Better Than She Deserved

by Leenie Brown

  “Mr. Franklin Rhett,” he said by way of introduction. “I believe we have met at a few soirees and in passing when I visited your brother.”

  Caroline curtseyed and smiled as was proper. “I must apologize. I do not recall our meeting.” She was happy to have placed him as a friend of Hurst, but she dearly wished she remembered their meeting so that she would know more about him, for he was rather captivating with those piercing blue eyes and raven black locks that fell softly on his forehead and hung around his ears.

  “That is to be expected, I suppose, as I was never fortunate enough to secure a dance,” he paused, “although I did make an attempt.” He stepped to the side to let her pass but caught her arm as she did. “I do hope we can at least spend a few moments getting to know one another while we are here. I know there is no dancing for a fortnight, but perhaps you would join me for a walk in the garden one day?”

  “Perhaps,” she replied, pulling her arm away gently. There was something very unsettling about both the way he looked at her and his touch. It was not unpleasantly unsettling, but unsettling nonetheless. She glanced over her shoulder as she scurried down the hall. She would have to ask her sister about Mr. Rhett. If he were of good standing, perhaps he could take Mr. Darcy’s place. Not that any estate, she admitted with a sigh, could ever compare to Pemberley.

  ~*~*~

  “Ah, Hurst, I thought I might find you here.” Rhett entered the library and nodded his acceptance when Hurst lifted the decanter of port in offer of a glass. “I met your sister in the hall. She did not look pleased.”

  Hurst laughed. “She is not, but then again, neither am I — nor is Bingley. Caroline has pushed her ambitions too far this time.”

  Rhett’s brows rose. “Indeed?” This sounded promising.

  “Do not get me started,” Hurst said as he handed his friend a glass before taking his own and dropping into a chair. “Darcy is marrying.”

  Ah, so that was it. “And he is not marrying her?”

  There were not many who were unaware of Caroline Bingley’s ambitions in regards to Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.

  Hurst laughed once again. “As if that were ever a possibility.” He shook his head as he continued to chuckle. “No, he is not marrying Caroline. Darcy found a country miss.” He smirked and lifted a brow as he made the statement. “Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire is a gentleman’s daughter, but not one of significance. Mr. Bennet’s estate stands next to Netherfield, you see.”

  “The place she did not wish her brother to take?”

  Hurst tapped his nose as he swallowed a large amount of his port. “Precisely.” He placed his nearly empty glass on the table beside him. “It gets worse.”

  “Worse than losing Darcy to a country nobody because her brother took Netherfield against her better judgment?” Rhett asked with a laugh.

  “Charles is marrying Miss Elizabeth’s sister Jane.”

  Rhett’s eyes grew wide. “And then Bingley shall remain forever at this estate his sister despises?”

  Hurst shook his head. “It is unlikely. Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth are close. I suspect Charles will be looking for something in Derbyshire. But it is enough that he is marrying the sister of the lady who dashed all of Caroline’s aspirations. Caroline attempted to prevent Charles from attaching himself to Miss Bennet, of course, but she has only been successful in being cut off.”

  A pleased smile crept across Rhett’s face. Things appeared to be very promising.

  “I have given her until the end of this blasted party to secure a husband.”

  Rhett drained the last of his port from his glass. “So, you would be open to negotiations?”

  Hurst blinked. “You would wish to take that,” he waved at the door through which Caroline had recently exited, “for a wife?”

  “I assure you all my mental faculties are functioning as they should be,” Rhett said in response to the incredulous look Hurst was giving him. “I find her attractive, and before she set her cap at Darcy, she was pleasant, even charming and witty at times.”

  Hurst cleared his throat. “Your money comes from manufacturing,”

  Rhett nodded. “Which is why she has refused to dance with me twice if I recall correctly.” He held up a finger. “And I believe, it was your wife who reminded her of my disqualifications.”

  Hurst grimaced. “Louisa is far too willing to do anything to keep her sister happy.” He returned to his drink. “That is why I have given Caroline until the end of this party to engage herself to some man. I cannot abide the thought of hosting her for the season.” He raised a brow. “Especially on limited funds from Charles.”

  So Hurst was not exaggerating when he said the chit had been cut off. “Her dowry remains as it was?”

  Hurst nodded. “But you are still not landed gentry.”

  Rhett shrugged. “Not yet, but I am not opposed to taking an estate. You know this.” He leaned forward. “As I see it, my friend, you have a problem with which I can help.”

  Hurst shook his head. He wished to see Caroline out the door and into someone else’s home, but he was confident she would not be easily convinced to accept anything less than a gentleman in possession of money and an estate. She was desperate to leave her ties to trade behind. “I do not see her even entertaining the thought.”

  Rhett’s smile grew. “That does not need to be a hindrance. If you wished to make a deal with a chap who was being difficult, how would you go about it?”

  The question was met by a short burst of laughter. “I would remove all other options.” Hurst tipped his head and looked at his friend. Rhett was not a weak-willed man. He might do very well for Caroline. “You would take on such a surly wife?”

  “I would, though I would do my best to help her return to the lady she was before she set her cap at Darcy.” Rhett settled back into this chair and unbuttoned his waistcoat. “Now, tell me what she has done to push an amiable man like Charles to the point of cutting her off, and I shall devise a plan to secure her as the wife I desire.”

  Chapter 2

  Caroline sighed and ran a finger along the top of the small round table that stood near the window as she crossed from her bed to the window seat. Her room was beautiful even if it was not spacious. The shades of blue were calming. She pulled her feet up under her skirts as she settled onto the cushions of the window seat in such a way that she could see a portion of the garden which lay just beyond the corner of the house.

  Burton Hall, Mr. Hadaway’s estate, was not without merit. The gardens were pleasing, and the house itself was large enough to comfortably hold the dozen or so young gentlemen and ladies as well as the chaperones who were in attendance at the party. Every room that Caroline had seen was decorated in a tasteful, if slightly older, fashion. It was not Pemberley, but being mistress of Burton Hall would not be without some prestige.

  She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees, while she considered the unmarried owner of Burton Hall. Mr. Hadaway was perhaps a touch on the older side of acceptable being just past five and thirty, and he was not exactly the most handsome or fit gentleman she had ever met. He could only complete one set of dances before becoming winded, and his girth was not so large as to be portly, though it was by no means thin. He was not particularly the sort of gentleman she would be drawn to in a ballroom, but his home was lovely and had been in his family for several generations.

  She straightened as the door opened and her sister entered.

  “You are allowed to see me?” Caroline’s tone was bitter. “I am surprised our husband has not banned you from doing so.”

  “Why ever should Hurst do such a thing?” Louisa crossed the room and joined Caroline on the window seat. “I have come with a list of names and qualifications.” She sighed. “I know how much you wished to marry Mr. Darcy, but since that is not to be, we must find you the next best thing.”

  Caroline expelled a rush of air. “I suppose you are correct.” She took the list
of names from her sister. “Which of these gentleman should I choose?”

  “Oh, there are a couple who are quite eligible,” Louisa answered, “but one must not rush things. There is still the season.”

  Caroline laughed bitterly. “No, there is not. Your husband has given me until the end of this party to find a husband.”

  Louisa blinked. “Hurst has done what?”

  Caroline’s smile was tight. “Apparently, your husband feels my little disparagements of our brother and the Misses Bennets to be highly disagreeable.”

  Louisa bit her lip. “They were rather harsh.”

  Caroline rolled her eyes. Louisa had never had the stomach to be as fully a part of the devious world of matchmaking and husband-snaring of the ton as Caroline had been. It was fortunate that Louisa had found a good match so easily.

  “It is no more than one might hear whispered about Almacks,” Caroline argued. “Everyone knows it is not true — or at least not completely true.” She shrugged. “It was merely a discouragement to Captain Harris.” It had been more than that, of course. Caroline had wanted Jane and Elizabeth Bennet to be looked upon with reproach. It was what simple country girls deserved for attempting to reach so high as Pemberley.

  “I am not convinced it was necessary to malign our own brother in such a salacious fashion,” scolded Louisa, “and I should think, Mr. Darcy, with his aversion to all things disreputable, will find he needs very little reason to cut you from his sphere of friends. Charles had already laid the groundwork for such a thing before we visited Pemberley on our way here. And you know as well as I that one cut from Mr. Darcy in any of the ballrooms in London will surely limit your acceptability, and we must remember that our parents were not of the ton.”

  Caroline knew what her sister was saying was true. The Bingley name only carried any weight within polite society due to their connection with Mr. Darcy. That was a fact she should have, perhaps, considered more carefully before extracting her revenge on her brother and the Bennets. However, it did rankle to have to admit one’s sister was correct.

  “I will admit you may be right. Mr. Darcy can be very high and mighty.”

  Louisa raised a brow. “You spoke poorly of the woman who will be his wife.”

  “Not that she should be,” muttered Caroline.

  Louisa blew out a breath. “My dear sister, I know you will not listen, but I am going to say it anyway. The heart will want what the heart wants and often without consideration for wealth and standing. I was fortunate to find a man of a proper position that also engaged my heart, and I engaged his.”

  “You know Aunt has always said I should marry well to lift our family from its roots,” Caroline returned.

  Louisa pursed her lips as if she wished to say more but dared not.

  Caroline smiled sweetly at her sister. “I should not wish to disappoint Aunt,” Caroline said with a bat of her lashes. “Now, tell me which of these men I should consider first.”

  She ran her finger down the list stopping at the name of the intriguing man she had met in the hall outside the library. “What do you know of Mr. Rhett?”

  “Oh, he is very handsome,” said Louisa with a small giggle. “Dark hair, blue eyes, wide shoulders.” She sighed. “And he is pleasant if a bit sharp and intense at times. I have met him, you see, on several occasions as he is friends with Hurst. However, he does not have an estate, although he does have a nice home in London and is much like our brother in having been left a great deal of money. Do you not remember him?”

  Caroline shook her head. He looked so familiar. Surely, she should be able to remember a gentleman as handsome as Mr. Rhett.

  “His money comes from manufacturing much like our father’s, and a portion, at least, of his relations reside in Manchester. That is where you first met him. I say, the boy was smitten with you. He attempted to dance with you when you were just fifteen, and Aunt had allowed us to attend a gathering at,” she paused and tapped her lip. “Oh, I cannot remember her name, but she had the worst taste in design I ever saw.”

  “Mrs. Taggart?”

  “Yes! That is it exactly! Aunt would not have allowed us to attend except the lady had a relation somewhere along the line that was a cousin or some such to an earl, and she wished for us to practice our dancing so that we would be ready for the all-important season in London.”

  “I remember that soiree, but I do not remember Mr. Rhett.”

  Louisa laughed. “Oh, he looked nothing as he does now, that is for certain. A bit awkward and gangly, but his smile was pleasant.”

  “And I did not dance with him?”

  Louisa shook her head. “No. He was from manufacturing, and Aunt would have scolded you most severely.”

  Caroline remembered her aunt’s scolding. It was loud and long and oft repeated. One was not allowed to forget an offense. It was why Caroline had learned quickly to shun all but the best in society. Her own kind was to be left behind, for Caroline and Louisa were destined for something better than being a tradesman’s wife.

  “He also sought you out during your first season, near the end, after I was betrothed to Hurst. and Charles had introduced us to Darcy.”

  “He did?”

  Louisa lifted a brow. “You gave him a cut, dear sister. Do you not remember? I whispered to you about a gentleman who kept looking at you and who was approaching. You inquired who he was, and I said a friend of Hurst. You asked his situation. I told you of his fortune from trade, and you turned from him as he approached and walked away?”

  “That was him?” Caroline had not given the gentleman more than a passing glance. Features were of little significance when fortune was not what it should be. However, after having met the gentleman earlier, she was not altogether certain features did not require greater consideration. Perhaps if he were to purchase an estate, then he would be a true gentleman, not of long standing, but enough of one to not disappoint her aunt.

  “Does he intend to purchase an estate?” Caroline asked. While a more established gentleman might be a better option, Caroline could not deny that the idea of choosing her own home rather than moving into one that she might not like so well or might be in the entirely wrong part of the country did not have its advantages. She would likely be able to guarantee that it was close to town, which would be preferable. Country life was so dull unless one was hosting a gathering.

  “That I do not know,” Louisa said. “He came into his fortune four years ago, so he has had ample time to secure an estate and yet has not. I think he prefers the activity of London, and when the summer comes, he often travels to the sea though I do not know exactly where.”

  Caroline considered that for a few moments. The idea that Mr. Rhett preferred town was a mark in his favour. However, he still lacked the all-important quality of an estate. She shrugged. “He must have an estate or at the very least be interested in obtaining one, which it sounds as if he is not.” With a pang of disappointment, she mentally crossed Mr. Rhett off her list

  “He may be interested once he finds a wife. Men often become more serious once they begin considering wives and heirs and all that.” Louisa smiled. “I should not discount him entirely. He is Hurst’s friend so we would be often together.”

  Caroline nodded. “Very well, I shall keep him at the bottom of the list.” It would be pleasant to travel in the same circle of intimate acquaintances as her sister. “Now, who should be at the top? Mr. Hadaway?”

  Louisa wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “No, your children would not be pretty, and his mother,” she rolled her eyes, “so demanding! I have heard tell that she has run off three prospective candidates already.” Louisa shook her head again. “No. I would not wish to visit you if she were your mother-in-law. You know how I do not like disagreeable women.”

  It was true. Louisa disliked disagreement of any sort. It was a quality that Caroline had used to her advantage many times over the years. “But Burton Hall…”

  “No,” Louisa interrupted. �
��This estate is not worth that sort of unpleasantness. Now, Mr. Pritchard has an excellent estate south of London, which had been in his family for several generations.” She screwed up her face as she thought. “I believe it is within a day and a half’s drive of town. So, it is not so very far that travel is difficult, especially with his fine carriage and horses. He has exquisite taste, and no mother to be a bother. He also has a home in Mayfair and, well, he is very easy to admire.” She waggled her brows. “There are not many finer figures here, save for, perhaps, Mr. Rhett.”

  And so the conversation continued, down the list, gentleman by gentleman, until all six men had been evaluated.

  Caroline studied the list for a moment longer after her sister had finished. That name Franklin Rhett stood out, but with a sigh, she ignored it and said instead, “Mr. Pritchard shall have to do.”

  “He will be in demand,” Louisa cautioned. “And Hurst is already displeased with you, so you will need to tread carefully. Your usual tactics will not work.”

  Caroline smiled brightly. “You forget, dear sister, that I am capable of being delightfully pleasant.”

  Louisa did not look convinced but said nothing. Instead, she rose and opened the wardrobe. “Which shall you wear this evening?”

  Caroline tilted her head to one side and then the other. “The green one. It is very flattering.” No matter what Hurst might have said.

  “A good choice,” said Louisa, pulling it out and then ringing the bell to have the maid come to help Caroline get ready.

  ~*~*~

  Rhett pulled at his sleeves and stretched his lips around in a circle preparing for the hours of smiling that were to begin with this short gathering before dinner and carry on until the matrons had decided their charges had displayed their accomplishments and batted their lashes enough for one evening. He shook his head. Finding a wife with whom one could share a happy life in such a sea of insincerity was — he sighed — impossible, really. Honesty and directness were much more favorable to such pretense.