Debutantes Don’t Date

by Kristina O’Grady

  He must stop this. He rolled onto his side and stared at the offending door. What on earth had ever possessed him to open it to begin with?

  Jasper was resigned to taking himself in hand when he heard noises coming from the other side of the door. Both his heart and his penis leapt with hope; could she be coming here to him? The door knob started to turn. He held his breath. Whoever it was, he could only assume it was Grace, let go. The door remained tightly closed and he remained alone for the rest of the night.

  Chapter Nine

  “Is it done?” Robin whispered to Rupert when they met again.

  “They’s left town.”

  “What?!” Several heads turned in his direction. He quickly hushed his tone and leaned closer to the big man at his table. It had been a risk meeting him here at the club, but Rupert had insisted Robin get him inside the establishment. He wasn’t about to disappoint him.

  “I said, They. Left. Town.”

  “Where have they gone? You don’t think they have gone to get married already, do you?” Robin could hear the panic rising in his own voice.

  “Nah, Old Man Lancaster’s Estate.”

  “Damnation!” Getting Old Man Lancaster involved was not good. Not good at all.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it, boy, I’ll’s just get her when she gets back.” Rupert rubbed his hands together.

  Robin hated that Rupert called him boy, but since the man was twice his size, he wasn’t stupid enough to ask him to stop.

  “I’s can hardly wait to get my hands on her. Ye never tol’ me she be such a pretty little thing.”

  “Is she now? We never had the pleasure of being introduced,” Robin sneered. “This calls for a change of plans. I’ll meet her; she’s more likely to warm to me than to a bulk of a man like you.” He would love to sample what Lord Bingham has already discovered. In fact, maybe that’s what they should do instead. “Instead of killing her you know, we could sell her. She as pretty as you say, isn’t she?”

  “Oh ay, she’d fetch a fair price. We’d have to break her in first of course, but that won’t be a problem, will it?”

  “None at all,” Robin snickered. The weight of his debt lifted from his shoulders for the first time since Miss Lancaster arrived. His snickering grew to a full belly laugh, leaving the rest of the patrons in the room to wonder what Lord Wester and his very large friend were laughing so gleefully about.

  Chapter Ten

  The Lancaster Estate looked more like a castle out of a movie than a home. The grey stone amongst the freshly fallen snow and the grey sky made the place look majestic, but cold. Grace imagined the winters here would be spent huddled around the fire…an open fire, with no central heating. She shivered at the thought.

  The very large front door opened before their carriage pulled to a stop and several servants bustled out and stood in a line. An old man made his way down the steps, his weight heavy on a cane.

  “Don’t let his appearance fool you, Grace,” Jasper whispered as the footman opened their door.

  “Huh?” She turned her head from the window and looked at him in confusion.

  As soon as their feet had touched the ground they were greeted by the old man. “What are you doing here, Bingham?” For such a frail man, his voice boomed, cutting into the clear winter air. “You of all people should know you’re not welcome here.” The old man turned to Victoria. “Lady Harrison, I’m sorry you wasted a trip,” he said with a slight bow.

  “Lord Lancaster,” Jasper said as though he hadn’t heard he wasn’t welcome there, although his hearing was just fine, “may I present Miss Grace Lancaster? Miss Lancaster, your grandfather, Lord Lancaster.”

  The old man stopped his grizzling and stared into Grace’s eyes. “My granddaughter?”

  Grace dropped to a curtsy, just like she had practised. “It appears that I am, sir.”

  “Colin’s girl? I never thought to hear from that bastard again. What is it you want?” All trace of awe had left his voice.

  “That bastard, as you call him, doesn’t want a damned thing, you cranky old fart, and neither do I!” Grace turned on her heel and flounced back into the carriage and slammed the door. She flung it back open a moment later. “Are you two coming, or not?”

  “Grace, you can’t speak to Lord Lancaster like that,” Victoria chided her as they made their way back down the long drive.

  “I just did.” Grace looked out the window back towards the house to see the little old man standing on the front steps watching them leave. “If anyone is a bastard, it’s him. Who could disown his own son…and a granddaughter he’s never met?”

  “Your…um…father was not that great a son.” Victoria said gently. “He ran up debts so large it almost ruined Old Lancaster. He only paid them off on the condition that Colin left the country and never asked for anything again. I’m afraid he may be thinking Colin is using you to blackmail him. I suppose bringing you here wasn’t the best of ideas.”

  “Didn’t you tell him we were coming?” Grace asked.

  “I thought showing up unannounced would work better in our favour,” Victoria shook her head sadly.

  “Besides, he wouldn’t have opened anything from us if we had sent something beforehand, he just won’t have anything to do with our family,” Jasper added.

  “Why is it that he hates you so? What on earth did you do to him, Jasper?”

  Jasper looked at his lap and shifted in his seat. He cleared his throat a few times before he lifted his head and looked her straight in the eyes, his face flushed with obvious embarrassment. “It was me to whom Colin owed the most money. In hindsight I shouldn’t have let him run up debts so high, but I didn’t realise he was unable to pay them until it was too late. In my defence, I did offer to let Old Lancaster pay them off over ten years, interest free, but I’m afraid that just made it worse.”

  “You offended his honour.” Grace shook her head with a small smile on her face. “You men are a peculiar species. You’re prepared to sacrifice everything else for the sake of honour, aren’t you?”

  “It doesn’t help that our banks compete with each other either.”

  “Grace,” Victoria cut in, “you’re talking to the man who is marrying you because he compromised you. If that doesn’t come down to honour, what does?”

  “True.” Grace thought about all the times men did something just because of their honour. It seemed to her that it was something that never changed from this time to her own. “It’s kinda sad for my grandfather then, isn’t it? Does he have any other family?”

  “No, not any more. He had one other son, George, but he was killed fighting Napoleon and George’s wife died in childbirth. I believe she was to have a daughter, but the babe died alongside her.”

  “Oh, so he doesn’t have anyone?” Something tugged in her chest. He’s just like me, she thought, she didn’t have anyone either. “Victoria, do you think he will ever let go of his pride and come to the wedding?”

  “I think he’ll come if he knows what he’ll be missing, if he doesn’t know that already after meeting you.”

  Grace reached up and knocked loudly on the roof, just like she had seen in the movies. “Turn around,” she hollered to the driver. “I’ll show him what he’s missing,” she said to her companions.

  ***

  Joseph Lancaster watched the carriage rumble down his drive, carrying the granddaughter he didn’t know he had, away from him. It would be just like his son to use her to get something from him. But she showed spunk. She obviously didn’t want anything from him. But then, why did she come here? It was a long way from London. And to come with Bingham! What was a Lancaster doing associating with that man? He hoped it wasn’t history repeating itself.

  He turned away from the scene before him; it reminded him too much of when he lost Colin. He too had left with terse words shouted. Things had never been the same since. George had blamed him for losing the brother he’d always looked up to. He left to join the army a month after Co
lin sailed away. Carl never saw either of them again.

  He made his way slowly back up the steps. He had been filled with a surge of angry energy when he’d seen Bingham’s crest on the carriage door and felt like he could run down the steps like a man of twenty. Now all that energy drained out to leave only the bleakness which always seemed to consume his life nowadays.

  He made his way into his huge empty house and hobbled down the hallway to the library to return to his book and fire. He didn’t want to be alone any more. Of course he had loyal servants that looked after his every need, but it was not the same as having family and friends around. Maybe he should make the effort to go to town this spring and attend some of the balls. Maybe he could find someone to comfort him, and if he happened to run into his granddaughter, it would be only right to invite her to dinner.

  “My lord?” His butler stood at the doorway. “It appears your guests have decided to stay after all. They are coming back down the drive. Should I invite them in, sir?”

  Carl leapt, as best he could, out of his chair and hustled back to the entrance to greet his guests. This time he would not let them go; at least not without a hug.

  ***

  The second time Grace stepped down from the carriage at her grandfather’s door, it was a much better welcome than she experienced the first time. The old man limped over to her, leaning heavily on his walking stick. He hesitated but a moment before opening his arms and folding her in his embrace. The walls surrounding her heart cracked and the tears in his eyes when he held her back to look at her, made the cracks so large the walls fell to a heap. Tears flowed freely down her face as she hugged him tightly to her again. This was home.

  She hadn’t felt this way since her parents were alive. Warmth filled the gap that had opened and she felt giddy with the love that flowed through her for this man.

  Her great-great-grandfather held her hand as he welcomed them all into his home.

  They stayed a week at the Lancaster Estate getting to know each other and playing chess by the fireside while a snowstorm raged outside. The snow piled up quickly and Grace was grateful they weren’t on the road. She found the temperature inside the manor wasn’t as cool as she first anticipated as long as she stayed at the end of the room where the fire was located. It tended to be a lot chillier at the far end of the room.

  When it was time for them to head back to London, the man Grace now knew as Grandpapa called her into his study.

  “Grace my dear, I understand why you need to marry Bingham, and after these days of getting to know him again, I am more than happy to give you my blessing, but I want you to know you always have a home here. I have no one else to share this big old house with and I would love for you to visit as often and for as long as you like.” The old leather chair in which he sat held a depression in the perfect shape of his bottom from the many years he had spent seated by the fire.

  Grace reached for his hand and smiled at the sweet-hearted old man and marvelled she’d thought he was a grumpy old codger when she first arrived. How wrong she was. “I would love nothing more, Grandpapa.”

  “I want you to stay here with me. There’s no reason for you to go back to town so soon. You can travel in closer to the wedding. This is your home now. Stay. We’ll have a grand time together, you and I.”

  The crinkles around his eyes pulled her to him and suddenly she couldn’t bear to go away. “Yes,” she replied, “I will stay. I’ll go and tell Victoria and Jasper they will be making the return trip without me.” Grace gave him a quick hug before she slipped out the door and ran into Jasper. Literally. He was standing just outside the study door.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Waiting for you, of course. Are you ready to go? We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning and I wanted to make sure you were all packed.”

  “I am actually, but…”

  “Good, come with me, I want to show you something.” Jasper grasped her arm and like every other time he touched her, she forgot about everything else.

  He led her down the hallway to the rear entrance which opened into the garden. He wrapped her in a cloak hung at the door before taking her hand and heading outside into the snow. The night was crisp and clear; the freshly fallen snow shone in the moonlight and squeaked underfoot as they made their way to a garden bench.

  Jasper swept the snow aside and spread out a blanket he had tucked under his arm to make her comfortable before settling next to her. He gently took her hands in his and leaned in and softly kissed her lips. “Look,” he said when he raised his head, pointing at the sky.

  She gasped as the wonderful sight assaulted her senses. Meteors showered the sky. It looked like hundreds were falling all at once. She stood and gazed up in wonder.

  “Have you ever seen such a sight?” His voice was filled with awe. Grace heard his boots crunch in the snow as he stood to join her.

  “Yes,” she whispered into the darkness. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered another night much like this one. When she was a teenager, her dad had woken her up in the middle of the night and together they watched the meteor shower from her bedroom window. He had wrapped his arms around her to keep out the cold as they both stood shivering in the crisp cold air, every once in a while wiping the fog of their breath off the window so they could see the once-in-a-lifetime sight. A laugh caught in her throat; all one had to do was partake in a little time travel to enjoy a night like this more than once.

  She wished she could have controlled her travelling. She would have picked that night to relive.

  Jasper moved behind her and wrapped her in his arms. She leaned back into his warmth and told him about watching meteors with her dad. He seemed to know how much seeing this again meant to her and he wisely kept quiet. But she couldn’t quite allow herself to let go and enjoy this moment with him. Maybe those walls she thought had crumbled upon meeting Grandpapa were stronger than she first believed.

  When the meteors had calmed down and they made their way back towards the house, she told him of her decision to stay for a couple more weeks and get to know her grandfather better.

  “I want to get to know him before it’s too late. You never know when things will be taken from you.” She knew this for a fact.

  Jasper was oddly subdued and retired to his room as soon as he saw her safely inside.

  Grace stayed awake for hours thinking about her father and her Grandpapa and Jasper. She still wanted to go home. Although the pull wasn’t as strong as it was before. Realising she had family here in 1814 was not something she had anticipated. Leaving her only known relative behind wasn’t something she wanted to think about. That’s why she couldn’t go back to London just yet. She needed to have a family again. Tears of joy and sorrow mixed as they fell down her face. She thought of her family and how she’d pushed everyone away when they were killed. No one understood she wanted to preserve their memory by not letting it get tainted by anyone else. But she was wrong for not letting her friends in. She realised now that she had made a mistake. Her friends were only trying to cheer her up and make her laugh. She used to be full of laughter. It must have been horrendous for them to see her as a shell of what she once was. No wonder they all gave up on her in the end. She hadn’t had contact with any of them for at least two years.

  Grace burrowed deeper inside her blanket. It was cold here though, especially at this time of night, when the sun was getting ready to rise. Her fire had burned down to ashes and although she knew perfectly well how to make a fire, she couldn’t bear to get out of bed to do so.

  Her apartment had central heating. The duvet she had on her bed was filled with wool and was light, but warm. The blankets on this bed were also made of wool, but they were so heavy, she could barely move her legs. At least they kept out most of the cold air.

  Her mind turned to Jasper. Her blood warmed at the thought of him. Grace couldn’t deny her attraction to him. It seemed whenever they were in a room together the temperature rose.
But he didn’t trust her. She couldn’t blame him for that and there was no way she could tell him the truth. For one, he would never believe her. And why would he? He thought she was after his money or his title. He’d probably been chased his whole life for those, so no wonder when a strange American woman showed up and molested him in the corner at a ball, he thought the worst. Strangely enough, though, she didn’t want to leave him behind either. It was as though there was some sort of force pulling them together. No matter how much they tried to fight it, it only took one look to bring them back together.

  Her breath fogged into the room and she once again considered building the fire back up. It would be hours before anyone came to stoke it.

  “All right, on the count of three,” she said out loud in the stillness. “One…two…three…OK, maybe to five…one…two…three…four…five.” This time she threw the covers off and leapt from the bed. Oh, the floor was cold. She ran on tiptoe to the fireplace and squatted down to get it going again. Soon she had a flame going. At least she could survive in 1814. Her dad and real grandfather took her and her brother camping every year while they were growing up. She added a few more logs and made her way back to the bed. Her feet were now so frozen she no longer noticed the cold floor.

  She slowly warmed up as the fire chased the chill from the room and she finally fell asleep as the sun came up.

  “Wait!” she called as she ran down the last of the steps of the grand staircase in the house. With her room so warm, she’d slept in and Jasper and Victoria were already halfway out the door. “Don’t go.”

  Jasper turned towards her with such hope in his eyes her breath caught.

  “I wanted to say goodbye before you go. I didn’t realise you would be gone so early in the morning.”

  “Jasper wanted to make an early start, didn’t you, Jasper? Hopefully we can make it all the way home before nightfall now that the roads are clear.”