All had not been lost, merely deferred. And now, at least, the Duke had given her very good reason to avoid his company in future. Although she suspected that she would have to explain his insult to him, for he undoubtedly would not see it as such.
“Are you quite well, Lady Pennington?” The voice behind her in the darkness made her gasp in surprise.
“You startled me,” she said in accusing tones.
When she had turned, Imogen had fully expected to see the dreadful Duke behind her and had been both surprised and relieved to find that it was actually the Earl of Reddington instead.
“Forgive me, I just wondered if you were alright. I saw you leaving the ballroom.”
Imogen had been too busy to think of Heath Montgomery at all that evening. She had not even considered the fact that he would more than likely be in attendance at the Duke’s ball as she had met with Lord Marchmount’s friends and associates.
“Have you been watching me?” she said in a tone that was still accusatory.
“Yes,” he said with simple and brutal honesty.
“But why?” she said.
Imogen’s confusion was rising. Their last meeting, that dreadful argument, had seemed to her to signal the end of any acquaintanceship between them. And the fact that he had obviously decided to throw all his interest in the direction of Miss Jemima Ravenswood would certainly seem to have confirmed it. And yet now he was watching her and had even followed her, and she wanted to know why.
“Because I do not trust the Duke of Dalton. You might be impressed by Nathaniel Carswell, My Lady, but I am not. He is, perhaps, not quite the man he portrays himself to be.”
“Yes, I believe that is quite clear,” Imogen said, wanting to argue with him and yet, at the same time, knowing that she felt exactly as the Earl did on matters of the Duke of Dalton.
“So, you are no longer interested in his society?”
“I was never interested in his society, Lord Reddington.” Imogen felt herself growing annoyed again.
“Oh.” He seemed a little taken aback. “I had assumed otherwise. But perhaps because you did not mention it.”
“And why is it that I owe you an explanation of any sort on any subject?” Hearing the iciness of her own tone almost made Imogen laugh.
“Quite true, My Lady,” he said and bowed expansively. “I would beg you would forgive me.”
Imogen stared at him with some curiosity. Although the Duke of Dalton was largely thought to be a handsome man, she wondered if it was not his title which made him so very appealing to so many young ladies. For herself, Imogen could not help thinking that the Earl of Reddington was a good deal more handsome.
He was taller and broader for a beginning, and his dark hair and blue eyes certainly made his face a most handsome one. And for all his teasing, his manners had never been so poor that he had been rude to her. Well, excepting the argument they had had on their last meeting. Perhaps they had both been a little rude.
“Do you know, my only reason for attending London this Season was for the shelter. I have worked extraordinarily hard throughout, and I find that the society events are the hardest work of all. You see, I have to cut through generations of bigotry and self-entitlement to find decent human beings wherever I can. And realizing how few there are almost breaks my heart,” she said, keeping her eyes on his face for any sign of amusement. “And I have twice now been accused of simply filling my time as if I were a little girl who is bored and whiling away the hours until a suitable husband can be found for her.”
“I should have liked to have apologized for my words at the time, My Lady. In truth, I did not mean them.”
“Perhaps not, but the Duke of Dalton most certainly did. And he laughed, he mocked me, as you have done before.”
“I realize that my manner does not always do me credit, Lady Pennington.”
“I did not come to London to either search for romance or to waste so many precious hours fending off men who cannot see my greater purpose.”
“No, I daresay you did not. And you make yourself most plain, My Lady.” He sighed sadly. “I shall not seek to gain your approval any further.”
“But why would you seek to gain my approval in the first place, Sir? You already have the approval of Miss Ravenswood. You already have the courtship you would appear to seek.”
“Not at all, Lady Pennington. Miss Ravenswood and I are acquaintances and nothing more.” He looked away from her for a moment.
“And yet you paid her a good deal of attention at the boat race at Richmond, did you not? Not, of course that it is any of my business,” she added hurriedly.
“Well, I daresay I did pay her good deal of attention. But in truth, it was not sincere.”
“That is not a particularly gentlemanly admission, Lord Reddington,” she said and tried to look disapproving, despite the fact that she felt a peculiar sense of relief.
“I know it is not gentlemanly, but it is the truth,” he said solemnly. “I shall be honest and say that our last meeting affected me greatly, and I had chosen to prove that I have no interest in you.”
“And you had chosen to use Miss Ravenswood to achieve that?” she said, and despite her own very firm dislike of the young lady, she did feel a little disapproving at that moment.
“I am afraid that is exactly what I did. There is no excuse for it, and I am already paying the price for my ill thought out behaviour. But, as I have already said, it is the truth.”
“It was terribly unkind, Sir.”
“Yes, it was terribly unkind.”
“Well, I suppose it is always commendable for a person to see the error of their ways. Commendable and really rare in our society, do you not think? And so, I congratulate you for your honesty and your self-reflection at least,” she said and looked towards the immense glazed door. “And I must now beg that you would release me, Sir, for I should like to be reunited with Lady Redmond.”
“Will you at least allow me to escort you?”
“Yes, I thank you,” she said, thinking that at least his presence might spare her any further imposition from the Duke. She wanted only to make her way back to Adeline’s side.
Chapter 22
“Well, all is not lost with Lord Toddington, and that is the main thing,” Adeline said as the two of them sat side-by-side in her carriage on their way to Marylebone.
“Yes, that is the saving grace of the whole thing, I daresay,” Imogen said and smiled weakly. “But what poor Lord Toddington must have thought of it all, really, when I think about it.” Imogen shook her head. “I must say, it really is very decent of Lord Marchmount to step in and arrange something that I ought to have been able to arrange for myself at the ball.”
“I am sure that Lord Toddington is no stranger to the boorish behaviour of the Duke. I am sure that he has seen more than one in his time.” Adeline laughed. “And if he had been so insulted, the man would never have agreed to a second meeting. As far as I have it from Lord Marchmount, he was more than keen. You really ought to stop worrying about it all.”
“I am not worried about it, Adeline. But I am still annoyed at the Duke’s behaviour.”
“It will do you no good to concentrate on the Duke’s behaviour. Do not let him take another moment of your time, either in presence or in thought. You have better things to do, my dear, and you are most certainly doing them.”
“Yes, you are quite right. I ought not to think of such silly things.”
“And do you include the Earl of Reddington in such silly things?” Adeline said with a knowing smile.
“Well, I must own that he is, indeed, an honest man if nothing else.” Imogen gave a sharp laugh.
“Because he told you of his entire lack of true intention towards Miss Ravenswood? Yes, he was indeed truthful.”
“Why are we talking about the Earl of Reddington again?”
“Purely because I think he warrants a mention from time to time.”
“But did I not hear you with my
own ears say that you would not try to tempt me in his direction ever again?”
“I have told you before, my dear girl, to only take as true every third thing that I say.”
“Adeline!” Imogen said and squealed with laughter. “You really are dreadful.”
“I know,” Adeline said and joined in with Imogen’s happy laughter. “But it is not an easy thing for a young man of great ego to firstly apologize and secondly, be honest. He really is trying.”
“Isn’t he just!” Imogen said and laughed again.
“Imogen, I fear that comment was beneath you,” Adeline said kindly but seriously. “But you must think as you will.”
“And that is the end to it?” Imogen said with a knowing look.
“No, of course, it is not. You know me better than that, my dear.” Adeline chuckled. “Because I truly think that there is a young man worth finding behind the teasing facade. My only fear is that you shall only ever see him as you first saw him and that you will make no progress at all.”
“How peculiar,” Imogen said a little vacantly. “He said something very similar himself, and we were arguing.”
“Then he and I agree, I fear I must tell you.”
“And I fear I must tell you that you and I do not.” Imogen laughed and grasped Adeline’s hand. “But enough of this. Did Daniel Travers really give you no idea whatsoever what has happened?”
“No, it was simply a note to ask that we meet him. In truth, I can only think it is bad news. Daniel is not really the sort of man who sends so blunt a note requesting an audience.”
“Then it can only be in connection with the Lambeth workhouse, can it not?”
“I fear so.”
“I do not like the sound of Mr Charles Mott. He must be some dreadful sort of creature to run things as he does and to see to it that his pockets and those of his friends are lined by the pain and labour of those in greatest need.”
“But the Parish Authority obviously thinks he is the right man to oversee things. Of course, such a recommendation is usually only given to the least deserving. No doubt the Parish likes his money-saving ways.”
“No doubt.”
“Well, here we are,” Adeline said, looking out at the stone frontage of a modest Marylebone townhouse. “This is where Daniel lives.”
As they walked up the steps to the front door, it opened suddenly, and Daniel Travers stood before them.
“Daniel, you quite startled me,” Adeline said, taking his hands in hers before they all made their way inside.
“I am so very pleased that you could make it. Pleased, and grateful.”
“You seem as if you have much which worries you. I can see it in your face, Daniel, really I can.”
Please do take a seat, ladies,” he said smiling at them. “I shall just ask one of the maids to send in some tea,” he added and disappeared.
“Mr Travers really does look very worried,” Imogen said.
Daniel Travers was a man in late middle age who had a kindly face and a ramrod straight back. His thick hair was liberally sprinkled with great patches of gray, and Imogen thought that, on that day, his face seemed to match. It was as if his care truly did show on his face.
“Daniel has always worn his heart on his sleeve, my dear. He tries not to, but his goodness always shows through.” Imogen was sure that Adeline’s voice had broken just a little.
“He will be along shortly,” Daniel said, hurrying back into the room.
“Daniel, please do tell us what has happened. You have us both on a piece of string,” Adeline said urgently.
“Well, as you can probably already guess, I have been stripped of my duty as Guardian of the poor and no longer can I set foot into the workhouse at Lambeth.”
“Oh no, I am so sorry,” Imogen spoke first. “Is it because you allowed Adeline and me inside?”
“Yes, it is,” Daniel said, and then smiled at her in a most reassuring way. “But that does not concern me, my dear. I am not concerned that I have lost the position for which I was not paid in the first place. After all, I did not seek the post for money. Nor did I seek it for personal gain, as so many of the others do.”
“But nonetheless you are disappointed, Daniel,” Adeline said gently.
“I am greatly disappointed, Adeline. In truth, although nothing changed whilst I was there, I felt that I could at least bear witness if nothing else. Do you understand?”
“Yes, and now they have nobody to bear witness. They have nobody to look without flinching and to tell the rest of the world what goes on inside,” Imogen said and felt close to tears. Daniel Travers really was a good man, and she could feel his disappointment and sadness as if they were solid and tangible things.
“What happened?” Adeline said.
“It is as you suspect; Mr Mott had been informed of your visit by a suspicious kitchen hand, no less.”
“Goodness me, you would think that somebody who worked in the kitchens of a workhouse would have more heart,” Imogen said a little angrily.
“They suffer too, in all truth. And the person likely thought that they would win some sort of favour with Mr Mott if they provided him with such information. Perhaps they even thought that they would be secure in their position there and thus stave off the workhouse themselves. If I am honest, I do not blame the person. They live very different lives from ours, and their certainties in life are few. It is hard to judge unless one finds oneself in that position.”
“Yes, you are quite right, Mr Travers. Please do forgive me for my harshness,” Imogen said sincerely.
“There is nothing to forgive, Lady Pennington. I was angry myself at first. We are none of us angels walking the earth, but merely human. You and I both.” He smiled at her so warmly that Imogen had to blink hard at tears which threatened to make themselves known.
“And what did Mr Mott say to you?” Adeline was keen for all the details.
“He told me that he would make the Parish Authority aware that I had shown you around the workhouse. He felt sure that they would dismiss me, which they did.”
“But surely you cannot be dismissed from such a role simply for showing people around the place?” Adeline said.
“Ah, but that was coupled with the fact that there were many on the Parish Authority who had heard other things of your visit. There is a little gossip surrounding the two of you and the work you are doing to help the poor. Since your scheme might very well see fewer people going in through the open gates of the workhouse to provide free labour for all around them, you two fine ladies might well be responsible for destroying their profit margin. In short, I feel certain that neither one of you shall ever be a guest for afternoon tea with any member of the Parish Authority.” Daniel gave a short, humour-filled laugh.
“Well, I daresay we have enough invites elsewhere that we can survive such deprivation.” Adeline laughed also, and Daniel seemed relieved. It was as if the two old friends knew well how to make the other feel better.
“Is there anything that we can do to put this right, Mr Travers?” Imogen said, still feeling terribly guilty.
“There is nothing that can be done, Lady Pennington. The Parish have made their decision, and they have made it very clear that they would never trust me again. Although I am bound to say that the lack of their trust would not cause me a moment’s disquiet. Particularly since they are the most untrustworthy people I have ever come across in my entire life.”
“Then why do you appear so very pensive, Daniel? Is there something more?” Adeline said.
“I really am pensive, Adeline. I have great worries that they shall do whatever they can to thwart your attempts. But it is a very difficult situation to attempt to raise funds for something and yet not explain the sights you have seen. It would appear to be impossible, in fact.”
“Yes, our detailed descriptions of the workhouse in Lambeth and what goes on inside have caught the imaginations of many of the people we have spoken to. In truth, I think it has pricked at their
consciences sharply, and it is true what you say, we might not have managed to get so far without making mention of it. But of course, there is always talk, and the very mention of what we have seen might also be the thing which defeats us in the end,” Imogen spoke sadly.
“I cannot think what it is they could possibly do to thwart you, but I have no doubt that they shall try. It is that which I wanted most specifically to have you on your guard against. That is why I contacted you so urgently. I wanted you both to be very prepared for any attack that might come your way. In truth, I do not know what they might do, or even if they would do anything, but you must be aware of it as a possibility.”
A Lady for the Brazen Earl: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 18