Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and strode back to the chaise. Francesca found herself hoping he would trip on one of the stones that had been washed loose by the previous night’s storm. She would enjoy seeing that confident dignity measure its length in the dust. But, of course, it didn’t happen. Instead, he got into the chaise and exchanged some words with the young man who had remained with the horses.
There was a slight altercation which ended when the young man—his nephew, she supposed—got down and strode on up the lane. A few minutes later, the chaise passed on its way back to the village, the driver giving her exaggerated clearance and an ironical salute of the whip as he went.
Chapter Two
Lady Forrest saw the incident and felt a little spurt of irritation. Marcus was impossible—acknowledging a wretch like the girl on the road! Of course, he was just doing it to annoy her. He hadn’t wanted to come to Charlie Witham’s—it was not the sort of gathering he enjoyed and all her wiles had at first failed to persuade him to accept the invitation. But she had won in the end! And now he was showing his displeasure by teasing her.
‘Are you so very displeased, Marcus?’ she asked, looking at him sideways as the carriage turned into the village street.
He negotiated the tight left turn before replying. ‘About Nick’s driving? Not any more. Nor do you need to suffer any disquiet about him, either. By the time he’s found his way to the Court, he’ll have got over his fit of temper.’
Lady Forrest had forgotten Nick. ‘That’s not what I meant. You didn’t want to come to Charlie’s, when I first mentioned it. Are you regretting having changed your mind?’
‘Not at all. You produced a master card and played it.’ When she raised her eyebrows, and feigned surprise, he went on, ‘Come, Charmian. You don’t usually underestimate my intelligence so badly. You are quite ruthless in pursuing your wishes. When it became obvious I had no intention of escorting you to Witham Court, you beguiled Nick into performing the office. You counted on the fact that, although my nephew’s capacity for getting into trouble seems to be infinite, I am fond of him. You knew that I was most unlikely to abandon him to the mercies of Charlie Witham’s rapacious cronies.’
He looked at her with the quizzical smile she always found irresistible. ‘But tell me, what would you have done if I had called your bluff? It would hardly have enhanced your reputation to arrive at Witham Court in the company of a lad half your age.’
The smile, then the rapier. He could be a cruel devil when he chose! Lady Forrest coloured angrily. ‘You exaggerate, Marcus. In any case, the question did not arise. You have come—as I knew you would.’ She changed her tone. ‘Now, be kind. You have had your fun pretending to be concerned over that creature on the road, and attempting to introduce her—’
‘You were quite ruthless there, too. Did you have to give the girl such a snub?’
‘Why are you so concerned? If she were pretty I could understand it, but she is quite remarkably plain!’
‘Plain? How can you say so?’
‘Stop making fun of me, Marcus. Of course she is plain. Too tall, too bony, too sallow, a hard mouth—Really!’
‘Her mouth is not hard, it is disciplined. And I suppose the streaks of dirt on her face disguised from you the loveliest line of cheekbone and jaw I think I have ever seen.’ When Lady Forrest regarded him with astonishment, he added, ‘Oh, she is not your conventional Society beauty, I agree. She lacks the rosebud mouth, the empty blue eyes, the dimpled cheeks. Her conversation is less vapid, too. But plain she will never be—not even when she is old. The exquisite bone structure will still be there.’
‘Good Lord! This is news, indeed! What a sly fellow you are after all, my dear! When are we to congratulate you?’ He gave her an ironic look, but refused to rise to her bait. She went on, ‘Perhaps you will allow me to lend the girl a dress for the wedding? I can hardly think she owns anything suitable—nor, from the look of her, any dowry, either. Still, you hardly need that, now.’
There was a short silence and she wondered whether she had gone too far. Then he said calmly, ‘Don’t talk nonsense, my dear. I can admire beauty wherever I find it—I don’t necessarily wish to possess it! Thank God—here are the gates. I suppose it is too much to hope that Charlie Witham has learned moderation since I was last here. So I warn you, you will have me to reckon with if you lead Nick into trouble, or make him miserable. My nephew is the apple of my sister’s eye, God knows why!’
They were received warmly by their host, who could hardly believe his good fortune in snaring one of London’s most elusive bachelors as a guest. Marcus Carne tended to move in circles of Society that Lord Witham and his friends, who would never have been admitted to them, apostrophised as devilish dull, riddled as they were with clever johnnies—academics, politicians, reformers and the like! But they found Carne himself perfectly sound. In fact, they termed him a Nonpareil.
He belonged to all the right clubs, was a first-class, if rather ruthless, cardplayer, and could hold his wine with the best of them. His skill with horses was legendary, and his life as an officer under Wellington had provided him with a fund of good stories, though he never bored his company with talk of the battles.
And, though he was what was generally called ‘a proper man’s man’, he was equally popular with the ladies—not only with the frail beauties such as Charmian Forrest, who lived on the fringes of society, but with perfectly respectable dowagers and debutantes, too. His good looks and lazy smile, his air of knowing what he was about—such things appealed to the ladies, of course.
And he had another virtue that even outclassed his looks, his charm, his manliness, his straight dealing and all the rest. Marcus Carne was quite disgustingly rich. Once his cousin Jack fell at Waterloo, it was inevitable that Marcus would inherit the Carne title—his uncle had, after all, been in his seventies when his only remaining son was killed. But who would have thought that old Lord Carne would have amassed such a fortune to leave to his nephew—especially as Jack and his brothers had, in the short time allotted to them, done their best to disperse it!
However, Marcus was a different kettle of fish altogether from his wayward cousins. Though frequently invited, he was seldom seen at the sort of gathering Lord Witham enjoyed. And though he was not afraid to wager large sums at the gambling table, he had a regrettable tendency to win. In spite of this, however, his reputation was such that he was welcomed wherever he went.
So Lord Witham paid Marcus the compliment of conducting him personally to one of the best bedchambers, indicating with a wink that Charmian was lodged close by. Marcus waited patiently till his host had finished listing the delights in store and had gone to see to his other guests, then he summoned his valet, who had arrived with the valises some time before, and changed.
Suter busied himself discreetly about the room, obviously expecting his master to go down to join the company. But Marcus was in no hurry to meet the ramshackle bunch Charlie Witham had undoubtedly assembled for several days of cards and drinking. Instead, he went over to the window, which overlooked the park behind the Court.
It was nine years since he had last been at Witham. At that time there had still been three cousins available to inherit their father’s title. He himself had been an impecunious junior officer on leave, with no expectations except through promotion on the battlefield. His room then had been much less imposing—what else would he have expected? The view from its window had been the same, though. And the signs of neglect and decay, which even then had been evident, were now greater than ever. He wondered if that bridge had ever been repaired…Probably not. Nine years…
Nine years ago Francesca Shelwood had, for a brief while, filled his thoughts to the exclusion of everything else. Curious how one could forget something which had been so important at the time. Seeing the girl again had brought the memories back, memories which had been swamped under the horrors of the campaigns he had fought, and