A Family Affair

by Jennifer Wenn

  Charmaine, catching the direction of his glance, apparently didn’t like her beau looking at another woman. As she walked farther from Fanny, Devlin, being a gentleman, had no choice but to follow.

  However, this time Fanny didn’t mind.

  She had her answer. Devlin was not courting Charmaine. For the moment, he was all hers, although she was realistic enough to take it for what it was, an attraction. The season had just begun, and there was too much going on during the next three months to guarantee the attraction would last.

  But for now, she and Devlin had started something, and she could hardly wait to find out what would become of it.

  With a last glance at Charmaine, who hung on Devlin’s arm flaunting her most flirtatious smile, Fanny said, “I never thought I would say this, but somehow I feel sorry for her.” She frowned. “She is the most beautiful person ever to set foot in an English ballroom, and yet she has to lie about being courted. Penny says Charmaine has had over a hundred eligible bachelors asking for her hand, but she has refused them all, to everyone’s surprise. I can’t help but agree with you. There is something more to it.”

  Rake nodded thoughtfully.

  “Penny has been wondering why she keeps saying no,” Fanny continued. “When Lord Dane asked for her hand, she refused him, too, and Penny got really worried, as she knew he was very special to her sister. She said Charmaine had once admitted she wouldn’t mind moving to Yorkshire, where he has his country estate, if he ever would propose. Nevertheless, when he finally did, she told him no.”

  Rake looked at her with astonishment.

  “Really? Lord Dane?”

  “Penny said she turned him down in the most brutal way, and it is such a mystery. One day she was madly in love with him and spoke nothing but good about him. But the next day she called him every horrid name she could think of and said she didn’t want to hear his name again.”

  “How strange. I know Lord Dane, and he is a good man, honest and kind. His fortune is quite large, and his family is well connected. He would have been a really good choice for a girl without a dowry to speak of.”

  They looked at Charmaine where she stood, laughing and flirting with Devlin and her constant ring of other suitors. She was perfect, not a hair out of place. She looked just like the stunning diamond of the first water that she was.

  And yet both Rake and Fanny pitied her.

  “Well,” Rake mused. “Maybe we should talk to Penny and ask her if she knows something more, so we can stop this scandal before it happens. Our friends in the ton will destroy her if they ever find out she lied about being courted by Devlin. They like nothing better than to knock a goddess off her pedestal.”

  Fanny directed their steps to where Penelope stood with Lord and Lady Nester, and one moment later they were chatting amiably.

  Penelope’s mother was of an agreeable personality but a little naïve and too easily impressed. Penelope loved her dearly, but sometimes she got impatient with her vagueness.

  Her father, on the other hand, was the jolly kind, and his loud, booming laughter could always be heard over any crowd’s chatter. Fanny didn’t know much about him, other than that he wasn’t a rich man, and that he was impressed with her family.

  He always made a big fuss about her whenever she paid Penelope a visit, sometimes so much it became awkward and embarrassing.

  Lord Nester was extremely pleased when they joined his little group, and Fanny thought he would have hugged Rake if his wife weren’t at his arm.

  “Lord Richard,” he beamed. “How nice of you to join us!”

  He nodded lightly toward Fanny, not quite so impressed by her, as he had known her since she was a wee little girl.

  “It’s our pleasure,” Rake drawled, and Fanny had to bite her lip to stop the laughter that threatened to burst out over his obvious lie. “Have you been enjoying the picnic, my lady?” he asked Lady Nester.

  Before the good lady had a chance to open her mouth, her husband gave his loud, booming laugh.

  “Of course we have. It has been a real treat. The ladies have most certainly outdone themselves this year, turning this boring park into such a wonderland of flowers and colors.”

  Lady Nester opened her mouth again, but her husband continued to ignore her.

  “And the lemonade…” He kissed his fingers and continued in the worst French accent ever heard, “C’est magnifique.”

  “Yes, very good indeed,” his wife agreed, bobbing her head, clearly giving up any thought of having an opinion of her own.

  “Pity, though, Charmaine isn’t here with us. She would have loved your company. But she is so popular, you know, and we can’t hold her to us more than a few minutes before someone ushers her away. But for you, Lord Richard, we can call her over.”

  Lord Nester waved his hand toward his eldest daughter, and Penelope looked nauseous. Her father wasn’t the best with etiquette, and Fanny knew Penelope sometimes found him terribly embarrassing.

  Rake saved her from having to endure her father’s shouts by grabbing hold of Penelope’s hand.

  “We just want to borrow Penny for a short while, and we will soon be back with her. If it’s all right with you, of course?”

  Before Lord and Lady Nester could say anything, Rake practically dragged the girls away, heading toward the outskirts of the picnic area, where they could talk more privately without anyone overhearing.

  “I’m so sorry,” Penelope breathed when they halted. “He is a little too eager sometimes, and tends to forget himself.”

  “Nothing to speak of.” Rake shrugged.

  Fanny let go of his arm and went to a stone bench at the side of the walkway, where she sat, gently spreading the skirt of her gown. Penelope joined her, and Rake paced to and fro before them, as he had a habit of doing when he had something on his mind.

  He was a delight to look upon, this big, splendid man with dark brown hair and light gray, laughing eyes. After Devlin, he was the most sought-after bachelor in the ton. He was not highly titled, as he was a mere seventh son of a duke, and because of this the mamas placed him only second in the most-wanted-for-a-husband list.

  Still, no woman had yet made him even consider marriage, and Fanny had a feeling he had no intention of ever getting married. He led a good life as it was, and there was no lack of willing women throwing themselves in his way in their eagerness to put themselves between his sheets.

  This was unfortunate for Penelope, since she had been madly in love with him for many years. Rake had never noticed Penelope’s admiration. As far as Fanny knew, he had never thought about her other than as his niece’s friend.

  “Fanny and I feel we have to talk to you about your sister,” Rake blurted out, having finally decided how to start this uncomfortable conversation.

  “W-what?” Penelope stuttered, caught off guard.

  “As you are Fanny’s friend, I think there is no other choice for me than to inform you about this first.”

  He sat down between the two women and grabbed Penelope’s hands. If someone else had looked in their direction, they probably would have thought he was going to ask her to marry him, which would have been funny indeed, if it weren’t for Penelope looking devastated.

  “Oh, my God,” she said in a harsh, broken voice. “You’re going to marry Charmaine.”

  Chapter 11

  Rake became still.

  “No, of course not,” Fanny said, rushing in to break the awkward silence. “Rake doesn’t even like Charmaine, as you are aware.”

  Penelope looked from Fanny to Rake, who stared at her with a strange look in his face.

  “You’re not? You don’t?” she asked him with tears in her eyes.

  He blinked a couple of times before he let go of her hands and stood up. He opened his mouth, then closed it again as if he didn’t know what to say.

  Suddenly, without another word, he bowed and left them sitting there by themselves.

  “What was this?” Fanny mused, looking at her un
cle’s disappearing back. Penelope opened her purse and lifted her handkerchief to her teary eyes.

  “I’m so sorry, Fanny,” she sniffled. “He caught me off guard. It was my worst nightmare coming to life. You know how I suffered last year, when I knew Charmaine was in London where he was too. Everyone always falls in love with her, and I expected him to. But when a full season went by and he hadn’t even been courting her, I relaxed, and this really took me by surprise. Oh, God, what will he think of me now?”

  Fanny hugged her friend closely, silently cursing Rake for being such a blind fool, and especially for being so stubborn about remaining a bachelor.

  This was so typical of the men of her family! None of them could see what was in front of them. They kept their eyes on the horizon, always searching for what they thought they needed, instead of actually enjoying what they had.

  “Don’t you get upset about this now,” she told Penelope. “Rake is one of the most intelligent persons I ever met, and he does wonders with our family fortune, constantly enlarging the already vast funds, according to my father. However, when it comes to feelings, he is beyond naïve.”

  She gave Penelope her own dry handkerchief, and her friend accepted it with a thankful, if damp, smile.

  “What was it you two wanted to talk to me about?” Penelope asked when she had composed herself again. “What about Charmaine?”

  “Oh, please don’t be angry with me for saying this, but there is no way I can choose not to tell you.”

  “Fanny, now you worry me. What is it? Please do tell.”

  Now it was Fanny’s turn to stand and walk to and fro before the bench, unconsciously mimicking her uncle. “I think Charmaine has told her friends something I know is untrue, and it is about to backfire on her.”

  “What?”

  “Last night, at the Easton Ball, I went to the restroom to sit down for a while, but I heard Charmaine and her friends coming.” Fanny hesitated but decided to tell the truth. “As I didn’t want to spend time with her, I hid on the balcony while they were refreshing themselves.”

  Penelope frowned. “Fanny, you shouldn’t go out on the balcony all alone. Someone might see you and get the wrong impression. Think of your reputation, your future. Think about your family.”

  “I know. You don’t have to tell me. It was a stupid move, but I cannot stand your sister.”

  Penelope sighed. She knew this was the truth, so she forced herself not to jump to her sister’s defense. Instead she encouraged Fanny to continue.

  “They were talking about a lot of things, and one thing was how Charmaine secretly is being courted by Devlin Ross.”

  “What?” Now Penelope stood, too, her confusion obvious. “I can’t believe it. I mean, she’s hardly met the man. She once told me he didn’t even look at her with the admiration she was used to, and it vexed her a bit. She is a bit spoiled, you know.”

  “A bit?”

  Penelope glared at Fanny, who let the subject drop and continued on with her confession instead.

  “As I happen to know Devlin has no intentions toward Charmaine, her lie will soon be revealed. It will be devastating for her if her friends choose to make it public.”

  Penelope paled as she realized the truth of what Fanny said. She grabbed Fanny’s hand and stopped her from pacing.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Have I ever lied to you?”

  When Penelope shook her head, Fanny couldn’t stop herself, and she hugged her friend close.

  “It’s not too late, as the truth is not out there yet. We still have time to stop it. You have to talk to Charmaine.”

  “No.”

  “You have to.”

  “Please don’t force me to tell Charmaine.”

  “You have to, or else I will. You know as well as I do that she won’t believe a word of what I tell her. But she believes everything you say. So, yes, you have to. She’s your bloody sister.”

  They stared at each other for a while, both trying to subdue the other with bare willpower. But, as always, it ended with the two of them giggling.

  “Oh, Fanny, you’re such a treat.” Penelope sighed. “Okay, I’ll talk to her, but I won’t look forward to it. You said he has no intentions of courting her. I have to know—are you certain?”

  Fanny’s face warmed, and she knew she didn’t have to tell her friend anything. The beet-red color would say it all.

  Penelope cried out with delight. “Oh, Fanny, really?”

  “I don’t know what it will lead to, but there is a mutual attraction, and Devlin has acknowledged it to Rake. I don’t think he would do such a thing if he were already engaged, or on the verge of proposing.”

  A shrill whistle sliced through the air, catching their attention. The picnic was over, and Lord Newbury wanted his daughter to join them for the journey home.

  Together, Penelope and Fanny walked back through the fields of flowers, thinking about all that had happened in the few short hours of the picnic.

  Penelope hugged Fanny again before she left her and joined her sister and parents in their carriage. The lawn was almost empty by now, and Fanny looked through the few people remaining, but Devlin was nowhere to be seen. She couldn’t help but feel a little prick of disappointment.

  She had secretly yearned to meet him again, if only to say goodbye. If she didn’t see him now, there was no way to tell when the next time would be. The invitations she had received so far had been from relatives and friends, nothing to which a bachelor who wasn’t an immediate relative would be invited.

  The next grand ball was two weeks away, and suddenly fourteen days seemed like an eternity.

  Her father was in an expansive mood and enjoyed ordering his brothers about, collecting chairs and tables. At the same time, he succeeded with annoying his poor servants, who couldn’t do their jobs with their masters constantly in their way.

  Fanny joined her mother, who stood silently in the now empty field, ignoring her husband. Caroline was a radiant beauty, with mahogany-colored hair and shiny green eyes. Fanny had many times wished she had inherited her mother’s striking colors, instead of her father’s brown hair and gray eyes.

  Sin also had their father’s coloring, but where the men looked strict and handsome with that, she as a woman looked merely mousy. Sebastian stood out in any family gathering, the only child who had their mother’s coloring.

  “Have you been enjoying yourself?” Caroline asked her daughter as they strolled toward their carriage.

  “I have. It has been most entertaining. So far, I am really enjoying my first season. Everyone is dashing and fashionable, and the clothes are amazing. I can’t believe how some of the women put on so much jewelry at this early time of the day. I could hardly make out if they were dressed at all!”

  Caroline laughed at her enthusiasm. “Yes, the women of the ton do know how to look their best. But I think you and Penelope won the fight, looking so pretty together. Just like a bouquet of flowers. And I wasn’t the only one admiring you. I noticed a certain duke who couldn’t tear his eyes from you.”

  Fanny cursed silently over her inability to stay serene, as she could feel her cheeks get warm and red again. There was no way her mother would let it pass without getting an explanation out of her.

  “According to Rake,” Fanny admitted quietly, “he has acknowledged his intentions of courting me.”

  Caroline could easily see how much her daughter cared for the man, or rather her own image of him, even though she pretended to be unaffected.

  “And how do you feel about it?”

  “I must confess I am very much attracted to him, as everything about him is highly appealing to me. And I do want him to court me, because I want to get to know him. I want to see if I’m just as attracted to his personality as I am to his appearance. I was fanatic about him when I was younger, and I seem to fall too easily into the same state of mind as I did then. But I do now understand how falling in love is more complicated than one would think. A pe
rson you once knew could today be someone else. A shiny exterior can hide a rotten inside.” She winked to her mother. “Just take Charmaine as an example.”

  Caroline laughed. “I have always felt sorry for the poor girl, as she has not had an easy time with you hovering around, hostile and unfriendly.”

  “Mother! You are supposed to be on my side, not the fishy ogre’s.”

  Caroline didn’t answer the childish remark. Instead she simply looked at her daughter until Fanny made an embarrassed grimace.

  “I know. You don’t have to say it,” she finally admitted. “I have not been very accommodating toward Charmaine. She was such an awful child when we were younger I got kind of used to disliking her. Penelope always tells me there is more to Charmaine than meets the eye, and that I am just being childish. But nobody thinks about how she acts toward me. She is not very nice when she addresses me, either, and so I don’t think our poor relationship is only my fault.”

  “If you are nicer, maybe she will be, too,” Caroline urged. “You don’t know until you’ve tried, my dear.”

  “I suppose you are right, although I think it’s a little late for me and Charmaine to be friends. Especially now.”

  “Oh?”

  “Promise you won’t tell Papa about it!” When Caroline looked at her with suspicion, Fanny stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Promise!”

  “All right, I won’t tell your father, as long as it isn’t something dangerous to you or anyone else in our family.”

  Fanny rolled her eyes, but she knew she couldn’t ask more of her mother, since she was too caring for her own good. She told her mother what she had learnt about Charmaine’s lie, and what Rake had said about the consequences.

  Caroline nodded. “You did the right thing, my dear. Telling Charmaine now makes it possible for her to repair her story with her friends and, by doing so, prevent a terrible scandal before it is too late. For any other young woman, it wouldn’t be such a big thing, but Charmaine is, after all, the most sought-after debutante, and thereby an easy target for every envious other woman out there who would love to put an end to her reign.”