Allerdale: Confirmed Bachelors Book 1

by Jenny Hambly

  Lord Haverham looked down at his cousin, a stunned, bemused look in his eyes.

  “Diana has never mentioned to me that she wished me to accompany her anywhere. You may be sure I would have done so if she had requested me to.”

  “I know she has not. Her mother warned her not to hang upon your sleeve and probably spouted a great deal of other nonsense. She told me that she had been very lonely before I came, that you did not share an understanding of each other’s concerns.”

  “But why would I bother her pretty head with the business of estate management or the latest bill in parliament? She wouldn’t understand the half of what I told her. She’s not as needle-witted as you, cousin, nor would I wish her to be.”

  “Perhaps not,” Eleanor agreed. “But she would feel more valued by you. Do you know that she feels badly about not providing you with an heir as yet, as if she is failing you somehow? The thought quite sinks her spirits at times.”

  “Eleanor, I have never uttered a word of censure on that subject; there is time enough, after all.”

  “It is what I told Diana.” Eleanor sighed. “It would be much better if you would talk honestly with each other about things, you know. Now, I must get ready for the ball. Please, consider all I have said, Frederick, but do not speak to Diana of Sandford, or anything else we have discussed.”

  Lord Haverham looked confused and exasperated. “Make your mind up, Eleanor. In one breath you ask me to talk with Diana, and in the next tell me not to!”

  “I mean you should talk more from now on but not report our conversation to her,” she said. “Pay her some attention this evening. Dance at least once with her and at other times make time to seek her out and ask her if she is enjoying herself.”

  The result of this conversation was most promising; not only did Lord Haverham compliment his lady on her beauty when she came downstairs but treated her with a gallantry Eleanor had not previously witnessed. Diana blossomed under these attentions, and Lord Haverham not only led her into the first set of the evening but also claimed her hand for the waltz.

  Diana laughed when he did so, and said, “But, my lord, how unfashionable we will appear, to dance twice before supper is even served.”

  “I do not care a fig if we appear unfashionable, Diana,” he said firmly. “And I do not choose to watch another gentleman claim so intimate a dance with the most beautiful lady in the room.”

  A delicate bloom of colour brushed Diana’s cheeks and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Frederick,” she said softly, “oh, Frederick. You do care.”

  As Eleanor’s attention was at this moment claimed by a gentleman she did not know, she did not hear her cousin’s response. A handsome man in regimentals bowed gracefully before her, an engaging smile upon his lips.

  “May I have the pleasure of this dance, ma’am? We have not been introduced but as this is a private ball, I think we need not concern ourselves with this small detail. Captain Charles Bassington at your service.”

  Eleanor inclined her head and dipped gracefully into a small curtsy. “Miss Edgcott, and I would be delighted to dance with you, sir.” She returned his smile. “But only because you are fortunate enough to wear a blue uniform, if it had been red, it would have clashed with your hair, you know, and that could not have added to my consequence.”

  Charles laughed. “It was, of course, the clincher when I was deciding which regiment to join.”

  Eleanor laid her hand on his sleeve and allowed herself to be led onto the floor, immediately determining that he was a charming scapegrace.

  As his arm snaked about her waist, his eyes glanced over her head and he smiled. She looked over her shoulder and saw Lord Brigham lead his lady onto the floor.

  “How lovely,” she said.

  “Yes, isn’t it? My uncle is generally the epitome of dignity and decorum, but he never fails to waltz with my aunt at a ball.”

  “I think it is charming,” Eleanor said. “I will never understand why, once one is wed, it suddenly becomes not the thing to show one’s affection for your spouse; it is nonsensical.”

  “I do not think my cousin, Allerdale, would agree with you, ma’am,” he said grinning.

  She followed his gaze and saw him gazing down at Lady Barbara Philpot.

  “Her betrothed is looking daggers at the pair of them!” Captain Bassington said, cheerfully.

  “If Lord Buntingdon does not like it, he should have ensured that he was there before your cousin.”

  “Are you a romantic, Miss Edgcott?”

  She smiled. “I do not think so, but I have dealt with enough young employees of my father – he was a diplomat – to realise that so many misunderstandings are caused by a lack of communication.”

  “Are we talking of romantic misunderstandings or diplomatic ones, Miss Edgcott?”

  “Both,” she said. “I imagine it is the same in the army; where would you be without a reliable source of information and line of communication?”

  “Nowhere, ma’am,” he acknowledged.

  “Well, that is what I have always thought. It is, of course, different in your case, but where do these ideas originate from, that dictate what we should and should not talk openly about in polite society?”

  Charles raised his brows in mock horror. “But, ma’am, if there were no such rules, the lines that have been clearly and carefully drawn in the sand for hundreds of years would become muddied!”

  “Yes,” Eleanor said with a wry smile. “I expect you mean the lines drawn between the roles of men and women in society. Just think how awkward it would be if a lady asked her husband what he did all day, and he had to explain his exact movements.”

  Charles laughed. “That would not do at all, Miss Edgcott, for either sex, I imagine.”

  “Perhaps not,” she agreed. “Will you be involved in the fight against Napoleon?”

  “Undoubtedly,” Charles admitted, sobering for an instant. “I have been involved in it for years.”

  “I wish you well,” Eleanor said softly. “And hope you come through it unscathed.”

  As the dance reached its end, Charles bowed and kissed her hand. “I will endeavour to do so, ma’am.”

  He led her from the floor. “Who shall I return you to, Miss Edgcott?”

  “My cousin, Lady Haverham, if you please.”

  “I see her,” he said. “I had the pleasure of dancing with her earlier.”

  “Yes, I know,” she said dryly. “I was standing by her side when you asked her. I was eclipsed by her beauty, no doubt.”

  Charles glanced down quickly, his eyes sheepish, but relaxed when he saw the impish light in her own.

  “You are a very unusual woman, Miss Edgcott, and I sincerely regret that I will not have time to know you better.”

  “I hope that you will have the chance, sir, when you have routed our enemy.”

  As Lord Haverham and Charles exchanged greetings, Diana turned to Eleanor and whispered in her ear. “It has been an age since Haverham was so attentive, I had forgotten how pleasant it is.”

  Eleanor smiled. “I am glad.”

  Lord Haverham turned back to them and bowed over Diana’s hand. “Would you mind very much, my lady, if I disappeared to the card room for a short while? I find that after dancing with you, I have no appetite to dance with anyone else just at this moment. I will come back after the next set to take you in to supper.”

  Eleanor hid a smile; she had had no idea that Frederick could be this charming and was not surprised when Diana made no demur.

  “Bassington! How come you to be in Town at such a time?”

  Charles clasped the hand offered to him and shook it vigorously. “Somerton! How are you, old fellow?”

  “Under the cat’s paw!” he said, smiling. “Let me introduce you to my wife.”

  Charles bowed before Georgianna, a glimmer of appreciation in his eyes. “I will be off to the continent by the end of the week, but I begin to understand, Somerton, why you shall not. It is a plea
sure to make your acquaintance, Lady Somerton. If I do not return, I will at least have the consolation of having witnessed such beauty before I breathe my last.”

  Georgianna did not seem at all impressed with this sally. She raised one finely shaped brow and said, “If that is all your consolation, sir, I suggest you take great care that you do return. Your last memory should not be that of a woman you have met in passing, but of one you have spent many years admiring.”

  Lord Somerton grinned. “Your cajoling ways will not work with my wife, Bassington.”

  He bowed to Diana and Eleanor, “Good evening, ladies.”

  Lord Somerton was easily the tallest man in the room, and as he rose from his bow, his lips twisted into a crooked smile. “Here comes the sacrificial lamb.”

  Diana and Eleanor turned to see to whom he was referring, but it was not until Lord Allerdale was almost upon them that they saw him emerge from the crowd.

  “He does not look very pleased,” Diana whispered in Eleanor’s ear. “His frown is quite demonic; he is certainly not like a lamb.”

  “No, more like a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Eleanor murmured. “But I am not at all sure he is frowning; his eyebrows are so thick and dark that they give him a naturally stern expression, don’t you think?”

  He passed very close to Eleanor as he reached out to shake Lord Somerton’s hand, and the air about him seemed to vibrate with a powerful, masculine energy. He was very striking but she thought his features a little too harsh to be deemed handsome precisely. His dark eyes had a keen intensity about them, and his square chin was rather too firm, hinting at a strong will and stubborn character. But when he turned to Georgianna, a gentle smile softened his face, and she thought him very handsome indeed, dangerously handsome!

  Diana suddenly gasped beside her. Eleanor looked at her with an understanding smile, assuming she too had been impressed by this transformation, but it was not Lord Allerdale who had caused her reaction. Diana had paled and her wide eyes were turned in another direction altogether.

  Eleanor followed her gaze and saw Lord Sandford sauntering towards them, his gaze fixed on Diana, and a lazy smile on his lips. He had the air of a predator about to claim its prey.

  “I do not wish to dance with him,” Diana hissed.

  “No, you must not,” Eleanor agreed.

  Any good that she had done this evening would be undone if Haverham came from the cardroom and saw them dancing together, but she could not quite see how she was to prevent it. Yet another of society’s nonsensical rules was that a lady could not refuse to dance with a gentleman unless she had a very good excuse and was prepared to forgo dancing for the rest of the evening. She groaned inwardly as she suddenly caught sight of Countess Lieven and saw that she too was watching Lord Sandford’s approach.

  “It is not like you to look so stern, Miss Edgcott.”

  She pinned a smile on her face, “Lord Carteret. I do apologise, I did not see you.”

  He bowed rather stiffly to Diana, who nodded with icy politeness. Lord Sandford had reached them, and Lord Carteret made as if to move aside.

  “Wait!” Eleanor said quickly, colouring a little as he raised his brows in enquiry. “Have you forgotten that you are to partner Lady Haverham for the next dance?”

  Diana gasped again, her startled eyes flying to Lord Carteret’s. Eleanor held her breath, but her faith in his gentlemanly manners proved not to be misplaced. He bowed and offered his arm to Diana, his face impassive.

  Lord Sandford did not miss a beat but bowed before Eleanor.

  “May I have the pleasure, Miss Edgcott?”

  As Lord Allerdale was leading Georgianna onto the floor, and Lord Somerton and Captain Bassington were deep in conversation, she was left with no choice. She laid her fingers lightly on his sleeve and allowed herself to be led towards the line forming for the country dance.

  “You are very busy on Lady Haverham’s behalf, Miss Edgcott,” Lord Sandford said coolly.

  Eleanor did not pretend to misunderstand him. “I acted only with her best interests at heart, sir. The same cannot be said of you, I think.”

  His green eyes reminded her of a cat’s and at that moment they held a malevolent quality.

  “I am pleased you are so charmingly unsubtle,” he said softly. “It allows me to answer you in the same style. It is not wise, Miss Edgcott, to interfere in my affairs.”

  Eleanor read a barely veiled threat in his words but as they had reached the line of dancers, she said nothing. When the figure of the dance brought them together, she murmured, “My interference was hardly needed, sir. Diana wished for nothing more than a flirtation. You took a serious misstep when you kissed her; she neither expected nor wished for you to do such a thing.”

  She forced herself to smile as they skipped around two other dancers. When he next took her hands, he said, “I am rather more experienced than you, ma’am, and you may believe me when I tell you that Lady Haverham was ripe for the plucking.”

  Eleanor raised an eyebrow, unshaken by his crude words. “I will allow that you may have had some excuse to think it, sir, but you may believe me when I say you were mistaken. You also showed a complete disregard for her reputation by behaving as you did in such a public place where anyone could have stumbled upon you.”

  “I take my opportunities when and where they present themselves,” he said, unabashed.

  Eleanor’s cheeks were aching with the effort of keeping a smile fixed on her lips. She opened them a fraction and spoke through her teeth. “Then I will ensure that you are not presented with any opportunity to come near Lady Haverham again, sir.”

  She let go of his hands and stepped hastily away from him. She felt herself stumble into someone and quickly turned, her dress bunching awkwardly around her legs as she did so. There was a sound of fabric tearing and she looked down to see a black pump set upon the lace flounce of her gown. She glanced up into two dark eyes the colour of warm chocolate, their expression one of mingled apology and amusement.

  “Forgive me, Miss Edgcott. I do not know how I came to be so clumsy.”

  A slow, wide smile spread across her face. “Do not concern yourself, sir. It is easily done.”

  “I will help you pin it up,” Georgianna said, “it is always so difficult to see if you have it straight without another pair of eyes.”

  Miles stepped away from the line of dancers and it reformed seamlessly behind him, his eyes watching their progress through the room. He had come to Miss Edgcott’s aid at Georgianna’s request, as she had been convinced that her friend was not enjoying herself. Although he had initially felt some reluctance to meet the lady in so awkward a manner, he could not now regret that he had done so. There had been humorous understanding and gratitude in her intelligent eyes. Carteret had been right; she was not unattractive. Her hair was cut boyishly short, but it clustered in a wild riot of curls about her elfin face in a decidedly feminine manner. Her mouth was unfashionably wide, this fault exaggerated when she smiled, but it only added to her air of mischievous charm.

  “I do not believe I have ever known you to suffer from clumsiness, Allerdale.”

  “No, it is unaccountable and deuced humiliating, Sandford; I had not yet been introduced to Miss Edgcott.”

  “Consider yourself fortunate,” the marquess said. “She is an interfering busybody.”

  Miles merely raised an eyebrow.

  “It is I who should have been dancing with Lady Haverham, not Carteret, but Miss Edgcott claimed that he had already asked her to dance.” He gave a bitter laugh. “They both seemed most surprised.”

  “Be careful, Sandford,” Miles said softly. “Lord Haverham is here tonight, and I would not like any hint of trouble or scandal at my mother’s ball.”

  “I am fully aware of it, old chap. He was entering the card room as I left it. He has kept an unusually close eye on his wife this evening and I have not been able to get near her, and when I finally saw an opportunity to do so, Miss Edgcott ruined all.�
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  “I had thought another lady might have caught your attention,” Miles said. “Did I not see you take someone up in your curricle the other day?”

  “Yes, but she is at present playing the pretty innocent, and as I am hardly likely to find her at a society ball, I must find my amusement where I can.”

  “Just make sure your amusement does not inconvenience any of our guests, Sandford, Lady Haverham and Miss Edgcott included. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go to my mother; I can see her beckoning me.”

  Lord Sandford’s lips twisted into a sneer. “Of course you must; you are still tied to her apron strings, after all.”

  The marquess was so incensed at having his plans thwarted that he had overlooked Miles’ temper, but he was forcibly reminded of it as that gentleman took a step closer to him, his eyes glittering. Sandford half raised his arm as if to ward off a blow, but no such indignity awaited him. He did, however, find it taken in such a strong grip that he was sure he would find a series of small bruises the size of fingerprints on his forearm in the morning. Before he could protest, he found himself being propelled forwards.

  “Smile, Sandford,” Miles said softly. “I wish everyone who sees us to think we are enjoying a private conversation.”

  “What are you doing?” the marquess asked.

  “I am escorting you from the premises, dear fellow. I cannot think why my mother invited you.”

  When he put that question to Lady Brigham a few minutes later, she looked surprised. “I thought he was a friend of yours. Was I wrong? I am aware he is not quite the thing, but he is still invited everywhere, and I thought it only fair that you should have your particular friends about you this evening.”

  “He is rather an acquaintance, Mama, and one that is quite capable of causing trouble.”

  “Oh?” she said, her eyes alight with interest. “Has he done so?”

  Miles saw Lord Haverham escorting his wife towards the supper room. She was looking up at him, a happy smile upon her lips.