Page 58 of Lady Controversial
‘You are very gracious, ma’am,’ Isolda replied, her tone so closely matching that of Ellery’s mother that the countess blinked, clearly wondering if she had been insulted.
‘Your father did you a disservice,’ Sally said bluntly after she had been introduced. Even by her standards, she was being excessively impolite by referring to Lord Crawley—a subject that ought never to be raised—and Ellery’s anger simmered. His sister, did she but know it, had just signed her own eviction notice from his home. Before he could intercede though, Isolda took the initiative.
‘One assumes that you refer to him taking his own life,’ she said in a conversational tone, ‘in which case I would agree with you, Mrs Fox, but for the fact that he did himself a much greater disservice.’ Isolda accepted a glass of the peach concoction that Jemima was attempting to develop a taste for and smiled her thanks at Ellery’s butler. ‘I find it difficult to imagine feeling sufficiently desperate to take one’s own life. There is so much to admire in this world that gives one compelling reasons to live.’
‘He brought it on himself by gambling irresponsibly,’ the countess said bluntly.
‘Indeed he did, ma’am, and was unable to live with the disgrace,’ Isolda sighed. ‘Gentlemen do so enjoy their games of chance, and he is not the first to allow it to get out of hand. Even so, I think it a very great pity that he was encouraged to do so by those who sought to exploit his weakness.’
‘There is talk in the London clubs of Brooke having cheated,’ George remarked.
‘Lord Brooke is a gentleman!’ the countess decreed imperiously. ‘Gentlemen do not cheat.’
‘The rumours of cheating have reached my ears, sir,’ Isolda replied, addressing George and ignoring the countess’s declaration. A declaration that reminded Ellery just how much his mother had liked Brooke and had approved of his pursuit of Jemima. ‘But I suspect that proving it will be a very difficult ambition to achieve and one that I am not equipped to attempt. Jane and I must accept our reduced circumstances and be grateful to families such as yours, ma’am,’ she added, inclining her head towards Ellery’s mother in a deferential manner that had Ellery smiling in admiration, ‘for receiving us. Where you lead, others are sure to follow, and Jane’s success next season will be assured.’
‘Of course it will!’ Jemima clapped her hands. ‘She is so pretty that no one will care about her father’s mistakes. Besides, what he did is not your fault. You ladies are completely blameless.’
‘Thank you,’ Isolda said smiling. ‘I tend to agree with you but unfortunately, many of society’s elite do not take that view, and sadly never will.’
Isolda had taken the wind out of his mother’s sails and Ellery smiled his admiration as dinner was announced and he offered her his arm.
‘Well done,’ he saidsotto voceas he escorted her to the dining table. He held the chair to the right of his position at the head of it while she seated herself and settled her skirts to her satisfaction.
The meal was a lively affair; Ellery and Felix made sure of that much and their guests played their part. His mother was unnaturally quiet, sulking through the majority of the repast and snapping at the servants, despite the fact that they did nothing to deserve it. Far from taking satisfaction from her subdued demeanour, Ellery found it highly suspicious. She was not one to accept defeat gracefully, and he suspected that she was biding her time, waiting to get Isolda alone.
Marcus was becoming increasingly impatient as Isolda eluded him yet again. His people had been to Rose Cottage and found it deserted, with no sign of Isolda, her sister or her servants. Even her damned nag was no longer there.
Had they abandoned the cottage? Marcus felt cautiously optimistic but refused to get his hopes up, only to have them dashed yet again. Isolda had been quite stubbornly determined to hang on to the wretched place and Marcus hadn’t dared to defy her right to do so since the cottage did not form a part of her father’s estate. She would have checked with his lawyers and discovered that much for herself, the determined minx! If Marcus revealed his urgent need to acquire the premises it would only result in her digging her toes in and refusing to relinquish it.
When he launched his ambitious scheme, finally seeing an opportunity to revenge himself on Finchdean, he had not stopped to imagine that a hovel would prove to be the catalyst of his defeat. Damn it, it was not supposed to be this difficult! He thumped the arm of his chair with his clenched fist so hard that he’d likely bruised his hand, yet he barely felt the pain.
Where the devil had they gone to in such a tearing hurry, he wondered, flexing his fingers. It was not as though anyone other than their aunt would offer them shelter and Marcus knew they wouldn’t risk going to her. Isolda must have spotted Marcus at the fight, taken fright and run off to avoid a confrontation. She wouldn’t rely upon him not ratting her out to his aunt, further souring their relationship and making matters difficult for Jane. Not that he had the slightest intention of so doing—at least not if she did as she was told. He smiled when it occurred to him that at last he had her exactly where he wanted her and she would have no choice but to give up the cottage.
Except for a niggling concern that insisted otherwise.
He regretted letting Barker go now, convinced that he would have some idea where they were hiding. Perhaps he even had them himself. That’s what came of showing clemency, he thought, scowling at the contents of his glass and tipping them down his throat in one long swallow.
‘This has just been sent on from Crawley Place,’ his man Godfrey said, handing him a letter bearing the Earl of Finchdean’s distinctive seal.
‘What the devil?’
Marcus felt a shiver of apprehension as he tore open the missive. He breathed more easily when he saw that it had been signed by the dowager countess, an old harridan whose good opinion he had gone out of his way to cultivate in his doomed pursuit of Jemima. He had been right to assume that she could be intransigent. She had approved of Marcus’s courtship of Jemima and refused to admit that she had misjudged his character. They remained on friendly terms as a result, and Marcus’s charm campaign was now paying dividends.
‘The girls are at Finchdean Hall,’ he muttered, tapping the missive against his thigh as he considered the ramifications. ‘Damn it, Barker wasn’t honest with me. He would have recognised Finchdean if he’d spirited Isolda away.’
‘But why take them onto his estate? And more to the point, why has the countess taken the trouble to tell you?’ Godfrey asked.
Marcus quietly seethed as the only plausible answer to Godfrey’s question occurred to him. Finchdean wanted Isolda for his mistress and had used his knowledge of her alternative means of making a living in order to manipulate her into accepting his terms. Talk about double standards! Finchdean had sold Marcus down the river for taking the mayor’s daughter up on her flirtatious invitation. She’d been toying with Marcus for weeks before he obliged her and yet he, Marcus, had been painted as the guilty party and had paid a heavy price for what had turned out to be an indifferent roll in the hay.
‘Because she will be offended by their presence, especially if Finchdean has taken a liking to Isolda,’ Marcus replied, grinding his teeth. ‘No doubt he’s offered Isolda the opportunity to live beneath his protection, and on his estate, right under his mother’s nose, too.’ Marcus chuckled. ‘He really must want her. It won’t do her precious sister’s reputation any good if word of Isolda’s new position becomes public knowledge, which is doubtless what the countess is looking to me to ensure happens—and I have no intention of disappointing her.’
Godfrey looked dubious. ‘It’s awful sudden.’
‘True. Lady Finchdean only sent this letter this afternoon.’
‘Would Finchdean really install a mistress and her family on his own estate?’
‘Nothing would surprise me,’ Marcus replied stubbornly. ‘The girls can only have been on the estate for a few hours when the countess wrote this note. She wanted me to know they are there for a reason.’
