Gayle Buck

by The Hidden Heart

  “Marie, Lady Caroline is a neighbor to Walmesley and an old friend of my nephew’s. She will be staying for luncheon. Lady Caroline, my young protégée, Fräulein Marie Gutenberg.” The Grandduchess Wilhelmina Hildebrande had not missed the complete shock that had appeared on Lady Caroline’s face upon Fräulein Gutenberg’s entrance. It was quite obvious that the earl had not thought to apprise her ladyship of certain qualities possessed by the Fräulein. It would be most interesting to observe how Lady Caroline handled herself in the face of a stunning beauty.

  “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Fräulein Gutenberg,” Lady Caroline said.

  The young woman’s eyes briefly met Lady Caroline’s gaze. Her expression registered acceptance and a disconcerting instant of assessment. Then with scarcely concealed indifference she said, “As I am to meet you, Lady Caroline.” She turned her shoulder and smiled at the Earl of Walmesley. “Tell me, my lord, do you spend much of your time in London? I should like to hear of the amusements one might be expected to find there.”

  Lady Caroline swallowed wordless indignation. She had not been so lightly dismissed since her salad days, when she had crossed paths with a couple of society dames who had made a regular habit of snubbing self-conscious misses just out of the schoolroom for the sole object of puffing out their own consequence. Fortunately, she had already been secure in her own esteem after years of acting as mistress of her father’s household and so she had been nearly impervious to such pointless cruelties. She had looked upon such instances as pan of one’s rite of passage into society, to be endured but never to be taken to heart.

  However, this had been very personal indeed. Fräulein Gutenberg’s deliberate snub had made it abundantly clear that Lady Caroline was to be dismissed as being of negligible importance.

  Lady Caroline’s fine eyes flew storm signals. Her feathery brows lifted in perfect emphasis of the delivery of an affable set-down. “The Season can be quite exciting to one unused to such an abundance of amusements. I am certain if Lord Trilby and I put our heads together we shall come up with the names of a few young gentlemen who can be depended upon to entertain a newly liberated schoolroom miss.”

  Fräulein Gutenberg’s eyes narrowed, but she said civilly, “You are too kind, my lady. However, it would not be necessary, for I have been out in society for several Seasons.”

  “Have you, indeed,” Lady Caroline murmured with the faintest touch of amused disbelief. She had the satisfaction of seeing annoyance flit over the Fräulein’s lovely face. That should teach you to mind your manners, my girl.

  Lord Trilby hid a smile. His choice of ally was proving herself more than adequate to the task. He had not witnessed any emotion of strength on the Fräulein’s face before, even when he had been at pains to present himself at his coolest, and it was pleasant indeed to discover that the Fräulein was not quite the unshakable ice maiden he had begun to think her. “I do not believe that my great-aunt has formed any plans to attend a Season in London.”

  “What a pity, for we do have a great many genial acquaintances who would undoubtedly make the Season a memorable one for her grace and for Fräulein Gutenberg,” Lady Caroline said regretfully.

  The Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits decided it had come time to put an end to these pleasantries. Her protégée was beginning to appear quite unhappy by the turn of the conversation, which reaction but served to point up even more sharply that Lady Caroline was taking the honors in the genteel confrontation. “Miles, I discover that I grow irritated with this eternal waiting. Why have we not been notified to come to table? Pray relay my request that luncheon is to be served at once.”

  The earl got up to pull the bell rope hanging to one side of the fireplace, glancing at the ormolu clock on the mantel as he did so. “It but lacks a few minutes to the hour in any event, madam. I am certain that we will be notified at any moment.”

  The servant who answered the bell’s summons assured the earl that the company could repair to the dining room directly.

  “Your staff is learning what is expected of them, my lord! That is excellent, indeed. Lady Caroline, you would be amazed at the number of households that are let go to rack and ruin for want of a little direction or firm prodding,’’ the Grandduchess Wilhelmina Hildebrande said.

  “I am sure that is very true, your grace.”

  The grandduchess rose from her chair. “Miles, you shall escort me into the dining room.”

  The Earl of Walmesley offered his arm to the grandduchess and formally escorted her grace from the drawing room, leaving Lady Caroline and Fräulein Gutenberg to trail behind.

  In the dining room the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits was seated at the table on one side of the earl and Lady Caroline upon the other. Fräulein Gutenberg, as the most junior in precedence, was seated on the grandduchess’s far side. Lady Caroline suspected that the arrangement did not particularly please the Fräulein, but she failed to detect any hint of ill-usage in the young woman’s countenance.

  As the first course was served, the grandduchess addressed some remark to the Fräulein, and Lady Caroline seized what might possibly be her only opportunity to speak privately with Lord Trilby during luncheon. Lowering her voice so that it could not be heard over the noise of the dishes and cutlery, Lady Caroline and reproachfully, “I wish you had forewarned me, Miles. I was never so bowled out in my life as when I saw the Fräulein.”

  Lord Trilby glanced thoughtfully at the Fräulein. “A veritable mantrap if ever there was one,” he commented.

  Lady Caroline also looked in the Fräulein’s direction, a bit wistfully. “She is very beautiful. Do you ... do you not wish to marry her, Miles?”

  “I do not intend to leg-shackle myself for the remainder of my life to that rabbity chit,” Lord Trilby said.

  Lady Caroline turned astonished eyes on him. “Rabbity, my lord? However can you say so?’’

  “I have it on excellent authority that Fräulein Gutenberg’s ancestry is such that it is virtually guaranteed that she will breed like a rabbit,” Lord Trilby said, his face perfectly straight.

  “Miles! That is positively atrocious!” Lady Caroline exclaimed, her voice wobbling.

  “Upon my honor, it is true,” Lord Trilby said with a laugh.

  Lady Caroline chortled at the absurdity.

  Their shared amusement drew the attention of the grand-duchess and Fräulein Gutenberg. The Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits smiled in a benign fashion, but the faintest of creases appeared between the Fräulein’s perfectly formed brows. Her dark eyes rested on Lady Caroline with sharper interest than previously.

  Luncheon was dispensed with quickly. Lady Caroline felt that it was time to take her leave, and said so. The Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits expressed regret but did not attempt to detain her. Fräulein Gutenberg merely inclined her head as though it was a matter of little moment. However, when Lord Trilby said that he would walk out with Lady Caroline, her eyes followed them with a sudden narrowed expression.

  Lady Caroline’s maid was collected and the servant woman got into the coach. At the carriage door Lady Caroline turned to hold out her hand to the earl. “Thank you for a most interesting visit, my lord. I do not think I have ever spent a more anxious morning,” she said dryly.

  Lord Trilby laughed. He pressed her fingers in gratitude before letting go of her hand. “It is I who should thank you, my lady. I do not know how I could have managed otherwise.”

  “No, nor do I,” Lady Caroline said frankly.

  The earl acknowledged her hit with a grin. “I shall call on you again quite soon, if for no other purpose than to personally deliver an invitation for that cursed dinner party.”

  “That will be an interesting evening indeed,” Lady Caroline said, lifting her skirts and stepping up into the carriage. Behind her, Lord Trilby shut the door. She leaned forward to wave to him from the window as the carriage jolted forward.

  A half-hour later, when Lady Caroline had returned to Berwicke, she was met with the i
ntelligence that Mrs. Burlington awaited her in the drawing room.

  “Please inform my aunt I shall be with her directly after I put off my bonnet and gloves,” Lady Caroline said calmly. It did not at all surprise her that her aunt wanted speech with her. She had anticipated that her absence at luncheon would be sufficient reason for Mrs. Burlington to take one of her pets. Without pausing any longer, she swept up the stairs.

  When Lady Caroline returned downstairs, having put on her ivory day dress, she found that she had not been mistaken in Mrs. Burlington’s temper.

  Upon Lady Caroline’s entrance into the drawing room, Mrs. Burlington snapped, “Well, the prodigal niece doth return.” She tossed aside the Lady’s Magazine that she had been discontentedly perusing and stared with an unfriendly gaze at her niece.

  Lady Caroline calmly seated herself in her customary place and took up her embroidery. “How kind of you to notice, Amaris,” she murmured.

  “What have you to say for yourself, my lady? I assure you, I have never been more insulted in my life than to discover from the servants that you had traipsed off in the Earl of Walmesley’s company. It was very ill-thought of, too. One does not luncheon alone with unattached gentlemen, Lady Caroline!”

  Lady Caroline knew quite well that her aunt’s seething distemper had little do with her having been with the Earl of Walmesley, but everything to do with not being invited along to be presented to the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits. “As you might have guessed, Amaris, I took luncheon with the earl and the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits. Her grace’s protégée, Fräulein Gutenberg, was also present, so I do not think there was any impropriety attached to my visit to Walmesley.’’ For good measure she added, “I took Spencer with me so that everything was perfectly respectable.”

  At once she knew that she had made a mistake.

  Ruddy color flushed Mrs. Burlington’s face. “I see. I am to be slighted in favor of your maid! Fine civilities indeed, my lady! And when, pray, am I to have the honor of an invite to Walmesley?”

  Lady Caroline gave the faintest of smiles, not at all discomposed by her aunt’s high dramatics. She knew exactly how to take the wind out of her aunt’s sails. “The earl is to get up a small dinner party, quite soon I believe, at the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits’ request. Her grace expressed a wish to meet you, Aunt.”

  Mrs. Burlington’s wrath was whisked neatly aside. She stared openmouthed at Lady Caroline, as though suspecting her niece of making game of her. Then a gratified expression settled over her features. “Well! That is very much more the thing. I am sure I never expected such kind condescension from the grandduchess. Her grace obviously knows what is due to one’s family.”

  “Yes, indeed.” Lady Caroline did not look up from her embroidery. On the return drive from Walmesley she had pondered how best to persuade Mrs. Burlington that it would not be in the best interests of herself and the Earl of Walmesley to trumpet abroad word of the understanding between them, and now her aunt had given her precisely the opening that she required. “Her grace wishes to assure herself that the family Lord Trilby has chosen to ally himself is worthy of her approval.”

  As she had expected, Mrs. Burlington took instant umbrage. “The effrontery of such an aspersion! Why, the Eddingtons are one of the most ancient landed families in England, while your mother and I are descended from a truly noble line!” She abruptly realized the full ramifications of Lady Caroline’s casual statement. “Do you mean to say that the grandduchess may refuse to countenance a connection between Lord Trilby and yourself? What has she to say to it, pray? It is not as though Lord Trilby is dependent upon her for an inheritance!”

  “I do not anticipate any such thing, Amaris, but still, it is a possibility. The Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits is a very proud woman, and from what Lord Trilby has revealed to me, nothing sets up her back more than to discover that one has presumed to make a decision without first consulting her opinion. Lord Trilby is quite fond of the grandduchess, and he wishes to preserve his peace with her, so naturally he has respectfully and quite privately presented me to her,” Lady Caroline said.

  She was amazed at her own capacity for half-truths. She had never considered herself to be a devious person, but apparently she did have some talents in that direction. It was a most sobering reflection.

  Mrs. Burlington pursed her mouth. “I suppose that the grandduchess reserves to herself the announcement of the engagement?”

  “As to that, I do not know. However, certainly it would never do for the topic to be brought to her grace’s attention before she has given it her benediction,” Lady Caroline said.

  Mrs. Burlington nodded sharply. “I understand perfectly. You may rely upon me, niece. Not a word regarding this topic shall pass my lips until the grandduchess herself raises the matter. This fortuitous engagement shall not be jeopardized by me, you may be certain of that!”

  Mrs. Burlington wore a determined expression that Lady Caroline knew of old. Her aunt had looked just so during the whole of her first Season. Mrs. Burlington had not stinted in her efforts to see Lady Caroline launched well, and it had been a bitter disappointment when her niece had refused the offers she had received. Now a new challenge had arisen, which, from every appearance, Mrs. Burlington was fully prepared to meet. The Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits would be assiduously courted, but there would be no arch asides about weddings.

  “I do appreciate your consideration, Amaris,” Lady Caroline said. For once, she and her aunt were in perfect accord. Lady Caroline contemplated the curious phenomenon as she continued to stitch her embroidery. It could not last, of course.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Several days passed without word or visit from the Earl of Walmesley.

  Lady Caroline thought it could scarcely be hoped that the grandduchess had been persuaded so easily by the performance that she and Lord Trilby had given to abandon her determination to see him wedded to Fräulein Gutenberg. It could not be denied, however, that as the days faded one into another with nothing more remarkable to mark them than grayer weather, Lady Caroline was encouraged to think that there would not be an invitation to dinner at Walmesley at all. She began to recover her former sanguinity and was quite able to put out of her mind any thought of a communication from Walmesley.

  Mrs. Burlington was not so content. One morning when she had risen earlier than her wont for the sole purpose of checking the post, she exclaimed, “Whatever is keeping Lord Trilby, I should like to know? Surely the grandduchess is sufficiently recovered that she may begin to receive morning calls, at the least! It is the height of rude manners for me to delay in making my respects to the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits.”

  Lady Caroline put forth her best argument to persuade her aunt to wait awhile longer. “We do not know what is transpiring, Amaris. Lord Trilby has his reasons, I am sure. The grandduchess may be behaving in a most difficult manner at present.”

  She spoke more truly than she knew.

  Lord Trilby had put off the matter of the dinner party with a handful of valid reasons, delivered one after the other in the most logical fashion. Though the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits received each excuse politely, she was not a stupid woman. She recognized a delaying tactic when she was faced with it, and when the earl’s fertile explanations began to bore her, she decided it was time to force his lordship’s hand.

  The matter was done in the simplest way imaginable, through the simple expedient of a morning call paid to Berwicke Keep.

  Minutes after Lady Caroline counseled patience to her aunt, she was shocked by the announcement that the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits had come to call.

  Simpson stood aside to bow in the august visitor.

  The Grandduchess Wilhelmina Hildebrande swept past the butler, saying, “Good morning, Lady Caroline. I had hoped to catch you at home on such a dreary, damp morning.”

  Lady Caroline recovered quickly from the shock of seeing the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits in her own drawing room. She went forward
to meet the elderly woman, her hand extended. “Your grace! This is a pleasant surprise, indeed. Oh, allow me to present my aunt, Mrs. Burlington. Amaris, the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits.”

  The two ladies exchanged pleasantries while they took one another’s measure. The grandduchess smiled slightly at the aunt’s extremely civil manner, sensing behind it a will nearly as steely as her own.

  Lady Caroline requested the butler to bring some light refreshments. “A ratafia and some biscuits, I think.”

  “Very good, my lady.”

  Inviting their unexpected guest to take a seat. Lady Caroline said, “I do not see Fräulein Gutenberg with you. I hope she is well?”

  “Oh, Fräulein Gutenberg is never so inconsiderate as to take ill. She begged me make her excuses to you, and sends her greetings,” the Grandduchess Wilhelmina Hildebrande said.

  Lady Caroline smiled. She was quite certain that the Fräulein had done no such thing, but she accepted the civility with a proper word or two. The refreshments were brought in and she offered the grandduchess a glass of ratafia and her choice of the sweet biscuits. The Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits condescended to take the ratafia, remarking that she preferred a fine cordial over wine.

  Mrs. Burlington also accepted some of the sweet cordial, ignoring the surprised lift of Lady Caroline’s brows. Under other circumstances she would have rejected the ratafia with abhorrence, but at the moment it seemed politic to display pleasure in its oversweet quality.

  The ladies talked of several things of polite interest, such as the weather and the likelihood of snow appearing in a few days’ time, before at last the Grandduchess of Schaffenzeits judged the time had come to broach the point of her visit, and she launched the topic that Mrs. Burlington, for one, had been waiting to hear in discussion. “Of late, my grandnephew has unaccountably become too caught up in estate business to arrange the promised dinner party. You will be pleased to know. Lady Caroline, that I have taken matters into my own hands and given the necessary orders.’’