Ianthe and the Fighting Foxes: The Fentons Book 4

by Alicia Cameron

  'You have rights, and you exercise them frequently. You may invite whom you chose to stay at Studham, it is your home after all. However, you do not have the right to interfere with my guests. The Richards and Miss Eames — Ianthe — are welcome guests of mine. I have been remiss in their entertainment. I shall not be so anymore.'

  'I,' said Lady Fox in a faint voice, 'must retire. The treatment I have received this evening shall not be forgotten, Fox. Support me, Evans,' she said to her maid who rushed forward to offer her arm. 'Send—' Her Ladyship said, her voice even weaker.

  '—for Doctor Tolliver!' finished Lord Fox. His stepmother gave him a look of dislike and got up from the table. Fox stood and bowed as she left the room, a tottering figure of unjust oppression.

  There was more silence. Fox sat down again and recommenced eating. 'The duck will get cold,' he advised the others, gesturing with his fork for them to continue. Sally Richards let out a laugh.

  'Edward, thank you, my dear,' said Lady Richards, dabbing at her eye with a napkin. Then with a conscious look she added, 'but Ianthe, I do not think you should say such things in public.'

  'What things? Oh, about the duke? It is just what I heard. Paris was buzzing with it.'

  'The French should not talk so in front of young girls,' remarked Lady Richards.

  'I shall mind my tongue, Cousin Emma, never fear. I only said it to …' she smiled wickedly. 'It is no excuse, I am repentant.'

  'What other shocking thing did you say to my stepmother earlier?' asked Fox in a conversational tone.

  Lady Richards choked and coughed. 'That Cousin Edward, I shall tell you later when we are alone.'

  'You heard it?'

  Lady Richards exchanged a guilty glance with her daughter. 'I did.'

  'I only said—' began Ianthe, blithely.

  'Ianthe!' said Lady Richards in her strictest voice.

  'Very well. I'll behave!'

  'You girls go ahead to the drawing room,' Fox said once they had finished their dessert. 'Lady Richards will keep me company over the brandy this evening and we will join you in a while.'

  Minutes later he laughed uproariously in shock. 'She said that? To my step-mama? Oh, that's glorious. She is a frightful girl, with no delicacy at all, but I do wish I had been there.'

  'Do not laugh, Edward,' said Lady Richards chidingly. 'We should not encourage her. She is the most delightful child, but she has lived a life without a mother's care, and we cannot allow her to go beyond what is pleasing now that she is in England. Only think what it might do to her marriage prospects.'

  'Ianthe Eames does not talk so in company. She knows how to behave, in her fashion. We saw that at Audley, where she was everything that was maidenly at the dinner table. She has not been sheltered from the world, it is true, but she is still an innocent.'

  'You are right. And that is why I ask you, Cousin Edward, to look to her comfort when Sally and I are gone from here. She will be alone, with only Her Ladyship as a female companion. It is some time off, but I am already worried about that.' She seemed to have a happy thought. 'But yet, it may be that she will meet someone. Even in this restricted district gentlemen will hear of such a beautiful young lady and seek her out. I know my Sally is lovely, but Ianthe is the sort of beauty to set the town in a spin, so she's bound to cause a stir in the countryside.' She inclined herself towards him. 'You must not allow Lady Fox to deny the visitors.'

  Fox's eyes had turned stormy, and Lady Richards feared she had given offence. But he merely said, standing up and holding her chair back, 'Let us join the others, Cousin Emma.'

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Fourth Ride and a French Comte

  'Does Fox not accompany you today?' asked Audley of Ianthe the next morning. Sally Richards had rushed from the gig to greet Sapphire and was making cooing noises.

  'No, he has a breakfast appointment, I think,' said Ianthe. Audley's look had her ask, 'You seem disappointed. Are you and Edward so close now?'

  'Yes,' he said, to stop her amusement.

  'I thought perhaps Mr Fenton might join us.'

  'He informs me that I shall not see him before ten, even in the country.'

  'Oh, my Purity!' exclaimed Ianthe, petting her. 'Perhaps I should move her to Studham now and then I could visit her in her stall in the evening.'

  'Perhaps you should,' answered Audley.

  Ianthe looked up, surprised. 'You seem very keen to get rid of us, Audley.'

  'I was thinking of you, merely,' he answered, helping her to mount.

  'Well, Fox would have no objection, I know, but…' she looked over at Sally, now bent over Sapphire's head, breathing endearments, 'Sally would miss Sapphire so, even if we were to disobey Lady Fox's prohibition. Better stay here if you don't object.'

  'No objection at all. I may go to London in a few days. You two can ride here all you would like.'

  It was all perfectly polite, but Ianthe felt some restraint from him that she was not used to.

  'What are you speaking of?' said Sally as they walked the horses out of the stable yard.

  'Audley was telling me he was going to London in a few days.'

  'Are you taking Sapphire?' Sally asked anxiously.

  'Your favourite will remain at Audley, fear not,' said the marquis a trifle grumpily. Ianthe frowned. What was it about Audley's mood today? But when Sally merely replied "good" and rode off, Ianthe caught Audley's rueful expression and had an inkling what was afoot. As they let Sally run free on her own, the others plodded slowly for a while.

  'In the suds, my friend?'

  'All on account of you, Ianthe Eames.'

  'Serious?'

  'Nothing I cannot handle.'

  'At least she does not know,' said Ianthe. Audley blanched at this. Sally Richards did not know because his feelings were not reciprocated. That allowed him to come out of this encounter without being a cad, but it did not feel good. If he wanted, he could make her—

  'Do not even think it,' said Ianthe. 'Get yourself off to London without delay.'

  She rode off too, and Audley went forward to catch them up.

  Ianthe rode on, deep in thought. It was not only Audley's vanity that was piqued here, she was sure. But he must not be allowed to let Sally get a glimpse of anything more than a sporting comrade. Audley, even without rank or other privileges, was all too attractive. He was a man of the world who could lure a maiden to her doom in short order. That he did not do so showed his integrity, but if Miss Sarah Richards was something the marquis desired, then it must be so tempting for him to make her want him too. They had an affinity, Ianthe was sure, it would be so easy. But if the marquis was denying himself this pleasure (and he did not deny himself many pleasures in life) then it meant he was not about to offer his name. Ianthe was able to intuit why. If Audley ever took a wife (and he had already indicated to her that he had a perfectly fine heir in his beloved cousin Philip, who also had two boys of his own, so the marquis did not feel the need to secure the succession) it would not be to one for whom it was necessary to give up his pleasures. He liked her too much to wish her to experience being the wife of a hedonist. He was selfish, and he knew it, and it was this self-knowledge that made Ianthe like him.

  On the ride, she saw that Audley kept her close, and Sally further from him. When the road narrowed, he rode ahead on his own and when Sapphire galloped, out-pacing Purity, Audley, whose horse could certainly keep up, instead slowed down. Ianthe saw that Sally felt the difference, but Audley's good manners and humour made her doubt that it was deliberate.

  Mr Wilbert Fenton was in the stable yard when they returned. 'Should you object if a groom brings you back in the gig, Miss Richards?' he said after greetings. 'I will drive Ianthe back in Audley's phaeton. I have something of a private nature I wish to discuss with her.'

  'Earlier than ten of the clock?' said Ianthe. 'I am surprised, sir.'

  'You should be,' he said urbanely. Then more seriously he added, 'I have some news.'

  They r
ode off together in the phaeton, and Audley handed Sally into the gig. It was perfectly polite, but not strictly necessary, and as Sally took the reins, she looked a little conscious. 'Are you out of sorts today, marquis? You seemed a little occupied by your thoughts.'

  Audley looked up at her and wished she would go. 'A little bit of business, merely.'

  'Ah,' said Sally. His voice was still friendly, but not teasing or reproving and she was a little at a loss. 'I believe Mr Steadman is calling today, according to my mother.'

  'Yes, so I believe. He is to stay with me for a few days. He went this morning to collect some baggage.'

  'Ah. And will you come to Studham with him today?'

  'I will not, I think.' I will not watch him pay you court.

  'Ah. Then all being well, I'll see you tomorrow, my lord.'

  'At least,' said Audley in his usual manner, 'you have stopped calling me "my noble marquis".'

  'Only until I'm angry at you again,' Sally laughed, relieved at his more normal tone. 'Is your stay in London long? When will you return?'

  'Ah,' said the marquis, echoing her exclamation, 'it is indeterminate. It may be some time.'

  Finally, she looked dismayed, but covered it well. He was glad and unhappy at the same time. Overjoyed because she cared a little, desperately worried in case she may care too much. He knew he was doing the right thing.

  She gave him a tremulous smile, an adieu, and she was gone.

  ***

  After breakfast that morning, as the ladies sat down to their stitching with Lady Fox, all three had to be reprimanded by Her Ladyship for lack of attention. It seemed that every one of them had something on their minds, and Her Ladyship had had to ask twice for Sally to pick up her needle, and once for Lady Richards to adjust her shawl. Miss Eames, she asked to ring for refreshments, but Ianthe, after being called to attention, said to Evans, 'Send for refreshments, Evans,' and Her Ladyship's maid disappeared, wearing a surly expression.

  'That is not what I requested you to do, Miss Eames,' said Lady Fox. 'Was it too fatiguing for you to stand and ring?'

  'Oh no, your ladyship. I was just thinking of the servant. It must be very tiring to stand for so long with nothing to do. She will very likely be pleased with the industry.'

  A footman, William, had entered, to clear a table for the refreshments, and had to rely on the severe training of Mr Jenkins not to let a smile cross his lips at this. 'William, is it?' said Ianthe brightly. 'Could you ask Cherie to bring me the fawn shawl?' William was thus free to let his smile out behind the door, safely out of Lady Fox's eye.

  In Sally's distracted state, she did not notice this little drama, or even hear the further discussion about whether or not Miss Eames had the right to send off the servants on her trivial assignments. Sally had taken a rough piece of cotton that she used for the purpose and stretched it over a small tambour frame. Then she found a fine linen handkerchief, with the edges already turned, and began to baste one edge with large stitches to the cotton to secure it, with the handkerchief corner exposed, ready to be embroidered. Turning the frame, she cut away a small section of the backing cotton beneath the part of the linen where she would add the design. With diligent stitches, a shade whiter than the natural white of the linen, she embroidered three elegant letters intertwined.

  'M-N-M,' read Ianthe after a while. 'Who is it for, dear?'

  'A friend, merely,' said Sally, adding mendaciously, 'You do not know them.'

  Had Lady Richards not been so distracted herself, she would have later demanded of Sally that she say who it was, for she would not have been able to remember any friend with such initials.

  ***

  That afternoon, Lord Fox surprised a strange scene in his own living room. As well as his stepmother, Curtis and the three ladies, there were no less than three gentlemen. Mr Steadman, with his serious handsome face, was the elder, then came the easy-going Mr James Markham, whose demeanour had obviously been stiffened by contact with the arctic Lady Fox, and who was looking every day of his 32 years. He threw Fox, whom he knew somewhat, a rather desperate look as he entered, and Lord Fox nodded to him in sympathy. Lord Nigel Jeffries, that brown haired imp, did not look quite so daring as usual. He was doing his best to keep up a conversation with Ianthe Eames under the dampening eye of Lady Fox, while being verbally accosted by Curtis Fox, who seemed to be demanding some deeper acquaintance with the young sportsman. It was hardly surprising that Curtis' remarks about horseflesh and sporting events he had not attended granted him little more than the slightest of answers, since Jeffries' eyes were riveted on his prize. Ianthe looked lovely in a pale sprigged muslin of French design that might have been very daring indeed had she not tucked a fichu at the bodice for modesty. Lord Fox was considering whether the scrap of almost transparent muslin was improving the modesty of the gown, or merely drawing the eye, when there was another set of arrivals. Audley and the Fentons were introduced.

  The frigid tone of the drawing room took on another aspect with the arrival of the exceptionally glamorous Lady Aurora. She was charm itself to Lady Fox, and when these remarks were greeted with the same ice as before, Lady Aurora gave a return smile of faint deprecation, before turning enthusiastically to the Richards and Miss Eames. Mr Wilbert Fenton threw himself in the chair that had been retrieved by a footman from a corner of the room, a chair that Fox could not remember anyone ever sitting in.

  In his memory, Fox had never seen so many people in his drawing room at this hour. He counted. As well as the six residents, there were the six guests, making twelve in all. Audley stood with him and he remarked to the marquis, 'Is not Steadman's place a full ten miles from here? It is a long way for a polite visit, especially when he has already called yesterday.'

  'Steadman is to stay at Audley for a few days.'

  'To facilitate his visits here?'

  'I assumed so.'

  'Interesting.' Mr Steadman was at one side of Sally, who looked pretty today in a simple cream muslin gown with fawn ribbons that were a shade lighter than her luxuriant curls. These had been expertly coiffed this morning by Cherie, Ianthe's maid. On her other side was Mr Markham, able to speak to her at last since Lady Fox's spell of formality seemed to have been lifted by Lady Aurora's urbane presence.

  'You are to go to London, Ianthe tells me,' Fox said to the marquis.

  'Yes.' He seemed to be gazing at a particular spot in the room, the spot where the Richards were speaking to Steadman and Markham. 'I think I must go tomorrow.'

  'Something urgent in town?' asked Fox, without much interest.

  'No,' said Audley in a strange voice. 'Nothing urgent in town. I'm running away.'

  Fox turned towards him and regarded his profile, then followed his eye. Sally Richards was laughing at something John Markham had said and turned to Mr Steadman to share it. Fox's eyes turned back to Audley. Something like pain had crossed the marquis' face.

  'I really shouldn't have come today, but the Fentons—'

  'Could have come themselves,' said Fox.

  Audley met his gaze then, wryly grinning. 'Indeed.'

  'Is it impossible?' asked Fox. Somehow, with the ice broken between them, they seemed to have reclaimed their youthful familiarity. Once they had been friends, the older boy being very kind to the younger.

  'If she were your sister, Fox, would you wish her to be embroiled with a man like me? I am not fit to be a husband.'

  'Then you will never marry?'

  'Perhaps. But not to someone so innocent. How could I? My reputation is not exaggerated.'

  'Your reputation does not define you, Audley. You have been amusing yourself, but one's amusements may change.'

  The allotted time for the first visitors was over, and they were given broad hints to take themselves off. Curtis said he would drive over to Jeffries place with him to see his newest hunter, and Markham left with them. Mr Steadman stayed, and Lady Aurora declared that he had offered to take the Richards to the village where Her Ladyship had an errand t
o run, and that she would take up Ianthe with her. 'For we leave tomorrow, Lady Fox, and must spend as much time with our dear girl as may be.'

  Lady Fox, who had found herself outflanked by the Fentons, with Mr Wilbert Fenton demanding her attention with a constant flow of urbane conversation on the one side while Lady Aurora had changed the tone of the young people's conversation to a more joyful one on the other, was too glad at the news of their departure to object to the outing, and they set off.

  'I shall have to go. We took the carriage.'

  As the ladies of the house went upstairs in search of pelisses, bonnets and halfboots, the Fentons took a stately leave of Lady Fox, Mr Fenton giving her fulsome compliments that only engraved the sour look on her face, and Lady Aurora thanking her for all the warmth and affection of her welcome these past two days. There could be nothing in this but derision, for Lady Fox had certainly displayed no affection, let alone warmth, but naturally nothing could be said on this point. Her Ladyship merely raised her head higher and made her voice icier when she replied, 'A pleasure.'

  'Do let us meet in town,' Lady Aurora said sweetly.

  'Do!' said Lady Fox, between clenched teeth.

  Audley followed Fox to the study, where he was handed a glass of brandy. The marquis looked at it morosely, and then drank it all swiftly. 'It has begun. What I want for her. Steadman is a good man. Markham too. He is a friendly chap. She would have a happier life, perhaps. Though I'd trust Steadman to be more protective.'

  'Are you not being too previous?'

  'Steadman's intentions are quite clear. He says he means to visit every day. I do not suppose he did more than glance at Ianthe,' said Audley in a tight voice. 'Only, I don't want to go to the blasted village.'

  'I'll come too. We can go off somewhere together,' consoled Fox.

  Audley nodded. 'It has been a while, Edward. But you are a good friend.'

  With a slap on the shoulder, they went out to the carriages. Ianthe requested that Audley take Mr Steadman's landau as she had something particular to speak to the Fentons about. Fox was debating whether he could fit beside Steadman in a carriage built for four when Ianthe said, 'You come with us, Fox. It is time to tell you of my problem.'