Manor for Sale, Baron Included: A Victorian Romance (A Romance of Rank Book 1)

by Esther Hatch

  “There is nothing to do now that it is so cold outside.”

  “You may still go outside. Take a scarf and a blanket for your lap.”

  “I know I can go outside. I have already today, but I can’t stay out as long as I used to. Besides, Mr. Ashton doesn’t like to say it, but I can see that this cold weather hurts his joints. We have to keep our boxing lessons short.”

  If Mama heard her two daughters talk about boxing lessons, she would have a conniption. Yet the types of lessons she would encourage for them, like embroidery or watercolors, never seemed to make Victoria smile.

  Sally was sure to get an earful about Victoria’s freckles, though. Victoria wouldn’t box with her bonnet on, and Sally wouldn’t stop her for such a silly reason.

  “We could redo some of the papers in your wing.” The fish papers were worse on the wall than they ever had been in her sample book. It had only been a few months since they were put on, but Victoria might be getting tired of them even sooner than Sally had expected.

  She could hope, at least.

  “We only just papered everything there, and it is just how I like it.”

  “Well, what do you propose we do?”

  “Most families with estates still spend their winters in London.”

  “You want to go back to London?”

  “It would be different now, wouldn't it? You would be there, and you wouldn’t be working all the time. Perhaps we could go to the theater or watch a real boxing match.”

  “Victoria.” Sally gave Victoria her sternest look. “I am more indulgent than Mama, but never assume that means I don’t know what is appropriate or not. You are not allowed anywhere near a boxing match. It isn’t just I that would keep you away. No one would let you anywhere near it. Women simply aren’t permitted to watch them.”

  “Most women also don’t own businesses, but you did that.”

  “That is very different from a boxing match. What we do with Mr. Ashton is simply instruction. A real match will be full of blood, blackened eyes, and a ruined reputation if you were to be seen at one.”

  “We could dress up as men and see one. No one would know.”

  “You want us to don breeches and face moustaches and show up at a match and hope no one notices?”

  “You don’t think that would work?”

  Sally tried to picture her delicate sister dressed as a man. She definitely should not don a mustache if she tried. If anything she might be able to pass herself off as a boy, but not a man. “You are far too pretty to be mistaken for a man. We would be caught immediately. And can you imagine Mama’s reaction?”

  Victoria scrunched her face together in distaste. “All right.”

  If Victoria actually tried to go to a boxing match, Mama wouldn't allow Victoria and Sally to live together anymore. Being kept prisoner in one’s room was more acceptable than being seen where one shouldn’t be.

  “But I suppose a musicale or two wouldn’t hurt.”

  Victoria straightened. “Do you mean it?”

  “Of course. It’s about time we visited with Mama anyway.”

  Victoria pushed her chair over to Sally, grabbed her arm and hugged it. “Thank you.”

  “I must confess, I didn’t think you would be so excited to return to London. You do like it here.”

  “I love it here. Thank you for making such a wonderful home for us. But I am ready for a bit of entertainment. It has been rather dull ever since…”

  Victoria stopped, but Sally knew what she was going to say: since Lord Farnsworth left. It had been two months, and she had yet to hear a word from him. Twice a goose had landed in the pond and swam about and both times, for an instant, she had thought perhaps it was a man swimming there. But it was only a goose. Of course. He had no reason to return. He came once in ten years, and it could well be another ten years before he came back again, if ever.

  She had contacted his solicitor, just once, to ask where she should send a box of things she had discovered in the attic. He had told her to send them to his office and he would see to it that Lord Farnsworth received them. And that is exactly what she had done. As close as he had been while he was here, she didn’t have the address of his London home.

  It was a good reminder that she hardly knew Lord Farnsworth. It was easy to romanticize a man when he wasn’t around to prove her wrong. She and Lord Farnsworth wouldn’t have suited each other as husband and wife. They were so very different.

  But it wasn’t as if marrying Lord Farnsworth was an option. After all, she had told him no, and that was that. A woman only got one chance at a proposal. Men were proud things that wouldn’t stoop to asking twice.

  Which was why it was good she had made the correct decision.

  Lord Farnsworth may not have grown up spoiled in the ways she had assumed, but he still was incompetent with money, and that was a flaw she wasn’t willing to forgive, not when her grandfather had worked so hard, rising from almost nothing to build wealth. She couldn’t turn that wealth over to a man who would squander it on things of no use. It might seem to Lord Farnsworth that she had unlimited resources, but after buying and renovating the manor, most of the remaining money had gone to Victoria’s dowry.

  What had he thought more important than keeping his mother’s manor? His clothing was impeccable, but surely he didn’t spend enough money on clothing to bankrupt all of his estates. Sally closed her book. It wasn’t as if she were reading. “I’ll go speak to Mrs. Hiddleson about preparations to leave.”

  Victoria smiled. “Thank you. It will be nice to be back in London. Perhaps we will see some familiar faces.”

  Sally groaned. Mama hadn’t exactly taken Victoria along on social visits. The only person of note that Victoria knew was Lord Farnsworth.

  “I doubt we will see him. Don’t get your hopes up.”

  “Who?” Victoria’s eyes were wide with innocence.

  Sally simply shook her head. She had never met Lord Farnsworth when she was in London previously, and there was no reason she would meet with him now. After all, their only socializing would be for Victoria’s benefit. It wasn’t as though Sally would be participating in the balls and soirees of the Season.

  Chapter 21

  Sally had not counted on her mother’s meddling ways.

  “I’ll not have you visiting London during the Season and not attend at least three balls.”

  “Mama, we didn’t come for the Season. We came to see you.”

  “And you have seen me. Now you must show me your ball gowns from last year. We shall see if we can make them over while we wait for more to be made.”

  That was how Sally ended up at the Harwoods' ball with Mama, wearing the same dress she had worn when Mr. Harrison had proposed. It was the only one Mama had deemed suitable and still fashionable.

  With her arm in Mama’s, Sally scanned the ballroom. Please, let Mr. Harrison not be at this ball. Thank the heavens she hadn’t told her mother of Mr. Harrison’s proposal. If she had, she would still be engaged, or perhaps even married by now.

  Mr. Harrison would be a baron someday, and there was no chance Mama would have let that opportunity pass her by. By the same reasoning, she would have made Sally marry Lord Farnsworth as well, but Victoria was the only one who knew about that proposal.

  Mama was scanning the ballroom, no doubt looking for her friends. She grabbed Sally’s arm and propelled her to one corner of the room, where a group of three matrons stood speaking rapidly to each other.

  Oh, that she had somewhere else to be.

  The crowd parted to her right and Mama froze. Sally turned. Mr. Harrison was here with his two closest friends, Lord Chatterton and Mr. Bowen, but he had left the two of them behind and was quickly approaching Sally.

  “Mama, come, we must visit with your friends.” Sally pulled her mother’s arm in the direction they had been heading, but she didn’t budge. Instead, a smile the size of the bow on the front of her gaudy dress bloomed on her face.

  Merciful
heavens, Mama knew. “Mr. Harrison,” she said. “What a surprise to see you here this evening.”

  Mr. Harrison raised his thick eyebrows and gave her a dashing grin. “A surprise, indeed. And you have brought your lovely daughter this evening. A pleasure, Miss Duncan.” Mr. Harrison gave her a low bow, much deeper than the eldest son of a baron should have given the daughter of a merchant.

  Oh, but he was charming. And he knew it.

  “Mr. Harrison.” Sally gave him a short curtsy. She would not say it was nice to see him. It was not nice to see him. She had hoped to never see him again.

  “I would be honored if you would dance the supper set with me? Unless that dance is already taken.”

  The only way to refuse was to say that she was not dancing this evening. Mama would be furious, but really...the supper dance? Not only would she have to dance with him, she would have to endure him at supper as well. She opened her mouth to refuse him. She had come to the ball, but it didn’t mean she had to dance. But Mama was faster. “Sally has not yet been asked. She would be pleased to dance with you.”

  Mr. Harrison nodded, his smile jumping back and forth between the two women. Sally ground her teeth together. Had he told Mama of their past? He was the one who had asked to keep their engagement a secret. He was the one who had postponed telling anyone. He was the one who had hoped to have Victoria settled in a home somewhere before the wedding.

  He had no right to tell Mama. Especially now that there was no engagement.

  Sally gave him the slightest of nods. At least the supper dance was still hours away. She would put it out of her mind for the moment. She pulled her mother in the direction of her friends, suddenly anxious to hear all of the London gossip she had missed while in Dorset.

  “How can you accept a dance for me?” Sally hissed once they were out of earshot. “I do not want to dance with Mr. Harrison.”

  “You would go the whole evening without a single dance, simply to deny one man the pleasure of dancing with you?”

  “If it is that man, then yes, I would.”

  “What do you have against him? He has visited me twice while you were gone, and I believe he has a sincere interest in you.”

  So she didn’t know everything about Sally’s past relationship with Mr. Harrison. That was a mercy, but there was no way to answer Mama. Sally had thought him to be all that was amiable and good in a man. She had known he was attracted to her money, but she had put that thought aside, for she was also attracted to him for some of his worldly capabilities.

  If she told her mother the reason she had cried off their engagement, Mama would have Victoria put in a home immediately. The last thing Sally wanted was for her to believe that Victoria was a stumbling block to Sally’s marriage.

  “I will dance with him tonight, but you must stop visiting with him. I have no interest in him.”

  “No interest in him?” Mama stepped away from her so that she could look Sally up and down. “The man will be a baron. Your father was a merchant, your grandfather as well. How could you not be interested in him?”

  “Titles don’t hold the power they used to. Soon it will be the merchants who hold the power in London.”

  “And do you have any wealthy merchants asking you to dance this evening? Show me a few and I might be persuaded to look at someone besides Mr. Harrison.”

  “Mama, I didn’t come to London to be married off. I am happy living in Dorset with Victoria, and I will not marry until we are both well and settled there. I would ask you to kindly stop trying to partner me to any young man of importance.”

  Mama’s head darted up and a false smile sprung to her lips. They were only a few feet from her friends, and it wouldn't do for the two of them to be seen arguing.

  Sally spent the next twenty minutes hearing everything that had happened in London since she had been gone, and by everything, she meant everything scandalous. When one of her mother’s friends introduced her son to Sally, she was quite relieved to have the chance to leave the group, even if it meant dancing with a man who smiled at her a bit too brightly.

  Sally shoved down her pride and smiled back at him. She shouldn’t ruin Mr. Brook’s evening simply because hers had already been spoiled. When the music of a Schottische started and her feet found the familiar rhythms, she relaxed and allowed herself to remember how much she liked to dance. Her life in the country had come with much exercise in the form of long walks, but other than boxing, nothing had gotten her heart beating like dancing did.

  Mr. Brook’s eyes were bright by the time the set was over, and her eyes were probably shining as well. He thanked her happily and led her back to her mother.

  After that, she never had another break from dancing. By the time the supper set came around, her feet were starting to ache. If she were at home in Greenwood Manor, she would already be abed. Here, the night was still young. After supper there would be even more dancing and entertainment.

  She wiggled her toes inside her dancing slippers, hoping to relieve some of the pain, just as Mr. Harrison came to claim his dance. Mama handed her off happily.

  The first dance in the set was a polka quadrille. She wasn’t sure she had the energy, but they were already halfway across the floor before she could speak.

  “I am feeling quite—”

  “Fatigued. I am certain you are; I haven’t seen you without a partner all evening.”

  “You have been watching me all evening?”

  “You are hard to miss in that stunning gown.” Please, oh please don’t remember which gown this was. “I find it hard to believe it a coincidence that you would wear that gown tonight. Did you do it intentionally?”

  “That depends on what you mean. Did I intend to wear the gown my mother claimed was my only suitable gown? Then, yes, I suppose I did do it intentionally.”

  “But that purpose had nothing to do with me?”

  “How could it, when I had no idea you would be here tonight?”

  “But you may have hoped.”

  “I hoped for nothing.” They took their position with three other couples. Sally didn’t greet them right away, as she needed to make certain Mr. Harrison understood her meaning. “My position has not changed since the last time we spoke.”

  Mr. Harrison was more polite than she, for he gave each of the other couples a courteous bow before turning back to her. His gaze bored into hers and he laid a hand on top of the one she had laced through his arm. “Have you not considered that perhaps my position has?”

  Sally furrowed her eyebrows. What could he mean by that? Was he referring to his position on Victoria or his feeling about producing heirs? Did it matter? He had already shown his true desires for what he wanted. She wouldn’t accept him now simply because he couldn't get what he wanted unless he bent to her wishes. The music started and she hastily turned to the other couples without bothering to truly look at them. She curtsied to the couple at her right, and then the couple across from her. She never made it to the couple to her left, for when she looked up from her hasty bend, her gaze locked on familiar, deep brown eyes.

  Lord Farnsworth.

  Lord Pond-Swimming Perfect-Dress-Giving Pugilist Farnsworth was dancing this polka quadrille with her and Mr. Harrison, and his eyes were so dark they almost appeared black. He was not happy to see her. Not one whit.

  Thankfully the couples on either side started off the dance, for there was no possibility she could have stayed on beat to the polka while knowing Lord Farnsworth was dancing only a few feet from her. The other two couples frolicked about to the bouncing tune while Sally and Mr. Harrison looked forward. Mr. Harrison smiled stupidly while Lord Farnsworth's partner, a petite young lady, grinned back at him.

  Lord Farnsworth and Sally simply stared. There was not even a hint of a smile on his face. At times his eyes would shift to Mr. Harrison, but for the most part they stayed steady on her. How could she have been grateful to not lead out the dance first? Moving around the room would be so much better than having to
simply stand there and look at Lord Farnsworth.

  He looked the same, only...smarter? His hair was meticulously styled and his clothing tailored to perfection, as always. He held himself stiffly in a way he had never been stiff at Greenwood Manor. But he was also, somehow, achingly beautiful—like a marble statue that one was forbidden to touch. In the months she had spent away from him, he had become more fiction than fact, a fantasy that had happened so long ago she wasn’t certain it had happened at all.

  But he was standing in front of her now, and the line between his eyebrows was a testament to the fact that Lord Farnsworth had indeed proposed marriage to her, and she had haughtily refused him.

  And then denied him entrance to her library.

  The dancing couples returned to the start position and Mr. Harrison’s hand tightened about her own. Obviously unaware of the turmoil raging between her and Lord Farnsworth, Mr. Harrison led her forward. Lord Farnsworth and his partner jaunted forward as well, until Lord Farnsworth was only inches away from her.

  They all spun around and for a few sweet seconds, Sally looked outward, away from any of the couples in their set. The moment was short-lived, however, for Mr. Harrison’s hand landed on her waist and he pulled her close to him as he spun her about. She tried to pull back her shoulders, but she couldn’t dance and pull away from him, so she simply let him lead her in the way he wanted. Her eyes slid to Lord Farnsworth again. He was holding his partner at the waist, but kept a respectable distance between them. His gaze was dark, but at least for once he wasn’t looking at her.

  They returned to their original positions only for a moment and then she and Mr. Harrison bounced forward. Sally put her hand out and Lord Farnsworth grabbed it. She was expecting his grasp to be soft and noncommittal, but instead it was firm and warm, even through their gloves.

  For a few brief turns she danced with Lord Farnsworth’s hand in hers. The ballroom around them seemed to fade and she was back to their boxing lesson, where their steps were different, but the circles around each other were the same. Lord Farnsworth had been smiling then. He hadn’t looked like a man ready to pummel someone. If she weren’t so focused on Lord Farnsworth’s hand in her own, she might have laughed at the contrast. Who frowned when dancing and laughed when boxing?