But Vivienne was still speaking. ‘And I can’t believe that it won’t occur to him again. Blackmail, I mean. As soon as he is sober, or even sooner, he will realise that he still holds that trump card, and everything I have told you so far must make you realise that he will not hesitate to play it. It would bring him the greatest possible pleasure now to hurt you and your family, and I have given him that power.’
40
Cecilia was glad that Bea, unlike everyone else, including herself, had had a care to Miss Pallant’s well-being, and made sure she was safely disposed with Mrs Drinkwater. She had to admit that it had never truly crossed her own mind, until she saw what her sister was doing, to worry about what it must be like living in that house with that dreadful man. When she had considered the matter briefly, she’d assumed that Vivienne’s status as his sister must keep her safe. But she realised now that she had been horribly naïve. Lord Pallant was a man of violence – he would without question have struck her earlier if the Major had not intervened – and nobody, even a sister, maybe especially a sister, could be safe with him.
The assembly was still continuing, but the Constantines had lost their taste for it. Cecilia didn’t want to dance with strangers any more, and neither the Major nor his brother seemed in the mood to ask again. They were all standing around looking at each other, rather at a loss, while the people about them grew louder and more riotous in their conversation and their dancing. Miss Macintyre took stock of the situation and decided that they should go home; the Bartrums swiftly said that they would do the same.
Cecilia realised with a stab of guilt that Rory had come back from Cambridge specifically for the party. ‘I hope that my rash actions have not spoiled the evening for everyone,’ she said, looking in consternation from one to another of the family. ‘I fear they have. I am sorry.’
‘My dear child, do put that thought out of your head,’ Mrs Bartrum told her robustly, taking her hands and pressing them. ‘And do not be thinking that you have been part of a great and unprecedented scandal, either. There is always some alarum or other at these assemblies; how can there not be, with the whole district gathered together under one roof, and Farmer Eary’s cider so terribly strong? There used to be rum punch, you know, which was even worse, until the late Lord Synett tripped and fell face first into the bowl, insensible, and it seemed for a moment that he would drown in it. No! You could not be expected to endure a moment longer of Lord Pallant’s revolting attentions, and indeed it was a tonic to see him given the set-down he so richly deserved. How he reacted to that is no fault of yours. Is that not right, Alistair?’
‘Of course it is,’ said the Major. ‘I am sorry it was so unpleasant for you, Miss Cecilia, but I consider it no great matter otherwise. And as for scandal, my mother does not mention – though I cannot imagine how she has come to forget – the year when Mrs Bardwell and some mortal rival of hers arrived in gowns of the same colour and style, and almost came to blows over it; they literally had to be dragged apart like overeager prizefighters. And if you are worried about spoiling my brother’s evening, I should think on the contrary that he enjoyed it excessively. They lead a very dull, elderly sort of life in Cambridge, you know, and it is good for him to be shaken up a little and reminded that there is a world outside his college.’
It was impossible to persist in her apologies without discourtesy, and equally impossible to have any private speech with Alistair, much as she might have wished it. She was obliged to say her farewells to him along with everyone else, and to part from him in the inn yard with no appearance of particular regret.
They were all very quiet on the journey home, and oblivious to the beauty of the moonlit scene. The house was dark and still locked up securely; as Bea turned the key in the lock, she said, ‘I know we’re all tired, but I have something of importance to tell you – you too, Miss Macintyre. Shall we undress and meet in my parlour once we have made ourselves more comfortable?’
41
Beatrice had lit a few candles, and sat looking sombrely at her sisters and Miss Macintyre, all of them wrapped in dressing gowns with their hair braided for the night. Now that she had brought them here, she seemed not to know quite how to begin.
Cecilia said gently, ‘Is it something so very dreadful, Beebee?’ She feared she had an inkling of what her sister’s trouble might be, though she believed that Bianca and their old governess could know nothing.
Bea told them haltingly of her conversation with Vivienne at the assembly, and they all murmured in shock and revulsion at the revelations of her brother’s bullying and abuse. ‘That’s why I did not think it safe for her to go home tonight. But there is more, and though it is painful for me, I must tell you, or it would not be fair. I expect you are all thinking that we are none of us in danger of any kind from Lord Pallant now, unless indeed he is a lunatic and means to harm us for sheer spite, which is after all a Gothic notion we can easily dismiss. But I’m afraid that that is not true; we are not by any means so secure.’ In an expressionless voice, she recounted the story of her clandestine involvement with Miss Pallant, and of His Lordship’s blackmail plan. She did not meet their eyes as she spoke, but Cecilia and Bianca came and sat closer by her, and put their arms about her.
It was Miss Macintyre who broke the silence. ‘The man is a monster,’ she said flatly. ‘Even worse than we had already been told. Such creatures should not be allowed to live. And, difficult as it is, we must all have some sympathy for Miss Pallant, who at least has told you the truth now when it would have been far easier for her to say nothing and let matters take their course. But my dear Beatrice, how deeply unpleasant for you. I am honoured that you felt able to tell me, just as if I were one of the family.’
‘Well, you are, of course you are. I’m sure it was far easier to tellyouthan it would ever have been to confess to Mama. God, what a hideous thought. But Miss Macintyre, everyone, I am so sorry. I was a naïve fool to trust her so readily,’ Bea responded, her voice thick with tears now that she had been met with sympathy rather than censure. ‘I knew that you both needed to be wary of fortune hunters now our circumstances have changed, but it never occurred to me that I did too. Not really. And by my reckless folly, I have placed you all in danger. It’s not just what I have done, but the secrets I have told her, things I’ve never revealed to anyone else… Surely, Vivienne is right when she says that her brother will turn to blackmail when all else fails him. And through her, I have handed him the perfect weapon against us all.’
‘If you are thinking that he will try to force Cecilia and me into marriage by threatening to tell the world that you have seduced his sister, just let him try,’ Bianca said. ‘We are prepared, and we’ll tell him to do his worst. There is no fate in the world that isn’t preferable to marrying into that dreadful family.’
‘But think of the damage such a tale would do, to your prospects of marriage and to Cecilia’s. Of course I know you won’t let yourselves be compelled to accept them to protect my reputation; I couldn’t possibly expect it of you – nobody could. But it does seem likely then that he will spread this dreadful rumour as widely as possible when we turn him away, and inevitably, we will all be badly hurt by it. Even our nephews and nieces.’
‘If you think Sabrina, Viola, Allegra or any of their husbands will care a jot for that, you gravely wrong them all,’ Cecilia told her stoutly. ‘Let him spread his poison. We will rise above it. I don’t give a damn for my marriage prospects, and I’m sure Bianca doesn’t either. I can quite see why you had to tell us, and why you are so distressed at what you know of Vivienne’s motives now, and I am very sorry for you, but there’s nothing more to be said on the subject except in support of you. We will stand together, and tell Lord Pallant to go and drown himself. The sea’s right there.’
Miss Macintyre and Bianca expressed their complete agreement with this position, and both rose to kiss Bea before making their weary way to their beds. But Cecilia stayed behind for a little while.
‘Do you regret meeting her?’ she asked.
‘I know I should. I think it must show some weakness in me, that I do not. I must remind myself that even if I had not responded to her overtures, the damage was done as soon as she had told her brother what she sensed about me. It was a gift to him. I wish she had not done it, of course… but she is terrified of him. None of us, apart possibly from Viola with Edward, have ever known such misery in daily life. We cannot imagine what we would say or do in her situation. Nobody has ever tried to break our spirits as women or girls, least of all poor Papa. Does that make us lucky? I think it must. That’s a terrible thought.’
‘Bea, there’s also this: as far as anyone knows, Lord Pallant could be lying. In fact, he could have told that precise lie the minute his sister spoke to him of you, or even if she had not. It isn’t possible to prove you have not done a thing such as this, whether you have or you haven’t. “She is a wicked woman who has seduced my sister,” he might say, and you will say indignantly, “Of course I have not!” and it is purely a matter of your word against his. Which is a good thing. He has a terrible reputation as a libertine, as we all know, and you are a respectable spinster. I know you don’t like the term, and no wonder. But there has never been a breath of scandal touching your name. God knows he cannot say the same. People will surely say that he is attacking our family out of wicked spite because I have rejected him so publicly.’
Bea shook her head. ‘I fear he knows too much about my past for that to be true. But I am too tired to think straight. All I can say is, even though I am terrified at the thought of exposure, I still do not like the prospect of defending myself from it by telling an untruth. Even more than that, I hate the idea of bare-facedly denying what I am, if it comes to that. It seems a step further than merely keeping it hidden. But I know I must lie for my own sake and yours, given the world we live in. Anything short of defaming Vivienne – saying she tried to seduceme,even if in truth, she did – I will do to keep us all safe. But it won’t be pleasant, whatever happens.’
Cecilia rose and kissed her. ‘Let’s sleep; I’m sure things will look brighter tomorrow. Just as long as you know you are not alone, Bea. I could be excessively angry with Miss Pallant on your behalf, indeed I am, but then I realise that she has nobody in the world she can depend on, whereas we all have each other, and always will, no matter what else happens.’
42
It was hardly surprising that Cecilia struggled to sleep. Her mind, as was its habit, buzzed with images and snatches of conversation from the evening, which had seemed to last forever. On any other moonlit night but this, she’d have gone outside to try to dissipate her mental restlessness in the cool spring air, to let nature soothe her, and perhaps to encounter Alistair as well, and end the evening in his arms. But somehow, knowing that an angry and abusive man was out there, even if he remained miles away on his own side of the bay, made her feel that the beach and even the garden were not quite so safe as they had been before. She didn’t think that Lord Pallant would come over here tonight with the intention of harming her or anyone else… but she couldn’t be perfectly confident he wouldn’t. Not when his own sister was terrified of him, too scared to go home for fear of what he might do to her in a drunken rage.
She could only feel guilty for losing control of her temper, which had precipitated so much else, but she gave herself a mental shake when the emotion threatened to overcome her. The Baron was desperate for her money. Sooner or later, he would have offered for her hand; sooner or later, she would have rejected him, albeit in politer words. She could not doubt that he would have persisted after her rejection, as a decent man would not, and eventually, the matter would have resulted in some manner of angry confrontation, where she made it clear to him that she would never take him, just as she had done tonight. If the Constantine family were to be the subjects of blackmail after rejection, she could not doubt that it would always have happened, no matter how gently and tactfully she might have turned him off. And she had at least told her unwanted suitor that none of them might marry anybody for a year, which she could not regret. She hoped it might protect her, and Bianca, from any further scheming on his part.
But she had also told Alistair. She knew he had heard; though she had not been aware of his approach, he’d been right there at her side, defending her, a second later. And telling him, however inadvertently, was an action with so many potential repercussions that she could hardly begin to contemplate them.
She could not have said anything before, could not even have raised the subject, because that would have been to assume that he might wish to marry her, and for all she could tell, he did not. He desired her, she knew, he enjoyed her company; tonight, she had even begun to wonder if he might really care for her. But he had been cruelly rejected by a woman not long since, and it was very possible that he was still deep in love with her. Cecilia, after all, had been the one to initiate the kiss, and all that had followed from it. She could not regret it – it had been a part of the precious new independence that she was determined to explore – but she might now ask herself what unattached and lonely man in his situation would have refused her outrageous offer.
And now, even if his heart was free, even if he was beginning to be interested in her – and after all, they had not been here much more than a fortnight yet – he knew that Cecilia could not marry. Although she had not said so in so many words, she believed he was clever enough to work out that if she married within the year, she would forfeit her fortune, since Mrs Albery had had no other way of enforcing her will on her heirs. He did not care for that, perhaps, the loss of what she had so recently gained – but he might easily assume that she did.
