She couldn’t help laughing. “It is still highly questionable, my lord, but let us leave it at that. Thank you for the dance.”
“It was entirely my pleasure,” Lord Grey replied as he bowed over her hand, kissing her wrist.
Anne watched dispassionately, surprised that she didn’t get goose bumps over his gallantry. Perhaps she was growing immune, she thought, curious. The couple times Lord Dunbar had done the same thing she had felt the thrill all the way to her toes. She wondered if it were possible for the novelty to wear off so quickly.
As if her thoughts had conjured him, when she turned around the viscount was there with his crooked smile, waiting to claim her for the next dance. She was glad the waltz had just played so it was unlikely the next one would be another. She was determined not to allow the viscount to turn her head or her heart.
She curtsied her acceptance of his invitation to dance, and he swept her into the minuet. It was a relief that it separated them much of the time, so there was little opportunity for conversation. She could even avoid meeting his eyes as she gazed about the room and at the other dancers. She was quite certain she had managed to avoid anything uncomfortable and yet still be polite with him. But when she finally did meet his eyes, she realized she had not been as successful as she might have wished. The searching look he gave her made her realize he was going to be asking her some awkward questions at his earliest opportunity. She looked around frantically, hoping to avoid it. She couldn’t help smiling in delight as she saw Lord Seymour waiting for her when the dance was over.
She thanked Lord Dunbar as prettily as she could muster and then quickly turned to the baron. He bowed to her. “That looked lovely, my lady. Might I have the pleasure once more?”
He calmly waited for her reply unlike the viscount who had assumed her acceptance and swept her onto the dance floor as he was asking. Anne assured herself that Lord Seymour’s manner was far more desirable.
This next song was a country dance. She was relieved because at the moment she had no idea what she could possibly talk about with anyone. She hated the thought of making small talk. There was really only so much you could say about the weather, and she couldn’t bear all the gossip everyone always seemed to wish to discuss. Of course, she could always attempt to get to know the man better, she reminded herself in amusement. Anne was surprised to see the baron’s eyes light up when he saw her smile as the dance brought them back together.
“You seem to be having a good time, my lady,” he commented.
There was no way she could explain the thought process that had led to her smile, so she merely smiled and nodded in return. Following through on her thought, she asked him, “Are you enjoying your evening, my lord?”
“I am now,” he said, his significant look leading her to believe he meant now that he had met her. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks over his words. Uncertain, she returned his smile with a small one of her own.
The dance separated them again, much to Anne’s relief. While this was the very purpose of these events, now that she found herself facing the very real possibility of a gentleman showing a marked interest in her, she didn’t quite know what to make of it. She really needed to get to know him better!
When the dance brought them back together again, she was ready.
“Have you escorted your mother here this evening?”
“Yes, I have, would you like to meet her?”
He sounded so eager, but that had not been Anne’s intention when she asked. There was nothing she could say except, “Of course, I would love to meet her.” She hated untruths but under the circumstances there was no other possible answer.
When the dance ended, the baron escorted her to the side of the room where a group of older ladies were sitting with their heads together.
“Mother, I would like to introduce you to someone, if I could have your attention for a moment.”
Anne thought she would sink to the floor with mortification as three pairs of eyes turned to them with incredulous expressions. She dipped into a respectful curtsy, unsure who any of the women were but certain from their haughty faces that they were quite convinced of their own importance. She wondered if the baron was oblivious or cruel as she struggled to keep a pleasant and polite smile on her face.
“Good evening.” The lady in the middle finally spoke after staring at her almost insolently for a full minute.
Anne stepped forward to shake her hand as she dipped into another curtsy. “My lady, it is a pleasure to meet you.”
“This is Lady Anne Austen, Mother. Lady Anne, my mother, Lady Halstead.”
Lady Halstead offered her son a brilliant smile as she introduced her two cronies to him.
“My dear boy, I am sure you have heard me mention my dear friends, Lady Ruttledge and Lady Glenn. We have been having the most delightful evening catching up on each other's news. I am glad to see you are having a good evening, as well. But I am certain your young friend has no wish to sit amongst us old ladies, so why don’t you be a good boy and fetch the three of us some punch?”
Anne was not disappointed to be dismissed so quickly. It really had not been an appropriate time for the baron to introduce her to his mother. But the lady had not turned out to be a total shrew, so perhaps they could salvage the situation at some other time.
As they walked away, the baron must have realized the error he had made. “I do apologize, my lady. I should have realized my mother would be too occupied with her friends to wish to make new acquaintances this evening. Perhaps we could call on you some time.”
“I am sure that would be lovely. Anne wasn’t sure if she was being fully truthful but was willing to give it another try.
“I had best see to their punch,” Lord Seymour was saying, looking harried all of a sudden.
Anne smiled, releasing him. “It has been a pleasure, my lord. I see my aunt over there. Perhaps I shall join her.”
She had no desire to do so, but hoped to find a distraction along the way, so she happily left the baron to his errand. Her wish was granted as another gentleman asked for her hand and she was swept into the next waltz.
By the time she was tucked into her bed that night by Sally, Anne had nearly danced a hole in the soles of her dancing slippers and she was well satisfied with the success of her Season. She did hope her father would turn up before too long. She would have a great deal to discuss with him when she finally saw him.
Chapter Nine
Kate & Austen:
Austen stretched his aching back as he looked along the row of stalls. He had never worked so hard in all his life. He strongly doubted a doctor would approve of him working like this after the beating he had taken, but he found he was more content than he had been in ages, maybe ever. He never would have thought that hard work would lead to such a feeling, but there was the proof right in front of him. He thought with a grin of what his daughter would think if she were to lay eyes on him at this moment.
Kate chose that moment to walk up to him. She returned his grin with one of her own, which caused a small flutter in the area of his chest. Austen chose to ignore the sensation.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Appleton,” he greeted her.
“I think it is safe for you to call me Kate, my lord, since you are a nobleman who happens to be mucking out my stalls.”
Austen grinned at her again. “You should call me Austen, then. It’s what my friends used to call me.”
“What do they call you now?” she asked, obviously curious.
Heat crept into his cheeks as he realized he should have curbed his tongue. He didn’t want to admit to her that he no longer had any friends, so he attempted to change the subject.
“Your foreman is a slave driver, Kate.”
She smiled. “You probably should be still in bed after what you have been through.”
“Oh, please, don’t chase me back indoors,” he wheedled. “I haven’t found anything this diverting in years.”
“You
have led a strange and sad life, my lord, Austen, if you find mucking out the stalls to be a good time.”
He shrugged. There was no arguing with her logic. It was the satisfaction of accomplishment, not the actual activity, that was leaving him feeling so refreshed. It would be too long of a story to try to explain. “Do you know what my next task is to be?”
“I do believe you have earned some nourishment. Come along with me. The cook has sent you a picnic.”
“Oh how lovely, thank you. I surely couldn’t come in the house in this state.” He made quick work of washing his hands and face in the trough then followed in her wake as she led him to a bench situated near the house.
“Are you quite certain you are not over doing yourself with all this work?” Kate asked, her tone a little anxious.
“I have so much to learn and cannot presume upon your hospitality much longer. I cannot be sitting about when I have this great opportunity presented to me.”
“You are not burdening us with your presence here, in fact, it is a pleasure to have a new person to talk to.”
They munched on their lunch for a few minutes in silence as Austen digested her words. He was deeply grateful and had no desire to take advantage. He was long overdue on getting his life on track. He needed to do this for himself and his daughter.
“I really ought to send a message to my daughter. She is probably beginning to get a bit worried that she has not heard from me.”
“You may make use of my library whenever you wish.” She paused for a moment in thought. “Actually, I think you might need to learn a little bit about record keeping, so if you would like, I could show you that this afternoon. It will keep you away from my steward for a little while and give you some much needed instruction.” She blushed fiercely at this and began to stammer. “Not to imply that I am a fit instructor, of course, or that you have been mistaken in something because I, of course, know nothing of the state of the books at your estate.”
Austen laughed and broke into her disjointed speech. “I took no offense, Kate, let me assure you. You are quite right that I know nothing about record keeping. But how could you have known this?”
Her blush remained. “It is the first thing I thought of when you explained how straightened your circumstances have become. It is unlikely that a viscount’s estate should get to such a state unless you are being swindled by someone, and it would show in the books. Do you have a steward that you trust?”
“I never thought about it, I am afraid. I have a steward. He has had ready explanations whenever I lamented the state of our coffers. Since I didn’t know anything about it, I never thought to question him.”
“Well, I can give you some ideas about what to look for,” she told him.
“You know how to do these records?” Austen was even more ashamed of himself. If this lovely young woman was capable of doing it, surely he should have been able as well.
Austen thought she was about to say “of course,” but then thought better of it. She simply nodded before explaining, “Since I was the only child, my father knew this would all be mine one day, so he made sure I knew how to look after it. Even though I married, he never wanted me to feel ignorant.” She paused again, obviously uncomfortable with what she was about to ask. “Did your father not give you the same instruction?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Austen looked out at the heartening view of Kate’s thriving farm. “My father was even more dissolute than me.” He found it in him to laugh. “I, at least, recognize that changes need to be made.” Then more self-deprecatingly, he continued, “Of course, that could be just because I have hit the bottom, so there is no other choice.”
She was looking at him with a serious, steady gaze. “I think there is always a choice, my lord. As you said, you could just rely on your daughter for an advantageous match. In fact, you aren’t even that old. You could probably find an heiress to wed.”
Austen shuddered at the suggestion. “Can you imagine? For any bourgeois father to be willing to give me his daughter and a large sum of money, he would have to be a very loose fish besides being a vulgar mushroom. And his daughter would have to be bracket-faced and bird-witted. No, thank you.”
Kate burst into gales of laughter at his words. It took her a few minutes to get her mirth under control, and she had to wipe the tears from her eyes before she could look at him clearly. “I do not think it would be as bad as all that, but I can see your point, my lord. Very well, let us see if we can arrange it so you can get yourself sorted. Then you can carry on however you wish.”
By the time they had finished discussing the matter they had also finished their meal, so they went inside to follow through on their plan. First though, Austen needed to change out of his work clothes. As he slowly climbed his way up to his room, he was glad Kate had thought to acquire a change of clothes for him from one of the stable hands, otherwise he would no longer be fit company. As quickly as he could, despite his aches and pains, he stripped off the offensive garments, cleaned himself up as best as he could without a valet’s assistance, and changed back into his own clothes.
Despite his dread for the task ahead, as numbers were never his favourite while he was a boy, Austen was looking forward to the afternoon spent in Kate’s company. She was such a kind young woman, he thought as he made his slow descent back down to where she was waiting patiently for him, her pleasant smile brightening up the room.
“Ready, my lord?”
“As ready as I am likely to ever be,” he grumbled good naturedly as they made their way slowly to her library.
“You seem to have developed some new aches and pains for your efforts this morning,” she commented, her mild tone belying the worried look on her face.
“Nothing that a good night’s sleep shouldn’t fix up. Do not trouble yourself, I beg of you.”
She looked dubious but refrained from further comment. When they finally arrived, she stepped inside and Austen was able to see the welcoming room within. It was much like any library in countless country homes throughout the nation, he surmised, even not unlike his own at Rowanwood. But unlike his, this room had a welcoming, well-used air about it. As though you could make yourself at home in that room and be comfortable. If he had to face the task of learning how to read records, he doubted they could have found a more congenial location.
“This is a remarkable room, Kate. No wonder you don’t mind your labours here. I might even find the task less than horrible in a room such as this.”
Kate laughed and looked around at what was no doubt a familiar scene to the point of being oblivious to its power. “It took me a while to be comfortable in here, to be honest with you, Austen.” She smiled shyly over her use of his name. “Since I associate this room so directly with my father, it took me weeks before I could even come in here without weeping. But now, the room and I have made peace with one another. I am delighted that you like it. I hope it makes our task less onerous for you.”
Glancing around the room, her gaze settled on the table set in front of the large windows. “Why don’t we sit there? It’ll be far more comfortable than trying to crane our necks if we’re across my desk from one another.” She promptly ensured there were two chairs comfortably positioned, and she gathered up her records as well as some paper, a pen, and the inkwell from her desk.
Austen was once again swept with a sense of shame that this slip of a woman was waiting on him. She was not a servant, and he had no intention of treating her like one.
“Please, let me help you with that,” he protested.
“Never mind, my lord, I can be much faster if I do it myself. Just find a comfortable position for yourself as we are likely to be here for a while.”
He ceased his protests and took a seat. The chair she had indicated was remarkably comfortable despite being made of wood without any cushioning. He hoped he would be able to keep his attention on the matter at hand; he thought a less comfortable chair might be of more assistance in that regard. But as s
he said, if they were to be there for any length of time it would not do to add to his physical ailments.
They settled in and got to work. She explained the principles involved with keeping the household accounts and what sort of things he ought to look for when reviewing for errors. She then set him to the task of reviewing her records for any errors.
“But I doubt you would have any mistakes,” he protested.
“You can never be too careful,” she replied coyly at first before grinning and saying, “If you see what a proper ledger looks like, hopefully you will be in a good position to verify if yours are being kept properly. This is merely an exercise to get you used to the task, my lord. Do try not to over think the matter.”
Austen sighed. “It is a difficult task to turn over a new leaf, Kate. Have mercy.”
She just laughed and tapped the paper.
Before long, Austen found that it was not nearly as difficult as he had expected. While he had been a poor student, particularly in the field of mathematics, seeing the practical application of the dreaded subject made it much easier. He was almost enjoying himself. Of course, the company didn’t hurt when it came to that.
Finally, when he came to the end of the column, he glanced up into her smiling face. “You are a godsend, my dear. It would be such a wondrous thing if I could take you home with me to Rowanwood and you could help me straighten out my messes there. With your tutelage here, it doesn’t look so hard, but I think in the case of a mess like I have, it will be an impossible task for me.”
He was surprised when she blushed to the roots of her hair and started to stammer out a reply. “Oh no, my lord, I am certain you shall be quite capable of managing without me. Despite the knock on your head, you are an apt pupil. Surely you shan’t need me. Besides, you would soon tire of having a tutor.”
Austen chuckled and did not pursue the subject at that moment, but the idea began to take root. She would be a perfect companion. Perhaps he could hire her as his steward, he thought, as he reflected on the idea of prolonging their association.
The Viscount Deception: A Sweet Regency Romance Adventure (Mayfair Mayhem Book 3) Page 11
