by Georgie Lee
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Luke entered the hallowed entrance hall of White’s, still amazed Lord Jarsdel had agreed to this meeting. After Lord Helmsworth’s numerous refusals to see him, Luke was beginning to think the only titled men he might ever speak to were Lord Beckwith and his father.
The butler led him down the hall, past a room where young bucks stood drinking, talking and laughing. They paid no attention to Luke as he passed. He’d come here once before with Edward and found it as tedious as a night watch on an outpost.
The butler stopped at the last door on the left and pushed it open. He announced Luke to Lord Jarsdel and then ushered him inside. It was a small sitting room with dark panelling covered with paintings of terriers and cavaliers in gilded frames hung three high on every wall.
Lord Jarsdel rose to greet Luke.
‘Major Preston, it’s an honour to meet you. I’m well acquainted with your exploits in Spain.’ Lord Jarsdel sat in a chair beside the fire and waved Luke into the matching one across from him. Luke perched on the edge of the fine leather, noting the faint scent of polish mixing with tobacco and coal. ‘Miss Radcliff told me about your work on behalf of your men at tea yesterday. Lord Helmsworth mentioned it, too.’
Luke wondered what else Lord Helmsworth had told him and hoped it hadn’t damage his cause. It was also galling to hear Lord Jarsdel had seen more of Joanna in the last three days than Luke had, but he wasn’t here to press his suit with her, but his soldiers’ cause.
‘My men have faithfully served the Crown. I ask the Crown to show them the same respect until we discover what’s happened to them. Their families need their pay or the pensions to survive.’
Luke described their plight with hunger and housing while they grieved and worried for their missing fathers and brothers. Lord Jarsdel listened, nodding sympathetically every now and again, instead of yawning and fidgeting as Lord Stuart or Lord Hadden had done when Luke had approached them.
‘I can’t guarantee anything, some of my fellow board members are quite stubborn about rules and regulations, but I assure you I’ll do my best to convince the pension board to grant them money. If the Duke of York is at Vauxhall Gardens tonight when I accompany Miss Radcliff and Lord Helmsworth there, I’ll speak to him on your behalf. If not, I’ll arrange to visit him tomorrow,’ Lord Jarsdel offered when Luke finished.
As much as Luke wanted to despise Lord Jarsdel for his interest in Joanna, his willingness to consider the case for Luke’s men impressed him. ‘I greatly appreciate anything you can do.’
Luke rose to bow and take his leave, but Lord Jarsdel waved him back into his seat. ‘A moment more of your time, if you don’t mind?’
‘Not at all.’ Luke sat down, wondering what the man wanted.
‘I understand from Lord Helmsworth you’re well acquainted with Miss Radcliff from your time in the country.’
‘I am.’ Luke regarded the languid earl, wondered if he was going to take him to task for the rumours swirling about the two of them.
‘She’s a rare lady among many in London, quick witted, sensible and caring. She reminds me of my late wife when she was young.’ He took up a drink from the table beside him and swirled it over the edge of the chair arm as he spoke. ‘Do you know my wife and I were married over the anvil at Gretna Green?’
‘I didn’t.’ He knew very little about Lord Jarsdel except what Alma and Lord Beckwith had told him.
‘My family didn’t approve of her. She was a baronet’s daughter with a modest dowry, too humble for a man destined to be an earl, and I was one year away from my majority.’
‘So you defied your family.’ His admiration for the man was growing even while he anxiously waited for him to make his point. Luke was certain he wasn’t going to like it.
‘Not until the night she told me if I didn’t claim her she would marry another.’ His eyes wandered to the ceiling and a smile of delight made the years fade from his face. Then he turned serious as he studied Luke. ‘I had a decision to make, Major Preston, and I suspect you do, too. If you fail to offer for Miss Radcliff, I will. My wife may still hold my heart, but it doesn’t mean I can’t care for another or wish to remain alone for the remainder of my years.’
It wasn’t a threat, but a polite warning. ‘I intend to propose to Miss Radcliff once certain impediments are removed.’
‘And if they can’t be removed?’ Apparently, Lord Helmsworth had offered Lord Jarsdel his opinion of Luke.
‘I don’t court defeat.’ Not from the Army Pay Board or a stubborn marquis.
‘Nor should you.’ Lord Jarsdel rose and extended his hand to Luke. ‘Good day to you, Major Preston.’
As Luke took his leave Lord Jarsdel’s warning added a new urgency to his pursuit of Joanna. The very things Luke admired about Joanna—her understanding of hard work and sacrifice, her desire to place duty and responsibility to family above her own whims and wants—might now be the very things which would end any chance of them being together. If Lord Jarsdel proposed before Luke could secure Lord Helmsworth’s approval the Marquis might pressure her into accepting the Earl and he’d lose her.
No, he would not. If Joanna was going to be at Vauxhall tonight, then he would be, too. It was time to stop being patient and become more aggressive in his campaign.
* * *
Fireworks exploded above the lake, sending sparkling tendrils of red to cascade down over Vauxhall Gardens. Joanna clapped along with the other guests filling the private box.
‘Quite a spectacle,’ Lord Jarsdel commented to Joanna as another burst lit up the sky.
‘It’s amazing.’ Almost as much as her sitting here. Every one of her grandfather’s friends who’d joined them tonight for a light supper and the opening of the garden had been kind to her. It was the various people passing outside the box who hadn’t been as considerate. They’d stare at her, then duck behind their fans to whisper together, less curious than contemptuous of her sudden rise in prominence. Like her grandfather and Lord Jarsdel, she did her best to ignore them, but it was difficult, especially when Lady Huntford, Frances and Catherine came strolling by.
‘Lord Helmsworth, what a pleasure to see you return to London at last,’ Lady Huntford sang out. She approached the edge of the box from the path, staring down her nose at Joanna even as she all but grovelled before her grandfather. Frances trailed behind her, as peevish as ever while Catherine gawked at everything as Joanna had done when she’d first entered the pleasure garden.
‘I didn’t have a good reason until now.’ He motioned to Joanna, making it clear his neighbour must acknowledge her.
Tugging her wrap up higher on her shoulders, Lady Huntford dipped a grudging curtsy. ‘Miss Radcliff.’
Frances wasn’t as polite, staring everywhere but at Joanna, determined to cut her until Lady Huntford snatched her daughter by the arm and pulled her up to the box. ‘Frances, you must greet Miss Radcliff.’
‘It’s a pleasure to see you again.’ The sarcastic sneer already dampening her natural good looks became more pronounced as she curtsied, then rose and called out in a loud voice to her sister, ‘Catherine, come greet your former governess.’
The conversation in the box quietened at the not-too-polite reference to Joanna’s previous position. Joanna wondered if the chit would climb the Chinese pavilion to announce it to the entire garden. Joanna shouldn’t be ashamed of her background, and her grandfather’s title staved off a great deal of open criticism about it, but it was clear by the whispers behind her not everyone wanted to be reminded of her humble origins.
‘Good evening, Miss Radcliff,’ Catherine greeted, with a genuine smile. She wore a new gown of yellow muslin trimmed in blue, but it didn’t match her sister’s elegant attire.
‘I see your father allowed you to come out at last,’ Joanna remarked, encouraged by Catherine�
�s pleasant attitude. It appeared Catherine had taken Joanna’s advice to be kind and it heartened Joanna to think she’d made something of a difference to the girl.
‘Yes, he thought the small Season the perfect opportunity for it, especially now Frances is engaged to Mr Winborn.’
Joanna was as amazed by the announcement as the thought of a gentleman willingly yoking himself to Frances, but it was far from her place to question the better sort, even if she was now, strangely, one of them.
‘He only did it to spare the expense,’ Frances scoffed and Catherine’s shoulders slumped.
Joanna caught her eyes and raised her chin, reminding the young lady to do the same.
Catherine, bolstered by the silent encouragement, set back her shoulders and Joanna winked at her in approval of her confidence. With any luck, the girl would find a husband and a life of her own where she could blossom away from the cruel remarks and painful indifference of her family.
‘Come along, girls, we’re expected at our box,’ Lady Huntford announced, drawing away her daughters with unnecessary alacrity. She was probably eager to escape from Joanna and any taint she might visit on their family.
‘Don’t allow them to trouble you,’ Lord Jarsdel encouraged from beside her.
‘I’m worried they’re saying what a number of people are already thinking.’ She didn’t belong here and it was true.
‘People in society will always find a reason to judge everyone else. It’s something you must harden yourself against.’
‘I hope I don’t become so hard I turn to stone, as or sharp with my tongue as Miss Huntford.’ Or as alone as Madame Dubois and without a husband or children. She’d never thought of Madame Dubois as lonely, but one time she’d seen her from an upstairs window in the garden reading an old letter with a melancholy expression to make Joanna’s heart hurt. Whatever Madame’s regrets, and she’d never shared them with Joanna, Joanna didn’t wish to carry any of her own into her maturity, although it seemed unavoidable. Already she was burdened with too many about Luke. It had been three days since Hookham’s and she’d had no word from him, nor had she seen him, leaving her to be tortured by her doubts about him.
‘A woman as generous in spirit as you could never be so petty,’ Lord Jarsdel complimented, but it didn’t reach into her heart the way Luke’s did. Lord Jarsdel was kind and caring, but with him there was no passion or eagerness to defy everything to be near him. Perhaps she should be glad. She’d seen what passion had done to Grace, what it had nearly done to Frances, and how it had ruined her mother. It was something to be avoided.
‘Let’s take a walk. I’m tired of cold ham and I want to see the bonfires down by the lake,’ her grandfather called out to the delight of his guests.
Soon they were making their way along the wide, winding walk leading to the lake. Overhead, the fireworks continued hissing, whining and popping as they launched, then exploded. Lord Jarsdel strolled beside Joanna, explaining to her his work with the Army Pay Board. She could barely concentrate on what he said as she studied every passing male face in the flickering light of the torches, hoping to see Luke.
Surely he’d take advantage of this opportunity to try and see her? However, he hadn’t done so at any of the art showings or fashionable hours in Rotten Row over the past few days. Maybe her grandfather was correct and he didn’t really want her. No, that couldn’t be right.
Then why isn’t Luke here? A moment with him might settle everything.
Then, in the white burst of a firework, she spied him standing near the water’s edge with his parents and Lord and Lady Pensum. While the others oohed over the bright explosions, Joanna stared at Luke. She wanted to hurry down to him, slip her hand around his arm and breathe in his cedar scent. Her grandfather’s warning to be cautious and avoid him kept her at Lord Jarsdel’s side. She couldn’t risk her already fragile reputation, or reward her grandfather’s kindness and patience by spitting in his eye in front of everyone. It was a good thing she chose to be prudent.
Luke hailed a young woman who stood nearby with a few older people. The strange young lady was petite with dark hair and round eyes. She left her party to meet Luke, admiring him as though he were as bright as one of the sparklers on the floating pavilion. He was generous with his smiles as he spoke to her and overly friendly with her in a way which made Joanna’s heart drop.
Grandfather was right. Her desire to be loved had kept her from seeing the truth. Joanna had been good enough for Luke in dark corners and isolated houses, but not in front of others.
As if sensing someone watching him, Luke turned and noticed her as the white light faded overhead. She clasped her locket to steady herself against the pain eating at her, refusing to allow him to see her hurt. His glance flicked to Lord Jarsdel and he pressed his lips together in disapproval, then turned back to his companion, making it clear he was finished with her.
‘Lord Jarsdel, come and explain how they make fireworks,’ one lady implored, drawing him away from Joanna’s side and closer to the front of the group.
Joanna fell behind the others, the distance between them widening as they approached the lake. If she could slip off back to the carriage and home, she would. The sparkle of the garden had lost its appeal.
The quick fall of boots on the path behind her made her step out of the way of whoever was coming. She was stunned when a hand took her by the arm and pulled her into the shadow of a large oak tree beside the path.
She whirled around, ready to strike her attacker when she came face to face with Luke. He stood over her, his chest so close to hers she could see the flourishes on the buttons of his coat in the faint lantern light. ‘What are you doing?’
‘This.’ He leaned down to kiss her but she pushed against his chest and twisted to one side, avoiding his lips.
The hardness of his body beneath her palms shocked her as much as all the questions and anxieties surrounding them. Her stiff elbows weakened under the urge to revel in his embrace, but she remained strong. She was a sensible, controlled woman, not some senseless flirt. ‘No. I won’t sneak around with you any longer, not when you’re courting another woman in plain sight.’
He kept his arms tight around her. The pressure of them weakened her resolve as much as the earnestness in his eyes. ‘I’m courting no one except you.’
‘Because I’m rich now and I can convince my grandfather to give you and your family the river land?’ She winced at the harshness in her voice and the way it made him pull back in disbelief, but he still didn’t let go of her.
‘You think so little of me?’
‘My grandfather does and I don’t know what to think.’ In his embrace it was easy to believe in his affection for her, but difficult to calm her fears and concerns. ‘First you want me, then you don’t, then you do again but in secret while you cavort in the open with another woman down by the lake.’
‘The woman by the lake is Captain Crowther’s sister and recently betrothed to a vicar in Hampstead Heath,’ he answered gently, not flinging the truth at her in the same harsh manner she’d delivered her accusation. ‘It’s why she and her friends are here tonight. She needs a bit of joy since her brother has gone missing.’
Joanna stumbled in her anger, but not her determination to continue on until she had the truth, all of it. ‘And my ability to help you and your family?’
‘It has nothing to do with my desire for you. Despite your relationship to Lord Helmsworth, you’re still the woman I came to adore in the country, the one who cares about me and others, who understands duty and honour and loyalty to those you love.’ He brushed a strand of hair off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. His hand lingered near her cheek as the shimmering light of another rocket lit up his face. ‘I still want you for my wife, I would even if you weren’t a marquis’s granddaughter.’
She held tight to his arms and sta
red into his eyes, made brighter by the intensity of his regard for her. He admired her as much tonight as he had the day she’d stumbled in the stream and he’d caught her, when he’d protected her from Mr Selton and when he’d asked her to marry him in the vicarage.
He pulled her closer and she didn’t resist, but fell against him, clinging to him as she had the night they’d been intimate. Beneath her fingertips, she felt his heart beat with the same power as the exploding fireworks. ‘I love you, Joanna.’
She clutched his lapels, steadying herself as the truth of what he said and what it meant struck her. Not even Madame Dubois or Miss Fanworth had ever uttered the sentiment. In their own way, they’d given her love, but the words had never reached her ears until this moment. Beneath the flickering torches, with the fireworks flashing, all the chances she’d taken with him, the risk and losses, insults and censures no longer mattered.
‘Tell me you love me,’ he urged, bringing his face close to hers.
‘I do.’ She raised her lips to his, all fear of rejection and her grandfather’s demands disappearing in his passionate kiss. Despite the difficulties separating them, he’d remained true to her, never giving up and neither would she. She wanted to be his wife and she would struggle with him to achieve it.
‘Joanna?’ her grandfather’s worried voice carried over the topiaries. ‘Where are you?’
She broke from Luke’s kiss to peer through the bushes. Her grandfather stood in the centre of the walk, searching for her. ‘What about him? I can’t break his heart the way my mother did.’
He clasped her shoulders and turned her to face him, his eyes piercing hers. ‘I promise I’ll never make you choose between duty to your grandfather and your heart. We’ll find a way to win him to our cause.’
She rested her hands on his trim waist, elated by his promise. He would fight for her as he did his men and their families and love her as she’d always longed to be loved.