The Lost Love of a Stunning Lady: A Historical Regency Romance Book

by Bridget Barton

  No one was safe from the wagging tongues of the social elite. He wished he could whisk Mimi away from London. They could go somewhere and make a new start of things. But where? There was nowhere for the two of them. He knew Mimi would choose Duke Hertford over him. Any woman would. He had nothing to offer but a Jermyn Street townhouse and the fact that he’d served in the army. And that just wasn’t enough.

  The thought of leaving London on his own presented itself to him. The idea of going to the United States was somewhat appealing to him. He’d recently gotten a letter from a young man who’d served with him in his regiment. The soldier, Lieutenant John Rodgers, had married his sweetheart and whisked her off to America.

  Within a few months, Rodgers had bought a farm in a place called Georgia. The acquisition had made the young man a landowner and a member of the gentry. The farm was called a plantation and the running of the place was equal to running a business. And Richard’s friend needed someone he could trust to take care of the day to day details of his new found business.

  Rodgers had written to Richard with the idea. If Richard was still unattached, he’d written, then he could come to Georgia. He could live in a small house of his own on the plantation. He would, in essence, be Rodgers’ right-hand man.

  While Richard had been warmed by the level of thoughtfulness in this invitation, he had bigger ideas than to work for someone else. If he were to make the trip to the United States, he wanted to acquire his own plantation. He wanted to be at the forefront of what his friend had referred to as the planter class. He could be one of the elite. He need only move to America to do so.

  He shrugged. It seemed to him he was as bad as his parents. He was looking, just as everyone else, to advance himself. The difference was Richard wanted the freedom that such societal footing would afford him. He could do as he liked and not give the devil what anyone thought, which was basically how he lived. But as a member of the planting class in Georgia, he would have enough money and status not to be affected by the gossip that inevitably followed everyone, who was anyone, at some point.

  The more he walked along the traffic of St James, the more inclined Richard was towards the idea of leaving England altogether. His leg was paining him. Somewhere with a warmer climate would do him good. Maybe it was time for him to go.

  *******

  Hugh Templeton, Duke of Hertford, walked into White’s and secured a card table in the corner of his favourite gaming room. He ordered a brandy from a young attendant then stretched his feet towards the fire as he sipped.

  The warm and polished wood panelling of the walls reflected the candlelight all around with a hazy hue. Soon, the room would be filled with dandies looking for a little excitement at the game tables.

  Hertford mused as he drank his Spanish brandy. In a year’s time he would be a married man. His grandfather was nearing seventy. Hertford had to secure a woman to wed before the elderly gentleman died. He’d been given a year, and Hertford reckoned he better get on with it.

  Elizabeth Stevens was the best choice. She was a lady by birth, and an alliance with her family would be a powerful one due to her pedigree. Generations of her family had delighted in the benefits that came from being a member of the ton.

  But it was Miss Mimi Hancock who he really had his eye on. His intention was to make her his mistress. He had no doubt her mother would accept his terms. That woman would do just about anything to get off of Jermyn Street and into Mayfair or even Westminster. He reckoned she might even sell off her daughter as mistress to a charming Duke.

  Hertford knew he’d have to find a way to put Mimi and her mother into a good address without having them too near himself and his future bride. After all, he would be residing with his wife, and eventual family, in the best part of London. Park Lane.

  It would be easy in the end. He’d keep Mimi’s mother pacified with money. Perhaps he’d acquire a small country estate for her. That would keep her out of his hair.

  Ah yes. He was quite pleased with his plan. Inherent in it was the fact that he would be getting everything he wanted.

  He smiled and finished the snifter. Some of his gambling friends had just arrived. He waved to them and ordered another brandy. Yes, things were going along perfectly with his ideas.

  *******

  Two days later, Mimi was feeling up to taking a little air and sunshine in the garden behind the house on Jermyn Street. For those two days she’d been wondering how to get a message to Richard. It wasn’t that the act of doing so was difficult. It was the fear that Richard might reject her note that kept her from sending it. She jabbed the needle into the linen she was working on and pulled another stitch through.

  Marie was out shopping for fabric for yet another new frock for Mimi. Since the Duke had been to visit Marie had turned into some kind of hysterical lunatic with a one track mind. Everything the woman said or did somehow involved her daughter and Duke Hertford. Mimi felt that Marie was sure she was to become a Duchess. Then it would follow that Marie’s own chances of making an advantageous marriage contract for herself would be great. She was still a beautiful and captivating woman.

  There’d been a time when Mimi had wanted to be just like her mother. But since Mr Hancock had died, Mimi felt as if she didn’t know her mother. Marie had become so petty and conniving. Or maybe she’d always been that way, and Mimi had never noticed.

  “Mademoiselle!” Giselle hurried to where Mimi was sitting. “His Grace is here. Shall I bring him to the garden?”

  “Oh, no. Yes, I suppose you should. Bring the tea tray out in five minutes. I’ll make tea for him.”

  “Mademoiselle, for shame. I cannot leave you alone with him. I’m already being punished for allowing Mr … oh, never mind.” The girl raised her hands to the sides of her head as if to squeeze it free of every thought.

  “What are you being punished for, Giselle?”

  “Nothing. I … I must stay with you, Mademoiselle. Someone has to. Your maman would be most unhappy if you were unchaperoned. It isn’t done.”

  “Very well. Send Jones. Or better yet, Nancy. She can pick the herbs that she collects in springtime for drying. She’ll be right here.” Mimi gestured all around the small patches of herbs that were coming up.

  “As you wish, but what do I tell Madame when she gets home?”

  “She’ll be so happy the Duke is here; I dare say she won’t care a bit about anything else.”

  “Yes, Miss.” Giselle nodded then turned and gasped. She curtsied. “Your Grace.”

  Mimi looked over her shoulder. Hertford had walked up to them from the direction of the mews. “Good afternoon, Miss Hancock, Giselle.” He nodded to each of them. “I’m sure you don’t mind that I had my man bring my carriage around to the stable.”

  “Ah, no Your Grace. Whatever you wish.” Giselle stood from her curtsey, and Mimi gave the Duke a ravishing smile.

  “Shall I pick the herbs for Nancy, Mademoiselle?”

  “No Giselle, you may tell Nancy to come out.”

  “But …”

  “I said send Nancy out. Thank you, Giselle.” Mimi smiled a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. If Marie was so fixated with her daughter seducing the Duke, then Mimi was going to do whatever she could to make it a reality while, at the same time, deviating from the strict social etiquette that dictated the behaviour of all women who considered themselves to be ladies.

  The Duke watched Giselle go back to the house then took a seat on the wrought iron bench across from where Mimi sat. “How is the patient feeling today, Mademoiselle?”

  Mimi laughed. “As well as can be expected I reckon.”

  “This is a lovely garden you have here.”

  “Thank you, Your Grace.”

  Nancy came running from the kitchen. She curtsied low to Hertford and murmured, “Your Grace. Mademoiselle.” She then took her basket and knife over to the area where the herb plants were sending lush green shoots up to the sunlight.

  “It seems that a woman suc
h as yourself, Miss Hancock, should have a much larger garden. Something in the country, perhaps.”

  “Maybe one day I shall have a garden such as that to sit in.” She put down the tapestry she’d been working on.

  “Maybe one day sooner than you know.”

  Mimi looked down to hide her mounting excitement over the idea the Duke was alluding to. He intended to ask her to marry him. She just knew it. Thoughts of rides in the park, private balls at the homes of members of the titled aristocracy, lavish dinners, and a wedding trousseau all jostled over each other in her mind for first place. Her stomach was full of butterflies, and she looked up at Hertford with joy in her heart.

  “I suppose anything is possible, Your Grace.” She smiled.

  He smiled back at her, and for a moment, Mimi thought her heart might beat out of her body.

  He stood, bowing at the waist. “Miss Hancock. It’s a delight to see you recuperating from your recent illness. I will leave you to rest.”

  “Oh, so soon? I have the entire afternoon free.” She knew it was bold to make such a statement, but if the Duke was going to pay attention to her and Richard wasn’t, then why not? Richard had made it clear that he was not interested in her. Still, she’d had that dream about him during her illness. The dream which she’d told no one about. The dream in which he had told her he loved her.

  “Now, Mademoiselle, you must rest, but I promise to come and see you again.”

  “Very well, Your Grace. Pray you do not tarry long,” she said with a saucy tilt to her head. Before she knew it, he was gone, and she was alone in the garden. Nancy worked nearby gathering some dandelion for tinctures.

  *******

  When Marie returned home from shopping, Giselle informed her of Hertford’s visit.

  “You didn’t say anything to Mimi about Richard Warren did you?”

  “No, Madame.”

  “Very good. Because, as much as I like you, Giselle, I will have to let you go if you do not abide by my every direction. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, Madame.”

  Marie smiled. “Very good. Now. Where is my daughter?” She smoothed her hands over her skirt and looked expectantly at the maid.

  “She was in the garden, but after Duke Hertford left, the sun went behind a cloud. Between that and the coal soot in the air, it seemed cold as well as it was dark. Mademoiselle went up for a nap, Madame. She said she would have supper in her private sitting room.”

  “Yes, poor dear. All the excitement. Well, let her sleep. Keep a tray warm for her. She can eat when she awakes.”

  Giselle nodded and curtsied. “Oui, Madame.”

  Chapter 15

  “I tell you, George, I don’t know which way is up.” Richard was sitting with his brother in the lounge at Brooks’s club.

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, Richard, but you say Mrs Hancock doesn’t find you good enough for her daughter? Her daughter’s grandfather was a butcher. And she thinks Mimi is too good for the likes of you? I say walk away, good man.”

  “But I love her, George. I’ve loved her since the first day I met her up in Cromer some five years ago. We always had fun together. And we had an unspoken understanding.”

  “An unspoken understanding?”

  “Yes. To marry. We professed our love for one another on the night of Mimi’s eighteenth birthday. Then, Mrs Hancock became aware of Duke Hertford. He’s the only Duke who’s unmarried at the moment, except for that old man, the one who was married three or four times already. Of course, each woman the man married was richer than the last, and each one died in some mysterious manner.”

  George threw his head back and laughed. “You do have a way of putting things, dear brother.”

  Richard chuckled. “The point is, the Hancocks do not have enough money to tempt the old Duke. Mimi’s beauty will not keep the old man in the lifestyle he’s accustomed himself to. He is looking for a rich woman. Age and beauty are not on his list of captivating qualities in a wife. It’s all about money. At least that’s the current gossip since the old man’s most recent wife succumbed to the influenza. However, I saw Hertford leaving the Hancocks’ house the other night. It seems he has no need of a rich woman.”

  “What do you think he was doing there? Do you think he could actually be courting her?”

  “Who knows? Mimi is still recuperating, so she wasn’t at Almack’s. But I don’t know if I would have spoken to her if her mother had been with her at any rate. Maybe the Duke was checking up on her condition. There’s no way I would be made privy to it. I’m not sure what the arrangement is between them.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because Mrs Hancock makes it a point to keep me in the dark as far as Mimi is concerned. And she keeps us away from each other in public, and I dare say in private. She found me at Mimi’s bedside and threw me out of the house.”

  “You were in the girl’s bedchamber? Richard!”

  “Giselle, the maid, was there, but I found out from Blackmore that she is being severely punished because she allowed me to see Mimi. George, Mimi and I professed our love for each other again when I was there. But I’ve heard nothing from her since then. I dare not go to the house for fear of jeopardising Giselle’s employment.”

  “Have you thought of writing to her? Surely Kirby can pass a note to the Hancocks’ groom or better, Jones, the butler.”

  “I had thought of writing but had no idea how I would get the note to her. If Kirby could take a note. Yes. That’s a very good idea, George.”

  “Well, just remember, Richard, everyone is trying to get ahead. Even you. Please don’t be harsh with Mother when she has her housewarming party. She’s very excited about the new townhouse on Half Moon Street.

  It’s not as large as she would have liked, but for the exclusivity of the address our mother was willing to sacrifice a few rooms. There is no library, but a large combination drawing room and ballroom divided by pocket doors. The bedchambers number five; there is a dining room, and a small, private sitting room. The exterior is fine white stucco, and the garden behind is positively small but large enough for intimate gatherings. Our mother is most pleased.”

  “I’m glad she’s happy.”

  “She is, as am I and Ellen. I want to thank you for introducing me around. I’m making my most promising connections here at Brooks’s. With the house on Grosvenor Street, I look like quite the gentleman. But it’s a fine house, with a room for a nanny just off the nursery. It’s quite a bit larger than our parents’ home, but then again, Ellen is giving me a third child to go with the two sons she’s already given me. We are to be a large family, I reckon.”

  “You deserve every success, George.”

  “Thank you, Richard. Now, back to your predicament with Miss Hancock. I say get a note to the girl as soon as possible. If you can change your residence soon, so much the better. You can stay with Ellen and me. She suggested it. With that address I dare say Mimi’s mother would take notice of you in a different light.”

  “Not if the Duke is around. And that’s another dilemma. As far as I know, Mrs Hancock is the subject of some very unsavoury gossip when it comes to the esteemed Duke of Hertford.”

  “I know. I’ve heard my share of it around the billiards table. Marie Hancock has made herself into quite the laughing stock.”

  “And that harsh light is cast upon Mimi. Don’t you understand, George? I need to save Mimi from the wagging tongues of the beau monde. My fear is that she will be the one who suffers from Marie’s poor behaviour and desperation.”

  “Not so much, Richard. Even the ton has the sense to understand overbearing mothers. Mimi is safe, it seems, for the moment. It’s her mother who is the laughing stock. And if the Duke sees fit to make Mimi his wife, there will only be the bright light of jealousy from the other overbearing mothers.”

  “The ton will never welcome her. She will be alone among the wolves. I must compose a note to her and send it straightaway. I know Marie has kept us apart. And, Mimi
has stayed away from me because she doesn’t remember our confessions to each other, I believe. I have to tell her what we confessed to each other. She was delirious. What if she thought I was Hertford?”

  “There’s only one way to find out without Mrs Hancock knowing. And that is with a note. Send it discreetly. Secretly. Once you know for sure where Mimi’s heart is, you can make your plans.”

  “You’re right, George.”

  “Now if you’ll excuse me. I promised my wife I would be home early for supper tonight. Would you like to join us?”

  “No. I thank you heartily, but I think I might get something here at the club.”

  “Don’t make it too late of a night!” George laughed and patted his younger brother on the back. “Good night, Richard.”