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Henri crossed her arms and kept her chin up. She took a steadying breath. No man was going to treat her in that fashion! She was not some strumpet to be seduced and discarded at will.
‘You will not abuse Reynolds in that fashion. He is not your servant, but my aunt’s,’ Henri said, trying for a calm serenity. ‘Something is obviously bothering you, Mr Montemorcy, but I can assure you that it is nothing that my aunt’s servant has done. Or, indeed, any member of this household.’
‘Your cousin and Miss Ravel! Where are they? You must know.’ He looked about the room as if he expected to see the pair cowering behind the damask sofa. ‘Sophie! I want to speak to you!’
‘Neither Sebastian nor Sophie are here. Sophie has never visited this house.’ Henri stared at him in astonishment. Sebastian and Sophie were together somewhere? Eloped? Instantly she rejected the notion as fustian nonsense. Sophie would never go willingly with Sebastian, not if she had told Henri the truth, and Sebastian would never force a woman. But Aunt Frances had spoken of Sebastian’s plan. Was this it? Suddenly, Henri struggled to breathe. Leaping to conclusions would be fatal. Somewhere, somehow, this coil was a mistake. It would need a steady hand and a cool head to untangle it. ‘Jumping to ridiculous assumptions will not solve anything.’
‘An officious manner will not deflect me. Surely you can do better than that, Lady Thorndike.’ Robert stood, bristling with anger. ‘They have run away together.’
‘How do you know that they are together?’ Henri attempted a placating smile, but the knots in her stomach tightened. Everything seemed to slow down. Sebastian’s new scheme. He thought she was involved. ‘I think I’d have known if something like this was planned. And I can assure you that neither confided any such scheme to me. Quite the opposite, in Sophie’s case. Where is your proof, Mr Montemorcy? Or is it merely some village tittle-tattle gone wrong?’
Robert thrust a piece of paper under her nose and she caught a flash of hurt betrayal in his eyes that was almost instantly masked. ‘My ward has run away with your cousin and I want to know what part you played. After all, dear Sebastian would never do anything like this without consulting you first, Lady Thorndike. You’re the oracle for all things matrimonial. Miss Armstrong also waylaid me with the news! How long have you been planning this?’
Henri took the letter and rapidly read it before numbly handing it to her aunt. All the bright glory of earlier faded to a dull grey. She’d been living in a fool’s paradise. She’d been caught in Sebastian’s web of intrigue and there was no way that Robert would believe in her innocence.
‘Sebastian, what have you done?’ she whispered, glancing up into Robert’s hard unyielding face.
‘No, Henrietta, no! Not this!’ Her aunt gasped and rapidly began to fan herself. ‘He promised me no scandal. Do you think I would have lent him my carriage if I thought there would be a scandal?’
It was only then the full import washed over her. It was no malicious slander on Miss Armstrong’s part, or contretemps with a bored wife. Sebastian was with Sophie. He’d eloped with a débutante. Or worse. This situation had all the hallmarks of a Sebastian-induced disaster, but even Sebastian in his supreme selfishness could not have realised what he had set in motion. How she had fallen into Robert’s arms and made love to him. She had behaved little better than a harlot, but it had been her desire for Robert that had driven her, rather than some misguided attempt to give Sebastian the opportunity to elope with Sophie. He had to understand that fact without her saying anything. Or otherwise.
Her insides became encased in ice. Robert and her. He thought she had something to do with it. That she had meddled or, worse still, facilitated it.
An ice-cold hand gripped her heart. He had to believe her innocence. Without trust, where was love? She’d been a fool to think she could experience passion without her emotions being engaged. She did have feelings for Robert but he had none for her.
‘Are you willing to give me an explanation now, Lady Thorndike?’ The underlying note of passionate anger shimmered in his voice. ‘What was your part in this wretched affair? As you said, you were bound to be involved if the pair ran away together, and they’ve run. You were the one who counselled me not to read her letters. You were the one who advocated Sophie going to the ball where she did dance with Cawburn.’
‘I played no part. Sebastian and Sophie both duped me.’ Henri held out her hands and willed him to believe. She was innocent on that accusation. She shouldn’t have to explain to him of all people. He should understand, after what they had shared, that she couldn’t hurt him in that way. ‘I wish them well, but this is the first I have heard of the elopement. Believe me, please. You must believe me.’
