The Governess's Scandalous Marriage. Helen Dickson
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be better for her. Linnet was calm now, icy calm. She had been thrown by his surprise appearance, it had unnerved her, but now she was back in control. She made her way out of the ballroom, eager to put as much distance as she could between her and the irascible gentleman. She was on the point of leaving the ballroom when the dance ended. She paused and glanced back, seeing the stranger’s head above the crowd. At that moment he turned his imperious head and his bold, rebel’s eyes locked on to hers and he smiled, raising his fingers to his head in a salute, a lazy cocksure smile, with humour and a warning of the danger to them both if anyone should discover what had transpired between them in Lord Stourbridge’s Egyptian room.
Audacious as ever, she thought, as she watched the lazy, confident smile on his face. How she would like to wipe that smile from his handsome face. She returned his smile and turned away, becoming swallowed up in the crowd of people vacating the dance floor. No one tried to apprehend her as she left the house.
* * *
Linnet hoisted herself into the carriage. The agonising tension she had been under since she had entered Lord Stourbridge’s Egyptian room still showed on her face. She saw the anxiety on Toby’s face. He clearly regretted stealing the necklace and, despite everything, she knew he cared about her safety and would be vastly relieved to see her back safe.
‘Did you manage to put it back?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘It went to plan,’ she said, looking away. Toby didn’t have to know what had happened in Lord Stourbridge’s artefacts room. Besides, she didn’t want to talk about it.
‘I’m sorry, Linnet. I don’t know why I agreed to do it.’
Linnet believed him. Toby indulged in any form of gambling, but stealing other people’s property was not his forte. Ever since he had fallen in with a wrong crowd—young men who drank, gambled and seduced their way through life—he had changed. Being masters of manipulation the crowd played on Toby’s desperation and knew how to use the right combination of charm and menace to ensure his absolute loyalty to the group. Toby also owed them a fortune in gambling debts, which made it impossible for him to refuse whatever they asked him to do. If it were not for the china and other quality objects in the house which Linnet sold off from time to time without Toby’s knowledge, they would be unable to make ends meet.
‘You know I hate what you do, Toby. I shudder to think what Father would say.’
Clearly feeling guilty, Toby looked away, unable to look into her eyes. ‘I know you do and I will try to make things better.’
‘It’s about time you did,’ Linnet said sharply. ‘Do you take so little interest in my happiness? I hated what I had to do tonight. I hated it—the anxiety and the misery of it all. I thought I would die a thousand deaths. I will not do anything like it again. You can’t steal, Toby. It’s a terrible thing to do.’
‘Damn it all, don’t exaggerate! The theft of the necklace was to have been my friends’ biggest haul yet and would have brought a sizeable fortune.’
‘For them, Toby. Remember that. What worries me is that if you carry on gambling as you do, your luck will run out and you will be thrown into a debtors’ prison.’
Toby turned to her, his eyes holding a hard glitter. She was accustomed to the mask-like expression he used when he didn’t wish to discuss what he did, things of which he was ashamed.
‘Stop it, Linnet! Don’t make a fuss. That won’t happen, I’m going to make sure of that. Besides, what other way is there if one wants to gain greater position and a place and power in society?’
‘Work, Toby. Honest work. You cannot go on as you do indefinitely. There are lots of people who prefer good honest work without resorting to gambling and stealing other people’s property.’
‘What kind of work could I possibly do?’ he protested crossly. ‘I’m not one of the labouring classes, I’m a gentleman—’
‘A penniless gentleman,’ Linnet was quick to remind him. ‘Grow up, Toby, and take responsibility for yourself. There must be something you can do.’
‘I am a connoisseur of wine,’ Toby retorted, raising his arm with a flourish. ‘I suppose I could look for something in that line if the fancy takes me.’
Linnet threw him an exasperated look. He could be such a child. It was always the same when she tried to make him discuss things seriously. However, he was speaking the truth. He had been trained for nothing but how to be a gentleman of leisure. As much as she loved her brother, she had no illusions about him and could not ignore the fact that he was inclined to laziness.
Linnet hated the influence of the men he had become involved with. Some of them had been dragged up on London’s meanest streets and were scoundrels, thieves and gamblers of the highest order. Toby had met them in the gambling haunts he frequented with his rakish friends and had been quickly seduced by their gains at the tables. They talked of riches and offered to help pay off Toby’s debts, debts he could repay when his circumstances improved, and Toby fell for every word that dripped from their mouths. He steadfastly believed that his association with his new friends was a new and profitable beginning for him and further confirmed the belief that he was in full control of his own destiny and could have whatever he desired. How wrong he was.
Linnet absently pushed back a strand of honey-gold hair that had escaped her wig. The problem of how they were ever going to pay off Toby’s debts weighed heavily on her mind. ‘I fear greatly what will become of us, Toby. Perhaps you should consider contracting a favourable marriage to help pay off the debts.’
Toby shrugged. ‘I’ve thought of it, but, apart from Caroline, who as you know I would gladly settle down with at the drop of a hat if her father would allow it, there is no one else I wish to marry.’
Linnet knew this to be true. Caroline Mortimer was the youngest of Sir George and Lady Mortimer’s five daughters. Toby had become smitten with her when he had met her at a social event twelve months earlier. She was the one good thing that had happened to him in recent months. She was quiet and gentle and he professed to love her dearly. Sir George and his wife were in favour of a match between them, but Toby knew that if Sir George became aware of his gambling debts he would pull back.
‘You should marry, Linnet—someone with money.’
‘Without a dowry who would marry me?’
‘Someone who would wed you for your own sweet self. If you were to marry a man of means and consequence the creditors would back away.’
‘But I have no desire to marry. Must I remind you that the mess we are in is of your own making. They are your debts, not mine,’ Linnet remarked, raising her chin and looking away from him, hoping it would indicate the depth of her disappointment in him and that when he realised it, he would begin thinking differently, which he did. He immediately looked contrite and, taking her hand, he gave it a gentle squeeze.
Aware of the intensity of her feelings and her fear, Toby softened. ‘I’m sorry, Linnet. None of this is fair on you, I know. If anyone’s to blame for tonight it’s me. I will try harder. I promise.’
From the way he looked at her Linnet knew that he recognised the truth contained in her words. ‘I know you will,’ she replied while not holding out much hope. Exasperating as she found it, she loved her brother more than anyone else and couldn’t imagine living without him. But she was afraid, more afraid than she had ever been in her life. Afraid not just for Toby and herself, but for the whole future.
‘Look, I know how difficult this is for you,’ Toby said. ‘I’ve been thinking. I know we said we wouldn’t accept Aunt Lydia’s invitation to go to Richmond for the celebration of Louisa’s betrothal to Harry, but maybe we should. It was good to see them tonight. Cousin Louisa is your age and it benefits you to have some female company.’
Linnet could not deny that the idea of visiting her cousin appealed to her. She was piercingly lonely. She lacked female companionship and the love and affection of their mother, who had passed away several years