Page 102 of Beneath the Devil's Mask
“Then what the devil did you marry him for?”
“He asked me and I accepted. I’m not getting any younger, you know.”
For the first time, the bold Sara could not seem to meet Mandell’s gaze. Scowling, he studied her face, noticing a difference in her that he had been too angry to perceive before. There was a change in Sara, something subtle, the slightest softening about her mouth, an added luster in her eyes.
A suspicion dawned upon Mandell, so incredible he hesitated to voice it aloud. “You could not possibly have learned to care for Nick?”
“Care for Drummond? Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think I would fall in love with a man simply because he has a winsome smile?” Sara stalked away from Mandell, waving her hands in an agitated gesture. “He’s not even handsome. He’s impossible, a starry-eyed fool, an eternal optimist, forever babbling on about this cause and that one. He is not even the sort of man who would permit a woman to come first in his life.”
Sara continued to bluster on in this fashion until Mandell wondered just whom she was trying to convince. He circledround her, slipped his fingers beneath her chin and forced her to look up.
Her eyes blazed with bright defiant tears. Her lips trembled.
“Good God,” he said softly. “You fell in love with him.”
“So what if I did?” She dashed his hand away. “There is no law against it and don’t you dare to laugh at me, you cynical bastard. I daresay you think you are far too clever to fall in love yourself.”
“No,” Mandell said, his mind clouding with a vision of Anne that was both poignant and painful. “Not too clever. Too much the fool to do so.”
His response caused a momentary surprise to flicker in Sara’s face. Reaching into her reticule, she produced a handkerchief and scrubbed at the moisture in her eyes. “I always thought that I was a damn sight too clever for such nonsense. Then I elope with someone I have barely known for a fortnight.
“Do you realize that Nick was such a gentleman he did not even touch me until we were wed?” Sara’s voice echoed the depths of her own disbelief. “I married a man without even knowing what he would be like in bed. As it happens, Nick is rather wonderful when he is not in a rush to get to Parliament.”
Mandell’s lips twitched, tempted for the first time that morning to smile. “Forgive my continued amazement. I still cannot imagine a more unlikely pairing than you and Drummond. Where the deuce did you meet him?”
“I was lost in the wrong part of town. I just looked up and there he was, strutting through the slums of Bethnal Green in all his sartorial splendor.”
She sniffed and gave a shaky laugh. “Nick actually believes he can make a difference, you know, with his investigating and reporting on the conditions of the poor. That if he writes well enough and speaks loudly enough, he will induce everyone to be reasonable and see the need for reforms as clearly as he does.When that shows no sign of happening, he gets frustrated. So much so that I am afraid for him,”
Mandell discovered that he believed her, detecting a genuine caring and concern behind her words. He attempted to reassure her. “You need not worry about Drummond, my dear. I have watched him for years, like the fabled Don Quixote, forever tilting at windmills. And he never seems daunted when the giants don’t fall.”
“He is more daunted than you could ever imagine, Mandell. He waxes so angry and desperate when no one heeds his proposals. Sometimes I fear that he—” Sara’s eyes clouded, but whatever thought troubled her, she shook it off, saying ruefully, “He has such dreams, not shallow ambitions like mine, but real dreams for a better world where everyone would be warm and safe and well fed. Dreams that are absurd, impossible and absolutely wonderful.”
“My cousin appears to have disordered your reason, Sara. You sound ready to embrace his causes yourself.”
“No, I am only interested in embracing him. That is the difficulty. Nick imagines me to be this respectable widow, an angel of mercy to the poor and destitute, ready to march at his side to right the wrongs of the world. And I will march if he wants me to, but I live in dread of him finding out who and what I really am.”
“And that is why you came to see me.”
Sara nodded. She reached out to clutch at Mandell’s arm. “I beg you, my lord. Maintain your silence. Don’t tell him anything you know of my past. Give me the chance to make him happy.”
She spoke quietly, the strength of her plea in the luminous depths of her eyes. Mandell hesitated and then covered her hand with his own. “It is an odd thing, but I believe you do love Drummond, that you will make him a good wife, far better thanany proper lady with only birth and breeding to recommend her.”
Sara gaped at him. “Did such a remark actually come from you, my lord?”
“Astonishingly, it did.” Mandell gave her a wry smile. He pressed Sara’s hand and returned it to her. “Set aside your fears. Drummond will never hear anything ill of you from me. On the contrary, I wish you both great joy.”
“Are you sure you are feeling quite well, Mandell? The most I had hoped for was an uneasy truce between us for Nick’s sake. I never imagined you would give me your blessing.”
“My blessing would not be worth much, but I will give you some advice. We were discreet, Sara, but this is London, after all. Someone had to know of our previous connection, some avid gossip who will take delight in whispering the tidings in Nick’s ear. You would be better off telling him yourself, along with any other dark secrets you might harbor.”
Sara said nothing. Mandell could tell she found his advice most unpalatable, but before he could further urge the wisdom of such a course, they were interrupted.
Sara started as the study door burst open and Hastings rushed into the room. Mandell prepared to deliver a rebuke until he noted how flushed the footman looked, panting as though he had run a great way.
“My lord,” he gasped. “Your pardon. Something d-dreadful.” He paused, clutching his side, struggling to get the breath to continue.
“Calm yourself, Hastings. Unless the house is afire, I can see no reason for you to?—”
