“How long did I sleep? Please accept my profuse apologies!”
“Not above half an hour,” Miss Prentice said with an arched brow.
“Half an hour? It cannot be. I remember hearing your words only a few moments ago. Why did you not wake me at once? And with a sturdier kick than simply a toe?”
“Oh, come now, Lord Momford. I am not insulted. It was nothing. I was able to read for some time, and so realized my original intention of reading during the picnic.”
Her smile, bright and mischievous, caught at Tobias’s heart and his breath.
He withdrew his watch from the pocket of his waistcoat.
“I must return you to the house. Your mother will wonder what has become of you.”
“I do not think she will worry unduly, but the time does grow late. We are committed to the Carringtons’ tonight, and mother insisted that I attend. She has promised me no more dinners or dances this month.”
“Aunt Mimi and I are at the Carringtons’ dance tonight as well,” Tobias said, inordinately pleased at the information. “Perhaps you will save a dance for me?”
“Dance? Me?” Miss Prentice’s cheeks glowed a rosy color. “Oh, dear, you must know I do not like to dance.”
“If we are to thwart Aunt Mimi’s attempts to match us, we should make the attempt, do you not think?”
Miss Prentice sighed heavily. “It would be better if I could beg off,” she said. “I am such a clumsy dancer.”
Tobias drew in a sharp breath.
“No!” He lowered his voice. “No, do not beg off, Miss Prentice, not on my account. If you do not wish to dance, I shall not insist. However, I cannot imagine that you are a clumsy dancer. I see nothing in your movements to suggest other than grace and lightness.”
Miss Prentice looked up quickly and blinked. Her mouth softened for a moment before she pressed her lips together.
“We should go,” she said. She bent to gather plates, returning them to the hamper. She spoke without looking up. “I will attend the dance tonight.”
Tobias leapt to assist in cleaning up, and they were on their way in short order. On their return journey, he kept the conversation light, not something he did with ease. Like Miss Prentice, he often found himself at a loss for conversation in social gatherings. But between the pair of them, they managed an agreeable conversation regarding the fine summer day, books they enjoyed and their common relative, Aunt Mimi.
Tobias handed Miss Prentice down at her house and saw her inside, bowing and declining a cup of tea upon Lady Hayes’s invitation. He drove away, feeling light of heart and anticipating the coming evening.
Chapter 6
Cora followed her mother and stepfather into the Carringtons’ that evening, clutching the skirts of a dress she had never before worn. Her mother had purchased it in London the prior year and had presented it to Cora upon her return to the country, but Cora had thought it too elaborate for anything less than a London ball—not something to which she would ever consent to attend.
The dress, a shimmering peach confection with a delicate lace overskirt and long sleeves, floated as she walked, and she felt quite, quite lovely. Her mother had ordered one of the maids to fetch several peach roses from the garden, and Mother herself had inserted them into Cora’s hair.
“You look beautiful, my dear, simply beautiful.” Her mother’s unusually effusive words touched Cora, and she had blushed, her cheeks every bit as colorful as the dress.
“I behaved churlishly when you gave me the dress last year, Mother, and I apologize. It is the dress which is beautiful.” Together, they gazed at Cora’s reflection in the mirror.
“The dress is lovely, my dear, but you have a glow about you that I have not seen since you were a child. Perhaps the drive in the country was beneficial to your spirits and health. I will not tease you about it, as I have long wished to see such color return to your face.”
Cora could not hold back a smile.
“Perhaps, Mother.”
Now, Cora curtsied before Lord and Lady Carrington and accepted Lady Carrington’s compliments on her appearance.
When her parents stopped to speak to acquaintances, Cora moved away to search the rooms for Lord Momford, knowing she would soon easily discover him, as he was sure to be one of the tallest men in the room.
She spied him neither in the supper room nor the ballroom, and she wondered if Aunt Mimi and Lord Momford had not yet arrived. She found a settee and seated herself to watch the dancing while she awaited their arrival.
To her surprise, a young gentleman presented himself to her and bowed. She knew him as the son of a neighboring house but had never exchanged above two words with him. A handsome young man often away in London, according to her mother, George Stevenson had paid her no particular attention in the past, nor she him.
“May I have the pleasure of this dance?” he asked as he bowed low. His dark hair and blue eyes reminded her of Lord Momford but somehow lacked luster and softness.
“No, thank you. I am not dancing at present,” she replied.
“A pity. Another time perhaps,” he said. He bowed again and moved away, and Cora eased the grip in her interlaced gloved fingers.
She continued to study the room, only to have her view blocked by yet another pair of male trousers.
“May I beg the honor of the next dance?” another young man asked as he bowed before her. Redheaded with green eyes, she knew him to be yet another young gentleman from a neighboring estate, and one who had also never bothered with her before.
“No, thank you. I am not dancing at present,” she repeated.
“Alas, a great loss,” he said before bowing and moving away.
And so the night went on, such that after the fifth gentleman solicited her hand in a dance, Cora rose to her feet to find seclusion. She wandered the halls but could find no private area in which she could await the arrival of Lord Momford, and so she decided to escape into the gardens at the rear of the house.
Lord Momford would not find her there, but Cora could think of no other place to retreat. She did not know the Carringtons’ home well enough to know the location of the library, much less hide in it.
She paced the garden, softly lit by torches, for some time, eventually taking a seat on a bench. In repose, she had no recourse but to dwell upon the fact that Lord Momford was most likely not attending the dance that evening.
Cora sighed heavily. She had no idea what kept him from the dance. Perhaps he had given in to his preferences and avoided the gathering as she herself had contemplated. If so, it had not been nice to insist that she dance when he himself had no intention of doing so.
And yet, Aunt Mimi would have attended, would she not? Even in Lord Momford’s absence? Aunt Mimi always enjoyed outings and never missed a dance or a dinner.
Cora’s shoulders slumped. Had Lord Momford simply toyed with her affections?
She drew in a sharp breath. Affections? Had she truly spoken that word? With reference to Lord Momford?
If truth were told, Lord Momford was indeed the perfect sort of husband for her. He enjoyed reading and eschewed social gatherings, and he seemed to be a kindred spirit. Only his handsome bearing surpassed his charm.
While she had just that morning determined he would make some young miss a worthy husband, Cora had no notion that she must have been referring to herself. For so long had she spurned the thought of marriage, she could not have imagined meeting a man who made her heart flutter.
Although Lord Momford’s suggestion—that she and he behave as if they were, in fact, interested in each other in order to moderate Aunt Mimi’s enthusiastic matchmaking efforts—had at first seemed suspect, she had consented to such. Perhaps, even then, she had come to regard Lord Momford in a favorable light and wished to continue the charade in order to spend more time in his company.
But it seemed as if she were alone in her infatuation, and she had only herself to blame for that. Lord Momford had stated unequivocally that he
did not wish to ever marry, and she had been forewarned.
Cora wondered if dear Aunt Mimi would be pleased to know that she had been at least partially successful in her matchmaking efforts.
Cora sighed heavily and longed for a book to pass the time and distract her from her thoughts.
“Cora, my dear, there you are.” Her mother’s voice came out of the darkness. Cora leapt to her feet.
“I am just taking in some air, Mother. I will return to the dance.”
“A messenger arrived from Lord Momford. Your aunt Mimi has taken ill, and he requests your presence at once!”
Cora gasped and hurried back into the house with her mother.
“What does he say ails her?” she said breathlessly as her mother urged her to the front door and into their carriage. Lord Hayes kissed his wife on the cheek.
“Have a care, my dear. If it is infectious, please do not stay,” he said.
“No, of course not, my dear.”
Her mother turned to Cora in the carriage.
“I do not know. I hope that it is not infectious, or I cannot allow you to stay.”
Cora’s heart pounded in her breast.
“Nonsense, Mother. Aunt Mimi is my godmother. No matter what ails her, I shall be at her side.”
“Foolish girl,” her mother said, but her tone implied no criticism.
They arrived at Aunt Mimi’s house within the hour, and Lord Momford ran out to help them down from the carriage.
“Lady Hayes, Miss Prentice. Thank you for coming. Aunt Mimi has asked after you, Miss Prentice. Have no fear. There is no risk of infection. The doctor says it is her heart and that she has been too busy. She must rest.”
“No!” Cora cried out as she hurried into the house. “Is she in danger, Lord Momford?”
“Not at this time,” he said, “but only if she remains calm. She asked to see you so often that I thought it best for her condition if you could visit. I do apologize for the late hour and for failing to appear at the Carringtons’ fete.”
Cora heard his words, but her attention was on her aunt. She and her mother followed Lord Momford up the stairs to her aunt’s bedroom. Aunt Mimi’s housekeeper, sitting in a chair at her bedside, rose swiftly. Cora greeted her with a silent nod.
Her godmother, propped up on pillows and appearing to be asleep, looked frail and wan. Cora’s heart seemed to fall to her stomach. She turned a worried look upon Lord Momford.
“The doctor said she will recover this time,” he whispered. He moved to settle a second chair by the bed. Cora took the seat nearest her godmother, and her mother settled into the second chair.
“Would you like some tea?” Lord Momford asked in a hushed voice.
“Yes, that would be lovely,” Lady Hayes responded.
The housekeeper left without a word, and Cora reached for her godmother’s hand, hoping not to awaken her with her own cold one.
But Aunt Mimi must have already been awake. She opened her eyes.
“Cora, my dear! How lovely of you to visit!”
“We came as soon as Lord Momford sent word, Aunt Mimi. How do you feel?”
“As well as can be expected, my dear. The doctor says I have been reckless and foolish in not resting as I should during the day.”
“Then you must, Aunt Mimi. You gave us all quite a scare,” Cora said. She looked over her godmother’s bed toward Lord Momford, who had pulled up another chair for himself.
“Yes, I know. I do so hate to sleep during the day though.” She squeezed Cora’s hand. “But my dear, you look absolutely resplendent! What a beautiful gown!”
Cora blushed, avoiding Lord Momford’s eyes.
“Thank you, Aunt Mimi. Mama bought this for me last year while she was in London. I had not worn it until tonight.”
Cora tried to keep her eyes on her godmother, but something compelled her to look across the bed. Lord Momford gazed at her with a softened expression. He did not look away but continued to watch her with an intensity that made her weak.
“Yes, the Carringtons’ event. I was so sorry to have missed it. Oddly, just when I prepared to coax Tobias into attending yet one more gala with me, he presented himself with alacrity, and dressed most handsomely, I must say. I was never so surprised. However, I grew terribly short of breath as I dressed, and Tobias sent for the doctor.
“I am so sorry to have taken you away from the dance, my dears. I do remember asking for you, and Tobias insisted on sending for you. I am such a foolish old woman.”
“Not at all, Aunt Mimi,” Cora said. “It was not the same without you.” Cora’s eyes flew to Lord Momford’s face for a moment.
“Thank you, dear, though I am not sure that it was my absence that was missed.”
Cora blinked but said nothing. Fortunately, the housekeeper arrived with tea at that moment, and Cora accepted a cup. She settled back in her chair and listened as her mother and Aunt Mimi spoke. Another glance at Lord Momford showed that he still watched her, and she could not help but smile. He responded in kind.
“You two seem to be getting on well,” Aunt Mimi said suddenly. Cora drew in a sharp breath and quickly looked away from Lord Momford.
“Yes, of course we are, Aunt Mimi,” he responded in a smooth voice. “We have much in common.” Cora threw him a grateful look. She felt uncharacteristically tongue tied at the moment.
“I think we must leave you to rest, Aunt Mimi,” her mother said, setting down her cup of tea. “Cora will visit you again tomorrow if that is acceptable to the doctor?” She looked toward Lord Momford.
“Yes, she is allowed out of bed tomorrow but must promise to rest several times a day.”
“Silly doctor,” Aunt Mimi said with a smile.
Cora set down her cup and bent to give her godmother a kiss on the cheek.
“Rest, Aunt Mimi. Please take care of yourself. I cannot lose you,” she whispered.
“Nonsense, child,” Aunt Mimi said. “I am not going anywhere until I see you properly married.”
Cora’s face flamed, and her eyes flew to Lord Momford’s once again. He smiled widely, and she could not help but respond.
He escorted them downstairs and into their waiting carriage.
“Tomorrow then. I shall send a carriage for you at noon. Perhaps you could join us for luncheon?”
“I have a previous engagement and will not be able to visit tomorrow, but I am sure that Cora would enjoy having luncheon with her godmother.”
Cora nodded.
“Yes, tomorrow. Thank you for sending word to us, Lord Momford,” she said.
“Thank you for coming,” he said. He stood back from the carriage and bowed. As they pulled away, Cora leaned out the window to watch him return to the house, but he remained where he was, staring after them. She raised a hand in farewell, and he responded with a wave of his own.
“Well, my dear, I am happy to see that your godmother will recover,” her mother said as Cora withdrew from the window.
“As am I, Mama. As am I.”
“And I think Lord Momford is well on his way to falling in love with you,” she said.
Chapter 7
Tobias arose early the next morning, hastening to his aunt’s room to see how she fared. To his surprise, he found her dressed and sipping tea.
“You cannot have had much sleep, Aunt Mimi,” he said, “to be up and dressed at this early hour. I am certain the doctor meant you should rest in the afternoon in addition to a full night’s sleep.”
“Yes, I know, dear. But I am awake, and I feel much better. I am ready for a hearty breakfast.”
Tobias smiled. “Then let us go downstairs and urge the cook to feed us a hearty breakfast.”
He helped her up and escorted her down the stairs.
“You are in fine spirits this morning, Tobias,” she said as he settled her in a chair in the breakfast room.
“Am I?” he asked. Incongruously disposed to hum, he instead cleared his throat and took a chair to her right.
&
nbsp; “Yes, indeed,” she said. “There is a sparkle in your blue eyes, a lightness to your step.”
“I had not noticed, Aunt. Perhaps I am happy to see you well, after our scare of last evening.”
“Yes, of course, that must be it.”
The butler and footman came in and served breakfast. Tobias ate with a hearty appetite.
“Do not forget that you promised to send a carriage for Cora so she may join us at luncheon,” Aunt Mimi said.
Tobias felt the smile spread across his face, and he lifted his napkin to his mouth.
“No, of course not. As I am at my leisure today, I believe I shall accompany the carriage.”
Aunt Mimi’s expression of pleasure broadened, and Tobias supposed she would tease him.
“That would be very kind of you,” she said. She returned her attention to her plate.
Tobias wondered at her restraint. It was not like Aunt Mimi to withhold comment on most things, and certainly not something that had seemed near and dear to her heart of late—matchmaking.
“Aunt Mimi, are you certain you feel quite well? You are not yourself.”
She looked up.
“Yes, dear, I feel quite well, as if last night had never happened. In what way am I not myself?” She picked up her cup of tea and eyed him over the rim of her cup.
“Well, I cannot say for certain. It is just that you seem...restrained.”
She lowered her cup and stared at him in apparent confusion.
“Restrained, my dear? Whatever can you mean?”
Tobias cleared his throat. He should have left well enough alone.
“That is to say, you seem...” Tobias could not find the appropriate words. He took a deep breath.
“When I suggested I accompany the carriage to collect Miss Prentice, you said little. I must say that I expected you to tease me a bit.”
“Tease you, my dear? Because you are behaving like a gentleman? I cannot imagine doing such a thing.” She set her cup down and applied herself to her food again.
Tobias stared at her.
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