by Anne Herries
Judith came up to her just before the eighth couple started out. ‘There is a steep bend to the right soon after you start,’ she said, ‘and another to the left when you return. Good luck Cousin. I am certain you will do as well as any lady here.’
No lady had so far beaten Lady Hetty’s time. When Lucy’s rig was brought up, she discovered that it was lighter than the one she had driven before and realised that Paul had after all given her the borrowed vehicle, perhaps because it would be easier for a lady.
He came to assist her to the driving box. ‘The horses are mine and you will manage them easily—the rig is Lady Hetty’s own. She has kindly lent it to you.’
‘How kind of her,’ Lucy said and smiled. ‘Good luck, Paul. I shall try to beat you.’
‘Yes, of course,’ he said and kissed his fingers to her. ‘Good luck, Lucy.’
She set off first, as was the rule with the other contestants. Only one gentleman had overtaken his opponent, for it was time that counted, but the young coxcomb had wanted to prove his mettle and come in at nineteen minutes and twenty seconds after overtaking so dangerously that the marquis ruled he was disqualified for almost oversetting the lady’s rig. He’d scowled over it, but so far no one had beaten the time he’d set.
Lucy set out with Paul a few seconds behind her. She had felt nervous for a start, but the horses responded so beautifully that she gave them their head and let them take her round. They went at such a spanking pace that she knew there was a respectable distance between Paul’s rig and her own. He made up a little ground towards the end, but remembering Judith’s warning, Lucy brought her horses to the finish and she fancied Paul had not quite caught her.
Their times were given as nineteen minutes and fifty-five seconds each and so it was called a draw between them. Lucy was laughing as he came to help her down, her cheeks pink from the excitement and a light breeze.
‘Did you let me keep ahead?’ she asked him as he set her down and the horses were led away.
‘No such thing,’ he said, his hands about her waist as he looked down into her eyes. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart thudded. Something in his eyes seemed to say that he liked her very well indeed. ‘You handled them with style, Lucy. I fancy I might have gone faster with them, but I am glad to have equalled your skill.’
Since three other gentlemen had gone faster, Lucy knew that he was not in the running for the prize, but she was the quickest of the ladies and was greeted with applause as she rejoined the party.
However, it was now time for Judith and Major Carter to race and everyone was crowding to see what would happen. Judith looked magnificent as she set off at a cracking pace and the major set out after her. It was obvious as he urged his pair on that he meant to catch and overtake her if he could and a feeling of tension seemed to spread through the spectators. The other races had been watched with an air of pleasure or amusement, but this was the race everyone had been waiting for, because, despite all that had been done to avoid scandal, no one quite believed in the picnic. Most of the company had bet on the outcome, which was not the case with many of the other contestants.
When the horses approached the bend that took them behind the trees, it looked as if Major Carter was about to catch up with his beautiful opponent. There was a collective sigh as both rigs disappeared from view and everyone waited, then a cheer went up as the first rig was seen to come round the bend on the return...and it was Judith. She was fairly flying down the road, her horses at full stretch. As Lucy watched she looped her whip and caught it again as the major came after her. His horses were lathered, because he had pushed them hard on the first part of the course; he was still pushing them, but it was clear that they were blown and would not catch Judith.
‘By God, she’s done it in eighteen minutes and fifty seconds,’ someone cried as Judith brought her horses to a stop. ‘Carter is fifty seconds behind her...’
Cheering broke out on all sides and Judith was clapped as she climbed down from her rig and handed her reins to a groom. She was announced the winner, but Major Carter had driven fastest of the gentlemen and was awarded a prize. He accepted it with good grace, though looked a little sick, because the prize was a mere trinket while he was known to have bet more than a thousand guineas on himself.
‘You won,’ Lucy said, going to her cousin to kiss her. ‘It was a wonderful race, Judith. He looked as though he might catch you.’
‘He did and should have passed me,’ she said, ‘but he misjudged the corner and had to pull back or he would have landed in a steep ditch. Elver warned me of it so I may have had the advantage—but his horses could have beaten mine over a longer test.’
‘Well, that is as may be,’ Lucy said. ‘I did it in nineteen minutes and fifty-five seconds, you know.’
‘As I expected, you have flair. I have been driving much longer. When you have more experience, I shall race you one day, Cousin. Elver will arrange it for us—but we shall not invite all these people to watch. I’m not sure I know half of them.’
‘Well, I do think there must be some uninvited guests,’ Lucy said, hearing some gentlemen laughing and jesting a little crudely. ‘Shall we join Mama and Captain Ravenscar?’
‘Yes, why not?’ Judith replied and smiled. ‘I did not drink before the race, but I should enjoy a glass of champagne now.’
‘Oh, yes. You must be so pleased, dearest.’
‘Yes, I am, for I knew my darlings were game,’ Judith said. ‘Carter’s horses are good—but he is too rash and does not judge his corners well.’
She looked about her. The crowd was beginning to thin a little.
‘Elver said we should go up to the house. He has arranged a light tea for a few of his closest friends...though I am not sure I could eat a thing, but it is what he wants.’ She looked at Lucy, a smile on her lips. ‘He has something to announce.’
Lucy arched her brows, but Judith merely laughed and shook her head. ‘Is it what I think, Cousin?’
‘You must just wait and see,’ Judith told her, but she looked happy and her eyes danced with merriment.
* * *
The announcement of their engagement was duly made after the guests had assembled for tea, which consisted of delicious salmon-and-cucumber sandwiches, tiny chicken treats in flaky pastry with a cream-and-wine sauce, and a variety of dainty cakes. The gentlemen wolfed down the savoury treats while the ladies nibbled at a sweet cake with their dish of tea.
‘I have the delightful duty of announcing that Lady Sparrow has done me the honour to accept my offer of marriage,’ the marquis announced, looking at her proudly. ‘Please, my dearest...’
Judith went to him and he slipped a magnificent diamond-and-emerald ring on the third finger of her left hand.
‘I wish to thank you for making me the happiest of men—and for ensuring that my future life will not be in the least dull.’
Laughter and cheers greeted this sally and Judith looked at him gratefully. ‘I fear I shall not make you a comfortable wife, sir,’ she told him. ‘I may land you in scrapes and lead you a merry dance—but you have my promise that I shall be a loving partner.’
More laughter followed this and more than one envious look was directed at the marquis. Lucy, who happened to look at Earl Daventry, was shocked by the expression in his eyes. He was staring at Elver as if he could cheerfully put a ball through his head. She felt a cold shiver at her nape as he turned and looked straight at her.
He was very angry, but she did not think he had a broken heart and guessed that whatever his true reason for wishing to provoke Judith, it was not love that motivated him. He might claim to have loved her once, but it was selfish displeasure that Lucy saw in his face and it made her glad that she had decided against him.
In a moment the menacing expression was gone and he smiled as he came to her.
‘You
drove well, Miss Lucy,’ he said. ‘I think with a little tuition you might handle your horses even better.’
‘You flatter me, sir,’ she replied. ‘Captain Ravenscar says that he will teach me when we return home and I shall hope to improve—though I could not have expected to do so well. Had he wished, I am certain that Paul could have passed me. Besides, he loaned me his own horses and borrowed a team for himself.’
‘Very probably he could have beaten you had he wished,’ Daventry said in a cold voice. ‘He is clearly quite the proper gentleman. Excuse me, I must speak to someone.’
Lucy felt a little shiver go down her spine. The earl was obviously irate—with her or with her cousin? Possibly both of them, for they had both rejected him in their various ways. She only knew that she had not liked the expression in his eyes when Judith had spoken of making Elver a loving wife.
Was he jealous? Lucy was puzzled. At Dawlish he had seemed to be courting her and even in Bath he had paid her very pleasing attention—until she made it clear that she had not made up her mind to marry him if he asked. Yet she had heard that argument between him and her cousin in the garden and she wondered if his attentions to her had been a cover for his true feelings.
Once he had courted Judith and stolen her heart, then he had deserted her. Did he now regret it? Was he jealous of the man she had agreed to marry? Or was it simply, as Judith more cynically said, because he admired her fortune? Lucy, too, was an heiress, though her fortune was not as large as her cousin’s.
‘So, Lucy, are you satisfied now?’
She turned to discover Paul at her side and smiled up at him. ‘I am very grateful to you and the marquis,’ she said. ‘My cousin owes the fact that she still has a reputation to you both.’
‘She has come off very well,’ Paul said. ‘Now we may all forget this nonsense and enjoy ourselves.’
There was at that moment such a look of promise in his eyes that she wished she might melt into his body and regretted that she had not lost to him, for then he would have demanded his forfeit. Her mouth tingled at the thought of what that kiss might be like, for he had never kissed her other than a brief touch of his lips. To be held and kissed until she could scarcely breathe... Her pulses raced at the thought of it and she was forced to look away lest he saw her longing.
Lucy smiled and agreed. Now was not the time to tell him that she still had doubts about her cousin’s future.
Chapter Ten
‘I must go to town to buy my bride clothes,’ Judith told Lucy when they were home again. ‘London will be thin of company or I would beg you and my aunt to come with me, Lucy—but I shall write to my late mother’s Aunt Susan and ask her to chaperon me. I dare say your mama is wishing me to the devil by now.’
‘No, of course she isn’t,’ Lucy said. ‘Mama never bears a grudge. Besides, how could she be angry when you have made such a brilliant match?’
‘I have been lucky,’ Judith agreed. ‘You know that I was not sure whether I should take him, but when he did so much for me...it was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes and I saw him for the first time.’
‘Then you do truly care for him?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘I am glad you are happy. I wondered for a time if you still cared for the Earl of Daventry?’
Judith laughed. ‘I wondered myself, Lucy. I was so desperately in love with him when I was seventeen. He made love to me... I will confess that I was fortunate to escape with my virtue intact, for had he chosen to seduce me I should have allowed it. When he left me, I was forced to marry an older man my father had chosen and...’ She shook her head, as if she had put an end to something in her mind. ‘I shall not dwell on that, for I came to care for my husband. Suffice it to say my heart was broken, but it has mended.’
‘Would you have wed Daventry now if he had asked?’
Judith’s cheeks flushed. ‘I must tell you that he did ask me one afternoon at your house. I was so angry with him, for it was after your dance and everyone expected that he would offer for you. I told him that he was a despicable rogue and...well, you know the rest. Just think—if I had taken him—what it must have been like for you, Lucy. Everyone would have thought ill of him...and me. I believe that it was at that moment I began to see him for the selfish, ruthless man he is. He used us both, Cousin—and I cannot forgive him for that.’
‘Oh, I see. So that was why you quarrelled.’
‘Yes. I was distressed and it made me feel uncomfortable with you for a time, though I tried to hide it—I shall admit, however, that for a moment I was tempted. I did love him once, you see. When he left Bath we had argued again—just before we left for the theatre. After he had gone, I was angry that he had allowed you to think he intended marriage for I thought it would hurt you if you discovered what a shallow fellow he truly is—but then you told me you did not care for him...’
‘Is that why you were so reckless that night at the assembly, because he had made you unhappy by leaving?’
‘Yes, and, no,’ Judith said, half-shamed by her admittance. ‘A part of me could not forget what he had once been to me, but it was not just that. Elver had made it plain that he admired me and I felt...desperate...for I did not know what to do. I knew that it would be a good marriage and yet a part of me still hankered for...’ She shook her head, clearly annoyed with herself. ‘It was mere irritation of the nerves, Lucy dearest. I did not know my own heart. I assure you that I have made my decision and shall not waver again.’
‘Even if Daventry makes it plain he cares for you?’
Pride glittered in Judith’s eyes. ‘I think he is at heart a selfish man who will never truly care for anyone but himself.’
‘Well, I am glad that you have chosen Elver,’ Lucy said. ‘I have become fond of you, Cousin, and wish you happy. I shall ask Mama if she will take us to London to buy your bride clothes, if you wish it?’
‘I should not wish to put my aunt to so much trouble. My mother’s aunt will do the pretty by me, I dare say—and Elver intends to escort me. I know you are fixed in Bath for another week and I shall stay with you until you leave. Then Elver will escort me to London to stay with Great-Aunt Susan.’
Lucy gave way, for if her cousin’s mind was made up there was no more to say. Judith asked her if she would be a bridesmaid at her wedding and she agreed. On this cordial note the cousins parted to dress for the evening. They were to attend a card party at Lady Milton’s house and, since she had a long gallery, some of the young ladies and gentlemen would be able to dance if they chose.
* * *
Lucy wore a gown of primrose silk, caught with a white sash under her breast to which she had fastened a posy of white roses. She had not used the gold pin that Daventry had given her, but instead a small pearl pin of her mother’s. She wore a simple string of pearls about her throat and some diamond-and-pearl earrings.
Judith wore a gown of emerald green and a pendant of emeralds and diamonds, her hair swept up high on her head with one ringlet over her shoulder.
‘Elver regrets he will not be able to join us this evening,’ she said before they left, ‘for he had made prior arrangements, which he cannot break. Tomorrow evening he has promised to escort us to Lady Norton’s ball.’
‘A pity he cannot come this evening,’ Lucy said, but she could not help smiling. ‘However, Captain Ravenscar will be present, for he knows Lady Milton’s son well and has been invited.’
Judith smiled at her in a knowing way. ‘You are well suited, you know,’ she said. ‘I wish I’d realised you cared for him earlier, for I fear I may have caused you pain.’
‘A little, but it was not your fault. Paul seemed changed, distant, when he returned from Vienna. I thought he had forgot me, but now...’ A little smile touched her mouth. ‘He was more like his old self this morning and I think...’ Her smile faded as she recall
ed that Paul had something to tell her about Mark. ‘Perhaps this evening we shall have a chance to talk properly.’
‘Does one ever have time at a social affair?’ Judith asked. ‘If you wish to be private with him, you should arrange to go driving with him tomorrow.’
Lucy agreed, but yet hoped that she might have a little private time with Paul that evening.
* * *
The party had barely begun when Lucy saw Paul walking towards her. She smiled as he bowed to her and asked if she meant to dance that evening.
‘It is but an informal affair,’ Lucy replied. ‘But, yes, I shall dance if you ask me, sir.’
‘I shall engage for the first set of country dances, the first waltz and the supper dance,’ he said promptly and a flush came to her cheeks, for he was making it clear that he intended to stake his claim to her. ‘I came early for the purpose. I remember that I came to your dance too late to secure even one dance.’
‘I should have kept some later in the evening,’ Lucy said, ‘but I was not sure... I thought that perhaps...’
‘I believe we were at cross purposes,’ Paul said and smiled. ‘Much as I like and admire your cousin, Lucy, I do not think I should care to be married to her. I fancy she will lead Elver a merry dance.’
‘Perhaps...’ Lucy wrinkled her brow. ‘Yet I believe that she likes him very well—indeed, I think her fond of him. I do not see that she will be a trouble to him.’
‘Ladies such as Lady Sparrow cannot help themselves,’ Paul replied wryly. ‘I do not say that she will be unfaithful—but she is wilful and must have her own way.’
Lucy knew that he was right in her heart, but she did not like to hear him speak so of her cousin. ‘Fie on you, sir,’ she said. ‘I think you are unkind. Judith may be a little headstrong—...’
‘More than a little,’ Paul said and then cursed softly. ‘Damn it, I did not think that fellow would be here tonight.’
Lucy glanced in the direction of his gaze and saw that the Earl of Daventry had entered the room. ‘No, I wish he had not returned to Bath. I know he promised to escort us back to Dawlish, but that was... I mean, Mama thinks him charming, but I do not like him.’
