Wildblossom

by Wright, Cynthia

  "Thank God for some honesty at last!" He drew his chair nearer to hers and let her clutch his hand. "Mother, I refuse to sell my soul for Lady Clem's fortune. We'll manage without it, even if taxes continue to rise and we're forced to sell one of the London homes to meet expenses. Our challenge is to adjust to the changing times. If we cannot, we'll die out completely."

  "But you are the Duke of Aylesbury! You have centuries-old traditions of honor to uphold!"

  "Perhaps, but I am a man first, and I will not muddle through life insisting that my honor prevents me from doing an honest day's work. I've given this a great deal of thought already. As I told you last month, I intend to manage Sandhurst Manor on my own, and I'm afraid that I shall also have to find other ways to trim our staffs... slowly, with due notice to each employee, of course. In the end, the improvements you and Father have been so burdened to pay for will cut expenses in the future, because we'll need fewer servants." Her hand was shaking in his, and Geoff clasped it firmly. "I won't let anything happen to us, Mother. We shall face reality head-on, rather than going on with our heads in the clouds."

  "But Geoffrey... a circus performer? A cowgirl?"

  "Shelby will bring much-needed vitality and courage to this family." He glanced down at his signet ring and added, "That is, if she'll have us."

  Chapter 20

  "I've decided that the days I feel nervous about performing the bicycle trick, I'll ride Gadabout around the ring instead," Shelby told Colonel Cody. They were standing together in the arena while she stroked the pinto pony's sleek coat. "She's knows me well enough to compensate."

  He gave her a reassuring nod, even though shooting at glass balls from horseback was part of Cody's own act. "Good idea, little girl. You just need a little time to get used to riding the bicycle and aiming and shooting at the same time. Didn't you tell me that you only learned to ride a bicycle this past summer?"

  "That's right, but it came easily to me—"

  "That's not the same thing as firing a rifle at a target when you're pedaling! Maybe you should see if Carter has any tips for you." Cody was referring to the famous cowboy cyclist.

  "I'll ask him, sir," Shelby promised.

  Buffalo Bill started to walk away, then turned back, stroking his white goatee. "If you speak to newspaper reporters, I wish you would remind them to use the term 'exhibition grounds' rather than 'show grounds.' It's difficult enough to gain the respect we deserve without those sorts of erroneous inferences."

  "Of course," she agreed, having no desire to draw him out further.

  "You ready to practice, or what?" Ben called. Now that he had resumed his role as her trainer, he was back to picking on her work habits again. Today they hoped to perfect a new trick that called for Shelby to pull the trap herself, then straighten and shoot the clay pigeon that she'd launched. Then, to further dazzle the audience, she would actually lay her rifle down on the ground, then pull the trap herself, pick up the rifle, and fire at the clay pigeon. So far, this last stunt required a good deal more speed than Shelby could muster.

  A handsome Indian chief named Has-No-Horse stood with a couple of Russian Cossacks and an Arab known as the Whirling Dervish. They were there to watch Shelby practice and offer praise and encouragement. She was a great favorite among all in the Wild West Show who knew her, and she was grateful for their friendship. This new family, of all colors and nationalities, told her with their warm, smiling expressions that they had enjoyed even watching her practice. She needn't be afraid to face the audience that day.

  "I'll never be as fast as Annie Oakley," Shelby complained to her uncle as they readied the traps.

  "Unless you're plannin' to make a career out of this, you won't need to be as good as she is." He kept his voice low so Cody wouldn't overhear. The old showman was heading off to the other end of the arena to work with the buffalo herd and their trainer. "For now, eighty percent of your act is that saucy little show you put on, Shel. I've never seen an audience take to anyone the way they do to you. Faces light up. Men fall in love and women want you for their sister." He scratched his head. "It's amazing."

  Shelby had been practicing for two hours in the spring sunshine when she happened to notice that Gadabout was trotting toward a little audience of her friends. It was the first time the pinto had left her side, and Shelby immediately sensed the reason. Shading her eyes, she picked out Geoff, standing among the performers. Gadabout went straight to him, nuzzling his face, and then she turned her attention to Charlie, who was waiting off to one side.

  "Look, Ben, isn't that sweet? The horses are having a reunion. Just like old times." Tenderness welled up in her. Two days had passed since her strong words to Geoff, and she'd begun to have little moments of fear that he might have given up, caught for good in the web of his noble circumstances.

  "For Pete's sake, go on," Ben said gruffly. "Take a break. If you tried to keep working with him over there, you'd probably blast my ear off—or worse!"

  Shelby was wearing a modified cycling costume: a white blouse with a little glen-plaid jacket and a knee-length divided skirt, worn with a white boater with a blue band. Her braid danced behind her as she ran toward Geoff.

  He would have gladly embraced her, but Has-No-Horse and the others were eyeing him suspiciously. Shelby took his arm and performed introductions, partially in comical pantomime for the benefit of those who did not speak English. They all nodded politely, but remained rooted to the spot, determined to guard Shelby.

  "What do you say we go for a little bicycle ride around Earl's Court?" Geoff whispered. "Will they allow it?"

  "Don't be silly." She tried not to giggle. "I'm a grown woman." To Has-No-Horse she added, "The duke is a very special friend!"

  Nonetheless, the self-appointed chaperones didn't look happy when Shelby and Geoff tied Gadabout and Charlie to a post, then got onto the bicycle together.

  As they found their balance, Geoff pedaling and Shelby perched on the bar, he marveled, "It seems impossible but—this is the same bicycle, isn't it?"

  "The Napoleon from Jakie Schwoob's store? Yes."

  Nostalgia pinched his heart. "How is my friend Jakie?"

  "Fine. He's thinking of running for the Wyoming state senate in a year or two." She reached for the handlebars as they rounded a corner. "I saw Jakie at the party for the opening of the Irma Hotel, and he misses you, Geoff. He helped convince me to try again, and soon after that party, he drove out with the piano you had ordered during the summer."

  "Perhaps you'll be able to use it yet...."

  Shelby wondered what that meant. His tone was absent, as if he were thinking about something else. Was he implying that she would be returning to Wyoming without him? Had he come today to break the news to her?

  "I've been wanting to set up a croquet course on my lawn fronting the Thames," he remarked. "Does that sound like fun to you?"

  She nodded, her boater brushing the front of his jacket. Now she was completely lost as to his mood and intentions. They came into a grove of young maple trees planted a good distance from the exhibition grounds. The draft horses were stabled nearby, but the only person in sight was the Japanese magician, practicing illusions under the sheltering branches of a willow.

  Geoff let the bicycle down so that Shelby could step off and then leaned it against a tree trunk. He stood for a moment, gazing into the distance, pensive.

  "Well, I can't bear another moment of this!" she burst out. "If you are going to bid me farewell forever, you may as well get it over with rather than avoiding my eyes and drawing out the agony!"

  He looked at her and blinked. "Has anyone ever told you that you jump to conclusions?"

  "Constantly. But you already know that."

  Clad in a fawn coat and trousers, Geoff was looking especially dashing. His hair was brushed back from his face in a way that made his features all the more arresting. His warm brown eyes fixed on Shelby, she began to tingle inside. "My darling, if I have seemed distracted, it's only because I was
trying to find the right words."

  "Words?" she peeped.

  Lightly, he dropped to one knee before her and slipped off her glove. Then, clasping her fingers in his strong hands, Geoff gazed into her eyes and said, "Shelby, I have settled the other matters in my life honorably and now I am free to tell you how ardently I love you. You are my sun, and each moment that we spend apart I am in shadow."

  "Oh!" she gasped tearfully. "Geoff, that's beautiful!"

  "Hush. You mustn't interrupt when you're receiving a marriage proposal." He flashed a grin at her and continued, "I can only hope that you might love me enough to do me the great honor of agreeing to become my wife."

  "What a horrid person I would be to refuse, knowing that without me you would be cast into darkness for the rest of your life!"

  "Heartless vixen," he pretended to scold. "How can you tease me at such a moment?"

  "I am very bad, aren't I?" Impetuously, Shelby sank down to her knees so that she might be closer to him. Her eyes were wet and her face was suffused with joy. "Oh, Geoff... of course I will marry you. I want nothing more for the rest of my life than to be close to you."

  He gathered her into a tender, secure embrace and kissed the tears that spilled onto her pink cheeks. Then, "Shelby, what are you doing down here with me? You're the woman, and I'm supposed to kneel before you in worship."

  "Oh." She scrambled up, dusted off her bicycle skirt, and put her hand back into his. "How's this?"

  "Much better." Geoff fished in his breast pocket with his free hand, then gently slipped a spectacular ring onto her waiting finger. It featured a pear-shaped diamond flanked by a pair of small sapphires, and Shelby immediately loved it.

  "Oh, Geoff—it's gorgeous!"

  He got to his feet, wincing as his knees complained. "I very nearly left the diamond alone, but when I saw the color of those sapphires, I knew they were perfect. Can you see that there's a hint of green in them, just like your eyes? They're very rare."

  Shelby continued to stare at the ring, awestruck. "I've never seen anything more beautiful in my life."

  "You are," he murmured. Leaning toward her, Geoff nibbled at her throat, then her parted lips, and their tongues caressed in tantalizing greeting. "You are more beautiful than anything." His hand strayed around Shelby's waist, then up to cup her breast. "Oh, God."

  "I don't think God wants to be included just now."

  Across the way, the Japanese magician had stopped practicing and seemed to be trying to discern what was happening in the grove of maple trees. "Is that one of your bodyguards? I could be in danger."

  "Uncle Ben will be looking for me," she said, plucking her boater from a pile of dead leaves.

  "Never let it be said that I was the sort of bounder who tried to take advantage of a lady just because I'd put a ring on her finger." Geoff gazed longingly at her petal-soft ear. "Will you come for supper tonight? Manypenny is most anxious to see you."

  "Dearest Percy! Can I bring Viv? She's been having bad dreams and is fretful when I leave her alone."

  "By all means. Why not? Next you'll remind me that we'll have our entire lives to be alone and indulge in pleasures of the flesh."

  "Believe me, Your Grace, I am as interested in those pleasures as you!" Her teal-blue eyes were playful. "But aren't there conventions that must be observed? I have a reputation to consider if I am going to be the Duchess of Aylesbury!"

  * * *

  Geoff drove over to get Shelby himself, and she was euphoric as they motored through the streets of London in the cream-colored Mercedes.

  "This is the happiest day of my life," she announced.

  "And mine, darling scamp."

  "I can hardly wait to learn to drive myself! When will you teach me?"

  He looked at Shelby askance, but knew better than to refuse her. "Soon. I hope that Vivian didn't mind my suggestion that she come a bit later. I asked my old friend Charles Lipton-Lyons to go by and pick her up at seven o'clock."

  "She didn't mind a bit—but what are we going to do until then?"

  "Visit my mother." He cringed slightly as he made this confession, but was relieved to discover that Shelby was smiling.

  "Good. I've been wanting to meet her, so that I won't be nervous worrying about it day after day. How do I look?"

  "Smashing." It was true. She was wearing a lovely, fairly simple yet tasteful gown of lavender crepe embellished with ivory silk and imported lace. The colors made an ideal backdrop for her dark red hair, most of which was currently swept up under a fashionable hat with a wide brim and frothy plums. The only jewelry Shelby wore was her new engagement ring, which she either looked at or touched most of the time.

  "Uncle Ben told me that Lady Clementine is traveling to Italy. Considering the flirtation he had with her, it doesn't sound as if she's particularly faithful and devoted." Shelby's eyes snapped with consternation. "How lucky that I saved you from that marriage!"

  "Clemmie's a good sort. She could have pitched a huge fit, but since her own conduct was hardly impeccable, she swallowed her pride and consoled herself with Ben. I think she'll be more apt to look for love when she decides again whether to marry."

  "Well, I wish her luck, then," Shelby murmured. "Is there anything I should know before I meet Her Grace? I am determined to reshape myself into the ideal bride for the Duke of Aylesbury."

  Geoff considered this question while maneuvering through the traffic near Buckingham Palace. "I should mention that my mother and I have just had the first frank conversation of our lives—about finances. Seems that the fortune isn't what it used to be, and I'm determined to manage the estates a bit differently. Your Americanism should serve us well in that area. You are hardly one to demand the most lavish of lifestyles."

  "That's putting it mildly."

  "Just be yourself—as always. No 'reshaping,' please!" He touched her cheek. "And try to remember that Mother takes her title and our social status rather seriously."

  They arrived shortly, and Geoff took Shelby's arm as they walked toward Aylesbury House. Her eyes were so big that he whispered reassuringly, "It's awful, isn't it? I wouldn't mind a bit if we sold every last stone."

  Inside, Geoff asked Whistler to announce them to his mother, but the ancient butler looked puzzled. "Does Her Grace expect you, Your Grace?"

  "Of course."

  "Odd." He wrinkled his parchment-fine brow in concentration. "Perhaps she's simply forgotten, then."

  "My mother never forgets," Geoff countered. "Isn't she at home?"

  "Well—yes, Your Grace, but she is about to leave. The carriage has just been brought 'round and her maid is helping her with her overgarments."

  "Then we'll just pop upstairs and surprise her." Eyes narrowed suspiciously, Geoff took Shelby's hand and went straight past Whistler, who was rendered momentarily speechless by the duke's effrontery.

  "Please... Your Grace... I really cannot allow..." The butler drew himself up, but advancing age had shrunken him so that his full height amounted to scarcely five feet.

  "Don't worry, Whistler, I'll tell Mother that you threatened me with the ancestral broadsword." Geoff tossed this last over the upstairs banister, then disappeared, Shelby in tow.

  "Well... then... thank you, Your Grace... I suppose."

  Just then the dowager duchess emerged from her suite of rooms at the far end of the long, gloomy passageway. She was all in black, from her great hat swathed in net, to her fur-trimmed dinner costume, to her modest black shoes. Her face turned pale at the sight of her son and his companion bearing down on her. Clearly she was wondering if there was time to dart back into her sitting room and bolt the door.

  "Mother, stand still!"

  "What is the meaning of this, Geoffrey?"

  Shelby had begun to wonder if they weren't making matters worse, but there was no reasoning with Geoff when he was like this.

  "Will you tell me that you had forgotten our appointment?" he demanded of his mother, now standing over her wearing his most
forbidding expression.

  "Poor Whistler. Shall I find him run through on the staircase?" Her composure restored, she matched his chilly stare. "To answer your question, I would rather not elaborate at this time. I will say that another matter arose and I felt I should go out."

  "Very cryptic," he parried. "I won't press you further in Shelby's presence, except to say that this is not a very auspicious beginning to your relationship with your future daughter."

  Shelby stepped forward, extending her hand. "Your Grace, I am Shelby Matthews, and it is an honor to meet you. Also, I wish to apologize for the scene we have just caused in your home."

  The dowager duchess pressed her lips together. "Well then... how do you do, Miss Matthews? I am sorry that I cannot stay and chat...."

  "Another time. Perhaps we could meet without your son present." She gave the older woman her most winning smile.

  Without preamble, Edith said, "Some of my oldest friends saw you at the Carlton Hotel recently, Miss Matthews. These friends are nobles of the highest order." Her voice became icier by the moment as she continued, "I understand that you were the guest of Mr. Bernard Castle, one of those jumped-up plutocrats who think they can buy position and prestige rather than earn it over centuries and by dint of the quality of one's blood." Her nostrils flared. "Mr. Castle is known for his female guests, I understand, and since you have already made such an indelible reputation for yourself in that carnival, it seems that everyone present at the Palm Court was aware that you were the latest of Mr. Castle's companions...."

  Geoff wished he could clasp his hand over her mouth. "Mother, that's enough," he said in deadly tones. "I won't allow you to speak another word against the woman I love, especially since your information is rife with prejudice and falsehoods."