Cupid's Choice: She's a shy beauty in distress. He's a chivalric gentleman.

by Buck, Gayle

  “Of course, Percy.” She waited until he caught up with her, before saying with a mischievous smile, “Mama would frown to see you rushing through the house in such a reckless manner, Percy.”

  He shrugged nonchalantly. “Never you mind, Miss Anxious. Mama told me that she wished to rest an hour before coming downstairs. We have some time to ourselves. Let’s take a quick tour of our fancy London abode.” He took her arm in an innately polite gesture that was as much a part of him as breathing, and now he urged her on down the stairs.

  Guin gladly accepted her brother’s company. They had always been inseparable. She was never happier than when she was with Percy. He was her confidante and her best, and only, friend.

  Together brother and sister made a tour of the various rooms on the ground floor that opened off the entry hall.

  The town house had been let to Lord Holybrooke sight unseen, his agent assuring his lordship that it, and the small staff engaged for the Season, would be found to be all that was proper.

  However, Lord Holybrooke was now discovering, somewhat to his dismay, that all was not as sanguine as he had been told. The front parlor was found to be of a good size and tastefully arranged, though the furniture was in need of a good polish. The library was a small, irregularly shaped room with a rather gloomy atmosphere due, Lord Holybrooke insisted, to the number of cobwebs in the corners and empty hearth. “It looks like something out of one of those dashed silly romances that Mama is so fond of!” he exclaimed.

  Guin pointed out that since Mrs. Holland had decided to set out for London almost a week ahead of their scheduled departure from Holybrooke, there had been very little time for the newly engaged staff to set the house in order before their arrival. “I am certain the housekeeper will order a good cleaning, and it will look ever so much better to you, Percy.”

  “So I should hope!” said Lord Holybrooke, backing out of the library with a last glance of revulsion.

  The back sitting room and dining room were found to be barely adequate, which even Guin was forced to acknowledge. “They are not very large, are they?” she remarked doubtfully.

  Lord Holybrooke agreed, adding bitterly, “Lord, won’t Mama kick up a fuss.”

  The town house had been leased furnished, and Lord Holybrooke regarded each room with a darkening gaze and a sometimes critical word. Guin agreed with his disappointed assessments, though she thought the gilded mirror in the back sitting room was very fine and the front parlor was rather quaint.

  “What does ‘quaint’ mean?” asked Lord Holybrooke, shaking his head and looking around again as they reentered the front parlor. It was by far the most pleasant room, having large windows that let in the last of the sunlight, and by mutual consent they had returned to it. Candles had been lit in candelabras that were set around the parlor, adding to its cheerful aspect.

  “Well, I think it sounds better than old-fashioned,” said Guin with the glimmer of a smile. “Indeed, perhaps we should describe the entire residence as quaint, for Mama will not care for us to call anything about it old-fashioned! Not when she is living here! It was her biggest complaint about Holybrooke, after all.”

  Lord Holybrooke grinned, the expression in his eyes affectionate. “You’re a born diplomat, Guin. You’re able to find a good word for everything.”

  Used to her brother’s ways, Guin paid scant attention to his funning compliment. She looked around thoughtfully, speaking her conclusions out loud. “The town house is not nearly as grand as Holybrooke, is it? And the furnishings are very nearly as out of fashion.”

  Lord Holybrooke’s smile faded as a frown once more descended on his face. “What else can one expect of a place only leased for the Season? My agent was fortunate to find even such a fashionable address as this one, you know. I am just as thankful he did, for Mama would have pitched a fit if we had not been able to come up to town for the Season.” Lord Holybrooke threw his lean length into a wing chair in front of the crackling fire.

  Guin sighed. She sat down on the cushions of the striped sofa opposite her brother. “Yes, I know. Poor Mama! It was difficult for her to be in black gloves and not able to go to any parties. She was very bored at Holybrooke, I fear.”

  “Well, I certainly wasn’t! Every day I was up practically at dawn to go over the accounts or to tramp over the fields, all the while with old Grimsley droning on and on about estate business. The only thing that brightened my days was when I could persuade Mama to let me take you riding with me,” said Lord Holybrooke on a long-suffering sigh.

  “Those were the best times for me, too,” said Guin with a quick smile.

  “Well, then, you do understand,” said Lord Holybrooke, responding with his own grin. “I was never more relieved in my life than to come up to London for the Season and leave old Grimsley behind.”

  “I know it was difficult for you, Percy. But Mr. Grimsley was pleased with your progress, surely?” asked Guin.

  “Oh, as to that! He was well enough pleased, I suppose.” Lord Holybrooke frowned for a moment over his thoughts. He looked up. “The only thing is, Guin, Grimsley expressed some reservations about what the estate resources could handle at this time. Our reprobate of a grandfather, whom I am glad we never met, ran everything into the ground so devilishly bad that it will take years for a profit to be turned again. I only wish Mama had not insisted on coming up to London as soon as we put off black gloves.”

  “As do I,” said Guin quietly. Looking down, she clasped and unclasped her hands in her lap. “Mama had a long talk with me before we left Holybrooke. She has expressed her desire to see me wed, Percy.” She looked up at her brother with a troubled expression. “I-I don’t know that I wish to be wed just yet.”

  Better than anyone, Lord Holybrooke understood the depths of her concern and what she had not said. “You don’t have to marry unless you want to, Guin. I shall see to it that you are not bullied into it,” he said forcefully.

  “Thank you, Percy. You are the best of brothers,” said Guin, smiling tremulously. Her countenance bore a strong resemblance to her brother’s, with the same straight nose and short upper lip. But her face was a more perfect oval and her chin was pointed rather than determined. Her eyes were also a darker and truer blue, being the shade of a midnight sky on a moonlit night.

  “After all, I am the head of the family,” said Lord Holybrooke with an exaggerated assumption of arrogance. He narrowed his eyes and flared his nostrils, looking down his nose at Guin. As he had hoped it would, his playacting made his twin sister laugh.

  “What? Are you already becoming affected by the rarefied air of London and puffing yourself off, Percy?” asked Colonel Caldar, coming into the front parlor in time to overhear his nephew’s declaration. He had put off his riding clothes in favor of a well-cut dark blue coat and breeches. His thick wavy hair had been brushed back from his broad brow and that, together with his unmistakably soldierly bearing, made him look almost leonine.

  Lord Holybrooke and Guin laughed, their eyes automatically searching one another out as they shared their amusement. Their features and even their mannerisms were remarkably alike, although it could be observed by the discerning that Lord Holybrooke possessed a greater air of self-confidence than did his sister.

  “I am an earl, after all,” said Lord Holybrooke, still with a grin lingering on his lips.

  “And a very fine one, too,” agreed Colonel Caldar with a hearty laugh. “Now, my lord, I am come to discover if you would care to go about the town with me a little later this evening.”

  Lord Holybrooke bolted to his feet on the instant. His gray-blue eyes glowed with pleased surprise. “Would I, sir! I can think of nothing grander!” He suddenly bethought himself of his sister and he turned toward her hastily, his expression at once falling. “But Guin—

  “No, Percy, you mustn’t spoil your own evening, or indeed, our uncle’s, upon my account. You know that Mama will wish me to wait on her,” said Guin with a smile, putting on a brave front even though her
heart had sunk.

  Colonel Caldar muttered something under his breath. He turned away to kick a log farther into the fire, creating a shower of crimson and gold sparks.

  Lord Holybrooke grimaced. “That’s just it, Guin! How can I be so selfish when I know what a rotten time you will have of it?”

  Guin stood up, her smile determinedly held in place. Not for anything would she have betrayed her true feelings. If she had ever been asked about it, she would have said that it was right that she was in the habit of putting her brother’s interests above her own. “I don’t mind very much, really! After all, I can’t go with you to all those horrid haunts that our uncle is certain to take you.”

  “No, of course not,” said Lord Holybrooke, still with a clouded brow. “But still—

  “I am rather tired, you know, after the journey. I had a tickle in my throat, too. I expect I shall go up to bed early,” said Guin. Quickly she added, “And I expect Mama will, also. You know how pulled she gets after a long journey.”

  The earl’s countenance cleared. “Truly, Guin? Then that’s all right. I mean, if you really intend to retire early, it wouldn’t be very amusing here anyway.”

  “No,” agreed Guin, stifling a sigh. She turned to her uncle. “I want to thank you for your kindness in ordering the posset, sir. It was very warming and did my throat some good, as well.”

  “Guin, you’re not sickening, are you?” asked Lord Holybrooke worriedly.

  Guin laughed and shook her head. “Of course not! When have you ever known me to be ill? I only got a little chilled, but I am quite all right now.”

  A footman came into the room to announce dinner. The conversation was immediately abandoned as Lord Holybrooke pronounced himself to be starved. “Mama hasn’t joined us, so she must not have come down yet. She will be waiting for me, I expect. I shall go up and charm her a trifle as I bring her down to the dining room, shall I?”

  Lord Holybrooke exited the front parlor, leaving Colonel Caldar to escort Guin. Before he led his niece out of the room, Colonel Caldar said gruffly, “I wasn’t thinking, my dear. I should never have suggested an outing our first night in London. I shall tell Percy that I’ve thought better of it.”

  “Pray do not, for Percy would be horridly disappointed,” said Guin quickly with an earnest glance upward at her uncle.

  “But you, my dear! You cannot like the prospect of an evening spent solely with my sister,” said Colonel Caldar with characteristic bluntness.

  “Mama and I are very comfortable together,” said Guin stoutly. “Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to tie Percy to my apron strings.”

  “I wish your mother felt the same,” said Colonel Caldar. His pleasantly featured face was troubled. “I apologize, Guin. I didn’t think it out. She’ll object to Percy’s going out on the town with me, which means she’ll make it deuced uncomfortable for us all, but especially for you.”

  “Oh, no. Mama always lets Percy have whatever he wishes,” said Guin calmly.

  He slid a glance down at his niece. “And what of your wishes, my dear?”

  Guin looked up quickly. Under his sympathetic and knowing gaze, she flushed. With a constriction in her throat, she said quietly, “Percy takes very good care of me, Uncle.”

  “I wonder how you will fair without Percy,” murmured Colonel Caldar , a shade grimly, as he finally escorted her out of the front parlor and toward the dining room.

  Guin thought her uncle’s comment odd, but she didn’t give it more than a fleeting moment’s reflection. When she entered the dining room on her uncle’s arm, she saw that her mother and brother had already come in. At once Guin felt tension in the atmosphere and perceived that her mother was in an ill humor. Lord Holybrooke’s face betrayed some strain underlying his polite expression.

  Instinctively Guin tensed. Of all things, she disliked the unpleasant scenes that Mrs. Holland was capable of producing. Her stomach knotted again, and she wondered whether she would be able to make an adequate dinner.

  Colonel Caldar politely seated Guin at the table, his fingers lightly pressing her slender shoulder when she turned her head to thank him. “My pleasure, Guin.”

  Mrs. Holland was a striking woman. In her day she had been an accredited beauty, and the hours she spent pampering her skin with crushed strawberries and under the hands of skillful coiffures made her show to advantage. However, the still lovely features were ruined by a petulant expression.

  Mrs. Holland’s brown eyes flicked in her daughter’s direction, but otherwise she didn’t acknowledge Guin’s entrance. She was far more interested in the cause of her displeasure. “I am by no means satisfied, Percy. This house is not at all what I envisioned. Why, only look at the size of this dining room!”

  She made a sweeping gesture to encompass their surroundings, paying no attention to the butler and two footmen who were waiting at table. “I daresay we shan’t be able to seat more than twenty couples! I dare not describe to you what I felt upon laying eyes on the ballroom upstairs. Such an insignificant room! I have not yet inspected the rest of the house, but I fear it must be quite beneath your consequence, my dear.”

  Though Lord Holybrooke was smiling, there was a hard glint in his eyes. “Oh, the house is well enough. Guin and I took a quick turn around the ground floor before dinner. I daresay with a little dusting and polish, it will be quite comfortable.”

  “Comfortable!” exclaimed Mrs. Holland. She gave a small tittering laugh. There was growing temper in her expressive eyes. “That is certainly not how I should wish the Earl of Holybrooke’s town house to be described by the ton, Percy! It is quite unpardonable of your agent to have obtained such a paltry place for you. You must send for him in the morning, Percy, and demand that he find us another house!”

  “Mama, it will be quite impossible to locate another address this late in the year,” said Lord Holybrooke, beginning to look harassed. “We must simply make the best of it and—”

  “Nonsense, Percy! You must simply tell your agent to find us another house or replace him with someone who is more attuned to your consequence,” said Mrs. Holland. A footman offered the pea soup, but she waved it aside with an irritated expression. “No! I don’t wish any soup!”

  “Aurelia, let the boy alone. If you would but take a moment to reflect, you would know what Percy says is true. Any other residences still for lease this late in the year would scarcely recommend themselves to you. I daresay you would much rather remain situated in the fashionable quarter, no matter how paltry you believe this house to be, than to remove to a dowdy address!” said Colonel Caldar roundly.

  Uneasy silence fell while Mrs. Holland stared at her brother with an arrested expression. Suddenly she bestowed a lovely smile on Colonel Caldar. It was like the sun coming out from behind a threatening storm cloud. “Why, Arnold! You have quite cleared the air. I was forgetting the main issue for just a moment. You are quite right. Forgive me, Percy. I shan’t say another word against this very…” She glanced disparagingly around the dining room, totally disregarding that it was handsomely paneled and well lit. “What word am I looking for?”

  “Guin has offered up ‘quaint’ as the proper term, Mama,” said Lord Holybrooke, his expression lightening with his mother’s change of mood. With a mischievous look in his eyes, he glanced across the table at his sister. “You know her droll way.”

  “Percy!” exclaimed Guin, at once fearing what her mother might make of such effrontery on her part. She knew it wasn’t her place to voice an opinion.

  However, on this occasion Mrs. Holland merely laughed and shook her head. “Indeed, quaint is quite apt. Now, we must simply make the best of things, despite all the drawbacks of our present circumstances. I shall speak to the domestic staff on the morrow so that all is arranged just as you would like it, Percy.”

  “Thank you, Mama,” said Lord Holybrooke with easy confidence. “I am certain that I may rely upon you.”

  Mrs. Holland smiled fondly at her son. “My dearest, of cours
e you may! And Guin shall help me. There will be invitations to address and all sorts of lists to be made and I daresay any number of errands.”

  Guin drew in a relieved breath. It had surprised her when Colonel Caldar had volunteered his opinion, for he usually did not. And he had hit on just the right thing to say, too! The storm had been averted and passed completely over their heads. She was so thankful they had been spared a painful scene that she was eager to agree to do whatever her mother required of her. “Of course I shall help you, Mama. I will be only too happy to do so.”

  “Let’s not forget that Guin is supposed to enjoy herself this Season,” said Colonel Caldar, a sharp crease forming between his brows at what he had just heard.

  Mrs. Holland’s posture stiffened and she turned a frosty glance on her brother. Lord Holybrooke intervened, saying quickly, “Oh, that goes without saying, Uncle! I shouldn’t like to think of Guin stuck here at the town house while I am attending some soiree or other. It would quite cut up my own enjoyment.”

  “The very notion, Percy! When you know, as does Guin herself, that I intend to bring her out this Season,” said Mrs. Holland, her expression easing. She smiled over at her daughter. “Guin will have a splendid time of it, you’ll see.”

  Guin murmured the expression of agreement she knew was expected of her. “I am certain I shall, Mama.” It would not do to voice her hesitant reservations.

  Dinner was accomplished without further strife to mar it, Mrs. Holland going so far as to pronounce the two courses quite tolerable. “Naturally I shall speak to the cook, for we shall require much more elegant fare when we begin entertaining,” she concluded.

  “Naturally,” said Colonel Caldar dryly, but in such a low tone that only his niece overheard him.