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Hebe dropped her eyes from his angry gaze. ‘Very well,’ she muttered.
‘Hebe, I warn you, do not even think about trying to run away. You may think you can outwit Bow Street Runners, but I promise you, you cannot escape from me.’ He hesitated, then added, ‘Hebe, I need hardly tell you this, I am sure, but believe me when I say that I swear I will not touch you in any way.’
He got stiffly to his feet, and Hebe remembered that he had ridden through the night, and had done so directly after his brother’s funeral. She swallowed back a small sob and said, ‘I am sorry, Alex. I promise I will not run away.’ The import of his last words were lost on her, other than to think it was considerate of him to acknowledge that she was unwell. ‘What will you do now?’
‘Go to the Clarendon Hotel, where I keep some clothes in case I have to come up to Town unexpectedly. I will sleep for a few hours, change and call upon your uncle this afternoon.’
He unlocked the door with a suddenness that propelled Anna into the room. She ran to Hebe’s side. ‘Hebe, querida, are you all right?’
‘I have not ravished her, Anna, if that is what you mean,’ Alex said savagely, striding out on to the landing where Peter was waiting. ‘Come along, lad, you can throw me out now.’
Hebe indulged in a good weep on Anna’s shoulder and then lay trying to think what to say about Alex to her aunt and uncle. What on earth would Peter say to them about the incident when they got home?
Finally she got up, bathed in the slipper bath that Anna nagged a panting boot boy to lug up from the basement, and got dressed. Slowly she went downstairs and found the front salon where she sat and waited for the family’s return.
They arrived within minutes of each other. Firstly the girls, delighted to find their cousin up and dressed, Joanna excitedly pulling all her new pairs of slippers out of their boxes to show Hebe. Then Uncle Hubert, beaming with pleasure, stooping to kiss her and remaining by her side, patting her hand and telling her how worried he had been about her. And finally Aunt Emily with William in tow. William, the tear streaks on his apple cheeks now disregarded, was inclined to be boastful about his courage in the face of the dreaded dentist and sent his sisters screaming from the room by producing a gory molar from his pocket to show off.
His nice new cousin, however, was made of sterner stuff, and even invited him to open his mouth and show her the gaping hole—surely the largest any boy had ever had—from whence the tooth had been wrenched. Aunt Emily soon packed him off to get his books ready for when his tutor called that afternoon. His voice could be heard vanishing in the direction of the green baize door. ‘Peter, I say, Peter, look at my tooth…’
‘Wretched boy,’ Emily said fondly, turning back to her niece. ‘You look so much better, my dear. You have colour in your cheeks.’
Hebe decided she had better tell her uncle and aunt something of the morning’s excitements before Peter did so. ‘I am afraid I had a caller this morning, Aunt Emily.’
‘Afraid? Why, my dear, any of your friends may call at any time, you must treat this house as your own.’
‘It was the Earl of Tasborough, Aunt, and I am afraid he upset Peter.’ They were looking at her blankly, so she stumbled on. ‘You know the old Earl died in a carriage accident?’ They nodded. ‘He was succeeded by his elder son, but he too had been hurt in the accident and died suddenly four days ago. He was succeeded by Major Beresford, the younger son, who was a friend of ours on Malta.
‘I had intended to call on my way back from Portsmouth, but when I did I found that the new Earl had just died, and obviously I left as soon as I could. But then I was ill on the road, and mentioned it in my letter of condolence to Major…I mean, to the Earl. And he was very anxious about me and called this morning, and when Peter denied me, I am afraid he…well, he forced his way in.’
‘Goodness,’ Aunt Emily said faintly after absorbing her niece’s tumble of words. ‘The Earl of Tasborough, so anxious about you that he visits London especially to see you, despite a death in the family, and then forces his way in when you are denied?’
Hebe, blushing rosily, nodded.
‘Exactly what are his intentions, my dear?’ Uncle Hubert enquired seriously.
‘Marriage,’ Hebe whispered, going redder. ‘He is going to call this afternoon, Uncle, in order to speak to you.’
‘But I am not your guardian! What will your mama expect me to say to the man?’
‘Erm…Mr Fulgrave, my dear.’ Aunt Emily put a hand on his sleeve. ‘Do you not recall the letters from dear Sara?’
‘You mean he is that young man?’
‘Which young man?’ Hebe demanded, thoroughly confused.
‘Your mama wrote of a Major Beresford in several letters, saying what hopes she had that he would make you an offer. Then she said she had been disappointed in him because he was engaged to another young lady.’
‘That was a mistake,’ Hebe said, trying not to feel resentful that her love life was apparently the subject of a lengthy family correspondence. ‘Lady Cl…I mean, the young lady in question, realised they would not suit and called it off.’
‘Well, in that case, I see no reason why I cannot act in loco parentis.’ Mr Fulgrave looked earnestly at Hebe. ‘What do you want me to say to him, my dear?’
‘Yes,’ Hebe said bluntly.
‘It is wonderful news, dearest,’ Emily said, still sounding faintly stunned. ‘And I am so happy for you, only I cannot help feeling selfishly sorry that I will not have the pleasure of bringing you out.’
‘But, Mrs Fulgrave, consider, the Earl is in mourning. Surely the betrothal cannot be announced yet. If it were to be, Hebe would have to go into mourning, too. As it is, I would imagine no announcement will be made for at least six months, if not longer, so Hebe will be able to enjoy at least part of her first Season.’
‘Why, yes!’ Aunt Emily brightened up. ‘The best of both worlds, indeed.’
