Part 11 (2/2)
”To a man who is in line for an earldom,” Felicity pointed out with her customary pragmatism. ”Not such a bad fate, if you ask me.”
”It would not be such a bad fate if he were marrying me because he had fallen hopelessly, mindlessly, pa.s.sionately in love with me,” Harriet said. ”The problem is that he is going to marry me because he feels honor-bound to do so.”
”And so he should,” Effie said grimly. ”He has ruined you. Utterly.”
Harriet frowned. ”I do not feel ruined in the least.”
Mrs. Stone lumbered into the room with another tray of tea and surveyed the small group. She had the air of one who is about to p.r.o.nounce doom. ”There will be no engagement and no marriage. Mark my words. You'll see The Beast of Blackthorne Hall has had his wicked way with Miss Harriet and now he will toss her aside like so much garbage.”
”Heaven help us. ” Effie twisted her hankie in her lap and leaned back in her chair with a moan.
Harriet wrinkled her nose. ”Really, Mrs. Stone. I would prefer that you did not refer to me as garbage. You may recall that I am your employer.”
”Nothing personal, Miss Harriet.” Mrs. Stone set down the tea tray with a bang. ” 'Tis just that I know the nature of the Beast. I have been through this once before. He's got what he wanted. He'll be long gone by now.”
Felicity gazed speculatively at Harriet. ”Did he really get what he wanted, Harriet? You have not been precisely clear on that point.”
”For goodness' sake,” Effie muttered before Harriet could think of a response. ”It hardly matters whether he did or did not. The damage is done.”
Harriet smiled blandly at her sister. ”There, you see, Felicity? What actually happened is unimportant. Appearance is all.”
”Yes, I know,” Felicity said. ”But I am extremely curious, you know.”
”Oh, he ravished her, all right,” Mrs. Stone said bluntly. ”You may depend upon it. No young innocent could spend the night with the Beast of Blackthorne Hall and not find herself ravished.”
Harriet felt herself turning pink. She reached for one of the small cakes on the tea tray. ”Thank you for your opinion, Mrs. Stone. I believe we have heard quite enough. Why do you not go and see about something in the kitchen? I am certain his lords.h.i.+p will be here at any moment. We will be wanting more tea.”
Mrs. Stone drew herself up. ”I just brung fresh tea. And yer only foolin' yerself, Miss Harriet, if you think St. Justin will show himself around here this afternoon. Best resign yerself to the inevitable, I say. And pray to the Good Lord ye don't find yerself with child the way my poor Deirdre did.”
Harriet's mouth tightened in anger. ”Even if I did face that fate, I can a.s.sure you I have no intention of adding to the drama by taking my own life, Mrs. Stone.”
”Harriet, please,” Effie said desperately. ”Can we talk of something else? All this chatter of ravishment and suicide is extremely depressing to the spirits.”
The sound of a horse's hooves outside brought a merciful end to the conversation. Felicity flew to the window and peered through the curtains.
”It's him,” she exclaimed triumphantly. ”On a great brute of a horse. Harriet was right. St. Justin has come to make an offer of marriage.”
”Thank heavens,” Effie said, straightening instantly in her chair. ”We are saved. Harriet, either take that cake out of your mouth or swallow it quickly.”
”I'm hungry,” Harriet said around the mouthful of cake. ”I did not get any breakfast, if you will recall.”
”A young lady who is about to receive an offer of marriage should be too overset with emotion to eat. Especially when that offer is coming under such circ.u.mstances as these. Mrs. Stone, prepare to answer the door. We do not want to keep his lords.h.i.+p waiting today of all days. Felicity, take yourself off. This does not concern you.”
”Oh, very well, Aunt Effie.” Felicity rolled her eyes at Harriet as she whisked herself out of the parlor. ”But I shall want a full report later,” she called out from the hall.
In spite of the air of bravado she had managed to a.s.sume in front of the others, Harriet's stomach was churning. Her whole future was at stake here and nothing was going the way she had planned. When she heard Gideon's abrupt, authoritative knock on the front door, she suddenly wished she had not eaten the tea cake.
Harriet waited tensely as Mrs. Stone opened the front door.
”You may tell Mrs. Ashecombe that St. Justin is here,” Gideon said coldly. ”I am expected.”
” 'Tis cruel of you to make poor Miss Pomeroy think you'll actually marry her,” Mrs. Stone said forcefully. ”b.l.o.o.d.y cruel.”
”Stand aside, Mrs. Stone,” Gideon growled. ”I shall show myself into the parlor.”
Boot heels rang on the hall floor. The sound had to be deliberate. Gideon always moved very quietly when he wished.
Harriet winced. ”Oh, dear I fear we are off to a bad start, Aunt Effie. Mrs. Stone has managed to offend him before he even got through the door.”
”Hush,” Effie commanded. ”I shall deal with this.”
Gideon strode into the room and Harriet caught her breath at the sight of him. His height and his ma.s.sive, powerfully built body always combined to make him look very impressive in his elegantly cut clothes and glossy boots. But this afternoon he was even more devastating to her senses than usual. She wondered if it was her new, very intimate knowledge of him that added the extra layer of awareness.
Gideon's eyes met hers and she knew without a doubt that he was remembering last night. She felt herself blush furiously and was annoyed. In an instinctive effort to cover her response she s.n.a.t.c.hed up another tea cake and bit into it as Gideon nodded to Effie.
”Good afternoon, Mrs. Ashecombe. Thank you for receiving me. You are no doubt aware of why I have come to call.”
”I have a fair notion of your reason for calling upon us, sir. Do sit down. Harriet will pour.” Effie frowned quellingly at Harriet.
Struggling to swallow the unwanted tea cake, Harriet grabbed the teapot and poured a cup for Gideon. Wordlessly she handed it to him.
”Thank you, Miss Pomeroy.” Gideon took the cup as he sat down across from her. ”You are looking very well this afternoon. Quite recovered from your ordeal, I take it?”
For some reason, perhaps because she was already walking a tightrope as far as her nerves were concerned, Harriet took offense at that comment. She swallowed the tea cake, which tasted like sawdust in her mouth, and managed a cool smile.
”Yes, my lord. Quite recovered. I bounce back from ordeals very well, I must say. Why, here it is, only a few hours after finding myself ruined, yet I do not feel any of the remorse and despair one would expect after sacrificing one's precious virginity to the Beast of Blackthorne Hall.”
Effie was horrified. ”Harriet.”
Harriet smiled sweetly. ”Well, it's not like I was planning to do anything all that interesting with it, anyway. Therefore I am not overly concerned about the loss.”
Effie gave her a grimly repressive look. ”Behave yourself. His lords.h.i.+p is here to make you an offer of marriage, for heaven's sake.” She turned swiftly to Gideon. ”I fear she is not herself today. Her delicate sensibilities, you know. She has been quite overset by the entire experience.”
Gideon smiled his lion's smile. ”I understand, Mrs. Ashecombe. Delicate sensibilities, indeed. Just what one would expect from a well-bred young lady. Perhaps you and I should discuss this matter by ourselves. Something tells me your niece is not going to contribute anything meaningful to the conversation.”
Chapter Eight.
The mysterious tooth together with a small chunk of fossilized jawbone came out of the rock with surprising ease. Harriet applied her mallet and chisel with a delicate precision that she had learned long ago from her father, and within a short time she was holding the fossil in her hand.
It was a very large tooth, blade-shaped and set in a socket, not simply adhering to the bone of the jaw. The tooth of a carnivore, Harriet decided. A very big carnivore.
She examined it by the light of the lamp she had hung on the peg in the cavern wall. She could not be certain until she'd had an opportunity to do some research, but she was very sure it was unlike any fossil tooth she had ever found. Nor did it match anything in her father's collection.
With any luck it would be a remnant of a heretofore unknown species. If it could not be identified, she would be able to write a paper introducing it to the world.
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