Holly did her best to suppress the anger she felt bubbling inside her at his careless dismissal of the people around him. As if they were nothing more than pawns for his pleasure!
Wooley smirked. “As you will. Ah, but I know. Would you care to play a game of cards?”
It was, unmistakably, a challenge.
Holly met his eyes with her own unwavering gaze and icy smile.
“Very well, let us play. Piquet, I think.”
Wooley inclined his head satirically and headed for the table.
Holly ignored the slight and took her own seat, gazing at him serenely across the table, which he seemed to find acutely irritating.
Being so near the vile man sent a jolt of dislike through her, but Holly was careful not to show this, picking up the new pack of cards to shuffle it.
The tension at the table must have been palpable, because a few of the other guests had turned to watch with interest. Sir John came over with Holly’s negus, frowning with concern.
“What shall we bet? A penny?”
“Ah, come now, Lady Strathavon. We are neither of us dowagers. I will place my fine new pair of chestnut stallions against… a lock of your hair! You won’t find finer bloodstock anywhere in London.”
It was a shockingly intimate request. A ghastly, odious smile spread across his handsome face. Holly knew she ought to refuse – but, after all, she could not let him get the best of her.
Sir John looked suitably appalled.
Lifting her chin stubbornly, she fixed Wooley with her most implacable expression.
“So be it. I accept.”
There were murmurs around the room as Lord Myles called for a knife. When a sharp silver knife was brought to them, Holly wasted no time cutting a tendril of her hair.
There was not time enough to think – for if she let herself consider the spectacle she was making, she doubted that she would have had the nerve to go on.
Their spectators were held spellbound, as though watching the war with France unfolding under their very noses. Nelson and Bonaparte, facing off across the green felt.
“That is an infamous request to make of a lady, Wooley,” Sir John said angrily.
“It is entirely up to the lady whether she accepts,” countered Wooley dismissively.
“Now see here –”
Holly suspected that matters were about to turn bloody and promptly interfered. She had a sudden moment of inspiration. She sniffed delicately, placing the lock of hair before her on the table. The curl glimmered a little in the pale candlelight.
Then, she folded her hands patiently, endeavouring to look unruffled.
“Sir John is right – this is not the wager to place over a game of piquet. Would you care to make another wager for the lock, Lord Myles? Only not cards – I find I tire of cards.”
The room went quiet as ladies and gentlemen watched in interest to see what the duchess would propose.
“I am intrigued,” Lord Myles said with a faintly lascivious note in his voice. “Pray do go on.”
“I propose a race. Along the Great North Road. The first to get to Brighton, wins. You can try out those chestnuts of yours. If I win, naturally, I shall keep the lock, and your horses. If you win, you may have this token of your victory. ”
Lord Myles contemplated this for a minute, possibly attempting to intimidate her.
Holly sat unmoved.
“A bold wager, Lady Strathavon – I accept.”
Gasps and murmurs spread throughout the room, and Holly was sure bets were already being placed on who would have the final victory.
“Then, we shall meet the morning the day after tomorrow, at sunrise. On the Great North Road.”
“So we shall.”
With that, Holly wrapped the lock of hair in a silk handkerchief, picked up her negus and rose from the table.
The card room filled with talk, and Holly was confident that word would get all over town by next morning.
She was instantly met by the baronet, who looked suitably scandalised.
“Lady Strathavon! Holly!” Sir John whispered to her urgently, trying articulate his feelings of outrage.
Holly felt well contented with herself.
It was an excellent conceit, she decided.
“I expect you want to speak of the race, Sir John. You look surprised – I wish you wouldn’t. I frequently have good ideas, you know.”
“But do you not think that this is one? Such an idea might just provoke Strathavon and set him out of temper! You cannot mean to go on with this. I think that I’ll call that scoundrel Wooley out for this infamy.”
“Pray don’t, Sir John,” Holly smiled at him. “I am afraid this is another of those escapades where I must ask you to trust me. Though I hope you will be so good as to see me off on the road?”
“You may be sure of that.”
“I think, my dear, that most of fashionable London will be there to see you off tomorrow,” said Lady Louise wryly, coming over to join them. “Is your object still what it was at the beginning?”
“Yes, that above all else, continues to be the object of my ambition,” Holly said confidently, looking at Lady Louisa from beneath her lashes.
Sir John, sensing a private exchange between the ladies, excused himself to speak with their hostess.
Lady Louisa seemed to read something in the flush of Holly’s cheeks – some lingering memory of the night before, possibly.
“Then pray do not over—exert yourself at cards tonight, or you shall be too tired to drive. Or to bicker with Strathavon.”
Holly chuckled. “Bicker? Maybe. But he cannot know the trick I am playing on him. He shouldn’t like it above half, I believe.”
“Possibly, that is just your pride speaking, have you considered that?”
“Pride! Yes, it is. But it wouldn’t be much good to lay myself bare by telling him that this tableau is all for his benefit.”
“Ah, I think it is time to tell you another secret, then: love is a constant state of vulnerability. There is nothing in the world that could more truly hurt or doom us than that which we love, even if we love it knowing it is not good for us. Loving it means you will never try to escape it, and so you will go on in that way forever. There is danger in love, but there is also strength in it.”
“Is that love, then?” Holly voiced the concern that had been plaguing her since that day at the chocolate shop, feeling unsure and distressed by these words. She had thought that she had left uncertainty behind. “This game? Is that why he has not yet voiced his affection?”
Louisa shook her head. “No, child, love is only ever what you make of it, no more, no less. That is why you must make a victory of this shocking race of yours. A push in the right direction goes a very long way, my dear.”
*
Verity came to call on Holly uncharacteristically early, having already heard the whole from Sir John. She seemed set on talking Holly out of any rash action.
The whole affair would become nothing short of a cause célèbre if Holly were permitted to go through with her plan to race her Phaeton to Brighton, Verity warned in a hushed voice, looking very distressed.
“It will hardly be the most scandalous event of the Season!” Holly assured her friend.
“But it will still be utterly infamous. I am certain you did not expect Lord Myles to accept so mad a wager. I own, I had no notion of the true foulness of his character before today. Whatever will you do? It is unconscionable. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard of it. I would have never credited him as such a scoundrel. Sir John was ready to call him out, I understand. And what will Lord Strathavon say?”
She trailed off, picturing what the duke would do when got wind of the race.
“Sir John was very gracious – as he always is. He will come to see me off tomorrow,” said Holly with a warm smile. “There is nothing I can do but race. It is imperative that I should do so. As to His Grace – we shall just have to see, but I expect he will turn all thunderous
again. He does not care for races, I think.”
“You are so very calm,” said Verity. “Pray forgive me: I don’t understand. I think I may just faint at the thought of it. Oh, where is my vinaigrette?” She began to search through her reticule.
“Fiddle! I forbid you to faint, unless Sir John is nearby to catch you,” said Holly teasingly.
Verity blushed.
“Sir John has asked papa to address me.” Verity’s face broke into a wide, sunny smile. “I must tell you, it isn’t at all true that he is a rake! Why, he is better than a knight out of a novel. He is truly very kind and gracious. And did you know that he genuinely loves scholarly pursuits? Such a burning devotion – it’s very charming.” So pleased was Verity with every aspect of Sir John’s character that she could scarcely contain herself.
“How marvellous! If he ever was a rake, than you can be certain you have tamed him. I just know you shall be the happiest couple in England,” Holly said, grasping her friend’s hands.
“I can barely wait. But that doesn’t matter now. The race…”
Holly petted her hand primly. “It is nothing, I assure you. All will be made clear in good time but, for now, I must plan the best strategy for winning this race. If only I could go and have a look at the road. I am much lighter than Wooley, but he is a hardier driver…”
*
Holly’s next visitor arrived looking even more flustered than Verity, though he did not threaten to swoon.
“Firstly, I am given to understand that it is to you that I owe my deepest thanks for the emeralds, dear, dear Holly. They are with my aunt now, and well out of harm’s way. Did Strathavon explain to you that it is most unbecoming for a duke to be sneaking into a lady’s boudoir? It has ever been the way of the aristocracy to sneak out. Strathavon told me the whole about your madcap plan, you see – and I shall never be able to repay you.”
“That will be easy,” Holly laughed. “I pray that next time you come to me before the mess gets quite so tangled.”
“I shall. I was right – you are the most capital of girls.”
“Yes, yes, but what is the second thing?” she said, waving him on.
“The second… Ah, I see – the second is that you are out of your mind. What possessed you to make that damned bet with Wooley?”
“Necessity, I assure you. It’s only just a little race.”
“You are in every betting book in London by now, I expect.”
“I wouldn’t like to hoard the fun.”
“You’re not saying you mean to go through with it? At dawn tomorrow?”
“Ah, but that is exactly what I am saying. Do stop pacing – it’s very difficult to watch.”
“Strathavon will be furious.”
“That’s very likely. Mayhaps he will even find the words to voice his affection, amidst all the scolding.”
Avonbury stopped and stared at her.
“And if his lordship doesn’t come storming up to berate you for your imprudence? What then? Will you drive the race?” asked Avonbury, looking taken aback at Holly’s pluck.
“You underestimate your cousin’s capacity for feeling outraged, my dear Avonbury. I shall still drive even if he does come along. What of it? They may just call me ‘Lady Dashalong’ for a while, but that is hardly the worst moniker to have come out of society, and I expect everyone will forget being outraged soon enough. If you must know, I expect I can get up to ten miles an hour in the Phaeton, if I handle the carriage just right,” Holly confided.
“Ten miles! You will break your neck.”
“I will not. Now, don’t forget to be at Archway road at sunrise, or you shall miss the fun.”
“You’ll become infamous.”
Holly laughed at that. “I hardly think that all of society will forever refuse to receive me because I successfully drove myself from London to Brighton in a just matter of hours!”
Failing to find reason with the duchess, Avonbury decided that the thing to do would be to find the duke.
Only he wondered what he could say when he did – it would hardly be good form to betray Holly just like that. Even if that was exactly what she seemed to want of him.
“You can go ahead and tell him,” the duchess said, confirming his suspicion. “It might speed things along somewhat, if you did.”
The earl of Avonbury inclined his head, realising that it was much easier simply to do as he’d been asked.
“One last thing, Avonbury – I find I have thought of a way that we can be even after all…”
*
Strathavon proved easier than expected to locate. He was at White’s, watching a heated game of billiards, and blissfully oblivious to the furore his wife was causing about town.
“And how is Holly?” Avonbury ventured to ask his cousin, still wondering how he would spill the whole, without actually spilling it. Besides, if the duke suspected Holly was playing a game, he might hold back out of sheer obstinacy.
“In high spirits as always. She was saying this morning that she meant to send her Phaeton to the carriage pond for a wash – but I wonder if she can bear to be so long without it.”
“Yes, she does have a very lively disposition. At first I thought she was some wily country miss out to snare herself a coronet, but I’ll admit it, you have married yourself a right dashing sort of girl, cousin.”
“Then you no longer think she was up to no good, marrying me? That’s very kind of you.”
Avonbury returned the duke’s grin. “She has convinced me. Now I think she is too good for you. Max would have found her delightful.”
“You know, I rather think so too. I’ve said it before – she has a sad habit of adopting strays. It seems despite all I could do to dissuade her, she’s decided to include me in their number.”
There was a pause in the conversation.
“So she’s gone to the carriage pond, eh? Lady Strathavon is a dab hand at tooling her Phaeton, I am told,” said Avonbury with a great deal of carelessness. “I imagine she could even win a race along the Great North Road, if she set her mind to it.”
“I dare say that even Lady Strathavon would not go so far as to agree to a race,” said the duke, with artful disinterest.
“Yes, conceivably she may yet change her mind – though I don’t see Holly as the kind to back out of a challenge,” Avonbury replied, even more casually.
The duke’s eyes flashed to his cousin’s carefully composed face.
“And precisely what do you mean, ‘change her mind’?” Strathavon asked coldly. “I am not at all certain I wish to know even five of the scrapes she is in at the moment, but it seems I have no choice. So there it is, and you had best tell me. ”
“Ah, you see… The heart of the thing is that she means to race Wooley at dawn. On the Great North Road. The object is to get to Brighton. It was a bet at Lady Graham’s party, I’m told. She seems very keen to see whether her new carriage comes up to scratch. Miss Dacre said Holly claimed that wouldn’t dream of being so fast as to race in Hyde Park because she promised you that she would not. Wooley wins a lock of her hair if he comes first. The meeting point is Archway Road. I shall go along I daresay, to see them start, if you’d care to join me?”
“The Great North Road!” sputtered the duke, flying to his feet. “Of all the infamous!”
“I believe so. It is all that I can presently recollect, I fear,” Avonbury told his cousin, looking entirely unapologetic. “I trust you have enough sense not to call out Wooley. I don’t think she’d forgive that.”
The duke did not see the amused look on Avonbury’s face because he’d already stormed out of White’s in a temper. And nearly ran head-first into Sir Jeffrey Millforte, of all people.
Strathavon stared at Holly’s father as though he had seen a ghost.
He had ascribed to the man the membership of such a club as Boodle’s. He had never seen Millforte set foot in White’s, and this was not a good time to stand corrected.
“Strathavon,” said th
e older man with an astonishingly friendly smile.
“Sir Jeffrey, I trust that all is well with you and Lady Millforte?” the duke asked, forcing his voice into a semblance of civility.
“Ah yes, very well indeed. I’m only just passing through town, so I thought I’d stop by to see a friend. You haven’t seen Pensy, have you, my boy?”
“I fear not. Is there some way in which I can be of assistance to you?”
“Oh, no, no. Not at all. But now that I’ve met you so fortuitously, I do wish to commend you on making my daughter so happy as you have done. I own I had some doubts about the wisdom of the match when it was first proposed to me, but my wife informs me that Holly’s letters are full of every felicity. You have my eternal gratitude for the kindness which you have shown her.”
The man was clearly in his cups, even if he didn’t look it, Strathavon decided, blinking in amazement and aware of a faint tinge of guilt that had begun to creep upon him. Every felicity?
“I shouldn’t think –” he began.
“Certainly not, my boy. Merely go on as you have begun and it will be a very joyful life. Now I beg you excuse me, I can see Lord Pensy has arrived. Do tell my daughter I shall call on her some time later in the week.”
With that, the man was gone, and Strathavon still did not have the faintest notion what to make of this unexpectedly friendly greeting.
He wondered what it was that Holly had written her family.
He’d have plenty of time to find out, once he stopped her damned race.
On the brief stroll home, however, it occurred to Strathavon that he oughtn’t stop the race after all. At least, not yet.
Chapter 14
The morning air was crisp with a taste of winter. Holly dressed warmly, determined not to let such a little thing as the encroaching chill, ruin her chances of winning.
Soon, the rusty leaves would fall from all the trees in a carpet of yellow and gold, and what a delight it would be to walk in the park then.
It was still dark out when the duchess woke up, and she took a quick breakfast in her room. Bolstered by a cup of hot chocolate, she felt ready to take on the world.
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