by Leenie Brown
“I am absolutely certain your reputation is still intact,” Roger replied with a chuckle. “And if it is not, I am sure one of us gentlemen would do right by you.”
Grace shook her head. “Not you. Your sister told me. You will not be tricked into marrying no matter what might happen to a lady’s reputation because of her scheming.” Her brow furrowed. “Of course, I was not scheming. I did not mean to trick anyone into marriage.”
“I am certain you did not,” Roger assured her as he closed the door to the library.
“It is not that I would not consider it, which is likely not right for me to do, is it?”
“No, it is not. Or I imagine that is what my sister would say.” Roger offered her his arm, and they began walking toward the drawing room.
Grace glanced back over her shoulder. “Mr. Yardley is very handsome, is he not?”
“I suppose he must be if you say so,” Roger replied.
“And poor Mr. Clayton.” She sighed. “I quite like him. I did from the time we arrived at Heathcote. However, as Felicity pointed out, she is older, and so it is she who should marry first.”
Roger stopped walking. “And you gave him up for her?”
Grace shrugged. “I had not lost my heart to him.” She glanced back at the library door. “And I thought my sister had.” She shook her head. “But apparently, she has not, for she is at the rotunda with Mr. Ramsey likely letting him kiss her.”
“But I thought you thought Mr. Ramsey was of interest.”
Again, Grace shrugged. “I did, but…”
“Your sister is older?”
Grace nodded.
“She deserves to be an old maid,” Roger muttered. “Is she at the rotunda alone with Mr. Ramsey?”
“No. Miss Hamilton and Mr. Carlyle are with them.”
Roger pulled Grace across the drawing room in his hurry to reach the window. “I do not see them.”
“That is because Felicity wished to see the far side of the rotunda.” She blew out a breath. “So she can kiss him,” she added in a disappointed whisper.
“Do you wish to go to the rotunda with me?” Roger asked.
“Why are you going there?” Grace hurried behind him toward the garden door.
“Because I am not going to allow Mr. Carlyle to kiss Victoria.”
Grace blinked. “Do you think he will?”
Unfortunately, Roger did. The backside of the rotunda was the perfect secluded place for a gentleman to attempt a seduction. He stopped just outside the garden door and pulled Grace off the path. “Do you remember how we were talking about finding a match for Miss Hamilton?”
Grace nodded.
“And can you keep a secret?”
Again, Grace nodded.
“I have found her a match.”
“You have? Who? Is it Mr. Yardley?’
Roger blew out a breath as he shook his head. “It is me. She is the one who I fear losing more than I fear losing my freedom.”
“Oh, that is the most delightful thing!”
There was no mistaking Grace’s delight for it was evident in her excited whisper and the quick clap of her hands as well as the smile on her face.
“Then, we must hurry,” she said as she took his arm and stepped back onto the garden path.
Chapter 12
The evening breeze ruffled the hem of Victoria’s dress. It was a pleasant enough evening to be out in the garden, or it would be if she had been in the garden with anyone other than her current companions. She glanced back at the house one last time before following Felicity around the rotunda.
“Oh, a path!” Felicity cried.
There before them was a narrow path that wound down the hill and into some trees.
“Would you like to see where it leads?” Mr. Ramsey asked.
“No,” Victoria replied before Felicity could say a word. “We are to return to play games. Your mother will be worried, as will Mrs. Berkley.”
Felicity rolled her eyes and giggled. “You do not need to accompany us. You may stay right here with Mr. Carlyle. I am certain he would not feel it an inconvenience to wait here with you while Mr. Ramsey and I explore this little path. I am sure it would not take long.”
“No longer than necessary,” Mr. Ramsey said with a wink for Felicity, who blushed and ducked her head while peeking up at the gentleman at her side.
“I am not allowing you to go wandering down a path with no chaperone.” Victoria held Felicity’s gaze.
“You are such a prude.” Felicity smirked at Mr. Ramsey. “Whatever do you expect us to do while we are out of your sight?”
“It is most improper, and I shall not be a party to your ruin.”
“What Miss Hamilton says is true,” Mr. Carlyle said. “It would not be right for us to allow either of you to play so recklessly with Miss Love’s reputation.” He turned to Victoria. “I think we ought to accompany them.”
“We are expected back. We told our chaperones that we were going to the rotunda and back.”
“And we are at the rotunda,” Mr. Carlyle replied, “and when we return, we will be back. I see no untruth in what we said even if we take a short stroll down this path.”
Victoria gaped at him. He saw nothing untrue in his story? “To the rotunda and back did not include to the rotunda and then a little further and back.” She folded her arms and glared, in turn, at each of the others who were with her.
“Then, we have no option but to wait here for them to return.”
“We have the option of them not taking a walk down that path.” Victoria pointed to the path down which Felicity and Mr. Ramsey were already walking. “Of all the deviant and deceitful things!”
“There is no harm done,” Mr. Carlyle cajoled. “We can still see them.”
“And when they reach the trees, Mr. Carlyle, then what?”
Victoria descended to the path. She shook her head and huffed attempting to clear some of the anger she felt at being placed in the situation in which she found herself. Miss Love was horrid. Simply and utterly horrid. There was no other word for her. She treated her sister poorly and ignored the gentleman who was courting her while blatantly flirting with another. And then there was Mr. Carlyle who saw nothing wrong with what was being done?
“I promise you that I shall never agree to walk with you in the garden again,” she said, allowing her displeasure to bubble over.
“Not even when we marry?”
Victoria stood stalk still and turned slowly toward Mr. Carlyle. “I beg your pardon?” She was certain her ears must be playing tricks with her mind. He certainly could not be presuming that she would marry him!
“I was only wondering if your never walking with me again was to be confined to this house party or if it extended to when we were married.”
She had heard him correctly. “We are not marrying.”
He smiled. “I think we are. We are quite good together. Your piano playing mixes well with my singing. You are lively and thoughtful – just what I prefer in a lady.”
“Piano playing and liveliness? These are the requirements for your wife?”
“They are but two.”
“No.” She shook her head to emphasize her point. “No, I will not marry you.”
He caught her hand. “Please, Miss Hamilton? I can give you more reasons if you give me time to consider them, but surely, you feel the attraction between us.”
He was mad. That must be it. There was no attraction between them. She merely tolerated him because she had not wished to be rude.
He lifted her fingers to his lips.
“Mr. Carlyle, I will thank you to unhand me this instant. I feel nothing akin to attraction to you, and I have no desire to marry you.”
He dropped her hand and shrugged. “What will the others say?”
Disquiet settled around her chest, pulling it tightly in on itself, forcing out what breath she held in her lungs. “What will who say?”
He waved his hand back toward the house. “T
he others.” His lips tipped up on the right side. “We have lost sight of Miss Love and Mr. Ramsey, and they have lost sight of us.”
“You would lie?”
His brow furrowed though his smile did not fade. “Lie? About what?”
She looked down the path toward where Felicity should be but was not. Then, she turned toward her companion, dipped a curtsey, and said, “Good evening, Mr. Carlyle,” before heading back toward the rotunda. She needed to be back in the safety of the house. She cared not what happened to Felicity at the moment. The girl had made her decision, and she could face the consequences. Victoria was not prepared to be forced into marrying Mr. Carlyle.
“Miss Hamilton,” he called after her, “the damage is already done, do you not think?”
She stopped at the top of the steps to the rotunda. Looking down at him where he stood on the ground below her, she shook her head. “Damage or no damage. I will not marry you, Mr. Carlyle.” She held up her hand as he began to ascend the stairs. “No, Mr. Carlyle, you must remain here in case, Mr. Ramsey cannot carry Miss Love to the house by himself.”
His brow furrowed. “I do not understand your meaning.”
“Her ankle.”
“It is not injured.”
“Oh, I am certain you are quite correct about that.” The little vixen had been walking far too quickly down that path for her ankle to have been even slightly injured. It was a ploy. Nothing more. An act to rid herself of Mr. Clayton and her sister so that she could have Mr. Ramsey all to herself.
“However,” Victoria continued, “she did say it was injured, and I feel it is only proper that I seek help for her.”
“But, she does not wish to worry her mother.”
Victoria laughed. “Of course, she does not, for that would not give her the opportunity she is now taking to be alone with Mr. Ramsey, and, I am certain, Mr. Ramsey is happy to help with any subterfuge that would lead him to where he is now, doing what he is likely doing.” She smiled at Mr. Carlyle’s surprised expression. “I have been friends with Mr. Shelton for far too long not to know how these assignations go.”
“Indeed?” Mr. Carlyle’s brows rose before a smirk crawled across his lips. “And how precisely do you know?”
Victoria’s cheeks flamed at his insinuation. “It is not how you imagine. He merely likes to shock me with stories.” That was probably not helping her cause. “It matters not. You must stay here, and I will inform Mrs. Love of her daughter’s injury.” She spun on her heels and hurried around the rotunda.
She should not have been hurrying quite so quickly, for it was her haste which made her lose her footing on the bottom step of the rotunda.
She brushed the dirt from her palms. They would likely bruise, but the skin was not broken, no matter how much the stinging wanted her to believe it was. Her dress, however, was not so fortunate. There was a small tear at the bottom where her foot had caught it as she had risen from the ground after falling. She sighed as she noticed there was also a green stain from the grass on her left hip.
She dashed a tear from her cheek. This was nothing about which to cry. A little pain was not worth the tears. However, returning to the house as she was would be worth a few tears if Mr. Carlyle chose to tell tales, for those tales would be much easier to believe when coupled with the state of her clothing.
She would take the less direct path to the house. The one that would take her to the side where she could then slip around to the front. It would be easier to sneak in and up to her room without being seen if she approached it in such a fashion.
Oh! Her knee hurt, but she was not about to lift her skirt to check it until she had gained the privacy of her room.
Thankfully, the only person near the front of the house when she entered was Mr. Clayton, who was making his way up the grand staircase with a rather full glass of what appeared to be port in his hand.
“Miss Hamilton,” he greeted as she made to pass him.
“Mr. Clayton.”
“Your dress is looking worse for the wear.”
“As are you,” she returned with a smile. His cheeks were flushed, and his gaze wandered, and if Victoria were to guess based on how her brother looked when he had indulged too much in alcohol, Mr. Clayton was well on his way to being foxed.
He chuckled. “I am not feeling it, though I suspect I will tomorrow, and it will make for a long ride home.”
“You are leaving?”
He nodded. “It seems best. Miss Love is off in the garden with Mr. Ramsey.”
“Yes, I know.”
He blew out a breath and offered her his arm. She thought about not taking it until he swayed. Then, she considered how taking his arm was a good way to ensure his safe arrival to the hall above them.
“You will be missed,” she said as she helped him up the stairs.
He snorted. “Not by many. House parties.” He shook his head. “Dreadful things.”
“Indeed.” Victoria could not agree more with his assessment.
“No need to stay where I am not welcome,” he added.
Victoria pointed him in the direction of his room and stood at the top of the stairs watching for a few minutes to make sure he was far away from any danger of falling down the stairs before she turned and went to her room, where she sat on her bed and examined her somewhat bloody knee.
She had to agree with Mr. Clayton — going home did not seem so bad an idea.
She rose and rang the bell for her maid before going to the washstand to pour a little water into the basin for washing her hands.
“Would you send for Mrs. Berkley,” she said when her maid entered. “And then I think I shall retire for the evening.”
“Right away, miss.”
Victoria removed her shoes and pulled off her stockings. They were dirty and torn but not beyond repair. Once her knee had been washed, she began the work of undoing her hair while she waited for her maid to return and help her with the unfastening of her dress.
“Blast,” she muttered. She had put Roger’s lavender ribbon in her hair tonight in case he came back. She had foolishly thought that if he saw it, he might realize how much she cared for him. And now, that ribbon was missing. It had likely fallen out when she fell. She should have woven it into her hair rather than just using it as an adornment on her comb.
“Is something wrong?” Diana asked as she came into the room.
“I fell,” Victoria turned so Diana could see her knee.
“Oh, my dear, how did that happen?”
“I was attempting to get away from Mr. Carlyle as quickly as I could.” She shrugged. “I should have been more careful.”
Diana wore a horrified expression as she crossed to where Victoria sat. “What happened?”
Victoria shook her head. “I will tell you, but not now. Right now, I need you to tell Mrs. Love that her eldest daughter has sneaked away down a secluded path behind the rotunda with Mr. Ramsey. She twisted her ankle earlier, and so Mr. Carlyle was good enough to stay in case there was a need for his assistance in returning her to the house.”
The eyebrow over Diana’s left eye rose. “Mr. Carlyle was good enough to do that?”
“That is what you are to tell Mrs. Love.”
“And then, you will tell me all?”
Victoria nodded. She would gladly tell her friend all that there was to tell, after which she would ask Diana to take her home.
Diana gave her one more concerned look before exiting the room and leaving Victoria to the care of her maid.
Chapter 13
“Where is Victoria?” Roger demanded.
Three people were descending the steps to the rotunda when Grace and Roger reached it, and not one of them was Victoria.
“Victoria is it?” Carlyle smirked.
Roger glowered at him. “We have been friends our whole lives. Now, where is she? Miss Grace said she was here.”
He was not opposed to hitting a popinjay such as Carlyle if needed. In fact, he’d be rather pleased
to do it. However, now was not the time for such things no matter in which direction his feelings ran on the subject.
“Oh, she was. I assure you she was.” Grace clutched his arm more tightly. “She was right here when I left.”
“I do not doubt you,” Roger assured her. “What is that?” he asked as, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Miss Love stooping to pick something up off the ground.
“My, you are a suspicious fellow this evening, Mr. Shelton.” Miss Love spoke in a sweet, teasing tone; however, Roger was not in the frame of mind to politely endure teasing. He rarely was when the source was a conniving female such as Miss Love.
“And your cheeks are rather flushed, and you have a few tendrils of hair out of place.” He added a smile and fluttered his lashes much as she had done a moment ago. He chuckled when she gasped as if affronted. “That will not convince me of your innocence. I know full-well the advantage that a secluded location such as the far side of the rotunda and the path beyond can give to those who are hoping to avoid propriety for a few minutes.”
“There is a path behind the rotunda?” Grace asked, leaning her head to the side as if attempting to look around the stone building in front of them. “How do you know?”
“I have seen it,” Roger answered. “I always make myself familiar with all potential traps and routes of escape,” he added. “I do not intend to marry until I decide to marry.”
“To avoid a trap?” Carlyle said with a laugh. “Do you not mean devise a plan to take advantage of the seclusion such a spot affords?”
Roger affected a nonchalant shrug. “Not unlike what you and Ramsey were about.”
“We were only seeing the other side of the rotunda,” Carlyle assured him with a hint of anger in his voice.
“Yes, well, a seduction is much more effective if there is a lady to seduce,” Roger quipped, causing the gentleman’s eyes to narrow. Drawing out Carlyle could be an exceptionally satisfying prospect.
“I was not alone,” Carlyle replied. “Miss Hamilton was willing to keep me company.”
He felt Grace grasp at his arm, as he moved to close the distance between himself and Carlyle. “Where. Is. She?” He enunciated each word slowly.
