by Anne Herries
* * *
It was not until quite late in the evening that Caroline realised Mr Asbury was present. He had not asked her to dance, which was unusual, and she noticed that he was paying a great deal of attention to Julia, who was looking very pretty in her pale pink gown. Caroline wondered whether she might have done something to offend him. However, when Julia brought him over to join her and Mr Bellingham just before supper, he seemed as polite as ever—but he still did not ask her to dance.
Caroline was not concerned enough to be troubled by his neglect for she already had more than her share of partners. However, she wondered why Sir Frederick was not in attendance, for he had said that he would see her later that evening.
‘Oh, Freddie was called suddenly to his uncle,’ George said when she asked. ‘However, he says that he shall return tomorrow evening so you need not worry over the excursion on Thursday.’
‘What excursion is that?’ Caroline turned in surprise as she heard her brother’s voice. ‘Where are you off to?’
‘Sir Frederick has arranged for us to watch a balloon ascension on Thursday,’ Julia said. ‘There is a party of us going, Mr Holbrook, and we shall have our nuncheon in the park at Richmond if the weather is fine.’ She smiled at him shyly. ‘Why do you not accompany us, sir? I am sure there is room for one more.’
‘Yes, I should think I might,’ he said, looking pleased to have been invited. ‘I was going to take a look in at Manton’s, you know; had an appointment to discuss what might suit me, but I can do that another day. It was just a little matter of purchasing a pair of pistols and there is not the least hurry.’
‘Are you sure you wish to come?’ Caroline asked her brother with a little frown. ‘Will you not find it rather tedious? I imagined you were busy with your friends.’
Since his arrival, some gentlemen who were generally considered to be rakish young bucks had taken Tom into their circle.
‘Oh, lord, no,’ Tom said with an ingenuity that immediately endeared him to every one but his sister. ‘I can visit my clubs any day, but a balloon flight sounds the greatest fun—and I shall be with you and Miss Fairchild, and that will be exceedingly pleasant.’ He bestowed an admiring glance on Julia, which made her blush with pleasure.
Caroline knew that she could do no more to dissuade him without appearing churlish. It was an unfortunate occurrence—he would be sure to frown on the idea of her going up in the balloon, more from a point of safety than anything else. She smiled and said that she was glad he had nothing better to do, smothering a sigh. She still meant to take her chance in the balloon, but it would probably earn her a scolding.
She danced with her brother next, for he had asked her to reserve a space for him, and tried not to feel disappointed that Sir Frederick had had to leave town so suddenly. However, if his uncle had sent for him, it was probably important and she must not mind that he had not found a way of letting her know. Still, she could not help wondering if her fast behaviour had earned his disapproval. If he had been thinking her a suitable wife, he had quite possibly changed his mind.
* * *
Later that night, as she sat brushing her hair before she went to bed, she was thoughtful. Sir Frederick’s absence had brought one fact home to her—without him her evening had seemed less enjoyable. Was it only that he had not been there, she wondered, or was she beginning to tire of attending so many society affairs?
She wondered why Mr Asbury had been a little reserved with her too. She had seen him looking at her oddly once or twice, but could not imagine what she had done to offend him. He had been one of the acquaintances she liked best apart from Mr Bellingham and Sir Frederick—and his desertion was perhaps a little hurtful. However, the rest of her court was as attentive as ever, and she had received two proposals that evening. One from a young gentleman she thought far too intoxicated to know what he was doing, and another from a gentleman she completely disliked.
She had been relieved to escape from both of them, and wished fervently that she had not granted them even one dance each—which she might not have done had Freddie been there. There was only one more day before she saw him again, but it seemed an age away. She knew that he had been attentive to her, but they struck sparks from each other more often than not, and, unlike her aunt, she did not believe that he was looking to take a wife just yet. At least if he were, he had given her no indication that she might be his chosen bride.
Still holding her pretty silver-backed hairbrush, Caroline gazed at her reflection. When she had first arrived in London she had believed that she preferred Mr Bellingham and had almost made up her mind to it that she would accept him if he offered for her. But now she seemed to have crossed some sort of line and felt much closer in spirit to Sir Freddie than she had… Yes, Sir Freddie was the way in which she thought of him now, she realised, a smile on her lips. He was no longer merely an acquaintance, but a close friend. She liked it that he had not mocked her for her foolish insistence on being taken to the fight, confiding in her that he did not much care for bare-knuckle fighting himself. It might have been said simply to please her, but he had made her feel better and she was grateful to him. And yet after that he had seemed to become more distant and Caroline struggled to understand why.
She was not sure exactly what her feelings were towards him at this minute, but she knew that the evening had seemed flat without him. She was sighing as she put down her hairbrush and went to bed. What was so important that it had taken Sir Freddie from town at such short notice?
* * *
‘What was it that made you send for me so urgently?’ Freddie asked of his uncle that evening after they had dined. ‘I half-expected to see you taken ill and I was very relieved to find you as hale as ever, sir.’
‘I’m not about to give up the ghost just yet, my boy,’ his uncle told him with a wry grimace. ‘I know you ain’t exactly short of the readies, so I’ve no hold over you, and no doubt you would resent any suggestion from me about your marriage.’
‘It depends what kind of a suggestion you meant to make,’ Freddie said, looking at him guardedly. He was his uncle’s heir only because the Marquis had lost two sons to a hereditary weakness that had come to them through their mother’s family. As for fortune, he had sufficient of his own and was not hanging on for his uncle to shuffle off this mortal coil. However, he was too much his own man not to feel his hackles rise as he saw the expression in his uncle’s eyes. ‘I am aware that as your heir I owe you a duty, sir. My mother was fond of you, and you may have considered that she married beneath her. However…’
‘Selina married on the rebound,’ the Marquis said and frowned again. ‘She was in love with someone I did not approve of and I told her that she would be letting the family down if she married him. He was on the catch for his second wife and I believe she turned him down after I gave her my opinion. I never knew all of it, but she was very distressed for some months—and then she married your father.’
‘I knew there was someone else,’ Freddie said, looking thoughtful. ‘She told me once that she had loved someone, but was unable to marry him. She came to love my father in time, but not in the way she had loved her first choice.’
‘I may have been wrong to interfere, but she was my sister,’ Southmoor said and grunted. ‘I realised later that I might have wronged her. It made us enemies, which was a shame, for I always liked him, even though I thought him unsuitable for your mother. However, he had three wives and managed to kill ’em all off…though I think he cared for his last. She was a gel of spirit. Almost half his age she was when he married her, but they were happy until she died. I think her death almost killed him…’
‘Forgive me, sir, but I do not quite follow you. Of whom are we speaking—and what has it to do with my marriage?’
‘Bollingbrook, of course. You’ve been squiring his granddaughter about town, so I’ve been told. I wanted to know what your intentions were towards her.’
‘Indeed?’ Freddie’s tone became reserv
ed, slightly chilling. His eyes narrowed menacingly, for he did not allow anyone to question him on matters of a private nature. ‘And where did you obtain this information, sir?’
‘It hardly matters who told me,’ his uncle said. ‘Don’t give me that top-lofty stare, Freddie, for it won’t wash. I’m merely asking whether or not you intend to make Bollingbrook’s girl an offer?’
‘And what if I do so intend?’ Freddie asked, a glint in his eye that would have made anyone else shudder and retreat.
‘Bollingbrook was once a friend of mine,’ Southmoor said. ‘I dare say he was a bit of a loose screw at times, but we were close at one period. I warned your mother against marrying him because I thought he would make her unhappy. I thought you should be aware that he is unlikely to welcome an offer from you. I am happy enough for you to marry the gel if she’s the one you want, but you may get short shrift from Bollingbrook.’
‘I see—then perhaps I should thank you for the warning,’ Freddie said, a glint in his eyes. ‘I do not say that I should wish to marry her, but if I did I should not care too much for Bollingbrook’s objections—or yours, sir.’
Southmoor stared at him for a moment and then laughed. ‘No, sir, I do not suppose that you would. But if you are determined on her, then there is something else I think you should know…’
‘Very well, I shall listen if it is important,’ Freddie said. ‘Though I doubt it will weigh much in the scale of things.’
* * *
Caroline woke to the excitement of knowing that she would see Sir Freddie later that morning. She ran to the window to look out, feeling relieved when she saw that the sky was a clear blue and it promised to be a beautiful day—just right for the balloon ascension. She decided to dress at once and was already struggling into her gown when Mary came in with her tray.
‘Miss Caroline, what are you about?’ the girl asked. ‘You’ll never fasten them hooks like that, miss. Stand still and let me do them for you.’
‘Oh, Mary, I am so excited,’ Caroline said, her eyes bright. She turned her back so that the maid could fasten the row of hooks at the nape of her tailored gown, which had a slender skirt and small puffed sleeves and would be ideal for climbing in and out of the basket of a balloon. ‘It is such a lovely day, isn’t it?’
‘And what mischief are you about today then, miss?’ Mary looked at her doubtfully, for she had seen her mistress like this before. ‘You ain’t excited for nothing and that’s a fact.’
‘I am going to a balloon ascension,’ Caroline said. ‘It will be so thrilling…’ She laughed in delight. ‘You will never guess…but I am going to go up in one if everything turns out as it should.’
‘You never will, miss!’ Mary was shocked. Her mistress was too reckless in her opinion and would, she felt sure, land in trouble one of these days. ‘Them things is mighty dangerous. You might fall out and break your head.’
Caroline’s laughter pealed out. ‘Oh, Mary, of course I shan’t fall out—but you won’t mention this to anyone?’
‘You know I wouldn’t, miss. I shan’t betray you, though they might put me to the rack and torture me with hot irons.’
Caroline was too well bred to laugh at the girl’s solemn avowal, though she was very much pleased by Mary’s show of loyalty.
She was downstairs waiting by the time the knocker was raised and the footman admitted Sir Frederick. Her brother Tom had arranged to drive to the meeting in his own carriage, though she knew he was hoping that he might have a passenger on the return—and it was not his sister. She had seen a certain look in his eye as he addressed Julia, and she rather thought her friend preferred him to many of her suitors.
‘Miss Holbrook,’ Freddie said, his eyes going over her appreciatively as he saw the stylish gown she was wearing. It was fashioned of a pale grey, soft material and she was wearing the infamous blue hat on her head. She was quite magnificent, a vivacious woman and very much in her own style, he acknowledged and noted the bright sparkle in her eye. ‘I see that you are ready and waiting.’
‘Yes, sir. I was up early, for I am eager not to miss a moment of the treat you have promised us.’
‘You are still of the same mind, then?’ His eyes seemed to challenge her and she raised her head defiantly.
‘Yes, sir. Did you imagine that I would change my mind?’ She tipped her head on one side.
‘No…’ Freddie looked at her thoughtfully. ‘I believe you to be as brave as you are beautiful, Caroline. Shall we go?’
‘Yes, please.’
Caroline happily accepted his hand as he helped her into the seat of his new phaeton. It was extremely racy with high wheels and painted in yellow and black. The pair of horses drawing it were coal black and, if anything, more spirited than his greys; they were, he confided, a new acquisition.
‘I think I may have to part with my chestnuts soon,’ he told her. ‘Having heard of these, I decided to buy them…just in case.’
‘They are adorable,’ Caroline said. ‘Somewhat of a task to handle, I dare say, though you make nothing of it, sir. I have noticed before that you have exceptional hands. I thought no one could rival Nicolas, but I believe you would be a match for him.’ She shot a mischievous glance at him. ‘My brother allows me to drive his phaeton occasionally, did you know that?’
‘Oh, no, miss!’ Freddie said swiftly. ‘You won’t wheedle round me with that one, so don’t think it. These brutes are too strong for you. It takes me all my time to handle them.’
‘Which you do beautifully,’ she said and laughed as she saw the expression in his eyes. She was feeling on top of the world—she had discovered that it was very amusing to tease him as he teased her. ‘We shall just have to have another wager, sir.’
‘None that concerns these horses,’ he replied, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. ‘However, should we discover a wager that pleased us both, I would not be averse to letting you drive me—though I think with the greys, not these devils.’
‘That would indeed be a good beginning,’ she murmured, a husky gurgle in her throat as she saw the little nerve flick at his temple. ‘But first things first, sir. Today will provide quite enough excitement—and you know, next time we wager, you may very well win.’
‘I am not sure that I should ever best you, minx,’ he said with a mock scowl. ‘However, it may be amusing to try.’
‘Just so, sir.’ Caroline’s air of innocence was patently false, bringing a little snort from the gentleman beside her.
‘At least you might call me something other than sir,’ he said in assumed outrage. ‘You said that we were friends—or do you wish me to return to calling you Miss Holbrook?’
‘Only when my aunt or one of the old tabbies is by,’ Caroline said. ‘To be honest, I think of you as Sir Freddie—if you would not mind me using your name in that way?’
‘As you wish,’ he said, a gleam in his eyes. ‘What happened when you returned home the other morning? Did you escape detection?’
‘My aunt was as cross as crabs,’ Caroline said. ‘She suspected something, for she had questioned my maid—who assures me that hot irons would not make her betray me! However, there is nothing Aunt Louisa can do, for she has no idea of what happened.’
Freddie looked thoughtful and said, ‘I dare say we got away with that little escapade—but you know that it will be different today, do you not? Your friends will see you enter the basket and it will not long remain a secret.’
‘Oh, but there is nothing so very shocking in it,’ Caroline said. ‘Mama might be anxious if she knew that I intended it, for she is of a nervous disposition, you know—but I dare say I shall not be the first lady to go up in a balloon.’
‘No, there have been others, but the flights took place at private estates. I think your aunt may censure you, Caroline.’
‘I do not mind that so very much,’ she said and looked at him, her expression serious now. ‘But I should not like to incur your ill opinion, sir. Do you think it very fast of me?’<
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‘Good lord, no,’ Freddie said. ‘A little reckless, perhaps—but I do not censure you. What made you think I might?’
‘Oh, I do not know…’ She considered telling him that Mr Asbury had seemingly turned against her, but decided that she would keep it to herself. It was her problem, not his, and she might find that she was mistaken another day.
‘Well, you may forget any such foolish notions,’ he said and smiled at her in a way that made her heart jerk. ‘I do not think that anything could make me think ill of you, Caroline.’
‘Oh…’ She blushed slightly and looked down at her gloves, which were a fine York tan leather, smoothing at the fingers for a moment. ‘I trust you found your uncle well, Sir Freddie? Mr Bellingham told me you were called away unexpectedly.’
‘Yes, I broke my word to you, did I not?’ Freddie said and frowned. ‘I thought he might be unwell, but it was just a small matter of business—nothing important at all.’
‘Oh, I am pleased to hear that,’ she said. ‘I was a little anxious for your sake. It is awful to lose someone of whom you are fond.’
‘I suppose I am fond of the old reprobate in a way,’ Freddie said. ‘I must admit that we sometimes have words, but it usually blows over. Neither of us is one to hold a grudge.’
‘Oh…’ She looked at him inquiringly, but no further information was forthcoming. ‘My grandfather wishes me to visit him soon. I think my brother intends to go down at the end of next week. Mama thinks that I should go with him, and return after a few days. She says she shall make my excuses to everyone.’
‘She does not go with you?’
‘Grandfather does not care for her. They fell out some years ago. She is terrified of him and I think that annoys him somewhat—and he suffers greatly from gout, which does not sweeten his temper.’
‘Ah, yes, the curse of many a rake at the end of his days, I think,’ Freddie said. ‘I dare say he likes his port too well.’
‘I am sure he does,’ Caroline said. ‘No, Mama does not go with me—though I think she may have other reasons for remaining in town.’ She smiled as he arched his brows at her. ‘I believe she has a beau…’