Only In Her Dreams

by Veronica Towers

  Sir Horace pulled his spectacles down from his forehead and studied some papers he had on his desk briefly. He looked up and said, “Boys, your aunt is a little long in the tooth to be going through child bearing. We are staying in town to have her under the care of a premier London acoucheur. Her sister does offer her some comfort.”

  Marcus turned to his cousin Nathaniel his eyebrows raised enquiringly, to see why he was remaining in town.

  His warm blue eyes gleamed with amusement as he said, “I have business here in town same as Althorpe here with Parliament being in session.”

  Marcus knew that his handsome cousin also had a certain widow in his keeping and could not easily continue the affair if he removed to the country. It could be done, but Nathaniel was a gentleman who wished to maintain appearances. His widow, while known to be a bit fast, was attempting to retain a veneer of respectability as well.

  He was just about to ask for a report from Josiah Wolcott when there was an abrupt knock on the door and Lady Minerva, Sarah and Ambrose Appleby walked into the room. Marcus was speechless with surprise.

  Sir Horace was the first to speak, “My dear, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

  “Horace, I had heard of this meeting and I felt that the ladies of the household should be privy to any information and plans you men might have…” Lady Minerva with her lace and curls might look like a gentle passive lady, but underneath Marcus knew she could be uncompromising. From her firm tone of voice, he knew she would not be barred from the proceedings.

  Sir Horace, no fool, said congenially, “Of course, my dear, merely an oversight on my part. I am happy to see you had the planning and foresight to include Marcus’ intended and her family.”

  Marcus was wondering about that himself, “Sarah, I just left you at the door of the mission…how came you here so quickly?”

  Sarah shrugged and said, “My cousin was waiting on me and the coach from your aunt was behind the mission in the mews. My cousin hurriedly helped me change my dress and we were here in a trice.”

  Bingham, previously cued by Lady Minerva, walked into the study with a tea tray and placed it on a reading table before Lady Minerva. She then started to pour cups of tea for the various guests. She spoke up whilst in the middle of her tasks, “Horace, my dear, you were saying?”

  He turned to the runner and said, “Mr. Wolcott, what have you to report?”

  “The word that is out on the streets is that a purse of a thousand guineas was offered to kill his grace,” Mr. Wolcott said grimly. “With all that though, because William’s Da is protecting the mission, there not be many takers.”

  Marcus asked, “What do you know about the person offering the money?”

  “All’s I could find out is that it be someone from out of town, maybe foreign, wanting you and now Miss Montague dead,” Mr. Wolcott said with a grave expression on his face as he accepted his cup of tea from Lady Minerva.

  “How do you know even this much?” Lady Minerva asked truly puzzled.

  “The vicar here, Mr. Appleby, and ‘is sister are prime favorites in that area. It be a rough area but when they opened the mission and started taking in street children folks accepted them. When Miss Montague came and started ‘elpin’ out, the people included her in their approval,” the man said.

  Ambrose rubbed the back of his neck clearly taken aback by the effects of his works, “We were just doing our Christian duty.”

  Marcus stood and walked over to Sarah, “I never meant to harm you by my pursuit. We still need to wed. Even if we broke our betrothal, I fear you would still not be safe. We must marry immediately so that you can be more easily guarded.” Marcus rubbed his forehead with his thumb and index finger. “Your father would be spinning in his grave, if he knew the man he saved endangered his daughter.”

  Sarah set aside her teacup, quickly stood and walked over to confront Marcus, “Nonsense, you did not endanger me! The villain who is trying to kill you for whatever gain is the responsible party. My father always thought you were an excellent officer and a gentleman. He would be proud to know that you want to marry me.”

  Marcus looked at Sarah and hugged her close to him as though they were alone.

  Matthew cleared his throat loudly, “Ahem! Uh, Marcus her cousin, the minister, is in the room.”

  Marcus looked up as though surprised that they were not alone and Sarah stepped back.

  Simon spoke up after looking at his brother. “We will volunteer to help escort the ladies of both households. I know Nathaniel will help as well.”

  Marcus glanced at the Randolph twins and nodded. He said, “I have a special license that I acquired this morning and I wish to put it to good use tomorrow.”

  Beatrice burst through the door, “Tomorrow! Why that is way too soon!”

  Lady Minerva frowned at her daughter, “I thought I had raised you to exercise at least a little decorum. The room is way too small to have everyone in here.”

  Beatrice hung her head at her mother’s rebuke. “I am sorry Mama, but Marcus’ cousin is here…Edward.”

  Patrick spoke up, “Marcus, I am having a hard time following the nuances of your father’s family tree. I always thought that he was the one who was supposed to inherit the Dukedom. How is it that he is not dead?”

  Matthew exclaimed, “Isn’t he that nasty little toad that lorded it over you when you would visit the castle?”

  “Very nicely said,” Marcus replied. “He is descended from my great aunt and was not in line for the title.”

  Sarah wrinkled her nose at him, “Shall we go and see your cousin, Marcus? It is quite the coincidence that he shows up so soon after the last attempt on your life.”

  Marcus looked toward the parlor speculatively, “It is, indeed.” He looked back at his uncle and cousins, “Shall we table this discussion and find out what he wants?” He took Sarah’s elbow and guided her towards the spacious, well appointed parlor.

  Chapter 16

  Sarah was not sure what to expect when she went into the room but it was not a corpulent man of medium height dressed in the extreme fashion of the Dandy set. His shirt collar points were so high he could not turn his head and the mother of pearl buttons on his pale yellow jacket seemed as big as saucers. Sarah noticed right away that the man had none of Marcus nobility of bearing. When he turned from his place by the mantle, Sarah could see an expression of ill concealed annoyance.

  Marcus placed his hand on hers and said, “My dear, this is my cousin, Edward Fitzwilliam. Fitzwilliam this is my intended, Miss Sarah Montague.

  “Ah, yes,” Fitzwilliam drawled dismissively in a nasal tone. “I had heard you had betrothed yourself. Is it true she is nothing but the daughter of a common soldier?”

  Sarah refused to be cowed by the supercilious fop. “Hardly common, Mr. Fitzwilliam, My father was recognized by his grace, the Duke of Wellington as one of the finest quartermasters in his majesty’s army.”

  Marcus cousin glared at her through his quizzing glass for her temerity at speaking to him. “I say, old man I would have thought you could have done better than this ill-bred woman.”

  Marcus was distracted from answering him by the entry of his cousins Simon and Patrick. From the expression on their faces, Sarah could see they had heard his last statement. They took places on either side of the man. The irrepressible Patrick stated, “Why look, Simon, if it isn’t ol’ Fitz from our form at Eton. Look at the jacket, such a pretty yellow color.”

  Simon studied Fitzwilliam a moment, “I would have never guessed you would have turned into such a man-millner.”

  Sarah turned amused eyes towards Marcus who was looking at the Randolph twins with raised eyebrows. Patrick continued, putting a hand to his chin, “Oh, Simon, look. His hair, what little he has of it, is all curled up. I wonder—do you have to wear curl rags in your hair at night like Byron is reported to do or does your man use the curling tongs…”

  Mr. Fitzwilliam’s face started to turn purple with outrage.
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br />   Sir Horace entered the room and said congenially, “Now, now, boys. Mr. Fitzwilliam probably traveled a long way to see his grace. You can critique his attire another time. Hello, Mr. Fitzwilliam, I am his grace’s uncle, Sir Horace Warrick. Would you care to take a seat?” he said gesturing to the settee. “My wife and daughter will be in momentarily with some refreshments.”

  Lady Minerva entered with Beatrice and Matthew followed closely by Bingham carrying a large tea service. Sir Horace quickly made the introductions to his wife and daughter.

  Mr. Fitzwilliam lightly touched Lady Minerva’s fingertips and executed a perfunctory bow, drawling dismissively, “Charmed.”

  When she was seated behind the tea service the gentleman found seats and Lady Minerva dispensed tea to anyone who was not holding a Brandy snifter. After looking pointedly at Sir Horace’s Brandy snifter and being ignored, Edward ungraciously told his hostess, “Cream and two sugars.” He balanced his teacup on his knee and stirred it absently.

  Marcus came straight to the point, “I assume you did not foist your presence here at my relative’s residence merely to insult my choice of bride and drink tea. So what is it that you want, man—“

  For the first time Mr. Fitzwilliam looked truly discomfited, “Could we speak in private, it is a family matter.” He added on as an afterthought, “Your Grace…”

  The eyes of the entire household focused on the man as Marcus said, “Almost my entire family is here in this room, I daresay you can speak freely in front of them.”

  “My quarterly allowance,” Mr. Fitzwilliam muttered resentfully.

  Marcus looked nonplused, “Your what?”

  Simon said barely hiding a smirk, “I believe he said his quarterly allowance.”

  Mr. Fitzwilliam burst out, “Since the death of our great uncle no funds have been paid into my accounts. I have expenses to meet and appearances to maintain!”

  Sarah could see that Marcus was appalled by his cousin’s discomfort. Whatever it was that Marcus was expecting the man to say it was not that bit of family business. Marcus was not a petty man, no matter what happened in their childhood. She was not surprised when Marcus said, “I don’t know why the solicitor did not inform me of this when I met with him a few days ago. Meet me at Mr. Dowling’s office tomorrow and we will settle this problem.”

  Edward’s mask of hauteur slipped slightly when he saw that Marcus was not going to ask him to describe his intimate financial details in front of his other family members. “Thank you, Your Grace. My grandmother had always led me to believe that you were resentful of those of us living at the castle. I see that she is mistaken.”

  Just then there was a crash and they heard childish voices yelling, “Quick! Catch him before he goes into—“

  The huge dog galloped in and ran over to the tea tray and consumed one of the seed cakes. The boys, William, Ida and Peter, were standing frozen in the door. The animal gave a big doggy grin to the entire company and wagged his long tail. His tail crashed into Mr. Fitzwilliam’s tea cup and splashed the contents all over his dandified apparel.

  Mr. Fitzwilliam jumped up and started dabbing at his clothing ineffectually with a napkin.

  Lady Minerva stood abruptly, and fixed a baleful glare at the boys. “Did I not tell you boys to keep that dog outside?”

  Marcus looked amazed at the presence of the dog and the children, “Whose idea was it to bring the dog over here?”

  Sarah’s cousin Ambrose appeared in the door behind the children. He smiled sheepishly, “I thought that it might be good to bring the dog along for extra protection. I took advantage of your visitor to go and check on the boys and the dog. By the way, Mr. Wolcott said to say he was going to follow a few leads and to excuse his taking his leave without proper notice.” Ambrose saw the man fussing with his clothing, “I really am sorry sir if you will send those things over to the mission, I will see if we could clean them for you. My sister is a dab hand at cleaning stains and mending.”

  Mr. Fitzwilliam swallowed his rage with difficulty and attempted a shrug. “It is of no matter, now that I do not have to follow my uncle’s dictates on wardrobe I was thinking of abandoning my current tailor of Stolz and switching to Weston.” Marcus saw that he brightened somewhat as he just realized what he just said was true. He turned to his hostess and said, “I believe, My Lady, that it is time for me to take my leave.”

  Beatrice obliged him by ringing for the Butler to bring Mr. Fitzwilliam’s hat, gloves and cane.

  After he left Marcus said consideringly, “I never realized how much a prisoner he was to my uncle’s whims. I only visited the castle a few times as a boy, he lived there from the time his father died until now. How he must have resented that my family was independent of the old reprobate.”

  Beatrice said, “Still he wasn’t a very pleasant individual. I wonder does he have anything to do with the attempts on your life Marcus. Maybe he could not inherit the Dukedom but what of the money and property?”

  Chapter 17

  Wanting to kill Marcus for his possessions and not his title? None of the family had even thought of the possibility until Beatrice mentioned it.

  Lady Minerva said, “When you use greed and not ambition as a motive, I could think of any number of possibilities.”

  “Like what, my dear?” Sir Horace asked.

  “Look at how the town house had been left to molder, when a bit of money could have been spent and it would not have needed such extensive repairs. What if the old Duke’s man of business pocketed the funds instead of spending the money on upkeep,” she said, a frown puckering her still unlined face. “He was not known to actually leave Allendale these last few years. With no one around to actively manage the Dukedom and Marcus gone to war, it would be easy to siphon off funds from the estate.”

  Marcus pondered the new possibilities, he would have to go see the books when he went to settle his cousin Edward’s accounts. There could be acrimony when he told Edward what he had in mind. But Edward might surprise him and take him up on his offer.

  As Sarah and her cousin stood to gather the children and dog, preparing to take leave, Marcus stood as well. “Aunt Minerva, I will escort Sarah home and make sure she stays there this time.”

  “Marcus, you don’t understand, I am merely helping Ambrose with the children,” Sarah said as she wrapped the dog’s lead around her hand. “Your aunt told me to bring my dress for dinner and change here.”

  “Yes, Marcus, my maid is getting bored with me and Beatrice. She needs a bit more variety,” Lady Minerva laughed. “She was used to doing Emily’s hair as well. Emily will be here soon and she will want to have a long chat with Miss Montague.”

  “Oh, please, Lady Minerva, call me Sarah,” Sarah said reaching over to touch her arm.

  “Only if you will call me Aunt Minerva.”

  Two masculine voices chimed in, “And we are Simon and Patrick.”

  “That’s right, soon you will be family,” Matthew said. “Our family does not abide very much formality. The only one of the family who could not be here tonight is Nathaniel he has a pressing engagement with Prinny. You can’t get out of those.”

  “Wonderful, another girl in the family who will bring Peter and I presents,” a childish female voice said from the door. Phoebe crossed the room dressed in a pretty pink dress and her hair in ringlets cascading down her back. Marcus smiled at the perfect picture of a privileged little girl.

  “Oh, Mama, I invited Lord Chudleigh and his sister to dinner, as well,” Beatrice added. “Lord Chudleigh wants his sister to be more in company. He says she is very shy.”

  “You’re the one who could bring her out of her shyness,” Matthew said. “After being exposed to you and your antics she won’t even be able to be embarrassed any more.”

  “Matthew!” Beatrice shrieked and threw a pillow at him, which he ducked with a grin.

  “Children, behave else our guest will think we are barbarians,” Lady Minerva said with a smile belying her
scold. “Beatrice, please take Sarah upstairs to rest, freshen up and change for dinner. Emily should be here just prior to dinner.”

  As Sarah walked up the stairs she was wondering what she would do with herself. She could not imagine resting before dinner, as before today she was usually making the dinner. She was very excited to see her friend again after so many years.

  The little girl she saw earlier beckoned to her to come down the hall. Sarah followed her curiously into a large spacious nursery.

  “See, Peter, I told you I could get Miss Montague for you,” the child turned a delighted grin to Sarah. “I heard my Mama say that you had been with the army even longer than Marcus. You probably know more about some of the battles than Marcus does.”

  Sarah smiled while inwardly she flinched, “I did get to speak with some of the soldiers from some of the other battles but the 73rd was never a part of the Peninsular Campaign.” She had heard tales of the numbers of soldiers slain in battle.

  Phoebe said, “It is our governess’ afternoon off and we wondered if you could set up the Battle of Salamanca?”

  Sarah did not realize that she was holding her breath when she let out a long sigh of relief, she did not wish to even think about the blood and carnage of Ciudad Rodrigo. At Salamanca, Wellington lost a large number of men but there was not the rape, or butchery of the civilian populace at Salamanca. Sarah rubbed her hands together and sat down on the floor cross-legged, “Now, where do you want to put Marmont’s exposed flank…”

  Chapter 18

  Marcus walked by the nursery on the way to his room. He heard voices. He looked in and saw his intended surrounded by toy soldiers telling a story. Phoebe and Peter were sitting near her listening with rapt attention.

  “…Wellington was eating a drumstick when he realized that Marmont left his left flank vulnerable to attack. He threw the drumstick over he shoulder and shouted ‘by jove that could work’. He organized an attack that eventually won the battle.”