Читать книгу The Unrepentant Rake - Barbara Monajem - Страница 7

Hampshire, 1802

‘It’s a toe bone,’ Beatrix March said, and went on rummaging through her little leather chest.

Eudora, the eldest of the Ottersby sisters, dropped the silver reliquary onto the bed with a tiny shriek. ‘A bone?’

Beatrix refrained from rolling her eyes, but only because she was Eudora’s governess and had to set an example of ladylike behaviour. ‘A twelve-hundred-year-old toe bone belonging to St. Davnet. It’s a holy reliquary, and it’s been in my family for centuries. Aha!’ She pulled a folded paper pattern from the bottom of the chest and spread it on the coverlet. ‘Here’s the one I was looking for. Beetle wing appliqué is very popular just now. This will make a lovely reticule.’

Eudora made an unenthusiastic sound of agreement. None of the Ottersby girls showed much interest in embroidery, but Eudora was the worst, because all she ever thought about was love. She picked up the little reliquary again, this time with only the tips of her fingers, and shook it. The bone rattled inside.

‘Gently, please!’ Beatrix said. ‘Holy relics should be treated with reverence.’

Eudora’s fingers tightened around the tarnished silver box and chain. ‘Does one pray to it? Is it magic?’

‘According to legend, it bestows family harmony upon the possessor.’ Beatrix repacked several scarves and a paper of pins.

‘Family harmony?’ Eudora pouted. ‘How boring!’

‘Not at all,’ Beatrix said, without expecting her pupil to understand. The Ottersby household was the most unharmonious she’d had the misfortune to work for, but Eudora had never known anything better. ‘Harmony is extremely important. In a family bound together by love, where everyone respects and cares for the others, all have a chance to flourish. In a family full of discord and strife, no one is happy.’ She put out her hand, and Eudora dropped the reliquary into it with a petulant sigh.

Beatrix set the reliquary on a folded shawl, packed the rest of her fabric and silk threads on top, and buckled the lid shut. She pushed the chest under her bed and stood. Pointedly, she said, ‘I hope that when you marry, you will strive for love and harmony with your husband.’

Eudora’s face paled. ‘That will never happen. Mama will make me marry someone rich and horrid, because the only man I will ever love is afraid to talk to me!’

Unfortunately, this was all too likely. Lady Ottersby had grand ambitions for her daughters. Beatrix didn’t believe in allowing relatives to get in the way of living one’s life, which was why she had chosen never to marry. One never knew what men were really like until it was too late (or almost too late, in her own case). Beatrix had escaped marriage by a hair and wouldn’t recommend it to any thinking woman.

Eudora wasn’t given much to thinking, though. Shy Mr. Conk, who was reasonably well-off and lived in a neighbouring village, would make a good husband for her, if only he could be induced to stammer out a proposal.

‘All he needs is a good, sharp nudge,’ Beatrix said.

‘I’ve been trying to nudge him for months,’ Eudora retorted. ‘It will take much, much more than that.’

I should never have mentioned love, Beatrix told herself two days later, when she realized that the reliquary was gone.

After the first shock of loss, she wasn’t entirely surprised. Mr. Conk had dropped by the following day, sat tongue-tied with the ladies for ten minutes at most, and then escaped to the stables with Lord Ottersby to inspect a newly-purchased hunter. That evening, a determined stubbornness had crept into Eudora’s already sullen demeanor, and when Beatrix had greeted her at the breakfast table the next morning, she’d averted her eyes.

The foolish girl thought to bring him up to scratch through magic.

It wouldn’t work, but Beatrix had been the Ottersby girls’ governess for several months—long enough to know that once an idea took possession of Eudora’s mind, nothing would pry it loose. If Beatrix demanded the return of the reliquary, Eudora would simply deny having taken it, after which Beatrix would be dismissed without a character.

And without the reliquary.

She couldn’t return home without it. Not that her uncle would care; men never believed in the reliquary’s power. He certainly wouldn’t risk accusing the daughter of a peer of theft over, as he put it, a trumpery old box which only a superstitious female would consider precious. But her aunt’s reproaches would follow her to her grave and beyond, and worse, the harmony with which their family had been blessed for centuries would be gone forever.

Beatrix would have to keep her mouth shut, find the reliquary, and steal it right back.

A tavern in London, two months later

‘My dear fellow,’ Simon Carling said, ‘I know nothing about courtship. I shan’t be the least use to you.’ He swallowed the rest of his porter. ‘I’d best be going.’

‘Don’t abandon me just yet,’ Delbert Conk said gruffly. ‘You know about women. You know how to talk to them. I don’t.’ He waved to the barmaid, who ignored him. Simon sighed and caught the wench’s eye. He signaled for two more heavy-wets, and with an ecstatic smile she scurried to do his bidding.

‘See?’ Delbert said. ‘You don’t even have to say a word, and they’re ready to fall all over you.’

Simon blew out a long breath. ‘I know how to talk them into bed, Del. Unless you wish to seduce Miss Ottersby first and wed her later, I can’t help you.’ Even then, he doubted he’d be much use. Del wasn’t a bad-looking fellow, but incredibly awkward with the opposite sex.

Del drew himself up. ‘I shouldn’t dream of doing anything so villainous!’ He reddened. ‘No offence meant, old chap, but—’

The barmaid arrived with two brimming tankards. She bent low as she deposited the ale on the table, offering a view of large, creamy breasts. ‘Lovely, sweetheart,’ Simon said with a grin. Del went even redder.

‘None taken,’ Simon said, once the girl had reluctantly left to serve other customers. ‘I freely confess to being a villain when it comes to women, while you’re a saint. Usually, advice goes the other way around.’ Not that Simon wanted advice about marriage. If anything, he needed help avoiding it. Until a few months ago, life had been simple. He’d had little money, no prospects, and few morals, and the matchmaking mamas had avoided him. Then he’d unexpectedly inherited a substantial estate from his godmother and become the Catch of the Season.

‘Just come along to the house party and tell me what to do,’ Del said. ‘The Ottersbys said it was fine to bring you. I’ve known the family since I was a boy. It’ll be fun—a smallish group, enlarged by the usual county folk for some of the evenings, and we can count on excellent food and drink.’

Simon sighed again. Del was a good friend, and he didn’t want to let him down.

‘If I don’t have someone telling me what to do and say,’ Del said, ‘I’ll never get the courage to ask Eudora to marry me.’

‘Why in hell not?’ grumbled Simon. ‘The worst she can do is say no. There’s always another woman down the road.’

‘Not for me,’ Del said. ‘It’s Eudora or no one.’

Simon grimaced, but deep inside, a strange pang assailed him. He hadn’t thought much about marriage until recently. First his solid, responsible brother James had married, and he and his wife were disgustingly happy. Then, Simon had found himself the possessor of a sizeable house in London, which felt empty with only himself and a couple of servants rattling about in it. He would have to fill it up with a family someday.

But not by succumbing to the wiles of the matchmaking mamas. Sooner or later he would find the right woman, make her an offer of marriage, she would accept him, and that would be that. Marriage on his own terms, and no one else’s.

Meanwhile, Del needed him, and he never failed a friend. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘I’ll come.’

One week later

Simon Carling prowled the corridors of Ottersby Place, looking for a woman to waylay.

Ideally, he would happen upon a young, comely and virtuous servant who would make plenty of noise whilst repulsing him. Young and comely because kissing her would be enjoyable, and virtuous so she wouldn’t actually succumb to his advances. Not that he was averse to dallying with a pretty servant girl, but he simply wasn’t in the mood.

After two minutes at the Ottersby estate, he’d regretted his kind-hearted, mutton-headed decision to help Delbert Conk. One look at Lady Ottersby and her three simpering daughters, and he would have claimed to be pox-ridden if it weren’t for his promise to advise Del. He meant to leave Hampshire as soon as he’d shoved Del into making his proposal, but in the meantime he needed to protect himself from Lady Ottersby’s matchmaking wiles. Vilifying his own character seemed the most entertaining approach.

A maid bustled around the corner carrying a bucket of coal. Simon advanced upon her with a knowing smile.

A trill of nervous laughter erupted in the corridor outside Eudora Ottersby’s bedchamber. Hastily, Beatrix March shut the jewellery box she’d been searching.

‘Oh, no, sir! Please, sir. I really mustn’t!’ cried a female voice.

Beatrix recognized the masculine murmur that followed this protest. Never in her life had she met a more rampant—and dangerous—flirt than Mr. Simon Carling. Not that she’d actually met him—Lady Ottersby didn’t introduce her guests to the lowly governess—but Beatrix knew of him from when she’d worked for a family in London. He hadn’t noticed her then, but tonight he’d given her a long, assessing look when she’d brought Helena and Louisa Ottersby down to the drawing room—the kind of look that made a woman’s heart beat faster and her blood run hot.

As befitted her position as governess, she’d pretended not to notice, and his amused eye had roamed on. Since then, he’d flirted outrageously with every woman in the drawing room and a couple of the maids besides. He had quite a reputation with the ladies, but evidently he was a far more indiscriminate lecher than she’d supposed. Hopefully, the maid would have the gumption to send Mr. Carling to the rightabout.

She finished going through the jewellery box, but without success. During the last few months, she’d taken advantage of every opportunity to search. She’d gone through the drawers of the dressing table. She’d unpacked and repacked the clothes press. She’d even opened every single book on Eudora’s shelf in case pages had been cut away and the reliquary hidden inside. If St. Davnet wanted her toe bone restored to its rightful owner, she certainly wasn’t making its recovery easy.

A clang in the corridor, followed by an anguished squawk, broke into Beatrix’s thoughts. Muttering under her breath, she picked up the shawl she’d been sent to fetch, stomped to the bedchamber door, and flung it open.

‘Whatever is going on out here?’ she demanded in her best governess voice.

The maid gaped at her, red as a strawberry, hands pressed to her heaving bosom. Coal lay strewn across the passageway.

Mr. Carling retrieved the coal bucket from the floor. ‘Trust a governess to spoil sport,’ he drawled.

You should be ashamed of yourself, Mr. Carling. It may have been sport to you, but to Nellie it would have meant loss of employment and perhaps utter ruin.’

‘Pfft,’ Mr. Carling said rudely. ‘One little kiss doesn’t spell ruin.’ Astonishingly, he set about picking up the scattered lumps of coal. When Nellie hurried to take the bucket, he put up a hand and said, ‘Don’t come too close, girl. I’m a truly dreadful fellow. I might grab you and debauch you.’ He snapped his fingers. ‘Just like that.’

Unfortunately, he had such a charming grin that Nellie merely giggled. ‘Not with Miss March here to save me, you wouldn’t.’ The silly girl sounded almost regretful. Nor could Beatrix find it in her heart to blame her. Mr. Carling, from his wavy, deep reddish locks to his shiny black Hessians, was the sort of man to turn any woman’s resistance to mush.

‘Do give me the bucket, sir.’ Footsteps approached, and Nellie whitened, whispering, ‘Please!’

Simon passed her the bucket just as Lady Ottersby rounded the corner. Her gaze flickered from Simon to Beatrix and back again, and then to Nellie. ‘What is the meaning of this?’

‘Dear Lady Ottersby,’ Simon purred. ‘Wherever I turn, there you are again.’

She gave Simon a syrupy smile, which immediately changed into a scowl. ‘What are you doing here, Miss March? What has that clumsy girl done now?’

‘It wasn’t Nellie’s fault,’ Beatrix said. ‘Mr. Carling startled her, and she dropped the coal bucket.’

‘Tut, tut, Miss March,’ Simon said. ‘A governess should always be truthful. Not only did I startle Nellie, I accosted her, poor girl. I simply can’t keep my hands off pretty chambermaids.’ He brushed his sooty fingers, as if he could get rid of the dust of sin as well as coal. ‘Miss March stepped in to save her. I tried to make up for my abominable behaviour by picking up the coal myself, but Nellie wouldn’t let me.’

Lady Ottersby rebuked Nellie and turned her frown on Beatrix. ‘Why are you here? I ordered you to keep an eye on Helena and Louisa.’ She simpered at Simon. ‘They are such innocents, and need a watchful eye upon them at every moment. A girl’s reputation is so fragile nowadays. One indiscretion and she is compromised!’

‘Come now, Lady Ottersby,’ Simon said. ‘With such an unparalleled example as yours to follow, your daughters couldn’t possibly do anything indiscreet. And Miss March is a positive fount of propriety.’

Beatrix suppressed an indignant outburst, which made no sense. As a governess, she was obliged to be extremely proper. She should be thankful to know she was playing her role so very well.

If only propriety wasn’t such an almighty bore!

Simon grinned at Beatrix as if he read her thoughts. ‘I remember Miss March from London, when she worked for Lady Wade.’

Simon remembered her?

‘She protected the daughters of the house from me with her very life, and just now she calmed poor, frightened Nellie and did her best to set me straight.’ He was laughing at her, blast the man. ‘Hopefully, she’ll be someplace else next time I come across a pretty young maid.’

‘Oh, pshaw, Mr. Carling! You do say such things!’ Lady Ottersby cried.

A spasm of irritation crossed Mr. Carling’s face. He rolled his eyes ever so briefly.

Lady Ottersby snapped, ‘Explain yourself, Miss March!’

Beatrix had been gazing in growing astonishment at Mr. Carling, but now composed herself. ‘Miss Eudora asked me to fetch a shawl.’ She tried to sound obedient and submissive, neither of which virtue she could rightly claim.

‘Not that old rag,’ Lady Ottersby said with a contemptuous laugh and an arch glance at Simon. ‘Miss March has no concept of fashion.’

Again, Beatrix stomped on her indignation. She possessed plenty of fashion sense. She’d spent much of her time here playing lady’s maid as well as governess, doing her utmost to prevent the Ottersby girls from looking like dowds.

Judging by the spark in Lady Ottersby’s eye, Beatrix hadn’t suppressed her true feelings well enough. ‘The new Norwich shawl, stupid girl. Hop to it and return to your post, or I shall consider replacing you.’

‘Yes, my lady,’ Beatrix said. This was no idle threat, and a shiver of trepidation ran though her. She couldn’t leave without the reliquary. She had to get it back.

Lady Ottersby jabbed her hand into the crook of Simon’s arm. ‘Mr. Carling, we are about to indulge in some music. You must hear my Eudora play. You shall be rapt, I assure you!’ She hauled him down the passageway.

Appalled, Beatrix watched them go. Mr. Conk had spent most of his time in London for the past few months, dashing Eudora’s hopes, and meanwhile Lady Ottersby’s ambition for her daughters had grown more and more unrealistic. That afternoon, Beatrix had tried to warn Lady Ottersby about Simon’s reputation and been rebuked for gossiping about her betters. Now, after Simon’s frank confession of his lecherous nature, Lady Ottersby still saw him as a prospective suitor for her daughters.

Beatrix considered speaking to Lord Ottersby, but dismissed the idea immediately. When she’d first come to the household, he’d seemed a fond enough father, but she must have been mistaken. Lately, he’d paid no attention to his daughters at all.

Beatrix hesitated outside the door of Eudora’s chamber, her eyes still on Simon. His appearance was faultless: his cravat snowy-white, his coat perfection across his wide shoulders, his buff pantaloons snug on well-formed calves, but underneath…oh, underneath those clothes he was doubtless a fine-looking man as well, and she shouldn’t be thinking such thoughts. Inside, then. Inside, he was a Bad Man.

Bad or not, he would undoubtedly approve Beatrix’s choice of shawls for Eudora, once he saw how the new one would clash with her evening gown. Why Beatrix should care what Mr. Carling thought, she had no idea, but as the ill-assorted pair rounded the corner, he turned and flashed her a wink.

A little thrill tingled inside Beatrix’s belly. Resolutely, she ignored it. He probably winked at every attractive woman who crossed his path. Determination simmered inside her. She’d begun to pity Eudora, thief though she was, and she couldn’t let her life or the lives of her younger sisters be ruined by this callous rake. Lady Ottersby might think she could trap him into marriage with one of her daughters, but Beatrix knew better.

She folded the old shawl and put it away, got out the new one, and glanced into the adjoining dressing room. Yes! There were a number of boxes on the shelves which might contain personal items. All she needed was another chance to search before she lost her temper and her job.

By professing to know nothing about music, ignoring his hostess’s machinations, and doing some insistent shoving, Simon maneuvered Delbert Conk into turning the pages of Miss Ottersby’s music. At this rate, he would have to propose marriage for Del as well. He stepped a little behind the circle of guests standing around the piano, pondering whom to choose for his next victim. He’d ogled every female guest, but apparently he would have to try harder to convince Lady Ottersby, or at least her daughters, of his lecherous nature. Their father seemed hardly aware of their existence, so he could expect no help there. A married guest might be more useful than a maid, as long as she could be counted upon to shriek at his effrontery and vilify his character to all the other guests. Oh, and as long as her husband didn’t take offence and try to kill him.

There weren’t many to choose from. He was taking stock of the female guests, wondering which might prove most high-strung, when he found himself trapped: Miss Helena Ottersby sidled up on his left flank and Miss Louisa on his right. On the far side of the piano, a little smile played about their mother’s mouth. As if at some invisible signal, the two girls—ridiculously young at sixteen and seventeen—moved closer. Helena put her hand on his arm and smiled archly up at him, while Louisa’s hip bumped his and stayed there.

Simon began to be annoyed. Such blatant tactics merited an equally crude response.

Miss March appeared in the doorway. He smiled at her, and she stared haughtily back, but he didn’t miss the flush that rose to her cheekbones. Now, this was a woman worth pursuing. He’d noticed her in London a year earlier, but rake though he might be, he didn’t seduce virtuous governesses.

Pretty, but not in the common way, with lush chestnut hair and an elegant figure, she was far more of a lady than his dragon of a hostess. Although her simple gown befitted her occupation, its excellent cut and expensive fabric spoke of money and taste. A cast-off from a previous mistress, perhaps, but that didn’t explain her poise. She held herself with too much confidence for a semi-servant, and she had a temper. She hadn’t hesitated to say what she thought of him, and she’d been within Ames’-ace of retorting to Lady Ottersby. It seemed she was appalled as he at the idea that he might compromise one of her charges, although for another reason entirely.

How amusing. He followed her graceful figure as she edged around the room, trying to be unobtrusive. He chuckled. She wasn’t meant to be invisible. She reminded him a little of a courtesan he’d once known, not beautiful as much as fiercely alive, and a tigress in bed.

She hovered against the wall with the Norwich shawl over her arm. It would look atrocious with Miss Ottersby’s pink gown. Poor Miss March must be humiliated at the prospect of draping it over the girl’s shoulders. He would give her something more interesting to think about and have some fun as well.

While Eudora pounded out page after page of a sonata, Simon whispered to one sister and the other, back and forth, making progressively more improper remarks about the sort of pleasures a rake enjoys. Louisa moved an inch or two away. Helena’s hand dropped from his arm. He didn’t need eyes in the back of his head to know how intensely the governess watched him or to sense her gradual approach.

‘Come to think of it,’ he said a little louder, running a finger down Helena’s spine, ‘I should like to do it to both of you at once.’

Helena gave a horrified gasp and sprang away. Louisa merely froze, so he snaked a hand behind her and pinched her bum. She shrieked, and at the same instant Miss March slipped neatly between them, and his wayward hand brushed her breast.

Beatrix hissed. Mr. Carling’s fingers slid gently down the edge of her breast, sending an inconvenient thrill directly to her core. How could she be attracted to such a devil?

‘Feeling neglected, Miss March?’ he murmured. ‘So sorry, but I only have two hands.’

She wanted to slap him silly, but the music had stopped at Louisa’s shriek. Everyone turned their way. ‘It was a rat,’ Beatrix said quickly. ‘Are you all right, Miss Louisa?’

‘Of course she is,’ said her mother. Lord Ottersby had fallen asleep on the sofa and didn’t even stir. ‘Such a fuss over nothing. Miss March, I can’t allow you to foster weakness in my daughters.’

Yet ruining their lives was perfectly fine? Marriage could be a prison even with a relatively decent man. Beatrix felt in her reticule for her vinaigrette and waved it under Louisa’s nose, as Eudora attacked the piano keys anew. ‘Rodents are disgusting, but unfortunately, they are to be found in even the best houses. Perhaps you should sit down for a while.’ She escorted Louisa to a chair and turned to make sure Mr. Carling hadn’t resumed harassing Helena.

He was right behind her, and she almost bumped into him. She moved away, but again he followed, so she stopped, refusing to let him intimidate her. Mocking blue eyes glinted down at her. ‘Touché, Miss March. You are not only an instinctive liar, but a clever one.’