by Claudy Conn
“But I can ride to hounds as well as any man and I can—”
“Never mind.” Nanny had cut her off. “I wanted more for you, my darling.”
“I know, Nanny, and I love you, but … I am happy,” she’d said, but at that moment in time she hadn’t been sure she was completely happy. At that moment in time she’d thought she might like to go to London and see what she could see, share a Season while her dear friend, Henrietta, was being brought out. Fate, however, had other plans for her.
Now, all she wanted was for time to go backwards so she could have Uncle Edwin once again in her life.
She sat up and looked at the sun, attempting to judge the time. “Blast, no doubt I am late,” she said to herself as she got to her feet and brushed off the leaves and twigs clinging to her high boots and breeches.
With a quiet lament, she remounted and rode the distance to the stables, where she found Nanny with her arms folded across her middle and clucking her tongue.
“Look at you. A veritable hoyden, and at your age. You are twenty years old, my dear. You can’t go about in breeches and dirt.”
“Uncle did not mind,” Kitty said, flinging her long hair out of her face.
Nanny took a clump of her hair in her hands and said, “Look at this. Most young ladies would simply die to have these yellow locks, this silky, thick hair, and you allow it to become a tangled mess around your head.”
Kitty laughed. “I will brush it when I go in and wash, Nanny.”
“Your Uncle Edwin didn’t want this for you … he wanted—”
Kitty’s brows rose and she interrupted. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Kitty, dear, he knew he didn’t have long, and it dawned on him that he hadn’t done the right thing by you because of his illness. He began making arrangements. In fact, he was obsessed with making those arrangements.”
“What arrangements?”
“You wouldn’t remember him, but his nephew visited, oh, I think twice … maybe three times in the past, and they got along quite well. At any rate, he gave his solicitor instructions regarding you … and it all had to do with the earl—his nephew, you see, and the earl’s grandmother, though I am not privy to what those instructions were. I only know of them, because he had me attend him and made me promise to make certain it all worked out.”
“No … I don’t believe it.”
“Indeed, it is the truth.” She pursed her lips. “The thing is, apparently he wrote them both again and left the letters in his drawer. We did not discover them until two weeks ago. Of course, they were mailed. Two letters, one for the dowager countess and the other for the earl.” She clucked her tongue and folded her hands into each other at her middle. “You were so distraught when we first lost him that Mr. Harkins did not want to intrude on your grief, but he sent a note around earlier saying that he can no longer put off the reading of the will … my dear, it has been months.” She eyed Kitty. “Well, we shall learn what your uncle’s wishes are when Mr. Harkins arrives this afternoon, but I think you must be prepared. He may have appointed the dowager your legal guardian until you come of age, which won’t be until you turn twenty-one.”
Kitty turned on her heel, and Nanny called after her, “Darling … what are you doing?”
“Another ride … I must go for another ride. I have to think.”
Mounted and once again allowing the breeze to wash over her, she slowed her horse from a lope to an easy trot when a familiar voice snapped her out of her daze and confusion.
“Kitty! I say—Kitty!”
She turned sharply and saw a welcome and handsome face. “Harry!” Kitty stopped her horse and waited for him to ride up alongside. “Well,” she said, eying him. “Don’t we look dapper?” She giggled and leaned over to take his gloved hand and give it a squeeze.
“Come on … sit with me a bit,” he said, dismounting with a light step before he led her to a shady spot beneath a large oak.
She followed suit, and he grinned, reached over, and pulled one of her long tresses to say, “I may look dapper, but you look a mess—a beautiful mess, though.” He laughed and put up defensive hands. “Put down your fists, do!”
She grinned ruefully. “Yes, sadly, I think you are right. I am a bit of a mess.”
“A bit?” he teased.
She managed to punch his shoulder, he cried out in mock pain, and she laughed and said, “Indeed, but I should go back, wash, and put on a pretty dress … wait, what should I do then? Stare at the walls? Embroider? Me with my clumsy fingers? No, I think I would rather be a mess.”
He chuckled and nodded. “Egad, no, not you, you couldn’t sit still long enough to draw a line let alone do intricate embroidery. I can’t imagine you could stand still long enough to be of any use in any of those very estimable female occupations. But blister it, Kitty, you shouldn’t be running around in breeches and looking like a ragamuffin, either. You should be in a lovely gown, receiving suitors.”
She made an unintelligible sound.
He said, “And this past Sunday, you should have put on a gown and presented yourself with Nanny at church.”
Kitty put up a brow. “Should have, could have, and didn’t.”
He pulled a face. “Incorrigible child.”
“Child? You speak as though you have a decade of years over me, and you do not!”
He grinned. “I have a few over you, though, and besides, Kit, I would be remiss if I didn’t make a push to put a real smile on your face.”
She did smile then, from the heart, and threw her arms around him. “Oh Harry, you are my dearest friend, and you must know I am trying.”
“I do, I do know, but, Kit, you can’t go on grieving forever. You must call on one of your relatives to visit and give you countenance. You can’t go on alone here at Wharton Place. You know that, don’t you?”
“I am not alone. I have Nanny,” she answered, surprised.
“Nanny is a dear, but you ride roughshod over her, always have, and it won’t do. You need a chaperone still.”
“Nonsense. I am nearly twenty-one,” Kitty said, genuinely shocked.
“Are not, and won’t be for another seven months! People always blamed your guardian for allowing you to run amok … and now, look at you, twenty and alone here at Wharton without a chaperone and fellows like me, coming and going …” He grinned wickedly at her and wiggled his eyebrows.
She laughed out loud. “Oh, now I know you are jesting and playing with me.”
“Well, about me, yes, but in truth … your situation is … well, it might get the gossipmongers wagging their hungry tongues.”
“As though I give a rap for such things.” Kitty frowned.
“But, honestly, Kitty, you can’t go about dressed like an urchin, and you must have a chaperone, if only to honor your guardian’s memory.”
That stopped her in her tracks. Kitty didn’t like the notion of people gossiping about her uncle or criticizing anything he had done. As she frowned over the problem, Harry hurried on.
“Also it is time you were presented,” he said and coughed into his hand.
Kitty looked at him from the top of his thick waves of auburn hair to his clear hazel eyes and then to his mouth spread wide with a grin. “Is that so? And who should present me? Who, Harry?”
“Well, as to that, I haven’t got it all worked out yet, but I will …” He played with his lower lip as he gave this some thought.
She picked at the dirt on her breeches, “Well, you are right about one thing, I am a woman full-grown.”
She looked up and burst out laughing at the expression of horror on his dear face.
She had been infatuated with Harry when they were youngsters, but that soon turned into something else since she had been seven and he nine, and a very clear friendship had ensued instead.
He could have treated her as his inferior—she was younger than he by two years, and he was heir to a healthy estate and a title—but he had never done that to her.
; He was certainly opinionated, but she had often found that, in his own way, he made good sense. He was, in fact, quite like family, and she did think of him as a brother as much as a friend.
People, however, did gossip, and the talk, Nanny had told her, was that Kitty Kingsley and Harry Brentley were destined to walk down the aisle together. That had sent her into a fit of mirth. The thought of that now made her smirk, but people were always talking about something.
“Woman grown?” he countered. “Well, I didn’t quite say that.”
She wiggled her shoulders saucily. “Oh … then I am not a woman grown? I can name a few young men who definitely think I am.”
He laughed. “I would bet on that, but … look here, you don’t quite have the knack of wiggling your shoulders. If you wish to entice a man in that manner, you should daintily dip in … and bring up your gaze … like so.”
Watching him sent Kitty into convulsive laughter before she settled down and mimicked him quite successfully.
His brow rose, and he said, “Indeed … that is enough. You have the hang of it now.”
“How did you learn the knack of it?” Kitty bantered playfully.
“Sarah Anne is forever flirting with me, and that particular move is a favorite of hers. She is forever at it …”
“Sarah Anne?” Kitty laughed. “Upon my soul!” Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t fall for that one. She is a bit of a tart with a mean streak.”
He opened his eyes wide and said, “Kitty Kingsley, what an unkind thing to say!”
“I wouldn’t say it to anyone else, but, Harry, it is true.” She shrugged and then glanced at him calculatingly.
“Oh, you look like a cat when you do that with those green gems of yours. Kitty, you have no idea how beautiful your eyes … you are.”
“Never mind,” she said, wagging a finger at him. “I will tell you roundly, I don’t mean to copy Sarah Anne’s style of flirtation because I don’t like her, and you should stay out of her clutches.” She put up her chin. “When I choose to use my shoulder to lure a man, I shall do so boldly as I do everything else.”
He laughed outright. “And even with dirt smudged across your face, your yella hair a complete mop and in boys’ clothing, there is no one I know, not even pretty Sarah Anne Wrigley that can outshine you.” He hesitated. “And, perhaps, Henrietta.”
Kitty blushed at that and giggled. “Absurd fellow, but you are right about Ree. She is stunning in a fashion all her own.” She sucked in her bottom lip and eyed him naughtily. “One minute you are raking me over the coals and the next filling my head, as Uncle Edwin would say, with balderdash.” She then looked down at her lap and said, “I do miss him ever so much.”
Harry patted her shoulder. “I know, Kit … I know.” He got to his feet, put out his hand for her, and said, “Nearly forgot. When I stopped by the house, your nanny asked me to look for you and fetch you home.”
Kitty opened her eyes wide. “Did she? But, why?”
“I don’t know, but she did seem anxious … well, she is always anxious, who could blame her with you as their charge?” He grinned wickedly at her and puzzled over the problem with a raised brow. “Though I must say, she was more flustered than usual.”
Kitty laughed. “Nanny is always in a fluster.”
He smiled but said a bit more seriously, “Aye, but she did seem … more upset than her norm.”
“However could you tell?” Kitty teased.
Harry snorted and said, “Years of experience with the both of you. Lord, but the capers you have involved the poor woman in. ’Tis a wonder she doesn’t have a permanent twitch. Now, come on, my girl, or she’ll break out in hives.”
“Hives? No, really, is she that upset?” Kitty’s hand fluttered. “I wonder if it is because Henrietta’s father is due this afternoon. But she didn’t seem upset about it before.”
“I’m not sure what it is, but I rather thought she was concerned,” he clucked. “Come on, let’s not keep her waiting any longer. I’ll ride with you and lend my support, if you like.”
“I do like, and it is the price you have to pay for having found me,” she bantered.
“Aye, and for my curiosity,” he said ruefully as he watched her mount her horse. He then hoisted himself up on his and said, “Come on, let’s make short work of it.”
~ Three ~
THE EARL AWAITED his grandmother at the breakfast table. He had spent an awful night worrying about the problem he had on his hands.
He did not wish to fall in with his grandmother’s plans and would rather lose all than be married by force. He wouldn’t do it. Still, he did not wish to leave his grandmother with matters in such a muddle. He had a deep affection for the old gal and wanted to smooth things over, if he could.
Minerva entered the breakfast room and stopped short. “Ah, in deep thought, are you? I rather thought you might be worrying yourself to death about our discussion.” She grimaced with the discomfort of age, took a seat beside him, rather than opposite, and touched his hand with her fingers. “My dear, dear lad. You know that you are my darling. You are all that is left to me from my son. But, like him, you are spoiled.” She put up her hand to stall his objection and continued. “I wanted him to take his rightful place in the House of Lords. But he chose otherwise. I want it for you, Brandon. I am getting on in life and would like to see you establish yourself as someone more than … than the libertine you presently display to the world.”
“You think marriage to a stranger will establish me? It would no doubt ensure my road to hell!” he scoffed. “It didn’t work for my parents, did it? They were as miserable as any two people together can be. I don’t want that.”
She sat back with a sigh, “Indeed …”
“If you mean to cut me off because I am disinclined to make more of a mess of my life than I already have, then do so. That is your choice. I will not be ordered about in this, although … believe me when I say I adore you, Grandmamma, and would like to please you as best as I can.”
“Cut you off? Foolish boy. That is not what I said … though I did imply it, I suppose. Your parents were not suited, that is why that union did not work. Be that as it may—” She was cut off as he stood and pushed away from the table.
“Marriage is not for me. Do what you must, but I will not be force-fed!”
“Not what I said,” his grandmother snapped.
“What you said, exactly, was that you could no longer stomach my hedonistic exploits and that you would not advance my interest payment for next month,” he countered.
“Precisely,” his grandmother replied.
Exasperated, he flung his arms up and paced. He was seven and twenty. This situation had grown intolerable. He inclined his head. “So be it.”
“Od’s life!” she exclaimed just as exasperated as he. “Why do you insist on this course? What do you think will happen to you if you marry?”
“Forget me—what about the girl you would have marry me? No. I won’t do it. I won’t make anyone as wretched as my mother was.” He walked back to her, bent, put an arm around her, and said quietly, “Roland and your dear Shawna will give you great-grandchildren. Now, there is a love match that took beautifully. Be content with that.”
“Yes, I am well pleased with that match,” she said, momentarily diverted.
“Now you are … you weren’t always,” he said on a chuckle. “Which displays quite nicely how wrong you can be, dearest Grandmamma.”
She waved this off and said, “I have warned you, I shall not advance you a sou.”
“I know,” the earl snapped. “You have made yourself quite clear. It is my inheritance, but you hold the purse strings.”
She eyed him one brow up, “For a very good reason.”
The earl moaned. “I adore you and hate to leave you like this, but you don’t give me any choice. I simply cannot please you in this matter. Besides, you have spoiled me for any other woman. None could measure up to you.”
She snorted a
nd wagged a finger. “It isn’t me they must measure up to, but you, dearest, and one day, like it or no, you will receive your coup de grâce, and I only hope you won’t be too jaded to know it.”
He kissed her forehead and took his leave.
As he climbed into his carriage, he looked back over his shoulder and saw her standing at the panoramic window. A soft smile touched her lips, and he knew the wheels in her head were turning.
~ Four ~
NANNY PATTED HER soft brown curls under her lacey mop cap. She smoothed the light gray gown she wore over her plump figure and wrung her hands.
She caught her reflection in the looking glass over the sidebar table and wondered where the years had gone. She touched the gray wisps at her forehead and ears … so much more gray than last year.
She wrinkled her nose at the sixty-year-old woman that looked back at her. Where had the years gone since she had first come to Wharton with Kitty, Kitty, who was more a daughter to her than her charge?
Kitty, who had been put into Nanny’s arms when she was just an infant, grew up to rely on Nanny for everything. By the same token Nanny, who, childless and having just lost her husband to consumption, discovered a new purpose when she came into Kitty’s life.
Her dear, ‘all heart’ darling child had filled a void and had become the daughter she had always wanted, though at times like these she wasn’t sure how to manage her.
Although Kitty was her darling, the actual bright light in her day, she was and always had been headstrong. If only she could control Kitty’s high spirits, but the truth was she never really tried to do so. All she wanted was to care for and love her. She wanted to brush out Kitty’s golden locks and watch her float around in exquisite gowns while she took the beau monde by storm. It was what Kitty’s beauty and her sweet heart should have in this life, if only Kitty would cooperate.
Harry was a good boy and would make an excellent country squire one day. Indeed, Nanny would be pleased enough if the two would make a match, but she knew better and had given up on that long ago. They had grown up in one another’s pockets and were more like brother and sister than lovers.