A Country Masquerade

by Margaret McGaffey Fisk

  Barbara squinted to make him seem less appealing and scowled at him from her seat, fully aware he would not have acknowledged her even had she been sitting in the very front. Admiring or embittered, she was beneath his notice and so might as well have not existed at all.

  “Our hostess has graciously asked me to stand in a round. How could I object when she has provided this lovely event for us?”

  His deep tones threatened to melt her heart as well until she remembered his own words belittling and dismissing these events. How he’d longed for his mother to regain her strength and take these chores off his hands. He presented a pretty demeanor to match his handsome visage, but both were no more than varnish over chipped and cracked porcelain.

  She slumped down in her seat as far as the rigid piece in her corset would allow and prayed for the sky to fall so she could leave this company and suffer his presence no more.

  God had bigger things on his mind, though, and despite her head pounding so hard she wondered if she’d fallen ill, the evening dragged on even once Aubrey stepped down, though not for long. Lady Emily was the next to beg his favor, asking him to turn her music as she entertained them all from the pianoforte.

  Once again, courtesy demanded Barbara give her full attention to a vision including the one man she wished would drop off the Dover cliffs and so she suffered it. Even had she wanted to beg off, she had no intention of explaining the situation to her mother. Enduring soothing words and avoiding attempts to procure a proper introduction so she could prove her worth when his had been the one found wanting would do little to ease her head or the aching of her heart.

  “AH, THERE YOU ARE,” JASPER declared as Aubrey’s butler ushered him into the study. “I half expected you to be at an afternoon tea or perhaps squiring your sister around the gardens.”

  Aubrey pushed back from his desk and rubbed a hand down his face as he looked on his friend. “And here I thought you came into town because you had business to conduct. Feeling neglected?”

  Jasper sank into the plump chair to one side of the desk. “I’ll admit I’d hoped to claim more of your time myself, but you’re right. I did come on business. I’m engaging an engineer to repair the mill. Well, that and to help a local gentleman farmer spread word about his new breeding stock.”

  “Sheep?”

  “Horses. He’s been dabbling in horse breeding for years now, with a few moderate successes, but the latest two-year-olds are remarkable. Enough to make a name for himself if word gets around.”

  Aubrey slapped his hands to his knees and laughed. “Who would have imagined the two of us would turn respectable. You worrying about breeding stock, and I’ve taken over much of the estate management so my father can focus on politics. We’ve come a bit away from betting on carriage races through the streets of London, not that either of us had so little on our minds even then.”

  Jasper straightened from his slouch to say, “Love of a good woman will ground a man, though I’m not sure I can credit my Daphne with anything but a need to move to the country until the rumors died down. I wasn’t expecting to find it so appealing, to be honest, but there’s something bracing about the fresh air, and I have good relations with my neighbors. Much less parading about, that’s for sure.”

  “How is Daphne finding it?”

  Jasper barked a laugh. “She was made for the country. Her father had only brought the two girls to town a year or two before I crossed paths with Daphne. My lady love has a bit of the wild in her. Much better suited for the country for all she’d find more young ladies for her dance school here than there.”

  Aubrey rose to pour the two of them a light sherry. “So she is teaching?” he asked as he handed over one glass and returned to his seat.

  “She’s canvasing the local area for suitable young ladies and training the staff while she’s waiting for the right moment to make the offer. You have a fondness for elevated events. You should see our dinners. Often as not, the serving platters are delivered with a flourish or a spin.”

  “I can just imagine, but I suppose she must keep herself busy somehow. If you think your life has changed, take a moment to consider hers. At least you perform many of the same tasks. London is still talking about her, wondering where the masked dancer went and when she’ll be back.”

  Jasper stiffened at the mention. “Never.”

  Aubrey waved a hand as though to dispel the sudden tension. “Of course. I didn’t mean to say she would. I doubt she’d return to that life now even if you chose to step out of her way. She did it when she thought she had nothing to lose. Your reputation and hers are in the balance. The woman loves you more deeply than any other I’ve seen.” He stifled a sigh, thoughts drawn to his own fruitless search for such a match.

  “You were always the confident one, Aubrey. Don’t let your faith be shaken now. If I can find a match, surely you can, especially with all the events you’re attending.”

  Aubrey let the sherry swirl around on his tongue for a moment before answering. “I haven’t the chance to find a true match what with pushy females and their mothers trying to catch my eye. I don’t so much mind the events as you know, though last night I was called upon to attend one young woman who has been nothing but persistent in her pursuit. You know as well as I do they have tallies to measure a man’s worth, tallies that mark only titles, the heft of the purse, and pleasant features, with the last holding the least weight.”

  Jasper leaned forward, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “And you want to be considered for your good looks alone? Why I haven’t been gone a year and you’ve turned vain.”

  With a shake of his head that didn’t quite mask the slight smile his friend’s words provoked, Aubrey dismissed the charge. “I’d rather be measured for who I am than for any of the items in their considerations. The readings are fine, and you know I favor theater, but the balls are nothing but disappointments. The purpose there is to see and be seen, as though a glimpse is all it would take to see through to a person’s soul.”

  “You could always take them riding in your carriage. There’d be time to delve into their thoughts then.”

  Aubrey could not prevent the shudder that overtook him. “Thank you but no. That long in the company of some gentle lady whose thoughts are filled with fashion and the latest gossip. Better you had me scheduled for a stay in Bedlam. Or is it that you plan to drive me there yourself.”

  Jasper rose to clap Aubrey on the shoulder. “Buck up, my friend. It can’t be as bad as all that. And if it is, the offer to come for an extended stay is always open. My manor is large enough to keep you in peace and quiet, though I can’t guarantee none of the local gentry will bring their daughters round for a meeting.”

  “I may just have to take you up on that kind offer once my mother’s feeling better. You can show me this piece of horseflesh you seem to find so dashing as an excuse should my mother protest.”

  “Surely she wouldn’t, not after how you’ve stepped in to keep your sister’s season as active as it could possibly be. Your mother must be feeling up to the task now if you’re here and not running about after Isabella.”

  Aubrey brushed the papers scattered across the polished surface before him. “I had some work to catch up on what with maintaining Isabella’s heavy social schedule, but you’re not far off. The household, my mother included, is resting up for a night out at the theater. You’re welcome to join us. I can’t promise an act to approach that of your lady wife, but there’s a play I’ve yet to see that’s been receiving good word. And at least there I’ll be safe from the attempts to secure my fortune, my title, and even my person.”

  “But not your heart. I do understand now, Aubrey. I needed to find my match to see you as anything less than a hopeless romantic. There’s nothing for it but to keep looking. The journey might be arduous, but the reward is worth every step.”

  Aubrey stared at his friend for a long while, assessing the happiness mixed in with Jasper’s ever-present confidence, or rather the
confidence he’d seen slip only rarely. “I never thought to hear you say such a thing.”

  “Nor I, but I’d like to think I always had it in me to learn, and now I have the best of teachers.”

  “Daphne?”

  “Her, and my own heart. It’s a wondrous organ I’d much neglected in my early years.”

  Aubrey shrugged. “It’s not like you had much of an example to base upon. My parents want nothing less than a joyful match for each of their children, one to rival their own. I just wish they wouldn’t try quite so hard to bring it about.”

  Jasper laughed as he ran a finger along Aubrey’s book collection before pulling forth a volume of poems that caught his eye. “So what you’re saying is your mother’s illness, though requiring so much of you, came at an opportune time?”

  The thought had not occurred before, busy as he’d been rushing around after his youngest sister, but now Aubrey froze as it struck him. “You see the truth for what it is, my friend, whether it’s measuring a horse race or my own predicament. At least she returns to society through a dramatic event. I’ll have one day’s rest before the parade of possibles begins once again.”

  Jasper thrust the volume back in place and turned with a sour look. “You weigh your mother’s determination too light. Even with theater, there’s the intermission to consider, and I wouldn’t put it past her to have seeded the box with a prospect or two.”

  Aubrey groaned, wishing he could deny what Jasper had brought to mind and knowing he could not. “I beg of you. Come with me. I’ll sit in the farthest corner with you between me and any other. You’re a happily married man and so beneath their notice.”

  “Only if you promise to come for a visit. Daphne and I miss the company, though it seems your need outweighs ours. Still, you might try conversing with them. You never know what there is to discover hidden under their masks of propriety.”

  Aubrey shook his head with a smile. “I doubt London is big enough for two like your Daphne, and I fear she’s solidly taken. If you promise to discourage any attempt at inane converse so I can simply enjoy the play, I will agree to come for that visit as soon as my mother is able to resume her duties.”

  “Is visiting such a hardship that you must bargain for terms?” Jasper shook his head to deny the need for an answer. “Your dedication to your sister is admirable.”

  If any understood the pressures of family and responsibility, it would be Jasper, though his story came to a satisfactory conclusion while Aubrey had no such hope for his own.

  “It’s exhausting, but your company will help make it less so.”

  “Then for your sake, I’ll agree to this outing. I came to tell you I planned to head back to the manor come morning. A night at the theater seems a proper sending off.”

  Aubrey laughed. “I doubt you’ll be leaving before afternoon with how late the night will run. You’ll suffer an adjustment back to country hours once you reach home.

  “An early bedtime is quite welcome with Daphne to share the space.” Jasper grinned. “Someday you’ll understand that truth as well.”

  Clapping his friend on the shoulder, Aubrey said, “It doesn’t seem to have had that effect on my parents. Late nights and later mornings is as much the rule among the married as those Londoners still in their wilder years.”

  Jasper only shook his head, a country man now for all he’d been the toast of the town a bare year earlier.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Barbara entered the ballroom only half watching where she put her feet as she scanned for the man she dreaded seeing, and yet every event seemed somehow flat when he failed to put in an appearance.

  Two weeks had passed since she’d learned his true nature, and for one of those, his friend, Lord Pendleton, had been absent.

  Though she no longer sought him out, Barbara had watched Aubrey smile and pass the time with women of all ages. She’d caught the edge of some of his conversations, and even had the twisted pleasure of hearing him read from a new play the other night.

  How easy it would be to fall under his spell again, to accept the smiles and quiet conversation as a sign of his true measure.

  Her gaze brushed his firm shoulders as she found him standing over to one side.

  She turned away abruptly, missing the servant offering a tray of delicate nibbles to the guests by a sliver of air. One more charge to lay at his feet, and once more he remained ignorant of his tampering in her life.

  No amount of pretty curls would save her the mockery to follow if she upset a food tray all over her white muslin with half the ton watching.

  Lady Emily had already gone to him, ignoring poor Isabella as usual.

  Barbara suffered a rush of sympathy for the poor girl always in her brother’s shadow, but no matter how much she might want to intervene, she would not, could not, make polite conversation with Isabella’s devil of a brother and keep her composure. They might all be fooled, taken in by a handsome face and good manners, but she’d seen what hid beneath. It held more brimstone than roses.

  “My mother says not to frown as it makes you age all the faster.”

  Barbara turned to greet Hannah, trying to wipe the scowl from her face. She’d planned to show him just how lively she could be. Her efforts would come to naught if she wasted time glaring at the one who’d yet to encounter her directly.

  She had barons, viscounts like her father, and even a duke asking after her. Aubrey St. Vincent was no more than another face in the crowd and one of little consequence.

  Forcing her mind away from the object of her ire, Barbara gave her new friend a glittering smile. Not that they were real friends or anything. They’d spoken only of appropriate topics and had yet to visit beyond crossing paths at events such as these. Still, the thought of someone hoping she would make an appearance, someone other than the vapid suitors who barely stirred her emotions, gave her something to look forward to. The endless events were otherwise wearing. She saw no end in sight, and no answer for those who threatened to come to her door and speak with her father.

  Barbara laughed aloud at that thought, enough so she had to wave her hand in dismissal to avoid explaining her thoughts to Hannah who would be unlikely to understand. As she’d chastised that first night at the poetry reading, there were many who would swoon in delight at the suggestion of making a call on one’s father. Barbara might swoon, but only if Sarah had tied her corset too tight, something that had begun to be considered a fashion, though not broadly enough to require Barbara adopt the practice.

  A marquess who’d attempted to claim a second dance just the night before caught her eye and headed toward them.

  She’d barely made her way to the side of their hostess and already the men descended, not a one of them seeing beyond her well-brushed curls.

  “Lady Barbara.”

  She accepted the greeting with a nod, but before he could ask for her dance card, she turned to Hannah and pulled the other girl forward. “Have you had the pleasure of meeting Miss Hannah? She’s a wonderful dancer by all accounts. I hear the musicians tuning up to begin the next set. You should take this occasion to enjoy each other’s company.”

  Hannah blossomed with that unfortunate blush of hers, and the marquess looked put out, but Barbara had observed him well enough through her own encounter to know he would avoid appearing the boor.

  Sure enough, he offered his hand and led Hannah toward the area set aside for dancing. He made it all of three steps before he paused to call back a request she hold a spot on her card for him.

  Barbara gave no response, annoyed he threatened what just might be the high point in Hannah’s evening.

  Still, the encounter warned her not to dawdle on her way over to the matron presiding over this ball. Her mother had failed to notice when the sight of Aubrey slowed her steps, and then Hannah had intercepted her, leaving Lady Whitfeld to stand near their hostess with a pained expression visible even across the room.

  She expected a careful lecture on the importance of fo
llowing the proper conventions, and then a suggestion that she might, should this unfortunate happenstance occur another time, have invited the marquess along with her rather than foisting him off on another young woman. Barbara felt sure her sharp-eyed mother had missed nothing of the encounter, yet another reason why she must learn to control her features whenever Aubrey came into view.

  It would not be wise to give her parents reason to speculate, nor had she any interest in their attempts to rectify what they were sure to see as an unhappy mistake.

  Barbara stepped over to her mother’s side with a determined walk. They might think her unlucky to have caught the edge of an unflattering conversation, but she saw things quite differently. Had she not been present on that day, when Aubrey had his friend at his side and so could relax the mask he wore over his true self, she would have continued to be as deluded as was Lady Emily. The only difference being that Lady Emily deserved what she found in his company for how she used his sister as an excuse then excluded the poor girl.

  Once again, Barbara’s attention wandered to where they had been standing last she’d seen them, to check on Isabella of course and for no other reason, but they had moved away. She had no interest in searching the dance floor, or worse, the side chambers to find them.

  The gentleman who approached as soon as she’d made her formal greeting introduced himself with her mother’s permission as a French aristocrat of late from Paris. She accepted his hand for her first dance, hoping he’d have something more to say in his heavily accented French than most of the gentlemen could offer in their native English.

  The conversation should have served as a distraction, but he showed little willingness to dwell on the difficult times facing his country, asking instead after her dressmaker in a unique approach, but one that offered nothing of interest. The time when she’d overheard Aubrey discussing the French Revolution drifted into her mind. He’d considered both the horrors and just how they’d come about rather than condemning the peasantry out of hand as many did. She’d never quite considered the situation in that way before.