The Dark Earl and His Runaway (The Friendship Series Book 5)

by Julia Donner

  “I kept it from her. There are so many ways to conceal it and I perfected them all. You can’t know how much I’ve feared that this is a curse that I will pass on to our children, like a madness. A crazed person that must be kept hidden in the attic. It’s bad enough that I will be passing on Father’s blood.”

  “There are many afflictions worse than bad temperament to pass on to one’s children, and we have none of those.” She leaned back to look up at his face. “We shall conquer this together.”

  “If you think it’s possible. Cia, will you read them to me now? It’s like a miracle, these messages from the past from Mother.”

  She stepped back. “Of course, but Geoffrey, I’ve done something without your permission.”

  Outside, a bell clanged. Bainbridge jerked his attention to the window, keeping her in his embrace as he turned. “What is that? It doesn’t sound like the fire bell.”

  “No. It’s one taken from the chapel. I hope you don’t mind, but Stokebrook is so huge that we need an announcement when visitors come to the gate.”

  He went to the window, opened it and leaned out to see the front of the house. “Carriages. Did you send invitations?”

  “Not precisely. I found an unanswered letter on Holcombe’s desk from Lord and Lady Ravenswold. They read the notices in the London papers and said they would stop here while in the district.”

  He stepped back from the window. “There are five carriages. Cass would never travel that heavy. Neither would Rave.”

  She chewed a corner lip, not sure if she should tell him what she’d done. One thing at a time. Important people would soon arrive on the doorstep. She headed for the door.

  Bainbridge held her arm as they made their way down to greet their guests. “Cia, there’s more to that bell than the occasional visitor. Stokebrook hasn’t received that many since Mother left. No one comes without an invitation. What are you not telling me?”

  “First, Stokebrook’s isolation is at an end. You are nothing like your father and everyone knows it. There will be more guests, and annual gatherings for the tenants. And others.”

  “I sense there is a second reason unsaid.”

  Accepting her cowardice, she waited until they were at the top of the stairs to tell him the real reason. She looked over her shoulder at the guests filing through the entry and not at him as she confessed, “I developed the idea of a warning system to allow me the opportunity to know if Mrs. Rawlins had elected to make another run at my husband. I’m sorry, but the thought of her here makes me unreasonably jealous. I can’t help it.”

  She escaped down the steps and away from the change in his expression. Whether angry or hurt, she didn’t want to see either.

  There was no escaping the astonishing beauty of the woman swiftly crossing the flagstones to the staircase. Cassandra Ravenswold, Bainbridge’s childhood friend, had no equal in all of England and cast Mrs. Rawlins permanently in the shade.

  Why was she so vehement about the widow? Oddly enough, Leticia suffered no jealousy due to her husband’s close relationship with a celebrated female. But then, he’d never made love to his childhood friend nor had her living nearby and lurking on the doorstep. Perhaps the widow should be invited to be put in her place with a comparison to a legendary beauty. Then she’d give the widow the boot and set the dogs on the hussy.

  Lady Ravenswold strode forward, her gait mannish. She beamed up at Bainbridge coming down the steps. The force of her personality rippled outward with confidence and vibrant health. As she passed though a slanted beam of sunlight, her coppery-red hair glinted under a curled-brim beaver hat encircled with an aqua ribbon, its tail fluttering down her back.

  “Thank you for having us, Lady Bainbridge,” she murmured as she passed, reaching out to clutch Bainbridge’s shoulders. Tall as she was, she only had to rise up on her toes to press her cheek to his.

  “Geoff, how I’ve missed you!”

  He grunted a greeting. “If you’d stop breeding for a decent time, perhaps you’d be in a state to travel.” He leaned down slightly to kiss her cheek. “It’s good to see you, Cass.” He extended a hand to Ravenswold. “Welcome, Rave. I see that you still have no curb bit to fit this creature.”

  Lady Ravenswold barked an unladylike laugh. “He has too much sense to try. Leticia, please allow me to address you so informally. This brute used to talk nonstop about you. Leticia did this, and little Cia did that. I also ask that you will not be angry with me for bringing friends. I invited the Asterlys to come with Rave and me to look at what can be done with Tamer Hall.”

  Bainbridge smirked at Rave. “You dog. Wrestled it away from the squire, did you? I’ve heard nothing about it.”

  Ravenswold nodded a bow of agreement. “To paraphrase a mutual friend, there’s nothing like greasing the palms of a convenient agent to get the deed done.”

  His wife crowed, “Bought it for me as promised when we married and as reward for providing our fifth boy that’s on the way. I promised him a cricket team, don’t you know.” She turned to Leticia and waved Ravenswold forward. “Ma’am, allow me to present my husband, Ravenswold. Rave, this is Lady Bainbridge. I knew her from childhood as Geoff’s little Cia. How the boy would go on and on about her! The only way to quiet him was to wrestle, which he would be beastly about. Leticia, he always allowed me to win. Where is the fun in that? Geoff, when can I see your yearlings? And we require another set of carriage horses.”

  “Be quiet for a moment, Cass, ” Ravenswold’s deep voice ordered.

  As impossible as it seemed, Ravenswold stood taller than her husband. He bowed over her hand and stepped back, showing that he understood that a shorter person would have difficulty looking up. Even more improbable, Lady Ravenswold immediately stopped talking.

  Strong featured with a head of lustrous chestnut waves, Ravenswold had solemn eyes and a steady demeanor, the opposite of his wife, who seemed to crackle with energy while she remained still.

  Ravenswold turned to the doorway and said, “Lady Bainbridge, may I have the pleasure of introducing you to our friends and companions, Lady and Lord Asterly?”

  Leticia went to greet the couple waiting for an invitation to fully enter. “What a great pleasure. I have heard a great deal about you, of course.”

  Elizabeth Asterly’s smile boasted a charming pair of dimples that contrasted with her serene bearing. Kindness and intelligence glowed in her hazel eyes. The man close to her side exuded an unsettling aura of power and danger. When Baron Asterly removed his hat and bowed, he revealed sand-colored hair. Marine blue eyes glanced over her, a knowing and yet impersonal survey. His left hand remained tucked under his wife’s elbow, giving the impression that he refused to be separated from her even for a moment.

  Asterly’s fierce and public attachment to his wife filled her soul with an appreciative, and yet melancholy, rush of envy. Bainbridge tended to stand well away from her, as if she were a bomb ready to explode. She hoped that would change now that his secret had been aired.

  Realizing that her guests were waiting for her to speak, Leticia quickly said, “I am delighted to meet my husband’s friends at last. How long may we have the pleasure of your staying with us?”

  Lady Asterly replied, “We wouldn’t wish to discommode you in any way. We’ve already booked accommodations at—”

  “Oh, please, no,” Leticia interrupted. “You must stay here. There are so many rooms, and so few have had the pleasure of visitors.”

  Asterly said, “We are obliged, madam.”

  “We don’t keep country hours, since Bainbridge is down at the stable throughout the day. Dinner will not be until seven. Ample time for a rest before then.” She turned to the footmen at the door. “See to the carriages and servants.”

  She turned to Bainbridge, “I’m sure you and Lady Ravenswold will want to convene at the stable. Shall we gather in the blue reception room in two hours?”

  When Rave bowed and followed his wife and Bainbridge out, Leticia escorted Lord
and Lady Asterly to the staircase. “Allow me to show you to your rooms. We are in the process of reorganization and restoration and very glad you brought your maids and valets. We are not yet fully staffed. If you will not mind, we shall not dine in the banquet hall. It’s positively cavernous. We have arranged for a smaller, much more delightful dining area, where we at least will not have to shout to make ourselves heard.”

  It came so easily, being the lady of Stokebrook. It wasn’t as easy to ignore her husband’s speaking glance before he left. He had accepted that she’d fobbed him off at the top of the stairs, but at some point, they would be discussing her challenging accusation regarding the widow.

  For now, renewing his friendship with Cass, as unusual as it was, allowed for a reprieve from the stressful discussion minutes before. Had she been provoking an argument or searching for reassurance? Both, she supposed, as she led her guests up the stairs and accepted their compliments and comments about the house. They had no idea of the shocking state of the majority of the castle grounds. If they didn’t wander, they’d never know, the place was so vast.

  They halted on the steps, while Lady Asterly examined a landscape and asked, “Do you know the artist? The area appears to be Tuscany.”

  “No, I’m still a newcomer here. Art purchases for Stokebrook have come about in a haphazard fashion, similar to my education to its contents. There’s a great deal to the place.”

  Asterly said, “I hadn’t realized Stokebrook was so extensive. Formidable, actually. Geoffrey never talked much about it. Still doesn’t.”

  Leticia asked him, “You’ve known each other since school. Do I have that right?”

  Asterly replied, “Yes. We made up a terrible cadre, Rave, my brother, Arm-winger Freddy, Bainbridge and myself.”

  “Yes, the famous Four Eligibles. Plus one.”

  Asterly had a marvelous smile when he opted to use it. “Oh, Geoffrey was never one of the Eligibles. Stupid appellation, that.”

  “At dinner, you must explain why my excellent husband was banned from the group. Be aware, sir,” Leticia added with a grin, “I plan to excavate every memory you have of those years. Getting information out of my husband is akin to prying open the fiercest lock. I require only the bad information. I already know the good.”

  Elizabeth Asterly reached out to capture Leticia’s hand. “My dear, I can see that we are going to be fast friends. We are of similar minds, fertile ground for tilling up all sorts of amusing weeds and delicious tidbits. I know all sorts of things and will be your handmaiden with a lock-pick, since none of the cadre has ever discussed those years.”

  “Then how do you know?”

  Asterly answered, “She has a Crimm.”

  Sly humor gleamed in Lady Asterly’s eyes when she explained in a whisper, “My butler knows everything. He’s my secret weapon. The terror of ton gossip.”

  Chapter 23

  It wasn’t until she went to change for dinner that revelation struck, sending an alarming chill throughout her body. Why hadn’t she considered this before? In marrying Bainbridge, she’d thrust herself into a world beyond Stokebrook.

  Her husband had friendships with England’s most formidable couple in politics. Lord and Lady Asterly shared a strong alliance with the Duke of Wellington. Baron Asterly was known as a force in parliament, and his wife renowned for her political and musical gatherings. When parliament was in session, Leticia would be expected to provide social entertainments. Did Bainbridge have an establishment in London? She hadn’t seen an outlay in the ledgers. Her heart began to thump. She had no notion of fashion and a country maid for a dresser.

  She sank down on the edge of the bed and tried to steady her breathing. Carnall’s teasing remarks flooded back. Had there been something more to his question of how a country miss knew about ton gossip? Her response had been a flippant remark about reading newspaper society pages. How simpleminded and vacuous she’d been. She was a country girl. How was she to cope with the scale of refinements associated with a peer’s political and social life?

  She had no doubts that the Asterly’s would wish to sway Bainbridge to their causes, politic and social. Was that the reason for their visit? Were they here at this time to ascertain his views? Did Bainbridge have any views? She’d been so preoccupied with her vanity and crisis of confidence that this vital aspect of their marriage had escaped her notice.

  A gong sounded. Dinner in thirty minutes. She must stay focused and set aside worries that she could do nothing about at the moment.

  What to wear for the evening was not the arduous task of the last weeks. Taffy had taken two footmen with her to Charhill and gathered everything she could find of Leticia’s and had accomplished it without difficulty. Henry avoided her and Joseph had fled to London to reconstruct what remained of his injured self-esteem.

  Leticia asked for the wrinkles to be pressed from a slimming gown, one that didn’t comprise layers of fluffy tulle that made her feel and look like a barkentine under full sail. Rosellyn was too untrained to duplicate the fashionable hair arrangements of her guests. The curls that had tumbled from their pins on her wedding day testified to that. Her usual pinned up braids would have to do.

  Life at Stokebrook was falling into place, at least on the surface. After interviewing three men for the vacant butler position, she’d selected a younger man, which surprised Taffy. His references were impressive enough, but the deciding factors had been that he came from the district and needed an income for his invalid mother.

  She’d met with the valet Taffy suggested, approved him for Bainbridge, and put him to work immediately, which meant her husband resembled the gentlemen visitors this evening. He would need to be outfitted for more clothes, but he looked presentable enough for guests. Then she realized that his friends didn’t care how Bainbridge looked. Neither did she, for that matter. It had to do with maintaining standards, his position in the county and how he would appear to London society.

  Lady Ravenswold said as much when she came into the blue reception saloon, where Leticia sat with Lady Asterly on a couch sheathed in cerulean damask. Recently cleaned, the high-ceilinged room had been hung with centuries of paintings, portraits and tapestries, until only narrow strips of wall showed around the artwork borders. Three chandeliers, hastily lowered an hour before, had their candles replaced and lit, illuminating the interior and the fact that there were no paintings of the present earl nor of his mother. Only his father glowered from a corner. Perhaps she could hang that one lower and place a potted tree in front of it.

  From her elegant height her husband’s friend announced, “Don’t know how you managed it, but Geoff looks dashed fine this evening. It’s neither here nor there to me. He could show himself in his night gear for all I care. We see nothing else when there’s a horse to jaw about. You’ll excuse me, Lady Bainbridge, Lizzie, but I’m off to rudely monopolize my host.”

  After a bow to Leticia and Lady Asterly, Ravenswold strolled in his wife’s wake. He took a place a few steps to one side, as Lady Ravenswold shouldered Asterly out of her way and squared off with Bainbridge.

  Leticia blinked at the boldness, while beside her on the couch, Elizabeth Asterly chuckled. “Cass has no patience, no finesse. It’s one of the things I like most about her. The stark honesty. Of course, I despised her and her brash manner at first.” After a soft laugh at Leticia’s surprise, she continued, “The instant dislike had nothing to do with her beauty or unconscious rudeness. Before we married, Asterly made a to-do about how he adored her. Made no excuses for his devotion, mind you, and insisted we meet and become bosom friends. Can you credit such a request?”

  With a commiserating smile, Leticia shook her head. “Only a man could be that literal. I see that you let him live.”

  “Um, just barely. I must tell you about my first meeting with Cass. Asterly expressly asked her to drive me through the park at peak social hours, which she never does. Invite companions up on the seat, I mean. Only Rave is allowed to sit beside her
, and Asterly was fully aware of what a stir it would cause. He wanted me established before we married.”

  “And merely being seen with her was enough?”

  “Not merely seen. I had to sit up beside her while she drove the ridiculous thing. I was terrified. It was a perch phaeton, you see, and her team was green trained. I couldn’t decide whether I should kill her, then strangle Asterly, or throw myself under the wheels.”

  Delighted with the visuals of the tale, Leticia laughed. “And what happened?”

  With a vague smile that didn’t engage her dimples, Lady Asterly replied, “We drove, were seen, and came back.”

  “Veni, vidi, vici?”

  “Such was Asterly’s intent, I’m sure, but I was in such a state of outrage that there could be no sense of conquering the not so easily conquered ton. I admit that jealousy played a large part in the violence of my reaction. I positively stewed in my inner turmoil. And then Cass ruined it all, utterly deflated my grand condition of outraged self-esteem. Before she allowed me to step down, she begged me with the most soulful and humble expression to please be her friend. She couldn’t bear losing Asterly and dearly wanted my acceptance. Apparently, she had no female friends. At least, none she trusted. When she made that request with such humility and lack of her usual bravada, I saw the child inside. I later learned that she never had women friends. Females avoided her at school and shunned her at assemblies. Keep in mind that at the same time she was bombarded with invitations. Her attendance assured a successful gathering. She attracted every male over fifteen or any ancient not too infirm to totter through a cotillion.”

  Leticia switched her attention to the Amazonian beauty arguing horseflesh with her husband. “Forceful manner aside, why would anyone rebuff an offer of friendship?”

  “You must imagine what a girl just out would think.”

  Leticia returned her attention to the lady beside her. “I’m not sure I would know. I’ve never been to a town party. Never came out in any sense.”