The Paradise Will (20 page)

Alyssa, aware of Caroline’s malevolent expression, expected some vitriol but felt obliged to attempt politeness and searched for a comment that would not be hypocritical. ‘Good Evening, Miss Nash. May I compliment you on your gown?’

‘You may but I shall not regard it,’ said Caroline, bristling.

Alyssa raised her brows. ‘I see.’

‘Your views are of no interest and I refuse to return the compliment for the sake of courtesy.’

‘Which is just as well since I would disregard it,’ said Alyssa. ‘Praise not sincerely meant is worthless.’

‘I will not utter platitudes to you!’

‘Pray do not feel obliged to; it is nonsensical for either of us to be mendacious. Miss Nash, you disapproved of me from the outset, so let me advise you the sentiment was mutual. Your discomfort this evening is understandable and I am sorry for it, but, since you and your father expressly requested Sir Giles and me to attend, the least we can do now is be civil.’

‘Oh, I will be civil, gracious even, when there is a chance I may be overheard,’ hissed Caroline, fixing Alyssa with another Medusa-like glare. ‘No one here will guess how much I dislike you! But don’t imagine because you see me behaving so, I have any kinder feelings hidden away, for you would be mistaken. I
will
have revenge for how I have been treated! I do not like you and never have. Your idiotic uncle’s
outré
will started this, and now your wiles and romantic nonsense have turned Giles’s head! At every turn, you have tried to make me look foolish!’

‘Oh, it was not difficult,’ quipped Alyssa, ‘you are capable of that without my help.’

‘You are impertinent,’ Caroline replied, icily.

‘And you, Miss Nash, are graceless and arrogant,’ said Alyssa, smiling, her voice honey-sweet but her gaze hard. ‘Don’t ever malign my uncle’s memory again by calling him idiotic because you will regret it.’

Caroline swallowed. It seemed she could not, after all, intimidate through a few well-chosen comments. She had expected a stammering retreat – her verbal arrows were usually effective – but instead discovered Alyssa to be more than her equal. Her indignation grew, and a deep tinge of colour crept into her cheeks.

Alyssa continued, ‘I wish you a pleasant evening, Miss Nash – thank you for the delightful welcome.’

Gil, overhearing this comment, looked at Alyssa quizzically. She smiled and gave an infinitesimal nod before moving into the drawing-room.

Piers, having hurried back from London, stayed at The Antelope only long enough to change. When he arrived at the manor, he headed for the entrance with a jaunty step, eager to reach Letty and having missed her even more than he imagined. Only a few weeks earlier the delights of the capital would have given him no desire to rusticate again so promptly, but everything had changed. Wherever Letty was, Piers wanted to be also. So, he completed his business briskly and with more acumen than his shocked agent could comprehend. Gone was the languid, bored young buck who had no inclination to look at any
documents
and who threw bills one by one into the fire with a curse. In his place was a keen-eyed enquiring man, conscious of the delicacy of his financial position but willing to take uncomfortable decisions to find a way out of his maze of debt. After a two-hour meeting, an agreement was at last reached which met with Piers’s satisfaction. Two paintings and a clock were to be sold from his property in Lincolnshire to address the most pressing bills. A partial mortgage would also be raised to fund repairs and future investment, and to leave some ready capital. Piers felt satisfied it was the best that could be contrived for now.

He would, at least, be left with a little money in hand; it was not much but he’d be damned if he would offer marriage to Letty with an empty purse. If she would have him as a husband one day, he wanted to buy her a trousseau of bride clothes and jewellery that befitted her beauty.

Relatively pleased with his achievements, he sauntered in, looking forward to telling Letty, but first he had to deal with the squire who threatened to keep him talking for half the evening when he discovered Piers was of a sporting turn of mind, and then Miss Nash, whose arrogance he deplored. It was, therefore, some time before he could search the crowded rooms for Letty.

He soon found her. She was in the large room at the back of the house where the musicians were playing and the furniture had been moved aside to allow for dancing. She was besieged by a group of young men, James Westwood, his host in Dorset, among them, all eagerly trying to secure a dance. Piers, instantly of the mind to ask James what the deuce he was about, soon realized he was not his only obstacle and watched with chagrin as a fellow with Byronic good looks led Letty out to take their place in the set. His heart sank as his eyes followed her; she was unaware of his presence and smiling up at her partner.

She looked exquisite – a fairie queen in a shimmering ivory gown – and for the first time he grasped how little he had to offer. No great estate, no fortune, no grand London townhouse – only a rather decrepit property saddled with a
mortgage
and a sheaf of unpaid bills. Poor fare indeed to place before this lovely
creature
. Letty did not possess a large dowry, or a title, but with her face, figure and disposition, Piers knew she could hope to make an excellent marriage to a man of means. Already she was the centre of attention for the young men here and jealousy writhed in his breast. A voice nearby woke him from his uncomfortable reverie.

‘Piers! You have arrived back in time – good.’

‘Hello, Alyssa,’ he said, summoning up the ghost of a smile. ‘I rushed back in the hope of engaging Letty for a dance, but’ – his gaze drifted back to Letty and her Adonis-like partner – ‘it seems my luck is out, and there’s a crowd in line before me,’ he concluded, with a gloomy nod towards her admiring swains.

Alyssa chuckled. ‘Don’t be so poor-spirited! Have you asked her yet?’

‘No – she’s not even aware I’m here.’

‘I know she’s been looking for you.’

‘Has she?’ he asked, longing in his voice as he watched his
amour
. He turned back to his cousin, his expression brighter. ‘Then she missed me a little while I have been away?’

‘That you must discover yourself, but I believe something has prevented her from completely enjoying this evening, despite what you see. How did your
business
in London go?’

‘Well enough,’ admitted Piers. ‘I went a fair way to disentangling my affairs, but it’s such a damnable mess, there is no hope of solving matters overnight. However, there is potential in my estate I had never bothered to look for until now and eventually, it could become profitable.’ Glancing again at Letty, he murmured, ‘I am determined to make it so.’

‘I have confidence in you.’

‘I only hope Letty does.’ Turning to study her, Piers murmured, ‘My
compliments
on
your
appearance, dear Coz – I’ve never seen you looking lovelier. The Dorset air and absence from Charles’s cloying company obviously agrees with you. Little wonder you and Letty are the most sought-after ladies here, and’ – he added, scrutinizing her attire with a critical and expert eye – ‘the best dressed.’

‘We have been urged to divulge the genius behind our gowns, which is
diverting
as we made them ourselves,’ said Alyssa, laughing.

‘Did you? Well, my compliments again – the most exclusive modiste could not have bettered your efforts.’

Piers saw Sir Giles moving towards them through the surrounding crush. He had caught sight of him earlier, both before and during his conversation with his cousin, and noted that Giles, while not obviously in Alyssa’s company, hovered nearby, glancing often in her direction and never moving completely out of sight. Add to this Miss Nash making no attempt to speak to or acknowledge Sir Giles, and Piers began to think something was very odd.

Gil greeted Piers courteously and asked for the news from London, but it was the brief look he exchanged with Alyssa which made Piers start in surprise. The scales fell from his eyes; even to the most insensitive blockhead, there was no doubting the sentiments in that glance, or that they were reciprocated by his cousin.

So that’s the way of things
, Piers thought, controlling the urge to whistle softly in amazement. He did not refer to what he had witnessed – it was none of his business until they chose to tell him, after all – but when his initial surprise ebbed away, he felt pleased. Alyssa deserved better than that dull dog Charles, and Piers had liked the cut of Sir Giles’s jib at their first meeting, his good
opinion
reinforced by Gil’s actions during Alyssa’s illness.

It said much for Piers’s rapidly increasing maturity that he remained silent and felt only fleeting jealousy. If his cousin married Sir Giles Maxton, her wealth would increase, but his main regret was that Alyssa’s future seemed shortly to be settled while his aspiration to share Letty’s remained uncertain.

Guilt suddenly assailed him: he needed to make a clean breast of the business with Draper to Alyssa soon.

With this in mind, he said, ‘By the way, Coz, I must speak to you on an
important
matter. Would tomorrow be convenient?’

‘The following day would be preferable. I shan’t reach my bed until three or four in the morning, and Gil and I have our usual dinner arranged. Can it wait until Sunday?’

He nodded. ‘Shall I call then?’

Alyssa replied in the affirmative, adding, ‘I may have some news for you, too.’

Gil’s fleeting grin was not lost on Piers, but he only chuckled and said, ‘Secrets eh, Coz? Lord, we’re all guilty of harbouring secrets – good and bad!’ Eager to change the subject, he saw Caroline and commented, ‘This event must have cost her father a pretty penny yet Miss Nash looks as sour as a lemon. There’s no pleasing that lady.’

‘Miss Nash is ill-tempered this evening,’ murmured Alyssa.

‘Has she been discourteous?’ said Gil, quickly.

‘Nothing to concern me.’

Gil, who was not sanguine that Caroline intended to let the evening pass
without
incident, said, ‘If her expression is any measure, she is anxious to vent her spleen before long.’

‘I wonder what can have put her in an ugly mood?’ mused Piers, with commendable nonchalance. ‘Whatever it is, she’ll frighten away prospective dance partners if she does not smile more. How strange
Mrs
Nash is nowhere to be seen yet, but I approve of the squire: he seems a congenial man, a touch vague perhaps, but that’s only to be expected when you consider the distaff side of his household.’

Their conversation was interrupted by the flutter of applause when the music stopped. As Gil began to murmur the names of the formidable array of
dowagers
lined up against the far wall into Alyssa’s ear, Piers watched Letty.

Having thanked her partner and laughingly declared to her other admirers that she needed to rest, her gaze scanned the room and met his. His heart leapt at the brief but unmistakable spark of pleasure he saw when she registered his presence and it took all his self-control not to push his way across the room, and take her into his arms.

She came to him, the fabric of her dress and her expressive eyes sparkling in the candlelight. ‘Piers!’ she cried, putting out both hands in greeting, ‘It is good to see you—’ She seemed to recollect herself, and added in a muted voice, ‘That is, I hope your business was successful.’

He smiled, swept her fingers into his firm grasp and kissed them. ‘No, don’t change it – I much prefer your first response. You look beautiful, and I’m not surprised to see you have a crowd of admirers. Pray tell me,’ he asked, through suddenly clenched teeth, ‘who was that simpering Adonis dancing with you?’

‘Simpering Adonis…?’ began Letty, puzzled. ‘Oh, you mean Lord Wentworth. He is down from Hertfordshire.’

‘He was paying you an excessive amount of attention, damn him!’

‘Lord Wentworth has a pleasant manner.’

‘Hmph! Well, I’d be happier if he took himself and his pleasant manner back to Hertfordshire, and stayed well away from you.’

Her eyes twinkled up at him, full of laughter. ‘I was only dancing with him, Piers.’

‘Well, I might forgive you if you promise to dance with me – at least twice – and while we do, I’ll tell you about my trip to London.’

But before they could join the set for the next dance, the doorway from the hall opened and Mrs Nash entered.

Her appearance lulled the hum of conversation almost to silence. She was wearing a deep pink gown and a matching pink silk turban decorated with five enormous ostrich feathers, standing vertically to attention from a jewelled aigrette at the front of this confection. While Mrs Nash’s entrance was
spectacular
, it was hardly graceful; she had given little thought to the practicalities of a headdress that would not have disgraced an Indian maharajah with a vast palace and huge doorways at his disposal. It was definitely not designed for the low doorways and the sad crush of guests at the manor.

The combined height of turban and feathers forced her to bend her knees and turn sideways to complete her crab-like manoeuvre into the room with no damage to the millinery disaster adorning her head. Her neck and shoulders were held in a curiously stiff way, as if she had spent all morning exposed to a howling nor’-westerly and was suffering the after effects. She did not look at all comfortable but a smile was pasted determinedly on her face.

Piers’s jaw fell open on its hinge at this vision, but he quickly recovered as she headed towards him like a trireme. ‘My dear Mrs Nash, you look’ – he cleared his throat as he sought desperately for a suitable adjective – ‘astonishing!’

‘I thought you would say so – it is but a trifling effort,’ she replied, modestly. His reaction pleased her; a woman of less restraint would have jumped for joy to receive praise from a man who knew that doyenne of the fashionable set, Lady Jersey. But since jumping for joy would also require some movement of the head, such a display was impossible. She therefore contented herself with a smug smile and carefully turned her head an inch to murmur a greeting to Letty, her
movements
resembling an owl suffering from rigor of the neck muscles.