Chapter 20
“Are you all right?” Susanna asked, rushing up and surveying both of them with concern. She nodded. “And you, James?”
He smiled his response. “But perhaps we should begin to gather up the animals,” he said. “And see that the fire is put out.”
“Is there any chance of it spreading?” Susanna asked. “The house is far enough away, but what about the other buildings?”
“I doubt it. Most of the structures are far enough away from each other. But there are several precautions we can take to ensure that the fire’s contained.”
“I would think you’d be more concerned about scandal spreading, Mrs. McKinsey.” Mrs. Parker said, her voice escalating in the sudden silence. “After all, it will destroy you as effectively as any fire.”
Susanna stared, dismayed, at her daughter and James. It was true that Riona was half-dressed and the kiss they’d shared was not one of friendship.
She was not the only person to have witnessed the kiss, either.
Mrs. Parker stood beside her, dressed in a florid crimson wrapper that trailed on the ground like a queen’s robes while Susanna was still attired in her dinner clothes, an apron tied neatly around her waist. Behind her was Maureen, slack jawed and hurriedly dressed, if the askew collar was any indication.
Old Ned stood beside them, calmly holding a goat’s tether and making no attempt to stay the animal when it looked longingly toward Mrs. Parker’s slippers.
Susanna raised an eyebrow at him when the animal moved toward the footwear, then turned her attention back to Riona and James.
“Well? Are you going to allow such behavior? Do something!” Mrs. Parker said.
“What do you suggest I do?”
Riona was looking dazed. She staggered back, blinking, then reached out and grabbed James’s arm before evidently realizing that it would be better if there were no contact at all between them. As for James, he simply looked furious.
Frowning, the older woman extended an imperious finger at Riona.
“If you think that I shall allow Captain Hastings to be aligned with such a family, you’re mistaken,” Mrs. Parker was saying. “One incident might be overlooked, but this behavior is beyond tolerance. Not only is she nearly naked, but she’s behaving like a doxy!”
“Perhaps you should return to the house, dear,” Susanna said calmly to Riona. “Put some clothes on and we’ll talk.” She glanced meaningfully at James. “All of us.”
“There is no need for that,” James said, his voice sounding raspy from the smoke. He turned to Mrs. Parker. “I take full responsibility for what you saw. Riona is blameless in this matter.”
“If she were blameless, she would have fought off your advances, sir.” Mrs. Parker drew herself up, attempting to frown down her nose at James, but failing miserably since he towered over her.
James looked as if he’d like to say something not entirely pleasant. Quickly, Susanna stepped in front of him, holding up both hands as if to ward off a confrontation.
“Come, Mrs. Parker,” she said, leading the woman away. Neither James nor Riona was aiding the situation. She glanced over her shoulder. James was leading Riona away, back to the house. Where she fervently hoped her daughter would dress, and quickly.
“Are you saying, madam,” Susanna asked frostily when she and Mrs. Parker were alone, “that you will do everything in your power to dissuade Captain Hastings from aligning himself with our family? I would think on your answer if I were you. I doubt that your reputation will be much enhanced if your part in all of this is learned.”
“My reputation?” Mrs. Parker said, pulling herself up. She appeared to Susanna like a banty rooster at that moment, all puffed chest and braggadocio.
“Indeed,” Susanna said. “Were you not accompanying Riona on the night she was ruined? Was she not under your tutelage? If the fault for her poor reputation be anyone’s, madam, it should be yours.
And I will make it known to all and sundry that such is the case.
So, before you go bandying your tale about, I would think twice.
Otherwise, your own livelihood is bound to suffer.
What mother would entrust her daughter to someone with such dubious character? ”
“You would not.”
“I would. Having been a widow without means, I know only too well how valued a reputation should be.”
Mrs. Parker sputtered, but she didn’t say a word.
Not one word of protest passed her lips, but from the flashing of her eyes, Susanna didn’t doubt that she was thinking her to perdition.
Everything that she told the woman was true, including her willingness to spread the tale far and wide to even the scales.
“I think perhaps your time at Tyemorn Manor is over,” Susanna said. “I will pay you what we agreed to, the remainder of your fee due at Maureen’s wedding. On one condition.”
“And that is?” Mrs. Parker asked. The words were so brittle that Susanna thought they might break in midair.
“That you give me your promise that not one word of what you’ve seen at Tyemorn Manor will ever be divulged to another human being.”
“You would trust my word?”
“I have it within my power to ruin you. Do you trust me not to use it?”
It was a stalemate, one of equally matched opponents.
“Men are not the only creatures with honor, Mrs. Parker. For all our differences, I think we can agree on that point.”
The older woman nodded once to signify her agreement.
“You have my promise,” she said a moment later. “And I have yours?”
“You do.”
“The inn is no doubt full with visitors for the horse fair,” Susanna said as they walked back to the house. “I would not want you on the roads at night. Will you agree to stay until morning?”
“That would be better, I suppose,” Mrs. Parker said grudgingly.
“A wise choice,” Susanna said.
She saw her guest to her room and then turned and walked to the family quarters, wondering what she might say to her daughter.
Ned’s words came back to her. What had she wanted to happen? For James to magically solve her dilemma? In all honesty, yes.
She had hoped that Harold McDougal might give up his suit, but the lure of Riona’s fortune was too great. Was there any way out of this conundrum? If there was, she couldn’t imagine what it might be.
She knocked on Riona’s door, and when her daughter answered, entered.
Riona turned at Susanna’s entrance and sighed inwardly.
It would do no good to ask for a reprieve.
Her mother had a look on her face that brooked no opposition.
If she had inherited her stubbornness, it came from the maternal side of the family.
She couldn’t remember if her father had an obstinate character.
All her memories of him were of an easygoing sailor, filled with tales of his travels and gusty laughter.
But then, she supposed, he must’ve been stubborn, to continue following his dream to the detriment of those he loved.
“Would it help if I told you I know what you’re about to say?” Riona asked.
“What am I about to say?”
“That my behavior is deplorable, that I have shamed the family, and that I have forgotten I am to be married shortly.”
“You have, indeed, saved me a lecture,” Susanna responded, smiling.
“Then that is one thing I have done tonight that is to my credit,” Riona said softly.
She stood, pushing back the bench in front of her vanity and walking to one of the two windows in the chamber. She pushed aside the curtains and stared out at the view.
“There isn’t any hope for it, Riona. Harold McDougal is going to be your husband, and wishes and wants will not change it.”
“Do you think I don’t know that, Mother?” Riona asked softly. “I have become resigned to it.”
“Was the kiss I witnessed a form of your acceptance?”
“I could tell you, Mother, that it was an act of gratitude. After all, James saved my life. Or perhaps I simply forgot myself.”
“Is that the truth?”
No, she’d kissed him deliberately and would again, but there were some thoughts that were not meant to be shared.
“Should I be satisfied with your explanation, Riona?”
“You might pretend to be,” Riona said, smiling wryly. “Just as I am engaging in pretense about my wedding.”
For a long moment, Susanna looked at her.
Did her mother see all the reluctance in her mind?
She didn’t want to try to explain what she felt for James.
In the end, it didn’t matter. However much she might be fascinated with him, might crave his touch or think forbidden thoughts, he was not for her. Not permanently.
“I have never wanted anything but your happiness, Riona.”
“I know that, Mother.”
“But I do not see how anyone can conjure up happiness out of this situation. Whatever you do, it can only end in heartache.”
If she were a woman given to tears, Riona thought she might cry at this moment. But her tears were better saved for another time.
On the day she married Harold.
“Shall I ask him to leave?”
Whether James was here or gone, the result was the same. She would long for him regardless of where he was.
“No,” Riona said. “Nothing will come of this, Mother. I am going to marry Harold. Nothing must disturb Maureen’s happiness, after all.” There, a little bitterness showing.
“Do you hold your sister responsible?” Susanna asked, frowning.
“No, I don’t,” she said, her sense of fairness coming to the surface. But it seemed that the past several months had been given up to everyone else’s wishes. Mrs. Parker’s dictates must always be obeyed, Maureen’s happiness must be preserved, even Harold’s needs must be considered.
She wanted a few days of hedonism, of sheer enjoyment for the sake of it, with no recriminations. An escape from the reality of her future. A release from being responsible for everyone’s happiness.
“No,” she repeated. “Do not ask him to leave. My behavior will be above reproach.”
How strange to make a promise at the same time she ached to break it.
He was standing in the shadows when Susanna left the room. Moving cautiously so as not to startle her, James came forward.