Diane Gaston - Gallant Officer, Forbidden Lady

‘Jack!’ Nancy entered. ‘Mama wishes to see you.’

‘What has happened?’ What has Tranville done? he meant.

She pinched his arm. ‘Nothing terrible.’ She smiled. ‘Lord Tranville called upon her.’

He frowned. ‘Did he upset her?’

Nancy looked puzzled. ‘Of course not. She was in raptures. You know how Mama feels about him.’

Yes, but he could not fathom it. ‘Then why does she wish to see me?’

‘I am not certain.’ Nancy removed her cloak and hung it on one of the pegs by the door. ‘I did not remain with them above a few minutes. Lord Tranville said very pretty things to me. And to Mama. It was quite a pleasure to see him.’

‘Is he still there?’ If so, Jack preferred to avoid him.

She shook her head. ‘He left, and then Mama asked me to fetch you.’

Jack walked over to his easel to clean his brushes. He covered his palette with a cloth so that the paint would not dry and wiped his hands. ‘Give me a moment to change my clothes.’

A few minutes later he and Nancy walked the short distance to his mother’s set of rooms on Adam Street. Jack liked having his family near after the long separation of war, and Tranville’s money could well pay for rooms in both London and Bath, but his mother would have been far wiser to save that money for Nancy’s future.

Nancy paused mid-step. ‘Do you think Lord Tranville has asked Mama to marry him? Perhaps that is why she wants to see you?’

He gave a dry laugh. ‘That is a ridiculous notion, Nancy.’

She pursed her lips. ‘Why is it ridiculous? He is an eligible man now.’

He shook his head. ‘He has not seen fit to call upon her for over a year. That is hardly prelude to a proposal.’

Nancy gaped at him as if he’d lost his wits. ‘Surely Lord Tranville was concerned as to how it would appear to see Mama so soon after his wife died. He was being protective of her reputation.’

Jack resumed walking. ‘He was never so protective of her reputation before his wife died.’

She hurried to catch up. ‘You do not understand it at all. Now that he is an eligible man of rank, it becomes more important to protect her from talk.’

Jack bit his tongue. He’d always tried to shield Nancy from the sordid reality of Tranville’s relationship with their mother. He wasn’t about to change now.

‘I do not understand why you dislike Tranville so.’ Nancy looked wounded.

Jack never intended for Nancy to think well of Tranville, merely to prevent her from thinking ill of their mother. ‘I suppose I dislike him because he is not our father.’ And because he so quickly replaced their father in their mother’s bed.

She squeezed his arm. ‘I cannot remember our father like you do. I only remember that Tranville helped our mother when we were so poor.’

They had never been so poor that their mother would not have had a chance for a respectable second marriage. Tranville ruined that for her.

They arrived at his mother’s door, but Nancy held him back. ‘Can you not perceive the situation between Mama and Lord Tranville as romantic?’

‘Romantic?’ He could not lie. ‘No, I cannot.’

‘Well, I can.’ Her tone was definite. ‘They have loved each other for so many years, but because Lord Tranville was married, they could not be together. Even so, he loved her with such a passion he could never stay away completely.’

He gave her a disapproving look. ‘A passion?’

She lifted her chin. ‘I am not a child any more. I know what happens between a man and a woman.’

Jack put his hand on the doorknob. ‘What happens between a man and a woman is not necessarily romantic, my dear sister.’

Nancy stood her ground. ‘He must love her. He pays for everything for her. Our food. Our house. Everything.’

‘He has done so.’ It was the only thing to Tranville’s credit and it had always puzzled Jack. A man of Tranville’s character would cut funds the minute he tired of a woman.

‘Why would he spend that money on her if he did not love her?’ Nancy asked.

‘I confess, I do not know,’ Jack responded honestly, turning the knob and ending the discussion.

When they entered the rented rooms, their mother’s manservant, Wilson, appeared in the hall to take Nancy’s cloak and Jack’s hat and gloves. ‘Your mother awaits you in the parlour.’

Jack opened the parlour door for Nancy and followed her in.

His mother stood by the fireplace and turned at their entrance. ‘Jack, I am pleased you could come right away.’

He crossed the room and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Mother.’

Slanting him a somewhat determined look, she gestured for them to sit. Jack waited for her to lower herself in a chair.

Her hands nervously smoothed the fabric of her skirt. ‘I am certain Nancy has told you Lionel—Lord Tranville—called upon me.’ Her eyes flickered with a momentary pleasure.

‘He informed me of his intention to call.’ Jack tried to keep his voice even.

‘We had a lovely time,’ his mother went on.

‘Indeed.’ Jack fought sarcasm.

His mother took a breath. ‘Well, I suppose I should just say that Lionel told me he offered you a commission.’

‘He did.’

‘He did?’ Nancy sat forward in surprise. ‘You never said. How exciting.’

Jack turned to her. ‘I did not accept it, Nancy.’

His mother broke in. ‘The thing is, Jack, I want you to accept it.’

‘I will not.’ She must be mad.

‘Ja-ack.’ Nancy drew out his name, sounding disappointed.

Jack stared at his mother. ‘A woman, Mother.’

She shot a glance to Nancy and back to Jack with an almost imperceptible shake of her head. Very well. He would not delve into why he presumed Tranville wished him to paint a woman, even though his mother was not deluded about it.

His mother answered calmly, ‘He is financing a production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra and wishes the portrait to be used in advertisements. It is precisely what you said you wanted last night.’

‘I did not say I would work for Tranville.’

‘But, Jack—’ Nancy inserted.

‘Do not be foolish, my son,’ his mother went on. ‘He offers you a good price—better, I dare say, than you have earned on your other paintings.’ She named the price Tranville had offered. It was a staggering amount.

Jack gritted his teeth. ‘I do not want his charity.’

Lines formed between her brows. ‘This animosity does you no credit.’

He shrugged.

He’d tried to explain before, telling her of Tranville’s harsh treatment of his men during the war while toadying to his superiors, of how Tranville turned a blind eye to his son avoiding combat, but sent better men to their deaths.

‘You know what sort of man he is.’

‘Say no more.’ She lifted both hands to halt further discussion. ‘I accepted the commission for you.’

He stood. ‘You did not!’

She regarded him with a steely glance. ‘You will paint this portrait for me, Jack, because I wish it. I ask little of you, but I ask this.’

He remained standing, looking down at her. She’d aged since he’d left for war. Her brown hair was streaked with grey and tiny lines had formed at the corners of her eyes and her mouth. Still, he thought her as beautiful as when he’d been a boy and she’d been young and carefree. He wished he could paint that memory.

She continued, ‘And I insist you do not cross him. Treat Lord Tranville with civility for my sake, because it is important to me.’ Her eyes pleaded. ‘It is important to me that you have this work, the money it will pay, and it is important to me that Lionel succeed in gaining his desires. He wishes to make this play a success and, therefore, I wish it for him.’