Regency Romance Collection: Regency Fire: The Historical Regency Romance Complete Series (Books 1-5)

by Bridget Barton

  “Well, I never like to be starting my afternoon tea in a rush or a panic. I like to have everything ready in advance so that things move quite seamlessly when my guests arrive.”

  “But Lady Marston is such a regular guest, Mama,” Clarissa spoke with laughter in her voice.

  “I know that I fuss, my dear, but the good woman is bringing her son with her this afternoon. I have not seen young Alistair Maher since he became the Earl of Marston.”

  “Oh yes, of course,” Clarissa said a little thoughtfully. “In truth, I do not think I have set eyes on Alistair Maher since we were children. Surely I would have been but twelve or thirteen the last time I saw him?”

  “Yes, dear, Lady Marston was never one for carting her children around at social engagements.” Lady Constance gave an irreverent laugh which amused Clarissa immensely.

  “I am glad that you were not of the same mind, Mama,” Clarissa said, still laughing. “For I do remember that you took me everywhere with you, and I was most grateful for it. I had a childhood crowded with incident.”

  “That is because I did not dare to leave you at home, my dear. I could not trust that your father or the governess would keep an eye on you long enough with that bow and arrow, and I always had dreadful visions of you charging about the grounds and firing at will.”

  “And there was I thinking that you could not bear to be without me.”

  “Of course, there was that too.”

  “Too late, Mama, too late,” Clarissa said and firmly grasped her mother’s hand and led her in the direction of the drawing room. “And you will be pleased to know that I have already ordered the tea and sandwiches, so you can relax for a moment, can you not?”

  “You are a dear,” Lady Constance said as she settled herself down on one of the pristine sage-green couches.

  The drawing room at Delbrook Hall was a somewhat dated mixture of sage green and dark wood. For some time, Lady Constance had badgered her husband for a little more fashionable decoration, but it rather seemed as if he was taking some goodly time to be worn down into acquiescence. However, it was a comfortable, smart, and very well appointed room and certainly nothing to be ashamed about.

  By the time that Lady Marston and her son arrived, Lady Constance had settled down nicely. Within moments of their arrival, a footman and a maid appeared carrying everything they needed for afternoon tea.

  “How very nice to see you both,” Lady Marston said warmly. “And my dear Clarissa, you get more beautiful with each day that passes. What a delightful gown. Such pretty flowers upon it; it quite reminds one that spring is just around the corner.”

  “You always say the nicest things, Lady Marston.” Clarissa smiled with equal warmth and took the older woman’s hands in both of her own. “And it is wonderful to see you looking so very well.”

  “Thank you, my dear. Of course, you will not remember my son, Alistair,” Lady Marston said, tipping her head in the direction of a rather tall and handsome dark-haired young man.

  “Good afternoon, Lady Kensington,” the young man said and gave rather an elaborate bow.

  “Good afternoon, Lord Marston. You have changed a good deal since we were but twelve years, it is true. But I rather think that I saw you more recently at Lord and Lady Borden’s winter ball just last week.”

  “Oh, of course, I had quite forgotten that you were attending,” Lady Marston broke in. “I could not attend myself, for I felt rather under the weather. But I sent dear Alistair along without me; there was no sense in him missing out simply because I had taken to my bed for a day or two.”

  “Indeed, I do recognise you, My Lady,” the Earl said with a smile. “But I must admit, I had not quite realised who you were at the time. I saw your parents from afar, of course.” He turned to smile at Lady Constance. “And how very nice it is to be in your company again after so many years.”

  “My word, what a handsome young man you have grown to be. Of course, you were such a handsome child that you were always fated to be a breaker of hearts,” Lady Constance said enthusiastically.

  “He is a handsome boy, is he not?” Lady Marston enthused.

  Meanwhile, the Earl of Marston winced and squinted his eyes at Clarissa.

  “Do sit down, Lord Marston. Mothers can be terribly embarrassing, can they not?” Clarissa indicated a seat on the couch for him. “I speak, of course, from experience.”

  “Oh Clarissa, I do wish you would behave yourself,” Lady Constance said but laughed despite it all.

  As Lady Marston and Lady Delbrook chatted happily, Clarissa contented herself with some small conversation with Alistair Maher.

  In truth, when first he had walked into the room, Clarissa had found herself quite taken aback. In part, it was because she had almost, quite ridiculously, been expecting his twelve-year-old self to walk into the room and had been rather surprised to see a fully-grown man of some attraction.

  However, she was rather more surprised to see him there because she had noted him most distinctly at Lord and Lady Borden’s ball the week before.

  As handsome as he was, she had not noted him too particularly in that regard, for she had been sitting most contentedly in the company of Lord Spencer Farrington. No, her observation of him on that evening had been largely provoked by the fact that he seemed to stare at her most decidedly for a good deal of the time. She had first noticed it when she had sat down alone with Lord Farrington to eat the food that he had piled on her plate.

  Later that evening, when she had danced with Spencer Farrington, she had noticed the dark-haired young man’s keen surveillance of her once again. In truth, he had watched her so intently that she had, from time to time, found herself just a little conscious of it. However, in the days which had passed since, she had not thought of the young man once. As far as she had been concerned, he was simply a young man who had taken a liking to her looks and had contented himself with a little staring.

  And yet, now that he was sitting opposite her in her very own drawing room, Clarissa wondered if it were not, perhaps, just a little more than a simple attraction. And had he really not recognised her for herself? She rather thought that seemed a little unlikely given that she had spent a good deal of the evening in the company of her own parents.

  “Tell me, did you enjoy the ball at the Borden Mansion?” Lord Marston spoke when the conversation between them had quietened just a little.

  “Indeed, I did, Sir. And did you?” Clarissa responded.

  “I did pass rather a pleasant evening.”

  “That does not sound particularly definite.” Clarissa could not help smiling.

  “I found myself in company with Oscar Cunningham for much of the night. Are you acquainted with him?”

  “I am afraid I am not acquainted with the man himself, but I am somewhat aware of who he is,” Clarissa said tactfully.

  In truth, Oscar Cunningham’s reputation preceded him so very far that it almost arrived in a room a good hour before the man himself did. And it was not a reputation of which any man ought to be proud; quite the opposite, in fact. Still, Clarissa had no intention of raising the subject with Lord Marston, especially with her own dear mother in the room.

  “Well, he is not, as I am sure you are aware, a great friend of Lord Spencer Farrington.” And with that simple sentence, Lord Marston had made the point that he had seen her much in company with Lord Farrington that evening.

  “Yes indeed; I do believe there is some little friction between the two families, is there not?” Clarissa said rather diplomatically given that she found herself feeling curiously annoyed with the handsome, dark-haired young man.

  “I am rather afraid that to hear Oscar Cunningham talk of the thing for an entire evening; one might be forgiven for thinking it more of a war than a simple case of a little friction, My Lady.”

  “I must admit, Lord Farrington made no mention of it whatsoever,” Clarissa said a little shortly. “But perhaps he did not see Lord Cunningham there.”

 
“Well, he was rather more pleasantly distracted, if I might say so.” Alistair Maher smiled warmly and graciously inclined his head.

  “How very kind of you to say so, Sir.”

  “Tell me, Lady Kensington, do you still go about with your bow and arrow much?” Alistair smiled, and Clarissa was grateful for a change in conversational direction.

  “Goodness me, do you remember that? I think, perhaps, you and I both played at archery on the rare occasions that I saw you when we were children.” Clarissa squinted as she tried to draw back the memories.

  “Yes, and I remember it most clearly. You were awfully good; it has to be said.” Clarissa could not help finding his open admiration rather flattering.

  “I think perhaps I thought myself rather good, but I suspect that my opinion was perhaps a little overinflated given my level of proficiency at the time,” Clarissa said, modestly.

  “Well, I must have found it rather inspiring for I have kept my hand in ever since.” He beamed at her.

  “Oh, you play, do you? Tell me, do you compete?” Clarissa found herself suddenly very interested.

  “Indeed, I do still play and, on occasion, I enter myself into a competition or two.”

  “Oh, how wonderful. I have not competed for some time, but I rather think that I might enter myself into something in the spring if I have a chance of it. I fear there are too many friendly matches; informal affairs with some really rather inexperienced archers. I do so long for a decent competition, and one in which women are allowed to compete in all seriousness rather than as some sort of silly sideshow.”

  “Well, I should be very happy to keep you informed of any such events, should they arise, Lady Kensington.” Lord Marston spoke quite amiably, and Clarissa quite forgot her minor annoyance at him earlier in their conversation.

  After all, perhaps the young man was simply being friendly and was himself nothing more than a little observant in large social gatherings. Surely there was no crime in that.

  “How very kind of you, Sir. As much as I enjoy to practice it is competition which makes the whole thing very much more worthwhile.”

  “You still practice as much as you did all those years ago?” he said with a keen interest.

  “Yes, although I am still banished to the very rear of the grounds. My mother is worried that I shall skewer the gardener quite by accident, you see.”

  “I have never liked those things,” Lady Constance said wincing. “I think them most terribly dangerous. After all, one only has to have one’s attention drawn away for the smallest of moments and, before you know it, your arrow has sailed off in quite another direction from the one you intended it to go in.”

  “But Mama, you have never once fired an arrow in your life. It really is not quite as dangerous as you might think.”

  “I am afraid I stand firm in my opinion,” Lady Constance said with mock defiance. “And they really are so terribly pointed, are they not?” Lady Constance looked so distressed that even Lady Marston herself joined in the merry laughter which followed.

  All in all, the afternoon turned out to be most agreeable, and Clarissa enjoyed it more than she could have imagined. Lord Marston was rather good company, and Clarissa found herself quite forgetting that he had stared at her most determinedly at Lord and Lady Borden’s winter ball.

  When it came time for Lady Marston to leave, Clarissa was a little disappointed to see the small party broken up.

  “My dear Clarissa,” Lady Constance spoke the moment that her guests had left Delbrook Hall, “I rather think that young Alistair was most attentive to you.”

  “Do you?” Constance said, finding herself blushing just a little.

  “I do.” Lady Constance seemed a strange mixture of delighted and concerned. “And he is such a nice young man,” she went on wistfully, “but, of course, your father would very much prefer to see you married into the Calgarth Duchy.”

  “But Mama, did Papa not say it was truly my choice in the end? Despite his own wants and preferences, Papa said that I would never be forced to marry if I did not wish it.” Clarissa felt the point ought to be reinforced.

  “Of course, my dear.” Lady Constance was flustered once again. “But are you so very adverse to Lord Farrington? After all, I thought you and he got along rather well at the ball.”

  “I am not at all adverse to Spencer Farrington, Mama,” Clarissa said with a laugh. “I am simply pointing out that I have made no decision of my own as yet. I am very well pleased with Lord Farrington if I am honest. He is most amusing and really rather intelligent.”

  “And he is handsome, is he not?”

  “Yes, Mama, very handsome,” Clarissa said with a smile.

  She rather wished she could have put her mother’s mind at rest with a firm assertion that Spencer Farrington was the man she would marry. However, her conversation with her dear friend Harriet Lennox was still fresh in her mind, and she did not feel particularly inclined to have her emotions blackmailed once more. That was how Harriet had put the thing, at any rate, and Clarissa rather thought it a very apt description.

  As much as she loved her parents and would not disrupt their plans on a simple whim, still Clarissa did not want to give them the impression that she was going to follow meekly along any path they chose to walk her along. She would have to agree to things in her own right and most definitely.

  Chapter Five

  “So, he is a little more interested in business than you might have thought him?” Harriet Lennox tried to catch the eye of the waitress in the tearooms. “I say, it is rather busy in here today, is it not?”

  “Yes, Spencer does seem to be rather business orientated and yes, Harriet, it is rather busy in here today.” Clarissa smiled and waited patiently as Harriet finally gained the attention of a waitress and gave her their order for tea and cakes.

  “But does that upset you so?” Harriet seemed a little confused.

  “It is not the idea of business which troubles me, rather the idea of obsession, I suppose.”

  “Obsession? Good heavens, is Spencer Farrington so very obsessed with Duchy business?”

  “I do not think it is necessarily the business for its own sake in which Spencer is most interested. I rather get the impression that it is this ridiculous feud which seems to exist between the Farrington family and the Cunningham family.”

  “Oh yes, the two Duchies have been famously at war since before either of us were born.” Harriet looked suddenly a little excited.

  “There is no reason to look so pleased, Harriet. There is nothing the vaguest bit interesting about this feud. It rather seems to me as if it is entirely tedious and pointless.”

  “It seems to have annoyed you a great deal, my dear.”

  “It has not annoyed me as such; rather it has troubled me. I think it quite detracts from an otherwise fine personality. In our previous meeting, Spencer was so very full of life and laughter. He is one of the most amusing and fun young men I know. Oh, and he has the keenest wit. He is terribly funny. And yet, when he talks to his brother of any business, especially business relating to the Duchy of Horndean, his personality seems to change a little, and it is that which worries me. If I am to head down the path of matrimony, I should very much like to know exactly who it is I am heading down that path with. I do not wish to suspect I am marrying one man only to find out that I am truly marrying another altogether.”

  “Oh, I begin to see your dilemma, Clarissa. But tell me, what has led you to suspect that the matter is so extreme?”

  “Well, we had rather a fun afternoon on Wednesday of last week. I mentioned, I believe, that we had arranged a little archery session at Delbrook Hall.”

  “Yes, you did say that Spencer had invited himself over to fire arrows all over your garden.” Harriet chuckled.

  “Well, you are closer to the truth than you might have imagined. Spencer really is a dreadful shot but not the least bit manly about it.”

  “Manly?” Harriet raised her eyebrows.
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  “Yes, it did not trouble him. He did not become serious and determined to beat me. Rather, he was highly amused every time one of his arrows went astray and ended up in a bush or stuck in the trunk of a tree. We truly laughed and laughed, and I can honestly say I have not enjoyed myself so much since I was a child. With, of course, the added bonus that I am no longer a child, and the man I was with was really rather handsome.”

  “It sounds like the perfect afternoon, my dear. Fun and frolics with a handsome man.” Harriet chuckled again.

  “Harriet!” Clarissa said her eyes wide with amusement.

  “I do apologise, my dear. I am not quite sure what came over me. Do continue.” Although Harriet continued to laugh, her cheeks had flushed a little, and Clarissa was all the more amused by it.

  “As far as the afternoon of archery is concerned, there is not a great deal else to report. The afternoon very much continued on those terms, and I am certain that we both very much enjoyed it.”

  “So, what is it that has caused you to worry that Spencer might not be quite exactly all he seems?”

  “Well, just two days later, Spencer rather kindly invited me to attend the horseracing with the Duke and Duchess.”

  “Oh, how wonderful. Evelyn Farrington is awfully nice, is she not?”

  “She most certainly is, Harriet. In truth, I should have had rather a boring afternoon of it had it not been for the Duchess.”

  “But why?”

  Clarissa thought back to the rather cold afternoon she had spent in the segregated stand at the horseracing track. Set just a little back from the track itself and on higher ground, the enclosure provided a good view of every race which took place.

  Two of the Duke’s footmen had carried in a great hamper of food in, and the afternoon, despite the coolness of the late February air, rather promised to be spent most pleasantly.

  In between two of the races, there was a lull of almost half an hour. During that time, the company of four sat in the enclosure in comfort, eating and drinking and talking rather merrily. Clarissa had even found that she was less intimidated by Gabriel Farrington than she had expected to be. He seemed just a little more carefree than she had previously seen him, and it gave her a feeling of ease and comfort within the small party.