‘You’re ill!’
‘No! No, I’m not ill.’ She gave a little laugh. ‘I must have missed my entry, Adam. For some reason I was totally confused. I’m glad you were not my partner. You would have been less understanding than Walter.’ He started to argue, but she put out her hand. ‘Please don’t make any more fuss. I am perfectly well. And I don’t want to miss my waltz with Lord Trenchard.’
He looked sternly at her. ‘I don’t like it,’ he said severely.
The Kate which the world never saw wanted to cry, ‘Please, please, Adam, don’t look at me like that! Look at me as you look at my cousin, tenderly, warmly. Take my hand as you take hers, as if it might break in your grasp… Tell me you care for me…!’
But what Katharine Payne rather coldly said was, ‘Don’t be tiresome, Adam! Ivo Trenchard is one of your oldest friends. You’ve always told me what an excellent dancer he is. He’ll see that I manage.’
‘That’s not what I was worried about—’ He could say no more. Walter Payne was coming back with the water, and at the same time Ivo Trenchard returned to the table with a laughing Lady Balmenny. His skilled compliments seemed to have restored her good humour.
She said as they sat down, ‘So. Your Signor Twinkletoes doesn’t seem to have taught you everything, Miss Payne. What confusion you brought to your set! And in such a simple dance, too.’
‘Miss Payne was ill,’ said Walter, putting a solicitous hand on Kate’s shoulder.
Adam’s gaze rested on it for a moment, then he said coldly, ‘Payne, I expect your sister will be looking for you. I took her back to your friends in the small saloon.’
Walter looked as if he wished to demur, whereupon Adam added very firmly, ‘I promised her I would send you to her.’ Walter could hardly disagree without challenging Adam, so he shrugged his shoulders, gave Katharine a warm smile, bowed to the rest, and left.
Adam said to the others, ‘I think Kate needs a breath of fresh air. Excuse us. We’ll be back in a moment. Kate?’ He held out his arm and Katharine, still in something of a daze, took it. They went through the hall into the small garden which lay behind the Marchmonts’ house.
Here Adam stopped and turned to Katharine. ‘I should have thought you had seen enough of that fellow, Kate.’
‘By “fellow” you mean Walter Payne, I suppose? Unfortunately he is my cousin. I think tongues would wag if I refused to recognise him. Besides, I really think he has changed. He says he is sorry for his behaviour at Herriards.’
‘Leopards don’t change their spots. I’ve known a good few like Payne in my time. They’re not to be trusted. Don’t spend so much time with him.’
Katharine exclaimed, ‘I wish you would not always try to dictate to me, Adam! What business is it of yours what I do? I don’t need your permission to talk to my cousin. It nearly always concerns Herriards and the people down there.’
‘Don’t you think this nostalgia for Herriards is a mistake?’ said Adam coldly. ‘You might remember that it is no longer your affair. Or are you now regretting your decision to leave there?’
His coldness, his indifference, cut Katharine to the quick. Without stopping to consider, she said defiantly, ‘I could go back there any time I liked! Walter said so.’
Adam’s frown grew. ‘Don’t be such a fool! You would never stand it! While your Uncle Henry is in charge, Herriards would be the last place you would wish to live!’
Some perverse demon caused Katharine to carry on. ‘But afterwards? If I were mistress there? I dare say I could be if I wanted to, you know.’
She had succeeded in surprising him. He said at last, ‘You mean you might marry Walter? You? I refuse to believe it! What a waste of all our efforts that would be!’
So much for my hopes, thought Katharine. I’d just represent a waste of effort! That’s all.
Sounds of music came through the windows. ‘We’d better return,’ she said wearily. ‘This breath of fresh air doesn’t seem to be doing either of us much good.’
They returned to the ballroom in silence. The waltz was just about to begin. Ivo Trenchard swept Katharine up and they launched straight away into the swirl of figures circling the room. Adam watched them grimly. He didn’t believe for one minute that Katharine Payne had the slightest intention of returning to Herriards! She had only said it to provoke him. It must be that! What a perverse creature she was!
‘Adam!’ Julia was standing a yard away, tapping her foot angrily. He pulled himself together.
‘Please forgive me, Julia! Someone caught me as I came through the hall and I was held up. Shall we dance?’
Julia Redshaw was having quite a difficult time. She was not accustomed to being kept waiting. In fact, the whole evening was turning out to be far less agreeable than she had thought. It had been a blow to find that her throne as London’s queen of hearts was being threatened by a chit of seventeen! Several misguided friends had raved about Catherine Payne, had even thought they were complimenting her when they said the girl was so like Julia at her age. And when she had glanced into the small saloon—just to see if Adam and the other Payne girl were there—she had been annoyed to see Catherine Payne surrounded by a bevy of gentlemen, among whom were several of her former lovers, gentlemen who not long ago had sworn undying devotion to her, Julia Redshaw! She could get them back, of course, any moment she chose! But it was irritating, all the same.
Then there was the question of Adam. He seemed quite unnecessarily concerned with the other Katharine Payne, his friend’s sister! What a burden that girl was to him! His mother was behind it, of course. Mrs Calthorpe had never liked Julia, and she was using the girl as a shield to keep her son from falling in love all over again with his childhood sweetheart. Well, Mrs Calthorpe would fail! The Adam of today was a prize worth having and Julia fully intended to conquer him again. She was sure it wouldn’t have been difficult except for the presence of those wretched girls—Walter Payne’s sister, who looked so like her, and Tom Payne’s sister who was just always there!
These thoughts and others like them caused Julia to sound more ill-tempered than was her custom in public when she answered Adam’s question.
‘And where is Miss Kate Payne now? Better, I hope?’ she snapped.
Chapter Twelve
Julia looked quite shrewish, thought Adam. A genuine shrew, as opposed to the shrew he had found in the churchyard, a shrew who was really a girl at her wits’ end, trying to cope with the loss of everything she loved and hitting out at the world… His heart gave a thump. What if Kate wasn’t teasing? What if she really did consider Herriards worth a marriage to Walter Payne? No! That mustn’t happen. She mustn’t go back to Herriards! He would have to stop it somehow…
‘Well?’ said Julia impatiently. ‘Have you managed to get rid of her?’
Adam looked at Julia again and said coolly, ‘She’s dancing with Lord Trenchard. Over there. See? Shall we join in?’
He had been offended at her tone. Julia took a breath and told herself to be careful. The Adam of ten years before would have fallen over himself to explain, to make excuses, done anything to win back her smiles. The Adam of today was a distinguished man of the world. He was less easy to deal with—though, she had to admit, infinitely more interesting. But a crowded ballroom was not the place to deal with him.
‘Adam, I don’t feel like dancing. We’ve had so little time to talk. Will you take me, too, into the garden for a breath of fresh air?’ She smiled sweetly and a little sadly at him. There was a touch of moisture in her deep blue eyes.
Adam bowed and said, ‘Of course. If you think it is wise?’
‘Balmenny isn’t here,’ she said, taking his arm. It wasn’t quite what Adam had meant, but, though he frowned, he accompanied her into the garden.
Once outside Julia said softly, ‘Forgive me if I sounded impatient before. It’s just that…I dreamed so often of meeting you again. When I heard you were going to be in Surrey at Christmas I was determined to be there, too. Balmenny doe
sn’t like travelling in winter, but I made him bring me to visit my parents. And we met again on Christmas Eve. It was just like old times, didn’t you feel it, too?’
‘Hardly. In old times we had to meet in secret,’ said Adam drily.
‘Oh, yes—and it was so romantic! Oh, those summer days! We were so in love… I didn’t forget you, Adam. After you left England I was quite desolate, you know. And then I heard of your success, and of all those balls and parties you would be attending, and I longed to be there with you. How I envied those foreign ladies who were your partners. You once said that I was just as high as your heart. Were there many who made you feel the same?’
Adam looked down at her. ‘I forget,’ he said easily. ‘It all seems so long ago. I remember the fighting better. But, Julia—surely you didn’t pine for long? I thought I heard that you married Balmenny that same year?’
‘Oh, Balmenny!’ she said pettishly. ‘Don’t let us talk of him! I wish I had never met him!’
Adam took a step back and examined her, letting his eyes wander over her dress of silk and lace, and the clusters of diamonds at her throat and in her hair. ‘He’s been very good to you,’ he said a little cynically.
‘He’s dull! And old! Adam! Please, don’t be unkind! Surely you haven’t forgotten how much we loved one another! Confess! I don’t believe you have. I’ve watched you with Catherine Payne, and you look at her as if you’re looking at a ghost. As if you were seeing me. Isn’t that true? Everyone says how like me she is.’
‘It is certainly true that she is very like you.’
‘Tell me that I’m right. That when you’re with her, you don’t see her at all. You only see me. Isn’t that so? You imagine that we are together again.’ She drew a little nearer. ‘But why make do with the imitation? I’m here! I’m real! And, Adam—I now have so much more to offer…’
Adam’s face was in shadow. Disconcerted by his silence she went on, her voice full of pathos, ‘You can’t have forgotten how much you loved me!’
Adam hesitated. Then he said, ‘That was a long time ago, Julia. We’ve both changed since then.’
‘It isn’t so long! And I won’t let you say we’ve changed! Please, Adam, can’t we at least be…friends again?’ She gave a small sob. ‘I’m so lonely. My marriage was a mistake. And I’m not hard and independent like that other girl—the one you’ve been saddled with. Katharine Payne. I need someone to fight my battles for me. I need help. I need love.’
Julia moved even closer. Her tiny hands were against Adam’s chest. She raised her face to look at him, her beauty unaffected by the tears now rolling down her cheeks…
Adam had a sudden vision of Kate standing back, angrily refusing to accept sympathy from anyone. He remembered the detached tone she adopted when most moved, her refusal to parade her emotions. And as he regarded Julia now he was surprised to feel nothing but a slight distaste. He took a step back and said as gently as he could, ‘I don’t believe I am the right person for that, my dear. And Kate is not as invulnerable as you think. Kate needs me more than you do. You see, she has no husband to guard her interests.’
Julia looked at him in disbelief. He had rejected her! The tears stopped and a tide of colour swept over her cheeks. Her tone was venomous as she echoed his words. “‘Kate needs me more than you do!” That lump of a girl? Needing help? Of course she hasn’t a husband! Who would marry her? How dare you compare her with me! But don’t worry! I understand what you really wanted to say. Adam Calthorpe is too much of a gentleman, too noble to make love to a married woman—isn’t that it? My God! You always were a prig, Adam Calthorpe! I wonder why I ever tolerated you. Well, that’s all over. I don’t care which of the Paynes you marry. Marry the simpering miss if you wish—you won’t find her as innocent as you think! But it’s my belief you’ll end up with the overgrown beanpole! That’s what your mother intends! As for me, I wish you joy of neither!’
She ran to the door which led into the hall, but remembered to stop for a minute or two while she carefully dabbed the marks of tears from her face. Then she shook out her fan, took a breath and walked into the house, smiling right and left at her acquaintance, waving her fan gracefully, as beautiful and as charming as ever.
Adam watched her go with nothing but relief. The old dream had been shattered. For the first time he had seen Julia Redshaw as his mother saw her, and he marvelled at his former blindness. What an escape he had had all those years ago! But it wasn’t long before his thoughts turned again to Katharine, and he followed Julia inside. The waltz was still in train, and she and Ivo Trenchard were dipping and turning with the rest. What the devil had Julia meant? Kate was no lump, no beanpole, she moved like a queen! Hardly knowing it, he walked down the room, watching the pair from a distance. Kate seemed to have recovered her spirits. She was laughing up into Ivo’s face, saying something which made him laugh in turn. It worried Adam. Someone ought to warn her. Ivo was the best of fellows, but not one to be trusted as far as the ladies were concerned. He left a trail of broken hearts wherever he went. True, they usually belonged to ladies who should have known better—Ivo seldom spent his time on débutantes. In fact, this was the first time Adam had seen him do so. One might have thought that Ivo’s friendship with Tom would protect Kate, but it apparently didn’t…
There they went again, Ivo pulling Kate closer to avoid a collision with another couple! Adam had a sudden memory of Kate dancing with him in the saloon at Bridge House, how she had seemed to float in his arms. He had kissed her…
This really wasn’t good enough! Something had to be done about Katharine Payne! She was too inexperienced, too green to be out alone! First it was Walter, and now here was Ivo! They could say anything they liked to the girl and she believed them! Well, it wasn’t going to continue. Tom had extracted a promise from him to look after his sister. He had even wanted Adam to marry the girl! And if that was the only way Kate Payne would be safe, then it ought to be considered at least!
The following day Katharine was out visiting some friends and Adam and his mother were alone. A previous engagement had prevented Mrs Calthorpe from attending the Marchmont ball and she wanted to hear all about it. At the end of Adam’s carefully edited account of the people who had been there and who had danced with whom, Mrs Calthorpe put her head on one side and asked, ‘And what happened, my dear?’
‘I’ve told you.’
‘No, I mean what happened to make you so uneasy?’
Adam started to deny that he was uneasy, then he stopped and thought. His mother waited in silence.
‘It’s Kate,’ her son said finally. ‘I’m not sure she is always very wise.’
Mrs Calthorpe looked serious. ‘I knew I should have gone with her last night. It was my duty to do so. I should have made my apologies to the Carterets and accompanied her. But tell me what happened? I can’t believe she behaved badly.’
‘No, no, no! Nothing like that. You needn’t reproach yourself. And you couldn’t possibly have disappointed your other friends. Kate was perfectly safe and perfectly well-behaved.’ He stopped and thought. ‘Except with me. She seems to enjoy provoking me. I don’t know why—she is always charming with everyone else.’
‘Could it be that you provoke her?’
‘If offering perfectly good advice can be called provoking, I suppose I do. She refused to listen to it, of course.’
‘You can sound a little peremptory, my dear. Kate is a girl of spirit.’
‘Too much so for her own good! It made me uneasy about the future.’
With a touch of anxiety Mrs Calthorpe asked, ‘She hasn’t found someone else—?’ She stopped short and then began again. ‘She hasn’t found someone in whom she is interested, has she?’
‘That’s just it! Ivo Trenchard was in one of his frivolous moods, and Kate seemed quite taken with him. They spent half the evening laughing and making jokes… And then he danced the waltz with her…. I must confess I was surprised at him. I hope he isn’t setting up one of h
is flirtations with Kate, Mama!’
‘That’s a relief. I was worried for a moment. There’s no harm in Ivo, Adam! I am quite sure Kate would come to no mischief with him. You can be easy on that score.’
‘But Kate doesn’t know the rules—she could be hurt!’
‘Is that all that makes you anxious?’ Mrs Calthorpe was clearly not anxious herself.
‘No. Walter Payne is working hard to persuade Kate that he is a reformed character. I think she almost believes him.’
‘Oh, dear! Now that is a far more serious matter, I admit. But Kate is surely too intelligent to be in any danger from him?’
‘One would think so. But he tempts her with talk of Herriards, and of course she is more than ready to listen. It meant a lot to her. Does she still pine for the place, do you know?’
‘She never mentions it.’
‘That means nothing,’ Adam said gloomily. ‘The more Kate feels, the less likely she is to talk about it.’
‘It might mean that she is enjoying herself too much, that she has too many other things to talk about, you know. Don’t be too depressed, Adam.’
‘But Payne tempts her with Herriards! He tells her she can return there at any time, that she could one day be mistress of it! What if she is persuaded?’
Mrs Calthorpe, who had her own suspicions what Kate’s real feelings were, said, ‘Most unlikely. But what can you do about it if she is?’
‘We must stop her! Look, Mama, I should be betraying my promise to Tom if I let her go back to that place! Especially if it meant marriage to that tricky character.’ He walked restlessly about the room. ‘That girl is more trouble than she is worth!’
‘You don’t mean that, Adam.’
‘It would all have been much simpler if I had married her when Tom asked me. There wouldn’t be any of this nonsense then! And Ivo wouldn’t be a risk, either.’
Sylvia Andrew Page 18
