On the battlefield, he’d been happy to focus on using whatever weapons they had to best effect. If being useful now meant learning more about spying, so be it. It was far preferable to drifting uselessly from one club to another, drinking with fops and being fawned on by the women who hoped to become his mistress.
Tomorrow. He would seek out Setford tomorrow. It was time to do something.
He turned back to the room, to find himself observed. Obviously, he had not hidden well enough, he thought, with a wry smile. Charlton’s sister, Lady Harriet, was watching him. Her green eyes were wide, a small frown creased her brow, and she unconsciously twirled one escaped tendril of her dark gold hair around a finger, as if doing so would help her think. Perhaps it did.
The girl was well on the way to becoming a woman, he could see. She was undoubtedly beautiful, with a body that was ripening into the kind of curves that any man would admire. But Charlton’s tales of her tantrums were enough to remind him that, in most ways, she was still a child.
Geoffrey raised an enquiring eyebrow at her. When she blushed, and looked away, he chuckled softly, feeling suddenly less sad.
~~~~~
Lady Harriet was still reeling from the revelations of the past hour. She had always felt rather bad about not really liking her brother Michael. Now, with so much of his terrible deeds revealed to her, she was glad that she had not liked him, glad that he was dead. That might be very unchristian of her, but she simply could not accept what he had done.
When Charlton had come through the door, carrying Lady Odette, and her mother had ushered in Mary, the maid Harriet had not seen for nearly two years, who was carrying a delightful child, Harriet had been overcome with curiosity. When Lady Farnsworth and Lord Geoffrey had followed, she had been desperate to know what this was about. And when her mother had sent for Rose, who flew into the room, all in a state on learning that her sister was here, Harriet had been beside herself to know what it was all about.
And it was even more exciting than she could have imagined! Charlton was to marry Lady Odette! (which was wonderful – for Harriet had becoming passingly fond of Lady Odette)
There had been a great adventure, in which Lady Odette’s father had turned out to be the villain (how very sad for her!) and Lord Geoffrey the hero (how dashing he looked!). Mary’s child was the result of her nasty brother Michael’s attentions, and her mother had rescued Mary, Rose and Sylvie from starving or freezing to death and given them a new home.
Harriet’s head spun just taking it all in. It was sad to hear that her mother thought at least two other maids, who had worked in their house, had borne Michael’s children, and were still lost to them. She was sure that her mother and Charlton would find them – after all, they had found Mary, surely they could find the others?
They were all talking around her now, about how the death of Lady Odette’s father must be presented in a good light, so that no scandal would attach to Lady Odette. It seemed that the decision was to claim that he had been helping His Majesty’s men try to capture the treasonous plotters, and had been unfortunately killed in the melee. Lady Harriet frowned – she did not approve of lying, but she could see the point – she did not want the ton to shun her sister-in-law to be.
Twirling her hair as she thought about it – a habit that neither her mother nor her governess had been able to break her of – she found herself staring at Lord Geoffrey. He looked like a hero. He was tall and dark haired, a big man, yet he moved so quietly. He appeared to be thinking too. She wondered what about. Then he turned, and those dark grey eyes met hers. It felt like watching a storm over the sea. He raised an eyebrow at her, a slight smile curving the edge of his lips, her stomach turned a somersault within her, and she looked away, blushing.
~~~~~
Just as things had begun to settle, tea had been called for, and Sylvie had finally fallen asleep, curled in a ball on the couch between Mary and Lady Sylvia, there was a tap on the door.
Clarick entered, looking uncertain.
“My Lady, forgive my intrusion, but that Mr Starling is here. You did ask me to tell you if he called, no matter what….”
Lady Sylvia rose, her eyes alight. She looked at Charlton, and spoke, hope in her voice.
“You don’t suppose….”
“I do hope so, mother. Clarick, show the man in – I think we all want to hear his report.”
Everyone sat in silence, listening as the footsteps approached. It was the kind of silence that seemed as if the room itself held its breath.
Mr Starling looked rather startled, when shown into a room full of people, but pulled himself together well.
“Good afternoon my Lady, my Lord.” He bowed, apparently having chosen to simply address his employers, and ignore the rest. “I have, at last, something more to report. I believe I’ve found them, the other two girls, Sally and Poppy.”
A rush of voices, asking, how, where, when, greeted his statement, and he waited, looking a bit overwhelmed, until they quieted and he could go on.
“They are together – they’ve been sharing a tiny scrap of a room behind a pitiful little second-hand shop owned by an aging relative of Sally’s. They’ve stayed alive by helping with the shop, and taking turns minding the babies. But there’s not been much, and winter has been hard on them. The old aunt is close to death, and the shop doesn’t have much to sell anymore.”
“We must,” said Lady Sylvia, “go to them immediately.”
The church was hushed, with all eyes turned to the door.
Charlton fidgeted slightly, nervous, yet utterly sure of what he was about to do. And then she was there.
Odette came through the door, escorted by Earnest Trubridge, the current Viscount Farnsworth, a younger brother of her aunt’s late husband. As official head of the family, he had graciously agreed to standing in place of the father she no longer had.
She was more beautiful than ever. The gown of blue violet silk, the exact colour of her eyes, was stunning, and particularly so after a year of seeing her dressing in mourning colours. Her eyes met his, and nothing else existed for either of them. Somehow she managed to walk down the aisle, and join him before the minister. Somehow they both managed to speak in all of the right places, say all of the right things, and get to the part where they were declared man and wife.
Once it was all done, they walked out into a shower of rose petals.
Idly, Charlton wondered where on earth Geoffrey had managed to obtain that many rose petals, when it was still winter. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered right then but Odette, standing beside him as his wife.
They were swept down the steps and into their carriage by a crowd of well-wishers, all of whom they would see a little later, at the sumptuous celebration which Lady Farnsworth and Lady Pendholm had taken great delight in planning.
~~~~~
Harriet stood to one side, laughing with Mary, Sally and Poppy, as the three small children ran around, collecting rose petals from the still frozen grass beside the church steps.
They talked about the children, but Harriet’s eyes followed Lord Geoffrey – as they always did when he was present.
Frustrating man – he treated her like she was still a child, although, just occasionally, she had caught him looking at her in a way that quite made her feel flushed, a way that she had seen men look at women they desired.
So, she told herself, there was hope, and she was nothing if not stubborn.
It had only been a year. She could persist. At least he had shown no sign of having a tendre for anyone else, either. She sighed. He still looked like a hero – he always did to her. Mary thought he was a hero too – she had been there when he had saved them all.
Now that Charlton had bought that house next door to Mary’s as well, and there had been a connecting door put between them, Mary, Rose, Sally, Poppy and the three children all lived there. They had employed more staff, for three boisterous children was more than one nursery maid could handle, and everyone was ha
ppy. Especially her mother. Lady Pendholm – oh, that should be the Dowager Lady Pendholm now, she thought - was so happy having grandchildren to spoil – Harriet had not seen her this happy since well before her own father had died. When she had lost her husband, the light had gone out of her mother – now it was back.
~~~~~
Lady Pendholm and Lady Farnsworth dropped, exhausted, to two chairs at the side of the ballroom. The wedding had been wonderful, the celebration a success, and now Charlton and Odette were waltzing together, so obviously in love that it quite lit up the room. But wait, there, beyond them – Harriet was waltzing with Lord Geoffrey Clarence – the little minx, so she had finally persuaded him to at least look at her. Lady Sylvia wasn’t sure that she approved – after all, he was considerably older than Harriet, and a rather serious man – still, who knew what might come of it?
The End
(You’ll find a taste of book 3, “Being Lady Harriet’s Hero” just after the ‘About the Author’ section in this book!)
Arietta Richmond has been a compulsive reader and writer all her life. Whilst her reading has covered an enormous range of topics, history has always fascinated her, and historical novels been amongst her favourite reading.
She has written a wide range of work, from business articles and other non-fiction works (published under a pen name) but fiction has always been a major part of her life. Now, her Regency Historical Romance books are finally being released. The Derbyshire Set is comprised of 10 shorter novels (6 released so far). The ‘His Majesty’s Hounds’ series is comprised of 7 novels, with the second having just been released.
She also has a standalone longer novel shortly to be released, and two other series of novels in development.
She lives in Australia, and when not reading or writing, likes to travel, and to see in person the places where history happened.
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His Majesty’s Hounds – Book 3
Sweet and Clean Regency Romance
Arietta Richmond
Lord Geoffrey Clarence tapped on the rickety door before opening it carefully. No matter how many times he had been here, the whole place still felt fragile to him – he was a big man, and worried that, if he pushed too hard, the stairs or the doorframe would simply break.
On the other side of the door, the room was warm as the early winter afternoon’s sunlight streamed in through the large glass windows. Cecil Carlisle, Baron Setford, waved him to a chair and handed him a cup of coffee, which was, as usual, perfectly prepared, and exactly as he liked it. One day, Geoffrey thought, he would find out how Setford managed that – the miraculous appearance of perfect hot coffee, when there seemed no-one else in evidence, and there had been no exact time for the meeting.
For now, he simply accepted the cup, and sipped with pleasure. This was a place in which he could be totally relaxed, certain that there was no danger – which was a sensation to treasure.
“You’ve done well these last few months, m’boy. The Prince Regent appreciates still being alive.”
Geoffrey raised an eyebrow, a somewhat cynical expression on his face.
“Is that ‘appreciates’ in a ‘here’s your reward’ way, or in a ‘since you’re so clever at this, here’s your next nasty job’ way?”
Setford guffawed and leant back in his chair, his piercing pale grey eyes sparkling. Once the laughter had run its course, his face took on a more serious expression.
“You always were damn sharp – straight to the crux of it. And you’re right about it being able to go either way. But in this case, it’s actually a bit of both. There’s a reward, but there’s also another ‘nasty job’ as you so aptly put it.”
He reached over to the table beside him, and produced a folder. From the folder, he withdrew a large sealed document. Sealed with the Prince Regent’s seal, if Geoffrey wasn’t mistaken. Silently, Setford passed it to Geoffrey.
“That’s the reward.”
Geoffrey broke the seal carefully. A minute’s perusal of the document revealed that he was now the owner of a rather large estate, located not too far from Charlton’s country seat, Pendholm Hall. An estate called, apparently, Witherwood Chase. He wondered what it was like. Gifts from Prinny had an alarming potential to come with ‘issues’. Who knew if the estate had been well maintained or not? He may have just been gifted an expensive repair and maintenance bill.
“Do you know anything about it?”
Setford shook his head. “Nothing at all, beyond the fact that it has reverted to the crown after the previous owner proved treasonous. So you may find interesting things within its walls. And that’s the ‘nasty job’ bit. We are not at all sure that we have all of the conspirators in the treason. So, you need to develop a sudden desire to look into your new property – in VERY great detail. I would be personally extremely grateful if you manage to find the papers and other evidence that we believe are hidden there.”
Geoffrey grimaced – digging through dusty cellars and trying to find secret compartments in wainscoting might have amused him when he was a boy, but it certainly wasn’t exactly appealing now! Still, a decent estate wasn’t a gift one received every day. It might even turn out to be a pleasant place. And... far better to spend the next few months, and then the holiday season, in a place of his own, rather than in his miserable brother’s house, watching him bicker with his miserable wife. Alfred’s opinion of what Geoffrey should do with his life stopped at ‘being a good heir and doing everything the way I do’. With Charlton’s family nearby, he’d even have good company if he wanted it.
Setford watched him carefully, and smiled wryly as the expressions flowed across Geoffrey’s face.
“Yes, I rather thought you’d appreciate having a bolt hole of your own, and a damn good reason to stay there.”
“Astute as ever, sir. I just hope it’s not quite a crumbling ruin – this ‘reward’ doesn’t happen to come with any convenient cash, to help deal with any repairs needed, does it?”
Setford laughed again.
“A gift from Prinny, that came with money?? Surely you know better!”
Geoffrey sighed, and went back to the excellent coffee.
~~~~~
Lady Harriet Edgeworth arrived in the morning room at Pendholm Hall like a whirlwind (which was not an uncommon occurrence...). Her brother looked up with an amused smile on his face. Charlton Edgeworth, Viscount Pendholm was quite used to his sister’s tendency to be all energy – behaving like a good little society miss was challenging for her at the best of times, and here at Pendholm Hall, where they had grown up, she simply didn’t try most of the time.
The two dogs lying by the hearth looked up, their sleep disturbed by her arrival, but, after a few thumps of their tails, they settled back to rest.
“Did you have a good ride Harriet?”
“Wonderful! Thank you again for buying Moonbeam for me – she is just the best horse that I have ever had! Poor John can barely keep up with me, and Miss Carpenter quite refuses to ride with me anymore.”
Charlton knew that that last statement was the most important to Harriet. His sister’s long-suffering companion had never been much of a rider, and Harriet had been making her life miserable by causing her to ride as often as possible during the last year.
“Where did you ride to today?” Lady Pendholm asked her daughter, smiling at her exuberance.
Harriet’s face took on an expression which could be
described as ‘false innocence’ if one was to be uncharitable.
“Oh, just across the park to the river near Witherwood Chase.” Whilst her tone of voice was casual, the whole effect was spoilt by the blush that coloured Harriet’s cheeks. Her mother’s eyes sparkled with a mischief that made it quite obvious where Harriet’s volatile demeanour came from.
“It’s a lovely ride, isn’t it? You didn’t, perchance, happen to see Lord Geoffrey did you? I wanted to invite him to dinner next week.”
Harriet’s blush deepened, to a colour that was not exactly flattering against her dark gold hair. Her family teased her about her interest in Lord Geoffrey. They were sure that she would grow out of it. She was equally sure that she would not. It was not a childish infatuation, not at all.
She had decided, when she had first met him, just after he had heroically saved her brother and mother’s lives, as well as the lives of four other people, that he was wonderful. He looked like the hero he was.
And he was going to be her hero. No matter how long it took for her to convince him. Whilst she had been the toast of the Season earlier in the year, and had been flattered by the attention of a large number of eligible gentlemen, she had not wanted to marry any of them. She had shuddered at the thought. She knew what she wanted, and she planned to get it.
“He did ride by, in the distance. Unfortunately he didn’t see me.” She sighed in disappointment, firmly telling herself that he had NOT ignored her, that he simply hadn’t seen her. “So you’ll have to send a footman over with a message to invite him.”
Watching Harriet’s eyes light up at the thought of Lord Geoffrey coming to dinner, her mother had a hard time not laughing. But it really wouldn’t do to belittle her daughter’s tendre for the man – that would, of a certainty, only make her more stubborn.
Intriguing the Viscount: Sweet and Clean Regency Romance (His Majesty's Hounds Book 2) Page 11