An Unconventional Courtship

by Dorothy Mack

  Cleone fought against a wave of giddiness, concentrating on the precise motion of laying aside her pen. Ignoring the studied offensiveness of her great-uncle’s style, she said evenly, “You have been expecting Lord Altern to offer for me?”

  “Is there something amiss with your hearing? That’s what I’ve just said.”

  “I — I don’t think I understand. Should you not dislike to see me leave here?”

  “Of course I shall dislike it excessively,” he replied promptly, “and I shall certainly expect you to find me a competent housekeeper, one who knows her place and can deal with that simpering fool Jack married.” His voice softened as he continued to regard his niece’s dazed countenance. “I may be a selfish old reprobate, but I’d never try to keep you from a woman’s true destiny. Besides, I like Altern; he’s got more sense in his cockloft than the majority of young bucks these days. I only hope some of it rubs off on Henley this summer.” His tones hardened again. “And if you can figure out some way of ridding my house of the rest of this pack of females, you’ll have my eternal gratitude.”

  Cleone let out a small sound, half-sob, half-laugh. “Lord Carberry is becoming very particular in his attentions to Emerald. I shouldn’t be at all surprised to have him seeking an interview with you in the near future.”

  “That popinjay!” Despite her inner agitation, Cleone’s lips quirked at the look of distaste on her relative’s face. “The breeding’s well enough, I grant you, and from anything I’ve heard, the fortune’s intact, so if she’s set on having him, I suppose I have nothing to do but agree, though it will go against the grain to welcome a conceited ass into the family.”

  “He is young yet, sir, and may improve with maturity and experience.”

  “You’re to be commended more on your tolerance than your perspicacity. That type is born with an innate smugness that insulates them from the lessons of experience.”

  “Lacking your wisdom, sir, I must regretfully abandon the argument.” Cleone gathered together the results of her morning’s work and brought the finished letters to her uncle. “There is just one point I must dispute: you are not a selfish old reprobate.” She smiled at him lovingly and left him to sign his correspondence.

  Cleone’s ruminations on the least embarrassing way to reopen a conversation that one had begged to end permanently were interrupted on the other side of the study door, where she found Isabella in a perfectly distracted state.

  “Why, what has happened?”

  “Shhh! Come in here.” A puzzled Cleone followed her cousin into the green saloon.

  “It’s Cecily! She’s gone,” Lady Henley announced without preamble.

  “Gone where?”

  “To Gretna Green, I presume. She’s eloped with Bernard Ludlow.” Her voice shook and she twisted a lace handkerchief between her fingers with nervous energy.

  “That’s ridiculous! Why should she do something so utterly foolish?”

  “I suppose it’s really all my fault,” Lady Henley admitted tearfully. “I told her I thought young Ludlow was becoming too particular in his attentions. He’s here nearly every day, you know, but for the longest time I thought he merely drove his sister over to visit with Cecily. When I realized the truth of the situation, I spoke to Cecily. I told her she was far too young to be thinking of marriage. She’s only seventeen and not even out yet!”

  “Yes, I am aware, but what gives you to believe she has eloped?”

  “She left this note.”

  Cleone seized the paper Lady Henley pulled out of her reticule and scanned it quickly, a frown settling on her brow. “She doesn’t say she has eloped, only that she has gone with Bernard and that he will take good care of her.”

  “What else could she mean?” cried Lady Henley. “She was very upset when I said I meant to insist that Bernard limit his calls to this house from now on. She claimed that he loved her and wanted to marry her and she didn’t care about being presented but only wished to marry Bernard. When I told her that naturally there was no question of her marriage until after Emerald was settled, she became quite hysterical. She sobbed out some nonsense about Lord Altern loving you, not Emerald, and accused her sister of remaining single to spite her.” Isabella sounded aggrieved, and Cleone felt an impatient sympathy for her cousin, whose blindness where her daughters’ best interests were concerned had precipitated the current situation.

  She soothed her with assurances that she could trust Mr. Ludlow’s good sense, dissuaded her from telling Lord Brestwick anything at all at present, and sent her upstairs to check whether Cecily had taken any of her clothes with her. On learning that nothing seemed to be missing, the women agreed to do nothing for the moment but make excuses for Cecily’s absence at lunch and await further developments. Cleone promised to contact Philip as soon as she returned to Brighton. He and his sister were close, and it was possible Cecily would have confided in him.

  As she drew near the Castle Inn a couple of hours later, Cleone was much less sanguine about the rightness of the course she had persuaded Isabella to adopt. There had been ample time during the solitary drive for misgivings to engulf her, and she was shaking with nerves when she alighted from the carriage. If Cecily and Bernard had really started off for Gretna Green, precious hours had been wasted already.

  She gave no thought to the impropriety of appearing at a man’s lodgings unattended, but scooted up the main stairway at the Castle Inn to knock at the door to Lord Altern’s suite. She contained her impatience as best she could until Gregson opened the door, but when he informed her that her cousin was not at home, she simply stared at him in mounting horror.

  “Not here?” she whispered, clasping her hands together to still their trembling. “But I — I must see him!”

  “I regret that I am unable to inform you of Lord Henley’s present whereabouts, Miss Latham. Perhaps Lord Altern may —”

  “Is Ja— Lord Altern returned from London?” Her knees almost buckled from relief when she heard his voice asking Gregson who was there, and she pushed past the valet in her eagerness to reach him.

  “Miss Latham!” A frown appeared in his eyes as they went past her to the door Gregson was closing. “Are you alone?”

  “Yes, but please don’t scold. I have to see Philip. Do you know where he is?”

  “You are shaking like a leaf. Come in and sit down. Gregson, fetch some brandy.”

  “Very good, my lord.”

  “I don’t want any brandy, thank you. If you will just tell me where I may find Philip, I’ll be on my way.”

  “You may not want it, but you need it. Thank you, Gregson, that will be all.”

  “Very good, my lord.”

  Lord Altern waited until the valet had shut an inner door behind him before approaching his guest with the glass of brandy.

  “I told you I don’t want that!” She shook her head in an excess of exasperation that utterly failed to move him.

  “No drink, no talk.”

  She glared but accepted the glass and took a large swallow before he could open his mouth to caution her. By the time she had finished choking on the potent liquid, she was seated on the edge of a giltwood chair, all the fight gone out of her.

  “Now tell me what has happened so that I may help you,” Jason said quietly. He listened without interrupting; in fact, after her first words he directed his gaze to a spot on the Turkey red carpet. When she had stumbled to a close, he gave it as his opinion that Ludlow was not the type to do anything so ramshackle as to elope, especially since there could be no real objection to his eventual marriage to Cecily. “The family is highly regarded in these parts.”

  “I thought that myself. But where are they, then?”

  “Do you expect Henley to go haring off after them?”

  “I don’t quite know. I am hoping Cecily may have taken him into her confidence, although the whole situation blew up overnight, I’m afraid. Do you know where he is?”

  Jason stood up abruptly. “I’ll take you to hi
m,” he said, coming to a decision.

  “There is no need to involve you,” she protested weakly as he waited for the valet to answer the summons.

  When he had sent Gregson to order his phaeton, Jason came back to where Cleone sat, a melancholy cast to the Madonna features.

  “Do not distress yourself, my dear. I promise you everything will work out for the best. As for involving me —” he smiled directly into worried brown eyes — “I wish to be involved in everything you do. Oh, don’t fear that I mean to badger you again to marry me. I gave you my word not to reopen that painful subject.”

  Long dark lashes sank, veiling the expression in her eyes. Soft lips parted impulsively, then shut firmly on a sigh. She didn’t see the little smile that played around his mouth and merely nodded without looking at him directly when he excused himself to get his hat and driving gloves.

  Except for a conventional inquiry into her comfort, which elicited a conventional reply, practically no conversation was exchanged for the first few minutes while Jason worked the fidgets out of his fresh pair of matched chestnuts.

  “Where are we going?” asked Cleone when they took the road heading west.

  “Worthing.”

  “Whatever is Philip doing in Worthing?”

  After an infinitesimal pause, Lord Altern confessed, “I fear I am guilty of some deception on that head, my dear.”

  “Deception? About Philip?”

  “Yes.”

  “What is the meaning of this, my lord? Where is Philip?”

  “At this point, I should estimate about midway between Brighton and Bramble Hall.” He turned his head and met her expectant look. “Accompanied by Cecily and young Ludlow.”

  “Then, she did confide in her brother?”

  “Yes, she sent for Ludlow after the quarrel with her mother, and he brought her to town to talk to Philip, who has gone back with them to intercede with Lady Henley, or at least to smooth things over.”

  “Cecily is certainly too young to be thinking of marriage.”

  “Yes, except that she is thinking of it, of course. Among the three of us, though — Ludlow, her brother, and myself,” he added when she raised questioning brows, “we succeeded in assuring her that no one meant to tear her permanently from Ludlow’s arms, figuratively speaking, and it would be no bad thing to wait until her come-out to announce her betrothal. Henley was able to convince her that Emerald had no idea of remaining a spinster to spite her.” A little giggle from his companion brought the laughter leaping to his eyes. “He told Cecily that Carberry had confided that he had just written to her grandfather to seek permission to pay his addresses to Emerald.”

  “Ah!”

  “May I echo that sentiment? It seems the various problems of the Hardwickes are in a fair way to being settled. This being so, do you think we might address our own situation?”

  “Do we have a situation?”

  “Do I detect a note of coyness? If you do not take care, my prim Miss Latham, you may find yourself engaged in the despicable pastime of flirting.”

  Cleone bit back a smile and glanced about her, conscious all at once of fields and trees rushing past and the swaying motion of the phaeton. “Jason, where are we going?”

  “I told you — Worthing.”

  “Do be serious,” she begged. “What are you doing? Godmama will be frantic with worry. I have been gone for hours.”

  “I am merely abducting you, and Aunt Bess is not the least worried because I informed her of my intention.”

  “Abducting me! Jason!”

  “You know,” he replied conversationally, “I think you are most enchanting when you try to be prim and the laughter bubbles up inside you, as at this moment.”

  “Jason,” she warned.

  “Yes, well, what else was I to do, my darling, when you were so determined to deny us both happiness out of duty, and I, in a moment of weakness at your distress, had foolishly promised not to ask you again? It was obvious that drastic measures would be called for to bring this unconventional courtship to a happy conclusion. The business I transacted in London yesterday was the procurement of a special licence.” He turned to smile into her startled eyes. “You are about to be married, my darling.”

  “But, Jason, this really isn’t necessary. My uncle told me today that he has been expecting you to offer for me; in fact,” she amplified with a little chuckle, “he was rather disgusted that I hadn’t the wit or allure to bring it off after a whole fortnight in Brighton.”

  “I was fairly certain the old gentleman was wise to me. He’s a downy one, for all that he spends most of his time closeted in that study of his. As for the necessity of marrying immediately, it is true that we aren’t being driven to flight like Uncle Robert and Aunt Bess, but —”

  “Did your aunt actually elope?”

  “Aha, that caught your interest. I’ll save the story for our wedding supper tonight.”

  “That is nothing less than shameless bribery.”

  Jason’s laugh was young and carefree. “Meeting you has had a deleterious effect on my character, I fear. I have spent most of my time since in plotting and conniving ways to get you to myself in the face of a positive conspiracy to keep us apart.”

  “Conspiracy, nonsense!”

  “Well, it seemed like a conspiracy from where I sat, more or less dancing attendance on Emerald. And that is another good reason to marry today. There is bound to be a grand splash for her wedding, and unless I miss my guess, all the organization and planning will fall on your shoulders. Our own wishes will be summarily set aside. This way, after we have a few days to ourselves, we can move back to Bramble Hall until you get your uncle settled with a good housekeeper and your cousin’s wedding organized.”

  “But, Jason, I haven’t so much as a toothbrush with me.”

  “Not to worry, my practical Miss Latham. In my note to Aunt Bess, I asked her to pack for you. My groom will be meeting us with our baggage in Worthing.”

  A silence spread and grew between them. Jason gripped the reins tighter and willed himself to stillness. He had done all that he could do. The rest was up to Cleone.

  A small tentative voice said, “You have never actually said you love me, Jason.”

  In the next moment, Cleone owed her safety to her beloved’s driving skill. She heard the hiss of his indrawn breath, then the horses were pulled up with one hand while the other prevented her from being thrown from the vehicle.

  A one-armed man in an open carriage behind a high-couraged pair is at a disadvantage in convincing a woman that he adores her, but the Earl of Altern easily managed to overcome that particular difficulty.

  Cleone emerged from his embrace with shining eyes that promised raptures to come, but what she said, albeit in a shaken voice, was, “I have always wanted to have supper in Worthing. Should you keep the horses standing? They will take cold.”

  Jason chuckled delightedly. “Correct as usual, my practical Miss Latham.” He bent over to drop a hasty kiss on the tip of her nose before giving his horses the office to start.

  ***

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  ALSO BY DOROTHY MACK

  The Substitute Bride

  The Raven Sisters

  The Impossible Ward

  A Companion in Joy

  The Belle of Bath

  The Last Waltz

  A Prior Attachment

  The Reluctant Heart

  The General’s Granddaughter

  The Unlikely Chaperone

  The Mock Marriage

  The Courtship of Chloe

  The Lost Heir

  The Awakening Heart

  Temporary Betrothal

  The Counterfeit Widow

  The Gamester’s Daughter

  The Gold Scent Bottle

  The Abducted Bride

  The Steadfast Heart
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  Copyright © Dorothy Mack, 1987

  Dorothy Mack has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events, other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously.

  Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales are purely coincidental.

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-913335-98-4