Holden grasped the windowsill and attempted to step up the wall. Unfortunately, his shoes slipped on the damp rock, and soon a ripping sound filled the air. His coat had caught on a jagged piece of stone.
“You will destroy your coat,” she warned.
He waved her off. “I can purchase another,” he said, placing his hands on the sill once more. The barrel beneath him gave way, and he tumbled to the floor.
Hurrying to his side, Rose grasped his arm to help him stand. As soon as she did, however, she wished she had not, for the touch of the muscle was much more pleasing than she had expected. “Are you injured?”
“Only my pride,” he replied with a chuckle, stepping out of the shattered wood. “I am glad that it was empty.” He glanced at the window again. “I believe we must change our tactics.” He removed his coat and threw it over the now broken barrel. “I will push you up, and you will crawl through the window. You are much smaller than I, so it will be easier for you to fit.”
Rose glanced up at the window and took a step back. “You wish for me to climb through a window?” she asked. “A lady simply does not climb through windows!”
“Trust me,” he said. “I will see you are not hurt.”
With a sigh, she walked over to where Holden had set another barrel beside the wall.
“I will try to keep my hands from touching you inappropriately.”
“I do not mind,” Rose said. However, when he grabbed her by the waist and placed her on the barrel, her heart skipped a beat.
She was barely able to grasp the sill, and when he placed his hands on her thighs to give her a boost, she heard a noise. “Holden,” she said in a loud whisper, “someone is at the door.”
They stood still for a moment, and the noise came again—the distinct sound of a key in the lock.
“The door,” he said, “Hurry!”
Panicked, she pushed the window, and it opened further. She could feel the soft soil, and she dug her fingers into it just as Holden loosened his grip on her. However, she had not yet gained enough of a grip to allow the chance of pulling herself up.
Then everything happened at once. Her fingers slipped and she heard a distinct rip of fabric as her gown caught on another jagged edge of the stone. Her weight dropped onto an unprepared Holden, and the two toppled to the floor with Rose somehow ending up on her back and Holden on top of her.
“I am so sorry,” he cried in shock as he lifted himself onto his hands, leaving him looming above her. “I only took my eyes off you for a moment. Are you all right? Did you hurt your back? Your head?”
“My backside took most of the weight,” she said.
They turned their heads just as a small group of people entered the room.
Chapter Seventeen
Rose had never been more humiliated in her life! Staring down at her were her Aunt Eleanor, Holden’s father, and several guests of whom she did not recall their names. Being caught in a room alone with Holden was bad enough, but to be caught in such an…infelicitous position only added fuel to the fire.
“Let me do the speaking,” Holden whispered from his compromising position above her. “I will take full responsibility for this.”
“What is going on here?” boomed Lord Bradshaw. It seemed as if the wine bottles shook in their places. “I have never seen such outrageous behavior in my life! Oh, do get off her, boy!” Rose could not have agreed with the man more.
Holden skittered off Rose, and Aunt Eleanor hurried over to help Rose from the floor.
“Father, I can explain…”
“Be on with it, then,” his father said.
Holden glanced at Rose. “We were here in the wine cellar…”
Rose closed her eyes when he paused, willing him to say something, anything, that would get them out of this predicament. He was a gifted liar, a trait she typically did not abide, but right now she needed him to use that gift.
“We came to select a bottle of wine.”
“It would appear that way,” Lord Bradshaw said with an indignant snort and a glance around the room as if to say that Holden was stating the obvious.
A wrinkled face peered from behind Lord Bradshaw. Lady Gretham, the older woman to whom Caroline had spoken earlier, had a distinct look of scorn on her features.
Holden did not seem to notice. “You see, Miss Skylark slipped, and as she lay there with her eyes closed, I thought she had possibly hit her head and died. I was simply determining if she was breathing.”
Lady Gretham shuffled around Lord Bradshaw and narrowed her ancient eyes at Holden. “That does not explain why the two of you were here…alone.” She gave a sniff of disdain. “It seems two names have been disgraced this night.”
Rose wobbled on weak legs and tears welled in her eyes. It was worse than she could have ever imagined. Years of doing what was expected of her, never straying from the path of doing what was virtuous and right, only to have her good name tainted in such a horrendous way was proving to be nearly unbearable.
Then she saw the face of David Banner, a grin so wide that it nearly split his face in two. That man was the cause of this undoing! Holden had been right; he had tricked them both, and now Rose’s worst fear was realized.
To make matters worse, Aunt Eleanor had to be livid with her, and after all the woman had done! She had opened her home, had treated Rose as if she were one of her own daughters. And how did Rose repay her? By embarrassing her beyond belief.
Well, this was it. Rose would return to London wrapped in shame, and her aunt would want nothing more to do with her ever again. And Rose could not blame her.
And her mother! Oh, dear God! Mother will be apoplectic! Rose had never done anything remotely as terrible as this in her entire life!
“We were here,” Holden continued. Then he glanced at Rose. How could the man possibly wink at her in this situation? “to select a bottle of wine to announce our engagement.”
“Engagement?” Lord Bradshaw asked in clear shock.
Rose’s jaw dropped as she inwardly echoed the man’s utterance.
“Indeed,” Holden replied as he straightened his back. “I asked Miss Skylark for the honor of taking her hand in marriage, and to my delight, she accepted. We had hoped to surprise everyone, and David was kind enough allow us into the room.”
Lord Bradshaw glanced around. “He told me he did not know where you were when I inquired.”
“Of course he did, Father,” Holden said. “I could not have the surprised ruined, now could I?”
The faces in the room turned from scorn to elation in the matter of seconds, and Lady Gretham said, “Given the circumstances, and the fact they are engaged, there is nothing about which to worry. Two names will now be held in high regard and should be celebrated.” Then she leaned toward Rose and added, “Perhaps our host will not hold back the good wine now.”
Rose stifled a sigh of relief as she offered the old woman a smile.
“Tonight, we drink in honor of the newly-engaged couple,” Lord Bradshaw cried with a wide smile.
Rose glance at her aunt, but unlike the others in the room, the woman wore no smile.
***
Although her name was safe from ruin, Rose feared her aunt’s anger would be a far worse fate. Once they had left the wine cellar, they shared in a drink with Holden and his father in the drawing room—at Holden’s request.
“We do not wish to ruin David’s party by announcing our engagement,” he had argued. “I believe it will be much more appropriate for us to host our own engagement party instead.”
Aunt Eleanor professed a headache, and she and Rose left the party to return to Scarlett Hall after the toast.
As they left, Holden whispered to Rose, “I will call soon and explain my plan.” His words did nothing to ease Rose’s worry.
The ride home had been painfully slow with even Caroline seeming to grasp the severity of the situation, for like Aunt Eleanor, she remained silent for the duration.
Now, Rose sat wai
ting in the study of Scarlett Hall like a pupil in the office of the headmaster. The events of the evening played through her mind as she gazed at the flickering light of the candles. She was now engaged to a man she struggled to like, let alone love.
“Thank you for waiting,” her aunt said as she entered the room and walked around to take the chair behind the desk. “I needed to speak to Caroline.”
Rose nodded and waited for her aunt to say more, and when she did not, she said, “I know you are angry with me, but I can assure you that my behavior in the cellar was proper.”
“I do not doubt that,” her aunt replied, crossing her arms on the desk in front of her. “I am curious, however, to know why you did not tell me you accepted his courtship.” When Rose went to speak, she forestalled her. “Oh, I knew about it, I assure you, but I had rather hoped you would be the one to tell me. And now you have accepted his engagement?”
Rose stared at the floor in shame. To betray someone in such a way was unfamiliar to her.
“Rose?” her aunt said in a quiet voice.
“Yes?” Rose said, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
“You know you can tell me anything,” she said kindly. “I will not be angry.”
Rose was uncertain if what her aunt said was true, but regardless, the truth had to be told. “It all began when I first met Holden,” she said. “At first, I thought him quite handsome and very gentlemanly. However, when he called, I began to realize something was terribly wrong.”
And Rose told her everything from seeing the man in the village to the picnic lunch and ending with him appearing at her window. As she told her story, her aunt said nothing, giving only a nod from time to time.
Finally, after explaining how she and Holden had found themselves locked in the wine cellar and the words they had shared, she ended with a heavy sigh.
“And now I find myself engaged to a man I do not know, let alone love,” she said. “And there is nothing I can do about it.”
Rather than rant and point a finger at Rose, her aunt leaned back into her chair, a calm look on her face. “Do you care for the man? Care for him at all?”
Rose shrugged. “I am uncertain. At times, like tonight before all the trouble came, I had considered asking him to no longer call. Then there are those times when I feel there is a bond between us. Yet, after learning his reason for calling on me the first time—that it was simply to appease his father and not because he had an interest in me—I only found myself in a greater state of confusion.”
Her aunt studied her for several moments, the candles flickering in their holders creating dancing shadows on the walls. The hour was well past midnight, and Rose prayed the woman had sound advice to give her.
“Now that my own daughters are married,” Aunt Eleanor said, finally breaking the silence, “I have seen what began as struggles turn into something beautiful. Let me see if I understand your situation correctly. You are in a unique situation, for you care for a man—even if it is on a minute level. You have wondered if it is best to keep away and yet now you are forced to be with him.”
Rose nodded. “Yes, that is exactly my problem. And I have no say in the matter because of all that happened this evening.”
“Here is what I propose,” her aunt said. “You told me that the man confessed his motives for speaking to you in the in the beginning. He has since indicated he has changed, am I correct in saying so?” Rose nodded. “Unfortunately, because of the predicament in which the two of you were found, getting out of this engagement will be much more difficult than one would typically expect. Therefore, I suggest that you spend time with Mr. Banner. While doing so, you will not only learn more about him, but also learn more about yourself.”
“And if I find that I do not like him? Will I be forced to marry a man I do not love?”
Her aunt stood and smiled. “Then I shall speak to his father about disillusioning the engagement.”
“But I thought that was not possible,” Rose said. “Especially after what happened at Mr. Banner’s party.”
“Opportunity always makes an appearance for those who seek it,” her aunt said. “Let us see what it has to offer.” She walked over to Rose and pushed back a strand of her hair. “You should go to bed; it is late. Mr. Bradshaw will be calling in two days, and I suspect the two of you have much to discuss.”
Rose hugged her aunt. “Thank you. I understand now why my mother always speaks so highly of you. You possess a strength and wit of which I can only dream.”
Her aunt simply smiled. “Off with you,” she whispered.
When Rose arrived at the door to her room, she was surprised to find Caroline already in her nightdress waiting for her.
Once Rose changed, she joined Caroline on the bed. She had to tell Caroline the truth about David, before the man broke her heart, but Caroline did not give her the opportunity to do so. Within seconds, she was already professing her love for the man.
“He has asked Mother and me to dinner again,” the woman said excitedly. “I, of course, accepted and will write tomorrow to inform Mother.”
“Caroline,” Rose said carefully, “I must tell you something, and although it will not be easy to hear, it must be said.”
Caroline tilted her head and eyed Rose. “You sound as if you have bad news to share. I must admit that you are scaring me.”
Rose took her friend’s hand. “It is bad news, I am afraid. And although I realize it will hurt you, I must tell you or I am not a good friend.” Caroline nodded, and Rose continued, “Tonight, did Mr. Banner do anything to woo you into his bedchambers?”
Caroline looked away. “No. He did no such thing.”
“You see, I spoke to Holden, and he said that Mr. Banner sees you as nothing more than an object of desire and not as the lovely woman you are.”
Tears rolled down Caroline’s cheeks. “No,” she whispered. “It cannot be true. David sees me as a woman he respects. He told me so.”
Rose wished she did not have to say any of this to Caroline. She wanted to console the woman but had not a clue the words to use. “I am afraid that both men set out to use us for their own gain. Holden confessed as much to me tonight, that his actions had been to gain the respect of his father, as well as his money, and that David wants nothing more than to lure you to his bed.”
Then, much to Rose’s surprise, Caroline began to sob. “I lied,” she said, her voice choked. “David did ask me to sneak away with him. I knew what he wanted and said I did not wish to, but that only made him angry. I just could not do it.”
Rose wrapped her arms around her friend. “You did the right thing,” she whispered.
“Can a man not like me for who I am?” Caroline wailed into Rose’s shoulder.
“You will find the right man,” Rose assured her. “I know the day will come.”
Caroline sniffled and blew her nose into a handkerchief. “I have heard that so many times before. At first I thought it to be true, but now I believe that, unless I am willing to give away my innocence, no man will ever look my way.”
“That is not true,” Rose admonished. “Many women weave their way through society until they find the right gentleman.”
Caroline snorted. “That is easy for you to say. You have already found the right man and now you are engaged to him and happy.”
Rose offered her a small smile. The poor woman had yet to hear the whole story, but now was not the best time to share the truth. They had to work through Caroline’s problem first.
“Will you still attend his dinner?”
Caroline sighed. “I had thought I would and allow him to do whatever he wanted with me. However, if you believe I will find someone more appropriate, that ‘right man’, then I will reject his offer.”
Rose squeezed Caroline’s hand. “You will find a good and proper gentleman, and it will happen when you least expect it.”
They spent more than an hour talking and sharing their hearts. Later, when Caroline had gone to her own ro
om, Rose lay beneath the covers thinking about Holden.
For all their differences, perhaps they were meant to be together. It would serve her well to at least make an attempt for the time being. And as her aunt said, there were always ways to dissolve such situations. The question was, did Rose truly want to see their mock engagement come to an end?
Chapter Eighteen
A gentle breeze blew across the open field as Rose sat with Holden on a blanket under a bare-limbed large tree. They had arrived only a few minutes earlier, and Holden had been unusually quiet.
“I realize we no longer need a chaperon now that we are engaged,” Rose said as she watched Caroline return to the carriage to retrieve an extra wrap. “However, I told her about David, and I could not allow her to remain alone so soon. I hope you do not mind.”
“Not at all,” Holden replied. “You are a good friend. She is fortunate to have you.”
“I admit she did not take the news well, but she is doing much better. The fresh air will do her good.”
Silence fell around them again, and Holden twisted a blade of grass between his fingers.
“Holden, I wanted…”
He raised a hand. “Before you say anything,” he interrupted, “I must stop hiding and speak what is on my mind.” He dropped the grass and rubbed his hands together. “While we were in the cellar at David’s party, I feared your name would be ruined. It is why I made the excuse I did. I care nothing for my reputation, but I know you place great significance on yours. As well you should.”
Rose smiled. “I know, and I am grateful you were able to devise an excuse so quickly. I have been thinking…” She sighed. The words would not come. Holden had taken a great risk to maintain her reputation. How could she refuse his unconventional proposal?
“I already know what you wish to say. This is not an engagement you want. I understand, and that is why I have devised a plan, one of which I believe you will approve.”
Songs of Yesterday Page 16