“No, that will be all, thank you.”
Lady Paulina watched Grace walk out of her room with the letter, and then paced about her bedchamber. She wondered how long it would take for the Marquess to receive it. Portam was about an hour away on horseback, for a strong rider. Will William be there to receive the letter immediately, or will he not see it until tomorrow?
Questions raced through Lady Paulina’s mind, but she had no way of answering them and could only wonder when she would see the Marquess next. She was sure that he would come to her as quickly as he could once he saw the letter, and she was eager to see him once again.
She knew that her father would be angry that her courtship with the Viscount of Somerwich would not result in marriage, and Lady Paulina had always dreaded the possibility of disappointing her father. However, she also felt sure that, given time to get over the disappointment, he would ultimately approve of a marriage to William.
The Marquess of Portam was an old family friend, and his father was a trusted political ally of the Earl. Even more than this, Lady Paulina believed that her father would want her to be happy above all else. In spite of the harsh words he had spoken to her when she expressed her reservations about marrying the Viscount of Somerwich, she still believed this wholeheartedly.
The problem had not been that he did not care for her happiness. Rather that she had failed to make a convincing argument. She would need to be more forceful in her arguments for marrying the Marquess of Portam. She felt that she would have an advantage this time around, asking for permission to marry an eligible suitor, rather than refusing to marry one.
Lady Paulina resolved to spend the remaining time before her father’s return from London formulating the perfect argument to make to him. She only hoped that the Marquess of Portam would come to see her before her father returned. He was a clever gentleman, very good with words, and he would be able to help her formulate a convincing argument.
* * *
After their initial conversation at the hearth, Betsey’s mother had tried once more to discuss the future with her daughter, while preparing the midday meal the following day. Betsey’s father was at work in the garden.
“We shall have to tell your father something eventually,” Betsey’s mother said, by way of introducing the topic.
“I know,” Betsey said, with a sigh. “I love Papa, but I cannot imagine telling him what I told you yesterday.”
“No,” her mother agreed with a chuckle. “I don’t suppose that he would like to hear about your ill-fated true love.”
Betsey looked up at her mother. Tears stung her eyes, but she could not help but laugh along with her. She had always known that her father loved her very much, but he was a gruff, unsentimental sort of person, and the thought of discussing true love with him was too absurd to imagine.
“Perhaps we ought to leave off the subject of marriage entirely,” Betsey said. “And tell him I was forced to leave Cublertone for some other reason entirely?”
She hated the idea of lying to her father, but she could see no other alternative. Her mother gave her a searching look and nodded in agreement. She did not look happy about this plan, but it seemed that she had no alternative to suggest.
Betsey wracked her brain trying to think of a believable reason that she might have been sent away that would not make her father terribly disappointed in her. No matter how hard she thought about this, she could come up with no solution. She did not know how much longer she could go without giving him some sort of explanation, and resolved to keep thinking of possibilities.
Betsey was peeling potatoes with a small knife, while her mother chopped onions beside her, when they heard a loud commotion coming from outside of the house.
“What on earth?” her mother exclaimed.
Betsey had looked up at the noise, wondering, like her mother, what could be the source of such a commotion. “I don’t know,” she said to her mother. “Shall we go outside and see what is happening?”
“I suppose so,” her mother replied, putting down her knife and wiping her hands on her apron.
Mother and daughter walked out of the front door to see four men fighting in front of their house. They were circling around one another, arms and legs flying wildly, and it took Betsey a moment to understand what she was seeing.
Chapter 27
Lady Paulina woke the following morning after a restless night, hoping against hope that the Marquess of Portam would come to see her today. She knew that the letter had been delivered to his home late the previous afternoon, but this was all that the stable boy had reported back to Grace. He did not know whether the Marquess had been at home to receive it.
Lady Paulina felt sure that he would come to her as soon as he possibly could upon reading the letter. Wanting to be prepared for the Marquess’s possible arrival, Lady Paulina took extra care in selecting her gown today. Grace was acting as her lady’s maid in Betsey’s absence, and helped her to dress in a pale blue satin gown with delicate embroidery at the bust and hem.
Grace was attentive and efficient in her work, but her hands were not as clever as Betsey’s and her hair styling left something to be desired. Lady Paulina was able to give her some instructions and she did a reasonable job of recreating one of Betsey’s simpler styles. Studying her reflection in the looking glass, Lady Paulina decided that the hairstyle would do, and that the simplicity did not detract from the overall effect of her ensemble.
Since her father was in London, Lady Paulina ate breakfast alone in the dining room, and requested that Grace fetch her a volume on ancient Greek mythology from the library to read while she ate. She did not think that she could stand to be alone with her thoughts today.
If the Marquess of Portam were to call upon her today, he would not be here for at least a few more hours. Still, Lady Paulina could not stop herself from peering out of the windows every few minutes, searching the horizon for any sign of a visitor approaching.
After breakfast, she retired to the library to pass the time. Lady Paulina returned the book she had tried to read at breakfast to the shelf, knowing that its contents could not possibly distract her from her own racing thoughts. She paced about the library, pulling books off of the shelf at random to examine their titles, but always returning them unread.
Some time later, she called for Grace, and asked the maid to bring her a deck of playing cards. Grace soon returned with the cards, and Lady Paulina asked her to remain and play a game of Casino. Grace agreed to this, and Lady Paulina was pleased to find that she was a strong opponent.
They did not have the same easy rapport that Lady Paulina had shared with Betsey, but Grace seemed less nervous of her as time went on, and Lady Paulina was beginning to enjoy her company. Thank goodness for that, this day would be unbearable without someone with whom to spend it!
Even with Grace to keep her company, Paulina could not stop her thoughts from wandering. She imagined William arriving at Cublertone, desperate to know what news she wished to tell him; pictured him pulling her towards him, kissing her hungrily. Warmth spread throughout her body as these thoughts filled her mind.
* * *
William did not arrive at Cublertone that day, and Paulina ate her lonely dinner in silence, before retiring early. She felt thankful that Grace had been with her to provide companionship and distraction, but she missed Betsey terribly, and wished that she could talk to her about her current worries.
She slept fitfully once again, dreaming of William. In one dream he received her letter, but tore it up and threw it in the fire, while Paulina wept. In another, much happier dream, William and Paulina were lying in bed together, naked beneath the coverlet. He kissed her, and stroked her body tenderly while she pressed her flesh against his. Waves of pleasure pulsed through her body and she cried out, never caring that she would be ruined if anyone found them together.
Paulina woke up feeling sad and exhausted, in spite of her attempts to convince herself that the Marquess of Portam ha
d probably not been home to receive her letter.
“Is everything all right, My Lady?” Grace asked, as she helped Paulina to dress for the day.
“Yes, Grace, I am only tired, that is all,” Paulina said, forcing herself to smile at her new maid.
“Oh, all right,” Grace said, not sounding entirely convinced. “Well, if there is anything that I can do to help you feel more rested, please ask.”
“Thank you, Grace,” Paulina said, giving a genuine smile now. “You are very kind to me. I have been very lucky where maids are concerned. Your predecessor, Betsey, was always a good friend to me as well.”
“Yes, My Lady,” Grace said with a smile. “Betsey was always kind to me as well. I cannot believe what the other servants say about her stealing!”
Paulina merely nodded at this. She knew that Betsey had not been sacked for stealing, but she did not wish to discuss the real reason for her dismissal with Grace, no matter how much she liked her new maid.
When she went downstairs to breakfast, Paulina was handed a note by the butler, and recognized the handwriting on the outside as the Marquess of Portam’s. She knew that she must maintain her composure as she took the letter with her into the dining room.
She longed desperately to open the letter, but forced herself to sit down first and waited for the food to be served and the servants to leave the room. When she was finally left alone, she cracked the burgundy wax seal and opened the letter.
My Dearest Paulina,
I have only just received your letter upon returning home to Hillfield at nearly midnight. I am so sorry that I did not come to you today, but can do nothing but curse the dinner party that kept me away and prevented me from receiving your correspondence.
I am eager to hear the news that you can only tell me in person, and will come to see you tomorrow. I fear that I will not sleep at all tonight for thinking of you, and wondering what it is that you need to tell me so desperately.
I do hope that you will receive this letter with your breakfast. I am sending my servant to deliver it by hand, and he will set out at first light, on my swiftest horse.
With all of my love,
Your humble and obedient servant,
William
Paulina read the letter three times before putting it down. A smile spread across her face at the Marquess’s words. She would be seeing him in only a few hours.
She finished her breakfast quickly and then returned to her room, where Grace was tidying up Paulina’s things.
“Grace, the Marquess of Portam will be calling in a few hours,” Paulina said. “You will act as our chaperone.”
“Yes, My Lady,” Grace said, with just the hint of a twinkle in her eye.
Can she possibly know how pleased I am by this visit? Paulina considered this and could only conclude that Grace must know what the visit meant. After all, Paulina now realized, she had not been very subtle telling Grace to have her letter delivered to Portam.
It seemed that Grace did realized the significance of the Viscount’s visit, for she immediately set about beautifying her mistress. Paulina was already dressed for the day, but Grace suggested adding a brooch that had been her mother’s, and made some slight adjustments to the lacing. She also offered to rearrange her hair, but Paulina declined.
Once this process was completed, it was only an hour before the Marquess of Portam arrived at Cublertone. Paulina thought that it was the slowest hour of her life, and she was unable to settle to any activity while she waited. When the butler finally came to her door to announce that she had a visitor, Paulina breathed a sigh of relief and walked downstairs to the drawing room with Grace by her side.
The Marquess of Portam was sitting on the sofa, but immediately stood up when Paulina entered the room. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, and a smile spread across her face. William was tall and broad of shoulder, with dark auburn hair and deep brown eyes that sparkled with a hint of mischief. Paulina thought that she could stare into those eyes for the rest of her life and never grow tired of the sight.
“My Lady,” William said, with a slight bow. “Thank you for seeing me.”
“Thank you for coming, My Lord,” she replied.
“I received your letter and wished to see you as soon as possible,” William said, his eyes flicking to the maid in the corner who was acting as chaperone. Paulina understood this to mean that he was unsure of how discrete he needed to be in front of her.
“Thank you, My Lord, I wished to see you as soon as possible as well. As I said in my letter, there are matters I wish to discuss with you in person. We can speak freely in front of my maid.”
“I see,” William replied with a smile. “That is very good to know. Now what is it that you wished to discuss with me?”
“Well, as you know, it was my father’s wish that I should marry the Viscount of Somerwich, in order to secure a political alliance with his father, the Earl.”
“Yes, I had heard about that plan,” William said, sounding a bit confused. “I must admit that I was…surprised to learn of it.”
“As was I, My Lord!” Paulina agreed. “I confided in my father that I did not wish to marry the Viscount, and was quite disappointed in his reaction.”
“What did he say, My Lady?” William asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“He said that I must marry him, whether I wished it or not. He said that any hope that I had of marrying for love was foolish and I ought to abandon it,” she said, sounding slightly bitter. “I suppose he thought that I wished to marry some common rogue, and he would not hear anything more that I had to say.”
“And did you wish to marry some common rogue?”
Paulina laughed prettily at this, waving the suggestion away with her hand. “You know perfectly well that I wished to marry the son of a Duke! But my father would not hear me out, so he did not know that.”
“Well, this son of a Duke is certainly a very lucky fellow!” William said, with a raised eyebrow. “Will your father consent to the marriage?”
“He is indeed a lucky fellow,” Paulina said with a coy smile. “Father will not be happy about it, but I suspect that he will have to let me marry the Marquess.”
“And why is that, My Lady?”
“I cannot marry the Viscount of Somerwich. He came to see me yesterday and confessed that he will not marry me because he is in love with someone else. With my former maid, in fact!”
“Well, that will certainly cause a scandal!”
“Perhaps,” Paulina said. “Though it seems foolish that marrying for love should cause a scandal. Betsey, my former maid, is beautiful, kind, and clever. She will make a good wife, and if the Viscount makes her happy then I am very happy for them.”
“How forward thinking of you,” William said, sounding surprised but pleased. “I suppose that this leaves you free to marry another suitor.”
“Indeed, it does,” Paulina said. “And the sooner I am wed, the better. The Viscount of Somerwich’s visits to Cublertone over the past few weeks will no doubt be the subject of much gossip among the ton. People will expect us to announce our engagement any day now, and when we do not it will be quite a scandal. What better way to distract from that scandal than by announcing my engagement to someone else?”
“Someone else,” William said, smiling at her. “You mean the very lucky son of a Duke of whom you spoke earlier?”
“That is exactly who I mean, My Lord.”
“My Lady,” William said, sounding earnest now. “I am delighted to know that you are free to follow your heart in this matter. I will speak to your father as soon as possible!”
Paulina smiled at the William, drinking in the sight of him, and wishing that she could spend a moment alone with him. She knew that this would not be possible, but that the closest they might come to being alone would be to take a walk in the garden, with Grace following them at a distance.
“My Lord, would you care to take a walk in the garden?”
William
agreed that this would be an excellent plan and stood up, offering his arm to escort Paulina out of the drawing room. In the entrance hall, they waited while servants retrieved their coats, hats, and gloves. They waited in silence, looking into one another’s eyes, and Paulina felt happier than she had in months.
Once the couple were appropriately attired for walking outside, they crossed the hall to the front door and stepped outside. The afternoon was cool but pleasant. Clouds drifted in the sky suggesting that it might rain later, but for now the weather was quite fine.
As they walked down the path toward the gardens, Paulina heard a commotion coming from the dirt road the led to the estate. Stopping in her path, she turned to see what the source of the noise was. To her surprise, she saw a carriage approaching Cublertone, with a man sitting at the front next to the driver.
The Viscount Who Seduced Her (Steamy Historical Regency) Page 23