A Chance Gone By (Brides By Chance Regency Adventures Book 2)

by Elizabeth Bailey

  Another heavy sigh and Lord Sessay came across to lay a hand on Justin’s shoulder.

  “Never did I think to be obliged to confess such a dreadful thing to you, Purford. I cannot sufficiently regret it, and I blame myself. I ought to have warned you the moment the fellow appeared in Town.”

  Justin’s heartbeat accelerated. “Fellow?”

  “There is no point in concealment. A prior attachment. We had supposed it long over. Selina gave no indication — she was determined to be dutiful —”

  Hope began to filter into Justin’s lacerated emotions. “Are you saying she wishes to cry off?”

  Lady Sessay’s sobs redoubled and her lord fetched another deep sigh.

  “It is a great deal worse than that, my boy. My wretched daughter has eloped with the fellow.”

  Justin recalled little of what followed in the immediate aftermath of hearing the fell tidings. A glass of wine had been thrust upon him and he’d tossed it off, listening with half an ear to his host’s apologetic harangue, his lady’s intermittent sobs a vague irritant in the background.

  His first reaction had been one of staggering relief. Until the thought of the public consequences began to seep through. He had swung from relief to fury to apprehension, back and forth, as a mechanical part of his mind made appropriate enquiries.

  Had any effort been made to recover Selina? None, Lord Sessay told him, for what was the point when the escape had been effected early the day before? Selina had duped her parents finely, pretending she was going on a visit to her former governess at a slight distance from London, which would necessitate staying the night. Her maid had accompanied her, and been sent back alone in the coach that morning, armed with the fatal letter.

  Selina and Colonel O’Donovan had driven to Dover the previous day and boarded a packet, leaving the maid and coachman innocently waiting at an inn near the governess’s cottage. On returning to fetch her mistress, the maid found her gone, the governess ignorant of everything except the letter she had been charged to keep until a girl came for it upon the following day. By the time the news reached Sessay House, the errant couple, if they had carried out the intentions outlined in Selina’s letter, were already in France and very likely married.

  Lord Sessay’s distress had aged him in a bang, Justin thought, recalling the man’s grey and crumpled features. His apologetic anxiety grated.

  “What do you wish, my boy? You are shocked, angry, and with good reason. We are in your hands. The story cannot but leak out, there is no holding such a piece of news.”

  At that, a fresh wail emanated from her ladyship. “Oh, the scandal! She has ruined herself — and us too!”

  “Yes, yes, my dear Caroline, but we are here concerned with Purford, you know.”

  Sessay went to pat his helpmeet in an ineffective way, casting an imploring look upon Justin, who shrugged away the chaotic confusion of his thoughts.

  “My dear sir, pray don’t trouble yourself on my account. I can stand a knock or two.” He drew a breath. “To be truthful with you, it struck me more than once that Selina was not completely happy in our engagement.”

  Lord Sessay waved distracted hands. “However that may be, it cannot excuse her conduct now. I am deeply disappointed.”

  Justin did not say what he suspected. That the Sessays had brought pressure to bear upon Selina to accept his suit. Nor could he disclose his own true feelings upon the event. He compromised. “I understand you, sir, and I could wish Selina had confided in me. I would not have held her to her promise had I known her heart was given to another.”

  His lordship came across and seized his hand, squeezing it hard. “Your sentiments do you credit, Purford, uncommonly good of you.”

  The fellow’s eyes were suspiciously bright, and Justin made haste to turn the subject. “Perhaps we had best turn our attention to how we may evade the interest of the vulgar.”

  Sessay released him, sighing again. “I fear there is no such recourse, my boy. My wife is too distressed to be troubled with whispers and question. I shall take her home to Yorkshire.”

  Was that wise? To flee the aftermath?

  “Will that not make things worse, sir? I propose to put a notice in the papers to the effect that the betrothal is at an end.”

  At that, Lady Sessay spoke up, her voice shrill, redolent with despair. “Of what use to say so, when everyone will know the worst?”

  “Hush, my love, don’t upset yourself. Purford is doing his best, you know.”

  Justin addressed himself to both impartially, a seed of hope entering his mind. “We will not silence gossiping tongues, ma’am, but what if you were to insert a notice to the effect that Lady Selina was married privately to Colonel O’Donovan and has departed for the continent upon a prolonged honeymoon?”

  Lady Sessay’s blotched countenance abruptly lost its woebegone air, and her lord looked as if he had been struck in the back of the head.

  Justin pursued his advantage. “If we pretend the affair has been arranged and sanctioned by all parties, Selina may return one day and re-establish her position in Society. You cannot wish, I am persuaded, to be forever estranged from your daughter.”

  His words were having an effect, both parents evidently turning them over. Lord Sessay was the first to recover his astonishment, and was moved to shake Justin by the hand again. “By George, you have a head on your shoulders, my boy! And a generous spirit. Few men would be as forgiving.”

  Justin disclaimed, disturbed by a sliver of guilt. Easy to forgive when the desperate act had effected his release.

  “As if anyone will believe it!”

  These bitter words caused Sessay to return to the sofa. “It does not signify, Caroline. For my part, I believe Purford’s scheme may save us all.”

  Lady Sessay uttered a moan. “All is in train for the wedding too!”

  It occurred to Justin that Colonel O’Donovan’s appearance in Town had been responsible for the early date of the wedding proposed by Lady Sessay. Had she even then been afraid Selina’s partiality might cause her to cry off? If only she had!

  “Well, we must cancel the arrangements,” Lord Sessay was saying. “We will naturally cover the expenses incurred for such work as has been already done, but that is a trifling cost compared to the disaster we will face but for Purford’s grace-saving notion.”

  “Will you remain in Town then, sir?”

  His lordship’s reply was forestalled by his wife’s objection.

  “And face everyone as if nothing has occurred?”

  “No, indeed, ma’am, that would be impossible. But a united front will do better for us, I believe, than a concerted departure.”

  Lady Sessay looked unconvinced, and indeed it was doubtful she would be fit to be seen for several days. Her lord undertook to send the necessary notice and, having settled matters as best he could under the circumstances, Justin was at last able to take his leave.

  His thoughts immediately fell back into chaos until he remembered that he must give his family the news.

  The effect was, if anything, worse than it had been upon himself. He found Grace in the morning room, having just received two callers. Justin sent for his sister and ordered Rowsham to deny her ladyship to any more visitors.

  Jocasta had been stunned into silence for several moments, staring at him as if she could not believe her ears. Grace, on the other hand, had all but swooned and had to be helped to the sofa, where she lay in a semi-prostrate condition, sniffing at the vinaigrette which was never far from her reach.

  The scheme of relief Justin propounded was met with horror.

  “I cannot, Justin,” declared Grace, emerging briefly from the vinaigrette. “Face all the sly looks and comments of the curious? The dreadful faces of disapproval of those censorious creatures who will delight at my downfall?” She shuddered.

  “If it is what Justin wishes, Mama, then you must.”

  Jocasta came to him, catching at one of his hands and holding it tight, her eyes
swimming as she met his gaze. “Justin, I’m so sorry. It’s horrid for you. How dared Selina serve you such a trick? Why could she not have spoken before?”

  Justin winced. “I wish she had done so, but I suspect she was coerced.”

  His sister’s eyes widened as the wet receded. “What, you mean she was forced into accepting your offer?”

  “Worse. I think her parents had forbidden her to think of O’Donovan at the outset.”

  “Because she was meant for you?”

  “I dare say that was part of it.”

  Jocasta released his hand, disgust entering her lively features. “How gothic!”

  He was obliged to smile. “Rather mercenary than gothic, I fear.”

  “You mean ambitious! This colonel was not considered good enough for Selina, I suppose. If he had been titled and rich, your claim would have been set aside.”

  Her indignation lightened his mood. He could not but be amused.

  “I’m not sure I had a claim, Jocasta.”

  “Well, you considered it a strong enough reason not to wish to marry anyone else.”

  “What does it signify?” demanded Grace from the sofa. “Nothing signifies in the face of the appalling scandal — and we will all partake of it. Your suitors will shab off as fast as they can, for no man will care to be associated with —”

  “Grace, that’s enough!”

  Angry now, Justin caught Jocasta by the shoulders as her face fell in ludicrous dismay. “Don’t be alarmed, my lovely. That is precisely why we must adhere to my plan and remain in the public eye. We will brave it through in the teeth of them all and you will see how quickly it will be forgotten.”

  “Forgotten? It will never be forgotten! Our family name will be forever tainted.”

  Grace burst into tears after this declaration, and Justin was obliged to bite back the blistering reproof hovering on his tongue.

  He found Jocasta eyeing him in a troubled way.

  “Will it taint us? Can we hope to rise above it?”

  “We must. For your sake as well as my own. Have you any engagement this evening?”

  A tearful interruption came from Grace before Jocasta could reply. “Pray don’t expect me to make an appearance in public this evening! I could not do it. Oh, if only Marianne were here!”

  Marianne! In all the distortion of his immediate life, Justin had forgotten her absence — slaving away at Purford Park to make the place habitable for Selina. Hell’s teeth! Was there no end to the repercussions?

  He decided then and there to go home and fetch Marianne back to Town. It was evident Grace would need her support.

  One more necessary visit had to be made, however, before anything else could be done. Pausing only to write the notice to be inserted into the principal London journals and send it off with Simon the footman, he walked round to the Luthrie’s town house in Berkeley Square.

  His aunt, while shocked and incredulous, proved sturdier than his stepmother. When he told her how cast down Grace was, she immediately offered to add her weight to his arguments.

  “I will try what I can do, Justin. You have taken a sensible route and I believe it will answer. But it is imperative we stand together.”

  “Just so, ma’am. If you can prevail upon Grace to drop her megrims and appear in public, I will be eternally grateful.”

  “Well, I will do my best. But to say truth, there is only one person who is likely to make headway with Grace.”

  He smiled. “I know it, ma’am. I will have to show my face around town for a day or two, but I aim to fetch Marianne as soon as I can decently leave without the gossips accusing me of running away.”

  He had taken care to do the rounds of his clubs, ensuring that when the news broke it would be known he had been acting with perfect normality that day. His cousin Alexander, who had been sitting with his mother at the time and was necessarily in the secret, accompanied him to Brooks’s. Lord Dymond, heir to his father’s ancient earldom as well as the baronetage of Luthrie, bore an invented courtesy title made up of the family name. He was a pleasant and popular companion, a couple of years Justin’s junior, but very much his friend as well as a fond cousin and Justin was glad of his support.

  In the evening, although Grace could not be prevailed upon to leave the house, Justin commandeered the services of the Dragon and escorted his sister to a party where it was evident the news had broken. The looks from behind fans were both curious and pitying. One or two gentlemen stared openly; others made a pretence of ignorance, but could not wholly disguise their consciousness.

  Jocasta bore up well, holding her head high and behaving with a courageous semblance of her usual vivacity. By good fortune, their cousin Lord Dymond was at the same party and he solicited her for a dance. This broke the ice and she received several more invitations.

  Justin breathed more easily, although he had to endure a number of enquiries about Grace’s whereabouts. He countered with a spurious tale of an indisposition, and nearly lost his temper when Mrs Guineaford greeted his explanation with a contemptuous and disbelieving lift of the eyebrows.

  Upon the following evening, he met with the Sessays at a musical evening, their notice having appeared along with his own in the London journals. Lady Sessay was proudly erect, although there was a tell-tale quiver in her fingers as she clasped Justin’s.

  “Very well done, Justin, my boy,” murmured her lord. “It is hard, but we will contrive to brush through.”

  He agreed to it, and was glad when the entertainment began and he need not keep up the act. That it was taking a toll on his emotions he did not realise until he was actually in his phaeton on the way to Purford Park.

  Relieved of the necessity to keep his countenance, he was assailed by visions of the faces he had encountered over the past few days. They had not silenced the gossips by any means, though none dared say anything directly to those concerned. Lady Luthrie, deep in her friend Lady Sessay’s confidence, reported that she and her lord had received no congratulations on Selina’s marriage, which proved conclusively that no one yet understood the story they had concocted.

  Justin had set his cousin and aunt to put the tale about, in the hopes it would spread. However, since Grace was still refusing to appear in public and had declared her unalterable intention to return home, he could no longer delay his proposed trip to bring Marianne back to London.

  The journey occupied too many hours for his comfort, since he found himself at last giving way to the conflicting emotions of the last hideous days.

  It struck him that in all the turmoil of his thoughts, never once did they turn to Selina. A creeping realisation made him recognise how narrow an escape he’d had. He had been about to commit his entire life to a woman he could neither love nor admire. She was beautiful enough, but her character and his were so opposed they must have ended in complete indifference.

  Had he even known her? Her prickly attitude was now explained, but he found it hard to forgive her for not telling him the truth when he gave her the chance. He would have been spared the indignity he must suffer in the face of her scandalous flight. He’d done what he could to scotch it, but in his heart of hearts he knew he must still be an object of compassion, which stuck in his throat. If he’d wanted to marry Selina, he could have borne it better. But to be thought to be distraught when in fact he was rather elated, was galling in the extreme.

  His pride had suffered a blow from which it would be hard to recover. Only now, when he had no need to conceal his feelings under an iron front, did the smart begin in earnest.

  Chapter Nine

  “You look dreadful.”

  The drawn look in Justin’s face lightened briefly, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

  “I knew I might depend on your tact, Marianne.”

  She laughed, curling away the distress in a corner of her bosom, along with the nervous apprehension with which she’d awaited his coming. “Go and get rid of the travel stains and I’ll engage to cosset you with food,
wine and as much sympathy as you can take.”

  “That sounds deliciously comforting.”

  Marianne found her fingers in his, and they tingled as he dropped a light kiss on them.

  She watched him ascend the stairs, her heart catching as she saw how heavily he trod. Then she slipped into the cosy breakfast parlour where, at her request, the under-butler was directing the maids in the preparation of luncheon.

  “His lordship has gone up to refresh himself, Sprake. I don’t imagine he will be much above a half hour.”

  She then repaired to the morning room across the hall, there to try and steady her jumping nerves. She must ascertain Justin’s state of mind before she could think of having a touch at her own fate. Yet if the moment should seem propitious —

  Her mind balked. The first sight of him had sent a jolt of dismay through her. She had not supposed him to have been in love with Lady Selina, but his aspect was awful. If his heart was truly broken, she could not hope to carry out the ill-formed notion that refused to lie down and be quiet. Ever since it had entered her head, she had been by turns in alt at the possibility and sheer terror at the thought of what she must do.

  She drew a calming breath and resolved to do nothing. She was not now concerned with herself, but with Justin. That he needed her was evident. She would not deny him the solace of her friendship.

  He did not keep her waiting long, and while they ate in the presence of the servants, talk was necessarily confined to commonplaces. As a result, Marianne noted his stiffness and the effort he was making to appear normal.

  By the time they rose from the table, she had made up her mind. “Sprake, will you tell his lordship’s valet to bring down his coat, if you please. And have someone fetch me a cloak as well.”

  Justin frowned as the under-butler went off on his errand. “What’s to do?”

  “We’re going for a walk.”

  “Are we?”

  “It’s windy enough to blow your crotchets away.”

  He let out a sound, half snort, half laughter. “That might take a hurricane.”

  “Well, I dare say I can arrange for one, if it should prove necessary.”