“We left her at home, resting with the children. While Lucien, Harrison, Quinton, and Jeffrey are off to their gentlemen’s club,” Yvette explained. “So this shall be our club!”
As the five women sat around the table bathed in the golden light from the gas lamps, they held up their glasses of champagne.
“To the Hamilton sisters and their new shop,” Juliette announced. “And to all five of us being together again. Just the girls.”
While they sipped their champagne, Paulette stared at her four sisters, so alike yet so very different in personality. Colette, brunette and serious, was the one who took on the responsibility of caring for all of them. Juliette, dark-haired and flashing eyes, was always seeking fun and adventure. Then there was auburn-haired Lisette, sweet and calm, who was the peacemaker of the family. And little Yvette, with her blond curls and love of all things pretty, was sharp and witty. Paulette loved them dearly and loved it best when they were together like this. They weren’t above the old bookshop with their parents any longer, but it was close enough.
“Colette, you need to be careful with champagne,” Juliette teased with a gleam in her eyes. “Remember what happened the first time?”
“I’m always careful with champagne now,” their oldest sister remarked laughingly. “I learned my lesson that night with you and Jeffrey.”
“What happened with you and Jeffrey?” Yvette asked with keen interest.
“Oh, never mind!” Juliette waved her hand. “That’s a story for another night.”
Lisette asked, “Now someone please tell me, what is Paulette’s big news?”
The other four suddenly grew quiet. Paulette hesitated, feeling wretched at having to reveal her shameful predicament to Lisette. She simply could not bring herself to say the words aloud. Minutes ticked by.
“Somebody tell me!” Lisette cried in frustration.
Colette spoke up first. “Paulette is going to have a baby.”
An audible gasp came from Lisette, her face stricken with disbelief. “You must be jesting!”
“I wish it were a jest . . .” Paulette finally said so softly.
“Don’t look at me,” Juliette offered helplessly. “I only learned of it this afternoon when I arrived.”
“For once I knew about something important before any of you,” Yvette piped in, happy to be the first one in on the secret for a change.
“So it’s true?” Lisette asked, her worried eyes searching Paulette’s. “You’re really expecting?”
“Yes.” Paulette reached her hand out to Lisette, who sat beside her.
Looking distressed, Lisette did not take it. “I don’t understand any of this and I must say, you all seem very calm about the situation. Who is . . . Who is the father?”
“His name is Lord Cashelmore,” Paulette responded, feeling overcome with shame. “He’s a widower from Ireland.”
“Lisette, you met him briefly at Devon House a little while ago,” Juliette explained. “He came by to pick up his daughter.”
“I’m very confused,” Lisette began. “Why was—”
“Wait a moment!” Paulette interjected. “Did you say that Declan Reeves was at Devon House? This afternoon? With Mara?” Paulette was stunned by this turn of events. How was such a thing even possible? How had Juliette and Lisette met him?
Juliette explained it all calmly. “Yes, Lord Cashelmore’s daughter and Sara became rather attached to each other while they were playing in the children’s section of the shop earlier, which is where I met Lord Cashelmore this afternoon quite by chance. Yvette had already filled me in about your relationship with him, you see. So he and I chatted for a while and then I invited Mara over to spend the rest of the afternoon with Sara. He agreed and came by later to pick her up. And the situation being what it is, I took the opportunity to introduce him to everyone.”
“Introduce him as what?” Paulette cried, her heart beating wildly.
“As Lord Cashelmore, who else?” Juliette gave a little laugh. “It’s up to you to introduce him as your fiancé, not me.”
“Mother seemed to like him.” Yvette nodded at her in affirmation. “I liked him, too. And you were so right, Paulette. He is very handsome. And such a divine accent! Although he does have that dark and brooding look about him, so I could understand where someone would think he killed his first wife.”
“WHAT? ” Lisette looked about ready to faint.
Paulette covered her face with her hands, completely mortified. Things seemed to have spiraled out of her control today. When she was a little girl she used to believe that she could wish herself out of any situation. But no matter how hard she wished now, her tangled situation with Declan Reeves would not magically disappear.
Colette turned to Lisette to explain. “Yes, unfortunately our Paulette has gotten herself involved in a bit of a predicament. It seems Lord Cashelmore is under suspicion for causing his first wife’s untimely death in a fire.”
“How is it that do I not know about any of this?” Lisette eyed each one of them in turn.
“It just sort of happened little by little,” Paulette began to explain slowly. “I met Declan Reeves at the bookshop one afternoon, and even though I knew about the rumors that followed him, and Colette warned me to stay away from him, I . . . I just couldn’t. He’s a good man, I swear to you. He’s just plagued by these vicious rumors, but he had nothing to do with his wife’s death. He’s gentle, and kind, and a wonderful father and—”
“I’ll attest to that part at least, from what I saw of him today with his daughter,” Juliette interrupted.
“Thank you,” Paulette continued. “He loves her and is trying to help her overcome the loss of her mother. Mara liked books so he kept coming by the shop and we spent more and more time together. Because Colette didn’t approve of him, I assumed you would all feel the same way so I didn’t tell any of you about him—”
“But she told me though,” Yvette interrupted proudly.
Paulette gave her a sharp look. “Yes, but not at first. I kept the whole matter a secret, not ever thinking it would amount to anything so serious. But one thing led to another . . . and well, now . . . I told Yvette when I suspected about my condition, and I just told Colette, but I felt the worst about telling you, Lisette, knowing how much you want a baby and I just—” Paulette could not continue for she was about to cry again.
Lisette remained silent, eyes downcast. The others exchanged worried glances across the table and the room grew quiet.
Wracked with guilt, Paulette pondered the prospect of crawling into a hole in the ground somewhere and never coming out. Doing so might be a preferable choice to the mess she had just made of her life.
“Don’t worry about my feelings right now, Paulette,” Lisette murmured softly. “I’m fine and you seem to have other issues to worry about.”
“But I do worry,” Paulette protested. “It just doesn’t seem fair that I should be with child, when you—”
“Stop, Paulette. Honestly. I’m fine.” Lisette squeezed Paulette’s hand and gave her a cheerful smile. “Now, I assume you are to marry him.”
Once again the room grew quiet and they waited for Paulette to speak. “Well . . .”
Confused, Lisette said, “But he must marry you. You’ve told him about the baby, of course?”
Paulette turned to stare pointedly at Yvette. “No. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to tell him myself, because someone went and opened her big mouth and told Jeffrey Eddington and Jeffrey told Declan today in the bookshop!”
“Oh, Yvette!” Colette exclaimed in surprise.
Juliette rolled her eyes.
Paulette glared at her younger sister. “How could you betray my confidence like that, Yvette?”
Lifting her chin in defiance, Yvette defended her actions. “Yes, I told Jeffrey about the baby. But I had to, Paulette! I had to! This isn’t a little secret about you being in love anymore. This is about your life! You’re having a baby, for heaven’s sake! And you weren’t goi
ng to tell Lord Cashelmore about the baby, but planned to run off to America with Juliette when she leaves!”
Four pairs of astonished eyes stared at Paulette.
“It really is quite difficult to believe that you are considered to be the sensible one out of the five of us,” Juliette remarked dryly.
Colette’s face was agog. “You weren’t seriously considering that as an option, were you?”
Paulette could barely look her sisters in the eyes.
“She was!” Yvette confessed heatedly. “I thought she was making the biggest mistake of her life. I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone about Paulette and Lord Cashelmore, but since Jeffrey already knew about them, I went to him for advice. He agreed with me that Paulette was being foolish and that Lord Cashelmore should be told. It’s his child too after all. And then today I had to tell Juliette about Paulette’s plan.”
“Yvette did the right thing in telling Jeffrey,” Lisette stated, her eyes on Paulette. “This is not a secret you can hide for long, Paulette. Lord Cashelmore must marry you!”
“Leave it to Jeffrey to become involved in this,” Juliette laughed ruefully.
“This isn’t funny,” Paulette pointed out.
“No, it’s quite serious.” Juliette’s expression suddenly grew somber. “Which is why you must marry Lord Cashelmore without delay.”
“None of you care that he is rumored to have murdered his first wife?” Yvette asked.
They all turned to stare at Yvette.
“What? It’s a valid question! It’s the whole reason that Paulette kept him a secret in the first place.”
Paulette sighed in weariness. “He’s completely innocent of any wrongdoing involved with the fire that caused Margaret to die that night. I swear to you. He will swear to you.”
“I believe him,” Juliette said. “He told me this afternoon that he had nothing to do with her death and there’s something about how honestly he said it that made me believe him.”
Paulette reached across the table and squeezed Juliette’s hand in gratitude. “Thank you for that. I knew you would understand.”
Again Lisette asked, “So you’re going to marry him?”
Paulette hesitated. “This afternoon I told him that I would never marry him.”
“Why on earth would you say that?” Yvette cried in dismay.
Colette groaned.
Juliette downed the last of her champagne.
“I know what you’re all thinking,” Paulette began to explain, “but Declan never wanted to remarry after all the bad things in his first marriage. He’s only asking me because of the baby. He doesn’t really wish to marry me.”
“It doesn’t matter what he wants anymore,” Lisette pointed out. “He has to marry you now.”
“But I don’t want a husband who doesn’t want me,” Paulette declared, knowing she sounded like a sulky child.
“Do you love Lord Cashelmore?” Juliette demanded.
Paulette grew thoughtful. Yes, she loved Declan. Which is why she couldn’t force him into a marriage he didn’t want. “Yes, I love him.”
“Does he love you?”
“I don’t know.” Paulette paused. “There were times I believed he loved me, but he’s never said so.”
Colette’s expression grew weary. “Don’t be an idiot, Paulette. He said he’d marry you. It’s the right thing to do. You love him. He obviously cares for you. Think of the child.”
“Think of Mother,” Yvette said ominously.
Covering her face with her hands, Paulette groaned at the thought of their mother learning of her situation. The humiliation was too much. “Oh, please, please don’t tell Mother about this yet. I couldn’t bear her knowing right now.”
“Then think of your future if you don’t marry him,” said Lisette.
“Think of your future if you do,” Juliette added, with a hopeful grin.
The room grew quiet.
“So you really think I should marry him?” Paulette finally asked in hesitation.
“Yes!” all four sisters said in unison.
“You won’t hate him?” Paulette revealed her secret fear that her family would never grow to love the true Declan and would always remain suspicious and leery of him. She wanted them to accept him into the family.
“Of course not,” Lisette said sweetly. “Why would we hate anyone you loved, Paulette? As long as he treats you well and is a good man, we will welcome him into our lives because of you. I’m sure we’ll all grow to love him when we get to know him.”
“I like him already and I’ve only known him a day,” Juliette declared.
Her sisters wouldn’t disapprove of him because of his notorious background after all. “I feel like an idiot,” Paulette said, “about everything. And I’m so very embarrassed.”
“Don’t feel that way.” Lisette patted her arm gently. “It’s okay.”
“It could have happened to any of us.” Juliette gestured to her and Colette.
“Looking back now I wish I’d gotten with child and had to get married to Quinton,” Lisette remarked rather sarcastically, making them all laugh.
“You mean to say that you’ve all done that before you were married?” Yvette asked. Her eyes lit up with possibility and intrigue.
Holding up her hands, Juliette admitted without shame, “Guilty.”
“We’ve already said as much to you, Yvette,” Colette said. “Besides, just because we did, doesn’t make it right or mean that you should do the same. Look at what happened to poor Paulette.”
“Yes. Look at me,” Paulette said, frowning. “I’m as sick as a dog and haven’t eaten in days.”
“You really don’t look well at all.” Yvette eyed her sister critically. “You had better marry Lord Cashelmore before you start to look worse.”
That made them all laugh again, Paulette especially. “I love you, girls, and Juliette, I’m so glad you’re home again.”
Juliette grinned broadly. “I am, too. Although I always seem to arrive as something momentous happens!”
Chapter 26
Words
Standing on tiptoe, Mara Reeves gripped the railing of the great ship tightly in her hands, trying to peer over the edge. She couldn’t see anything but the wooden railing. Suddenly Papa lifted her up in his arms, holding her close against his broad chest. A strong gust of wind buffeted them and Mara buried her face in his coat until it subsided before looking out at the expanse of gray sea that swelled beneath them. She clung to Papa as the huge ship rolled back and forth on the waves. The land drifted farther and farther away.
“We’ll come back to London soon, Mara, darlin’. I promise,” he whispered to her.
She didn’t want to go back to Ireland, and she knew Papa didn’t want to go either. His eyes were sad. But he said that they had to go.
Mara liked their life in London. She liked Mrs. Martin and their house there. She liked the little bookshop and pretty Miss Hamilton, who made Papa’s eyes smile. And she especially liked the other children she’d met only yesterday. She’d had fun with Sara Fleming and her two boy cousins at Devon House that afternoon. Mara had hoped she could play with the children again, but she knew they left for Ireland the next day.
Mrs. Martin traveled with them, along with Papa’s valet named Hobbes, and another gentleman, whom Papa introduced as Mr. Sebastian Woods, his attorney. After their ship docked, Mr. Woods stayed in Dublin and they boarded a carriage to take them home.
When they finally arrived at Cashelmore Manor, Mara was fascinated by a grand party happening at the estate. The house was filled with lots and lots of guests dressed in finery. Oh, and the music! There was so much going on. As Papa sent Mrs. Martin and Hobbes to see to their things, he carried Mara through the ballroom, searching for Uncle Gerald. She knew her father was upset, but Mara couldn’t get enough of staring at all the pretty dresses. Such glittering colors and patterns as they swirled on the dance floor in time to the music. She had never seen a ball before and now she u
nderstood why all the adults wanted to have one. It looked like great fun!
“Declan, my boy! And Mara!” Uncle Gerald shouted, looking more ashamed than surprised as they were ushered into her father’s private study. Uncle Gerald was wearing elegant black evening clothes, and his face looked very red. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“So I can see.” Papa’s expression was grim.
“What are you doing here?”
“I live here. This is my house.”
“Yes, of course! I know that, but I . . .” Uncle Gerald sputtered. “I . . . I meant to ask what has brought you home from London so suddenly? Has something happened? Have you had news from the courts?”
“Something like that.” Papa’s eyebrows furrowed and he motioned to the rather lavish party going on in their house. “What’s happening here, Gerald? This is certainly not a welcome home party for me.”
“Oh, it’s just a gathering of friends to celebrate Alice’s birthday. It’s nothing.” Uncle Gerald’s face grew even redder.
A dark memory tugged at the back of Mara’s mind, calling to her. She had very few memories of her uncle, even though he wasn’t really her uncle. She knew that he was Papa’s cousin, but she was told to call him uncle, so she did. Uncle Gerald had always been kind to her. He liked to make her laugh with funny faces that he made and give her sweets. But something . . . something about him frightened her. . . . She hugged Papa.
“It’s a little more than a gathering of friends.” Papa’s voice was cold. “There must be two hundred people out there.”
“Yes, well . . . You know how these things happen. . . .” Gerald’s nervous laughter made Mara feel uncomfortable. “It started out as a small party, but then Alice just kept inviting more and more people. You know how wives are. . . .”
“I asked you to look after the place for me, Gerald, I didn’t expect you to—”
“Excuse me, Lord Cashelmore, but there seems to be a bit of a problem.” Mrs. Martin entered the study, looking very worried. Another woman, who Mara recognized as the Cashelmore housekeeper, hurried behind Mrs. Martin. The housekeeper, Mrs. Finley, looked distraught.
To Tempt an Irish Rogue Page 22
