“Of course,” Ben replied, giving him a nod. He straightened, turning to discover Angelica standing directly behind him, speaking in quiet tones with one of the other young ladies.
“Good evening, ladies,” he said, giving them a bow.
Angelica turned and gave him a curtsy, as did the other young lady. “Mr. Fulton,” Angelica acknowledged him. “So glad you could join us this evening. She indicated her friend. “May I introduce Lady Anne? Mr. Fulton lives next door.”
Anne Wellingham turned to regard the gentleman, her face splitting into a wide grin. “Why, don’t you mean Sir Benjamin?” she asked as she held out her hand.
Ben cringed, just then recognizing the daughter of the Earl of Trenton. “Good evening, Lady Anne,” he said as he lifted her hand to his lips. “So good to see you again.”
Her eyes widening at hearing Lady Anne’s comment, Angelica inhaled and stared at the knight for a moment. “Sir Benjamin?” she repeated softly.
“He’s Wadsworth’s brother,” Anne said in a whisper.
“Oh, of course,” Angelica replied, realizing almost immediately that she should have connected the family name Fulton to the Wadsworth earldom from the very start.
But why would she?
Ben had made no mention of his brother, and he had introduced himself as Ben Fulton that first night in the observatory. “I’m honored you could join us this evening after all, Sir Benjamin,” she said, turning her attention back to him. Although she tried to school her features to hide her dismay—had the man intentionally made her look like a fool to her guests?—Angelica managed a slight smile. “I suppose this means Mr. Fulton won’t be in attendance.”
“Angel,” he started to say, just as the butler appeared at the door and announced dinner was served. “May I have the honor of escorting you into dinner?”
Angelica regarded him a moment before her eyes darted about to take in the other guests. “Given the uneven numbers, perhaps it would be better if—”
“Lady Anne, may I escort you into dinner?” George asked of Anne as he stepped up, offering his arm.
Anne blushed and dipped her head. “Yes, of course, Hexham,” she replied as she placed her hand on his arm.
“Oh, do call me George, won’t you?” The two took their leave of the parlor followed by several others who had paired up according to rank.
Ben offered his arm to Angelica. “Please, my lady. I can explain.”
Angelica reluctantly took his arm, her gaze once again sweeping the parlor to be sure all the guests were making their way to the dining room. She turned her attention back to Ben. “I look forward to it,” she stated, but her tone suggested she did not. “Although I do think I have heard quite enough.”
Knowing almost immediately to what she referred, Ben stiffened. Dinner might not be the enjoyable affair he had looked forward to all day.
On what seemed like wooden legs, he escorted Angelica to her seat at the opposite end of the table from her brother. Then he found his own place—directly to her left—and knew he was in for a long night.
Chapter 33
A Mother Surprises
A half-hour earlier, at Trenton House
“There you are,” Trenton remarked when he found his wife staring out the front parlor window.
Sarah turned and watched as he made his way to her side. “Why is it I have this feeling I have seen the last of my daughter before she is betrothed?”
Trenton inhaled slowly. “I meant to tell you last night.”
“Tell me what?” Sarah’s eyes were wide, and from the glimmer in them, Trenton was sure she was on the verge of tears.
“I gave Hexham permission to marry her,” he admitted. “He was here yesterday—”
“He just showed—?”
“He sent a note, of course, but our talk was just a formality. I knew—we both knew—that when he asked her to go for the ride earlier this week, his intent was to court Anne.”
Sarah dipped her head. “I am glad it is George,” she said with a slight nod. “He is young, but mayhap old as well.”
Trenton furrowed a brow. “He is far more mature than most his age,” he agreed. “Probably more so than Gabe. He will make a fine husband. He feels affection for her. And she will want for nothing—”
“So nothing will change in that regard,” Sarah managed with a wan grin. “Still, she is so young.”
“And determined to be a mother—with or without a husband, I feared. I have a mind to blame that on my sister, but Lily has done nothing to encourage her in that regard.”
“Nothing except to have babies Anne can dote on,” Sarah reminded him. A tear fell from one of her eyes, and Trenton gathered her into his arms.
“Please don’t cry,” he begged as he placed a kiss on her forehead and then brushed the tear aside with his thumb. “Especially when she tells you she’d like a Christmas wedding.”
Sarah’s eyes rounded. “This Christmas?”
“She wants to have a baby next year, so the wedding had better be this Christmas,” he countered.
“There’s only a few weeks—”
“Plenty of time for you to plan a wedding breakfast with cook,” he assured her.
“But what about a gown? Flowers? Arrangements for the church?”
Trenton shrugged. “You have accomplished far more than that whilst seeing to your business,” he countered. “And in far less time. I have the utmost faith in you.”
Sarah gave him a quelling glance before she allowed a long sigh. “I suppose it’s doable,” she murmured. Her eyes suddenly widened again. “Do you suppose Hexham will take her virtue on this night?”
His own eyes rounding in alarm, Trenton took a moment to consider how to respond.
Hexham was hosting a dinner party. Afterwards, the gentlemen in attendance would no doubt head to their clubs—George with them—so it was rather unlikely he would have time to bed Anne. He finally shook his head. “Not on this night.” His brows furrowed, though. “Have you explained to her what happens in a marriage bed?”
Sarah angled her head back and forth. “Most of it. Just this afternoon, in fact.”
Trenton thought the timing rather interesting, but asked, “Do you think she will know how to kiss?”
Rolling her eyes, Sarah said, “She grew up watching us,” she reminded him, which had him suppressing a self-satisfied grin. “Besides, by now, they’ve probably already kissed. Perhaps several times.”
The mixed feelings Trenton had experienced the day before returned, but he was determined not to second-guess his decision to allow George Grandby to marry his daughter. “Let us hope she doesn’t have to teach him how to kiss,” he murmured.
Sarah blinked, but then she allowed a brilliant smile. “You were a quick study, as I recall.”
“That’s because you were an excellent teacher,” he replied happily. Before Sarah could respond, he pulled her into a hug and kissed her quite thoroughly. When he finally pulled away, he wondered at how she gazed at him. “What is it?”
“Why didn’t you tell me last night that you had given away my daughter?” she asked, her voice tinged with reproach.
Trenton blinked. “Probably because you were having your way with me. You know I am without faculties for the rest of the night when you do that.”
She tried hard to suppress a grin and could not. “Still, you need to make it up to me,” Sarah stated.
Blinking again, Trenton’s eyes darted to one side. “Gabe and Anne are both gone for at least several hours,” he murmured. He glanced over at the Greek sofa and back at Sarah, his brows waggling.
Her eyes darted to the sofa and then widened in delight. “Gabriel! What about dinner?”
“Later,” he said as he led them to the sofa.
She didn’t scold him the rest of the night.
Chapter 34
A Stunning Announcement
Meanwhile, at Worthington House
As any good hostess should do, Angelica saw to
it her guests were well fed and the wine glasses were kept full. Conversations varied around the table, from Mark bemoaning the lack of a good horse auction that month and Gabe listing the available entertainments in town during the winter months to the young ladies’ discussion of the latest offering at the theatres. Laughter was frequent. Stories were entertaining. Lulls in conversation were few and far between.
And through it all, Ben surreptitiously watched Angelica as she presided over the dinner, her subtle gestures sending footmen off for the next course or refilling glasses with wine. When she seemed resigned to the fact that she would have to converse with him, she asked how he had acquired his title and from whom.
“I discovered a comet, and King William granted me a knighthood.”
Angelica blinked. She wasn’t sure why hearing the claim was such a surprise. “But... how did the king find out?” The monarch had just died the year before. Without a single legitimate heir, King William’s niece, Victoria, had ascended to the throne and finally been coronated earlier that year.
“He didn’t. At least, not until the Prime Minister informed him.”
Angelica gave him a quelling glance, which reminded him of how she had looked that night she had scolded him for gazing at Venus. Without her having to say a word, he knew exactly how to continue.
“I wrote up my findings for a scientific journal. When word reached the Continent, some of the news sheets there covered the story, and The Times reprinted part of the article. Which is how the Prime Minister found out.”
Angelica furrowed a brow. “Have you been searching for more comets?” she asked. As much as she wished to remain miffed at him—and she was miffed—she was still interested in his work.
“Not directly,” he replied. “They tend to be something you find quite by accident.” When she indicated he should continue, he had a thought she might yet forgive him for not having divulged his full identity. “You see, if you look at the same celestial body every night and record its appearance as well as the positions of the stars around it, you tend to notice when one of those stars has moved whilst the others around it have not.”
One of the other gentlemen, David, asked, “How do you know it’s a comet, though, and not one of those... asteroids, I believe they’ve been called?”
Ben turned to discover most of those at the table were listening to his explanation. “Well, you don’t at first. It may be a planet or an asteroid, but if it’s making its way toward the sun, it will get larger over the course of its travel through space. As it gets closer to the sun, it develops a tail. Starts to look like an angel.” He glanced at Angelica and added, “That’s when you know its a comet.”
Angelica couldn’t help but notice his reference to an angel and the fact that he was looking directly at her when he said it.
“Fascinating,” Lady Anne whispered, her comment eliciting a series of murmurs around the table. Then the conversation turned to everyone’s plans for Christmas as the dessert course was delivered.
Ben couldn’t help but notice Angelica didn’t offer her plans for Christmas. Then George addressed him from the other end of the table with the same query.
Having spent the entire day planning to get married, he blurted, “I plan to be married.” When the guffaws and gasps ceased, he added, “I am just today in possession of a marriage license, so I was hoping I would be spending Christmas in the company of a wife, perhaps on a wedding trip to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.”
George exchanged a meaningful glance with Anne while a chorus of murmurs and best wishes circled the table.
From all those except Angelica, for although she had pasted a pleasant expression on her face, she was pale as she stared at her dessert.
“Have you apprised your future wife of your plans?” Alexander asked, obviously still amused.
Ben leaned forward and directed his reply to the Earl of Everly’s son. “Not exactly.”
Another round of laughter circled the table, and when Lady Diana Fitzwilliam seemed about to ask as to the identity of his intended, George made sure to change the subject.
Daring a glance in Angelica’s direction, Ben felt his last bite of dessert turn into a rock as it made its way down. “This dinner was excellent, my lady.”
Angelica allowed a prim grin. “Thank you, sir.”
Bristling at her formality, Ben wondered what to do. What could he say to make her understand he meant no offense by withholding his title when he had introduced himself?
Once the post-dinner wine was drunk, Angelica pushed back her chair and announced that the ladies should join her in the parlor for tea. Ben realized he would have to speak with her later. He stood up, along with all the other gentlemen at the table, and watched as the ladies filed out.
He nearly drank all his port in one gulp.
Chapter 35
Apologies and a Proposal
A few minutes later
“That was quite an announcement Sir Benjamin made during dinner,” Lady Anne commented as the five women took seats near the fireplace. A maid hurried in with a tea tray and went about pouring cups for everyone.
“I half-expected my brother might join him with the same sort of announcement,” Angelica remarked, a teasing eyebrow arched high. She thought to deflect attention lest anyone think Sir Benjamin’s comment was directed to her.
Anne’s face took on a pinkish cast. “I haven’t been led to expect such an announcement,” she fibbed, her eyes wide.
She had hoped for a proposal, of course. Had been hoping for one ever since the day she had returned to London, so George’s proposal in the park had been most welcome.
The time she had spent with Hexham had been her first experience of being alone with a man who wasn’t one of her brothers or her father, and yet she had felt just as safe with him. Even though he had kissed her, she was sure of his protection. Sure of his regard for her. Even more sure once they spoke of marriage. Of children.
She accepted a cup of tea and seemed to drink for fortification.
Angling her head to one side, Angelica said, “I would adore having you as my sister, and you would make a fine countess.”
The other young ladies nodded in agreement before talk of fashion and Mayfair gossip prevailed, gossip that included a mention of the hideous building that had gone up behind Bradford Hall.
“I am quite sure we have a Peeping Tom in our midst,” Lady Diana stated. As a daughter of the Earl of Norwick, she lived at Norwick House, only a few doors down in Park Lane.
Her twin sister, Davida, shook her head in dismay. “Now, Diana, astronomers are not Peeping Toms.”
Angelica knew from having grown up with the young women that although they were twin sisters, they tended to take the opposite sides of any argument. She decided to defend the astronomer. “I thought the same the first night I arrived from Torrington Park, but Sir Benjamin was merely gazing at Venus.”
Her cousin, Emily Grandby, straightened. “The planet? Or do you have a neighbor by that name?” A few titters erupted at this query.
“The planet, of course,” Angelica replied, not bothering to hide her grin. “He is an astronomer, first and foremost.”
“One who intends to marry in a fortnight,” Anne said softly. “And given the fact that Wadsworth doesn’t yet have an heir, it’s likely Sir Benjamin, or at least his heir, will be the next Earl of Wadsworth.”
Angelica remembered the conversation she’d had on the train with her brother. He had said all this and more, but at no point had he said just whom it was he was talking about.
He hadn’t mentioned any names, nor any titles.
And I didn’t ask.
No wonder I’ve been caught by surprise.
“Is he an agreeable gentleman?” her cousin asked.
“Oh, very much,” Angelica replied. “Very knowledgable, too. He’s a member of the Royal Society.”
“So... you were introduced before this evening?” Lady Davida asked.
Her eyes w
idening, Angelica nodded. “Of course. My father made mention of him to my brother. Asked that he make his acquaintance. I don’t think any of us expected him to be living right next door. Would you like more tea?”
The drooping eyelids of her guests had Angelica glancing at the mantle clock. It was only half-past ten o’clock, but the gentlemen hadn’t yet joined them. Outside, snow had started falling again, the flakes following circuitous paths on their way to the ground.
Emily made her apologies. “Although I dearly love living in the country, the six miles to Woodscastle will take nearly an hour or more given this snow. I do apologize, but I really must be going.”
Angelica angled her head, disappointment evident on her face. “You are more than welcome to spend the night,” she offered.
Her eyebrows waggling, Emily leaned over and whispered, “Although it is tempting, I’d rather not be in the way of what is sure to be an interesting evening for you.” She turned her attention on the other young women. “I shall see you all again the next time.”
The others bid her farewell as Angelica walked Emily to the front door and Winston saw to summoning her coach. “Give my regards to my other cousins, won’t you?” Angelica pleaded. “At least those who still live at Woodscastle.”
Older than Angelica by three years, Emily gave a nod as she allowed Winston to help her with her redingote. “I will. And do consider his proposal. He’s a very nice gentleman.”
“Whose proposal?” Angelica asked in alarm.
Emily gave her a quelling glance, and she took her leave without saying another word.
Angelica turned around, intending to return to the parlor, but her way was stopped by Ben.
“Are you leaving already?” she asked, not sure why she felt disappointment just then.
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