‘And I suppose he wouldn’t let you rest until he had been introduced,’ she said acidly.
‘Correct,’ said Lord Becconsall, oblivious to her dig about him sleeping through the lecture. Clearly she was going to have to speak more bluntly if she was going to succeed in insulting him.
‘You managed to get quite a bit of sleep, none the less, though, didn’t you?’
‘Lady Harriet,’ said Lord Becconsall with a mocking smile. ‘Never say you were watching me, rather than attending to the lecture?’ He laid his hand upon his heart. ‘I am touched. Deeply touched.’
‘I was not watching you rather than attending—’
‘No? Then, you will be able to fill me in on the salient points. Archie is bound to want to talk about them on the way home and I should not wish to disappoint him by being unable to contribute to the conversation.’
‘First of all, I very much doubt that. I think you are far more likely to tell him, to his face, without the slightest hint of shame, that you slept through pretty much the whole lecture. And second…’
‘Second?’ His smile twisted into a grin. ‘Let me guess. Knowing you, I suspect you were about to admit that your mind wandered far too often for you to be able to so much as tell anyone even one thing Mr Babbage said.’
Babbage, that was it, not Cabbage.
‘But you do not know me,’ she retorted, despite the fact that he’d just described exactly what she’d been doing.
‘Then I shall look forward to that particular pleasure,’ he said, leaning close and lowering his voice. Which sent a velvet caress all the way down to the places he’d previously set on edge with his mockery.
‘You will do no such thing,’ she replied.
‘Oh, but I shall. Bound to, during the course of the Season, since we will be going to the same balls and lectures…and parks.’
The way he said that, all low, and sort of meaningfully, turned the velvet molten. How did he do that? Make her remember the kiss, that was? And the feel of his body, pressed up against hers? Just by saying the word parks, with a slightly different tone to his voice and a certain sort of glint in his eye?
‘We will not!’ She was never going to go to the park again. Not on her own anyway. Not when it was such a dangerous thing to do.
‘One outing to the Royal Institution enough for you, was it?’ He chuckled. ‘Cannot say I blame you. All I have gained from coming here is a crick in my neck.’
‘I was not referring to this lecture hall.’
‘No?’ He shook his head. ‘Well, since it cannot be the balls I was mentioning, you must mean…’
‘That is just where you are wrong. I did mean the balls.’
‘Oh? You are giving up dancing then, are you?’
‘With you, yes.’
‘Come, come, just because we got off on the wrong foot…’
‘It has nothing to do with our feet,’ she said, stupidly. But then that was what happened when she got cross. Her words came out half-wrong. ‘I mean, it wasn’t to do with the way we met. It is what I have learned about you since.’
The laughter died from his eyes.
‘Oh? And what, pray have you learned?’
‘You know very well what it is,’ she said, although she knew he probably didn’t. ‘So don’t bother asking me to dance. And don’t come calling again. I shall not receive you.’
‘Is that so?’ His face had set into an expression that looked as though she’d just handed him a challenge. ‘We’ll see,’ he said softly.
And with just a hint of menace.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It stung.
He didn’t know why it should, but when she’d flung her chin up like that and told him she would never dance with him again, nor admit him to her home, it had most definitely stung.
‘I s-say,’ Archie suddenly panted, from somewhere behind him. ‘C-could you slow d-down a t-touch?’
‘What? Oh, sorry, old friend, I was miles away.’ And had started walking much faster as irritation had gone fizzing through his veins.
‘Alm-most literally,’ said Archie with a smile. ‘Civilians like me aren’t used to c-covering the miles on f-foot like you military men.’
And that was when it struck him. He’d felt the same, when she’d rebuffed him just now, as he’d felt every time he’d been passed over for promotion. When the credit had gone to someone who didn’t play the fool. In other words, to some stiff and starchy booby who had no imagination and stuck to the rules like glue.
Was that what she wanted, then? Some stickler for propriety, with no sense of humour, who probably voted Tory and sent tenants to the gallows when they had the temerity to poach from his land instead of meekly lying down and starving?
He hadn’t thought so. He’d thought she was…
He couldn’t put it into words. It was just as though he’d recognised her, somehow. The way she struggled to fit in. The way she…
Hang it. What did it matter anyway? It wasn’t as if he was in love with her.
He clapped Archie on the back and smiled. The devil-may-care smile that was his armour against all of life’s setbacks.
‘Enjoy the lecture, did you?’
‘Very much. Although the highlight of this afternoon had to be meeting Lady Balderstone. Never usually stirs from her estate, you know, and one c-can’t simply ride out there and visit.’
Something stirred in the labyrinths of Jack’s mind. Something mischievous.
‘You…ah…keen to see her again, then, are you, old man?’
Archie nodded, his eyes gleaming through the hair that Jack itched to set about with a pair of scissors.
‘Then we must definitely call upon her.’
‘We?’
‘Yes.’ Archie had just handed him the perfect way to exact revenge on Lady Harriet. Because he would not be calling upon her again. Oh, no. He would be calling upon the fascinating Lady Balderstone instead, in the company of one of her most fervent admirers.
He might even set up a flirtation with her, while he was at it. See how Lady Harriet liked that.
‘B-but you must have b-better things to do,’ said Archie.
‘Well, that’s just it, I haven’t.’ The old army cronies with whom he’d spent the first few weeks in Town, drinking and going over old battles, only reminded him of what he’d lost. Oh, he wouldn’t have had a brilliant career in the army, he was too apt to ignore orders from superiors when they were stupid, or worse, downright dangerous. But he’d been good at what he did. And he knew it. And his men had known it. Even some of his brother officers had admitted they wished they had his knack of getting their men to follow them the way his men followed him.
But being Lord Becconsall—that was something he had no idea how to do. And nobody on his estates expected him to make so much as even a token effort to be him, either.
All they’d asked of him was to do the Season and go back with a wife.
Set up his nursery.
Ensure the succession.
Which was another reason why he’d been at such pains to avoid society events. He might have come to Town, but that didn’t mean he was going to meekly obey orders to find a wife.
On the contrary.
Which was why the moment his fascination with Lady Harriet had begun to alarm him, he’d gone into full retreat. She was only supposed to have been a minor and pleasant diversion. Once he’d satisfied his curiosity about her, he was supposed to have reported straight back to Zeus and consigned her to his past. Instead of which he hadn’t told any of them anything about her. And he’d been drawn to any event where she might be, like iron filings to a magnet.
Even now, when she’d given him the perfect excuse to walk away and forget about her, he just couldn’t do it.
; Not at her bidding, anyway.
No, because she had no right to forbid him to do anything or go anywhere. She was going to find that wherever she went, he would be there.
Flirting with every other woman in the place. Showing her that she meant nothing to him.
‘I really think,’ said Archie plaintively, ‘that I c-could manage to get myself to a house in Grosvenor Square on my own without…g-getting lost, or c-committing some social solecism.’
‘I’m sure you could.’
‘Then, you don’t need to come with me, do you?’
‘What’s this, Archie? Want the lady scientist all to yourself, do you? Afraid I’ll queer your pitch?’
‘No.’ Archie went a bit pink in the face. ‘It’s just that…well, I don’t see why you all spend so much time p-pretending an interest in the things I am interested in, when—’
‘You aren’t going to upbraid me for catching forty winks during that lecture, are you?’ Jack cut in before Archie could really get going.
‘N-no, but see—’
‘Look, if you must know, I wasn’t asleep at all. I was just pretending.’
‘P-pretending? Why?’
‘Because I’d seen Lady Harriet come in, with her mother and…’ He’d been afraid he wouldn’t be able to keep his eyes off her. That she’d catch him staring at her, and think…well, he hadn’t been prepared to let her start thinking anything. ‘She was too distracting, if you must know,’ he admitted. Which was true. He’d hoped that once he’d told his friends who she was, that her identity was out in the open, she’d lose some of the fascination she held for him. It hadn’t worked. When her uncle had hauled her out of the drawing room, in a way that presaged trouble for her, he’d scarcely managed to stop himself from going with her. Because he wanted to defend her from whatever was about to happen. And when he’d seen her face, after the thundering scold she’d received for who knew what crime, he’d wanted to gather her into his arms and comfort her.
And to crown it all, when he’d seen her earlier, all he’d wanted to do was drink in the sight of her like some…brainless, infatuated sapskull.
Of course he’d shut his eyes and pretended she wasn’t there. What other defence did a man have?
‘Thank you for t-telling me. I wouldn’t have thought…’ He trailed off, his face flushing slightly.
‘What?’
‘Oh, nothing. A…thought I had. That’s all. A stupid thought, I c-can see. B-but then…truth is, I’ve b-been a b-bit b-blue-devilled of late.’
Jack darted him a glance. Why hadn’t he noticed the way his friend had been walking, with his head bowed as though weighted down with invisible burdens?
‘Want to tell me what ails you? I know I ain’t as clever as you, but you didn’t all start calling me Ulysses for nothing.’
Archie glanced up, and smiled sadly. ‘You are out, there, I’m afraid.’
‘In what way?’
‘In the way of thinking you are not as c-clever as I am. You are a master tactician. Couldn’t have led so many men into battle, and lost so few of them without having k-kind of mind that c-can implement c-complex strategies. And what you have done actually matters. To the outcome of the c-campaign as well as the men you k-kept alive. Whereas I…’ He sighed again. ‘Lady B-Balderstone reminded me of it, inadvertently of course, when she spoke of the discoveries being made of late in the field of isolating the elements. It feels as if every time I get to the point of a b-breakthrough, someone else b-beats me to it.’ He sighed again. ‘I am starting to feel like an imp-postor. That I ought to stop leeching off Zeus and go to t-teach in a school or something.’
‘I say, that’s a bit drastic, isn’t it?’ Schoolboys would eat Archie alive.
‘P-possibly, but at least I would feel as if I was earning my living. Instead of sponging off Zeus.’
‘You aren’t sponging off him. He employs you as his chaplain, doesn’t he?’
Archie made an impatient movement with his hand. ‘It’s a n-nominal appointment. Designed to give me p-pin money. I have never p-presided over a single service whilst living in K-Kelsham Park.’
‘Well, I don’t think you need to let that side of things bother you. Zeus didn’t employ you to say prayers for him. He ain’t the slightest bit bothered about his soul. Since he thinks he’s God already.’
Archie let out a surprised bark of laughter.
‘D-don’t be impious, Ulysses,’ he said. ‘Else he’ll strike you down with a b-bolt of lightning.’
‘I’d dodge it,’ said Jack, relieved to see that Archie’s mood was lifting. ‘That’s why he named me Ulysses. I’m adept at wriggling my way out of what look like impossible situations, by dint of my low cunning.’ He waggled his eyebrows theatrically.
Archie smiled again. Briefly. ‘Seriously, though, I do wonder how much longer he will tolerate my c-constant stream of failures to discover anything that will make him famous as a sponsor of the sciences. The way he has b-been looking at me, of late…’
Ah. ‘Well, you know what, Archie? If he does turn you out of your comfortable quarters, you can come to me. Now that I’m a lord, I am swimming in lard and have all sorts of gifts and benefits at my disposal. And if,’ he said quickly, when it looked as if Archie was going to voice an objection, ‘you don’t want to carry on researching any longer, why don’t you just come for a prolonged stay? Spend some time thinking about what you really do want to do with your life?’
‘Th-that’s good of you, but…’
‘Just think about it, that’s all. Take some time.’
‘Yes, that is just what Zeus said when I raised my c-concerns with him.’
‘What? You’ve already told Zeus how you feel?’
Archie nodded. ‘That is why we c-came up to London, when we heard that Atlas was ashore again.’
‘Not because I’d sold out and was kicking my heels in Town?’ Which was his problem in a nutshell. His friends were prepared to disrupt their routines and travel up to Town to celebrate the fact that Atlas had returned safe from the wars. But not him.
Archie shrugged. ‘There is no telling why he chooses to do anything. That is the one way in which he does resemble G-God, actually.’ He shot Jack a challenging look.
‘Ah, yes,’ said Jack, remembering. ‘Because he moves in mysterious ways.’
‘And so do you,’ said Archie, his brows drawing down. ‘I thought you only ran the g-girl from the p-park to earth out of some sort of…’
‘Well, so did I, at first,’ said Jack. ‘But the thing is…’ He trailed off as they finally reached the front door of their club, where they’d arranged to meet Zeus himself. ‘To be honest, I’m dashed if I know what the thing is,’ he said, with what he hoped was a disarming smile.
‘But you hope that you might find out, if you c-call on her again?’
‘Indeed I do,’ he said and jogged up the steps before Archie could ask any more questions about his intentions with regard to Lady Harriet, which might mean not being completely straight with the fellow. Because he had no wish to embroil Archie in his schemes, which were not the slightest bit honourable. Especially not when it sounded as if Archie had enough troubles as it was.
Besides which, he couldn’t trust Archie not to blurt out the truth, if he learned it. Because, clever though Archie was, when it came to subterfuge and cunning, he was the veriest babe.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The moment Keeble opened the front door of Tarbrook House, Harriet could tell there was going to be trouble.
‘His lordship has requested that you attend him in his study, as soon as you return,’ he said sternly.
‘Does he?’ said Mama, undoing the strings of her bonnet and handing it to him, neatly reminding him of his place. ‘I shall bear that in mind,’ she said, turning in the directi
on of the staircase and making as if to ascend.
She had not climbed up more than two steps before the door to Uncle Hugo’s study burst open and the man himself erupted.
‘I might have known you would ignore a civil request,’ he said, striding across the hall. How on earth he’d known that Mama was not heading in the direction of his study, Harriet had no idea. Unless he had some sort of telescopic contraption mounted in there somewhere, through which he could observe the comings and goings that went on in his hallway. Which wouldn’t surprise her, now she came to think of it.
‘So why,’ said Mama, turning to look down at him over her shoulder, ‘did you bother to make it?’
‘It is all of a piece with the rest of your behaviour,’ he said from the foot of the staircase. ‘You undermine me at every turn.’
‘If you did not make so many foolish decisions, there would be no need to flout them.’
Mama’s statement was like a red rag to a bull.
‘May I remind you,’ seethed Uncle Hugo through his nostrils ‘that the reason I confined your daughter,’ he said, pointing an accusing finger in her direction as she attempted to sidle up the stairs past Mama, ‘to her room is that she turned my household…’ he slapped his hand to his chest to emphasise exactly whose house it was ‘…upside down with her outrageous accusations of theft and skulduggery. She needed to learn a lesson. And you took her out of her room, nay, out of the very house,’ he cried, pointing to the front door, ‘against my express orders.’
Mama, from her vantage point on the stairs, looked down on him with disdain and clucked her tongue. ‘It has come to a pretty pass if a woman cannot take her own daughter out whenever she pleases.’
‘Well, that is it, in a nutshell, is it not? You only think of her when it pleases you to use her to make a point. May I remind you that it has been my wife who has gone to all the trouble of launching that graceless daughter of yours into society. And what thanks do we get? From either of you?’
The sound of a muffled sob, emanating from the half-open door to the drawing room, drew Harriet’s attention to her aunt, whom she could just see, sitting on a sofa with her head bowed. And a handkerchief to her face.
Convenient Bride for the Soldier & the Major Meets His Match & Secret Lessons With the Rake (9781488021718) Page 36
