expedition, with Lord Philip very firmly at Jane’s side by this time. Alex had been leaning over the stable door and chatting to the head groom, and he straightened up as they clattered past, a frown descending on his brow. Jane noticed it and reflected that he seemed to have frowned far more since she had reached an understanding with his brother. He had been noticeably better tempered when they were at odds!
Dinner that evening was a far from comfortable meal. Lady Dennery had evidently indulged in some disagreement with the Duke and vented her spleen through sharp comments on how slow the country was and how poor the company. Alex barely bothered to respond to her barbs and, with such a lack of amity between them, the others fell quiet and ate in almost total silence. When the ladies withdrew, Jane thankfully took the opportunity to slip away to the library for a little peace. She selected a tattered copy of
It was a good hour and a half before the sound of footsteps recalled her from the pages and then a dry voice said,
‘Escaping into literature, Miss Verey? No doubt you find it more congenial than the atmosphere in the drawing- room!’
Alex Delahaye was standing before her, a quizzical lift to his black brows as he assessed her choice of reading matter.
‘Are you a student of botany, Miss Verey? There have been some interesting studies in recent years.’
Jane nodded. ‘I have read a few of the books and done a little studying at Ambergate,’ she admitted.
‘It is certainly an interesting contrast to
Jane put her book to one side with reluctance. ‘No, indeed she would not! She particularly told me that I should not read it before I married! But-’ She broke off, on the edge of giving herself away by saying that she believed she would never marry. That would never do, given her supposed affection for Lord Philip! She had a sudden conviction that Alex could accurately follow her every thought process and see right through the deception. A guilty blush stole into her cheeks and she stood up hastily.
‘Excuse me, your Grace. I should rejoin the ladies.’
She was about to slip past him, when he put hand on her arm. ‘A moment, Miss Verey. I will escort you back, but there is something I would like you to see first.’
He drew her across the room, to where a huge oil painting hung in a recessed alcove. Jane had noticed it when she had first entered the room but it had been wreathed in shadows and she had not paused to study it. Now, as Alex moved a lamp so that more light fell on the picture, she stood still and considered it.
The subject was a lady, fair and delicate, dressed in the high fashion of a decade before. She looked very young. She was reclining with languid grace on a chaise-longue, one white hand resting on the collar of a small dog that was gazing up at her with undisguised adoration in its eyes. Jane considered it a poor painting, studied and artificial, and yet there was something compelling about the beauty of the sitter and the sweetness of her expression. So this was Madeline Delahaye! No wonder the Duke was still so attached to the memory of so gentle and gracious a lady. Looking at the vacant, painted face, Jane wondered what had happened to change so unspoilt a girl into the selfish pleasure-seeker who had apparently betrayed her husband with such blatant disregard for his feelings and public opinion. Remembering Alex’s bitterness when they spoke at Almack’s, Jane thought she understood. Evidently he had chosen to ignore his wife’s infidelity and concentrate on the happier times they had experienced when first married. The fact that he had kept this early portrait in so prominent a position seemed to underline his attachment to her and his determination to keep her memory alive.
A sort of anger took possession of Jane that Madeline Delahaye could have taken Alex’s love and treated it with such contempt. If she had had the love of such a man…The painting shimmered in a sudden wash of tears. All Jane’s feelings locked in a tight pain in her throat. It was so unfair that Alex should still have such strong feelings for his dead wife, for how could anyone else ever compare? With a smothered sob she pulled her arm from his grasp and ran from the library.
She heard Alex say, ‘Jane, wait!’ but her pride would not permit him to see her tears.
Later, as she sat dry-eyed in her room and acknowledged to herself for the first time that she loved him, she thought bitterly that pride was indeed all that she had now.
Chapter Nine
‘Is this not fun!’ Lady Eleanor Fane said, a twinkle of repressed mirth in her eyes as she surveyed her ill-assorted guests as they sat on picnic rugs and under parasols.
There was Lady Dennery, a little worn and over-dressed in the unkind light of day, picking petulantly at her food. Beside her sat Alex Delahaye looking, Lady Eleanor thought, decidedly bored and moody. Oddly, it was as though he had reversed roles with his brother, for Lord Philip seemed happy and at ease as he laughed and talked with Jane Verey. A little distance from them sat Sophia, being charming to Lord Blakeney and apparently enjoying herself immensely. Lady Verey, a contented smile on her face, dozed in the sun.
Well! Lady Eleanor thought now, with secret amusement, if Miss Verey does not like Philip she is making a very good pretence at it! All seems set fair! And the Marchment girl, whom Philip seemed so taken with before, does not appear concerned! I wonder…Her gaze slid to Alex, who was leaning forward to attend to something Francine Dennery was saying. If Alex allows himself to be caught by her, then more fool him, Lady Eleanor thought astringently. Yet there was very little of the lover in Alex’s demeanour and every so often his gaze would rest on Jane Verey in a completely unfathomable regard.
The arrival of Lord Blakeney had been most opportune. He had called at Malladon on the fourth day of their stay, after visiting a rich old uncle in the neighbourhood and hearing that the Duke was in residence nearby. Philip, conscious of a certain constraint in the party, had pressed him to join them and Blakeney had taken little persuading.
‘Whole countryside’s buzzing with the news,’ he had confided to Jane, on the first evening. ‘Delahaye never comes to Malladon; now he’s not only here but he’s brought a party as well!’
Jane considered that it had been a decidedly odd week. On the surface, all had been delightful. There had been riding in the countryside and walks in the park and visits to friends and neighbours. There had even been an informal dinner and dancing in the evening, but now Alex Delahaye had signalled his intention to return to Town and the picnic was the last event before they all drove back the following day.
Beneath the surface matters had not been quite so straightforward. Jane, made hopelessly self-conscious by her behaviour in the library and the discovery of her feelings for Alex, had gone out of her way to avoid him. He had seemed preoccupied by estate matters and plagued by Lady Dennery’s increasingly broad hints about the future, and scarcely seemed to notice her anyway. Lady Verey had been dropping broad hints of her own, and Jane had suddenly awoken to the fact that her mother was expecting to announce the betrothal to Lord Philip as soon as they returned to Town. Meanwhile, Sophia and Lord Philip were moving inexorably towards their own conclusion, which Jane devoutly hoped entailed an engagement of their own. Suddenly it all seemed intolerably complicated and bereft of hope and enjoyment.
Jane swotted an eager wasp that was attacking her lemonade and tilted the broad brim of her hat forward a little to shade her face. She had also become aware of the unsettling nature of Alex’s gaze as it drifted over her. Certainly he could object to nothing in her manner, for she was behaving towards Philip with the greatest cordiality and he was responding effortlessly. Yet she sensed that there was something angering Alex, something she could not comprehend. It was very puzzling and she had been aware of it for almost the whole week.
She looked up and caught Philip’s eye. They had already agreed that Jane should manufacture a reason for a stroll and that Sophia and Blakeney should help distract attention. Sighing inwardly, Jane got to her feet and dusted the crumbs off her skirt.
‘Gracious, I feel quite in need of some exercise to walk off the effects of all that delicious food! Would anyone care to join me for a turn about the park?’
Lord Philip, taking his cue, scrambled up with alacrity. ‘I should be glad to, Miss Verey! Miss Marchment, Blakeney, do you care to come?’
