Lady Sabrina’s Secret (4 page)

Deborah's heart sank, for if the disagreeable duke lived so close, then the possibility of encountering him again was 
greater than she would have wished. Putting the duke from her mind, she accompanied Sanders out of the dark night and into the warm, brightly lit entrance hall of the house.

Like many fashionable homes across the land, the Masterson house in Royal Crescent was decorated to resemble the classical architecture of Rome and Greece. The scarcity of marble in England was compensated for by clever and innovative skill with paint and brush, with the result that the walls of the entrance hall appeared to be sheathed in the finest yellow Sienna marble. The floor was flagged with stone, and beyond a graceful white archway there rose a curving staircase. The doors to the basement kitchens and other offices lay out of sight beyond the
archway
, but closer to were the pedimented white doors of the drawing room and dining room, and everything was
illuminated
by three patented glass-sided lamps suspended from the decorated ceiling.

Deborah had hardly entered when the drawing room door opened and Mrs Morag McNeil hastened out. Jenny's aunt was a plump, warm person, with the sort of open countenance that always inspired liking and trust. She had soft hazel eyes and a flawless pink-and-white complexion, and her hair, once a rich brown, was now lavishly powdered to make it a becoming and uniform white. She
wore a dove gray taffeta gown and a muslin day bonnet from which lace tippets fluttered as she hurried to greet her guest.

‘Deborah, my dear, how delighted I am to see you again at long last, but how sad I am at the circumstances.' She spoke with a soft Edinburgh accent, and everything in her manner told of the mixture of pleasure and regret she felt.

Deborah smiled and accepted the older woman's extended hands. ‘It's good to see you too, Mrs McNeil.'

‘Come, we will adjourn directly to the fireside, for we have much to discuss and plan.'

‘Plan?'

‘Why, yes, for our task is quite clear; we are to clear dear Richard's name, and to do that we must devise a suitable stratagem. Come.'

Sanders quickly relieved Deborah of her outdoor clothes, and then she followed Mrs McNeil into the drawing room, leaving Amy and the butler to oversee the two footmen unloading the carriage.

There was rose-pink brocade on the drawing room walls, and a welcoming fire flickered in the hearth of the white marble fireplace. It was an elegant room, with ruched silver silk curtains at the windows that faced over the road toward Crescent Fields. The furniture was upholstered in a rich gray figured velvet, and a glittering chandelier cast a warm light, its droplets flashing now and then in the rising heat from the fire.

Mrs McNeil ushered Deborah to a comfortable chair close to the hearth, and when they were both seated, she launched immediately into the matter of what had befallen Richard.

‘This whole business is monstrous, of course, for Richard
would never perpetrate such a crime, and he certainly wouldn't conduct a liaison with anyone in order to do so. The mere suggestion of an affair of any kind with Lady Ann Appleby is quite ludicrous, for not only is she far too proper and straitlaced for that, but she appears to virtually shun the opposite sex, and her name has certainly never been linked with anyone until now. And it isn't as if she isn't eligible, for as the Earl of Harandon's only daughter, she stands to inherit everything, but she has never married. I am sure that when she passes on, they will find ‘confirmed spinster' written on her heart. So, you will agree, she is a very unlikely target for any rogue, and least of all for someone as honorable as your brother. Besides, you know his taste; it inclines to delicate little blondes who gaze adoringly at him and make him feel masterful, and Lady Ann is anything but such a creature. She is very strict and conventional, and in looks takes after her Spanish mother, with olive skin, very dark eyes, and straight black hair she wears drawn back in a very tight knot, the better to show off her fine cheek bones. Her constitution isn't very strong, and she is in Bath for the cure. Every day she is to be found in the Pump Room, taking the regulation three glasses of liquid sulphur and iron filings, and she is only ever with a group of other similarly inclined ladies,
including
me from time to time. The state of her health has been her sole topic of conversation recently, and her physician's word is taken as gospel.' Mrs McNeil sighed. ‘I once regarded her with considerable affection, but I cannot do that now that she has lent her name to this evil design. I haven't spoken to her since it all came to light and poor Richard was forced to flee in order to escape unfair arrest.' Mrs McNeil looked regretfully at Deborah. ‘My dear, he
didn't do his cause any favors by taking flight, indeed in many eyes such action merely served to confirm his guilt.'

Deborah nodded. ‘I can well imagine.'

‘And to think that we knew nothing at all of what was happening. Jenny, Henry, and I had all been to Sydney Gardens to watch a fireworks display, and we returned to the house to be informed by Sanders that Richard and his man had simply packed and left. There was no
explanation
, merely a verbal apology and an assurance that he was innocent of any misdeeds of which he might be accused. Well, we were shocked, of course, and we became even more shocked when the story began to unravel.' Mrs McNeil sat back in her chair, shaking her head. ‘Richard would never pay court to any woman in order to steal her jewels, and as to supposedly hiding the stolen item in his carriage! Well, it beggars belief. Sir James Uppingham is a toad of the highest order for saying that he'd seen the
necklace
there. Not only that, he said he'd witnessed Richard endeavoring to keep the necklace concealed! He and Lady Ann are in it together, I'd stake my reputation upon it, and you and I have to get to the bottom of it and expose them for the criminals they are.'

Deborah had to smile a little at the other's vehemence. ‘That will not be easy.'

‘No, especially as I have cut them both since this happened. Still, I am certain that my acting talents extend to pretending that I have undergone a change of heart. Yes, I'm quite certain I could carry that off, indeed I would do anything necessary to bring the real culprits to justice.'

‘I see that you are still as spirited as ever, Mrs McNeil.'

‘Oh, indeed, yes, especially when my sense of outrage is aroused, as it is now.

Deborah thought for a moment, and then looked at her again. ‘How well acquainted are Lady Ann and my brother?'

‘Oh, they have only been on nodding terms, I'd stake my reputation upon it. There is absolutely no foundation at all for all this gossip about a liaison, except that Lady Ann herself is declining to either confirm or deny it, which, of course, fuels speculation. They didn't know each other at all until I introduced them about a month ago when Richard first arrived in Bath.'

‘That's another thing. Why did he come here? When I last saw him he gave me the impression that he would be spending the entire spring at his lodgings in London.'

‘I don't know why he came, my dear. He just arrived, and of course we put him up, as usual.'

‘Perhaps he was in pursuit of a fair lady,' Deborah murmured, thinking of the mysterious Sabrina.

‘I would guess that the very opposite was the case,' Mrs McNeil replied. ‘In fact, it seems highly probable to me that he left London to come here so that he could
forget
a fair lady.'

‘Oh? Why do you say that?'

‘Because he didn't have a glad eye for anyone while he was here. There didn't seem to be a single pretty face that met with his approval, and he conducted himself as if he was contemplating a monastic life.'

Deborah said nothing, for she knew that a monastic
existence
had been the last thing on her brother's mind. He had been conducting a clandestine affair with a lady whose family was arranging another match for her, and an
elopement
had been in the cards as well. Such things did not place Richard Wexford on the side of the monks! If Mrs
McNeil had not observed him admiring the fair sex, it had been because he was so secretly and deeply involved with the enigmatic Sabrina, and no doubt it was that same Sabrina who had brought him to Bath.

Mrs McNeil's thoughts had returned to Lady Ann Appleby. ‘Do you know, I'd swear that Richard had never even called upon Lady Ann, let alone seduced her in order to steal her odious diamonds. If that necklace found its way into his carriage, it did so by way of Lady Ann herself, and her accomplice in all this, Sir James Uppingham, with whom, incidentally, she appears not to have any
connection
at all. Now, he and Richard were indeed close friends, at least they were in the beginning, but Richard seemed to change toward him. I recall that a day or so before Richard left Bath, Sir James called upon him here. Richard was at home, but he instructed Sanders to inform Sir James that he was out. I don't know why.'

‘And so we are no nearer our goal than we were when we first sat down. We don't know why either Lady Ann or Sir James would wish to implement this plot against my brother.'

‘No, my dear, I fear we aren't, especially as it would appear they do not even know each other. We have no option but to speak to them both, and as I've already said, I am more than capable of pretending to have changed my mind where Richard is concerned. I am prepared to flatter them both that I have seen the error of my ways, and I will beg them to forgive my lack of trust in them. You can come with me, and I will introduce you as my niece's friend, Mrs Marchant. Marchant isn't all that uncommon a name, and I see no reason why either of them should connect you with Richard. Lady Ann will not know of you, of that I'm sure, 
but there is a chance that Sir James will be more acquainted with your family, for as I have already said, he and Richard were close friends. However, if I am careful not to mention your first name, or where you are from, then I think he will remain in ignorance.'

‘I hope so,' Deborah replied with feeling.

‘Oh, I don't believe there is any problem about actually managing to converse with them; the problem lies in what we are to say that will lead them to unwittingly admit anything.'

‘Let us content ourselves in the beginning with simply speaking to them, for at least I will be able to see for myself what they are like.'

‘Very well. We can begin first thing in the morning at the Pump Room, where Lady Ann is bound to go as she is following the obligatory regimen. It will be a simple enough matter to engineer a meeting with her there, and even if she is absent for any reason, she and I were friendly enough before for me to call upon her at her residence in Great Pulteney Street. No, Lady Ann does not present a problem, but I fear Sir James may. He and I were never so friendly that I would dream of calling upon him in Queen Square; indeed our meetings were always purely social, either when he called here, or we happened to both attend the same function. He will be at the weekly subscription ball at the Upper Rooms, of course, but that isn't for several days yet. However, I would guess that he will attend the theater tomorrow night, as will most of Bath.'

‘Most of Bath? Why is that?'

‘Because the Theatre Royal has made a dazzling coup in acquiring no less an actress than the famous Kate Hatherley. She has been persuaded to desert the London
boards for the quainter elegance of Bath, and tomorrow night is her first appearance in one of her most famous roles, Rosalind in
As You Like It.'

‘A coup indeed,' Deborah murmured. She and Jonathan had once gone to see Kate Hatherley at the Italian Opera House in Covent Garden. On that occasion the actress had been playing the role of her namesake, Kate, in
The Taming of the Shrew
, and she had held the entire audience
spellbound
with her beauty and brilliance. Kate Hatherley was a vivacious redhead with a voluptuous figure, a beautifully modulated and carrying voice, and the sort of acting talent that is very rare. She was seldom persuaded to leave the capital, where she loved the superior social whirl, and where it was whispered that she was admired by no less a person than the Prince Regent himself. There was a Mr Hatherley somewhere, but he remained tactfully in the background, and was never with his wife.

Mrs McNeil drew a long breath.
‘As You Like It
is my favorite Shakespeare play, and I mean to be there. Jenny and Henry have left their private box at my disposal, and you must come too, my dear. A little light-hearted
diversion
will do you good at such a trying time as this, and if Sir James is there, well, maybe we can manage to speak to him.' Suddenly something else occurred to her. ‘But of course! Why didn't I think of it before! We will be able to find him riding in Sydney Gardens tomorrow afternoon! He is very vain about his horsemanship, and since he has acquired a splendid new Arabian stallion, he has been seen there every day. Gentlemen usually go riding at the same hour in the afternoon, so it will be easy for us to stroll past, and then I can call out to him. Yes, that is what we will do first, and if that fails, then we will try again at the theater in
the evening.' Mrs McNeil smiled, and then got up. ‘My dear, you must forgive me, for I've brought you in here to chitterchatter, when all the time you must be not only weary after your journey but also hungry and thirsty. I will instruct Sanders to serve some tea immediately, and by the time we've sipped a dish or two, I'm sure your maid will have your luggage unpacked and your room in readiness.' Pausing for a moment before going to ring the bell for the butler, the older woman put a reassuring hand on

Deborah's shoulder. ‘Don't worry, my dear, between us we'll restore Richard's honor, have no fear of that.' Deborah said nothing, for she felt suddenly very guilty. She hadn't told Mrs McNeil everything she knew, because Richard had so expressly requested her not to. What would Mrs McNeil say if she knew that he had not only been secretly seeing the unknown Sabrina, but also that he'd been planning to elope with her?