Lord Somerton's Heir (27 page)

Lady Kendall indicated Connie on the arm of the pimply young man. He hadn’t seen much of his sister over the past week but he had been aware, from the accounts that were crossing his desk, a veritable army of dressmakers, hat makers, shoemakers and glove-makers had been kept very busy. If the green dress was any indication of her new wardrobe, their efforts had been well worth it. She looked as if she had been born to the life and yet only a few short weeks ago she had been living in a tiny cottage, forced to earn her own income from her painting.

He brought his attention back to Lady Kendall, who continued, ‘You have quite a treasure there. I shall look forward to presenting her in London and I will not take no for an answer, Lord Somerton. A pearl such as your sister cannot be left to moulder in the country. I take it she has a dowry?’

‘Really, Lady Kendall —’ Sebastian began to protest, but Georgiana Kendall laughed.

‘It was a foolish question. I am sure you will see your sister properly provided for. I think an earl at least for Constance.’

‘God help the Earl who has to put up with my sister. But in all seriousness, Lady Kendall, I will never force Constance to wed against her will,’ Sebastian said.

‘What romantic notions you have, my lord,’ Georgiana Kendall said. ‘Very well, we shall have to find an earl for her to fall in love with.’

The dance ended and, before she had left the floor, Lady Kendall had been claimed by another.

‘I thought you said you didn’t dance!’ A gloved hand insinuated itself around Sebastian’s elbow and he looked down at Fanny. ‘I must insist on the first dance after supper, Cousin Sebastian.’

Masking his annoyance, Sebastian filled in Fanny’s card. Glancing up, he saw Isabel slipping out of the doors to the terrace. He excused himself from Fanny’s cloying attentions and followed her.

She stood leaning her gloved hands on the parapet wall, looking out over the gardens, lit for the festivities with brightly coloured lanterns.

He came up softly behind her.

‘It’s cold out here,’ he said.

She started and looked around. ‘Oh, Sebastian. I didn’t hear you.’

‘What were you thinking about?’

She shook her head. ‘I do not like large gatherings of people.’

‘I must agree with you,’ Sebastian said. ‘I will be glad when this evening is over.’

She turned to face him, the light from the windows catching an impish smile on her face. ‘You dance very well…for a man with a French musket ball in his leg.’

Sebastian returned a rueful smile. ‘So Pierce says. He has been giving me tuition,’ he paused. ‘I would like to dance with you.’

‘Oh, I think I have scandalised the matrons enough for one night just by my presence. Perhaps Lady Kendall will oblige you again.’ She paused and looked up at him, her eyes, unreadable in the dark, scanning his face. ‘I’m curious, Sebastian, what do you think of Georgiana Kendall?’

Sebastian blew out his breath while he struggled to find the right words.

‘It’s all right, Sebastian, you don’t have to be polite. She quite literally swept you off your feet, didn’t she? You know, if circumstances had been other than what they are, I would have liked to have been her friend. In fact, I admire her.’

‘Do you?’ he said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice at the echo of the words he had heard from Lady Kendall.

‘She has turned her widowhood to her advantage. It is said she has even caught the eye of Prinny in her time.’

‘The Prince of Wales?’

‘Her secret is keeping them dangling.’

‘Is that what turning widowhood to advantage means? I think your plans for a school has more to recommend it than being the mistress of rich and powerful men.’

‘There is not much in life for a lone woman. In the absence of social charms, a school is the best I can hope for.’

He shook his head and said in a voice, husky with emotion, ‘I think that you have so much more to recommend you than a woman like Lady Kendall.’

He reached out to touch her cheek and she leaned against his hand. His thumb gently stroked the line of her jaw and, when she didn’t draw back, he tilted her face up to his and ventured a kiss. Their lips met in a brief touch and, when she didn’t withdraw, he slid his hand around the back of her neck, his other hand sliding around her shoulders, drawing her nearer to him.

She gave a deep shuddering breath and brought her hand up to rest on his chest, not pressing him away but slipping up around his neck. He drew her into the shadows, away from the light of the ballroom.

‘Isabel,’ he whispered into her hair. ‘I think it is quite possible that I am falling in love with you.’

He heard her sharp intake of breath but she made no attempt to pull away from him. He breathed in her now familiar scent of rosemary.

‘Sebastian, this is utter madness. We barely know each other.’

‘I feel like I have known you a lifetime, Isabel. I have confided things in you that I have shared with no one else.’ He kissed her forehead, the skin beneath his lips soft and warm. ‘Unless I am a complete fool, I don’t think my feelings are unrequited.’

‘No,’ she whispered. ‘Sebastian, I —’

‘Bas, are you out here?’ A shadow fell across the terrace as Matt stepped outside.

Sebastian swore under his breath.

He jumped apart from Isabel and strode quickly to his brother.

‘Apparently you are supposed to lead us into supper. Fanny’s in a terrible tizz,’ Matt said as Sebastian threw an arm across his shoulder and turned them both back towards the ballroom before his brother could see with whom he had been trysting.

‘Who am I supposed to lead into supper?’

‘I think Fanny is expecting you to do the honours with her.’

‘In that case, I shall find Mrs Bracks. She is an agreeable old thing.’

One look at Fanny’s sulky mouth confirmed Matt’s opinion that she had been expecting him to lead her into supper. He let out a sigh of relief that he had negotiated that particular trap. Harry Dempster substituted for him and Fanny looked a little cheered as he paid her the attention she craved. The niceties of who would be seen to escort whom into supper quite defeated him. He was relieved to see Isabel on Matt’s arm. She caught his eye and smiled, the secret smile of a person who knows something that no one else in the world except Sebastian would understand.

Sebastian could hardly concentrate at supper, his head full of thoughts of Isabel and that brief, private moment on the terrace. For the first time, the memory of Inez receded and all he could see was Isabel’s serene oval face. Plans for a proper wooing and courtship jostled through his mind. He would be everything to her that Anthony had failed in, and he would make her happy. From that first moment when she had leaned over him in the hospital, he knew he had found his soul mate.

Chapter 21

After supper, Fanny claimed Sebastian for a cotillion. In contrast to Isabel’s fragrance of rosemary, Fanny smelt of rosewater and stale perspiration. She nattered brightly about the guests but failed to elicit more than a few polite grunts from him.

As the dance came to an end, she did not relinquish her hold on him. Her fan fluttered open and she began to fan herself furiously as she leaned against him.

‘Oh dear, I feel a little faint,’ she said in a small, tight voice.

Sebastian refrained from commenting that the second serve of raspberry ice he had seen her consuming might account for her indisposition.

‘Please help me, cousin. A little fresh air…’ she said, leading him towards the door.

He scanned the guests to try and catch the eye of some helpful matron on whom he could foist his fainting burden, but no one seemed to be looking his way.

‘The library is closest,’ Fanny said.

For someone about to swoon, the grip on his arm felt like a vice. As they entered the library, her knees buckled and he caught her dead weight. Sweeping her up in his arms, he carried her over to the daybed beneath the window. She groaned and he began to chafe her hand.

‘I’ll fetch someone…’ he began as her eyes fluttered opened.

Her fingers closed over his hand. ‘No, no. Just sit with me. I will be fine presently.’

‘Can I fetch you a drink?’ Sebastian made to rise again. He could hear voices in the hall outside the library door.

Fanny only tightened her grip, pulling him back down beside her.

‘Fanny, will you let me go. I will be back presently.’

‘Don’t leave me!’ She clutched the sleeve of his jacket as if she was drowning.

Sebastian looked to the door of the library, wondering how to summon assistance, and was relieved to hear Freddy’s voice saying, ‘And of course, the Somerton library has a famous collection of monographs…’

Fanny sat bolt upright at the sound of her brother’s voice. Sebastian, half rising, his concentration on the door, had no time to deflect the sudden movement of her left hand. Something sharp raked down his left cheek and, as the door opened, she began to scream, a great rending scream that made his ears ring.

Sebastian leaped to his feet, staring down at her in horror as she pulled at her hair and her bodice. A woman in the crowd at the door gave a loud exclamation and Sebastian saw, with mounting horror, the tableau Fanny had presented: the screaming, distressed girl with her torn gown and disordered hair and he… His fingers went to his cheek and came away sticky with blood.

He took a step back from the couch as two women rushed toward Fanny, folding her in their motherly arms. Freddy moved behind the couch, placing a solicitous hand on his sister’s shoulder.

‘He…attacked me,’ Fanny said between gulps, pointing an accusing finger at Sebastian.

‘I never touched her…’ Sebastian began to say, but his words were drowned out in the clamour of approbation.

Beyond the crowd, Isabel stood at the door, straight and still. He mouthed her name, but she turned on her heel, her place taken by Matt and Connie. They, in turn, stared at him and at the crowd fussing over Fanny. Matt’s eyes asked the question and Sebastian answered with a look of complete despair.

‘Fanny, dear, let these good women take you to your chamber. I will deal with his lordship,’ Freddy said in a loud voice, the last two words heavy with venom.

Too shocked to move, Sebastian became aware of a flash of scarlet as Harry entered the room. His friend moved to his side, followed by Matt and Connie.

Fanny, still sobbing hysterically, was helped from the room and the rest of the crowd ushered outside by Freddy. At the door, Freddy turned to look at Sebastian. His gaze rested on Sebastian’s supporters.

‘I must speak with Lord Somerton alone,’ he said.

Harry stepped forward. ‘Whatever you have to say, Lynch, you can say in front of us.’

‘Very well.’ Freddy walked back into the room, straightening the ruffles at his wrist with deliberate care. ‘I will say what I have to say. You, sir, have outraged my sister, an innocent girl in your care and protection.’

‘I didn’t touch her,’ Sebastian said with gritted teeth.

‘Then how do you explain your face? Freddy indicated the cut that dripped blood onto the immaculate white of Sebastian’s stock.

‘She had something in her hand,’ Sebastian replied. ‘I would never…’

Harry cleared his throat. ‘We believe you, Alder, but it doesn’t matter what we think. It is what the world is going to think.’

Realisation dawned on Sebastian. ‘You mean…?’

Matt glanced at Harry. ‘The Colonel’s right, Bas. As far as the world is concerned, you have outraged the modesty of an innocent girl.’

Sebastian turned slowly to face Freddy, the whole staging of the scenario now crystal clear. ‘Innocent? The whole thing was carefully planned, wasn’t it, Freddy?’

Freddy, still absorbed with his linen, looked up. A muscle twitched in his cheek. ‘My dear Somerton, how dare you make such an accusation. I know only what my eyes told me: my sister, distressed and deshabille, in your company. I expect you to address the situation as a gentleman.’

Sebastian glared at the man. ‘So tell me, as you have been some weeks in the planning of this, what am I, as a
gentleman
, expected to do?’

‘He means,’ Harry said, his mouth a grim line, ‘that you must marry the chit.’

‘Marry her?’ Sebastian turned to his friend, his heart sinking.

‘You have ruined my sister’s reputation, Somerton, of course you must marry her,’ Freddy said.

Sebastian sank down on to the couch. Connie sat down beside him and began dabbing at his ruined cheek with a kerchief supplied by the Colonel.

‘Marry her…?’ Sebastian repeated. ‘I would sooner return to the field of Waterloo.’ He looked up at Freddy. ‘You have played me for a fool, Lynch. You and that dimwitted sister of yours were never going to accept any offer of settlement. Nothing less than a title for your dear sister. Isn’t that what you said?’

Freddy straightened, his fingers going to the pin in his cravat. ‘I can see you are overwrought, Somerton. We will speak in the morning when you have had time to consider your situation. This unfortunate incident has regrettably brought the evening to an end, so I will see to your guests and bid you all a good night.’

Numb with despair, Sebastian buried his face in his hands as Freddy left the room. Connie slipped her arm around him and laid her face on his shoulder in a comforting gesture he appreciated.

‘We believe you, Bas,’ she whispered, her own voice sounding close to tears.

‘I should have seen this coming,’ he said at last, shaking his head in despair.

‘They seemed so nice,’ Connie said in a wavering voice.

‘Looks are deceiving,’ said a voice from the doorway.

They all looked up to see Isabel standing framed by the light from the hallway. Sebastian rose shakily to his feet.

‘Isabel…’

‘I suggest we all go to bed,’ Isabel said without meeting Sebastian’s eyes. ‘I will take Fanny with me back to the dower house tonight. In the circumstances, it is hardly proper she stays in this house. Colonel, thank you for your help. I am sure his lordship appreciates your friendship. God knows, he is going to need his friends in the next few days. Good night.’