“Miss Hurst,” the Major called, “I was making my way to meet Mr. Bryce and came upon this lovely party. Do tell me you plan to bring them to the assemblies tomorrow evening?”
“I hadn’t thought of it,” I answered truthfully.
Rosalynn grinned as I approached them. “Oh Freya, it could be such fun.”
Her husband, on the other hand, merely looked indulging.
“I am not certain the entire party shares your enthusiasm, Rosie, but I am open to the idea.”
“Capital!” Major Heybourne said, his grin spreading. “Positively capital. I shall see you all tomorrow night. Farewell!”
He took himself off.
“Shall we find ourselves some frogs?” Lord Cameron asked, amused.
“The boys may need some of your expertise,” I said.
“Very well, let us go.”
Chapter 27
Mrs. Covey duly impressed my guests with dinner preceding the ball at the assembly room in Linshire. She must have heard about her elevated guests and did her utmost to deliver a meal fit for the aristocracy.
Upon hearing our plans, Daniel informed us about the dress code, graciously less severe than that found in Bath or at Almack’s in London, undoubtedly due to Major Heybourne’s role as Master of Ceremonies. He was, in essence, a relaxed man, finding joy in all things. Furthermore, it was evident in the company he kept that Major Heybourne was an understanding individual, not at all high in the instep.
We loaded into two carriages and I had the misfortune of sitting opposite Daniel, Mrs. Overton on the forward-facing seat beside me. Conversation was sparse, Mrs. Overton inquiring on my friends and the origin of our relationships.
“I have known them both since we were girls at school. Their husbands I met during our first Season in London. It was quite some time ago, but I beg you will not ask how long for I would prefer not to own up to it.” I accompanied my words with a self-deprecating smile.
Mrs. Overton smiled, her fatigue concealed in the fading light. “You are fortunate in your friends. They are lovely.”
“Indeed, I am,” I agreed.
“Your friends are fortunate as well,” Daniel said, his low voice sending a shiver up my spine. It was the first time he had directly spoken to me since returning from London.
I stared at him, lost for words. He watched me back with his mouth firmly closed, his face a work of stone I could not decipher, try as I might.
The carriage pulled up to the front door of the assembly hall. Music and laughter poured through the candlelit windows, the dancing already well underway.
The carriage door swung open and Daniel hopped out, turning to hand out Mrs. Overton. He faced me and my hand slid into his, our gazes locking as warmth spread up my arm. I felt a chill the moment he released me. Mrs. Overton walked on ahead of us and Daniel held out his arm to escort me inside.
“May I reserve the first waltz?” he asked, his voice so low I wondered if I’d heard him correctly.
I nodded, afraid that speaking aloud might break the spell.
The second carriage pulled up behind ours and I could see Elsie and Rosalynn exiting as I walked into the building. I caught Mrs. Heybourne’s eye as I stepped through the door and at once felt something was wrong, for she did not return my smile, but instead shifted her gaze uneasily away.
Major Heybourne greeted us at the door, a strained cheerfulness about his face. “Welcome, how glad I am that you could make it,” he said, his voice betraying his lie.
Daniel froze behind me. He must have sensed something was off. My gaze flitted from face to face as I tried to make sense of the discomfort I felt, aware of my friends and their husbands coming through the door to stand behind me.
I caught Miss Chappelle’s calculating eye and knew immediately what was wrong. My secret was out.
Dread filled my body as the blood drained from my face. I felt faint at once and turned to go, but Daniel gripped my arm, refusing to let me leave.
“Let me go,” I whispered.
“Do not let them win.”
I looked at him, my eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
He smiled at me as though nothing was different. “I believe our waltz is beginning.”
“Daniel, no, you cannot know—”
“Yes, I do,” he countered. “Now dance with me.”
He swept me into his arms and I allowed him to pull me into the center of the dance floor.
Spectators created a circle around us, fans fluttering, eyes narrowed in judgment. I caught Mrs. Bennington’s self-satisfied smirk and turned my face away, ashamed.
Elsie drew Lord Cameron onto the dance floor to join our set, and Rosalynn joined with Lord McGregor. Our party danced a few measures longer before Major Heybourne pulled his wife onto the dance floor, much to the obvious dismay of his mother-in-law.
Mrs. Heybourne refused to meet my eye in passing, but I appreciated the show of support.
Mrs. Wheeler was last, her partner a very tall, blonde, Mr. Bowen—I was not entirely sure which one.
The rest of the occupants in the room remained firmly on the outskirts, observing. They had convicted me already.
“Thank you,” I said. I looked into Daniel’s eyes and nearly faltered at the intense heat emanating from them. He held me securely, not allowing a single misstep before the many scrutinizing faces.
“You needn’t thank me.”
I clamped my mouth shut. He was likely acting the gentleman, but there was no mistaking his words. He knew. He handed me away and I joined the women in the center of the set before the dance took me back to Daniel.
“How did you find out?” I asked, embarrassment warming my cheeks.
“It was not difficult. When I went to London there was quite a bit of talk about a Miss Hurst. It was not so difficult to connect the French Miss Hurst to you.”
I nodded. I should have assumed he would hear, but it had not occurred to me, so caught up as I was in deciding whether or not I loved him.
The song came to a blessed end and Daniel grabbed my hand amidst my curtsey, dragging me from the room. He pulled me outside, in clear view of the windows of the assembly. I could see a cotillion forming, my friends doing their part to join in the dance.
“Was that the cause?”
“Pardon?” I asked, unsure of his meaning.
He glanced at the windows, then back to me, dragging a hand over his face. “You told me we could never be. Was it because of your father?”
“Is that not a valid reason? Daniel, I am illegitimate. Marrying you would bring shame to our marriage and our household. You saw how quickly the people in there were willing to cut me. With my stigma attached to your name, you would never sell another horse.”
“Blast the horses! You think I care more about horses than I do about you?”
A memory flashed in my mind of Daniel asking Miss Chappelle to ride out with him so he could see her horse, forgetting about me.
“I don’t,” he said. “I love you, Freya. I have loved you for some time now. I do not care about your father’s poor choices or what anyone else thinks of us. Confound them all!”
“It is so easy for you to say that. You have not had to live through such a scandal. Friends one week cut me the next. I am reliving a nightmare.” I pointed toward the assembly hall. My eyes began to smart and I blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the tears before they came.
“You only saw the judgmental, flighty onlookers. Did you notice those who stood in your support?”
I was struck by his words, my mind replaying the few who stood up to waltz despite the rumors.
His voice lowered and he stepped closer. “You are not alone. You will never be alone.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks, warm and slow. My lips curved into a heartbroken smile. “Daniel, the trials are only just beginning.”
“Then begin them with me.”
He stepped closer, his gaze falling to my lips. My heart banged against my chest as his hand slid
around my waist, the other moving to cup my jaw. He descended on my lips, lightly pressing his own to mine, until my chest burst.
Time and space became obsolete while Daniel kissed me, and comfort settled over my body like a warm blanket.
I was suddenly pulled from the euphoria by a woman screeching.
“Daniel Bryce, what do you think you are doing?” she shrieked.
He pulled away abruptly, spinning toward the woman on the street, regally standing before a crest-emblazoned carriage. Lady Melbourne.
“I am getting engaged,” he said, unamused. “If she’ll have me.” He did not take his eyes from the older woman when he said, “Freya, allow me to introduce my aunt.”
Chapter 28
I was nearly positive my jaw had dropped to the cobbled street below me. I glanced at the illuminated windows of the assembly hall lined with shocked faces. How long had they been observing us? My cheeks burned and I turned my back to them, though what I faced in the street was not much better.
Lady Melbourne fumed, her wrinkled face pinched with anger. “Get in this carriage immediately,” she demanded.
I stepped forward to comply when Daniel shot out his hand to halt me. I don’t know what I had been thinking, but she was so compelling I felt the need to obey.
“I will not go through this again, Aunt. I am not interested.”
“It matters not what interests you,” she said, her voice dripping with derision. “You will soon become an earl whether you want to or not. Now come with me before the whole of this pathetic little town knows all of our business.”
Daniel fumed with equal intensity, the muscle in his jaw jumping as he clenched his teeth. “How many times must we go over this? I am not interested.”
I did not know the details of their dispute, but I did agree that the middle of the street in Linshire was not the proper place to discuss it.
I didn’t notice when Mrs. Overton joined us on the street, but she came to stand beside me, a calm, solid force in the face of such blatant animosity. “Shall we return to Corden Hall and discuss this in private?” she asked.
“That is what I have been trying to accomplish,” Lady Melbourne huffed.
Daniel looked at me as though asking permission. “Of course,” I said.
“I will inform your guests,” Mrs. Overton said, turning back toward the assembly hall.
Daniel faced me. “We will deal with her and send her on her way. I am sorry.”
“It appears as though I was not the only one holding onto a secret,” I said.
He regarded me closely. “No, you were not.”
The Nichols and McGregors chose to remain at the ball, giving Daniel and his aunts the space they needed to work through their disagreement. I rode home in my carriage with Mrs. Overton and a very quiet Daniel. When we pulled into the drive I asked, “Would you like us to make ourselves scarce or do you prefer support?”
He considered my question, then shook his head. “I don’t know. Selfishly, I would ask you to come with me. But I would rather shield you from her wrath.”
“I will not leave you, Daniel,” Mrs. Overton said. “She does not frighten me.”
He took a deep breath. “I refuse to be connected to them. They disowned my father the moment he married my mother and I will not become their plaything. They wanted nothing to do with me when I was born; I want nothing to do with them now.”
As the details clicked into place, I tried to cover my surprise. Daniel was Lord Melbourne’s heir. “But wait, I thought Sophie was engaged to Lord Melbourne’s heir.”
Daniel paused. “Married,” he corrected. “The wedding occurred only last week.”
I was so confused by the tangle of people and relationships I did not know what to think. Clearly, Sophie Hurst had not married my Daniel.
“She married James Bryce,” he said. “He is the next in line for the earldom after me. I don’t know the direct relation, but he is a cousin of mine of some sort. I have been avoiding my aunt and uncle for years now and James led them to believe I was dead. Lady Melbourne hunted me down when she received word I was in London last week. Evidently, she has followed me here.”
He was next in line to become an earl and didn’t seem to care in the least. The man truly was a marvel. “I will do whatever you need me to do,” I said.
Daniel nodded, then left the carriage, helping me and Mrs. Overton onto the gravel drive before walking into the house.
Lady Melbourne was already seated in the drawing room, comfortably set up as though Corden Hall was her home and we, the visitors. We hovered at the entrance of the drawing room doorway, allowing Daniel to take the lead.
“I will make you a deal,” he said, coming to stand before Lady Melbourne, fearless and strong.
“I’m listening,” she said, wary.
“I am not going to come with you now, so you may cease your attempts to convince me to move to the Abbey. I am recently engaged to marry and would prefer to enjoy my wedding free of manipulations and bribery. Leave us be, and I promise you when it becomes necessary, I will discuss the situation with my wife and approach you with our answer.”
He had yet to actually propose, of course, but that was a minor detail. Hearing the words caused my heart to skip a beat, regardless. If I was understanding him correctly, he was telling his aunt he was not entirely closed to the idea of coming to her and Lord Melbourne, but that she needed to give him time to decide.
She seemed to sense the same change I did. She studied his face, her small, bleak eyes narrowing. “That is not good enough for me,” she finally said. “I will not have the Bryce name dragged through the mud by any connection to her.”
Her eyes shifted to me and I felt the sting of them from across the room.
Daniel tensed visibly. “You have no right to dictate any aspect of my life.”
“As matron of this family—”
“You lost any claim to call me family when you turned away my parents and refused to take me on at their death.”
She straightened in her chair. “Had I known then that I was barren and you would become the next in line, of course I would have taken you in and reared you up properly.”
Daniel scoffed in disgust. “You are welcome to stay here for the night, if my mistress is not opposed, but I bid you will take your leave at first light. You’ve received what I am willing to offer. Take it or leave it; the choice is yours.”
Daniel turned and walked from the room, brushing past Mrs. Overton and me before escaping to his office down the hall.
Lady Melbourne stood, derision dripping from her face. She speared me with a look. “Well, I never,” she muttered, passing me. She shouted at Harrison in the foyer and I flinched when the front door slammed behind her. I was grateful she chose to leave right away. That, I could not deny.
“You should go to him,” Mrs. Overton said.
“I am sure he needs a moment alone.”
She turned for the stairs. “I am going to sleep.” Pausing on the step, her hand resting on the bannister, she looked at me one more time. “Go to him,” she said.
I watched her leave. The last few hours had brought a swift storm of emotions. I didn’t have time to properly process any of it, and I was sure Daniel needed time as well. But my human needs won out and I found my feet carrying me toward his study.
I knocked lightly, opening the door after a moment of quiet. Daniel sat in a chair in front of the fire. I recognized the chair he sat in from my last visit to the office, but it had previously been sitting in front of his desk. He must have dragged it before the fire at an earlier time, for now the hearth was cold.
“Daniel?” I asked, unsure of myself.
“I am sorry,” he said, the words muffled from his hands holding his face.
I crossed the room, placing my hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at me and my heart broke and soared simultaneously. I felt an overwhelming surge of emotion and could not help the tears that formed as a result.
; He was on his feet immediately, pulling me into his arms. “Do not cry,” he said softly.
“I cannot help it,” I whispered back. “I am so happy, yet so terrified at the same time.”
I could feel the chuckle reverberating from his chest. He pulled back and looked at me. “Can we make an agreement right now?”
“I suppose that depends on what it is.”
Smiling, he pulled me toward him again. “Can we please get married?”
“Oh, Daniel, I thought you would never ask.”
He pulled me closer, kissing me softly. When he backed away he smiled, his dimple making a delicious appearance.
“What are you going to do about the earldom?” I asked, a little concerned. I had not signed up to become a countess. I was not sure I was even up for the job.
“I am not going to worry about it until I need to.”
“But I was under the impression Lord Melbourne is nearing the end of his life.”
Daniel shook his head. “The tyrant could live another ten years for all I know, or care. I am not going to bother myself with any of it until it’s staring me right in the face. And like I told that woman, when the time comes to make a decision about where we shall live, we will decide together.”
I nodded, but I already knew where I stood on the matter. This was an issue that had affected Daniel and his parents for the entirety of his life, and part of theirs. It was not my decision to make. I already planned on supporting him in whatever path he chose.
I had written off my father and his new family and did not regret my decision. If Daniel was willing to stand by me throughout the peril that awaited and the scandal that Miss Chappelle had recently opened within the parish, then I was going to do the same for him, no matter what.
“I suppose I can move back into the house soon,” he said facetiously.
Love For The Spinster (Women 0f Worth Book 2) Page 19
