Last Gentleman Standing

by Jane Ashford

  Elisabeth had righted herself by this time and was trying to adjust her crushed bonnet. “I’m sure he did not,” she replied. “And no harm was done, after all. Except perhaps to my headgear,” she added ruefully. “I’m very glad we did not hit him.”

  “Oh, yes.” The young man, only an overgrown boy really, looked at her doubtfully. “Are you my cousin Elisabeth?”

  “If you are, as I suspect, Anthony Brinmore, then I am. Now, why do I get the sinking feeling that that large animal belongs to you? Do you mean to take him to London?”

  Anthony grinned. “Well, he does. But Growser is very gentle, I promise you. He’ll be no trouble to you at all, and he’s a capital watchdog besides.” Seeing her wry smile, he flushed. “That is, I should say, he would be no trouble if you allow me to take him to London. If you don’t want him, I daresay he can remain here. I do not wish to…”

  Growser chose this moment to jump up against the chaise. His front paws reached the sill of Elisabeth’s window, and after eyeing her measuringly, he thrust his head through it to favor her with a moist lick, further imperiling her bonnet.

  Appalled, Anthony pulled the dog back. “Down, Growser, you looby. What are you doing?”

  The driver nodded wisely, murmuring, “Mongrel. I said so. Mauling a lady about.”

  But Elisabeth merely laughed and fended him off. “Oh, dear,” she said, “I can see he’s formed a lasting attachment for me already. I shan’t have the heart to leave him behind. He would probably fall into a decline.”

  Anthony’s face lighted. “You are a brick, cousin Elisabeth. I guarantee he will not be a trouble to you. I shall manage him, never fear.”

  Seeing an older man and woman coming down the steps of the house, Elisabeth’s hands went automatically to her bonnet once more. “Yes, yes,” she said. “But now will you please remove him from the door. If I’m not mistaken, that is your aunt and uncle, and Growser has so jostled me that I don’t know what they will think.”

  “No need to worry over that,” replied the young man, “they’re a pair of right ’uns.” But he pulled the dog off and held his collar.

  Elisabeth stepped down from the chaise and held out her hand to the advancing couple. “How do you do,” she said. “I am Elisabeth Elham. A little the worse for wear at the moment, I fear.”

  Both of them smiled as they shook her hand and introduced themselves. “That dog,” said Mr. Brinmore, shaking his head. “He’s been nothing but trouble since Tony brought him home.” He made a helpless gesture. “His former owners wished to be rid of him, understandably enough, and Tony took him to save him from being shot.”

  Elisabeth looked down at the shaggy face and lolling tongue of the animal. Growser clearly could boast a sheepdog somewhere in his ancestry, but his color was nearer brown than white, and his ears stood up in pointed alertness. “I’m not precisely certain,” said Elisabeth, “what rare breed is he?”

  As his uncle gave a shout of laughter, Anthony stammered that he had not ascertained as yet the exact breed, but he assured Elisabeth that Growser’s ancestors included any number of superior canines. Elisabeth smiled, pulling her skirts out of reach of this aristocratic animal just as he was showing some inclination to chew on them.

  “Shall we go in?” asked Mrs. Brinmore then. “I’m sure you’re tired after your journey and would be glad of a chance to rest. Belinda is upstairs changing her dress, but she will be down directly when she hears you’ve arrived.”

  “Thank you,” answered Elisabeth. “I should like to set myself to rights. Belinda will think me demented if she meets me in such disarray.”

  Anthony snorted derisively, and the whole party, with the exception of Growser, Elisabeth saw gratefully, went into the house.

  Half an hour later, after tidying her hair and changing out of her traveling dress to a faded blue muslin, Elisabeth started down to the drawing room. She hadn’t had time to acquire a new wardrobe in London, and she suspected that Belinda would think her a shocking quiz, especially if she was the sort of young lady who changed her dress for a visitor’s arrival.

  Elisabeth paused a moment outside the drawing room door, hearing voices within. Her cousin Anthony was talking to someone. “No need to get into a pucker,” he said. “Cousin Elisabeth is bang up to the knocker. She says I may take Growser to London.”

  “Oh, no,” replied a soft female voice. “You’ve never let her see that dreadful dog. What must she think? Anthony, you promised me you’d be on your best behavior with our cousin.”

  “Well, I was,” answered the young gentleman indignantly. “But I tell you there’s no need to put it on. She’s not starched-up.”

  Belinda’s response, for Elisabeth had concluded that this must be Belinda, sounded a little petulant. “You cannot know that. I daresay she was being polite to you. You mustn’t spoil this for us, Anthony. You know how important it is. And you promised me…”

  “Take a damper, Belinda,” said the boy with annoyance. “I’ll not spoil anything. Have a care for yourself. You may think our cousin won’t see through your cajolery, but I believe she’s a downy one, up to all the rigs. You’d best watch yourself with her.”

  A silence fell, as Belinda did not deign to reply to this warning. Elisabeth moved into the doorway and got her first real sight of Belinda and a closer look at her brother. Anthony was standing at the front of the room, leaning against a window frame and gazing out at the garden. Belinda sat sedately on the sofa across the room, her hands folded rather tightly and her mouth pursed in an expression of annoyance. Elisabeth blinked a little as she watched her, for her memories of the two were completely outdated. Belinda was quite the young lady, and dazzlingly pretty, with very pale blond curls and a perfect complexion., Large limpid blue eyes, an enchanting nose, and a perfect mouth completed a picture calculated to throw any gentleman into raptures. Anthony, who had begun restlessly pleating together the fringes on the drawing room curtains, did not much resemble his sister. His hair was a much darker blond, almost the color of Elisabeth’s own, and his features were less regular. His figure was tall and rangy, and he held himself in a way that showed his total disregard for his looks. Elisabeth had already noticed that his eyes were a sparkling hazel, and now, when he looked up to see her in the doorway, they filled with vitality and mischief.

  He strode forward to greet her. “Welcome again, cousin Elisabeth. I hope you are perfectly recovered.” He punctuated this with a very creditable bow.

  “Yes, indeed,” replied Elisabeth, smiling. “But I admit I’m pleased to see that Growser is not present.”

  “Oh, he isn’t allowed in the drawing room, or in any of the upstairs apartments. You needn’t fear to meet him.” He met her amused glance with appreciative understanding.

  “That dreadful dog,” added Belinda, who had risen and was approaching them slowly. “He’s utterly without manners.”

  “He’s only a little high-spirited, I fancy,” answered Elisabeth, forestalling the hot protest she saw on Anthony’s lips. “You are Belinda, I know. I am your cousin Elisabeth.”

  “Oh, yes,” said the girl in a very soft and tentative voice, quite unlike the one Elisabeth had heard from the hall. “I’m so pleased to meet you.” Belinda dropped a tiny curtsy. When she raised her eyes again, Elisabeth found that she was being subjected to a very thorough, if subtle, examination. She was made extremely conscious of her outmoded dress and her governess-like appearance. Though Belinda naturally said nothing, and made no overt sign of her opinion, Elisabeth felt that she’d been weighed and found wanting and that Belinda was disappointed in her newly met cousin.

  “Let us sit down,” suggested Elisabeth. “We have a great deal to discuss, and ought to become better acquainted, too. I was very glad to hear that you agree to my plan of living in London. I shall be grateful for your company.”

  “It’s we who are grateful,” said Anthony s
eriously. “Your offer is most generous and…and…magnor—”

  “Magnanimous?” offered Elisabeth, smiling.

  “Yes, that’s it.” Anthony grinned. “I should tell you at the outset that I’m not at all bookish.”

  “Are you not? Well, you needn’t worry. I’ve been a teacher for years, you know, and we shall soon have you set to rights.” Anthony’s eyes bulged, and both the young people looked dismayed. Elisabeth laughed. “I’m bamming you, of course. No need to look so hunted.”

  Anthony grinned again, but Belinda looked uneasy. “I read sometimes,” she insisted softly. “Indeed, I like it very much.”

  “Trashy novels,” jeered her brother. “I’d as lief do my Latin. You’ve never seen anything half so silly, cousin Elisabeth, full of ghosts and fainting and all manner of idiocy.”

  “You’ve read them, then?” she asked him with twinkling eyes.

  “Lord, no.” He caught her gaze and shrugged deprecatingly. “Only looked over a few pages, you know, just to see if there was anything in them.”

  “Of course,” said Elisabeth, suppressing a smile.

  “They are very affecting,” protested Belinda. “They make me feel,” she paused, putting one slender white hand to the side of her throat, “I don’t know, sad and happy all at once.”

  This piece of affection left Elisabeth silent, but Anthony was much disgusted. “You are a silly wet-goose, Belinda,” he told her. “Cousin Elisabeth will think you a complete ninnyhammer.”

  Seeing with trepidation that tears were threatening to form in Belinda’s eyes, Elisabeth said hastily, “Not at all. But we must talk of our plans. When will you be ready to leave for London?”

  “Oh, as soon as you like,” answered Anthony. “We have determined to do everything just as you wish and be no trouble at all to you.”

  Elisabeth did not think this very likely, but she smiled. “Most reassuring. You will turn me into a positive tyrant with all this docility.” Anthony grinned, but Belinda appeared to be at a loss. “I thought we might set out next week,” continued the older woman. “We must stop at Willowmere on the way to look over the property.”

  “Willowmere!” exclaimed Belinda. “Oh, Mama used to talk of it so affectingly. I have always longed to see it.”

  Noting the curl of Anthony’s lip, Elisabeth said hastily, “Have you been taught anything of estate management, Anthony? I am sorely in need of good advice on that score.”

  He shook his head, looking regretful. “I might have learned from my uncle during this year, but I never thought to have an estate, you know. I shan’t be much help. I should be very glad to learn, however. Perhaps your bailiff could instruct me.”

  “Perhaps. The place has a steward, I’m told. But it appears that our uncle Elham neglected it shockingly, and there is probably more to be done than both of us could manage.” She smiled. “We shall go next week and see.” She sat back on the sofa. “Why don’t you tell me something of yourselves? For cousins, we know amazingly little of one another.”

  Anthony responded to this request eagerly and launched into a summary of their history and catalogue of his interests. His pictures of their early childhood were idyllic. It seemed, indeed, that until his parents had been killed, nothing had marred his happiness. But after that, everything had changed. The living which had been their entire source of income had been bestowed elsewhere, and he and Belinda were left with nothing but their family’s personal possessions. In the midst of their grief, they had to try to plan for the future. By this point in his story, Anthony was very serious. “That is when my uncle came forward and offered us his home,” he continued. “He was out of reason kind to us. He has all he can do to provide for his own family, you know, but he paid no heed to that. So, we’ve lived here for more than a year. And we’ve been very happy.” Elisabeth noticed that he looked at Belinda a bit defiantly as he said this. “But we were excessively glad when your letter came, because we feel so uncomfortable, you know, taking my uncle’s money. And we were at a loss as to what we should do with ourselves in a few years, when we are grown up.”

  “I’m grown up now,” put in Belinda. “You’re always talking as if we were still children.”

  “What are your chief interests, Belinda?” asked Elisabeth. “Anthony likes riding and—”

  “Everyone calls me Tony, you know,” interrupted the young man.

  “Very well. Tony likes riding and outdoor pursuits. What are your favorite pastimes? Do you ride also?”

  Belinda shook her head. “No. That is, if I have a very gentle horse, I sometimes do so, but I do not care for hunting.”

  Her brother made a derisive noise, and Elisabeth hurried on. “Ah. So, you’re fond of novels. What else?”

  “I…I like embroidery and fancywork,” replied the girl uneasily. “I’ve learned about household management from my aunt,” she added quickly.

  Elisabeth nodded encouragingly, but Belinda had apparently finished. Though she tried for some time to draw her out further, it wasn’t until she’d given up and was talking of what they would do in London that the younger girl showed any animation. “We’ll all require some new clothes, of course,” Elisabeth said, looking ruefully down at her drab gown.

  Belinda brightened. “Shall we?” she asked. “I haven’t had a new dress in…oh, an age.”

  Elisabeth smiled at her. “You will need a great many dresses now, for I think you will wish to make your come-out this season, will you not?”

  Belinda’s lovely cheeks flushed, and she gave her cousin a beatific smile. “A London season,” she breathed. “Shall we go to balls and to Almack’s and…and everything?”

  “Yes, indeed,” laughed Elisabeth, “particularly everything. Though I cannot make promises about Almack’s. I understand that one must procure vouchers to enter there. We must hope to meet one of the Patronesses.”

  “Oh, I’m sure we shall.” With this, Belinda lapsed into blissful silence.

  “What nonsense,” said Tony. “I don’t care for that. But I own there are a deal of things I should like to see in London. And I shouldn’t object to having one or two new coats.” He grinned and extended his arms, showing his cousin that the sleeves of his present garment ended well above his wrists. “I keep growing out of the cursed things.”

  “We shall order you any number of new ones, then, possibly in different sizes so we may be ready.”

  Tony laughed, bouncing a little in his chair. “I shall get—what is the name, Weston—to make them for me.” He looked at Elisabeth. “He’s the best; I’ve seen his name in the Gentleman’s Monthly Magazine. I wonder if I can get into any clubs?”

  “I am afraid I know almost nothing about how a young man should go on in London. Perhaps your uncle could help you?”

  Tony looked doubtful. “Perhaps,” he said. “But I don’t believe he’s been to town above once or twice in his life.”

  “Well, we shall do the best we can,” said Elisabeth. “I daresay you’ll make some friends who can advise you.”

  “Of course,” replied the young man staunchly. “I don’t mean to be the least trouble, Cousin Elisabeth. You may count on that.”

  Elisabeth spent a lively week at the Brinmores’. Three of their five children were away at school, but the two youngest remained at home, and they provided Belinda and Tony with spirited companions for games of span-counters and lottery tickets in the evenings. In the afternoon, Elisabeth sometimes went riding in the countryside or for long walks with her new charges. She often thought wryly that she’d merely exchanged one sort of teaching for another, as they bombarded her with eager questions about London, most of which she couldn’t answer. Tony wished to know whether he could have a curricle like the outrageously expensive racing vehicle pictured in the Gentleman’s Monthly Magazine, and Belinda filled her room with models from the Fashion Gazette.

  Elisabeth
found that Belinda had excellent taste and was an accomplished needlewoman. She’d nearly dismissed the younger girl as a pretty peagoose, but in this area, she was expert. The dresses she had made for herself up to now were much more stylish than Elisabeth’s, and the ones she planned to create when given her head in London were very modish and elegant indeed, without being in the least unsuitable for a girl just out. And when Elisabeth told her that she might have some gowns made up by the Bond Street modistes, Belinda only looked skeptical and shrugged.

  The day set for their departure came very quickly. Anthony and Belinda bade their aunt and uncle goodbye at great length; and at last, the three cousins climbed into the post chaise. To Elisabeth’s vast relief, they’d been able to arrange with the carter who was to transport the trunks for the conveyance of Growser as well, and thus he did not join them in the carriage but capered about the lawn excitedly. However, when the vehicle started down the drive, he took such exception to Tony’s departure without him, that the young gentleman was forced to get down again and coax him into a shed, locking him up until they were safely gone. He did this with a great deal of reluctance, and even asked once again if Growser might not come in the chaise, but Elisabeth’s firm denial and Belinda’s horrified protest discouraged him, and he left Growser behind with many promises to see him very soon.

  The chaise started out once more and, with much waving by all the Brinmores, turned onto the lane in front of the house and went on its way. The cousins were on the road to London.

  Four

  Willowmere was nearly on the way to London, and they arrived in the neighborhood late in the afternoon. Tony had kept up a constant flow of talk throughout the drive, and Elisabeth had to admit to herself, a bit guiltily, that she would be very glad to sit alone in her bedchamber for a while before dinner. The unbroken company of such a lively young man was somewhat wearing.