The Danbury Scandals by Mary Nichols Page B

fast asleep.

Chapter Five
     
    Maryanne
stirred a little but did not open her eyes; she was too comfortable and, if truth
be known, reluctant to let go of her dreams and face reality.
    ‘What are you
going to do?’ The whispered words of the woman penetrated Maryanne’s
consciousness.
    ‘I don’t know.
What can I do?’
    ‘Go and see
Danbury.’
    ‘No.’ Adam
almost forgot to whisper. ‘Not yet. I must have proof, and, besides, until the
Count’s affairs are settled. . .’
    ‘Pooh to that.
What is the Count de Challac to you? Let him take care of his own affairs. You
watch out for yourself. Even in England, even after the war is ended, there is
danger...’
    ‘Who told you
that?’
    ‘Mr Rudge’s
housekeeper.’
    ‘Jeannie should
have held her tongue.’
    ‘Don’t blame
her. I asked and she is worried about you. And now you have made a fool of
yourself over this one.’
    Maryanne kept
her eyes tight shut and lay very still, knowing she ought to let them know she
was now fully awake, but unwilling to do so.
    ‘Not a fool,’
he said, and his voice ground out his anger. ‘A coward and that is worse.’
    ‘Anyone who
knows you knows that is nonsense. Are you going through with the race?’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘Did you go to
Hatchett’s?’
    ‘Yes, the new
curricle will be ready by the end of the week.’
    ‘Markham has
promised to lend you his greys, but I advise you to have some practice or that
young blood will beat you.’
    ‘I have no time
for practice, I shall have to rely on luck.’
    ‘Luck will not
be enough. If you are determined to win, then you will need more help than
that. What is it they say? All’s fair in love and war.’
    ‘This is not
war.’ He paused slightly before going on. ‘Nor love, come to that.’
    The dream
Maryanne had been holding on to finally faded to nothing. Once again she was
faced with her own foolishness; once again she was in a predicament of her own
making. Why had she not stayed close to Mark? Why had she allowed herself to be
carried into this house? How many people had seen it happen? How many people
would learn about it in the next few days? How could she face Lord Danbury, who
trusted her to behave as a lady should, and Mark, who had only that morning
proposed to her? She opened her eyes and turned towards the speakers.
    Adam was
standing by the hearth, staring morosely into the empty grate. Beside him stood
Lady Markham, wearing a blue silk burnous with the hood thrown back. She heard
Maryanne stir and turned towards her.
    ‘There, my
dear, awake at last.’
    ‘Yes. I don’t
know why I fell asleep like that.’
    ‘I’m afraid we
put something in your drink,’ Adam said. ‘Not to harm you, just to keep you
here.’
    ‘Keep me? Am I
a prisoner?’
    ‘Lord, no!’ He
laughed, but she did not smile. The words ‘nor love’ burned themselves into her
brain so that everything he did and said took on a more sinister aspect and
even his laughter seemed no longer genuine. ‘Jeannie was afraid you would do
something foolish like trying to find your erstwhile escort.’
    ‘What is
foolish about that?’
    ‘Oh, my dear,’
Lady Markham put in. ‘Just think. You cannot go through the streets alone and
on foot, looking for someone who might be anywhere, even discounting the
scandal of arriving home looking like that.’ She indicated Maryanne’s borrowed
clothes. ‘But Mark will be very worried.’
    ‘And feeling
guilty too, I hope,’ Adam said. ‘He should not have taken you into the crowd
and he certainly should not have let you out of his sight.’
    ‘We were
celebrating our engagement,’ she said. If he had denied love, then she must let
him know she did not care; she had other fish to fry.
    ‘Engagement?’
    ‘Yes. He
proposed this morning and I accepted.’
    ‘ Mon Dieu !’
He began poking with a hessian-booted foot at the logs which lay in the grate.
    ‘Is there
anything wrong in that?’ she demanded.
    He faced her.
‘Nothing at all.