“What?” she asked, wringing her fingers together. “He explained everything.”
“That’s just the first page of my notes on him,” Elinor told her in a hushed tone, her eyes wide.
Prue swallowed at that and looked away.
“What else did he say, Prue?” Tony asked from his position, sitting on the arm of the sofa.
His tone was not accusatory, but neither was it particularly warm. Georgie sat beside him, her hand rubbing along his back. She hadn’t said anything yet, but her eyes had been fixed on Prue with an unnerving intensity.
“He s-said that h-he…” she began, breaking off to clear her throat and gather her focus. “He said that he had never had unpleasant encounters with magistrates, had never jilted a woman, and had never been in a compromising situation.”
Charlotte chortled from the divan she’d pulled over. “He’s never been caught, more like.” She looked around, frowning. “Where’s Edith?”
“She didn’t come,” Izzy reminded her, “because of the number of guests. She’s not comfortable yet.”
“None of us are comfortable, now that Mr. Vale is in the picture,” Charlotte muttered shaking her head.
Prue threw her a wounded look, and Charlotte gestured helplessly.
“Did you have to choose him for a friend?” Izzy murmured, looking as though she would take Prue’s hand. “Why not Miss Perry? She is lovely, I am so pleased you have found her.”
“Amelia is my friend,” Prue insisted, desperate for them all to understand. “She saw the situation at Tinley, and she didn’t find any fault in Camden’s character, nor did she dissuade me from…”
“Camden?” Grace interrupted, her eyes widening. “That’s rather forward, isn’t it?”
Prue felt her cheeks heat. “Under the c-circumstances, informality was b-best. More c-comfortable.”
“All right, all right,” Izzy soothed as Prue’s discomfort grew. “We’ll ignore the propriety of given names.”
Prue nodded once. “We called Tony b-by his given name before it w-would have been appropriate, too.”
Tony looked stunned at that and looked at the others for help.
“That’s different,” Charlotte said with a wave of her hand. “Tony is Tony.”
“Very descriptive, Charlotte,” Tony remarked with a smile in her direction. “Perfectly summed up.”
She sneered at him, then returned her attention to Prue. “It’s different. We trusted Tony.”
Prue lifted her chin. “I t-trust Camden.”
Charlotte gave her a pitying smile. “If only you said that without a stammer, I might believe you.”
Anger, that rarest of Prue’s emotions, flared in the pit of her stomach, and she ground her teeth together. “I trusted Tony before you did, even if I couldn’t call him by his Christian name first. What does that signify, Charlotte?”
The room went silent again as they all looked at Charlotte warily.
Prue stared at her friend, whom she loved dearly, she reminded herself, and waited for a response.
Charlotte seemed to be chewing on her words, then looked at Georgie for a long moment.
Georgie only shrugged, which made Charlotte frown.
“I concede that you have some taste and judgment,” Charlotte finally relented almost sourly, “but that was never in question here. The case before us is that of Mr. Vale, not you.”
“What case?” Prue shook her head in bewilderment. “He wants to associate with me, to be my friend, to help me when I am in distress. Those motives are no different than what Tony feels for me.”
“But he isn’t Tony,” Georgie pointed out, speaking for the first time.
Prue looked at her, feeling an emotional desperation for her to understand. “He could be.”
Georgie’s eyes narrowed a little and her head tilted with interest, but she said nothing further.
It crossed Prue’s mind that perhaps she ought to be concerned about what might be happening in Georgie’s mind at this moment, but there were too many other concerns at present.
“He said I could believe him,” Prue murmured helplessly to no one in particular.
“Oh, Prue…” Izzy sighed, shaking her head sadly.
“Of course, he says you can believe him!” Charlotte insisted loudly, earning a fervent nod from Elinor. “He wants you to!”
Prue frowned at her. “Why would he care what I think?”
Charlotte gave the entire room an incredulous look before gesturing wildly. “He wants your fortune! You may not know this, Prue, but those of us with extensive fortunes are always going to be a target for vile creatures like Mr. Vale. They will manipulate and twist you until you don’t know your own mind. All to get their hands on the inheritance.”
“If that is true,” Prue mused slowly, feeling a rather cynical edge coming on, “then he certainly has a strange way of showing it.”
Charlotte’s brows snapped down as she sat up. “Prudence Westfall, did you just use sarcasm with me?”
Prue raised a taunting brow at her. “Did I do it wrong?”
Now Charlotte positively gaped, her eyes wide, and she pointed at her. “There it is again!”
“I may take back my argument,” Grace announced with a beaming grin. “I vote she keep Mr. Vale on.”
“What?” Charlotte and Elinor cried together.
Grace nodded, still smiling at Prue. “He is obviously a good influence on her.”
“Good?” Tony echoed, not as surprised as Charlotte, but still disgruntled.
“Entertaining, at least,” Grace allowed. She looked at the others. “Mr. Vale was with Prue and Lady Hetty almost the entire time. We can ask Lady Hetty what she thinks of him.”
“Knowing her, she’d probably love that roguish lout,” Elinor muttered under her breath.
Georgie turned her attention to Elinor. “You needn’t be petulant just because Lady Hetty doesn’t like you. And perhaps you, too, should be friends with Miss Perry. I daresay she would be a good influence for you.”
Elinor was instantly indignant. “I am not the issue here. Prue is.”
“No, Mr. Vale is the issue,” Tony corrected, matching Georgie’s severe look and tone. “Prue is as Prue ever was and we love her for it.”
Prue’s throat constricted at his words, and her heart swelled a little. They might be having a spot of trouble at this moment, it was true, but these were her dearest friends in the world, Tony included, and those relationships were never in question.
All she wanted was to not have to choose between her friends. This was a trying time in her life, and she wanted all of them with her. Around her. Supporting her.
Saving her.
“I don’t see why we can’t give Mr. Vale a chance,” Izzy finally said in the most unconvincing tone ever. “If Prue likes him well enough, that ought to be indicative of something.”
“Probably that Prue is as naïve as she is sweet,” Charlotte grumbled as she rubbed at her brow. “Or that we are terrible friends for not protecting her better. If not both.”
Georgie chuckled reluctantly. “Prue may be a lot of things, but naïve was never one of them.”
“There’s a first time for everything.” Charlotte sighed heavily and looked at Prue with a disgusted expression. “Fine. We give Vile Vale a chance to be less villainous than we have heard. Will that satisfy you?”
Prue smiled in the face of her friend’s abhorrence. “It will suffice. Thank you.”
That made Charlotte smile back, and she shook her head. “I can never stay mad at you, can I, little lamb?”
Well, she probably could, probably even would, once Prue confessed the rest of it.
“Actually,” Prue began, straightening up in her chair, “Camden had a marvelous idea for managing this whole suitor affair.”
“Did he?” Tony inquired, mildly intrigued. “I’d love to hear it.”
Prue nodded once. “He has offered to pretend to court me. For all intents and purposes, it would
appear to be a real courtship, and his character would become transformed into something more gentlemanly. He would see to it that a proper reputation about myself would spread, more aligned to my true nature than what everybody else thinks, and after a reasonable amount of time, once the fervor surrounding my fortune has passed, we will dissolve the relationship, thus allowing more worthy and truly interested men to pursue me.”
She exhaled slowly after her recitation, almost verbatim what Camden had told her, and waited again.
For a moment, no one said anything.
And then…
“That is the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard,” Charlotte scoffed with a loud snort.
Prue met her eyes steadily, smiling the sort of wry smile Camden usually did. “Well, you’d better get used to it. I’ve already accepted.”
Chapter Thirteen
Acting is a delicate art. One must be believable and sincere, and yet convey all that ought to be conveyed. But great care must be taken that the sentiments in one’s acting do not seep into reality. Everything would grow far more muddled then.
-The Spinster Chronicles, 2 September 1815
The pretend courtship of one Prudence Westfall by one Camden Vale was well under way, and quite the talk of London.
Well, of those who didn’t have anything better to talk about, anyway.
In truth, there wasn’t much going on with it. There ought to have been, but two very significant obstacles stood in the way of any progression there.
Mrs. Westfall and Miss Eliza Howard.
Somehow, the pair of them had decided that they had to be present whenever Camden was to call, despite having been approved by Mrs. Westfall for the courtship. She surveyed every meeting between them as though he was a criminal, which led him to believe that she was not ignorant as to his reputation. And yet, she had given permission for him to call and court Prue, so she could not be as disapproving as all that.
Although, when he made his formal suit and request of courtship known to Mrs. Westfall the week before, she had been astonished by the suggestion. She’d sat in her chair, blinking at him rather owlishly, and could only repeatedly ask, “Why?” as if the very idea was a foreign concept. Camden had not been pleased by that at all, and he’d left the house in quite a foul mood, despite having secured permission.
Her recent participation in this particular courtship had not done anything to improve her position in his mind.
The involvement of Eliza might have been the more bewildering part. She did not live with Prue and her mother, and as far as he could tell, had no fondness for Prue at all, but she appeared to be taking an interest in every detail of Prue’s social life. She was everywhere he wished to be with Prue, and while she made no effort to influence Camden one way or another, despite what he’d heard of her, she seemed to commandeer every conversation he wished to have.
He missed having Edith for a chaperone so fiercely he could taste it.
He hadn’t spoken more than three words to Prue in over a week, and it was starting to grate on him. She was a complete mouse with her mother and Eliza around, and the strain in her features was painfully evident. To him, at least. The other women seemed completely ignorant, or perhaps ambivalent.
He wasn’t sure which was worse.
Today, however, there was a pleasant change in the situation. Eliza Howard had not come for his usual appointment, and it was a fine day, which prompted them to go out and walk the garden.
Mrs. Westfall was no walker and would not accompany them under any circumstances.
Camden had done his best not to appear too jubilant at this development, though he did not particularly care if it was obvious.
He wanted to spend time with Prue, and he would not apologize for it. And if Mrs. Westfall were any sort of mother, she would approve of that.
Apparently, there was some debate as to how much of a maternal nature she was in possession of.
Nevertheless, now he was walking the garden with only Prue for a companion, and Mrs. Westfall kept a steady eye on them from her perch in a shaded corner of the house, fanning herself, although the day was not overly warm.
The exertion of moving from the interior of the house to the exterior must have worn on her.
As yet, Prue had said nothing, her posture and expression perfectly poised, and were it not for the way her eyes flicked over to her mother on occasion, Camden would have thought her sleepwalking.
“Good heavens,” Camden muttered once out of earshot as he slowly escorted Prue along the path, “are you under lock and key?”
“Yes,” she replied, keeping her face demure for her mother’s benefit. “More than you know.”
He sighed and made a show of taking her arm as if the stone beneath their feet required it. “I never thought I’d ever have to say this, but it is good to hear your voice. Why is it that I have spent more time talking to your cousin in my courtship of you than I actually have with you?”
Prue glanced back at her mother, still trying to look perfect, then turned to him, smile fixed. “Because my family finds me lacking in most regards, and they are not very t-tolerant of my…” She started to motion a little, then stopped herself. “My…”
“Your speech,” he finished, frowning a little.
“Don’t do that,” she scolded, losing her calm façade for a moment.
He looked at her in surprise. “Do what?”
“F-finish my sentences.” She shook her head, glowering at him. “Everyone does that as if it is somehow helpful to say what I struggle to, but it’s not helpful at all. It’s embarrassing. I can sp-speak, it just t-takes a while sometimes.”
“All right,” he soothed. “I didn’t mean to. My apologies.”
“Prudence!” her mother suddenly boomed, scolding her from her seat.
She looked back and nodded obediently at her warning look. When she turned back to Camden, he stared at her, jaw taut.
“What in the world was that about?” he asked her in a very quiet, very dangerous tone.
She swallowed with some difficulty, but managed, “I was not looking pleasant. I must refrain from making faces. It’s not proper, and she’s already warned me once.”
Somehow, his face remained blank as he looked over her head at her mother, then back to Prue. “Does she think you’re a child, Prue? Someone who needs to be chided regularly?”
“Worse,” she whispered, shaking her head, trying to make herself smile. “She thinks I’m s-sim… sim…” She couldn’t bear to say it and looked at him helplessly.
His step slowed. “Simple-minded,” he said slowly, his face wrinkling in disgust. He shook his head and took her down a different path, keeping Prue’s face away from her mother. “Stop smiling. Take a moment. Just listen to me for a minute, all right?”
She nodded, letting her face relax, and losing much of the strain from her features.
“If there is anyone simple in this house, despite my limited knowledge of it, it would be your mother,” he hissed, somehow managing to smile despite the venom in his voice. “I may not know you as well as your friends in the Spinsters, but I know full well that you have more wit in your smallest toe than she could cultivate in her entire lifetime. You do not deserve to submit to such a person, no matter what ties bind you. You are a full-grown woman, not five years old, and her time would be better spent minding her own infernal business than you.”
Prue stared at him, eyes wide, apparently beyond words.
“Do you understand me?” he asked, again with the dark tone, not willing to soften it for her benefit when the matter before them was so crucial.
Prue nodded once, still looking too much like the startled, shy girl from the first night he’d met her.
He swore a bit colorfully, and she glared at him. Oddly enough, that seemed to satisfy him a little. “There,” he said, his voice suddenly kinder. “That is the first sign of life I have seen from you since our arrangement was struck.”
Impossibly, she smile
d, and he felt her sigh as much as he heard it. “I’m s-sorry,” she murmured as they walked again. Her brow furrowed for a moment. “And I’m sorry for the stammer.”
“Never apologize for the stammer,” Camden told her at once, covering her hand where it rested on his arm. “I really don’t mind it.”
She gave him a grateful look, then returned her gaze to the path. “I am sorry for Eliza, though. She’s determined to ruin any chance I have at a real relationship with any man. She thinks that by interfering with you, she’ll influence you enough to change your mind.”
Camden snorted once. “Not bloody likely.”
Prue smiled a little. “It seems to be working with several others, though. She deliberately interferes with anyone that shows interest, and now none of the men from Tinley House speak to me anymore, aside from Mr. Andrews and Mr. Davies. I don’t know what she tells them, but it is enough.”
That was the most outrageous thing that Camden had ever heard, and he shook his head in disgust. “Andrews is too smart to be taken in by a creature like that.”
“And he never showed me any particular interest as it is,” Prue added, nodding in agreement. “He should be quite safe.”
“Davies, on the other hand…” Camden winced at the thought. “He could be a perfect pawn for her games.”
Prue shrugged once. “It would certainly disappoint his mother. Eliza has almost no fortune to speak of, which is why she’s being so vindictive.”
Camden looked down at Prue with interest. “She’s jealous?”
“Terribly.” Prue widened her eyes meaningfully, her mouth curving further. “I have the life she deserves, it seems, and if she cannot have it, neither can I.”
“Sounds like my cousins would get along quite well with her,” Camden retorted derisively. “I only have two, and they took it upon themselves to see that our family never quite reached full respectability. It was astounding that Lydia was able to marry anyone worthy of respect at all after their efforts, but Chadwick is a rather exceptional man, and I don’t say that lightly.”
Prue’s hold on his arm tightened, and she looked up at him with interest. “Is he?”
The Spinster and I (The Spinster Chronicles, Book 2) Page 16