“With me?” Edmund laid a hand on his heart. “What did I do?”
Juliet darted a glance over her shoulder, eager to assure herself that her confession would not be overheard. Just to be sure, she spoke in a whisper, so Edmund had to drop his head closer to hers in order to be able to discern it.
“You have not even given me an opportunity to introduce my choice to Maddy. It is quite unfair of you to sneak an advantage right out of the gate like this.”
Edmund frowned, entirely bemused.
“What advantage? The fellow I have in mind is not even here yet, though I acknowledge he is quite likely to endear himself to Maddy far better than your colonel.”
Juliet let out a groan.
“How do you know I favour Colonel Black?”
“Aha!” Edmund pointed. “I thought so. You, my dear Juliet, are entirely transparent.” He clasped his hands together romantically, batting his eyebrows and pitching his voice an octave higher than normal in a ridiculous exaggeration of his friend. “I do wonder what Colonel Black would think of this architecture. He has a great many opinions about such things...I do hope certain members of the regiment will be permitted to attend the ball, for I do think they are such fine dancers, and so handsome in their regimental coats...so festive...ouch!”
Juliet had borne his teasing only so long before sending a sharp elbow into his side, and he flinched, rubbing at the spot which already began to bruise.
“I was merely laying the groundwork. Juliet has not yet met Colonel Black properly, and whilst I know she will find him quite as handsome as I do, it will do no harm to alert her to his many other qualities.”
Edmund smirked.
“You find the good colonel quite handsome do you?”
Juliet blushed, rubbing her nose.
“How much further must we walk?” Louisa called piteously from behind them. “I know you and Juliet like to roam about the countryside for miles on end but some of us are wearing shoes that pinch!”
“Then you ought to care more for practicality than fashion!” Juliet called back, showing the kind of sympathy she was famous for.
“Here, Louisa,” Madeline said, steering her younger sister to a low wall. “Sit a moment and rest.”
“Juliet and I will go the rest of the way and retrieve the carriage,” Edmund volunteered, ignoring the scowl his friend shot him for making such an offer. “We shall come back and collect you. How does that sound?”
“It is scarcely a little way further!” Juliet protested, but all three of her sisters promptly sat down on the wall, accepting Edmund’s offer without a word and with a groan she fell back into step beside him.
“I think that was a cruel ploy!” she muttered, as soon as they had put a few feet between them and the rest of their party. “You wish to continue to torment me without an audience to curtail your teasing!”
“I?” Edmund laughed. “You have a very one-sided view of things, Juliet. Besides, I wished to save you the embarrassment of admitting within your sisters’ hearing just what it is that renders Colonel Black quite handsome. Tell me, is it his perpetually sunburnt nose? Or the caterpillars he has for eyebrows?”
Juliet flushed an even darker shade of red which merely encouraged Edmund to further pursue his teasing.
“I can well understand the allure of the uniform, for I think it a rather dashing get up myself, but honestly! He is -”
“A good deal braver than certain other gentlemen!” Juliet retorted. “He has fought abroad for his country and earned his commission -”
“Bought his commission, you mean. This is not the navy, Juliet. One might purchase a rank as easily as they might earn it. And what battles has our dear colonel fought in, pray tell? I felt certain he had spent the majority of his time in the regiment drilling....when he is not drinking to excess and fleecing gentlemen out of their money.”
This last was uttered in a whisper that did not quite escape Juliet’s notice.
“You are just bitter because you know he is a valid prospect for Maddy. She admires gentlemen with courage and bravery, not to mention her desire to travel and explore far-off places. To hear the colonel speak of the continent -”
“I have been as far as France, Juliet, and Belgium too, before you start suggesting that travel qualifies Black above all others.” He shook his head. “I think you put far too great a stock in romantic heroics. Love is not like something from a book!”
“Oh, you are the expert, are you?” Juliet shot back. This was enough to bring Edmund up short and he slowed his pace as well as his tongue.
The question had an edge to it that was not entirely undeserved. Edmund remembered, with discomfort now, how foolishly he had lost his heart to a pretty Miss Parker during a short stay in London. His affection had been encouraged only so long as it took the avaricious Miss Parker to locate a wealthier, more agreeable prospect and then he had been dropped quite abruptly. He had returned to Clifton with his tail very much between his legs, but an hour in Juliet’s company whereupon she teased him into good humour again had been all the restorative he’d needed.
“Quite right,” he said, at last, his voice a little hoarse. “Ah, here is our carriage. Come, Juliet, let’s be friends again and stop bickering before our battle is even properly waged.” He leaned close, waggling his eyebrows at her in a manner that never failed to make her laugh. “And let us not forget, all betting aside, that we both of us wish happiness for Maddy, whichever suitor she might choose.”
He held out his hand to Juliet in order to help her into the carriage, but could not regret one last dig as he closed the door behind her, before scrambling into his seat beside the driver.
“Besides, if Maddy accepts my choice that will leave the quite handsome Colonel Black quite free and clear for you to win yourself!”
Chapter Four
The breakfast room at Birchwood Hall was not large but clearly intended to serve more than two self-contained gentlemen. The cavernous room echoed with every scrape of a knife and even the turn of a page sounded loud in the silence.
It was a nice enough house, Edmund thought. Far nicer, in fact, than the poky townhouse he and his father had taken in London before retreating to the more comfortable countryside. For a fleeting moment, Robert missed the house he had grown up in but his father could not countenance living there since his wife’s death. It had been the promise of moving that had at last begun to lift his father’s spirits and Robert would not think of taking him back to a place that held nothing but sadness.
As if he sensed his son’s silent regard, the elder Mr Hodge cleared his throat and looked up from his newspaper.
“Well, there certainly seems to be plenty going on with this new spa town drawing people here. Concerts, talks. There is even to be a ball!”
“I did not take you one for attending balls, Father,” Robert remarked, with the hint of a smile.
“I am not quite ready for eternal rest yet,” his father retorted, with a wink. “But I do confess I mention it more for your interest than my own.” He jabbed at the page in front of him. “It will be a fine start to our Christmas celebrations and a nice way to meet people.”
“Are you suffering for company?” Robert asked, taking a sip of his tea.
His father harrumphed and glared pointedly around the room, acknowledging each empty seat at their table in turn.
“Not I,” Mr Hodge said, with a sigh that did not escape Robert’s notice. “You ought to be married, Robert, or at least thinking about it.”
“I am far too busy to think of marriage at present, Pa!” he responded with false cheer.
“Oh?”
“In any case...” Robert’s voice dropped, and he was almost unconscious of speaking his next words aloud. “I had my chance to marry.”
Both men retreated into their thoughts. Robert was surprised to find himself struggling to conjure up an image of Suzanna after so many years parted from her. He managed the idea of her, only, a shadowy figure that had
come to represent her in his memories.
“You are not so very old! And I do not hold to the notion of people only having one chance at love. You might yet meet someone - and now that you are a wealthy investor with a stake in Castleford, you shall be rather an impressive prospect!”
“Oh, will I?” Robert could not help smirking at his father’s confidence. “You certainly seem well acquainted with what constitutes an “impressive prospect” in the eyes of young ladies.” He chuckled. “Have you some intelligence on the matter?”
“I may be old, Robert, but I am not dead. And I spent over three decades married to your mother. I have developed some small insight into the working of ladies’ minds.”
Robert said nothing, merely smiled in a manner he hoped was reassuring. He knew his father longed to see him settled and married. Having had such a happy union with his own wife could only wish for the same for his son. Robert doubted he could be fortunate enough to win the heart of a good woman twice in one lifetime. How could he confide as much to his father, though? Tell him that yes, he knew just what it was to plan for a future with a wife by his side, to build castles in the air and begin the hard work of putting foundations underneath them, only to have them destroyed by one chance encounter that changed his fiancée’s mind before he even had time to write to his parents of her existence?
The hand that held his cup shook slightly and he lowered it quickly back to its saucer, praying his father had not noticed his discomposure. Mr Hodge was already engaged once more in perusing the newspaper, undoubtedly planning his next attack on Robert’s bachelorhood. Better to speak now and put his mind at ease.
“I suppose we might make an appearance at the assembly,” he murmured, gratified by the swiftness with which his father raised his head. “As you say,” Robert continued. “It will be a good opportunity to meet people. It is Christmas after all.” He pulled a face. “One ought not to avoid sharing a little goodwill to all mankind.”
“Excellent!” Mr Hodge pushed his chair back, leaping to his feet in a manner that belied his age. “In that case, I suggest we take a trip into Clifton to the tailor. I dare say your clothes are as much in need as mine of a little sprucing. We must make a good impression, after all, and it will not do to be thought unfashionable.”
Robert arched an eyebrow, amused by his father’s commitment if disbelieving of his reasons. Neither of them could ever be considered dandies, but it had been so long since his father had shown any interest at all in stepping out and socialising. He would not discourage him.
Let him think he is doing me the favour, he thought, dabbing at his lips with his napkin and pushing his own chair back from the breakfast table. I dare say it will serve him just as well as it will me to attend this assembly. And if he needs to hang the motive on my shoulders then I will happily bear it.
“EDMUND! WHAT DID YOU mean by dragging us this far north so close to Christmas?”
“Did you mean to drown us?”
Edmund’s friends had begun to berate him before they had even successfully clambered out of their carriage, and did not stop as he expertly steered them inside Northridge Place to the parlour where his Mama was waiting to greet them.
“I hope this Castleford lives up to your enthusiastic description!” Erasmus Finch muttered, removing his hat and attending to his hair as he followed his friends into the parlour.
“You must forgive Finch, he had a terrible do with his brother this morning,” Nash Weston said, dodging out of the way of Finch’s fists and colliding with the third new arrival, Michael Heatherington, the very man Edmund had most eagerly desired seeing.
“Nash, kindly watch where you are putting your enormous feet!” Michael grumbled, wincing as his own toes bore the brunt of his friend’s carelessness.
“Mama!” Edmund announced, sweeping an arm wide to introduce his guests to his mother. “You recall my friends? Mr Erasmus Finch, Mr Nash Weston and Mr Michael Heatherington, from London.”
All three obediently bowed and greeted the lady of Northridge Place with all the proper decorum and manners that would not have gone amiss in the royal court.
“I am sure you are all tired from your journey,” Mrs Gale said, her eyes twinkling at each young gentleman in turn before resting a moment longer on her son. “Edmund, perhaps you will order us some refreshments and allow your friends to sit down awhile.” She paused, allowing him to attend to this small duty, and turned her attention back to their guests.
“I hope we have not called you away from your families and prevented you from enjoying Christmas at home.”
“Gad, no - that is, not at all, Mrs Gale,” Erasmus said, moderating his words at the last minute and colouring a little at the dreaded slang that had escaped his lips. “My Mother and Father are abroad at present.”
“Mine are pleased to be rid of me!” Nash said, with a cheerful grin. “My brother is there, with his wife and new baby. I am quite superfluous to requirements!”
Only Michael seemed to acknowledge that it had cost him to come to Northridge, but he expressed such pleasure at being invited and amongst friends that Mrs Gale was soon heartily pleased to have three such fine gentlemen under their roof for the festive season.
“Here we are, chaps!” Edmund declared, opening the door with a flourish to admit their tea, before folding his long frame into the seat nearest his mother and allowing the chatter amongst his friends to settle to a low hum.
“Now, what is all this about an assembly?” Nash asked, at last, when each man had a cup of tea in hand and was merrily munching on a variety of cake and sweet-meats that had been brought to accompany it. “You were vague in your details.”
“But effusive in your insistence upon our coming!” Erasmus put in. “Castleford, you say? I have heard talk of it in London. Quite a fine investment opportunity, if I am not mistaken...”
“You are not, but I invite you here merely as my guests and to enjoy the festive season,” Edmund said, rushing out his explanation and ignoring the sharp look his mother shot him at his affectation of innocence. “There is to be a ball tomorrow evening celebrating the opening of Castleford in time for the Christmas season and you are all to accompany me!”
He received three different reactions from his three friends, ranging from enthusiasm to disdain, and he hurried to make his plan more inviting.
“There are some charming young ladies in need of dance partners and I assured my friends - my neighbours, that is. You recall the Turners?”
“I recall your incessant mentioning of them,” Erasmus grumbled, reaching for a second piece of fruit cake.
“They are our near neighbours,” Edmund said, tersely, already rethinking the wisdom of inviting Erasmus along with his other friends. It would have been impossible to invite two without the third, although he was already tiring of his friend’s superiority and complaining and prayed this was the result of an uncomfortable journey and not an indication of things to come. “You shall meet them at the assembly.”
“Indeed, and I’m sure we shall be quite as smitten with them as you are!” Nash piped up, elbowing Erasmus in his substantial side. “There are three daughters, are there not?”
“Four,” Edmund said, shooting his friend a grateful smile. “The eldest, Miss Madeline, is renowned for her beauty all throughout Clifton.”
“But she ain’t married?” Erasmus enquired, his lips folding in a grimace. “What’s wrong with her, then?”
“Not a thing,” Edmund said, his eyes catching the pointed sound of his mother’s teaspoon clinking against the side of her cup as she stirred it, the closest she would come to a display of irritation. He hurried once more to smooth things over, fearful that Erasmus would outstay his welcome at Northridge within the hour. “But you should not much care for me to introduce you to elegant young ladies who already had husbands, would you?”
Nash was watching Edmund carefully, his canny blue eyes seeming to grasp the truth of the matter long before anyone else did, and long
before Edmund intended him to.
“Aha!” he declared, setting down his tea and folding his long legs at the knee. “Here, I see it, chaps. Edmund here plans to match-make us. There are four Turner daughters, you say? And of us?” He counted on his fingers. “One, two, three...four!” He laughed. “A canny plan, Mr Gale. Now tell me, which sister do you have earmarked for me? And might I refuse, if I prefer another better?”
Edmund coloured, ashamed that his plan had been spied out so soon and turned to his mother, who was looking at him shrewdly.
“I had no such plan!” he declared, as much to pacify her as to reassure his friend. “I merely thought that Christmas would be better spent with friends than without them. When I chanced to be in Castleford the other day and saw its splendid sights for myself I thought why not invite my three closest friends to enjoy it with me.” He gestured towards the door. “You are under no obligation to stay.”
“No, no, Gale.” Michael spoke, at last, punctuating his words with a short sip of tea. “You have dragged us all here halfway across the country right in time for Christmas. You shan’t send us away again so soon. Tell us a little more of Castleford. Is it as modern as the speculators claim?”
Letting out a breath of relief, Edmund smiled, his words tripping over one another as he spoke, gaining in confidence with every detail he conjured up. In the end, he painted so grand a picture of Castleford that no town in England could possibly live up to their expectations, and his mother laid a hand on his arm to encourage him not to neglect his tea.
“I am sure we are all excited to see for ourselves this wondrous place you describe,” she said, with a wry smile. “And I am sure the Turners will be delighted at the pains you have taken to ensure they are not without partners at the assembly tomorrow evening. But, dear, please do take care to gesture with the arm that is not holding a half-drunk cup of tea. I fear for the fate of my floors if you spill any more!”
A Winter Wager Page 3