Diana brightened ever so slightly. “Well, you saw while she was here that she loves dearly to paint, and she has been illustrating some of my poems and short stories for the fun of it. I think she does a wonderful job, but she has more talent than such simple, trifling things. I think she could make a good run of it overseas or in some artistic endeavour in London, and I know that she would love that. She has resigned herself to the life of a wife and mother –”
“Those are not things to be resigned to,” Lady Colbourne interjected, “but great honours to be welcomed with open arms and deep respect.”
Diana nodded. “So think I as well, and I believe that Miss Pembroke would agree. But her dreams are greater than that simplicity.”
Lady Colbourne smiled. “On that I will agree. I think Miss Pembroke and I share more than I have acknowledged in the past. Under different circumstances, we might have been good friends.” She was speaking under a pretext, and yet a part of her believed this last part to be true. She thought that if Nora Pembroke had been a peer her age, meeting her for tea and chatting about their children together, they might have been quite close – it was the danger to Gerard that villainised the girl.
“You still might be!” Diana exclaimed, clearly growing hopeful that her mother had changed her opinion on Nora after all. “I’m certain she would be happy enough to grow to know you further.”
“Tell me more about her dreams. What are these things to which she aspires?”
“Well, you may have noticed from her speech and manner of intellect, but she’s very well-educated and has spent quite a bit of time keeping up with her brothers in their lessons and worldviews. Because of that, she is not limited only to England in her vision. She desperately wants to travel and has spoken often about the beautiful landscapes that she wishes to paint in France and Italy and all over Europe. She craves adventure and culture and new experiences. You should hear her talent with language. She says that it is not so dreadfully good, but I think she’s marvellous.”
“And her parents?” Lady Colbourne asked, trying to sound innocent enough in the face of this wealth of information. “Are they supportive of these goals.”
Diana frowned. “I think they are supportive of her,” she said carefully, “but I don’t believe that her ideas of travel are very agreeable to them. She says she is resigned to the fact that England is likely as far as she will ever travel on this earth.”
“It is sad,” Lady Colbourne said, her mind whirling with a new idea, “to see a girl so fresh and promising set aside her dreams for the sake of a life she is not ready to live.” She looked at Diana with a smile. “I believe I have been rather cold to Miss Pembroke, and that is not something that she entirely deserves. I will work harder to help her make her dreams come true, whatever those dreams may be.”
She felt a twinge of guilt looking at Diana’s face and seeing the delight and hope there, for she knew in her heart that to make Nora Pembroke’s dreams come true would come at a cost to the girl her son professed to love. And yet, she was thankful to Diana for giving her a real foothold against the courtship she so disliked.
Before, she had tried to end things by convincing her son that there was something wrong with Nora Pembroke, but he was a loyal man with a kind heart who could not see the truth even when it was standing in front of him. Now, she had a different tack entirely, for if she could not convince Gerard that Nora was wrong for him, then she had only to convince Nora that Gerard was wrong for her.
Chapter 34
“How was your conversation with our father?” William asked, moving quietly up behind Nora as she sat reading at in the library. She had been poring over a book of poems, trying to distract herself from the thoughts of Gerard that were still spinning in her head.
She closed the book and frowned up at him. “Did you know that he wasn’t inviting the Colbournes to the dinner party?” she asked pointedly. “Were you aware, because you know that it caused great offense, and put an unnecessary wedge between our two families.”
He came around her chair and sat down across from her. “The Colbourne pride was already an unnecessary wedge, Nora.” He shook his head. “But I will tell you that though Father told me of his plan I hardly believed it until I saw the invitation list the night of the party. It’s declaring social war to leave such a prominent family out of the line-up.”
“And yet it seems that us Pembrokes came out on top after all,” Nora said drily, looking back at the page again. “That shows you how much money can get you.” She sighed. “And how much it can lose you.”
William frowned. “What do you mean, Nora?”
At that moment the butler stepped into the library and gave a little bow. “I’m sorry to disturb you,” he intoned formally, “but there are two visitors from Holcombe here to see Miss Pembroke on a business of friendship.”
Nora felt her heart leap at once at the realisation that Gerard had come back for her after all. She had not yet had a chance to tell him, or the will to write him, about her father’s ultimatum about her dowry, but the chance to see him again was enough to put a smile back on her face.
“Lord Colbourne?” she asked, standing to her feet. “Here?”
“No, miss,” the butler answered. “Lady Colbourne, and Lady Diana.”
Nora stopped in confusion and looked at William as if he somehow held the answer to the explanation of why a woman who had so clearly despised her in the past should suddenly appear on their doorstep.
He shook his head. “I do not understand it,” he said simply.
“Tell them we will be in directly,” Nora told the butler.
The butler nodded and was gone in a moment. Nora turned to William. “Do you think that she has come to put us back in our rightful place after the affair of the dinner party? I would not put it past her, since her pride is so easily wounded, and her slice of justice may mean some manner of reckoning.” She bit her lip. “Although it is more likely that she has come to make certain that I am not holding her son captive here at Dearbrooke. She need not worry about such a thing any longer. But she does not yet know that.”
“Why does she not need to worry?” William said, standing also with a frown.
Nora shook her head. She had shared too much too soon, and William was already embroiled enough in her business. “Never you mind. I will go and face the medicine.”
“And I will join you.”
They walked together to the drawing room, but before they’d even stepped inside Nora realised that she was not the first Pembroke to greet their guests. She heard her mother’s voice, high and imperious, calling for tea to be brought and enquiring after the health of the ladies who had come to visit.
“We have not heard much from you this season,” Fanny Pembroke was saying, “although I am pleased to see how much Lady Diana has grown up. It seems that the years keep flashing by, and soon you will be seeking out suitors for her, I am certain.”
“You are too kind,” came Lady Colbourne’s answering tones, deep and contained. Then Nora rounded the corner and saw the three women sitting together. Lady Colbourne was dressed in black satin, crisp and elegant, while Diana was in a deep green riding habit at her side, her curls pinned sharply in place per the usual. Beside them, Fanny Pembroke’s lavender and lace seemed almost childish, like a doll set into the arms of an adult. Nora steeled her chin and stepped into the room.
“Lady Colbourne;” she said, curtsying before turning a smile on the daughter. “And Lady Diana. What an immense pleasure.”
“Unexpected, I’m sure,” Lady Colbourne said, standing to return the curtsy before taking her seat again. “I assure you this is quite unlike us, but we were in the neighbourhood and felt that some contact was certainly required. We are acquainted, after all, and it would be considered odd if we were left outside of each other’s social calendars.”
It was dreadfully pointed, but not altogether vicious, and Nora found herself wondering if it was an olive branch of sorts – talking
directly about the dinner party and giving the Pembrokes a chance to be gracious instead of the other way around. Her mother seemed to miss the moment altogether, however, and only laughed weakly before reaching to hand Lady Colbourne a cup of tea.
“How have you been adjusting to country life?” she asked.
“Well enough,” Lady Colbourne answered. “Our Diana seems to miss your daughter’s companionship.”
This was unexpected, an allowance that Nora had brought anything at all pleasant into the Colbourne family was wholly unlike the matron. Nora felt strangely off kilter and couldn’t help wondering if Gerard had a hand in their visit, or if he was as ignorant of his mother’s game as she was. She came and sat down, William close at hand.
“I hope you will forgive me for breaking up our conversation when it has only just begun,” Lady Colbourne said. “But I saw upon my arrival that your gardens are most wild and exotic. Perhaps you would take the time to show me some of the plants at your disposal, Mrs Pembroke? Then Diana and your Miss Pembroke might be allowed some privacy to reconnect.”
Nora blinked at this added mystery, that Lady Colbourne had not only visited to mend fences, but had taken special pains to carve out time for Nora and Diana to spend time together, something that she ordinarily would have avoided to keep Diana from Nora’s wild influence.
Fanny blushed and smiled approvingly. “It is good when we have a chance to reconnect, Lady Colbourne, for it is so easy to forget the grounds for acquaintance when we are apart for so long.”
Lady Colbourne finished her tea and set the cup down gingerly on the table. “And Mr Pembroke?”
“He is in town today, alas, and will not be back until the evening meal. If you stay, you can connect with him as well.”
“Alas, we won’t have time for such a thing,” Lady Colbourne said quickly, standing and smoothing the front of her dress. “But that walk in the garden, perhaps?”
Nora watched as her mother and Lady Colbourne walked slowly together out through the elegant side doors into the garden, then she bid William farewell and, catching Diana’s arm, followed the two women outside with her friend near again. The two walking pairs of women diverged in the centre of the garden, and Nora found that she and Diana were soon out of earshot of the others. She pulled her friend aside and spoke quickly but cautiously.
“I am delighted to see you here today,” she said quietly, “but I confess I am also surprised. Matters with our families seemed somewhat strained, or was I mistaken on that point?”
“Not at all mistaken.” Diana’s forehead wrinkled in a frown. “I’m not certain of all that has transpired, but I can assure you that Mother wanted to mend fences when she saw that we had offended your family enough not to warrant an invitation to such an inclusive party.”
Nora blushed. “I beg your pardon for that, as for many other things. It seems to me a disgraceful thing to be so petty in social matters, but I fear my father’s temper got the better of him and he arranged the entire thing without properly consulting me or my brothers.”
“Do not fear,” Diana said, looping her arm through Nora’s again. “For I believe that everything has been quite put to rest. Mother insisted on coming here and showed a particular interest in arranging for you and I to be together once again. I think she might be coming around to the matter of your courtship with my brother after all. I never thought it would happen, but that goes to show just how pessimistic one can be, doesn’t it?”
Nora nodded, but in her heart, she still harboured a misgiving. It all seemed a bit too fortunate to be believed.
“When did your mother seem to come around to our way of thinking?” she asked quietly.
“She didn’t come around to any way of thinking,” Diana corrected her gleefully. “She came around to you, my dear. She began asking all about you and showed a decided interest in your likes and dislikes that I think implies a desire to get to know you more. Perhaps she’s thinking of ways to make Holcombe more to your liking.”
Nora blushed and turned her head. “You shouldn’t speak about such things in a forward manner,” she said quickly. “You assume too much.”
Diana smiled. “Look at you, the wild Miss Pembroke, worried about assuming too much and being too forward.” Her smile drifted away from her lips after a moment and she pressed Nora’s hand in her own. “Please,” she said urgently, “don’t toy with the matter any longer. Tell me straight whether or not you and my brother are engaged. I know that he came here to speak with your father, and I can think of only one real result from such an interview.”
Nora looked back at Diana in momentary silence, unsure how to answer. In the end, conflicted as she was about the declaration, she had received from Gerard the night of the dinner party, she opted for the simplest response.
“I would not call our relationship an engagement,” she said slowly.
“But he does care for you, I know that he does.” Diana’s eyes looked nearly ready to fill with tears. “I can see it in his eyes, and I know that you can too. Mother must be able to determine the truth herself, at this point, or else why would her demeanour have changed so suddenly?”
Nora smiled. “Do not worry yourself, dear Diana. I am confident that your brother and I are well ensconced in each other’s affection, and even if there is no engagement to speak of at present, I think we may both hope that a marriage proposal is soon imminent.” She waited for the tinge of worry that usually accompanied her thoughts about Gerard, but she couldn’t find it. She was beginning to be confident of him, as she had not allowed herself to be before. She blushed and put a hand to her cheek. “He has been very kind to me.”
“As you have in turn been to him,” Diana said with a smile of her own. “I hope that it will happen soon, Miss Pembroke, for I believe that my brother has been in mourning for our father too long. You brought him back to the land of the living, and I would not soon see that return compromised now that his happiness is complete.” She clasped her hands together. “Do you think you might come back to Holcombe soon? I’ve missed you so very much in your absence, and no amount of encouragement from my mother could convince me that life will be the same when you are away. Please.”
Nora looked doubtfully over at Lady Colbourne and her own mother, who had paused under a tree, still lost in conversation. It was an olive branch, Lady Colbourne’s visit here to Dearbrooke, but it didn’t cover a multitude of other slights, and Nora couldn’t help but wonder if Lady Colbourne would want her returning to Holcombe so soon.
“I’m not certain how happy our parents would be at present if I were to reappear at Holcombe,” she hedged gently. “But I will make an effort to connect with you again soon, I promise. I hope that the misunderstandings we’ve experienced will be resolved with time. For now, let us speak no more about these matters. Tell me about your own writing, and your adventures.”
Diana went on talking in an animated manner, and Nora listened with delight. She had missed Diana as much as Diana professed to have missed her. Still, as she attempted to focus on her friend’s discussion of the arts and a book she’d been reading and the passing balls in their neighbouring village, Nora continued to wonder if there was a reason other than reconciliation for Lady Colbourne’s visit. When an hour’s time had elapsed, she learned that she was right.
“Diana,” Lady Colbourne said, approaching with Nora’s mother at her side. “Would you walk inside with Mrs Pembroke? She told me there was a beautiful painting of the French countryside that you might find interesting, and I do crave a moment to connect with Miss Pembroke in private.”
Nora looked at her mother and saw that whatever conversation had passed between her and Lady Colbourne had charmed Fanny Pembroke to the core. She was smiling blithely, all other slights forgotten for the moment, and held out her arm to Diana with a sparkle in her eyes.
“It is lovely indeed, and I know that Nora used to sit in front of it when she was a girl to copy the form of the artist. Do come and examine it.”
Diana cast one last look in Nora’s direction, a bright smile on her face, and then followed Fanny back into the great house. Lady Colbourne waited until they were quite gone before turning her attention on Nora. She motioned to a nearby bench beneath the arbour with a tight smile.
A Baron Worth Loving: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 21
