A Rogue for Emily (Lady Lancaster Garden Society)

by Hemmerling, Catherine

  “Do you still feel that way?”

  Taking a moment, Emily considered the very loaded question. Did she want to know who John really was? She had grown to respect and certainly like the man. But they had exchanged such private thoughts. Would she even be able to look him in the face? On the other hand, he was the only gentleman of her recent acquaintance she actively sought out for conversation. She definitely wanted to know him better. The next step would naturally be to meet, would it not?

  “I would not be opposed to learning who John really is, but aside from asking him outright, there is no way to know, right?”

  Hope tapped her lips thoughtfully. “It seems to me we ought to be able to deduce that. You found the first note in St. James Church cemetery, correct?”

  “Yes,” Emily concurred. “That is our family church, as it is yours and most of our acquaintances.”

  “Exactly! That is my point,” Hope said triumphantly. “The fact your beau left his note there implies he must be of similar status.”

  Emily felt herself flush. “He’s not my beau, Hope.”

  Hope looked at her bemusedly. “I hardly think that is the most important part on which to focus, Em.”

  Blushing even more, Emily nodded. “I see your point, but I thought we had already established that he was of the ton. Go on please.”

  Laughing, Hope continued, “Very well. Let’s consider his eligibility then. You said he mentioned the Carlisle fete in a recent message, yes?”

  “Yes, but he didn’t attend.”

  “That hardly signifies,” Hope replied with a toss of her hand. “The important thing to consider is that he must have received an invitation to said event.”

  Emily took Hope’s point immediately. “Of course! Jane Carlisle!”

  “Precisely! The Carlisles are desperate to find a match for their eldest daughter…”

  “Which is why they keep throwing those abominable little soirees and inviting only the country’s most eligible men,” Emily finished with a flourish.

  “Yes,” Hope agreed. “And they keep showing up. It’s a wonder they haven’t noticed that the only other young ladies invited are the ones who make Jane look almost pretty.”

  “Hope!” Emily admonished with a giggle. “That wasn’t very charitable of you.”

  Hope had the decency to look abashed. “Oh dear. I do believe I have been spending too much time with Sarah.”

  “Now, don’t you blame Sarah,” Emily replied, now laughing in earnest. “She has gotten much better at controlling her tongue.”

  “So she has,” Hope said with a grin. “Fine. The thought was all mine, and I stand behind it. It is frightfully obvious what the Carlisles are doing.”

  “Yes, it is. But more importantly, I believe you have proven that my gentleman writer is very probably not married, but I already knew that from his first letter, remember? Now if we can just determine his age, I might be able to decide what to do next.”

  “Oh?” Hope said with the raise of an eyebrow. “If he is of an age, do you think you might actually arrange a meeting with him?”

  Emily looked at her friend pleadingly. “I honestly don’t know. What should I do?”

  Hope shook her head. “I do not know, either. Frankly, I think we need the other girls’ help. Maybe if we all put our heads together, we could come up with a plan.”

  Including all my friends could help, Emily thought with an inward sigh, but that would mean they would all know how silly she had been behaving. Leaving notes in a public place for a man she didn’t even know.

  Her inner dialogue must have been written all over her face, because Hope put her arm around Emily’s shoulders.

  “Emily, there is no one you can trust more than us. You know that. All we want to do is help. If this truly is the man for you, you know very well that no one will find that out quicker than the Society ladies.”

  Hope made an excellent point. Lady Lancaster’s little spy group was nothing if not expert at ferreting out all sorts of information.

  “You’re right,” Emily said finally. “Let us take our leave. I do believe it is time to share all my secrets.”

  “Very good,” Hope replied, standing up and straightening her dress. “I think that is an excellent decision.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Emily grumbled, as she, too, stood.

  Hope glanced at her askance. “A proper young lady does not mutter under her breath, Emily dear.”

  Emily stuck out her tongue at her friend.

  Hope only laughed as she linked arms with Emily in a friendly conspiratorial way.

  “I love you, too, Emily Moss. I love you, too.”

  And off they went.

  …

  Alexander was taking a leisurely stroll through Mayfair when he heard the sound of girlish laughter somewhere nearby. He was in a particularly good mood that day. The sun was out, and all was right with the world. It seemed the perfect time to engage a young lady, or two, in delightful discourse. He looked around for the women, who sounded even closer than before. Not seeing anyone, Alex walked in the direction of the happy chatter.

  As he drew nearer, it became clear that the ladies were heading toward him from just around the next corner. There was a copse of trees separating him and his quarry. He could just see bits and pieces of color and form through the leafy branches.

  Alex craned his neck for a better look as he quickened his step. Just as he was about to make the turn and come face-to-face with his impromptu tête–à–tête, a breeze came up and parted the trees much as Moses parted the water, and for a split second, Alex could clearly see the women coming his way.

  It was Hope and Emily!

  Without thinking, Alexander leaped into the stand of trees and prayed to God he hadn’t been seen.

  As he positioned himself behind the thickest of the trunks, he wondered at himself. Had things gotten so bad that now he was hiding from Emily? Clearly they had.

  This is just embarrassing, he thought, but he found he was unable to move from his camouflaged spot.

  Feeling the fool, he watched as Hope and Emily passed by, still chattering away and, to his relief, entirely unaware of him. Unfortunately, another gust of wind came up and, as if by some fateful plan, it caught hold of Hope’s bonnet, blowing it toward the thicket of trees where it landed neatly by his feet.

  “Oh, my hat,” Hope exclaimed. “Wait a moment, Emily, will you?”

  “Naturally. Such stunning bonnets are hard to come by.”

  Alex thanked the heavens that he may have to encounter only Hope. He bent down to pick up the frilly hat and prepared himself for a very awkward conversation. Straightening, he came eye-to-eye with the ever-enchanting Hope Stuckley Ashmore.

  “Al—?”

  Alex quickly clasped his hand over her mouth as he hissed, “Shush…”

  Alex looked furtively past his friend to see if Emily had heard anything. She hadn’t moved, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Returning his gaze to Hope, he begged her silently to cooperate.

  Rolling her eyes expressively, Hope held out her hands in supplication.

  Suddenly appalled at his abominable behavior, Alex freed his friend and stepped back to say softly, “Oh Hope, I am so very sorry for accosting you thusly. Er, here is your hat.”

  He held out the slightly crushed bonnet in apology.

  Hope took the offer and began absently straightening it as she addressed him in equally hushed tones.

  “Whatever are you doing, Alexander?” She looked around as if the reason for him to be hiding among the trees could readily be seen.

  Alex could feel himself flush. “I, ah, saw you two coming and I, erm, well…” His voice trailed off.

  Clarity bloomed in the girl’s eyes. “Are hiding from us?” she said, just a little louder than Alex liked.

  “No,” he replied staunchly, “not both of you. Just, er, her.”

  He looked back over her shoulder where he could still see Emily waiting.

&n
bsp; “Oh, I can’t wait to tell Michael that you are now resorting to this to avoid talking to tiny, little Emily Moss.”

  Emily was clearly wondering what had become of her friend, as Alex saw her looking curiously in their direction.

  “You can tell Lichfield whatever you want, but please don’t tell Emily,” Alex begged in near desperation.

  “Oh, I don’t know…”

  Hope looked torn. Clearly she wasn’t comfortable keeping a secret from her good friend.

  “Please, Hope? I will do anything you want!”

  That seemed to interest her.

  “Anything?” Hope asked, eyebrow raised.

  “Hope?” Emily called from the street. “Is everything quite all right?”

  Panicked that he was running out of time, Alex barked out a fervently whispered, “Yes, anything!”

  “Very well. I will consider my needs and will follow up with you in due time,” Hope finally agreed with an almost frightening twinkle in her eyes.

  Turning to leave, she called back to Emily.

  “I am just fine, dear. My hat was snagged on a twig, and I didn’t want to rip anything.”

  The last of her sentence was said as Hope reached Emily’s side. She was already refastening the bonnet atop her head and, without a single look back in his direction, the ladies continued on their way.

  Alex was left in amongst the trees, worrying about what he may have just agreed to with the much too clever Lady Lichfield.

  …

  It took no more than another ten minutes for the ladies to reach the dowager duchess’s grand home. Upon being escorted to the Blue Salon, Emily could see that all her friends were already there, seated, and happily chatting. Lady Lancaster, however, was not yet in attendance.

  “Good morning!” Emily said brightly as she and Hope settled in on the remaining settee.

  “Emily, Hope,” Rose replied with a teasing smile. “I was wondering where you two were. You are almost late.”

  “Or we are precisely on time,” Hope quipped, “depending on how one looks at it.”

  Amid the resulting laughter, Lady Lancaster appeared.

  “Well, that is a nice sound for these old ears. Good morning, all.”

  “Good morning, my lady,” the Garden Society girls all intoned as one.

  “I apologize for not being here to greet you as you arrived, but I was speaking to one of our lads from the city.”

  Rose hopped up to help Lady Lancaster ease down into her favorite chair. Emily was concerned to see how slowly the inveterate matron was moving. The older woman had fallen earlier in the week and, while she hadn’t been seriously hurt, she certainly wasn’t her usual spry self. All the girls had been taking turns coming to check on her, but Lady Lancaster continued to insist she was fine and ordered them to stop fussing over her.

  Not a single one of them listened, naturally, and Emily was convinced that the lady was actually quite pleased with all the attention.

  “What did the boy have to say?” Rose asked once she was back in her own chair.

  “More trouble with that pesky landlord.”

  “The Youngs’ landlord?” Emily enquired.

  “The very one.”

  “My goodness,” Sarah retorted. “Will that man ever leave that poor family alone?”

  Emily was wondering the same thing. She had been a friend of sorts with the Youngs for some time now and she especially enjoyed her visits with Mrs. Young.

  Sally Young was a pretty and still youthful widow. She had two small children who clearly meant the world to her. Unfortunately, with the death of her husband just mere weeks earlier, finances had gone from bad to worse. Already she was working two jobs, and still she was months behind on her rent.

  Emily, dressed as one of the lower class, tried to help as much as possible. Unfortunately she could give only so much before risking Mrs. Young’s finding out her secret. As a result, there wasn’t much Emily could do to stop the woman’s landlord from constantly hounding the family and threatening eviction.

  “I do not believe a basket of food is going to suffice this time,” Emily said.

  “How far behind in the rent is she?” Hope asked.

  Emily sighed. “She owes two shillings a week, and she is four months past due. She makes only two pounds a year as a housemaid, and she is doing everything she can to keep her children from begging in the streets. The funeral costs depleted what savings she had.”

  “Oh dear!” Rose exclaimed. “I just want to go down there and give that man enough money to cover them for years to come.”

  “I want to go down there and give him a piece of my mind,” Sarah said forcefully.

  Lady Lancaster sat forward. “He is entitled to his rent, but I find his intimidation tactics distasteful. Our young man tells me that the landlord is now trying to extort more than just money from the woman in exchange for allowing her to remain in their rooms.”

  Emily jumped to her feet. “This is awful. Lady Lancaster, we cannot allow this to happen.”

  “I agree completely, my dear, and I have a plan to stop him.”

  “That’s great news,” Hope said, pulling Emily back down beside her. “What should we do?”

  “I suggest two of you dress in disguise and go pay this man a visit. Mention you are looking for rooms to rent and have him show you around the place.”

  “I don’t see how that is going to stop him from harassing Mrs. Young,” Emily grumbled.

  The dowager looked at her ruefully. “Don’t be so sullen, girl. I am coming to that.”

  “I apologize. Please go on.”

  “Very well, then…when you have approached the rooms belonging to the Youngs, ask if you might meet the family…use an excuse of wanting to know your potential neighbors…”

  Emily listened as Lady Lancaster continued to explain her idea, and she began to feel a bit of hope.

  Once all the details had been worked out, she said, “I would like to be part of this mission, please.”

  The duchess chuckled. “So I had already assumed. Who would like to join her?”

  “I would gladly help,” Rose announced a hair before everyone else.

  “Very good, Rose. Does that meet with your approval, Emily?”

  “Of course,” Emily replied. “Rose would be a very welcome partner on this occasion.”

  “Excellent,” Lady Lancaster said. “How else, then, shall we spend this lovely afternoon?”

  Just then a young maid entered the room.

  “Yes, Kate?”

  “I am sorry to disturb, milady, but there is a problem with Master Sam.”

  “What has the boy broken this time?” the duchess asked, rising slowly to her feet.

  “Oh… I am not sure exactly…”

  Lady Lancaster let out a long beleaguered sigh.

  “Perhaps we should go see together.”

  “Yes, milady.”

  The girls waited a moment or two until they were sure the grand lady was out of earshot and then they all began chuckling.

  “That boy is a handful,” Hannah said with a smile.

  “I believe that is an understatement,” Sarah replied.

  “Do you think Lady Lancaster regrets taking in Sam and Melinda?” Rose wondered.

  The siblings had been instrumental in helping Sarah and David with the Garden Society’s last case. It had involved an earl who was persecuting an entire family just because he was a man of some power. Melinda and her brother Sam had lost their parents years earlier and had been in the care of their elderly aunt who was living on the property of the nefarious earl. Their proximity to the earl and Sam’s penchant for spying on the man had served Sarah and David very well. Once the mission had ended, it was decided that seventeen-year-old Melinda and nine-year-old Sam would be better off in the care of Lady Lancaster than their ailing aunt. Since then, there had been no end of mischief caused by the rambunctious boy. Emily had been worried that the lad would be too much for the dowager duchess, bu
t to her surprise, Lady Lancaster seemed to grow ever fonder of both her new charges.

  “Oh no,” Emily asserted. “She loves those two as if they were her own. You can tell whenever she speaks of them.”

  “Emily is correct,” Hope agreed. “And when it comes to reading between the lines, I believe she is an expert.”

  “Whatever are you talking about?” Hannah asked.

  Hope glanced over at her. Shaking her head, Emily smiled and waved her hand in indication that her friend continue.

  Hope’s eyes fairly twinkled when she told everyone about Emily’s secret friend.

  “Oh my,” Rose said, when the tale was done. “How romantic.”

  “It’s romantic only if the man is young and handsome, otherwise it’s downright ill-advised,” Sarah said dryly. “And that is saying something, coming from me.”

  “Well,” Hope replied, “we have concluded that he must be youngish and eligible. All that’s left is the handsome part.”

  Emily shook her head. “I don’t care if he’s good-looking as long as he has a generous heart. And it is much too soon to label this a romance.”

  “It’s only a matter of time, Emily,” Rose sighed. “We simply must find out who this mystery writer is.”

  “Other than waiting around in the cemetery for him to appear, I don’t see how we can,” Sarah said wistfully.

  Remembering how she had run into Alexander there just earlier that day, Emily had to say, “I don’t think that is the best idea. Too many people go to that church and stroll those grounds for us to successfully hide for any length of time. In fact, I saw Alexander Bredon there just this morning.”

  Rose and Sarah exchanged a look, and Emily was sure she wasn’t going to like what they said next.

  She was correct.

  “Is it possible that Alex is your secret friend?” her friends asked in near unison.

  “Not in the slightest,” Emily replied firmly. “John is sincere, thoughtful, and intelligent. He also has a deep respect for women. Alexander is much too shallow to have written those letters.”

  “Perhaps he was,” Hannah agreed, “but he has changed, Emily. Even William has seen a marked difference in his brother.”

  Emily shook her head. “I have seen no such growth, and even if it were true, I cannot fathom the amount of change he would have to have undergone to become the John of my acquaintance. Alexander is a ne’er-do-well and his opinion of women is deep-seated and long-lived. I brought him up only as an example of the dangers of watching the cemetery. It is well-used by the general public.”