Page 66 of A Scandalous Proposition
‘That’s outrageous! How dare you?’
‘I dare because it’s the truth. Once you were at King’s there was only ever going to be one outcome and you knew it. No lady goes there for any other purpose.’
‘Which is why I think so poorly of Mrs Grantley. I myself was never there.’
‘Oh, you were there all right. And when you discovered your condition, it must have seemed like a gift from God that Julia had died and James was a widower. I dare say it was easy enough for you to convince him that he had fathered the child you are carrying.’
‘I deny that assertion absolutely.’ But she smiled in a manner that implied just the opposite. ‘And what’s more, you cannot prove it. Even if you have been listening to scurrilous gossip, it can’t be substantiated. Besides, James would never believe it. He’s overjoyed at the prospect of fathering a son at last.’
If this assertion was supposed to elicit some defeated response from Adam, then Philippa was to be disappointed. He looked at her with a contemptuous expression but remained implacably calm. ‘Perhaps it will be a girl,’ he suggested.
‘I see what you’re about now. You’re making up these Banbury tales in order to deflect attention away from your paramour. Well, it won’t serve! What’s more, you have yet to give me an answer to my proposal. Well?’ She tilted her head and smiled flirtatiously, seeming totally confident in her ability to manipulate him. ‘What is it to be? Do we have an understanding?’
‘Don’t put me in this position.’ He sighed. ‘You must know I can only answer you in one way.’
She smiled triumphantly. ‘You will not regret it, my love. We were made for one another, you and I, and I will dedicate myself to your pleasure. You may run the estate in whatever manner you think best, once you have resigned your commission, naturally. My only stipulation is that Mrs Grantley must leave here. Under the circumstances, she can’t possibly remain, you must see that. If your mother still craves companionship, we will find her someone more suitable.’
‘You’re being too hasty, jumping to incorrect conclusions. Allow me to make myself perfectly clear. I have no intention of permitting you to dictate to me. Nor do I have any desire to take my brother’s wife into my bed.’ She gasped and was about to speak but he silenced her with a wave of his hand. ‘As far as I’m concerned, he’s welcome to you.’
‘Then you can kiss good-bye to any aspirations you might have in respect of the estate.’ Her expression was as vindictive as her tone was spiteful. ‘When I have finished poisoning James’s mind against you, I doubt whether he will ever speak to you again, much less endure your presence beneath this roof.’
‘Very possibly not. But before you embark upon that course of action, I ought to mention that if I leave here then my mother will come with me.’
‘But I?’
‘Yes, indeed.’ He could see from the concentrated fury in her expression that she knew she had been outmanoeuvred. James might not care about Adam but he cared very much about their mother, and still more about what people would say if the dowager duchess suddenly quit the estate. ‘When I explain to my mother what you’ve done, whom do you suppose she would prefer to live with? Do you imagine she would want to be anywhere near the Court and watch your bastard child growing up within its walls?’
‘You’ve clearly not thought this through.’
‘On the contrary, I have thought it through very carefully. You are not the only one capable of starting rumours, and if you put me in that position then I shall let everyone who matters know precisely why my mother felt compelled to leave the only place she’s called home for over forty years.’ He glanced at her as though she was not worthy of his notice. ‘And whose part do you suppose society will take?’
‘Damn you, Adam!’ She stamped her foot and twirled away from him. ‘I only want what ought to have been mine all along. And so it would have been but for this cursed war. You were in love with me, I know you were.’
‘I am not a chattel and don’t belong to anyone.’
‘Except Mrs Grantley. It seems she can do no wrong.’
‘Let’s get one thing perfectly clear. I choose my own friends and am not prepared to discuss them with you or anyone else.’
‘My advice to you is to rethink your decision. If you don’t, I shall find a way to revenge myself upon you if it’s the last thing I ever do.’
He snorted. ‘There’s nothing you can do to me.’
‘Perhaps not, but direct attack is not always the most effective means of besting an enemy.’ Her toxic smile didn’t trouble her eyes. ‘As a soldier, surely you must be aware of that?’
She quit the room, slamming the door behind her with considerable force. Adam watched her go, uneasiness negating any sense of achievement he might otherwise have experienced at putting a stop to her pursuit of him. The malevolent set to her features persuaded him that her threats were far from idle. Philippa had a selfishly determined aspect to her character that she no longer felt the need to conceal. Adam had rejected her, and her twisted sense of logic decreed that in retaliation she must humiliate him. She was no longer sure enough of her hold over James to risk setting the brothers at odds with one another and bringing their mother’s loyalty into question. But that wouldn’t stop her from dreaming up another means to exact revenge.
He returned his attention to the papers in front of him but couldn’t concentrate. His mind constantly returned to Philippa, trying to decide what he would do in her position. Given that she was so resourceful, the answer was as obvious as it was distasteful. It was within her power to make life exceedingly uncomfortable for both his mother and Florentina. The latter could be warned, wouldn’t be surprised and would take the intelligence in her stride. But his mother was altogether another matter.
In order to make her aware that her daughter-in-law was now her enemy, it would be necessary to tell her the truth. Or a very great deal of it. Adam had hoped she’d never have to learn the unpalatable facts about Philippa’s machinations. He certainly hadn’t wanted her to know anything about the questionable paternity of the child Philippa now carried. The implications for the future of the family would cause his mother great pain. But thanks to Philippa’s self-centred attitude he couldn’t avoid inflicting it, even if his mother would have the comfort of knowing that James hadn’t forced his attentions on her daughter-in-law.
With a heavy sigh he abandoned his paperwork and headed for the dower house.
*
When Florentina and the dowager duchess returned from their morning perambulation they found Adam waiting for them in the drawing room. Her heart did a painful little flip at the mere mention of his name. She hadn’t expected to see him that morning and wasn’t sure she was prepared to face him. At least, not in his mother’s company. She made for the stairs, remarking that the dowager would most likely prefer to see his lordship alone, but the butler said Lord Fitzroy had particularly asked to see both ladies.
‘Both of us?’ The dowager linked her arm through Florentina’s. ‘I wonder what my wicked son’s been up to that requires the presence of a third party to deflect my wrath.’
