Lady Knightley's Secret. Anne Ashley

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СКАЧАТЬ she amended with a rueful smile, ‘my father certainly desired the match. Don’t you recall my telling you that when we met in London last spring?’

      In truth, she did not, although she vaguely recalled Elizabeth mentioning that there was someone she had refused to marry because she had been convinced they wouldn’t suit.

      ‘Oh, I am sorry! Does it make you feel so very uncomfortable…his being here, I mean?’

      There could be no mistaking the genuine distress, the undoubted concern her friend was experiencing on her behalf, and Elizabeth found those slight feelings of hurt and annoyance ebbing away.

      Accepting the invitation at last, she seated herself on the edge of the bed and gave her friend’s hand a reassuring squeeze. ‘I should be a liar if I said no. But you mustn’t concern yourself on my account.’ A wistful little smile hovered around her very attractive mouth. ‘Richard, I should imagine, was as relieved as I not to be forced into the union.’

      Verity subjected her friend to a rather long and thoughtful look, her husband’s bluntly voiced amazement at Elizabeth’s unmarried state echoing in her ears.

      Yes, now that she came to consider the matter, it was most odd that Elizabeth had chosen to remain a spinster. The reason might well be what she herself had suspected: that Elizabeth recoiled at the mere thought of contracting a marriage so desperately unhappy as her parents’ union had been. Or the answer might simply be that she had never as yet met a gentleman with whom she wished to spend the rest of her life. A sudden vision of Sir Richard—tall, muscular and perfectly proportioned—appeared before her mind’s eye, drawing a rather puzzled frown to crease her forehead. If, in truth, Elizabeth had never married because she had yet to meet a man to her taste, then she must be very hard to please, for how many gentlemen were there as handsome and personable as Sir Richard?

      She found herself unable to quell her rampant curiosity, and after a moment found herself asking outright what her friend had glimpsed in his character to give her a dislike of him.

      ‘Oh, I don’t dislike him, Verity,’ she responded without the least hesitation. ‘Far from it, in fact. As you might have gathered earlier, I like him very well. I cannot see how any female could take such a well-mannered and intelligent gentleman in dislike.’

      Just what I’ve been thinking myself, Verity thought, and said with that bluntness which was so much a part of her charm, ‘Then, why in heaven’s name did you refuse to marry him?’

      Elizabeth, far from discomposed, smiled rather serenely. ‘Because, my dear, I couldn’t bear the mortification of going through life knowing that in the eyes of my husband I would always figure as second best.’

      Verity’s jaw dropped perceptively. ‘Do you mean that he was in love with someone else at the time?’

      ‘I wouldn’t go as far as to say that, exactly,’ Elizabeth responded after giving the question due consideration. ‘But you must remember that it was our respective fathers who desired the match. They had been close friends since boyhood, and that friendship continued until Sir Percival Knightley’s death. Richard was, in fact, my father’s godson, and although my father’s sojourns at our home were rare, he did occasionally bring Richard for a visit.’

      She paused for a moment to stare blindly at one ornately carved bedpost. ‘From a very early age I knew Richard preferred the company of my sister. Hardly surprising when one considers how very pretty Evadne was in her youth, whereas I…Added to which, they were of a similar age, Evadne being only a year his junior.’

      ‘Are you trying to say that he wished to marry her?’ The Viscountess not only looked astounded, but sounded it too, and Elizabeth couldn’t prevent a gurgle of laughter escaping.

      ‘Most young men who met my sister swiftly became infatuated. And Richard was no exception. I came upon them together in the shrubbery one day, and overheard Richard saying that he wished she were the one his father had wished him to marry…Then he kissed her.’ Her amusement faded and the grey in her eyes seemed to intensify. ‘I think that must rate as one of the lowest points in my life. But I made up my mind, then, that I would never marry unless I was certain of my future husband’s regard for me.’

      Verity shook her head in disbelief. ‘And here I was thinking that Richard was a man of sound good sense. How could any gentleman of discernment prefer Evadne to you?’

      ‘Why, thank you, my dear! You do my ego the world of good!’ Elizabeth exclaimed, genuinely gratified by the compliment, but then became serious once more. ‘You must remember, though, that this happened years ago. Richard himself wouldn’t have been much above twenty at the time. And there could be no denying that Evadne was quite captivatingly lovely.’

      The Viscountess lay quietly mulling over what she had learned, then her ever-lively and rather wicked sense of humour came to the fore and she suddenly gurgled with laughter, a delightful tinkling sound which echoed round the room.

      ‘No wonder Richard looked so dumbfounded earlier, but he should have remembered that plain little cygnets grow into quite regal creatures. I think he’ll consider it most fortuitous that he never married your sister. What a blunder that would have been!’

      ‘My dear, there was never any question of that. Evadne might have liked him very well, but she was ambitious, and had set her sights high. She wouldn’t have settled for less than a title, and Richard, you must remember, was a younger son…Which reminds me. I must offer my condolences. His brother’s death was—must have come as a bitter blow. They were very close.’

      She rose from the bed. ‘And now I really must leave you, otherwise that very doting husband of yours will quite rightly take me roundly to task for keeping you from your sleep,’ and, without giving her friend the chance to argue, whisked herself from the room.

      Completely satisfied now that there had been no ulterior motive in Richard’s invitation to this house, Elizabeth smiled to herself as she moved almost soundlessly along the red-carpeted passageway in the direction of her own room. She ought to have known that the darling Viscountess would never do anything so underhanded, nor indeed anything which might cause her old school-friend embarrassment. But this didn’t alter the fact, Elizabeth reminded herself, that she must remain on her mettle throughout the time Richard was here, for just one unguarded look, just one ill-chosen word, might alert the far-from-obtuse Viscountess to the true state of her friend’s rather foolish heart.

      Rounding the corner, she stopped dead in her tracks and only just managed to prevent a gasp escaping as her eyes focused on the tall figure standing in the shadows only yards ahead. Her robe had fallen open and she didn’t realise that, with the candles behind her, the nightgown which modestly covered almost every inch of her became virtually transparent. But Richard was instantly aware of the fact.

      The gentlemanly thing to do, of course, was to bid a swift good night and retire to his bedchamber. He swiftly discovered, however, that he was first and foremost a man, and couldn’t prevent his eyes from wandering over one of the most perfectly proportioned figures he had ever been privileged to see, dwelling with intense pleasure on the softly rounded curves and, oh, so tantalising shadows before forcing his eyes up to a sweetly curved mouth just begging to be kissed.

      Only iron self-control kept him firmly rooted to the spot, but he was powerless to prevent that telltale husky note of desire from creeping into his voice as he said, ‘Miss Beresford, I thought you’d retired long since. I’m sorry if I startled you.’

      ‘Not at all, sir. It’s entirely my own fault for wandering about the place at this time of СКАЧАТЬ