by Claudy Conn
She patted her dark hair and pursed her lips. Even so, she must make a token show of power. “Well, the thing is, Minnie, this country child of yours … well, she isn’t even related to you, and we don’t make a habit of issuing vouchers without first meeting—”
Minnie waved this off with her hand in the air and then a pointing finger. “Don’t give me any absurdities, Sally. I won’t have it. But to set your mind at rest, this country child, as you call her, is a Kingsley. The chit’s father was a squire, and her mother was a Benning. Nothing to scoff at there. Besides, she is under my protection.”
The Jersey immediately went to the dowager and took her hand. “Of course, she is. Of course.” She wasn’t about to insult a Halloway. That would not do her any good, and what would be the point? The old woman was correct. The girl had lineage. “Excellent breeding there … I see that, and I suppose she is an heiress if she was Wharton’s ward?”
Minnie eyed her and said, “I would not call her quite an heiress in the true sense, but, yes, suffice it to say that her dowry is quite handsome and the living her inheritance allows her is more than substantial—quite handsome, in fact.”
Jersey eyed the dowager and thought the woman wasn’t being totally forthcoming. Hmm. No doubt the chit was an heiress, and the dowager meant to keep that to herself.
“My grandson, Brandon, was Wharton’s nephew and as such inherited the estate and quite a substantial fortune as well,” the dowager eyed the Jersey with ever so slight a smirk.
Sally Jersey was boxed in.
She would have to issue the chit vouchers to Almack’s. There was no getting away from it. She said speculatively, “Well, well … I suppose that makes the earl one of the Season’s greatest marriage prizes, doesn’t it? La! A title, good looks, charm, and wealth. This should be a very interesting Season.” She eyed the dowager thoughtfully. “No doubt, Minnie, you will be presiding over two weddings. The Kingsley chit’s and your grandson’s.”
“Indeed,” said the dowager with only a small lift of her lip—though enough to make the Jersey wonder just what the older woman was thinking.
* * *
Magdalen pushed his empty plate away. “I cannot eat another thing.”
“Well, that is very good, since you have eaten everything in sight,” Kitty said on a giggle.
The earl noted that she was very much at ease with Alex and asked quietly, “How did you two ever meet?” Magdalen was his age and yet seemed a youth. Perhaps it was Alex’s boyish grin? At any rate, this was a question he wanted answered.
“Well, you must remember that small estate I have in Beaulieu—the Manor. Well, it runs only a few miles away from Wharton Place. I inherited the blasted thing when we were up at Cambridge and running amok together.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and the earl laughed.
“Yes, I do remember now,” the earl said. “Right … so you met …?”
“Ah, yes. I discovered Kitty all those years ago. She was riding with the huntsman. A slip of a girl. Plucky little thing, helping the whips keep the hounds on track and off the deer. What were you, Kitty—ten or eleven?”
“I was twelve, you dolt,” Kitty said and laughed happily. “But, oh, it was a glorious day.”
“Right, well, she was a mad little hoyden, ready to take on the world. One of the hounds got away from the pack, and my horse was about to kick it when it got too close. Not a hunter, that nag, not good around the hounds. At any rate, Kitty here managed to jump off her horse and scoot the hound out of the way until I got my beast under control. Like I said, plucky little thing.” He eyed the earl. “But you must have already learned that, by now.”
“Aye,” the earl said quietly and looked at Kitty. “I’ve learned that by now, eh, Kitty?” He was rewarded with an open smile and a pretty blush, and he thought he had never seen anything prettier.
He watched Alex regain her attention and flirt with her outrageously and felt a sure irritation shake him. She was not at all up to snuff, and he didn’t want Alex and his kind turning her innocent head. That was all it was. After all, look at how easily he had wangled a kiss from her. Or had she wangled one from him?
“Alex, are you on your way to Beaulieu Manor now?” Kitty asked.
“Indeed,” the earl stuck in. “Where are you off to?”
“I was visiting friends over Winchester way. On my way to London, like you,” Alex answered merrily.
“Prime,” Kitty said and clapped her hands. “Then I shall have a friendly face in the London crowd.”
Magdalen laughed. “Yes, pet, a friendly one indeed.” He paused, eyed her speculatively, and said, “You must tell me when you grew up. The last time I looked at you, well, you were no more than a babe, and that was not so very long ago.”
“It certainly was a long time ago … more than a year ago,” Kitty declared. “And then I only saw you for the briefest time.”
“Far too brief it was,” Magdalen returned on a flirtatious note.
The earl needed to put a stop to this. Kitty did not yet know how to manage Magdalen’s game. And Magdalen was always playing a game with the ladies.
“I am sorry to break up this happy reunion, but I am afraid we should be on our way. We’ll just fetch Nanny from her walk and be off. Good to see you, Alex,” the earl said dismissively.
“I will travel with you,” Alex announced jovially.
“I don’t remember asking you to,” the earl returned.
“But you were about to,” Alex said and looked at Kitty. “I can’t allow you to keep my kitten all to yourself.”
The earl gave him a look that spoke volumes but said nothing in response. Magdalen, however, obviously found this amusing, as he roared and said, “To see you, my dear friend Halloway, in the role you are obviously taking quite seriously, has set me back on my heels.” He shook his head. “Perhaps there is hope for even me, yet.”
“What you may hope for, Alex, is that if you behave, you may walk away unscathed,” the earl bent in close and whispered to his friend.
“No secrets,” Kitty said. “That isn’t fair.”
The earl bent and offered his arm as she rose from the table. “You are quite right. I shall try and remember that, Kitty.”
She eyed him, and he wondered what she was thinking in that moment, for her eyes were alive with stars.
~ Twenty ~
THE CARRIAGE WAS brought round, as was Magdalen’s horse, some moments later. Kitty was surprised to hear the baron order the groom to tether his horse at the boot with the other horses. She saw at once that the earl seemed not quite surprised but, rather, annoyed.
He pulled a face and said, “I don’t think that is a good idea, Alex. It will be a tight fit for three horses back there.”
“Aye, but I have a long line, and my Big Man is a good sort. He’ll do. Good horse, Big Man,” Alex answered happily.
The earl’s eyes narrowed, and Kitty’s eyebrows arched. These two were friends, but the earl didn’t seem to want his company at all. Odd.
Magdalen helped her inside, and she situated herself comfortably beside Nanny, who was in very good spirits. He clambered in to sit across from her, slapped his hands on his knees, and said, “Dashed good thing I bumped into you. This will make the dull trip home—”
The earl had by this time spoken with Max and climbed inside to interject, “A tight fit, Alex, a tight fit.” He sat beside his friend, and Kitty nearly laughed out loud at his expression of chagrin. No, her earl was not at all pleased.
“Cozy, is what it is,” Alex answered him and turned a flirtatious smile to Kitty.
Kitty knew the earl thought her too green to see through Alex, but she wasn’t. She was totally aware that her old acquaintance was not in earnest.
She had over the years witnessed Magdalen’s action both on and off the hunting field. She had seen quite clearly during that time that he was a dear, but also that he played ‘fast and loose’ with the ladies. Oh, yes, he liked the ladies but not enough to care about what ha
ppened to them when he left them broken-hearted, and besides that, he was not someone who could ever make her swoon.
She had heard about more than one woman going into a decline because of Magdalen. She knew better than to fall into his game. He was a captivating cavalier, quite capable of ruining virgins and had, in fact, done that. He didn’t give a fig whether the woman was a barmaid or a lady from a noble family. She had after a time detected a self-serving insincerity in his style and one that she could not like. Yes, she enjoyed his flattery and exchanging quips with him, but she was not about to be taken in by Magdalen.
Even so, noting that her little flirtation with Magdalen was irritating the earl, she couldn’t help but smile to herself and wonder at it. Was the earl jealous? Was he? Did she care? Did she? Yes, she rather thought that she did care. When they had kissed she had felt something physical and something else … something more than desire, something that tilted her universe.
The ‘cozy’ group spent the next almost hour listening to Magdalen’s lively stories. The earl was even given over to participate and laugh heartily, though most of his time he seemed to be watching Alex with thoughtful eyes. Kitty was most intrigued.
The coach began to slow, and Max called out that they were approaching the Hartley Inn. “Excellent,” the earl told his young driver. He turned to Nanny. “You will enjoy the accommodations here at Hartley, and the fare they provide for dinner is always quite tasty.”
“Capital spot, Hartley,” Magdalen agreed.
“Indeed,” the earl said, eyeing his friend ruefully. “I had Max go slightly off the main pike for this inn, but it will be worth the extra time.”
“Thank you, my lord,” Nanny said breathlessly. “You are everything that is kind and considerate.”
“Kind and considerate? This rogue?” Magdalen challenged on a laugh.
Kitty’s bristles went up, and before she could stop herself she wagged a finger. “Yes, kind and considerate!” She saw out of the corner of her eye that the earl’s eyes were twinkling and that a soft smile had curved his wonderful lips.
“Right, then.” Alex put up his hands in surrender. “Kind and considerate.”
The earl opened the door, jumped out, and offered his hand first to her and then to Nanny, who smoothed her skirts and walked towards a garden bed of many colored tulips.
Without looking at Magdalen, who had gone to the boot, Kitty purposely put her hand on the earl’s arm and said, “He can be fun, but there is a world of difference between you. I wonder how it is he can claim your friendship.”
The earl chuckled. “We enjoy the same sports, and, Kitty, be careful … he is right, you know. I have been a rogue.”
“Have you? Not that I can see,” Kitty answered.
“Ah, but the road was dusty,” he teased. “Your eyes may be clouded.”
“Not at all. You think me green, but I understand a great deal—more than you think. A rogue sets out to have what he wants, regardless of the consequences. You, I am persuaded, have been careful. Yes, you want what you want. You are a man, after all, but I honestly do see past that. I don’t think you would ever allow yourself to hurt a young woman … and Alex, he has hurt countless women—and it doesn’t matter how I know. A termagant gets around, you know, and hears and sees a great deal … and wasn’t that what you called me?”
The surprise she saw on the earl’s face made her laugh right out loud. Oh yes, she felt so much more than desire for this big and dear, dear man. When had that happened to her?
And what, Kitty, what are you going to do about it?
* * *
Two days on the road with Alex forever chattering in her ear had been at times frustrating. She found all she wanted was some alone time with the earl, and all she got was Magdalen constantly trying to dally with her.
The earl had finally managed to get rid of Alex, and Kitty smiled over the fact until he advised her that he was going to ride on ahead, as they had reached the outskirts of London.
Had she become infatuated with the earl? She knew her own mind, and that mind told her he would never take her seriously and was no doubt regretting the kiss they had shared.
She understood that a man could be dashed attracted to a woman but not be in love … was she in love? Was she just attracted to him? She did know her own mind, and somehow, inexplicably, she had fallen in love with Brandon, the Earl of Halloway.
Everything he did was with self-assurance. Everything he said was in a voice that drew her to him and fastened her gaze on him. She discovered there was so much more to the man than the façade he allowed the world to see.
Because they knew that the earl had gone to make certain Halloway House was in readiness for their arrival, both Nanny and Kitty looked at one another and agreed that he was a remarkable man.
He was, as Nanny constantly pointed out, everything that was considerate. In fact, since she had left her hoyden manners and clothes back at Wharton, they had not disagreed about anything.
London stretched out before her, and she was pinned to one window as Nanny was to the other. The city bustled with what appeared to Kitty to be a fever gone wild. At one point, Nanny had to pull her back into the coach, as she had opened the window to nearly hang out of it to get a better view.
Hawkers offered their various wares loudly, shouting each other down. She looked to an urchin who called out in a resonant voice as their carriage passed by, “Hot house strawberries! Here they be … nice and ripe they be. Hot house strawberries.”
Kitty smiled at the boy and started to call to Max to stop the coach. He was so small and working so hard. “Nanny, we could bring some strawberries with us.”
“Nonsense. Should we be greeting the Countess of Halloway with a basket of strawberries in our hands and looking country foolish?”
Kitty laughed and called Max to stop. “Oh, Nanny. That is silly. Everyone loves fresh strawberries.”
Max did as he was asked, and as Kitty started out of the coach, Nanny objected, “No, Kitty darling … I don’t think …”
But Kitty had already rushed to the child, flipped him a coin larger than what he was asking, and took the basket in hand. “There … have a good day, sir,” she told him.
“Thankee, miss … thankee!”
Max called, “Miss Kingsley, do hurry. Oi can’t keep the horses standing here … blocking the traffic Oi am.”
She hurried within, and they started off once more. Nanny pinched her cheek. “You are a wayward girl, but I do so love you.”
Everything looked so different to Kitty. She hadn’t been to London since she was a youth and her guardian had brought her with him on some business. It had been fun. They had stayed at a famous hotel, Clarendon’s, and she and Nanny had gone shopping. Bursting with energy, her hands fluttered as she continued to stare at the passing scene.
Fashionable ladies glided by in all shapes and sizes, and she found she had to exclaim, “Nanny—look at those clothes!”
“Yes, quite lovely.”
She saw dandies who took fashion to its extreme strolling and waving to acquaintances as they made their way during the ‘fashionable hour’ to visit friends or go to their clubs.
Kitty watched their parade and burst out laughing to say, “Nanny, Nanny … dandies on the strut.”
“Darling, your language. You can’t repeat the sort of things Harry says. He is a man, you are a young lady, and you know that. I know you know that.”
“Yes, I do, but I am used to saying whatever comes to mind.” Kitty beamed. “I shall try and do you proud, Nanny. I promise. I shall try.”
Satisfied, she sat back against the squabs and sighed happily. Her mind drifted back to their last evening together with Magdalen. The earl had been a perfect host, and she had found it difficult to look away from him. He had been jovial and entertaining, and her heart had swelled each time his eyes looked her way.
They had gone after dinner to refresh and wash up and then joined the gentlemen in the private parlor
the earl had procured. There, both men were enjoying their brandy, and both seemed in high spirits.
Their banter had her laughing, for they were outrageous, but even Nanny was swept away by the charm of it all. And then Nanny insisted they retire.
Kitty didn’t want to. She wanted to stay near the earl for as long as she could, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t remain in the company of two gentlemen in a public house without Nanny’s chaperonage.
Magdalen took her hand and said with ever so slight a slur, “May your dreams be of me and keep you warm, my pretty Kitten.” He then and Kitty thought audaciously kissed her wrist.
She had given him a warning look and noted the earl’s expression was suddenly stormy. The earl took a step towards Magdalen, and Kitty hurriedly withdrew her hand saying, “Naughty, Alex, very naughty, but I know you well enough so I shall not heed it.” She had the satisfaction of seeing the earl’s stance relax. Was he being protective of her because she was in his care, or was he being protective of his own interests? She hoped the latter.
As she left, she heard the earl encouraging Magdalen to take another drink. Thus, the next morning when they met for breakfast and he announced that they would be making the remainder of the journey without Alex, Kitty grinned and said, “Oh? And I think I know just how you managed that, my lord.”
He chuckled, and when his finger touched her chin she felt a shiver rush through her. He said, “A knowing one, aren’t you? I have a very knowing little beauty on my hands. Right, so it is that the old boy needs nothing more than sleep, and he’ll do.”
She saw the flicker of a smirk cross his face and laughed out loud. His mood in the coach with them was the best she had seen in two days. He was convivial and merry, telling them so many things about London and the beau monde that neither Nanny nor she wanted him to leave when he said suddenly that he was going to take to horse. She couldn’t stop the utter disappointment that came over her.
He had laughed and taken her hand to drop a perfunctory kiss before his eyes met hers and he said, “Only for a short while, my dear. I would like to make certain Halloway is in readiness for your arrival.”