Amanda Scott - [Dangerous 02]

by Dangerous Angels

  “For you will want to change your dress, I know. Indeed, I do not know how you will ready yourself quickly enough as it is. We should not have dawdled so long talking nonsense. Oh, look, here comes dear Lord Rockland now, no doubt anxious to speed us along. It is just like him to concern himself with our well-being.”

  “Isn’t it?” Charley snapped her mouth shut, determined to say nothing more that she could not in good conscience repeat to Sir Antony. That she even had such a thought was enough to make her grit her teeth. Nonetheless, she did not want him to make her see herself in the same harsh light as he had before. Therefore, she greeted Rockland in an even tone, resisting the temptation to ask sweetly if he had come to hustle them in like schoolgirls, to tidy themselves and wash their hands before dinner.

  Annoyance stirred again, however, when she saw him look uneasily from her to Elizabeth and back, as if he were concerned about the state of their relationship. Again managing to control her first impulse, she refrained from blurting that she had not yet scratched out Elizabeth’s eyes or flayed her with her tongue. Instead, she said simply, “Did you have a particular purpose in seeking us out, Rockland?”

  That he had rushed out upon discovering they had been left alone together became even more obvious to her when he flushed and said, “No, no, not at all. That is, Alfred did say he hoped you and Foxearth would not keep us waiting, because that Gabriel fellow’s staying to dine. Oh, and Miss Elizabeth, Mrs. Tarrant was looking for you. She said something about your having promised a treat to the children.”

  “Mercy me, I must fly. I quite forgot I had promised our dear little Neddy that I would read a story to him and Jane after their supper. They eat earlier than we do, you know,” she added, “so pray forgive me, both of you, if I must hurry away.”

  “Do that,” Charley recommended. “I promise, we won’t mind a bit.”

  Elizabeth picked up her skirts, and although she did nothing so unseemly as to run, she did hurry back to the house.

  Unable to suppress her feelings a moment long, Charley said, “Good mercy, Rockland, you’re practically panting. Did you think I’d murder her?”

  “You nearly did before,” he retorted. “I don’t know what got into you then, so you can hardly expect me to guess what you were doing just now. Not but what you must have seen for yourself by now just how sweet and gentle she is, and how kind.”

  “She talks utter bilge,” Charley snapped. “Idiotic, prattling bilge! What that girl wants is education. Do you know that she thinks women need men to guide them through life? That she actually believes men—just by virtue of being born male, mind you—are better suited to think and to make decisions than women are?”

  “Didn’t I just say how intelligent and sensible she is?”

  “You did not! You called her sweet and gentle, and kind. I don’t know her well enough yet to know if she possesses those virtues, but I am perfectly willing to take your word for it. None of that makes her any the less a half-wit though. Why, Letty’s got ten times more sense in her little finger than Elizabeth Tarrant has in her entire body.”

  “I think you are too harsh. Elizabeth understands what it is to be feminine, is all, and she don’t need a lot of dashed fool notions crammed into her head to change that.”

  “Good mercy, Rockland, you’re as much of a noddy as she is. You think she’s wonderful because she looks up to you and thinks you all-knowing, just because, through mere happenstance of nature, you possess a penis!”

  “Good God, Charlotte! What will you say next?” He looked hastily around, clearly very much shocked.

  If the truth were known, Charley was shocked at herself for letting such a word leap from her mind to her tongue. Perversely though, she wondered if Sir Antony would have been shocked. She had a notion that he would not have been, though he might have advised her not to say such things where others might hear. Even as the thought crossed her mind, however, she revised it. She rather thought Sir Antony would trust her not to say such words where anyone they would offend might overhear her. Nor would she. Rockland was not offended, after all, merely shocked.

  Glancing at him, she said curiously, “Do I frequently shock you, Rockland? Because if I do, marriage to me could prove rather uncomfortable for you.”

  He grinned at her, and said as they began walking again, “I find you fascinating, my treasure. Moreover, just think how the lads will all stare when I tell them I’ve captured the most elusive filly in the marriage stakes.”

  “Good mercy, is that how you think of me?”

  “The biggest prize of all,” he assured her. “Dowry or no dowry.”

  “Well, I hope you don’t make a practice of apologizing for me after we’re married,” she snapped. “I did not like it one bit when you took Elizabeth’s side against me the other day, then hared off afterward to console her.”

  “But, dash it, you were wrong!”

  She stopped on the path and caught his arm, making him face her. “Tell me this. If I think you are wrong in a dispute with another man, will you mind if I go to him and say you’re just being hysterical, and then offer an apology on your behalf?”

  He grimaced. “Dash it, Charley, you make a practice of saying what you think whenever you think it. You’ve never once hesitated to tell the whole world when you think I’m wrong.”

  “Not behind your back, I don’t. At least,” she amended, “not to anyone who would repeat what I tell them. Do you apologize to others for your male friends when you think they are in the wrong?”

  “Dash it, I did nothing wrong in talking with Miss Elizabeth. You behaved badly. You must know you did. So don’t rip up at me.”

  He sounded like a sulky boy rather than an adult, and she nearly smiled before she remembered that she was going to marry him. “Don’t take a pet,” she said with a sigh. “I just wanted you to know how you made me feel. The fact that you apologized also made it difficult for me to do so just now. She’s got it into that muddled head of hers that she’s already received an apology.”

  “I should think you’d be grateful then,” he said sullenly.

  “Well, I’m not. Look here,” she added, “when are you going to speak with that bishop about our special license?”

  “I told you, he’s in Truro, and I’m not going looking for him tomorrow. It’s Sunday, dash it. He’ll be as busy as the devil in a high wind.”

  “Good mercy, Rockland, what a thing to say about a bishop! I should think you’d be wanting to get this over—that is, to set a date as soon you can.”

  “Well, of course I do, but the fellow travels about a good deal, you know. They say he will be in Lostwithiel in a sennight. What’s the great hurry?”

  “If the bishop will be in Lostwithiel, then he can easily perform our wedding here, but you must make the arrangements beforehand. You can’t just go to him in a week’s time and say you want a ceremony performed at once. And if I seem to be in a hurry, it’s just that I don’t want to submit to dearest Alfred’s self-proclaimed authority one minute longer than necessary, that’s all.”

  “Well, if that’s all it is, you’re fretting without cause,” he said. “Now that Sir Antony’s entered the picture, as I see it, he’s got as much right as Alfred has to give orders around here. Leastwise, until Alfred can prove he’s the real heir.”

  “Perhaps, but I don’t want to submit to Sir Antony either,” Charley said with feeling. “He is even more puffed up with himself than Alfred is. Only look at him! I own, he does pay some heed to my opinions, but I expect he does it only to be polite.”

  Visibly relaxing, Rockland chuckled and said, “He’s bigger than Alfred, too, come to think of it. I daresay he strips to advantage, too, for all his painted puppy ways. Still, he don’t look as if he has much of a temper, or as if he’s much in the habit of ordering females about.”

  “Or of giving a thought to what they really think,” Charley said, realizing that she ought to do what she could to help the false Sir Antony establish himse
lf in the role he had chosen to play. The thought of him stripped of his stiff shirt and well-fitting jacket nearly put every other thought out of her head, however. She agreed that he would strip to advantage and thought the sight might be well worth seeing.

  Rockland gave her a nudge toward the house. “We are going to be late for dinner if we don’t step lively,” he said. “I’ve still got to change my neckcloth and get my valet to polish these shoes again. Just look at the dust on them. One would think that one could stroll through a garden on a tidy gravel path without collecting a lot of muck. But just look at them!”

  Caring little for dust, or real muck for that matter, Charley only shook her head. Inside, they parted on the gallery landing, and she hurried to her bedchamber, where she rang for Kerra. With the maid’s help, she changed to a dark-gray gown suitable for dining, and was ready before the footman downstairs had rung the second bell for dinner. Nonetheless she found the others waiting for her, with one notable exception.

  “Where is that damned fellow?” Alfred demanded fretfully. “The joint will be cold, not to mention the side dishes.”

  Edythe said, “Indeed, my dear sir, it has seemed to me these ten days past that the servants in this house make no effort to bring our food hot to the table. You must speak sharply to them. They pay little heed to me.”

  Elizabeth said lightly, “You forget that at Grappen Hall we rarely got food even half so warm as what they serve here, Edythe, on account of the kitchens being so far from the dining parlor. I think the service here has been excellent.”

  Charley smiled, feeling almost in charity with her for once.

  Elizabeth went on earnestly, “But I do not mean to set my opinion against yours, Edythe, certainly. If you are not perfectly satisfied with the servants, I am persuaded that our dearest Alfred will soon get matters sorted out. Won’t you, Alfred dear?”

  “You may be sure of that,” he growled.

  Standing like a large, silent shadow beside Alfred, James Gabriel seemed to have eyes only for Elizabeth. He had nodded at Charley and murmured a polite reply to her greeting, but then his gaze shifted right back to Elizabeth.

  “There you are,” Alfred exclaimed suddenly, causing every eye to turn toward the grand stairway.

  Sir Antony descended gracefully, every hair in place and looking, in Charley’s opinion, complete to a shade. Pantaloons and a coat of soft dove-gray superfine made his eyes seem a deeper blue than usual. His neckcloth was arranged in the intricate Obaldeston with a sapphire stickpin nestled in its folds, and he wore a Chinese silk waistcoat embroidered with pink butterflies, green vines, and leaves. Observing that he had become the cynosure of every eye in the hall, he raised his quizzing glass and peered back at them.

  “Dear me,” he drawled, “have I kept you all waiting? I am so sorry. Behold me abject with apologies. I had to change every stitch, of course. All that dust! Really, someone ought to order the gardeners to wet down those garden paths at least twice a day. At all events, you will agree that I was left with no other alternative.” He descended the last few steps, then paused before James Gabriel. Raising his quizzing glass, he said, “I do not believe we are acquainted.”

  Alfred said brusquely, “Mr. Gabriel is the mayor of Lostwithiel.”

  “Ah, yes,” Sir Antony said. “I believe I have heard you described in glowing terms, Mr. Gabriel. I make you my compliments. No doubt your position is one of vast importance and responsibility, requiring the expenditure of great energy.”

  Charley, watching him, could see no sign whatsoever of Jean Matois. Not only was there not the least vestige of a French accent in his drawling speech, but he looked bored and rather sleepy, an English aristocrat exerting himself to be pleasant.

  Mr. Gabriel beamed at him, saying, “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Sir Antony. My position as mayor is indeed a great responsibility, but I am a man who believes in getting things done, sir. As to the energy it takes, why, I’ve little else to do with my time these days. My dear wife passed on many years ago.”

  “So sad,” Elizabeth said sympathetically.

  “Yes,” Gabriel agreed. “Perhaps if she had given me a son to raise, I might have put much of my energy into seeing him ascend to heights even greater than those I have attained for myself, but alas, she bore me only a daughter.”

  With an edge to her voice, Charley said, “No doubt you love your daughter dearly and have found her to be a source of great comfort, Mr. Gabriel.”

  He blinked at her. Then, with a softening smile, he said, “I care for her very much, Miss Charlotte. As a child she was my dearest delight. But alas, she inherited my ambition, I fear, for she ran off some months ago to seek her fortune elsewhere.”

  “I hope she was successful,” Elizabeth said doubtfully. “Where did she go?”

  “It’s kind of you to take an interest, ma’am,” Gabriel said. “However, I’ve yet to hear from the minx, I’m afraid. It’s not really been so long as it seems, though.”

  Elizabeth stifled a small cry of distress.

  “You are too calm, Gabriel,” Sir Antony said. “I fear Miss Elizabeth believes you lack a proper sensibility.”

  “Well, sir, I certainly don’t want to distress so sweet a young lady, but I own, I don’t spend much time worrying about things I cannot change. Others engage in a deal of bother and talk, I’ve found. There are not many like James Gabriel, who believe in action when action is wanted. Still, I must say, Sir Antony, meeting you is an honor. Had someone told me when I was a child that I should one day enjoy the company of such men as yourself, I would have stared in disbelief. But here I stand, though my father were naught but a simple clockmaker, a tradesman who worked with his hands.”

  “Not a simple man, surely,” Sir Antony murmured politely. “I have been told that he was a very fine craftsman.”

  “To be sure,” Charley said. “Mr. Gabriel’s papa made the clock in the drawing room, and Grandpapa said the work compares with that of Chippendale or Sheraton.”

  “Many people have said so,” Gabriel agreed.

  Edythe said, “Ah, here is our good Medrose. No doubt he has come to inform us that we may repair to the dining room. As you see, Medrose, we are quite ready at last. You can begin to serve at once.”

  “Yes, madam,” the butler said after a brief glance at Charley, who nodded.

  The exchange had not escaped Edythe, for she pressed her lips tightly together, but she did not say anything.

  Medrose’s glance went a long way toward soothing Charley’s lacerated feelings, and she smiled at him. Just then she encountered Sir Antony’s gaze and saw a distinct glint of amusement in his eyes. Although she did not know if he was laughing at her or at Edythe, she realized at once that she would do better not to betray her small sense of triumph to anyone else. Assuming a more modest expression, she glanced at him again, only to see him graciously offer his arm to Edythe.

  Oddly annoyed by the gesture, she was even more irritated to see Rockland look suddenly doubtful. As the male of highest rank, he generally escorted Edythe when Lady St. Merryn did not dine with the family, and he was clearly uncertain now if he ought to escort his betrothed or Miss Elizabeth Tarrant.

  Charley said, “Rockland, for goodness’ sake, don’t stand like a stock. Cousin Alfred is starving for his dinner. Mr. Gabriel, will you be so kind as to give your arm to Miss Elizabeth. Indeed,” she added with an airy laugh, “I cannot imagine why we are all standing on such ceremony. Shall we go in?”

  Mr. Gabriel assured all and sundry that he was more than willing to escort Elizabeth. But although Rockland promptly offered Charley his arm, he muttered, “Dash it, my pet, I wish you would not fling orders at me like that. It ain’t seemly.”

  “My dear sir, if you stand about like a moonling, you must expect someone to give you a hint.”

  “You don’t hint, Charley. You dashed well shove a fellow.”

  Alfred, behind them, said testily, “Do you two mean to stand nattering, because
if you do, I shall never get my dinner.”

  In the dining room, Alfred instantly went to the head of the table, and Charley wondered if she was the only one who noticed the challenging way he looked at Sir Antony. When Sir Antony did not appear to notice, merely taking his place beside Edythe at the foot of the table, Alfred’s expression changed to smug contempt.

  No sooner was everyone seated, however, than Lady St. Merryn appeared, swathed in yards of black crape. She was supported by the footman Jago on one side and by the ubiquitous Miss Davies on the other.

  As servants scrambled to lay covers for the two ladies, the dowager glanced around the candlelit room. She said faintly, “Were you not expecting me? I daresay you were not. Dear me, how inconvenient for you, but I was told we had company to dine, and also that a new claimant to the earldom had presented himself. I am persuaded that the latter case cannot be true. Surely someone would have taken the trouble to mention that to me, and to present him. Ah, thank you, Medrose,” she added when the butler, betraying a slight frown on his normally wooden countenance, pulled out her chair with his own two hands.

  Charley had known Medrose all her life. Watching him now, her instincts honed by the guilt she felt at having failed to present Sir Antony, she experienced a flash of insight that made her look at Edythe Tarrant. The resentful expression she saw on that woman’s face when Lady St. Merryn took the place at Alfred’s right confirmed a dawning suspicion. Without thinking, Charley said, “Why, I believe you neglected on purpose to tell Grandmama that we were entertaining guests. And I’ll wager you told the servants that she chose not to join us!” Not waiting for a reply, she turned back to Lady St. Merryn, saying remorsefully, “Pray forgive me, ma’am, for I fully intended to bring Sir Antony up to you directly when he arrived. Other considerations intervened, however. Then, when dinner was set forward and you did not appear, I’m afraid I simply assumed that you had elected to dine in your room.”