The Seventh Suitor

by Laura Matthews

  Kate and Susan had waited impatiently through the evening, determined to have the truth from him. Their mother had spent the better part of the day in bed with the headache, and their father had been out inspecting a drainage system, so they had managed to keep the incident to themselves, much as Sampson was obviously bursting to spread the word. The butler was fond of Kate, however, and she had told him kindly but firmly that she would handle the matter herself. He had grunted disapprovingly and cast his eyes heavenward, but had indicated that he would respect her wishes.

  Since Ralph did not arrive at his home until rather late, he found his sisters in his bedroom. “What the devil are you doing here?” he demanded.

  “We want to know what has been happening today,” Susan began, clutching at his coat sleeve.

  “What I do is no affair of yours,” Ralph retorted, shaking off her hand impatiently.

  “I am sure we have not the slightest interest in what you did today,” Kate commented appeasingly. “I wish for an explanation of the five offers of marriage I received during the course of the afternoon.”

  Enlightenment brought only sulky annoyance from her brother. “How should I know why you received five offers?” he rejoined.

  “I am sure you know exactly why I received them. How could you involve yourself in a prank which would embarrass me so, Ralph?”

  “Embarrass you? Why should they embarrass you, for God’s sake? No more than a good joke,” he said gloomily, his blurry eyes suddenly fixed on her.

  “A rather shabby one, dear brother. Perhaps you had forgotten the consequences of the last offer I rejected in this neighborhood,” his sister countered, her eyes forcing him to attend to her.

  Ralph had thought his mortification for the day complete and that his head could not possibly hurt more than it already did, but he was wrong. He threw himself on his bed and groaned miserably. His eyes were shut, as he was unable to face his sister’s penetrating look. Susan, a bit at a loss now, began to remove his dirty riding boots, glancing nervously at her sister from time to time.

  “Rejected the lot of them, didn’t you?” Ralph mumbled.

  “Of course I did, chucklehead. But word of this day’s work could spread throughout the area, and it can only cause me and the rest of the family discomfort. People are not likely to have forgotten about Carl so soon, in spite of the three years since his death. Oh, Ralph, how could you?”

  “Wasn’t my idea!” he blurted. “We went to an inn after the Assembly for some refreshment. The damn Rooms are always so hot and crowded, and there’s not a thing worth drinking there. And it was early!” he exclaimed, as though this justified the whole plot.

  “How did it come about, Ralph?” Kate asked calmly.

  “Well, naturally, some of them began talking of you because you’ve been away so long. There was some talk of Carl’s legacy, too,” he moaned as he remembered, “but that was quickly set aside, as the Earl was there with a . . . companion. Not with us, you understand. Other side of the taproom. I doubt he heard us,” he added unconvincingly.

  The six of them had not been particularly wary of their tongues under the influence of an excellent brandy. “Terence Marsh mentioned something you said. It’s all your own fault,” he complained.

  Kate ignored this to ask, “What did I say to attract his attention? He seemed totally wrapped up in the Karst girl the entire evening. I am not even aware that I spoke to him.”

  “Perhaps not. He overheard you talking to Lady Romsey of your travels with Aunt Eleanor.” Ralph massaged his temples carefully to soothe the aching before continuing. “Terence said you spoke of an event that took place in a country market. Something about a man bringing his wife to market with a rope about her neck and selling her to the highest bidder for five shillings.”

  “Yes, I remember telling Lady Romsey that. I believe she shared my horror at the scene.”

  “Well, Terence said you made some comment on the slavery of women. Then everyone began talking about how any woman your age would gladly accept marriage to anyone rather than remain single. Slavery or no. Most natural thing for a wager to come of it. Wayne Norris objected, but we overruled him. Drew lots of see who came first. Geoff lost. Went quite white, you know, as it would not seem singular to you when the first one offered.”

  “Certainly not. I have been away from home for three years, and it would not seem singular that a young man offer for me the day after my first social appearance,” Kate scoffed. “Addlepate! Could you not have stopped it? You are, after all, my brother, my elder brother, though there are times I find it hard to believe!”

  Stung, Ralph retorted, “I thought it would serve to bring you down a peg or two, my girl. All this traveling and independence are not for women. You have come to think yourself too good for the rest of us!”

  Susan interrupted with, “That is not true, Ralph, and you know it. You’re jealous of Kate for her adventures, that’s all.”

  Kate stepped in to put an end to the bickering between her two siblings. “Never mind. I was unaware that I had been putting on airs about the house. I shall guard against it in future. Shall I call your man for you, Ralph?”

  “Kate, I am truly sorry. Should have put a stop to it,” he said contritely. “I’ll make them keep it mum. Promise you. Send Walker to me, will you?”

  When his sisters had left him to the ministrations of his valet, he vowed, not for the first time, to moderate his consumption of brandy. He did not seem to do his best reasoning when under the influence of the stuff. Sleep overcame him in a muddle of thoughts about his friend Carl, his sisters needing his protection, and the wager he had made for a race with Karst.

  * * * *

  Susan accompanied her sister to Kate’s room, as she refused to be dismissed until she had gotten to the source of this new mystery. “I remember Carl,” she blurted, “but what did he have to do with all this?”

  “Oh, Susan, you were too young at the time to be involved, but I suppose you had best know a bit now.” Kate sighed. “Carl and Ralph were great friends, of course, so you probably saw Carl about the house. It was five years ago, and I was eighteen, as you are now. When Carl offered for me I refused him, for he was like another brother to me, and I could not think of him as a husband. There should have been no more to it than that. But Carl took it badly and said if he could not marry me he would join the forces in the Peninsula, which upset his mother greatly. The Countess was always a delicate woman and could not bear the thought of her youngest in the thick of war.”

  When Kate paused, her sister interjected, “I remember her, too. Such a beautiful woman, but so frail the year before she died.”

  “Yes. I was very fond of her. She tried to urge me to marry Carl, but I simply could not do it. She even sent the Earl to speak with me. He was very fond of his younger brother and in the ordinary course of things would probably have considered me unworthy of Carl. So it went against the grain with him to talk to me, and I found him intolerably rude. You understand, Susan, that none of that should have happened. Mama and Papa were very good; they did not press me. They were flattered that I had been offered for by such a fine young man of such good standing. But they respected my wishes, especially Papa. I know he kept a rein on Mama.”

  Kate distractedly ran a shapely hand through her brown curls, drawing them off her wide brow. Her brown eyes were troubled and sad as she continued. “Carl was seriously wounded in the Peninsula a year or so later, and he died on the way home. His mother’s health declined after that, and she died a year later. She came to see me before I went to stay with Aunt Eleanor, and she was very kind to me. The Earl . . . well, no matter. After Carl died . . . you see, I was fond of Carl as I am of Ralph, but I felt very uncomfortable here afterwards, and Aunt Eleanor asked me to come and live with her. And there I have been until she married again a month past.”

  “But, Kate, how did it come that Carl left you twenty thousand pounds?” Susan asked. “You were not even betrothed to him.” />
  “It was his wish. I would have preferred not to accept it, but his brother forwarded a letter to me at Aunt Eleanor’s that had been found amongst his army belongings which had been separated from him. I could not refuse his dying request, Susan.”

  “Of course not,” Susan replied loyally. “But for Ralph’s stupidity it should all have been over long ago. Now I have no doubt the whole story will be raked up all over again, what with those muttonheads offering for you in such a way, and you refusing them all.”

  “I fear you’re right, my love. But I am older now, and I shall manage, I assure you. And Ralph may be able to keep it quiet. Do not fret for me.” Kate laughed, noting the frown on her sister’s face.

  “Yes, but you would like to marry, would you not? And now you have been made the butt of this joke, I cannot see who will marry you,” Susan sighed, her eyes sparkling with tears of concern.

  Kate hugged her sister and urged her off to bed, saying, “There is not a one in the lot of them I would consider, love. Perhaps I shall come to London with you, after all.”

  Susan did not manage to hide the distress this thought caused her in time to avoid Kate’s sharp eyes. “I am only funning you, Susan,” Kate quickly assured her, and smiled down at the bowed head of honey-blond hair. “I am far too old to share a London season with the likes of you, puss. Now run along. It’s late.”

  Chapter 3

  Kate had the ability to sleep in almost any circumstance and consequently arose feeling rested, if restless. She was an early riser by nature and few of the household stirred as she swept out the massive front door and strode toward the stables for a ride before breakfast.

  When she was galloping across the south pasturage she spied a rider on the bridle path leading from the village. He agitatedly motioned to her, and she reluctantly drew rein. It was Wayne Norris, once again looking flushed and unhappy.

  She laughed as he joined her. “Wayne, I’ve heard the whole and I’m surprised at you.”

  “Please say you’ll forgive me, Kate. I had no wish to participate but m’ brother thought it safest if we both did, should our guardian catch wind of it.”

  “You are forgiven, Wayne, but how you should think he should not hear of it when he was present is beyond me,” Kate replied with gentle mockery.

  “Not precisely present, as you might say. He was rather occupied, you know. He takes very little interest in us unless it’s to come the heavy over some escapade such as this.”

  “Well, I doubt you need fear he will do so this time. I feel sure he’ll consider it quite an appropriate lesson for me.”

  “You mustn’t say so, Kate. No one holds you in anything but fond regard, and it is more than a pity that this particular episode should have occurred,” Wayne protested urgently.

  “Don’t give it another thought. Are you up at Cambridge now?” Kate asked, and proceeded to discuss his academic career as they rode along.

  Kate had spent most of the previous three years in a town boasting a Dissenter Academy and she was capable of maintaining a dialogue with Wayne on the nature of the studies offered and ignored. They parted genially, and it passed through Wayne’s mind fleetingly that he would not be averse to marrying such a woman as Kate Montgomery, jest or no jest. But he realized that she considered him a friend, and a very young one at that, since he was more of an age with her sister. Nonetheless, he rode off relieved that she had forgiven him.

  Kate had no further encounters before she presented herself for breakfast. Her father and mother were at table, and Susan grinned conspiratorially at her. Ralph had not put in an appearance as yet, and Kate suspected that he would not for some hours to come.

  Mr. Montgomery was genuinely pleased to have his daughter home; she was the only one who listened to his discourses on Thomas Coke’s methods of farming with attention and pleasure. He was beginning to fear that Ralph would never take an interest in the property he would one day inherit. At six and twenty Ralph had no more serious thoughts in his head than he had had when he came down from Cambridge some years ago, which was to say, nothing beyond horses, hunting, and gambling. Fortunately, Mr. Montgomery’s son was not always so unlucky at his gaming as he had been the previous day, but he was not always wise enough to know when he had encountered a Captain Sharp, either. Therefore, Mr. Montgomery, finding only one member of his family valued the knowledge he was acquiring and employing in farming, made no effort as some fathers might to stem Kate’s sometimes unfeminine enthusiasms.

  Mrs. Montgomery was quite as pleased as her husband to have Kate home; for although Susan was perhaps her favorite, being the baby of the family, the older woman was fond of her first daughter and relied on her to run the household more capably than she herself. Things went on so much more smoothly when Kate was home, her mother thought, smiling over her toast and tea. Such a dear girl. Though not so young anymore, she realized, and a frown ruffled her brow.

  “Is something the matter, Mama?” Kate asked.

  “No, dear. I was just thinking that you are getting on in years now, and we should be looking out for a husband for you.”

  Susan was shaken by a fit of giggles at this, and Kate threw her a warning glance. “You fear I shall be forever on your hands, dear Mama?” Kate quizzed her.

  “I’m sure you are a great comfort to me, my love, but there is nothing like an establishment of your own. It is a woman’s duty to marry and have a family.”

  “Her duty to whom?” Kate asked quietly before taking another sip of chocolate.

  “Why, to herself, I suppose. Or to . . . well, to fit in with everyone else, you know,” her mother fumbled.

  “As to that, I cannot imagine that anyone else cares a fig whether I marry or not. And for myself, yes, I should like to marry, but not just to be married. I wish you could have seen Aunt Eleanor and Mr. Hall, Mama, for they are so very well-suited and so fond of one another.”

  “No doubt, my love, though why Eleanor should wish to remarry at her age is more than I can understand. Sir John left her well provided for. It must be quite uncomfortable to have to learn all those little things she must do and not do to make her new husband happy.”

  “I cannot think she will mind, dear Mama. Mr. Hall has the most accommodating nature, and I’m sure they will rub on very well together.”

  Mr. Montgomery glanced up from the paper to comment, “I, for one, wish them happy. You say they are to visit us on their return from their trip abroad, Kate?”

  “It’s their intention, though it will be several months, I imagine.”

  The conversation, thus successfully diverted from the subject of marrying Kate off, dwindled to a companionable silence. Susan nudged her sister and grinned. “Shall we walk to the village this morning, Kate?” she asked. “I am in need of some trimming for one of my bonnets.”

  They set out on this expedition shortly after. Kate told her sister of her meeting with Wayne Norris that morning, and Susan wanted to know whether his brother had been with him.

  “No. I think Wayne was coming to apologize, and I doubt that Charles will do so.”

  “If Wayne was so against the scheme, be should not have partaken in it,” Susan remarked scornfully.

  “It appears his brother wanted moral support should their guardian learn of it. Are you still angry with Charles?”

  “I am. He shall learn that he cannot play with my affections,” Susan sniffed.

  “I should shake were I in his boots,” Kate allowed. “Speak of the devil!”

  Striding down the muddy street toward them was Lord Norris himself, making a most determined effort to appear casual and at ease. This was belied, however, by the determined set of his smile and the quirk in his eyebrows. “Kate, Susan, a pleasure to meet you this morning. May I accompany you to your destination?”

  Kate greeted him kindly, but Susan lowered her eyes and refused to speak to him. “I told you she would be annoyed, Charles,” she whispered as she placed her hand on his arm. Susan would have looked
awkward if she had trailed behind them, so she stiffly laid her hand on his other arm and paced reluctantly down the street with them. Kate maintained a conversation with Lord Norris, but her sister refused to respond to his repeated attempts to draw her out.

  In exasperation he finally turned to her and blurted, “It was only a joke, Susan, and your sister has obviously accepted it as such. Why can’t you?”

  “You have not apologized to my sister for your senseless and tasteless joke, sir!” Susan cried.

  Lord Norris was at a stand. He did not wish to apologize, for it would indicate he had been in the wrong, which he well knew. If he did not apologize, his enchanting Susan seemed quite capable of cutting him for good. As he hesitated, Susan became indignant and dashed across the street toward a shop on the other side, directly in the path of an oncoming curricle!

  Lord Norris stood frozen, and Kate, who had stepped away from them to avoid their personal quarrel, swung back at his cry. As she dashed forward she was ruthlessly thrust aside, and her sister was swept out of the way of the now-plunging horses by the Earl of Winterton, who had emerged from a shop behind Kate. He carried Susan to the side of the road and exclaimed, “Now she’s going to faint, drat the girl. Miss Montgomery, see to your sister!” His command was not necessary, but it roared over the considerable commotion in the street, nonetheless. Kate hastened to her sister’s side and began chafing her wrists, while the Earl attempted to quiet the horses still plunging wildly. He addressed himself to Lord Norris, his ward, in no uncertain terms.

  “Help me with these beasts, you slow-top! Think this is a party?”