‘Well,’ he said, ‘it was always a possibility, I suppose, and we should not be surprised. The news of our marriage must have been manna from heaven to her. What an unpleasant creature.’
‘And I thought her a friend. It says little for my ability to judge character.’
‘How could you know? You have never done her the least harm in the world, I am sure.’
‘I do not think I have. But she set out to ruin me when she tricked me into that house. So much has happened since that I had almost forgot her existence. And yet she had not forgotten me. She hates me, I think – there is an anger behind her words, or am I mistaken?’
‘You are not mistaken, my dear. She seeks a meeting with you, by the Abbey ruins this afternoon. Shall I go instead? I think perhaps I should.’
Georgie smiled and shook her head. ‘No, Gabriel. I have said before that I must begin taking responsibility for my own mistakes, and it is true. She would never have been able to dupe me into visiting that place if I had shown better judgement and not given her so much as the time of day. I believe too that I will enjoy seeing her face change when I tell her that she cannot hope to hurt me in your eyes by telling you of my scandalous past…’
‘Because the man you went apart with in that house was me,’ he finished for her, with a smile that showed he understoodperfectly. ‘I can appreciate how the irony of it appeals to you, and she will be well served by such a setback. But what if she recovers herself quickly – her wits appear to be sufficiently sharp – and still threatens to expose you? She may even refuse to believe you, have you thought of that? I am still of the mind that I should be there. We could confront her together; you would still have the pleasure of seeing the realisation cross her face. I own I will not be completely easy in my mind until I knowwhyshe bears you such malice. At present I see no reason for it, and it troubles me. The majority of people are usually so much more obvious in their motives, I find.’
She brushed his doubts aside. ‘Do such creatures need a reason? What is it that you fear, Gabriel? Your concern for my safety is touching, but I cannot think it necessary in this instance.’
‘I don’t know what I fear,’ he said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips before he released it. ‘I suppose eight centuries – more – of possessive masculinity cannot be set aside in an instant just because we live in supposedly more civilised times. My Norman ancestors solved their problems at the point of a sword or lance, you must be aware. The idea of allowing their women to put themselves in danger while they stood by and did nothing would have been anathema to them.’
Georgie rose, and came to sit on his lap, twining her arms about his neck. ‘“Their women”?’ she teased. ‘Will you put me over your saddlebow and carry me off to your castle, my lord Duke, where you can lock me up in a tower and keep me safe?’
‘With the greatest of pleasure, madam,’ he responded with alacrity, his hands about her waist, spanning her ribcage and making her feel agreeably small and delicate in his grasp. ‘I have towers aplenty, after all. You will be safe from everyone save me, and I know you do not wish to be safe from me. I fear the plate armour, not to mention the helm, will be an impediment, but Iam perfectly willing to throw you down upon the refectory table, or any other table that comes to hand, and ravish you, if that is your desire.’
‘I think we can dispense with the armour,’ she said. ‘It sounds excessively uncomfortable for both of us. But here is a sturdy table, look.’
‘I do perceive it,’ he said, sweeping a ruthless arm across the board to clear a space.
It was much later, and regrettably a great deal of fine crockery had fallen to the floor and broken, unregarded, when she murmured into Gabriel’s ear, ‘After all, what harm could she do me in a public place? She is just one woman.’
36
Mrs Aubrey had suggested – commanded – that Georgiana meet her at four in the afternoon, by a place in the Abbey ruins that she described in such an exact fashion that there could be no mistaking it. The Duke insisted on accompanying his wife there, and promised he would stay apart, but close enough that she could call on him for help if it should be needed. She accepted without demur; his concern for her was touching, and it was not, in any case, quite usual for women of high rank to walk completely unaccompanied through the streets of the city. If she was to be obliged to take her maid with her for the sake of propriety, she might as well take Gabriel rather than admit another to her secret. She would rather place her faith in her husband in such matters than any other person.
They set off from Petergate just before the hour, and so were a few minutes late arriving, having been delayed in their progress, as they always were, by the large number of people of all stations who wished to speak to them, or at least exchange nods and greetings. Once they neared their destination, Gabriel squeezed her arm and absented himself with a murmured wordof encouragement before the meeting place was in sight, and Georgie squared her shoulders and made her way forward.
Mrs Aubrey was waiting, elegant as ever in a dark red pelisse with military braiding and a bonnet with an exaggerated poke. She bore a large sable muff, which was surely unnecessary in July, even a cold July, but still looked well enough. ‘Duchess,’ she said urbanely, omitting the curtsey that would have been correct. ‘Congratulations upon your sudden and surprising elevation. I felt sure you would come.’
‘I had to,’ said Georgie, and saw triumph spark in the other woman’s eyes. She thinks I’m frightened, she realised, and she likes that I am. She likes it excessively. I wonder if she is entirely rational? It was tempting to play along, to raise expectations and then dash them, but all at once Georgie found she could not bring herself to toy with this strange and wicked creature she had once thought a friend.
‘I think you are labouring under a misapprehension,’ she went on. ‘You brought me here to blackmail me…’
‘Such an unkind word,’ said Caroline. ‘But yes, if you must be crude, blackmail. I am sure your new husband would be horrified to hear what I have to tell. God knows what he would do to you if he discovered all. Divorce and public disgrace would be the least of it, I am confident. And I am sure you will pay me well to avert such a disaster. I know you thought before that you had circumvented me, and for a while you had. You believed it would ruin me as well as you if you told the world that I had tricked you into going to that house, and revealed what you saw me do there. But the stakes for you are so much higher now, are they not? I have so much more information now than I had then, and your situation too has changed. You are entirely in my power. Do you realise it yet? It is not just “your reputation” in the abstract that is at stake – there is one man in particular, and that man your husband, who must not learn your dirty secrets.At peril of your life, perhaps, should his possessive anger be unrestrained, and certainly of all you have won by your clever marriage. I wonder if you managed to trick him into thinking that you came to him a virgin?’
Georgie said steadily, ‘There was no need for tricks.’ Her companion scoffed contemptuously, but she went on, ‘I suppose someone else who was there in that house told you that they saw me being drawn into a private room by a man?’ The letter had implied as much.
‘So shocking,’ Mrs Aubrey replied with a feral smile, her black eyes glittering. ‘I had thought you such an innocent. Perhaps you were, till then. I do hope you enjoyed yourself, and that it was worth it.’
‘Certainly it was, and I enjoyed myself enormously. You cannot possibly know the nature of the favour you did me. I owe you my thanks, in fact.’
‘You will not fool me with your brave words. You will pay to keep this secret from the poor deluded fool you married, and pay, and pay again. I own you now.’
‘You don’t. Nobody does. I know your informer cannot have seen, or did not recognise, the man I met there. If she had, or he had, we would not be having this conversation. It was Northriding, you see.’
Mrs Aubrey gaped at her in incomprehension as she continued, ‘All you did in your malice was introduce me to my husband. Your friend perhaps told you that my companion was tall, broad-shouldered, well-dressed. He was masked, of course. Did she also tell you that his hair was streaked with silver?’
‘I don’t believe you. You are bluffing. It is a brave attempt, but it is useless.’
‘No, I’m telling you the truth.’ Georgie stepped closer and said very low, her voice thrumming with conviction, ‘I met him there, a complete stranger to me, but God knows an attractiveone, and he went down on his knees and pleasured me with his mouth. I am weak with desire even now as I think of it. And after that he could not forget me, nor I him, and now we are married, and there is nothing you can do to touch us. Not a thing.’
The other woman gazed at her wildly, her brain whirring behind her eyes, and Georgie said fiercely, ‘All you have done to me is make me a duchess. Take my thanks! But I will not pay you a penny. Nothing you say can hurt what lies between Gabriel and me. And if you think to spread the pretty tale abroad, beware. We will say that you are a liar and you tricked me there – as you did – and Gabriel was there, and saved me from your malice, as he did. My family know of it, all of it. I was the innocent deceived, Gabriel the hero, and you the villain. You will be utterly ruined and cast out from society, not I.’
