Four In Hand

by Stephanie Laurens

  His lazy drawl reached Max’s ears. “I’m very much afraid, Max, dear boy, that you’re going to have to concede. The opposition is quite overwhelming.”

  Max glared at him. Seeing the determination in his lordship’s grey eyes and understanding his reasons only too well, he knew he was outnumbered on all fronts. His eyes returned to Caroline’s face to find her regarding him quizzically. “Oh, very well!”

  Her smile warmed him and at the prompting lift of her brows he introduced his friends, first to her, and then to her sisters in turn. The chattering voices washed over him, his friends’ deeper tones running like a counterpoint in the cacophony. Caroline moved to his side.

  “You’re not seriously annoyed by us riding, are you?”

  He glanced down at her. The stern set of his lips reluctantly relaxed. “I would very much rather you did not. However,” he continued, his eyes roving to the group of her three sisters and his two friends, busy with noisy plans for their first ride that afternoon, “I can see that’s impossible.”

  Caroline smiled. “We won’t come to any harm, I assure you.”

  “Allow me to observe, Miss Twinning, that gallivanting about the London ton is fraught with rather more difficulty than you would have encountered in American society, nor yet within the circle to which you were accustomed in Hertfordshire.”

  A rich chuckle greeted his warning. “Fear not, dear guardian,” she said, raising laughing eyes to his. Max noticed the dimple, peeking irrepressibly from beside her soft mouth. “We’ll manage.”

  ———

  Naturally, Max felt obliged to join the riding party that afternoon. Between both his and Darcy Hamilton’s extensive stables, they had managed to assemble suitable mounts for the four girls. Caroline had assured him that, like all country misses, they could ride very well. By the time they gained the Park, he had satisfied himself on that score. At least he need not worry over them losing control of the frisky horses and being thrown. But, as they were all as stunning as he had feared they would be, elegantly gowned in perfectly cut riding habits, his worries had not noticeably decreased.

  As they ambled further into the Park, by dint of the simple expedient of reining in his dappled grey, he dropped to the rear of the group, the better to keep the three younger girls in view. Caroline, riding by his side, stayed with him. She threw him a laughing glance but made no comment.

  As he had expected, they had not gone more than two hundred yards before their numbers were swelled by the appearance of Lord Tulloch and young Mr. Mitchell. But neither of these gentlemen seemed able to interrupt the rapport which, to Max’s experienced eye, was developing with alarming rapidity between Sarah Twinning and Darcy Hamilton. Despite his fears, he grudgingly admitted the Twinning sisters knew a trick or two. Arabella flirted outrageously but did so with all gentlemen, none being able to claim any special consideration. Lizzie attracted the quieter men and was happy to converse on the matters currently holding the interest of the ton. Her natural shyness and understated youth, combined with her undeniable beauty, was a heady tonic for these more sober gentlemen. As they ventured deeper into the Park, Max was relieved to find Sarah giving Darcy no opportunity to lead her apart. Gradually, his watchfulness relaxed. He turned to Caroline.

  “Have you enjoyed your first taste of life in London?”

  “Yes, thank you,” she replied, grey eyes smiling. “Your aunt has been wonderful. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done.”

  Max’s brow clouded. As it happened, the last thing he wanted was her gratitude. Here he was, thinking along lines not grossly dissimilar from Darcy’s present preoccupation, and the woman chose to thank him. He glanced down at her as she rode beside him, her face free of any worry, thoroughly enjoying the moment. Her presence was oddly calming.

  “What plans to you have for the rest of the week?” he asked.

  Caroline was slightly surprised by his interest but replied readily. “We’ve been driving in the Park every afternoon except today. I expect we’ll continue to appear, although I rather think, from now on, it will be on horseback.” She shot him a measuring glance to see how he would take that. His face was slightly grim but he nodded in acceptance. “Last evening, we went to a small party given by Lady Mailing. Your aunt said there are a few more such gatherings in the next week which we should attend, to give ourselves confidence in society.”

  Max nodded again. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sarah avoid yet another of Darcy’s invitations to separate from the group. He saw the quick frown which showed fleetingly in his friend’s eyes. Serve him right if the woman drove him mad. But, he knew, Darcy was made of sterner stuff. The business of keeping his wards out of the arms of his friends was going to be deucedly tricky. Returning to contemplation of Miss Twinning’s delightful countenance, he asked, “Has Aunt Augusta got you vouchers for Almack’s yet?”

  “Yes. We met Lady Sefton and Lady Cowper on our first drive in the Park.”

  Appreciating his aunt’s strategy, Max grinned. “Trust Aunt Augusta.”

  Caroline returned his smile. “She’s been very good to us.”

  Thinking that the unexpected company of four lively young women must have been a shock to his aunt’s system, Max made a mental note to do anything in his power to please his aunt Benborough.

  They had taken a circuitous route through the Park and only now approached the fashionable precincts. The small group almost immediately swelled to what, to Max, were alarming proportions, with every available gentleman clamouring for an introduction to his beautiful wards. But, to his surprise, at a nod from Caroline, the girls obediently brought their mounts closer and refused every attempt to draw them further from his protective presence. To his astonishment, they all behaved with the utmost decorum, lightened, of course, by their natural liveliness but nevertheless repressively cool to any who imagined them easy targets. Despite his qualms, he was impressed. They continued in this way until they reached the gates of the Park, by which time the group had dwindled to its original size and he could relax again.

  He turned to Caroline, still by his side. “Can you guarantee they’ll always behave so circumspectly, or was that performance purely for my benefit?” As her laughing eyes met his, he tried to decide whether they were greeny-grey or greyish-green. An intriguing question.

  “Oh, we’re experienced enough to know which way to jump, I assure you,” she returned. After a pause, she continued, her voice lowered so only he could hear. “In the circumstances, we would not willingly do anything to bring disrepute on ourselves. We are very much aware of what we owe to you and Lady Benborough.”

  Max knew he should be pleased at this avowal of good intentions. Instead, he was aware of a curious irritation. He would certainly do everything in his power to reinforce her expressed sentiment with respect to the three younger girls, but to have Caroline Twinning espousing such ideals was not in keeping with his plans. Somehow, he was going to have to convince her that adherence to all the social strictures was not the repayment he, at least, would desire. The unwelcome thought that, whatever the case, she might now consider herself beholden to him, and would, therefore, grant him his wishes out of gratitude, very nearly made him swear aloud. His horse jibbed at the suddenly tightened rein and he pushed the disturbing thought aside while he dealt with the grey. Once the horse had settled again, he continued by Caroline’s side as they headed back to Mount Street, a distracted frown at the back of his dark blue eyes.

  ———

  Augusta Benborough flicked open her fan and plied it vigorously. Under cover of her voluminous skirts, she slipped her feet free of her evening slippers. She had forgotten how stifling the small parties, held in the run-up to the Season proper, could be. Every bit as bad as the crushers later in the Season. But there, at least, she would have plenty of her own friends to gossip with. The mothers and chaperons of the current batch of debutantes were a generation removed from her own and at these small parties they were generally the only ol
der members present. Miriam Alford had elected to remain at Twyford House this evening, which left Augusta with little to do but watch her charges. And even that, she mused to herself, was not exactly riveting entertainment.

  True, Max was naturally absent, which meant her primary interest in the entire business was in abeyance. Still, it was comforting to find Caroline treating all the gentlemen who came her way with the same unfailing courtesy and no hint of partiality. Arabella, too, seemed to be following that line, although, in her case, the courtesy was entirely cloaked in a lightly flirtatious manner. In any other young girl, Lady Ben-borough would have strongly argued for a more demure style. But she had watched Arabella carefully. The girl had quick wits and a ready tongue. She never stepped beyond what was acceptable, though she took delight in sailing close to the wind. Now, convinced that no harm would come of Arabella’s artful play, Augusta nodded benignly as that young lady strolled by, accompanied by the inevitable gaggle of besotted gentlemen.

  One of their number was declaiming,

  “’My dearest flower, More beautiful by the hour, To you I give my heart.’”

  Arabella laughed delightedly and quickly said, “My dear sir, I beg you spare my blushes! Truly, your verses do me more credit than I deserve. But surely, to do them justice, should you not set them down on parchment?” Anything was preferable to having them said aloud.

  The budding poet, young Mr. Rawlson, beamed. “Nothing would give me greater pleasure, Miss Arabella. I’ll away and transcribe them immediately. And dedicate them to your inspiration!” With a flourishing bow, he departed precipitately, leaving behind a silence pregnant with suppressed laughter.

  This was broken by a snigger from Lord Shannon. “Silly puppy!”

  As Mr. Rawlson was a year or two older than Lord Shannon, who himself appeared very young despite his attempts to ape the Corinthians, this comment itself caused some good-natured laughter.

  “Perhaps, Lord Shannon, you would be so good as to fetch me some refreshment?” Arabella smiled sweetly on the hapless youngster. With a mutter which all interpreted to mean he was delighted to be of service to one so fair, the young man escaped.

  With a smile, Arabella turned to welcome Viscount Pilborough to her side.

  Augusta’s eyelids drooped. The temperature in the room seemed to rise another degree. The murmuringvoices washed over her. Her head nodded. With a start, she shook herself awake. Determined to keep her mind active for the half-hour remaining, she sought out her charges. Lizzie was chattering animatedly with a group of debutantes much her own age. The youngest Twinning was surprisingly innocent, strangely unaware of her attractiveness to the opposite sex, still little more than a schoolgirl at heart. Lady Benborough smiled. Lizzie would learn soon enough; let her enjoy her girlish gossiping while she might.

  A quick survey of the room brought Caroline to light, strolling easily on the arm of the most eligible Mr. Willoughby.

  “It’s so good of you to escort your sister to these parties, sir. I’m sure Miss Charlotte must be very grateful.” Caroline found conversation with the reticent Mr. Willoughby a particular strain.

  A faint smile played at the corners of Mr. Willoughby’s thin lips. “Indeed, I believe she is. But really, there is very little to it. As my mother is so delicate as to find these affairs quite beyond her, it would be churlish of me indeed to deny Charlotte the chance of becoming more easy in company before she is presented.”

  With grave doubts over how much longer she could endure such ponderous conversation without running amok, Caroline seized the opportunity presented by passing a small group of young ladies, which included the grateful Charlotte, to stop. The introductions were quickly performed.

  As she stood conversing with a Miss Denbright, an occupation which required no more than half her brain, Caroline allowed her eyes to drift over the company. Other than Viscount Pilborough, who was dangling after Arabella in an entirely innocuous fashion, and Darcy Hamilton, who was pursuing Sarah in a far more dangerous way, there was no gentleman in whom she felt the least interest. Even less than her sisters did she need the opportunity of the early parties to gain confidence. Nearly eighteen months of social consorting in the ballrooms and banquet halls in New York had given them all a solid base on which to face the London ton. And even more than her sisters, Caroline longed to get on with it. Time, she felt, was slipping inexorably by. Still, there were only four more days to go. And then, surely their guardian would reappear? She had already discovered that no other gentleman’s eyes could make her feel quite the same breathless excitement as the Duke of Twyford’s did. He had not called on them since that first ride in the Park, a fact which had left her with a wholly resented feeling of disappointment Despite the common sense on which she prided herself, she had formed an irritating habit of comparing all the men she met with His domineering Grace and inevitably found themwanting. Such foolishness would have to stop. With a small suppressed sigh, she turned a charming smile on Mr. Willoughby, wishing for the sixteenth time that his faded blue eyes were of a much darker hue.

  Satisfied that Caroline, like Lizzie and Arabella, needed no help from her, Lady Benborough movedher gaze on, scanning the room for Sarah’s dark head. When her first survey drew no result, she sat up straighter, a slight frown in her eyes. Darcy Hamilton was here, somewhere, drat him. He had attended every party they had been to this week, a fact which of itself had already drawn comment. His attentions to Sarah were becoming increasingly marked. Augusta knew all the Hamiltons. She had known Darcy’s father and doubted not the truth of the ‘like father, like son’ adage. But surely Sarah was too sensible to… She wasted no time in completing that thought but started a careful, methodical and entirely well-disguised visual search. From her present position, on a slightly raised dais to one side, she commanded a view of the whole room. Her gaze passed over the alcove set in the wall almost directly opposite her but then returned, caught by a flicker of movement within the shadowed recess.

  There they were, Sarah and, without doubt, Darcy Hamilton. Augusta could just make out the blur of colour that was Sarah’s green dress. How typical of Darcy. They were still in the room, still within sight, but, in the dim light of the alcove, almost private. As her eyes adjusted to the poor light, Augusta saw to her relief that, despite her fears and Darcy’s reputation, they were merely talking, seated beside one another on a small setee. Still, to her experienced eye, there was a degree of familiarity in their pose, which, given that it must be unconscious, was all too revealing. With a sigh, she determined to have a word, if not several words, with Sarah, regarding the fascinations of men like Darcy Hamilton. She would have to do it, for Darcy’s proclivities were too well-known to doubt.

  She watched as Darcy leaned closer to Sarah.

  “My dear,” drawled Darcy Hamilton, “do you have any idea of the temptation you pose? Or the effect beauty such as yours has on mere men?”

  His tone was lazy and warm, with a quality of velvety smoothness which fell like a warm cloak over Sarah’s already hypersensitized nerves. He had flung one arm over the back of the settee and long fingers were even now twining in the soft curls at her nape. She knew she should move but could not. The sensations rippling down her spine were both novel and exhilarating. She was conscious of a ludicrous desire to snuggle into that warmth, to invite more soft words. But the desire which burned in his lordship’s grey eyes was already frighteningly intense. She determinedly ignored the small reckless voice which urged her to encourage him and instead replied, “Why, no. Of course not.”

  Darcy just managed to repress a snort of disgust. Damn the woman! Her voice had held not the thread of a quaver. Calm and steady as a rock when his own pulses were well and truly racing. He simply did not believe it. He glanced down into her wide brown eyes, guileless as ever, knowing that his exasperation was showing. For a fleeting instant, he saw a glimmer of amusement and, yes, of triumph in the brown depths. But when he looked again, the pale face was once again devoid of em
otion. His grey eyes narrowed.

  Sarah saw his intent look and immediately dropped her eyes.

  Her action confirmed Darcy’s suspicions. By God, the chit was playing with him! The fact that Sarah could only be dimly aware of the reality of the danger she was flirting with was buried somewhere in the recesses of his mind. But, like all the Hamiltons, for him, desire could easily sweep aside all reason. In that instant, he determined he would have her, no matter what the cost. Not here, not now—neither place nor time was right. But some time, somewhere, Sarah Twinning would be his.

  Augusta’s attention was drawn by the sight of a mother gathering her two daughters and preparing to depart. As if all had been waiting for this signal, it suddenly seemed as if half the room was on their way. With relief, she turned to see Darcy lead Sarah from the alcove and head in her direction. As Caroline approached, closely followed by Lizzie and Arabella, Augusta Benborough wriggled her aching toes back into her slippers and rose. It was over. And in four days’ time the Season would begin. As she smiled benignly upon the small army of gentlemen who had escorted her charges to her side, she reminded herself that, with the exception of Darcy Hamilton, there was none present tonight who would make a chaperon uneasy. Once in wider society, she would have no time to be bored. The Twinning sisters would certainly see to that.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Emma, Lady Mortland, thought Max savagely, had no right to the title. He would grant she was attractive, in a blowsy sort of way, but her conduct left much to be desired. She had hailed him almost as soon as he had entered the Park. He rarely drove there except when expediency demanded. Consequently, her ladyship had been surprised to see his curricle, drawn by his famous match bays, advancing along the avenue. He had been forced to pull up or run the silly woman down. The considerable difficulty in conversing at any length with someone perched six feet and more above you, particularly when that someone displayed the most blatant uninterest, had not discouraged Lady Mortland. She had done her best to prolong the exchange in the dim hope, Max knew, of gaining an invitation to ride beside him. She had finally admitted defeat and archly let him go, but not before issuing a thickly veiled invitation which he had had no compunction in dechning. As she had been unwise enough to speak in the hearing of two gentlemen of her acquaintance, her resulting embarrassment was entirely her own fault. He knew she entertained hopes, totally unfounded, of becoming his Duchess. Why she should imagine he would consider taking a woman with the morals of an alley cat to wife was beyond him.