Philip gave a crack of laughter. ‘Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard Alex criticised for his skills in the petticoat line, Miss Verey!’
They were still laughing together when the Duke reined in beside them.
Philip turned to his brother with a grin. ‘Morning, Alex! Lady Dennery not riding with you?’
‘Her ladyship does not care to ride,’ Alex said, unsmiling. ‘Good morning, Miss Verey. Are you walking unaccompanied?’
‘Obviously not, Alex! Miss Verey is walking with me!’ Philip said with a grin, throwing himself into the part of Jane’s beau with convincing alacrity. ‘We are becoming better acquainted! Don’t spoil sport, I beg you! Miss Verey and I wish to converse alone!’ He saw his brother’s lips tighten angrily and added, ‘It is all perfectly respectable!’
Jane was aware that Alex Delahaye’s penetrating gaze had hardly wavered from her even when he was speaking to his brother. There was something disturbing about such single-minded attention, nor could she understand why he was bestowing it on her. Did he suspect of them of play-acting? She had to admit that it was a rather sudden turnabout, but since this was precisely the outcome the Duke wished for, she could not understand why he was looking so furious!
‘Forgive me,’ he said through his teeth. ‘I had no intention of interrupting a romance! I will see you at breakfast if you can tear yourselves away from the beauties of nature! Good day!’
‘Well, we brushed through that rather well,’ Lord Philip said, seemingly unaware of his brother’s anger as the Duke galloped away. He stood up and held out a hand to help Jane rise, giving her a look of genuine admiration. ‘What a capital girl you are, Miss Verey! I had no idea!’
Alex Delahaye was able to work off much of his bad temper on a gallop across the parkland, but as he trotted into the stableyard in more decorous fashion he was aware that a niggling irritation still troubled him. He slid from the horse, patted its heaving flank with appreciation and handed it over to the groom with a word of thanks, before turning towards the house. Lady Eleanor was waiting for him at the top of the wide terrace steps and her eyes were alight with satisfaction and a certain complacent self-congratulation.
‘I told you so!’ she said in greeting. ‘I knew that a week in the country would do the trick! Miss Verey and Philip are out walking together and looking absolutely
‘You did indeed!’ Alex said wryly, feeling all his bad temper return with a rush. He could see his brother and Jane Verey wandering slowly up the path from the lake and appearing to be engrossed in each other’s company. Jane’s hand was tucked through Philip’s arm in a way that seemed positively confiding and their laughter was for themselves alone. Alex felt a pang of something that was uncommonly like jealousy…or possibly pain.
He had felt nothing akin to it since the terrible time, years before, when his wife had told him that his unsophisticated ways bored her and she had taken a lover to provide some entertainment. He could still remember the look in her eyes: the hard cruelty, daring him to reproach her, goading him to lose his temper. It had seemed inconceivable to him that matters between them had altered so desperately. They had been entwined in love when they had married, Madeline eighteen, he twenty, but the pursuits and entertainments of Town had undermined that love. Madeline was weak and easily led; soon she became a spendthrift, complaining when Alex had tried to reason with her and finally scorning him publicly as an old-fashioned and tedious husband, old before his time. He might have come to accept that they shared no interests, but her taunts had hurt and the blow of her infidelity had destroyed Alex’s still-cherished belief that all might be saved. If only they had never gone up to London, if only he had taken her back to Hayenham before it was too late, if he had been stronger…
Alex followed Lady Eleanor back into the salon, allowing the door to slam behind him with unwonted ferocity. At least Francine Dennery would not rise for another couple of hours-that was one irritation that he was spared! Lady Dennery’s increasingly unsubtle hints about their relationship had aroused nothing but indifference in him and he was already regretting the impulse that had led him to invite her to Malladon. Lady Eleanor had implied that it was tantamount to a declaration and Alex was annoyed to think that she might almost be correct. It was a complication he would rather do without. For a moment his imagination compared the slender but devastatingly desirable curves of Jane Verey with the overblown charms that Lady Dennery was trying to place at his disposal. Jane would be so soft and sweet, innocent but waiting to be awakened. He felt himself suffused with so potent an desire that he had to turn away.
The door opened again to admit Jane and Lord Philip. With curiously sharpened observation, Alex noted the pink colour in Jane’s cheeks, whipped up by the breeze, the way that one windswept black curl rested in the hollow of her throat, the brightness of laughter in her eyes. His fists clenched as some nameless emotion clutched him by the throat. It was just that she had disappointed him, he told himself. She was like all the other debutantes after all, a little wilful, perhaps, but ready to see the benefits of a good match in the end. Lady Eleanor had been right when she had predicted that Jane Verey would settle down and accept the betrothal. Alex had just not believed that it would be so easy.
He told himself that his disappointment stemmed from the fact that the game was over before it had really started. He had expected that Jane Verey would been made of sterner stuff and he felt obscurely discontented to have been proved wrong. He knew that he was lying to himself. The problem was that he had already started to consider an alternative plan for Miss Jane Verey, and now apparently it would not be needed. He would have to treat her as a sister-in-law after all. Ironic, when he had promoted the Verey match so actively, but that had been before he had realised that he wanted something else-
Lady Dennery’s fluting voice suddenly impinged on his notice.
‘God damn it!’ Alex said violently under his breath and, before any of his startled relatives could utter a word, he had turned on his heel and walked straight out of the door again. They did not see him again until dinner.
‘You are perfectly sure that you are happy about this, Sophia?’ Jane asked, as they reined in their horses at the top of the hill and looked down on the roof of Malladon nestling in the valley below. ‘You do not feel uncomfortable with Lord Philip apparently paying open court to me? For if you do, you have only to say the word and we will stop at once!’
Sophia threw back her head and laughed. Her face was flushed and her blue eyes sparkling. She was in excellent looks and Jane was surprised that no one else had spotted the improvement in her friend’s spirits, but then she could only be grateful that it was so. To rouse the suspicions of Lady Eleanor-or worse, the Duke-would defeat her plan utterly.
They had been three days in Hertfordshire and matters were progressing precisely as Jane had intended. Lord Philip was playing her devoted suitor to the top of his bent in company and, whilst ostensibly monopolising his attention, Jane had in fact been engineering opportunities for him to court Sophia. Lady Verey and Lady Eleanor were lulled and off their guard, and with Jane drawing all the attention, Sophia’s actions went almost unnoticed. Lady Dennery had also proved a staunch if unknowing ally, for she had kept the Duke occupied throughout.
Jane smiled contentedly. She could see Lord Philip galloping towards them up the hill, having set off for a ride before them with the intention of meeting up once out of sight of the house. Lady Verey had felt reasonably at ease in allowing the girls to go riding together within the estate, for both Jane and Sophia were country-bred and unlikely to come to harm so near to home.
Lord Philip drew up beside them and raised his whip in salutation. He smiled at Jane before turning to Sophia and engaging her in conversation. The horses walked on slowly, with Philip and Sophia a little ahead and Jane careful to stay out of earshot. She was well pleased with her strategy, for it had the additional benefit of keeping Lord Philip in a very good mood indeed and with both him and Sophia as allies, Jane felt immeasurably stronger. The only problem was not getting caught out…
‘I saw Alex driving Lady Dennery over to Moreton Hall,’ Philip said over his shoulder, with a grin for Jane. ‘He looked in a very black mood, but he only has himself to blame for foisting that creature’s company on to us! A more ill-bred, rapacious woman would be difficult to find!’
Sophia hushed him reprovingly. ‘Philip! At the very least we may be grateful to her for keeping your brother occupied!’ She shivered. ‘It frightens me to think that he might find us out!’
‘I’ll protect you, my love,’ Philip said cheerfully, and Jane saw Sophia blush becomingly at the endearment. Once again she felt a moment’s concern as she watched them ride on ahead together down the track between the beech trees. It would be a dreadful thing to be conspiring in the romance if Lord Philip was not in earnest! But surely she could not have mistaken his sincerity? Jane frowned. She was certain that it was only the need for secrecy that held Lord Philip silent and that as soon as he could he would make Sophia a declaration…
The Duke had returned in time to witness the three of them riding into the yard together at the end of their
