Page 15 of How to Court a Rake
‘Willow Park has bridle trails, perfect for long rambles and long rides, meadows for gallops. There’s no place in town for a real gallop.’
‘I know.’ She gave a long-suffering sigh. ‘I don’t even bring my mare up to town any more. I just rent a decent horse for the Season. I’m sure, though, that your new property outside Newmarket has some excellent rides.’
‘I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen it yet. Too much to do.’
‘Aren’t you curious, though? I must confess I’d have gone straight away to see the stables. Any excuse to get out of town.’ Mary laughed.
‘Perhaps I’ll go after the Season. I have other commitments that take priority.’
‘Like wife hunting? Or have you truly committed to setting it aside?’ Lady Mary prompted.
‘I have not decided about that yet.’ He couldn’t fathom it really. ‘How can I seriously hunt for a wife while my brother is missing?’ Or while there was a traitor to hunt. Or knowing what sort of life he condemned a wife to and possibly children. But he said nothing of that last to her. It required too much explanation, too much exposure of himself.
‘Should you decide to pursue a wife, we could help one another in that department. You could make me interesting, force some of those suitors who take me for granted to step up their game, as you’ve done today with your roses. In exchange, I could make you decent for a short time at least.’ The last was said with a wry laugh and Caine smiled.
‘Or keep the wolves at bay if the matchmakers thought I’d already set my sights on one match in particular.’ Caine chuckled. It wasn’t a bad idea and quite a surprising one coming from her. ‘What do you think such a plan would involve?’ It might just fit into his own larger plans quite nicely, creating an opportunity to be in her company, to be in her space. This could be the way to gaining access to her father’s study and the potentially useful records he kept in there.
A bit of guilt twinged and he pushed it back. This plan washeridea, he wasn’t the one designing an elaborate web for her to step into. Even so, Stepan was his brother. For him, it was worth doing whatever was necessary. There was always the chance he might discover nothing—if so, there’d be no harm done.
‘I don’t think it would involve much. Attending the same events, a few dances. Perhaps a few more lovely, expensive bouquets,’ she teased. ‘That bouquet made quite the statement. My mother tried to guess who sent it.’
‘Will she be upset it was me?’ Caine didn’t want his little ruse to make Mary’s life more difficult instead of less. He’d meant it to draw attention to her. Where one man saw a desirable woman, other men would follow. He hoped his attentions would bring the right suitor to her. If he could help her make a better choice for a husband, he would gladly do it in reparation for whatever damage he’d done her reputation, or might do in the future. He hoped that suitor might emerge soon. A husband’s honour would help separate her from her father’s scandal should there be one.
She laughed. ‘I don’t honestly know. The flowers impressed her. It will be hard for her to be angry over such lovely roses or for having her at-home be the talk of thetonfor a few days. She does like the spotlight when it’s for the right reasons. It will take the attention off the situation with Harlow and it might matter more to her than anything at present.’
Mary gave a sigh. ‘Rumour has it that Harlow proposed to Miss Graylin here at the enclosure, right behind the big oak over there. A country proposal for a country girl. Harlow is a thoughtful man in that regard. He pays attention to others.’
Caine felt a brief tug of jealousy at the thought she might be mourning the handsome Duke despite her words to the contrary. ‘Tell me the truth. Just between us,didyou want Harlow for yourself?’ She did not have to posture for him as she had that first night at the Barnstables’ ball.
She shook her head. ‘Not in that way. I’m just competitive. In the heat of the moment, I don’t like to lose and I do prefer to please my parents. It keeps the peace at home. But I didn’t want to keep him. We would not have suited over the long run. My parents felt I deserved him, as if I should have won him because I had good bloodlines and the best dowry. We were to be matched like two thoroughbreds. Harlow knew it, too.
‘Despite that, he was always kind to me, always attentive. But it was clear it was only because manners demanded it of him. We were partnered for the archery contest at the house party and I don’t think he saw a single arrow I shot that day. He couldn’t keep his eyes off Miss Graylin, who, by the way, is an extraordinary archer. That day I knew with certainty that I hadn’t a chance and, more importantly, that I didn’twanta chance with him, not when he so clearly desired another.’
She stooped to gather some wildflowers and assemble them into a haphazard bouquet. ‘But I suppose I do mourn the idea of losing him. I am competitive by nature. I don’t like to be outdone, even if I don’t really want the prize.’
‘Now people are saying Harlow has lost Miss Graylin, that he may come calling again. Should I help that along?’ It had been the latest gossip in the club last night. People had been laying wagers on what Harlow would do: go after Miss Graylin who had fled the city or redirect his bridal hunt. Something inside Caine twisted at the thought of that. He could not compete with the well-mannered Duke. He ventured another question. ‘You were there the night Lady Elizabeth accosted Miss Graylin at the Duke of Cowden’s ball.’
She plucked another flower. ‘I regret that evening very much. Lady Elizabeth Cleeves is a devious young woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. I should have said something. I should have stood up for Miss Graylin. Perhaps I alone, with my own consequence, could have matched the viper tongue of a duke’s daughter. But I stayed silent.
‘Miss Graylin’s Season, her marital prospects, her future, were shredded in front of everyone. And Harlow’s happiness, too. A broken-hearted man will not make Elizabeth Cleeves happy and he will not look her way now no matter what happens.’
That did not bode well for Kieran, Caine thought. He’d have to warn his brother, faux courting or not, that Elizabeth Cleeves was dangerous. ‘And yourself? Would you have Harlownowif he called?’
She gave a little smile and tried to tease him. ‘Are you trying to hedge your wager in the betting books?’ Then she shook her head. ‘No, I would not want him any more now than I did then. I doubt he’d call after his own contretemps with my father over the Prometheus Club. In my opinion, what he ought to do is saddle his horse and ride straight for Dorset. He won’t be happy unless he does and the rest of society be hanged if they don’t like it.’
‘Spoken with great conviction.’ Caine grinned, feeling the unexpected knot in his stomach ease at the knowledge he’d wouldn’t have to deliver the Duke to her. ‘Is that what you would do, Mary? Ride straight for love and the rest be damned?’ Every day he was with her, a new layer was revealed. He’d not expected such passion, such rebellion to thrive beneath the genteel, well-mannered surface of her.
‘I’d like to think so,’ she replied resolutely. ‘But first, I’d have to find a man worth fighting for. What about you?’
‘I’d like to think there was someone out there that would not only evoke such a response in me, but who was also deserving of it.’ Not that he’d be able to act on that, but the thought was pleasant. They’d come to the place where the Serpentine flowed through the Enclosure.
‘Said as if one has been hurt by that decision before.’
Well, hell. She’d picked up on that, had she? He’d not mean to give so much away. Caine scooped up a handful of stones, dusting each one on the leg of his breeches. He skipped the first one out over the water and they watched it bounce twice before sinking.
‘A long time ago, when I was younger and perhaps less worldly, there was a young woman I aspired to. I won’t offer you a name because she is still around and that wouldn’t be fair. I was twenty-one and fresh home from university. I felt “finished” and sophisticated. But that didn’t change the fact that I had no title, no prospects of a title, and no money other than the allowance my grandfather parcelled out to each of his grandsons. Those things mattered to the girl in question.’
That was when he’d started working for his grandfather, attending diplomatic events, helping with the effort against Napoleon. Effectively putting himself beyond marriage and the chances of heartbreak finding him again. A man in his line of work couldn’t marry. The following year Kieran had come alongside and eventually Lucien and Stepan had joined them.
