The Gypsy Legacy: Marquis

by Denise Patrick

  Then he bowed to her and exited the room, leaving her speechless. Collecting his hat and cane from the butler, he stepped out into the crisp early evening air.

  Mission accomplished.

  *

  The Earl of Wynton stood chatting with a group of friends in the midst of the ballroom at Westover House when a sudden hush fell over the crowd. It wasn’t just your average lull in the conversation which occasionally happens at such gatherings. For the span of at least two heartbeats, you could have heard a pin drop in the room. Then the whispers began anew, this time with an urgency only new gossip could carry.

  Next to him, Teddy chuckled. “Mama got more than she bargained for this time. I hope she’s satisfied.”

  Jon turned from watching Jay and Tina descend the wide staircase to his friend. “She knew they would cause a sensation. And she was right.”

  “Egads!” one of the other young dandies in the group exclaimed. “I must have an introduction.”

  “As long as it is only an introduction,” someone else replied. “I suspect Thanet would not take too kindly to poachers.”

  “Never say she’s already taken.” the first voice groaned. “Did someone say she had a sister?”

  “‘Fraid so,” was the reply. “And the sister’s much younger,” the second voice said as the two moved off.

  Jon and Teddy looked at each other, mirth gleaming in their eyes, and headed for the couple.

  Tina knew she would not remember any of the names tripping so easily from the duchess’ tongue as she and Jay were introduced. She had been initially excited at the prospect of attending her first ball, but now she was here, apprehension had reared its ugly head. Looking up at yet another old gentleman who professed to know her mother and Jay’s father, she wondered if she would survive the experience.

  A waltz started up and Jay led her onto the floor. She was quiet for the first part of the dance, finding her feet and absorbing the rhythm of the music.

  “So far, so good,” Jay spoke above her.

  Looking up, she noticed he was smiling. “I hope so,” she answered. “I just hope I don’t embarrass myself by forgetting some important person’s name.”

  “Don’t let it worry you. We’ll both muddle through. I have been gone so long I remember few people myself.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes widened. “I had forgotten.” Then she smiled and she knew eyes glowed in the light of the chandeliers. Dancing with Jay was a wonderful experience.

  “We should have stayed home,” he grumbled.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m selfish. I’m not up to sharing you just yet.”

  Her smile widened and she glanced around them. “Very well,” she responded. “If you don’t have to share, I won’t either.” She hadn’t missed the hungry female eyes following him. A small twinge of jealousy was quickly replaced by a feeling of pride that he was hers. She’d chosen to wear the aqua gown with the accompanying jewels tonight just for him. The light in his eyes when she’d descended the staircase had given her confidence.

  The set ended and Jay escorted her back to where the duchess stood. Her eyes brightened at the sight of her brother and his friend standing with the duchess. She and Jay had only been in town two days and this was the first she had seen of him. She hadn’t had a chance to tell him about their trip to North Road Manor.

  “I am the envy of every woman here,” she told him as he led her out for a country dance.

  “And why is that?” he asked.

  “Because I have been here for less than a half hour and have already danced with the two most handsome men in the room.”

  Jon’s smile flashed. “Where did you learn to flatter?”

  She looked at him from under her lashes, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “It’s not flattery, it’s the truth. But, if you wish to categorize it with all the other flummery you hear, you may do so.”

  He laughed outright then. “Who am I to contradict such an unbiased source?”

  “You shouldn’t.”

  The evening was an unqualified success for Tina. By the end of the evening, she had thoroughly enjoyed herself. Although she was present, Tina asked the duchess not to present her to her grandmother. She did not want to mar her first occasion with a possibly uncomfortable scene.

  Jay kept her in sight from his perch by a pillar. Usually talking with Jon, the Earl of Weston, or the duke, he still managed to keep an eye on her and whomever she danced with. At one point, he noticed the dowager Countess of Wynton sitting on a chaise surrounded by her cronies. She was watching Tina.

  Jon followed his gaze. “I wonder if she suspects?”

  “She doesn’t need to,” Jay answered bluntly. “She knows.”

  “Knows? How?”

  “I paid her a visit this afternoon.”

  “And she actually received you?”

  “Of course. I suspect she was curious.” Jay took a sip from the glass he held. “By the time I left, however, there were no illusions.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “I merely made it clear we would not presume upon the connection as long as she did not attempt to publicly disclaim or humiliate Tina in any way. She understood once people found out Tina was your sister, the connection would be made and questions would be asked. She was quite amenable.”

  Now, as he watched her watch Tina, he knew a sense of satisfaction. The duchess had pulled off the social equivalent of a coup with her presentation of him and Tina to the ton and the dowager countess knew it. That she had passed up the opportunity through her intractability and bitterness, would grate on her at least for the rest of the short season.

  Tina found popularity tiring. As she was already married, she considered most of the young men she danced with harmless. Instead, she wondered whether any of them would do for Felicia in a couple of years. Unfortunately, she weighed each of them against Jay and Jon and found all of them wanting. There were a few who wandered away once they discovered she had a brain, but she knew Felicia wouldn’t want them anyway.

  “I’m afraid Felicia is going to be disappointed if she encounters the same group of young men I encountered tonight. Not one of them would hold her attention for longer than the duration of a dance.”

  Jay laughed as he slipped an arm around her in the confines of the carriage. “Felicia will have to choose her own, but I did promise her a duke, remember?”

  Tina giggled even as she tried for seriousness. “That was too bad of you.”

  “Not really. There is one out there.”

  “An unmarried duke?”

  “Well, an unmarried heir, at least. The Marquess of Lofton is heir to the Duke of Warringham.”

  “I don’t remember him.”

  “You didn’t meet him. He wasn’t there tonight.”

  “Would they suit?”

  Jay shrugged. “Who knows? But, I will keep him in mind just in case.”

  Tina shook her head in disbelief. “And I thought Jon and I spoiled her.”

  Jay leaned back against the comfortably padded seat. “Enough about Felicia. What about you? Did you enjoy yourself?”

  “Oh, yes. It was a truly wonderful evening. Mama’s descriptions didn’t do it justice. Her Grace said I should consider having a soiree. What do you think?”

  Actually, Jay could not think of anything he might like less, but for Tina, it would give her confidence and enhance her social standing to host a fete.

  “If you wish, I have no objections. The ballroom is nearly finished.”

  “You do not sound very enthusiastic, my lord,” she said as they reached Thane House.

  “I’m afraid enthusiasm for such things escapes us poor males,” he countered as he helped her to alight. “They are a necessity we do not always enjoy.”

  “Did you not enjoy yourself this evening?” she asked as they entered the house. By mutual consent, they entered the library.

  “I enjoyed watching you enjoy yourself,” he confessed, his dark eyes twink
ling. “It has occurred to me you have not had a chance to be part of the social whirl and I would remedy that for you. Sherry?” he asked as he headed for the sideboard.

  “No, thank you,” she answered, settling herself on a settee near the fire. “I’m afraid I’m not used to so much champagne and I will not be able to negotiate the stairs if I have any more to drink.”

  Jay couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him as he poured himself a brandy, then turned to look at his wife. Seated on a small settee, her aqua skirts spread about her, emeralds, diamonds, and sapphires flashing at her neck and ears, she looked like a water nymph.

  “You find that amusing, my lord?” she queried, eyes narrowed in consternation. Reaching up, she began to pull the pins from her hair.

  For a moment, he wondered if she knew what she was doing to him as he watched one silken curl after another tumble down around her shoulders and back. Then she gave him a look calculated to make his blood boil and knew she did.

  “Of course,” he responded blithely. Finishing his brandy, he set down the glass and stalked toward her. Plucking her off the settee, he looked down at her, a roguish grin on his face, his eyes devouring her. “When was the last time you negotiated the stairs before bed?”

  Tina blushed to the roots of her hair, but Jay was undaunted as he carried her out of the library and up the stairs.

  “If it were not for the fact that they see you during the day, the servants, especially Milly, might think you unable to walk on your own.”

  Burying her face in his neck, he felt the movement of her lips when she smiled. Milly had been instructed not to wait up for her in the evenings. Tina would ring if she needed her—something which hadn’t happened since the evening they returned to Kenwyck from North Road Manor.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tina threw herself into the social whirl of the small season. With the duchess and Lady Weston as her guides, she gradually found her feet in the sometimes treacherous waters of society, and thrived. Between sightseeing, at homes, balls and parties, rides in the park, and shopping, her days were full to bursting.

  There were the occasional remarks made concerning the dowager countess, but she managed to turn them aside without confirming or denying the existence of a feud in the family. At the same time, she found herself being befriended by a host of matrons with eligible daughters, their eyes on Jon.

  “I couldn’t believe she would say such a thing,” Lady Weston remarked to Tina.

  It was late afternoon and the two ladies were ensconced in the gold and white drawing room of Westover House, discussing the latest ton antics over tea.

  “I wasn’t quite sure what to say,” Tina responded. “She took me by surprise, you know. If Jon hadn’t shown up right then, I might have outright embarrassed her.”

  Geri shrugged her shoulders. “It would have served her right if you had. As it is, everyone knows Lady Wilkins and your grandmother are good friends, so it’s no wonder she would say what she did.”

  Tina nodded. “Thankfully, when Jon suddenly appeared, I was able to ignore the comment by drawing him into the conversation.”

  “Did you tell him what she said?”

  “Heavens, no! He would have been furious. And he might have said something to Jay. I know Jay would not have let it pass.”

  Geri grinned in response. “No, I don’t suppose he would have.”

  “Luckily, I do not let such boorish comments annoy me. After some of the things that were said about me and Felicia in Devon, very little bothers me anymore.”

  Once in her carriage on the way home, Tina went back over the conversation with Geri. She had told her new friend she no longer took offense at the snide or off-handed remarks made concerning her background, and she meant it. No one knew she had carefully developed an outward immunity to the side-long, often sly, glances sent her way.

  Her grandmother’s neglect still hurt and no matter how often she told herself it didn’t, she knew it did. More than once in the last week, she had caught her grandmother watching her at some soiree or ball. But each time, the countess had turned away once their eyes met, and Tina knew she could not approach her. She would just be turned away and the ton would never let her forget the humiliation. Regardless, she held on to the hope that someday she would be accepted by her father’s mother.

  There was a sudden sharp sound, like that of a snapping twig, and the carriage came to a jarring halt. Tina put out her hands to keep from falling against the side as the conveyance tilted sharply toward one side. A moment later, Carter, the coachman, opened the door.

  “Beggin’ your pardon, m’lady, but we have a problem.”

  “Does it have anything to do with the fact that the coach seems about to tip over on its side?”

  The coachman nodded.

  She looked over at Milly. “I think we should alight,” she informed the maid. “Help me out, Carter, if you please.”

  The coachman looked around nervously. “I don’t think you ought to be standin’ around on the street, m’lady. I can send Sammy, here, back to the house for another carriage.”

  “Nonsense,” Tina responded. “It would probably be best if you flagged down a hackney. Inside the coach does not seem like a good place to remain, considering its position. What happened?”

  Helping her down, the coachman answered, “It looks as if one of the carriage wheel pins has broken.” He scratched his head beneath his cap. “I don’t know how it coulda happened, though. There was nothin’ wrong with it yesterday.”

  “Hmmm. Perhaps it’s just worn,” she answered. “Regardless, it is not going to get me home right now.”

  “It’s a good thing we wasn’t goin’ faster,” he said. “’Twould have caused a terrible accident for sure.”

  “Then I’m grateful we were merely on the way home and in traffic which would not allow for speed.”

  Flagging down a hackney, the coachman saw her and her maid safely inside and insisted on sending the footman along as well.

  Tina thought no more about the incident. She supposed that parts of carriages and other equipages wore out all the time. Carter would ensure it was repaired and they would have no further problems.

  Jay was already waiting for her by the time she reached the house. Explaining quickly about the carriage, she hurried upstairs to change. They were due to dine at the Enderly’s tonight and she did not want to be late.

  Lord Enderly had been a school chum of her father’s. One of only a few members of the ton who would speak of her father to her and Jon, she enjoyed his company for that simple reason. His wife was nice enough, but if not for her husband, she probably would not have made any effort to cultivate Tina’s friendship.

  “It’s shameful, you know,” Lord Enderly said to her at dinner. “Just shameful. Your grandfather would never have acted thus had it been the other way around.”

  “Why do you say that?” Tina could not resist asking. “I thought all of my father’s family disliked my mother.”

  Lord Enderly’s balding pate shined brightly under the chandelier as he shook his head. “No, no. Alan—he was your father’s oldest brother—was delighted. I distinctly remember a conversation between him and Jonathan in which he told Jonathan he should follow his heart. I remember thinking it was a strange thing for his brother to say. But, Alan was smitten with his own wife, so I suppose it really wasn’t all that strange.”

  As the last course was being removed, Lady Enderly rose and Tina reluctantly followed suit.

  “I hope you do not mind I am forever asking your husband questions,” Tina ventured as they entered the drawing room. Decorated in robin’s-egg blue with touches of rose and cream, it was a restful environment and Tina immediately felt comfortable.

  Lady Enderly did, in fact, mind, but she knew better than to respond so bluntly. “It seems to be all he talks about these days,” she responded cryptically. “How he and your father were such good friends.”

  “Did you know my father at all?”<
br />
  Lady Enderly shook her head, causing the soft brown curls to dance about her rounded face. “I did not marry Harry until after your parents left for India. I think Harry would have liked to have gone, too, but as an oldest son, he had too many responsibilities here.”

  Tina glanced around the room and noticed a pianoforte before the large windows. Gesturing toward it, she asked, “Do you play at all?”

  “No. I’m afraid I haven’t the talent. My Mary plays a little, but she never had the patience to practice.”

  “My mother loved to play,” Tina said sadly. “She taught all three of us to play, but my sister is definitely the better player.”

  The men joined them shortly after that and the rest of the evening passed quickly. As they were leaving, Lord Enderly handed Tina a letter.

  “I do not know why I saved this particular one, or if it was just not disposed of, but I thought you might like to have it. Your father and I corresponded regularly.”

  Tina stared at the envelope in awe. She had never thought to receive such a precious gift. Raising tear-filled eyes to Lord Enderly, she could barely speak past the lump in her throat. “Thank you, sir.”

  In the carriage on the way home, she leaned against Jay and stared at the slightly yellowed envelope in her hand.

  “Are you going to read it?” Jay’s voice startled her, and she looked up, searching out his face in the dim light.

  “I think when I get home,” she replied, tracing the writing lovingly with her finger. “I’ll have to let Jon read it, too.”

  Jay said no more, but, as he watched her handle the letter as if it were the most delicate and fragile of items, a warm feeling stole through him. He had wondered, at first, if Enderly’s interest was a sham. It wouldn’t be too hard for someone bent on seduction to worm their way into Tina’s affections with stories of her father, so he had checked to be sure. He wasn’t jealous, he told himself. He just wanted to make sure she wasn’t being deceived.