A few minutes later, they reached the top of the staircase.
She curtsied to Lady Talverne, who took her hand and pressed it. "Melisande, my dear — you look lovely, and those pearls! I want some for myself… Now, here's Pierce — home with us again… and this enchanting child is Lady Burnley — Christobel. I'm sure that you'll become friends… Catherine, you're in fine looks. I’m so pleased you’re here.”
Pierce bowed over Melly's hand, and murmured something she didn't catch. His smile was warm, and polite.
Then she took the hand of Lady Burnley, and Catherine ushered her away.
"Did you see the dress on that child — and the jewels?" Mrs. Eardley asked Catherine as she and Catherine handed their wraps to a waiting footman. "Melisande, give me your wrap, you're in a daze… what's the matter with you?" She took Melly's wrap, and tucked Melly's hand under her elbow. "Come along now, I expect you to dance every dance… Ah, here's Linton."
Mrs. Eardley dipped to Linton, who smiled over her hand. "You're in fine looks tonight, Mrs. E. You're unkind, to be outshining your beautiful daughters like this. Of course, should you wish to marry again…"
"Behave," Mrs. Eardley rapped her fan on his chest flirtatiously. "Linton, I insist that you stand up with Melisande for a dance."
"Of course," Linton took Melly hand in his. His large hand was very warm, as was his smile when he looked down at her. "It will be my pleasure, I assure you."
He kept Melly's hand in his, so he could enter his name on her dance card. "You're a delight to the eyes, Miss Eardley." His gaze drifted from her face, to her feet, then to her face again, and she finally had to pull her hand away.
"Lord Linton," she said softly, hating the way that her face heated when his eyes wandered over her yet again. Then her gaze sharpened on him. He was teasing her, aiming to discomfit her, she was certain.
He smiled at her blandly, then turned to Catherine.
Linton bowed to Catherine. "Mrs. Grove, a delight, as always."
Catherine acknowledged him coolly. She obviously hadn't forgiven Linton for the incident at Rundell, Bridge & Rundell.
He left them, and Catherine caught Melly's wrist to glance at her dance card. "Look, Mother — Linton's taken Melly's first dance, and another dance as well. I don't think that —"
Melly pulled her hand away.
She glanced at her mother, who glared at Catherine. "What nonsense you talk. You've taken a set against Linton — he doesn't mean anything by it. Melly's a child. He's being kind to her and giving her consequence. It's well done of him."
"He's a rake," Catherine whispered, glancing quickly around to make sure that her mother's comments hadn't been overheard. "And I think —"
"I think that you should stop fussing, and let the child be. Look to yourself. I hope you mean to dance, and not sit amongst the chaperones."
"I mean to dance, why should I not?"
"That's the way," her mother said approvingly. She took Melly's hand. "Come along girls, let's see who else has arrived."
Melly looked at her card again. It was true; Linton had entered his name twice. She frowned. She didn't want to dance with Pierce's uncle, she wanted to dance with Pierce.
The announcement
"Miss Eardley — may I?"
Suddenly Linton was in front of her, and Melly had no idea why her heart beat so quickly. She curtsied.
He lifted her to her feet, keeping her hand in his. She glanced around the crowded, brightly lit room to recover her dignity. Her mother and Catherine were directly behind her.
When she glanced up at Linton swiftly, aware of the warmth of his large hand holding her gloved fingers, she saw him smile and bow to the ladies.
"Come," he murmured, his deep voice a low rumble. "I believe that Lady Talverne has an announcement to make, and then Pierce and Christobel will begin the evening's dances. Are you a good dancer, Miss Eardley — or may I call you Mel? I've known you since you were a child, after all."
She placed her hand on his forearm. So Lady Burnley was — who was she? A cousin? She frowned.
"I take it you refuse then?"
"What —"
"Miss Eardley, you're giving me a set down, I believe? Uncharitable of you."
"Stop teasing me." Melly said irritably. "You may call me anything you wish."
When she glared at him, he winked at her. He was incorrigible. She had to stifle a giggle, and suddenly realized that Linton wasn't at all stuffy. He might be a rake, but he was good company.
"That's the way. I like to see you smile, Mel. Ah, here's Lady Talverne, to make her announcement."
Linton had laid his hand over hers. She was very aware of him beside her, and also that she and he were the cause of speculation. No doubt the fashionable London guests were wondering who the country miss with Linton might be, and she stifled a giggle again at the thought that his flirts would be jealous — of her.
Linton's lips were tightly compressed, but his eyes twinkled down at her. "Mel, you're a minx."
"It's just that I never attract this kind of attention." No one ever stared at her at Assembly Room dances, nor at balls at the homes of other county families. "It's you. They're wondering why you're honoring me. I'm deeply thankful for it, of course."
He laughed outright at that. "Somehow I doubt it," he said softly. "Ah, here's Sophia now."
Melly saw Lady Talverne smiling at her guests as she entered the room, and gradually conversations faded away. "What's happening? I can't see."
"Yes, you're quite small…" With that, Linton took her hand and guided her through the crush of guests to the front of the room. He released her hand, and moved behind her.
Pierce and Lady Burnley stood beside Lady Talverne.
Pierce lifted Lady Burnley's gloved hand to his lips, and kissed it.
Melly stared.
"My friends, thank you all for joining us on this happy occasion. I'm very pleased to tell you that dearest Christobel has accepted Pierce… She will be part of our family. Please help us to celebrate their engagement tonight. Pierce?"
Pierce looked down at Lady Burnley, while she looked up at him worshipfully. He kissed her hand again, then looked up. "When I met Christobel, I thought her far above my touch…" She smiled, and he went on: "she's done me the immense honor of agreeing to be my bride. Thank you all celebrating with us."
"Mel — Miss Eardley — are you all right?"
Linton's voice sounded far away to her, and his hands were warm on her shoulders. Melly was aware that Pierce was still speaking, but he'd ceased to make sense.
Then, without being aware of how it happened, Melly found herself outside the crowded heat of the large drawing room, and in the garden, walking with Lord Linton. Somehow he'd maneuvered her through the crowd.
She took a deep breath, and became aware that she was resting heavily on his arm.
Her mind began to function again. Pierce had asked Lady Burnley to marry him. She had accepted. They would marry.
"Here, sit down for a moment." Linton guided her to a garden bench.
She sat.
Inside the house, the musicians struck up, and the first dance began. "We need to return. The dancing," Melly said. Her voice sounded strange to her own ears.
"No one will miss us. Are you all right? Do you need your mother, or Mrs. Grove?"
"No!" She grabbed his arm. "No, I am well. I — the heat overcame me for a moment, I think. I just need a moment, and then we can return. Perhaps — you should leave me, I assure you that I am well."
Linton said nothing. He sat on the bench beside her.
For several long moments, they merely sat. Linton seemed perfectly relaxed.
Slowly, the shock and sense of disorientation faded. She tried to remember what Pierce had said to her, five years ago. Had he mentioned the words? She couldn't be mistaken in what he'd said. Nor in his letters.
He'd said that when he returned from Oxford, and had attained his majority, they would marry. She blinked hard
, then sniffed. She wouldn't weep. She had more pride than that. Her family had been right. She was wrong.
More than anything, she wanted to run away, to return home, so she could think. How could she have been so mistaken? Foolish. She was beyond foolish.
She wouldn't run away. She would brave this out.
"Melly! There you are."
When Melly looked up, Catherine strolled towards her. She saw worry in her sister's face.
"The heat," Linton offered. He stood. "And the excitement too, of course."
"Melly, I'll call for our carriage, and —"
"No, no." Melly rose from the bench, and smiled at her sister. She knew that her smile wasn't convincing. "I am perfectly well. Lord Linton realized I became a little faint, and was most kind. I just needed some fresh air."
"I felt somewhat faint myself in the crush," Linton said wryly. "Sophia will be thrilled that the ball is such a success, even if means the death of one or two unfortunates. Mel, I'll leave you with Mrs. Grove, do remember our dance however — I'll not let you off so easily."
He bowed to them both, and walked back to the house.
Catherine waited until he was out of earshot. She took Melly's hand. "Well then, my dear? Are you destroyed?"
Melly stiffened her backbone. To her own surprise, she managed a laugh. "No, I am not. In fact, I'm becoming a little angry. You were right. You and Mother. Completely right, so please do not say that you told me so."
"Of course not. You should be angry, and I'm angry too. That wretched, thoughtless boy," Catherine shook her head, and grimaced. "I wouldn't blame you if you kicked his shins — or kicked him where it would do the most good, for that matter. Are you sure that you want to go on with this?"
"I've never been more sure of anything. I intend to enjoy myself, and dance with Lord Linton. I also intend to have a word with Lord Talverne."
"Melly, you can't make a scene."
"I won't make a scene, but neither will I allow this to pass. If Pierce thinks that I don't remember his words, I'll make sure that he thinks again." Melly knew that she had to confront Pierce, and she would.
Pierce
Melly expected that maintaining her countenance would be torture, but she was determined that no one would ever know that she'd received a shock.
Nor would anyone ever know that she'd been so deceived in Pierce. She would grieve for her dreams tomorrow. Tonight, with the music, amid the glow of the thousands of candles, and among a crush of the ton, she would pretend gaiety she didn't feel.
She decided that she would dance, and chatter, and laugh.
She did, and to her own surprise, within half an hour she began to enjoy herself. Her dance card was full. She danced with one elegant blade from London, then a captain of Dragoon Guards.
The gallant captain begged another dance, and looked downhearted when he heard that her card was full. "Then I shall watch you dance with others." He begged her direction. He also begged that he be allowed to call on her, because he would be at The Oaks for a week.
"Are you well?" Her mother asked, when the captain returned Melly to her side.
"Quite well, Mother," Melly pressed her mother's hand and smiled. She knew that Catherine was concerned about her too. She'd seen Catherine eye her as she moved up and down the figures of the dance. "I promise you that I am recovered, and mean to enjoy myself."
Her mother frowned at that. "Yes, but my dear —"
Then Melly glimpsed Pierce through the crowd, a few feet away. He was leaving the ballroom, and it was her chance to speak with him. "I will return in a moment."
A few wriggles, and determination, got her through two groups of people, then she was out of the drawing room, and in the long hallway. She glanced up and down, but Pierce had disappeared.
The cellar. The insight came to her in a flash. His mother would have put him in charge of the champagne, which meant that he would need to see the butler when supplies needed replenishing. That worthy would be in his pantry, or in the servants' hall.
The Oaks had always been a second home to her, so she was confident that she would find Pierce.
"Mr. Simmons?" She queried a passing footman for the butler, because he would have the keys to the cellar.
"With the housekeeper, ma'am — I saw him in her room a moment ago."
Melly skipped down the servants' staircase. It had bare boards, and wasn't as well lit as the public stairs. When she entered the hallway which led to the servants' hall, she saw Pierce.
She called him, and he turned, smiling when he recognized her.
"Melly. Well, what do you think? Do you like Christobel? Isn't she —"
"Come with me, Pierce, I wish to speak to you. And not here. In the library."
"No, I need to see —"
"You will speak with me in the library, now." She allowed him to see a hint of temper. "Right now."
"I can't —"
"Pierce, unless you wish me to tell your mother and Lady Christobel about Mary in the village, and her eldest child, and the reason she was married off to the blacksmith in a rush —"
He paled, then his own temper flared. "How dare you?"
"I dare," she assured him. "The library, now." She turned her back on him, and skipped down the staircase.
She'd chosen the library because it was on the lower floor, and most of the guests, being new to the house, would be unaware of it. As she'd expected, although a couple of wall sconces glowed, the large room was dark and unoccupied.
Light streamed in from the many flambeaux in the garden, and the library's garden doors were open, so Melly settled herself on a sofa next to the doors. She wanted to be able to see Pierce's face when she spoke to him. The memory of Mary, from the village, stayed with her.
"Well, what is it?" Pierce sounded sulky. He paused for a moment, probably thinking better of his outrage. "You won't say anything to Christobel about Mary, will you? She mustn't know… about the child."
He pulled a chair away from a table, and sat opposite her. He lounged, trying to appear at his ease.
"Say you'll marry me, Melly — say you will!" She mimicked his voice from long ago, and narrowed her gaze on him.
She'd shocked him, that was plain. He opened his mouth and gaped. "I thought that we were friends, Pierce."
She watched him as he struggled with what she'd said, and if she hadn't been so angry, the looks which flashed across his face might have amused her. Obviously he was discarding excuses, fearing that if he said the wrong thing, Melly would explode, and carry out her threat.
"I trusted you," Melly said.
"You never said that you'd marry me — I asked, yes, I admit that, but you didn't at any point agree. Be fair. Admit that."
"My family knows, you slow top."
"What? Why did you —"
"Why did you write to me so warmly, you dimwitted dolt? Mother read one of your letters, and demanded an explanation of me. So I told her."
"You told your mother."
Melly rolled her eyes. "Stop looking so pale. Do you honestly believe that I would expect that you would marry me, after you'd announced your betrothal to Lady Burnley?"
Pierce rubbed his temples.
She almost laughed when she saw how relieved he looked.
"I'm sorry, Melly — I was thoughtless."
"You were both thoughtless, and unkind," Melly snapped. "But tell me something — and I'd like an honest answer, if you please. I'll know if you're lying, Pierce."
"What?"
"The day before you left for Oxford. If I hadn't stopped you —"
He stared at her, not understanding.
She waited for realization to dawn. It finally did.
"On my word of honor, I would never do such a thing to you. Never, please, Melly, you must believe me!"
Suddenly she felt exhausted. "Go away, Pierce. I told myself that I would speak to you, and now it's done. Leave me."
He hesitated for a moment, sitting forward and staring at her.
<
br /> "Go."
"Melly, I truly am sorry. I just didn't think."
"Go." Melly sat back on the sofa, and closed her eyes. She'd said what she wanted to say, and now she didn't want to look at him. How could she have imagined that Pierce had meant to marry her?
Her pride. She knew that pride was a serious fault. She would need to learn to be more humble. Everyone was right, and she was wrong. She sighed deeply.
"Our dance?"
When Melly opened her eyes, Pierce had gone, and his uncle was looking down at her.
3. The eavesdropper
Lord Linton stood with his hands behind his back. He stared at her. His grey-green eyes gleamed a stormy slate.
She wasn't afraid of him, she told herself — and she was well and truly tired of the two male members of the Ward family. She narrowed her gaze on him, and stood up. "Did you eavesdrop?"
"I did not eavesdrop, Miss Eardley. My groom wanted to see me about one of my horses. On my return from the stables, I took a moment to blow a cloud. Imagine my surprise, when, as I was about to return upstairs, I heard you and my nephew. You were speaking loudly."
"You eavesdropped — what you did was the very definition of eavesdropping!" Embarrassment made Melly cross. Her cheeks burned. She must look as heated as one of the flambeaux in the garden.
"Walk with me." He held out his arm to her.
She didn't want to walk with him. However, when she looked into his eyes, she saw that he wouldn't brook a refusal. She sighed, and put her hand on his arm. He put his warm hand on top, to forestall an escape from what would be a humiliating conversation, no doubt.
Several other couples were strolling in the shrubbery. Flambeaux and lamps lit their way. One plump matron in green satin with large diamonds twinkling her ears and flashing on her throat eyed them with blatant curiosity. Melly knew the lady, she was one of her mother's friends, but couldn't recall her name.
"So," Linton said, a few moments later, his voice barely above a whisper, so that they wouldn't be overheard. "Mary in the village?"
The Lady and the Rake: A Scandalous Arrangement (The Eardleys of Gostwicke Hall Book 1) Page 3
