Page 42 of Impetuous

“I must warn you about Sir Philip.”

Her statement was so unexpected that Cassandra could only stare at her. Could Aunt Ardis somehow have found out about the maps? The treasure? Was she telling her that Sir Philip would betray her? “What do you mean? Warn me about what?”

“You may not be young anymore, Cassandra, but I know that you are not experienced in the ways of the world. You don’t realize what a man like Sir Philip is after.”

It took another moment before Cassandra finally realized the import of her aunt’s words. She was not talking about the treasure at all! “Are you telling me that Sir Philip is a libertine?”

Aunt Ardis nodded her head. “Exactly. I know that normally you are a most sensible girl, but a man like Sir Philip—handsome, charming, monied—well, he could turn anyone’s head.”

Cassandra could not keep a blush from rising into her face, and inwardly she cursed her fair skin that showed every flush. Her aunt would now be bound to think that she had feelings for Sir Philip. “I assure you, I do not consider him in any light other than a…a friend.”

The older woman’s eyes narrowed shrewdly, but she said only, “I hope that is true. Sir Philip has paid you some small attentions while he has been here, and I know how a young girl who is not used to such things can have her head turned by them.”

“A wallflower like me, you mean.” Cassandra set her jaw.

“Heavens, no, you are a lovely young girl, but you had only that one season, and your poor dear papa, God rest his soul, did raise you so oddly, well, it wasn’t to be expected that you would take. All I am saying is that with your lack of experience, you may tend to make more out of the blandishments that Sir Philip may have said or exaggerate the meaning of a compliment from him.”

“I have no illusions on that score,” Cassandra replied flatly. “I do not believe that Sir Philip has any affection for me. You may rest secure in that knowledge.”

“I was not speaking of affection.” Aunt Ardis’s eyes bored into Cassandra’s. “Some men will pursue a woman not out of affection, but only in the hopes that he will receive certain favors from her. They will dally with her, trifle with her affections, when they have no intention of offering her anything honorable.”

“And Sir Philip is that sort?”

“I have heard rumors….”

“Rumors? You know nothing for a fact?”

“When you hear the same rumor enough times from enough sources, I think that there can be little doubt of the truth behind it. People say that he keeps a mistress in town.”

“Many men do that,” Cassandra replied defensively. “He is not married, after all.”

“True. But I have heard that he pursues women assiduously, that he is a man driven by his lower appetites. At Lady Arrabeck’s, I even heard—” She lowered her voice portentously. “I heard he keeps a home for his by-blows right there by Haverly House.”

“What!” Cassandra stared. “You cannot be serious.”

Aunt Ardis nodded so vigorously that the strips of rags all over her head danced. “I am. I could not believe it, either. Too bold, I thought. Too flouting of convention. I said so, but Lady Arrabeck said not a word to deny it. Mrs. Livenham, who told me, swore that it was true. She says he has a whole houseful of illegitimate children, with a nurse to look after them. She said that there were at least six or seven of them.”

“Seven!”

“Yes.” Aunt Ardis looked smug, for she had obviously struck a nerve. “If a man has that many babes born on the wrong side of the blanket whom he acknowledges as his and even supports, then you know that there must be many others, too. And it is quite clear that the unfortunate mothers are not all actresses and such that he keeps as mistresses. Wicked women know how to keep those things from happening, I’ve heard, and as for the married women he sees, well, they would pass them off as their husbands’ children. That means that most of those babes came from honest young girls like yourself, whom he seduced and ruined.”

“I don’t believe it,” Cassandra said defiantly. “Perhaps you are right that he is a man who consorts with women of the night, but I cannot believe that he is a villain who sets out to ruin innocent young girls!”

“Ah…” Aunt Ardis shook her head with sorrow. “Many a devil has worn the face of an angel.”

“He does not try particularly to please,” Cassandra argued. “He is not all smooth words. Why, he and I quarrel half the time.” But she could not help but think of the way he had kissed her, the way his hands had swept expertly over her body, arousing in her feelings that previously she had never even realized existed. Was his touch so pleasurable, his kiss so heady, because he had perfected the art on so many other young women? The Lord knew that her aunt was right when she said that Cassandra had little experience in such things.

Cassandra frowned. “I wonder, then, if he is such a rake and a libertine, that you encourage your own daughter to associate with him! Aren’t you afraid that he will try to seduce her, too?”

Aunt Ardis let out a smug little laugh. “There is a world of difference between your situation and that of Joanna. Joanna is a young girl, quite marriageable, who stands to inherit a good portion. When a man like Sir Philip shows interest in her, he knows that the end result must be marriage. Even if he seduced her, her family would force him to marry her.”

“As you tried to force him at Lady Arrabeck’s party.”

“I don’t know where you get such absurd ideas. I would never put Joanna in a compromising position with any man. When a girl is, well, getting older, almost a spinster, one might say, as you are, and when, in addition, she has no particular beauty and no fortune at all, it must be clear that such a catch as Sir Philip Neville is not interested in marrying her. Especially when you consider the fact that you have two penniless brothers and a sister to raise—no man could want to take on that sort of burden. You are exactly the sort of girl upon which such men prey.”

Cassandra jumped to her feet, drawing herself up to her full height. Her eyes flashed. “I am so glad to hear your opinion of me! It confirms everything I thought about you. You may rest assured that Sir Philip has no interest in me, for seduction or marriage or anything else! Nor have I any interest in him, except as one of the few intelligent conversationalists I have been around since we moved to this house. I refuse to believe that he callously ruins young women, but even if it were true, I would not be caught in that web! As for my brothers and sister, not everyone considers bright, entertaining children a burden. Sir Philip obviously likes them, since he invited them to visit his house, something which, I might add, he did not ask you or Joanna!”

“Well! I never heard of such a thing!” The older woman’s face flushed a dull red, and she pushed herself to her feet. “After all that I have done for you, to have the gall to speak to me in that tone! When I was only trying to save you from disgrace.”