by S. G. Rogers
“I…what does that have to do with me?”
“Do you not understand? Your chances to make a good marriage have been materially damaged by your intimate association with him.” Aunt Letty said.
A protest spilled from Jillian’s lips, but her aunt held up her hand to check it.
“The fact remains—you and he spent the night alone together.”
“Not by choice!”
“However innocent you both may be, the situation is scandalous by anyone’s reckoning.”
“No one need know,” Jillian said, a note of desperation in her voice. “I will not relate these matters to anyone and I feel certain Mr. Logan will keep my confidence!”
Aunt Letty shook her head and sighed. “Servants talk, Jillian, and even a hint of scandal will ruin your prospects. Let us hope William can reach an accord with Mr. Logan on your behalf.”
“Let me be frank, Mr. Logan. Your failure to marry my niece may result in her downfall.”
Logan stared at Sir William, aghast. “What? This is absurd!”
“I appeal to your sense as a gentleman, first and foremost. I can also assure you that it is a shrewd financial move on your part, since Jillian is the heiress to a large fortune.”
“This is no reflection on Miss Roring, but I have forsworn marriage entirely!”
“Oh come now, sir. You cannot be more than five and twenty years old.”
“I’m four and twenty this past March.”
“At that age, whatever you feel at present will pass. Good heavens, man! Have you no eyes in your head? Jillian is a beautiful girl, very accomplished, and quite amiable. Your marriage to her will be seen as a coup by society.”
“I care nothing for society!”
Sir William gave him a shrewd glance.
“I understand you once valued the opinion of Miss Sophia Watkins. The best revenge for a broken engagement is to marry well, Mr. Logan.”
Logan flinched. “Revenge is beneath me, sir.”
“Be that as it may.”
While they were alone, Aunt Letty told Jillian everything she’d heard about Logan’s broken engagement.
“How sad. He must still be in love with her, I think,” Jillian replied. She gazed at Logan’s portrait. “It is impossible for me to understand how anyone would jilt the man.”
A smile lifted the corners of Aunt Letty’s mouth.
“You esteem him.”
“Of course I esteem him! Who would not? He is quite gentlemanly.”
“And handsome.”
“Yes. He is the most handsome man ever seen.”
“Idunn Court is comfortable and gracious too.”
“I’ve rarely seen a more beautiful home, I grant you.”
“Then as soon as William and Mr. Logan agree on the settlement, we shall plan a wedding.”
Before Jillian could reply, her uncle and Logan reappeared. Although Logan appeared sober and withdrawn, Sir William’s visage was wreathed with smiles.
“We are all in agreement,” he said. He bestowed a kiss on Jillian’s forehead. “Let me be the first to congratulate you on your engagement.”
Jillian gasped and pulled herself up to her full height, ignoring the searing pain that followed.
“We are not in agreement, Uncle. I refuse to enter into an engagement with a man in love with someone else!”
“Have you lost your mind?” Aunt Letty exclaimed. “Love has nothing to do with marriage, on the whole.”
“I…I have no objection, Miss Roring,” Logan said.
Jillian gave him a searching look. “Forgive me, sir. Your offer is honorable, but motivated by obligation. I aspire to enter into more than an unobjectionable union.”
“If these events between you and Mr. Logan become known, Jillian, this may be the only offer of marriage you will ever receive,” Sir William said.
“So be it,” Jillian said. “I will not marry unless the man has a true and abiding affection for me and I for him in return. My mind is made up on the matter and I won’t discuss it further.”
Aunt Letty’s shrewd gaze moved from Logan to Jillian and back again.
“There’s no other course open to us. My niece will return with me to London, and we shall all of us behave as if none of this ever happened. We will deny any acquaintance with you, Mr. Logan, and you with us. As for me, I shall lean upon my connections to ensure Jillian is married before this unfortunate event becomes public knowledge. I have every confidence she will make the match of the Season, if we play our cards right.”
Aunt Letty rose from the sofa and gave Logan a regal nod. “Thank you, Mr. Logan, for your assistance to Jillian. We shall count on your discretion.”
“You can be assured of my silence.”
Sir William sighed and shook Logan’s hand. “You are a gentleman, sir.”
“Come along, Jillian, we’ve a train to catch,” Aunt Letty said.
The woman sailed from the room, followed by her elder brother. Jillian took a step toward Logan.
“I am completely mortified, Mr. Logan,” she murmured. “Know that I would not have chosen to discomfit you in this manner.”
She curtsied and moved toward the door, trying desperately not to limp. In the doorway, she paused to glance back at Logan. As their eyes met, she gave him a tremulous smile. He bowed in return.
“Have a safe journey, Miss Roring. You’ll need something to read on the train. Please allow me to give you my copy of Great Expectations.”
Jillian paused a moment, then shook her head. “I thank you, sir, but I already know how it ends.”
As she hastened to catch up to her aunt and uncle, she gulped back tears.
I shall never see him again.
The carriage took Jillian, Sir William, and Aunt Letty from Idunn Court to the train station in short order. After he ordered the driver to take the empty carriage back to his home in Gloucester, Sir William bought three tickets to Paddington Station.
“You’re to come with us to town then?” Jillian asked.
“I’m going to make absolutely certain there’s no more trouble…as I ought to have done in the first place.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Uncle. Nobody could have anticipated this,” Jillian said.
“It’s more my fault than my brother’s,” Aunt Letty said. “I should have insisted you stay with me in London after your presentation at court. Then we would have avoided this whole episode.”
“If I ever get my hands around Sam Netherby’s ungrateful neck, I’ll wring it,” Sir William said. “The maid was working with him, most certainly.”
“That can’t be true!” Jillian cried. “Betsy was fond of me.”
“She was more fond of Sam, I’m afraid.”
“What?”
“Oh, yes.” Sir William nodded his head vigorously. “After I spoke with your aunt on the telephone earlier today, I asked a few discreet questions around the household. I discovered Betsy was sneaking out after hours to meet the scoundrel.”
“My word! Do servant girls have no morality these days?” Aunt Letty exclaimed.
“If Betsy is implicated, so is her brother George,” Sir William said.
Disappointment and shock washed over Jillian, but she was forced to admit her uncle’s logic was sound.
“Perhaps you are right. After all, I never did see any blood. George might have been feigning injury. We must inform Constable Bridges. He’s the one doing the investigation.”
“You’ll do no such thing, William,” Aunt Letty said. “You must pay a visit to this constable and ask him to drop the investigation. Tell him we will not press charges.”
“These thieves cannot be allowed to escape justice, Letty!” Sir William exclaimed.
“Is justice for petty criminals more important than Jillian’s future? The fewer questions asked, the better.”
After his guests had departed, Logan lingered in the library. He brought his book over to Jillian’s chair and sat in front of the fire. When his attention wan
dered from the text, he put aside his book and paced the room instead. The events of the last two days had unfolded quite strangely. Miss Roring’s romantic notions had fortunately saved him from an inconvenient marriage. Relief should be flowing through his veins…and yet he felt restless instead.
The unsettled feeling persisted through his solitary dinner of roast chicken, carrots, cucumber salad, and savory biscuits. As he drank a glass of port in his study afterward, his thoughts turned reluctantly to Miss Sophia Watkins.
Sophia.
The name had been as sweet as wine on his tongue nearly a year ago. Although the general opinion painted him as a rake, he did not deserve the label. He had the misfortune to be cornered by young, breathless debutantes attempting to secure him. He’d not stolen their kisses as much as they were pressed upon him. Then, when he chose not to deepen those fleeting acquaintances, he’d been accused of being a scoundrel. The accusations hadn’t bothered him overmuch since he enjoyed being a bachelor. Then Sophia came along and changed everything.
For months he’d pursued her, and she’d warmed to his overtures. His proposal of marriage had been accepted for two glorious weeks. When the engagement was broken, London society ate up the scandal with extra delight. With nothing better to fill the void, his misery had furnished more than enough gossip to last the entire Season. Disgusted, he’d closed up his townhouse on Belgrave Square and left London, vowing never to marry.
With a frown, Logan poured himself another glass of port.
Despite that vow, however, he’d agreed to marry Miss Jillian Roring. Why? Had he done so to exact revenge on Sophia, as Sir William had suggested? No, the very idea was abhorrent. Jillian had brought out his protective instinct from the moment he saw her struggling with her kidnapper. Logan would have shot the man if he hadn’t been afraid of hurting her in the process. Her shocked expression as she sat in the mud had been priceless. He chuckled at the recollection, but when he remembered kneeling at her feet earlier that afternoon, devastated by the knowledge he’d been the cause of her tears, his smile faded. The accidental touch of her hand had made him hunger for more. Oh, if only he’d met Jillian last Season, how different his life would be! He had not known her long, but he could tell she was not the sort of girl who would toy with his affections.
Blast it. I miss her already.
Chapter Five
Friends and Acquaintances
SIR WILLIAM, JILLIAN, AND AUNT LETTY debarked the train at Paddington station and hired a Hansom cab to convey them to Aunt Letty’s townhouse. Having brought no items of clothing with her, Jillian borrowed a nightdress from her aunt. The following morning, she was obliged to don one of her aunt’s gowns. Although it was made of the finest materials, the dress was far too short in the hem and too loose in the waist.
After breakfast, Sir William summoned a cab to take him to the train station. He promised to stop in Cirencester on the way home, to dissuade Constable Bridges from pursuing his investigation.
“Good-bye, Letty. Good-bye, Jillian. May you successfully excite dozens of well-heeled, handsome gentleman to propose,” he said.
She giggled. “One will do, if he truly cared for me. Can’t you stay awhile? Papa will be in town the first week of May.”
“You are quite welcome to stay, Brother,” Aunt Letty said. “We could use a male opinion on Jillian’s new wardrobe.”
“Thank you, no.” He shuddered. “Discussions of satin, tulle, and lace make me itch. I would only be in the way. Send me the bills and I shall participate by making sure they are paid promptly.”
After Sir William had departed. Jillian turned to her aunt.
“What shall we do today? I should love to go sight-seeing.”
“That will have to wait. First, we must build you a brand new wardrobe from scratch.”
Jillian stifled a giggle. “How dreadful.”
Aunt Letty’s usual reserve gave way to a smile.
“All right, my girl, perhaps there are worse things than shopping for clothes, but you’re not fit to be seen in public in a borrowed dress. Not only that, but you need time for your limp to improve. We don’t want anyone thinking you were born with a clubfoot. What’s worse, we have the engagements to attend within the month. Tempus fugit!” She headed for the telephone. “It’s a good thing I have connections.”
In his shirtsleeves, Logan leaned over the pool table with his cue and banked a shot off the rail. Although he sank the ball he sighed. Mrs. Lyman appeared in the doorway of the game room.
“Excuse me, sir, but Mr. Hawkins has come to call.”
The news lightened Logan’s mood.
“Show him in please.”
Mr. Andrews Hawkins entered the room moments later with a broad smile on his handsome face. He and Logan exchanged a hearty handshake.
“Hello, Hawkins!”
“Hello, Logan! I nearly fell off my horse when I heard you’d come back to Idunn Court. I’ve missed your company.”
“And I yours. You look well.”
“As do you, except you seem a trifle thin.”
Logan handed his friend a pool cue. “Not as slender as your hopes of winning at billiards. Are you up for a game or two?”
“Ha!” Hawkins set down the cue long enough to shrug off his cutaway. “You must be feeling better if you’re in the mood for a trouncing.”
The two men spent a pleasant morning in a lighthearted competition to best one another at pool. When the score was even, however, Hawkins lay down his cue.
“I’m afraid I must go, Logan. I am preparing to go to town tomorrow for the Season.” He paused. “If you say you’ll travel with me, however, I’ll gladly delay my departure.”
“No, I’m done with all that. I’m a confirmed bachelor now.”
“Come now, Logan. It’s time to get back on the horse, as it were. London won’t be nearly as much fun without you.”
“I’ll think of you often, and wish you much success in evading the Ogleby girls.”
Hawkins slipped into his coat and shook his head, resignedly. “Mrs. Ogleby is quite determined to extract my proposal to one of her daughters, but I am equally determined to withhold it. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t mind seeing Miss Heathrow again, nor Miss Fairley. Logan, it would help me pluck up my courage if you were there to cheer me on.”
“I’ll be there in spirit, I assure you.” Logan shook his friend’s hand in farewell. “It was good seeing you.”
Hawkins studied Logan, perplexed. “Dash it all, I wish you’d change your mind. Give me a ring if you do. I just had a telephone put in, and nobody ever calls me!”
The gentleman left, taking his warmth and good cheer with him. Logan sighed as he re-racked the balls. Mrs. Lyman entered the room.
“Excuse me, sir, but luncheon is served.”
“I’m not hungry, Mrs. Lyman.”
To his surprise, the housekeeper remained where she was.
“Was there something else?” he asked.
“I spoke out of turn yesterday.”
His eyebrows lifted. “About what?”
“Miss Roring. Her relatives are respectable gentlefolk.”
“Yes, they are.”
“I shouldn’t have called her a trollop.”
“No, you shouldn’t have done.”
“I’m sorry, and I thought you ought to know.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Lyman.” He paused. “Have Tom saddle up Tuxano for me, please. I’m going to ride over to the hunting cottage for a few days.”
“That’s what you said last time and you were gone for months.”
“That will be all, Mrs. Lyman.”
The housekeeper refused to budge. “Why don’t you go to town with Mr. Hawkins? He’s a proper gentleman and always good company.”
“You overheard our conversation?”
“There’s not much I don’t hear in this house.” She frowned, arms akimbo. “I won’t let you hide away another three months!”
Logan was taken aback. “Mrs. Lyman
, have you been drinking?”
“For the few hours Miss Roring was here, you seemed your normal self.”
Logan shrugged as he rolled the cue ball back and forth with his fingers. “That’s beside the point.”
“You need the society of young people. Go to town, visit your gentleman’s clubs, and pay a few calls,” Mrs. Lyman said. “Invitations will begin to arrive.”
“Why ever would I want to do that?”
“Because if you don’t, you’ll have no peace from me!”
Logan peered at Mrs. Lyman. “You are quite determined?”
“No peace at all.”
Her presumptuousness would ordinarily have annoyed Logan, but instead he was unaccountably amused. A crooked grin crept onto his face.
“All right. Send some of the staff on ahead to prepare my townhouse, and direct Ian to pack my trunks. I’ll call Hawkins.”
Aunt Letty’s townhouse was a whirlwind of activity. Milliners, seamstresses, and couturiers came and went in a flurry of tape measures, swatches of fabric, ribbons, trims, and finishings. Jillian quickly realized London fashion was so au courant her old wardrobe would have not been up to the task in any case. Under Aunt Letty’s eagle-eyed supervision, she was fitted for dozens of walking dresses, riding costumes, afternoon dresses, tea gowns, evening gowns, dinner gowns, and ball gowns, in such fabrics as silk, satin, moiré, velvet, chiffon, peau de soie, and cashmere. As it was spring, Aunt Letty also ordered a variety of lightweight capes, mantles, coatlets, and Victorines with high fluted collars for nighttime. Undergarments, such as petticoats, chemises, and knickers were given equal attention. Jillian was relieved to find tight laces were no longer required, and she delighted in the newer skeleton corsets trimmed in pretty ribbons and lace.
“But, Aunt, what of hats? We’ve not purchased nearly enough to go with all my new clothes,” Jillian said.
“That’s on purpose. Shopping at most fashionable milliners on Bond and Regent Streets will allow you to mix with titled and powerful ladies. We have yet to shop for accessories or jewelry, either.”
