Wentworth Hall

by Abby Grahame

  Lord Worthless enters, dragging a chandelier behind him. “Who is too good?” he inquired.

  “Daddy, Richard thinks he’s too good for me now that he is fabulously wealthy,” Snobby explained, running to her father’s side.

  “Well, of course he is,” Lord Worthless confirmed. “Everyone is too good for us these days.”

  “Who will I marry, then, Daddy?” Snobby whined.

  Doodles Worthless came in at that moment. “Why don’t you marry your secret admirer?” she asked guilelessly.

  “Who?’ asked Lord Worthless.

  “Shhh!!!!” Snobby hissed at Doodles.

  “Oh, is it a real secret?” Doodles asked, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “Who is this secret admirer?” Lord Worthless asked Snobby. “Does he have money?”

  “There is no such person,” Snobby told him. “You know how Doodles is.”

  “Do I?” Lord Worthless pondered. “She’s always disappearing like that. Most confusing.” He turned to Richard and held up the chandelier. “Care to buy a lighting fixture?” he asked. “It literally fell right into my hands.”

  “Do you mean it fell from the ceiling?” Richard inquired.

  “Yes!” Lord Worthless confirmed. “It keeps happening to me. I suddenly discover that I’m holding a doorknob or a kitchen cabinet handle. Chandeliers fall right into my arms. Wall moldings fall into my pockets. I seem to have become a magnet for all sorts of pieces of the estate crashing down around me. It’s most perplexing!”

  “Perhaps your estate could use some fixing up,” Richard suggested delicately.

  “Faded Glory Manor?! Never! Faded Glory Manor has stood just as it is for over three hundred years. If I did anything to change it, it would no longer be, well… Worthless.”

  “Exactly,” Richard agreed.

  “Precisely,” Lord Worthless said. Nodding, he surveyed his crumbling estate, confident that it would always be Worthless… as it should be.

  Chapter Fifteen

  MAGGIE HAD NEVER SEEN HER FATHER IN such a state. His skin was red as a beet and the veins at his temple throbbed visibly. The Sussex Courier was spread on the desk in front of him. He had called the entire family to his study to “discuss” the satires Wesley had brought to their attention. At the moment, though, he was so infuriated that he was incapable of anything resembling discussion. Standing beside her husband, the usually mild-mannered Lady Darlington appeared equally put out, her arms folded tightly across her chest.

  “Is there any truth here, Maggie?” she blasted their oldest daughter. “Have you offended both Teddy and the duke?”

  “No! I’ve told you ten times! No!”

  “There had better not be anything to this,” Lord Darlington muttered darkly, holding Maggie in his scrutinizing glare.

  “I have told you how I feel about your getting married soon,” Lady Darlington said in a low, angry tone. “The older you get, the more difficult it will be for you. We have presented you with two highly suitable candidates for husbands and it seems, according to this, that you have alienated and rebuffed them both.”

  “You both know this is all lies,” Lila jumped to Maggie’s defense. “These satires show you not caring for the estate. Is that true? Of course not! And it portrays the duke’s ball to have taken place here—which we all know isn’t true. Are we even certain this is about us? Perhaps we’re leaping to conclusions.”

  “Please, Lila,” Wesley said, putting his arm protectively around her shoulders. “It’s pretty obvious. This is us, without a doubt.”

  “Well, just because we realize it doesn’t mean everyone will know it’s our family being skewered,” Lord Darlington allowed. “No one around here pays much attention to this cheap rag. Anyone who matters reads The London Times.”

  “Well, that’s true,” Lady Darlington agreed, seeming to calm down a bit.

  “We had better hope so, at least until we can find out who is behind this scurrilous tripe and put a stop to it,” Lord Darlington said, his anger rising again. “And when I find out who it is that person will be sorry he or she was ever born.”

  Lord Darlington dismissed them all, with a reminder to be careful who they trust. Maggie followed the rest of the family out into the hallway. Noticing that Lila appeared on the verge of tears, Maggie put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “It’s not as bad as all that,” she soothed. “Try to think of it as funny.”

  “Funny!” Lila shouted. “They depict me as fading into the wallpaper and eating moths! They make me out to be an imbecile!” As tears splashed down her cheeks, Lila fled down the hallway.

  “Poor kid,” Wesley sympathized.

  “Go! See what you can do,” Lady Darlington urged her son. “You’ve always known how to cheer her up.”

  “I’ll try,” Wesley agreed, hurrying after Lila.

  “It will be all right, Mother,” Maggie said, desperate to say anything that might take the stricken expression from her mother’s face.

  Lady Darlington forced an insincere smile. “Honestly, dear, could it be any worse?” The parallel frown lines between her eyebrows had never looked deeper. “I want to go look in on James. Would you like to come along?”

  “No. Well not today,” Maggie declined. Her mother gave her a pointed look as if to say You can’t avoid him forever, but she accepted her answer. Maggie retreated down the hall. She headed for the staircase, and met Teddy coming up, holding the latest Sussex Courier. “Where did you get that?” she demanded.

  “Where do you think? The newsstand in town.” The smug way he was grinning at her was infuriating and it told Maggie that he was well aware of the paper’s spurious contents. If she could have wiped the grin off his face with a slap, she would have gladly done so. Instead, she chose to ice him out without a glance as they passed on the stairs.

  “It’s a hoot, isn’t it, Snobby?” he hissed as their shoulders brushed.

  “I wouldn’t laugh, Richie Sterling,” she shot back.

  “Why shouldn’t I? Richie and Richina come off looking pretty good compared to the rest.”

  Maggie knew he was goading her and that the best thing to do would be to keep going, but she felt helpless to resist. “Funny, isn’t it, that you and Jessica get such light treatment?” she challenged. “One might even think that you and your sister are the authors of this trash.”

  “Oh, please,” Teddy scoffed. “Neither Jessica nor I have any need for the pittance the rag would pay for this bit of entertainment. And I have better things to do with my time than think about you and your absurd family.”

  “Absurd?!” Maggie fumed, immediately regretting that she’d registered the jab at all.

  “Completely absurd,” Teddy twisted the knife. “Your family is exactly as depicted in this paper and everyone will recognize it immediately.”

  “You ingrate!” Maggie growled. “And after my parents took you in.”

  “Don’t insult my intelligence,” he came back at her fiercely. “You know your father simply wanted to get a piece of our fortune by selling you off to me. To think I almost fell for it too. I will always consider not marrying you was a bullet dodged.”

  “As will I,” Maggie said.

  “I don’t look so bad to you now that you realize what your choices are, though, do I?” Teddy added with a smarmy smile. “You passed on a young, handsome millionaire in favor of a thousand-year-old duke. Good work, Maggie. That was really using your brain. What a fool!”

  It took every ounce of Maggie’s self-control not to leap at him and rake his face with her nails. He was the most arrogant, conceited person she’d ever met. “I can’t wait until you leave here,” she spat.

  “Neither can I,” Teddy shot back. “It won’t be long now, either. I turn eighteen next month and then the family fortune will be mine. Jessica and I will be gone the next day; You can count on that. The only reason we came in the first place was to cull some social standing from the Darlington name. What a mistake that turned out to
be. After these satires make the rounds, your precious family name will be so irrevocably tarnished you’ll want to change it.”

  * * *

  “Breathe, Lila, please!” Ian crouched in front of the straight-back floral damask couch where Lila sat sobbing and hyperventilating. “You’re going to pass out.”

  Lila’s hands were pressed against her collarbone as her chest heaved up and down. “I-I-I-I,” was all she could manage to say. These newspaper satires were so awful! Her coming out into society was only a year and some months away, and now it was ruined. She was a laughingstock. Who would want to be seen at her ball? What young man would ever ask her out?

  Wesley strode into the room. “There you are! I’ve been searching everywhere for you!”

  “I think she’s hysterical,” Ian explained, answering the unspoken question in Wesley’s eyes.

  Wesley dropped down onto the couch beside Lila and took hold of her shoulders. “Calm down, Lila! It’s not that bad. Really!”

  The sound of her big brother’s voice filtered through the haze of panic surrounding Lila and gradually her heartbeat slowed and her breathing followed. “That’s the girl,” she heard him say. Through her tears, his familiar face slowly came into focus. “You’re not facing this alone, Lila. We’re all here and we’ll get through this together.”

  Lila gulped in great swallows of air as her tears subsided.

  “There might even be a positive side to all this,” Wesley added.

  With her curiosity piqued, Lila rubbed the tears from her eyes. “A positive side?”

  Wesley sat back on the couch and folded his arms. “Well, consider this. Suppose everyone does guess that we’re the Worthless family.” He stopped to chuckle. “I sort of think the name is amusing.”

  “Oh, how can you?” Lila scolded.

  “Well, maybe not. But anyway, now that it’s out in the open that the Darlington fortune isn’t what it once was, there’s no more reason to pretend. If the need to keep up appearances is gone, then Father might seriously entertain my ideas about modernizing the estate business, selling off what we can.”

  “Business?” Lila cried, shocked. “This is our home. You’re the one who will inherit the place; why would you want it sold?”

  “Because we need the money now, Lila,” Wesley explained. “The farmers are abandoning our lands to procure jobs in the city. No one wants to do that sort of labor for little more than room and board on our lands when they could make their own salary. And Wentworth Hall depends in large part on the money made from those farms.”

  “I can’t believe it.” Lila echoed in disbelief.

  “The estate is enormous. Do we honestly need all of this land? And the stables! Do we need all these horses? Mother says Maggie doesn’t ride anymore. Motorcars are becoming more and more common these days, and the few who haven’t already will soon be switching over, so there’s no need for carriage horses anymore.”

  “You can’t let Michael go!” Lila objected.

  “Michael’s a fine worker. He’ll find a position elsewhere. We’ll help get him placed if he wants. I could even look into city jobs for him.”

  Lila shook her head. “Oh, Wes, I don’t know.”

  Wesley put his arm around Lila and handed her his white linen handkerchief. “Wipe your eyes and blow your nose,” he suggested. “We’re going into the modern world and it’s time the Darlingtons caught up with it.”

  “But what are we going to do about these satires?” Lila asked.

  “We’re going to ignore them,” Wesley replied. “No one else has caught on that they might be about us. Or at least we haven’t heard about it.”

  “They’re just silly, really,” Ian agreed.

  “Easy for you to say. You two aren’t in them,” Lila pointed out.

  “True, but you mustn’t let them bother you so much,” Wesley insisted. “I’m almost sorry I brought them to everyone’s attention.”

  “You had to,” Lila said.

  “I suppose I did,” Wesley agreed, “but still… stiff upper lip and all that.”

  “It’s hard to do,” Lila complained.

  “This will blow over,” Ian said encouragingly.

  Lila really looked at him for the first time since he’d arrived. His brown eyes were flecked with specks of green and gold, which was rather striking. He might be shorter than Wes and Teddy, but he had nice broad shoulders. “Do you really think so?” she asked, unconvinced.

  “Yes, I do,” Ian stated. “And if you don’t mind my saying, the satires have it all wrong anyway. Particularly when it comes to you.”

  “So do you think I seem like the kind of girl who fades into the background?” Lila dared to ask.

  “Absolutely not,” Ian insisted adamantly. “It’s very clear that whoever wrote these ridiculous pieces doesn’t know you very well, or even at all.”

  For the first time in hours Lila smiled gently.

  “If you were in America you wouldn’t even be bothering about any of this,” Ian went on. “In Newport, Rhode Island, where I come from, there are lots of wealthy families with lovely homes who don’t have titles and are proud that they made their fortunes on their own. The first of the Astor family, one of the wealthiest in the country, came from Holland and set up shop in New York City as a butcher. The family is proud of it.”

  “He’s right,” Wesley agreed.

  “But the things they said about me,” Lila reminded them.

  “If you laugh about it, everyone else will too,” Ian insisted. “Besides, no one will recognize the beautiful girl I see from those descriptions.”

  Lila’s teary eyes brightened. “That’s nice of you to say.”

  “It’s true!” Ian maintained.

  Therese appeared at the doorway, holding the baby. “Who is this?” Wesley asked under his breath, clearly impressed with Therese’s beauty.

  “Are you ready for your French lesson, Mademoiselle Lila?” Therese inquired. “I’m about to take James for his nap.”

  “Right. I forgot all about that. Yes, I’ll be there in a few minutes. But first some introductions,” Lila said. “Therese, this is my brother Wes, and his friend Ian Martin,” Lila made the introduction.

  “Bonjour,” Therese greeted them, paying special attention to Wesley.

  Wesley and Ian stood politely. “Nice to meet you, Therese,” Wesley said as he went to her side. “And this must be my baby brother.” He looked at James in Therese’s arms as she bounced him gently, causing the baby to giggle with delight.

  “Look at those green eyes and dark hair. He doesn’t look much like the rest of us, does he?” Wesley observed.

  “He must take after his father, then,” Therese said.

  “Father does have dark hair,” Lila pointed out. “What’s left of it, anyway. Funny how the rest of us went on Mother. All blond hair and brown eyes.”

  “Yes,” Therese demurred. “Funny.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  THERESE BENT OVER JAMES’S CRIB TO LAY him down for his late afternoon nap. He cooed at her, his little arms and legs windmilling. She rubbed his belly to settle him and sang a French lullaby that named all the French cathedrals in a lilting melody. Finally his green eyes drifted shut and she laid his crocheted blanket over him. Maybe people would expect her to resent little Lord James for being born into a life of privilege. But she felt a kinship with this tiny baby. He, too, had been manipulated like a chess piece. The only difference between them was that he ended up on the right side.

  Settling on the mahogany rocking chair beside the crib, she waited to make sure he was truly asleep before leaving the nursery. He was such a beautiful baby, but it was true that he didn’t look like the others in his family. How they could not realize whom he did look like was beyond her. The Darlingtons were so wrapped up in themselves it was as if the servants didn’t exist.

  One glance at Michael had told her the truth, and from then on it had been blazingly obvious to her. His striking, large green eyes w
ere the same eyes baby James had, lucky boy.

  Lady Darlington wasn’t his mother either. Therese was sure of that. A woman her age having a baby! It strained credibility. It was clear enough that Maggie was the one who loved Michael.

  Maggie was James’s mother.

  Any fool could see it!

  And yet… No one seemed to be aware of it—not even Michael! During their walk this morning, she kept thinking he would make the connection. It was the reason she had invited him to stroll with her again! She kept waiting and waiting, but it never happened.

  Therese had to admit, it was admirable of Lady Darlington to keep the baby. The usual thing would have been for Maggie and her mother to go abroad, have the baby in some convent or home for unwed mothers, and then give the baby up for adoption.

  How Maggie must have fought to keep James. It was the only explanation. Yet she was so disinterested in him now. It was probably the only way she could be sure no one would guess. If it came out that she’d had a baby out of wedlock—and the father was the stable groom—she would be ruined. There would be no marrying her off to a duke or anyone else, in that case.

  Therese was an illegitimate child herself, so the thought that Maggie had fought for her baby made her warm toward the girl. How different Therese’s life would have been if her father had fought to keep her instead of letting her mother raise her alone.

  Steps in the hall broke into Therese’s thoughts. Nora came to the door, leaning against the doorjamb. “You and I have to have a chat,” Nora insisted, and her expression was not friendly.

  “Of course,” Therese agreed. “You seem upset.”