The confused furrow on the duchess’ face instantly disappeared. “Of course! I fully understand any interest you might have in her! She is rather ridiculously beautiful, is she not? Poor little soul. Her father was the proper Earl of Pickering but he and his wife died when she was about twelve years old. She was an only child, so upon the earl’s death his title and estate went to his younger brother. Lady Victoria’s parents were a kind, lovely couple, well liked by everyone. Her mama comes from a nice family. I was friends with one of her sisters when I was a girl. The earl and his wife doted on their daughter and left her very well provided for financially but rather carelessly left her to the guardianship of the new earl.”
The duchess warmed to her subject and carried on her tirade of gossip. “While I do not believe the girl is being ill-treated, you cannot say she is getting proper care either. She must be at least twenty and has yet to make her curtsy to the Queen or Society. She should be getting married and setting up her own home by now instead of looking after all her little cousins, which is what I have heard she is doing. Her aunt and uncle are using her as little more than a governess!” The duchess seemed genuinely distressed over this, and a lull fell over the conversation while everyone digested this information.
Drake and Bryghton both looked uncomfortable at the mention of the Earl of Pickering. Their mother had been kept blissfully ignorant of any details of their feud with the vulgar little man and they wished to keep it that way.
The Duchess of Wychwood looked at her firstborn with shrewdly narrowed eyes for a moment. “Lady Victoria might make a good duchess,” she mused. “Perhaps I should invite her to my party.”
This was a bit more than Bryghton could stomach. “She might make a good duchess for someone else, but not for me. I cannot understand you, mother. One would think you should never wish to become a dowager. Why are you so anxious to see me wed?”
Taken aback by the fierceness of her son’s words, the duchess merely blinked at him for a moment while forming her reply. “I know it will no doubt be quite dreadful to become the dowager duchess, but if it is the price I must pay, I am willing to do so. We owe it to the House of Wychwood to ensure that our name does not die out. I would rather be the dowager and be around to meet your babies and help guide your wife than keep my position as the duchess and mistress of your homes and risk the end of all that your father and grandfather held so dear.” At this point she grew misty-eyed, and her sons became truly uncomfortable.
Drake shot his brother an ugly look as he shifted closer to his mother to pat her on the back rather awkwardly. “Do not worry, mama. Bryght knows what he owes to our name. You just have to give him a bit more time. And you are far too young to be a grandmama any time soon anyway.”
It was the perfectly correct thing to say at that moment and their mother brightened considerably. “Well, those are very true words you have uttered there, Drakey. I am too young to be a grandmother. But I do think I should like to become a mother-in-law sometime in the not-too-distant future.”
After that heavy-handed hint, the duchess delicately wiped her eyes with a kerchief and stood gracefully. The three gentlemen quickly rose as well. “Thank you so much for coming for a visit, but I must bid you farewell for now. I must make my preparations for making my morning calls.”
Accepting their dismissal, the three gentlemen bade their farewells and watched the duchess depart from the room. After the sound of her footsteps disappeared up the stairs, they burst into raucous laughter.
“These visits are getting worse each time!” said Fred. “I usually find them highly diverting, since she never turns her matchmaking attentions my way, but this time she went over the top! Do you really think she was serious about matching me up with your sister?”
“Well, you could do much worse!” answered the duke.
“That is not the point!” declared the harried young baron. “Alanna is a lovely girl, but I am far from ready to become leg shackled.”
“Welcome to my life,” Bryghton said with a grin, restored to good humour. “Now that our duty is done here, shall we be off?”
“What are you two up to this afternoon?” asked Drake with mild curiosity.
“We were debating between going a couple rounds at Gentleman Jack’s or taking a ride in the park. I am leaning more towards the boxing studio, since going to the park will only lead to the ladies getting their hopes up.”
Fred rolled his eyes at this arrogant statement before turning to his friend’s brother. “Why do you ask? Did you wish to accompany us?”
Drake made an effort to maintain his air of disregard but it was nearly impossible to hide his eagerness for the promise of sport. He gave a negligent shrug, belying the gleam in his eye. “I could probably bring myself to take one of you on in the ring.”
Bryghton laughed at the understatement. “You are welcome to join us, cub. Hurry up and tell the footman to have our mounts readied.”
Drake gave a mocking salute to his brother before striding from the room with a jaunty step.
Turning to his friend, the duke enquired, “You do not mind having him tag along, do you, Fred? He can be a bit of a pest at times, but he’s not a bad fellow.”
Fred laughed good-naturedly. “I don’t mind at all. You do realize he is much older than the twelve years you seem to make him out to be?”
“In years, perhaps,” was all Bryghton would admit to as they strode from the room in fine humour.
Chapter Three
“Gwennie, please be careful. Please don’t get too close to the edge of the water. You can see the pretty ducks from over here.” Victoria watched with anxiety as her young cousins threw bread crumbs to the greedy birds along the edge of the Serpentine.
Seeing that the children were ignoring her, she shared a look of exasperation with their nursemaid, Pansy, and the two of them went to grab the children before disaster struck.
“Come along, Gwen, Felicia, Vanessa, and Daniel. That is enough time spent with the ducks. We ought to be heading home shortly. Did you not want to play ball for a few minutes before we get on our way?” Victoria was hoping her distraction tactic would work so she would not have to move on to threats to get the single-minded children to listen to her.
Victoria was thrilled when her ploy seemed to have success. The three girls finally responded to her coaxing and turned reluctantly towards her. Vanessa grabbed her brother’s hand as she turned to go. Daniel, just turned three and stubborn as a goat, as Pansy would say, was not ready to go. He yanked hard on his hand, breaking his sister’s hold. He regained control of his arm but lost his balance in the process. Looking on in horror, Victoria watched her youngest cousin topple over the bank into the Serpentine.
Victoria’s heart seemed to stop, then resume beating at triple its speed. Her surroundings disappeared from her senses as she picked up her skirts and ran to the banks of the river. Seeing, with relief, that the water at this particular spot was neither too deep nor very swift, Victoria did not even pause to remove her boots, but plunged into the water to retrieve the little boy.
Poor little Daniel had not yet learned how to swim, so in his fear he merely thrashed about. His small fist connected sturdily with Victoria’s jaw as she reached to scoop him up. This momentarily paused her rescue effort, and she called sharply to him in an attempt to settle him down.
“Daniel, my sweetheart, you must stop flailing about! You are going to drown us both.”
Her voice got through to him and he turned his wild eyes to meet hers and reached frantically towards her. Relieved, Victoria grasped him and pulled him towards her. He wrapped his arms and legs tightly around her while she stood in the chest-deep water and contemplated their precarious situation. She looked at the bank and wondered how they could possibly scale it without ending up back in the water. Despair tapped at the back of her mind as she saw the three girls and Pansy standing on the edge crying and wringing their hands.
Victoria called up to them in an attempt to
reassure. “Do not worry, girls. I have him and we will get out very soon.”
Anything more she might have said was drowned out, as Daniel picked that moment to put an end to his silent terror and began to wail.
“Hush, Daniel. That is not a very manly way to handle this situation. What would Everett say if he saw you at this moment?” Victoria realized she must be truly desperate if she was trying to calm Daniel by mentioning her oldest cousin. He was the firstborn of her uncle’s children, the cherished heir, and he delighted to lord his position over his younger siblings. Daniel adored him. But even this could not motivate the terrified toddler to silence.
All she could do was try to cuddle the small child until he began to calm. She hugged him to her and spoke soft, comforting words into his ear. As his wails began to slowly subside, she again glanced up to the bank of the river. She almost dropped Daniel in surprise, as on the bank staring down at her were three handsome men.
A fierce blush stole over her entire body, which served to momentarily warm her against the chill of the water swirling around her. One of the men was particularly striking, and, despite herself, Victoria had trouble tearing her eyes away from his. The man did not seem to care how rude he was being in staring at her, and seemed mesmerized by her nonsensical mutterings to her young charge. Finally, he caught himself from his reverie and sprang into action.
Stripping his perfectly tailored coat from his shoulders was a momentary effort. Disregarding the hard work of his tailor and valet, the duke shrugged out of it and tossed it to his brother as he called over his shoulder to Fred. “Bring our horses closer. If I cannot leverage her up the bank on my own, they can be of assistance.”
Keeping his voice as low and calm as possible, Bryghton reached down towards the frightened child. “Hand him over to me. We shall get him on shore first, and then we can more easily pull you up.”
Despite having calmed down, at these words Daniel tightened his grip on his only means of survival and let out another frightened wail.
“Daniel, my darling, it is going to be all right. This kind man is going to pull you up and give you to Pansy. Pansy will have a lovely warm blanket to wrap you in and I am quite sure she still has a couple of those delicious cookies you loved so much. If you are very brave and let go of me, I promise you can have the biggest piece of dessert that Cook has prepared for us tonight.”
These were magical words, and Daniel pulled back and looked his cousin in the eye with a serious expression. He thought the matter over for half a minute, looking between his cousin and the stranger. Just behind the stranger he could see Pansy and his sisters. The deciding factor was the other man holding the halter of three large, magnificent horses. Daniel reached his arms towards the stranger.
“That’s a good boy,” Bryghton called his encouragement as he reached for the sopping child. With no visible effort he pulled the boy up and handed him over to the maid, somehow managing to remain perfectly dry himself.
Victoria was beginning to feel quite miserable. She was soaked from head to toe, most of her body immersed in the water. Her heavy skirts were feeling like lead weights as they pulled her towards the current. Her boots were slowly sinking into the sludge on the river bottom. And the gorgeous stranger was now looking at her appraisingly.
“Can you reach my hand?”
Victoria felt a shiver slither up her back at the sound of his deep voice as he leaned down for her.
Wishing there were some other way, Victoria looked at him then up and down the river once more. Unfortunately, the riverbanks had not changed in the last few minutes and there was still no way to get up the bank on her own. Turning back to the stranger, she gritted her teeth and stretched out her hand.
Bryghton was struck by the young woman’s beauty. Her remarkable eyes held so much expressive emotion. He could tell she was scared and embarrassed but she had the wit to realize she had little choice if she wished to be rescued from her precarious position. The duke knew that not too much farther downstream the river deepened considerably.
The feel of her cold little hand in his large, warm one sent a strange sensation through him, but he knew this was not the time to be distracted. Despite her slight frame, her soaking clothes were weighing her down considerably, and effort would be required to get her out. In a similar gesture to hers, he too gritted his teeth and yanked on her arm.
With a plop, and after a swift scrabble up the bank, Victoria landed on the edge of the river next to the impeccably dressed, handsome stranger. Blushing again, she offered a shy, hesitant smile as she pushed herself to a seated position.
“Thank you so much for your help, sir. You showed up in the nick of time.”
Adrenaline was dissipating, leaving strong emotions in its wake. “It was a ridiculously foolish thing to do, jumping into the water fully clothed without a plan as to how you were going to get out,” Bryghton declared with vehemence.
Blinking rapidly in shock over his words, Victoria gaped at the stranger.
“I appreciate your help, sir, but you have no place censoring me in this way. What do you suggest would have been a better response to my cousin falling in the river? Would you rather I had stood on the banks wringing my hands as he drifted away and drowned?”
By this point Victoria had risen to her feet and her words brought them both up short. Bryghton realized he was being a beast as her eyes welled up with tears in reaction to the very real danger her little charge had been in. Struggling to maintain her composure and her footing as she swayed in her dripping, heavy clothes, Victoria took a deep breath to calm herself and continued in much more sedate tones.
“Perhaps you are right, sir. Thank you for pointing out the error of my ways. Should I ever be in the unenviable position of witnessing a loved one falling into a body of water, I will do my best to find a better solution to the dilemma than throwing myself in after them.”
Impressed by her lack of deference and the recovery of her composure, Bryghton forced an unusual apology past his lips.
“No, I was wrong. What else could you have done, really? How were you to know we were coming along and could have helped you? You did the best you could in a terrible situation. I am just glad we happened along to lend a hand. It was very brave of you to jump in after him rather than wringing your hands, as you said.”
At this point the others began to chime in. “Oh, m’lady, that was the grandest thing you did! I wouldn’t have known what to do if you weren’t with us!” cried Pansy, weeping indelicately into her sleeve.
Embarrassed by all the commotion, Victoria patted the maid lightly on the back as she bracingly said, “I have every faith that you would have thought of something if I had not been here, Pansy. Everything turned out fine, so please do not carry on so. These fine gentlemen were here to lend us a hand just at the right time. Was that not lucky?”
Victoria continued patting Pansy’s back while all the children crowded around needing their own reassurances. Looking on, the men could not help but admire the young lady’s composure despite her frightening experience.
“Thank you once again, sir. We must not hold you and your companions up any longer. Daniel and I really must be getting home since the poor little dear will no doubt catch a chill if we do not get him out of his wet things as soon as possible.”
“You should probably get out of your wet things as soon as possible too,” said Drake quickly before turning bright red with embarrassment over his inappropriate comment.
Taking pity on the poor young man, Victoria smiled as benignly as possible through her own discomfort. “Come along children, we must not take any more of these nice gentlemen’s time.”
Exchanging an uncomfortable glance, the three men each launched into speech.
“Do not leave on our account,” Fred beseeched.
“Could we at least escort you home?” asked Drake.
Overriding them all, the duke, ever in charge, stepped forward, picked up Daniel and said with finality, “We wi
ll see that you all safely arrive home.”
Unused to anyone taking over her control, Victoria blinked in confusion before hastening to catch up, as the duke had walked away without even a by your leave.
Her brow knitted in frustration, Victoria reached out to take Daniel from him. “I do not even know your name—you cannot just walk away with my cousin,” she said, anger colouring her tones.
Overhearing, Fred and Drake both began to laugh. “That should put him in his place, do you not think, Fred?”
“I must say, I have never known of a pretty young woman not knowing who the Duke of Wychwood is. We must make note of this date—an Alcott of Wychwood was anonymous for once.”
Bryghton threw a withering look in their direction before turning back to face Victoria. “I apologize, m’lady. Please forgive my rudeness.” With a flourishing bow, he presented himself. “I am Bryghton Alcott, the fifth Duke of Wychwood.”
A hot flush stained Victoria’s cheeks as she realized the social faux pas she had just committed. “Your grace, I apologize. My only excuse is that I do not go about in Society.”
“Please, no apology is necessary. I do not know who you are either, so let us call it even. Allow me to present my brother Drake and my good friend Lord Alfred Lynster. You may call him Fred if you wish to be friends with him.”
Victoria bobbed a polite curtsy to the gentlemen before again reaching for Daniel. After settling the tired little boy in her arms she introduced herself and the children. “I am Lady Victoria Bartley. My uncle is the Earl of Pickering. These lovely young people are his youngest children. This is Gwendolyn, Felicia, Vanessa, and Daniel.”
While making the introductions, Victoria had been looking at the children and had thus missed the significant looks being exchanged between the three men. When she glanced back at them she saw awkward discomfort displayed on Drake’s face, but she mistakenly thought he was still embarrassed over his earlier comment, so she chose to ignore it.
The Reluctant Debutante: A Sweet, Regency Romance (Ladies of Mayfair Book 4) Page 2
