“I’m afraid we shall have to walk for a space,” Dunstan said. “I told the driver to wait several streets over. The crush will be less there.”
Emily nodded and continued to cling to his arm. Eventually they made their way through the press into the area where there were relatively few people about.
Sarah heaved a sigh of relief and Emily echoed it. Glancing at Dunstan, she was surprised to see a thin trickle of blood on his cheek. “Milord! You are bleeding! You have been hurt badly.”
He shrugged. “It’s nothing. A small cut from the rocket stick. Parks will see to it shortly.”
Still, she could not be convinced. She eyed him with concern until they reached the carriage and were all settled. Indeed, even on the drive home she kept glancing at him surreptitiously.
Finally he smiled at her. “Really, Emily, I assure you. It is nothing but a minor cut. Nothing to be concerned about, nothing at all.”
“Yes, milord,” she replied and resolutely kept her eyes to the fore from then on. If she were not careful, such over-solicitude would make him suspicious. Sarah, if she were not so deep in her feelings for Bersford, would probably have guessed her secret already. But now her companion’s whole life was wrapped up in the plans for her coming wedding.
Dunstan had sharp eyes, however, and it would never do for him to think that his ward had formed a partiality for him. Anything of that nature should come first from him, must come first from him. It was love she wanted from him. Love—not pity.
CHAPTER 15
The next morning found Emily restless and ill at ease. She very much disliked lying. It made her quite uncomfortable. But even having had more time to think about it did not change her decision. She felt quite sure that she had done the right thing. Gilcrest had not succeeded in his strategy and maybe now he was finally convinced that the decision to refuse to receive him was hers, not Dunstan’s. She could only hope so. Certainly she wanted nothing to interfere with the rapport that had seemed to exist between herself and Dunstan. It was on that rapport, on that special feeling that had seemed to exist between them, that she rested her hopes for the future.
His lordship was out and she wandered into the courtyard to contemplate the flowers. She felt anxious and considered working again in the flower beds, but good sense restrained her. She did not want his lordship to find her behaving childishly again.
She sank down on a bench and gave herself up to a reverie in which Dunstan had never become her guardian, in which that first look from across the room had been followed by another, and then another, all culminating in the viscount’s offer for her hand in marriage. Emily sighed. There was nothing in this world that she wanted more than to be Dunstan’s wedded wife. And nothing that was less likely to happen, commented a sad voice within her.
“Well, Coz,” came a cheerful call and Emily looked up to see Cousin Percy. “Percy! Hello! What are you doing here?”
Though Uncle Cyril was his father and this house technically Percy’s home, Emily was aware that he had his own rooms and seldom frequented this place.
“I have come to see you,” he replied. “Does that seem so unusual?”
Emily did not know quite how to reply to this. It was rather odd for Percy to take the time for a friendly call. They had not been close for many years now, and in fact, he had not even bothered to show up at her coming-out ball.
“I have come to plead the cause of a friend,” he explained cheerfully.
Emily nodded. That made more sense. “A friend of yours?”
Percy smiled. “Yes, a fine chap. Good looker. Handy at cards. Great man with the horses.”
“What has this to do with me?” asked Emily in confusion.
“Why, the man wants to marry you.” It seemed obvious to Percy.
Emily suppressed a smile. The attributes that he had felt indicated good husband material did not rate very high on her list. “And who is this paragon of virtue?” she asked with a grin. “Why doesn’t he speak for himself?”
“He’s tried,” said Percy. “But Dunstan has formed a dislike for him. Fine chap, Dunstan, but a little touchy about some things. He has taken a great dislike to my friend—some matter of a chit, I believe—so he will not allow him to bring his court to you.”
Emily stared at Percy, her expression suddenly sober. “What is the name of this friend?” she asked suspiciously.
“Lord Gilcrest.”
Emily felt a coldness spreading over her. “Gilcrest!”
Percy nodded. “Yes. He’s really a capital chap, Emily. He’s stood the brunt for me more than once, given me the ready out of his own pocket. You couldn’t do better.”
Emily stared at her cousin. “What do you know of Lord Gilcrest?” she asked finally.
Percy shrugged. “Like I told you, he’s a fine chap.”
“What about the cause of this quarrel between him and Dunstan? This--chit?”
Percy shrugged again. “The sister of one of Dunstan’s old friends, Castlemain, I believe he was called. Got his in the war with old Boney. It seems Dunstan was after the chit and Gilcrest beat him to it. A simple matter. No cause to carry a grudge.”
There was something to this story that didn’t ring true. Emily could well imagine Gilcrest and Dunstan in competition over a woman. That kind of thing happened every day. What she could not imagine was any woman preferring Gilcrest. Certainly at Almack’s Miss Castlemain had seemed very partial to Dunstan. Would she behave in that fashion if she cared for Gilcrest?
But perhaps there were other factors involved. Perhaps Gilcrest had deserted her, as men were so often fond of doing, and as he was certainly quite capable of. Or perhaps she had tired of him and so regretted her first choice and decided to pursue Dunstan after all.
“Emily,” said Percy, tugging at her sleeve, “tell me, when can I arrange a meeting between you and Gilcrest?”
“Percy, you cannot. Such a thing is improper.”
Percy grinned. “Come on, Emily. These things are done every day in the week.”
Emily frowned. “Perhaps by other women, but not by me. Besides, I do not like the man.”
Percy looked crestfallen. “You haven’t given him a chance. You hardly know him.”
Emily’s frown deepened. “I know quite as much of him as I wish to know. In fact, too much. No, Percy, there is no use in your trying to prevail upon me. I know your old tricks and no amount of talk will convince me that I should regard Gilcrest as a suitable alliance. Come now, tell me, what has he promised you? Or what do you owe him?”
Percy was trying to compose himself and she knew with certainty that her guess had hit home. This was not a matter of pure friendship for him.
“Oh, Emily, come on. Don’t be after me like that. It’s true I owe Gilcrest a little blunt. Borrowed a trifle the other night.” He shuffled his feet sheepishly. “But that has nothing to do with this. Gilcrest is really a sound chap. I can’t imagine why you don’t like him.”
Emily shook her head. “Percy, think a little. A man who frequents White’s every night? A ready hand with the horses? Does that sound to you like a man designed for connubial buss?”
Percy had the grace to look embarrassed. “Suppose not. Never thought of it that way. Just know he makes a good friend.”
Even that Emily doubted. She sensed something in Gilcrest that disproved friendship. And what man would encourage his friend to gamble by loaning him more money? But she did not say any of this to Percy. It would make no sense to him.
“I’m sorry, Percy, truly I am. But Gilcrest is not the sort of man I would wish to marry.”
Percy shrugged. “Well, I did the best I could. I’ll just have to tell Gilcrest so.”
Emily agreed. “That sounds like the wisest thing to do.”
Percy nodded. “Well, since I failed to fulfill my mission, I guess I’d better just breeze along.” He consulted his timepiece. “Time to get back to my favorite haunts. Got some friends waiting for me.”
Emily tri
ed to smile. Her heart was troubled by the kind of companions Percy was spending his time with, but she did not know how to caution him about them.
He was moving away from her when she suddenly rose and ran to hug him. “Percy, Percy, do be careful. Please!”
He held her off and looked at her in surprise. “Of, course, I shall be careful. Whatever made you think I wouldn’t?”
Emily swallowed over the lump in her throat.
“Nothing, nothing,” she assured him. She gave him another hug, blinking back the tears that rose suddenly to her eyes. He was going into a dangerous world, a world where sharps abounded, where a man could be your friend and set you up for a pigeon at the same time. She buried her face in his shoulder for one more moment.
“Hello, Percy,” came a deep voice from behind her. Startled, Emily sprang from Percy’s arms and turned to see Dunstan regarding them coolly.
“Hello, Dunstan,” said Percy, apparently not at all disconcerted by having been discovered in an embrace with his cousin. “Just stopped by to have a little chat with Emily here. We’re childhood friends, you know. Used to get into the suds together.”
“Indeed. I trust that you are no longer pulling her in after you.” Dunstan’s voice was completely polite—there was no hint of displeasure in it— but Emily was well aware that anger seethed below his calm surface. -The telltale muscle in his jaw twitched uneasily. But even more than that was her awareness of the tension in the air. She did not see how Percy could not be aware of it, yet he seemed entirely at ease.
“No, I don’t do that anymore,” he replied with a rueful grin. “Though we did have our fun.”
“Well,” said Dunstan. “I should not want to interrupt your reminiscing of old times.”
He made no move to leave them and, indeed, continued to stare rather fixedly at Emily’s cousin until he said, “Well, Emily, I’ll be off now. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Percy.” She managed to get the words out, though her mouth had gone suddenly quite dry. She watched as he moved nonchalantly away, giving every appearance of aplomb.
He passed through the door into the house and Emily shifted her eyes to Dunstan, who was staring at her. Suddenly she found she could not bear to meet his eyes and turned to move toward the flowers.
“I am not impressed by Percy’s act of innocence,” said Dunstan sharply, causing her to whirl around to face him.
“I do not understand you, milord.” Emily’s voice betrayed her agitation.
“You understand me very well,” said his lordship. “I knew your cousin Percy. He did not drop by just to pass the time of day with you.”
His eyes probed deeply into hers as she confronted him. “It is pointless for you to try to hide this from me. You cannot hide anything from me.”
“I was not trying to hide anything,” cried Emily angrily. “You did not give me a chance to tell you anything. You immediately jumped to the conclusion that I was hiding something.”
She felt compelled to explain her behavior. “I— I was hugging Percy because of—old times.” She looked into his eyes for some evidence that he understood what she was talking about, but they were veiled and blank.
“I—I am concerned about Percy,” she continued. “I fear he has fallen into bad company.”
Dunstan raised a cynical eyebrow. “I collect that he has been in bad company for some time now.”
Emily frowned. “Perhaps he has, but it only just came to me how vulnerable Percy is himself.” She saw that he was regarding her closely and she floundered on. “I mean—before I was concerned about the—” She flushed. “About the young women that Percy might—might hurt. But now, now I see that Percy himself may be badly hurt.”
“All this is very well,” said the viscount. “But it does not give me an inkling as to the subject of your discussion.”
“I am coming to that,” said Emily. “Percy came to see me”—she sighed—”to see if I would—have a meeting—with—” She had to swallow several times before she could get the word out “With Gilcrest.”
“He what?” Dunstan’s iron control broke and he stepped forward and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders.
“He wanted me to have a meeting with
Gilcrest,” she repeated, wincing from the pain where his grip had tightened.
“The stupid young pup! How dare he!” Dunstan was glaring at her so fiercely that she felt her knees begin to quake.
“Please, milord. Dunstan! You’re hurting me.” Tears of pain stood out in her eyes.
He loosed his grip slightly but the fierce frown on his face remained. “You will not receive Percy again, I’ll see to that.”
“Dunstan, you cannot forbid Percy his own father’s house. Please, you have not allowed me to finish.”
Still he did not release her arms. “Finish then.”
“I told him I could not do such a thing, that Gilcrest was not a good man.” A tear spilled over and rolled down her cheek, but she could not wipe it away. “He kept telling me that Gilcrest is his friend. It was then that I realized how vulnerable he is.”
Dunstan stared at her for several moments. “There is more to this than you have told me.”
She tried to keep from coloring, but in spite of herself the red flooded her cheeks.
“Come, Emily. Do not deny it. You do not lie well. Your face gives you away.”
“He’s—he’s in debt to Gilcrest. It was for this reason that he could be prevailed upon to come see me.”
Dunstan’s face grew even darker. “How can you have concern for a man who would do such a vile thing? Certainly he knows that Gilcrest would not be good husband material.”
Emily shook her head. “It was a bad thing to do, but Percy isn’t bad. Selfish maybe, but not really bad.”
Dunstan continued to frown. “You may make all the excuses you please for him, but I still see Percy as worse than irresponsible.”
“I do not intend to see Lord Gilcrest,” said Emily firmly. “Surely you know that I have refused to receive him. I told Percy that very plainly—also that I do not like the man. What more can you ask of me?”
“The truth,” said his lordship bluntly. “Tell me the truth.”
Emily’s bewilderment was quite real. “I have told you the truth.”
He shook his head and his eyes seemed to give off sparks. “You have not told me the truth.”
“I told you everything Percy said.”
“Of course you did. Do not look at me so innocently, Emily. Your statements about Gilcrest do not ring true,” he said caustically.
Emily felt her anger rising again. “I abominate the man. Surely that should be abundantly clear to you by now.”
“I thought it was.” His jaw tightened and his lips settled into a thin firm line. “Until last night.”
“Last night?” Emily felt the color flood her cheeks.
“As I told you, Emily, you are a very poor liar. Why didn’t you tell me you met Gilcrest last night?”
“I didn’t meet him.” Her heart pounded in her throat. “I was separated from you when the rocket stick fell. My bonnet was pushed over my eyes. Someone grabbed me and hurried me away. I thought it was you.”
She saw unbelief in his eyes. “I couldn’t see. Everything was confusion. When he stopped and I got my bonnet up—only then did I know it was Gilcrest who had my hand. Please! You must believe me. I got away from him as soon as I could.”
Dunstan’s eyes held hers. “How could you do that? You did not escape my embrace.”
“I—I know. But I did get away from Gilcrest. I wasn’t gone long. You know that.”
He nodded. “But I still do not see how you got away. Gilcrest is not a man to trifle with. Tell me how you accomplished it.”
The scarlet flooded Emily’s cheeks and her heart began to pound in her throat. “I—I cannot.” She dropped her eyes momentarily.
“Of course you can. I am quite curious as to how you did it. Look me in the eye, Emily, and tell me how you
did it.”
She shook her head. “It’s—it’s too embarrassing.”
“Then show me.”
“Oh, no I ... I cannot!”
“Emily, I insist on knowing how you effected your escape. As your guardian I command you to tell me.”
She raised her eyes to his. “And you promise not to be angry with me?”
“Of course, I promise,” he replied.
“It was something Percy taught me long ago.” She paused to swallow. “A man’s most—most vulnerable spot. I—used my knee—and—”
Dunstan’s expression changed suddenly and he coughed, almost as though he were smothering a laugh. “That will be enough, Emily. I believe I get the gist of it. There’s no need to go further. It appears that for once Cousin Percy taught you something worthwhile.”
Emily nodded, taking heart from his acceptance. “It—it proved rather effective, milord.”
Dunstan smiled dryly. “I’m sure it did.” He coughed again discreetly. “I find that I must thank you for your solicitude toward me.” His eyes twinkled at her and she was sure he was amused. “It was very generous of you not to demonstrate your trick on me, especially when I practically ordered you to.”
Emily flushed again. “I—I would not want to hurt you.”
For a long moment he stood looking into her eyes. She almost hoped that he was about to say the words she so longed to hear. But then he frowned again. “Please, Emily, you must believe me. Gilcrest is a dangerous man. He has ruined more than one young woman. I do not want him to add you to his list.”
“He will not,” said Emily firmly. “I assure you of that.”
He did not completely believe her story yet; she saw that in his eyes. But the report of her trick had impressed him.
“I must leave you now, Emily. I have an appointment.”
She nodded. “Yes, milord.”
He seemed to grow suddenly aware that his hands were still on her shoulders and he let them fall away awkwardly. “I hope that I did not hurt you,” he said apologetically.
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