Page 58 of The No Good Irresistible Viscount Tipton
He almost smiled at the expression on his mother’s face. She appeared torn between the desire to tear into him and the unfamiliar feeling of gratitude toward a woman she was determined to hate. After all, the bold chit had dared to marry her outcast son.
“Your sister has been tutored by me. If you find her education unsatisfactory then you must accept the blame.”
“Amazing,” he marveled. “I cannot wait to see how you will pin her ignorance on me.”
His mother took a contemplative sip of her wine. “If you recall, my last trip to London was to gain funds to send Madeleina to a school for ladies.” She sent a glance toward Devona. “I am certain your wife understands that a polish is needed before she is presented at Court.”
Rayne had to admire Jocelyn’s clever presentation. He had not even seen it coming. Days ago, he had warned Devona that his mother would size up her enemy before she attacked. His softhearted wife was now being used as a weapon against him. He could just hear his mother’s quiet taunts.How could you abandon your poor innocent sister? If she acts like a hoyden, who is to blame? Had I not begged you to assist in her care?
The dowager had assessed Devona’s weaknesses and figured that she was the perfect tool for manipulating Jocelyn’s son.
Devona twisted her fork, toying with the meat on her plate. What he could only conclude was fear tightened his gut at her next words.
“Tipton, perhaps we should pack up Madeleina and bring her to London. If her schooling is amiss, we could find her a tutor. My sisters and I would be willing to instruct her on the gentler arts.”
“No!”
Whatever Jocelyn had expected from Devona, this was not it. In her artless manner, his beautiful wife had caused another good plan to go awry.
“My daughter remains at Foxenclover. It is her home. If you are willing to provide her the funds for schooling and a respectable wardrobe, I am certain we can weather her transformation from child to woman without anyone’s assistance.” The dowager focused on Devona during the latter part of her statement.
“No one would dispute that Madeleina is a remarkable child,” Devona said, trying to soothe Jocelyn. “I only suggested London because I thought the change would be stimulating to her creativity. Think of the museums, the concerts, and all the other amusements—”
Rayne closed off Devona’s arguments from his mind. He knew from experience that there was little one could do to alter Jocelyn’s decisions. That did not mean she could not be bullied and her authority stripped until she was just a whining nuisance in his ear. His first inclination was to tell his mother that his cooperation with this endeavor was as likely as Devlin’s resurrection from his fifteen-year-old moldering grave.
He stroked the edge of his dinner plate. A quick and ruthless execution of power was usually his preferred choice. His gaze caught the movement of his wife’s fragile hand as she emphasized her point with a dancing movement of her fingers. The edge of his mouth lifted into a small smile. He must be smitten if watching her hands flutter, graceful as a butterfly’s wings as they matched the chatter of her pouting mouth, made his heart ache. She noticed his attention and sent him a rallying smile before she plunged back into the discussion of bringing the insolent Madeleina to London.
He did not want his sister in his home and, more to the point, in his daily life. It had been so easy to forget her existence while she ripened and finally rotted her life away at Foxenclover. If Devona had her way, the chit was going to be glaring at him from across the table every morning.
Damn. Perhaps he should allow his mother to win this battle and settle her with a proper allowance so he could retain a peaceful household. Besides, he had already set into motion his plan to bring another unwilling guest to his house. There was no doubt in his mind that Brogden would not eagerly embrace his invitation.
And yet… for him and Jocelyn to quietly agree on a subject was unacceptable. Sometimes throwing your money at a problem to make it go away was not the thing to do. It made life easier, true, but there was no satisfaction. Unfortunately, the only method of unbalancing his mother would entail him having to endure a penalty as well. However, he doubted Devona would see his side of it.
“I think my wife is correct. Your daughter will be traveling with us to London.”
Devona clasped her hands together, pleased someone had agreed with her arguments. “Thank you, my lord. I knew you were a man who would bend to sound judgment.”
He promised himself that she would never learn that he had come to this decision for less noble reasons. Nor had he listened to a single word she had said.
“My brief glimpses of the child have led me to conclude that civilization has been sorely lacking in her upbringing. I look forward to instructing her myself.”
“You make her sound as though she were some sort of animal viewing the menagerie from the wrong side of the cage,” Devona muttered, not bothering to disguise her disapproval of the vein of his intention.
His mother’s glare was no more encouraging. “You will not take my daughter from me, Tipton.”
Rayne indulged himself by giving her a very arrogant grin. “I just did, madam.”
***
“I shall simply kill myself. Then your husband will have to find another means of exacting his revenge on our mother.” Maddy seized the dresses Devona had just offered to pack and sent them flying in all directions. “You cannot make me go with you!”
She spun wildly, a circle within the curved walls of her room. The three-story turret addition had been built over seventy-five years ago, a whimsy of one of the Lady Tiptons. Maddy had chosen this room for herself when she was six. She had painted the walls a blue to mimic a cloudless summer day and over the years had added to it the encroaching garden that threatened to devour the blue.
Devona patiently bent down to retrieve the trampled dresses. “No one is kidnapping you, Madeleina. If you like, we could call this an adventure. When did you visit London last?”
Never. Though she loathed admitting that fact. As long as Tipton resided in London, then Mama would have never risked a confrontation. Indeed, Mama could bluster as fierce as the dragon Maddy had created for the maze, but the truth was evident. Jocelyn was frightened of her son. How many times had she called him a monster? From what Maddy had seen of her older brother, she was inclined to agree.
Pretending not to watch, she followed Devona’s movements as she lightly touched the different painted flowers on Maddy’s wall.
