Page 57 of The Book of Lost Stories
‘Lord Chase is half mad and half foolish. That connection can do you no good.’
‘As you wish, sir.’ Nat Hartwood bowed and left the room, almost stumbling over Bella outside, who had been slower than usual to remove her ear from the keyhole. She seized her brother and dragged him into an antechamber.
‘Did I hear aright: if you marry Alys you are to get two-thirds of uncle’s money, and I only one?’
‘Yes, but that will still buy you a good husband, Bella, while I must leg-shackle myself to an acidulated, opinionated spinster, or lose all!’ he snapped.
‘But perhaps she will not marry you, for she seems very thick with Lord Rayven, by all accounts. And if she does not, Alys and I will share Uncle’s fortune and you will be quite cut out, Nat.’
‘Of course she will marry me, if I ask her,’ he said confidently. ‘But I’ve also been paying court to old Malfont’s daughter, for though she smells of the shop, my debts are so pressing thatmarriage to an heiress now would be of more use to me than the promise of a legacy in the future.’
‘It is a great pity Alys turned up at all, for everything was perfect before she did so,’ Bella said. ‘I thought you were going to try and discredit her, or get rid of her by some means?’
‘Oh, Ihavetried, believe me, and still have one or two ideas up my sleeve.’
Bella sighed. ‘I wish she would just vanish, so that everything could be as it was before.’
So did Nat, for with a wealthy and biddable wife like Miss Malfont, and a show of outward compliance to please his uncle and reinstate himself in his good opinion, he could have continued his life the way he wanted it.
No, he would rather be rid of Alys than marry her, but for the present it would seem prudent to hedge his bets and try both ways …
22
Bonbons
The dying man raised his head and with an anguished expression on his livid face, whispered, ‘Sir Lemuel Grosby … my cousin! Do not—’ But then, with an expression of complete astonishment – even, one would say, horror – he fell back against the pillows, breathing no more.
‘Alas,’ said a voice behind Drusilla, ‘that I should arrive only in time to hear my cousin’s last words!’
Death or DishonourbyORLANDO BROWNE
Alys was sitting in the drawing room, wrestling with an obstinate passage inDeath or Dishonour, while Nell, reclining on the sofa, was reading an earlier chapter.
‘This is very good, Alys, but is she to marry Sir Lemuel Grosby, now that his poor wife has died in such dreadfulcircumstances? He may be handsome, but he is very cold and near old enough to be her father.’
‘Her situation is such that it seems her only respectable option: she is orphaned and penniless. Added to this, her youth and beauty make finding a post as governess or companion unlikely. To put it plainly, she is in a hole.’
‘Yes, but it seems very hard when she is barely acquainted with him. Not,’ she added wryly, ‘that marrying for love can be all that satisfactory either.’
‘I know,’ Alys said sympathetically. ‘It is a pity Mr Rivers will not spend more time at his estate, for he must be better away from his friends.’
‘Yes, he is always improved in the country, but I am afraid the days when my influence over him counted for anything are gone. I wish—’
But Alys was not destined to learn what she wished, for a familiar voice was heard in the hall saying gaily, ‘No, do not bother to announce me. I feel myself now to be quite part of the family!’ and Nat Hartwood walked in, very sure of his welcome.
At the first sound of his voice Alys had leaped across the room and snatched the manuscript from Nell’s hands, and was now busily stuffing the papers back into her little desk.
‘Why, Cousin, this is a surprise,’ she said, closing the lid and turning round with a smile.
‘But not an unpleasant one, I hope,’ he said, bowing. ‘Do I interrupt you? You always seem to be writing when I come to call. You must have a great correspondence.’
‘I … why, yes, I do write a great many letters.’ She moved away from the desk and sat down.
‘Your little dog is not here, Miss Weston?’ he said, looking around cautiously.
‘No, he is in the kitchen, I think. He is a great favourite with the cook.’
‘Ah, that is a pity, for I fear I accidentally trod on him on my last visit, and hoped to induce him to forgive me,’ he said with a charming smile and the most candid of expressions in his guileless blue eyes.
