The Unknown Heir. Anne Herries

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СКАЧАТЬ I help you with that, miss?’

      ‘Oh, sir, my lord…’ The girl looked flustered as she set the tray on the stand beside her mistress. ‘So kind…’ She met his gaze and blushed, a little smile on her lips as she hurried from the room, clearly embarrassed by his attentions.

      ‘You do not need to stand up for a servant,’ Lady Ireland told him. ‘And you do not offer to help her with her work. I dare say you are not aware of it, Lord Sheldon, but it isn’t done in polite society.’

      ‘Where I come from, a gentleman always stands for a lady,’ Jared replied without thinking. ‘And that tray looked heavy. At home my father would have expected his son to help if the tray was too heavy for a servant. He believed in equality for all.’

      ‘You are in England now…’

      ‘I don’t think it matters,’ Hester said, because she had seen the flash of anger in the heir’s eyes. She was rather pleased that he had shown himself to have good manners, even if his politeness was misplaced. ‘Mr Clinton erred on the right side, Godmother.’

      ‘Well, yes, I suppose he did,’ Lady Ireland agreed, looking at her in surprise. ‘I was merely trying to help. I should not like you to suffer a severe set-down, sir. You will find that many society hostesses would give you the cut direct if you used some of the words you have here today—and they will snigger behind their fans if you jump to your feet every time a maid brings in a tray.’

      ‘They may do as they please, ma’am,’ Jared replied, a note of steel in his voice. ‘A lady is a lady where I come from—and that little girl was struggling with that tray.’

      ‘As it happens, I agree with you. She should never have attempted it. I shall have a word with my butler. He ought to have come himself or sent two maids. Madeira, sir? I believe you will find it agreeable. Please help yourself from the decanter. Mr Birch, will you have tea or join his lordship in a glass of Madeira?’

      ‘If I may, I should enjoy a glass of wine,’ the lawyer said. He had been standing silently, watching the American heir with a puzzled frown. He had noticed it once or twice before—that unpleasant twang disappeared when the viscount was roused to anger or passion. Could it possibly be assumed? But why would he do that? Surely he would wish to make a good impression on his English relatives? Unless…Mr Birch decided that the viscount would bear further investigation. It might just be that the American had been having a joke at his expense. Oh, dear, how very embarrassing that would be: the duke did not suffer fools gladly!

      ‘Yes, of course,’ Lady Ireland said, smiling at him. ‘Do please sit down, sir. I had forgotten you for a moment, but you are welcome to join us. Hester, my dear, you would like tea, of course?’

      ‘Yes, Godmother,’ Hester replied, a slight smile on her lips. The heir had spirit, she thought with satisfaction. He might wear dreadful clothes and come out with some very strange phrases, but all in all, he wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the lawyer had painted him. ‘I shall join you in a cup of tea.’ She refrained from saying that she often shared a glass of Madeira with her grandfather when they were alone.

      She was about to get up to receive her cup from her godmother, but Mr Clinton anticipated her. He was already on his feet, pouring the wine for Mr Birch and himself, but he left his own glass standing to pass her the tea. She noticed that he lifted his coat tails when he sat down, and the way he held his glass—and she noticed that his nails were short and very clean.

      Something wasn’t quite right here, Hester thought. Mr Birch had spoken of the heir as being ill mannered, badly educated and uncouth—but that did not describe the man now sitting on her godmother’s chair. He had chosen a substantial, square-seated, Chippendale elbow chair, which was one of the few up to his weight, and he looked very much at home. She had also noticed that his accent was missing when he asked the maid if he might help her. Why?

      Why would he possibly be pretending to be something he wasn’t? Hester’s curiosity was aroused. If he had been an ill-educated man pretending to be a gentleman, she would have assumed it was because he wanted to impress his relatives and make sure of his inheritance when the duke died—but why pretend to be an ignorant oaf when he was, in fact, a gentleman?

      Hester had no idea, but the slip had made her suspicious. If he were honest, he would not have tried to deceive them, therefore he must be up to something. She decided not to demand the truth at once. She would go along with his masquerade for the moment and see where it led them.

      ‘You must call for me in the morning, sir,’ she said, giving him a smile that was as innocent as it was false. ‘We must begin to collect your wardrobe and I am sure we shall be pleased to show you something of the city—shall we not, Godmother?’

      ‘I sure don’t want to drag Lady Ireland all over the place,’ Jared said, giving her a smile that set Hester’s heart racing. ‘Would it be proper for you to accompany me without your godmother’s escort?’

      ‘Well…’ Hester saw a gleam in his eyes and realised he was testing her. ‘If I were a young girl, I should say not, for we hardly know one another, but since I am nearly seven and twenty—and we are cousins—I see no harm in it, sir.’

      He grinned at her then, and Hester’s heart jerked. She knew he was feeling very pleased with himself and wondered just what she had let herself in for, but it would not have suited her pride to withdraw.

      ‘I think we shall begin with a visit to Lock’s,’ she told him. ‘The one thing a gentleman cannot do without is a supply of good hats.’ She glanced down at his boots, which her expert eye recognised immediately as having been made by an expensive bootmaker, even if they had seen better days. She knew at once that her suspicions were correct. He was acting a part—but why?

      ‘I bow to your superior judgement,’ Jared replied without a trace of the awful accent. Hester looked into his eyes and knew that she had walked straight into his trap.

      Chapter Two

      ‘Well, what did you think of him?’ Lady Ireland asked after their guest had left them. ‘His clothes were awful, of course, but that isn’t too much of a problem for you, Hester. He has an unfortunate habit of speech, but I dare say you may cure him of it in time—’ She broke off as she saw the gleam of laughter in her goddaughter’s eyes. ‘What is so funny?’

      ‘Did you not see through his act, dearest?’ Hester asked. ‘I am certain that that awful accent is assumed. He is pretending to be something he isn’t, though I cannot say why he should wish to deceive us.’

      ‘Pretending to be something he isn’t…’ Lady Ireland frowned. ‘Well, yes, I can see why you think it, because in some ways he was very much the gentleman.’ A look of annoyance entered her eyes. ‘That is so ridiculous! Why would he do such a thing?’

      ‘I am not sure,’ Hester said, ‘but I believe he has some personal agenda of his own and I dare say we shall discover it in time.’

      ‘Why did you not challenge him if you thought it?’ Lady Ireland was annoyed. ‘I consider it to be most rude of him.’

      ‘Yes, in a way,’ Hester said. ‘If he means it as a jest, then I suppose it is quite amusing—but if there is something more sinister…’

      ‘Sinister?’ Her godmother frowned. ‘What reason could he possibly have that might be sinister?’

      ‘He cannot СКАЧАТЬ