by Ayles, Abby
Rodrick was amazed at this sudden change in his cousin. Not more than a day ago, he’d been so forlorn and Rodrick didn’t think that he’d ever see Jamie laugh or smile again. And now here Jamie was, excited and mirthful.
There must be something that he’s not telling me. Some reason that he is so extra-eager to throw a party here. Rodrick wondered if perhaps Jamie and Lady Noelle had been drinking from the same well of magic mead.
Rodrick enthusiastically helped his cousin write and send out invitations for a ball at Westwood to take place on the Friday hence. He smiled when he had occasion to write the name Lady Noelle Fletcher onto her paper.
On the day of the ball, Rodrick’s mother was once again thrilled to be going to spend time with her beloved son and nephew. “I haven’t seen dear Alexander in quite a while,” she said as Rodrick walked with her, arm-in-arm through the lovely greenery of the Westwood estate on their way to the mansion.
“We’re not likely to see much of him tonight either,” Rodrick said, only half-joking. “I have a feeling that he will be spending most of this ball out of doors.”
His mother smiled. “He never really was a social butterfly. Your father was the one who often convinced him to come out of his shell.”
She stopped walking for a moment so she could reach up and place her hands on Rodrick’s cheeks. She smiled up at him now, a tinge of sadness there in that smile. “You really are so very like him.”
Rodrick felt a tinge of sadness himself then and he forced tears to not enter his eyes. Just barely. He hoped that that might be true.
They walked together to the front door and they were merrily welcomed in by one of the earl’s butlers. “Mr. Edwards and his mother, Mrs. Eleanor Edwards,” the butler announced to the people who were gathered in attendance at the ball.
James came quickly over and gave his cousin a friendly handshake. He was grinning and he stepped aside, revealing a fetching young lady who’d been there behind him. “Rodrick, please allow me to introduce you to Miss Rosalyn Tate,” he introduced.
“Miss Tate, this is my cousin and dearest friend, Mr. Rodrick Edwards.”
The young lady smiled and gave a little curtsy. She’d clearly been taught to do such a thing when greeting the nobility, but she did so for Rodrick just in case. He smiled at her and offered his hand.
“Delighted,” he said to her. She placed her hand into his and he bowed to her as she smiled back at him. Who was this young lady? He’d never seen her before.
His mother was standing there beside him with a rather strange expression on her face. She looked as though she recognized this young woman but couldn’t think of where.
Miss Tate had reddish-blonde hair and big, quite innocent-looking blue eyes. She very much appeared like an angel to Rodrick, though of course he did not really know anything about her character. He didn’t wish to make assumptions about anyone, lest they do the same about him.
He had to wonder if James had been introduced to her earlier and had decided that he liked her enough to introduce her to Rodrick. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if James thought Miss Tate would be a worthy match for him but then he noticed the look in his cousin’s eyes as he stood beside the young lady.
James was completely enamored with her. It came as a surprise to Rodrick because it really hadn’t been that long since James had been pining for Lady Catherine. He supposed that there could be more to the reason that Jamie didn’t propose than he let on. Perhaps he’d also been in love with this girl…
Rodrick didn’t think so, though. It wasn’t like his timid cousin to entertain romantic thoughts about two women at the same time. He’d been so passionate in his love for Lady Catherine; it couldn’t be so that he’d felt that way whilst also pining for another.
“Where did you two meet?” he asked James then, in a friendly and slightly playful way as if he was merely chiding the other man and not actually very curious.
James blushed as he smiled. “We met the other day at the Prescott ball. Miss Tate is a cousin on Lady Prescott’s side.”
Ah. Perhaps related to the future heir, Rodrick thought. The whole thing amused him more than anything.
Imagine being cousin or the like to a titled man, only to discover that you are heir to a title yourself! Rodrick wondered what that would feel like and supposed that it would be similar to what happened to Lady Andrews.
Except she got an even better deal out of it. She got to marry someone that she loved and who loved her tremendously. He had no doubt about that. Lord Andrews had matched with her the way Rodrick wished it could be for everyone: they met at a perfectly normal party.
He awoke from his reverie and smiled approvingly at the pair of them. They did look quite nice beside one another. “Miss Tate, this is my mother, Mrs. Eleanor Edwards.”
While the two women greeted each other, Rodrick’s eyes scanned the room for any sign of Lady Noelle and her family. He hoped very much that they would come to the ball, for now he did indeed feel like an odd man out. Even Jamie had found himself a mate.
As kind and lovely as she is, I don’t wish to spend the whole night only dancing with my mother, he thought good-humoredly. He didn’t think that his mother had any interest in dancing at her age. Indeed, she seemed hopeful that she would find Uncle Alexander somewhere in the mansion.
Now that James had found a new light of his life, Rodrick supposed that he could calm down a little with regard to the treatment of his cousin by Lady Catherine. He was not looking forward to seeing the rest of the family very much, but he was ever hopeful that he would be able to dance a while with Lady Noelle.
He knew that it wasn’t really something that his mother wanted, but then neither was Lady Catherine supposed to run off into the night with Alphonse Drake, but there they all were. Nothing was going according to plan. So, he thought that he might be able to make the most of that.
What was one more dance?
Chapter 33
Noelle was ecstatic when she received the invitation, directly from Mr. Edwards no less, to a ball at Westwood. Her parents and younger sisters were also invited, which thrilled her as well because normally Beth and Anna didn’t get a chance to attend balls like this, in fancy mansions in the country. The only balls they attended were in the city for the London Season.
“You’ll have to be on your best behavior, of course,” she said to the two of them as she braided Anna’s hair before pinning it up. If there’s one thing she wished to do for them, it was teaching them to be self-sufficient. “A lot of important people will be there.”
Beth giggled whilst Anna rolled her eyes. “We’re already always on our best behavior,” Anna countered. “We haven’t been raised to be any other way.”
The ladies’ maids worked to help the two younger girls get dressed in satisfactory evening gowns. Edith had already assisted Noelle with her dress – the lovely green one that matched Mr. Edwards’s eyes. She knew that he wouldn’t even notice but she still thought it would be a nice touch.
She would not have chosen to purchase this dress were it not for the fact that it made her think of him.
The duchess wasn’t so sure about the fact that they were certainly going to see the man again, but she softened at the thought of visiting with the old Earl of Montgomery and exploring Westwood to see if it was everything her daughters had told her about. “I shall be sad to see Lord Edwards knowing what a horrible trick Catherine played on him,” she said while they rode in their carriage to Hertfordshire.
“I think he is doing well,” Noelle said to her, smiling reassuringly. “When I saw him the other evening, he was in good spirits.”
“He deserves all of the best,” the duchess said, sighing and looking out of the window. Noelle knew that this meant he deserved better than Catherine.
Who knew? Perhaps he would meet someone today and they would be able to finally put the entire affair behind them. It would be wonderful to see Lord Edwards happily married after such an ordeal.
She hadn’t received a letter or any sort of word from Kitty, which didn’t entirely surprise her. She had more or less told her sister that she didn’t have to write back if she was busy, but she hoped that she would. Why does she hide even from me?
Noelle wondered if Catherine thought that she was upset at her for ‘stealing’ Lord Drake. But surely Kitty knew that Noelle had no interest in him! She’d told her as much…
That was likely her cue, she thought, wishing that she hadn’t been so swift to inform her of her feelings – or indeed non-feelings – for the man. Catherine usually wasn’t so rash, though. Perhaps she really does love him…
Catherine was usually such a trouble-maker that it was difficult to know how she really felt about much of anything.
The carriage arrived outside the front of Westwood and the family disembarked. The Duke of Salisbury admired the mansion and nodded his approval. “It looks as well-maintained as ever,” he said.
“The Earl of Montgomery may be a reclusive fellow, but he takes care of his properties,” the duchess said, smiling at the thought of the old man.
For Noelle’s part, she was surprised that her mother gave any thought to the earl. He hadn’t struck her as particularly interesting, though she supposed that it was more to do with the fact that the only person who really spoke to him was Lord Drake. He loves hunting and it’s seemingly the only thing he ever wants to talk about, she thought.
The family was invited inside by Lord Edwards’s friendly butler and then they all joined the throngs of people who were milling about in his impressive ballroom. She didn’t recall it from prior engagements but she supposed the room didn’t make a good place for quiet conversation. After fetching herself a glass of water, Noelle gazed around the room in the hopes of meeting a pair of familiar green eyes.
Suddenly, she caught sight of Lord Edwards and there, at his side, was none other than Mr. Edwards. Noelle grinned uncontrollably and crossed over the wooden floorboards to join him on the other side of the room. As she approached, she noticed the pretty lady on Lord Edwards’s other side.
Before Noelle was able to say anything, her family came along behind her as if they were acting as her entourage now. She really wished that they wouldn’t. The last thing Noelle needed was to be further embarrassed by her family’s antics.
“Good evening, Lord Edwards,” her father said to the gentleman, nodding his head politely. “We heard from our daughter Noelle here that you were getting along all right and we just wanted to come to you at once and pay our respects.”
Noelle couldn’t be entirely sure, but she thought she noticed a slight bristle in Lord Edwards as he regarded her father. The two men shook hands but he didn’t seem entirely pleased by what he’d said.
“I’m not sure that I’d describe my feelings as ‘all right’, but I’ve managed to get by,” he said curtly. “It’s quite a lot to get sorted out, you understand. Lady Noelle has been a good help to me, of course… As well as Miss Tate.”
He nodded in gesture towards the young lady at his side.
Noelle was surprised to discover that the woman who stood there with him was not Lady Tate. How peculiar that he should be standing here with an untitled woman and an untitled gentleman. She blushed to think of Mr. Edwards in that way, though.
To her, he was so much more. She wondered if that was the way it was for Lord Edwards too, regarding Miss Tate.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we all could forget about such nonsense? She inwardly laughed at the idea. There was no way that England was going to do away with her stately titles.
“How do you do, Miss Tate,” her mother greeted the woman. Noelle could sense the distaste in her voice but she didn’t believe that anyone else would be able to notice. She was often a scornful woman, but she wasn’t entirely impolite.
If she was, then they should never have been invited to anything, nor would they have been able to receive guests to their own events. Her father was personable but balls and fetes were more the duchess’s specialty.
Miss Tate greeted them all gracefully and Noelle noted that she had quite an elegant and almost regal air about her despite not being a part of the nobility. “It is so nice to make your acquaintance,” Noelle said to her, giving a small curtsy. “I don’t believe we’ve ever met.”
“Miss Tate and her family were at the Prescotts’ ball,” Mr. Edwards informed her with another of his warm, friendly smiles. She didn’t think that she could ever tire of looking at him. She was glad for any excuse to spend more time in his company, even if her parents were right there at her back.
“Oh!” Noelle said in response to his explanation. “But that makes sense. How fortuitous that you and Lord Edwards should have met.” She smiled at Miss Tate.
She looked from Lord Edwards to Mr. Edwards and then she had a strange thought. Suppose that I am wrong and Miss Tate has been chosen to be Mr. Edwards’s dance partner? Oh, how I hope that this is not the case!
There was no indication in Mr. Edwards’s demeanor, but the gentleman was always so sweet that it was difficult to know who he might fancy and who indeed he was merely being polite towards. She liked to think that she fully understood his mind, as he always seemed to understand hers, but she could not be sure.
“Yes, I thank God for that,” Lord Edwards said to her, beaming from Noelle to Miss Tate. “I must admit that for a while there, I didn’t know how I was ever going to go on, but now I have quite forgotten to feel anything but glad.”
Noelle looked over at her mother, tilting her head a little in response to this new development. Her mother looked like she’d just swallowed an entire lemon. Whole.
Surely, he didn’t mean to marry this girl, her mother most definitely was thinking. She has no prospects, no fortune, nothing to give him! It was impossible for Noelle to keep a straight face when she thought of what her mother was thinking.
She may not have known the thoughts of Mr. Edwards, but she certainly knew what her mother thought.
“I must say that I never imagined you would go for this sort of marriage,” the duchess said, not caring if this comment was insensitive. “What does your father think?”
“Mother!” Noelle couldn’t believe that her mother was vocalizing things like this instead of keeping it inside to complain about later. She was treating the viscount as though he was her child. It was quite inappropriate.
The duchess shrugged a shoulder, looking at Noelle as if she was really the rude one.
Lord Edwards had gone red in the face, as had Miss Tate. Mr. Edwards, likewise, looked quite annoyed at this outburst.
“She doesn’t know what she’s saying,” Noelle said in an effort to soothe them, glaring daggers at her mother. Her sisters stood by and looked down at their slippered feet much as they had the evening of their mother’s big lecture to Noelle in the drawing room.
“I know precisely what I’m saying,” the duchess said, lifting her nose into the air in a haughty manner. “It is not wrong of me to confess that this behavior is strange. I don’t know how the Earl of Montgomery feels about this, but I do think that it is most irregular.”
Lord Edwards bowed a bit awkwardly. “I daresay that we should take our leave now,” he said as gracefully as he could. “It has been a pleasure to see you again, your Grace.”
He bowed to Noelle’s father as well before giving her a pointed sort of look. He escorted Miss Tate away from them and Noelle was left to stand there in front of Mr. Edwards, at a complete loss for what to say. She certainly couldn’t be pressed to explain her mother’s queer behavior, except that she had predicted that she was thinking such things.
“I am so sorry,” she said to Mr. Edwards, taking his offered arm so they could walk around the ballroom together, as they had done the first evening that they met. It would help them tremendously to get away from her horrid mother, as Lord Edwards had been wise to do. “I promise you that I have no idea where that outburst came from.”
To her surprise, he smiled
at her and nodded his head. “Oh, I actually think you do. It’s just as you once warned me about: she is displeased by anyone who does not follow the rules of the ton, and anyone who does not have a title.”
Noelle blushed clear to crimson. She could not recall if she had ever told the gentleman that about her mother, but he had the right of it. “That is indeed true, which is why she only ever dreamt of me marrying Lord Drake and now she believes me to be a failure.”
“Oh, she surely doesn’t think that you’re a failure,” Mr. Edwards said to her, shaking his head. “Just don’t think about marrying anyone who is a commoner.”
He had a mirthful twinkle in his handsome, glowing eyes. She wished that she might be able to laugh along with him about this, but all she really wanted to do was cry.
Chapter 34
Rodrick came away from the ball thinking that Lady Noelle was certainly not to blame for her sister’s behavior. He had been surprised by Lady Catherine’s behavior, but he could see now that Lady Noelle had been just as taken aback as he was. Lady Noelle was nothing like her sister.
Poor Miss Tate, he thought as he walked home that night, absent even a farewell from his cousin. James had gone off with the lady and he hadn’t seen him since. Poor Jamie, too.
The sadness that met his eyes when he looked at Lady Noelle was all he needed to understand that she was feeling so distraught in this new position in which she was thrust. Her sister had taken her prospective husband away from her and…
And what? She prefers the company of commoners such as me. He had to smile a little; she didn’t seem like she was planning to stop that behavior.
Rodrick was grateful that the daughter really was not like the mother. He supposed that there was more of the father in her personality, though he hadn’t quite had a chance to get to know the duke. He thought it was interesting indeed that both he and Lady Noelle should share traits with their fathers.
