by Merry Farmer
If he had been tempted for even a moment to believe Elaine was like every other woman he’d had an affair with in his miserable life with the same jealous, unforgiving temperament, that simple tutting settled everything. “I love you,” he said, surging toward her and taking her in his arms again. “I don’t deserve you, but I love you all the same.”
He kissed her before she could protest or raise the argument that she didn’t fit in his world. She was his world, and he would make the rest of it fit with her.
He teetered on the verge of taking scandalous liberties with her by draping her across the leather chaise in the corner of the room and having his way with her when there was a knock on the door.
Without waiting for leave to enter, Katya opened the door and warned, “Turpin is coming.”
Basil barely had time to put Elaine out of his arms before the door flung all the way open and Turpin marched through, his face like a thundercloud. He wasn’t alone. His wife was with him, and Malcolm and Armand rushed in behind them.
“What is the meaning of this?” Turpin demanded, glancing from Elaine to Basil.
“Uncle Daniel,” Elaine rushed to speak. “I can explain.”
Basil raised a hand to stop her, warning her with a look to let him handle things, and hoping she would let him.
“This is a private matter, Turpin,” he said, assuming his stiffest and most superior posture. “It is none of your concern.”
“It is my concern if you’ve made my niece another one of your lascivious conquests,” Turpin spat, calculation in his eyes.
“I’m nobody’s conquest but my own,” Elaine declared, planting her hands on her hips.
Basil’s mouth twitched into a proud grin. Turpin had no idea what he was up against. But then, no one ever truly realized what they were up against where Elaine Bond was concerned. It was her greatest weapon.
“Is this the friend you came to London to seek out?” Turpin snapped at her.
“Yes, uncle.” She nodded, still defiant.
“And now that you’ve found him, what do you intend to do?”
Basil blinked at the odd question and the way Turpin studied Elaine with cunning. The man was planning something. His friends must have seen it too. They watched Turpin and his wife as though they were on the verge of drawing hidden weapons.
Elaine glanced to Basil, but where he expected to see blatant defiance he found an understanding of the precarious situation. “I’ve found him,” she said with a casual shrug. “I’ve told him what I wanted to say.”
“And?” Turpin demanded.
“And what?” she asked with enough innocence that Basil itched to know what she was up to.
Turpin’s frown turned uncertain. “Are you engaged in a salacious affair with this man?” Turpin demanded.
The corner of Elaine’s mouth tilted up as she sent Basil a teasing glance. “No, I am not.” Because as they both knew, as she was able to communicate without words, their bond was so much more than an affair as to make the question laughable. “But he’s not forgiven. Not yet.”
Basil’s heart sank, although he figured it was no more than he deserved.
“Oh.” Turpin’s confusion deepened. “Well. I demand you come away with me at once. We’re leaving this ball.”
Alarm shot through Basil. He swayed toward Elaine, ready to grab hold of her and shelter her in his arms if he had to. But before he could do more than that, Elaine nodded in deference to her uncle and stepped close to Turpin’s side.
“Where are you going?” Basil asked, feeling like the earth had shifted under his feet.
“Back to my uncle’s house,” she told him, her face a mask of innocence.
“But—”
“There’s an election on,” she continued. “An important one too, or so I’m told. I have a part to play as much as anyone else does.”
The tables turned, and Basil knew he was the one who looked completely flummoxed, whereas Turpin grinned in approval at Elaine. She couldn’t possibly be sacrificing herself in some way so that he could carry on with the mission Malcolm had thrust on him, could she?
Of course she could. That was Elaine to a T.
“You don’t have to do this,” he told her, not caring who else was watching them. “You should have come straight to me.”
Elaine peeked sideways at her uncle, her lips pursing in a tight line, her eyes over-bright. “I don’t know what you mean, my lord.”
Good God, she was playing games. It was one thing for her to hatch bold schemes in the safety of rural Cumbria, but she was in so far over her head playing those same games in London that it turned his stomach to lead.
“It was lovely to see you again,” she went on with a cagey smile. “And to meet your friends.” She nodded to Katya and Armand, then glared at Malcolm. “Good evening.”
“Wait.” Basil surged forward as Elaine turned to leave the room, followed by Turpin and his wife.
Malcolm stepped forward to stop him with a hand to his chest. “That’ll be enough of that.”
“She’s in more danger than she knows,” Basil growled, itching to go after her, paralyzed with uncertainty. Did she know what she was doing?
No, she absolutely didn’t. He tried to go after her a second time, but Malcolm grabbed his arm. “I knew she was trouble.”
“How did you get involved with a woman in Turpin’s circle?” Armand asked.
“She’s Turpin’s niece,” Katya cut in. “Lavinia Prior snuck down the hall to tell me how the two of them met while you were closeted in here.” She fixed a steady stare on Basil. “She said something about Miss Bond coming all the way from Cumbria to chase after the man she loves.”
“She doesn’t love him,” Malcolm said with a grim laugh. “When have you known Basil to ever have a serious relationship with a woman.”
“Now,” Basil argued, beyond indignant. “You know him to have the deepest love for a woman now. That woman. Elaine Bond.”
“Come on, man.” Malcolm rolled his eyes and sent Basil a teasing look. “How many times have you claimed to be in love with a woman?”
“Never,” Armand answered, glancing between Basil and Malcolm in thought. “He’s never claimed to be in love.”
“Oh, Malcolm,” Katya huffed, narrowing her eyes. “You are as thick as a whale omelet.” Malcolm flinched at the insult, but that didn’t stop her from going on. “You dragged a man away from the woman he loves.” She turned to Basil. “And now we have to figure out how to get her away from Turpin.”
“Basil has been sleeping with the enemy, and it’s me you yell at?” Malcolm stalked closer to Katya.
“Elaine is not the enemy,” Basil insisted, reaching the end of his patience. “She’s rash and she’s impulsive. She gets herself into more scrapes than anyone I’ve ever seen, and in this particular situation, she’s in over her head. Turpin has set her the task of befriending the May Flowers so that she can sway them to his side.”
His friends erupted in surprise.
“Has she succeeded?” Malcolm demanded, marching to stand toe-to-toe with Basil. “Is she friends with them?”
“Has she called on any of them?” Katya asked. “Have they accepted her into their circle?”
“She wasn’t wearing an apple blossom,” Armand said.
“If she is on her way to becoming one of them, we have to catch her and stop her from convincing them to support Turpin,” Malcolm said.
“All the more reason to get her away from that man and his machinations,” Katya said.
“I don’t know where she stands with the May Flowers.” Basil cut off his friends’ panicked conversation. “But I want her out of Turpin’s house as much as you do.”
“Could you invite her to stay with you?” Armand asked Katya. “She can’t stay under the same roof with Basil.”
“And why not?” Basil asked, then added in a diffident mumble, “We were more or less living under the same roof in Brynthwaite.” The fact that it had been for a g
rand total of maybe eight hours was a minor detail.
“Have you all lost your minds?” Malcolm bellowed. “The fate of the nation is at stake. The election is already in progress. Voting will be finished in less than a fortnight, and we need to make sure the current government is ousted and our allies are elected. And you lot are busy concerning yourself with where Basil sticks his cock?”
“I’ve heard enough out of you,” Basil shouted, marching to stand toe-to-toe with Malcolm, glaring at him. “So help me God, Malcolm. You are one of the oldest and closest friends I’ve ever had, but you’ve stepped over the line. Yes, I understand the importance of this election. I know what my duty is, and I am willing to do it. I will not disappoint my country, but no longer will I stand by and let you insult the woman I have come to love more than life itself.”
“I—” Malcolm stammered, shocked, taking a step back.
“I know what my reputation once was,” Basil went on, “but I can assure you that is no longer who I am. You will either respect the man I have become over the last two years, with Elaine’s support and encouragement, or you will stay out of my way.”
He took a step back, highly conscious of his friends staring at him as though they’d never met him. Their scrutiny made him writhe with discomfort and long for the peace and simplicity of his bookshop, and Elaine in his arms.
He cleared his throat. “Now, if you will excuse me. I no longer have the stomach for this conversation. I’m going home. You can scheme and plot and mold the world as you want it to be without me. Good night.”
With one final nod to his friends, even Malcolm, he turned and marched out of the room.
Chapter 14
“And you just walked away from him?” Lavinia asked Elaine with wide, disbelieving eyes as they two of them strolled through Hyde Park a few days later. “After coming all this way and finding him at last?”
“Well, I didn’t walk away from him precisely,” Elaine said, twirling the handle of the parasol that rested against her shoulder. “I merely retreated to a strategic distance so that I could better plot how to help him with the reason he returned to London in the first place.”
She glanced to Lavinia, who stared at her in awe, but not in understanding.
“He came back here because his side needs to win the election,” she explained. “His friends want him to ingratiate himself with the May Flowers, and my uncle wants me to do the same thing. Uncle Daniel can’t control what I say, and I doubt he’ll hover behind my shoulder, monitoring every conversation I have.”
“So you intend to campaign for the Liberals instead of your uncle’s party if and when the May Flowers invite you into their circle?” Lavinia asked.
“Yes.” Elaine smiled. “It’ll be a lark.”
“Aren’t you afraid of your uncle finding out and banishing you from his house, or worse?”
Elaine shrugged. “If he does, I’ll go live with Basil.”
Lavinia gaped. “If my mother heard you say that, she’d whisk me away and forbid me from ever speaking to you again.”
“Does she really have that much sway over you?” Elaine sent her a puzzled, sidelong glance.
Lavinia laughed, full of irony. “You don’t know my mother, or all the mothers like her. Mama would expire on the spot if I were seen doing anything even slightly out of line by society’s standards. She is determined to hold me up as a paragon of modern virtues, and to marry me off in what will be a match her friends will talk about for years to come.”
“Oh?” Elaine’s smile brightened. “To whom? Have I met him.”
Lavinia laughed again. “I haven’t even met him, nor Mama. She hasn’t set her sights on a man she deems worthy enough yet. Though she’ll need to act fast. I’m half on the shelf as it is.” Lavinia sighed in resignation.
“Don’t you have any say in things?”
“No,” Lavinia sighed. “As Mama constantly reminds me, to be a perfect lady, I must remain silent and modest, I must cultivate feminine skills, and I must be seen to embody absolute virtue at all times, and I should never, ever sully my fragile mind with anything more complicated than needlework or piano-playing.”
“I’m surprised she let you out of the house at all,” Elaine said in a wry voice. “Let alone to spend an afternoon with me.”
“You’re Daniel Turpin’s niece,” Lavinia told her with mock solemnity. “And Lady Tavistock approves of you. You are suitably well-connected.”
“I’m not so sure Lady Tavistock does approve of me,” Elaine said, suddenly gloomy. “Lady Denbigh and her friends seemed to think it was all an act and that she despises me as much as everyone else.”
“Lady Denbigh is a notorious cat. She’ll cut anyone to advance herself. Everyone else doesn’t despise you,” Lavinia said. “I like you very much.”
Elaine was so touched by the kind smile and slight blush on her new friend’s face that she looped her arm through Lavinia’s. “I’m happy to be your friend too.”
“I’m honored you would consider me such. I don’t know what I’d do if Mama suddenly decided you were beneath me. I had a hard enough time convincing her that the rumors of you being Lord Waltham’s new mistress were false.”
“What?” Elaine exclaimed, her brow rising and her smile growing. “There are rumors I’m Basil’s mistress?”
Lavinia blushed scarlet. “I’m sorry. It was indelicate for me to blurt it out like that.”
“No, no,” Elaine laughed. “It’s not that at all.” She bit her lip over her continued urge to giggle as they turned a corner onto the path that would lead them along the southern edge of the Serpentine. “I suppose the way he approached me at the ball would cause whispers,” she thought out loud. “It’s rather exciting to be the subject of a gossipy, society rumor.”
“It would terrify me,” Lavinia said.
“I’m not afraid,” Elaine sniffed. “London doesn’t hold much sway over me. My life is in Brynthwaite.” Her smile faded somewhat. “Not that it’s any easier for women in Cumbria.”
“Isn’t it?” Lavinia asked. “What I mean to say is, if the strictures of London society don’t rule your life up there, wouldn’t life be easier by default?”
“There are other problems in Cumbria,” Elaine said with a sigh. “Take my friend, June Lakes, for example. She’s a lovely, pretty woman, but her mother died when she was a girl, and she has a father and three brothers to take care of. She slaves away, night and day, cooking, cleaning, doing their laundry, and picking them up when they pass out on the floor of the pub. She hasn’t had any time for suitors or picnics, let alone balls or walks through a park like this. She’s as trapped as anyone living under the heavy hand of society’s rules.”
Lavinia hummed in understanding. “I can’t imagine that life. But you seem quite happy.”
Elaine sent her a sideways smirk. “I’m happy because I’m determined to be. If I didn’t focus all of my efforts into being such, I’m not sure what I would do with myself.”
She thought of how she’d felt after her father died, how heavy her grief had been. She’d had Basil by her side then, and had had him with her every step of the way since then. In fact, she had no doubt that his support was the one thing that had enabled her to stick so doggedly to her decision to be happy against all odds. Which reminded her that if she couldn’t find a way to help him succeed in the mission he’d come to London to complete, she might have to continue her life without him.
“We should find some May Flowers to pester,” she said, clearing her throat and shaking herself out of her dangerous thoughts.
“Just like that?” Lavinia asked, looking baffled at Elaine’s sudden declaration.
“Yes. The park is full of political demonstrations and people making speeches today.” She paused and glanced around. Within sight, a group of middle-class men were carrying on about the evils of Disraeli’s government, a small group of working-class women were waving signs that demanded equal treatment, and a well-dressed man was stand
ing on a dais, making a speech to a curious crowd of upper-class men and women, who looked on with polite interest. “That’s where we should be.” Elaine nodded to the upper-class group.
She still had her arm looped through Lavinia’s, and when she leapt into motion, she tugged Lavinia with her.
“Oh, Miss Bond,” Lavinia hissed in alarm. “You cannot simply walk up to a group of ladies and launch into a political speech without being introduced first. Especially May Flowers.”
“What a silly rule.” Elaine brushed off the restriction, which she knew to be true. “This is politics, and in politics rules are always broken. Besides, there’s Lady Tavistock now. We can find out what she really thinks about me.” Her words came out light and cheery, but in fact, the sight of Lady Tavistock strolling around the edges of the crowd watching the political speech, two friends with her, filled Elaine with dread.
Lavinia made a pained sound, as though they were walking into a disaster, as Elaine dragged her up to Lady Tavistock and her friends. They were all dressed in perfect walking costumes, their skirts so fashionably tight that Elaine was certain they could only shuffle their feet as they moved instead of truly walking. Their parasols were decorated with lace and ribbon, each one matching the outfit of the woman who carried them. And they each wore matching, pink peonies pinned to their chests. Elaine was fairly sure they were there to be seen as much as they were there to hear the speech, possibly more.
“Good morning, ladies,” she greeted them with a broad smile. “Lady Tavistock, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Are you enjoying the speech?”
All three women turned to stare at her in surprise.
“I beg your pardon,” one of them, a slender, haughty woman with alabaster skin and deep brown eyes to match her dark hair, said. She instantly turned back to the speaker on the platform.
“Why, if it isn’t Miss Bond,” Lady Tavistock said, her manner completely the opposite. She wore a bright smile, but Elaine’s confidence in the woman’s opinion of her had been so rattled that she couldn’t tell whether or not it was genuine. “And cousin Lavinia.”
