The Chaperon's Seduction(33)

‘I do understand, Philly, and I promise I shall be more careful in future.’ She put her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands. ‘It is very unfair, don’t you think, that we must behave with such propriety at all times while a man may flirt and behave in the most outrageous fashion and no one will think any the worse of him.’

‘That is not quite true. A man may gain a bad reputation, which will make it prudent for respectable people to approach him with caution.’

‘You are thinking of Mr Arrandale,’ said Ellen. ‘He has been very wild, I know, but that is all in the past.’ She beamed at Phyllida. ‘He is reformed now. He told me so.’

Hollow laughter echoed in Phyllida’s head.

That is just what a rake would say.



Richard was relieved, if a little surprised, that rumours of the wager were not more widespread. The appearance of another footman in the Tatham household did not go unnoticed with the gentlemen who frequented Burton’s gaming hell in union   Street, and dampened the spirits of at least two of those who had signed up for the wager.

Richard had joined them at the card table, and the conversation naturally turned to the heiress.

‘The chit is damnably elusive,’ grumbled Tesford. ‘She won’t make any effort to give her protectors the slip.’

Sir Charles Urmston drained his glass and called for another bottle before inspecting his hand.

‘I must say she seems immune to the charms of every gentleman,’ he murmured, hesitating over his discard. ‘She flirts most deliciously, but cannot be tempted into anything remotely clandestine.’

Richard listened in silence. A glance at Henry Fullingham showed that he was scowling, but he said nothing of his unsuccessful attempt to seduce Ellen in the Denhams’ garden.

‘And now there’s a new footman following her everywhere,’ observed Tesford, staring moodily into his glass. ‘Big, burly fellow who looks very handy with his fists. I am minded to withdraw.’

‘So, too, am I,’ agreed Fullingham.

‘And lose your thousand pounds without a fight?’ Urmston’s brows rose a little and both men flushed angrily.

‘What have you in mind, to snatch the chit off the street?’ retorted Fullingham.

‘It’s a possibility,’ murmured Sir Charles.

‘Not for me,’ remarked George Cromby, shaking his head. ‘A little dalliance with a willing gel is one thing, but abduction—it would be bound to get out and I have my family to consider. Think of the scandal.’

Tesford flicked a sneering look at Richard.

‘Scandal has never worried Arrandale, but he has already given up. Told me so himself,’ he added, when a murmur of surprise ran around the table.

‘He was bamming you, Arnold.’ Sir Charles Urmston laughed softly. ‘Putting you off the scent to give himself the advantage. Ain’t that so, Arrandale?’

Richard did not deny it, but Arnold Tesford gave a short laugh.

‘Well, he hasn’t done very well so far. His attempts to get the widow on his side have failed dismally, from what I saw at the Denhams’. Tore you off a strip, didn’t she, and barred you from calling—my man was drinking with one of the Denhams’ footmen in the Running Horse t’other night and the fellow said he, er, overheard it.’

‘Really?’ murmured Urmston. ‘You must be losing your touch, Arrandale.’

Richard smiled, outwardly unmoved by the laughter around the table, but as he made his way back to Royal Crescent he thought morosely that perhaps Sir Charles wasn’t so far off the mark.



He awoke the following day to a leaden sky that promised rain, and after a hasty breakfast he announced to Sophia that he would accompany her to the Pump Room.

‘This is an honour,’ Sophia remarked as they rattled off around the Crescent in her ancient carriage. ‘Are you going to drink a cup of the famous waters?’

He smiled a little at that.

‘Not quite.’

‘Well, perhaps you should try it. You have been quite out of sorts these past few days. You have an umbrella, too.’ Her keen eyes searched his face. ‘Do I take it you do not mean to return with me?’

‘That very much depends.’

‘Upon what?’

He grinned. ‘Upon whether I find a more attractive prospect.’

‘You are fobbing me off. Very well, if you do not wish to tell me your plans so be it. I shall ask you instead about Arrandale. There was a letter for you, was there not, from the steward?’

‘Why, yes, he tells me the repairs to the roof are now finished.’

‘It is a bad business,’ declared Sophia, shaking her head. ‘You should not be using your own money to maintain your brother’s house.’

‘If I did not it would fall into ruin and the staff would have to be turned off. That I will not allow. Why, most of them were there when I was a boy, they are like my family. You know very well that since Father’s death the entailed property has been in the hands of the lawyers, and they won’t budge without instruction from my brother.’ He paused, fighting back his frustration. ‘It would be easier if I could manage Arrandale properly, sell some of the land or the timber to raise the funds to maintain the place, but that rascally lawyer of my father’s insists that nothing can be done without Wolf’s authority.’

‘It is almost ten years since your brother fled the country, Richard, and you have heard nothing from him. He may well be dead by now. You could claim the inheritance.’

‘No. I would never do that. Not while there is a chance Wolf is alive.’

‘So you continue to pour your own money into Arrandale. Money you can ill afford.’

Richard could not deny it. He was trying to achieve the impossible, using the meagre income from Brookthorn to support a much larger estate.

‘You are a fool, Richard,’ Sophia continued in her sharp, direct way. ‘It cannot go on, my boy. And do not look to gambling to restore your fortunes.’

‘I do not. Neither do I look to the heiress.’

‘Miss Tatham? I never thought you did.’ She added, in the casual voice he had come to mistrust, ‘I think Lady Phyllida is more your style.’

Richard was about to agree when Sophia continued.

‘You could do worse, my boy. Tatham provided well for both his ladies.’

‘Really?’ Richard frowned. ‘There is nothing in her style to suggest it. I thought all the money had been settled on Miss Tatham.’

‘Not at all. Phyllida is a very wealthy widow.’

She could not have delivered a more severe blow. He shrugged and replied carelessly, ‘Then that is another reason she would never entertain my suit. She would think I was interested only in her fortune.’

Sophia gave a very unladylike snort.

‘Sometimes, Richard, for a man with your reputation for pleasing women, you understand very little about them.’





Chapter Eleven

Having decided that they would stay in Bath, despite the dangers, Phyllida was determined that life would go on as normal. Or as normal is it could be. Ellen cheerfully accepted that she must always be accompanied when she went out, and when Phyllida could not go with her she was to take either Matlock or the new footman she had engaged, a brawny Irishman named Patrick who came with glowing references from a respectable family, well known to Lady Wakefield.

‘It relieves my mind greatly to know that you can vouch for the family,’ Phyllida told her when they met at the Pump Room a few days later. ‘I am grown so suspicious of everyone these days.’

‘That is not such a bad thing.’ Lady Wakefield gave her an understanding smile. ‘Are you regretting taking on the responsibility? It must be quite onerous, to have sole charge of your stepdaughter.’

‘I know it, ma’am, and I have considered moving Ellen out of Bath.’ Phyllida lowered her voice. ‘My housekeeper intercepted a note only yesterday. It suggested an assignation and when I told Ellen of it she was quite unsurprised, but she did tell me that she had no intention of meeting any gentleman in such a clandestine manner. I am very thankful for it, but I fear if she were to be confined at Tatham, or even worse in the schoolroom with her young cousins, as my brother-in-law has suggested, who knows what her rebellious spirit might cause her to do?’

‘Very true. Better that you keep her here, under your eye.’

‘That is what I think, ma’am.’ Phyllida laughed suddenly. ‘And I am becoming most adept at chaperoning! When Sir Charles Urmston happened upon us in Milsom Street and invited us to step into the confectioners and try the latest batch of Naples Diavolini I gave him no opportunity to converse privately with Ellen and kept up such a flow of inane chatter while we sampled the delicious chocolate drops that by the end of it I was quite exhausted. And yesterday, when Mr Tesford intercepted us in Sydney Gardens I took up my place between him and Ellen. I am always determinedly cheerful, but any gentlemen, be he potential suitor or would-be seducer, must be shown that I am not to be distracted from my role as chaperon.’

‘Good for you,’ declared Lady Wakefield approvingly. ‘Although, you need not worry over her today. Once she and Julia have finished their dancing class this morning they will return to Laura Place under the watchful eye of Julia’s maid. Graveney is very much like your Matlock, she is very protective of her charges. She shall also accompany Ellen in the carriage, when I send her back to you after dinner.’