“Is that jealousy I hear?”
How could he possibly have known I had been jealous? “No!” He raised an eyebrow at me, clearly not believing my protest. “I confess I used to be jealous of her, but no longer. We are different individuals. Therefore we cannot expect the same things in life.”
He shook his head. “I have the feeling I’m hearing more of your mother’s wisdom.”
“What better person could I have to repeat?” I asked with a soft laugh “She truly is the wisest and most patient person I have ever known.”
“Do you enjoy dancing, Miss Forester?”
Again, a sudden subject change. Why did he want to know about dancing? I was sure there was a purpose to his words. After all, he had danced with me on several occasions in London. “Yes. Why do you ask?”
“Do you waltz?”
The question caused my cheeks bright red, I’m sure. Some of my fondest memories were of having dancing lessons with a master at the Knighton’s home. I had learned the dance, as I’m sure most ladies did, whether their parents approved or not. It was not performed in our little community, but no doubt every young lady hoped for the opportunity to go to London where it was more accepted.
Clearing my throat, I said, “I learned a few years ago, yes. I have not had the opportunity to practice of late.”
“I think I would like to waltz with you, Miss Forester.”
I stumbled, and Mr. Richfield steadied me. “This appears to have become a habit between you and me, Miss Forester,” he said with a smile.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not.” He lifted his hand and mine to the correct position. His other hand moved to my waist. He took one step, and I moved on instinct, bringing my left hand up to his shoulder. He drew me closer, making my breath catch in my throat.
Barring the time when he’d caught me and when he had carried me in his arms, I had never been so close to a man before. He was holding me closer than the danced necessitated, but I wasn’t about to object. Smiling down at me, Mr. Richfield began to lead me through the waltz, spinning me through the trees.
Heaven help me if anyone were to catch us now! My reputation would be a thing of the past! And I found I didn’t care.
Chapter Fifteen
A few minutes of dancing left me feeling completely out of breath. “For someone who has the habit of tripping over her feet, you dance with great elegance,” Mr. Richfield said, slowing to a stop. “You will grace the dance floor of the Knighton Ball many times, or the other gentlemen are fools.”
I wasn’t sure whether to feel the insult that he assumed I was clumsy. It was only on a few occasions my feet moved of their own accord. Instead, I focused on the compliment he’d offered to me. “Are you prepared to see so many fools in one place?” I asked lightly. “It may sound as though it will be amusing, but I can assure you it will be tedious.”
Mr. Richfield laughed. “Your sharp mind is one of the things I admire about you.”
At least he seemed amused. Most gentlemen didn’t wish for a lady to use her mind for anything serious. I appreciated more than ever I had caught the attention of such an honorable man.
“We should return to the others,” I said, glancing over to pond. My attention was caught by Will, who was at the edge of the water and reaching for something out of sight. Seeing him crouched down reminded me of something I couldn’t quite place, and I felt a sharp stab of anxiety.
“Diana, are you well? Are you tired?”
“I’m—I’m fine,” I said, trying to convince myself more than him. Will It took a second before it hit me what Mr. Richfield had said: my Christian name, just as he had done when he’d helped wake me up after the attack. Startled, I brought my gaze back to him.
He still held my hand in his. “Diana. I approached your father, and he gave permission for me to speak to you. I’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity.”
Oh.
“Diana Forester, when I first met you in London, I was struck by how you were unlike other young ladies,” Mr. Richfield continued, his eyes meeting mine. “You keep to yourself. You do not get involved in other people’s affairs, but you are a caring person at the same time. Mrs. Davison has told me how much time you spend reading to her and helping her home. Beneath your quiet demeanor is an intelligent young lady whom other people appear to overlook at times.”
Was this truly happening? How different this was from when Philip had asked if I would marry me. He had simply said we would rub along well together, but here Mr. Richfield had detailed what he appreciated about me. A warm glow began to fill my heart.
“You are a devoted daughter and sister. You trip over your feet when you are flustered, which I find charming.”
My cheeks heated up, and I couldn’t be sure if it was because I was embarrassed to be hearing this or because I wasn’t breathing.
“Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
An incredulous laugh left my lips, and for a moment, his expression filled with horror. “Yes! Yes, of course, I will!”
Smiling broadly, he kissed the back of my hand and then stepped forward. My breath caught in my throat as I realized he intended on kissing me properly. “Richfield!” Philip Knighton’s voice reached us. “We need you for a game.”
Mr. Richfield—John—groaned as he tucked my hand in his elbow. “Please, let me tell my family first,” I said as he escorted me back to the rest of the party. “Before anyone else is told, I mean.”
The last thing I wanted was to have it announced to the picnic, in front of Miss Reynolds, who I was sure would cause a scene. Thankfully, my now betrothed was in complete agreement. “Yes, of course. I will write a letter to my mother tonight.”
He guided me back to the other ladies and saw I was seated comfortably. Then, he squeezed my hand before he went to join the game that was being started, though he kept glancing back to make sure I was still well.
At that moment, I could not have been happier.
“YOUR MIND IS FAR AWAY.”
Looking up from the wooden letters I had been studying carefully, I frowned at Anna. She had a coy smile on her face. “I’m trying to figure out the word you’ve put before me,” I said defensively. She, Miss Elizabeth Carter, Miss Delan, and I were playing a word game where we had to figure out the word based on the letters we were given. “That requires some thought, you know.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. You are behaving in a distracted manner this afternoon.”
She stared pointedly at where the men of the house party were shooting at targets. Mr. Richfield glanced over at the same moment, and his smile widened as his gaze met mine. My cheeks flushed, and I ducked my head. “That is what I’m talking about,” Anna whispered, leaning close to me. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Not here, Anna.”
I hoped our low voices would go unnoticed. “What are you whispering about over there?” Miss Reynolds asked. Even hours into the picnic, she hadn’t lost the pout.
Anna rolled her eyes as she sat back. “I gave Diana a hint for her word. She has been giving it such diligent attention I thought she could use some help.”
Returning from playing Graces, a game I had never enjoyed where the participants caught a small hoop with small sticks, Sarah came to have a look at my letters. She leaned over my shoulder and said instantly, “Highwayman.”
“Thank you, Sarah,” I said in annoyance. I frowned down at the letters and saw that, of course, she was right. Wait. ‘Highwayman’? I moved my gaze to Anna. Why, after everything that had happened, would she use that word?
“So, tell us about your run in with the highwayman, Miss Forester,” Miss Carter said, spinning her umbrella on her shoulder. “You haven’t said a word about it. Surely you must remember something by now.”
I had hoped to avoid any mention of it. “There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. It happened, and I don’t remember anything about it.”
“Honestly, Miss Forester, I begin to think it didn’t truly happen,” Miss Reynolds said pointedly. “There have been no details, and only your siblings’ word it must have happened as they say it did.”
“Perhaps she merely tripped and fell, and is far too embarrassed to say so,” Miss Carter said with a laugh.
That was when I knew they had planned this. Mother had a look of pure horror on her face, and Mrs. Knighton’s countenance became appalled. Mrs. Reynolds wasn’t even paying attention, her entire focus on the men shooting. Mrs. Carter, though, laughed with her daughter as though she had heard a great joke.
Sarah was livid. “Perhaps, Miss Carter, you could explain to me how would be possible,” she said sharply. “James and I found Sarah on her back. If she had tripped, as you just suggested, she would have landed on her face.”
Miss Carter seemed more than happy to debate with Sarah. “Well, then perhaps she slipped going down the bank and fell backward. Mr. Knighton has said how woefully clumsy she is.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I could only stare at her. Anna shook her head. “My dear Miss Carter, that cannot be true. My brother would never say such a thing.”
I wished I could have had her confidence. Philip Knighton had been behaving strangely since I had declined to marry him. He could have proclaimed my failings to these ladies. “Perhaps she the whole situation,” Miss Reynolds said, ignoring Anna.
And I promptly forgot about how my former friend did or did not speak of me. “I beg your pardon?” I said, my tone shifting one of controlled fury. My fingers curled around the abandoned letters of the game we had been playing. I had the feeling this is what they had been trying to get to this entire time.
“Diana, why don’t you see what Will is up to,” Mother said. ‘I’m afraid if he gets any closer to the pond, he’s going to be in it.”
She wanted me to walk away, and I knew to do so would be the best course. I couldn’t lower myself to their level. “I was merely pointing out you would have been seeking attention, Miss Forester,” Miss Reynolds said. “It’s common enough in large families I understand. No one would blame you for wanting some acknowledgment.”
My plan of walking away from the conversation came to a sudden halt. She had just insulted my entire family, in particular my parents, and I could not let her get away with it. I opened my mouth to give her a piece of my mind. “Shuttlecock!” Mrs. Knighton said, her tone desperate. “Girls, you should play a game of shuttlecock!”
My mouth snapped shut. I wouldn’t stoop to Miss Reynolds’ level. She had just embarrassed our hostess, and I would not do the same. “I will go see what Will has found,” I said, moving to get up.
“Miss Reynolds, take a turn with me,” Mother said, getting to her feet. There was a command in her tone Miss Reynolds obeyed without question.
A pleased smile curved my lips. As one who had been on the receiving end of one of Mother’s scolds, I knew precisely what Miss Reynolds was about to hear. It was the perfect revenge.
If only I could be there to hear what Mother was about to say.
“A fabrication, indeed,” Sarah said in a low tone as Mother firmly steered Miss Reynolds out of earshot. “She has a completely wrong idea.”
“Poor Miss Reynolds. She is simply mad because she has lost Mr. Richfield and cannot get Philip to even glance in her direction now.” Anna frowned at Sarah as though she realized what my sister had said. “And just what would the right idea be?
Cringing, I realized I had never warned Anna about my sister’s theory. “Why, that Mr. Richfield is the highwayman, of course,” Sarah said readily. I covered my face with my hand.
Mrs. Knighton laughed. “You girls and your wild tales,” she said. She focused on Mrs. Carter and began speaking about the weather. The Carter girls started whispering together, and Miss Delan, caught in the middle of this, had an expression of abject misery.
“Sarah, not another word. Please,” I said. My head had begun to ache, and I longed for the happiness I had been feeling no more than ten minutes before.
“Diana being courted by a criminal?” Anna asked, latching onto the idea with her usual vigor. She laughed like it was a joke. “How wonderful that would be if it were true.”
Miss Delan had a thoughtful expression on her face, and she glanced towards the men. “Sarah is well known for her imagination,” I said quickly, trying to minimize the damage. “Can you truly imagine a gentleman like Mr. Richfield being a criminal?”
“Oh, no,” Miss Elizabeth Carter said quickly. “He is quite the nicest man I’ve ever met.”
“Well, it would have made things more exciting, don’t you think?” Anna said with disappointment in her voice. She leaned back. “Diana, sit back down. I don’t think Will needs you checking over his shoulder. If he falls in the pond, he knows how to swim.”
Reminded of why I had gotten up in the first place, I glanced at where I had last seen my younger brother and didn’t see any sign of him. Sighing, I settled back down next to Anna as she gathered up the letters to continue our game.
BY THE TIME THE PICNIC was over, I was exhausted. At one point, I’m relatively sure Will let several frogs lose among the ladies. I couldn’t prove it, but I saw the mischievous grin on his face while the other ladies screamed at the hopping amphibians. The men all came to catch the creatures with Mr. Ward, of all people, capturing most of the frogs.
Who would have imagined the well dressed, aloof gentleman was skilled at catching frogs?
At the time, I expected Sarah to take off after Will with a frog in hand to get revenge, but she didn’t. She had squealed and giggled like the other young ladies. It was odd and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Anna’s husband, Sir Rodger, arrived in time for the last hour of the picnic. My dear friend was openly delighted to have her husband by her side and hung on his arm. Seeing them together made me smile.
Still, I was ready to be back at home where it was peaceful and there was something I had to announce. As Father came out of his office when we entered the house, I blurted out the words. “I have something I need to tell you all.”
“Is something wrong?” Mother asked in concern as everyone else fell silent.
After everything that had happened recently, it was a valid question. “No, not at all. It’s a good thing, I promise.” I took a deep breath. It wasn’t every day a young lady made this kind of announcement to her family, and I wanted to say it just right. “Mr. Richfield made an offer of marriage to me, and I accepted.”
Holding my breath, I waited for my family’s reaction. “You’re not serious,” James said. “The highwayman?”
“Does he know what he’s getting himself into?” was Will’s question.
I sent a glare at them. “Congratulations, my dear,” Mother said, coming to hug me. “You and he will do well together, I believe. I cannot think of a better match for you.”
There was the reaction I had hoped for. “Thank you, Mother.”
Father had a pleased smile on his face. “It took him long enough to speak to you,” he said, hugging me after Mother released me. “I have been expecting you to announce this for days.”
“No, seriously, does he know what he’s willingly getting himself into?” Will asked again. “Does he know what a grump you can be in the morning? Or how you fall on your face when you get distracted while you’re walking?”
Leave it to Will to bring those things up. “You can ask him the next time you see him,” James said to Will. “But think on the bright side, now we don’t have to deal with her.”
The only person who hadn’t said anything was Sarah. I focused my attention on her and waited for to bring up her theory yet again. She merely shrugged and walked upstairs. Frowning, I glanced at Mother, hoping for some explanation.
But Mother only shook her head. “It will be a big change for us all, Diana,” was all she said.
Honestly, I hadn’t thought about that. If I had thought my life had been shaken
before, now it was about be set on its head. The thought frightened me a little as I contemplated the enormity of what my decision.
“You didn’t say anything earlier,” Will said
“Of course not.” I lightly hit his arm. “He and I agreed to keep it quiet until we informed our families. He will write a letter to his mother tonight.”
Mother nodded. “A wise decision.”
“We won’t keep it quiet long,” Father said decisively. “We shall have a dinner party, and announce it to our friends then.”
“When do you think we shall have time to plan such a dinner party?” Mother asked. She didn’t fool any of us. Likely, she had already begun planning the details in her mind. “With the house party going on, we shall all be occupied for many weeks.”
A long engagement was not what I had in mind, but I didn’t know what Mr. Richfield —John—thought on the matter. It was so hard to think of him by his Christian name! I had referred to him in person and my mind as ‘Mr. Richfield’ for our entire acquaintance. He, on the other hand, had fallen into using my Christian name with apparently no trouble at all.
“You look exhausted, Diana,” Mother said with some concern. I’d missed whatever response Father had given her. Will and James had taken off to who knows where. “You should get some rest before dinner. You’re still not quite yourself yet.”
Nodding, I pulled my bonnet off and went upstairs. I heard the sound of Sarah playing her harp in the sitting room. The music she played sounded thoughtful, as though she was working things through her mind.
I sincerely hoped she would get used to the idea of having a new brother and abandon her idea of him being a highwayman. If she didn’t...I shook my head. Having to choose between supporting my sister or supporting my husband would be a terrible choice to make and I didn’t want to lose my sister.
DINNER THAT NIGHT SEEMED especially lively, even with Sarah sulking across the table. James and Will were delightedly coming up with a list of my ‘quirks’, as they called them, they felt my betrothed needed to be made aware of. Included was my habit of tapping my pen while in thought, causing ink droplets everywhere, and also my tendency to fall over my feet if I was not careful. My father kept suggesting things encouraged them to the point where Will offered to get pen and paper to write it all down.
A Chaotic Courtship Page 16