by Jane Ashford
“You might think of staying there a few weeks in the summer,” said Lord Darnell. “It can be amusing. But, of course, one must engage lodgings well in advance. My mother could probably help you if you wish it. She knows all the houses.”
“Ah,” replied Elisabeth vaguely. Wincannon was opposite; he seemed preoccupied. Elisabeth thought of calling to him, but she found she couldn’t. A flash of shyness or embarrassment prevented it, to her surprise and chagrin.
“I can ask her about it, if you like,” said Lord James.
“Umm.” Derek was passing. He wouldn’t speak. Elisabeth was bitterly disappointed. She looked down at her hand, clenched in her lap; she’d so wished to talk with him. Absurdly, she felt like crying.
“Shall I, then?” Lord Darnell sounded a bit impatient.
“Shall you what?” replied Elisabeth, turning to look at him.
“Ask my mother.”
Elisabeth stared at him. She had lost the thread of the conversation. “To my party?” she said finally. “Oh, I’ll send her a card, certainly, and your sisters. I won’t forget them.”
Lord Darnell breathed an annoyed sigh. “You haven’t heard a word I said. What’s the matter?”
Elisabeth felt sadly flustered. As she opened her mouth to make some reply, a voice spoke from behind them, and she froze.
“Good morning,” said Derek Wincannon. “I beg your pardon. I didn’t see you at first. I nearly passed right by.” He came up beside the curricle and bowed slightly from the saddle. His coat was dark blue, accenting the color of his eyes, and the white of his neckcloth stood out against his dark skin.
Lord Darnell greeted him tersely, and Elisabeth murmured an indeterminate salute.
“I hope you had a pleasant stay in the country?” he continued.
Elisabeth raised her eyes. His unexpected appearance had caused her heart to beat very fast, and she felt a little breathless. “Yes,” she said, “thank you.”
There was a short silence. Elisabeth cast about desperately for something to say, but her mind was blank.
Lord Darnell wasn’t helpful, and Wincannon, too, appeared to be at something of a loss.
“A fine day,” said Derek at last.
Darnell flicked a speck of dust from his coat sleeve.
“Oh, yes,” replied Elisabeth. “I was just remarking on it.” She didn’t quite dare meet his gaze. What is the matter with me, she asked herself sternly? I wished to speak; I must do so. But something, perhaps the presence of Lord Darnell, kept her silent, and soon Wincannon bowed again.
“You won’t wish to keep your horses standing,” he said. “I’ll take my leave.”
Lord Darnell immediately urged the horses onward, and Elisabeth had not even time to say goodbye before they had left Derek behind, watching them from atop his mount, unmoving.
They rode on a while in silence. Elisabeth took several deep breaths. Then, her companion spoke. “I take it, then, that you don’t wish to go to Brighton.”
Elisabeth turned to look at him. The muscles around his mouth seemed tight, and he looked almost angry. “No,” she replied. “I don’t believe I do. I need to see what has been done at Willowmere.” She watched his face, perplexed at his manner.
“You have just done that,” he answered. “Surely your agent can supervise repairs.”
“He could, no doubt. But I wish to see for myself.”
Lord Darnell pulled rather sharply on the reins, turning the carriage into a cross lane. “I daresay you do. It’s your way. You always do just as you please.”
Elisabeth made no answer to this remark, and in a moment, he spoke again.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that as it sounded. It’s just that knowing you will leave in a few weeks, and I shan’t see you until next season, has upset me. There is something I wish to speak to you about.”
“Lord Darnell,” began Elisabeth.
“Yes, it is rather important, I think,” he went on quickly.
“I wish you wouldn’t…”
“I know it,” he interrupted, speaking sharply and rather loudly. “But it can’t be helped.”
Elisabeth looked steadily at him for a moment, but his eyes did not waver. “Very well,” she said finally, sighing a little.
“You might have expected it, I think,” said her companion.
“I hoped I had discouraged you,” she replied.
A muscle jerked in his cheek, and he kept his face forward. “You went a good way toward it. But I feel I must make you understand.” Elisabeth said nothing, and he continued in a tight voice. “When we first met, I informed you that I am a fortune hunter of the worst stripe.”
“Please,” began Elisabeth, but he cut her off with a gesture.
“It is true,” he insisted. “It has always been true. And I don’t deny it. But nonetheless, Elisabeth, I love you.”
The strain so evident on his face kept her silent for a moment. She couldn’t think what to reply. Lord Darnell had never spoken to her so seriously, and she was afraid of wounding him. “I…I am very sensible of…” she began, but he interrupted.
“Wait. Say nothing yet. I wish to explain everything to you. I know you will refuse me, but I want you to understand.” He gave her a speaking look, and Elisabeth nodded. “I made a push to meet you as soon as I heard of your existence,” he went on. “Naturally. I do so with all heiresses.” The smile he directed at her was twisted. “And I exerted myself to captivate you. It seemed an ideal match. You were young, beautiful, intelligent, and rich. I had never met such a woman.”
“Lord Darnell,” put in Elisabeth. “Please…”
But he shook his head emphatically. “You must let me say this.” He looked at her again, and she bowed her head. “Soon, I found you were quite unlike any other girl. You never took me seriously; you teased me and laughed at me when I tried to attach you. But also, you laughed with me, as no one else ever had. I began to prefer your company to any other. In short, instead of dazzling you, I was dazzled. When you left town last week, I suddenly realized how I have come to depend on seeing you.” His voice faltered a bit, and he paused. Elisabeth wished to interrupt, to stop him, but before she could form the words, he went on. “I love you, Elisabeth,” he said. “I wish with all my heart to marry you and devote myself to your happiness.”
“I…I don’t know what…”
“Wait.” He looked into her eyes, his gaze more compelling than she had ever seen it. “I admit to you that I am all to pieces. But the fault is not entirely mine, and I could mend my ways. There is the title, and my mother would welcome you.” His mouth twisted. “Not a recommendation, perhaps, but I would do anything for you. I would…”
“Stop,” said Elisabeth in a positive tone. “I cannot let you go on.” He was silent, looking at her with such a sorrowful expression that she could hardly bear it. “Oh, Lord Darnell, I don’t wish to hurt you. I think of you as my friend, but…”
“But you are not in love with me,” he finished. She could think of no kind answer, and they rode on in silence for some moments.
“I knew it, of course,” he went on after a while. “You did let me see it. And in any case, I never believed such good fortune could befall me. My luck has never been so good.” Again, silence fell. Elisabeth looked down and tried to find words to lighten the atmosphere.
The pause lengthened. They reached the park gate, and Lord Darnell guided the horses out into the street once more. “It doesn’t signify,” he said then. “I’m still glad I told you of my feelings. I couldn’t stand the thought that you might consider me only a fortune hunter, even now.” He looked at her. “You do believe me?”
“Of course,” answered Elisabeth quickly. And she did. The sincerity of his emotion had been unmistakable.
He nodded. “That’s good, then; that’s something.” He seemed to swallow, and then he wen
t on lightly. “I continue to hang out for a rich wife, of course. You will tell me if you come across a likely candidate?”
She tried to return some equally flippant answer, but the words stuck in her throat. She had to content herself with nodding. Then she looked away, out over the busy streets around them. They said nothing more until they reached her house.
When Lord Darnell helped her down from his curricle, she held his hand a moment longer than necessary. “I am truly sorry,” she told him. “I wish things might be otherwise.”
He squeezed her hand gratefully and nodded. “As do I,” he replied feelingly. She smiled a little. “That’s better. We can remain friends, can we not?”
Elisabeth nodded. “Of course. I should miss you sadly.”
He, too, smiled slightly. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, then released her and bowed. She turned to the door, and he climbed back into the curricle. Elisabeth stood in the doorway and watched him drive away.
She went straight up to her bedchamber without seeing any of her family, wanting a little time to herself. The depth of her reaction to Lord Darnell’s proposal surprised her a bit. It hadn’t been unexpected, but the sincerity of his feelings was. She’d set him down as an agreeable rattle, without profound emotions of any kind, and she had been proved wrong. The realization that he really did care for her, and the necessity of refusing him, combined to make her feel very low. Added to this was her disappointment over her encounter with Derek Wincannon. This latter emotion, she found, was at least as strong as her regret over hurting Lord Darnell, and she suddenly realized that her feelings for Mr. Wincannon were far deeper. Wincannon’s early concern for her welfare in London, and, more important, his recent help, which had brought them into close contact over a period of time, had affected her strongly. And his absence over the past few days had completed the process, she saw. Clearly, he was much more important to her than she had known.
Elisabeth felt her cheeks growing hot, and she put her hands to them. I’m in love with him, she said to herself. She stared into the mirror at the flushed figure reflected there; she looked very young and foolish. She lowered her hands. “This is folly,” she told her reflection severely. “You are well past the age for such romantic fancies. And he knows it as well as you. I refuse to allow you to indulge yourself this way.” The figure in the mirror smiled foolishly in response.
But after a moment, she shook herself. Mooning about would accomplish nothing. It was imperative that she see Derek and explain her behavior so that things could return to normal between them. But how to manage it?
Finally, after trying and rejecting various schemes, she chose the simplest. She went to her writing desk and wrote a note asking him to call. Leaving it in the hall to be delivered, she took a deep breath. The matter was out of her hands now.
Twenty
Derek replied to her note the next morning, saying that he would call in the afternoon with pleasure. His response seemed a bit cool to Elisabeth, and she wondered whether she’d been right to ask him to come. The decision that had seemed so logical now appeared foolish.
Resolving to put the matter from her mind for a while, she set out to call on Jane Taunton. She found her in her study, as usual, and settled into the rust-colored armchair with a pleased sigh. “It’s good to be in this room once more,” she told her friend.
“I wonder whether you’d say so if you spent as much time here as I do,” Jane replied, looking around her.
“Do you tire of it?” Elisabeth was a bit surprised. “But then, you can always go out.”
“Of course,” said Jane wryly. “Come, you must tell me how things are with you.”
Elisabeth smiled. “Well, now that Tony is safe, the only terrifying task left me is Belinda’s wedding. Then the season will end, and we can go to the country.”
“Belinda is very lucky,” said Jane.
Elisabeth stared at her.
“Because you have been so kind to her,” added the other girl quickly. “She’s certainly been given all the advantages without much being asked in return.”
Frowning, Elisabeth looked at her friend. She didn’t sound like herself. In fact, she sounded quite petulant and bitter. She needed some rest, Elisabeth thought, and a chance to get away from her two little rooms. Perhaps she could help with that. She started to speak, but Jane, noticing her expression, forestalled her.
“Will the wedding be so terrifying?” she asked with a strained smile.
Elisabeth shrugged. “The ceremony itself will be nothing. It’s the planning, the wedding clothes, the breakfast, and so on and so on—the details, in short—which daunt me. I’m even now preparing to send out cards for an evening party in honor of the engaged couple. And that should have been done weeks ago. I wish it were all over and we were on our way to Willowmere. And talking of Willowmere, I hope to prevail upon you to come with us. The house should be ready for guests, and I should like you to be the first.”
Jane seemed a bit surprised, but she accepted the invitation. “That would be very agreeable. I spent last summer in London, and it was uncomfortable. I had thought of visiting my mother this year, since I haven’t been home in some time, but she says she feels rather too ill for guests right now.” Jane’s expression was bleak.
Elisabeth saw that she wasn’t telling the whole story and pitied her sincerely. “That settles it,” she said. “You must come. There will be no party, you understand, only Tony, Cousin Lavinia, and me.”
“It sounds delightful.”
“Good.” Elisabeth sat back. “Now you must tell me, how does your work go?”
The other girl sighed and looked down. “My work.” She laughed rather harshly. “I wonder that anyone, including myself, can call it that.”
“What’s the matter?”
Jane shook her head. “I spend all my time scribbling these ludicrous articles,” she gestured toward a pile of papers on the desk in front of her, “to earn my bread. It’s a rare moment indeed when I can turn to poetry.” Her mouth twisted, and she turned away. “It’s just not fair.”
“It isn’t indeed,” responded Elisabeth sympathetically. “Could I…perhaps I could be of help?”
Jane glanced at her sharply, hesitated, then shook her head once more. “Thank you for the offer, but I don’t think so. It’s no good my borrowing money or living off my friends. I might just as well, or better, stay with my mother.” She smiled. “And in any case, your generous invitation will give me a free time to work.”
Elisabeth nodded eagerly. “Yes. All you like.” Surely this free time would restore Jane; and perhaps after it, Elisabeth could be of more help.
“One piece of news I’d forgotten,” Jane went on. “I met your Byronic hero while you were out of town.”
“Mr. Jarrett? You mustn’t call him that.”
Jane laughed. “All right. You’re determined not to allow my imagination to run wild, I see.”
Elisabeth smiled back a bit uneasily. “What did you think?”
“He has interesting ideas. He was present at a musical evening given by Lady Brandon, which the duchess dragged me to. It seems that Lady Brandon’s companion, a little mouselike woman, is a friend of Jarrett’s. We talked for quite some time.”
“And what was your opinion of him?”
“I fear he was not up to my expectations,” laughed Jane. “After all the hair-raising stories, I looked for a combination of the corsair and a slave trader, but he seemed quite an ordinary gentleman. A bit abrupt, perhaps.”
Elisabeth laughed. “Poor Jane. Did you really hope to meet an adventurer in a London drawing room?”
“You cannot know how much. And at first, I had great hopes. There is something about Jarrett, I can’t say just what, that brings a word like ‘adventurer’ to mind when one meets him. But as we talked, the impression faded. He seemed annoyingly conventional, pleas
ant, an interesting talker, with striking eyes, I do admit. However, there was nothing of the murderer about him.”
“Murderer!” exclaimed Elisabeth. “I should hope not indeed. What makes you say that?”
Jane looked surprised. “Didn’t I tell you? I thought I had. One of my friends uncovered some further rumors about Mr. Jarrett. There was talk when his wife died.”
“What sort of talk?”
The other girl shrugged. “The story spread that he’d killed his wife for her money. I suppose it may have been her family who said so, considering what we know about the brother. My friend warned me that it was no more than idle rumor; there was no proof whatsoever. Still, I hoped to see some indication, a fiendish gleam in his eyes, perhaps, and there was nothing.”
Elisabeth’s eyes twinkled. “It wanted only that. Now he is the complete Byronic hero, isn’t he?”
Jane laughed. “I suppose he is, in our imaginations, at least. But he’s hardly so romantic a person.”
“Oh, sometimes he seems rather brooding. He ought to be darker, however.”
Jane laughed again. “I’m sure he would be if he knew you wished it.”
“I? What have I to do with it?”
“Oh, he’s quite taken with you, you know.”
Elisabeth frowned. “Did he tell you so?”
Jane looked down at the book lying on her desk. “No,” she replied slowly, “not precisely. But he talked of you a great deal and asked several questions. I guessed it from his manner.”
“Well, I hope you are mistaken,” said Elisabeth. “I have had enough of that sort of thing lately.”
“What do you mean?”
Elisabeth hesitated. “I shouldn’t have said that. Well, I know you will say nothing about it. Lord Darnell offered for me yesterday. I refused him, of course, but it is so very hard to treat a friend so.”
Jane bowed her head. “I shan’t mention it.”
“I know you won’t. Indeed, I am glad now that I told you. I wished to talk with someone. You can’t think how low I felt at being obliged to refuse him.”
