A Curious Courting (15 page)

“Please don’t bother. You might be more comfortable in the drawing room, however. Then I may get on with my work.” Selina slipped out the door before anything further could be said.

Embarrassed, Henry turned to Mr. Rushton and shrugged. “Women. There’s no understanding them. You mustn’t take her amiss, though. She’s just annoyed with me for bringing someone in when she wasn’t looking her best. Though I don’t see how she could mind,” he mused, more to himself than his companion, “when it is only recently that she has put aside those ugly dresses and that ridiculous cap.”

“I won’t stay, Forrester, but let it be a lesson to you. It is never wise to bring home a guest without telling a woman first. I should have known better than to accept, come to that.”

When Rushton made to leave the room, Henry said firmly, “No, I have invited you for tea and Selina didn’t mean for you to go. I was hoping…”

“Yes?”

Henry shifted from one foot to the other. “I don’t know anything about boxing,” he blurted. “When you were here to tea before, you and Sir Penrith discussed a prizefight, and there was some mention of a sort of school in London where a fellow could learn to box.”

“There is. A retired pugilist teaches those who are interested.”

“Yes, well, do you think I could find someone to teach me? I know I have a limp, but it’s not much, you see. I…I think I could... No, I suppose not. Some things you just have to be whole for,” he said bitterly.

Rushton pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Can you dance?”

“Dance?”

“Are you nimble enough to do the steps of the cotillion and the contredanse?”

“Of course. Selina has taught me all the steps and says I do very well. Not the new one—the waltz. She has never learned it. But I have no trouble with the others. It’s easier than walking, actually.”

“Then I feel sure you could learn to box, Forrester, if you wanted to.”

Henry’s face lit with delight. “You do? Is it like dancing, then?”

“Not exactly,” Rushton laughed, “but it’s wise to move quickly on your feet if you don’t want someone landing you a facer.”

“I see. But do you think I could find someone to teach me?” he asked eagerly.

“I can teach you.”

“Would you? No, I could not impose on you that way. Selina would have my head! But if you knew of someone in the neighborhood... Or perhaps Sir Penrith would know someone.”

“Nonsense. It would help keep me in practice. How is your arm healing?” Rushton asked, noticing for the first time that the sling had disappeared.

“Famously. In another week I shall be riding, I feel sure. It’s not my writing arm,” he offered with a grimace, “so Selina has kept me at my lessons. Couldn’t even get some benefit from it.”

“A regular martinet, your cousin,” Rushton suggested.

Henry flushed. “No, no, she’s a great gun. Just a little out of sorts these days, what with one thing and another.”

“Hmm, yes. Here, let me show you the proper stance. We won’t put any strain on your arm. I’ll just show you how to hold your hands and where to put your feet
.”

Returning to continue her sorting of the papers, Selina found her cousin and Mr. Rushton posed as though in combat, and she stopped on the threshold, dumbfounded. Engrossed in their lesson, the two men did not notice her advent and were startled when she exclaimed, “For God’s sake, Mr. Rushton, he’s only a boy!”

Henry immediately swung around to face her, his countenance comical in its anguish. “Good Lord, Selina, he isn’t fighting with me! He’s just showing me how to box.”

“Well, of course he is,” she retorted with heavy sarcasm. “Any sensible man would naturally teach a lad with a broken arm how to box. What better time could there possibly be for such instruction? Perhaps he also teaches his dogs tricks while they are suffering from some ailment. It is a novel prescription, I must admit, and I will certainly suggest it to Morris the very next time I am in the stables. Your tea is in the drawing room.”

In the astonished silence which followed her outburst the slamming of the library door sounded infinitely louder than it might at any other time. At the end of her patience with everyone and everything, Selina fled to her room.

Although his jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, Rushton gave no other sign of discomposure, while Henry struck his good fist on a table and muttered, “Damn! Now I’ve gone and upset her again.”

“Shall we have our tea? I don’t think your cousin intends to join us.”

When there was a hesitant tap on her door an hour later, Selina did not respond. Henry called to her and she forced herself to tell him as calmly as she could that she was resting and would see him at dinner. Her throat ached as she heard his uneven footsteps retreat slowly down the hall. Analyzing her upset did nothing to relieve it. To be sure, she had been distressed to have a guest when she was so disheveled. And it had added to her turmoil that she had read the amusement in Rushton’s eyes.

Then to misinterpret the scene she had come on in the library was embarrassing, but she could think of no excuse for that gentleman’s behavior. Was he so annoyed with her that he would purposely risk injuring Henry to get even with her? Selina had judged him a careless hedonist, perhaps, but not a deliberately cruel man. Where there were no illusions to shatter, he still managed to shake her to her very core. Exhausted by the continual emotional upheavals, she finally slept, to be awakened by her maid only in time to dress for dinner.

Henry was pacing restlessly about the drawing room when she entered, but stopped abruptly and came over to take her hands. “Are you feeling all right, Selina? I have never known you to rest in the afternoon before.”

“I
feel better now.”

“You mustn’t be angry with Mr. Rushton, Selina,” he said urgently as he released her hands and watched her seat herself. “I was asking him about boxing and whether I could learn, and he offered to teach me. Of course I said that wouldn’t do, but he said it would keep him in practice. We weren’t really doing anything strenuous, I promise you. He was just showing me how to stand and what to do with my hands.”

“I cannot see why you shouldn’t wait until your arm is healed.”

“Certainly I will, but he offered to start now. It didn’t hurt my arm in the least.”

“Is boxing something you have taken an interest in, Henry?”

“Oh, yes. All the sporting fellows have a hand at it these days, and Rushton said my limp needn’t handicap me. He said if I could dance, I could box.”

“Did he? I fail to see the relationship between the two.”

“It’s a matter of being agile enough on your feet, don’t you see? You have always said that I dance well enough, and I have never doubted you. Between us, we have always been honest about my limp, and I trusted you spoke no more than the truth.” He regarded her anxiously.

“You dance as well as anyone without a limp, Henry,” she replied firmly. “And better than most, I dare say, but surely there is a difference in the movement of a dance and the jumping about you must do in boxing.”

“Rushton thought not. And it’s not jumping, Selina! If I find I can’t do it, then I shall just forget the whole thing.” A frown creased his forehead. “You won’t forbid me to learn, will you?”

“No, of course not. You may do as you wish, but I cannot think Mr. Rushton will have the time to see to your instruction properly. Perhaps we could find someone else in the neighborhood.”

“He was quite sincere, Selina, and I never asked him if he would. He simply offered. I don’t think there
is
anyone else in the neighborhood who could teach me.’’

“We’ll ask around,” she suggested with an attempt at casualness. “It can’t do any harm. Once Mr. Rushton is started on his hunting-box, his days will be heavily occupied, my dear.”

“If you wish, but I like him, Selina. He treats me as an equal, just as Sir Penrith does.”

“I should hope so,” she murmured as McDonough arrived to announce dinner.

Chapter Twelve

Selina gave specific instructions the next morning that if Mr. Rushton came to call, she was to be denied. “If he asks for Mr. Henry, then you will have to check with him, but I am not at home to Mr. Rushton.” The surprised look she received from McDonough she ignored and proceeded to the library to finish her task there. She was debating the importance of an old receipt when Henry entered, and she smiled up at him. “Do you suppose I will need to refer to this bill for the range? We have never had the least trouble with it and it is entered in the books, but I can never seem to remember the shopowner’s name when I try.”

“Why did you have yourself denied to Mr. Rushton, Selina?”

“I have no wish to see him, Henry, and I am very busy. Has he called?”

“Yes, he wished to speak to you, but McDonough told him you were not receiving, so he asked for me. Rushton would be willing to wait if you have to change or anything, but he’s anxious to see you.”

“I am not anxious to see him, Henry.”

“He said he wished to discuss a facet of Lord John’s design with you.”

“Pooh. Mr. Rushton doesn’t give a farthing for my opinion. He has seen the Sands’ house, and there is an end to it. I won’t see him, Henry.”

“What the devil has gotten into you, Selina? I thought you were interested in promoting Lord John’s career.”

“And I tell you I can do no more than I have. If you will excuse me, I really must finish with these papers.”

“I have never known you to be so stubborn. What harm can it do to see him?” Henry drew a hand distractedly through his hair, a pained expression on his face.

“Have you perhaps told Mr. Rushton that you would get me to see him?”

“Well, yes, I rather did.”

“You must stop putting me in these positions, Henry. It is all very well to be generous with your own time, but you have no right to dispense with mine as you see fit. I have a great deal to do, and am not willing to waste time on every Tom, Dick and Harry who comes along.”

“It’s not as though you didn’t know Mr. Rushton,” he grumbled. “I can see your denying yourself to Mr. Walters or Mr. Moreton, for you’ve only met them at Sir Penrith’s. But you introduced Rushton to Lord John, and you sold him the land, and he has been very kind to me.”

“To
you,
Henry. Not to me. If you can think of a way which does not involve me, to repay him for his kindnesses, by all means indulge yourself in doing so. You may tell him I highly recommend that he incorporate the glassed-in room in his hunting-box. Unfortunately, that will only make him reject the idea, but it will be his loss.” Selina purposefully turned back to her papers. “I shall see you at luncheon, Henry.”

Defeated, her cousin turned on his heels and stalked out of the room. He had not previously been aware of the animosity between Selina and Rushton, but now that he looked back he could see that they had not hit it off from the start. Reproaching himself for being thoughtless, Henry still felt a bit annoyed with Selina for her implacable stand. What difference would it make to her to answer a few questions from Rushton? Selina was, after all, very enthusiastic about Lord John’s designs.

On entering his study, where he found Rushton patiently waiting by the window, Henry moved awkwardly, as he always did when he was embarrassed.

“I…I’m afraid Selina is busy, Mr. Rushton, and cannot see you. She did tell me that she highly recommended the glassed-in room.”

His visitor’s face remained expressionless. “I see. My thanks for approaching her for me, Forrester. I shall take my leave. No, no, there’s no need to see me out. I know my way. When your arm is fully healed, we’ll have another lesson.”

Henry nodded mutely and watched as the door closed behind his visitor. Now he would probably never learn to box, he thought mutinously, and all because of Selina. Rushton might pretend to overlook her rudeness, but Henry felt sure such a slight would weigh with a proud man. It was a very small thing he had asked of his cousin, and surely she knew that it was important to him if he had asked her. Perhaps he would not take luncheon with her, after all.

In the hall Rushton did not turn toward the entry as might have been expected. Instead he walked toward the rear of the house where the library was located, and tapped on the door. There was the possibility that Miss Easterly-Cummings was elsewhere in the house, but he thought not. Those stacks of paper yesterday would likely require a great deal of time to sort. Her impatient voice called, “Yes?”

Since he had no intention of waiting to be bid to enter, sure that he would receive no such invitation, he opened the door, stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself. She glanced up, an annoyed frown on her brow, and stared at him speechlessly.

“I realize you are busy, Miss Easterly-Cummings, but I really feel that I must have a word with you.” He strolled over to where she sat on the floor and offered her his hand to draw her to her feet.

“I will not see you, Mr. Rushton. Kindly leave my house immediately.” As her hands gripped firmly in her lap, she fixed him with a cold glare.

“There are several things which need to be said, and I will not let your stubbornness deter me from saying them.” Since she apparently had no intention of rising, he carelessly seated himself on the floor across from her. “If you are angry that I was showing Henry the proper boxing stance yesterday, let me assure you that I was not taxing his broken arm. Surely he told you so himself.”

Selina continued to ignore him, ostentatiously lifting another paper from the box to peruse its contents.

“Do you object to your cousin learning to box, Miss Easterly-Cummings?”

There was no reply as Selina discarded the paper and withdrew another.

“There is nothing more reprehensible than watching a woman crush the spirit out of a lad Henry’s age,” Rushton said provocatively.

Startled eyes met his for a moment and the color rose in Selina’s face, but she made no reply.

“It is obvious that your cousin spends most of his time studying. At his age he should be exploring more than just books, Miss Easterly-Cummings. He has never played cricket, or seen a prizefight, or been to the races. I dare say you would faint if you found he had visited a cockpit. He is mad for hunting, and yet his recent experience was the first time he had ever joined the field. And I have no doubt you will point to his broken arm the next time he indicates a desire to go again, and beg him to remember how dangerous a sport it is.”