“You seem uncommonly intelligent, Miss Ashton,” Marksley said. “It surprises me that you should see the rest of this matter so clearly-and yet have initiated it with such blindness.”
“Blindness?”
“You have not told me what you think of my cousin. Presumably you found something to admire in him.”
Rather something to admire in you, she thought, but she turned her attention once again to the garden.
“What I thought of him is of no consequence, Mr. Marksley.”
“Ah, then I must imagine you were swayed by his looks and title. Love at first sight, as the poets would have it. He is a presentable young man. In fact, I believe he has earned a precious sobriquet. Brummell himself is said to have bestowed it. They call him the Gorgeous Langsford”
“To distinguish him from you, sir?”
He laughed shortly.
“You wound me, Miss Ashton. Indeed, I am not gorgeous, nor am I Langsford. My point, however, was that it is possible to see something quite lovely and yet be blind to its true nature”
Given his cousin’s behavior, Hallie had no reason to disagree. But from the way Richard Marksley was looking at her, he might just as easily have been commenting on her own shortcomings.
“You are bitter, Mr. Marksley. Apparently you neither respect nor like your cousin. Do you covet the title? Or simply detest the man?”
“Neither, as it happens. ‘Tis true Reggie has done little that anyone might find worthy of respect. I would have to include compromising young women among his more reprehensible acts.” One dark eyebrow rose. “It is also true that I do not enjoy his company or seek his favor. We are very different.” He shrugged. “My cousin … tries my patience. But I do not detest him. There are usually a few points to commend in even the most flawed of human beings.”
“That is a relief, sir. I had suspected, from your manner, that there was no hope for me”
She thought he was tempted to smile, but she could not be certain, and his gaze moved away from hers.
“You would not be the first to have been mistaken in my cousin. There is, however, the not inconsiderable matter of how you acted upon first impression.”
“I see I make no progress with you.”
“On the contrary. Have we not progressed to the point of announcing our imminent marriage?”
Hallie found she very much resented his condescension.
“We are agreed, then?” she asked coldly.
“We are … resigned, Miss Ashton. We have been so ever since you entered this room alone with me. And for the next few weeks I shall endeavor to be available to court you. I hope you will pardon me, however, if I am not as openly demonstrative as your Reggie. I am capable of attempting to right some wrongs. I am not capable of dissembling to that extent”
Hallie’s hands tightened against the muslin skirt of her gown. “You have an admirable sense of duty”
“Merely adequate, I assure you, for the quantity of demands presented. Yet for some reason, in speaking with you, I have been reminded of my mother. She would not have wanted any female, no matter how unworthy, to suffer at Reggie’s hands. She suffered enough at his grandfather’s.”
The comment begged a question. But Hallie knew he had no intention of explaining, at least not to her, lowly creature that she was.
“Despite your … generosity in this instance,” she managed, “few would have been as quick to term someone ‘unworthy.”’
That watchful element returned to his gaze. “I must study your own character more closely then, Miss Ashton,” he returned sharply, “so that I might improve myself. But come,” he indicated the door, “we have been away long enough. At some point this drama must begin. It might as well be with your Miss Binkin.”
“I do have one suggestion, sir, before we do so “
“And what would that be?” His expression was pleasant but shuttered. Hallie had the desire to shake him. She could tell she had been added to a list of obligations; she was but one more task to be crossed off in due course.
“It might appear odd that you never use my name.”
“Yes, of course. And what is that name, Miss Ashton?”
She paused a second, tempted to tell him the whole.
“Harriet. But everyone calls me Hallie.”
“I am honored to be included amongst everyone … Hallie.” He did not invite her to share the familiarity of his own name. The omission was deliberate. But perhaps he was right; she would not know him long enough to warrant its use.
“There is another matter, Miss … Hallie.” As she turned to him, now close to him as she neared the door, Hallie looked directly up into his eyes. They were a deep, dark brown, intelligent and kind. Marksley was a reserved man, but not by nature cold. Were it not for this inauspicious beginning, Hallie sensed they might have been friends.
“I believe it important that we be the ones to control this exercise. Not your uncle and certainly not my aunt. Henceforth, we may not always have the opportunity to discuss how best to proceed. I should hope to consult with you, but I have no doubt we will continue to be chaperoned. Add to that our own disinclination to spend much time together-” He paused. “I am asking for your trust, to make judgments when required, as there is no question that they will be. I am thinking of us both. If we are to manage the next few weeks without being hauled to the altar without warning, we must be perceived as acting in concert. We must be cautious.”
She examined his face, which spoke so sincerely of a desire to deal responsibly with future difficulties. She did not doubt him. Richard Marksley would not presume upon the position and power society granted him. He had neither the interest nor the inclination to take advantage of her. He and his cousin could not have differed more.
“I appreciate your foresight, Mr. Marksley. And your consideration. Though I must tell you that with so much else decided for me, I question whether I have will enough remaining to object”
He surprised her by smiling, the first full smile she had seen on his face. Its effect on her was immediate … and disturbing.
“I very much doubt that is the case, Hallie. And to prove it I hope you will employ your will by choosing to call me Richard.”
The concession pleased her, even if he were only practicing. As he again gestured toward the door, Hallie moved past him. But the heel of her shoe caught on the edge of a rug. Unbalanced, she reached to brace herself-and found Richard Marksley’s strong right arm. She was aware that he drew her closer, steadying her. She could feel his arm tighten beneath the wool of his coat. And she could feel his warmth.
The door to the library swung open. Hallie, held in what could only have appeared to be an embrace, met the astonishment of the butler-and beyond him, the open-mouthed shock of her uncle and the Countess.
Hallie glanced up at Marksley, noting his clenched jaw.
“You see how easily ‘tis done,” she whispered, “with the simple opening of a door.”
Richard had reason to reflect on the comment the next morning. As he paced his library, Hallie Ashton’s words accompanied his steps. “With the simple opening of a door,” she had said, and truly it had been as simple as that: her uncle’s instant eruption, Geneve’s shock and puzzlement, Miss Binkin’s owl-eyed stare. If he and Hallie Ashton had not been betrothed already, that near-embrace would have sealed their fate. “With the simple opening of a door!”
And yet nothing was simple, everything had changed-in his view, for the worse. The sunlight streaming in upon his desk looked very much as it had the previous morning, the day promised to be as fair as yesterday, he had enjoyed another fine ride across the park. Yet these were all surface similarities, for his mind was focused entirely on the matter at hand. He could not avoid the frustrating necessity to pay court to Miss Ashton over the coming weeks, unfortunately a critical time for The Tantalus.
Had she intended to confound him? Had she meant to imply that the circumstances tying her to Reggie were as “simple” or as inn
ocent as what had transpired yesterday? What sort of a cousin was Miss Binkin then, to consign the girl to an unhappy future over such a trifling matter? Could he believe the woman could be so calculating? Could he believe Hallie Ashton?
He could see her face. With no effort at all he could see her face and her wide, gray eyes. She did not speak merely to justify herself, grasping at an excuse for her dalliance with Reggie. She had wanted him to understand. But he knew Reggie too well. However innocent and unusually wise Miss Hallie might be, she had succumbed as all the rest. It was the only reasonable explanation. Otherwise, a genteel young woman like herself would never have come within miles of the Gorgeous Langsford.
“Blast Reggie,” he muttered, and flung wide the glass doors to the back garden. The morning was too cool for such ventilation. The curtains billowed wildly as Richard breathed in the bracing autumn air. But the brisk breeze and dancing drapes answered his need for release. At the moment he craved more than mere minutes in that liberated condition.
The knock at his library door was unwelcome, but Richard turned back to the room with a curt “Come”
As Gibbs opened the door, the elderly butler met his scowl with stiff dignity.
“Lord Jeremy has arrived,” he announced, adding significantly, “with luggage.”
“Ah-Gibbs” Richard rubbed his forehead and moved toward the door. “I just had his letter yesterday. In all the excitement I neglected to tell you. Lord Jeremy will be with us for a few days.”
“Very good, sir. I shall have a room prepared at once.”
“Thank you, Gibbs. Please send Jeremy in here. And see if Cook would prepare something? Tea, or … something.”
“Certainly, sir.” And Gibbs unbent sufficiently to make the briefest of bows before retreating. Within seconds Jeremy Asquith, fourth son of the Duke of Blythe, strolled into the room.
“I must say, Richard, Gibbs’ welcomes seem to grow chillier and chillier. As do your rooms, by the way. Is this a new means of courting the muse? Or the latest in fashionable country living? ‘Tis a devilish way to celebrate a birthday.” He shivered as he stretched his hands before the blazing fire.
Richard closed the doors behind him, then smiled at his friend.
“Have a seat, Jeremy. Gibbs is miffed because I failed to tell him you were coming-a small oversight which I will explain. As for the temperature, I was attempting, unsuccessfully, to clear my head”
“Never say you are having problems with The Tantalus?”
“With Reggie.” Richard drew his own chair to the hearth. “But first tell me what really brings you down to the country. A mere birthday, yesterday by the by, would never do so”
Jeremy smiled as he leaned back in his chair.
“I can always plead a desire for good company, Richard. The few people in town these days care little for horses, books, or a good laugh. I find I need at least one of the three to make life worthwhile.”
Richard shook his head as he studied his friend. Jeremy Asquith was the very definition of lanky. Even while seated, his joints looked set to tumble apart, his arms and legs like so many pieces of an awkward puzzle-a deceptive appearance, because he had an appetite worthy of someone three times his girth and was accounted an accomplished shot and horseman. Jeremy’s astonishing physique, combined with flaming red hair and a taste in clothing bordering on gaudy, always guaranteed him an initial, startled attention from those who had known him for years as well as strangers.
“I am in complete agreement, Jeremy. But as I find those to be the conditions in town all year `round, you owe me another explanation.”
Jeremy threw up his hands.
“I confess then, that I understood you have a uniquely lovely creature here in Surrey just now.”
Richard tensed, wondering how Jeremy had heard about Harriet Ashton-then wondering when he himself had determined that she was lovely.
“The yellow nymph, my dear fellow,” Jeremy supplied with a laugh. “Neonympha lutea. Their last little butterfly gasp before the winter.” Jeremy’s hobby, which he had pursued from his time at university with Richard, had earned him his greatest notoriety-he was one of the country’s leading lepidopterists and a founding member of the London Naturalists.
Though he did not share his friend’s passion, Richard understood its compulsions. But just now his problem weighed so heavily that the frown descended again.
“As it happens, your timing is faultless. This may well be my last gasp as well. You must congratulate me, Jeremy. I am to be married.”
Jeremy’s smile faltered.
“Not Caroline?” he asked, his blue gaze sharpening.
Richard shook his head.
“No, thank God. Though you’ll think me mad enough once I explain. You wouldn’t have heard of the girl. Niece of a gaseous old gent over in Berkshire. A little ville called Tewsbury”
“Tewsbury,” Jeremy repeated slowly. He looked concerned. “Richard, what have you done?”
“I have done nothing, Jeremy. I told you Reggie had been up to his old tricks, and this time he tossed me into a true bumblebroth” Richard thrust himself from his chair and paced again before the fire. “Apparently, he compromised the girl. Had she been just another of his indiscretions, we might have looked to her needs and tried to forget the matter. But this girl is a gentle woman, with a terror of a cousin who caught them together and a bludgeoning uncle as guardian. Add Geneve’s fears for her darling and the formula becomes quite knotty, with the predictable solution.” His lips firmed bitterly. He was conscious of complaining, though Jeremy knew all.
“Who’s the chit?” Jeremy asked.
“A Miss Harriet Ashton. An orphan, apparently. A vicar’s daughter with only the tartar of an uncle to look out for her. If I didn’t know she had been silly enough to fall for Reggie, I might even find it in my heart to pity her.” When Richard finally met Jeremy’s gaze he was surprised to see how intently his friend was studying him. And to his astonishment, it looked as though Jeremy attempted to hide some amusement. “Devil take it, you insufferable carrottop! What can you find laughable in this?”
Jeremy cleared his throat and looked away, idly brushing invisible lint from his spotless indigo coat. “Apologies, Richard,” he said easily. “It’s simply that I knew an Ashton. Tolliver-Tolly-Ashton. From Tewsbury, as it happens. I have mentioned him before. He joined the Light Horse after you were wounded at Vitoria and sent home. Took a ball at the Nivelle River and died two days later.”
“And you find that humorous?” Richard demanded.
“No, no, just wondering whether this Miss Harriet might not be related. Seems likely they would be. Both from Tewsbury and all. I think I should like to meet her. As I recall, Tolly had a sister, or somesuch, who wrote some deucedly fine letters” His light gaze met Richard’s again. This time he looked more curious than amused-as curious to watch Richard as to meet Miss Ashton.
“If you’re to stop here with me for a while, you’ll have opportunity enough. Miss Ashton and I will attempt to `court’ until Reggie returns from Ireland, where, of course, he’s conveniently chosen to holiday.”
“Another woman?”
“Horses,” Richard corrected. “An abandonment you will no doubt commend in him.”
“You forget, my friend, that I have yet to see your Miss Ashton.”
Richard shrugged. “She has looks enough, I suppose. I was hardly in a frame of mind to do her justice. She speaks well, very well in fact. You will find her passable”
“Passable?” Jeremy smiled. “How droll. Is she truly such an antidote then, to leave Richard Marksley scrambling for words?”
In all truth Richard had only minutes before thought of her as lovely. Perhaps his confusion showed on his face, because Jeremy wisely refrained from pressing him.
“So-your engagement lasts only until Reggie’s return?”
“Or failing that, for some three weeks from this Sunday, when the banns will be published. I must thank my good fortune that As
hton has not insisted on a special license.”
“And if Reggie should decline to do his duty?”
“This he will not decline,” Richard said bluntly. “I will delay for him. I will attempt, discreetly mind you, to find a substitute. I’ve asked Appleby to inquire. Perhaps I can convince some stripling that he desires a wife. But I shan’t hang myself.”
Jeremy cleared his throat.
“What of The Tantalus?” he asked, turning to survey the room as though its decor were of the utmost fascination.
“It will be difficult. But I don’t foresee the necessity to spend every hour of the day with the girl. A man needs his own pursuits.”
“Decidedly. Though you might find help from unexpected quarters. Particularly if Hallie-beg pardon, Miss Ashton-were to volunteer some of her time.”
Richard stared at him in amazement.
“Miss Ashton volunteer her time! What are you on about? I suppose I might set a country miss to opening the post. But seriously, Jeremy, what can you be thinking?” His gaze narrowed. “And you called her Hallie. Do you know her, then?”
“What?” Jeremy blinked. “I thought that’s what you called her. Or perhaps Tolly mentioned it. Just assumed this Ashton girl must be related. Hallie’s a common enough name, ain’t it?”
“Is it? I have never heard it before”
“You have scarcely been out amongst the smart set these past three years, Richard. It’s all the crack for the young ladies to have their pet names. Miss Emmeline Potter is Mel, Lady Justine Smythe is Tina, the delec table Persis Kinnicott is Nicky-” He ticked them off on his fingers.
“I could wish you spent a bit less time in society, Jeremy. One Hallie Ashton is quite sufficient, thank you. If Geneve had not promised that this is the last thing she will ever ask of me, I would never have agreed to do as much”
“Wouldn’t you, Richard?” Jeremy smiled. “Even to save the lady’s honor?”
“What there is of it to save, you mean”
Jeremy looked stricken. “Oh, come, you cannot be serious. Never say that she and Reginald … that Reggie actually-”
The Honorable Marksley Page 3
