Chapter 17
When Javenia arrived home, she tried to sneak back in without notice, only to have her mother startle her the moment the butler shut the door.
“Where on earth have you been, young lady?”
Javenia straightened. “First, I am not young, and we both know it.”
“Do not try to change the subject. Here I thought you were still abed and now you are sneaking in the door like a child who’s just stolen biscuits from the kitchen. Now, where were you?”
The deep lines around her mother’s eyes and in her forehead pulled at Javenia’s conscience. She’d not meant to worry her, but she’d also not wanted to explain her visit either. “Newhurst House.”
Her mother’s shoulders relaxed as she let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank heavens.”
Javenia narrowed her eyes. “Where did you think I had gone? It must have been some place truly horrid for such theatrics.”
“I am not being dramatic. Your father came home this morning and reported seeing not only Lord Falcross enter the Roberts’ townhouse on his way to his meeting, but Lord Rupert entering on his way back.
” Her mother clasped her hands and rubbed them back and forth.
“If you ask me, it just isn’t decent. Two of the biggest rakes in London.
” She paced. “Poor Angela. If only she could see how he is corrupting her son.”
Javenia stared at her mother. Did she truly believe Algenon was so weak as to fall in line with cads and rakes?
“Forgive me, Mama, but I do not see how Lord Roberts’s acquaintances are any of our business, especially after you have told me for years not to connect myself with his family.” She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.
Her mother stopped pacing and smoothed the front of her morning dress. “It is my business when I think my daughter is sneaking off to a home where a disgraceful lord might ruin her.”
If her mother had plunged a knife through her heart, it would not have hurt nearly as much.
Year after year, season after season, her mother had worried about her safety here in London, had reminded her that a woman’s virtue was brittle and easily broken, and yet the one man they had approved of had been her biggest monster.
Javenia’s fingers found the fold in her skirt. If her parents ever found out what had happened to her, would they disown her? The least they’d do was blame her, say she’d been reckless, but she hadn’t. Not that day. She’d been careful, just as they’d taught her.
“Vee, did you hear what I said?”
Javenia jerked her gaze up from the floor. “Forgive me.”
Her mother tenderly touched her cheek. “Are you well? You look pale.”
She forced a smile, like the thousands she’d forced before. “I am only thinking of the Newhursts. They will be here to retrieve me soon. We are off to the Tower of London today.”
“But the musicale?”
Javenia groaned. She’d forgotten that Cindy was to display her musical talents this evening. While she liked music, she didn’t like being passed over for her younger and more agreeable sister, which is exactly what Mrs. Cline had done.
“I will be home in plenty of time to dress and dine before we need to leave.”
Her mother smiled, laugh lines appearing on her otherwise flawless face. “Thank you, Vee. This means a lot to Cindy.”
Javenia placed a hand on her mother’s arm and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. “I know. I remember how nervous I was for my first season.”
Nervous and na?ve. Too na?ve.
Javenia’s mind swirled with questions as the carriage rattled along the streets. John and Susannah were discussing the merits of a night in after a day out, but she could not bring herself to join them.
What had kept Algenon from joining them this morning? Who all would be with them for their outing? What would be the best place to pull him aside to speak? Why had her mother thought that Lord Roberts was corrupting his son?
Her thoughts snagged on the last question. It was no secret that her mother had been friends with Algenon’s mother, as well as Nate and John’s. Having grown up in Maidstone, her mother had befriended Miss Angela Stone in her girlhood before the Stones had moved to Essex.
However, she rarely spoke of her. Javenia had always suspected Lord Roberts’s ill treatment of them after her father purchased Hazelwood was the cause, but now she wondered if her mother’s anger ran deeper. Did Mama think Lord Roberts as dissolute as Lord Falcross and Lord Rupert?
Probably. While she’d maintained civility with him, Javenia realized that she hardly ever saw them speak. Mama only showed true kindness to his wives.
“John,” she said, before realizing she was interrupting his conversation with Susannah.
They both paused to look at her so she continued. “What do you know of Lord Rupert?”
John leaned back against the squabs, his gaze unfocused as he looked up. “I am not well acquainted with him, but I know he carries a rather tarnished reputation, even if his family is deep in the coffers.”
“And is Lord Roberts close with him?”
John’s gaze snapped to hers. “No. If anything, he’s been rather critical of the man. W-why?”
Javenia took a deep breath. “Mama said he was seen entering Lord Roberts’s house today, as was Lord Falcross.”
Susannah nodded. “That makes sense. They are related.”
“Yes, but I have never known Lord Roberts to acquaint himself with the likes of Rupert.” John rubbed the back of his neck.
“Falcross too, for that matter. I can’t quite understand it.
He’s always hated men of their ilk, choosing instead to align himself with men of higher moral standard and greater discipline. ”
No wonder her mother was so distressed. Lord Roberts’s associations had never been of much import to Javenia, so she’d never pondered on the difference of his current company. However, with both her mother and John’s concern, she now wondered what had occurred to change Lord Roberts’s behavior.
Javenia crossed her hands in her lap. “You know that Lord Roberts is trying to force Algenon into an arranged marriage with Miss Weston, don’t you?”
John pressed his lips together. “I do, but not from Al. Nate wrote me before either of you even came to town.”
“And you are doing nothing about it?”
He blinked at her, his face devoid of any feeling. Javenia wanted to shake him. How could he sit there so calmly knowing that his friend might be forced to wed a woman as awful as Miss Weston?
“He is a grown man, Javenia. If he needs help, he will ask.”
Would he? She doubted it. He was too proud. She narrowed her eyes at John, wondering if he actually knew Algenon at all.
Susannah glanced between them, her hands fidgeting in her lap. “Perhaps it’s all the wagering at the card tables that has done this.”
Both Javenia and John turned to look at her.
“Forgive me,” Javenia said, “but of what do you speak?”
Susannah adjusted in her seat, pulling the hood of her dark blue cloak closer around her head. “Lord Roberts often plays at the card tables. Maybe he wagered too high and now has to repay Lord Rupert or Lord Falcross.”
Javenia scoffed, but John held up a hand. “No, she might be right. Why else would he put up with them? Perhaps arranging a match between Algenon and Miss Weston is the only way he can pay his debt.”
The carriage turned and Javenia braced herself, not wanting a repeat of the morning. Already her skin had begun to tinge purple around the scratch on her forehead.
She cleared her throat. “Miss Weston has a decent dowry with little need to marry. Her father is a viscount so that puts her a step above Algenon, so why bother securing his hand?”
“Because no man will have her.” John crossed his arms. “It is no secret among gentlemen that she is…” he paused for a moment. “Perfidious.”
Javenia smiled at the word. John always had enjoyed more impressive language. He was right, though. Miss Weston was untrustworthy in every aspect of her life. Any man who married her would have to resign himself to her infidelity.
“In addition,” John continued. “Marrying a future baron is still advantageous, especially to Lord Falcross. If his future grandson becomes the baron, that is one more person he has under his influence. Besides, he may be getting tired of finding matches for his daughters. Miss Weston is his last, and I am certain he is more than ready to be done with the business.”
Javenia barely heard the last sentence, caught up in the thought of someone else having Algenon’s children. It made her sick. So sick she thought she might cast up her accounts on the floor of the carriage.
Luckily, the barouche stopped, and a footman opened the door. Javenia waited as John and Susannah disembarked and then allowed the young man to help her down. People bustled around the courtyard, many of which being visitors who had come to see the menagerie in the Lion Tower.
They followed the crowds of people, staying close so as not to be separated. Algenon had instructed John to meet him near the tiger’s enclosure at the appointed time. They were ten minutes early, so Javenia had no doubt that they would find one another.
The smell assaulted her before they even reached the tower.
The mixture of animal droppings and unwashed bodies being met with the humidity of the enclosed space had her reaching for her handkerchief.
Walls painted with bright colors resembling the jungle greeted them as they entered.
The cacophony of sounds from both animals and people filled the semi-circle that made up the tower.
As they moved among the masses, Javenia began to doubt the wisdom in meeting in such a place. How had she thought she and Algenon would be able to hear one another let alone find any private space to speak?
Thankfully, the crowd thinned the closer they got to the tigers’ cages.
Javenia searched the faces, desperate to see Algenon’s familiar sharp jaw and intelligent gaze.
Then he was there, standing near one of the wooden enclosures, his head tipped to the side as he strained to hear the person at his side.
Javenia picked up her pace, butterflies erupting in her chest. The woman next to Algenon turned, her profile becoming visible, and she froze. Why was Miss Weston here?
Then she took in the rest of the party. Lords Falcross, Rupert and Roberts, as well as Phillipa and Lady Roberts.
John closed the distance and took Algenon’s hand, a smiling Susannah on his arm.
Javenia watched as if in a dream, or more accurately a nightmare.
Lord Roberts spotted her first, his eyes narrowing and his lips turning down.
There was a hardness about his gaze that made her unconsciously take a step back.
Phillipa turned from listening to something Lord Rupert was saying, and her face brightened. When she moved to greet Javenia, however, Lord Roberts put out a hand to stop her.
Algenon turned at that moment and where she’d hoped to see excitement, there was only wide-eyed panic. He didn’t want her here. It was evident in the set of his shoulders and the way he flicked a glance in his father’s direction.
She took another step back. Lord Roberts separated himself from the group and approached her.
“Miss Harris.” She barely heard above the din.
Suddenly the smell was overwhelming, the sounds too harsh on her ears, and the sight of Miss Weston’s smirk nauseated her. Lord Roberts took hold of her arm and pulled her away. Her skin crawled at his touch and the old fear ignited.
Bending to speak into her ear, he said, “Why do you never listen? I told you to stay away from my son.”
She tried to stammer an excuse, but the words were stuck in her throat. Why was Algenon just standing there, staring as his father led her away from the group? Did he not see how humiliating a situation he’d put her in? How frightened he’d made her?
Then she realized the note had only been for John and Susannah, not for her. He wasn’t saving her because she hadn’t been wanted. Pain radiated through her core, but she ignored it. Pushing back the urge to run she latched on to the anger her humiliation had ignited.
She stopped, yanking her arm from Lord Roberts. He would not bully her in such a way. “This is a public place,” she said loudly. “You do not own it, and I am allowed to be wherever I choose to be here. Please refrain from handling me in such a manner ever again.”
Lord Roberts’s head jerked back, pink staining his cheeks. Whether from anger or embarrassment, she did not know, but she would not stay long enough to find out.
Taking one last glance over her shoulder, she confirmed that Algenon had not moved. He remained rooted to the spot, but now his gaze was cast down. He couldn’t even look her in the eye.
A burning in her eyes warned her that if she did not leave soon she would make a spectacle of herself. Never had Algenon failed to protect her from embarrassment or scorn, but it seemed even childhood heroes had their limits… and hers had reached his.
Very well. Not willing to allow Lord Roberts to think he’d gotten the best of her, she lifted her chin and marched back toward the entrance.
Before she’d gotten very far, a small hand grabbed her arm.
“Well, that was a disappointment,” Susannah said.
“What are you doing here?” Javenia asked. “Go back and enjoy your day.”
John came even with her other side. “We brought you, Javenia. We intend to leave with you.”
Susannah gave a sharp nod. “Yes, if you are not welcome, then we do not want to associate with the likes of them.”
The tears that had burned in Javenia’s eyes spilled over. John quickly offered a linen and she tried to keep them at bay, but once they reached the carriage, all semblance of control fled.
Algenon hadn’t protected her. The knowledge reverberated off the walls of her heart. In all their years together, he’d been the one person she could trust in that regard, and he’d failed her.