by Rebecca King
“We need to talk,” Trenton warned as he studied the distance they had yet to walk. If they continued toward the end of the mile they would be closer to his home than Adelaide’s. He looked at the scowl on Ursula’s face, and wondered if she was worried by what she had just witnessed, or still angry at him for their earlier altercation.
“I don’t think there is much to say,” she protested.
“Well, I think you need to listen then because what I have to tell you is important, Ursula. It is about why I have been looking out for you,” he warned. He watched the shadows in her eyes be replaced with curiosity that he knew would aid his cause.
She wanted to ask him whose offer her father had accepted, but then had no intention of marrying the man so didn’t want to ask for fear of appearing interested. She scowled at the skyline ahead of them.
“I have decided not to return to Yorkshire at all,” she informed him pertly. “Unless my father is going to kidnap me and drag me out of Adelaide’s house, I refuse to go back to my father’s. I wish to stay in London indefinitely.”
“I thought you didn’t like the place much?” Trenton frowned.
“I don’t, but it is better than what Yorkshire has to offer,” she declared darkly.
“Don’t worry about it too much right now.”
“Yoo-hoo! Miss Proctor? I say, Miss Proctor.”
“Oh, no,” Ursula groaned and sighed deeply. “It’s that dreaded Sinnerton woman again.”
“Let’s go this way,” Trenton replied as he urged her to walk faster. “Don’t look back. She will only wave at you. If we keep our heads together we will look as though we are deep in conversation.”
“Oh dear,” she whispered when they reached the pedestrian gate at the end of the mile. She glanced back at his horse dubiously.
“I need to go this way,” Trenton told her and nodded to the considerably larger gate further down the road. “I will meet up with you down there. Just promise me that you won’t stop to talk to anyone. I will keep an eye on you.”
Desperate even for a few moments alone, Ursula nodded and hurried toward the gate. She didn’t slow her pace as she watched Trenton mount his horse and canter across the grass. They looked a powerful combination as they thundered across the open space and were thrilling just to watch. It was a little disappointing when they momentarily disappeared from sight and she found herself scouring the landscape for him returning.
She was so busy thinking about him that she wasn’t aware of the huge carriage lumbering toward her. It was only when someone shouted a warning to her that she snapped out of her daze and glanced over her shoulder.
The sight of the whites of the horses’ eyes as it thundered down on her was something she knew she would never forget. Her scream was instinctive as she stepped backward, and only just managed to jump out of the way as the carriage careered past without slowing down. A gentleman walking toward her shouted an insult and waved his cane after the coachman, but he didn’t even appear to have heard him because he didn’t look back. Nor did he slow his pace as he careered across the park and disappeared out of sight.
Trenton heard several people shout and swore loudly when a large, black carriage raced down the path a few feet away. His heart tightened painfully in his chest when he heard a woman scream and he knew, even without looking, that Ursula was in danger.
As the carriage passed, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the coachman. The resemblance to the man he had seen on the embankment on the day that Ursula had been attacked rang alarm bells in Trenton. He spun his horse around and raced toward the main gate, and swore with relief when he saw Ursula in conversation with an elderly gentleman. Assured that she was alright, he set off in pursuit of the reckless carriage.
As he raced through the park, he mentally apologised to Ursula for abandoning her, and hoped she had the good sense to remain where she was until he could get back to her. He wished now that he hadn’t sent the maid away, but there was nothing he could do about that now. It was more important that he identify the person responsible for what he suspected were now two attempts on Ursula’s life – three, if he counted the break-in at Adelaide’s house the other week.
Determined to catch his quarry, Trenton kicked his horse into a canter and gave chase.
“I am alright, thank you,” Ursula assured several gentlemen who gathered around her to make sure that she was alright. “No, really, I am fine.”
“Well, well; causing a commotion again are you, Miss Proctor? In the company of London’s most notorious rake as well,” Barbarella Somersby drawled in a silken voice that was ripe with malicious pleasure.
Ursula frowned at her for a moment, then realised she was focused on someone who was standing directly behind her. She whirled around and mentally groaned at the sight of Brampton now standing a few feet away.
Well, he isn’t the coachman then. Nor is Barbarella for that matter, Ursula thought as she scanned the area for Trenton.
“I am waiting for someone,” Ursula reported to nobody in particular.
“All alone?” Barbarella’s voice was scornful.
Ursula pierced her with a glare. “My maid will be along at any moment.”
“I would move if I were you,” Brampton drawled. “After all, a young lady standing around on street corners in London is asking for trouble.”
She would never acknowledge as much in front of Barbarella, but Brampton had a point. Rather than move though, she flicked him with a rather scornful look.
“I am not alone though. You are here.” She smiled to herself when neither Brampton nor Barbarella spoke for a moment. She did, however, catch the look that passed between them.
Barbarella looked at her own maid rather pointedly. “Well, seeing as I am properly chaperoned, I was going to take a walk in the park. Care to join me?”
“No, thank you,” Ursula replied crisply.
“I had better remain here and protect Miss Proctor while she waits for her - maid,” Brampton declared with an air of satisfaction. He knew her maid wasn’t coming and was clearly relishing being in a position to put her on the spot.
Ursula threw him a dark look. “I don’t need a protector, thank you. Trenton should be here in a moment.” She was starting to get worried. Had he fallen off his horse in the trees somewhere?
“Trenton now, is it?” Brampton scoffed.
Barbarella snickered and flicked a dismissive glance at Ursula.
“I should be careful if I were you. Calderhill’s intentions will be less than honourable,” Brampton warned her.
“I don’t believe I asked your opinion,” Ursula countered, determined to ignore his goading.
“He may have been a neighbour, but he isn’t the man you think he is. He lured Barbarella in, compromised her, and then refused to marry her. Her father tried to force him to fulfil his obligations to the engagement, but I have it on good authority that he was paid a considerable sum of money to forget the incident by Trenton’s father. The gossips don’t forget though – anything.”
“I don’t believe you,” she whispered, carefully pushing aside all memories of the rumours she had heard about his engagement. “Trenton isn’t like that. He is an honourable man.”
“I know you two may have a long standing acquaintance, but the man cannot be trusted.”
“I have found Trenton to be nothing but kind, considerate, and generous,” she snapped.
She adamantly refusing to acknowledge the tendril of doubt Brampton’s warning created. She didn’t want to believe it. Especially from someone like Brampton, and especially given the way he was sharing knowing, rather intimate looks with Barbarella. Unless her imagination was playing tricks with her, there was something going on between the two of them.
Why were they involving her though?
“Allow me to escort you home,” Brampton offered.
“No, thank you. I am waiting for Trenton. He will be back in a moment.” Although her voice was confident, she eyed the trees beside them d
oubtfully. She hoped Brampton would get the hint and offer to go and look for Trenton. To her disgust, he merely continued to stare at her as though he was waiting for something.
“Maybe he has forgotten about you? Or is waiting for Barbarella?” He nodded toward Barbarella, who was walking along the path that led toward the trees.
“I doubt it,” she countered, refusing to allow Brampton to see just how much the thought hurt her. “He has made his dislike of her perfectly clear. It would be a fool indeed who believed they are connected in any way.”
“Ah! But there is no smoke without fire my dear Miss Proctor.” Brampton sidled closer. “You see, you forget that he was caught in a compromising position with Miss Somersby. That started the rumours about their engagement in the first place. Were the gossips wrong to expect someone who had been caught in a compromising position to do the honourable thing, and offer for the woman he was caught with?”
Ursula didn’t bother to answer him. Deep inside, she knew he was right. There was indeed no smoke without fire. Trenton had said that Barbarella had attempted to trap him, but that could hardly be done in the middle of a ballroom. They had to have been in a secluded place for her to be alone with him and risk being compromised. Her thoughts immediately turned to her own encounter with him in the conservatory, and it made Brampton’s statement all the more reasonable.
Determined not to give Brampton any hint that he had upset her, she squared her shoulders and stared at him. It was difficult to keep her face impassive, but she turned a look on Brampton that was frigid.
“I should be very careful about casting aspersions on anyone, Brampton. You would have to be impeccable in your own behaviour to do so and get away with it,” she warned.
She saw the flash of anger in his eyes even though his face remained a mask of polite indifference as he tossed his head back and laughed mirthlessly.
“May you never find out just how bad my reputation is,” he mused wryly.
In that moment, Trenton crashed through the trees and thundered toward them. Ursula had never been so glad to see anyone in her life, and almost wept with relief when she realised that he hadn’t met with Barbarella after all. Not only had there not been time, but he was still on his horse, and had been for quite some time if the sweat on the horse was anything to go by. She wondered where he had been to get the horse so exhausted and studied both horse and rider carefully as they approached.
“Are you alright?” Trenton demanded as he dismounted and strode toward her with a frown. Before she could speak, he caught hold of her hands and glared at Brampton over the top of her head.
“Don’t worry old man. I haven’t compromised her. That’s your job,” Brampton snorted, and doffed his imaginary cap at her before he turned around and sauntered away.
Trenton ignored him. “What happened?”
“A large black carriage nearly ran me over,” she replied.
“That’s the one I have been chasing,” he reported.
She looked at him in surprise. That explained his horse. “You saw it?”
Trenton nodded. “Come on,” he growled. “I’ll explain once we are out of this park.”
“Where are we going?” she asked when she realised they were heading away from Adelaide’s house.
When she looked up she winced at the sight of so many people and carriages now littering the pavements. She hadn’t realised how late it was, and just had to wonder how many people had just witnessed her in conversation – alone – with Brampton.
“My house is closer than Adelaide’s. I need to talk to you about that carriage.”
Ursula wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to walk through the crowded pavements with him, and looked at him hesitantly.
“Are you sure that is a good idea? The gossips will have a field day if anyone learns of my being in your house unchaperoned,” she declared hesitantly.
Although she reminded herself that this was Trenton, she still couldn’t ignore Brampton’s warning about Trenton and Barbarella, or the gossip they would face should they be seen and discussed.
“But you will be chaperoned,” Trenton countered. “My staff are in attendance.” He looked down at her with his brows lifted. At the moment he didn’t care what gossips saw them. The sooner people connected them, and spread the news the better as far as he was concerned. “What do you expect me to do, compromise you?”
Ursula gasped and avoided looked at him, but his attention was already diverted by passing traffic as the crossed the road. Wisely, she remained quiet.
CHAPTER NINE
“I didn’t realise you lived so close to Adelaide,” she said once she accepted a cup of tea off him and settled back on the chaise in his sitting room.
“Everybody who is anybody lives in this neck of the woods.” He settled down beside her and took a sip of his tea. He allowed silence to settle between them for a moment while he chose his words, then turned to her somewhat cautiously.
“Have you sent a letter to your father yet to inform him that you wish to stay in London for a while?” he asked.
Ursula frowned at him. “No. I have written to father to inform him that I absolutely refuse to marry anyone he chooses, engagement or not, and shall not even be returning to Yorkshire.”
“Have you had any response yet?” He wondered if Jeremiah would insist on coming to London himself.
“Not yet,” she said reluctantly.
“Tell me something.” He didn’t wait for her to nod. “If you met someone you wished to marry, would you accept if he asked?”
She thought about that for a moment. “If I cared about him; yes.”
“Even though it means marriage; the institution you fear the most?” Trenton persisted.
“I don’t mind the concept of marriage, Trenton,” Ursula assured him. “It just has to be with the right man.” Right now she couldn’t tell him that the only man she could consider as a future husband was him.
“So, it is the idea of your father choosing your husband you object to.” It wasn’t a question.
“Well, yes,” she mused thoughtfully. She hadn’t really considered it before. “I should have to care for my future husband a lot to consider committing the rest of my life to him.”
“That’s understandable, Ursula. There are people who have no hesitation in marrying someone for financial reasons, but I am not one of them either.”
Her thoughts immediately turned to his connection to Barbarella, but she struggled to find a way to broach the subject with him without sounding too needy. She tried to remind herself that he had involved himself in her quest to find a husband by agreeing to help her father. Therefore, how could he be offended if she asked him a few impertinent questions? Before she could speak, he broke the silence.
“As far as I see it, my bride has been chosen for me for many years now.”
She went cold and stared at him. “You are engaged?”
“Not yet, but it is only a matter of time,” he replied obliquely, taking a long sip of his tea.
“Is it Barbarella?” she whispered, suddenly wishing that she hadn’t agreed to come with him.
“No, it isn’t Barbarella,” Trenton replied crisply. “We are not here to discuss me. We are here to discuss this situation with your father.”
“You are helping him,” she replied, frowning slightly at his apparent reluctance to discuss his own marriageable prospects.
“I just agreed to keep an eye on you if I saw you in London, that’s all. You do have your aunt to accompany you wherever you go, so an escort isn’t really required, is it? Adelaide has been moving amongst the ton for several years now, and is perfectly suitable as a companion,” he said quietly.
“So why did you agree to keep an eye on me if you knew my aunt was a capable companion?”
“I have agreed to write to your father and keep him informed if there were any problems,” he admitted on a sigh. He was aware that she had landed a glare on him that could have blistered his skin but careful
ly kept his gaze on his tea cup. “I could hardly do that with any degree of honesty if I hardly ever saw you.”
“Well, you have fulfilled your obligation to him now, so there is no need for you to continue. I shall not be returning to Yorkshire and won’t agree to any marriage my father arranges to anyone. What I don’t understand is why my father has suddenly decided I must marry before five and twenty. I mean, why now and not a year ago?”
Trenton sighed and studied the carpet. “I think that is something you need to discuss with your father.”
Ursula studied him carefully. Strangely, she rather suspected he knew something about that too.
“Adelaide has said that I can stay with her for as long as I want to.” Strangely affronted, she pushed to her feet. “I think it is time for me to go now. After all, you are a gentleman with a questionable reputation and I am an unchaperoned female.”
She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice she really did, but failed miserably. This time though, she wasn’t sure whether the hurt was because he was keeping secrets about her from her, or he was to marry next year but didn’t feel inclined to tell her who his intended was. Either way, she wasn’t going to divulge any more information about herself no matter how charming he was.
“What?” Trenton demanded in outrage. “Who told you that?”
“Nobody,” she replied hesitantly. “I have just heard gossip.”
“Don’t believe anything Brampton tells you, Ursula.” His suspicions were proven correct when she began to look guilty. “What has he been telling you?”
Ursula sighed. “The gossip is that you were caught in a compromising situation with Barbarella, and then refused to marry her.”
“Rubbish,” Trenton scoffed; outraged that she could think such a thing about him was true. “I did not get caught in a passionate clinch with Barbarella. She tried to coerce me to meet with her in a secluded corner of a host’s study one day, but I arrived with my good friend Hugo. One thing Barbarella dislikes is to have her schemes thwarted. She spread it about that I had offered for her but then had the audacity to try to blackmail me into doing so.”