was. And it hadn’t gone unnoticed by Alex either.
‘Don’t even think of a dalliance there, or you’ll have me to answer to this time, not her father.’
Hugh dispassionately met his friend’s steady gaze. ‘I get the distinct impression that Miss Dewey finds it difficult to tolerate my company. There’ll be no repeat of what went on, trust me.’ He hesitated, then strolled to the window. ‘Does she know about my life in India?’
‘I’ve not had reason to tell my wife all of it, so I doubt Bea knows much at all other than that you’re now rich from your Indian mines. Neither, I hope, is she interested in any of it.’
Hugh nodded slowly, lips thinning in a grim smile.
‘Are you thinking of cutting off your ties abroad?’
Hugh’s sharp glance answered Alex before he heard his friend’s reply. ‘My ties in India are permanent and non-negotiable.’
‘That’s what I thought...’ Alex said deceptively mildly. ‘So I repeat...stay away from my sister-in-law or suffer the consequences...’
A moment later it was as though no tense exchange had taken place between them.
Alex said, ‘I want to get going. Norman Francis will bring your horse round from the stable and we can be on the road in ten minutes...’
‘Why don’t you come with me to London?’
While speaking Elise continued folding a lawn petticoat, then packed it away in readiness for departure later that morning. Her maid was attending to the baby’s things, neatly piling them alongside her mistress’s garments in the travelling trunk.
When Beatrice continued cooing at Adam, Elise renewed her effort to persuade her sister to have a sojourn in town. ‘You’ll enjoy the shops in Oxford Street and I’ll introduce you to some nice people.’ She waved aside Bea’s dubious frown. ‘There are some nice ladies, I swear. In fact I’d say some of the matrons in this neighbourhood are worse tattlers...’
‘I can’t think who you might mean,’ Beatrice replied drolly.
‘In any case it is high time you said hello to the Chapmans. Verity would love to see you. She’ll tell you all about the babe she is expecting...’ Elise bit her lip, realising it was insensitive to enthuse over another woman’s marital bliss to a dear sister who had recently been jilted. ‘Fiona is naturally still at home with Mr and Mrs Chapman, and I’m sure she’d adore having your company.’
‘There’s no need to fuss over me, Elise.’ Beatrice raised her eyes from the baby’s rosy face to give her sister a serene smile. ‘I’m better now, honestly, and will bear up here with Papa.’ She held the baby aloft, rolling him to and fro and making him giggle. ‘The shock of it all has been short lived, I assure you. Isn’t that so, Master Adam?’
‘The shock of what, exactly?’ Elise quipped. ‘Seeing Hugh Kendrick or losing your fiancé?’
‘I no longer think of Colin as a loss but as a hazard I avoided.’ Bea got up from the clothes-strewn bed where she’d played with her nephew and handed him to his nurse. Helpfully, she started to assist her sister with packing. She felt her profile growing warm beneath Elise’s determined stare. ‘Oh, all right, I admit Mr Kendrick’s appearance did shake me up a bit. But I’m over that too.’
‘I wasn’t hinting that you should come with me so you might see Hugh again,’ Elise fibbed. She had seen the way the couple had reacted to one another yesterday and it had stirred in her an idea that they might still harbour feelings for one another. Hugh had not taken his eyes off her sister and Bea had certainly not seemed indifferent to him in the way a woman should if an old flame—now completely forgotten—turned up out of the blue.
Following his upturn in fortune Hugh was highly sought after by top hostesses and fond mamas with debutantes to settle, but Elise knew he wasn’t courting any well-bred young lady. Of course she heard the gossip, like everybody else, and knew he associated with female company of a very different class. Although Elise liked Hugh, he was an unashamed philanderer, and that fact dampened her enthusiasm for Beatrice again falling for him. The last thing Elise wanted was for her beloved sister to again have her dreams shattered by a man.
‘I suppose I ought to tell you that Hugh is known as an incorrigible rake who keeps company with demi-reps. I have to admit, though, that Alex’s reputation was vastly embellished upon by excitable ladies before we were wed.’ Elise smiled wryly; she’d not forgotten how jealous she’d felt, hearing about Alex’s paramours.
‘Thank you for the warning,’ Bea said mildly. ‘I’m not surprised to know it; he seems very different now from the man I once knew. Anyhow, his sordid habits and so on are of no interest to me. I don’t care how he spends his time.’
Elise gave her sister an old-fashioned look. ‘You might have sounded a little more convincing, my dear.’
Beatrice raised her eyes heavenward, miming exasperation, making her sister chuckle.
‘Papa won’t mind at all if you stay in town with me for a week or two. Mr and Mrs Francis attend to all his needs—’
‘No...’ Beatrice interrupted, giving her sister a winning smile. ‘But thank you for the invitation.’ She knew what Elise was up to: finding her a replacement for Colin. Although Bea was swayed by an offer to visit dear friends in the metropolis, the idea that Hugh Kendrick might believe she’d followed him home to put herself in his way was terrifying enough to quash the temptation to accept.
Elise huffed in defeat. ‘I don’t know what you are afraid of. I have told you that Papa and I fielded every question that Mrs Callan batted over about your association with Hugh. I made a point of letting them know he had courted our friend Fiona Chapman to put them off the scent.’
‘And I do thank you for it. But I am not afraid, Elise, of gossip or of Hugh Kendrick.’ Bea knew that was not quite truthful and hastened on. ‘So, I will remain here, quite content, though I pray your mother-in-law will recover.’ Bea looked reflective. ‘She was very kind to us at your wedding reception and made sure Papa and I had servants dancing attendance on us. She introduced us to so many people, and Papa was glad to renew his acquaintance with her that day. He told me he had liked her late husband too.’
‘Susannah is a dear soul...’ Elise frowned, folding linen with renewed vigour. ‘I must quickly get back and visit her. I’m sure the doctor is right, though, and she’s already on the mend.’
Beatrice comforted her sister with a hug. ‘She will be fine, Elise. The dowager will be up and about again in no time...’
* * *
‘I should like to attend.’
‘Are you feeling up to the journey, Papa?’ Beatrice asked in concern.
The post had arrived just ten minutes ago. Alex’s bold black script had been on one of many letters Bea, with heavy heart, had brought to her father’s study. Walter had opened it at once. There had been a note for her too, from Elise, but Beatrice had slipped that into the pocket of her skirt and would
