Page 15 of A Scandalous Proposition
‘I didn’t wish for her to go. She insisted.’
‘How odd. She didn’t feel that need to absent herself when Julia was alive.’
‘You see!’ Philippa cried, pouting. ‘You blame me, too, when I’ve done nothing to deserve it. The fault lies with that dreadful woman she’s taken in.’ She turned away in a swirl of blue muslin and heightened indignation. ‘That Mrs Grantley, as she calls herself, is a fraud and a wicked influence. She has poisoned your mama’s mind against me.’
Her deep-rooted antagonism towards Florentina surprised him since she could hardly be aware of her true occupation. ‘Why ever would she do that?’
‘Because she thinks far too well of herself, but I trust you’ve already discovered that for yourself. Indeed, I’m sure you must have because I noticed the way you abandoned her in the park earlier. No matter, together we ought to be able to persuade your mama to be rid of her. She won’t listen to my advice and seems to think I am interfering. But we can’t have such people sullying the good name of the duchy.’
Adam was silent for a moment. He agreed that a courtesan was an unsuitable companion for his mother but was loathe to remove her on Philippa’s suggestion. She’d been watching for him, had seen him and Florentina together and didn’t want them to form a friendship. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that any more than he could explain his instinctive desire to protect Florentina against the spiteful tirade of a jealous woman.
‘My mother is quite capable of selecting her own companion,’ he said evenly, ‘and I have no intention of interfering.’ Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He had every intention of involving himself with Florentina’s affairs before evicting her from the estate but not in a fashion that would earn him Philippa’s approval.
‘We shall see about that. But first, we must discuss the situation that arose whilst you were gone. When you know all the particulars you’ll thank me. I sacrificed myself for the sake of your family and none of you are the least bit grateful.’
Adam had heard enough. ‘You’ve got what you wanted,’ he said, a hard edge to his voice. ‘Let’s leave it at that.’
‘Perhaps that’s the way it seems but you will understand better when I tell you that Julia confided in me before she died.’
‘That must have been pleasant.’
‘Adam!’ Philippa stamped her foot. ‘This is very hard for me. I’m trying to make you understand what it was like. Just before her accident Julia told me the physician had advised her against having more children. He didn’t think she would survive the confinement. There, what do you think of that?’ She stood, arms akimbo, a triumphant expression on her face.
‘I feel very sorry for her. I know she lived in hope of producing a son.’
‘But that’s just the point. Don’t you see? She wouldn’t have been able to give James a son. James’s health is very fragile and in time you would have become duke.’ Her eyes sparkled with pride at her twisted logic.
Adam had been making herculean efforts to hold on to his temper, but this latest display of her naked ambition was too much and he gave up the unequal struggle.
‘Of all the conniving, irresponsible?’
‘Don’t be angry with me.’ She clutched at his sleeve but he shook her hand off with considerable force. ‘You can have no notion what it was like, trying to decide what best to do when there was no one here to advise me. Never had I been in greater need of you. The matchmaking mamas were gathering, you see, even before poor Julia was cold in her grave. James was so devastated by his loss that he was been blind to their stratagems and would have been an easy victim.’
‘Nothing could have been done whilst he was in mourning.’
‘Oh, don’t be so naïve!’ She waved Adam’s assertion aside with a careless flip of one wrist. ‘All sorts of excuses were being made by matrons to call at the Court with their daughters in tow. Would you have seen Samantha Parsons as mistress of this house?’ Philippa gave a little shudder. ‘Believe me, that’s what would very likely have happened had I not acted to prevent it.’
‘That was a matter for James to decide.’
Philippa pulled at her hair. ‘But that’s precisely my point! He was in no fit state to decide anything. I couldn’t stand by and see your inheritance, your rightful situation as the Duke of Southsea, taken away from you. And so I did the only thing that I could.’
‘You allowed my brother to seduce you.’ Adam curled his lip. ‘How many times was it necessary for him to do so before he impregnated you?’
‘You’re jealous. I can see that.’ She touched his arm. ‘But there’s no need to be. My relationship with James is platonic nowadays. He relies upon me a great deal and we are the best of friends. But there would be nothing more natural in this world than for you and I to also enjoy a congenial relationship.’ She looked up at him, smiling through her tears. ‘We are, after all, brother and sister now. Having someone to talk to in the evenings will be a great comfort.’
Adam inclined his head, at a loss to know what to say. Unsure what exactly she was asking of him. Worried about the hungry expression in her eyes and what it might mean. There was more behind her request than the desire for friendship. She was attempting to manipulate him in some manner but he was damned if he could figure out what she really wanted. A feeling of acute discomfort curled its way through his bloodstream, and his immediate thought was to distance himself from Philippa.
‘Certainly we ought to be friends,’ he said, reluctant to antagonise her. ‘But now, if you’ll excuse me, I ought to pay my respects to James.’
‘By all means.’
Determined to be polite to her, Adam left the room, unable to shake off the feeling that he’d somehow played straight into her hands.
*
The brittle swishing of Florentina’s petticoats whipping about her ankles perfectly reflected her agitated state of mind as she paced frantically in front of Christine’s fireplace. Christine herself was seated in an armchair, a calm expression on her face, patiently waiting for an explanation for Florentina’s unexpected arrival.
‘Of all the arrogant, dictatorial, high-handed, presumptuous individuals it’s ever been my misfortune to encounter.’ Florentina’s English became more heavily accented in direct proportion to her increasing anger. She ran out of invectives and resorted to shaking her head. ‘Lord Fitzroy takes pride of place.’
