September Awakening (The Silver Foxes of Westminster Book 4)

by Merry Farmer

  September Awakening

  Merry Farmer

  SEPTEMBER AWAKENING

  Copyright ©2018 by Merry Farmer

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your digital retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover design by Erin Dameron-Hill (the miracle-worker)

  ASIN: B07F6ZM27Z

  Paperback ISBN: 9781723738395

  Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.

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  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Winterberry Park, Wiltshire – September 1880

  Lady Lavinia Prior had lived her entire life, twenty-six years of it, on the outskirts of London high society. She lived in a respectable townhouse around respectable people. While she herself was unambitious to a fault—in spite of her mother’s constant machinations—she’d managed to make a few friends who were important in the political world and far higher up the social ladder than she could dream of being.

  So when she received an invitation from her dear friend, Marigold Croydon, sent from the grand country estate, Winterberry Park, owned by Marigold’s influential husband, Alexander Croydon, inviting her to a late-summer house party, she was astounded. The gentry threw house parties all the time, but this was Marigold’s first party and Lavinia’s first invitation to attend. Lavinia had spent weeks imagining the opulence of such a grand residence as Winterberry Park, but she hadn’t truly grasped how massive the Park was. Until now.

  As the Croydon carriage that had picked up her and her mother, Lady Ursula Prior, from the train station in town rounded the bend, giving Lavinia her first full view of the estate, she was stunned. The Park was more of a palace than a house, with its three, commanding stories and elegantly shaped towers. The front garden was a masterpiece of landscape architecture, complete with a cheery fountain. And those were only the surface features. Who knew what wonders awaited inside? Lavinia had underestimated her friend’s good fortune in marrying a rising star of Parliament.

  Her mother, on the other hand, let out a self-satisfied sigh and proclaimed, “It’s just as I thought it would be.” She added a giddy giggle to her statement and grabbed Lavinia’s arm. “This is your chance, my dear. I can feel it in my waters. This house party is the chance we’ve been waiting for all these years.”

  “It’s my chance to visit with my closest friends,” Lavinia said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Whether her mother heard her or not, she went on as though Lavinia hadn’t spoken, as usual. “Mr. Croydon is sure to have invited a whole passel of eligible gentlemen to his house party. That must be why Mrs. Croydon wants you here. I’m confident that by the end of the month, we will have found you a baron or a viscount or even an earl to marry.” She clapped her hands together as the carriage rolled to a stop in front of the wide stairs leading to the grand front door of Winterberry Park. “This is it, my dear, this is it.”

  Lavinia fought to keep her benign smile in place. This had been “it” a dozen times before. Every high society ball they were invited to, every musicale hosted by a duchess that she’d managed to wheedle an invitation to, all of the social events of London were Lavinia’s big chance to snag a titled husband. And yet, none of the gentlemen who had danced with her or engaged her in conversation were good enough for her social-climbing mother, and Lavinia certainly wasn’t good enough for the sort of men her mother set her sights on. The daughter of a baron who had fallen on hard times had no business being courted by a peer, or being addressed as “Lady”, but her mother insisted on both, much to Lavinia’s embarrassment. The only result of her mother’s machinations was a pickiness that had Lavinia convinced she would die a spinster.

  Not that she minded. A spinster with good, powerful friends could be an independent woman, which was exactly what Lavinia wanted to be. A woman without a husband and children to tie her down could travel, could become involved in politics, and could be the beloved “auntie” to her friends’ children. The single life was precisely the future Lavinia had in mind for herself, in spite of her mother. As the carriage stopped at the base of the wide staircase leading up to Winterberry Park’s front door and Marigold rushed out to meet it, Lady Stanhope and Mariah deVere following behind, a thrill of excited possibility struck Lavinia’s heart.

  “My,” her mother exclaimed as a footman in smart livery opened the carriage door for them. “Mrs. Croydon does look stylish in that frock.” She glanced over her shoulder to Lavinia as she scooted toward the footman. “Do stand up straight when you’re presented, dear, and don’t fidget with your trim.”

  Lavinia pursed her lips to hold her temper in check. “Mama, I haven’t fidgeted since I was twelve. And besides, these are my closest friends.”

  Her mother made a doubtful noise and turned her attention to the footman, who helped her alight. Lavinia stepped down after her, beaming at the sight of three of her closest friends together.

  “I’m so glad you’ve made it here at last,” Marigold said, leading the pack as they hurried down the stone stairs to greet Lavinia with hugs and kisses.

  “It was a trial of a journey,” Lavinia’s mother answered before Lavinia could. “But you are so kind to have invited us to such a splendid event.”

  As soon as Marigold let Lavinia go so that Lady Stanhope and Mariah could hug her in greeting, she turned to Lavinia’s mother with a polite smile. “Welcome to Winterberry Park, Lady Prior. I’ve had Mrs. Musgrave prepare a special suite of rooms just for you.”

  “A suite,” Lavinia’s mother exclaimed, eyes bright, a hand pressed to her chest. “Mrs. Croydon, you are too kind.”

  “I wonder if she’ll say the same when she realizes the suite is in an entirely different part of the house than where Marigold’s put us,” Lady Stanhope said, hooking her arm through Lavinia’s in an almost sisterly gesture.

  A wave of gratitude and admiration swept through Lavinia. Katya Marlowe, Lady Stanhope, was old enough to be Lavinia’s mother. She had three children of her own who were nearly grown. Her son, Rupert, the current Earl of Stanhope, stood on the verge of assuming the duties of the title that Lady Stanhope had carried out for a decade. Her daughters, Bianca and Natalia, were already bei
ng spoken of as the debutantes to beat once they had their coming out. And yet, Lady Stanhope considered Lavinia a friend.

  “Marigold couldn’t possibly have given me a room in the same part of the house as the rest of you,” Lavinia said, her eyes wide in disbelief. “Surely she has me secured on some hall with the other single, young ladies invited to the house party.”

  “Ah,” Mariah said, walking on Lavinia’s other side as they mounted the stairs and headed into the house. “As it turns out, you’re the only single lady in attendance this month.”

  “Bianca and Natalia don’t count,” Lady Stanhope added. “No matter what they tell you about their level of maturity and sophistication.” Her expression hinted that her daughters were anything but sophisticated or mature.

  Lavinia’s brow rose. Mariah was a newer friend, one she’d become close to thanks to her connections with Marigold and Lady Stanhope, so she didn’t think the young countess would tease her. On the other hand…. “Aren’t house parties designed to introduce eligible women and men to prospective partners?” she asked.

  Lady Stanhope and Mariah laughed, their faces alight with mischief. “Not when the majority of the gentlemen invited are set to play vital roles in the new parliament this November,” Lady Stanhope said, flickering one dark brow. “Marigold told you Alex has been picked by Gladstone to be in his cabinet, didn’t she?”

  “She did,” Lavinia answered, still in awe of how important her friends were.

  Mariah leaned closer to her as they passed through the hall and into a large receiving room with tall, French doors that looked out into a garden courtyard. “The men are up to something,” she said. “Couriers have been in and out of the house since we arrived a few days ago. Mr. Croydon’s man of business, Mr. Phillips, has already been to London and back with special messages.”

  “If you ask me,” Lady Stanhope said, “they’re plotting the fate of the Empire in the library as we speak.”

  “Can they do that?” Lavinia asked, her eyes going round. She instantly cursed her show of naiveté.

  “Whether they can or not,” Lady Stanhope answered, her handsome features making her appear downright wicked, “they are.”

  “Oh.” Lavinia breathed out the single syllable in awe. It didn’t matter how long she’d been friends with Lady Stanhope and Marigold, she was constantly surprised by the power and influence the ladies and their husbands wielded. Particularly after the election in the spring. Their Liberal Party had won a definitive victory, and everyone across the nation was holding their breath and waiting to see what brave new era would be ushered in. Lavinia had high hopes that her circle’s particular cause, the rights of women, would be front and center in the new parliamentary session.

  But there were other campaigns that needed to be set into motion besides those that would happen in the halls of Westminster.

  “Tad, would you please escort Lady Prior and her things to the Rose Suite?” Marigold asked as a particularly handsome footman stepped into the receiving room.

  “The Rose Suite,” Lavinia’s mother gasped, as though she were about to be given a treat. “Lavinia, come along.” She made a sharp gesture for Lavinia to come away from Lady Stanhope—whom she did not approve of one bit, in spite of Lady Stanhope being a countess—to join her.

  “Oh,” Lavinia began, disappointed.

  Marigold intervened. “The Rose Suite is especially for you, my lady. I’ve put Lady Lavinia in a lesser room.”

  What would have sounded like an insult to uninformed ears made Lavinia smile, especially when her mother puffed herself up and said, “Yes, yes, of course. How very thoughtful of you, Mrs. Croydon.” To Lavinia, she said, “Do not wander off or go out frolicking in the garden, dear. You’ll spoil your dress. I shall return forthwith to instruct you in the ways and manners of house parties.” She turned to the footman and nodded, and within moments was led away.

  Lavinia let out a breath, her shoulders loosening. “She’s been like that since Paddington Station,” she moaned.

  Her friends circled around her, leading her out to the balmy sunshine of the garden courtyard. “She always was priggish and patronizing,” Lady Stanhope said.

  “You should have heard her lecturing me on the chance I have to snag a husband at this house party,” Lavinia sighed as her group was seated in a lovely set of white wicker furniture surrounding a small table that a maid was setting with tea.

  “Yes, well, we have other plans, don’t we,” Marigold said, a glimmer in her eyes.

  “The foundation of the plan has already been laid,” Mariah added, equally mischievous. “I haven’t announced that I’m expecting again to anyone but you.” Her cheeks glowed as she smiled at her friends. “Once I make my condition known, I’ll begin dropping hints that I would dearly love my friend Lavinia to come stay with me in my confinement and to be a help and a comfort once the new baby is born.”

  “Aren’t you concerned that my mother will remember you have your sister, Victoria, living with you at Starcross Castle and that she’ll question why you need me as well?”

  Mariah lost some of her smile. “Victoria is still in a black mood, and her spirits are quite depressed. If your mother does mention her, I can say as much.” She blinked her way back into a broad smile. “In fact, I could say that you would be of great use in cheering poor Vicky up as well.”

  “And if your mother attempts to object to that,” Lady Stanhope went on, “all we need to do is have Peter impress upon her how delighted he, an earl, would be to have you in his household.”

  “And how many titled men that will give you a chance to meet,” Marigold said with a grin as she poured tea. “Thank you, Anne,” she said to the maid, who moved to the side, waiting in case she was needed.

  “But the point is not to marry at all,” Lavinia said. “The point is to get out from under my mother’s thumb so that I can live my own life, for a change.” She took a teacup from Marigold and handed it to Mariah. “I’m more concerned that she will attempt to invite herself to Starcross Castle instead of letting me go on my own.”

  “I will make very clear to her that the invitation is for you and you only,” Mariah said.

  Lavinia huffed a wry laugh. “You don’t know my mother. I’m convinced that she will march up to the gates of heaven with me and demand St. Peter accommodate me as she sees fit, and then she’d sit on my cloud with me, instructing me how to play my harp for all of eternity.”

  “We won’t let that happen,” Lady Stanhope said, plucking a biscuit from the plate on the table between them. “The only force on earth more powerful than a meddling mother is a determined group of friends.”

  A deep feeling of affection filled Lavinia’s gut, causing her to blink away tears. She was the luckiest woman in the world to have such wonderful friends. The only thing that would have made the moment more perfect would have been if Elaine Bond, the new Countess of Waltham, could have been there with them. But Elaine and her new husband, Basil Waltham, had only just returned to Cumbria, and according to the copious and descriptive letters Elaine had sent to Lavinia through Lady Stanhope, they weren’t in any rush to head south when life in Brynthwaite was so satisfying.

  The tea Marigold served was the best that Lavinia had ever sipped, and the conversation with her friends was some of the most relaxing and encouraging she’d had for months. She settled back in her chair, ready to face a future that was full of the hope of an independent life. The sun shone down, birds chased each other through the colorful garden beds, and all seemed right with the world.

  She was on the verge of closing her eyes when someone opened a window halfway along the house, several yards from them. The stern face of Dr. Armand Pearson, now Viscount Helm, stared out into the garden for a moment. The sound of men’s voices discussing something with passion drifted out, mingling with the lighter conversation of the ladies. Dr. Pearson turned and met Lavinia’s eyes. She sucked in a breath and looked away, heat coming to her cheeks. There was somet
hing about the man that intimidated her to no end. Perhaps it was the frown he always wore or the restlessness that had enveloped him on every occasion when they’d met. She would have to do her best to avoid the man for the duration of the house party or else she feared she would do something to make herself look like a ninny.

  “Ma’am.” Lavinia was shaken out of her thoughts as the footman, Tad, strode swiftly into the garden, a concerned frown on his face. He approached Marigold, but glanced to Lavinia as he did. “Ma’am, I’m afraid Lady Prior has been taken ill.”

  Lavinia sat up straight, setting her teacup on the table. “So soon? We’ve only just arrived. She was fine on the train.”

  “She seemed to be settling nicely. She was asking me who the gentlemen of the house party were. I only got as far as Dr. Pearson when she came over funny.” Tad glanced at her with a strange look that combined apology and irritation. “She says she’s quite ill now and that she needs a doctor.”

  “Oh, dear,” Marigold said, standing. “Anne, fetch the doctor, please.”

  Lavinia stood as well, the tea she’d enjoyed just moments before suddenly feeling like acid in her stomach. “She wouldn’t dare,” she breathed, stepping away from the chair and falling in by Marigold’s side as they followed Tad back toward the house. “We’ve only just arrived. She wouldn’t dare pull something like this so quickly.”

  But as they hurried back into the house, Lavinia had the horrible feeling that her mother had already set her matrimonial machinations into motion.