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Chapter Eleven
‘My mother ran off to Lord Reeves, not Mr Venner,’ Elise blurted, too shocked for a moment to properly form a questioning response.
‘I understand she accepted that gentleman’s protection afterwards. My mother informs me her brother had only a brief affair with Arabella Dewey.’
Elise snapped down her face, frowning at her agitated fingers. It seemed incredible that she was discussing such personal family details with a man who a short while ago had been a stranger. Yet she believed all of what he’d said. She might not quite trust him in some ways, yet knew he would not lie to her over this. It seemed a bizarre coincidence that the scandalous drama that had altered the course of her and Bea’s lives had encompassed his family, too. But what disturbed her, and brought a surge of blood to stain her cheekbones, was the revelation that her mother had moved quickly from one lover to another. She hoped very much that Alex Blackthorne wouldn’t consider Arabella wanton and neither should she. Elise was determined to stay loyal to her mama’s memory no matter the extent of her peccadilloes.
‘I’m in a dilemma over whether to act on my late uncle’s wishes or to leave well alone,’ Alex explained.
‘What on earth does he expect you can do about it now?’ Elise cried in a stifled tone. ‘How can you make amends for all the hurt and humiliation your uncle heaped on my father’s head?’ She bit her lip, swinging away her tense countenance. There was no point in apportioning blame. She knew her mother must bear her share of the guilt.
‘Did your uncle’s family suffer as we have because of the liaison? Did his children feel ashamed?’
‘Thomas Venner was unwed.’
Elise felt unaccountably angry to know it. So the fellow had not committed adultery like her mother. But still he was guilty in her eyes. Thomas Venner might have been unattached, but he knew her mother wasn’t.
At the ball Elise recalled overhearing Maude and Anthony Chapman discussing Alex Blackthorne’s paramour. Perhaps Celia Chase was a married woman, cuckolding her husband, and the viscount was a hypocrite to affect an attitude of regret over his uncle’s bad habits. He would have betrayed his mistress with her at Vauxhall had she not come to her senses and put a stop to his seduction.
‘Even had your uncle been married, the disgrace would not have ruined him, would it? Gentlemen can often act the cheat with impunity.’
Alex raised his eyes heavenwards, impatient fingers massaging his shady jaw. ‘I’ve no wish to stir antagonism between us. I’m not defending Thomas in any way, although I liked him.’
Elise twisted to look at him, feline eyes springing to his face. ‘So...what advice do you seek on this tawdry topic, sir?’
A quiet descended, broken only by the whispering of the sycamore leaves overhead as they danced in a strengthening breeze.
‘I’ve no idea how your father might react to a visit from me to discuss this matter,’ Alex finally said.
‘You would rub my father’s nose in his wife’s adultery?’ Elise accused, whitening in fury and disbelief. ‘My advice to you and to all your relatives is to leave him be!’ She shot to her feet but her elbow was gripped and she was unceremoniously tugged back to sit at his side.
‘The last thing I want is to fire the embers of his bitterness.’ Alex had turned towards her, his body positioned to thwart any further escape she might attempt. ‘I’ve sought to consult you for that very reason and would have done so sooner if you’d been a bit more amenable on the night of the ball.’
‘Had you stayed more than half an hour perhaps we might have talked,’ Elise snapped. ‘But I believe you were in a rush to get away to other company.’
‘Explain what you mean by that.’ Alex’s lazy drawl was at odds with the way he shifted threateningly closer as she made a tentative move to bolt.
To an observer they might have looked like a couple having a delightfully animated chat, he sitting forwards, facing her. Only she understood his looming torso was pinning her in place. Elise felt her chest tighten in a mingling of thrill and trepidation.
But she wouldn’t again try to flee. She’d no intention of drawing more eyes to them or of giving him the satisfaction of forcing her to submit. She had told him she wasn’t frightened of him...and she wasn’t!
Elise lifted clear golden eyes to clash on his impassive regard, reading his challenge. He knew very well what she’d heard about him. No doubt his womanising was common knowledge in polite circles and people enjoyed gossiping about it. Elise sensed he didn’t give a damn what they said.
