Mistress - Amanda Quick [92]
“I feel quite strongly that, for the sake of his future, Bennet must find himself an heiress. After all, he will have the future of his own offspring to consider.”
“Offspring?” Dorchester was clearly dazed.
“It always comes down to that, does it not?” Marcus went out into the corridor. The heavy curtains fell closed behind him.
He followed the curving corridor to the far side of the theater where Iphiginia’s box was located.
Herbert Hoyt stepped into the hall just as Marcus reached out to take hold of the curtain.
“I say. Beg pardon.” Hoyt hastily got out of the way. “Good evening, Masters. Didn’t mean to nearly run you down. Damn crowded out here in the corridor, is it not?”
“Yes.” Marcus went into the box and let the curtain fall.
“Good evening, Iphiginia. Miss Farley.” Marcus took one of the small chairs without waiting to be asked.
“My lord,” Amelia murmured politely. She turned away to watch the activity in the pit.
It occurred to Marcus that Amelia cut him in the same subtle manner that Sands often used. He was not a very popular person these days.
Iphiginia smiled with welcome. Her eyes gleamed with curiosity. “Good evening, my lord. I thought I saw you sitting in the Dorchester box a few minutes ago.”
“I had a few words with Dorchester.” Marcus extended his legs and scowled briefly. “Why the devil is it that I find myself forever tripping over Hoyt? He seems to spend a great deal of time in your vicinity.”
Iphiginia gave a dainty shrug. The crystals around her throat glittered with colorless fire. “Mr. Hoyt is a friend. And he is quite harmless. You know that, my lord.”
“He’s a damned nuisance.”
Iphiginia’s brows rose. “You appear to be in a rather foul temper, sir.”
“I am.” Marcus glanced toward the stage as the lights dimmed. “Perhaps Kean’s performance will put me in a more cheerful frame of mind.”
“Let us hope so.” Iphiginia gave him a quizzical glance before she turned to look down at the stage.
Kean was in excellent form in the role of Macbeth, but even his riveting skill could not shake Marcus’s dark mood.
What he really wanted to do, Marcus realized, was talk to Iphiginia. He wanted to tell her about Bennet’s stubborn determination to marry Juliana Dorchester.
He needed to confide his uneasiness to her, get her opinion, ask her if she thought he had done the right thing by trying to discourage Dorchester tonight.
But the ability to share his problems with another person was a skill that had gone to rust years ago. It had been so long since he had asked for advice or confessed uncertainty or simply requested another’s opinion that he did not even know how to go about it.
In any event, his rules did not allow him to exhibit weakness.
In the middle of the last scene of Macbeth the curtain of the box was jerked abruptly aside. Bennet stalked into the small sitting area. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. His face was a mask of fury.
“Damn you, Marcus. I shall never forgive you for this. Never. I know what you are about and it will not work. Do you hear me? You cannot stop me from marrying Juliana.”
Marcus turned slowly, aware of Iphiginia’s and Amelia’s astonishment.
“You appear to have forgotten your manners,” Marcus said mildly. “Allow me to introduce you to Mrs. Bright and Miss Farley.”
Bennet cast a scathing glance at Iphiginia. “Why should I bother with good manners in the presence of your mistress when you cannot be bothered to exercise them in front of my future wife and the members of her family?”
“Enough.” Marcus got to his feet. “I have warned you, Bennet. We will discuss this later.”
“There is nothing to discuss. I should have known that you would try your damnedest to ruin my happiness? But oddly enough, it did not occur to me that you would go to these lengths. I understand that you plan to disinherit me.”
“We will deal with this when we can be private,” Marcus said very evenly.
“Do you think I give a bloody damn whether or not you cut me off? I can make my own way in the world. And Juliana knows it. She has faith in me, even if you and her father do not.