“Not at all, your grace,” he answered, stifling his own grin with an effort of will. “Will you be requiring my services at a particular time on the morrow, your grace?”
“With the ridiculously early hour at which I am going to bed I will no doubt be rising earlier than usual, Timothy, but unfortunately it is impossible for me to say whether I will be able to sleep soundly or not. I have no appointments scheduled for which I need to be prepared, so let us just say that I shall ring for you when I have need of your services.”
“Very well, your grace. Then I will bid you a good night.”
“I hope it is, Timothy. Thank you for your kind wishes. I bid you a good night as well.” With that the duke dismissed his servant and climbed into the high bed for a restless night.
Chapter Twenty
True to his prediction, Bryghton awoke at what he would have previously considered an ungodly hour of the morning, as he usually did not rise before noon while in the city. Despite his restless night, he swung down from the tall bedside with a surprising amount of energy in his step. He felt ready for whatever the Season could throw at him that day.
Surprising his secretary with his arrival in the library, that young man hid his shock behind a stack of papers. Bryghton set to work and accomplished a remarkable amount before his restlessness got the better of him and he could stand to sit no longer. Bidding his secretary a good day, he rang for his phaeton and matched bays to be brought round.
Pulling up in front of his mother’s house, he jumped down and tossed the reins to his tiger, promising the young servant he would return momentarily.
“Good afternoon, Walter,” Bryghton greeted the butler as he opened the door. “Is my sister available?”
“Welcome home, your grace. I shall see about her ladyship. Would you like to have a seat in the morning room while you wait?”
“Would it be an imposition for you if I wait here? I left my cattle with my tiger standing on the street and I do not wish to be here for over long. I stopped in to see if Alanna has any commitments for the afternoon or if she would like to go for a drive in the park.”
A footman, having heard the duke’s request for his sister, had already set off to fetch her. Alanna was at the top of the stairs when Bryghton said this last bit. She squealed and dashed indecorously down the grand staircase.
“Oh, would I ever, Bryght, thank you for the lovely invitation. But I am not ready to go riding just at this moment. Could you perhaps wait for me for a few minutes?”
Impatiently, Bryghton replied without thought. “You look perfectly fine to me, just grab a wrap or some such and let us be on your way.”
“Do not be a noddy, Bryghton. Surely you realize the hour. I cannot just go for a drive at this time of the day and have no concern for my appearance,” she said with a level of horror.
“Oh, very well, but make haste. How quickly can you be ready?”
“I will make haste, have no fear. I will be in your carriage in no more than ten minutes,” she called over her shoulder as she ran lightly back up the stairs.
“That will be the day,” the duke said rather drily to the butler as he made for the door. “I had best go out and walk the horses. You will have a footman come out with her to hand her up into my phaeton, will you not, Walter?”
“Of course, your grace. Enjoy your drive.”
Alanna was almost true to her word; within a quarter of an hour she was bouncing down the front stairs with a footman hurrying to keep pace with her in order to help her into the duke’s high-perch phaeton.
Clapping her hands as she settled herself, Alanna almost crowed to her brother. “How delightful that you brought this particular carriage. How did you know that I was nearly dying with my wish to go for a drive this afternoon and I had made no such arrangements?”
“Do you not know that dukes are nearly omniscient?” Bryghton asked drolly.
“Oh, fie on you, but never mind your tomfoolery, I am just delighted that you stopped by to collect me. One would think you are coming to enjoy my company, your grace.”
“I always enjoy the company of my family, little chick—what a strange statement to make.” The duke looked at his sister questioningly.
“Oh, Bryghton, my dear, do not get yourself in a bunch. I know you love your family and perform every duty required of you with almost no reluctance. It is just that you have never been one to seek out my company, particularly during the Season—not even when it was my first.” Seeing his arrested expression she hastened to add, “It is not that I am complaining. Sometimes I am of the mind that a big brother can be un peu de trop. And I have been blessed with two of them,” she concluded with mock horror.
Bryghton still did not appear mollified. “You do not truly think that I do not enjoy your company, do you, Alanna?”
“It is not that, Bryght. It is just as I said, you have never been in the habit of seeking me out, and now this is the second day in a row that you have taken me for a drive. And this time it was entirely at your own initiative, not because I asked it of you.”
Bryghton was silent for a moment as he digested his sister’s words and contemplated his own feelings. “The funny thing about you and Drake is that you seem to be vastly improving with age. I used to like you because you are my family. Now I find that I just like you.”
Alanna looked at her brother with tears beginning to shimmer in her eyes. “That is quite the nicest thing anyone has said to me.”
“Is it really? Then I can quite see why you have yet to accept any offers for your hand,” Bryghton teased. “Now tell me, how did you enjoy your evening’s entertainments last night, and what do you have planned for this evening?”
“Mama and I had been invited for supper at the Chorneys’ before the ball so it was a rather relaxing evening, although the ballroom did become rather crowded by the end. I saw you a few times through the crowds and was happy to see that you had managed to get in despite your lack of an invitation. You seemed rather busy dancing with any number of girls throughout the evening.”
Bryghton had the grace to blush at his sister’s words and admitted, “I made a promise to Lady Chorney, as I invited myself into her evening, that I would dance with a certain number of debutantes and wallflowers.”
Alanna burst into laughter at these words. “Why ever did you make such a promise?”
Bryghton shrugged sheepishly. “When you questioned whether or not I would be granted admittance I grew worried about my reception. I thought any hostess would be happy to have someone willing to seek out those who might not be enjoying themselves.”
“Clearly your strategy worked.”
“Rather well, yes. I must tell you, some of those girls who do not get asked to dance are rather interesting. I do not know what is going on in the upper works of some of the young gentlemen of the ton these days. I quite enjoyed meeting Miss Smythe and Miss Quinn. I cannot even tell you why they were not as busy as you or Eloise were upon the dance floor.”
Alanna looked amazed at her brother’s words but refrained from much comment aside from a quick warning. “Do make sure you are not raising unfounded hopes in any poor girl’s mind. The attentions of a duke, no matter how innocent or well intentioned, could turn the head of even a sensible young woman.”
“I was under the impression that there was safety in numbers. Is that not why we devised the plan of me going about Town in advance of your having Lady Victoria tag along with you, so that it is not remarked upon if I am in your company or ask her to dance? I trust I am not making a cake of myself for no reason.”
“Oh Bryghton,” said Alanna, laughing lightly. “You are not making a cake of yourself by being so kind as to dance with a few girls. And you are correct, the reasoning is sound that if you dance with several girls it will be less remarkable than if you dance with only one or two. But our plan was with the gossips in mind, not the individual girls. I am merely warning you to have a care with their feelings, especially the wallflowers.”
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“I do believe this entire Season business is a ridiculous plot to drive us all quite mad,” declared the duke.
“You may be right, Alcott, but I do not know who would benefit if that were the case.”
“Why, the dress-makers and all the rest of the trades people who make their living off the ridiculous rituals.”
“Well, they do need to make their living, do they not? Not everyone can be titled landowners like yourself.”
“Careful, my dear, we are getting mighty close to philosophizing. Shall we return to the carefully artless chatter of social gossip? You were going to tell me what your plans are for this evening.”
“You are getting much too good at these things, my dear brother. If you are not careful you will gain the reputation of being a dandy rather than the rake that you are currently known as,” teased Alanna.
Bryghton threw his sister a disgruntled look and made as though to pull over to the side of the road. “You could get out here if you would like, my dear.”
“Oh, do not be such a noddy. If you really wish to know, Mama and I are going to the theatre this evening. I have heard many raving about how wonderful Mr. Kean is in his role and I absolutely must see it for myself.” Alanna paused for a moment before turning to the duke. “If you would like, you could likely join us. There is usually room for at least one more in any box. We would only have to ask a footman to fetch a chair if there were not one free.”
“Thank you, little chick, but I cannot say I enjoy the theatre. One can so rarely hear the performance over the chatter of the crowds. It makes one wonder why anyone bothers to attend.”
“Why, to see and be seen, why else?”
“Perhaps I shall stop in during the intermission and visit your box in order to be seen but not have to put up with the actual performance,” mused Bryghton.
“You are hilarious, Duke, but that would no doubt serve your purpose quite well. You can be visible without having to bear up under the burden of enjoying the theatre. It would seem you do not care for the other half of being seen, the seeing part.”
“Not particularly,” he answered with simple honesty. “Now here we are at the park. Shall we drive around or do you wish to go for a stroll? I have my tiger with me, so he can watch the horses if you wish to get down for a bit.”
“My, you are being accommodating, aren’t you?” she asked with a light laugh. “All right, if it is up to me, I say we take one pass around the perimeter and then we take a little walk when we get back here. I would like to see where you fished Victoria and Daniel out of the river.”
Bryghton laughed. “So much has happened since then, it is hard to believe that was barely over a se’nnight ago.”
They drove in companionable silence for a time, pausing to greet various acquaintances as they drove slowly around the park. When they got back to the agreed-upon location, the duke pulled up and ordered his tiger to take the horses head. After helping Alanna down he instructed the young servant to walk the horses and allow them to cool down. “We shall be back in about thirty minutes.”
“Very good, m’lord.”
As they strolled towards the river, Alanna kept up a pleasant flow of chatter, sharing tidbits of gossip about the various people they had already encountered that day.
“How do you keep track of all that silly information?” Bryghton asked.
“Well, I do not consider most of it to be silly. I truly do care about many of those people, and I think it is important to know about them. It is much like how you know every last detail about each horse in your multiple stables.”
“But I have to know about the horses in order to properly manage their care.”
“Is that not what you have stable masters for?”
“But it is my responsibility to know about it, too. I care about my cattle,” Bryghton answered somewhat defensively, still not seeing her point.
“And I care about people. Just as you need to know about your horses in order to make sure they are properly looked after, I need to know about people in order to properly care about them. For example, Lady Pemberton’s sister had a bad fall recently. They were estranged but the accident has helped to heal the rift between them. Knowing those various pieces of gossip means I will only ask very general questions but I will express my sympathy for her sister’s pain.”
“You would make a good wife for a politician,” Bryghton remarked with dawning wonder.
“Thank you, I think,” answered Alanna dubiously.
“I never realized some people gossip out of a genuine interest in people. I thought it was always motivated by a desire to one-up others.”
“Sometimes it probably is, but there are many good people who have an interest in their fellows and wish to know what is going on with everyone. It is no doubt only those who do not have enough going on in their own lives who take an unhealthy interest in that of others.”
They had finally reached the edge of the Serpentine.
“Have a care near the edge of the water, little chick. I am not in the mood to fish anyone out today,” the duke teased.
“I do not think it is your mood that is in question, you just have no wish to have another pair of Hessians damaged.”
“That is true, nor do I wish to hear my valet’s recriminations on the subject.”
“Have no fear, I will stay back a healthy distance. But do show me where they were when you found them.”
“Did you hear the entire tale from Alfred? How we were too far away when Daniel fell in and how fearful we were when we saw the lady jump in after him? I am not ashamed to admit to you that my heart was in my throat as I ran towards the edge. Of course, when I peered over the bank, there she was standing in the water with that monkey of a little boy clinging to her as though she were a tree he was climbing. If I had not been so beside myself it would have been quite funny.”
“No doubt no one saw any humour in the situation at the time.”
“No, and I compounded matters by yelling at her for the foolishness of jumping into the water without help around.”
“What would you have expected her to do?” asked Alanna, incredulous.
“Clearly I was not thinking, I was merely reacting, which was the entire point. Neither had she been thinking when she jumped in—she was motivated by something other than logic. It all ended well. Everyone survived to tell their tale.”
“It is rather an amazing thing that she has consented to remain friendly with you,” said Alanna.
“Well, I really can be quite charming when I put my mind to it.”
“There you go again displaying your limitless humility,” she teased.
Not deigning to reply, the duke merely rolled his eyes at his sister and offered her his elbow. “Shall we stroll back to the carriage so I can get you home in time to make your preparations?”
“Very well, your grace,” she answered with mock dignity, accepting his proffered arm and heading back in the direction they had come.
There was companionable silence between the two siblings for a time before Alanna broke it. “You will have a care for her feelings, will you not?” she asked worriedly.
“What ever are you on about now? I am beginning to wonder about your opinion of me as you keep asking such questions.”
“Lady Victoria,” Alanna persisted. “You will have a care about her, will you not? You just finished telling me a few minutes ago about how charming you can be.”
“You know I was merely funning, Alanna,” Bryghton defended.
“I know, Alcott, but the fact is that it is true. You do not even realize how your smooth talk can affect silly young girls. I know, I know,” she interrupted as he made to protest. “Lady Victoria is not a silly young girl, but she is inexperienced, and as I have undertaken to take her under my wing, I feel a responsibility to ensure she does not get hurt in the process. I do not want you charming her,” she concluded sternly.
Bryghton looked at his sister with a haughtily quirked eyebrow and
a steady stare while he pondered her words, his steps slowing to prolong their journey so as not to be overheard by anyone.
“I do not think I will allow you to dictate my actions, little chick, but I will promise you to do my best not to hurt any of the ladies I encounter this Season. I do believe you already extracted this promise from me, but I will reiterate it now. It applies equally to all the ladies and misses I encounter. Will that satisfy you?”
With a sniff and a shrug, Alanna answered, “Just barely.”
This was too much for the serious duke who burst into laughter. “You are a complete hand, my lady. Now come along and quit your sermonizing, you are far too young for it.”
Alanna decided she would have to be satisfied with her brother’s incomplete promises and shrugged herself out of her temporary ill humour, resuming her sunny chatter as they returned to the carriage and while the duke drove her back to the elegant townhouse in Mayfair.
The footmen were watching for Alanna’s return and one came hurrying down the steps as Bryghton pulled his team to a stop in front of the house. He did not bother getting down, allowing the servant to assist his passenger to alight.
“It was interesting, my dear, I will give you that,” he told her as way of farewell.
Alanna grinned up at her brother. “Thank you for taking me for a drive, your grace. Will you still stop by our box at the theatre this evening?”
“Perhaps,” was all he would allow, causing her to cast him a disgruntled look before she accepted the footman’s escort up the steps.
That evening, much to the duchess’ and her daughter’s delight, the duke did grace them with his presence during the intermission of the theatre show.
“My dear son, how delightful that you could join us,” said the duchess, smiling.
“Thank you, your grace. Are you enjoying the performance thus far?” Bryghton asked.
“Not as much as I had hoped, but I had been led to believe that this production was going to be beyond anything I had previously witnessed, so I had higher than usual expectations.”
The Reluctant Debutante: A Sweet, Regency Romance (Ladies of Mayfair Book 4) Page 20