‘There is no cause for apology. I was surprised, that’s all, since most people either pretend not to notice my disability or make a point of not referring to it.’
‘What nonsense! Besides, it’s hardly a disability, nor is it especially noticeable.’
Jemima gave a small shrug. ‘It is to me.’
‘Yes, I suppose it would be. What happened?’
‘I broke my wrist in a fall just before I was due to come out and it hasn’t set properly.’
‘And you used it as an excuse not to be presented at all.’ Lady Torbay grinned. ‘How very clever of you.’
‘How did you…’ Jemima looked at Lady Torbay askance. ‘You are the first person to suggest that I didn’t want to make my curtsey. Even Mama has not guessed and keeps trying to persuade me that it is not too late.’
‘Not every female is overcome with the desire to attend endless balls, parties and soirees, I would imagine. It must become tedious, especially if you are not socially inclined. I wouldn’t know myself. My first husband was a theatrical agent and we were not deemed socially acceptable. It is only since marrying Jake that I have been elevated to the rarefied ranks of the ton, and I will be quite frank…’ She paused to wave a hand and give a self-conscious little laugh. ‘When am I not? But my point is, since being grudgingly accepted, I have seen much to laugh at and a great deal more that makes me feel sorry for the young women who are forced to endure it.’
‘Especially if they have a younger, far prettier sister to be compared to and found wanting.’
‘Well, I feel sure there is something that can be done to help you restore your hand to its former glory. I am surprised your mama has not looked into it.’
Jemima wanted to say that if she knew her mama she would not be in the least bit surprised that Jemima’s welfare was so unimportant to her. Her entire attention was for Annabel and Jemima was perfectly content with that state of affairs.
‘Ah, here’s Jake,’ Lady Torbay said, her entire face lighting up as the door opened and the earl walked through it. ‘You are just in time for tea.’
‘Miss Aitken,’ Jake said, taking the chair beside his wife. ‘I am very glad you were able to come. I got the impression this morning that there was something you wished to say about your sister that you preferred not to say in front of your mother.’
‘I would be accused of jealousy, or spreading scandalous lies, if I attempted it,’ Jemima replied with a wry smile. ‘Neither accusation would be just, I can assure you. I am not in the least jealous of the attention my sister receives. Quite the reverse, in fact. But I am perhaps the only person who understands her true character—which is not, I can assure you, nearly as faultless as you have doubtless been led to believe.’
‘I am not surprised to hear it,’ Lady Torbay replied. ‘No one is that perfect and all the praise she has received is bound to have gone to her head.’
‘Do you know of any particular attachments on her part?’ Lord Torbay asked. ‘Something she would have concealed from your parents.’
‘Because you would prefer to believe that she has eloped rather than been abducted by one of Papa’s political opponents?’
‘Very astute.’ Lord Torbay inclined his head, acknowledging her perspicacity.
‘If I may speak candidly—’
‘I wish you would.’ It was Lady Torbay who answered her. ‘There is less chance for misunderstandings that way and I can assure you of our discretion.’
‘Well then, my mother has encouraged Annabel to hold out for a marquess. Well, a marquess’s heir.’
‘We assumed as much,’ Lord Torbay replied calmly.
‘I think it a very great pity that Annabel cannot make up her own mind, regardless of the circumstances of whichever gentleman wins her affections. But Annabel has always appeared to agree with Mama that only a gentleman with the best possible pedigree would do for her.’
‘Explaining why she did not accept any of the proposals that came her way during her first season,’ Lady Torbay suggested.
‘Yes. The Marquess of Argyle returns to England this year after a long sojourn abroad, bringing his eligible son and heir with him. Mama is quite determined that Annabel will win his regard. I gather that others have the same idea and that competition is gaining momentum before the poor man even steps foot on English soil again.’
‘Making her disappearance all the more puzzling, always supposing that it is a deliberate ploy on her part, which I am starting to think might be the case,’ Lady Torbay said pensively.
‘For what purpose?’ her husband asked.
‘Oh, Jake, it’s not like you to be so obtuse. Despite her earlier determination to snare Argyle’s son, she has been swept off her feet by a handsome rogue who would not meet with parental approval.’
‘I see,’ Lord Torbay replied.
‘Men are hopeless when it comes to affairs of the heart,’ Lady Torbay said, turning her attention towards Jemima. ‘What do you think happened to your sister, Miss Aitken? I assume you have formed a view.’
‘I think she met her match,’ Jemima replied pensively. ‘I think she finally encountered a man whose society she enjoyed but who did not seem smitten by her charms or follow her about like a lovesick swain.’
‘Her pride cannot withstand rejection?’ Lord Torbay asked.
‘She is unaccustomed to it. All her life she has managed to have her way by behaving impeccably, at least in public.’
‘That would put the cat amongst the pigeons. Being overlooked I mean,’ Lady Torbay agreed. ‘Your sister has been encouraged to suppose that she can have whatever her heart desires and is accustomed to every man she smiles at falling at her feet. And so—’
‘Lord Glynde is here,’ the butler said informally from the open doorway.
Jemima glanced in that direction and her mouth fell open when she recognised the gentleman standing behind the butler. He was the same person who had offended Jemima’s sister by seeming impervious to her wiles.
‘That is him,’ she said, pointing a wavering finger in his direction.
Chapter Five
Ros entered the room in a state of considerable confusion, unsure what the rather attractive chit, pointing an accusatory finger at him, was actually accusing him of. He had seen those flashing turquoise eyes, that tawny hair somewhere before, fairly recently. She had attracted his interest, mainly because she seemed bored with the proceedings and made no effort to put herself forward. Where…
‘Ah, Ros, sorry we missed one another last night,’ Jake said, taking Ros’s hand in a firm grasp.
‘The fault was mine, for which I apologise. The government is no respecter of prior engagements.’ He turned towards Jake’s wife and bowed over her outstretched hand. ‘Your servant, Lady Torbay.’
‘Lord Glynde, it is a pleasure. You are acquainted with Miss Aitken, I assume, since she appears to know you.’
Aitken. Of course. She was the daughter of the minister to whom Ros reported. He had seen her just once before at a reception held at Aitken’s house the previous week. It had been a crush of bodies and Miss Aitken had stuck to the sidelines, as though there under sufferance, literally overshadowed by her vibrant and more obviously beautiful sister. Five minutes’ conversation with Annabel confirmed that her beauty came at the expense of even the most basic intellect and his attention quickly wandered. He would have preferred to get to know Miss Jemima Aitken, but Annabel had stuck tenaciously to his side, preventing him from speaking to any other female without dominating the exchange.
‘We have not been introduced,’ Ros replied, expecting Miss Aitken to offer her hand. When she did not do so, he made do with inclining his head. ‘But I am glad that situation has now been rectified. How do you do, Miss Aitken.’
‘I would do a great deal better if you would return my sister to our anxious mother, Lord Glynde,’ she said calmly.
Ros looked towards Jake, who merely shrugged. ‘I beg your
pardon,’ he said politely.
‘Don’t pretend to misunderstand me. You are not dealing with politicians now.’
Ros remained in ignorance. ‘Do you mean to imply that your sister is missing?’
Miss Aitken dealt him a cool look. ‘As if you didn’t know.’
‘I fail to understand why you think I should.’ Ros took the chair that Lady Torbay indicated to him, which happened to be next to Miss Aitken’s. ‘I’m not sure what I have done to offend you either, leading you to make such unsubstantiated allegations, but I can assure you that I am not in the habit of abducting young women.’
‘But…but she seemed so impressed by you when you met her at my mother’s reception. I just assumed that she had persuaded you to…’ She shook her head and muttered something unintelligible beneath her breath. ‘That was foolish of me,’ she added in a more natural voice. ‘If I have it wrong then I apologise unreservedly.’
Ros was tempted to smile at her disingenuous, not to say refreshing manner of expressing herself. ‘Your sister is very charming,’ he replied diplomatically.
‘But you did not hang upon her every word.’
Ros was unsure how to respond to her latest accusation without seeming ungallant. ‘Really, Miss Aitken, you make me sound most inattentive.’
‘Miss Aitken’s sister has, as I’m sure you must now have realised, disappeared under mysterious circumstances,’ Jake said. ‘You will also appreciate that the situation is decidedly delicate and Miss Aitken probably did not mean for you to be a-party to the particulars. However, I can assure you, Miss Aitken, that we can depend upon Lord Glynde’s discretion.’
‘Indeed you can,’ Ros said, turning towards Miss Aitken, all laughter eradicated from his expression. ‘I am very sorry for the situation that your family finds itself in,’ he added, his mind whirling with increasingly unpalatable possibilities, at the same time wondering why Aitken had not taken him into his confidence. How could he be expected to advise the man if he was not aware that his personal circumstances might colour his judgement? ‘What is being done to find her?’
‘We are hoping that Lord Torbay will guide us,’ Miss Aitken replied.
‘Your family could not have chosen a more reliable sleuth.’ Ros paused, trying not to resent the fact that Jake’s time would be fully consumed searching for the silly chit. He had hoped to engage his assistance with his own pressing difficulties, but clearly the abduction of a debutante, almost certainly by one of her father’s political adversaries, took precedence. Indeed, Ros would offer his own services in tracking her down. ‘Your father has been at Westminster every day this week. Surely if…’
‘He thinks it important to maintain appearances. Poor Papa. He is so very fond of Annabel but has to pretend that nothing is amiss. I worry about the strain he must endure whilst carrying on with his usual routine. No one knows, you see, for obvious reasons. And I do not, as a general rule, blurt out secrets. It is just that…well, you must excuse me, Lord Glynde, but the situation calls for frankness.’
He nodded, suspecting that this rather engaging young woman would find it difficult to express herself any other way. ‘Most certainly. How long has she been gone?’
‘Four days.’
‘Ah.’ He shared a concerned look with Jake. ‘Your family want to find her unharmed, and at the same time avert a scandal.’
‘If humanly possible. Anyway, the reason why your appearance startled me was that after Mama’s reception Annabel was in a foul temper because you ignored her.’
‘Hardly that.’
Miss Aitken allowed herself the suggestion of a smile that illuminated her turquoise eyes and caused the freckles decorating the bridge of her nose to coalesce. For reasons he was unable to fathom, those freckles fascinated Ros and he was filled with a whimsical desire to trace them with his finger. Ye gods, he must be working too hard! ‘Annabel is accustomed to any gentleman she favours with her attention hanging on her every, admittedly rather silly, utterance.’
‘Ah,’ he said for a second time. ‘I am sorry not to have obliged her, but I still do not see how I could be—’
‘She gabbled away about deliberately putting herself in your path so that you would not be able to ignore her again.’ Ros exchanged another astonished glance with Jake. ‘She would have tripped, pretended to break a heel, something of that nature and your gentlemanly instincts would have taken over.’
‘Undoubtedly.’ Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ros felt an overpowering urge to laugh. The lengths that some women were prepared to go to—especially beautiful, spoiled and pampered females—never ceased to amaze him. It was clear that Jemima shared his view and that she too was struggling to contain her amusement. The fact that Annabel’s disgrace, when it became common knowledge—as it was bound to do—would reflect badly upon her whole family and blight Jemima’s own future had either not occurred to her or didn’t worry her unduly.
Ros wondered if Jemima had considered the very real possibility that her sister had been abducted by one of the government’s opponents in order to influence Aitken’s decision-making on the Irish question. It would certainly have occurred to Aitken, which was presumably why he had sought Jake’s assistance, but had he risked telling anyone else within government circles, as he most assuredly should have done?
‘You are wondering, I expect,’ Lady Torbay said, ‘if Annabel has been taken for reasons of political expedience.’
‘Indeed.’ He glanced at Jemima. ‘But I—’
‘I am not a complete widgeon, Lord Glynde,’ Jemima said acerbically. ‘Of course that was the first through that entered my head—‘
‘Yet you accused me,’ Ros replied softly.
‘Your appearance momentarily confused me, but I soon realised my mistake and have apologised for it.’
‘Indeed you have.’
But Ros intended to elicit a more personal form of apology from her. She had impugned his honour, a situation that could not be permitted to remain unavenged. He fixed her with a probing look that made her blush and she quickly averted her gaze. Ros suppressed a chuckle. She was an unusual chit who interested him on any number of levels. On yes, revenge was definitely called for and he would derive an appropriate means of extracting it in the fullness of time.
He lowered his gaze from her blushing features, appreciating a very shapely body that only served to increase his interest in her. His lustful thoughts were eradicated when he noticed her claw-like withered left hand. She concealed it when she noticed the direction of his gaze and he looked away quickly, feeling immense sympathy for her. He wondered what had caused it and what was being done to relieve her pain and embarrassment. That was something else he would discover when the opportunity arose.
‘Papa obviously suspects political involvement in Annabel’s disappearance, too.’ Jemima was speaking again and Ros returned his attention to her wretched sister and the serious political implications of her abduction. ‘Mama is the only one of us to whom that possibility has not occurred, and Papa would prefer for it to remain that way.’
‘Is anyone within government circles aware of the situation?’ Ros glanced at Jake and gave a grim nod. ‘Thorndike,’ he said. ‘It was he who involved you, Jake, I would imagine.’
‘Your imagination doesn’t play you false,’ Jake replied. ‘Aitken seems to think that Fergus Quinn might be behind it. Miss Aitken was snatched from Hampstead Heath. She formed part of a large excursion who were there for a picnic. She wandered away from the main party and has not been seen since.’
‘You imagine she could have been followed and her being taken there was opportunistic?’
‘No, I think she was deliberately targeted,’ Jake replied. ‘The Irish situation is a thorn in the government’s side. They are damned if they act, damned if they don’t, and Aitken is in a pivotal position to influence the coalition’s thinking on the matter.’
‘I have not met Mr Quinn,’ Jemima said. �
�I avoid society whenever possible. But I understand he is a great favourite in the salons and could easily have gained word of the proposed excursion by such means. He was most likely invited to join it. I recall Annabel mentioning his name in connection with her friend, Fiona Farrell, who had taken a liking to him. She laughed about it, saying that Fiona was far too dull to hold the interest of such a sophisticated man.’
‘Which was very unkind of her,’ Lady Torbay said briskly. ‘Looks are not everything.’
‘I don’t believe Quinn will have personally had anything to do with the abduction,’ Ros said.
‘You are acquainted with him?’ Jemima asked.
‘I have been involved in various discussions he has conducted with your father and other politicians. I am not saying that he would be averse to underhand tactics to get what he wants, but would understand the catastrophic consequences it would create for his cause if his name was connected to the abduction of a respectable young woman. It would eradicate public sympathy and the financial support he has managed to garner would dry up. Even so, he could well have masterminded the abduction from a safe distance.’
‘Then I shall have to speak to him.’
‘Let me,’ Ros said, pushing his concerns regarding his own situation to the back of his mind. ‘I can do so in my capacity as a civil servant and find out what, if anything, he knows without breaching confidences.’
Jemima turned to face him, her eyes wide with approval. ‘You would do that? Thank you very much. I have misjudged you, and I am very sorry.’
He offered her a predatory smile that heralded the return of her blushes. ‘You are entirely welcome.’
*
Jemima tutted and looked away from the annoyingly distracting Adonis seated beside her. Why she was so annoyed with him when he had just generously offered to help locate her missing sister she could not have said. There was something about the unholy light in his eye as he focused all of his attention upon her that she found discomposing, perhaps because she was unaccustomed to being the recipient of such attentions. That was more Annabel’s bag. Jemima reminded herself that he had offered his assistance only because he was concerned about the political implications that would result if Annabel’s abduction became public knowledge. The government would not be able to turn a blind eye to the daughter of one of its senior ministers being kidnapped, and progress made in its delicate negotiations with the Irish would be derailed—always supposing that the Irish were responsible for Annabel’s disappearance, although it was hard for her to imagine who else it could be.
Elegance and Grace Page 5
