your mother’s wrongs. But if you want to break Mamma’s heart, just as your mother did before you, then I am only too willing to send Sir John back to London.” She pushed Emily off, an ugly twisted line to her white mouth. “It is your choice not to go through with the examination,” she stated in a bloodless voice. “No one will blame Lord Delvin when he steps back from this engagement. But where will that leave you? No one wants tainted milk. No one will want you. Mamma’s heart will break, but at least her eyes will be open to the horrible truth: that her beloved granddaughter is the image of her disgraced daughter. What a pity. And what a waste of Mamma’s careful nurturing.” She turned away in a swish of stiff silk petticoats. “Come, Sybilla. We must make our apologies to Sir John…”

Emily opened her mouth to speak but not a word issued forth. She felt suddenly hot and close and yet at the same time cold and light-headed. Her head throbbed at the temples. She pressed her palms to her cheeks and shut her eyes because the room had begun to spin about her. She wished she knew what she should do. She wished her grandmother was with her. She wished she was anywhere but here. Suddenly, she felt her knees buckle and everything went dark, as if she had closed her eyes, although she knew she was staring wide eyed at her sobbing aunt. Then, all at once, she crumpled to the floor in a heap of billowing petticoats, her ears ringing with Lady Sybilla’s screams.

When Emily opened her eyes she was on Lady Sybilla’s bed. The pleated silk canopy above her began to spin again. She shut tight her eyes. She felt listless and miserable. She wanted nothing more than to curl up under the soft coverlet and hope the nightmare would pass. There were whispered voices on both sides of her. A cool hand touched her forehead, then her neck, and stayed there a moment longer than she considered necessary so she pushed it off. The scent of a familiar perfume made her nose twitch.

“Drink this, dearest,” Lady Sybilla said soothingly, smoothing the damp blonde hair off the girl’s forehead. To someone across the bed she said, “You can see she isn’t well enough to—”

“Sir John has been more than patient.”

“Charlotte! You still can’t mean to go through with this!
Please
.”

“Certainly. We must.”

“Oh, no, Charlotte!
No
.”

Emily clutched at Lady Sybilla’s hand. “It’s all right, Aunt Sybilla.”

“You’re not well, dearest. You can’t know what they mean to do.”

“Yes, I do know,” Emily answered lamely. “I’ve done nothing wrong. I’m not afraid.”

“See, Sybilla. Emily is a sensible girl after all.”

“Stay with me, Aunt Sybilla.”

Lady Sybilla couldn’t look at her. “Charlotte would be better than I.”

“I won’t have anyone but you.”

“Do as she wants,” commanded Lady Charlotte and left the bed to consult with Sir John who was removing the lace bands at his wrists. “Thank you for being so patient. I hardly expected her to be this difficult.”

“Do not upset yourself, my lady. She is not the most difficult female I have attended on. The child is young and spirited, and it is only natural for her to be a little frightened.”

Lady Charlotte smiled thinly. “You are all kindness and understanding.”

Half an hour later Lady Charlotte came sailing down the main staircase in search of the Earl of Delvin and found herself caught up in an early arrival for the Fireworks ball.

An old gentleman with grizzled hair, a servant at his back leading two greyhounds, was being greeted by the Duchess of Romney-St. Neots, while footmen carried portmanteaux into the wide marble foyer. A younger gentleman in a scarlet frock with silver lacings and carrying an amber headed cane came in behind the bag-carrying footmen and waited to be noticed, looking nervously about and up at the gold leaf and painted blue domed ceiling.