“And there is nothing between us. It was all a mistake. I want to forget it.”
A thought suddenly occurred to Lucy. “Did he force himself on you?”
“No! It wasn’t that way at all!”
“Very well,” Lucy told her. “But there is something you may have to face whether you like it or not. If he...” Lucy began hesitantly.
For all their candor with each other and their years of friendship, they’d never discussed this particular aspect of relationships before. “That is, when you were together... “
“For heaven’s sake. What are you trying to say?” Elyse demanded.
Lucy bluntly replied, “If two people are together and the man finishes, there’s every chance you could get caught.”
“I know,” Elyse whispered. “But it doesn’t happen every time, or every woman in the world would be constantly with child. You and Andrew have been married for nearly two years and you haven’t had a child.”
“True,” Lucy admitted, “but there are certain measures that can be taken when a man and woman don’t want to have a child just yet. I have to admit, they often fail, but they usually work. I know this is difficult.” She tried to put it as delicately as possible while trying hard to accept what her friend wasnotsaying.
“Did he?” she asked in a quiet voice.
Elyse breathed out slowly. “It will just have to be all right. And remember, you have promised not to tell anyone. Grandmother would be heartbroken if she knew.”
Lucy reassured her. “But I think you’re making a mistake in going ahead with the wedding. Not just because of what happened. It’s just that I’ve always thought Jerrold was not the right man for you. You’re not in love with him, and he won’t change his ways.”
“Lucy, please!” she begged. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“It serves Jerrold right, though,” Lucy added. “It’s no secret what happens at White’s.”
At the look Elyse gave her, she changed the subject. “All right, what are you going to do next?”
She’d thought about it. “I have to get home. I left word with Katy last night that I intended to spend the night here, but it’s late and there’s packing to be done for the trip to the country with Jerrold’s family. His father is planning a round of parties for all the local people before the wedding.” She ignored the look her friend gave her.
“Then we must get you home, and act as if nothing unusual happened,” Lucy replied.
“What about Andrew? Does he suspect anything?”
Lucy shook her head. “He’s too concerned that I might slip and mention something to the wife of one of his friends. I must say, I love the man desperately and he was completely faithful to me, even before he found out my disguise, but I'll hold this over his head for a few weeks. It makes him so much more attentive." She smiled confidently.
Late that afternoon, Elyse bid her friend farewell and swept into Winslow House as if it were all part of the original plan for the previous evening.
Chivers delivered a message just before supper. It seemed Jerrold had missed her dreadfully the previous evening and was looking forward to their trip to his family's country estate the following day.
There was nothing in his note to indicate that he might have seen through her disguise the evening before at White's. She wondered who he'd spent the night with, and then realized she no longer had the right to criticize him. Never-the-less, the last part of his note suddenly stopped her. He briefly mentioned that he'd invited St. James to join them at Fair View.
"Was that Chivers, my dear?" Lady Regina swept down the staircase and greeted Elyse at the landing. At her granddaughter’s brief nod, she continued her chatter, adjusting a coil of silver hair. "I swear that man comes and goes without being heard or seen. I think he must have been a thief in another life."
Elyse looked up, paying only vague attention to her grandmother. "What were you saying?"
"Chivers," Lady Regina went on to explain. "He moves about so quietly, it's sometimes frightening. I was thinking he must have been a thief in a past life. Are you feeling all right, my dear? You're as pale as a ghost."
"It's nothing," Elyse blurted out a little too quickly. She tried to smile casually. "Jerrold has invited some other guests to the country, that's all. He says he'll call for us around ten o'clock tomorrow morning so that we'll arrive early at Fair View."
"I'm so looking forward to seeing it again." Lady Regina stepped down the last few steps to the main floor, looping her arm through Elyse's. "It's been almost twenty years since I was last at Fair View, and of course you've never seen it at all. It's a grand place.
"Jerrold's mother was so happy there. She loved going to the country. I think it held special memories for her," she continued. "She once confessed to me that she would have stayed there year-round but Jerrold's father wouldn't hear of it. His business interests and friends were here in London. You'll love it, my dear." Lady Regina patted her hand.
Elyse only murmured a faint response. She didn't want to discuss either Fair View or Jerrold.
What was she to do now? Her wild scheme of the night before had ended in disaster, and she'd hoped to avoid all further contact with St. James. There would be a great many guests, of course. Perhaps she could avoid him completely, or at least avoid being alone with him. All she had to do was get through the next three days.
