Chapter 4 #2
Foolish question. There were any number of reasons for her to avoid Lord Archer, the first being that he was about to toss her out of his house.
“It’s fortunate you rose early this morning, Miss Hervey. There’s a hired carriage waiting for you in the drive. One of my footmen will accompany you and Miss Bishop back to London.”
His tone was cool, detached, and sudden irritation sparked in Penelope’s breast. Really, wasn’t he to blame for this entire mess?
If he hadn’t spoken to her the night of the fire, she never would have attracted Florentina’s attention, and Silas wouldn’t have sent her to Lord Snedley’s house party.
Why, if it weren’t for Lord Archer, she’d even now be on the Pandemonium’s stage, dressed as a whore and dodging rotten tomatoes.
Instead, she owed Silas ten pounds. If she returned to London empty-handed, he’d dismiss her, and Dinah, too. They’d end their days on the London streets, starved to death, with rats picking over their rancid flesh.
And it would be all Lord Archer’s fault.
He let out an impatient sigh. “I made it clear you and Miss Bishop could only stay for one night. Come, Miss Hervey, you delay the inevitable.”
Penelope clenched the folds of her cloak in her fists. There had to be be something she could do, something she could say to stop the inevitable, and change their fate.
If ever there was a time for a Christmas miracle, this was it.
A Christmas miracle…
Of course! Why, she’d said herself it was too fantastical to credit they should have stumbled onto Lord Archer here, in this remote part of Essex. There could be only one explanation for such a coincidence.
Lord Archer had gotten her into this predicament, and now the Lord of Misrule—or whoever was in charge of such things—had decreed Lord Archer be the one to get her out of it.
A Christmas miracle had fallen right into her lap.
All she had to do was to seize it with both hands. “No. You can’t send us away, my lord.”
His eyebrows shot up. “I can, and I will. Fetch your things, Miss Hervey.”
He took her arm to lead her back to the house, but Penelope snatched it out of his grip. “No! You owe me twenty pounds, Lord Archer, and I’m not leaving until I get it!”
* * *
Will stared down at her, too surprised to say a word. Twenty pounds? For the life of him, he couldn’t think of a single reason why Miss Hervey would think he owed her twenty pounds, unless…
“Is that why Silas sent you here? To get twenty pounds out of me?” It didn’t seem likely. Will would pay a good deal more than that to be left in peace, and Silas Bragg knew it. If Silas had somehow found out where he was, he would ask for more than twenty pounds to keep quiet about it.
“No!” She threw her hands up in the air, thoroughly aggravated. “Silas didn’t send us here at all! That is, he did send us to Essex, but not for you. He doesn’t have any idea you’re here, as far as I know. None one in London does.”
Will’s eyes narrowed. She must think him an utter half-wit. “It’s simply a coincidence I found you sneaking about so near Cliff’s Edge, then?”
“I don’t deny sending a couple of actresses to bedevil you at your house party is just the sort of scheme Silas would come up with, but in this instance, he’s innocent.”
“Oh, come now, Miss Hervey. What’s Silas’s scheme? Did he send you and Miss Bishop here to seduce one of my brothers?”
“To seduce your…no!” Color flooded her cheeks. “I told you, this has nothing to do with—”
“If you intend to become an accomplished liar, you’d better learn to control that blush. I assume you do intend it, being an actress. What is acting, after all, but a more artistic form of lying?”
“I’m not ly—”
“A clever plan, I’ll give Silas that, but when you get back to London, you may tell him he’s wasting his time. I won’t tolerate either of my brothers taking up with a London actress.”
Will towered over her, but somehow, she still managed to give the impression she was looking down her nose at him. “You took up with an actress. A Pandemonium Playhouse actress, no less.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that, Miss Hervey. That’s how I know it isn’t a good idea.” He’d been attracted to Florentina’s vivaciousness, but it hadn’t taken long before her seductive charms had worn off, and her pettiness and greed were revealed.
“I see. One wonders, Lord Archer, what prompted this sudden attack of morality. Forgive me, but you appeared content enough to indulge in wicked actresses a mere few weeks ago. Not just any actress, either, but Florentina. It doesn’t get any wickeder than her.”
A surprised laugh escaped Will. “You don’t care for Florentina, Miss Hervey?”
“Naturally I don’t. Did you know she demands every actress who shares the stage with her be placed far at the back, so no one will notice us?”
“I noticed you.”
Penelope snorted. “Only because I caught fire.”
No, before that.
He’d noticed her, and once he had, he’d searched for her on the stage every time he’d gone to the Pandemonium. There was no point in telling her this, however. She’d be on her way back to London within an hour, and they’d likely never cross paths again.
She plopped down on a nearby bench. “I don’t blame you for being suspicious of us, Lord Archer. I’d feel the same in your place, but the truth is, Silas sent us here for Lord Snedley, not you.”
“Lord Snedley? That old roué? What’s he got to do with this?”
She let her chin fall into her hand. “Miss Bishop and I were meant to perform a Christmas theatrical at Lord Snedley’s house party, but we, ah…failed to provide the services his lordship expected, and so he tossed us out at the door without a shilling.”
Will’s lips tightened. He could just imagine what sort of services Snedley had demanded.
The man was the worst kind of lecher, and Silas Bragg was a scoundrel for indulging him without a care for Miss Hervey’s and Miss Bishop’s safety.
“Ah, now we come to it. Silas is expecting you to return to London with Snedley’s twenty pounds in your pocket? ”
She gave a glum nod. “Yes, and when we don’t, we’ll both lose our places.”
He sighed and joined her on the bench. “Forgive me, Miss Hervey, but I still don’t see why this means I owe you twenty pounds.”
Will glanced at her. Her head was bowed, and her shoulders hunched into her chest. She looked very young and defenseless sitting there, with the pale, fragile nape of her neck exposed, and the wind tossing fiery locks of hair around her face.
If Silas did dismiss her, what would she do? Where would she go?
Her chin lifted. “Silas sent me off to Lord Snedley’s party to get me out of Florentina’s way. She’s demanding he dismiss me.”
Will blinked at her. “Why should Florentina want you dismissed?”
“Because of you, Lord Archer. She claims I’m the reason you broke off your liaison with her.”
“You? But that’s ridiculous!” Or was it? Will had been careful to hide his attraction to Miss Hervey from Florentina for this very reason, but perhaps he’d given himself away.
She shrugged. “Of course it is, but it hardly matters. You never came back to the Pandemonium after the night we spoke, and then you left London altogether. Florentina has to blame someone for it, so she blames me. Silas told me he’d give me a second chance if I pleased Lord Snedley, but… well, I didn’t please him.”
Will stared at her, incredulous. “I left London because one of my brothers was shot in a duel, the other one nearly broke his neck in a carriage accident, and my sister…” He dragged his hand down his face.
“My sister came within a hair’s breadth of being compromised by a worthless rake intent on getting his hands on her fortune. ”
She turned wide dark eyes on him. “Oh, dear. How awful. I’m sorry for it, my lord. Is that why you’ve dragged your siblings out of London? To save them from the brothels and gaming hells? The wicked, demoralized actresses and conscienceless rakes?”
Will hadn’t come out to the garden to unburden himself to Miss Hervey, but he was still distressed over Maddy’s flight last night, and to his shock, the truth fell from his lips.
“I haven’t taught my brothers any restraint.
I’ve let them drink and whore and gamble their way through London, and now my sister’s nearly been ruined because of my negligence. ”
“You blame yourself,” she murmured.
“I’m the eldest. It’s my responsibility to see my sister safely wed, and to see to it my brothers learn to behave like proper gentlemen.”
“Your sister is your responsibility, certainly, but if your brothers don’t wish to become proper gentlemen, I don’t see what you can do about it.”
“Even if they wished to, they don’t have any idea how to go about it.
None of us do. We weren’t raised as aristocrats, Miss Hervey.
Our father was fifth in line for the title.
We never expected he’d actually inherit.
We never had tutors or governesses or nursemaids to teach us to behave respectably.
Our mother died when we were young, and our father let us run wild. ”
She was quiet for a moment. “How long do you intend to stay in Essex?”
“Until the season begins. Madeline will debut, and I intend for her to be wed to a respectable gentleman by the end of it.”
He didn’t mention his own intention to wed Lady Lavinia well before the season began. The prospect didn’t fill him with joy, but she was just the sort of modest, genteel lady he needed to usher Madeline through her season.