“Good morning Miss Hall, not playing hide and seek this morning?”
Penelope laughed, “No, my Lord, I thought I would allow you to remain seated this morning.”
Daniel joined in the laughter as he dismounted. “Imp,” he muttered.
Penelope heard the term and felt a warmth spread inside her. “Have you been assessing your estate?”
Daniel fell into step beside her, his horse following quietly. “Yes, although from what I have seen, it is a very well run estate.”
“Yes it was,” Penelope replied quietly.
Daniel noted the change of tone and he was again curious about the relationship between his predecessor and Penelope. Now was not the time to pursue the topic, he did not know her well enough to ask such questions, so he chose a safer topic. “I have never visited this area before, yet it reminds me of home, the land there is equally as flat.”
“You are from the East of the country?” Penelope asked grateful for the change of subject.
“Yes, near Norwich. It is a prosperous area.”
“Is it beautiful?”
“It is in its way, the Fens are very flat, but the villages are some of the prettiest I have ever seen. All the houses use the thatch from the area and it does give it a different feel to the surrounding towns. Norwich is thriving, the wool industry has created a lot of wealth and a lot of churches.”
“A lot of churches?” Penelope queried the odd inclusion.
“Yes,” Daniel laughed. “Did you not know in this life you make your money and then build a church to guarantee your entry into heaven?”
Penelope smiled. “There isn’t much hope for the rest of us then.”
“Certainly not! Heaven is exclusive you know,” Daniel teased.
They continued walking and talking until they reached the edge of Daniel’s land at the lane that led to the Vicarage and Penelope’s own home.
“I feel remiss not taking you back to the house and offering refreshments,” Daniel said apologetically.
“For me to go to a house alone with two bachelors in residence, would be more than even my reputation could cope with,” Penelope responded with a smile.
Daniel raised a brow at her comment, but did not respond. He bowed to her curtsey and turned back towards his land. All the way back to the house he pondered over Miss Hall and how by having a little spirit, she seemed to be considered eccentric. Maybe that was why such a lovely creature was not married?
*
Daniel received a call from Mrs. Hall, Penelope and Mrs. Clark later that afternoon. Fred joined them in the Drawing Room. Although unusual for ladies to call on gentlemen in such a way, they used the excuse of an invitation to a card party the following evening. Penelope looked uncomfortable during the visit, but it was a full twenty minutes before Fred had the other two ladies entertained enough that Daniel could speak to her.
“Is everything well Miss Hall? You appear troubled,” he asked quietly.
“I am wondering about both my mother and friend. I have always known they are partial to gossip, but wonder at the lengths they are going to, in order to try and gain some extra information,” Penelope answered with a frown.
“Does my arrival generate so much interest?” Daniel responded with a chuckle.
“Never underestimate the monotony of village life,” Penelope replied with a twinkle in her eye.
“I shall have to let Fred lose on the locals, it won’t be too long before he causes chaos,” Daniel said drily,
“Is he so bad? My father will be disappointed,” Penelope giggled.
“Why, was he expecting an upstanding citizen? He may have the face of an angel, but he has the soul of a devil.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Penelope smiled.
Daniel could not tell if she was teasing or not, but he cursed himself for his potential mistake in promoting Fred in Penelope’s eyes. He wanted all of her attention on him and he felt irrational anger at his friend.
“I believe there are regular dances in the vicinity Miss Hall. Do you dance?” Fred asked from his seat.
“If once a month is regular, then yes we do have regular dances,” Penelope replied with a grin. “And I, like all ladies, dance.”
“Believe me, if you had danced with some of the ladies of my acquaintance, you would hesitate to make that remark. When is the next dance to be held?”
“Almost two weeks away,” Mrs. Hall interjected.
“In that case I have almost two weeks to anticipate Miss Hall’s dancing ability, if she would do me the honour of saving the first two for me?” Fred responded, refusing to look at his friend as he asked the question.
“I would be delighted,” Penelope responded, but she felt deep disappointment. She would have favoured dancing looking into green eyes, rather than blue, but it would have been extremely rude to have refused.
It would have reassured Penelope if she had realised that Daniel spent the remainder of the visit trying to work out how he could convince Fred to return to Norwich early.
Chapter 4
Both gentlemen arrived at the card party, looking exactly like the gentlemen about town they were. Each was wearing a dark frock coat, Daniel in deep blue and Fred in deep green. The contrast of the lighter coloured waistcoats and white cravats emphasised the use of colour and the sight was received with pleasure by the ladies at the gathering.
The party was made up of the original ten that had been at the Vicar’s dinner party, but a number of gentlemen farmers had also been invited with their wives and older children. There were three or four young men, looking bored, but to Fred’s delight, there were half a dozen young ladies who appeared ready to flirt.
“This night may prove entertaining after all old chap,” Fred muttered as he abandoned his friend.
Daniel smiled to himself as he watched Fred approach the ladies with the Vicar, who was making the introductions. He was sure Fred would not over-step the boundaries, the ladies all looked very young, but there was no doubt that by the end of the evening, many, if not all would be half in love with his friend.
“Our gathering provides you with amusement I see,” came the welcome teasing voice of Penelope.
“Miss Hall,” Daniel smiled as he bowed. “I can assure you that it is my friend who amuses me. It is why I keep him so close.”
Penelope smiled over at Fred. “He seems to be a hit with the ladies, I expect the devil in him has come out to play tonight. He does not appear to need your company at the moment.”
“Fred is always a hit with the ladies.” Daniel was more than happy that Fred was busy with the other ladies in the room. He had every intention of monopolising the vision before him.
She was wearing a plain gold dress with cream lacing along the edge of the neckline, sleeves and waistline. It was elegant, rather than ornate and made her already rich coloured skin look olive. It perfectly contrasted against the deep brown of her eyes and her dark hair. Daniel wondered how Fred had even noticed that there were other women in the room with Miss Hall present.
Penelope interrupted Daniel’s appreciative musings. “I expect you are both a hit across Norwich.” She admitted to herself that the comment was said with a hint of jealousy and with the aim of trying to find out more about the man at her side, but hoped her tone did not betray her.
“I am usually left alone as a hopeless cause. I tend to stand in corners talking about business all night,” Daniel replied honestly.
“And yet you are here with us, being frivolous with your time,” Penelope teased, relief flowing through her at his words.
“I am justifying it to myself by working hard during the day,” Daniel replied with a smile. “Although I admit that Fred did warn me that Earls were not supposed to talk business when being entertained. He said if I did my usual trick of being business focused I would likely be thrown out of the village.”
Penelope laughed. “Mr. Wiseman knows the gentry well. No member of the aristocracy dare make a living, he has to live o
ff everyone else and go hunting and drinking all day. To do anything productive would really give the rest of the aristocracy an inferiority complex I am sure they could not cope with. Although in this village, as Earl and therefore the highest ranking gentleman, you could probably do as you wished and get away with it.”
“Really?” Daniel asked raising an eyebrow. He was about to make an outrageous comment, but was prevented by the approach of the Vicar.
“Miss Hall, you had the reputation of the holding onto the attention of the last Earl, is it to be the same with the new Earl? I’m sure some of the other families in attendance would like to be introduced to the guest of honour.”
Daniel decided that he really did not like the Vicar. To insult a lady, who obviously outranked him, showed nothing but lack of manners and breeding. The constant digs at Penelope seemed to point towards some sort of spiteful jealousy.
“I am sure that none of my friends are in so much awe of the Earl or myself as to prevent them approaching us,” Penelope replied, with a tilt of her chin that was becoming an endearing characteristic of hers in Daniel’s eyes.
“I was just saying......”
“I think you have said enough and the lady replied,” Daniel almost growled at the Vicar.
Penelope had to suppress her smile when she saw the look on the Vicar’s face. She would not normally take pleasure in someone else’s discomfort, but the way he spoke to her recently gave her some excuse for enjoying his displeasure. The Vicar gave a stiff bow and moved away.
“Why does he dislike you? Is it jealousy?” Daniel asked, his eyes flashing at the retreating back of the Vicar.
Penelope was mesmerised by the vivid green of his eyes, as she had been on their first meeting, but managed to shake herself out of her trance-like state before Daniel noticed. “He is not jealous of me. What is there to be jealous of? To him I am a meddling spinster and he speaks to me as he does his sister-in-law.”
“He needs to be taught a lesson in manners.”
Penelope smiled and instinctively reached out and squeezed Daniel’s arm. “Don’t let him spoil your opinion of the people here, his views and actions are not a true reflection of the rest of us.”
Daniel moved his hand and covered Penelope’s. He wore gloves, as did she, but the urge to feel her hand was too great to resist, even through cloth. She did not pull away and met his gaze, which was unshuttered, expressing his desire for her.
They were separated when the card tables were set-up. They did not spend more than a moment or two in each other’s company for the remainder of the evening, but Penelope’s hand never seemed to lose the heat of that touch, or her heart lose the heat of that stare.
*
Daniel returned to Norwich soon after the card party. He had business matters that could not be avoided. He had seen Penelope once more, purposely seeking her out on her morning walk. He was not prepared to leave without telling her of his business needs, for some reason he needed to reassure her that he was coming back. Her evident disappointment at his leaving was enough encouragement to conclude his business as quickly as he could in order to return to Cheshire. Daniel had left Fred behind, the number of ladies who were smitten with Fred was increasing as their social circle grew and Fred was reluctant to leave the area.
Daniel had not thought to mention anything about his growing attraction to Penelope, but if he had known that Fred would seek the lady out on one of her walks soon after Daniel had left, Fred would probably have had a stern warning when the two friends parted.
Penelope had smiled in greeting, on Fred’s approach, but she had suffered a pang of disappointment with the realization that it was Fred, and not Daniel returned early.
“Miss Hall, it is a pleasure to see you, I am in dire need of some decent company,” Fred greeted her warmly.
“Oh?” Penelope responded, raising her eyebrows. “All your engagements about town are not entertaining enough?”
Fred laughed at her retort. It was not the deep rumble of Daniel’s laugh, but a higher pitched, high spirited laugh. “Ah, the joy of gossip. I am caught out. I do have many engagements, but I had hoped that to you I can acknowledge that not all the company is decent.”
Penelope smiled at his fickleness. “I promise that your opinions are safe with me.”
“I knew Daniel’s judgement was sound when he chose you as his friend,” Fred responded.
Penelope raised a brow, but did not offer a response. She managed to control any blush of pleasure that Fred’s words had stirred. She reminded herself that they were the words of a complete flirt and could be meaningless.
“I can see you will not give me the pleasure of a retort Miss Hall. I am genuine when I say you are in a different class to the other single ladies in the village.”
“I shall take that as a compliment Mr. Wiseman, although some would say my being different is the reason I am yet unmarried and those other ladies are virtually guaranteed marriage.”
Fred laughed, “You are not an easy lady to flirt with Miss Hall, but I like you the better for it.”
Penelope smiled, “Now that is a compliment I will treasure.” She would be eternally grateful her father would not hear this exchange. He would interpret such flirting as almost a marriage proposal and be planning the wedding.
“Our friend shall return in plenty of time for the assembly ball.” Fred said as they walked.
Penelope smiled at such constant fishing and enjoyed the morning’s challenge. “As my first two dances are secured by yourself, my enjoyment of the ball is not dependent on the speedy return of the Earl.”
“Oh how my friend would be wounded to hear those words! If looks could kill, you would be even now pining over my grave Miss Hall, from the poisoned arrows that our friend was sending me when I asked you to dance. It does him good though to be challenged in an area he is not as confident as he normally is.”
”He is not a good dancer?” Penelope asked, knowing full well the meaning of the comment.
Fred laughed, “His dancing ability is not in question as you will have guessed. He is too much wrapped up in business though; this trip has done him the world of good.”
“From the little he has said about his business, he appears to be successful,” Penelope wanted to learn as much about the man behind the green eyes as she could, but propriety dictated that Fred had to lead the conversation.
“He is successful. Anything he touches turns to gold, he has a knack of being able to look at something and immediately turn it to profit. His friends have all benefited from his talent. He is happy to offer advice and they are all happy to receive it.”
“He must be very popular,” Penelope said lightly. She could not shake off the feelings of jealousy every time she thought of Daniel being with other people, other women.
“He would be but he tends to keep himself to himself. He deals with businessmen and a few long-term friends he has kept close, who he can trust.”
“The ladies must be disappointed.” Penelope had fought against such an obvious comment, but could not help herself. The fact that it would be pointless anyway, from what Fred said her father would never agree to a match with such an entrenched businessman. Things did not bode well for her feelings.
“I would imagine they are. A few have tried to use their womanly charms on him, but he barely noticed. Luckily I have been around to pick up the pieces,” Fred smiled. “To be honest I was surprised when he announced that he would be returning after his business was completed. He does not normally spend so much time away from his main business interests. He must be enjoying the society in Cheshire more than he anticipated.”
Penelope was grateful that the boundary was reached and she could separate from Fred. Although she tried not to take him seriously, his words had given her hope that Daniel would stay in the area for some time. Their acquaintance may have been short, but he had affected her more than any other man ever had.
She would have been flattered indeed if she had realis
ed how quickly Daniel worked through his business issues just to get back to Cheshire as early as possible. He missed her and wanted to carry on seeing her virtually every day. The miles between them felt too many by far and he was impatient to return. He regularly tried to remind himself that he would not be in Cheshire forever, but the draw of those laughing brown eyes was great.
Arriving back a day earlier than expected, he persuaded Fred to visit the Hall family. His friend smirked at the unsubtle behaviour of his usually reserved friend. Mr. Hall was delighted with the attention. He was still hopeful that Penelope would secure Mr. Wiseman and even the fact that the Earl was a man of business could be overlooked when visiting his family first on his return to the area.
After the visit had taken place, Mr. Hall reprimanded Penelope. “You could have been more accommodating to Mr. Wiseman Penny. He is proving a hit in the village and you need to ensure that it is you who secures him.”
Penelope’s heart sank at her father’s words. “Papa, I could never love Mr. Wiseman. He is not the type of man I would want to spend my life with.”
Mr. Hall angered at what he considered his daughter’s unreasonableness. “The question is Penny, who is the type of man you would see yourself married to? You seem determined to go against my wishes constantly.”
The Unwilling Earl Page 3