Everyone’s mouths hung open. The Duchess stood, her body trembling with fury. “I won’t have this!”
That was when it happened. Reginald stepped forward, shielding Victoria with his body. “It is not up to you, Mother. You are the Dowager Duchess, yes, but I am now the one who holds the title. I am of age, and I am also in control of my business affairs, as well as my monies. If you thwart me in this…I shall cut off your allowance and send you and Father to live at the country house near the forest.”
The Duchess sat down, her face going pale. “That house is one we rarely visit it is so old and dismal! Not to mention it is so secluded!”
Reginald’s voice was tight. “I’m sure you would find it most dreary Mother. But I warn you, if you are unkind to my wife that is where you and Father shall go. I hold the family name, and the purse strings, and I shall not be made to be miserable by the plans that you all have made without my consent!”
The door flew open. Winston strode in, pulling Clare behind him. “I want you to know I wish to marry Miss Devon and…” he broke off, blinking at the ring of faces pointed toward him. “I say, what is all this?”
The Duchess fanned herself vigorously. “Lady de Winter, are all of your offspring quite mad?”
Lady de Winter snapped her fan closed. Her forehead creased. “If they are, Madame, it is most certainly the fault of your son, who has brought nothing but confusion in here. I daresay his own heedless behavior has quite influenced poor Winston as well.”
The Duchess snapped her lips shut. Madelaine stifled a grin behind her fan. Winston blinked a few times. Clare, looking quite windblown and well-kissed, gawked around at them.
Reginald said, “It does not matter who started this whole sorry mess I suppose. Only that it cannot continue. I will marry Victoria and Madelaine, you…”
Jonathan said, “I would be delighted to wed her as I have said so often.”
Lord de Winter glared at him, “And it was you, no doubt, who helped him find a hole in that contract to wriggle through!”
Jonathan bowed, “Guilty as charged sir. However, now both your daughters will make a satisfactory match as Reginald there is a Duke and I’m a very wealthy Earl. Think of the connections you shall have.”
Lord de Winter subsided. The Duchess let out a little squeak of indignation at the callous mention of money. Nobody else spoke.
Lady de Winter stood. “It’s settled then. On Thursday Victoria shall marry Reginald and Madelaine shall wed…”
Jonathan,” he supplied helpfully. “Earl of Hawthorne.”
“Indeed.” Lady de Winter snapped her fan open then shut, her face screwed up in thought. “Ladies, we must retire to allow the gentlemen to discuss…”
“You forgot me Mama.” Winston’s face was scarlet. “I shall marry Miss Devon!”
Clare began to laugh. “A triple wedding? Absolutely not!”
Winston went redder. “I know you. You’ll climb right out of the window on a sheet and vanish into the mist. No, we shall marry as soon as possible!”
The Duchess let out a breath, “Have you young people no idea what the tonne will say about your haste?”
Lady de Winter spoke, “Ladies, this is for the gentlemen now.”
Her rebuke, soft but pointed, sent all the women following in her wake.
They all ended up in the small, less formal parlor. Lady de Winter put her hand to her throat then moved decisively to the bell. She rang for a servant then said, “Ladies, we must all talk. But first, we shall have tea.”
The servant entered and was directed to bring tea and other light refreshments to the ladies and to take refreshments to the men as well, along with a bottle of port and another of sherry.
That alone told Madelaine how serious things were.
After they were all seated and sipping their tea or picking at the clever sandwiches and tea cakes Lady de Winter cleared her throat. “In polite company one must always remain polite. I am sure you will agree with me Duchess.”
The Duchess gave the other older lady a meaningful look over the rim of her tea cup. She sipped, nodded, and set the cup aside. “In the company of men we must also remember to speak softly, and to keep women’s matters as women’s matters. But there are no men here so let us be frank.
“I had no idea that my son wished to wed your younger child. I am sure, as I saw your shock, that you did not know either. However—as I am sure we must all agree regardless of what those we are wed to, or mean to marry, agree to—we must consider the reputation of each and every lady in this room.”
Madelaine gulped. Clare fidgeted. Victoria sat composed and cool. How she managed that was beyond Madelaine. Madelaine folded her hands and tried to be patient but her foot kept tapping.
Lady de Winter nodded her head in a regal manner. “I agree. Let’s begin with admitting we cannot possibly have three people at the same ceremony. It’s just gauche.”
“Well I would only have to sit through one, anyway,” the Duchess pointed out quite reasonably. “Now I am certain our husbands are explaining the need to wait to those young men in there but they won’t ask so we must. Is there, for any of you, a need for such haste?”
Madelaine shook her head. Victoria went pale then red and her look of confusion followed by shock said clearly she was in no need of a fast ceremony. Clare just looked amused.
Lady de Winter released a breath. “Good. So, we should go in an orderly fashion but the practical things must be addressed first. The wedding of your son—the invitations have gone out. This would be the second time the nuptials were postponed. The invitations do say Miss De Winter, not which Miss de Winter. We cannot, at all, postpone that wedding again.”
Victoria gasped and let out a rather unladylike squeal that she quickly suppressed. She bowed her head and said, “Yes Mother, that sounds very reasonable.”
The Duchess, knowing she was beaten, nodded her head. “I have to concede that to you Lady de Winter. Now as to the rest of it, I shall leave that to you and yours to work out.”
Lady de Winter sipped tea and let her eyes rest on Madelaine. Madelaine twisted her hands together. There was a slight furor in the hallway. The Duchess stood. “It seems the men have come to their conclusions.”
They all sat quietly, waiting for the men to enter the room. Reginald looked ecstatic, and he said, “So, darling, it seems we have no choice but to move on with the wedding now.”
Victoria, her face all aglow, murmured, “As you wish dear,” in a low voice that earned her approving looks from all.
Madelaine took one look at Winston’s face and her heart sank. It was obvious their father had said no.
But what had he said to Jonathan? She looked at Jonathan’s face but it held no clues.
Reginald and his family left. Lord de Winter turned to Jonathan. “You may have her hand, sir.”
Then he walked out.
Clare’s eyes filled with tears but she held her head high. Winston uttered a vile curse then crossed the room to Clare while Madelaine went to Jonathan. Her own happiness was eclipsed by the sorrow on the faces of Winston and Clare.
Jonathan took he rby the arm and guided her carefully to one corner of the room. Victoria raced out, probably to start planning her wedding day, and Clare and Winston sat close together, whispering urgently.
Jonathan said, “So—we have managed to set society on its ear again it seems.”
She threw her arms around him. “I wish I had said there was reason to hurry.”
He leaned closer, his chest meeting hers. Her entire body cried out for his and her heart beat a little faster. “Is there a reason?”
“No.”
His lis met hers. She let hers part and he kissed her thoroughly, both of tem forgetting that they were not alone in the room.
The door opened, causing themto spring apart quickly. Lady de Winter said, firmly, “I do believe you gentlemen would benefit from an outing to your club.”
Winston stood, “Mama…don’t m
ake us elope and ruin Victoria’s wedding.”
Madelaine took a low breath. Lady de Winter bit her lips. “Do not do that to your sister Winston, not if you love her. All is not lost. However, Miss Devon must go home. Today. Now. As soon as she is packed.”
Winston’s entire body trembled with outrage. Jonathan grabbed him and hauled him toward the door. “I will call on you in the morning Madelaine.”
Her heart leaped with joy. His calling on her was not enough, could never be enough! She wanted him in her bed, and her life. But they had to play the part that their positions forced upon them now, for the sake of so many other people.
“I shall wait all day sir,” she curtseyed slightly.
The door closed behind Winston and Jonathan. Joy ran through Madelaine but it dimmed as she looked at Clare, who had still not shed a single tear, but whose crestfallen face said she might at any moment.
Lady de Winter twisted her hands. “All is not lost Clare. That is all I can offer. However Lord de Winter has decreed that it is time for you to return home. We have far too many things to deal with at the moment and we require our privacy. I am sure you understand.”
Clare held her head high. Madelaine’s heart bled for her. “Of course Lady de Winter. I shall pack now.”
“I shall help you.” Madelaine moved toward her and the two embraced for a moment before leaving the room and heading up the stairs to the room that Clare had been given.
In the bedchamber Madelaine turned to Clare. “Oh! I am so sorry I fell as if I have somehow let you down!”
“You’ve not.” Clare gave her a quick hug then turned to the armoire. “Don’t think it. I knew, as did Winston, that they might say no. However, please, I implore you—do not let this spoil your own joy!
“You’re free to wed Jonathan now!”
Madelaine’s joy surged upward again, filling her body with a giddy, happy feeling she could barely contain. She wanted to dance across the room, embrace everything, even the bed posts!
Clare packed quickly. Her eyes shone but she did not cry. Madelaine said, “Wait one moment please!”
She ran to her room and quickly dug into her own armoire. She took out the loveliest of her gowns, a stunning red silk thing she had been allowed to have made but not yet wear. It was perfect, just perfect, for Clare.
She raced back to the other room and held the gown out. Clare’s mouth fell open as she took in the shimmering fabric hanging from Madelaine’s arms. “No! Of course I can’t take that! It is far too much!”
“Nonsense.” Madelaine thrust the gown into the trunk, folding it carefully and then placing a thin sheet of paper over it to shield it from whatever gown that Clare would place next in the trunk. “You must take it Clare! You must!”
Clare did weep then. She collapsed onto the floor in a pretty billow of skirts and curls and put her face in her hands. Her tears were stormy and he rbreath a ragged gasp. “Oh I wish you nothing but all the joy in the world Madelaine! To think, one day we may yet be sisters!”
Madelaine helped her to her feet. “Of course we shall be sisters one day. I know Winston, and I know he will not stop until he is given permission to marry you.”
Clare wiped her face with a handkerchief then waved it. “That is what I fear the most. I do not wish him to sacrifice himself for me Madelaine. It is an impossible thing to ask.”
Madelaine said, “Until the moment I saw Jonathan again I was sure, ever so sure, that what you just said was exactly right. But I love him. I would have given up everything—anything!—for him and he would have done the same for me.
“Neither of us care much about…” her hand waved all around her, “These things anyway. We value each other so much more than this life we were merely born into and I do know this about Winston.
“He values you more than he values his title, or our parent’s opinion. I also know our parents. If they see he means to go forward, and they will because he will, they will relent Clare. They will be loath to lose the son they love, and they will be even more loath to lose their heir.”
Clare dabbed her eyes again. “It should not come to that and I feel such guilt…”
“Oh bother your guilt! It’s not your fault, nor Winston’s, that you were born into the hidebound society that demands its children be sold off like veritable slaves! Love him, and believe he loves you as well.”
Clare pressed the handkerchief to her eyes again then lowered it. “Oh madelaine. Thank you. Thank you ever so much for onviting me and…”
Her forehead creased in a frown, “Shall you have to explain why you returned before your visit should have been over?”
Clare chuckled and her lips formed a roguish grin. “Nay, they actually expected me to be sent home in utter disgrace. I shall tell them nothing, of course. My father can be—forceful. My mother too. Also they should not like it that I may marry before my sisters.”
Madelaine’s lips turned up. “We must endeavor to find husbands for your sisters then. Are they all like you?”
Clare shook her head. “No, they are all blonde and quite charming and pretty of manner. I am the renegade child I am afraid.”
“Well thank heavens that Winston fell for you and not them then. I have enough of those types of ladies in my life.”
There was a knock on the door, the manservant come to take Clare’s trunk down the stairs to the carriage waiting for her.
The two women embraced again and Clare departed, her shoulders high and her flaming head held even higher.
Madelaine went to her own room and lay down on her chaise, thinking hard. Excitement billowed up unchecked now that she was alone.
She closed her eyes and sniffed the air, hoping to catch the faint tang and whiff of the sea.
“Oh we shall have to be married soon so we can go see everyone again!”
The words echoed around the room. She shifted on the chaise and sighed. How long would it be before she was allowed to be alone with Jonathan?
Her entire body ached for his touch. Her mind filled with memories of him, the feel of his skin and the taste of his mouth and desire ran over her in long waves that held her pinned down on the chaise, breathing too quickly and curling then uncurling like a cat.
It was a pleasant, and tingling, sensation, that desire. It stiffened her nipples and made her face and body flush hotly. Her eyes closed more tightly and she lifted her hands, meaning just to touch her breasts lightly when there was a knock at the door that shattered her reverie.
She sat up, patting her hair and arranging her skirts before clearing her throat and calling out, “Come in.”
The door opened. Victoria peeked in. She came into the room slowly and faced Madelaine. “I…I know you don’t really mind…I mean about Reginald but…but it came to me as Clare was leaving that you may mind my marrying first.”
“Why ever would I mind that?”
Victoria picked an invisible bit of lint from one sleeve. “You are the eldest. They should allow you to marry Jonathan first. It is just that the arrangements are already made, and it will take nothing to fit me into Mother’s gown. Still, it seems a bit…”
“It doesn’t bother me.” Madelaine drew closer. “I never go to tell you I was sorry. For all of it. For running away as I did, and then for…for not seeing that you were so in love with Reginald. I should have seen that my spending any kind of time with him was painful for you, and that…that I was being unkind by not seeing that.”
Victoria smiled. “Oh it was easy to see that you did not want to spend that time with him at all! I…would it be wrong for me to say that I hoped that you would run away yet again and leave him standing at the very altar so that he might be free?”
Madelaine’s voice was long and loud. “No! If you are wrong then so am I. Because I plotted, often, how to do that very thing!”
Victoria wrung her hands. “Oh Madelaine can you forgive me? I was so very rude and mean to you when you returned…”
“Of course you were. By the
n you had fallen absolutely in love with him, and of course you were angry at me. I only wish you had come to me and talked to me. Perhaps we could have sorted the whole mess out before…well before now.”
“It is not your fault. I should have spoken up. I wish I had. Oh, I know you think hum dull and weak and boring but really he is so wonderful Maddie!”
She’d used the old childish nickname. That brought a smile to Madelaine’s face. “I’m sure I was quite wrong about him.”
“I am sure your fiancé is wonderful too. He is quite intelligent, that is certain! He has most certainly managed to get us all out of a terrible situation!”
“He is very intelligent, and adventurous too! Oh Victoria! My life will be very interesting!”
Victoria giggled. “I daresay it has been quite interesting as of late.”
Madelaine nodded, “It has been. I suppose I actually have the duke to thank for that. His proposal compelled me to act.”
Victoria said, “I know it must seem horrid of me but I don’t wish to know where you went, or what you did. I feel…I feel like that is a part of you I will simply never understand. Mostly because I think you rather preferred it to the life you are living now.”
“I did love it.” Her voice was wistful.
Victoria adjusted her sleeves yet again. Madelaine understood the gesture. It meant her sister was uncomfortable and did not wish to discuss the subject any further so she changed it. “I suppose with you wearing Mother’s gown I should try to have another made.”
Victoria blushed. “Oh, do you mind? I could…”
“I don’t mind. I rather hated it, please don’t tell Mother! It is just that…well I always wanted to choose my husband for myself, and my gown too! So you see, you have saved me from yet another thing I would find untenable.”
Victoria bit her lip then covered her mouth in an effort to stop the mirth from flying out of her mouth. It escaped anyway. “Oh, I was just thinking about poor Miss Leslie Jenkins! Do you remember?”
Madelaine tilted her head, thinking hard. Then she laughed too. “Oh yes! Her mother made her drink nothing but broth and unsweetened tea so she would be perfectly slim at her wedding…”
Slipped Know - A Victorian Romance Novella Page 4
