Chapter Eight
Roxanne was subdued as she waited for Sir John to appear. Earlier she had stopped at the town house to see if her mother wished to drive to church with them but had been turned away by a servant. The footman who’d delivered her note yesterday had not been able to get past the kitchen door.
What was going on? She racked her brain to recall what trick she could use to get into the house that used to be her home and she came up with one or two notions that might work, but not today. She would be able to slip away from her aunt tomorrow when her seamstress was making a call at the house.
She expected a ride with Sir John to be just as boring as a drive but the chance to get on horseback again after three years tempted her to an outing when she had almost decided to never see Sir John again.
He and a groom came with the horses and she was glad he sat his hack well. Much could be forgiven a man who could ride. The mare the groom led seemed familiar to her and whickered when she stroked its nose. Then she realized it was her very own mare, which had been sold on her father’s death. She thought never to see Mist again and here the gray was, looking still eager for a run.
She took the reins and led the mare to the mounting block herself then sprang onto her back much in her old style.
“That was agile of you.”
“I know this mare, sir. I owned her for the first half of her life.”
“Indeed. I had no idea. My son suggested her as a trusty mount for a lady.”
“She is that and most eager to please. Shall we go?”
As they rode sedately up Oxford Street toward the park, Rox realized that Mist brought back bad memories as well as good, most of all a realization of everything she had lost. Her eyes were full of tears when they reached the corner entrance and started along the northern bridle path where they could trot.
“Are you all right?”
“These are tears of happiness, I assure you.”
“She could be yours again if you marry me.”
“Only if I marry you? You mean you would not sell her to me?” It was a moot point. She could never afford to buy Mist back, except by trading herself for the horse. Was she willing to pay that price?
“It would seem she is my only advantage in the contest for your hand.”
“I have never understood why anyone would want to marry me.”
“But my dear, you are charming. There’s no one else quite like you.”
“Now you have me worried. In what way am I a singularity?”
“You are so disarmingly frank.”
“Oh.” She felt the frown forming on her brow. That was bad, wasn’t it?
“You say exactly what you mean. You don’t flirt and simper.”
“Frank, am I? Then I ask you plainly, is marriage the only way to get my mare back?”
“Yes.”
“What about a wager?”
“What have you to wager?”
“My hand in marriage. You have said yourself that I am a woman of my word. We are almost to the pond in Kensington Gardens. If I beat you to the Serpentine, I get my horse back. If you win the race, I agree to marry you.”
“And get your horse back.” He laughed at her startled look.
“Yes, I suppose that isn’t quite fair since I win in either case but the odds are against me. You have that great black brute and are riding astride. I’m on this tiny mare and riding sidesaddle.”
“But you might fall. You could be killed.”
“Mist knows me. She won’t throw me.”
“But your reputation. If you win, you are ruined. Look at all the people strolling the gardens.”
“If I win, I won’t care. If I lose, you will marry me and my reputation does not matter. Or does it matter to you, perhaps too much?”
“I own to a wish to wed you before you do anything outrageous, for I really do like you and feel you would be the perfect woman with which to start a second family.”
That took her aback, for it was the first time he had mentioned children. “Is your first family wearing on you?”
“My son is my estate manager and he and his wife are always underfoot. There is also the concern that she might be barren. No children in all these years.”
“I had not realized that.”
“I am the head of my house and wish my name to continue. Only men worry about such things.”
“I see, your line must go on by whatever means.”
“My second concern is that you would make a bet.”
“Yes, the stigma of my father’s fate. I never thought of him as a gambler.” She was near the beginnings of anger now. Of course it was stupid to race in Hyde Park where anyone could see her but she suddenly didn’t care what anyone thought of her. She only cared about no more rides on Mist as they were meant to be, gliding across a green field with their hearts keeping time to the hoofbeats.
“Is there no other way I can win you?” he asked.
“I think not.”
“Very well, I accept your challenge.”
She turned Mist and halted her, pointing toward the man-made lake. “I play fair. You say when to start.”
“Go.”
What she had counted on, and Sir John had not, was her setting out cross-country rather than taking the paths he intended. Of course any horse would be faster on turf than on gravel. Not to mention how Mist could drop into a smooth gallop at the slightest urging.
The ground rolled away under them like a dream, with Roxanne almost flat along the mare’s neck. Suddenly she was home and a child again, free of all constraints, worries and fears. She’d never been burdened by a groom on her rides, not if Fredrick was along. She and Mist always outran him. She remembered what she had said to Tanner about disappearing and she had a notion to do it, just keep on riding until she got home to Exeter and never leave there again.
Her euphoria lasted until she saw a commanding figure on a chestnut take a start at the vision of her and Mist flowing along the ground. The chestnut’s hoofbeats were added to those of the mare, Sir John’s hack and the groom’s as Roxanne was reminded you could never go back and fix the past, even when the mistakes were not yours.
She pulled up at the lake and was walking Mist by the time Sir John got to the Serpentine. Tanner had more ground to cover so she was hoping his storm would not burst over her head until Sir John had conceded. Perhaps all the park saunterers who had noted them would think it was a runaway.
“By God. You win. What a starter she is. If I’d known, I would have raced her. I suppose this means you are shut of me.”
“No, I like you quite well and you may continue to call. It’s just that I’m not sure I’m cut out for marriage at all.”
“I hope you change your mind about that.”
Tanner rode up with a face almost as red as his horse. “What were you doing?”
“Winning. Something I’ve had small experience of lately.”
“But no lady gallops in the park.”
“It’s my fault, Tanner,” Sir John claimed. “I accepted the bet.”
“Bet?” Tanner glared at Roxanne.
“If she won the race, she won the horse, and I unfortunately did not win her. But I continue to admire her no matter what anyone else says.”
“That is a good thing, for she may get no other offers than yours after this display.”
“Then perhaps I have a chance after all. Shall I escort you home, Miss—”
“I shall see her home,” Tanner almost shouted.
“Until tonight then,” Sir John said and touched the brim of his hat in salute.
“Until dinner tonight,” Roxanne replied.
Tanner watched Sir John join his groom and ride off, then started to walk his horse. Roxanne eased her hold on the reins and the mare came up beside them. Mist was a little hot but looked as though she would like another gallop.
“You are angry,” she said.
“Yes.”
“About the gallop or about the bet?”
“Both.”
“I’m glad I did it. There’s not a soul in London who understands me or cares about me, except Fredrick and Holly.” She paused to see if he would add his name to the very short list but he kept his mouth clamped shut. “If I have put myself beyond the reach of everyone, that’s a good thing.”
“What about your aunt, your mother?”
“They are mine to face, not yours.” She glanced at him but all he showed was his stern profile. It was as well that she found out early how much the approval of society really meant to him. He was not the man she thought he was.
“I must ask that you do not see Holly again.” His voice sounded cold and impersonal.
“Afraid that my courage may rub off on her?”
“Your lack of judgment.”
“Holly has plenty of sense, enough to realize all the men she meets want only her fortune. And you set her up for failure. If she turns them all down she disappoints you. If she accepts one, she makes herself a prisoner for life. Think about that, Tanner, since you are having such stirrings of conscience on my behalf.”
“Marrying her to someone with a title is something we talked about for years.”
Roxanne snorted. “Something you want, not Holly, probably not even your mother. You talk about your only sister as though she is an object to get out of the way so you can get back to work, and you have not even the grace to feel bad about it the way Fredrick does.”
“Why have you saved all this condemnation ’til now? Do you see that I am no longer a possible target for you?”
“Target? That is cutting. You never were in my sites if that’s how you want to think of it.”
“Then what was the attraction? For you did seem to enjoy our company.”
“A true friend, something I have never had.” She felt his gaze on her. “Nor, I think, Holly either. I had hoped you would relent, give her another season to find her own way, but the only man she cares about is ineligible as far as you are concerned. For a cit, you set too high a price.”
“What man?” he demanded. “Fredrick?”
“Tanner, are you blind? You don’t even know?”
“Tell me.”
“No, you learn for yourself. Wake up and pay attention. Holly will need you if you have forbidden me to see her again. If you think I have been using you then think how you were using me, Sir John and Harding to keep her safe.”
When they got to her aunt’s house, Roxanne told the groom Mist was a gift from Sir John. She knew that servants’ gossip meant a great deal more than any story the ton invented. If word got out that Sir John had given her the horse, the speculation would be that she would marry him. And perhaps she should. She could do far worse for herself. He was old but a perfect gentleman, with a sense of justice and a surprising amount of wit now that she knew him better. Besides, he needed to be rescued from his son and daughter-in-law if she did not mistake.
She watched as Tanner cantered out into the street. That also was ill-advised. She must have angered him indeed. But all that she said to him had to be said by someone and she knew Holly would not have the courage or Harding the effrontery. She went inside to explain to Aunt Agatha her new acquisition and to brace her for the storm to come.
Her aunt took the news better than she had hoped, needing only one bout with her vinaigrette and a short nap to compose her nerves. When asked if the dinner was to be cancelled, she said certainly not so Roxanne went upstairs to pack away her riding costume. But she stopped herself. Mist was hers and she would never let anyone take her away again. It was Vance who had said the horses must all be sold to settle their debts. But what debts? Her father had always had a reputation for being beforehand with the world.
It was while she was sitting at the window, going over in her mind the ride and why she had done it, that a strange thought occurred to her. What if her father had not killed himself? What if all their misfortunes were a fiction Vance had invented? He had said he was her father’s best friend and had brought him the news about Waterloo because he knew much hung on it. But her father had never mentioned Vance before, let alone as a close friend.
That brought her to the unwelcome conclusion that Vance had murdered her father and taken over the estate for his own profit. But how had be worked it? Fredrick had been at school and barely got home in time for the funeral. He had accepted Vance’s tale and seemed eager to get back to Oxford. It wasn’t that he had not cared but he was not good at personal relationships or consoling people.
She’d been sent to a finishing school until Fredrick graduated. That did not speak of a lack of funds. Only after Vance and her mother married did she learn that Vance was leasing the main house. He had somehow convinced them it was an act of charity, that they were impoverished and he was helping.
When she remembered her father, she could not reconcile him committing suicide and leaving them in such straits. He was a courageous man and would have faced any difficulties with them.
What her suppositions led to was a more terrifying conclusion than her father’s murder. Vance was here to keep Fredrick from inheriting. He meant to kill her brother. That’s why he needed his cousin’s help— if Stone was Vance’s cousin.
She had thought there were only a few obligations standing between her and Tanner. There were a dozen. Of course, a real knight would slay some of these dragons for her instead of her having to do it all herself. But the conclusions she had reached sounded fantastic even in her own mind. She did not think the levelheaded Tanner would believe her and that was a disquieting thought. Still, she should give him the chance to aid in her rescue.
That was if she had not offended him to the point of him cutting the connection. There was also the worry that Vance’s evil might spread to encompass the Tanners if they involved themselves with her. Assuming Fredrick would not believe a warning from her, she on her own.
Chapter Nine
Tanner had ridden out to the heath to vent his anger but realized all he was doing was tiring his horse. He apologized to the beast then took him back to town at an easy walk. He had been attracted to Rox, had actually proposed to her only to be turned down. At least he’d been spared the embarrassment of applying to her brother. How could he have been so mistaken in her character?
Or was she as practiced at deceit as she was at flirtation? Surely she’d known she could best Sir John in a race or she wouldn’t have bet. So if she had bet on a sure thing, was she indeed the gambler he feared her to be? His mind was still churning with images of Rox, snippets of delightful conversation mixed with the bald truth she had just delivered like a punch in the gut. She might have lied to him about her reasons for not wanting to marry him but she had told the truth about Holly. The man who had asked for her hand was eligible in every way but when Tanner informed Holly of the fellow’s intentions, she’d burst into tears.
When he finally got home, he came in from the stable to the drawing room, still in turmoil over Rox, and discovered his sister in the arms of Fredrick Whitcomb.
“What the devil is going on?” Tanner demanded.
Holly turned on him with a vengeance, her face tearstained and her handkerchief sodden. “It’s you and your wicked temper, Spencer. You have berated Roxanne and now I shall never see her again.”
Fredrick actually looked relieved when Holly left his arms and stomped toward Spencer.
“You are behaving very unlike yourself, Holly.”
“What do you know about what I’m really like? Who cares if Roxanne galloped in the park?”
“I never thought to warn her,” Fredrick said. “That should have been my job if only I’d come up to town with her.”
Tanner tossed his hat on the table. “Common sense should have reined her in.”
“And Sir John gave her the horse,” Holly said.
“She won it from him in a bet.” Tanner watched Holly’s face for some sign of outrage but she still glared at him as though this were all his fault.
“There
was a groom?” Fredrick asked.
“Yes. After I caught up with them, I escorted her to your aunt’s. Sir John went his own way with the groom. Rox told the stable lad the mare was a gift, which means the ton will expect a proposal from Sir John and her acceptance.”
Fredrick dipped his head in agreement. “And what did Sir John say?”
“That he will see her tonight at your aunt’s dinner.”
“I suppose it could be worse,” Fredrick said. “If we all go on as we have been, we may brush through this.”
Holly wiped her eyes and glared at him. “She was my only friend and now it’s all ruined. She won’t go anywhere with me and I’ll be all alone again.”
Tanner blew out a tired breath. “Don’t be so dramatic, Holly. You’re never alone.”
“You don’t know what it’s like. You have work. Mother and I will have no visitors.” Her tears began streaming again and Tanner felt that two outbursts from her in one day were more than he could face.
Then he wondered if him making her cry earlier in the day had sent him on his ride in a foul mood and that’s why he had ripped up at Rox so badly. “I’m sure you’re exaggerating. Someone will call.”
“You’re blind, Spencer. You don’t really care about anything but appearances. And then you nearly engaged me to a man I loathe.”
Her anger was a slight improvement over her tears. Fortunately he had made no agreement with Kemerly, not even a verbal understanding since he had still wanted to consult with his mother. “I told you I would not force you into the match.”
Harding was shown in and though his color was high, he smiled tightly and came toward Holly with a note. He delivered it with a curt bow and nearly clicked his heels together.
“Is this from Roxanne?” she asked.
“Yes, she wanted to let you know the dinner is still on, but if Tanner forbids your coming she will understand.”
“If Mother is going, Tanner can hardly forbid me attending. I hope Roxanne is not much upset by Tanner’s high-handed treatment of her.”
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