The Marrying Season

by Candace Camp

  “We’ll see about that.” Genevieve’s eyes were bright with a cold, hard light. “Don’t worry. I think Iona might feel differently if she knew the whole of it, and even if she does not, I’ll see you get hired by someone much better than Lady Dursbury.”

  “Wouldn’t be hard to be better than her,” the girl muttered.

  Genevieve chuckled. “There. You’ve got some spirit. That’s good.” Genevieve smiled at the girl. “Now, tell me, why did Lady Dursbury set up the scene in the library?”

  “It was to help Miss Iona get his lordship. Her ladyship didn’t, well, she didn’t much like you.” Tansy cast a worried glance over at Genevieve.

  “So Elora didn’t want me marrying her stepson?”

  “She liked being the queen bee. His lordship let her go on running it after his father died. Her ladyship figured he would marry Miss Iona. Only then they went to that wedding, and he wanted to marry you instead. You outshine my poor miss, you see. But her ladyship wasn’t going to let that happen. If my miss married him, she’d still let her ladyship run things; that’s just always been the way of it, you see. But you, now . . .”

  Genevieve nodded. “Yes. It would have been quite different for Elora.”

  “So she decided to get rid of you.”

  “But why did she start up this new campaign against me? She was having you and your cousin tell The Onlooker things to say about me, wasn’t she?”

  “Yes’m, she knows the man what runs it. She’s told him things ever since we came to London after the old lord died. She knew this fellow when she was younger; I think they’d been, well, you know. . . . She’d drop him little bits to put in that column, and he’d send her jewels and such. She liked the gifts, but she didn’t want anybody to see her go there, so she sent me.”

  “But it was the other girl, your cousin, whom I saw there today.”

  “Yes’m.” Tansy nodded. “After my cousin helped with that note and all, Lady Dursbury decided to send her to the paper instead, on account of she was afraid someone might recognize me. She’s—I think her ladyship is scared of you, miss. And your grandma; she calls her ‘the dragon.’ ”

  Genevieve smiled. “I am sure that would please my grandmother.”

  “Hattie came and told me about your chasing her; she was scared, like, of what you’d do. And I told her ladyship, so she wrote it down and sent Hattie to that paper with it. And that thing the other day, about you having the aff—well, you know.”

  “Yes, I know,” Genevieve said drily. “But I don’t understand why Elora would continue her attacks on me. She had accomplished her goal once Dursbury broke off our engagement. Does she simply dislike me so much she wants to ruin my life?”

  “I don’t think she’d mind, that’s for sure. But it’s the man.”

  “What man?”

  “Your man. She wants him for herself.”

  “Myles?” Genevieve’s eyes turned so fierce that the maid edged farther away from her.

  “Yes’m. She was that mad when she heard he’d married you. That wasn’t what she’d wanted at all. When you came back to London, she thought she could turn his head. Win him over. She fair hated it ’cause he wouldn’t stray.”

  In the midst of her anger, Genevieve was aware of a small smug lift of joy. “So she thought that if she ruined my reputation, he would turn away from me?”

  “I guess. She said as how it’d open up his eyes about you, make him angry. And she said you’d turn tail and go back to the estate. She reckoned if he was on his own in London, she’d get him to give in. He’d be lonely, see.”

  “I suppose it makes sense. In some mad way.” Genevieve looked over at Tansy. “Do you want to go back there, Tansy? If you’d like, you can come with me now. I’ll tell the housekeeper to give you a place until we can find someone who needs a lady’s maid.”

  “Oh, miss!” The girl’s eyes widened with hope, but then she looked pensive. “I think—I think I ought to talk to Miss Iona first. Explain. She’s always been nice to me. And if maybe she believed me . . .” Tansy shrugged. “And if she doesn’t, I could come to you.” Tansy looked at Genevieve anxiously. “If that’d be all right, I mean?”

  “Of course, if that’s what you’d rather. I won’t forget my promise; you needn’t worry.”

  The girl’s shoulders relaxed, and she offered a tiny smile. “Thank you, miss.”

  The girl started to climb out of the carriage, then stopped and turned back to Genevieve, frowning. “Best watch your back, miss, her ladyship’s planning something. I heard her talking to that French maid of hers; I couldn’t understand it, but she looked terrible angry.”

  “Thank you, Tansy.” Genevieve leaned across and put her hand on the maid’s arm. “I won’t forget this.”

  Tansy smiled shyly and ducked her head, then climbed out of the carriage and hurried away. Genevieve pulled back the curtain and called up to her driver, “Home, Milton. And quickly.”

  Twenty-four

  Genevieve found the house in chaos. Lady Julia stood in the entry, flanked by Amelia, talking urgently with a maid in tears, and Bouldin, looking more rattled than Genevieve would have imagined the impassive man could look. When Genevieve walked in, they all swung toward her with hope on their faces, but it dropped away quickly.

  “Genevieve! My dear, is Nell with you? Do you know where she is?” Lady Julia asked.

  Ice formed in Genevieve’s chest. “No. What is wrong? Is Nell missing?”

  Tears filled Julia’s eyes, and she pressed her hand to her lips.

  Amelia spoke for her. “We were out shopping, Mother and I. Nell wasn’t interested, of course, and she stayed here with the baby.” She gestured vaguely toward the crying servant, and Genevieve realized that the girl was not one of their maids, but the nursemaid who took care of Amelia’s toddler. “When we got home, Nell was gone, and no one knows where she is.”

  Genevieve turned toward her butler, who said, “I am so dreadfully sorry, my lady. No one saw her leave, and we have searched the house.” He took a breath, looking as if he were about to fall on his sword. “I understand if you wish me to leave your employ.”

  “I am sure it isn’t your fault,” Lady Julia said, dabbing at her eyes. “Nell is so used to going her own way. I wouldn’t be alarmed if we were home; it is just that here . . .”

  “Yes, London is a good deal less safe,” Genevieve agreed. “Let us save the recriminations, Bouldin, and concentrate on finding Miss Nell.” She crossed to the crying nurse. “Was Nell with you at any time?”

  “Yes, my lady,” the girl said, hiccuping and wiping away the tears streaming down her cheeks. “We was out in the garden, ma’am. It was such a nice day, you see. But Master Rupert got fussy, so I took him upstairs, like, and when he went to sleep, I come back down, but Miss Nell weren’t in the garden still. I just thought she’d gone up to her room or something. I never—I never—” The girl went off into wails again.

  Genevieve took the girl’s arm firmly. “Hush, now. Crying isn’t doing anyone any good, least of all Miss Nell’s mother.”

  The girl’s tears stopped in a gulp and she gazed back at Genevieve, wide-eyed. “Yes’m.”

  “When was it you saw Miss Nell last?” Genevieve went on.

  “About, um, I ’spect it was an hour ago. Master Rupert was still asleep when we started looking for her.”

  “Did she say anything about what she was planning to do or where she might go?”

  “No, miss. But when I come out with the baby, she was reading something. A note, like, but she put it in her pocket and didn’t say nothing about it.”

  “Nell was out in the garden alone before that?”

  The girl nodded, and Bouldin put in, “I believe Miss Nell went out to the garden to read soon after the other ladies left. But no one noticed when she came in.”

  “Did anyone come by here? Ask to speak to Nell? Or give her a letter?” Genevieve asked him.

  “Not that I know of, but I will ask the staff.�
�� He bowed and left the room.

  “Where do you think she could have gone?” Lady Julia asked.

  “I thought perhaps that wretched cat had gotten out, and she had gone looking for it,” Amelia said.

  “But the cat is here,” Lady Julia said. “We saw him. So it could not be that.”

  “What was that note? Who would have sent Nell a message?” Amelia asked. “She knows no one in London.”

  “Perhaps she thought it was from someone she did know,” Genevieve said. When the other women looked at her, confused, she went on, “I am very sorry. I think someone may be using Nell to get back at me. The person who started all the gossip.”

  “You mean you found out who it is?” Lady Julia asked.

  “Yes.” Genevieve related quickly what Miss Halford’s maid had revealed to her.

  “What a wicked woman!” Julia exclaimed. “But where—how—she will not harm Nell, will she?”

  “I don’t believe she intends to hurt her. The thing is, who knows what might happen? So far, none of Elora’s schemes have worked out as she planned.”

  “My lady.” Bouldin returned, followed by a young girl in a rough dress, one of the lowly scullery maids, Genevieve thought, from the looks of her. “May told me someone did come by earlier today. Tell her ladyship, May.”

  The girl cast an awed and frightened glance at Genevieve, then ducked her head and curtsied, saying, “I dunno who it was, my lady. She just, she said she had summat to give somebody, but Cook sent her off straightaway. Cook don’t hold with no Frenchies.”

  “French! She was French?”

  “That’s what Cook said when she heard her.” The girl looked up, concerned. “I don’t know, ma’am.”

  “But she left without seeing anyone? Besides you and Cook, I mean.”

  “I didn’t see her after that. I closed the door. I ’spect she went away.”

  “But after you closed the door, she could have seen the garden gate there on the side, couldn’t she? She could have looked into the rear garden.” Genevieve turned to Bouldin.

  “Yes, ma’am. No one would have noticed.”

  “So she could have said something to Nell when she was in the garden. Or given her the note the nursemaid saw Nell reading.”

  “That’s important? Her being French?” Lady Julia asked.

  “Yes. Lady Dursbury’s abigail is French. I think Elora has lured Nell away, probably with a note purporting to be from me. That is her style, and she would want to make it appear my fault.”

  “But how would Nell get there? Where could she have gone?” Lady Julia paled.

  “That’s the question.” Genevieve thought for a moment, and suddenly the plan became clear to her. “Bartholomew Fair!”

  “What?”

  “That place Nell was talking about the other day?” Amelia asked.

  “Yes. Lady Dursbury was calling on us when Nell was talking about it, and at the time I thought she was foolish because she said exactly the sort of thing that would make Nell want to go.”

  “You’re right.” Julia’s face lightened. “Then we must go there.”

  Genevieve wrinkled her brow in thought. “We should get Myles. Lady Julia, if you and your daughter will take our carriage and go to White’s, the driver can go in and fetch Myles. If he is escorting us, it will be acceptable for Nell to be there, even at Bartholomew Fair. I’ll go after Nell. It will be better to take a hackney there.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Amelia said.

  “No, if Elora manages to catch us there, it will be all our reputations. Better that it’s just mine.”

  “I don’t care. She is my sister, and it’s my brother whom this contemptible woman wants to steal from you, and, anyway, you might need some help.”

  “Absolutely right.” Lady Julia nodded. “I shall go after Myles alone. You two find Nell. And if you see that woman there, I hope you will, well, I don’t know, do something dreadful to her.”

  They split up, one footman running for the carriage for Lady Julia, and the butler himself going out to hail a hackney and put the ladies up into it. They set off at a good pace, for Genevieve had promised the man a large tip. The great fair, begun hundreds of years earlier, was held along Cloth Fair in Smithfield, just outside the ancient city walls. It had once been set up around the graveyard of the priory and along the lane, though over the years it had grown so large that it now stretched far beyond St. Bartholomew’s (both the Greater and the Lesser).

  The hackney had to stop at the edge of the fairgrounds, unable to drive farther in, and the two women climbed down, gazing in awe and consternation as they took in the scene before them. Makeshift lanes, all of them swarming with people, ran off in all directions, lined with tents and booths and hastily erected wooden facades of buildings. Music came from several directions, and the air was filled with the cries of booth owners hawking their wares. In the distance, Genevieve could see three gondolas hanging from temporary scaffolding, swinging back and forth like pendulums. They, too, were filled with people, all shrieking in delight or fear, she wasn’t sure which.

  “Oh, my,” Genevieve breathed, turning from side to side. “How will we ever find her here?”

  “Should we divide up?” Amelia asked. “I had thought we would, but now . . .”

  “I fear we would get lost.” Genevieve nodded. “Perhaps we should stay together.”

  So, walking together, they started down one of the jumbled lanes, looking all around them for any sight of Nell. People called to them from the booths, and more than one rough-looking fellow ogled them. Genevieve could well understand why it was considered a disreputable place, but the colorful sights and sounds were also intriguing. Acrobats tumbled across a raised stage on one side of them. On the opposite side, a rope stretched between two tall poles across a grassy plot, and a man stood on a small platform at one end, about to embark on a walk across the rope.

  It would be easy for a young girl to get lost in here, Genevieve knew. Someone could grab Nell and make off with her, and they would never have any idea what had happened to her. Genevieve wished desperately that Myles were with her, but now she worried that he and his mother would not be able to find them in this crowd.

  Off to her left, she could see the tops of the gondola poles, towering above everything else, and she pointed toward them, saying to Amelia, “Let’s go look for her there. I think those rides would attract Nell the most, and it is the easiest place to locate. With luck she will go there if she is lost.”

  Amelia agreed, and they set out toward the poles. And there, staring up at the ride high above her head, stood a familiar form.

  “Nell!”

  The girl turned, relief flooding her face. “Genevieve! And Amelia!” She ran to them, a grin spreading across her face. “Isn’t it amazing? I’ve been waiting here at the rides like you said, but I was afraid I might miss you. There are so many people.”

  “We’re here now, so everything is all right.” Genevieve cast a quick look around. “And Myles is coming, as well.”

  “Nell, what were you thinking?” Amelia began to scold as soon as she finished hugging her younger sister. “You shouldn’t have come here! Especially not by yourself!”

  Nell’s face clouded. “But Genevieve said to meet her at the fair. She said that way no one would know.” Nell glanced from her sister to Genevieve, and her voice trailed away. “Genevieve? You sent me a note.”

  “No, dear, I didn’t. It was a trick. Do you have it still?”

  Nell nodded, reaching into the pocket of her skirt.

  At a trill of laughter behind them, Genevieve stiffened. Turning around, she saw Lady Dursbury, strolling along with her hand on the arm of one of her gentlemen admirers. Iona tagged along with them, glancing around her, frightened. Two other ladies and some men of Dursbury’s set also accompanied them. Well, Genevieve thought, Elora had certainly made sure her arranged scene would be well witnessed.

  “Lady Genevieve!” Elora exclaimed in shocked ton
es. Genevieve could see that Elora was genuinely surprised to see her, but in the next instant a calculating expression crept over Elora’s face, and she went on, “Whatever are you doing here? I am so surprised to see you. And all alone.” She made a great show of glancing around.

  “Yes,” Genevieve said acidly. “I am sure it is a great surprise to you.”

  “She isn’t alone,” Nell piped up. “We’re all here.” She gestured toward her sister beside her.

  Lady Dursbury, registering the presence of the other Thorwood women for the first time, looked taken aback. “Oh. My. I see.” She paused, then cleared her throat delicately. “My dear Genevieve, I must say . . . well, this is hardly the place to take a child. Indeed, a lady should not really be in such a place.”

  “And yet here you are,” Genevieve retorted. She was beginning to understand what her brother meant when he said his blood was up. She could feel the unspent energy humming through her as she faced Elora, and she was suddenly sharper, brighter, more keenly aware of everything around her. She was, she realized, eager to do battle with her enemy. She smiled fiercely, and Lady Dursbury blinked, taking an unconscious step backward.

  “That’s entirely different,” Elora replied, stammering a bit before she recovered her poise. “You are but a young woman, only newly married, whereas I am a widow and—”

  “I realize that you are much older than we are,” Genevieve agreed pleasantly. “Still, I think a lady’s reputation is easily damaged no matter what her age. Don’t you?”

  Elora let out a little titter and glanced at the men on either side of her. “But, my dear, I have gentlemen escorting me, whereas you do not.”

  “Ah, but that is where you are wrong, Lady Dursbury,” a pleasant male voice said, and everyone turned to see Myles standing a few feet away from them. His mother was beside him, smiling sweetly, and on the other side of her was Lord Morecombe.