The Accidental Elopement (Scandalous Miss Brightwells Book 4)

by Beverley Oakley

  “Then change your plans.”

  The way Katherine looked so imploringly up at him decided Jack in an instant. He shrugged. “All right, I will. Mama and Uncle will be in London in any case, though I can only stay a couple of days before the house is overrun with the Hampshire cousins.”

  “Then you can stay at Uncle Quamby’s townhouse, I’m sure.”

  Jack saw that her suggestion was genuine. “In that case, we’ll all go to London. It’ll be grand!”

  Chapter 4

  “So I have day dresses, two spencers, two walking dresses, three shawls, one opera cloak, four pairs of dancing slippers, one pair of walking boots, three bonnets—” Katherine broke off her inventory to greet her aunt while her maid laid out each item of her lavish wardrobe on the bed before folding it to put away in the wardrobe. “Aren’t I going to be the best-dressed debutante in all of London, Aunt Antoinette?”

  Katherine was feeling remarkably chipper this morning despite the hour at which she’d returned from her very first London ball. After their day of travelling between Bath and London, they’d only reached Mayfair at four o’clock the previous afternoon, and Mama had said that of course it was too late to look in at Lady Eddison’s Assembly Ball. However, Katherine had had her way, partly because the Patmores had already arrived and Jack had turned up on their doorstep with all the encouragement needed. Which wasn’t much. For Mama was tired and Jack was persuasive, saying his own mama hoped very much for Katherine’s company, which was all it took to make a compelling case.

  It had been entirely worth everything. Aunt Antoinette had accompanied her to last night’s ball, naturally, though Katherine suspected her aunt had her own scheme for the evening already laid out if the warmth of Aunt Antoinette’s familiar greeting of a young man considerably younger than herself, who had then paid her a great deal of attention all evening, was anything to go by.

  Katherine had only been to London once, and she’d been too young to dance though she’d attended a few quiet house parties.

  This was different, though. She was officially out. A debutante. And it only took last night to realise she was a popular one.

  This, it transpired, was the reason for her aunt’s visit to her bedchamber now.

  Aunt Antoinette draped herself across a chair she pulled at right angles to the bed, looked at the selection of clothes and accessories, and said, “I think my favourite is the crimson silk.”

  “Though I shall wear the pale blue, naturally, since Mama will be accompanying me.”

  Her aunt nodded approvingly. “Of course. Your mama was such a wicked girl in her day but, of course, now that she has her own daughter, she is as overprotective as a mother hen.”

  Katherine rubbed the side of her nose, not quite thinking this an appropriate analogy, though it was true that her mama had shown herself surprisingly cautious and occasionally critical about the way Katherine’s conducted herself in public.

  She sat down at her dressing table and picked up a rabbit’s-foot brush. “I can’t believe the things you say about my mama, sometimes. About her being wild. She seems so…proper.” Katherine was fishing for more tidbits, it was true, but true also was the fact she found it hard to reconcile her mama—devoted wife and mother who had eyes only for Katherine’s papa—with the bold and beautiful debutante she’d learned had scandalised society with her antics.

  “Marriage has made her proper.”

  “Marriage didn’t make you proper,” Katherine dared, with a smile. She’d always been aware that Aunt Antoinette was ‘different’ and that her marriage to the Earl of Quamby was ‘different’ yet she still didn’t quite understand it.

  “Oh, being proper is only for people who have to be,” Aunt Antoinette said airily. “The ugly girls, the wallflowers—they can’t get away with anything. Last night made it clear you’ll never fall into that category, my dear, which is why I’ve come to talk to you.”

  Katherine straightened. “Goodness, that’s very…direct, Aunt.”

  “Well, there’s no point in fostering your ignorance and then regretting I’d not spoken to you earlier when it’s already too late.”

  “What’s too late?” Katherine bent forward in alarm.

  “Nothing’s too late. Not now. But that’s only because I’m speaking to you of matters your mama wouldn’t dream of bringing up with you—even though it’s what nearly caused her own downfall. And mine.” Aunt Antoinette raised an eyebrow. “Well, aren’t you going to quiz me?”

  Katherine blinked. “Wouldn’t that be impolite? I was going to wait for you to tell me.”

  “Oh, but you are a well-brought-up little miss. The trouble is, Katherine, one day you’ll get caught by surprise with those…feelings there…” she said directing a searching look at Katherine’s bosom, “and there…” She dropped her eyes lower. “You probably won’t think to behave in any manner other than what your heart and body and those feelings direct you to. At least, you won’t if you’re anything like your mother and myself. Which means, Katherine dearest, that it is my duty to explain to you the dangers of being under the control of love, passion, and desire. It’s quite likely you’ll entirely lose your head and throw caution to the wind, and then where would we all be if I hadn’t warned you?”

  Katherine stared at her, puzzled. “Warned me? But you just did. About these feelings you say I’ll feel when I fall in love. I’ve felt some of them already but they didn’t make me lose my head. I certainly shan’t make foolish decisions when it comes to choosing a husband. It’s my most important consideration now that I’m in London.”

  As Miss Fenton, Katherine had a world of limitations placed upon her, but she’d seen how entirely different it was for the young matrons of her acquaintance to order their households and servants, and that’s exactly what she couldn’t wait to do.

  Aunt Antoinette let out a tinkling laugh. “Oh, my dear girl. If only it were that easy! Do you really think you’ll just fall in love with the right gentleman and get married?”

  “Georgiana Rice did. And so did Miss Marcia Heaslip. And Miss Juliana Macefield and”

  “Well, those are the girls you know who did what was expected of them and good for them that it all went so swimmingly—if it did.” Aunt Antoinette shrugged. “But what if you fall in love with someone entirely disreputable?”

  “Like Cousin George?”

  Antoinette snorted as Katherine clapped her hand to her mouth. “Forgive me, Aunt. It was very rude to speak like that about your son.” When she saw that she’d caused Aunt Antoinette no offence and, in fact, that her aunt appeared to endorse her feelings, she went on hesitantly. “I meant Cousin George cultivates an air about him that is disreputable, but he’s the last man I’d fall in love with.” She thought a moment. “I suppose you might mean someone like Mr Marwick who danced with me twice last night.”

  “Exactly!” Aunt Antoinette gave a decisive nod, as if she’d been waiting for Katherine to mention his name. “He is exactly the kind of gentleman I’m here to warn you about, and if you can’t heed anyone’s warnings—because let me assure you, your mama will be on the warpath since Mr Marwick is the nephew of a fellow she was secretly betrothed to—I shall have to advise you how to manage matters so you don’t land up in the kind of trouble I did.”

  Katherine glanced at the door and prayed her mother wouldn’t choose this moment to enter. She knew Aunt Antoinette was the wilder of the two sisters, but her mother— clearly reformed if her aunt had been truthful about the early days—seemed determined that her sister not spend too much time alone with her niece.

  “What kind of trouble, Aunt?” she whispered. She knew it was death to a young lady’s reputation to be unchaperoned when alone with a young man, though she’d never been entirely sure why if kissing was the worst that could happen. If Aunt Antoinette could elaborate, it would be hugely helpful.

  “The kind of trouble I worry about you getting into with a rake like Mr Marwick.”

  “But I only
danced with him twice, Aunt.”

  “And I saw the way his eyes followed you around the room for the entire evening. Believe me, Katherine, he wants to do more than just dance with you.”

  Katherine shivered with pleasure. She glanced at the red silk. Perhaps she would wear it, after all. Mr Marwick looked the kind of gentleman who’d appreciate a bolder entrance than she’d make in the more demure pale blue. “You think he might want to marry me?” She was surprised when Aunt Antoinette made a derisive snorting noise that did nothing to detract from her shining beauty and aplomb. There really was something of the ripe peach about her. Katherine had overheard those words used more than one gentleman. And it was true that Aunt Antoinette looked rather exotic with her golden ringlets escaping from the fashionable and elaborate style now in fashion. So, still thinking of this expression, she asked, “Do you mean he regards me like a peach, ready for the plucking?”

  “Good Lord, where did you hear that term?” her aunt cried, looking both shocked and delighted. “You overheard Lord Brentwood say that about me, didn’t you?Such a nice gentleman.” ” She sighed fondly before adding briskly, “No, your beauty is different and, as you’re an unknown quantity, you are a source of great fascination to a man like Freddy Marwick as well as to his friend and rival, Lord Derry. So, beware, Katherine. Mr Marwick is the kind who’ll take any opportunity to whisk you into a dark corner, or away from the hubbub, and you might think it a thrilling idea at the time.” Her aunt frowned heavily. “But do not go anywhere alone with Mr Marwick for he is not a reputable gentleman. I’ve made enquiries, and for fear of making you do exactly the opposite of what I tell you, I must warn you about him.”

  Katherine opened her mouth to protest that she had no intention of going into any dark corners with any gentleman, though she liked Mr Marwick who was charming and attentive and, indeed, rather intriguing in a dangerous kind of way, but her aunt cut her off. “But, if you do, and if matters proceed in a manner that is…unwise…then know you can always come to me for help.”

  Katherine was about to ask her to clarify what she could possibly mean but her aunt rose and said, decisively, “And that is all I have to say on the subject for fear of your mama boxing my ears for putting ideas into that pretty little head of yours.”

  “And was that all you came to tell me?”

  “Absolutely. You need to beware of Mr Marwick, but if you do something you regret, come to me, rather than your mama.” She put her hand on the doorknob and was about to leave the room when Katherine’s mama swept in, a lovely smile making her even more of a beauty than her sister, Katherine thought in that moment. But then, while she was enormously fond of her aunt, she was devoted to her mother, despite their occasional differences of opinion. And as her mother seemed so very pleased with Katherine’s choice of attire when she asked what Katherine wanted to wear to Lady Maxwell’s that night, and so satisfied with the reports of her daughter’s general conduct the previous evening, Katherine decided that her trip to London was going to be the most marvellous success. She’d make both her parents proud, and be, herself, the happiest bride sometime during the next few months, she supposed. For there really was a vast array of choice, with seemingly every eligible gentleman in the land here in London for her to choose from.

  Mr Marwick was dangerous and exciting and clearly mad for her; Lord Derry was courteous and intense and also clearly mad for her. Already she had two potential suitors.

  And that was only after her very first ball.

  Chapter 5

  Katherine only realised what a sedate affair the previous evening had been when she and her parents were announced by Lord and Lady Maxwell’s butler, in stentorian tones, to a vast assembly of guests.

  “You look very beautiful, my darling.” Her father leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Now, smile. It’s not often I don’t see that wicked glint in your eye, but I assure you, nobody’s going to bite you.”

  This made Katherine relax and, with a laugh, the very first person she was presented to was, to her surprise, Mr Marwick.

  “Miss Fenton. I am enchanted,” he murmured, kissing the back of her hand. And indeed he really looked to be. His dark eyes sparkled, and his glossy moustache tickled in the most interesting way as it touched her flesh, sparking the sudden idea that it would be interesting to know what it felt like caressing her lips.

  Almost immediately she saw Jack, who was of course the only man she had kissed, and since Jack’s presence had the effect of making her feel comfortable and at ease in this alien company, she didn’t object when her mama truncated Katherine’s conversation with Mr Marwick and steered her in the direction of her old friend, saying, “Jack, you look very dashing this evening. Won’t you lead Katherine into the next dance? This is all very new to her, and with you, I know she’ll be in safe hands.”

  Katherine couldn’t resist a quick glance over her shoulder at Mr Marwick before she surrendered herself to Jack. When she saw that the tall, slender gentleman with such dangerously alluring saturnine looks was staring intently at her, heat burned her cheeks and her heart rate accelerated wildly. As their glances interlocked, he kissed the tips of his fingers and offered her a very elaborate bow.

  “I see you have a new admirer,” Jack remarked as she turned back to him. His eyes were warm. “Not that I’m surprised. You’re far and away the most beautiful girl in the room.”

  Delight fizzed through Katherine but before she could reply, Jack seized her hand and pulled her away.

  “Heavens, Jack, that’s no way to manhandle a lady!” she said crossly.

  “Sorry! Your Cousin George was making a beeline for you, and I thought you’d feel safer on the dance floor with me and out of his orbit.”

  “Well, if it’s a choice of having you step all over my toes or to have to suffer George’s arms around me, I don’t know what I’d choose,” Katherine grumbled. But it wasn’t long before she was tipping up her face to say admiringly, “You’re actually quite a marvellous dancer, Jack. You haven’t stepped on my toes, once.”

  “Oh, that was all an act for George. Surely you knew that?”

  “But you were so convincing.”

  “Of course. A foundling home lad only survives through pretending to be whatever is required at the time.” His grip tightened about her waist, and he drew her closer as they negotiated a manoeuvre between a couple who’d left them little space. Katherine reflected that while it was wonderful to be admired by Mr Marwick, everything about the London social whirl was still rather daunting, and having Jack close was more of a comfort than she would have believed.

  “And what is required of you tonight that you must pretend?” she asked playfully.

  He appeared to consider this. “I must be a fine upstanding gentleman, older than my years if I’m to compete with all the other rich, titled, and experienced fellows currently admiring you throughout the room. And I must definitely not step on your toes in order to maintain your current high opinion of me which I know will be in shreds the moment I say something to make you cross. I might look at my ease but inside I’m quaking, walking on eggshells.”

  “Goodness, was I such an imperious child?” She laughed as she was assailed by fond memories of those distant days. “Yet I don’t recall that you were ever angry with me.”

  “Again, that’s due to the skill required of a foundling home child. I learned how to manage you, Katherine. And really, I quite enjoyed doing your fetching and carrying which, might I add, I only did because I wanted to.”

  “Wouldn’t you do whatever I asked…even if you didn’t want to?” she asked slyly. “You only do things that you want to do? Is this your way of telling me you’re a man of unyielding principle?”

  “I like to think so though perhaps it’s not yet been put to the test.” He grew serious. “It’s one of the things I intend to work on when I’m away. I don’t want to be known as the foundling lad who was only able to make his mark through the support of his generous adoptive parents.
I want to come home having made my fortune through my own efforts, and known as a man of honour and principle.”

  “Fine words, indeed, but I can’t bear the thought you’re leaving in only five days. I will miss you, Jack.”

  “Will you, really?”

  Katherine glanced up, surprised at his tone and the intensity of her own feelings. She swallowed down the lump in her throat. “It was lovely having you there at Quamby House, and it would be so nice to have you here throughout the season as…well…a comforting presence as I”

  “Navigate the multitude of gallant offers from so many gallant men,” Jack supplied for her. “No, thank you. I don’t think I could bear the jealousy. But, here is the first of those gallant admirers ready to seize his moment now that our waltz is over.”

  He dropped his hands from Katherine’s waist. “Good evening, George. What a relief it will be for Katherine to swap her dance partner for one who really can dance.”

  Katherine flashed a colluding smile at Jack. “Really, I don’t know how I’ll be able to walk tomorrow after what you’ve done to my feet, Jack!”

  George nodded. “We can’t all be good at everything.” He gripped Katherine’s hand and pulled her into the centre of the dance floor. “Let’s show Jack how it’s done, eh?”

  Jack shook his head. “I’ll just bow out gracefully and see what other enticements are on offer. As it happens, I’ve spied a very pretty girl by the supper table who looks like she needs some company.”

  Katherine followed Jack with her gaze from over George’s shoulder as he waltzed her about the room. She was surprised by the chagrin that welled up inside her as she saw the responsive smile the aforementioned very pretty young lady directed at Jack. Mr Marwick, who was waltzing with a plain ginger haired girl passed, by. His glittering black eyes bored into hers and his moustache twitched as he whispered, “Promise you’ll reserve the next dance for me, Miss Fenton.”