Part 17 (1/2)

'Who is the gentleman?'

'Jack Cardinal. He's as decent a fellow as you could imagine. His father died a few years ago and he's devoted himself to looking after his ailing mother. Their estate is four or five miles away. Jack is so modest by nature. You'd never guess that he's the best shot in the county or that he can handle a sword as if he were born with it in his hand.'

'What age is Mr Cardinal?'

'A little above my own. Brilliana thinks him more handsome than me.'

'How can she be so disloyal?'

'It was only said to taunt me,' he explained with an uxorious smile. 'But she does admire Jack. What mystifies her - and me, for that matter - is why the fellow has never married. It's n.o.ble of him to put his mother first but he deserves rather more out of life.'

Susan frowned. 'I can see why Brilliana wants to dangle me in front of him.'

'Oh, you'll take to Jack Cardinal and he'll certainly adore you.'

'I do not think that I want to be adored, Lancelot.'

'Every woman wants that.'

'Only if the adoration comes from the right source,' she replied with a slight edge in her voice. 'The truth is - and I made this plain to Brilliana - that I'm not in the market for a husband.'

Serle grinned proudly. 'Neither was your sister until she met me.'

Susan did not wish to disillusion him. Unbeknown to Serle, his wife had two broken engagements in her past and there had been a bevy of proposals that she had turned down. From an early age, Brilliana had dedicated herself to finding the right husband and her sister had watched the various suitors come and go with depressing regularity. One of the reasons why Susan had been so unwilling to encourage the attentions of any young men in the area was the likelihood that they already been tested, found wanting, then rejected, by her sister. Out of kindness to her brother-in- law, Susan resolved to conceal the details of Brilliana's previous entanglements.

'We thought that you and Jack would have so much in common,' said Serle.

'In common?'

'You look after a difficult father while he takes care of a sick mother.'

'You are surely not suggesting that we marry the two of them off?' she said waspishly. 'Much as I love Father, I'd not undertake the role of matchmaker for him. I don't think the wife exists who could endure his bad temper and his idiosyncrasies. Mr Cardinal's ailing mother would be the last person to tempt him.'

'Stop these jests,' he chided with a laugh. 'What I meant - as you well know, Susan - was that you and Jack Cardinal have similar interests.'

'I doubt that. I've never fired a gun and have no skill at fencing.'

'But you like books, do you not?'

'So?'

'Jack is also prodigious reader.'

'What does he read?' she asked. 'Books about firearms or manuals on the finer points of swordsmans.h.i.+p?' She fixed him with a stare. 'Answer me this, Lancelot. Does this friend of yours know why he's been invited here?'

'No, Susan. I merely requested the pleasure of his company.'

'Mr Cardinal is not coming to look me over like a prize heifer, then?'

'Heaven forbid!' he exclaimed. 'That's a monstrous notion! If Jack thought that he was being asked to do such a thing, he'd refuse to come anywhere near Serle Court.

'That's a relief.'

'Apart from anything else, he's a rather shy man.'

'It's difficult to be shy with a gun in your hand.'

'That's how he expresses himself, don't you see? By means of his sporting prowess, for he's a wonderful horseman as well. But it's with a rapier in his hand that he's really at his best. Egerton discovered that.'

'Egerton?'

'Egerton Whitcombe. The son of Lady Whitcombe.'

Susan sat up with interest. 'Lady Whitcombe, who lives in Sheen?' ”The same. Have you met her?'

'No, but I've heard of her,' she said, remembering that Christopher Redmayne had been engaged to design a house for the lady. 'What sort of person is she?'

'Very grand. Her late husband was a member of the Privy Council.'

'And is Lady Whitcombe among the guests you've invited?'

'Dear me, no!' he said. 'We are not on visiting terms.'

'You mentioned a son named Egerton.'

'Yes, Susan. He's a surly young man, with little respect for others. There's the essential difference between them. Jack Cardinal is a sterling fellow, who puts his mother first at all times. Egerton Whitcombe is a wastrel, who deserts his family whenever he can. I gather that he's in France at the moment. The pity of it is,' he sighed, 'that Lady Whitcombe indulges him ridiculously. She seems quite blind to his faults.'

'What's the connection between her son and Mr Cardinal?'

'Why, the duel, of course.'

'Duel?' she said. 'They fought each other?'

'Only in the spirit of compet.i.tion,' he told her. ”There was no animus involved. At least, there was none on Jack's side. He only consented to a bout because Egerton pestered him so much. Jack Cardinal has a reputation in the locality, you see.'

'What happened?'

'Egerton Whitcombe thought that he could damage that reputation. In fairness, he's a fine swordsman in his own right and he'd been taking lessons from a fencing master in London to sharpen his skills. He felt that he was ready to topple Jack.'

'And was he?'

'Not from what I heard, Susan. They were well-matched at first, it seems, and Egerton did not disgrace himself but Jack was too quick and guileful for him. He vanquished yet another challenger, leaving his reputation untarnished.'

'I see.'

'Egerton took the defeat badly but that was only to be expected. No,' he went on, 'Lady Whitcombe and her family are not in our circle. Quite candidly, we are relieved.'

'Relieved?'

Egerton Whitcombe is no gentleman. He's brash, boastful and ungracious. He's certainly not fit company for you, Susan. Put him out of your mind,' he advised. 'He's one suitor that Brilliana would never inflict on her sister.'