Page 22 of The Lady Who Said No to the Duke
‘Difficult,’ he said.
‘Not necessarily.The Duke might prove to be perfectly amiable,’ she said, without a great deal of hope.‘I will reply to Papa’s letter immediately and, I suppose, I must set out for London soon.’
‘The day after tomorrow?’her godmother suggested.‘You may use my own travelling carriage, Jennie can accompany you and Hal escort you.’
Startled, Thea stared at her.‘But is that entirely proper?And it is a very long way to ride.’
‘I shall travel with my own carriage,’ Hal said.‘And I will appear to be simply another traveller taking the same road to London.But at the same time I can keep an eye on you and will be at hand if you encounter any difficulties.I only rode the day I arrived here because I felt the need for the exercise.’
‘That would be reassuring, thank you,’ Thea said.
What elsecouldshe say?Please do not.I find you quite disturbing enough as it is?Please do, because then we will have a few more days together?
‘Ring for Fenwick if you will, Hal,’ Godmama said.‘We must alert the coachmen and grooms, make certain the carriages and horses are ready, and Jennie must begin organising your packing, Thea.’
‘But what about Juno?’Thea asked Hal.‘It is too far for her to keep pace with the carriages and their frequent change of horses.’
‘Jessup, my groom can ride her down.In fact,’ he said, pausing on his way to the bell pull.‘He can start this afternoon.’
‘There, everything is settled,’ Godmama said after Fenwick had received his instructions and Hal had gone off to the stables.‘Most satisfactory.’
‘Indeed, yes,’ Thea agreed with a determined smile.
Settled?Once one of her brothers had described the sensation of being tossed in a blanket by some of his friends and her insides felt just as though that was happening to them.
* * *
The moon was full the next evening, breaking through the ragged clouds that threatened more rain to come.
‘Autumn is truly upon us,’ Hal remarked, making her startle as she stood at the drawing room window, the curtain held back by one hand.‘I’m sorry, I did not mean to alarm you.’
‘No alarm, just a little jump,’ Thea said, making light of it.‘I was thinking what a striking effect the moonlight is making on the wet garden.’
‘The rain under moonlight is like snow,’ Hal said, ruefully.He reached up to pull the curtain wider, his fingers warm over hers.‘It looks delightful now, but it makes the journey tomorrow a great deal more unpleasant.I told Jessup to make certain he was well wrapped up and to take shelter whenever he began to feel chilled.He likes to pretend that he’s a youngster still, but he’s far from it.Not that I can get him to admit it.’
‘An old family retainer?’Thea said, aware that she was fishing.Subtly, she hoped.Of course, she could just ask, or consult thePeerageand theLanded Gentry, both on the shelves in the study.But she found herself reluctant to do so.
What if Hal was in neither?Or theLanded Gentryrevealed that he was the son of some country squire who had just happened to deserve Lady Holme’s patronage as godmother to his son?Then there was no chance that she would encounter him again in London, no likelihood that he would consider calling—not when he had proved so reluctant to intrude on Lord Brownlow, or to encounter the Chesfords.
‘Yes, he worked for my father,’ Hal said.‘There’s the dinner gong.’
He offered his arm and Thea took it, remembering his voice when he said he had met Penelope Chesford.There had been something there that had made her wonder under just what circumstances, then events had driven the query from her mind.
Penny always cut a swathe through any gathering of men with her blond hair, big blue eyes, petite, curvaceous figure and her apparently irresistible flirtatious technique.She always made Thea feel like a skinny beanpole.
‘We have elegance,’ she’d said consolingly to one of her friends who had just seen her beau stolen from her.
‘So we do,’ Maria had replied bitterly, ‘but now she’s got my James and she’ll drop him tomorrow.Not that I’d want him back if he is such an idiot as to fall for her.’
What if Hal had been another of the ‘idiots’ who had fallen for Penny?He would be in good company if he were, and if he had been considered ineligible by her parents and snubbed, then that would be a very good reason for wishing to avoid them.
And no, that was not something she could ask about.If he wanted to tell her about himself, he would so.She must not pry, she resolved firmly.Hal was her friend, nothing more, and a temporary friend at that.
* * *
Lady Holme’s travelling carriage was, more accurately, a chariot, a vehicle for two to sit in comfort, looking forwards as one did in a post chaise, but with a coachman on the box driving the team and therefore no postilions.The view was not as good as in a post chaise, but the interior was considerably more luxurious, and Jennie the maid was rendered speechless by the shock of discovering that she was sitting on plush crimson upholstery.
The doors were painted with Lady Holme’s coat of arms, contained within a lozenge shape to signify her widowed status.
