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She put cool fingers to her flaming cheeks. It seemed she was even more susceptible to him than she’d thought.
And what if Rob had been home, had chanced to gaze out the library window and seen her, clinging to Lord Tavener like some Covent Garden strumpet?
The spiral of sensation in her gut abruptly stilled. At the least, Rob would have been disappointed; at worst, he might have felt she’d dishonored him and his household.
Proving Sapphira correct in her estimation of Allegra’s character.
Well, such a thing must not happen again. She had a clearer knowledge now of the full extent of her weakness for Lord Tavener. She must not in future tease him into making advances she had just found, to her shame, that she was nearly incapable of resisting.
Did the necessity to be more circumspect mean she must give up his friendship, too? she wondered wistfully. It had been kind of him to worry about her so much he’d felt compelled to warn her against Sapphira. Not since Papa died had anyone been that protective of her welfare.
Though she had to laugh, recalling how, brow creased and hands clenched into fists, he’d talked of wanting to deal with Lady Lynton himself. Uncle Robert’s wife would probably faint dead away if she ever saw directed toward her the menacing look Allegra remembered upon Tavener’s face when he’d scared off Lord Wofford last night. He truly was the most kind and chivalrous of gentlemen.
Resolving to figure out a way to remain his friend while resisting his appeal, Allegra forced her thoughts away from envisioning his all-too-compelling countenance and back to the problem of Sapphira.
What would be best to do about the woman? Reviewing Tavener’s description of her tawdry scheme, Allegra felt her lip curl in contempt. Trust Sapphira to look for some dupe to maneuver into doing the disreputable work for her. Though as she’d told Tavener, Allegra was not particularly worried about the plan, if Sapphira did manage to recruit some unsavory gentleman to implement it, once he realized Allegra could not be easily seduced, he might become less genteel in his methods. Though she remained confident she would be able to escape such a man with her virtue intact, it was possible she might need help, and in coming to her aid, John Coachman or Hobbs or Lizzie might be injured. That, she couldn’t allow.
Better, therefore, to make Sapphira see the wisdom of abandoning her scheme as soon as possible. Allegra set her lips in a firm line. She’d confront her this very day.
Allegra rang the bell and asked Lizzie to let her know when Sapphira awakened from her afternoon nap. At that time, Lady Lynton usually lounged in her bed sipping chocolate and reading the society pages before summoning her maid to help her dress for the evening.
Alerted an hour later, Allegra walked down the hall, rapped twice and entered Lady Lynton’s bedchamber.
Since she’d never before sought out her aunt, Allegra was not surprised to see that Sapphira looked startled before her eyes narrowed in annoyance.
“What do you think you’re doing, invading my bedchamber?” Sapphira demanded.
“I should rather ask what you think you are doing,” Allegra replied calmly. “But then, I already know. Lord Tavener told me what you proposed to him, madam. A dreadfully common scheme, don’t you think, Aunt Sapphira?”
Sapphira’s blue eyes opened wide. “Tavener told you…! Why, that…that brigand! I mean, how could you possibly believe anything said by a man of his stamp? If he speaks spitefully of me, ’tis only because I rebuffed his distasteful advances—”
“Oh, shut it,” Allegra interrupted. “As I said nothing specific about what he’d alleged, your very denial convicts you, so spare me the protestations of innocence. You have done everything you could think of to ruin my presentation from the moment Rob informed you I was to have one. Thus far I have kept silent, but no longer. Your distasteful little game can be played by two, madam.” Allegra fixed her unsmiling gaze on Sapphira and waited.
Lady Lynton lifted an imperious hand as if to dismiss her, then hesitated. Though Allegra doubted her glare was as forbidding as Tavener’s, apparently it was well enough, for after a few moments of hard scrutiny, Sapphira broke the silence to ask, an edge of nervousness in her voice, “What do you mean to do?”
“If I learn you are hatching any more schemes to discredit me, I shall tell Rob what Lord Tavener told me.”
Sapphira’s eyes widened with dismay for an instant before she set her face in an expression of disdain that did not quite manage to mask her concern. “You wouldn’t dare repeat such nonsense to Lynton. He’d dismiss it in a moment with the contempt it deserves.”
“Would he? Recall that we grew up together, madam. If I were to appeal to him, which of us do you think he’d be more likely to believe?”
“You—lowborn daughter of a traveling musician!” Sapphira cried, rage distorting her lovely features. “Do you really dare threaten me?”
“Oh, I dare. Though even I am not quite so daring as you, my lady. Suppose I were to reveal to Rob what I know concerning events that transpired in this house before his father’s death. Things I heard when I stepped out for air those evenings I kept vigil over Uncle Robert and you entertained the cicisbei come to console the distraught wife whose husband lay dying. The rustlings, the gasps, the little moans.”
Though Allegra’s words were a gamble based only on the little she’d overheard and her assessment of Sapphira’s character, she was close enough to the mark that a momentary flash of fear escaped Sapphira’s pose of disinterest. “What you insinuate is preposterous!” she exclaimed. “Lynton would never believe you.”
“Wouldn’t he? You must know he doesn’t like you. I fear you may have given him a disgust of you, trying out your wiles on him. With a bit more prodding he might decide it best for the family honor for you to leave London during your mourning period. I believe he mentioned Highbeck—’tis a fine manor near Ulls-water in Cumbria, the Lynton ancestral home, though none of them have lived there in years. Such a lovely view of the fells! Rob always said he thought it a shame the place stood empty.”
“C-Cumbria?” Sapphira repeated with horror.
“Or perhaps I need say nothing to Rob. Perhaps I shall only mention what I heard to Lizzie and let things take their course. ’Tis no controlling servants’ gossip, you know—’twould be all over town in a trice.”
Though Sapphira struggled to maintain her facade of unconcern, she began nervously twirling one golden curl around her finger. “No one listens to the chatter of underlings,” she declared after a moment.
Allegra laughed. “No one but the entire ton! You should know better than most how much society delights in passing along deliciously scandalous news. Girls jealous of your beauty, maidens whose suitors you’ve lured away, men you’ve snubbed or slighted—do you truly think such as these would not rejoice to spread the word of your misdoings? Of course, you might be able to wait out the scandal and emerge with your prestige intact…but are you willing to gamble your place in society on that?”
All pretense of indifference gone now, Sapphira gave a little gasp of dismay. Allegra knew that for Sapphira, the possibility of no longer being one of the reigning Diamonds of the ton was far more frightening than the prospect of a chilly spring exile to Cumbria.
Taking advantage of Sapphira’s momentary speechlessness, Allegra leaned toward her aunt, her face set in the most forbidding expression she could summon. “I have stood as much as I intend to stand, madam. Toy with me further and I promise, you will regret it.”
After making Sapphira a deep curtsey, Allegra walked out. As the door closed, she caught one last glimpse of Lady Lynton, her lips half-open in a reply she had not been able to formulate, a troubled frown on her brow.
Allegra kept silent until she reached the sanctuary of her room where, the door firmly closed, she gave a whoop of glee. Whether or not Sapphira remained as cowed as she appeared at this moment, still it felt wonderful to stand nose to nose with the spoiled beauty and finally give her back for all the slights and abuses of the last six months.
If the cautionary effect of this little interchange abated, Allegra would just have to think of something else. But she felt sure she had just won herself some respite.
She recalled Tavener’s comment and chuckled. Would he consider her stratagem sufficiently diabolical?
Laughing again, she clapped her hands together, the future suddenly seeming gloriously bright. She had Sapphira’s malevolence stymied and the pleasing prospect of a long drive with Tavener during which she could relax and enjoy his company, Mrs. Randall’s presence a guarantee she’d not succumb to temptation.
And taking a long private drive with the man Lynton most wanted her to avoid ought to propel Rob to action…if ever he meant to act, she thought, her euphoria dimming.
Impatiently she thrust away that dispiriting reflection. With the trip to Brookwillow imminent, she refused to let anything spoil her anticipation.
EARLY ON THE MORNING of the appointed day, Allegra, Mrs. Randall and Lord Tavener set off in a barouche for his country estate. Allegra figured he must have hired the carriage, which was well-appointed and far larger than a single gentleman would keep for his own use. He impressed her too by providing foot warmers, lap robes and mugs of spiced wine to ward off the morning chill as well as light refreshments to sustain them until they reached the inn where they would lunch before arriving at Brookwillow.
