The Suitor List

by Shirley Marks

  Augusta was in the midst of finding fault with every one of her suitors. She recalled how Lord Arthur Masters was an aficionado of the arts. What could he possibly do to arouse her wrath?

  "Perhaps we can exchange partners, eh, Wilbanks?" Lord Arthur chuckled in good humor and relinquished Miss Skeffington to the care of her fiance. "What is your pleasure, Lady Augusta? A leisurely afternoon ride? A drive in a cozy curricle?"

  "Perhaps a stroll outside, around the gardens," Augusta stated before he could make another suggestion. "Allow me to retrieve my hat and parasol"

  Ten minutes later it was Augusta who dangled off Lord Arthur's arm. He led her through the knot garden and around the edge of the building until they came upon the large quatrefoil-shaped fountain located in front of the house in the center of the immense circular drive. Lord Arthur stopped to admire the view, almost as if he were contemplating a landscape that begged to be painted.

  Water climbed a great height into the sky, over the heads of four cherubs frolicking in the large center bowl. From the corner pedestals four swans, with their wings outstretched, spouted water into the massive basin.

  "This is quite delightful." The soothing sound of water obviously made an impression on Lord Arthur. "How very fortunate you are to live at such a beautiful place. I'm heir to Parkfield in Somerset, you know." He glanced at her. Had he hoped it impressed her?

  "How nice for you," she replied rather curtly.

  Augusta quickly scolded herself. She should not be taking out her annoyance for Sir Benjamin Pelfry, Lord Fieldstone, or Mr. Allendale on Lord Arthur. Lord Arthur had done nothing to deserve a set-down.

  Her thoughts had been unkind. She decided she must treat him with greater care and with the respect he deserved. "Do you have such a fountain at Parkfield?"

  "No, but I should like to build one. Do you mind if I were to take a closer look?"

  "We are here to admire the views, are we not?" Augusta moved her parasol from her right shoulder to her left and motioned that they should proceed. She leaned against the side of the fountain while he examined one of the stone swans.

  "Look at this detail. The striation of the feathers is so lifelike."

  She had nearly forgotten how he had admired the various statues during their visit to the British Museum while in London. At least he could find enjoyment in something-unlike Lord Fieldstone.

  "The curves of the neck and arc of the wings are simply exquisite."

  And he only admired art instead of becoming obsessed with it, unlike Sir Benjamin Pelfry.

  "How absolutely, how amazingly, lovely." Lord Arthur's voice had changed from an admiring tone to a silken croon. "Her skin is so very pale and as delicate as alabaster."

  Thinking he had just about lost his mind, Augusta turned toward him. If she were not mistaken, his last remarks were not of the swans but of Charlotte, who strolled through the knot garden with Muriel.

  Augusta felt her anger rise inside. She narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips tightly together, removing and collapsing her parasol. Lord Arthur was about to meet his end with the water, exactly as Mr. Allendale had, only with water much shallower.

  Muriel caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. A sheet of water sprayed into the air and gracefully fell to Earth.

  "Oh, look there!" Charlotte pointed across the way toward the front drive. "Someone must help him!"

  "Send the footmen," Muriel, who had been through a water rescue recently, advised.

  "Yes, yes, I will, at once" Charlotte ran back to the house to relay the message.

  Muriel reached into her pocket and pulled out a small folded piece of paper and a pencil. By the time she had drawn a line through a name, striking Lord Arthur Masters, she spotted Charlotte trailing behind a pair of footmen toward the fountain.

  "What's all the to-do about?" Richard came marching from the house. He stood with Muriel while Augusta strolled in their direction with her open parasol resting upon her shoulder. "Gusta, what has happened? How did Lord Arthur come to fall into the fountain?"

  "He was completely oblivious to my presence and talking nonsense to the marble swan. Then I realized it wasn't the swan he spoke of at all. He was referring to Char-Char," Augusta scoffed. "I asked him if he preferred to spend his time with my sister rather than me. The only response he gave was to repeatedly coo her name, and I prodded him with the end of my parasol"

  "You pushed him in?" Richard sounded shocked, but Muriel thought he shouldn't have been.

  "He would not have lost his balance except he had leaned so far over the water to be even nearer to her." Augusta did not sound the least remorseful.

  "That was most unkind even for you, Gusta," Richard scolded.

  "Unkind? What do you call spouting adoring words, which I thought he had meant for me, while gazing across the green at Char-Char?" Not one word of blame was directed at Charlotte. "Men!"

  Muriel glanced at the two remaining names before pocketing her small notepad and pencil.

  "Lord Arthur was in your company and making calf eyes at Char-Char?" Richard sounded outraged. "That's inexcusable."

  "Then I am not as irrational as you would make me out to be, am I?"

  "I most sincerely apologize." Richard bowed his head respectfully. "However, it was very ill-done of you to have left him there to drown"

  "Honestly, he could simply stand. The water rises only to one's knees"

  "Char-Char did send the footmen to help Lord Arthur and, see there, she's looking after his welfare herself." Muriel pointed to the pair of footmen extricating the soaking Lord Arthur from the fountain with Charlotte looking on.

  "I shall inform Huxley of Lord Arthur's impending departure. Then I must change my dress" Augusta indicated an area on her frock before heading inside. "I believe he may have splashed water on my skirts."

  "So Lord Arthur is another one gone" Penny did not know the exact count of the gentlemen still residing at Faraday Hall, but there weren't many left.

  "It was horrid, Aunt Penny." Charlotte followed her aunt to the Librarium. "Augusta pushed him in-on purpose"

  "I'm sure she must have had a very good reason" Penny did not wish to condone the action but felt that her eldest niece was incapable of such impish behavior without due provocation.

  "All I know is that Lord Arthur had not said one word against her." The tremble in Charlotte's voice betrayed how the incident had affected her.

  Penny contemplated all that had transpired the last few days and the recent events within the short passage of time since their guests had arrived. "Faith, the house is so quiet. Have all the guests left?" She gazed out the window overlooking the parterre.

  "Moo will know exactly how many suitors remain." Charlotte ran to the doorway. "There she is nowMoo!"

  Muriel stepped inside and, as if by instinct, she knew the precise topic of discussion. "There are two left: Sir Samuel Pruitt and Lord William Felgate."

  "Only two?" Charlotte sighed with disappointment at the sad news.

  Penny could imagine either gentleman would make her niece a fine husband, but she had no idea what Augusta's feelings were regarding them.

  Then there was the other side of the coin. Augusta did not have to choose. The Duke had made that quite clear. But no one wanted to be alone, especially an attractive young lady at Augusta's age. Especially since she'd seen, first, her cousin Miriam just wed and, soon, her friend and neighbor Richard Wilbanks following down the matrimonial path.

  Below, in the garden, stood Richard. He held his hat and faced his fiancee, Miss Skeffington, who wore a bonnet with a tall ostrich feather. If Penny was not mistaken, there was some very serious discussion occurring.

  "Moo, come here, will you?" Penny stepped aside, allowing Muriel an optimal view. "Will you please tell me what is going on down there?"

  "Aunt Penny, really." Muriel pulled the opera glasses from her skirts. "I thought you did not approve of my eavesdropping."

  "There is a time and place for it," Pe
nny replied, "and this is exactly the right time. Miss Skeffington seems to be doing all the talking. What is she saying?"

  Penny remained patient while Muriel brought Miss Skeffington into focus, and it took a bit longer for her niece to concentrate on the discussion itself.

  "Miss Skeffington thinks their match may be a mistake," Muriel relayed.

  Charlotte gasped. "Does she think our Richard is not good enough for her?"

  "Miss Skeffington says that it took her some time to accept that she does not hold his affection."

  "Richard does nothing but dote on her," Charlotte said, defending their friend.

  "He assures her that he is completely devoted to her." Muriel backed away from the glasses and groaned. "He calls her Livy."

  "Keep watching!" Penny pressed, urging Muriel to continue. Under normal circumstances, Penny would declare this "activity" unacceptable, but she had a feeling they needed to oversee this private conversation and hoped Richard would, eventually, forgive them.

  Muriel leaned forward, once again concentrating on the couple. "He is bound by duty, not affection, Livy says. Richard wants to know why she should think that, because he has great admiration for her."

  "Richard would get on with anyone. He is the most amiable and understanding of men" Even Charlotte, who never took a dislike to anyone, sounded as if she were finding his fiancee tiresome. "I am beginning to think that Miss Skeffington does not deserve him."

  "Livy wants to know if Richard would not wish for more for himself. She wants to know if he would release her from their engagement if she told him she had found love. Just as he had"

  "She hands him the mitten and then blames him for falling in love with someone else? With whom?" Charlotte demanded. "Who does Richard love?"

  "Do you not know? Can you not even guess?" Muriel replied for Miss Skeffington.

  "Who is he in love with?" Penny and Charlotte said at the same time. "What is he saying?"

  "Moo!" Charlotte pleaded, becoming impatient.

  "Miss Skeffington believes that more exists between him and Augusta than a property line between our estates. She invites him to examine their longtime, close friendship."

  "Richard and Gusta" Charlotte's musical laughter filled the Librarium with astonished delight.

  "She thinks it's obvious and wants to know how he could not see it. When Gusta and Richard are together Livy sees the pleasure in his eyes. She accuses him of not gazing at her in the manner in which he observes Gusta"

  "Oh, dear," Penny voiced, sounding quite guilty. She had noticed that several times since they'd traveled to London. As an older, and supposedly wiser, woman, she should have known better than to dismiss the awareness as a passing interest.

  "And Livy says Gusta returns his attention." Muriel could not keep her opinion to herself any longer and burst forth with, "She knows nothing of Augusta. How could she make such an absurd comment? How could Gusta be in love with Richard? We would certainly have known if-"

  "Muriel, please, we're missing their conversation." Penny cut her niece's commentary short.

  An undignified groan emanated from Muriel and she continued. "Richard says he would never admit he has any feeling other than friendship for Gusta"

  "You mean Richard really does love Gusta?" Charlotte giggled. "How lovely! This is wonderful!" She spun around with her arms out wide, nearly threatening to strike the bookcases.

  "Richard never meant to hurt Livy," Muriel continued translating. "He agrees to calling off their engagement. Miss Skeffington is telling him-" She continued to watch in silence, her jaw slowly dropping open, until she gasped. "I don't believe it!"

  "What? What is she saying?" Penny stepped closer to the window and watched the couple herself but could not discern their actions.

  "Moo?" Charlotte nudged, insisting her sister tell them.

  "Livy and Lord William Felgate wish to marry."

  "What?" Penny and Charlotte cried in unison. Penny moved to the table and sank into a chair. How had that match happened right under their noses without their notice?

  "She's stolen Gusta's beau," Charlotte sounded rather cross.

  "Miss Skeffington says Lord William has made every effort to win her, and he's even drinking tea as to keep her company. Although he"-Muriel make a choking sound-"has learned to find it less offensive with a slice of lemon."

  "Oh, no" Charlotte made a sigh of unpleasantness.

  "Richard wishes her and Lord William every happiness."

  "He would not be so cruel to deny them." Charlotte moved to the window, next to Muriel. "Poor Richard. What is he doing now?"

  Muriel kept watch. "Livy says if he truly loves Gusta, he must find her and confess his affection."

  "Yes, yes! He likes the idea," Charlotte concluded from his excitable behavior that must have been apparent for anyone to observe.

  Penny returned to the window and rested her hands on Charlotte's shoulders as she stood behind her.

  "Richard and Augusta ... I never would have thought .. " Charlotte bounced up and down with excitement.

  Below, Richard stilled. His head and shoulders drooped.

  "Moo?" Charlotte asked, but by her tone she wanted the answer just as much as Penny.

  Muriel lowered her glasses when Richard walked away. "He thinks it might be too late."

  Augusta spied the Wilbanks' carriage roll down the drive. It was only one of many journeys between Yewhill Grange and Faraday Hall over the last few days. The tall, ivory plume from Miss Skeffington's bonnet tickled the air and waved farewell. Richard had most probably accompanied her.

  "Gusta!" Emily cried from the Grand Foyer. She stood before the tall, arched window and the fruitless orange trees.

  Augusta moved down the corridor toward her friend.

  "I've been looking for you. I wanted to tell you myself." Emily fairly glowed with excitement. "We're having a small celebration tonight. You know, just the family." She rose up onto her toes, as if she might float away from the felicitous news. "I'm to be married. Do say you'll come"

  "Married! Em, that is wonderful." Augusta laughed and hugged her best friend. She softened her voice and asked, "Who ... who is this most fortunate young man? And why have I not heard of this until now?" How could she have been so blind to her best friend's romantic entanglement? Had Augusta been so engrossed in her own drama she had not noticed?

  Emily reached out and Mr. Lawrence Skeffington stepped forward.

  "I could not be happier," Emily said and took hold of his hand with her own.

  "I could not be luckier," Mr. Skeffington remarked, placing a kiss upon his intended's gloved hand.

  "I am so very happy for you both," Augusta told them, and she sincerely, deeply was.

  "We wish to wait until after Richard and Livy wedthey have their second banns read tomorrow and next week they can marry!"

  So soon? It hadn't been sudden at all. Augusta had known it would only be a matter of weeks once they'd returned home. She tried to swallow but her mouth had gone dry.

  "Then Mr. Skeffington and I shall follow them happily to the altar in another month," Emily explained. "You will come tonight to help us celebrate, won't you, Gusta? Say you will ... you must."

  "Of course I will." How Augusta would face two happy couples she did not know.

  "If you will excuse us, we want to tell the rest of your family-the Duke first. We shall see you tonight!"

  Augusta was so very happy for her dear friend. She moved down the hall toward the back of the house and out the door, and wondered if she would ever find equal happiness.

  Muriel marched downstairs looking for Richard Wilbanks. She had something to say to him. If Charlotte or their aunt could not bring themselves to address him, to scold him, to point out the obvious course of action, she most certainly would.

  "Lady Muriel." Sir Samuel Pruitt's polite bow and the motion of his arm indicated she should precede him down the corridor. "If you please ..

  "How are you doing this lovely day?"
As instructed when speaking to Augusta's suitors, revised after the wagering incident with Sir Nicholas Petersham, Muriel brought up only the weather.

  "It is a remarkable fine day, and if the winds of fate chance to blow my way, I have hopes of it becoming one of the most outstanding days of my existence," he answered with particular glee.

  "Really?" Muriel could not mask her wide-eyed reaction, since she doubted the weather had anything to do with improving his day, and she could not inquire further.

  Keeping her tongue still was difficult but she maintained.

  They stepped out the back door onto the terrace overlooking the rear gardens and stopped.

  "I am in search of Lady Augusta," he commented. "You?"

  "I am desirous of having a word with Mr. Wilbanks," she answered curtly.

  "So now we part ways." Sir Samuel bowed again. "Good day to you"

  An uneasiness wound its way through Muriel's stomach. Sir Samuel was "in search" of Augusta? And he had great hopes of today becoming one of the most "outstanding" days in his life?

  Muriel did not like the sound of it at all. She needed to find Richard and do a bit more than nudge him into action. Surveying the gardens from this vantage point, she saw no trace of him. The Lapidarium would provide a superb view and she thought it was her best chance to see him if he should be about.

  Before she arrived, Muriel heard him call out to her. "Richard!" she returned, seeing him come her way. He ran to meet her.

  "It's Sir Samuel-" they said in unison and stopped at the shock of uttering identical phrases.

  "He's going to ask-" they said together again, then at the same time, "for her hand-" and "to marry her-"

  "What?" They squinted at one another in a juxtaposition of confusion and complete understanding.

  "I saw Sir Samuel and your father shake hands. His Grace wished Sir Samuel luck in persuading Gusta to accept him."

  "You must stop them" Muriel felt certain Sir Samuel would ruin everything.

  "Stop them?" Richard regarded her and it seemed he had only just then realized her position on the matter. Muriel did not wish her sister to marry the baronet. "What transpires between Sir Samuel and Gusta is none of my affair. Perhaps she will agree to marry him. Perhaps he makes her happy."